Spin the Bottle chpt. 2

Chapter 2


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It took another 20 minutes to walk into the Throne Room where the stitch-punks hung out. However, 1 was the only one present, dozing off in his chair with a vain piece of jewelry in his lap. It was strange to not see 8 standing guard beside him. 'Hmm. . .' thought 5. 'Where could he be?'

The answer came when 8 bustled loudly through the doors, carrying a load of rusty, metal pipes, causing 1 to jump and emit a startled snort. 2 was scurrying at 8's heels, scrambling to keep up.

"Now don't bang them into walls now! I might be able to use them later!" 2 fretted like a mother hen over it's chicks while 8 continued walking at his fast pace, not really paying to much attention to what 2 said. The Twins fallowed 5 as he strolled over to 2, who leaned heavily against the wall, trying to catch his breath. 5 put his hand on his mentor's back, slight concern crossing the journeyman's face.

"Ah, 5 m' boy! Found The Twins I see! Good, good." 2 smiled between breaths, trying to regain his composure. 5 waited patiently for his mentor to recover before asking, "So what were those pipes for?" pointing in the direction that 8 went. He seemed to be headed for the bucket elevator.

"Oh that." 2 said, straightening up and adjusting his lorgnette. "Well, I've been doing some more research on electricity, and as you may have noticed, we've frequently needed to jump-start the generator manually. And that takes more energy than I would've liked it to." 5 nodded, in full apprentice mode now. The two had installed a bicycle next to an electricity generator, so that when the generator lost power they would pump away on the bicycle until the generator was running on its own. It was an ingenious invention, to be sure. But like 2 said, it took a lot of energy to make it go, especially for the aged rag doll.

"So, I've been trying out a new tactic. I've been looking at hydro-energy. That is, making water and gravity pump water hard and fast enough to do the job for us. The only problem is I can't find anything that can hold the water to make it go down hill! Those rusty old pipes do me no good, but perhaps they can be of some use-" A mighty CRASH!!! was heard from somewhere down below. "-later." 2 concluded as he and 5 winced at the sound while 3 and 4 jumped in surprise. 1 yelled angrily for 8 to come up "Right NOW!"

2 winced again and smiled apologetically. "We could have done a more. . . gentler job, I admit. But you were gone looking for Twins," he said gesturing towards the to smaller rag dolls, who were flickering and clicking in conversation. "And 8 was the first one I saw when I came up here. And 1 was sleeping, so I thought I could, eh. . . barrow him for a while." 2 flickered his gaze towards 1, who was scolding 8 for leaving his post. 8, on his behalf, looked like a child caught doing something wrong, which felt strangely satisfying to 5.

"But enough of that now, what have you two been up to lately? I haven't seen you all day." 2 turned and asked The Twins. Delighted to be given attention from the grandfatherly rag doll, they eagerly showed him the rules to their "Spin the Bottle" game. He blinked a couple of times then read it again several times. "What a charming game!" he exclaimed as a grin stretched across his face. But then he cocked an eyebrow at the Twins. They stared back innocently.

"Please tell me that you won't use 7's skull helmet." he said pointing to rule 2: "Spin the bottle (or whatever object with a pointed top)." The Twins shook their heads fervently. 2 nodded, "Good. I don't quite think any of us want repeat that experience." he said as he and 5 collectively shivered. No, they certainly did not want to face her wrath again.

2 handed them back their paper and 3 carefully stuffed it into his back pouch. He suddenly grasped 2's hand and flickered a message. 'Will you play with us?' 3 pleaded. 4 made a similar plea, clasping her hands before her in a begging posture. "Well. . ." 2 dragged out the word, feigning consideration. The two put on the most pitiful and painfully adorable expressions they could muster.

"Oh, all right." 2 said after a pause. "I guess we could all use some fun. Brighten up our everyday lives a bit!" he managed to say before he was tackled by the Twins' vice-like hug.

"Whoa ho ho!" both 2 and 5 laughed at the enthusiasm of the childlike stitch-punks. The happy pair ran down to find the other rag-dolls to join their game.