|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- GOODBYE POPCORN--CUP 43--"PHAZZY" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp043, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Okay sir," Coabler said, "now answer that call on the count of three. Understood? When the count reaches three, answer it." Daptin looked helplessly at Mallie, then at Granticaine. "One." Coabler said. "Hold on a second!" Daptin yelled, standing up. The musical beep chimed yet again. "I don't like this! This place is totally fucked up! Things don't work right. My popcorn sure fucking didn't!" "What are you trying to say?" Coabler asked. "Look fella--we're dealing with two totally different worlds here. Stuff designed for one place does weird stuff--maybe bad stuff in the other." "Fine. Settle down green hair. You know more about this than us. We'll just wait and hope the call stops." Just then, the warbling chime was replaced by a continuous tone. Mallie looked up, and said simply, "Shit". "What!" Daptin exploded. "Answering machine." Mallie said. A click could be heard, and Mallie looked at the base of the handle of the gun, where there was a little video screen. A little image of a young woman with gold and brown striped skin came onto the screen. Her voice could be heard tinnily through the gun's speaker. "Hi Mallie, just wondering where the andle you are. Looks like you forgot our date again. Well, I guess I'll just have to go to Mompobla myself tonight. And I didn't tell you before, but..." "Goddamn!" Mallie yelled, looking at Daptin. "I have to answer it! She's in danger! For real!" Daptin inhaled sharply. "Do you absolutely have to, Mallie?" The woman sounded like she was finishing up her message. "Yes Daptin! There are people there who'll--come on man!" Mallie pleaded. "Okay! Answer it!" Daptin yelled. But just as Mallie was fiddling with the controls, the screen went blank. "Fucking goddamn bastard!" Mallie said at the gun. Then, looking up at Daptin, "I gotta call her back right damn now!" Daptin looked down, sitting, and said, "Fine. Go ahead." "Just be nice and easy with that firearm." Coabler cautioned. "I will. I will." Mallie said, fiddling with some buttons, the screen filling with text. "Okay. It's going through." Mallie said. Muffled beeping noises could be heard from the gun, and soon the clicking noise was heard again and the woman's face came up. "Yes?" the striped woman said. "Hi Phazzy. It's me." Mallie said. The lighting around the group changed. Everything got just a little bit darker. "Barenfa! Where are you, baby?" Phazzy asked. Suddenly, things got brighter. A lot brighter. "I'm on a mission with Grant and the gang. But I can't--what the hell?" As the light had been getting brighter, it suddenly stopped, and the sky, which has been a very dull gray, became a gloriously bright green. Everyone looked up at the sky, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, save for the brighter, more colorful sky. "This is a really weird place." Mallie said, sighing. "But look honey, I'm not gonna be around tonight, but do not go to Mompobla. Kanvin is out." "Crap!" Phazzy said. "Nice of you to tell me." "I'm telling you now." "Fine. Guess I'll do some education tonight instead. But will you be back soon?" "Yeah." Mallie said, looking at Granticaine. "Yeah, I should be back for tomorrow." "Okay baby." Phazzy said. "Take care of yourself--I don't want you to pull a Cueria on me!" "No I won't." Mallie said, scratching his head. "So I gotta go now. Love you honey." "I love you too, baby. See ya." And with a click, the call was ended. "That was important?" Daptin asked. "Yes. Very. She could have been killed." "Fine." Daptin said, looking up. "What the fuck was that that just happened?" "Who knows?" Fake said. "This place is so bizarre who cares if weird stuff happens? I mean--are you even surprised?" "First of all," Coabler said, "you turn that gun off. I don't want any more calls. And the rest of you, no more calls, hear me? And look at the sky--I've been in these cupworlds for years, and I've never seen anything like that. Now you folks gave me your word--can you tell me now that you didn't cause that?" "We didn't cause it, friend." Granticaine said. "Clearly," Kesh said, "we are in a highly unstable situation. I felt something when the sky changed--something that has me very worried. I think Daptin was right about these two worlds not mixing well. We must be careful." "I agree." Daptin said. "Well, let us conclude these matters then and be on our way." Coabler said. "So let me cut to the chase--am I right in believing, Daptin, that you will now take us all back to wherever the Cup is?" "Well, yes." Daptin said. "It's just, there's a time factor." "A time factor?" Coabler asked. "Yes. It will take some time, maybe like eight or twelve hours, before we can return." "And this is because the Coffee you drank will seek to reunite with the Cup?" Coabler asked. "Yes. I believe so." Daptin said. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----