Hep was up at dawn. That meant everyone else in the house was up approximately five minutes later when he woke Scroat up.
The rest of the UTMC crew started gathering at Dave’s house at about seven in the morning. By eight, all of them were there. Once everyone was suitably caffeinated, they split into two groups and went out looking for trouble.
Of course, they weren’t exactly sure what trouble looked like, except that it might be wearing a red shirt and riding a scooter.
They agreed to meet every couple of hours at a particular coffee shop, and then rolled off in different directions. Hep, Scroat, Jim and Dave went with one group, while Charlie, Minerva and Athena rode with the others.
“So have you got any idea where the fuck Tommy is?” Scroat asked Hep while they were at a stoplight.
“Nope, and neither does he,” Hep replied. “I talked to him in a dream last night, but Seth interrupted us. All I know is that Seth has got him locked up in a fancy house somewhere.”
“Well, fuck,” Tommy said.
“Yep,” Hep said.
They rode on, looking for anything that might tip them off to where Seth was keeping Scroat.
On the other side of town, a seafoam green van that said “Lammy Lenny’s Scooter Repair” roared passed Charlie and his group at an intersection. They didn’t think much of it, except that drivers in Denver were assholes.
***
Aphrodite was freaking out. Frank had called her babbling about guns, homemade bombs and a house full of bikers ready to go out and use them. Apparently Tommy had been kidnapped, and Hep and his friends were going to try and rescue him.
She paced around her shop, trying to think of what she could do. Frank was useless; she’d hired him to keep an eye on Hep, not to get involved in a war between gods. Also, Frank had no idea who Hep or any of the ideas were. As far as he knew, they were just an eccentric group of bikers. She was annoyed and glad at the same time that Hep had caught wise to Frank, because it meant Frank wouldn’t be blindly walking into a war zone.
On the other hand, it meant she couldn’t be sure what was happening now. She was very frustrated, as she couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help.
***
The two groups of bikers convened at the agreed upon coffee shop at noon. Neither of them had anything useful to report. They did, however, realize that they didn’t have a good way to communicate with each other if they did discover something. Too Tall suggested that one or two of them stay behind at the coffee shop to receive phone calls and pass messages on between the groups.
They drew straws and Brian and J.J. were the lucky two who got to stay at the coffee shop. Everyone chipped in a couple of bucks to keep them in coffee and baked goods until they all met up again.
The riders went back out to keep looking for Tommy, or at least information about where he might be. Brian and J.J. watched them go.
“So, uh, want to play gin?” J.J. asked Brian.
“Not really,” Brian said, and lit a cigarette. “Maybe later.”
They went inside and got a couple cups of coffee, and found a table to wait at. The coffee shop was pretty much empty except for them and the kid working behind the counter. Brian dug a book out of his backpack and started reading. J.J. sat quietly for a few minutes, and then found a deck of cards and started playing solitaire.
***
Tommy was awake, and wondering if the burly scooter kid guarding him was ever going to need to sleep, or use the bathroom, or something that would get rid of him for a few minutes. He wanted to try contacting Hep or someone again, but he couldn’t very well do it with the human brick wall by the door punching him in the gut every time he tried.
The red shirt guarding him, however, hardly did anything more than blink and occasionally shift his weight from one foot to the other.
Tommy watched him out of the corner of his eye, waiting for a chance to try again. Some time later the kid started beeping. Tommy quickly realized it was a cell phone.
The guard pulled out the phone and answered it. “Yes?” he asked. “Ok,” he said. He turned around and left the room.
“Hooray!” Tommy thought, then focussed his energy on mentally locating Elvis. Soon enough he had a thought that wasn’t his.
“Tommy, what are you doing in my head?” was the thought.
“Elvis, I’m telling you how to find me, and I haven’t got much time. The guys who kidnapped me were all wearing red shirts and they were driving a light green van with a sign for some kind of scooter shop painted on the sides,” Tommy thought.
“Oh, now what is this?” Tommy heard Seth said. Tommy opened his eyes just in time to see Seth’s ape man swing and hit him in the face.
“Talking to Elvis, are we?” Seth asked. “Since you refuse to play nicely, I guess I’m just going to have to start playing hardball. Knock him out, please.” The red shirted ogre produced a sap and quickly hit Tommy in the head with it. Tommy slumped forward in his chair.
“Sweet dreams, stupid prince,” Seth said.
***
“Hey, are you guys in the UTMC?” the kid behind the counter asked Brian and J.J.
“Yes,” Brian answered and put down his book to look at him.
“I got a phone call for you,” the kid said.
“Ok,” Brian walked over and took the phone from the kid. “Hello?” he asked.
“Hello? Who’s this?” the voice on the other end drawled.
“This is Brian, who’s this?” Brian asked.
“This is Elvis. Look, are you with Hep?” Elvis asked.
“Uh… uh… no. Hep is out looking for Tommy. Uh… are you the Elvis?” Brian asked.
“Of course I am, what kind of thick headed question is that? Look, I’ve got some news that might help you guys find Tommy. Are you ready?” Elvis said?
“Uh, sure thing, Elvis.” Brian said. Elvis then told Brian what Tommy had said about the van.
“Oh man! We saw that van this morning! Fuck!” Brian said.
“Well, at least you know that they’re probably somewhere in Denver still,” Elvis said. “I’ll call again if I learn anything new.”
Brian hung up the phone, and went back to the table to tell J.J. what he had learned.
J.J. stopped him. “Wait a minute, you talked to Elvis?”
***
Hep and Scroat were beginning to freak out a bit. They’d spent the day looking, listening and waiting for some kind of clue to present itself, and so far they didn’t know anything more than they had when they left Dave’s house that morning.
Frustrated, Hep suggested they head back to the coffee shop and wait for the other group to get back.
“Fucking hell,” Scroat said. “I haven’t been this annoyed since you bastards dragged me out of that whorehouse. Once we’ve saved Tommy’s life, I’m going to kill him for putting us through this.”
“Is that before or after you kick him in the nuts?” Hep asked.
“After. And before. That stupid cock-dripping has earned a week’s worth of nut-kicking.” Scroat said, and mimed repeatedly kicking Tommy in the crotch. “By the time I’m done with him, national football teams are going to be recruiting me because they’ve heard about my fancy fucking footwork.”
“Seems reasonable,” Hep said. They rode back to the coffee shop.
***
Charlie and his group were already back at the coffee shop, and Brian and J.J. had filled them in on what Elvis had said.
“Elvis called, can you believe it?” J.J. said to one of the other UTMCers. “Brian got to talk to Elvis, the lucky son of a bitch.”
“I can’t believe it was that van,” Charlie said to Athena and Dave. “Damn it, we were right next to them. We could have grabbed them this morning and been on our way to get Tommy already.”
Soon Hep, Scroat and the rest arrived. They were excited to hear that Tommy had been able to get in touch with Elvis and give more details, even if they were a little sketchy.
They decided to call it a day. Hep knew that Seth wouldn’t kill Tommy. If he did, his plan wouldn’t work. Hep also knew that if Seth did kill Tommy, Tommy would just pop up in Minnesota again, not much worse for the wear. They’d be able to give back the tobacco pouch, Tommy would be able to act out his myth, and then life would go on as it always did. No, what Seth really needed was to get ahold of the tobacco pouch, and destroy it, or otherwise prevent Tommy from getting it back.
Which meant that Tommy could wait another night before they went to rescue him.
Hep, Scroat, Charlie, Jim, Minerva and Athena went back with Dave to his house for the night. The rest of the UTMCers went back to their own houses. They were all alert and keeping their eyes peeled for a seafoam green Ford Econoline, but they didn’t see one that night.
At Dave’s house, Charlie pulled out a bottle of rum and said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a pull off the old bottle. Anyone care to join me?”
They passed the bottle around a few times until they all felt a bit warm and fuzzy, and then turned in for the night. Although they slept deeply, none of them dreamed and they didn’t hear anything from Tommy that night.
The rest of the UTMC crew started gathering at Dave’s house at about seven in the morning. By eight, all of them were there. Once everyone was suitably caffeinated, they split into two groups and went out looking for trouble.
Of course, they weren’t exactly sure what trouble looked like, except that it might be wearing a red shirt and riding a scooter.
They agreed to meet every couple of hours at a particular coffee shop, and then rolled off in different directions. Hep, Scroat, Jim and Dave went with one group, while Charlie, Minerva and Athena rode with the others.
“So have you got any idea where the fuck Tommy is?” Scroat asked Hep while they were at a stoplight.
“Nope, and neither does he,” Hep replied. “I talked to him in a dream last night, but Seth interrupted us. All I know is that Seth has got him locked up in a fancy house somewhere.”
“Well, fuck,” Tommy said.
“Yep,” Hep said.
They rode on, looking for anything that might tip them off to where Seth was keeping Scroat.
On the other side of town, a seafoam green van that said “Lammy Lenny’s Scooter Repair” roared passed Charlie and his group at an intersection. They didn’t think much of it, except that drivers in Denver were assholes.
***
Aphrodite was freaking out. Frank had called her babbling about guns, homemade bombs and a house full of bikers ready to go out and use them. Apparently Tommy had been kidnapped, and Hep and his friends were going to try and rescue him.
She paced around her shop, trying to think of what she could do. Frank was useless; she’d hired him to keep an eye on Hep, not to get involved in a war between gods. Also, Frank had no idea who Hep or any of the ideas were. As far as he knew, they were just an eccentric group of bikers. She was annoyed and glad at the same time that Hep had caught wise to Frank, because it meant Frank wouldn’t be blindly walking into a war zone.
On the other hand, it meant she couldn’t be sure what was happening now. She was very frustrated, as she couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help.
***
The two groups of bikers convened at the agreed upon coffee shop at noon. Neither of them had anything useful to report. They did, however, realize that they didn’t have a good way to communicate with each other if they did discover something. Too Tall suggested that one or two of them stay behind at the coffee shop to receive phone calls and pass messages on between the groups.
They drew straws and Brian and J.J. were the lucky two who got to stay at the coffee shop. Everyone chipped in a couple of bucks to keep them in coffee and baked goods until they all met up again.
The riders went back out to keep looking for Tommy, or at least information about where he might be. Brian and J.J. watched them go.
“So, uh, want to play gin?” J.J. asked Brian.
“Not really,” Brian said, and lit a cigarette. “Maybe later.”
They went inside and got a couple cups of coffee, and found a table to wait at. The coffee shop was pretty much empty except for them and the kid working behind the counter. Brian dug a book out of his backpack and started reading. J.J. sat quietly for a few minutes, and then found a deck of cards and started playing solitaire.
***
Tommy was awake, and wondering if the burly scooter kid guarding him was ever going to need to sleep, or use the bathroom, or something that would get rid of him for a few minutes. He wanted to try contacting Hep or someone again, but he couldn’t very well do it with the human brick wall by the door punching him in the gut every time he tried.
The red shirt guarding him, however, hardly did anything more than blink and occasionally shift his weight from one foot to the other.
Tommy watched him out of the corner of his eye, waiting for a chance to try again. Some time later the kid started beeping. Tommy quickly realized it was a cell phone.
The guard pulled out the phone and answered it. “Yes?” he asked. “Ok,” he said. He turned around and left the room.
“Hooray!” Tommy thought, then focussed his energy on mentally locating Elvis. Soon enough he had a thought that wasn’t his.
“Tommy, what are you doing in my head?” was the thought.
“Elvis, I’m telling you how to find me, and I haven’t got much time. The guys who kidnapped me were all wearing red shirts and they were driving a light green van with a sign for some kind of scooter shop painted on the sides,” Tommy thought.
“Oh, now what is this?” Tommy heard Seth said. Tommy opened his eyes just in time to see Seth’s ape man swing and hit him in the face.
“Talking to Elvis, are we?” Seth asked. “Since you refuse to play nicely, I guess I’m just going to have to start playing hardball. Knock him out, please.” The red shirted ogre produced a sap and quickly hit Tommy in the head with it. Tommy slumped forward in his chair.
“Sweet dreams, stupid prince,” Seth said.
***
“Hey, are you guys in the UTMC?” the kid behind the counter asked Brian and J.J.
“Yes,” Brian answered and put down his book to look at him.
“I got a phone call for you,” the kid said.
“Ok,” Brian walked over and took the phone from the kid. “Hello?” he asked.
“Hello? Who’s this?” the voice on the other end drawled.
“This is Brian, who’s this?” Brian asked.
“This is Elvis. Look, are you with Hep?” Elvis asked.
“Uh… uh… no. Hep is out looking for Tommy. Uh… are you the Elvis?” Brian asked.
“Of course I am, what kind of thick headed question is that? Look, I’ve got some news that might help you guys find Tommy. Are you ready?” Elvis said?
“Uh, sure thing, Elvis.” Brian said. Elvis then told Brian what Tommy had said about the van.
“Oh man! We saw that van this morning! Fuck!” Brian said.
“Well, at least you know that they’re probably somewhere in Denver still,” Elvis said. “I’ll call again if I learn anything new.”
Brian hung up the phone, and went back to the table to tell J.J. what he had learned.
J.J. stopped him. “Wait a minute, you talked to Elvis?”
***
Hep and Scroat were beginning to freak out a bit. They’d spent the day looking, listening and waiting for some kind of clue to present itself, and so far they didn’t know anything more than they had when they left Dave’s house that morning.
Frustrated, Hep suggested they head back to the coffee shop and wait for the other group to get back.
“Fucking hell,” Scroat said. “I haven’t been this annoyed since you bastards dragged me out of that whorehouse. Once we’ve saved Tommy’s life, I’m going to kill him for putting us through this.”
“Is that before or after you kick him in the nuts?” Hep asked.
“After. And before. That stupid cock-dripping has earned a week’s worth of nut-kicking.” Scroat said, and mimed repeatedly kicking Tommy in the crotch. “By the time I’m done with him, national football teams are going to be recruiting me because they’ve heard about my fancy fucking footwork.”
“Seems reasonable,” Hep said. They rode back to the coffee shop.
***
Charlie and his group were already back at the coffee shop, and Brian and J.J. had filled them in on what Elvis had said.
“Elvis called, can you believe it?” J.J. said to one of the other UTMCers. “Brian got to talk to Elvis, the lucky son of a bitch.”
“I can’t believe it was that van,” Charlie said to Athena and Dave. “Damn it, we were right next to them. We could have grabbed them this morning and been on our way to get Tommy already.”
Soon Hep, Scroat and the rest arrived. They were excited to hear that Tommy had been able to get in touch with Elvis and give more details, even if they were a little sketchy.
They decided to call it a day. Hep knew that Seth wouldn’t kill Tommy. If he did, his plan wouldn’t work. Hep also knew that if Seth did kill Tommy, Tommy would just pop up in Minnesota again, not much worse for the wear. They’d be able to give back the tobacco pouch, Tommy would be able to act out his myth, and then life would go on as it always did. No, what Seth really needed was to get ahold of the tobacco pouch, and destroy it, or otherwise prevent Tommy from getting it back.
Which meant that Tommy could wait another night before they went to rescue him.
Hep, Scroat, Charlie, Jim, Minerva and Athena went back with Dave to his house for the night. The rest of the UTMCers went back to their own houses. They were all alert and keeping their eyes peeled for a seafoam green Ford Econoline, but they didn’t see one that night.
At Dave’s house, Charlie pulled out a bottle of rum and said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a pull off the old bottle. Anyone care to join me?”
They passed the bottle around a few times until they all felt a bit warm and fuzzy, and then turned in for the night. Although they slept deeply, none of them dreamed and they didn’t hear anything from Tommy that night.
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