The Wabbits & the Intermission Band

"Perhaps the band might help us with our Autism appeal?" suggested Lapinette. The Wabbit merely turned and shouted, "Baião rhythm, 2/4 time!" The band complained good-naturedly about the change in tempo but nevertheless set up a driving beat and a "Too! ta-too, Too! ta-too," echoed round the buildings. The Wabbit looked at Lapinette and sang. “You, to me. Are sweet as roses in the morning." Lapinette looked back and sang in answer. "And you to me, are soft as summer rain at dawn. In love, we share that something rare." She stopped for an impossible instant and came in loud and late on the next line. "The sidewalks in the street!" Then they put their heads together, and  both sang. "The concrete and the clay beneath our feet, begins to crumble. But love will never die. Because we'll see the mountains tumble. Before we say goodbye." Now it was the Wabbit’s turn. "My love. And I. Will be in love eternally. That's the way. Mmm, that`s the way it's meant to be." Then the band joined in. "The sidewalks in the street! The concrete and the clay beneath our feet begins to crumble. But love will never die. Because we'll see the mountains tumble. Before we say goodbye." "Mmmm," sang the Wabbit. "That’s the way it’s meant to be," sang Lapinette. There was a smattering of applause from passers by. "Now you hop round and collect money for Autism," said the Wabbit. "Why me?" asked Lapinette. "You’ll get more than me," said the Wabbit. "I will?" queried Lapinette. "Trust me," said the Wabbit.


The featured autism organisation for this adventure is http://www.autism-society.org/get-involved/state-resources/wyoming.html

The Wabbits stop for Refreshments

Instead of materialising at home, the gang found themselves sitting in a hotel garden. The Wabbit looked at the Moto Snails with a gleam in his eye. "While you were carousing around, bringing down governments, we were looking for a suitable hostelry," said Mo. "We got a special price," said To. "We beat 'em down," said Mo. "Then aperitivi all round," smiled Lapinette. "I'll drink to that!" said Pio the Puppet. "You don't have to have a carrot aperitivo, Pio," said Lapinette, "what would you like?" "I'll have ..." said Pio, thinking furiously, "a Tomfooleries' 007" "What's that?" asked Lapinette. "I know," said the Wabbit. Everyone turned to look at him curiously. "Rum, orange juice and a splash of Sprite," he smiled. Everyone stared at the Wabbit, waiting for more information. "Named for a song by Desmond Dekker," said the Wabbit. No one flinched or said a word. "The rudeboys go wail, cause them out of jail," explained the Wabbit. "Them a loot, them a shoot, them a wail," he continued. This met with absolute silence. "Them on probation now," said the Wabbit finally. Everyone sighed a long sigh. "Serve 'em right," said Lapinette. Mo giggled. The Wabbit wished he'd kept his mouth shut and tried to hide his embarrassment with a question. "Pio, what kind of adventure would you say that was?" he asked, as he usually did. "Espionage thriller," said Pio. "Wabbit Spooks," said To. "I'd like to bring down a government," said Mo. "How would you replace it?" said To cautiously. "No government," shrugged Mo. Pio laughed and cracked his knuckles. "There's no government like No Government!" he grinned. And they all laughed and laughed and laughed.

7. The Wabbit takes a Passenger

 

"Hop on Pio" said the Wabbit "You're coming with us!" "I rather think I'd better," murmured Pio, who had sprained his puppet ankle in the scuffle by kicking a puppet who got in his way. It was a puppet who had trodden on Pio's toes on more than one occasion and Pio had taken reprisals on the way out. "What kind of economist are you, Pio?" asked the Wabbit, who received an economic review every month. "I am a follower of Michal Kalecki," said Pio solemnly. "Oh yes," said the Wabbit, "he plays a kind of rhythm and blues jazz on a Hammond B-3 organ." "Wabbit! You know quite well that's Vojtek Karolak!" said Lapinette, who had been raiding the Wabbit's extensive but eclectic jazz collection. "Is he always like this?" asked Pio of Lapinette. "You'll get used to it," said Lapinette. "Is Snail travel proven safe?" said Pio. "That would be no fun at at all," said Mo with relish. "We have Advanced Fuzzy Traction," said To. "Excellent. I have futures in that," said Pio and he settled back in comfort. "How many Machs would you like the Snails to travel?" said the Wabbit. "Eight hundred and eighty one thousand please," said Pio, thinking of his investment. "I think I need to do more work in the shed for the speed of light," grimaced the Wabbit, "and a new budget line."  "No need," said Mo. And this time there was no boom. It was more of a quiet whoosh and the MoTo Snails and their passengers warped to a tiny dot and vanished.

6. The Wabbit brings down the House

Lapinette turned on a camera and the Wabbit swam into sight on the big screen. "Puppets!" he commanded. "Listen! Now you have a choice!" The Puppets stared at the Wabbit and they shifted uneasily. "Rise!" shouted the Wabbit. "Rise like puppets woke by thunder!" Lapinette clashed two cymbals together and everyone jumped and gave the Wabbit time to think of the next line. "In unconquerable number!" he cried.  There was as snapping noise from the back of the House, followed by others. "Snap your strings like crusty glue, that day by day attached to you!" rhymed the Wabbit. A ripple passed through the puppets like a Mexican Wave. The Wabbit thought furiously. "You're solo puppets through and through!" he bellowed. No-one really knows who threw the first punch. Perhaps no one ever will. But the Wabbit thought he caught sight of Pio's jacket and a light grinned from one of his 28 teeth. The House dissolved into a flurry of puppet limbs and severed strings and all was chaos. "Lets get out of here," said Lapinette and she propelled the Wabbit down the stairs to the door. "Where on earth did you get that poem?" "I borrowed it," gasped the Wabbit, "I took it from Shelley." "Not the Masque of Anarchy?" said Lapinette. "Well, did it work?" demanded the Wabbit. "It worked," sighed Lapinette. "It always does," smiled the Wabbit.

5. The Wabbit takes Over

Suddenly the chamber filled with puppets who listened automatically to a tinny but familiar voice from hidden loudspeakers. "I recognise that Agent chatter," murmured the Wabbit.  "Shhh," said Lapinette, "it will soon be time to move." The Voice was glib and certain and it continued smugly. "All voting on Regulation 207/4, hyper-genetic carrots, draw close and prepare to vote the usual way." The Wabbit winked at Pio. "Wait for it," Lapinette frowned. Pio nodded and then cracked his knuckles. All the puppets glanced in Pio’s direction and their arms twitched slightly. The loudspeaker crackled again. "In the introduction of designer GM carrots with anti-wabbit vaccine, all vote "Yes"." But nothing happened and everything was still. The puppets looked at each other and jingled the Wabbit’s coins in their pockets. "It therefore passes into statute, nem con" hissed the furious Voice. “No!” shouted the Wabbit. The puppets froze. “Under the rules of the House, I abstain!” he yelled. “So do I!” said Lapinette and as they both raised their voting arms a forest of abstaining arms rose behind them. "No confidence in the House!" shouted the Wabbit and he flung his fake voting arm on the floor. "No confidence, no confidence, no confidence," repeated the puppets until their voices reached a crescendo that rattled the windows. The Wabbit grinned and hopped forward to glare at the place the voice was coming from. "I challenge the House, the assembly is mine," he yelled and turned to the puppets. "Who's in charge?" he shouted. "Wabbit!" they yelled back. 

4. The Wabbit seeks Advice

The Wabbit drew his contact aside to ask a private but pertinent question. "Pray tell me your name," said the Wabbit smiling a special diplomatic smile. "I am Pio Pulcinella!" said the Puppet, "how may I assist you?" "You are a political and economic puppet," whispered the Wabbit confidentially. "And I'm at your service," said Pio. "It's about my lists of priorities," said the Wabbit. Pio nodded. "Tell me more," he urged. "I keep adding to my lists and they get longer," said the Wabbit. "How are they organised?" asked Pio. "Randomly," said the Wabbit brightly. "That's not too unusual," said Pio. "so tell me which is your most important list and which is your longest?" "That's easy," said the Wabbit, "because they're one and the same list," "What's your name for that list," said Pio patiently. "Miscellaneous," said the Wabbit. Pio shook his head and thought for a while. Then he snapped his fingers. "What then" he asked," is the item at the very top of that list?" "Organising my lists," said the Wabbit. Pio Pulcinella leaned back with satisfaction and cracked his knuckles. "You have a knapsack problem," he said. "I do?" said the Wabbit. "And there is a knapsack solution," said Pio. "Do tell," said the Wabbit sceptically, since he had an overflowing knapsack at home and that was on one of his lists. "Only so much can go in your knapsack," said Pio, "so get rid of what you don't need." "I'm uncertain about what I don't need," said the Wabbit. "I have a computer programme for uncertainty," smiled Pio.

3. The Wabbit & the Puppet Parliament

The Wabbit and Lovely Lapinette were speedily shown to the debating chamber of the Big Parliament and they scampered up the stairs to the sound of considerable moaning from the Wabbit. "I don’t like this costume," complained the Wabbit. "You’re meant to blend in - you’re undercover," whispered Lapinette. The Wabbit scowled. "When I’m undercover," he said ponderously, "I like to sell newspapers, not be a newspaper." Then the Wabbit thought for a bit and decided he hadn't quite exhausted the topic, so he continued. "Besides, I rustle too much and by the way, I’m creased," he grumbled. "I think it’s rather fitting you’re a crossword," said Lapinette. "Oh look, there’s our contact. Do you think he’s done what we asked?" "Well we gave him plenty of coins, I can hear him jingling," said the Wabbit, shifting his ears and thinking some more. "Lap, Are you certain the plan will work?" he whispered. "Of course," said Lapinette. "After the Big Vote, there will be complete confusion and a power vacuum will follow." "What then?" asked the Wabbit, thinking of a vacuum cleaner. "Just hop in and fill it," said Lapinette. The Wabbit brightened considerably as he imagined himself as a massive cyclonic separator. Lapinette kept quiet since knew that the Wabbit was given to flights of fancy and she was cute enough to humour him. "Please hop this way," said their puppet contact. The Wabbit raised his paws one by one as if they were pulled by strings. “Hoppy to oblige,” smiled the Wabbit.