“Cease your villainous …” Larryboy started to say.
“Oh, shove off!” scoffed Outback.
Outback Jack simply flung his door open and Larryboy, who was hanging on to the door, was flung back as well. He was smashed like a bug against the side of the jeep.
“OOOOFFF!”
“Are you all right, Larryboy?” called Archie over the plunger-com. “What happened?”
“I forgot the old ‘car door’ trick,” Larryboy answered in a pinched voice.
Larryboy’s plunger suddenly popped loose from the door. Then his eyes crossed as he slid down the side of the jeep and tumbled to earth.
Larryboy yelled: “PRUNEMAN!”
That was his last word before the purple, plunger-pelting hero plummeted. (Try saying that ten times really fast.)
CHAPTER 16
UN-BEE-LIEVABLE!
Larryboy was fifty feet from the ground and falling fast.
“Don’t fear, Larryboy! Help is on the way!” Pruneman shouted.
Only one problem. Pruneman was still having a hard time getting his Prune-Pit-Power-Up Move under control. He dipped. He barrel-rolled. He loop-de-looped. He nearly crashed a dozen times.
Larryboy was now forty-five feet from the ground.
At last, Pruneman got his target in sight. Weaving like a bird that had lost its flying permit, Pruneman swooped down and scooped up …
Ma Mushroom?
“Oops,” said Pruneman.
“What’s the big idea, whippersnapper!” shouted Ma Mushroom. She had been minding her own business, eating her three-scoop ice cream cone. Now she found herself scooped up, perched on Pruneman’s back, taking the ride of her life.
“Sorry, Ma,” said Pruneman. “I thought you were Larryboy.”
“How could you mistake me for a hairy boy?” scowled Ma Mushroom. “You’re just lucky my ice cream cone is still in one piece.”
Ma Mushroom peered at Pruneman over the top of her glasses. “You’ve got prune pits coming out of your ears,” she noted in disbelief. Then, as an afterthought, she said, “Pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, Larryboy was now twenty feet from the ground. In a few more moments, he was going to be Pancake-Boy.
“WHOOOOOAAAA NELLIE!” yelled Ma Mushroom as Pruneman made a sharp turn, reversing direction. One of her ice cream scoops popped up in the air, but she caught it before it fell.
The out-of-control Pruneman roared through two backyards, plucking a laundry line of clothes clear out of the ground. Then he bore right through a large quilt, creating a mushroom-shaped hole.
“I’ve got lint on my ice cream,” Ma Mushroom complained. “Watch it, sonny!”
Just seconds before Larryboy hit the ground, Pruneman finally regained control of his prune-pit stream. But he still wasn’t close enough to pluck Larryboy out of the air.
THWOPP! THWACK!
Just in time, Larryboy fired off a plunger, which attached itself to Ma Mushroom’s face. The line held and Larryboy was pulled up, up into the air, and towed behind the flying Pruneman.
“Whippersnapper!” Ma Mushroom’s muffled voice came from inside the plunger.
Larryboy was saved! That was the good news.
The bad news was that while all of this was happening, the hot-air balloon had landed and Outback Jack had gone digging. He had already ripped out the statue and was chewing into the soil.
“We gotta stop them!” Larryboy shouted, while being dragged across the sky.
“Don’t worry, Larryboy, I’m on it,” said Pruneman.
Carrying Ma Mushroom, dragging Larryboy, and trailing a laundry-line of clothes, Pruneman changed directions and raced straight for Outback.
“The old geezer and that purple guy are heading our way,” said Jackie the Sock Puppet as Outback hurried to retrieve the treasure.
“Blimey, they don’t give up, do they? Well—you know what must be done.”
“Sure do,” said Jackie.
Jackie poked a button on Outback’s remote control. Then the lid opened on the huge pink hat that sat on top of the huge crocodile balloon. Out came the largest insect imaginable. It looked like a prehistoric bug.
It was a giant Mega Jester-Bee, and it was headed straight for our heroes!
CHAPTER 17
THE SANDS OF TIME
“Our awesome Aussie bee will keep those blokes busy for awhile,” explained Outback, tearing into the ground with his digging device.
CLUNK!
“I think you’ve hit something, Jack!” said the sock puppet. “And it sounds like metal.” “That’s the sound of a bloomin’ treasure chest, luv! That’s also the sound of us getting rich!”
Sure enough, the mechanical shovel dug deeply, lifting out two humongous chests. Then it dropped them to the ground, along with a load of dirt and sod.
“Me treasure!” Jackie sang out. “I’m going to buy a pony! I’m going to buy a pony!”
Leaping from his jeep, Outback grabbed a crowbar, stuck it into the treasure chest latch, and yanked. The chest cracked open like an oyster. Breathless, Outback threw back the lid. He couldn’t believe he was about to become rich beyond his wildest dreams. He stepped back and feasted his eyes on the glorious wonders of …
Sand?
Outback lifted out a scoop of what was supposed to be gold. But it wasn’t. The treasure chest was filled with beach sand. In a panic, Outback cracked open the second chest—and found more of the same. Sand, sand, sand!
He overturned the chests, hoping to find jewels buried beneath the sand. But there was nothing!
“We’ve been duped, luv!”
“I could have told you there’d be no treasure under that statue,” said someone nearby.
Outback wheeled around and found himself staring at Pruneman, Larryboy, and Ma Mushroom. Our heroes were back on level ground, ready to make an arrest.
“I knew there was no treasure buried here in the park,” repeated Pruneman.
“You did?” Larryboy asked, just as surprised as Outback.
“Yes. I tried to tell you back at the retirement home,” Pruneman explained. “But you took off before I had a chance.”
“My bad,” said Larryboy.
“Isn’t it time for your nap, Prunejuiceman?” Outback snarled at the old hero.
Larryboy’s blood boiled. “You’ve got a lot of nerve calling him Prunejuiceman. Pruneman is a hero! He’s been saving people since before you were born.”
“He’s an old coot.”
“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly, and revere your God,” Larryboy said, repeating the words from Bok Choy’s class.
“What in the world are you blabbing about?” Outback scoffed.
“We should show respect to our elders,” said Larryboy. “Respect! That’s spelled ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T.’”
Suddenly, Jackie the Sock Puppet burst out in song. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Tell me what it means to me! R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it …”
“Stuff a sock in it, Jackie!” Outback yelled.
“Sorry. I always get carried away by that song.”
Outback turned his back on Larryboy, furious. “The only thing I’m going to show you and Pruneman is a good thrashing, mate. And when I’m done, I’m going to tear this city apart until I find that bloomin’ treasure.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” asked Pruneman.
(This is the part where the evil villain unwittingly gives away his plan.)
“After my Mega Jester-Bee sprays laughing gas on the entire city, no one will be able to stop me,” laughed Outback. “I’ll go house to house and building to building until I find that treasure! Blimey, you blokes just don’t get it, do you?”
Larryboy turned and gazed toward downtown Bumblyburg. Sure enough, Outback’s evil plan was already hatching.
The big bad bee dive-bombed the city, spraying its cloud of green gas like a crop duster. As the green gas settled on the city, hundreds of veggie citiz
ens suddenly found themselves wearing gag glasses with silly attached noses and moustaches. Bad jokes would abound as Outback Jack buzzed through the city in search of the treasure.
It was no laughing matter.
CHAPTER 18
POP! GOES THE WEASELS
Before Ma Mushroom could even mutter, “whippersnapper,” Pruneman, the elderly superhero raced to the rescue. With his checkered tablecloth cape flapping in the wind, he swooped down on the giant bee, zipping within inches of the creature’s giant eyes.
The bee’s attention was taken away from the city—just for a moment.
Pruneman zipped by the big bee a second time.
By the third time, the monster was furious. The senior superhero was pestering the giant bee in the same way that bees pester veggies during sweet summer picnics.
Turning away from the city’s downtown, the giant bee took off after Pruneman.
“Say goodbye to the old coot, Larryboy,” Outback said as they watched the scene unfold from a distance. “That bloomin’ bee is going to finish him off! As for me, I’m heading into town to find me some treasure. G’day, mate.”
Outback hopped into his hot-air balloon and prepared for takeoff. But if Outback had been a little wiser, he might have realized what Pruneman was trying to do. He wasn’t just luring the bee away from Bumblyburg. He was luring the bee toward Outback.
Pruneman raced across the sky, with the bloated bee just several feet behind him. If it hadn’t been for a couple of quick dodges, the monster might have had him. Instead, Pruneman zeroed in on the hot-air balloon, which was just beginning to rise from the ground.
SWOOOOOSHHHHH!
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Pruneman and the bee cut a path right past Outback’s balloon.
“Blimey, what was that?” Outback said, looking up.
“I don’t like the looks of this,” cried Jackie.
SWOOOOOSHHHHH!
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
“Oy, that was close!” Outback grumbled, getting a little nervous.
On the third pass, Pruneman shouted to Larryboy. “Use your plungers, Larryboy!”
Larryboy took aim. He fired.
THONK!
The plunger struck home, hitting the bee square in the forehead. With startling power, the force of the plunger sent the giant bee reeling backward, tumbling toward the hot-air balloon, stinger first.
POP!
The giant stinger sank deep into the balloon. Air escaped so fast that the balloon whipped around with the big bee’s stinger still lodged inside.
“Hang on, Jackie!” yelled Outback.
“AHHHHHHHHH!” screamed the sock puppet.
The punctured balloon shot off into the distance, zipping up and down, back and forth, and to and fro (wherever “fro” is). The balloon made the kind of wild moves that you might expect on one of the Ten-Rides-Most-Likely-to-Make-You-Wish-You-Hadn’t-Eaten-a-Big-Breakfast.
When all the air had finally leaked out, the balloon crash-landed just feet from Officer Olaf and his paddy wagon.
Special delivery.
“I’m sorry I let you down, luv,” said Outback Jack to his sock puppet as the officer tossed the villains into the paddy wagon. “I tried my best, but Prunejuiceman was sharper than I thought.”
Jackie simply turned away in a huff. “Talk to the hand, Outback. Talk to the hand.”
“Watch it, luv. You were just dirty laundry before I came along. I made you!”
Officer Olaf slammed the paddy wagon door closed with a deafening CLANG!
CHAPTER 19
THE GOLDEN YEARS
With Outback and Jackie behind bars, the city of Bumblyburg was safe and sound once again. Veggies poured out of their homes and offices, cheering Larryboy for what he had done. But Larryboy gave the credit to Pruneman.
“Pruneman?” asked many of the veggies. “Never heard of him. He must be some new superhero.”
“He doesn’t look new. Looks pretty ancient.”
If only they knew …
Far into the night, the celebrations continued. In fact, Larryboy and Pruneman didn’t even get a chance for some well-deserved rest until long after their bedtimes.
By the next day, Larryboy was feeling as good as new and was eager to visit Pruneman at the Home for Retired Superheroes. Only this time, he didn’t have to be forced to go.
“We made a good team, didn’t we?” said Larryboy, casting his eyes at the clocks in the Clock Room.
“We sure did,” agreed Pruneman.
“But you know, it doesn’t seem fair,” said Larryboy.
“What doesn’t seem fair?”
“Over your long life, you’ve rescued this city again and again, Pruneman. But people always forget. Even I forgot what you did for us so long ago. It shouldn’t take something like this for people to remember—and respect you.”
“Time passes,” Pruneman said. “I try not to let it bother me.”
“Show respect for the elderly and revere your God,” Larryboy said to himself, trying not to forget the words from his Superhero Handbook. “By the way, if the Treasure of Bumblyburg wasn’t under the statue of Sir Lester Bumbly, then where is it hidden?”
Pruneman grinned. “I’m sorry, Larryboy, but I promised I would keep it a secret. I’m afraid I cannot tell even you.”
Larryboy shrugged good-naturedly. “That’s OK. I wouldn’t want you to break your promise. Say, how about a game of Superhero Bingo?”
“I’d love it.”
As Larryboy bounced out of the Clock Room, Pruneman paused to glance around. His eyes fell on the hourglasses lining one of the walls, and he smiled.
Sand flowed from one end of the hourglasses to the other. But if someone had taken the time to look carefully, he or she would have noticed that the sand in the hourglasses flashed with glints of gold.
Time is golden. Time is truly a treasure from God. Just ask any senior superhero.
Pruneman closed the door to the Clock Room and hurried after Larryboy.
“WE ARE THOSE HEROES!” shouted the dynamic duo as they bounded into the multi-purpose room, side by side.
THE END
ZONDERKIDZ
Larryboy in the Attack of Outback Jack
Copyright © 2003 by Big Idea, Inc. VEGGIETALES®, character names, likenesses and other indicia are trademarks of Big Idea, Inc.
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EPub Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 978-0-310-42431-4
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ISBN 978-0-310-70649-6
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Written by: Doug Peter
son
Editors: Cindy Kenney, Gwen Ellis
Cover and interior illustrations: Michael Moore
Cover design and art direction: Big Idea Design
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LarryBoy in the Attack of Outback Jack / VeggieTales Page 4
