A sleek green limousine pulls up next to the party scene...
Stepping out, the
Chaos Turtle - sharply dressed in a foil-shiny green and gold coat and tails, pineapple-blond hair spiked dangerously, eyes concealed behind shades the color of old 7-Up bottles - surveys the destruction laid out before him.
Have I missed the whole thing? he wonders, checking his "genuine" tortoise-shell Rolex, which has stopped.
Mental note: never buy anything in New Jersey from a guy on a streetcorner who says, "Hey buddy, youse wanna buy a real nice f***in' watch?"
Sighing, the hapless creator of universes wades into the smoldering rubble. Amid the charred remains of casual
Magic players, he spies a videotape which has miraculously survived the conflagration.
"Tweedledee!" he calls toward the limousine still idling at the curb."
"Yes, mister Turtle Sir?" an oily voice responds. It belongs to a stout mop-headed fellow dressed in parti-colored britches, yellow turtleneck, and a beanie cap. He is methodically extracting himself from the driver's seat.
"See what you and Tweedledum can make of this."
"Yes, your Obsequieousness." Tweedledee takes the cassette back to the car, where he and his identically-dressed twin pop it into some high-tech gadgets conveniently located behind the front seat.
Meanwhile, the
Chaos Turtle continues the search. Finding some charred feathers, he gasps, "I hope these weren't
Apollo's. Damn the bastard who did this!
Sifting through more debris, he discovers bits of a purple sequined evening gown. "Oh, no..." he shakes his head slowly. Not the Sexiest Poster Alive. Say it ain't so.
"
Zadok!" he yells hopefully.
"
Orgg!" No answer.
"
TomB!"
"Anybody!"
"Master!" cries Tweedledum, bounding toward him.
"What is it?"
"It looks like you won something!"
"Me? What did I win?"
"Well," replied Tweedledum, "It depends upon whom you believe, Twee-"
"Shut up and show me the tape."
"Yes, Entropic One." With that, the faithful servant leads his master to the limousine and opens a door, revealing a television monitor. It appears to be a recording of the awards cermony.
"Is that
Almindhra?" he wonders. It must be. Wowsers, what a getup.
"And now," says the stunning figure in black on the monitor, "The Award for Most Intelligent goes to...
Chaos Turtle!" The recorded audience erupts into frenzied but sporadic applause.
I won? muses the turtle man, wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye. "I can't believe I missed it..."
"Missed what?" queries Tweedledee.
"I told you to shut up, didn't I?"
"Sorry."
As the audience offers their congratulations to the absent Turtle, none other than the amazing
Gizmo offers up a plausible explanation for the disappearance, as well as for the winning votes.
Presently, the
Chaos Turtle falls to the ground, laughing hysterically.
"What a card!" he pants between guffaws. "Who would have guessed Sutcliffe had a sense of humor?"
Moments later, brushing himself off, he witnesses the end of it all. The cameras show an abandoned theater, save for one lone character, carrying a flamethrower of all things, entering the bathroom, then...
The screen goes white.
It looks as if no one was hurt, at least. No one important, anyway.
"Time to go, boys. There's nothing left to see here."
Almost nothing.
Just as he is about to step back into the limo, he spies a bit of paper stuck in the rubble. Retrieving it, he tries to make sense of the scribblings on it. Turning it over, he finds a short note, written in crayon.
Mr. Turtle:
Most Intelligent? What poppycock!
Nevertheless, this is the prize offered you: my secret plans for a time machine.
Make what you will of them. Try not to %*@# it up.
Signed,
Stu
Hmm... now this could be interesting....