December 16.

            They went into their lab.  Steelheart opened a cabinet.  She took a bottle and shook it.  "Darn!  No H₂O.  I need you to fix me some H₂O, Will."

            "Okay, but I do not think that this is the time to drink dihydrogen monoxide (water)."

            "-Sigh.-  I need it for the mixture."

            "Yes, ma'am."  Steelwill went to fill the bottle with water.  He handed it back to her.  "I just hope you know what you're doing."

            "Are you saying you'd rather do it yourself?" Steelheart demanded, bringing the bottle down onto the table with a loud noise.

            "Like heck!" said Steelwill.

            "Then cool down!"  She poured the water into a pan.  "It must be this boredom that's making us ill-tempered."  She got some liquid mercury and carefully poured it into the same pan.  "Get back," she said, leaping back.  Steelwill leapt away from the pan as a small explosion occurred.

            "All right, Ms. Scientist," said Steelwill.  "What happened?"

            "The pan has a special coating," explained Steelheart, "that forced the water and mercury to combine and reconfigure the atoms to form the compound which is used for waterproofing."

            "You mean the atoms creating the water and mercury were changed around by the coating on that pan and transformed into molecules forming the waterproofing compound?"

            "Right," said Steelheart.  She poured the compound into a large can.  "Now, all we have to do is spray this all over the Mirage, Sprint Hawk, and Space Racer.  We must be sure not to miss a spot."

            "Why not?" asked Steelwill.

            "I was getting around to that," said Steelheart impatiently.  "The untreated parts would be like Achilles's heels.  They would be vulnerable to the rain.  So, we must spray all of the outside of the vehicles."

            Steelwill smiled.  "You know, even though we're telepathically linked, I'll never figure out how that strange mind of yours works, Steelheart."

            "That is good," said Steelheart returning his smile.  She and Steelwill went out into the hall.  They returned to the hangar.

            * * *

            The other Silver Hawks had the vehicles suspended in mid-air with tractor-beams.  "We have made it," said Steelheart.

            "We're ready, Commander," said Quicksilver.

            Steelheart said, "Then, let's get started.  Remember, though, that we must get every micromillimetre of all three in order for this stuff to be completely effective."

            * * *

            In Space, near the Artificial Sun of Limbo.

            Simultaneously, at a point about twenty kilometres from Bedlama and from Hawkhaven, the Larceny Squad, Homicide Squad, and Vice Squad emerged from a warp zone. . . the other end being at the Palace of Power!  Kevin, Mason, and Burger emerged from the same warp zone right after the police.  "Wow!" said Kevin.  "This looks exactly like the setting for 'Silver Hawks.'  Hmm.  I wonder if Ludwig created this warp zone."  He snapped his fingers.  "Oh, my gosh!  The blurred part of that cloud!  Then, this must mean. . ."  He hesitated.

            "Go on," invited Mason.  "Don't hesitate."

            "This must mean," said Kevin, "that Ludwig must be trying to link his Brain-Team with Mon*Star's Mob!  He wouldn't stop at that, though.  Oh, no!!!  I now see perfectly what he's trying to do!  He's trying to link the Mob, the evil characters from 'Thunder Cats,' and F.O.W.L. with the Brain-Team all at the same time!  If he does that,. . ."  He hesitated once more.

            "If he does that," Mason said, "it could mean this conquest of the galaxy that he's been telling us about lately."

            "That's right," said Kevin.  "We must link with the Silver Hawks, Thunder Cats, and Justice Ducks first.  Then, we'll stand a better chance against the Brain-Team's new foul forces.  And, if you hadn't brought me all of those episodes of 'Darkwing Duck,' I would never have guessed that F.O.W.L. would be in this plot.  Heck, I would have hardly known that they existed, save for one episode of 'Ducktales.' "

            "Let's get to Hawkhaven," said Mason.  "Where is it?"

            "Hawkhaven is just ahead," said Kevin, examining their location.  "The warp appears to be equidistant from Hawkhaven and Bedlama."  Tragg called on the radio.

            "This is Lieutenant Tragg to Perry Mason.  Over," said Tragg.

            Mason picked up the mouthpiece and said, "This is Mason.  Over."

            "This appears to be Limbo, the setting for 'Silver Hawks.'  We shall explore.  You find a safe place - if there is a safe place in all this rain - and stay put."

            "Gotcha, Tragg.  Over and out."  Mason put up the mouthpiece.  "Try to find Hawkhaven, Kevin."

            "That's what I'm trying to do," said Kevin.  He sped up to 250 kilometres per hour and shifted into 7 smoothly.  Within seconds, he was a kilometre from Hawkhaven.  He slowed to 201, shifted to 6, slowed down to 129, shifted to 5, slowed down to 72, shifted to 4, slowed to 48, shifted to 3, and approached the door to Hawkhaven at 40 kilometres per hour.  He kept constant pressure on the brake.  He pushed in the clutch and downshifted to 2 at 15 kilometres per hour.  He stopped at the door.  "The doors appear to be closed," said Kevin.  "It says on the door, 'Visiting hours:  24 hours a day except holidays; 9.00 to 17.00 on American Thanksgiving except in emergency; 10.00 to 13.00 on Christmas and Easter except in emergency; 9.00 to 21.00 on Limbo Labour Day.' "  He looked at his watch.  "Let's see.  It's 16 December 1992."  He inched to the doors, which opened when he got near them.  He went in, steered left toward the driveway marked 'visitors' (the one to the right was marked 'Silver Hawks and other authorised vehicles only'), selected a parking slot (none were being used), and parked in it.  He shifted the car into reverse, turned off the ignition, took out the key, and handed the key to Mason.  They all got out.  "Wow!" said Kevin.  "This place looks better in person than on my TV screen!"  They headed toward a door marked 'reception room.'

            Kevin, Mason, and Burger entered the reception room.  They found it a nice, comfy-looking room with furniture in excellent repair.  The receptionist said, "Hello.  Do you wish to see the Commander?"

            "Yes," answered Mason.  "We'd like to see him or her at the time that he or she can spare."

            * * *

            Up in the hangar, the Silver Hawks had just finished waterproofing all of their space-vehicles.  "Much better," said Steelheart.  "Now we can ride 'em in the rain."

            A beep sounded.  The receptionist's voice came in by the loudspeaker, "Commander Steelheart, you have visitors."

            Steelheart said, "Stargazer's on his way."  She cleared her throat unobtrusively, directing the sound toward Stargazer.

            "Yes, I know, Steelheart," said Stargazer.  "Name, address, phone number, ad infinitum."

            "Exactly, if you please," said Steelheart, smiling at his joke; ad infinitum meant 'to infinity,' while et cetera (and so forth) was the phrase that was called for.  Stargazer entered the elevator.  He went down to the receptionist hall.

            * * *

            "Commander Steelheart's advisor," said the receptionist, "will be down in just a moment."

            "Thank you," said Mason.

            Kevin whispered to Mason, "When I watched the series, Stargazer was Commander.  Of course, that was in the late 1980's and it's now 1992."

            "Steelheart must have done something very good to get such a position," whispered Mason back.  The elevator reached the reception room.  Stargazer appeared.

            "Good day," said Stargazer.  "You three look most familiar.  What are your names?"

            "My name," announced Mason, "is Perry Mason.  The person to my right is my friend, Hamilton Burger, and the person to my left is another friend, Kevin Keene."

            Stargazer wrote the stuff down rather uneasily.  "And, eh, what is your address?"

            "We do not know if you'll believe us," said Mason seriously, in a manner to let Stargazer know that he was not bluffing, "but we all live in the Palace of Power in VideoLand.  All three of us used to live in California."

            "I thought so," said Stargazer.  He finished writing.  "You're the lawyer, aren't you, Mr. Mason?"

            "Correct," said Mason.  "I am a lawyer."

            "Right, a lawyer.  I like you, Mr. Mason," said Stargazer.  "You give all of those guilty persons an H - E - L - L of a time on the witness stand.  I love it when you make 'em crack!"

            "Sometimes," said Burger, "he gives me a hell of a time, but I like him anyway."

            Kevin said, "He got me out of some trouble once or twice, too."

            Stargazer asked, "Wasn't that 'The Case of the Return of Hamilton Burger, Paul Drake, Lt. Tragg, and Lt. Anderson'?"

            "That was the first time," said Mason.  "I got him out of trouble for robbery in VideoLand some time after that case."

            "Well, let me take this up to Steelheart," said Stargazer.  "I'm sure she can squeeze you into her schedule.  No one has an appointment in this foul weather, anyway.  When I get this up there, we'll try to learn all about each other, and I'm almost certain you guys came on an emergency."

            "Correct," said Mason.  Stargazer left for the hangar through the elevator.

            * * *

            Back in the hangar, Stargazer handed his clipboard with the information over to Steelheart.  "Oh, my God, it's true!" Steelheart exclaimed.

            "What?" asked Quicksilver.

            "Look at this," said Steelheart, showing the clipboard to Quicksilver.

            "Good Lord!" said Quicksilver.  "So they really do exist!"

            "It would appear so.  Stargazer and Quicksilver, tell everyone to get up to my office A.Q.A.P."

            "Right. . . A.Q.A.P.?  What does that mean?" asked Quicksilver.

            "As quickly as possible," said Steelheart.

            "Right," said Quicksilver.  He saluted before leaving.

            "Aye, aye, ma'am," said Stargazer, saluting, then leaving.

            Steelheart looked again at the clipboard.  "Kevin Keene, or Captain N, who is the hero of VideoLand; Perry Mason, who is a world-famous attorney from Earth; and Hamilton Burger, Perry Mason's friend outside of court and worst enemy inside court are all here!  This means that the Mario Brothers, N-Team, and maybe even the Justice Ducks League could all be real!  This could prove terrible if their adversaries, who are the Koopas, MotherBrain and minions, Fearsome Five, and F.O.W.L. are also real!  I must speak with them right away. . ."  She went to the wall and touched a communication panel.  "Françoise {frahⁿh-swahz}, send our three guests up to my office now, please.  Steelheart out."  She released the panel.  "Now, I had better get up there."  She entered the elevator, went to the floor of her office, and entered her office.