I’m falling. The thought barely entered Sergeant Scrum’s mind as he tumbled, the world spinning round and round. Instead of pavement, he struck a much softer object, bouncing to the side.
“Ow!” A man’s voice cried out.
Sergeant Scrum extricated himself from the unfortunate who had broken his fall, and checked to make sure his blue hat was still on straight. Stepping aside to avoid a large patch of copper-smelling dark liquid, Sergeant Scrum helped the man to his feet. “Good catch.”
The man rubbed his shoulder and spat out a mouthful of feathers. Sergeant Scrum didn’t want to ask where they came from. “Why’d you crash into me?”
“I was thrown from a window.” He looked up at the restaurant, but saw no sign of the woman who had given him the shove.
“Firstmate!” A female voice barked. Sergeant Scrum gaped as the captain who had ended their date so abruptly marched towards them. “Back to the ship.”
The man nodded and shuffled away. Mimi Resourceful gave the Sergeant the barest glance before turning around.
“Wait just a minute.” Sergeant Scrum grabbed Mimi’s arm. She turned with surprising speed, producing a sophisticated gun. Sergeant Scrum raised his hands. “You threw me out a window.”
Mimi tilted her head to one side. “You mean, we’ve met before?”
“Yes! How did you even get down here so fast?” He glanced up at the window again.
“Right.” Mimi holstered the gun. “I haven’t entirely got this time travel thing worked out yet. I try to avoid meeting people out of order. We’d better go.” She marched back down the street.
“Hang on,” Sergeant Scrum hurried after her. “Are we forgetting the part where you tried to kill me?”
“Don’t be silly. I already told you that I try not to meet people out of order, so I must have set this up for a reason.”
“So, the date? The window?”
“A misunderstanding.”
They stopped in front of a rope ladder dangling in the middle of the street. Sergeant Scrum’s eyes followed the ladder up, growing wider as they reached the hull of a massive galleon.
“Time-travelling airship,” he breathed. With a sudden rush of excitement, he grabbed the ladder and began to climb. Ducking around two deckhands, he followed Mimi to the stern of the ship.
“You’re going to help us,” she said.
“With what, exactly?”
Mimi spun the wheel, turning the ship towards a looming mountain. Black and purple clouds swirled around its peak, flashes lighting the clouds up from within. “With that. We’re going to save the world.”
As the ship soared towards the ominous peak, they were hit by a wind gust and buffeted to one side. Mimi held tight to the wheel, keeping the ship true into the storm. Righting itself at the last moment, the ship slipped through a crevice in the mountain face. The rushing wind stopped, and they glided to a smooth halt.
Mimi Resourceful straightened her feathered hat and marched back to the ladder. The Sergeant hurried after her, descending to the floor of the cavern. Huge stone statues stood around the chamber. Between them hung racks of equipment, armour, and weapons. In the centre, below the floating ship, was a massive chariot, hitched up to two monstrous, glowing steeds.
“Uh…Mimi?”
“Quiet,” she hissed, drawing her ray gun and creeping forward. “This is his lair.”
“Whose lair?”
“Zeus.”
He paused. “What?”
“Shh. You know Zeus. Lightning bolts, thunder.”
“Yeah, yeah, but…he wants to destroy the world?”
Mimi shrugged. “I guess it got too much for him. He was raging something about computators and the wrong kind of pancakes.”
Sergeant Scrum gave a knowing nod. “What’s the plan?”
“Here he comes.” Mimi ducked behind a statue. “Find a weapon,” she hissed.
He looked at the items within reach, a trident, a shield, and a pair of gumboots.
A giant crossed the cavern, his footsteps sending quakes though the floor. Mimi stepped out from her hiding place, gun raised. “Stop!”
The giant paused and looked down at her. Then he laughed. “You challenge me?”
Sergeant Scrum grabbed the gumboots and charged out as well. “We both do. And your light is about to go out. He threw one of the gumboots at Zeus, who shot a lightning bolt at it. The lightning deflected off the blue rubber and hit one of the statues. The gumboot smacked Zeus in the shoulder then bounced onto the floor.
Zeus’s eyes narrowed and he lunged forward. Mimi fired twice at a stalactite above his head. The stone broke off and fell, crashing into Zeus and shattering. Rocks the size of boulders sprayed out, flying towards the two heroes. Sergeant Scrum leapt to the side, tackling Mimi out of the way before a rock could crush her. Rolling back to her feet, she snatched the second gumboot off him and held it up like a shield. Zeus hurled another lightning bolt at them, which hit the boot and rebounded, striking him between the eyes. The god’s eyes rolled back and he slumped.
Sergeant Scrum got back to his feet, dusting his palms. “Looks like this storm’s blown over.”
Mimi rolled her eyes and dragged him back to the ship.
When they reached the alley outside the restaurant, Sergeant Scrum turned to Mimi. “Where to now, Captain?”
“To sign up for speed dating. Good bye.” Placing a hand on his chest, she pushed him over the rail.
Sergeant Scrum felt a lurch in his stomach. He blinked and the ship was gone, replaced by the face of a strange man in a paramedic’s uniform.
“Sir? Sir, can you hear me?”
Sergeant Scrum turned his head to the side, seeing the splattered remains of the Predacious Parsnip. He looked back to the paramedic. “Wha–?”
“You just fell from that window. Can you tell me your name?”
“Mimi?” he whispered, looking up at the window, where he saw the tip of a feathered hat disappear from view.
FFM Day 25
Challenge:
Opening lines are inspiring lyrics from an artist you severely dislike
- “I’m falling” and “Spinning round and round” from Toxic by Britney Spears
Feature two characters who have met before, but one of them is unaware of it
- Mimi and the Sergeant
Include a psychological twist
- It was all a weird dream…or was it? Interpret at will.
Include a seemingly unimportant, but very useful inanimate object
- Gumboots!
C. A. Harland 