|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- PILN OF SCREW RIDGE--CUP 2--"DAVE" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Piln of Screw Ridge  ||  -------> (Cup SRsr002, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Early one morning Dave was shocked. Why, he did not know. He only knew that he was shocked. The strange part was that there was really nothing at all wrong. Except, of course, that there was a rather large glowing gargoyle on his windowsill. That, in itself, was not so odd. The strange part was that this gargoyle spoke. Well it tried, anyway. It didn't exactly have well-developed vocal chords. But what he said, in a voice like scratching a chalkboard, was what shocked Dave, even though he didn't know why he was shocked. What the gargoyle said was this: "Guess what's on TV tonight?" After a few moments, which seemed like eons, Dave asked "What?" The gargoyle contorted its face, making it appear even more incredibly ugly than it already was, and it said, in the same piercing voice "I said... guess." Dave got a chill and began to think. After a long time, which seemed like just a moment, Dave said "Uh... um... well, what is TV?" The gargoyle's eyes became red, and its gaze shot through Dave. Then the beast screamed so loudly that Dave was deafened for several minutes afterward. Then it flew off. Dave was curious, however, so he strapped on his wings and flew out of his window, following the gargoyle. The cold morning air swept against his face. He had already accelerated to almost the speed of sound, but the gargoyle was nowhere in sight. "This guy's fast, even for a gargoyle." Dave thought as he crossed the sound barrier. A sound like thunder echoed across the Hellvarth Land. Soon, as Dave approached Mach 2, he caught a glimpse of the gargoyle. But he lost it again as a huge hand shot up out of the ground. It was at least 3 miles high. Dave tried to avoid it, but couldn't maneuver in time. He shot through the palm of the hand easily, however, due to his speed. An earthquake shook the land, which must have been the result of the owner of the hand yelling in pain. Dave heard nothing, though, still deaf. "What a time for Guggon the Great to wake up!" Dave thought as he changed his course towards the underground empire of Harvey Rattt. As he flew, he wondered what TV could stand for. "Total Ventilation? Time Vortex? Tire Viper?" he thought uselessly. He continued, but predictably something happened on the way to Rattt's--on the horizon he saw an Airworm Patrol Swarm (APS). "Oh bit!" he muttered as he pulled his rip cord. Instantly, his form changed from humanoid to dragonoid. In this form he could better handle the sinister APS. He flew directly into the wormcloud and began to try to convince the worms that there was more to life than flying around and eating unsuspecting airtravellers. At first, they weren't sure, but soon they were convinced, and flew off to find a better life as volcano cleaners. Dave then clapped his clawed hands together 17 times and became normal once again. Dave's wings glittered in the double sunlight as he flew halfway across a world. Soon he had arrived at Rattt's. He slowed down as he approached the neon sign which said "HARVEY RATTT'S UNDERGROUND EMPIRE". Some of the letters were out, though, so it seemed to read "HA E RAT GROUND M IRE". Nevertheless, Dave landed and approached the door. A sign on the door read "RING BELL, AND DIE." "Very funny, Rattt." Dave muttered as he pressed the button. He wished he hadn't, though, as a thousand lasers sprung to life and seared the ground dangerously close to his feet before they suddenly shut off. "Who's there?" asked Rattt's familiar voice over an intercom. "Me... uh... Dave." Dave said. "Oh well, get outta here! Can't you see I'm busy?" "Alright, but I just thought you should know... maybe you'd like to know that Guggon the Great has just, uh... woken up." "Oh... what?" Sounds of something large smashing into the ground came to Dave's still-recovering-from-the-gargoyle-scream ears. "Ok, come in, Dave." Rattt continued. The door swung open and Dave stepped inside the tunnel. He was immediately confronted by Rattt's seemingly impossibly confusing mazes. "Uh... I don't know where to go." Dave said. "Oh that's easy." Rattt's voice said. "Haha! Just follow the blue slime trail!" -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----