Steelheart's Office, Hawkhaven, Limbo.

Kevin, Mason, Burger, and all Silver Hawks were having a meeting upstairs in Steelheart's office.  "So, Kevin, you think that Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa will try to link up with the Mob, Luna-tacks, Mutants, Mumm-ra, and F.O.W.L.?" asked Steelheart at her desk.

            "Yes," said Kevin, sitting in a comfortable, overstuffed chair across from her desk.

            "No matter how absurd and nonsensical you may think that the story may seem to me," said Steelheart, "I'm very inclined to agree with you, Captain N, especially since you told us about what Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa has done in regard to the warp.  I am glad that your friends are exploring Limbo.  We'll be more than happy to help."

            Steelwill, looking out a window, said, "Especially when this darn rain stops pouring."

            "Yeah.  Is it raining like the devil in VideoLand, Kevin?" asked Steelheart.

            "Yes, it is," said Kevin.

            "God.  I must be hallucinating," said Steelwill.

            "Why?" asked Steelheart.

            "Steelheart, can a cloud stop in mid-space with blowing solar winds?" asked Steelwill.

            "You know the answer to that as well as I do, so don't be silly, Will," said Steelheart.

            "Then look out there, and tell me I'm hallucinating.  It looks like the cloud's stopped dead in the sky."

            "What?  Come on, Will."  Steelheart looked out the window.  Her jaw dropped.  "Great Pyramids of Egypt!  You aren't hallucinating!  The cloud has stopped dead in the sky!"

            "How can that be?" asked Quicksilver.

            "I don't know," said Steelheart, "but I intend to find out.  Someone prepare the Mirage.  We're visiting Mon*Star."

            "Excuse me," interrupted Mason, "but my vehicle is rainproof.  It starts just like a model 1990 automobile.  It can go several light-years per hour."

            "Then it would be likely to start more quickly than the Mirage," said Steelheart.  "Let's go."  She walked quickly to the elevator, with Kevin and Mason quickly following.  "The rest of you stay here," said Steelheart.  "If you drive quickly, Kevin, you drive."

            "Believe me, I shall!" said Kevin.  They took the elevator down to the visitors' garage.

            "What the. . . that looks like a British car," Steelheart said.

            Kevin said, "Yeah.  Throughout VideoLand, they drive on the left side of the road."

            "Remember:  we do not do that here!" Steelheart said.  "We drive on the right side, but that shouldn't matter for extraplanetary travel.  In this solar system, it only matters on Bedlama, basically, the planet below us."

            Mason unlocked the doors, then tossed the keys to Kevin, who caught them.  Mason allowed Steelheart access to the front passenger seat.  Mason got in the back seat, and Kevin got behind the wheel.  "Fasten your seatbelts, 'cause this thing is going to fly!"  The three zipped on their seatbelts, then Kevin put in the clutch, shifted to NEUTRAL, and started the car.  He then pulled the stick to the extreme right, pushed it down, pulled it to the extreme left, pulled it down to AUTOMATIC, then yanked it up to REVERSE.  He let out the clutch as quickly as possible until he reached the friction point, then he pressed the accelerator with his right foot, and the car backed up.  He backed so that the front of the car would face the exit.  He stopped with his foot on the brake and clutch.  He threw the stick into 2, released the clutch to the friction point, and slammed the accelerator in exactly one fiftieth of the way it went completely.  He then released the clutch until going at about 40 kilometres per hour toward the door.  He shifted to 3.  As he approached the door, it opened automatically.  It was fully open when he reached it.  When he was airborne, the door closed, and he sped up very quickly to 90, then shifted directly from 3 to 5.

            Mason said, "You're awfully lucky that I'm not grading you now, Kevin.  That is, technically, the most improper start-up procedure I've ever seen.  Though, it is also the best and quickest I've ever seen, I'd have been forced to deduct twenty points off your grade for the improperness of your procedure.  As I just said, though, it is the best start-up procedure I've seen so far."  Kevin sped up to 250, then shifted into 7.

            Steelheart was quite amazed.  "That is the quickest, safest, and most intelligent start-up procedure I have ever seen for someone in a hurry.  You'll be one heck of a driver.  So, where are your friends headed?"

            "Out west," said Mason.

            "Oh, no!" said Steelheart.  "Step on that accelerator, Captain N.  I have an awful feeling."  Kevin sped up to 410, at which time he shifted into 8.

            "What's wrong, Steelheart?" asked Kevin.

            "Brim*Star is out west."

            "Oh, my gosh!" exclaimed Kevin.  He sped up considerably.  The engine revolutions per minute (RPM) scale neared twenty-five (for 25 000 revolutions per minute; as much as 45 000 RPM was safe).  His speed had increased all the way to 161 030 kilometres per hour.  When the RPM scale had reached 44 and the speed 1 610 306 kilometres per hour, Kevin shifted to 9.  The RPM scale dropped drastically to 4.5.  They passed Dolare, Automata, and the Penal Planet within minutes.  The vehicle was nearing Brim*Star.  The evil Sky-Shadow, 'bird' of Mon*Star, had been watching them all the way from Hawkhaven.  He beamed a message to Brim*Star.

            Steelheart saw the relay star.  "Oh, great," she said.  "Mon*Star will know we're coming."

            * * *

            Control Room, Brim*Star.

            At Brim*Star, Mon*Star watched the transmission.  "So," said Mon*Star, "they have come to pay a surprise visit on us, eh?"

            "I have an idea, boss," said Melodia.

            "What is it, Melodia?"

            "How about Hardware, Windhammer, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, Volt-Ure, and I hitch a ride with Seymour?  We can then land on an asteroid, rip off the cab from Seymour and Zeek, have Mo-Lec-U-Lar and Volt-Ure turn into Seymour and Zeek, and attack the police!"

            "An excellent idea, Melodia.  I could never have thought of a better one myself.  Now that I've heard your idea, you would in all modesty be able to call yourself a genius.  Thanks to your brilliant plan, the Silver Hawks will be crippled. . . maybe even destroyed!  Ha, ha, ha!"