4. The Wabbit and the Jolly Joker

Suddenly the scene changed and the Wabbit and Lapinette found themselves behind a gravestone watching a different white rabbit hop towards them. "Another one," muttered the Wabbit who was beginning to get used to more and more rabbits. “Hop white rabbit, hop hop!” shouted the white rabbit and with a flick of his paw he threw several playing cards in the air. Lapinette and the Wabbit gazed at the cards that were now dancing a merry jig. The Wabbit thought for a moment then smiled. "Pick any card," he said to Lapinette, "but don’t let me see it." The Wabbit shut his eyes very tightly indeed and Lapinette put out a paw and grabbed the three of diamonds. "OK, tell me what it is," sighed Lapinette. "It's the three of diamonds," said the Wabbit quickly. "Oh!" sulked Lapinette and she looked at the Wabbit with a look she reserved for his magic tricks, because she knew that Wabbit could perform quite a few that he had learned from a book. He would take it upon himself to entertain guests at social gatherings and usually she chose that very moment to have an urgent appointment elsewhere. "It’s not a trick," said the Wabbit. "It’s the Fibonacci Sequence." "Then where,” asked Lapinette, "does that card fit?" She pointed to to the hopping rabbit and the Wabbit looked at him and then at the card the white rabbit had kept to himself. "That's a jolly joker," said the Wabbit. "It can fit anywhere." "Like us," smiled Lapinette. "Up to a point," smiled the Wabbit.

3. The Wabbit and Schrödinger's Rabbits

As soon as Lapinette mentioned the word  “rabbits”, both she and the Wabbit shot into the air.  "Whooooah!" said the Wabbit. "Woooooooh!" said Lapinette and she struggled to get the Wabbit’s automatic out of her frock. They both started to drift around and Lapinette's arms detached from her body and whirled too. "Over there!" gasped the Wabbit and gestured as best he could at two white rabbits sitting on a gravestone. The rabbits were having a discussion about quantum sequences and although they seemed to notice Lapinette and the Wabbit they merely continued their discussion in an animated manner. The Wabbit caught vague terms like asymptotic, fans, arcs, retracement and time extension and they all seemed to whirl around his head. But when Lapinette heard them say "time extension", something made her uneasy and she tried to fire an alarm shot in the air with her automatic. The rabbits looked across as the automatic made a soft plopping and equations issued from the barrel. They nodded sagely and murmured about the implicate order. "Hello rabbits,"  said the Wabbit as best he could. "We are only one rabbit,"  said both rabbits at once. "What’s your name?" asked Lapinette in a warbly voice. "I am Schrödinger," said one. "No, I am Schrödinger," said the other. "I’m confused," said the Wabbit. "There’s a simple explanation," said Lapinette suddenly. "When everything is eliminated, the remaining explanation no matter how bizarre is the case." "That's true," said the Wabbit as if he knew already. "The rabbits are here and not here at the same time," said Lapinette. "So what about us?" said the Wabbit. "Us too," said Lapinette.

2. The Wabbit and the Ouija Board

As Lapinette and the Wabbit hopped into the Graveyard, the gates swung closed behind them with a clang and the sky misted over. "Mmm," said the Wabbit, "we just lost some light. Perhaps this graveyard is haunted." "Who by?" asked Lapinette. "Persons or things unknown," said the Wabbit knowledgeably and he scanned the graveyard all around. "Do you think that's why it's always locked with a big padlock?" said Lapinette. "I think spooks care as much about padlocks as I do," smiled the Wabbit. "You're  a bit of a spook yourself," said Lapinette. "Everyone's got to have a project," said the Wabbit. They both thought long and hard, then smiled for a moment. But the Wabbit felt the wind tugging at his fur again. He turned in its direction and shivered as he caught sight of a coloured object. "What's that?" he murmured. "It's a Ouija Board," said Lapinette. "I don't think they work," said the Wabbit. "Ask it," said Lapinette. "OK," said the Wabbit. He rummaged in his fur for his monopod and hopping up to the board he began to poke it vigorously. Very slowly, the tip of the monopod started to move across the letters - first to O then U then C and finally H. "Ouch!" said Lapinette. "Sorry," said the Wabbit. Then he felt the board tremble slightly and watched as it pointed to O followed by K. Suddenly, it began to glow and the Wabbit's monopod started to move again, but this time across a particular sequence of numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, then 13 and 21. Finally it stopped. "Fibonacci of Pisa!" exclaimed the Wabbit. "And his pair of rabbits!" gasped Lapinette. 

1. The Wabbit and the Locked Graveyard

The Wabbit and Lapinette were on a constitutional hop quite near the Old Abandoned Laundry and just as they were passing the Old Locked Graveyard, the Wabbit noticed that the chain and padlock were missing. "Look Lapinette!" he said with excitement. "There's no lock!" Lapinette made sure the gate was indeed unlocked. "Usually there's a big iron padlock," said the Wabbit. "Usually that doesn't stop you looking around," smiled Lapinette. "I felt that would be disrespectful," said the Wabbit. "I don't think they mind in there," said Lapinette. "Well, they're somewhat dead," said the Wabbit. "You never show as much respect for the somewhat living," said Lapinette. The Wabbit thought for a bit and said, "That's somewhat of a point." He was just about to elaborate on respect when he felt a faint breath of wind tug at his fur. "Did you feel that?" he said, looking through the gates. "Feel what?" asked Lapinette. "That tuggy thing on the fur," said the Wabbit. "I felt no tuggy thing," said Lapinette and she sniffed the air. "But I'm aware of a musty smell like ancient boots in the cellar," she said. The Wabbit looked at his fur while Lapinette looked at her feet and they were so intent on looking that they hardly noticed the gates swing open. "That's odd," said the Wabbit. "The gates opened of their own volition." "Silently," said Lapinette. "They're supposed to go creakedy-creakedy," said the Wabbit. "Ungate-like behaviour," said Lapinette. "Shall we go in?" asked the Wabbit. "Do we have a choice?" said Lapinette. "Not this side of an adventure," said the Wabbit and they both hopped through.

The Wabbit and the stash of Irn Bru

"Where's this? asked Skratch. "It's the Wabbit's homeland," answered Quantum the Time Travelling Train. "Off you hop now and have a nice snack!" So while they assembled round a table, Skratch thought he would get the drinks. "Carrot aperitivi," he called in a loud cat voice. "Oh I don't think they have these here," said the Wabbit, "but I do see something else." "So do I!" said Ghost Bunny, "it says Irn Bru on the label."  "Made in Scotland from Girders," said the Wabbit. Lapinette giggled. "And how do they do that exactly?" she smiled. Lapinette was merely teasing, because she had found the Wabbit's secret stash of Irn Bru in the back of a cupboard along with a sporran, a skean dubh and a tartan football hat. Of this discovery she said nothing. "Irn Bru is so made of girders," said the Wabbit following a pause. "It contains ammonium ferric citrate!" "Point nought nought two percent," said Ghost Bunny quietly. "Exactly," said the Wabbit. "It puts fur on your chest, so will you join me in a glass?" "Me too," said Quantum the Train and they all settled back. "So what about the Ice Mice? What kind of adventure was that exactly?" asked Skratch. "It was an Eco adventure," said Ghost Bunny who took an interest in popular television. "The Skarrots was an Eco adventure too," said Lapinette. "Are we getting in a rut, then?" asked Skratch. The Wabbit sipped his drink and smacked his lips. He knew only too well that Lapinette had discovered his secret hoard of Irn Bru because he was one bottle short. "No, it's more of a groove," he grinned.

8. The Wabbit in the Sombrero Galaxy

Quantum jettisoned the container of Ice Mice on the edge of the Sombrero Galaxy and all the gang cheered as they watched it spiral off into the distance. "I hope we've seen the last of these mice," said Skratch the Cat Burglar. "Somehow I doubt it," said the Wabbit. "There's a big black hole down there," said Lovely Lapinette. "A black mouse hole?" asked Skratch. Everyone laughed. "Now it's time for us to sing," said Quantum the Time Travelling Train. "Sing?" said Ghost Bunny in surprise. "We always sing," said Quantum. "Well only just the once before," said the Wabbit. "That's how traditions begin," said Quantum, "so you start, Commander Wabbit." "Oh all right," said the Wabbit and he put his paw to his ear in authentic folk fashion and adopted a nasal voice. "All around my hat!" he chanted. "I will wear the green willow," responded Quantum melodically and started a background music track. "All around my hat, for a twelve month and a day," sang Lapinette. "And if anyone should ask me," sang Skratch. "The reason why I'm wearing it," added Ghost Bunny. And then they all joined together and sang with gusto. "It's all for my True Love who is far far away!" And across billions of galaxies, trillions of light years away from the Sombrero Galaxy, space travellers picked up a strange signal on sub space communications. It was the sound of merry singing. And soon, over the vast universe, everyone was singing that self same song.

7. The Wabbit and the Quantum Airlift

Ghost Bunny was already aboard Quantum the Time Travelling Train and the rest of the gang could feel the effect of Quantum's powerful engines. But the Ice Mice had no choice. They were drawn aboard as if compelled to travel. Quantum started to shudder and shake. "All aboard, all aboard!" shouted the Wabbit. "Please have your travel documents ready," shouted Skratch. "No liquids, no lighters, no plastic forks," shouted Lapinette. Quantum's shaking stopped and the train began to hum in an increasingly strange tone. "This is your Captain speaking," intoned Ghost Bunny over the loudspeakers. "In the unlikely event of being frozen in a different dimension, please use the oxygen masks and sick bags provided." The gang could hear a muted chattering. "I guess the Ice Mice just picked the wrong train," said Skratch. "What time is it?" asked Lapinette of the Wabbit. "Six five," he said, "and the station is a shakin'." "Shall we then board?" said Lapinette. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," said Skratch. Ghost Bunny slid back the cabin door and they all lurched on. The Wabbit looked around. "Quantum, we meet again," he said. "Commander," said Quantum. "Welcome aboard. Our destination is Galaxy T104. Ghost Bunny has already walked around." "I haunted round and all is well," said Ghost Bunny, handing the Wabbit a sheaf of paperwork. "OK," said the Wabbit and he hopped on the footplate. "Out and up, Quantum. Nice and easy." There was a sudden shudder, then a flash and all that remained was a faint smell of engine shavings.

6. The Wabbit and the Emergency Plan

The Wabbit watched as Ghost Bunny's Processor crushed the Ice Mice, but he was not expecting a vast number of small Ice Mice to swarm towards them. "Plan?" shouted Lapinette. "Run!" shouted the Wabbit. In a flurry of paws and fur, they shot along the Walkway with speed. But the Ice Mice were everywhere - as far back as their eyes could see. "Ghost Bunny!" panted the Wabbit. "Yes Commander," breathed Ghost Bunny. "Can you haunt ahead and prepare Quantum the Time Travelling Train?" yelled the Wabbit, shaking off a voracious Ice Mouse from his rear leg. "On my way," shouted Ghost Bunny and she shimmered and vanished. Keeping just ahead, the three puffed and huffed and hopped along the ramp, except for Skratch who was a cat. "It's like the Pied Piper of Hamleys!" yelled the Wabbit. "Hornby!" corrected Skratch. "Hamelin!" shouted Lapinette. "I never got the point of that story," huffed the Wabbit. "Did the rats vanish?" "Oh yes," panted Lapinette. "and everyone else too. No-one was ever seen again." "I want to be seen again," gasped the Wabbit. "Then where are you sending them?" asked Lapinette. "Far, far away," said the Wabbit. "Far is good," said Lapinette, glancing behind her. "They're going to Galaxy M104, 28 million light years as the crow warps," shouted the Wabbit. "Not the Sombrero Galaxy?" gasped Skratch. "Yes," yelled the Wabbit, "but keep it under your hat."

5, The Wabbit and the Big Crossbow

"Where did you get a giant crossbow?" asked the Wabbit. "Requisition!" said both Lapinette and Ghost Bunny at once. The Wabbit was none the wiser but ploughed on. "Won't the Ice Mice notice the Crossbow?" he asked. "Oh yes, that's half the fun," said Ghost Bunny. "They'll see it but they won't believe it." Everyone nodded and looked the Crossbow up and down. "All right, let's see if we have this corrrect," interrupted the Wabbit. "Ghost Bunny, the Cooling Tower has been modified into a Quantum Compressor?" "Crushedy, crushedy," said Ghost Bunny. Lapinette thought that Ghost Bunny was definitely spending too much time with the Wabbit. "The craft are dawn inexorably into the Cooling Tower and we lob these disks in after them," she said. "What's in the disks now?" asked the Wabbit. "Soot," said Ghost Bunny. "We're very low-tech today," observed the Wabbit. "Retro, Commander," replied Ghost Bunny. "but their weapons will become ineffective." "And the mice?" asked the Wabbit. "Small," said Ghost Bunny. "Tiny," said Lapinette. "Miniscule?" suggested the Wabbit. "No, not that small," said Lapinette. "And then what do we do?" said the Wabbit. "I don't know, that's your department," said Lapinette. "Recycle?" said Ghost Bunny. "Excellent," said the Wabbit, "we'll let the fellows at the recycling plant sort it out." "No Wabbit!" shouted Lapinette. "We'll send them back from whence they came!" "What's their address?" asked the Wabbit.

4. The Wabbit and the Secret Meeting

The Wabbit gathered with his close associates in a secret location to discuss the peril of the Ice Mice. "OK everyone," said the Wabbit. For a while he poked the stolen disk with a collapsible mono pod that he kept in his fur. "Ghost Bunny! What do you hear? What do you say?" rapped the Wabbit suddenly. "Don't poke the disk, Wabbit. It's a weather weapon," murmured Ghost Bunny in the Wabbit's ear. "You don't say?" said the Wabbit, rolling the disk back and forward. "Wabbit, that is an Active Ice Underground Tool - or AIUTO if you will," explained Ghost Bunny. "Help!" smiled Lapinette. "Got it!" said the Wabbit. "Look Skratch, these flying saucers. What's the word in the Turin porticos and pasticceri?" "They think a film crew is making a movie," said Skratch quickly. "There's a rumour that it's called the Italian Job in Space." "I hate remakes," said the Wabbit. Everyone shook their heads sadly. "Now Lapinette," said the Wabbit. "I need good ideas quickly." "Give them a taste of their own weather," said Lapinette. "and turn their weapons against them." "The disks are rather unstable. It's a bad idea," said Ghost Bunny solemnly. "Has anyone got a worse one?" asked the Wabbit. Everyone looked puzzled and in the confusion the Wabbit took the opportunity to enforce his choice. "We'll run with Lapinette's idea," he said. "Ghost Bunny, I need reverse disks and plenty of them." "Right away, Commander," sighed Ghost Bunny.  "When do we start?" said Lapinette. "Immediately," said the Wabbit, "weather permitting."

3. The Wabbit gets some Help

The Wabbit avoided the fire from the air and made it to the heart of the city, but still the strange craft of the Ice Mice hovered high above and the Wabbit could plainly be seen through the gaps made by public works. "Accursed developers!" muttered the Wabbit and he made for the back of the Big New Station. But he could hear a familiar voice above the sounds of the city. "Wabbit! Over here, Wabbit!" The Wabbit glanced round and caught whatever was spiraling towards him. He didn't quite remember taking aim and he certainly doesn't recall squeezing the trigger. But there was a blast of such magnitude that windows in nearby buildings shook themselves from their frames and crashed to the ground. When the explosion died away, there was a dead silence and then with an awful creaking, the craft slowly tilted and sank from the sky. The Wabbit looked at Skratch. "I'm glad to see you my friend. New coat?" he smiled. "Your requisition," said Skratch. "Really? said the Wabbit, who had indeed signed the paperwork without optimism. "And the Snaser?" he asked, stroking it. "Improved," said Skratch. "Excellent," said the Wabbit. Skratch grinned a big grin but then frowned. "What about these interlopers?" he asked, pointing a wary paw to the sky. The Wabbit saw five more vessels headed their way. "Do you know something Skratch?" he said. Skratch tilted his head enquiringly. "Just for a moment there I thought we were in trouble." said the Wabbit.

2. The Wabbit stays on the Road

With the strange craft behind him, the Wabbit took off at speed. He knew the terrain but the craft had the advantage of height and could see everywhere the Wabbit went. So the Wabbit thought he may as well keep to the road and he dodged right and left to avoid the crackling beams that threatened to slice through his fur. "Keep right on to the end of the road," hummed the Wabbit to give himself company. It seemed to work, and he was able to quicken his pace and hum some more. "Though your heart be strong and the road be long, keep right on round the bend!" he hummed. The beams looked hot from a distance but when they came close the Wabbit felt an icy chill and he shivered. "I need to find cover and lose this annoying fellow," thought the Wabbit. "Cover, cover, cover. Where, where, where?" he asked himself. At the same time, the Wabbit was wondering why the Ice Mice had returned so close to his location. On their last encounter he and Ghost Bunny had given them a trouncing that they no doubt remembered. But there was something else. It was such an obvious something else that it completely eluded him. The Wabbit shoved this thought to the back of his mind, which was fairly capacious. "This is too countrified," thought the Wabbit. "I need the nooks and crannies of the city." "And controlled air space," said a voice from the back of his mind. The Wabbit made a left turn and headed for the depths of the city where he knew he belonged.

1. The Wabbit & the Return of the Ice Mice

It was only by chance that the Wabbit was passing the Old Abandoned Laundry. He had just popped through the derelict gates to see if there was anything to see, when a shadow passed over him and he looked up to see a familiar craft. "Ice Mice!" he hissed and he crouched behind an old rusty tank. "I thought they had departed for a distant galaxy," mused the Wabbit. The Ice Mice either didn't see the Wabbit or ignored him, because they were intent on their task. They worked industriously to harvest the disks that fell from their craft and then bore them around with feverish haste. The Wabbit tried to work out what the disks were. They glowed, but not always. Some were bigger, some smaller. Some seemed heavier than others and they all made a sonorous ringing if dropped. The Wabbit could do little on his own, but he saw that one disk had rolled close and he wondered if he could reach it. He stretched and stretched - but it was just out of his grasp and when he nearly had it in his paw, it rolled slightly further way. "Accursed thing!" muttered the Wabbit under his breath. But under his breath was not low enough for the sharp ears of one Ice Mouse and it looked over at the Wabbit and squealed. All the Ice Mice turned to look. "Time to go!" thought the Wabbit and he grabbed the disk, tucked it into his fur and loped for the gate. The Wabbit outpaced the Ice Mice easily, but from the corner of his eye he could see the strange craft close its bay doors and move in his direction.

The Wabbit and the Shopping Joke

"Why are we here?" asked Lapinette." "We're shopping," said the Wabbit. "What on earth for?" asked Lapinette. "I'm not exactly sure. I'll know it when I see it," replied the Wabbit. "This shop is full of not very useful things," said Lapinette. "Ah," said the Wabbit with a look that he adopted when he thought he knew better than everyone else. "They don't look useful now but later we might need something that we didn't buy when we had the opportunity." "Like what?" scoffed Lapinette. "Small bags of unusual dimensions," said the Wabbit. "And things for removing things from other things." "Which would then fit into an unusually shaped bag?" suggested Lapinette. "Exactly," said the Wabbit. Silence fell, but not for long. "I haven't forgotten that shopping remark," said Lapinette. "Oh, which one? I've quite lost track," said the Wabbit, knowing what was coming next. "When we were in the supermarket about to fight those dangerous GM Skarrots," said Lapinette, "you went off and said that I should shop while I waited for you to come back." "That was a complimentary reference to your marvellous ability to multi-task," said the Wabbit, hoping for the best. "Well, I'd like to see you shop and fight off the wicked Agents of Rabit at the same time," said Lapinette. "No problem," said the Wabbit. "Well what would you shop for?" said Lapinette. "Bullets!" said the Wabbit.

The Wabbit and his Thoughts

The three were in contemplative mood as they stopped on the stairs on the way home from a restaurant. Lapinette was thinking. She knew that the Wabbit adored Ghost Bunny and that his adoration was reciprocated. But she had no particular worries on that score because she knew the Wabbit and all his ways rather well. She knew that she tolerated many of the Wabbit's wilder idiosyncrasies, because she loved him and that was that. No-one else could know the Wabbit like Lapinette and so Lapinette smiled a satisfied smile. At the same time Ghost Bunny was also thinking. She knew that Lapinette knew she adored the Wabbit. But at the same time, Ghost Bunny was completely in awe of Lapinette. Ghost Bunny knew her own education and experience was at least the equal of Lapinette's. But even with Ghost Bunny's specialisation in Lacanian psychoanalysis, Lapinette represented something lovely to her that she couldn't quite fathom. Both quietly smiled to themselves. The Wabbit was also gently musing to himself but of all these thoughts he was blissfully unaware. In the depths of the Wabbit's imagination, Ghost Bunny and Lapinette had been locked in a staring competition for 48 hours. Neither would give up and their eyes were unflinching. The Wabbit let his mind drift and as it wandered, he saw himself creeping up quietly and unseen behind both of them. But just as he was about to burst a large paper bag, a voice shattered his reverie. "What are you thinking?" said Lapinette. "Nothing!" uttered the Wabbit.