4. Lapinette and the Whispering Tree

The Wabbit was missing so when radio contact failed, Lapinette armed herself to the teeth. The clearing looked clear and she paused by a big tree and listened. She heard a dull thud in the distance. Twigs cracked and snow crunched. She looked up through the branches. The sky looked like shards of breaking ice and she shivered as a wind chilled her fur. Lapinette had always respected trees. With trees you never knew and the branches of the big tree were swaying much too close. "Where on earth is the Wabbit?" murmured Lapinette. "Which one is he?" said a voice that came with a wind from the tree. Lapinette saw no harm in speaking. "The brown one." "There are two brown ones," said the voice. Lapinette's breath froze in the icy air. "How many altogether?" The voice seemed friendly. "Four, not counting you." Lapinette had an idea. "How many following?" The big tree swayed and the wind gusted sharp and cold. "Two, but one of them is a tracker." Lapinette slipped the safety catch on her automatic then glanced behind her - but there was nothing. She prodded the snow with a foot. "How far?" she thought. "Closer than you think," said the voice. A piece of tree bark dropped. Lapinette spotted a track in the snow that wound past the tree and over a knoll. "Thanks," she whispered." "Why are we whispering?" asked the voice ...

3. The Wabbit and the Ear in the Snow

The Wabbit fished gauze from his fur and dabbed at his wound. His radio had taken a bullet. It crackled loudly and the Wabbit stamped on it. He looked further and noticed something. It was unmistakably familiar and he took a closer look. One of Wabsworth's ears lay in the snow. Suddenly it twitched and spoke in the distinctive tone of Wabsworth's android voice. "Over here Commander." "Shsh .." hissed the Wabbit. He cast around. Beyond a snowdrift, he saw Wabsworth's other ear. He hoped it was still attached to his body. There was no sign of a Tracker. But that was a tracker's job and the Wabbit kept quiet. He lifted Wabsworth's ear and whispered. "Wabsworth, can you move?" There was a lengthy pause before an electronic voice said, "I'm stuck." "I'll get you," whispered the Wabbit, "radio silence." He started to hop but for every hop there was a deafening crunch. The forest seemed to answer. Branches crackled. A drip from melting ice sounded like a bullet and the Wabbit froze. He quietly dropped. With his belly on the snow, the Wabbit propelled himself like a bobsleigh. The ice was slippery now and he accelerated. He made headway but the drift loomed like an iceberg - and although he tried to brake, it made matters worse. He groaned as he hit the drift with his injured shoulder and the impact threw him high like a clay pigeon. For a moment he looked down at Wabsworth. Then the ground came up fast ...

2. The Wabbit and the Red Dot

The Wabbit forgot all about his dream. There had been a light fall of snow and the mountain park beckoned. He was due a free day, so he took it there and then. His tram rattled out to Sassi and soon he'd climbed the hill. The path wove its way along the slopes and the Wabbit happily hopped it. Everything was still and snow crunched under his paws. "Fresh mountain air," muttered the Wabbit. Suddenly his fur tickled and he rubbed a spot on his chest, but the itch got worse, so he looked down. It appeared to be a large red insect. He watched it jump around and tried several times to brush it away, but it stayed where it was. The Wabbit slapped a paw to his chest, but now the insect was on his paw. He pretended to stare at the trees and jumped quickly from side to side. "Exercise time!" shouted the Wabbit. Snow fell from a tree somewhere ahead. A branch cracked. The red dot vanished. The Wabbit waited and touched his paws a few times, then he started to jog. He weaved close to the edge of the hill and took a measured glance down. He paused. His ears swayed. Usually the forest was unnaturally silent, but there was something. He heard metal slide. With a sudden lurch, the Wabbit threw himself down the hill. A sharp blow to the shoulder propelled him towards a tree and he hit it with force. Snow fell all around him. The Wabbit stayed motionless but his eyes swiveled. There was something on the ground ...

1. The Wabbit and The Following

The Wabbit was describing a dream and Skratch the Cat could make neither head nor tail of it. "It was this big," said the Wabbit, "and it came slithering after me." Skratch did his best. "How did you feel in the dream?" "Uncomfortable," replied the Wabbit, rubbing at his fur. Skratch waited for more information. "Then a cat came," said the Wabbit, "and it followed the thing that was following me." "Did you recognise the cat?" asked Skratch. The Wabbit shrugged. "No, it was just a standard cat." Skratch's purr wavered slightly. "Then what?" "The cat suddenly jumped on the thing and ate it," shivered the Wabbit, "and it started to glow." Skratch began to feel itchy. "The cat or the thing?" He rubbed at his fur in several feline locations. "The cat glowed," said the Wabbit. Now an image formed in Skratch's mind. Shudders ran up and down his spine and he gritted his teeth. "It's a tracker," he grunted. "And it's coming." The Wabbit looked doubtful. "Coming for what?" Skratch sighed. "Coming for you, Wabbit." The Wabbit waved his paws around. He was suspicious of predictive dreams but he didn't discount them either. Skratch scratched his chest and the Wabbit followed his movements. "You seem to know more about this tracker than me, Skratch. What will it look like?" "Very credible," purred Skratch. "Credible as they come ..."

The Wabbit at the Adventure Caffè

The Wabbit tracked Skratch and Lapinette to a kiosk that catered for the soccer crowd. "Aha!" he murmured to himself. "I thought I'd never find the place." Skratch was delivering some kind of lecture with Lapinette in rapt attention. It was a lecture so passionate he'd heard it from the corner. "I'll ask the question!" interrupted the Wabbit. "So what was that for a gloomy sort of adventure?" Skratch turned and smiled. "I found it optimistic, Wabbit." Lapinette's paw hung artfully from the back of a chair. "I know exactly," she breathed. "It was a neo realist adventure." She paused for effect. "The camera is an idiot. It's what in front of it that counts." The Wabbit stared at Skratch. Skratch stretched and placed a paw across his chest. "Rossellini said that recognition of evil was a sign of hope." The Wabbit cast a scathing glance at the menu. "Then I hope there's a better caffè across the road." Everyone laughed. Lapinette stood and Skratch pulled back her chair. "Rossellini preferred not to work from a script," he purred. "Just like us," chirped the Wabbit. He made a move to leave, but Skratch wouldn't stop talking. "Rossellini used real people, not professional actors." "Just as we do!" repeated the Wabbit. "One more thing," said Skratch, "neo realism wasn't a genre. It was a cultural movement." Lapinette looked at the Wabbit and spoke in a husky Ingrid Bergman voice. "And so are we."

10. The Wabbit and the Dark Side

Lapinette pressed the shutter. The camera flashed and the scene changed. A ghostly rabbit floated over an equally ghostly restaurant. Around his head was a dark halo and his piercing eyes were a sapphire blue. "These are for you," said the rabbit. His outstretched paws held two prints and both depicted Lapinette and the Wabbit assaulting the camera. The Wabbit took his print and scrutinised it. Then he looked up at the rabbit and spoke. "You are Tibbar." His voice was quiet. Nonetheless, it echoed sharply from the vaulted roof. The dark rabbit nodded. "We have a common interest, Wabbit." But the Wabbit shook his head. "No. I have no interest in modifying the wicked. That's something they have to do for themselves." Tibbar's eyes flashed. "I returned your friend, Skratch." "It was a spiteful joke to take him," retorted Lapinette. Now Tibbar laughed. "You used violence to get him back." His smile was a sneer. "So you are just the same as me." The Wabbit stood his ground. "Hardly," he said. "You look a little dead to me." He tore up his print and scattered the fragments over the balcony. Lapinette followed suit. Tibbar raged in pain. He gathered the remaining fragments and clutched them to his chest. He howled long and hard. Then Tibbar and the fragments and the camera vanished as if they had never been. Lapinette stared at the Wabbit. "How did you know? I've never heard of Tibbar." "It was a lucky guess," said the Wabbit.
[Tibbar: Anonym of rabbit. The letters are reversed.]

9. The Wabbit and Speed of Change

The Wabbit blew up the print to nearly full size and pinned it on a wall. Lapinette put the Wabbit's emergency camera on a tripod and framed the shot. "Just a jiffy!" said the Wabbit in an urgent voice. He rummaged frantically in his fur and took out a light meter. Then he held it aloft and waved it around. Lapinette sighed. "This shot is not for Vogue, Wabbit." But the Wabbit was adamant. "If this is going to work, it has to be accurate. What setting do you have?" "Automatic," murmured Lapinette. "No such thing," said the Wabbit and he reeled off some numbers. Lapinette poked the controls and smiled. Then she pressed the shutter release. "Click," said a voice. The Wabbit stared past Lapinette and directly at the Agent. He hadn't reckoned on an appearance that rapid. But there he was. "Never mistake appearance for reality, Commander," said the Agent of Rabit. The Agent was slightly translucent. Dark light shimmered from his fur and gave off a faint chemical smell. Lapinette blinked at the Wabbit and Wabbit blinked back. They waited silently. "Who am I?" said the Agent. The Wabbit's 28 teeth flashed in the curious light. "You're no more an Agent of Rabit, then I am." The figure pointed. "You didn't answer my question!" With lightning speed, Lapinette swivelled the camera - and pressed the shutter ...

8. The Wabbit and the Modified Agent

The Wabbit threw Skratch's paw across his shoulders and Lapinette did the same. The Wabbit grabbed the camera and they loped for the exit. Skratch's knees dragged along the walkway. His legs were rubber and his head was worse. He tried to miaow but it was a drawn out moo. Lapinette wore a worried frown. "Where's the bad guy?" she asked. "Inshide" slurred Skratch. But his head drooped and he slumped. The camera whirred and the electronic voice spoke. "Bad guy retained for conversion." The Wabbit shook his head. He hauled Skratch with speed and shouted at the camera, "I want everything back the way it was." "Recognising the wicked," whirred the camera. "Recomposing to good. Commencing modifications." The Wabbit could think of nothing that would halt it. Suddenly the flash fired and a red light blinked. From inside the camera, the Wabbit heard liquid sloshing and he noticed a chemical smell. A print floated out and the Wabbit let it fall. He could see it was the Agent of Rabbit, but the face was heavily blurred and he cursed silently. He wrinkled his nose and looked at Lapinette and hissed. "I wanted him in one piece." Lapinette seized the print. "Do you have another camera?" The Wabbit nodded. "I always have another camera." Lapinette grinned as they pulled Skratch to safety.  "Then I have an idea." The Wabbit's eyes flashed. "Blowup ..?"

7. Skratch and the Arrested Gaze

Skratch was framed and frozen. His mind wandered through apertures. He could see the Wabbit and Lapinette but his view was fragmented. They were talking in mirrored snatches. "Is he out?" said Lapinette. "Out and in" said the Wabbit. He noticed Lapinette had a gun. The Wabbit carried a hammer and it looked edgy. "Inside out," said the Wabbit. "Outside in," said Lapinette. Skratch thought hard and searched for an opening. "He can hear us," said the Wabbit. Skratch tried to shout but his miaow got lost in the fragments. The Wabbit was speaking. "He's stuck." Lapinette pointed her gun. "Sticky situation," she yelled. "It's a breakdown," shouted the Wabbit. "Breakdown, breakthrough," screamed Lapinette. Skratch watched the Wabbit's hammer. It twitched. Skratch looked hard at his paw and willed it to move. It was impossible. Layers bound him fast. Three cracks of an automatic rent the air and then everything shook. His paws flexed and his chest expanded and he yelled. "Give it all you got!" Strength flooded through his limbs and he bunched his paws and swung them just like the Wabbit's hammer. Glass crashed as he smashed his way free. He saw himself lying on the floor of a kitchen. The Wabbit was peering down at him and smiling and asking, "Did I get your good side?" They both seemed to fade. "Iris in," purred Skratch as he passed out.

[An iris shot is used in silent films. Iris in - a black circle closes to end a scene. Iris out opens a scene from black.]

6. Skratch in the Camera Bar

Skratch found himself inside the Wabon Converto. It had a bar and he seemed to have a beer. But the company was far from congenial. "You are the arch-enemy Skratch," snickered the Agent of Rabit, "we have lectures on you." Skratch gulped his beer, belched loudly and ignored the Agent. "I know you're something of an expert," said the Agent, "so am I the sign, the signifier or the signified?" Skratch swivelled his ears. He could hear a mechanical whine - a bit like a winder. "You're only a cypher," he muttered, "no more, no less." The Agent smiled. "We seem to be stuck here, so I have time to eliminate you." Skratch looked the other way. He could see reflections in a glass screen but there was something else. Something was spinning in tune with the winder and it was coming fast. "You're so strong, Agent of Rabit," miaowed Skratch. It was a seductive miaow and he knew how to use it. "The Agent puffed out his chest. " I is the strongiest." Skratch stood and dangled a shapely leg. "I'll bet I couldn't push you over," he miaowed. "Try me," said the Agent of Rabit. Skratch put a foot against the Agent's stomach. and shoved gently. The winder shrieked. An object crashed through the screen and rocketed towards them. "What's that?" asked the Agent. Skratch suddenly punted against the Agent with all his might and shot towards the glass. The object grazed his nose but he arched and batted it at the Agent. He heard a sickening thud. Now Skratch could only see glass. Hundreds, maybe thousands of wafer thin elements. Skratch butted through them ...

5. The Wabbit and the Bench Job

Lapinette and the Wabbit hauled the camera to one of the kitchens. It was the closest they could get to a bench and they set the camera down. Lapinette was hopping mad and she pulled an automatic. "You modified the camera, Wabbit," she yelled. "This is all your fault!" The Wabbit shrugged in an apologetic kind of way. Then he delved in his fur and took out a hammer. "I'm afraid the project is still in its infancy." "So are you!"  shouted Lapinette. She swung her automatic towards the camera. The Wabbit moved slightly out of the way. "Now look, Camera," hissed Lapinette. "We want Skratch the Cat back this instant." But the camera was still. The Wabbit lifted his hammer and the camera whirred a little. "You talkin' to me? snarled the Wabbit. "'Cos I'm talkin' to you. And I got all day, I got all year, I got to the end of time." The Wabbit heard the automatic make a snicky-snacky sound and he tapped the camera none too lightly with his hammer. A sultry electronic voice issued from a tiny speaker. "Rewinding. Please wait." The sound of a winder stung the air for a considerable period. Then it stopped with a click. The voice spoke again.  "Reconstruction underway. Composing subjects, compensating, recomposing. Please wait a few seconds." "Just give us the cat!" yelled Lapinette. She waved her gun. Then she heard three beeps. "Battery failure immanent," said the camera ...

4. The Wabbit and the Cat Conversion

"We've got to sort out this Brownie," said Lapinette. The Wabbit grabbed the camera and made for the escalator. "It's a bench job!" He shook his head in anxious anticipation and kept out of the way of the camera lens. "I don't want to end up in a box."  Lapinette saw what looked like a red reflection. "There's Skratch!" she said with relief in her voice. "He can help!" Skratch the Cat smiled as he rumbled up the elevator. "New camera, Wabbit? Come on, do me a portrait." "No!" yelled the Wabbit in horror. "It's not working." But just at that moment the camera wriggled from his grasp. The shutter snapped and the flash blazed. For a moment nothing happened. "Aha," laughed Skratch. "It's an old fashioned camera. When do I see my picture?" The Wabbit grabbed at the camera. "You'll have to wait." Skratch laughed again. "Someday, my prints will come." But Lapinette was yelling and pointing - and the Wabbit followed her gaze. Behind the glass screen, a lurid comic strip version of Skratch faded into view. He was waving just like Skratch and his mouth was saying something inaudible. Then he dissolved into nothing. Lapinette looked at the Skratch on the escalator. He too was fading fast and before long the escalator was empty. "Skratch will come back," hoped the Wabbit, crossing his paws. Lapinette looked at the Wabbit with big eyes. "Can you fix it?" The Wabbit looked back. "We'll wait and see what develops ..."

3. The Wabbit and the Lost Enemy

The Wabbit dived to the ground floor and tried to grab the camera in case there was danger. But Lapinette had already positioned it for a selfie and her paw was on the shutter release. "No!" yelled the Wabbit. Now they both had the camera. They wrestled it back and forth but to no avail. It panned around as if it was hunting for an image. Then it stopped and sounded a warning like a factory siren. The shutter fired and the flash blazed. "Ooooh," said the Wabbit, blinking. "Aaagh," said Lapinette rubbing her eyes. Just as before, the camera whirred, gurgled and sloshed. Then as it clicked, a print floated down and the Wabbit grabbed the bottom corner. "What the Binky?" he murmured. Lapinette blinked and strained to see. An arch enemy, a hated Agent of Rabit, glared directly from the image. The Wabbit turned to check where he really was - and caught sight of an Agent who speedily faded into thin air. "Oh look," said Lapinette. "Now the Agent is disappearing from the photo too." The Wabbit shrugged. "He should come back in a second." He glanced behind once more, then back to the photo. But both Agent and image had gone. They waited some time and had several coffees, but nothing reappeared. The Wabbit suddenly seized the camera, took a picture of himself and passed the print to Lapinette. His image disappeared then reappeared. Lapinette did the same. "OK," said the Wabbit and pinched himself to make sure he was still around. "So where's the bad guy gone?" They stared at the camera ...

2. The Wabbit and the Unstable Image

The Wabbit took the camera to a nearby restaurant to examine it in the light. In the cosy company of his fellow diners, he looked it up and down. He pressed every switch and turned every knob. He took the battery out, scraped the terminals and put it back. Finally he whacked the camera on his table. But no matter what he tried, nothing happened. "Oh." said the Wabbit. He made a sound between his 28 teeth that was partly annoyance but mostly disappointment. Just as he'd given up, he heard familiar footsteps and knew it was Lapinette. So he looked over the rail and called down. "I'm up here in the carrot section!" Lapinette looked up and waved. It was a formidable restaurant, world famous for its slow-cooked carrots - and they both met there with monotonous regularity. At that moment the camera whirred, jumped and span out over the rail. Its lens cover popped open and the flash went off, just like the first time. The Wabbit blinked. Now all he could see was a glaring white rectangle. The camera made the same sloshing sound as before, then it gurgled, clicked and ejected a snapshot. The Wabbit made a swipe and grabbed it. There was Lapinette staring out of the photo. Suddenly her image vanished as if it had never been there. The Wabbit rubbed the print with a paw. It was a little damp and smelled of bleach. The Wabbit puzzled as he watched Lapinette's image gradually fade back into the picture but he could hear Lapinette yelling. "Wabbit! Wabbit!"  She was waving something she'd caught in her paw. "Wabbit, you dropped your camera ..!"

1. The Wabbit and the Photo Converto

The Wabbit was on his way home but when he noticed the carousel, he felt like taking a photo. The Wabbit was seldom ready for such an opportunity. Nevertheless, he delved into his fur and salvaged an old camera he'd modified. Although it had never been successful, he'd kept it just the same and with a smile he switched it on. To his surprise, it stirred and whirred into action. The Wabbit regarded the camera with suspicion since it had never ever worked before. He looked quizzically down the lens. Suddenly the flash discharged with a blinding light. "Aasaagh," blinked the Wabbit. His eyes were yellower than the yolks of a dozen eggs. The Wabbit looked to see what the camera had done. But he couldn't find a thing. Suddenly there was a sloshing sound and a chemical smell. Then three clicks. A print popped out from the camera's rear cover and floated down to the wet cobbles. "Some kind of selfie!" chortled the Wabbit. His humour was short lived. The photograph changed to sepia, then negative. For three seconds it polarised and solarised. Rain soaked into the paper. He watched his image momentarily disappear from the picture, and instantly return. The Wabbit searched frantically in his fur for tweezers. With enormous care he gripped the snapshot by a corner and dropped it into a plastic bag. "There more to this than meets the eye," he murmured ...

The Wabbit and his Adventure Caffè

The Wabbit was late. It was a new caffè and he just couldn't find it. Wabsworth ushered him in. "We're in the back room, everything's laid out." Skratch the Cat waved his cat letters. "They fell off in the night!" Lapinette beckoned for a waiter to bring glue and pinned a flower behind her ear. "What was that for a sort of adventure, I really can't recall." Wabsworth was ready. "It was an oneiric adventure." The Wabbit nodded his head, swayed his ears and looked directly at Skratch. "Oneirics is your territory, feline one." Lapinette butted in. "One of us had a nightmare, because they felt they could not accomplish a task." She stared at the Wabbit but spoke to Wabsworth. "You don't dream of course, being an android." Wabsworth shuffled his feet. "I ... am able to create a trance-like episode that is dream proximal." He threw a meaningful glance at the Wabbit and got one back. Now Skratch became impatient. "A dream in a film moves the protagonists across suppressed or hidden boundaries." Lapinette said, "Ah." She tucked her legs under the bar stool and looked slowly around. At last her gaze fell on the Wabbit, "Sleeping well, Wabbit?" The Wabbit wore a deadpan expression. "Like a dog." His attempt at a diversion went nowhere. Lapinette's gaze kept travelling and settled on Wabsworth. "It's you. You tried to help the Wabbit sleep, by successful-ising his dreams." "If only I could," sighed Wabsworth. He laughed quietly to himself. "That would be a dream come true ..."
[Oneiric: pertaining to dreams]

9. The Wabbit's Door of Perception

Wabsworth watched the Wabbit materialise in the cemetery. The full code notebook was tucked into his fur and, on his head, Jenny's pirate hat took the show. Wabsworth was the Wabbit's android double so he knew pretty much all there was to know about the Wabbit. So he spoke quietly. "What can you see, Commander?" The Wabbit's gaze couldn't let the object go but he managed a shrug. "Perfection." Wabsworth waited some time. He watched a leaf glide lazily past the Wabbit's head and heard him suddenly speak. "This is your dream, isn't it, Wabsworth?" Wabsworth nodded and shuffled his feet. The Wabbit stared again because he could see everything that had ever been and everything that was to come. He smiled. "I guess what I'm seeing is real enough." Wabsworth smiled too. "The cemetery, the writers, the code, the ghosts and indeed this mission are also real." The Wabbit didn't ask why, because he didn't need to. "What about the green door?" Now Wabsworth emerged from behind the gravestone. "That's your door, not mine. What kind of door was it?" The Wabbit thought hard. "A door that looked as if it shouldn't be there." Wabsworth chortled. "That sounds like your kind of door." "The other side of the green door must be here," said the Wabbit. "I want to look for it." He removed the hat with relief. Wabsworth sighed long and hard. "I'll help you," he said, "but we won't find it." The Wabbit sat down in the sun for a nap. "It was passable so it's possible." Wabsworth heard the Wabbit snoring. It was time to hop quietly away.

8. The Wabbit and his Point of View

The hat span towards the Wabbit and the Wabbit watched it spin. But everything moved slowly. Skratch's three heads were shouting. "Catch the hat." Energy from the blue blast coursed through his body and the Wabbit's fur felt electric. Somewhere to his right, Jenny covered groans with curses. He slowly held up a paw and looked at it. It pulsed with a cold blue light. Time stopped. The Wabbit wondered whether he could start it again and flexed his paw to see what would happen. The hat started to spin slowly and Jenny's curses sounded like they needed new batteries. The Wabbit flexed his paw twice. The hat froze. All was silent. Ghosts eddied around him but they couldn't touch him. Again the Wabbit flexed his paw and now the hat was coming at him fast. Skratch's voice was a high pitched wail. "Your piece of the code! Put it in the hat." But the hat flashed past the Wabbit's head. Jenny caught it and flung it at the Wabbit. The Wabbit grabbed. Suddenly he had the hat, but it was as slippery as a wet bar of soap and it wriggled away. The Wabbit held up his paw and its glow bathed the hat in blue light. The hat flopped lifelessly to the deck. Jenny was calling. "Put on the hat, Wabbit." The Wabbit stooped and picked it up. He tucked his piece of the code into the lining with the others. Then he carefully placed the hat on his head ...

7. Skratch and the Three Head Leap

Skratch the Cat was used to heights, but he didn't appreciate any help. He went with the blast anyway and wrapped a sinewy limb around a rope. Then he swayed to and fro and took in the view. Jenny had vanished down a ladder and he'd lost sight of the Wabbit. Eddies of air snaked towards him and tore at his fur like piranhas. One by one his cat lettering plunged deckwards and even though he kicked and clawed, he could do nothing to stop his piece of the code escaping his grip. "Pesky ghosts!" hissed Skratch. It was a bit of luck that it fluttered past one of his two extra heads. A single cat snap rescued the code. Skratch purred gently but it was a moment's luxury. He let go of the rope and in free fall, dodged the ghostly eddies and took back the code. His other head was gazing at something and through its eyes, Skratch saw the Wabbit in the midst of a blue blast. They looked one and the same. Skratch caught a rope and paused for a moment and thought, "Who's dream is in charge?" A voice seemed to speak. "Only the Wabbit has nightmares like this." Now he could see Jenny in a corner of the half deck. The strange air was around her like a swarm of bees and he heard Jenny curse as they ripped her hat from her grasp. Skratch's heads spat as one. He let go of the rope and with a single leap, pounced onto the lower deck. Ninety feline teeth snicked as they fastened on Jenny's hat ...

6. Jenny and the Ghostly Blast

The blast took them by surprise. It was all the more sudden since it arrived without warning of sound. But the shock wave sent Jenny spiralling down into the ship and she cursed as her automatic and her hook clattered down the ladder. Then she caught sight of the Wabbit's reflection. He was sailing through the air in an elegant trajectory and appeared to be coping. Jenny looked away and back. Skratch was waving and yelling something about the code but she couldn't quite make it out. Then she felt something tugging at her coat. Whatever it was, the thing grabbed her hat and threw it at the bulkhead - so she tried to bat it away. "No-one touches my hat!" she yelled. There was nothing to be seen. Just a disturbance in the air like heat on a tarmac road. But it was there all right, grasping and groping Jenny with invisible fingers. "You scurvy, jelly-boned apology for a piece of a ghost!" shouted Jenny. The spectre replied by trying to detach her boots. Jenny kicked it to no avail and looked up again. Now she saw the Wabbit waving and pointing and she realised what it was. She reached into one of the many coat pockets and touched her part of the codex with a paw. The spectral claws loosened. Then she heard a drawn out sound like the dying gurgle of a drowning pirate. The thing seemed to draw back and she was free to tumble. Jenny hit the deck and rolled into a corner and mumbled to herself. "I'm in one of the Wabbit's nightmares ..."

5. The Wabbit and the Dream Ship

Skratch watched the Wabbit thrust the page into his fur - but was unprepared for what happened next. The ground was swaying, but not the same ground. These were the planks of a sail ship. Skratch watched the Wabbit carefully because he seemed nonplussed. He let his two extra cat heads float off for an extra look around. Wood groaned and canvas flapped but under all that noise, Jenny's voice was unmistakable. "I'll have no interlopers in my dreams." Skratch saw the Wabbit pull the codex page from his fur. "This is no ordinary dream, Jenny." From behind Jenny's back, a snick of a safety catch echoed along the deck,  "I can't be sure you're the Wabbit." Skratch smiled as the Wabbit shrugged. "OK. You are the Wabbit," snapped Jenny, "I didn't see you salute the ensign." "We're all in a dream," said the Wabbit. "Tell me about it," sighed Jenny. "Thieves took a secret code," hissed the Wabbit. "We have the missing page." A sudden impact rocked the craft and Jenny's voice barked commands. "Battle stations! Prepare to repel boarders." The Wabbit turned to look. "What ships' armaments do we have?" It was Jenny's turn to shrug. "Broadside cannons." Skratch knew the Wabbit had hoped for more but heard him speak clearly. "Let them think we're stupid." Another violent blow shook the hull. Jenny bellowed. "Give them a volley. Aim too high." Waves rocked the ship as cannonballs dropped aimlessly. The Wabbit tore the code in three, then gave Jenny and Skratch a piece each. "Now what?" asked Jenny. "We wait," shrugged the Wabbit.

4. The Wabbit and the Missing Page

Skratch took the Wabbit aside. At that moment, rays of light shot through the trees to paint dappled shadows on the Wabbit's ears. Skratch handed over a single page of an old manuscript. "With your permission, I'll tell the story." The Wabbit scrutinised the parchment and turned it over. "The occupants of the cemetery ..." Skratch had hardly begun when the Wabbit interrupted. "Spirits." Skratch nodded his heads. "These are rather famous spirits with lot of time at their disposal." He paused for effect, but the Wabbit didn't look up from the page, so he went on. "Writers and philosophers all, they collaborated on a codex that would open the Gates of Perception. "Most unwise," muttered the Wabbit and he flipped the page over again. "Eventually," meowed Skratch. "that's what they thought too. So they removed this vital page and hid it." Only now did the Wabbit look up. "When was the codex stolen?" Skratch thought the Wabbit far too sharp for his own good and placed a cautionary paw across his shoulder. "Stolen last week." he sighed. The Wabbit shrugged annoyingly. "The Codex is worthless without this page." He shrugged again. "So whoever took it will be back." "And they'll be looking for that page," said Skratch, "... which is now yours." At last the Wabbit's 28 teeth assembled into a grin. He rolled up the page and shoved it deep into his fur. "First they have to find us ..."

3. Skratch and the Astral Plane

The voice came from the old graveyard. Tombs lay in dense undergrowth and they ventured in. Skratch hovered slightly above the ground and seemed quite content. "I'm on the astral plane," he purred. "I did not summon you." The Wabbit felt slightly vexed. "You're dreaming," he with a shortness that surprised Lapinette. "No, I was meditating," meowed Skratch, "and now I'm in touch with everyone in this cemetery." Lapinette butted in. "Why have you got three heads?" Skratch nodded them all. "I met Cerberus and we got chatting about heads and numbers." The Wabbit became impatient. "Why are we here?" Skratch's left head nodded. "You, Wabbit have to perform a task." The Wabbit shook his head vigorously. (He had only one and felt it quite enough.) "Who says?" he snapped. Skratch's three heads bobbed. "The occupants of the graveyard." The Wabbit scowled.  "I have enough managers," he said. "Let them talk to the Department." "Skratch's heads meowed all at the same time. "I'm afraid they insist on you, Wabbit." "And what if I remain untasked?" asked the Wabbit. Skratch hissed three times. "Then I'm afraid we all remain here." The Wabbit thought hard and his nose twitched. "What about you, Wabsworth?" Wabsworth groaned. "I don't think I can cope with a three headed Skratch for long." "OK," said the Wabbit. "You Lapinette?" "Let's see what they want," smiled Lapinette and she waved at Skratch's heads. The Wabbit shrugged. "Maybe three heads are better than one ..."

2. The Wabbit and the Sadness of War

Wabsworth and the Wabbit followed the soft haunting voice. "It's Lapinette! said Wabsworth. "What is that song?" "Shhh," said the Wabbit. They listened. Wabsworth touched the Wabbit gently. "La Locomotiva," said the Wabbit finally. He looked up and down the rows of anonymous graves and with a sad shake of his head, he murmured, "the flowers of the forest are a weed awa'." Wabsworth decided to stay quiet but he studied the scene. Then he spoke. "Are we are in Lapinette's dream - or is she in ours?" The Wabbit was entirely uncertain. "Should we disturb her?" whispered Wabsworth. The sun filtered through the trees and shadows sharpened. Suddenly Lapinette turned. "How did you get here?" "You're dreaming," said the Wabbit. Lapinette scrutinised them both from head to toe. "You look real enough to me." The Wabbit smiled pleasantly. "Look at your paws." Lapinette gazed down. She could see through them, so she reached out and gingerly touched a gravestone. Her paw passed through it as if it was air. But the more she stared, the more substantial her paws became. Eventually she was solid. The Wabbit sighed with relief and explained. "I came though a green door into Wabsworth's dream routine." Lapinette was pleased to be opaque and became chirpy. "Is it possible we're in a collective dream?" "A collective dream is a movie," said a grave voice ...
[La Locomotiva: revolutionary song about a train driver by Francesco Guccini
Flowers of the Forest: Ancient Scottish bagpipe tune commemorating the Battle of Flodden]

1. The Wabbit behind the Green Door

Wabsworth, the Wabbit's android double, was dreaming for the very first time and found himself hopping in a quiet graveyard. He felt a peace he had never experienced and was smiling to himself, when he heard the crunch of gravel. "Wabbit!" sighed Wabsworth. "What on earth are you doing here?" The Wabbit materialised and waved tentatively. "I'm afraid I broke in." He noticed Wabsworth's quizzical look and shrugged. "I broke in through the green door." A few translucent leaves fell. "You're in my dream," said Wabsworth, "and my dream doesn't have a green door." The Wabbit shook his head and held up a paw. "I scraped my paw and it's green and it hurts. So this can't be your dream." "I didn't dream a green door," insisted Wabsworth. The Wabbit ignored this and looked around at names on gravestones. Some of them he knew had passed on and he felt sorry. Then he spotted a few who hadn't but he rather wished they had. The Wabbit puzzled a bit then addressed Wabsworth. "I came through a door from the street." Wabsworth rummaged under his fur to switch off his dream. But nothing happened. Wabsworth's teeth set rigid. The Wabbit took pity. "Well since we're here, we'll have a look around." Wabsworth's face lit up. "It's well tended, maybe there's a caretaker." The sound of footsteps on gravel broke the silence and the Wabbit grabbed Wabsworth's shoulder. "We'll take cover and watch." Then they heard a familiar voice ...

The Wabbit and Boredom

The Wabbit hunched in front of his favourite door. The sign said it was a school, but he had never seen anyone go in or out. So if he was bored he would stand in the street and wonder about it. "What's really behind the green door?" he thought. This kept him occupied for a full five minutes until he got restless. He stomped his feet a little. The Wabbit was between missions, a place he didn't like to be. He preferred to be in the thick of things, not the thin of things. No creature he knew got as bored as he. They all went on vacation or pursued a favourite hobby. Wabsworth his android double liked to bathe in a spa in the hills and return smelling of sulphur. Lapinette went to the furdressers and it took all day, sometimes two. Skratch the Cat attended week long movie marathons and emerged blinking through rectangular eyes. That wasn't to say the Wabbit hadn't tried. He'd taken up several pastimes, few of which had been successful. His jigsaws always missed a vital piece which he later found clinging to his fur. In an attempt at a giant collage, he found himself permanently glued to a table. His sallies into motor sport did, however, meet with success. But they were usually marred by some incident. In a cross country motorcycle trial he was well ahead but pitched into a hole with his scrambler on top of him. There he remained for some time until spotted. The Wabbit thought and thought and thought. Then it came to him in a flash. "Thinking is a hobby!"

The Wabbit's Adventure Caffè

"Here it is!" Lapinette was delighted with her new find. The Wabbit grinned a lopsided grin. "But there's Wabsworth in your new caffè." Lapinette sighed. "You can't keep anything a secret," A red reflection glistened momentarily in the wet street and a loud purr announced Skratch the Cat. "What a pleasant surprise!" he meowed, "I was going to visit the cats of Rome. But I can do that tomorrow." The Wabbit gestured for prosecco and tramezzini all round. Wabsworth rose for Lapinette to take a seat and turned to Skratch. "What was that for a kind of adventure?" Skratch warmed his paws. "I've been thinking about it," he purred. "It was a reconstructivist post modernism, which transcended iconic representation." Lapinette hid a smirk and sat down.  "Archetypal revisioning," she said firmly. Now the Wabbit sat down and shrugged.  "I thought it was about movies." "Quite right," said Wabsworth, "a post-ecodical trauma unfolded." "With us in it," smiled Skratch. "Can you dig it?" repeated the Wabbit. "Diggin' dystopia?" laughed Lapinette. "Sounds like a possible musical," murmured Skratch and he made a note in his fur. The Wabbit's tummy rumbled loudly so Lapinette handed him a sandwich. "Thanks," said the Wabbit, rubbing his stomach. "I seem to have to have a touch of dystopia."
[tramezzino: a triangular sandwich in Italy, From tra (between) and mezzo (middle)]

9. The Wabbit and the Homeward Run

"We're back!" said Lapinette,"we're safe." She glanced at the ragged edge of her frock, then looked up. Quantum the Train flashed across the sky and was gone. Skratch laughed in a sardonic way. "We went through all that - to end up here?" Wabsworth thrust a paw into damp fur. "I like travelling." The Wabbit stood in the drizzle and let the rain wash his fur. It felt good. A normal moon peered through a normal sky. Skratch stretched tall.  He shook water from his coat and thrust out his chest. Lapinette skiffed a foot through the puddles. "What about the Blood Collectors?" "They're real gone," said Skratch, "so adios." Wabsworth laughed. "Can you dig it?" The rain got heavier but no-one moved. They all stood still and got wet. "I dig the rain," said the Wabbit. "That's our bridge," said Lapinette. Skratch boxed with his paws. "This - is our turf." Wabsworth thought for a minute and his circuits whirred. "There's always another gang, isn't there?" Lapinette looked at the Wabbit and waited. "What we have, we hold," said the Wabbit. He looked up at the normal moon and it seemed to speak. "Welcome back, Wabbit. You saved your planet." They screwed up their eyes and looked for a face in the moon, but they could only see craters. "Have a nice day," said the normal moon, Then it vanished. The rain stopped. The sky became lighter. They looked at each other and suddenly a giant smile lit up the Wabbit's face. "Now let's go home," he said gently.

8. The Wabbit and the Big Roll

Hotly pursued by Lapinette and the Wabbit, the canisters sped towards a deserted industrial zone. Blood Collectors gathered under a sinister moon and they were right in the way. "I can't stop the cans," cried Lapinette. The Wabbit would have shrugged but he was too busy keeping pace. "Let's give them some help," he yelled. Lapinette launched a powerful left foot at the nearest canister and struck it a mighty blow, The Wabbit knew the power of that foot. So he swung his paws three times and whacked the other canister dead centre. "Here's the blood we promised!" Lapinette put her paws to her lips and let out a blood curdling warble. A piercing whistle from the Wabbit split the air in two. As the canisters picked up extra speed, they bounced and slewed in an unpredictable fashion. Some Blood Collectors slithered to the side, But the cans crushed others like raspberry pies and left a trail of lumpy blood along the concrete. Lapinette wrinkled her nose. The stench was appalling and vapour spattered everywhere like bloody smog. The canisters crashed to a halt. Blood Collectors fell on them with abandon but the containers vibrated with staccato rattling and began to bulge. "They're gonna blow!" shouted the Wabbit. "I'm out of here!" yelled Lapinette. Now the noise was like two competing drum rolls and the canisters were twice their original size. As Lapinette and the Wabbit loped away they glanced up at a pale moon. "Can you see a face?" shouted Lapinette. The Wabbit's 28 teeth gleamed as two explosions lit the sickly night. "Everyone can!"

7. The Wabbit and the Runaway Barrel

Lightning lit a red sky and cracked buildings. But there was no thunder. All they could hear was rumbling and a strange sound from inside the cylinders. The Wabbit and Lapinette rolled the containers back to the team to tempt the Blood Collectors. But the sound from inside got louder and louder and the containers started to twitch,  "I can't hold it," yelled the Wabbit. "Neither can I," shouted Lapinette. The Wabbit's paws slithered on the metal surface and his feet left the ground. Lapinette was stuck to her container and span with it as it rolled.  In the distance he could hear Wabsworth and Skratch screaming, "Let go, let go!" But he couldn't. The cylinders rolled faster and the Wabbit and Lapinette rolled with them. Lapinette winced every time she scraped the metal floor of the bridge. The Wabbit screamed blue murder as if he was dying, "I'm losing all my fur," he yelled. Lapinette knew the Wabbit was inclined to exaggerate, but her frock was torn and would have to go to the cleaners. Just for a second the Wabbit's container veered to the side and slowed. The Wabbit sighed with relief, Then it shot forward with enormous speed and Lapinette's container followed suit. The containers were no longer spinning but gliding as if they knew where they were going. They both felt the grip loosen and made plans to jump. The Wabbit pulled his tummy in. "Just roll!" he shouted. Lapinette was already tumbling through the air so the Wabbit launched himself backwards. He hit the ground with his head and bent his ears to the side. But suddenly he was on his feet, running and bellowing, "Follow these cans!"

6. The Wabbit & the Quantum Aurora

The lightning stopped and the sky changed. A solar wind sent Quantum the Time Travelling Train spiralling to a nearby railway bridge and the Blood Collectors turned tail and ran. Electron particles swept the red moon like a make up brush. Loops of cobalt and vermilion arched across the heavens. The Wabbit shook his head and laughed. "You don't see that every day." "Commander," shouted Jenny from the cab. "This was the only way we could land." The bridge shuddered in the gale. Mo and To, the Punk Snails, pushed blue canisters of snail blood towards them. "Our true blue blood," drawled Mo. "With sea salt and baking soda," yelled To. "A blood transfusion!" jeered Mo. "For confusion!" sneered To. The solar wind whistled across the bridge with fury and the canisters rocked as if they were alive. The Wabbit's fur prickled. Lapinette shivered. "Is there enough?" asked the Wabbit. "Oh, you don't need much," said Mo. The Wabbit didn't ask what it did. They heard Quantum's engines surge into life. "Can't stay long," shouted Jenny, "we used a lot of fuel to make this storm." Mo and To slithered back on board. A sudden flash lit the bridge and Quantum vanished into a turbulent sky. The wind dropped but the blue canisters shifted uneasily. Lapinette stared up. A blood red moon peered through the storm. "Better get moving," she murmured. "Let's rock and roll," shrugged the Wabbit.

5. The Wabbit and the Bridge Too Far

The Wabbit knew they had to meet the creatures and he had a feeling it might be on the bridge. Quantum the Train was on the other side and could come no further. Anyway, a confrontation was inevitable. It was only a matter of where and when. Wabsworth blocked the bridge with the truck and and the team got out. Lapinette waved two automatics. "Who goes there?" she shouted. "State your business," yelled the Wabbit. "Speak or we fire!" shouted Wabsworth and he pointed his snazer. The creatures did not speak, but blood oozed along the asphalt and towards the team. The smell was overpowering and the sound was worse. It swirled and bubbled and made a slithering oily sound like molten molasses. The Wabbit was uncertain but he didn't show it. He raised his snazer gun and pointed at the leader. "Aim for their brains!" shouted Wabsworth. "Do they have brains?" sneered Lapinette. "Kill the brain and you kill the ghoul," hissed Skratch the Cat. The blood stopped dead and lapped backwards like a wave. The Wabbit hopped forward, put a foot in the blood and drew a crimson line along the bridge. "Talk," he said calmly "Talk or we'll finish you." An angry roar echoed from the iron struts. "Give us your blood!" The Wabbit turned his back on the creatures and winked at his team. "How much do we have in the truck?" "Litres and litres, Best royal blood from Kensington." smirked Lapinette. "Blue blood," laughed Skratch. A murmur of excitement came from the creatures. The Wabbit turned back and spoke sharply  "What do we get in return?" "You may pass freely," said the leader. "Then queue along the line," smiled the Wabbit, "and prepare for a treat ..."

4. The Wabbit and the Rain Truck

The Wabbit and Lapinette started to run, but the sky darkened. Lashing rain soaked their fur and it was hard to keep going. Every hop was an effort and the rain drove them back. It had little effect on the creatures. Whatever they were, they had speed and they were gaining. They squelched rapidly on a layer of blood that they laid down themselves and now the Wabbit could hear them. The sound was between a gurgling and a whistle. "Blood collectors," muttered the Wabbit. "What?" yelled Lapinette. "They're collectors!" shouted the Wabbit. "Debt collectors?" screamed Lapinette. The Wabbit shook his head but the rain was hard and it hurt his face. "Maybe!" he yelled. From the corner of her eye, Lapinette caught a reflection in the lake. It got bigger and she shielded her eyes with her paws. Looking up was a strain but she gradually turned. "Reinforcements!" she shouted. "Good idea," yelled the Wabbit. "Any ideas?" But now he too could see the reflection and it was something familiar. Beneath a giant parachute, Lapinette's truck swayed alarmingly in the gale. Two figures inside gripped what they could as the wind swept them close to the big shed. "Transport!" shouted Lapinette. She grabbed the Wabbit's paw and waded through shallow water in the direction of the shed. Hail the size of golf balls bounced from the Wabbit's head as he watched the truck hit the ground on its front wheels. With a shattering of glass, it bounced twice, spun three times and stopped. Skratch's paws pushed broken glass away from the shattered windscreen, "Inside!" The engine roared and they were gone ...

3. The Wabbit and the Deserted City

The Wabbit and Lapinette picked their way through the ruins of a Deserted City. It looked familiar but wasn't quite right. Things were in the wrong place and a smell of decay was everywhere. Quantum the Train burst through the clouds. He hung but didn't land. The Wabbit nodded and watched Lapinette search. She pushed a red canister with her foot, then scowled as it spilled. Blood gushed and rapidly congealed on the dirty paving. The Wabbit's eyes drifted to movement on the far side of the square. "Lapinette?" he whispered. Lapinette studied the canister and murmured automatically. "Just a moment Wabbit." The Wabbit's voice was low and icy calm. "Come over here for a second and don't look round." Lapinette hopped to the Wabbit but her eyes swivelled slightly. On the edge of her vision she saw them. Her fur stood on end but she too was icy calm. She effected a nonchalant air of studied ignorance and hummed. "Tra la la, la lah." The Wabbit smiled inanely. "I'm going to hop backwards and pretend to take a photograph of you." "Oh yes let's!" said Lapinette with loud delight. "We'll share it with to all our friends." The movement at the far end of the square stopped. "I love being a tourist with no serious interest in anything much," boomed the Wabbit. Lapinette simpered breathlessly. "Did you bring a map? I've hardly the slightest clue where we are." The Wabbit pretended to look at a map but he saw a cloud of vapour hiss from Quantum's cab. It fell rapidly towards the beings at the end of the square. The Wabbit waved his map and turned. "If we don't make tracks, we might miss our train." "Run!" yelled Lapinette ...

2. The Wabbit and the Steady Drip

They travelled inland - but everything they found was either ruined or abandoned or both. The Wabbit looked through the shattered roof of a warehouse. "That moon changed." Lapinette stared long and hard. "It can't be the same moon, unless the one we're on is spinning fast." Something dropped close to the Wabbit's ear. It landed with a splat followed by another, then another. The Wabbit stretched out a paw. This time there was no splat - more of a squelch. It was merely an interruption in the steady drip from the girders. Lapinette held out a paw and heard another squelch. She looked closely as a crimson stain spread across her fur. "More blood," said the Wabbit. His 28 teeth flashed in whatever light there was. Beyond the girders was pitch black and the more they stared, the blacker it seemed. "I can't see where it's coming from," murmured the Wabbit. "Or what," added Lapinette. The Wabbit gulped. "It's like the building is bleeding." Lapinette smiled a wan smile. "Buildings don't generally bleed." The Wabbit's teeth flashed again. "This one does." The blood made pools on what was left of the concrete floor. Then it spread and thickened. The Wabbit sniffed it. "Same smell as the sea." "Shhh," hushed Lapinette, "I can hear something." They listened. "A craft is coming out of slipstream drive," grinned the Wabbit. Lapinette smiled and frowned at the same instant. "I don't think it's safe for Quantum to land. We don't know what we're up against." The Wabbit thought quickly. "Let's get into the open, where the team can see us." Lapinette wiped her fur clean and hopped forward. "Something's out for blood." The Wabbit did the same. "Let's make sure it's not ours."

1. The Wabbit on the Blood Moon

Quantum the Train found himself drawn to the surface of the blood moon and there was nothing else to do but land. Lapinette and the Wabbit hopped out to investigate. But they'd only set paws on the moon when Quantum shuddered into slipstream drive and took off. The Wabbit shrugged and sighed. "They'll have to cope on their own." Waves crashed lazily on the beach. "We're marooned, Wabbit," said Lapinette. "We have each other," grinned the Wabbit as he waded in the shallows of the scarlet sea. It was even hotter on the moon's surface and Lapinette was irritable. "What about that moon? I didn't see that other moon." "Maybe it hid round the back," said the Wabbit. Lapinette stamped a foot and seaweed crackled and popped. "Round the back of what?" "Round the back of the moon we're on now," said the Wabbit. "Moons don't hide," said Lapinette. The Wabbit shrugged again and he put a paw into the sea and scooped some up. It was gloopy and sticky. He sniffed it. Lapinette watched closely. "That sea looks like blood." The Wabbit sniffed again then cleaned his paw on the sand. "Because it is blood." Lapinette sniffed too and made a face. It smelled like rusty iron - and another musty odour that reminded her of an old engine she could never get working. "There's a lot of it," grimaced Lapinette. "You can't make blood," said the Wabbit. "Something brought it here." Lapinette nodded gravely. "Something with blood on its paws ..."

The Wabbit at the Deep Space Caffè

Quantum the Train hung in the deepest corner of space he could find. It was the darkest, most desolate spot you could imagine. This part of the galaxy didn't get passing trade and the few travellers who had to go that way, hurried as fast as they could. The Wabbit stared at his reflection in the dining car table. Lapinette knew he was thinking and access was limited, maybe impossible. Wabsworth, his android double, tried hard to communicate - but the Wabbit's face was immobile. Wabsworth turned to Lapinette. "He might come up with something." Lapinette knew he would. They just had to wait - and they did. No-one noticed it at first. A blood moon slowly rose and sat in the darkness. There was no horizon, no planets and no asteroids. Just a red moon that had no right to be there. Suddenly the Wabbit spoke, startling both Wabsworth and Lapinette. "A blood moon comes with an eclipse." Wabsworth nodded and smiled. "Some say it's Armageddon." Lapinette had been thinking too. "What about Project A119?" Wabsworth searched his memory banks. "I have all the files." "But they were destroyed," said Lapinette. Wabsworth grinned. "That never really happens." The Wabbit waited patiently for Wabsworth to explain. "Three warheads were planted in moon craters, to be detonated to find water." "What then?" asked Lapinette." "They were detonated," said Wabsworth, "but instruments revealed nothing." "As if they were never there," breathed the Wabbit ...

9. The Wabbit and the Quantum Flyer

Quantum the Train met the team half way. "On the footplate. Now Commander!" bellowed Quantum. Quantum held some impossibly high rank at the Department - so the Wabbit and Wabsworth hopped quickly. Lapinette and Skratch herded blue snails on board. But Mo and To felt too punk to easily comply. To looked up and drawled. "I wanna be a choo choo driver!" "Choose that train!" yelled Mo. Now the heat was so intense that eggs could have fried on the station concourse. Lapinette's voice was urgent. "Shut the slither, snails! No time for jokes." "This train is bound for glory, this train," sang Mo and he shot forward. Soon they were all on board and Quantum's engines powered up with a menacing roar. "Quantum, what the binkie is happening?" asked the Wabbit, "It's the moon, maybe?" "Not exactly," said Quantum. Wabsworth pulled a lever and the engine shook into slipstream drive. The Wabbit heard what sounded like a Quantum chuckle. "Red moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie." "That ain't amore," sang the snails who were berthed in the dining car. "The moon is being used in a ghastly experiment," said Quantum. "Agents of Rabit?" asked Wabsworth. "An acronymic organisation like LUNAR?" suggested the Wabbit. "No one knows," said Quantum. Suddenly Lapinette's light hearted voice crackled from Wabsworth's walkie talkie. "The Nocturnal High Garrison of  Tribulation. NiGHT." The Wabbit was about to smile but another voice cut into Lapinette's transmission. "This is the voice of NiGHT. We can hear you, earth rabbits ..."

8. The Wabbit and the Snail Crossing

The Wabbit was adamant that they had to move on, so with an army of blue snails the team shifted through the Turin night. But when they came to the big bridge, it was damaged. There was nothing else but to ford the river and it didn't look fordable. Mo and To grinned. Then To tried a sneer. "We don't care about a broken bridge, we don't care about no river." His tone was whiny. "It's just a heap of mouldy bricks. It ain't so bleedin' clever." A curious whirring dented the heavy air as shells started to vibrate. The moon pulsed red. Layers of prickly heat settled on the city as one by one, blue snails lifted and flew across the river. Some snails preferred water and like paddle boats they propelled themselves through choppy waves with flapping shells. Mo and Lapinette landed first and slithered to a stop. The Wabbit braced for impact but To swooped and settled on a concrete ramp. "Where now, Wabbit?" Lapinette's voice warbled in the heat. The Wabbit stared at the moon. His radio suddenly crackled. "Wabbit, do you copy?" The Wabbit smiled. "I copy." He was relieved to hear that pirate voice. "Can you get to Officina di Riparazione?" said Jenny, "you have a train to catch." "We like trains," said To. "Catch 'em, board 'em, ride 'em!" yelled Mo. The Wabbit looked at Skratch and nodded. Skratch lifted a single paw high. "Head up, move out!" shouted the Wabbit. The snails gathered into an invincible rout and slithered as one ...

7. The Wabbit and the Snail Gang

"Turn off the lights," said the Wabbit. The lightbar flickered and died. As far as the eye could see, there were blue snails and they all whirred gently in the light of a red moon. "Police! Let's split," shouted a snail. "No, we can take them," shouted another. Skratch watched all this with interest. "What's a group of snails called?" The Wabbit lifted a paw. "A rout. Wait." A series of instructions rang out and the snails whirred to a halt. Two larger snails emerged from the rout and slithered to the car. "Commander!" The Wabbit's 28 teeth grinned ear to ear. "Mo and To!" shouted Lapinette. "We are ..." said Mo. Their antennae wiggled alarmingly. "... the Snail Gang," said To. It had been more than a year since the Wabbit heard from the MoTo Snails. The MoTo snails were punk snails with attitude. Retrofitted and high speed, they were formidable foes. "What's with that old devil moon?" drawled Mo. To whined punkily. "Is that your razzle dazzle, Wabbit?" The Wabbit spread his paws and shook his head. "It's got everyone freaked," said Mo, "that and the hairy heat." "We don't like it hot," said To. "Except for the car. It looks like it might be hot." Skratch waved a paw. "We temporarily removed it from its parking space." "That's cool," breathed To. But the rout whirred uneasily, then girders glowed as the blood moon pulsed. The Wabbit looked up. "Let's find cover." He paused and thought. "What time is it?" But no-one knew.

6. The Wabbit and Borrowed Wheels

Lapinette and the Wabbit were swept along in a cloud of blue light and burning rubber. Skratch hurtled down an alley way and he didn't intend to stop. "Wheels!" gasped the Wabbit. "Ferrari based engine, 600 HP," purred Skratch. "How?" asked Lapinette. "We borrowed it," shrugged Wabsworth. Tyres squealed as Skratch swerved into the street and headed across the city. "Go go go!" yelled Wabsworth. Skratch switched off the sirens but not the lightbar. Now the Wabbit could hear other sirens wail - but they were fading fast.  He quietly wondered how many lunches this would cost him. Lapinette dragged her legs through the window and sat up. "Take a left, then a right." Skratch had a choice of throttles. The Alfa stood on its rear wheels and pounced into the night. Signals meant nothing to Skratch and a variety of street furniture suffered. The Wabbit glanced out the rear window and watched trash cans dance across the street. Lapinette continued to give directions. The Wabbit had no clue where they were going but he said it anyway. "This is an unusual route." "No police," responded Lapinette. "Gangs" asked the Wabbit. "Tonight," said Lapinette, "the police is another gang." "Quite a big gang," hissed Wabsworth. His eyes were trained on a spot a long way off. "Is that the place?" Lapinette nodded. "Then we have more company," grimaced Wabsworth.

5. The Wabbit's Close Encounter

Lapinette raced frantically out the exit and into the waiting paws of the Wabbit. "You're early," panted Lapinette. "You're late," said the Wabbit. Lapinette shook her head and finally laughed. "How did you get here?" "I surfed the spit," said the Wabbit. "Fast was fine. I took off on a wave and popped out the other end." "Spit," whistled Lapinette. "I guess it was all in one bit!" She relaxed and glanced about. "Where are the others?" "Looking for wheels," said the Wabbit. The air was hot again and it wrapped round them like a prickly woolen blanket. Sirens wailed in the near distance. "I don't think we're popularity plus," sighed the Wabbit. "We got the blame for everything and anything." There's never a shortage of blame," giggled Lapinette. The Wabbit's paws felt capable and she snuggled a bit. "We have a way to go yet," said the Wabbit and he held her close. Sirens shrieked. "They're heading this way," muttered the Wabbit. "We'd better hide," smirked Lapinette. The Wabbit picked Lapinette up and hopped to a courtyard. Lapinette's ears twitched. "Which police is it?" The Wabbit was thinking the same thing - but then he made out a second siren. "We need to get ready to jump." "I'm not sure we have the time," smiled Lapinette. The Wabbit felt Lapinette's lips draw close. But a sudden screeching rent the night. Glass shattered somewhere. "Ready or not," grinned the Wabbit ...

4. The Wabbit and the Trail of Spits

Lapinette thought they'd got off light. The station looked deserted and they headed for the exit. But from the corner of her eye, Lapinette saw another gang. "Oh no, the Spits!" she thought. "I heard they were were all inside." They'd managed to corner the Wabbit and stood over him flapping their tongues and scoffing. "Rabbits. Ha Ha Ha," said one. The other spat a trail of ghastly gob and snorted heavily. Then he spat again. Lapinette kept running but she could hear the Wabbit talking and hoped no spit landed on the Wabbit's fur. His fur was real enough but it was interwoven with anti-matter and chemically volatile. She knew what might happen and ran faster. But her sharp ears heard the Wabbit winding them up and she knew the Spits were getting furious. With an enormous burst, one of them launched a long trail of phlegm that coiled through the air and landed splat on the Wabbit's fur. Lapinette ran even harder but she risked another glance back. One of her favourite games was Candy Crash and that was exactly what it looked like. The Wabbit's fur glowed red and there seemed to be more than one Wabbit. Then the Wabbit's fur threw modified spit to all corners - and everywhere it landed it exploded threefold. Lapinette was nearly at the top of the escalator. It occurred to her that the exit looked within spitting distance and she firmly pushed that thought away. She narrowly avoided exploding fountains of spit and dived through the exit. "Whatever's next on the street," she sighed, "it can't be as awful as this ..."

3. The Wabbit and the Three Fugues

They made good headway but the Fugues beat them to it. The Fugues were no pushover. Despite poor memories, Johnny, Wolfie and Luddy were as case hardened as they come. Wabsworth was the designated stooge and he hopped foppishly towards them. For their own part, the Wabbit and Lapinette were annoyingly distracting. The Fugues swung their thuggish weapons in various directions. "Our Turf!" they yelled. Wabsworth smiled sweetly. "We're The Wabbiors. We're passing peacefully through your turf. What's it called?" Johnny looked at writing on his cuff. "This is FugueVille. You're dead rabbits hopping." "We're not all rabbits," said Wasbworth cheerfully. Three metallic clicks echoed along the platform and back. "Snick. Snack. Snoo," meowed a feline voice. Johnny and Luddy stepped back. But not Wolfie, who brandished a hammer. "You caused the storm!" The Wabbit poked Luddy's cudgel in an investigative manner. "Nope," he murmured convincingly. "That was the Superga Hillbillies." Luddy checked his cuff and looked up and screamed. "I hate Hillbillies!" "So do we," smiled Lapinette. She patted Wolfie's hand and detached his hammer. "Just trying to get back to our turf," said Wabsworth, darting for the train. In the momentary confusion, Skratch the Cat took advantage and leaped out. Slashing claws carved the sign of a "W" in the stale subway air. "That's my train," he hissed. Then he jumped. The doors hissed shut and they were gone. The Fugues looked at each other blankly. "Something happened?" said Wolfie.

2. The Wabbit on the Tough Turf

"There ain't no-one on this street," muttered Skratch. The lightning had stopped and the hot storm with it. And now it was calm. Ice calm. Buildings looked like they came out of the chiller and the streets were deserted. But that didn't mean there was no-one. The road vanished to nowhere and from nowhere came a sound like a call. It was a haunting call that froze the blood and suddenly there were as many calls as cobbles on the road. Lapinette hopped forward. "This isn't our turf. We need to cross it." From her frock she drew an edged weapon that glinted in whatever light there was. "It's not a normal night and these aren't normal streets." The Wabbit and Wabsworth searched their fur. Finally they drew the only blades they had. "A multi purpose kit is better than nothing," muttered the Wabbit. Skratch the Cat didn't look in his fur. A powerful snick stabbed the night and razor-sharp claws shot from his paw. "Who's making the rumpus?" Lapinette stared hard into the distance. "The Fugues. Small time. Normally our paths wouldn't cross." "Maybe the Metro's running," suggested the Wabbit. "They're between us and the Metro," said Lapinette. Her eyes smiled for an instant. "Fugues can't remember much." "So maybe they'll forget themselves," quipped Wabsworth. The Wabbit grinned a sceptical grin. "So are ya ready to rumble?" "I'm a cat," said Skratch. "We always are."
[Lightroom credit:  Mick Warne]