Chapter Thirty-Nine
Very Big Plans
As Titus disappeared into the darkness of the woods, one of the trees that he pushed aside was the weeping willow that Noodles had become ensnared in. The jostling of the tree caused the robot to become untangled, and he fell from the limbs, until he landed on the ground with a clank!
“Beep boop beep!” he exclaimed, rubbing at his spherical noggin with one hand.
The fall did not seem to hurt him, for he immediately sprang to his feet. Though he was a bit wobbly, he seemed otherwise unhurt, and he quickly joined the Beans. As Lefty finally opened his eyes with a great yawn, the first thing that he saw was Noodles, leaning over him. The robot’s antennae ears twitched, and he beeped in concern.
“Oh! Hello, Noodles,” Lefty said, as he readjusted his eyeglasses. He looked about in some confusion. “What am I doing on the ground?”
“You fainted, Mr. O’Houlihan!” Neil told him.
“Really bad timing, Uncle Lefty,” Jack admonished, but his smile revealed his true feelings of relief.
“I fainted?” Lefty sat up, blinking his eyes. “How embarrassing! The last thing I remember, I was staring up at the jaws of that Mecha-Machine. I felt like I was falling into that bright light that it was generating, which was surely a product of SunTech… Hmm… I wonder if those knuckleheads added some kind of immobilization feature to their war machine, something that can be used to put their enemies to sleep. Speaking of which, where is-”
Lefty stopped in mid-sentence, as his eyes fell upon the defeated Mecha-Machine, which lay on its back, with streams of smoke trailing from its underside. He stared in astonishment, his mouth agape.
“Gears and sprockets!” he whispered. “You Beans are rather resourceful, aren’t you?”
“Well… we had a little help,” Jack admitted. “Actually, we had a rather large amount of help.”
This, of course, engaged Lefty’s curious mind, and he began firing questions at the Beans. “How did you…? Where did the…? This is truly incredible! And I should like to get a closer look at the workings of this Mecha-Machine, now that it’s been immobilized. Though I don’t approve of its purpose, it is of a rather ingenious design, I must admit. But wait, where’s Ebenezer?”
“Oh, he crash-landed again, and knocked himself silly. He’s over-” Sara began. But as she pointed to the spot where Ebenezer had crashed… there was no sign of the mad scientist. “He was right there!”
Lefty leaped to his feet, his head swiveling about. “We’ve got to find him, before he gets away!”
“Looking for me, old friend?” came Ebenezer’s voice, from the far side of the Mecha-Machine.
The members of the fellowship all turned their heads toward the villain. They carefully watched him, as he wrenched open the door to the machine’s cab. At first, they thought he might be coming to aid Jasper, but that was not his intent.
Ebenezer reached one arm into the cab, and began rummaging about. He ignored the groans and mumbles of Jasper, and after a moment, he withdrew his arm. He had found what he was seeking… between his index finger and thumb, he held the power cell aloft.
“Ebenezer, you doorknob! Have you learned nothing?” Lefty demanded. “Put that thing down, before you hurt yourself.”
“I really think you should consider lying down for a bit, sir,” Neil added. “We can’t discount the possibility that you’ve bumped your coconut a bit too hard in your most recent crash-landing.”
“Maybe we should call an ambulance for you. You… you don’t look so hot, buddy,” Maria added.
It was true. Ebenezer looked much the worse for wear. After all the stresses and crash-landings of the evening, his appearance had become quite bedraggled. His thick eyeglasses sat crookedly on his nose, and his hair projected every which way. His face was covered with dust, dirt, and bruises. One sleeve of his lab coat had torn clean off, and his cape was tattered. His jetpack was thoroughly dinged and dented.
Nonetheless, Ebenezer would not admit defeat. He smiled defiantly at the fellowship, and he took a couple of steps away from the Mecha-Machine. He was limping, and heavily favoring one leg. The Beans watched in astonishment as Ebenezer coughed, and small puffs of dust and black smoke escaped from his mouth. He was in really bad shape!
“It looks like Jasper was right about you children… you’re all full of gumption. Chock full of it! Filled to the brim with pure gumption!” Ebenezer exclaimed with exasperation. He sighed, and looked down at the Mecha-Machine. “I have no idea how you managed to defeat this creation of ours, but it’s of little concern. We have bigger and better inventions lying in wait. This was a fine project, indeed… but even greater things will be accomplished, now that we have the technology of this power cell in hand.”
Ebenezer flipped a switch and depressed a button, and his jetpack roared to life. Flame began sputtering from its exhaust ports, and he looked to the night sky above him. Despite all the hardships his jetpack had already brought him tonight, it seemed that Ebenezer was once more prepared to launch himself into flight.
“Go, Noodles!” Lefty cried. “Don’t let him get away!”
“Beep boop!” Noodles exclaimed.
The lanky robot bounded toward Ebenezer. His long legs propelled him over the ground, as he circled the Mecha-Machine. Noodles closed the distance to the villain in short order, but by then, Ebenezer was already beginning to ascend.
“Hah!” Ebenezer cackled. “You think that bucket of bolts can stop me?”
He continued to rise into the air, slowly gaining altitude. The jetpack was not operating at peak performance, but it was gradually getting the job done. Pumping his gangly arms and legs, Noodles sprinted toward Ebenezer, determined to catch him. He ran to the spot beneath the hovering villain, and leaped for all he was worth!
But it was no use… Ebenezer’s jetpack had already lifted him to a safe distance. Even Noodles, with his extraordinary height, could not reach Ebenezer. Noodles reached out with one long, slinky-like arm, but his fingers fell just short of Ebenezer’s foot. The scoundrel held the power cell in one hand, tauntingly holding it above Noodles.
“So sorry to disappoint you, old friend!” Ebenezer called down to Lefty. “It looks like your little science project still needs a bit of work! But don’t worry… I’ll take care of your precious power cell. It’s in good hands. I’ve got big plans for it… very big plans, you might say!”
Lefty squinted up at Ebenezer, and shook his head in dismay. The villain threw his head back and cackled like a madman, while his tattered cape billowed all about him. He continued to gain altitude, until his strange outline was silhouetted against the moon. The jetpack roared, shooting out flames, and Ebenezer began his wobbly retreat. As he flew away, disappearing over the line of trees in the forest, the fellowship could hear him laughing the entire time.
“Well,” Lefty sighed. “If there’s one thing that Ebenezer always knew how to do… it was how to exit with a flourish.”
The Green Beans, Volume 2: The Strange Genius of Lefty O'Houlihan Page 39