Negaduck and Steelbeak's Hideout, Saint Canard, Darkwing's Earth.

At Negaduck's headquarters, Liquidator was checking his rain-cloud.  When he finished, he reported, "Someone has turned the rain in one section of the galaxy to sleet, Negaduck."

            "Well, then!" said Negaduck.  "Get out there and fix it."

            Liquidator said, "Yes, sir, Negaduck!  Coming, anyone?"

            "I sure can't do anything," complained Mega Volt.  "That rotten Darkwing Duck ruined my power output.  The last thing that I would want to even consider right now is riding with a wet dog through a soaking rain-cloud.  That would really set my sparks afire."

            "I'm sorry to regret not being able to come with you, either, Liquidator," said Quacker Jack.  "My wicked toys are not waterproof."

            "I'll come!  I'll come!" said Bushroot.  "The extra water will intensely fortify me.  Ha, ha, ha!  Then, I'll wrap Darkwing in a weed-bow and personally present him to High-Command.  I'll tell him how Mega Volt got him off-guard and Liquidator soaked my seeds enough to make the vines grow on that stupid duck!  Oh, by the way, I saw his picture in a dictionary."

            "Oh, yeah?" said Liquidator.  "Next to which word was he?"

            "He was next to the word 'dumb'!  Ha, ha, ha!" said Bushroot.

            "Oh, very funny, you deranged plant!" said Darkwing.

            "Oh, shut up, bugle-beak!" said Quacker Jack.  He got up, took out a pair of snap-teeth, and snapped it on Darkwing's beak to make him shut up.  "Ha, ha, ha!  Let's see you yak off at the beak now, Darkmeat!"

            "Get going!" said Negaduck.

            "Yes, sir, Negaduck," said Liquidator.  "Grab on, Bushroot."  Bushroot grabbed Liquidator's shoulders.  Liquidator turned himself and Bushroot into water, which zipped up into the cloud.

            * * *

            Ludwig's Doomship, orbiting Darkwing's Earth.

            Guess who was watching on the monitor in the Flagship of the Koopa Fleet:  Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa!!  He presently had his ship cloaked above Darkwing's Earth.  "If the Silver Hawks' and N-Team's meeting were part of my plan, it would have been a very stupid part," said Ludwig, "but F.O.W.L. and the Mob meeting definitely is part of my plan.  Get that Commander Steelheart on the line, MotherBrain, and tell her it's for Captain N.  I want to tell him that I'll be in court tomorrow."

            "All right," said MotherBrain, picking up the telephone receiver with one tentacle and dialling with another.  She had tapped into the Limbo Telephone Service (which was not an illegal thing to do, but her methods could be viewed as criminal) and gotten the number for the office at Hawkhaven.  When Steelheart answered on the other end, MotherBrain said, "Hello.  I would like to speak to Captain N.  It's an acquaintance."  After a moment, she handed the receiver to Ludwig.

            When Kevin answered on the other end, Ludwig said, "Hello, Captain Numskull!  This is the diabolical Ludwig 'Kooky' von(Bowser)Koopa speaking!"

            * * *

            Steelheart's Office, Hawkhaven.

            Upon hearing the evil one's voice, Kevin exclaimed, "Ludwig, you rat!  What do you want?"

            Ludwig said, "I'll make this short, Kevin Klutz.  I'm going to appear at the preliminary hearing against Mo-Lec-U-Lar and the others tomorrow."

            "I knew you were up to a sinister scheme, you evil, despicable, rotten rat!" barked Kevin.  "I knew you were going to join F.O.W.L., your Brain-Team, the Mob, and the Plundarrians together!  Tell me how far I am from your blasted scheme!"

            "Not a damn bit," answered Ludwig.  "I sure wish you were.  Darn, that's the closest anyone's ever gotten to explaining my scheme to me.  The scheme would have worked, too, if Eggplant Wizard had put in the last number of the co-ordinates correctly.  I thought the Mob would have had you and your pals by now.  That's why I put one end of the warp at your precious Palace of Power.  Well, anyway, I have evil to create."  ��Adiós, capitán Nerdnick!  {Ah-thyós, kah-pé-tahⁿh nehrd-nihk!}  [Spanish]  (Good-bye, Captain Nerdnick!)�  Ludwig slammed the receiver down.

            When Kevin hung up, he exclaimed hotly, "WHY, THAT DAMNED LITTLE RAT!!!  I HAD TO GET EVERYTHING RIGHT ON THE DAMN BUTTON!!!"

            "Whoa!  What your mother would say!" said Mason, feigning shock.  He was not shocked in the least; he knew how Ludwig could get on Kevin's nerves.

            "Sorry, Mr. Mason.  Steelheart, how far is it to third-Earth?"

            Steelheart said, "About 48 British trillion� 309 British billion� 180 British milliard kilometres, or 30 American quadrillion miles.  Why?"  [� - A British billion equals an American trillion.  � - A British milliard equals an American billion.]

            "Because we've got to get over there as fast as anything can take us and explain everything to a Thunderian 'T' so they'll help us!  We also need to find Saint Canard and Darkwing Duck, because F.O.W.L. is one of the criminal organisations with whom Ludwig intends to join!" said Kevin.

            "So this is as serious as you thought," said Drake.  "And I was hoping that you were damned paranoid."

            "You and Tragg both are as damned bad with cursing as I am!" said Stargazer.

            "I should hope not," said Steelheart.  "You do it about once a minute."

            "I'll try to cut down," said Stargazer.

            "So," said MegaMan, "some of us go to third-Earth as quickly as possible.  Is that the case?"

            "Right," said Kevin.  "And we do not have a second to lose."  They all ran to the elevator.

            "As soon as we get down there," said Steelheart, "start that Mirage as fast as possible, Bluegrass."

            "I finally get an order. . . and of transportation at that!" said Bluegrass.  Once in the hangar, five Silver Hawks (in this case, Steelheart, Steelwill, Copper-Kidd, Quicksilver, and Bluegrass) run to the Mirage.  Bluegrass hopped in, shut his canopy, started the Mirage, and shut the other four pod canopies as soon as the other Silver Hawks had entered their pods.  On the visitors' floor, Kevin ran to his car, unlocked the doors, let Condor, Moonstriker, Hotwing, and Flashback in the seats, entered his seat, and locked and closed the doors.

            "We have to give you a parking permit," said Flashback.  "It takes too long to get down here!"

            "Thanks.  Everyone, hold on tight," said Kevin.  "We have to go like lightning."  Kevin stomped in the clutch, shifted to NEUTRAL, started the car, threw it into REVERSE, put down the parking brake, released both the foot-brake and clutch and the car moved backwards.  Kevin pushed in the accelerator to back more quickly, then slammed on the brake as soon as the rear of the car reached the parking space behind his car.  He put in the clutch, shifted to 1, released the brake and the clutch at the same time, and threw his foot on the accelerator while quickly turning the wheel to the left.  He went straight between the parking spaces at a good 32 kilometres per hour.  This was JUST slow enough to let the Mirage zip by without bumping into the car.  Kevin shifted straight into 3 and slammed down the accelerator farther.  He left Hawkhaven at 64 kilometres per hour, at which time he shifted straight into 5.  He followed the Mirage.  When he had sped up to 160 kilometres per hour, he shifted into 7.  He sped up to 410, when he shifted to 8.  He sped up even more and glanced at the r.p.m. scale and speedometer.  He was going 161 027 km/h at 43 r.p.m.  He shifted into 9.  The r.p.m. scale dropped all the way to 3.5.  In following the Mirage, he sped up even more.  He sped up to 1 610 305 958 kilometres per hour, at which time the r.p.m. scale read 43 r.p.m. once more.  He shifted into 10, and the scale dropped to 3.4.  He was forced to speed up to 96 British trillion 618 British billion 360 British milliard kilometres per hour.  The r.p.m. scale read 44 r.p.m.  He shifted into 11, at which time the scale dropped to 2.9 r.p.m.  Flying cars had dilithium warp engines that would activate at an appropriate speed when the car was in gear 10 or gear 11.  "Pardon my language, but this thing can go pretty damned fast!"

            "And," added Moonstriker, "it has no trouble going this quickly, whereas Seymour's cab feels rickety at two hundred kilometres per hour."  Everyone laughed.  "All we need now is to move the steering wheel to the proper side of the car."

            "Hey, in VideoLand, this is the proper side.  They drive on the left just about all throughout the part of the land that has space-age technology, as those portions have frequent contact with the Palace of Power."

            "So I gathered."

            "There are some spots where they drive on the opposite-of-left, of course." One example is Paperworld, a land similar to America in the mid-to-late twentieth century, and Tetris, which is quite far from the Palace of Power.  Also, the Warp Wagon, a flying vehicle, was made with the steering wheel on the left hand side, though it really doesn't matter which side it's on in flight."

            In about half an hour, they were near third-Earth.  At this time, Kevin slowed to 161 030 kilometres per hour, at which time he downshifted into 10.  He slowed to 1 610 kilometres per hour and downshifted to 9.  When they were 2 kilometres from third-Earth's surface, Kevin slowed to 161 kilometres per hour, at which time he downshifted into 7.  He slowed to 105, then downshifted to 5.  Above third-Earth, he followed the Mirage to the surface.  In front of Cat's Lair, he landed right behind the Mirage.  When they all got out of their vehicles, the water was up almost to their ankles.

            "This," said Steelheart, "won't hurt us, but it might hurt you, Kevin."

            "Maybe," said Kevin, who then removed a formula from his pocket.  "We may need this.  This chemical solution can link any two places.  All one has to do is spill it somewhere, and a door will be created.  If one enters that door, all one has to do is think about where one needs to go, then the warp takes one there.  One can also choose to make the door permanent or temporary."  He put it back in his pocket.

            "Okay," said Steelheart.  "Now, let's get up there before we're soaked!"

            "No problem," said Kevin.  "I'll fix that."  Kevin pressed the 'left' directional button on his Power Pad.  Instantly, the ten of them were zipped to the door of Cat's Lair.

            "Nice move!" said Steelwill.

            "Thank you," said Kevin.  "Heh, unfortunately, I will not be able to do it again without recharging my Power Pad, though.  The rain just shorted it out."

            "I should think that they would be home," said Steelheart.  She rang the doorbell next to the door.

            * * *

            Control Room, Cat's Lair, third-Earth.

            Up in the control room, Lion-O heard the doorbell.  "Who could that be in this weather?" he asked.

            Snarf began, "Maybe it's a. . ."  Lion-O looked at the monitors and saw the Mirage.

            "The Silver Hawks!" interrupted Lion-O.  "What are they doing here?  I hope they're rust-proof!"

            "Then, let's get down there and let them in," said Snarf.  "It's cold and wet out there.  Snarf, snarf!"

            "Right," said Lion-O.  "Tell Panthro to ready the guest rooms."

            "Yes, sir," said Snarf.  Snarf ran to Panthro as Lion-O ran down stairs to the door.  He opened the door.

            "Well, that took a good half a minute," said Steelheart in a joking tone, with a smile, and looking at her chronometer.  "I was beginning to think that you'd leave us out here forever."

            "Ha, ha, ha," said Lion-O, keeping his voice devoid of the humour he felt.  "C'mon, get in here before you all soak to death.  Why are you here, anyway?"

            "A terrible threat for galactic conquest has come to our attention," said Quicksilver.  "We thought we should tell you personally."

            "We can talk upstairs," said Lion-O.  "You can dry off and go up there.  In the meantime, I'll round up the others that are here.  We shall all have a talk at the same time."

            "Thank you," said Bluegrass.  "Thank you very much."

            "Steelheart, could you come with me, please?" asked Lion-O.  "Tygra and Panthro are whipping something up."

            Steelheart said, "Certainly."  Lion-O and Steelheart went up to Tygra's lab, where Tygra was working on waterproofing spray for the vehicles.

            "Steelheart!  What a surprise," said Tygra when Lion-O and Steelheart entered.

            "I'm afraid we had to come on rather short notice," said Steelheart.

            "Tygra, if you see Cheetara or Panthro, send them to the Congregation Room," said Lion-O.  "I'm afraid that the Silver Hawks' trip is more than just a casual visit."

            "If it were just a casual visit, I'd have called you," said Steelheart.  Panthro entered.

            As Panthro entered, he said, "Tygra, where did you last see. . . why, hello, Steelheart!  I sense some sort of emergency that's cropping up."

            "I fear that a more accurate statement would use the present perfect rather than the present progressive form of 'to crop,' my dear Panthro," said Steelheart.  "As soon as the ten in my group and all the Thunder Cats in Cat's Lair are in your gathering chamber, I'll tell you.  Now, please don't mind me.  Go ahead and ask what you were about to ask."

            "Well, thank you," said Panthro.  He took a deep breath.  "Okay, let's begin again.  Tygra, where did you last see my supply of CO₃?"

            "Oh, the carbon trioxide!  I have it," said Tygra.  "According to my research, if I coat this pan with it and use some H₂O in the pan, along with some Hg, I'll get a waterproofing solution."

            "Where did you find that out?" asked Panthro.

            "His theory is right," said Steelheart.  "I just went through heck an hour or two ago, trying to convince Will of the same thing.  We used that solution on the Mirage before coming over here.  Apparently, the stuff works."

            "Oh.  Sorry, Tygra," said Panthro.

            "Thanks for telling me it would happen, Steelheart," said Tygra.  "I'm glad it's been proved.  Apology accepted, Panthro."

            "Thanks, Tygra."

            "Have you seen Cheetara recently?" Steelheart asked Panthro.

            "Not recently," Panthro answered.

            "In case you see her," said Lion-O to Panthro, "send her to the Congregation Hall, if you please."  He left with Steelheart and walked to the control room with her.  "Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Snarf, and I are the only Thunder Cats here right now, Steelheart.  The Wilytwins are out taking a report from us to the Thunder Cats at the Tower of Omens."

            "Okay," said Steelheart.  "Will they be all right?"

            "I'm sure, Steelheart."

            "Well, we might as well ask my pals to come to your Congregation Hall."

            A quarter of an hour later, in the Congregation Hall, Lion-O, Snarf, all the Silver Hawks, and Captain N were there and were seated.  Panthro, Cheetara, and Tygra entered, one after another.  "Sorry we're late," said Tygra.

            "Perfectly all right, perfectly all right," said Lion-O.  "Sit down."  Panthro, Cheetara, and Tygra sat.  "Steelheart, to you."

            "Thank you," said Steelheart.  "Before we get right down to business, I would like to introduce a new friend of ours, Captain N."  She indicated him.  "He's the one who figured out the plan up with which evildoers came and that those evildoers hope to use against us in an effort to conquer the galaxy.  Captain N, please tell us what happened to bring up your theory and the events that got you thinking to create that theory."

            Kevin said, "Thank you, Steelheart.  I would like to ask all of you to refer to me as my birth-name, Kevin, from now on.  All of this started happening this morning."  He continued to explain the events of the morning.  He then explained his theory about the villains' joining.  He even told that his theory had been proved by the villainous Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa, who had come up with the very plan Kevin theorised he came up with and who had called him earlier that afternoon and annoyed his socks off.