Press "Enter" to skip to content

The Ballad of St. Jimmy: A Plan Emerges

St. Jimmy sat on the edge of the pier, looking out at what
used to be the Observatory, while he tried to fish for something other than
wiggyfish or those confounded srizzle snakes. He was having no luck and was
about to pack it in when he saw something metallic floating in the water below
him. He laid down his pole, slid his boots off and jumped into the murky water.
He quickly rose to the surface and swam towards the object. After a few
moments, he grabbed it and tossed it gently up onto the dock. He then pulled
himself up out of the water. Curiously he looked at the object he had just
retrieved. It was small and rotund, completely clockwork. It wore a metal top
hat and had a finely crafted dastardly moustache. St. Jimmy thought it looked
like a sinister Uncle Pennybags. He thought to himself that it must have
drifted from what was left of the Observatory. As he looked at the small
automaton, a voice in the back of his head gnawed at him.

St. Jimmy wrapped the device in his jacket and went for a
walk. He didn’t pay attention to where he was going when he found himself in
the middle of the square suddenly thinking about “the raptor.” He looked up and
saw a device nestled firmly at the top of a statue. It must have been sending
out a hypnotic signal, registering on a subconscious level. He left before the
suggestion could settle in his skull. Again, the voice in his head began to
speak to him. He went running to where his ship, the Storm Chaser, was docked.

Once inside, he cut the docking ropes and took
the ship out over the city. Obelensky was out of the picture, and the city was
facing only minimal risk from a reptile intent on making everything better
catching a cat. He had come to New Babbage to seek his final revenge against
those who, he felt, had wronged him so many years ago. He saw the power
struggle that was forming, and now was the time for him to take this city. He
looked at the automaton he salvaged from the Vernian; he thought about the
mecharaptors that have been hunting down cats in the city; he knew what the
fatal flaw of past villains had been. 
They had relied on clockworks to do their dirty work; and for all the
great things that clockworks are capable of, they have their limitations. In
order for him to lay out his plans, he would need help from the most reliable,
most sneaky resources in the city. He turned on his vocal amplificator and
began his speech.

As Jimmy spoke, he grabbed the thing he had brought with
him, the thing stolen long ago. As he raised it above his head, emphatically,
he felt a strange sense of power flowing from the hammer into him. He felt
stronger, more confident. He felt as if a change was coming over him. He was
quite a ways up, and the effects of the Reality Enforcers were slightly
weakened this high up. A spark of lightening shot from the hammer. It startled
Jimmy, and he tossed it back towards the cabin. He also lost control of the
ship and found himself in the path of a migrating swarm of Air Kraken. After a
few moments struggle, he managed to gain control long enough to avoid the
largest of the air beasts. “Perhaps, it would be safer to raise his urchin army
from the ground,” he thought.

 

 

Spread the love

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply