Muffy was curious why a guy would be carrying a baseball bat into a public building with him during the middle of the day. She let her mind wander over the possibilities.
Meanwhile, as they all rode the elevator up to the Mezzanine, PEST Control (aka: Erroll, the hamster) listened intently to Precious, our beloved counter of anything and everything, as she described her recent legal hassle.
"It was liable, no doubt about it", said Precious. Erroll snickered at Precious' legal malapropism, then offered to have PEST's crack legal team assist her in her plight.
"You can sue, if you'd like. We'll back you all the way.", said Erroll. "I presume you have registered with the CPA?"
Precious, being extremely naive in the legal field (and just about everything else, for that matter ... except for counting, of course), had no idea what CPA stood for. "CPA?", she asked timidly, hoping that whatever explanation was forthcoming would be something she could comprehend.
"The Counter-Plaintiffs' Association", said Erroll. "It's an organization that assists people like yourself, those who specialize in counting stuff, to file lawsuits against those who dare to harm them in some way, whether physically or emotionally."
Precious nodded, as if understanding what Erroll had said. Of course, she had no idea what it meant, but it sounded really good. And, who was she to second guess a talking hamster, anyway?
The elevator door opened on the Mezzanine floor.
Muffy gasped! There, standing in front of the door, was that guy carrying the baseball bat. He was out of breath from having run up the stairs. She now recognized him as the same guy whose picture was on those pamphlets the B17 had dropped right before it crashed into the city's refuse pit.
Octopussy instinctively surrounded each of the inhabitants of the elevator with one of his tentacles, intent on protecting his friends from any harm. How fortunate for those involved that he had 8 tentacles. Precious knew that for a fact, because she had counted them earlier.
"Hold it, fellah!", said Bugs, in his manly antagonistic voice. "Back off, sucker! My name is Pond. Bugs Pond. Special Agent Double Oh ... And, you know what that means ..." |
