"Got it!" cried Dabbler, suddenly. "Those were the Inferior Five, weren't they? Merryman, Awkward Man, Dumb Bunny, the White Feather -- I forget the name of the green guy who looks like a blimp, though."
"He's called the Blimp," Diana supplied.
"'Dumb Bunny'?" queried D.J. frostily.
Dabbler shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I know it sounds horrible," she said, "but don't take me to task for it. In the comics, at least, she chose it herself."
"They actually seemed pretty decent, for Supers," Sindy mused.
"That," said D.J., with an arch look at Diana, "was what I thought."
The Amazon sighed. "You're probably right," she conceded. "Probably because of the way the rest of us pick on them. But I was short with that crew for a reason, they compensate for their lack of status by acting fussy and officious. Give 'em half a chance and they're right little bureaucrats, if I hadn't put the fear of the gods into them I'm sure they would have delayed us for hours."
"What do you think the blockage they spoke of is," wondered Mort.
"We'll just have to see, won't we?"
"Just how far is it to Backstage Peripheral, anyway?" asked Rincewind. "It's been pretty straightforward so far, is it going to be straight ahead all the way?"
"Pretty much," Diana confirmed. "It's several sectors further on."
"If it's that easy to find, why do we need a guide?" said Mort suspiciously.
"More like a protector, to get you past my former allies," the Amazon told her, ignoring the tone. "And of course to warn you of the horrors ahead. Particularly at the end of the line."
"And that would be?"
"The host of Supers besieging Peripheral."
"By the Null! And the other 'horrors?' What else haven't you told us about, Super?"
"Next gate coming up," JigSaw interrupted, and sure enough, it was, and just starting to open ahead of them. This opening had the needle's eye look of the one they had passed through on the way into Threadville, which stood to reason, as it would be Threadville's entrance from the other side.
Sat Aug 23 02:02:25 2003
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