December 19.

            "SNARFER!!!" shouted Snarfer in pain.

            "Good work, my boy!  Take this miserable fur-ball back to see Lion-O at our new pals' home.  Hee, hee!  I'll soon be along."  Ma-mutt dragged Snarfer into the warp to Metroid.

            "A wormhole?" said Bengali in astonishment.  "I didn't know you could make a wormhole!"

            "As one of my new pals will tell you," said Mumm-ra, "this is properly called a warp."

            Pumyra queried, "Did I hear some mention of 'new pals'?"

            "Why, yes!" answered Mumm-ra.  "Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned it!  I'll even introduce one to you!  Mega Volt, come in here, please!"  Mega Volt, his plugs glowing because of his recently being recharged to maximum power, popped through the warp.

            "You called, Mumm-ra?" asked Mega Volt.

            "Mega Volt," said Mumm-ra, "these are Bengali, Lynx-O, and Pumyra from left to right.  Bengali, Lynx-O, and Pumyra, this is one of my new pals, the electrifying mongrel, Mega Volt."

            "Care for a sample of my powers?" asked Mega Volt, a wicked smile on his face, his entire body sparking.  "Well, I'll show you anyway!  Ha, ha, ha!"  He blasted the three Thunder Cats with an electric beam.

            Mumm-ra laughed, "Ha, ha, ha!  It's time for you guys to meet my new leader, the wicked Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa!  Hee, hee, hee!"

            "I've heard of him," said Pumyra.  "He is reputed to be the most powerful villain in the galaxy."

            "True," said Mumm-ra.  "Let's show them to our wicked leader, Mega Volt."

            "Ha, ha, ha!" said Mega Volt.  "Sure!  He can shock you worse than this!  Hee, hee, hee!"  He dragged the Thunder Cats into the warp.

            * * *

            Prison Room, Norfair, Metroid.

            In the prison room of Metroid, Mumm-ra and Mega Volt re-entered with Bengali, Pumyra, and Lynx-O.

            "Ah, excellent!" remarked Ludwig.  "Place them on the wall with the others if you do not mind."  The villainous mutt used his electricity to place the Thunder Cats against the wall.  Liquidator turned on a faucet and used the water in the plumbing to cuff the three Thunder Cats to the wall.  Snarfer had already been placed on the wall.  "So, good day, you three!  How are things going?"

            "They were going fine until your bandaged buddy showed up with his new electric amigo!" snapped Pumyra.

            "Well," says Liquidator, "we had to break up your monotony of several straight days of rain!  Ha, ha, ha!  We could not let you stay there another day.  Yet, I still had to stop my storm-cloud in the middle of space."

            "So you are behind this!" said Bengali.

            "Well, lo and behold, we finally find out this white tiger here has some brains!" remarked Liquidator in his usual 'advertising voice.'

            "I'll show you who has brains!" said Bengali.  He tried to pull away from the wall, but the water cuffs did not allow him.  These water cuffs were as strong, if not stronger, than the steel cuffs holding the others.  "Hey!  These things are harder than steel!"

            "Certainly are," Liquidator said.

            "Whatever you are going to do to us," said Princess Zelda, "you had better do it now!"

            "Let's get one thing straight, you aristocratic pain in the neck," said Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa.  "I am at least ten times more powerful than you are.  Also, I am in command here.  So, keep your mouth shut, and your treatment shall be equal to that of the others."

            "Look who is talking about an aristocratic pain in the neck!" snapped Zelda.

            "Listen, pretty princess," said Ludwig.  "You are getting me slightly perturbed, and. . ."

            "Your damned frame of mind is none of my concern, rock-brain, and you needn't pardon my language!"

            "OH, THAT DOES IT!!!" shouted a perturbed von(Bowser)Koopa.  "TAKE THIS LADY TO THE TORTURE CHAMBER, EGGPLANT WIZARD AND KING HIPPO!!!  SHE ASKED FOR IT!!!"

            "But, boss. . ." began King Hippo.

            "JUST DO IT, YOU BIRD-BRAINED NINCOMPOOPS!!!" Ludwig ordered.

            "Okay, boss," said Eggplant Wizard.  He and King Hippo went to Zelda and removed her from the wall.  Almost instantly, she kicked them out of her way, darted toward a door, magically summoned her bow, and aimed an energy arrow at Link's straight-jacket.  This destroyed the straight-jacket, freeing Link.  Link zipped to the box containing all the N-Team's weapons, opened it, and grabbed his sword.  He blasted everyone free with energy beams from his sword, including releasing Mario, Luigi, and Toad from the Light*Stars holding them.

            "What about Kevin?" Lana asked frantically, as Kevin would be killed if Link blasted the glass.

            "We ought to make him fry!" said the despicable Quacker Jack.

            "Hang on a minute!" said Liquidator.  "Hang on a minute!  Major brainstorm leaving the warehouse to the store!  Heh, heh, heh!"  He thought a while as everyone was still.  Liquidator went up to Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa.  "Hey, boss, how about we . . ."  He whispered in Ludwig's ear a while.  "Then, we could . . ."  He whispered in Ludwig's ear a while more.  A wicked smile became embedded in Ludwig's face.  Finally, when Liquidator had finished, Ludwig nodded.

            "Liquidator," announced Ludwig, facing the N-Team, "has convinced me to let you all go, including Captain N. . . no lie this time, I guarantee that.  He has also asked me to propose to you a challenge."

            "What kind of challenge?" asked Steelheart.

            "A race," answered Ludwig.  "An automobile-style race on several different and difficult tracks throughout the galaxy."

            "I hope," said Kid Icarus, "that this is not false-icus like the VideoLympics with which MotherBrain challenged us."

            "And," added Quicksilver, "that your team will obey the race rules, unlike when we competed with the Mob in the Great Space Race."

            "Oh, nothing like either of those shall occur," assured Ludwig, turning valves on his deep-freeze device to warm Kevin gradually.  "Captain N is hearing this, also.  Anyway, there will be the best ten to fifteen drivers from your team and those from my team.  I choose the best ten to fifteen from my team; Steelheart or someone else chooses the best ten to fifteen from your team.  Those best twenty to thirty drivers will compete on the tracks.  The acting leader of each group is automatically disqualified from driving in the race.  I am, therefore, disqualified.  Who is the leader of your team, Steelheart?"

            "To tell you the truth, I do not know," said Steelheart.  "We haven't really chosen one."

            "I see, I see.  Anyway, choose him or her, then the tracks will be chosen.  Once the tracks are chosen, we shall each choose the ten to fifteen drivers, I from my group, your group's leader from your group.  When that is out of the way, the race will begin.  All in all, we should be ready by the twenty-first at noon.  What do you say?"

            Steelheart thought it over.  Finally, she said, "Okay, I think we'll bite."

            "Good, good," said Ludwig.  He looked at Kevin.  "Looks like your pal's ready."  Ludwig switched off the device.  He opened a door in the glass and cracked away a thin film of ice in the doorway.  "King Hippo, remove Captain N very carefully from the deep-freeze chamber."

            "Yes," said King Hippo.  He removed Kevin from the device as the N-Team got their weapons.  Kevin was fully thawed.

            "Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa," said Kevin, "that chamber was freezing!  Next time you do something like that, let me get a ton of blankets first!"

            "At -273�C, you would not keep warm for very long," said Ludwig.  "Negative four hundred fifty-nine degrees Fahrenheit is a very low temperature.  It is so low that molecules stop vibrating."

            "You," said Kevin, "should know that I know that.  I got A's in all my science courses.  Listen, villain, I'll go along with your little plan, but, if you so much as lift a finger to cheat any, you will be trying to remove my fist from the middle of your evil throat!"

            Ludwig said, "A bit impulsive, are we not?"

            "Not 'we,' 'me'!  I admit to being impulsive!  You would never admit to such a thing because you're so wrapped up in yourself!"

            "I shall refuse to enter into such a battle of wits at the present time, Captain N.  Meanwhile,. . ."

            "Yes, I shall go to the Palace with my friends and help them!" said Kevin.  "In the meantime, if you try any scheme, I'll be here . . . and I shall not be very happy.  As it is, I'm hot as Hades about you sticking me in that deep-freeze device of yours."

            "Fine, fine.  Now, if you do not mind, I would like a little peace and quiet."  As Kevin and his friends turned to leave, Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa finished, "Oh, and get your leader chosen.  I do not want to wait forever for you to tell me who your leader is."

            Steelheart moved to being the first in line facing Ludwig.  "You can bet your scales we'll tell you," Steelheart snapped.

            "Darn right!" replied Kevin.  "So wait for our soon-to-come call."

            "Okay," said Ludwig.  "Later."  The N-Team turned and entered the warp to the Palace of Power.  "You know, we really ought to discuss this plan among ourselves, everyone."

            "Ha, ha, ha!  Yes, let's!" said the wicked Liquidator.

            * * *

            Control Room, Tower of Omens, third-Earth.

            At the Tower, the Thunder Kittens had thoroughly searched the place twice.  They were both a little frightened, but they did not have to admit that to each other.  "Where could they be?" asked Wilykit.

            "I know a possibility," said Wilykat, "but you're not going to like it."

            "Oh, great Jaga!  Do you mean that Ludwig might have captured them already?"

            "Yes.  That Ludwig's a nasty one.  I. . ."

            "Palace of Power to Tower of Omens," called Captain N's voice from a communication console.  "Are you there, Thunder Kittens?"

            Wilykat opened a channel and replied, "Yes, Captain N, we are.  What's going on?"

            "Well, 'nice ol' Ludwig' decided to let us go, but I am 101% certain that he did not have that intention.  Neither did Liquidator, who made the suggestion, according to him.  He also challenged us to an automobile-style race on several tracks throughout the galaxy.

            "Now, you tell me something.  Why are you out there at the Tower when Lion-O told you to remain at Cat's Lair?"

            "We came to tell the Thunder Cats out here that Ludwig might be coming to capture them," said Wilykit.  "It appears we're a bit late."

            "Yes, but at least you arrived a little too late," said Kevin.  "Mumm-ra and Mega Volt did the job for him.  Please, come to the Palace.  The entire N-Team must choose its leadership before the race, then we need to suggest some tracks to the Brain-Team."

            "This all has the suspicious ring of a trap or some other trick," said Wilykit, "but okay.  We're coming to the Palace."

            "We'll be expecting you.  Good-bye."  Wilykit and Wilykat left after Kevin had cut the communication line.