The Factory

The Factory is the sixth chapter in the Wombles Six.

An evil laugh echoed through the factory.  It was followed by enormous footsteps.  The volume of the footsteps crashing was incredible but the biscuit workers didn’t notice as they wore ear defenders.  Just as Steed and Cathy thought they might go permanently deaf a giant womblet crashed into view.

Now a sound like an elevator started.  It stopped and a door opened in a foot of the giant womblet.  Out stepped Mr Teddy Bear and a robot Roy Walker.  “Mr Teddy Bear!” shouted Cathy.  “Mrs Steed!” replied Mr Teddy Bear.  “Queen Catherine the Sixth in Exile actually!” snapped Cathy.  “King Lord John the Second in Exile!” added Steed. “Actually you weren’t King but you can be King in Exile and then King when we win” finished Cathy.  Mr Teddy Bear cut in “Enough of your vanity prisoners! I have you here for my amusement but will kill you when I’m ready.”

The robot Roy Walker threw Steed and Cathy into a dark hole.  They fell.  They kept on falling for what seemed like forever.  Eventually they landed on something big and solid.  “You fools!” shouted the big solid thing.  It was pitch black so they couldn’t tell what it was until a light appeared.  The light was a cigar.  “Nice!” said Hannibal and pointed a gun at Steed.  It wasn’t that light and still hard to see.  B A swung a punch to knock out Steed.  But he knocked out Hannibal instead.  Steed took Hannibal’s cigar and stubbed it out on B A’s nose. “Fool!  You burned my nose!” shouted B A.  “No I didn’t it was my lucky rabbits foot!” said Murdock. “Guys” cut in Face.

“The A team!  I’ve got you now!” shouted Colonel Decker.  He was then knocked out by James Bond.  The A team started fighting each other.  Steed and Cathy moved carefully through the dark with the dwindling light of the cigar.  They reached a door and went through the unexpected exit.

They were in a big old looking house.  As they explored they kept on reaching the same place again.  “Are we moving or is the room moving?” asked Steed. “Definitely the room” replied Cathy. “But not this one, look” added Steed. The room next door kept changing. They counted until it looked the same as it had started.  They stepped in to the next room.  1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 they counted.  Now they jumped out through another door way.

There was a huge computer in there and a giant teddy bear in a glass box.  The teddy bear started talking with Mr Teddy Bear’s voice. “Prisoners you cannot find the exit so will either go mad or choose to die, if I decide to kill you first then so be it.  If you want to kill yourselves simply open the red hatch, go in and you will be painlessly gassed to death.”  He sounded calm but evil.

Mrs Peel was making the wombles do a song and dance show for her.  “Bulgaria!  Kick those legs higher!  You’re supposed to be a dancer in 1920s Paris not a bad Irish dancer!” she shouted. Bulgaria kicked much higher whilst thinking how humiliating it was to dress up and especially so as French lady from the 1920s.

She made them dance until they fell asleep.  All the wombles lay in a heap of old fashioned dresses.  Mrs Peel eventually fell asleep herself after drinking her cocoa. Somebody else appeared then.  It was Bungo.  He shook the wombles awake.  “Quick!  Bury Princess Peel in those dresses and get out of here!” he said urgently.

“You’re in charge of us now! Good grief!” said Bulgaria. “No!  You are in charge of the wombles!   I lead the Avengers!” replied Bungo.  “Very well I am now Commander Bulgaria!” declared Commander Bulgaria. “I’m Director Bungo” added Bungo. Quickly they tied up the drugged Princess Peel and buried her in old French dresses.  They rushed out before she could wake up.

Once out of the burrow Commander Bulgaria headed off to Hyde Park with his womble army.  Bungo pressed a plunger and blew up the wombles base. He knew that Mrs Peel would only be buried alive so he was fine with it.  A great boom rang out across London and she was buried nicely along with the existence jewel so nobody could take it easily.

Johnny called Loch Ness 999. “McSteed speaking” answer McSteed. “We got a problem baby!” said Johnny. “Aye?  What would that be now?” asked McSteed.  “Steed and Groovy Cathy have been taken by someone” replied Johnny. “TODE?” asked McSteed.  “Not sure man!  Could be them or SCARE, SCAR, WOOF, who knows?” replied Johnny.  “I’ll play m’pipes and find m!” replied McSteed then rang off.