Blaze's Origin story

by Phoenix



*Epilogue* Another Dimension, almost the same as the aniverse:

Planet Pyro:

 	A spinning fireball narrowly misses a dark, hooded figure. The
figure nimbly jumps out of the way of spikes catapulting out of nearly
invisible holes in the trees of a dense forest. Landing in a crouched
position, the faint silhouette listened and swiftly drew out 2 sharp
katanas and sliced through a large tree trunk, which swung down from a
vine.

 	Slow clapping echoed from a behind a tree. The hooded figure
turned around. "Very good, excellent…You have done well, child." A
phoenix walked over to her student.

 	As her teacher approached, the figure pulled back her hood and
swept back the satin-like folds her cloak, revealing a tall, slender
phoenix. Her skin-tight, silver, costume reflected the soft glow of
her teacher’s feathers.

 	Blaze bowed, "Thank you, Mistress Crimson" she stood up and
carefully put her katanas back in the sheath.

 	"Keep up the excellent results of you training and you many
achieve the ‘golden Phoenix wings’.

 	Blaze rolled her eyes, flicking her pony-tailed red hair back over
her shoulder, "I know, I know. To achieve my golden Phoenix wings, I
must complete my martial arts training, gain experience in fighting
and exercise my mind powers." Blaze knew the wings were only achieved
when a student gained skill in all three. She groaned, pushed her long
bangs out of her eyes and crossed her eyes impatiently. Blaze was a
very young phoenix, only three hundred years old, and the old one
patiently sighed and shook her head.

 	"Come, it is time to retire for the night." Blaze followed as her
teacher led the way to the huts.



Part 1: Aniverse

 	Inside a space café, a short, green hare lounged on the counter,
casually sipping a tall glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice.
"Bucky!! Hello old, chaps. How’s everything going with your crew and
ship?"

 	Capt. Bucky O’ Hare spun around, facing a large brown-orange dog.
"Comm. Dogstarr! Fine, fine. Everything’s in working order. In fact,
Willy, Bruiser and Blinky are working on a new project. Something
called a "dimensional pathway motor" or something, whatever." Bucky
shrugged.

 	Dogstarr chuckled, "How about your first mate?"

 	Bucky was about to answer when a husky, smooth voice interrupted,
"Just fine, commander. Little bored anyway, nothing exciting happening
in a while." A tall, white-furred feline, with flowing pink hair
approached them.

 	"You can say that again. I’m kinda hopin’ those slimy amphibians
attack sometime, just to get into the heat of battle." The group
turned to see Deadeye, the Righteous Indignation’s gunner.

 	"Oh, hi Deadeye. I thought you were checking up on Willy,
Bruiser’s project."

 	"I was hopin’ to get a looksy at what the big project was. Then
Willy blocked the door and told me it was a surprise or somethin’
he’ll call us when it’s done."

 	Deadeye shook his head, "That lad’s plannin’ somethin’ fishy…"

 	Dogstarr nodded, "I better be on my way, Bucky, Jenny, Deadeye.
Duty calls."

 	Dogstarr left with his crew on their ship. Bucky turned back to
finish his juice, while Jenny ordered a milkshake (I’m not sure what
she likes, but since she’ s a cat…) and Deadeye proceeded to clean his
maser pistols.

 	After a while, Bruiser and Willy, followed by Blinky burst out of
the hatchet leading to the Righteous Indignation. "Whew!! Glad that’s
finished." Willy exclaimed as he wiped sweat from his brow.

 	"Bruiser famished. Got to have bananas!" Bruiser ran to the
counter and ordered a whole meal, starting from banana juice to banana
split.

 	"So, Willy, when can we see your top secret project? What was it?
The "dimensional archway stimulator?"

 	Willy grinned, "Right after we eat, Capt. By the way, its called
"dimensional gateway generator".

 	"All righty, but finish stuffing your face, and let’s see what
your big project it." Deadeye said, impatiently. Willy only nodded,
already chewing on the chocolate fudge sundae he ordered.



Other Aniverse, Planet Pyro:

 	RefFire sat cross-legged on the highest branch of a very tall
tree, gazing at the moon. "Let’s see. I already completed martial arts
training, so that leaves experience in combat. Oh, yeah. Mind powers."
She groaned, "Better practice more or I’ll never get my own wings."
Closing her eyes, she put her hands over a piece of wood in front of
her and concentrated hard. Gradually, the twig rose up slowly,
unsteadily.

 	Suddenly, she was distracted when a moth landed on her shoulder,
brushing her face softly with its antennae. "Huh!? What the…" Her
concentration wavered, eyes opened, and reflex acted as she brushed
the insect off. The twig fell down abruptly. "Dang!!" she muttered,
"Maybe I’ll work on levitation."

 	Blaze stood up, brushing dead, bark and leaves off her cloak and
silver bodysuit. "Hmm…" she pressed her temples, as she stood up
straight and focused her mind on the weight of her body.
Concentrating, her body started rising, "I’m doing it, I’m doing it…"
she repeated inside her mind.



Aniverse:

 	"The dimensional gateway generator can open portals leading to
other universes. Just find a different dimension and machine will sort
of "slice" through the dimension barriers and create a portal that
will literally suck anything it can into the aniverse." Willy smiled
proudly, patting the piece of equipment resting on top of a table.

 	"Yeah, yeah!! Can use it to find my brother, Bruce! Return him to
own dimension!" Bruiser said, excitedly. "Okay, okay. Calm down
Bruiser."

 	Jenny turned to Willy, "Isn’t that dangerous, Willy? I mean, the
creatures you might accidentally bring here might dangerous. Is there
means of knowing if they are harmless or not?"

 	Willy shook his head, "Currently working on it. But I think
Bruiser is dying to test it out."





Other Aniverse, Planet Pyro:

 	Blaze was rapidly losing her focus, "Okay, that’s it. I’ll call it
a night and hit the sack." she thought. Blaze expected the branch
beneath her feet. Panic hit her as she remembered she sometimes
drifted away from her point of origin. And she remembered the bough
she was on was very narrow and was the highest one on the tree. "Uh,
oh!!" she screamed inside her mind. Looking down, she saw the only
reason she still hadn’t plummeted down to terra cotta was her mind.

 	Clenching her fist, Blaze maneuvered to be able to reach the
branch. Little by little, now only a few inches away, the phoenix
reached her foot out and caught the branch. "C’mon… Just a little
more…" she told herself.

 	Then a strong gust of wind, totally blew her a long way out.



Aniverse:

 	The huge baboon already pressed a few buttons and was ready to
turn the handle. "Bruiser ready to bring brother back. NOW!" Before
Bucky, Willy and Jenny could react, Bruiser had already cranked the
handle down.

 	"Whoa. Let’s see what’s comin’ out of portal no. one." Deadeye
cracked as a swirling pink disc appeared in the middle of the ceiling.



Other Aniverse, Planet Pyro:

 	Blaze felt gravity take over. "Whoa!!" she cried as she fell.
Bracing herself for something that might save her, another branch or
something, she readied herself in a outstretched position. When she
got nearer to the ground, she planned to use her cloak as a parachute.
She couldn’t do that now, with the winds and the tree branches
blocking her way.

 	A large, swirling pink disc got into her path of drop. "What
the--!?!?" she gasped as she fell through.



Aniverse:

 	"Blinky! The gateway generator is malfunctioning! Help me cool
this machine down before it short-circuits." Willy yelled as sparks
flew out of the machine. He tried pressing a few buttons, but a small
boom was heard inside. The contraption crumbled on the table. But the
portal remained open.

 	"Bruiser! Do you realize what you have done?" Bucky was
practically yelling now, "How can you be sure that’s where Bruce
is?!?"

 	"Yeah, big guy. Some horrible alien life form could pass through
that hole. Talkin’ about big, bulging eyes, tentacles for arms, maybe
even a whole army of—"

 	He was cut short by a figure gracefully landing on her feet from
the hole. When she saw them, her eyes narrowed and quickly drew out
her weapons. Above them, the gateway, rapidly closed.

 	"Who the blazes are you?!?" Deadeye’s response came with his maser
pistols aimed at her.

 	She quickly reacted by slowly tensing into a pre-attack pose,
ready to use her ninja blades on the slightest hint of danger. Bucky
and Bruiser likewise drew out their blasters carefully. Willy and
Blinky slowly moved to the back.

 	Jenny could see the situation was going to get messy. She motioned
Bucky to put down his weapons. "What?"

 	"I’ll try to talk to him, or her. Aiming your weapons at his head
will only worsen the matter."

 	Bucky nodded and turned to Bruiser, "Put down you weapons. You
too, Deadeye. I’m not so sure about this…"

 	Deadeye looked at him, "What’s there to be not sure of? Anyways,
ain’t doin’ it, Bucky-m’lad. Better to be safe with the blaster."

 	"All right. Bruiser, put down yours. That’s an order."

 	Bruiser growled and put his blaster back inside his armor.

 	Jenny cautiously approached the cloaked and hooded figure,
extending her arm as a sign of peace. The eyes of the intruder fixed
on her warily.

 	"Careful, Jenny-girl. That might be a hazardous to your health…"
Deadeye muttered.

 	Jenny concentrated and established a telepathic link with the tall
frame, clothed in black: We come in peace. I am Jenny, First Mate of
the Frigate, Righteous Indignation. We intend you no harm. Put your
swords away, please. We can settle this through peaceful means.

 	To her surprise, a reply came back telepathically: Oh? Well, I
come in peace, too. Not my fault a freaking disc comes out of nowhere
to dump me in a unknown world where weird people aim their weapons at
my head."

	We were just taken by surprise when you, literally, ‘dropped’ in.

	Jenny smiled and blinked her cool-green eyes.  “Drop the guns, Deadeye.  
She
was just startled when you almost blasted her.”

	The four-armed pirate looked at Bucky.  He nodded.  Deadeye replaced his
masers back in their holsters, muttering something as he did.

	Blaze pushed her cloak back, showing her very faint pale red glow from her
feathers.  As she carefully sheathed her katanas, her skin-tight, turtleneck
bodysuit reflected the light.

	Finally, Blaze revealed her face.  “You guys sure know how to welcome a
stranger.”  She said as she fluffed her long, silky red hair up.

	“Well, you sure know how to crash a party.”  Willy cracked.  “Hi, I’m 
Willy
DuWitt, Engineer of this Frigate.  This is Capt. Bucky O’ Hare,”  he said,
motioning to Bucky, “And this is Bruiser, a Berserker Baboon, Deadeye, our
gunner—


	“That explains why he’s so trigger happy.”  Blaze mumbled.

	“What was that you said!?!”  Deadeye demanded.
	
	“Uh, Nothing” she grinned.  Willy continued, “Android First Class, AFC
Blinky, and I’m sure you met Jenny already.”

	“Yeah, pleased to meet ‘all’ of you.” Blaze cast a glance at Deadeye, who
was frowning at her.

	“Your turn.  Who are you and where did you come from?”  Bucky asked her,
shaking hands her right hand, which was in a fingerless silver glove.

	“My name is Blaze. I am of the Inferno phoenix clan, of Planet Pyro.  And
this has been the craziest day of my life.  One minute I’m relaxing on top
of a tree, next minute I’m in another planet, possibly another dimension.”
She groaned, “Might be stranded here for a loong time.”

	 “Yeah, looks like the gateway generator is busted.”  Willy said.

	Blaze adjusted the loose silk belt hanging at her waist.

	“So, what do you plan to do now, matey?”  Deadeye inquired.

	She shrugged, “Dunno.  Try to find a way to get back, I guess.  I’ll have 
to
talk to my sensei, Mistress Crimson on how.”

	“How are you going to do that?  You’re in another dimension.”  Bruiser
asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

	Blaze looked at Jenny, “Jenny, you gotta help me on this one.  We’re both
telepaths, and I can’t communicate with my mistress if I only use the power
of my mind alone.  But, maybe with the both of us…”

	Jenny nodded, “Of course.  I suggest we find a quieter place, maybe my 
home
planet, Aldebaran.  My sisters might be able to help us.”

	Blaze nodded, “Okay, but I’m not really in a hurry.  I want to check out
this new universe.”

	“For the meantime, you could stay a while with us.  Until you’re ready to 
go
with Jenny.”
	“Thanks, really appreciate that.” Blaze smiled.

	“No problem, maybe you could take a room with Jenny for the mean—“  Bucky
stopped abruptly as alarms sounded in the ship.  Bucky and Jenny quickly
climbed up the hatchet and Deadeye leaped into his gunner’s seat.

	“Blaze, you stay down with Willy, Bruiser and Blinky.  Might be the toads
are invading a Genus again.” Bucky called as he closed the door behind him.
Blaze could feel the Righteous Indignation’s tremor as it took off from the
landing pad.

	“What’s happening?  Where are we going?”  She asked Willy.

	“Oh, yeah, you’re new around here.  Anyway, these slimy toads are out to
conquer the entire aniverse, and it’s our job to see they don’t succeed.
See, Genus is like the main planet, and the toads are dying to get it.”

	“Oh, okay,” Blaze raised a questioning eyebrow, “I’ll help you fight them 
if

	I can.  Need to get experience in battle anyway.”

	Willy’s turn to be puzzled. “What do you mean?”

	“Oh, yeah.  That’s because of the 3 arts.  First: The Mind - I have to
master the art of mind powers.  A little like Jenny’s, telekinesis,
telepathy, that sort of thing.  Second:  The External Forces – I have to
gain skill in the art of war. I prefer to call it self-defense, since ‘war’
is such a harsh word.”

	She was interrupted by Bucky calling from up in the pilot’s room, 
“Attention
all hands, the trouble is not at Genus.  Repeat, trouble is not at Genus.
Change course to Planet Aldebaran.  Bucky out.”  Willy scrambled to his feet
as he helped Bruiser power up the engines.

	Presently, he sat down beside Blaze.  “Aldebaran?  Isn’t that Jenny’s home
planet? The one she told me she’ll take me to?”  Blaze asked thoughtfully.
Willy nodded.

	“You were saying about the 3 arts?”  Willy asked, “Interesting.”

	Blaze leaned back, “As I was saying, the third art is Physical Strength 
and
Discipline – I’m talking about martial arts here.  So, far that’s the only
skill I’ve completed.”  Willy frowned, “Martial arts?  We have them on
Earth, which’s my home planet, too.  We have a few.  Taekwondo, judo,
aikido, ju jitsu, kung fu, that sorta stuff.”  Blaze sat up, “That’s funny,
that’s what we call them too.”

	“Oh?  That is soo weird.”  Willy said.  “How old are you again?  You don’t
look very old.”

	Blaze nodded, “Yeah, I was one of the youngest at the training grounds, 
I’m
only three hundred years old.”  Willy almost choked on the air he was
swallowing,  “What?! 3 Hundred?  You don’t look a day over 13 to me.”

	Blaze remained calm, “Not surprising since phoenixes live a long, long 
time.
Maybe my age will adjust to this new dimension.”

	They were interrupted by a call from Jenny, “We are approaching Planet
Aldebaran.  Squadron of  Trouble Bubbles coming to meet us.  Deadeye?
Ready?”

	Blaze got up to watch Deadeye work.  “Mind if I watch?”
		
	Deadeye looked up, “Sure, kid.  See how the master works.”

	Blaze rolled her eyes and watched as the four-armed pirate blasted every
bubble with each shot.  Every shot hit something, and once in a while, one
shot was all it needed to disable a couple of toads at a time.

	The young phoenix was impressed. “Nice shooting, maestro.”

	With no more toads blocking the way to Planet Aldebaran, the Frigate broke
through the atmosphere of the planet.

	“Approaching clearing.  Get ready people.”  Jenny called down.

	Blaze watched as Bruiser decreased power to land the frigate.  She felt 
the
slight shaking as the Righteous Indignation touched land.  Finally, the
engine died.

	“What now?”  Bucky and Jenny slowly climbed down the stairs.

	“We go out, find the cause of the alarm, and croak some toads.”  Bucky 
said,

	“Okay, to make this faster and easier, we split up.  Jenny, Blaze, come 
with
me.  Bruiser, take Willy and Deadeye with you.  Stay here and guard the
ship, Blinky.”  The little AFC, saluted, “Yes sir, Capt. Bucky.”

	Bucky motioned for Jenny and Blaze to follow him out.  As he opened the
door, Bucky added his orders with, “Be careful everyone.”  Bucky went out,
followed by Jenny and Blaze.

	“Pretty nice planet.  But, where is everybody?”  Blaze shielded her eyes
against the bright light as her eyes adjusted.

	Jenny scanned the area, “That’s what I’d like to know.” They were at the
edge of a forest overlooking a town.

	“Village Felidae, let’s check it out.” Jenny said.  Bucky nodded, and 
looked
over at Bruiser, Willy and Deadeye getting out of the ship.

	“Bruiser, you’re group check the east side, we’ll take the west side,” he
looked over at the Aldebaran Castle, some distance from Village Felidae, “We
’ll meet up at Castle Aldebaran, if we don’t see trouble.”


	After checking the village, and finding nothing, including the citizens,
“Where IS everybody?”  Blaze asked as they looked at each house and finding
it as deserted as the last.

	“Hmmm.  Jenny, can you use your powers and get a fix on your people.”  She
nodded, “I’ll try.”  The cat closed her eyes, and concentrated.

	“I’ll help, if I can do it.”  Blaze closed her eyes, and let her mind 
focus
on any life form.  Bucky wandered around, looking for any clues and hints as
to where the Aldebarans were.

	Presently, Jenny and Blaze opened their eyes.

	Bucky went over to them, “So?  Did you get a fix on them?”  Jenny nodded,

	“Over there.” She said, pointing over to palace.  Blaze had a thoughtful
look on her face,

	“How many people are in the palace anyway?  I sense there are about a few
hundreds inside, WAY too much for that castle.  Although most of those life
forms are, I think, underneath.”

	Bucky grimaced, “Maybe the people are being held captive inside the 
palace.
By toads?”  He looked at Jenny,

	“It might be possible.  Contact Bruiser’s group and tell them to meet up
with us there.”  Bucky nodded, and proceeded to connect with Bruiser’s com.

	After giving them instructions to assemble at the palace, after they had
finished checking their area. The sun was just beginning to set as they set
off for the castle.
	

	Bucky turned to Blaze, “Blaze, could you stay down for a while?  It’s 
pretty
dark out, and with your glowing feathers, we’ll be spotted for sure.”

	Blaze rolled her eyes,  “Why do you think the Inferno phoenixes wear these
cloaks and hoods?  To keep off the rain?  Sheesh…”  she muttered as she
pulled the pitch-black hood over her head and swept the long folds of her
cloak around her bodysuit.  In the shadows, the young phoenix could barely
be seen.

	“Good, Blaze.  Now, how are we supposed to get in?” Jenny inquired.

	Bucky looked around.  “See those storm toads over there?”he said, 
motioning
towards a group of them, guarding the entrance.

	Jenny and Blaze nodded, “Yeah, so?”  Bucky grinned, “We take them out, and
enter.”  Jenny looked at him questioningly, “What do we do when we get
inside?  I’m willing to be we’ll run into a lots more of them.  Besides, we
don’t want to raise the alarm and put the cats inside in danger.”

	Blaze was looking at the storm toads, “I have an idea.  We take those 
toads
out, then…”


	“Nothing much to do, since Toadborg’s got those pesky felines in the 
hold.”
A storm toad yawned.

	Another nodded, and scratched behind his head.  “Might as well take time
out. No one’s coming anyway.”  A toad said as his head and eyelids began to
get heavy.

	He jolted awake when he thought he saw something move in the bushes.  
“Who’s
there?” he called.  No response.  “Hey! Didja guys hear somethin’?”

	“Pipe down will ya?  Musta been dreamin’” Another toad called to him,
sleepily.  “IF you’re so worried, go check it out.”

	“Nah.  Musta been my imagination.”

	He was surprised as a figure clothed in black jumped in front of him.  
“Who
the heck—“  he said as he started to draw his blaster.  Without warning, the
figure turned and kicked the blaster away.  “Huh?!”  In seconds, he was out
cold from a flying side-kick to his head.

	The two others were alarmed, and were about to fire their weapons at the
figure, a shot hit each blaster.

	“Huh?”  They looked at in the direction where the shots came from.

	“Mind if we crash the party?”  Bucky was twirling his blasters, and Jenny
had her arm extended.  Two more toads to go.

	Jenny did a series of flips toward them and as the storm toads were 
watching
her, petrified in place, Jenny landed behind them and fired a round of
energy beams at a toad.  He fell to the ground, unconscious.  “Score one for
the cat.” she said as she blew on her finger, which was smoking a little.
The last one, seeing he was outnumbered, let out a sissy-like scream and ran
off.

	“Oh, no, you don’t.”  Bucky said, as he leaped through the air and landed
directly on top of the last remaining toad.  It was over when the toad
fainted in fright.

	Meanwhile, Blaze was checking out every detail of the toad’s uniform.
“Okay, I think I have a memory what their costume looks like.”  She stood up
and went over to Bucky,

	“Ready, Jenny?”  The cat nodded.  Blaze and Jenny closed their eyes and
concentrated hard.  Then they went inside.



	Toadborg watched the as Willy, Deadeye and Bruiser scouted around Village
Felidae.  “Those stupid mammals think they can foil my plans.  They had
better think again.”

	He switched a button and the warty face of Toad Air Marshall filled the
screen, “ Air Marshall!! Dispatch your storm toads out into Village Felidae
and attack Bucky O’ Hare’s crew.  Considering there are only 3 puny mammals,
I expect you will not fail.”

	The Air Marshall saluted, and further inquired, “Which of Bucky O’ Hare’s
crew are we going to face, Toadborg?”

	 Toadborg answered by showing him the hidden monitor’s view of a small
human, a four-armed Corsair Canard…and a Berserker Baboon!!!

	The Air Marshall’s teeth and face started shaking, “B-b-but T-t-toadborg,
that’s a B-b-berserker b-b-baboon we’re facing.  How will you expect my
storm toads to go out and face that?!!?”

	Toadborg switched off the monitor, “Hmm… I see this will be a problem.” He
rubbed his metal chin, thoughtfully. “Air Marshall, retrieve  the goggles we
used when we ‘unsuccessfully’ tried to conquer the Berserker Baboon’s home
planet.  Put them on your pathetic storm toads”  Air Marshall saluted and
tuned out.

	As soon as the Air Marshall’s face disappeared from the screen, Toadborg
switched on a new monitor.  “Komplex, we may now proceed to the next part of
your plan.”

	Komplex become visible on a retractable screen.  “Excellent. You have done
well, Toadborg,” he continued, “Nothing must stand in the way of this plan…”

	Komplex turned to the screen as a image of the captured Aldebarans.  The
queen, along with the most skilled artificers of Aldebaran were in a
separate chamber, larger and more spacious then the ones the cats were in,
each strapped to a metal chair with metal contraptions covering their heads.

	“Are you felines ready to serve me now?  Or do I have to make you suffer?”

	The queen glared at him, “We have already given you an answer.  Whatever
pain you inflict upon us, we shall not give or let you exploit our powers
for the harm of others.”

	One of the younger artificers, looked up at Komplex and stared daggers at
him, “You have the masters of the art of artifice in your grasp, but you
will never capture Master Jenny, she is the most powerful of us all.”

	An elder artifice turned to her sharply, “Hush, young one!  Do not give 
her
identity away!!”

	But Komplex had already heard,  “So, Master JENNY is the most powerful
artifice of you all.”

	He turned to Toadborg, “I must have her power and energy in this scheme.
First Mate Jenny might have the energy and strength to control the minds of
those worthless mammals.”

	Toadborg bowed, “As you wish.”


	“What are supposed to do now??”  Bruiser asked as Willy, Deadeye and him
finished checking out the rest of the village.

	“Well, Bucky called me a while ago, and he said to meet up with us at 
the…”
he never got to finish his sentence.  A gang of storm toads leapt out of the
bushes, armed with their blasters and weapons.

	“Get them!!”  the one in front cried.
		
	“Oh, no…”  Willy gasped.  “What’s wrong, Willy-m’boy?”  Deadeye asked as 
he
drew his masers and began blasting.

	“Those toads are wearing the goggles which made Berserker Baboons look 
weak,
puny and silly.”  He looked over to Bruiser, who was trying to scare them
away by his famous war-cry.

	“What the?!?” Bruiser said, bewildered as the storm toads, instead of
running away like heck, were still fast approaching them, only now, they
were laughing their heads off.
	
	“Think they know anything about the disappearance of Jenny’s comrades,
laddie?”  Deadeye asked Willy, without missing a shot from his maser
pistols.

	“Has to be.”  Willy said, preparing for hand-to-hand combat with the 
toads.
Bruiser was getting angry, as he was used to toads becoming scared stiff at
the mere mention of a Berserker Baboon.

	Bruiser growled, and stomped his huge feet at the closest toad, causing 
the
amphibian to tumble backwards into the one behind him.  “Can yous’ believe
these pint-sized apes?  Maybe theys have mammoth strength stored in those
itty-bitty bodies of theirs.”

	Bruiser continued thrashing the advancing toads.  It was like, whenever he
knocked one out of the way, 3 more took his place.  The Berserker Baboon was
becoming irritated and annoyed when Willy called out to him,

	“Bruiser! Grab the toad’s goggles and they’ll see you as a Berserker 
Baboon.
Remember when the toads invaded your home planet?  Those are the same ones.”
Bruiser looked puzzled for a moment, “Huh?  Oh…okay.”  Yelling his
battle-cry again, Bruiser leaped up to the toads and grabbed their visors,
stretching them until thy snapped and broke off.

	The first one with seeing Bruiser with his naked eyes, stumbled backward,
bumping into the one behind him.

	“Hey! Watch where your goin’! What’s the matter with you anyhow?”

	“B-b-berserker baboon!!!’  The others turned to see where he was pointing
sharply, “Huh!? Where?”  Bruiser stomped angrily, and pulled off the goggles
sharply from the toad’s heads.

	“Yeeowch!! Watch it, you…!!” a toad growled at him, but stopped as soon as
he saw his opponent.

	“Yaaaa!! Berserker Baboon!!!!  They cried as they scurried off to get 
away.
Within seconds, the area was clear of toads.

	“Chalk one up for the mammals!” Willy cried as he ran toward Bruiser.  
“What
’s say we laddies go over to Bucky?”  Deadeye said.

	“Fine with me.”  Bruiser shrugged.

	With that, they set off for the castle.


	A toad glared at Bucky, and two storm toads as they walked casually on the
castle corridors.  Surprisingly, the toad made no move to attack them.  “So,
you captured Bucky O’ Hare?  Komplex and Toadborg will be pleased.  Take
your prisoner to Master Chamber.  Turn right at the next corner.”  The storm
toad nudged them on with his blaster and returned to minding his post. They
heard him mutter, “Lucky stiffs…”

	As soon as the toad guard was out of sight, Bucky grinned to the two storm
toads, “Nice disguise you two.  Worked like a charm.”  The two storm toads
smiled,

	“Good thing Blaze knew this trick.  Clouding the minds of those stupid 
toads
is so easy.” Jenny said, as her psychic storm toad disguise faded away.

	The other toad winked and dissolved into Blaze.  “Hah!! This is fun!  
What’s
the next part of the plan, Captain?”

	“Well, the sentry said the Master Chamber was right at the next corner.  I
suggest we investigate there next.”  Blaze nodded.

	“I have a feeling the other Aldebarans are in there.”  Jenny said, as she
led the way.

	Bucky, Jenny and Blaze made their way stealthily through the shadows.

	Blaze opened the heavy metal door.  Inside, the room was deserted, except
for computers emitting weird blips and clicks.

	Bucky surveyed the room, “Okay, it’s empty.”  He pointed to a glass 
window,
“Let’s see what’s in there.”  Jenny and Blaze nodded.

	Jenny was the first one to look inside.  She stopped, “I don’t believe
 this…”

	Blaze ran up to her, “What?”  she looked inside.  Her eyes widened.

	Bucky was the last one to glance in.  He gasped.

	Inside, a large domelike coliseum was filled with hundreds of Aldebarans
chained to walls, their paws bound with manacles.  Jenny glared as she saw
eye pieces covering each one’s eyes.

	“Look, the Masters and the Queen are in some kind of pod.” She said,
pointing to a column in the middle where glass chambers were imprisoning Her
Majesty and, Jenny recognized, as the Planet’s greatest artificers.
	
	“It must have taken a while for the toads to build something like this
underneath the Castle without your people detecting it.” Bucky said.

	“Yes. That part totally mystifies me.  How could the toads capture them,
without alerting even me?”  Jenny said.  “We have to get them out of there.”

	Bucky rubbed his chin thoughfully, “And what does Komplex intend to do 
with
them?” He was interrupted by Blaze’s voice.

	“Uh, you guys better come and look at these.”  Blaze called out to them 
from
an adjoining room.  Jenny and Bucky hurried to where the young phoenix
stood.

	In the adjoining room, filled to the ceiling, thousands of helmets,
headgears, tiaras, energy stones, and diadems occupied the entire space.
Jenny, Bucky and Blaze stood there, speechless.

	“We HAVE to get to the bottom of this…” Jenny murmured.

	Bucky turned to the dome where the other Aldebarans were held captive,
“Maybe we should get going and set the others free.” He said.

	Jenny nodded.  Blaze raised an eyebrow, “How? It’s not like we find a toad
and say, ‘Hi, we’re friends of those poor cats you have in there, would you
please let them go so we can kick your sorry behinds?’ Get real.”

	Bucky frowned at her sarcasm, “No. I was thinking more of like, break the
glass window open and hop down there.”

	Blaze rolled her eyes, “Yeah, sure.  Ever heard of alarms? You know, the
ones that go, ‘Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!’ or something like that…”

	Jenny interrupted them, “Maybe you two better cool down a minute and help 
me
with this.  While both of you were bickering there, I hatched a plan of my
own.  I know this castle’s ins and outs like the back of my hand.”  She
pointed to a wire directly behind the alarm system, “Bucky, jump up and cut
that wire off.”

	Bucky could see where this plan was going.  He nodded and went back a few
paces.   He started running to build up acceleration, and leaped up.  With a
knife, he slashed the wire smoothly and crouched down to lessen the impact
when he came back down.  “Done.” He said.

To be continued...