11. 206,784 Years Ago

CHAPTER 11 206,784 YEARS AGO A flash of white light filled the mid-afternoon haze of the Pleistocene epoch. The crystal-blue lake that had once been there was now gone. In its place were vast savanna plains stretching out to thick, forested hillsides and rocky caves. All was quiet, except for the sounds of insects and birds, and a faint rhythmic drumming far off in the forest. "Where are we?" asked George. "I think the better question would be, 'When are we?"' said Harold.

Supa Mega Tippy was surprised to see George and Harold and Crackers and Sulu. "Well, well, well!" he said. "It looks like we have four stowaways!" But what Supa Mega Tippy did not realize is that he had a fifth stowaway as well. It was Slightly Younger Tiny Tippy, who at that very moment was carefully crawling down a button on Supa Mega Tippy's shirt.

"That Stupid Mega Tippy thinks he can lie to me and get away with it," said Slightly Younger Tiny Tippy, as he jumped onto the control panel. "But I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" Slightly Younger Tiny Tippy pried up an aluminum vent and slipped effortlessly into the wiry innards of the control panel. First, he reversed the polarity on the Emulsifying Sossilflange Inhibitor. Then he switched the blue and the green wires on the Reverse- Somgobulating Tracto-McFractionalizer. Finally, he snipped all the wires to the Freezy-Beam 4000's "Off" button. "Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed Slightly Younger Tiny Tippy. "The next time that big jerk uses his Freezy-Beam 4000, he's going to get a BIG SURPRISE!"

Meanwhile, the drama outside was getting serious. Supa Mega Tippy swatted at our heroes as they soared bravely through the Ionian sky. Crackers skillfully swooped and dived and loop-de-looped as the Extendo-Flex Mechani-Gripper whizzed after him. But Supa Mega Tippy quickly became impatient and unleashed two more Extendo- Flex Mechani-Grippers. Poor Crackers could not outmaneuver them all, and the four friends were soon captured. "I'VE GOT YOU NOW!" screamed supa Mega Tippy. "Hey, LOOK!" said George, pointing at the ground behind Supa Mega Tippy. "There's a bunch of cavepeople down there watching us!" "I'm not falling for that trick!" said Supa Mega Tippy. "As soon as I turn around, you guys are going to try to escape!" "NO, SERIOUSLY!" cried Harold. "We're not lying! Look behind you!"

Supa Mega Tippy glanced quickly and noticed that the boys were indeed telling the truth. Standing behind them at the edge of the forest were about a dozen very surprised- looking cavepeople staring up in dumbfounded bewilderment. "You boys shouldn't be surprised to see cavepeople," said Supa Mega Tippy, as he studied the strange prehistoric people. "We're in the middle of the Pleistocene epoch. This is around the time that the first human families started to appear on Earth! I'll bet you dumb kids didn't know that, did you?"

Supa Mega Tippy turned to smile haughtily at George and Harold, but of course, they were gone. Sulu had bitten through three of the Extendo-Flex Mechani-Grippers, and the four friends had fluttered away. "NOOOOOOOO!" screamed Supa Mega Tippy, as he stomped his gigantic feet in frustration. The startled cavepeople screamed and ran in terror back to their homes in the deep forest.