Maximojo and the Wand of Light

by Julianne Bien

  “Meet the Mojo Team, Lou, my comrades for this mission piled in the corner. Woofster, Meowlen and Whinniston,” said Maximojo. They scrambled upright after toppling over each other when the room shifted.

  Glitta flickered around the study to inspect the tapestries of constellations floating along the walls. She lit up the stars on the wall hangings, and they began to glow to identify their galaxy of origin. But these were not star coordinates of the galaxy they were in.

  “These stars bear a remarkable resemblance to our neighboring stars at home,” she sparked. “But why would distant constellations be displayed in this solar system? Maybe it is the home of the Starrings.”

  Maximojo was beginning to suspect something by the look in McFee’s eyes as he approached him, and said, “The Ruler of Kavalon, Captain Daltoid Swaggelot, is unaware of the change that will happen when the shift occurs. He does not realize that we are at risk of slipping through the cracks in space when the incoming timekeeper settles in. Now, we do not need to worry the Captain. We can and will take care of this on our own.

  “We have known of your mastermind technology for quite some time. In fact, it feels like lifetimes ago when we first learned of your adventures. I believe we have a book about you on our library shelf, Maximojo.”

  Glitta threw a couple of glow balls midair to change the subject, but they accidently bonked a group of Starrings who exploded into flames. They drew themselves back into their desired forms, and straightened their cloaks. Now they had an extra long flare that served as an arm to reach for their cups, which had been thrown afar when Glitta’s glow ball hit them.

  “They must have taken shooting-star classes when they were little sparks,” Meowlen said.

  “We need you expertise for our darling Starrings, so that they can be transformed to work underground since they will no longer be able to exist above ground. I will escort them to ensure they find their way back,” McFee said.

  “As you can see, these celestials are quite explosive. We wouldn’t want them to get lost amongst the stars, we need them to light the mines. You would never be able to tell them apart if they were set free.”

  McFee raised a finger. “Please, enjoy a berry-blend tea that I formulated especially for you.” A cup appeared in his hand and Meowlen graciously accepted it.

  “A little tart. Something a little sweeter, perhaps?” Meowlen said after a sip. She noticed an unclaimed delicacy sitting on a platter in front of her. She took the savory-swirl crumplet and sandwiched herself between Woofster and the piano, which began thunderously playing her favorite music, keeping time with each bite she took.

  “Oh, it’s a stormy night of rocking tunes,” Meowlen said. The keys froze as she looked over and caught them in action. “It memorized my favorite tunes for the occasion. So thoughtful. I wonder if it comes in travel size?”

  One Starring caught Glitta’s eye and sent her a loving spark. Glitta knew it was a signal for help. “Do I know you?” Glitta sparked silently.

  “Please help us!” the sparky one glittered and quickly dimmed when McFee noticed the two interacting. “Prepare the others,” Glitta flashed on and off quietly. “Now I understand why we are here,” she thought. “It may be a tricky situation when we leave.” Glitta silently gave Mojo the secret emergency signal that they had been tricked. Maximojo nodded acknowledging that he understood her silent message. The sneaky strategy plan was now underway.

  Whinniston trotted over to the bookshelves that extended all the way to the ceiling. He stretched to reach the top shelf, and glanced around to see if anyone noticed his find, then opened a large stone-bound book. Its pages were scorched on the corners. He was careful turning the pages with his shoes. Suddenly a book dislodged itself and fell on top of Whinniston’s head. Surprised, he opened it to discover an adventure story of heroic winged ancestors from outer space. "This is a wonderful library. It has everything anyone could ever wish for.”

  McFee clapped and another cup and pot appeared, pouring steamy tea from its spout, and turned to Lou, who had been sitting at the back of the study observing everyone.

  “Ever since I contacted the Council, Lou appears right under my nose wherever I turn,” McFee thought. “I look forward to the moment I’ll be rid of him with the others.” He was growing concerned with Lou’s unblinking stare. McFee wondered what his real motive was for visiting the estate.

  “I have waited for this chance since I arrived on Zalturn,” McFee thought. “Certain encounters are difficult to arrange unless you change the course of time to your advantage. Only the masterminds of stellar technology would have been assigned to this mission. The wand will be useful, I’ll put her to good use, like the Starrings have been since their capture. Glitta is a fast thinking flare. She may catch on, but it will be too late because they have already landed in my trap, and as for Maximojo and his friends, their fate awaits. It’s only time now.”

  ***

  Glitta flittered over and whispered something in her Mojo’s ear. The plan had changed, although Maximojo gave no indication to the others and carried on. “It is time for the teleportation to begin,” Maximojo announced, flipped open the device, and programmed the TeleMirror to appear in the study with a few extra key strokes to change the time sequence slightly on the return location. To draw in the radiation necessary for the Starrings’ transformation, Glitta replicated constellation maps on the ceiling to serve as space coordinates.

  The Starrings flashed about, intrigued by her artistry, as Meowlen, ever an opportunist, captured the moment parading around in a tangerine ruffled cardigan and pearl necklace.

  “Move aside,” Glitta said. Sparks flew everywhere.

  An incoming shaft of light entered the window. It narrowed into a precise beam and painted futuristic impressions of another galaxy, and transposed the imagery onto the wall. The Starrings shimmied in to watch the moving pictures. It looked familiar to them, as streams of color began to swirl and twisted themselves into a funnel that captured gravity particles in its path. Gravity took hold of the fallen light, and a sphere popped out of the funnel’s top. Everyone took cover again underneath the tables from the luminescent orbs that were bouncing around erratically, splattering color everywhere in the darkened room. Glitta burst into action twirling out iridescent streams that weaved into form.

  “Take cover! That wand might explode,” Meowlen said. The others dove behind the benches. The luminous globe elongated into a mirror, and shimmied in the center of the study. The ceiling gave way to glistening stars. Liquid crystal poured into the reflective spacegate, the TeleMirror. The Starrings sparked out from their hiding spots. Glitta swooped around the sparky one and flashed the new plan and to let the others know.

  The spacegate shimmered. Maximojo stood beside it and motioned to McFee, who had risen. McFee gestured for the Starrings to follow him, moved to the TeleMirror and touched it. He was enveloped and drawn into the world on the other side of the mirror. One by one the Starrings did the same. The sparky one was last, and shot Glitta a tiny flare of gratitude. “I remember now and will see you again,” it said, then vanished.

  The rest of the Starrings began to remember things as they crossed the boundary marked by the mirror. Memories of their homestar, of lives forgotten until they saw Glitta. They had known her, but from where they could not recall, and as the mirror buckled, the edges began to frost over until the entire mirror froze into a sheet of ice. Glitta knocked it with a glow ball, and it bounced off. Their entrance was sealed.

  “Is it safe to come out?” Woofster said. The others slowly appeared behind him. “The Kingdom of Kavalon awaits,” he said. “But I guess we have to wait until everyone returns.”

  Meowlen swung her embroidered pink shawl over her shoulder, and lowered her rhinestone shades. “They are probably trying on celestial designers cloaks. It takes time to try everything on in the cosmos.”

  Whinniston closed the book, shaking his head. “Maximojo, do you think you went a little too far? What if
they get lost somewhere out there in outer space, that winding hole that Glitta talked about, or are taken by a stranger that even you may never have encountered? What if they got caught up in the past with this time change coming in? What if they took a detour and get drawn into another world and are never able to make it back in time to help this planet? You know your way around out there, but maybe they don’t. Then we would really be in trouble with your boss.”

  “Whinniston, you have read too many books,” Meowlen said. “Now don’t spook yourself. The Starrings are probably enjoying themselves surfing the spaceways. Besides, Master McFee would look after them. Let them have a little fun, they’ve been cooped up in the gravity field for so long.” She took a last delicate bite of her crumplet.

  Lou fiddled with his pipe as he glanced up at the clock above the mantelpiece, which had begun to act strangely, its dial flying around the face behind the numbers. It rearranged itself, then stopped, as if to show that time also had its moments and this was one in which it chose to stand still and tick backwards – just to get into the groove of reverse timing.

  “An ultimate cosmic calculation,” Lou said, “although this might be a random phenomenon that has occurred before.” He began to gauge the probability of time reversal and how he could put it to good use during other stellar maneuvers in other galaxies. He noticed Glitta acting strange zipping back and forth and knew something went wrong.

  Maximojo check the screen to see if there was another update. “Glittols! We have an update from the Council!” Glitta flickered over his shoulder to read it.

  “There appears to have been a time warp during teleportation, and not everybody may make it back,” Maximojo said. He smiled to himself, knowing the backup plan would work, and watched the dial on the clock begin to click into the proper time sequence. The mirror made a loud cracking sound, and the ice melted. The spacegate was open.

  A hand appeared, grasping the cool air of the study, then an arm, followed by a sucking sound and a snap. McFee was blown into the study. He was alone and had a glazed look. The TeleMirror vanished.

  “They’re not coming back!” Glitta sparked excitedly, and gave Mojo a smile, “They escaped back into the skies where they belong to roam freely and cluster into constellations.”

  Whinniston reared and did not know which way to bolt. Meowlen jumped aboard to calm him. “Do you mean we messed up and we’ve only just begun?” Meowlen said. “I would like to have a few words with my Alliance. This can’t be happening during any of my lives.”

  “Somehow they escaped. But it doesn’t matter now. I’ve got Maximojo right where I want him, and you to light up my mines!” McFee thought. He looked around and locked eyes with Glitta.

  Chapter 7

  The castle loomed in the distance beyond where Rutty’s gang had stopped to prepare.

  “Indestructible Rutty, that’s me, doubly sure! I’m no ordinary rat. I have an uncontrollable urge to destroy those wretches from Plaxo. Take this … and that, you button-nosed space face.” He struck the air where he imagined Maximojo’s face was, and spun around. “Yah-Hah! Ratisico! Just warming up for the coming battle. Never enough time to practice but I, Rutty, have mastered the precision swing.”

  The other gang members crouched low in the thickets, dodging his flying claws.

  “Nothing remains the same when this rat is done with those who think they are invincible! Once captive underground, they’ll never be able to look up at the stars,” he said, batting away the stench drifting beneath his nose. “Sewer life is simply steamy. Oh so much to relish below the grate.”

  He sank his feet into Letcho’s head, pounded his chest and bowed, his eyes bulging. “I am the most despicable schemer that cosmic canine will ever encounter, and the most handsome.”

  Smelka silently agreed.

  “Remember that, all of you! Rutty is Ruler of this gang. Now, watch these muscles flex,” he said, demonstrating a few more claw-curls. His nose twitched, and he looked around for Smelka, who lay sprawled out with her rear pointed at him. She was so fully loaded with extra gas that she looked lopsided. Rutty swung around Letcho’s horn and jumped in front of her.

  “You’ve relaxed enough skunklen, sweet. Up off the ground. You are in possession of our weaponry!” She had doubled in size and could hardly move, let alone contain herself from overflowing. She wobbled to her feet and waddled away, her tail tucked up under her back legs to hold her weapon in.

  “Never trust a skunklen to hold tight when the most sinister of plots is nearing a climax,” Rutty said, clicking his nails on Letcho’s horn. “Victory is always at my whisker tips. Right?” He rapped on the lizzardo’s face. “Let nothing escape, Smelka. Keep your tank filled to the brim. We will need every drop later. Easy does it, watch your moves.” Her eyes were glazed over and sorrowful. These were trying times. A lot weighed on her performance at the front line of attack.

  “Here’s a little something to add more fuel to your fire, sweet.” He picked up an old stickbar – a local treat – that poked out of the sludge, and tossed it to her. She nibbled away at it with a crunch-crunch. It was rock hard, and broke yet another of her teeth. Rutty liked them chipped. He said it gave her a crooked look. She chased the snack down with a slug of the murky water dripping from the sewer valve, inadvertently lifting her rear end as she did. Letcho gave it a gentle push towards Scrapsie.

  “Relish every crumb,” Rutty said. “You’ll be needing it. You never know when you’ll get the next one.”

  “Rutty is always right, and handsome. A true rat,” she repeated quietly to herself.

  Rutty sprang back onto Letcho’s horn and spun around. “All right, gang. Are we ready?”

  Scrapsie scrambled up onto Letcho’s shoulder for a better view of the castle. Letcho suctioned his way along the ground, his ruthless leader now high above his head. Smelka was coiled up securely in the lizzardo’s tail.

  Rutty clenched his fists and pointed with his tail toward their target, who was at that moment patrolling the estate. “Anyone who wanders around alone late at night is asking for trouble from Rutty,” he challenged.

  ***

  Mannie took long, proud strides alongside the fence. The pedigree that he was, his coat was brushed, as always, and glistened in the moonlight. Alert, Mannie’s ears pointed forward sharply as he surveilled the grounds, except the dark forest, which made even his skin crawl. “No one would dare trespass there,” he thought. “They would never make it out.”

  He stood on his hind legs and looked over the tangled vines, yanking loose a few crawling climbers that had wound around his legs. This evening he was being particularly thorough, as he suspected that Woofster might be watching from behind a tree, or from the window when it chose to appear on the castle wall. Even so, he was a little bored, and his mind wandered a bit. He thought about the visiting dogs, one supposedly from space and the other local. A commoner.

  “Woofster puts on a tough act, but it doesn’t fool me,” he mused. “He thinks he knows everything because he rubs shoulders with an outer space mover and shaker with a flashing wand. He needs to be reminded of his ancestry. Patrol dogs with my reputation guard private properties only, and deserve respect and admiration. There is no such thing as a cosmic canine that walks and looks like one of us – sort of – and parades around with a talking wand with long sparkly hair. Outer space is only up and out, not between our fences!

  “He has read too many Fa-Hairy Tail Stories. They’ve made him actually believe Maximojo is the real thing. And as for that flicker stick, she’s probably just an overgrown spark-fly with a big smile. Anyway, That dog doesn’t even know his lineage. Poor Woofster. A real mixed-breed if I ever sniffed one out. From what he said about being beholden to strangers, he didn’t have a chance. Sad but true, an outcast. This Mannie is a purebred with a top position. Yo! Life’s pretty good on this side of the fence.”

  He looked up at the moon to gauge how much time was left before dawn and the end of his shift. “It�
��s just you and me,” he sighed. “Our routines never seem to change. I know what to expect, anyway. Nothing surprises me anymore being around this place. I wish that something exciting would happen.”

  Just then he heard rustling sounds on the other side of the hedge. “An intruder? Has my wish come true, and someone read the sign?” Mannie crinkled his nose. “Could it possibility be?” He bared his teeth. “At last! I knew if I wished long enough something would happen! “Duty calls!”

  He leaped over the shrubbery and right into the ambush.

  Letcho leaped on top of him, belting him with his leathery tail. Scrapsie latched onto Mannie’s neck and firmly planted pincers on either side, stinging him again and again. Mannie’s yelps rippled across the swamp surrounding the castle, but no one inside heard them. His legs swung every which way until he was pinned against a thorn bush and splattered with berries that stained his impeccably groomed coat. Smelka scurried around in circles, anxious to release her weapon. Rutty whispered in her ear, “Patience my potent sweet. It will soon be your turn.”