With the mecha-monkeys having taken a slower, more deliberate approach in this go-round, Maria and Sara were at last granted something they had not yet been afforded: a clear view of the creatures.
“Whoa,” Maria whispered, awed by the sight of the uncanny horde, finally revealed in full. “Would you look at that?”
“I have to hand it to Jasper. As disturbing as his creations are, they are pretty impressive,” Sara admitted.
The so-called gremlins were strange, that was for sure. They were only about a foot tall, their bodies mostly silver in color, having been constructed from metallic objects. They had long arms and squat legs, which made their resting position akin to that of a jungle-bound primate, with both hands and both feet touching the floor, though their bodies remained in an upright position.
Wonderfully articulate digits had been crafted to serve as their fingers and toes, and they flexed and gripped and bent this way and that. This undoubtedly had a great deal to do with their dexterity and ability to move so efficiently. Several of them clutched motorized saws, or wrenches, or screwdrivers, and their advanced design enabled them to wield these tools as efficiently as human beings.
Their construction was a true engineering marvel, and evidence of Jasper’s genius for such work. Curiously, the small robotic rascals even had tails, constructed of segments of aluminum, which perhaps aided them with balance and mobility.
Their heads were roughly the sizes of apples, which was proportionate for their diminutive statures. Interestingly, theses heads were not identical in appearance. It seemed Jasper had used whatever was on hand for much of their construction, making for a motley crew of assorted mechanical flunkies.
Some of them had spherical heads, while others had noggins in the shapes of squares or ovals or hexagons. Their ears and noses and mouths were of a similarly wide assortment, encompassing a variety of shapes and sizes.
They did have one trait that was universal among them, however: Each of them had a set of eyes, undoubtedly imbedded with some sort of newfangled, janitor-crafted optical sensors that granted them vision.
Those eyes were square shaped and covered with a fine, black mesh that was probably designed for protection. Another consequence of these screened-in eyeballs was that it made the mecha-monkeys look downright creepy.
There were perhaps one hundred of the metallic critters, and all of them had their attention directed at the humans who stood upon the stage. The multitude of mecha-monkeys chilled the sisters, and being the focus of so many sets of disturbing eyes sent shivers down their spines.
“No matter what these things are planning… We’ve got to get Dad down before he falls,” Sara said.
Her voice was firm with resolve, and she was slowly tapping the hammer’s head against her palm, readying for resistance. Clearly, the odds were stacked against them, as the mecha-monkeys had a vast advantage in numbers. This failed to daunt her in the slightest, and Maria stood beside her, nodding her head in agreement.
“I’ll help!” Double H promised, eager to undo the carnage that had been caused by her associate’s small robotic assistants.
“How do we get up there?” Sara asked, briefly lifting her eyes toward the rafters.
“There’s a way at the back of the stage that’s easy enough. If you use the handholds and ropes and whatnot, you can shimmy right up into the rafters. There’s a catwalk up there that will let us reach him,” Double H explained.
Maria stared at Double H with incredulity, shaking her head with suppressed outrage. “That crank system they used to hoist Dad up there – you developed that, didn’t you?”
Double H smiled sheepishly. “Listen, this was clearly not the intended purpose! I designed many contraptions back here and in the rafters of the auditorium, but they’re only to assist in my illusions and stagecraft - not to suspend kidnapped victims in chairs!”
“In any event, we need to put that behind us and focus on the task at hand,” Sara said, getting everybody once more focused on what needed to be done at the present moment. “Listen up… we’re going to make our way up there,” she said, pointing at the place where her father hung suspended, “and use that crank to safely lower Dad to the floor. Meanwhile, we have to figure out a way to deal with all of these darned gremlins Jasper has so kindly left to rampage throughout the school.”
Perhaps it was the inclination of Sara’s head toward the captive Chief Fresco, or maybe the mecha-monkeys had a firmer grasp on the English language than the girls had given them credit for. Whatever the case, it suddenly seemed they had intuited the gist of the rescue plan, and they were none too happy about it.
The mecha-monkeys had hinged jaws, and they periodically opened, revealing sharp, metallic teeth. Previously, the critters had been uttering sporadic spurts of the giggles that the sisters had found to be so disconcerting.
But the mecha-monkeys weren’t laughing anymore.
Now, they were making angrier noises, and their level of agitation increased vastly. Chilling screeches and howls came from their mouths, warbling out and expressing their displeasure. They balled their metallic hands into fists and began pounding them on the hardwood stage, like tiny, infuriated apes. Those that had saws let them buzz noisily in the air, and those that had hand tools banged them together, creating a terrific hullabaloo.
Due to their small size, it would not have been particularly intimidating, if it had only been one or two mecha-monkeys engaged in this display of outrage. But when it was one hundred or more of them, pounding their fists and making an angry racket, the effect was nearly overwhelming.
The humans found themselves in the center of a stereoscopic display of mechanized monkey madness. It seemed they would not willingly see their prisoner released, and the notion of his rescue had triggered their wrath.
“Oh, dear,” Double H murmured. “I don’t think they’re very fond of our intentions.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
A Timely Draining