[Hookbill the Goomba]

Hookbill’s eyes flicked open. He closed them again immediately. The long, wrinkled face of a Werewolf bristled in front of him, blowing its foul breath into his face. The ropes around the Goomba’s hands were beginning to cut into his skin as was the filthy gag on his face; it was an old Clough covered in dust and dirt and a little sick.
“Would you care to explain what this is?” the voice was raspy and harsh. Hookbill opened one eye and held his mouth closed tight. The Werewolf was snarling and leaning closer to his face. With one swift slash of its claws, it removed the gag.
“It’s an umbrella!” Hookbill yelped at last, “At least, it was until your henchman sat on it!”
“Doesn’t look like a very good umbrella.”
“Yes, well, I’m not selling it.”
“Don’t tell them anything!” shouted Lommy from somewhere behind, “Fight the power! Don’t tell them anything!”
“I don’t know anything!”
The Werewolves sniggered and pointed at Hookbill. He frowned.
A Tall Werewolf with what looked like a long white beard wandered into the room with his thick hands behind his back. Sniffing the air, he peered at the captives and chuckled. The Phantom growled and began rocking in his chair.
“There must and shall be aspirin!” he shouted, “My head feels like a pit s-”
“Gentlemen,” said the new Werewolf, “and Penguins. Welcome to our house. I trust you will enjoy our hospitality. You will receive food, drink and sound advice before…” he hummed and tapped his head, “before we dispose of you.” The wolves chuckled. Kneeling down besides Lommy, the leader sniffed and spat, “Now, you were trying to find the heretic known as The Saucepan Man, weren’t you?”
“Would you like a drink?” said Phantom,
“Shut up you!” said another wolf, sneering close to Phantom’s invisible nose,
“I have a heart condition,” he said, “If you hit me, its murder!”
“I’ll murder the lot of you!”
“My wife is having a baby!” Phantom lied with faked tears, “listen, I don’t know what my fr- acquaintances have done to upset you, but it’s nothing to do with me. I suggest you all go outside and sort it out… in the street.”
There was a snap, followed by a cry from the head Werewolf. Lommy snapped her beak several times more and Greenie joined in. The Phantom continued rocking in his chair to the beat of their snapping. The Leader Wolf snarled and gripped one of his hench-wolves by the neck and thrust him forwards.
“Kill them!” he said, “Start with the Penguins!”
“Ah! Good evening,” said a voice, calm and homely, “nice to meet you.” A tall figure with long blond hair glided into the room. His tall red boots tapped the floor as he marched towards one of the Wolves, his immense multicoloured scarf flapping in amusing ways. He whipped around, sending his long dark red coat into a whirl of movement. He Shook hands with the wolves one by one, “I’m The Doctor,” he said, “how do you do?”
The head wolf stumbled backwards, his mouth jittering open as the intruder put his arms around one of the wolves and began talking pleasantly with him. Scratching his head, the white wolf shook all over, clenching one of his fists.
“I say,” continued The Doctor, “it is a lovely place you have here, wouldn’t you say it was lovely, Thinlómien?”
“Oh yes,” she replied, “very lovely. Homely, almost.”
“Yes! And you have guests, I see! But this is no way to treat guests.”
The wolves were paralysed with shock as The Doctor untied the others with a silver device with a round red circle at the top. The Sonic Screwdriver whirred as it cut through the ropes and let The Phantom free. Hookbill rubbed his hands and leaned close to Lommy, whispering,
“Why is Volo dressed like that?”
“Shh!” she replied, “just go with it!”
He nodded and rubbed his eyes. The Doctor continued to move in and out of the group of Werewolves, talking all the time, commenting on the decorations and the structure of the cottage. The log fire in the corner seemed to attract a lot of his attention. The others shuffled closer to the exit.
“It seems to me,” Volo continued, “that if, and I emphasise the ‘if’, if this place were hiding fugitives, and dangerous ones at that.”
“Oh, very dangerous,” confirmed Lommy.
“There, you see? Very dangerous. Anyway, were it holding dangerous fugitives, then they would have to find a way of keeping them away from any rescue attempt, isn’t that right?” some of the wolves nodded, “Excellent! Oh!” The head Wolf was approaching, knife raised and teeth spitting, “Hello! I do hope that knife has been properly sterilised! You can catch all sorts of things from a dirty knife, lockjaw, tetanus not to mention log-”
“Stop your words old fool!” The wolf leaped at The Doctor, but he moved out of the way at the last second.
“Now, Now! My, what large teeth you h- Never mind. Look, as I was saying, if I were hiding a dangerous fugitive and, if I know the typical prison, and, fortunately I do, then I would have to say…” he leaped up on a table, grasped the chandeliered that dangled down and swung over to the fire place, “that this was the area you were keeping me furthest away from and therefore!” he pulled on of the loose stones and the whole wall moved to the side to reveal another room.
“Kill HIM!” shouted the wolf, “Kill them all!”
“Which one first?” asked a smaller one, “Only, we don’t want to get in trouble for killing the wrong one first, I mean what if-”
“Just kill something!”

The Phantom ran on ahead, reaching the top of the hill as the others still stumbled on their way. Hookbill and The Doctor carried a short man with pots and pans strapped all over him and one great pot on his head. He mumbled and muttered something about ‘bins’ and then drooped his head down. Lommy and Greenie waddled on towards Phantom as he surveyed the surrounding lands.
The darkness was deepening, yet a pail red light flickered in the North West. The howling winds whipped around them, causing the usual flapping noises of capes and robes. The rain had stopped, but the ground still squelched underfoot, the two Penguins shook their feathers in frustration.
Once they were all at the top, The Phantom rushed on ahead again, reaching the bottom in a matter of moments. Greenie dived forward and slid down the hill Pengish style. Lommy waited for The Doctor and Hookbill to revive The Saucepan Man. He was still breathing, but his face carried bruises and cuts, not to mention the dents in his pans. They splashed some water on his face and he gasped loudly. Spluttering he turned his head this way and that, blabbering.
“Where am I?” he managed, “What’s the time?”
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Lommy,
“Yes we are,” he lifted his head, “there aren’t any trees for miles.”
“That’s not what I- Never mind, can you walk?”
The Saucepan Man stumbled forward, wobbling, but just about staying upright. They plodded on as fast as they could, slipping through the grass and stopping just as they reached The Phantom. He was sniffing the air and humming.
“We had some good luck back there,” mused Hookbill, “It was a little bizarre seeing that little Wolf killing all the other ones. ‘Just obeying orders!’ Brilliant!”
A crow squawked overhead. The travellers bent down and watched it float out of sight. The clouds were moving fast, against the wind and rumbling more than ever. Lommy stepped forward and peered out down the valley. Waving she signalled to the others to follow as she darted along the dirt path way. The Saucepan Man, still being partially supported by The Doctor, stumbled on behind.
Hookbill trotted on forward until he was next to The Phantom. He had his hands in his pockets again and was mumbling, his glowing eyes were flickering from white to blue as he spoke. The Goomba tapped him on the shoulder,
“What do we need The Saucepan Man for?” he asked, “He looks in a bad way and no mistake.”
“He knows something about Gimli’s Chin,” Phantom explained, “we think he knows where the cure is, that’s why they had him locked up. They wanted to get hold of the cure and destroy it. We, on the other hand, want to use it against the virus. Perhaps he can answer a few more questions; like why your newspaper was attacked and why Rikae has vanished.”
“Where are we going, though?”
“Legate’s Barrow. He’s not been corrupted, yet. But I’m learning not to trust anyone at the moment, not after Groin tried to strangle me with his beard.”
“That,” said Lommy, “was because you had been stealing his biscuits!”
“Lies! Lies and slander!”

There were wasps on Legate’s floor; a layer, three inches thick of wasps. The travellers crunched through them with apprehension. The Doctor strode on ahead and made his way into the living room. Legate had just put a teapot on top of his half. He pulled his dressing gown tight around his chest as the cold wind drafted through from the open door.
He struggled to his feet and lent against the wall underneath a picture of himself leaning against a wall under a picture of himself underneath a picture of his dog. Greenie closed the door; a large slab of stone with a handle on either side.
Once they had all settled down in arm chairs, Legate closed the curtains and then stood silent for a moment. The kettle began to whistle and he picked it up.
“Tea?” he suggested, “or perhaps something a little stronger- Where is The Phantom? I’m sure I saw him come in…” There was a loud bang from another room, followed by laughter. The Phantom stumbled out, holding two bottles of wine.
“Cake and tea,” he said, “and fine wine!” He fell onto the floor and groaned.
Lommy sipped her tea with her sharp eyes glaring at The Saucepan Man. He was nodding his head and sinking deep into the chair. There was a crash of thunder and he leaped up with a yelp. He was sweating and breathed heavily as he looked at each of them in the face.
“What happened?” asked Greenie, “How did they get to you?”
“I think,” he gasped, “I think they’d been monitoring me. As soon as I knew Macalaure had Gimli’s Chin, I knew I had to get to the cure before it was too late, but on my way there, they caught me. They tried to get it out of me, but I don’t think they got beyond the location.”
“They know where the cure is?” Said Lommy,
“Yes, but they don’t know what it is. And they’re not going to find out.”
“Where is it?”
“Haven’t you guessed? It’s at the offices of The Downer Newspaper.”

TO BE CONTINUED’ED