Act 40 - Date: 16 December 1992
Section 4: The Extended N-Team
Part 1: The Ultimate Encounter
Second Division - Kevin Meets Silver Hawks and Liquidator Meets Mob
Twelfth Chapter
Characters: Mon*Star's Mob, Brain-Team Base, Fearsome Ten
December 16.
Brim*Star.
L "Who do you think did it?" inquired Bushroot.
"Well," said Liquidator, "it appears that we are standing on Brim*Star, home of the evil Mob. When I finish correcting the problem, we'll go down there and see." Liquidator raised his arms and sprayed controlling water into the cloud. The cloud started raining instead of sleeting. Liquidator had corrected his problem.
* * *
Control Room, Brim*Star Fortress.
Deep in the Star*Crater, in Brim*Star Fortress, Yes-Man and Mon*Star were watching. "So," said Mon*Star, "it is true. The Liquidator and Bushroot do exist! That must mean that Negaduck, Steelbeak, Mega Volt, and Quacker Jack exist, also. . . but that must mean that Darkwing Duck also exists. Let's make a nice greeting for Liquidator and Bushroot, Yes-Man."
"Yes, boss," said Yes-Man. "Of course, boss. Whatever you say, boss. Most certainly. Yes, yes, yes!"
Liquidator and Bushroot landed on the landing at the door to Brim*Star Fortress. Liquidator said, "I wonder if they will recognise us."
Mon*Star ran up and said, "We certainly will, Liquidator and Bushroot!"
"Wicked weather we've having, eh, Mon*Star?" asked Bushroot.
"I would like it even better if the Mob had water-proof cars," said Mon*Star, "but at least I got a trophy of a frozen Tally-Hawk! Ha, ha, ha!"
"I know that do-gooding Silver Hawk," said Bushroot. "He beamed your plans to Hawkhaven so that the Silver Hawks would be aware of your wicked plans."
"Yes. . . beamed! Preterit tense! No more! He is finished, defunct, out of commission!" said Mon*Star. "I'll keep him. Windhammer turned that storm up there to sleet and blew that bird right into my hands. And how about that stupid, idiotic Darkwing Duck?"
"Ha!" said Liquidator. "Bushroot and I took care of Dipwing Dope!"
"How?" asked Mon*Star.
"We wrapped him and his pals up in one of my vines," said Bushroot. "Now, we just have to worry about the Silver Hawks."
"We may also have to worry about the Thunder Cats and the N-Team, too," said Mon*Star. "The Silver Hawks met the Thunder Cats half a year ago, and they have just met Captain N and Perry Mason. Steelheart has just captured Windhammer, Melodia, Hardware, and Mo-Lec-U-Lar. The four are going have the preliminary hearing of Limbo vs. Windhammer, Melodia, Hardware, and Mo-Lec-U-Lar tomorrow before someone. . . someone named Princess Lana!"
"Isn't she Captain N's girlfriend?" asked Bushroot.
"No, but she's damned close to it."
"Well, I ought to show up," said Liquidator. "I'll cause a major flood. A flood is worse than rain for sheer volume of water. The Silver Hawks will be rusted for sure! Ha, ha, ha!"
"Let's get to work, pals," said Mon*Star. "It appears that we have some work to do! Heh, heh, heh!" They went to Mon*Star's command chamber.
"Oh, great, my allergies are starting to act up!" said Bushroot. "I hate dust." He sneezed.
"Sorry, Bushroot," said Mon*Star. "Which of you is more diabolically minded?"
"Liquidator," said Bushroot without hesitation.
"That would be I, most indeed!" Liquidator said.
Mon*Star said, "Okay, I need to talk to you. Yes-Man, show Bushroot around. Make sure you only show him the non-dusty rooms."
"Yes, boss," said Yes-Man. "Uh, boss?"
"What?"
"There are no rooms that aren't dusty."
"You mean to say that all the rooms in this place are dusty?"
"Precisely, boss."
"Damn that lazy son of. . . tell that lazy Timestopper he should dust the rooms before I blast him with a Light*Star!"
"Yes, boss. Certainly." Yes-Man and Bushroot left the room.
"Liquidator," said Mon*Star, "we have a problem. I do not know how to get Melodia, Hardware, Windhammer, and Mo-Lec-U-Lar out of jail. My only idea would be that someone transform into that defence attorney appointed to represent them, but the only person for the job would be Mo-Lec-U-Lar."
"Hmm!" said Liquidator. "Maybe not. Yours truly has heard about the Silver Hawks' and Thunder Cats' arresting adventures, and I seem to remember having once seen a brother of Mo-Lec-U-Lar. . . an A-Tom-U-Lar."
"Oh, you're right, an A-Tom-U-Lar. His transformation capacity is much greater than Mo-Lec-U-Lar's. Unfortunately, he is serving time. I remember he planned to get Dolare for me. That damned Steelheart stopped him. He also tried to rob all of Earth's money from Geneva, Switzerland,. . . and that was a tough nut to crack! Well, that time, A-Tom-U-Lar got cracked by Condor. And the second-most infuriating experience A-Tom-U-Lar had was when he, trying to take over Automata by transforming into a disk, was caught by Steelwill. I'm telling you, it was almost by pure luck that he was caught. . . and it was that blasted young'un, Copper-Kidd, who finally caught up with him in the Star*Ship Casino! It got me awfully damned angry!"
"How much do you want to bet," said Liquidator, "that A-Tom-U-Lar is the right man for the job?"
"Heh, heh, heh!" said Mon*Star. "You're right, Liquidator; he is the right man for the job. But how the devil are we going to get him out of the Penal Planet?"
"Don't you worry your evil Star*Eye about that!" said Liquidator, making it clear that he had just formulated a sinister plot. "I'm the cause of that storm, and I made it so I can travel all over the galaxy. Want to come with me to free A-Tom-U-Lar?"
"Hee, hee! You have great ideas, Liquidator!"
"Thank you very much, Mon*Star!"
"YES-MAN, GET IN HERE, PLEASE!!" Yes-Man and Bushroot re-entered.
"Yes, boss?" said Yes-Man.
"Did you get Timestopper on the job of dusting?"
"Yes, boss."
"And has he started?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Good. Now prepare the Transformation Chamber."
"Yes, Mon*Star. Certainly."
Mon*Star ascended the steps to his 'throne' as Yes-Man activated the Transformation Machinery. The planet tilted so that the rays of the Moon*Star shone through the Star*Crater. The Moon*Star's rays shone on Brim*Star Fortress. The claws around Mon*Star's 'throne' re-aligned so that they pointed toward Mon*Star's head. The Moon*Star's rays were then permitted to shine through the antenna and onto Mon*Star. Mon*Star began the transformation.
Mon*Star recited, "Moon*Star of Limbo,. . ." The Moon*Star's rays intensified. Mon*Star's Star*Eye shone. ". . .give me the might, the muscle. . ." Mon*Star's body transformed. ". . .the menace. . ." Mon*Star's head then transformed and the 'middle section' formed where his stomach was. ". . .of Mon*Star!" Mon*Star was now fully transformed. He leapt down to the floor. "Let's go, Liquidator."
"What about me?" asked Bushroot.
"Come if you want," said Mon*Star. Mon*Star, Liquidator, and Bushroot returned to the landing platform. Bushroot touched Liquidator's right arm.
"My form of transportation," said Liquidator, "is almost entirely exclusive to 'water-beings,' or beings made entirely of fluid. Those who want to come with me must touch me so I can transform them into 'water-beings' and let them enter the cloud with me."
"I'll take a chance," said Mon*Star. He touched Liquidator's left arm.
"Ready?" asked Liquidator.
"Ready," said Bushroot.
"I'm ready," said Mon*Star. Liquidator transformed them into water and zipped the three of them up into the cloud.
* * *
Landing Platform, Penal Planet.
They reformed on a landing platform of the Penal Planet. They were transformed to the same state in which they were when they left Brim*Star. "That was quick!" remarked Mon*Star.
"Bu-bu-but how are we going to get in?" asked Bushroot.
"Leave that to me," said Mon*Star. He pointed his right elbow-jet at the wall and blasted an entry hole into the wall. "After you!" Liquidator, Bushroot, and Mon*Star - in that order - ran in.
"Whom are we looking for?" asked Bushroot.
"A-Tom-U-Lar," said Liquidator. "Do you know where he is, Mon*Star?"
"Not really," said Mon*Star. Liquidator's legs ran right through a laser alarm without triggering it, but Bushroot was not so lucky. Bushroot triggered and the three of them heard the alarm.
"Oh, that's just dandy!" said Liquidator. "Great job, Bushie!"
"I couldn't see it in time to stop!" said Bushroot.
"I'll take care of the guards," said Liquidator. "You could look for A-Tom-U-Lar."
"We'll look for him," replied Mon*Star. "Let's go, Bushroot."
"Yes, Mon*Star," said Bushroot, following Mon*Star. Liquidator heard a guard approaching from behind. He turned into a puddle on the floor.
"Oh, great," said the guard. "A wind broke that wall, blew that blasted rain in here, and triggered this alarm. That's happened seven times today!" As he turned off the alarm, Liquidator reformed. "What in the. . . who the devil are you?!?"
"I'll tell you what I am! I am going to wash you away!" Liquidator kept this promise by washing the guard out through the broken wall. "Bye-bye! Don't forget to write! Hee, hee, hee!" Liquidator transformed into a puddle and slid quickly along the floor, catching up with Mon*Star and Bushroot quickly. He then reformed.
"Did you take care of the guard?" said Mon*Star.
"He's having a really bad fall this autumn! I washed him out that wall."
"Hee, hee! Good work, pal!" said Bushroot. Mon*Star got out a device. "What's that, Mon*Star?"
"This," said Mon*Star, "is a device Hardware made. It's supposed to find people." He keyed in 'A-Tom-U-Lar.' A map formed on the device's screen, showing them where they were and where A-Tom-U-Lar was. "We're right on track. Just make sure your roots don't trigger any more alarms, Bushroot." They watched their feet and triggered no more alarms. They reached A-Tom-U-Lar's cell. Mon*Star called, "A-Tom-U-Lar, are you in there?"
"Who wants to know?" a voice a little deeper than Mo-Lec-U-Lar's called.
"Mon*Star, the Planet Master."
"Yes, I'm in here."
"We're getting you out of here, A-Tom-U-Lar," said Mon*Star.
" 'We?' "
"Liquidator, Bushroot, and me."
"They're real?"
"Yes, and they're here with me."
"Well, all the proof I need is to see them."
"You'll see us soon enough," said Liquidator. He formed around the cell door's frame and ripped it out. A-Tom-U-Lar, an atomically unstable being looking exactly like Mo-Lec-U-Lar, with the exception that A-Tom-U-Lar's globes are red instead of yellow and that A-Tom-U-Lar's belly showed a nucleus of an atom instead of both the electron cloud and a nucleus, emerged.
"Wow!" said A-Tom-U-Lar. "Did you do that, Mon*Star?"
"It wasn't I," said Mon*Star. "It was Liquidator."
"I just ripped the door out from the weak points of the frame which held it in place," said Liquidator after re-forming. An alarm sounded a red-alert.
"I didn't do it, I swear!" screamed Bushroot.
"Oh, it was a device in the door," said A-Tom-U-Lar. "My Transformation Ring is in that cabinet over there."
Mon*Star blasted the cabinet with his elbow-jet. A-Tom-U-Lar's Transformation Ring fell on the floor. "What cabinet?" asked Mon*Star. The four villains laughed for a second or two. Mon*Star handed the Transformation Ring to A-Tom-U-Lar. Two guards reached the area.
"It's Mon*Star!" said the robot guard.
"Don't forget Dr. Reginald Bushroot!" said Bushroot. He grew weeds from his arms and tied up the two guards. "Ha, ha! We've got you now!"
"Take this!" said Mon*Star, blasting the two guards with a Light*Star. "Let's beat it!"
"Right!" said Liquidator. "Want to take the Liquidator Express, A-Tom-U-Lar?"
"Whatever that is!" said A-Tom-U-Lar. Mon*Star, Bushroot, and A-Tom-U-Lar touched Liquidator. Liquidator turned the four of them - himself included - into water and flew all of them through the bar-window up to the cloud and back to Brim*Star.
* * *
Brim*Star Fortress, Brim*Star. They reformed on the landing platform of Brim*Star Fortress. "We're back," said Liquidator.
"So, why'd you free me?" asked A-Tom-U-Lar.
"Melodia, Hardware, Windhammer, and your brother have been captured by Steelheart," said Mon*Star.
"I know. So, do you want me to transform into the attorney appointed to represent them in court and put down that defence attorney?"
Mon*Star said, "Yes, sir, A-Tom-U-Lar. And we'll leave the rest up to what the Liquidator has in store for those guys in court."
"Hee, hee!" said Liquidator. "I'm going to give everyone in that courtroom a wet reception! Hee, hee, hee!"
Mon*Star said, "You two need to get to our pals in jail and tell them of the plan. You will have to enter in disguises. Any ideas?"
"A plan has just rippled into my brain!" said Liquidator. "Why not capture that lawyer, have A-Tom-U-Lar transform into that lawyer, and enter, posing as that attorney? I can be water in a glass that A-Tom-U-Lar could carry into the room."
"A genius!" praised Mon*Star. "You are a pure genius, Liquidator!"
"The genius part," said Liquidator, "will be to find out where that attorney is now."
"Have you ever heard of Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa?" asked Mon*Star.
"I have," said Liquidator.
"So have I," said A-Tom-U-Lar.
"I have reason to believe," said Mon*Star, "that he is real. I saw Captain N driving the automobile that saved Seymour and Zeek the Geek after Melodia, Hardware, Windhammer, and Mo-Lec-U-Lar ripped off their cab." A red-alert alarm sounded. "What's that, Yes-Man?"
"There is a disturbance very close to Brim*Star!" said Yes-Man, examining the computer readouts.
"Where exactly?"
"I cannot localise it. It must be a ship equipped with a cloaking device!"
"Romulan! No, wrong story. But, if it isn't Romulan, what is it?"
"It-it-it's decloaking, boss!"
"On the screen!" On the screen, some melting appeared, but it then disappeared.
"It's gone, boss!"
"They were waiting to see if we were going to destroy them," suggested Liquidator.
Mon*Star said, "Exactly." He turned to say something to A-Tom-U-Lar and Liquidator when, suddenly. . .
"THEY'RE BACK!!" screamed Yes-Man. Mon*Star turned to the screen. This time, the Flagship of the Koopa Fleet melted into view.
"What is it?" asked Mon*Star.
"Unknown, boss!" said Yes-Man. To their surprise, a warp opened in front of the wall. Ludwig 'Kooky' von(Bowser)Koopa came out and, because the warp was facing the wall, he ran into the wall and fell on his back.
"Idiot! You are so stupid that a rock could beat you in an IQ test!" said Ludwig. Eggplant Wizard came out of the warp and went out around the warp. The warp closed.
Eggplant Wizard said, "I am very sorry, my Prince Ludwig." Ludwig got up.
"Well," said Ludwig, "I'll let it slide this time, since you appropriately addressed me." He turned to the others. "Good day. I hope that my intrusion did not interrupt anything. And I apologise for my assistant, here. He has the IQ of a rock, but he's exceedingly loyal. Allow me to introduce myself. I am named Prince Ludwig 'Kooky' von(Bowser)Koopa."
"Welcome to Brim*Star," said Mon*Star. "I am Mon*Star."
"I am Liquidator," said Liquidator.
"I am Dr. Bushroot," said Bushroot.
"I am A-Tom-U-Lar," said A-Tom-U-Lar.
"I am the extremely stupid Eggplant Wizard," said Eggplant Wizard.
"Now, then, down to business," Ludwig said. "I'm sorry for my rude entrance. Another idiot of mine used the surprise-decloaking mode. Anyway, as I understand from my observations, you, my dear Mon*Star, have a problem."
"Yes, I do," said Mon*Star. "That Steelheart has captured Mo-Lec-U-Lar, Melodia, Hardware, and Windhammer and tossed them behind bars, with the assistance of. . ."
Ludwig interrupted when Mon*Star paused. ". . .of my 'pal,' Captain N, and his pal, Perry Mason. Yes, I have observed. The three of them need to be stopped."
Mon*Star said, "As well as the Silver Tweet-tweets, Dunder Kitties, and Justice Dopes."
"Exactly," said Ludwig. "Have you a plan to free your captured comrades?"
"We do. It involves a visit which A-Tom-U-Lar and Liquidator could make to the jail where my four captured pals are being stored. They would tell the four of our plan, and they would enact their plan on the trial date."
"Very good, very good," said Ludwig. "Today, Liquidator and A-Tom-U-Lar must visit Melodia, Hardware, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, and Windhammer, who are in Bedlama Jail. Am I right?"
Mon*Star said, "Yes, you are right."
"Well, then," said Ludwig, "I may have a shortcut."
"Oh?" said Liquidator. "Did you know that I made a large cloud in order to go anywhere in this galaxy?"
"Oh, of course, I forgot!" said Ludwig. "But there is probably a quicker way: warp fields."
"Warp fields?" inquired Liquidator.
"Warp fields," said Ludwig, "are referred to rather - oh, how shall I say it? - errantly as a 'wormhole,' or a rip which is in the universal seam and which leads to other places. Both a warp field and a wormhole consist of two holes and a tube, and they both lead to other places. The incorrectness comes in where the time element is concerned. Say one created a wormhole with the holes, say, an hour apart, and one did it at 12.00. Then, one travels through one part of the wormhole at 13.00. One emerges at the other hole, and getting back to the other hole takes an hour. One arrives to see oneself entering the hole. The wormhole maintains a very slow time continuum. It would take an extremely long time for the time of the wormhole is 12.00:00 to get to 12.00:10.
"All the theorising and such for wormholes is very complex for me to explain rather informally, but, to cut it short, warp fields, commonly called warp zones, take a person anywhere at anytime. A 'free' warp field, created by special chemical compounds and ions which tear the cosmic threads permanently or temporarily at the user's will, could take a person from here to the Palace of Power in an instant, and it could take you there from any conceivable time before now to any conceivable time after now. You name when and where, you have it. Again, the theorising and hypothesising for warp fields is too extensive for me to get into in rather informal conversation.
"Anyway, I don't know how quick your transportation is, anyway, Liquidator."
Liquidator said, "It's awfully darn quick."
"Speedy," said Bushroot. "I was amazed that we got here about a millisecond after we took off."
"Same here," said Mon*Star.
"Same over here, also," said A-Tom-U-Lar.
"Okay," said Ludwig. "I'm going to go to the preliminary court hearing against Melodia, Hardware, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, and Windhammer tomorrow. And you?"
"Heh, heh!" said Mon*Star. "All of us are going."
"Excellent," said Ludwig. "Would you please meet me there tomorrow morning? I'm going to 'torture' those do-gooders with my simply disgusting suavity." He hastily added, "Except for you, of course, A-Tom-U-Lar. You must both make the switch and be there to fill in tomorrow for that attorney."
A-Tom-U-Lar said, "Yes. It is the only conceivable way to rescue my brother."
"Okay, guys," said Ludwig. "Tomorrow, then." Ludwig got out a flask and dropped it on the floor. A warp zone to Metroid appeared next to him. He and Eggplant Wizard left through it. The Flagship turned away from Brim*Star and melted out of view.
"They've engaged their cloaking device," reported Yes-Man.
"Should we go now?" Liquidator asked.
"Yes, you should go now," said Mon*Star. Liquidator and A-Tom-U-Lar left.
* * *
Bedlama City Jail, Bedlama.
A few minutes later, they arrived near the door of the jail on Bedlama where the four captured Mob members were being kept. There could never have been any better opportunity for them; they had landed behind a pillar, with the lawyer approaching the door. "Is that he?" Liquidator asked.
"Yes, that is he," answered A-Tom-U-Lar. Liquidator extended his foot across the walkway, and the lawyer tripped over it and fell flat on his face, getting knocked out. A-Tom-U-Lar fit his Transformation Ring over his bolt-hand (left hand), clapped his right and left hands together (his right hand balled into a fist), and transformed into a mirror-image of the lawyer. . . almost perfect, since the lawyer's face was nearly the same on both sides. Liquidator quickly undressed, and then hid, the lawyer. A-Tom-U-Lar put the lawyer's clothes on himself. Liquidator went to a nearby water fountain, turned it on, and formed some of the water into a glass. Liquidator turned off the water, handed the glass to A-Tom-U-Lar, and became small enough to fit into the glass. A-Tom-U-Lar proceeded to enter the door. A-Tom-U-Lar, disguising his voice as the lawyer's, told an officer his business at the jail was to try to procure more information. The officer led him to a visiting room, asked A-Tom-U-Lar which one he wanted to see (A-Tom-U-Lar chose Melodia), and went to get her. In a few minutes, he returned with a complaining Melodia. He then left and shut the door.
"All right, buster!" said Melodia. "What the hell do you want this time?"
"First, and foremost, my dear Melodia," said A-Tom-U-Lar, no longer disguising his voice, "I am not your stupid lawyer." A-Tom-U-Lar transformed to his original self. "Do you understand that?"
"Well," said Melodia, her attitude completely changed, "I'm glad of that! But why did you come here? And how did you escape from the Penal Planet?"
A-Tom-U-Lar said, "Well, I escaped because of my new pal here. Liquie?" Liquidator leapt out of the glass and reformed.
"What?" exclaimed Melodia in surprise.
"I am Liquidator, one of Darkwing Duck's enemies," said Liquidator. "I assume that you are Melodia?"
"Yes, I am," said Melodia. "I never knew that you existed! I thought you were just a cartoon character. . . and they draw your nose all wrong, too! Yours is much more attractive than the way they draw it."
"Ah, yes," said Liquidator. "Thank you. I came out here with my leafy pal, Dr. Bushroot, to correct a sleet problem caused by your pal, Windhammer."
"He did that," said Melodia, "in order to freeze the Silver Hawks' spy satellite, Tally-Hawk, and the squad that we know now is the VideoLand Police Squad. It worked on the bird, but Steelheart came and blasted us; she found out from Seymour, whose cab we had hijacked earlier and whom Steelheart rescued with the assistance of her new pals, Perry Mason and Captain N. I assume that you have heard of all five of them and of Seymour's 'assistant,' Zeek the Beak, or as the Mob calls him, Zeek the Geek."
"Yes, I have heard of all of them," said Liquidator. "Now, as to why we are here. With the assistance of your boss, Mon*Star, we have come up with a plan to free you. Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa has just paid us a surprise visit, along with that stupid vegetable of MotherBrain's, Eggplant Wizard. A-Tom-U-Lar, here, is going to be your stupid lawyer tomorrow, and he is going to make the lawyer look bad. . . and when I say bad, I mean BAD! He's going to toss as many objections as possible into Mason's and Burger's works tomorrow, but he's not going to cross-examine everything. Then, when his own case begins, I am going to flood the place! Ludwig, on the stand, will forewarn the people in the courtroom that there will be a flood in the future, but no one will believe him, because the court is on a planet which would drain water off of it. And, in the confusion, Ludwig will free you of your bonds, and we'll ask Mo-Lec-U-Lar to seal the door to the courtroom shut, so everyone will be flooded and will drown.
"Yes, you're in good hands with the Mob!"
Melodia said, "Okay, I've got it. Now, you guys have to beat it before you're caught!"
A-Tom-U-Lar said, "You heard her, Liquidator. Now would be a good time to leave."
"Okay," said Liquidator. He then got back into the water-glass. "See you later, Melodia."
"We'll bring you an extra Sound Smasher, Melodia, in case you need it," said A-Tom-U-Lar.
"Okay, A-Tom-U-Lar," said Melodia. A-Tom-U-Lar transformed back into the lawyer. "See you later."
"See you later, Melodia," said A-Tom-U-Lar. He then disguised his voice and called out, "We've finished, guard." A-Tom-U-Lar took the glass with Liquidator. The guard opened the door and let A-Tom-U-Lar out, then another guard entered and took Melodia back to her cell. When A-Tom-U-Lar and Liquidator returned outside the building, Liquidator changed back to his normal form, put the water-glass on the fountain's drain, and released his conscious control on the glass so that it turned back into water and went down the drain. They returned to Brim*Star via the 'Liquidator Express,' their job done.