<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0053</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0054.txt">Next (Page 54)</A><BR> He didn't recognize any of the approachers. <P><P>"Stop!" said the man leading the group. He held a huge saw in his right hand, and a smaller saw in his left hand.<P><P>"Look!" said a tall, thin, cloaked figure with no discernible face. "Can it be? Truly?"<P><P>"The Cup! The Cup of Coffee!" said a young woman in a red-and-black checkered outfit.<P><P>"Let's do 'em before they get smart and run," said a woman in a black T-shirt.<P><P>A weird furry monster stared at the Cup and whooped with pleasure.<P><P>"Can it be over?" asked a large, stocky, oddly-built fellow with a colorful uniform.<P><P>A girl in a blue and brown outfit flew above the others, holding a massive, bizarre rifle.<P><P>"Hello," the guy with the saws said. "We are... here seeking that Cup of Coffee. May we, uh, may we just have it?"<P><P>Jerald raised his submachinegun.<P><P>"Back off," Jerald said loudly.<P><P>"Cool it," Daptin said, with his hand raised. Then he turned toward Fake and said "Blow up a balloon."<P><P>Fake nodded, took out a green balloon, and started stretching it. Her cinder block, which had been motionless, jumped up and floated in front of her in a protective stance.<P><P>"What say thee?" the sawman asked.<P><P>"There's no need to fight. We can settle this," Daptin said. "Who are you guys, anyway?"<P><P>"I would ask the same of you," the sawman said.<P><P>"I asked first," Daptin said.<P><P>"Fine," the sawman said. "Some call us Cup's Club, but that is unimportant. What matters is that we've been looking for that Cup of Coffee you have there for almost eighty years. Can you grasp such an effort? We want this to be over."<P><P>"Okay," Daptin said. "Here's the deal. I can see you're a fighting force, but so are we. Let me clue you in--we're mortals from Agoopish. I don't think you want to risk fighting us."<P><P>"Never heard of Agoopish," the sawman said. "But the force is yet to be found that Coabler the Sawman cannot soundly defeat. What say thee then?"<P><P>"Okay, okay," Daptin said. "Tavmatey, what do you know about all this?"<P><P>"Nothing!" she responded.<P><P>Fake turned around and began blowing up the slay balloon.<P><P>"Let's talk this over," Daptin said. "If we find you to be a clearly superior force, as you claim to be, then we'll hand the Cup over without a fight."<P><P>"We are superior," Coabler the Sawman said. "And we will take the Cup. We have nothing to prove to you."<P><P>"If you're so sure, why don't you attack us right now?" Jerald blurted out.<P><P>Coabler shrugged.<P><P>"I want to try a civilized solution before bashing your foolish heads in."<P><P>"That is... certainly admirable," Daptin said, looking over at Fake.<P><P>Fake finished inflating the slay balloon. She then pulled a pin from her sleeve and held it inches away from the balloon.<P><P>"What's that, then?" the flying girl asked, pointing her gun at Fake.<P><P>The sight of the flying girl reminded him of The Tracy Taciturn, but he clenched his fists and supressed the thought.<P><P>"Hit it," Daptin said.<P><P>She popped it and it worked. All the three could see was a gray haze all about them, and all they could hear was a clamorous and shrieking thunder. <P><P>"I guess we killed them!" Daptin Gone yelled, his voice nearly drowned by the din.<P><P>"We had to," said Jerald Hapal Hatch.<P><P>"I didn't know it would be this... serious," Fake Cerquaine said.<P><P>"What?" Daptin asked.<P><P>"The balloon," Fake said.<P><P>"Oh."<P><P>The three could now see the dark gray destruction swirling about all around, and it was like they were in a glass sphere--the slay balloon's safe area.<P><P>The clamor continued with no sign of diminishing.<P><P>"Okay wait," Tavmatey Numblem said from within the Cup of Coffee. "Okay what's the matter."<P><P>"Huh?" Daptin said. "Did you say something, Tavmatey?"<P><P>"I said, what's the matter!"<P><P>"We had to use a slay balloon," Daptin said.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0054.txt">Next (Page 54)</A>