Act 136 - Date: 12 October 2996
Section 6: The Return of the N-Team
Part 4: The Other Universe
First and Only Division
Sixteenth Chapter
Characters: (Q-niverse) Thunder Cats, Silver Hawks, N-Team Base, Enterprise-Team, Mon*Star's Mob, Plundarrian-Team, Brain-Team Base, Fearsome Ten; (X-iverse) X-Men
Hangar, Hawkhaven, Limbo, Milky Way Galaxy, Q-niverse. Stardate 1 051 284.9; October 12, 2996.
T "Welcome to Hawkhaven, X-Men," greeted Steelheart. "I feel that headache returning, Lana. You were wise not to talk with me about this over hyperspace. Now, what happened?"
"You-know-who happened," said Lana. "These guys are from the X-iverse."
"That's where Link's consciousness was sent."
"Yes. Now, before Wilykit could come up with a plan to go there, Ludwig set out in his Warbird and popped into the X-iverse through a gate in the unexplored galaxy. He went to the X-Men's earth and caused a bit of a stir there. Before going down, though, he took the precaution of copying his powers onto a 3.5-inch floppy diskette."
"A diskette?"
"Apparently, it worked. I'll let Professor Xavier explain what happened with the Brain-Team on his planet."
"We felt all day that something was going to happen," Xavier said. "Ludwig made his Warbird visible only to our sensors; then he called us. Knowing that I could sense his true nature, he sweet-talked us to the extent that we let him transport to us. He arrived with family and friends. Namely, these people." Xavier punched several buttons on his chair. "One of the good parts of having a computerised chair. Anyway, these are those who accompanied him: King Bowser, Prince Larry, Prince Roy, Princess Wendy, Prince Morton 'Big Mouth,' Princes Lemmy and Iggy, Liquidator, Mega Volt, Bushroot, Quacker Jack, Mon*Star, Mumm-ra, Eggplant Wizard, King Hippo, and Mouser. He mentioned a Dr. Jerome Wily."
"So, that's where Mon*Star is," said Steelheart. "Please excuse me, Professor." She tapped her communicator. "Steelheart to Condor and Moonstriker."
"Condor here," replied Condor's voice. "What's happening, Commander?"
"Come back home, guys. We know what happened to Mon*Star."
"All right," Moonstriker said. "We're returning, ma'am."
"Steelheart out." Steelheart tapped her communicator.
Lana asked, "Why did he accent the 'ma'am'?"
"Once in 1992, he made the error of calling me 'sir,' " said Steelheart. "I strongly dislike that bit of protocol, and my reaction caused all of us to make a big deal out of it ever since he made the error. But let's continue with the matter at hand. Mon*Star is the interplanetary crime boss in this neck of the stellar woods."
"Yes," said Xavier. "Captain N gave us a brief but comprehensive report of the N-Team and Brain-Team. Anyway, I introduced the X-Men to the Brain-Team, and Ludwig introduced his accompanying members of the Brain-Team to us. He was being all too nice with us. He gave two examples of what his powers could do. The first was to make me able to walk again; I had lost use of my legs years ago. The second example was to kill Gambit, another of us."
"In what manner did that atrocious snake perform what he did in the second example?"
"He used a beam that turned Gambit's power against its owner. Nothing the other X-Men could do could neutralise the beam. I wrote a full report that I'll let you see later, but suffice it to say that I unintentionally irritated Ludwig, who took his gift back from me, not that it concerns me nearly so much as Gambit's death. Rogue has the power to take other people's energy or powers; she took command of the powers of the ones called Mega Volt, Bushroot, Liquidator, and Quacker Jack."
"The Fearsome Four," said Steelheart. "Liquidator is Ludwig's first officer where the Brain-Team is concerned. Please mind not my commentary; please continue."
"The X-Men then subdued Mon*Star and Mumm-ra," said Xavier. "Mon*Star immobilised Rogue and Cyclops with something he called a Light*Star. He was surprised when Rogue broke Cyclops and herself out of that thing."
"Steelwill and I are the only other humans who have done that," said Steelheart.
"Beast had surprised Mumm-ra and knocked him to the ground; Mumm-ra transformed into a mummy when he saw his reflection in Cyclops's visor."
"One day, Mumm-ra's going to have the foresight to wear sunglasses," said Steelwill. "That's the only way he won't be able to see his reflection."
"Then, I made the grave error of describing Ludwig with the word 'mad.' His brother Larry destroyed the chair I was using at that time. As Jean assisted me, the other X-Men dealt with Ludwig's kin so that Rogue could stop Ludwig by drawing out his power. She could not stop Ludwig from killing Gambit, but she did manage to draw out his super-powers before he killed anyone else."
"I took out super-powers," said Rogue, "but I left some others that seemed more natural in him."
"You drew out his special Q-cubed powers but left his natural Koopa powers," explained Steelheart. "He was born with the latter."
"When Rogue had drawn out his powers," said Xavier, "Ludwig indirectly admitted defeat. He quoted, 'He who Koops and runs away lives to Koop another day.' He ordered that Dr. Wily to beam them aboard their ship."
"Dr. Wily," said Steelheart. "One of his and MotherBrain's most trusted right-hand-men. Two others are Ridley and Nuclesís."
"Anyway, the reason I wanted Rogue to get Ludwig's powers in the first place was because I wanted to get to this universe to contact you, his enemies. She decided to bring us to the Palace of Power. There, we met Captain N. He introduced us to Princess Lana, and I introduced myself and Cyclops. We established a conversation with him, and he called Wilykit and Wilykat. When Wilykit was there, I introduced the rest of the X-Men. She decided Captain N should present us with a report of the N-Team and Brain-Team. She left, and Captain N presented the report to us in the Palace's conference room. After the report, I asked if there had been any human mutants like us. He knew of none on his homeworld."
"He might not have known about us Silver Hawks' homeworld," said Steelheart. "Our world did have human mutants. In the end of our twentieth century, which corresponds to the universe's tenth century, our civilisation first noticed mutants. I remember reading the terrible history of the end of that century and the beginning half of the twenty-first. In the meantime, the USA's economy was falling like a rock because some idiot president had increased the nation's debts way too much. At the middle of the twenty-first century, when science was climbing at an increasingly great speed, ordinary humans began to understand mutant humans, that mutants were only mutants because the blasted pollution in the environment had caused errors in the DNA of the mutants. Thus it was that mutated humans were accepted into the mainstream human society. Mutants were allowed to use their special abilities to benefit humanity and the environment. That came just soon enough, because we then encountered the Romulans of this area of the galaxy. Unfortunately, these Romulans weren't willing to make peace, and many mutants gave their lives defending Earth from the alien forces. Peace came at a terrible price. Many mutants and nonmutants died in the war; in space fighters we fought our way to the Romulan homeworlds, where we dropped bombs capable of destroying all humanoid life on a world. That is a ghastly event in our history that we would sooner cover up than learn from.
"However, we learned from it, and this sixth of the galaxy became Earth's willing empire as the Limbo Alliance. . . the name reminding us where we had so terribly sent every inhabitant of the Romulan Empire. Thanks to what had been done for mutants, Steelwill and I were able to grow up with no persecution. Our entire family has been telepathic; our line extends back to a great telepath from the twentieth century; he. . ." She hesitated. "He served in the army of the United States and was very influential in mutant rights."
"This is some temporal paradox!" said Xavier.
"Don't be alarmed," said Lana. "There are many planets termed 'Earth' in this galaxy; we can count yours as well."
"I've never said a word about this to Kevin," said Steelheart. "On his world, you existed only in the great imaginations of comic book writers. On my world, you guys existed in fact a very long time ago. As long as the earths are isolated, their humans pretty much evolve along the same lines except for a few major differences. Your world may have become mine if Ludwig hadn't. . ."
"Steelheart!!" cried Steelwill. "I just had a sudden thought about Mumm-ra."
"What about it, Will?"
"I know it may sound utterly insane, but what if their world was not supposed to be like second-Earth? What if it was supposed to become like third-Earth?"
"Oh, God," said Steelheart. "Most sentient life on third-Earth was eliminated long before the Thunder Cats arrived there. The oldest person there was Mumm-ra. Either he could have witnessed the destruction of third-Earth's civilisation. . ."
". . .or he could have caused it," said Xavier. "The Q-niverse and X-iverse theoretically occupy the same dimensions, except that this universe occupies the width dimension 2, from your perspective, and the X-iverse occupies width dimension 5. They are linked to the same temporal dimension, the same length dimension, and the same depth dimension."
"It's all confusing to me!" said Wolverine.
"Temporal mechanics and multi-universal dimension mechanics are difficult for most to grasp," Steelheart said. "That Xavier pops onto it like this is very unusual but very good; Will and I got it just as easily. But then so did Kevin, who is an ordinary human. If he did actually have a mutant power, it would be his cognitive abilities. Anyway, theoretically, each Earth is from a different point in time. . . any two Earths could be anywhere from a millisecond to a trillion years apart. In fact, in VideoLand, first-Earth, the centre of the MegaLandian Republic, helped to unite the Kingdom of VideoLand into its most basic components. Third-Earth, upon which the Thunder Cats settled, is the oldest Earth known in the universe. That Mumm-ra was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, so his carcass is countless centuries old."
"No wonder I smelled something while the Brain-Team was around," said Wolverine. "Must've been Mumm-ra's mummy fluid."
"Could be. Did Captain N or Wilykit mention our meeting scheduled for tomorrow?"
"Yes, Wilykit told us about it," Xavier said. "We haven't told you what happened after Captain N's report. Ludwig contacted the Palace. I wisely called him crazy instead of mad. The turtle reported to us that he had stored a copy of his powers on a 3.5-inch diskette. After Rogue had stolen his powers, he replaced them with the copy on his disk and then made the X-iverse his new empire."
"Yes," said Steelheart, "I definitely do feel that headache returning."
Lana said, "The snake plans to control at least three universes. That one and this one, but I don't know what the third will be."
"I do, Lana," Steelheart said. "It's Wesley Crusher's Original Universe. Wesley is a Q-cubed; he was born in the Original Universe. Learning to use his powers, he created this universe. It's called the Q-niverse because it was made with his Q powers. I'm not sure, but I think he may also have created your universe, too. Of course, and I agree with him on this, he believes that God gave him the powers or at the very least allowed him to receive them. Wesley Crusher; the Wilytwins, Wilykit and Wilykat; the Wondertwins, Zan and Jayna; and MotherBrain and Ludwig had the powers from birth but actually only discovered them during maturity. MotherBrain kept hers hidden until very recently. Wilykit told me she recently gave Captain N the powers because he wanted to be able to defend his leader. Of course, he is worthy of that trust. I believe Lana will agree that he is one of the most heroic heroes in the universe."
"Most certainly," said Lana.
"And I just took the powers from Ludwig," said Rogue.
"Yes," Steelheart said. "Now, Lana, why did you decide to bring these good people to me?"
"When Xavier suggested a co-operative agreement, Kevin suggested he talk to you or Captain Picard about it," said Lana.
"Good choice. I happen to know that Picard is rather busy today."
"How's that headache coming, sister?" joked Steelwill.
"Oh, it's coming, li'l bro. Well, Professor, I can discuss an agreement, but I have to inform Wilykit before it's actually made."
Xavier said, "I understand."
"We can talk in the Command Centre upstairs. Please come with me to the turbo-elevator. Will, stay here to await Condor and Moonstriker. When they return, come with them up to the Command Centre."
"Very well, Steelheart," Steelwill said.
"I have to return to the Palace," said Lana. "I left MegaMan in charge, but he doesn't have my authority."
Steelheart said, "All right, Lana. I can handle everything from here. Just contact me if you intercept anything more from Ludwig."
"Yes, Steelheart." Lana went to the warp to the Palace and entered it.
Steelheart led the X-Men into the turbo-elevator. "Command Centre," she said. The elevator began taking them up.
"Are vocal commands to computers commonplace these days?" asked Beast.
"Yes, Beast. In many circumstances, it's more convenient than using a control panel or typing. In other circumstances, of course, control panels are better and easier." The elevator slowed and stopped; the door opened to the Command Centre. "Here we are. I'll do the intros."
* * *
Beethoven's Work Room, casa di Tygra, New Thundera, Milky Way Galaxy.
When Kevin returned with his guitar, everyone (the Cerebra-twins, the Astucieux-twins, the Tygra-twins, Simon, Will Riker, Jean-Léonard, and Beethoven) was ready to begin practising. Wesley was also there, just to listen. "Hello, Kevin," said Riker.
Wesley said, "What's wrong, Kevin?"
Kevin gave a sign to Beethoven, who hit the E below low C. Kevin tuned the lowest string of his guitar to this note and then tuned the higher strings. While tuning, he said, "Our ol' 'pal,' Ludwig. It seems, Wesley, that you made another universe along with this one."
"Did I? I did! Yes, the X-iverse. I didn't know I did that."
"Anyway, the gate to that universe is what's in that unexplored galaxy. A world in that universe is where Ludwig sent those six pairs of Thunderians. Had Wilykat not been as quick as he was, all the older members of Thunderian twin pairs would have been sent there, and we would not have known it. The X-iverse is where Link's consciousness was sent for some kind of 'test' on Koholint Island; apparently, some force there is intent on giving that test to all Hyrule's heroes." Beethoven handed Kevin some music when Kevin had finished tuning. "This is what we decided to play tomorrow," Beethoven said.
"All right." Kevin looked through it. He liked the pieces; Beethoven had written in some special solo passages for Kevin to do on his guitar. "Looks good, Beethoven." He got a music stand and placed the music on it. Beethoven on the piano, Chatonne and Jean-Léonard on the violins, Gatinha on the viola, Antonio and Élisabeth on the 'cellos, Kevin on the guitar, Frédéric on the flute, Guillaume on the clarinet, Simon on the French horn, and Will Riker on the trombone, the group played through the several short pieces. Some were Terran, some were Thunderian, and some were Hyrulian; however, all were birthday pieces. They were all happy; some were joyful and fast, others were romantic and slow. Especially in the joyful ones, Kevin had the opportunity to show off naturally. He made sure all his improvisations sounded musical.
Wesley, the lone audience, clapped when the group had finished. "Excellent," he complimented. "All of you sounded great."
"Thank you, Wesley," said Beethoven. "When they can accompany us, the Wilytwins make us sound even better. Very good improvisations, Kevin."
Kevin said, "Thank you, Beethoven. Anyway, that X-iverse is home to the X-Men, who existed on my world only in comics and TV. Ludwig went to that universe and to their world in his Warbird. Before visiting the X-Men, he copied his powers onto an ordinary 3.5-inch floppy. However, I don't know how he managed that."
"I'm ashamed, Kevin," said Wesley, smiling. "You can do anything with those powers. I'd think you would know that, since 'Kit did for you what she did."
"Yeah, I suppose. He took that precaution before contacting the X-Men. He sweet-talked them; Professor Xavier, the founder of the X-Men, saw right through Ludwig but let Ludwig come down. Xavier was going to go along with Ludwig until Ludwig showed his true colours. I don't know all the details yet, but Ludwig did show his true nature. Gambit was the X-Man with the power to energise cards and other objects and use them to cause explosions. Well, Ludwig blasted him with a beam that turned his powers against him."
"Hm," said Wesley with distaste. "I know how that dirty trick works. It's not too nice. In fact, it's not nice at all."
"The X-Men couldn't break the beam; however, Xavier had told Rogue, the X-Man with the power to absorb the energy or powers of another being, to take Ludwig's powers so that the X-Men could get to us. Rogue succeeded, but this was not before Ludwig had killed Gambit. She took the powers of the Fearsome Four, of Gambit before he died, and of Ludwig. After making his father's famous quote, Ludwig returned to his Warbird. Some time later, the X-Men wound up in the Palace of Power. That's when I called Wilykit, who came and told them about the meeting tomorrow and who asked me to give them my periodically updated report of the N-Team and Brain-Team. After she left, I did that. When we were through and I was finally ready to return here, Ludwig called us, told us about his backing up his powers, and told us he had conquered the X-iverse in one fell swoop. When Ludwig hung up, Xavier suggested a co-operative agreement, so I agreed and suggested he contact Steelheart or Captain Picard. Then, I finally got out of there."
"Well, Father's busy," Jean-Léonard said. "I think they would probably be with Steelheart."
"We're going to talk about this tomorrow at the meeting," said Captain N. "There's a lot of business to cover there."
Wesley said, "When Wilykit and her brother came back from the Palace, they asked me to take their communications for them. They didn't want to be disturbed from their activity."
"This is Commander Steelheart calling Wilykit," said Steelheart's voice, coming from Wesley's communicator.
Wesley tapped his communicator. "Steelheart, this is Wesley Crusher," said Wesley. "Wilykit doesn't want to be disturbed right now; she asked me to handle her communications for her."
"Well, Wesley, is Kevin there?" Kevin tapped his communicator. "Yes, I am, Steelheart. What's happening?"
"Well, you'll be happy to know that Professor Xavier and I have come up with a great arrangement."
"Yes, Captain N," Xavier said. "Steelheart made a suggestion with which I agree. She suggested we join the N-Team."
"All right," Kevin said. "That sounds reasonable to me. When Wilykit gets back, I'll tell her about this. In the meantime, Steelheart, have x Silver Hawks examine the X-Men's communicators so that they can use our communications and transporter systems, x being any integer greater than zero but less than eleven."
"Yes, Kevin," said Steelheart. "We're on it. Steelheart out." Kevin's communicator and Wesley's beeped.
Kevin took off his guitar and put the music Beethoven had given him in a box he had brought. From the box, he extracted a laptop computer terminal. He sat next to Wesley and started the computer. He said, "I have to write a report for the rest of the N-Team concerning the X-Men.
"Need help?" Wesley asked.
"Thanks, Wes, but I can handle it myself."
Beethoven said, "Well, our practice is finished for today. I just have to work on my music dramas. Of course, I will stop to watch the new episodes of Kevin's shows. I understand this week's episodes are a bit - how do native English-speakers say it? - hair-raising?"
"Exactly," said Kevin. "The last few episodes have been getting a little slack, but these two episodes are probably my greatest so far."
"A little slack?" asked Beethoven incredulously. "All the episodes thus far have been superb."
"Yeah, Beethoven, but when I was writing the past four episodes of both series, I was a bit preoccupied, and it decreased the quality of the music. Maybe imperceptibly, but it still happened. When I got to this episode, I shut the preoccupation out of my mind and wrote quickly in a storm of inspiration. In fact, these are my greatest episodes of the year; this year, I have nothing greater. For next January, however, I'm composed an unbelievable surprise." All this time, he was composing the report. He had now finished the text. Now, he went back to put in the pictures of each X-Man.
"Don't tell me you finished the text already," said Wesley.
"Believe it. I can type very quickly."
Chatonne had distributed copies of the new symphony to everyone in the room. "Well," said Simon, neatly packing everything in his backpack, "I'm going. Anything you want me to do, Kevin?"
"Why, sure, Simon. Check on our enemies' activities as best you can. If you find out that Mouser has sneezed, report it." Mouser was allergic to many things.
"I got your drift, Kev," Simon said. "See you all later." He left.
Jean-Léonard said, "The Astucieux-twins and I are going to the café for a few minutes. See you later."
"Later, brother," said Wesley. Jean-Léonard may have been only his half-brother, but Wesley still thought of him as a full one. A great Thunderian custom.
"Later, Wes."
Élisabeth said, "I'll see you later, Chatonne."
"Later, Élisabeth," Chatonne said. Jean-Léonard, Élisabeth, and Frédéric left.
"I've got to go, too," said Riker. "The captain and I have a discussion on Federation-Earth later. Kevin, I'll talk with him about the X-Men report."
Kevin said, "All right, Will. Under my folder, it's the file 'X-Men Report.' All members of the Second Extended N-Team can access it. It'll automatically come up on Darkwing's computer, Perry's, Mario's, and Sam's. Not mine, of course; not Wilykit's, because I'm staying to tell her in person; not Steelheart's, because I'm going to tell her next; and not Picard's, because you're going to talk with him about it."
"All right."
Wesley said, "Say hi to him for me, Commander."
Riker smiled. "Yes, Wes. See you all later." He packed his trombone and music, then left.
"We four are going to Gatinha's and my work-room to discuss the libretto to our upcoming music drama," Chatonne said. "Beethoven, if you have any questions, just call us."
"Thank you. If you want my help, you know where I am."
"All right. We'll see you later, then." Chatonne, Gatinha, Antonio, and Guillaume left for the workroom.
* * *
Wilykit and Wilykat entered the house more cheerful than they had been in a thousand years. Their space-board trip, the first in a long time, had finally returned them to what they had been like before Ludwig's conquest. They were joking and laughing but now were taking advantage of their advanced vocabulary. They kept their space-boards with them as they went to Beethoven's workroom.
* * *
"I must admit to being concerned about Wilykit and Wilykat," said Kevin.
Wesley asked, "Why, Kevin?"
"Well, I remember very well what they were like before Ludwig began his mad mass conquest. Something's not completely right. And yes, it is my business; I'm the first officer, and they're the leaders."
"I'm not implying that it's not your business, and I think you may be right, Kev. Maybe the imprisonment deprived the pair of their usual pep?"
"Yeah! Wesley Crusher, you genius, that's exactly what happened! They are naturally more cheerful than they've been, and I think the imprisonment did bring them down a bit. It hasn't affected their performance - at least not yet - but I personally think that Wilykit acted wisely in asking me to deal with the X-Men for her."
Wesley smiled jokingly. "Now, all we need is for her to start calling you 'Number One.' " His expression turned more serious. "Tell me, what would you do if Lana died?"
So did Kevin's expression. "Well. . . I don't know, Wesley."
"I know you like Wilykit, Kevin," said Wesley in a manner assuring Kevin that he was not accusing him of anything.
"Wesley, I'd never make any advances to her as long as both you and Lana lived."
"Yes, Kevin, I trust you. I'm talking about this because. . . well, I feel something's going to happen to Lana and to me. Something terrible. It's like one of Cheetara's sixth-sense visions."
"Have you told Troi, Cheetara, or your mother about that, Wes?"
"No, not yet. Should I?"
"Yeah, I think so. Why are you telling me?"
"Kevin, if Lana and I are sent to heaven, I want you to marry Wilykit."
"Hey! Why?"
"Because I know you, Kevin. I know you can never be maritally unfaithful. And I know she likes you, too."
"All right, on one condition: Lion-O and she must have the opportunity to accept each other before I move."
"Lion-O? Why?"
"Why do you think Wilykit earned her title as Lord of the Thunder Cats? And I feel that he still loves her."
"I see. He's said nothing."
"He's too proud to say anything, Wes."
"Like Picard sometimes. Yeah. All right, Kevin. I agree with the part about Lion-O. But if he says no to her or she says no to him. . ."
"I will, Wesley. In fact, I think you're lucky Lana was around when I met Wilykit."
Wesley smiled. "Oh, I know that. Please let's not tell the Wilytwins or Lana about this, Kevin. I don't want them to worry."
"Gotcha." He turned to Beethoven. "What about our eavesdropper?"
Beethoven said, "Oh, don't worry. I shall tell no one."
The door opened. Wilykit and Wilykat entered. "Hey, guys!" greeted Wilykit enthusiastically. She walked quickly to Wesley and gave him one fiery kiss.
"Hi!" said Wesley, smiling. "Last time you kissed me like that was about a thousand years ago."
"If you enjoyed that, wait until tonight. The last time I'd have done something like that would be a millennium ago as well."
"Ooh! I can't wait!"
Wilykat said, "That little trip on our Space Boards returned us to the way we're supposed to be, the way we were before Ludwig von Koopa locked us up. That act of his made us downright boring, even to each other."
"Well, I just expressed my concern to Wesley," Kevin said. "We agreed that you hadn't been acting like yourselves lately."
Wilykit gasped, pretending to be shocked. "Wes, you were talking about me?" She smiled reassuringly. "That's okay. I know you'd never speak maliciously about me."
"No, I wouldn't dream of it," said Wesley. He smiled in a manner indicating that he was about to joke. "Now, about Wilykat. . ."
"Hey!" Wilykat snapped, pretending to be angry. "What about me?"
"Nothin', Wilykat. I was just kidding. I'd never speak maliciously of you, either."
"I know, Wes. I was joking, too."
Kevin said, "Well, 'Kit, I dealt with the X-Men. I gave them my N-Team report as you asked. Ludwig then gave us a call. You know Rogue took the rat's Q-cubed powers."
Wilykit said, "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"I fear not, 'Kit. You see, before beaming to Xavier's mansion, the repulsive reptile had the foresight to copy his powers onto a 3.5-inch diskette. When he called us, he'd already restored his Q-cubed powers and, as a bonus, he had already blitz-conquered the X-iverse."
"You're right. I don't like it. Blast that despicable reptile!"
"He thinks he's going to get away with this and conquer the Q-niverse, X-iverse, and Original Universe. He says that he's letting us gain control of the Q-niverse just so he can see what you'd do."
"The temerity of the turtle!"
"When he hung up, I asked Lana to call Picard or Steelheart about Xavier and the other X-Men so that they could form an agreement for the relationship between the N-Team and the X-Men. I then left and came here for the group practice. The others here had already decided what to play tomorrow, and Beethoven gave me some great solo passages.
"After we'd finished, Steelheart called Wesley in an attempt to reach you. When he said you didn't want to be disturbed, she asked if I was here; I then responded. Steelheart and Xavier told me that she had suggested that the X-Men join us and that Xavier agreed with it. I said I'd inform you once you returned, and then I told here to have x Silver Hawks examine the X-Men's communicators so that they could use our communications and transporter systems, x being at least 1 and at most 10. When she cut communications, I wrote a special report concerning the X-Men for the rest of the N-Team. It'll auto-load on Darkwing's computer, Perry's, Mario's, and Sam's. Not Picard's because Riker's going to discuss the report, among other things, with him. Not yours, because I was staying to tell you about it. Not Steelheart's, because I plan to go discuss it with her."
"Thank you, Kevin. Good work. I believe that adding the X-Men to the N-Team would be good. They could represent us in their universe."
"Yeah. They aren't too fond of Ludwig."
"We all know the feeling. Well, I think I'll come along, Kevin."
"Mind if I come?" Wilykat asked.
"No, I don't mind. Just behave."
Wesley said, "Well, I don't have any assignments now, so I might as well come with you."
"Sure, Wes," Wilykit said. "And you, Beethoven?"
"I'd love to come, but I just had an idea explosion," said Beethoven, typing very quickly on his computer padd. "I can't take a break right now."
"All right. We'll see you later, Beethoven."
"Later."
Wilykit tapped her communicator. "N-Team Transporter, transport four to Hawkhaven's hangar." She, Wilykat, Kevin, and Wesley were beamed there.
* * *
Hangar, Hawkhaven, Limbo, Milky Way Galaxy.
Bluegrass and Melodia were in the hangar. Thanks to the help of Deanna Troi and Bluegrass, Melodia was now completely straight. She and Bluegrass were also realising their deep love for one another.
Bluegrass was at a computer console while Melodia was using a tricorder on the Mirage. "All appears well," said Bluegrass. "Wait! Back to the left a hair." Melodia moved the tricorder slightly to the left behind one of the Mirage's boosters. "Durn. A logarithmic abnormality. If we'd run the Mirage, that little thing could've blown out the engines."
"What do we do?" asked Melodia.
"Steelheart, Will, and Copper Kidd know the most about this kind of stuff. Meanwhile, let's continue the examination." The rest of the examination went well. "All right. That means that one of the Steeltwins or Kidd will have to take care of this problem." Melodia went over to him. "Of course, we don't have to tell 'em about it immediately."
"No, I guess not," said Melodia. The two kissed. "Mm. A thousand years ago, we'd never even think about doing this."
"Naw. We thought we hated each other."
"Well, I'm so happy we don't think that anymore."
The Wilytwins, Wesley, and Kevin materialised in the hangar. "Good afternoon, Bluegrass and Melodia," said Wilykit.
"Good afternoon, guys," said Bluegrass.
"We came to talk with Steelheart about the X-Men."
"They're upstairs in the Command Centre, Wilykit. I'll announce your imminent arrival."
"Thank you." Wilykit, Wilykat, Kevin, and Wesley entered the elevator.
Bluegrass tapped his communicator. "Steelheart, this here's Bluegrass."
"Read you, Rawhide," Steelheart said. "What's up?"
"The Wilytwins, Captain N, and Wesley Crusher are on their way up to see you."
"All right. Thanks. How went your examination of the Mirage?"
"All went well, except for a little logarithmic abnormality in chamber C. You, Will, or Kidd should come down and have a look-see."
"I'll send Will and Kidd down to take a look. Thank you, Bluegrass, and thank you too, Melodia, for discovering this potential disaster before it turned into a real disaster."
* * *
Command Centre.
Once the Wilytwins, Wesley, and Kevin arrived, Steelwill and Kidd took the turboelevator down to the hangar. "Welcome to Hawkhaven, guys," said Steelheart.
"Thank you, Steelheart," Wilykit said. "Getting another of those headaches?"
"Oh, slowly but surely, my dear Wilykit. But I can bear it this time, because I'm ready for it. What can we do for you?"
"Well, I wrote a report about our encounter with the X-Men," said Kevin. "I wanted to discuss it with Wilykit and then with you, Steelheart. By the way, I told Wilykit about your call earlier."
"Good."
"With that in mind," said Xavier, "what have you decided about our joining the N-Team, Wilykit?"
Wilykit said, "I agree with it. You could act as representatives of the N-Team in your universe."
"A good idea," said Xavier.
Quicksilver had just terminated a communication. "Dr. Hernández will take over for me for three days," he told Steelheart. "Wants me to take a short break from medicine.
"I am a doctor, too, Quicksilver," said Beast. "Might I see how technology has bettered the medical world here?"
"Sure, Beast, but in a few days. I'm not one to ignore medical advice."
Beast smiled. "I'm happy to hear that."
"Steelheart," asked Storm, "who exactly is this Windhammer?"
Steelheart said, "Windhammer calls himself the storm master. With his Tuning Fork, he can summon any force to create adverse weather conditions. However, he cannot call more force than the amplitude of the fork can handle. Can you, Storm, effect significant weather changes?"
"Yes, but my powers require endurance. When I control them, it produces a great strain on me. I also have to use much control to keep them from running wild."
"I see."
Kevin asked, "Where are Hotwing, Flashback, Cyclops, and Jean Grey, Steelheart?"
"They're in a lab working on the communicators," Steelheart said. "Do you know anything about our enemies?"
"Nope," said Wilykat. "We haven't heard anything from them for over half an hour. If they're quiet for a few more minutes, I'll start worrying!"
"-Sigh.- Unfortunately," said Wilykit, "that exaggeration has some degree of accuracy. If we don't perceive anything from those villains for a long time, it usually means they're up to something."
Something beeped on Quicksilver's console. "Wait; the Palace is calling. Opening a channel." He tapped a button. "Palace of Power, this is Hawkhaven. Quicksilver speaking."
"Quicksilver," said Kid Icarus, excited, "something's going on! I'm detecting much transportation activity at Metroid-icus!"
"Stargazer," said Steelheart, "see if you can detect anything at Brim*Star."
"I'm working on it," Stargazer said. "Ah, Steelheart, they've all transported to Metroid."
Wilykit hit her communicator. "Wilykit to Tygra. Please come in."
"Tygra here," replied Tygra. "What's wrong, 'Kit?"
"Is there any discernible activity on Plundarr?"
"Cheetara. . ."
"I'm working on it," Cheetara's voice replied. "Uh, oh. Our ten favourite Plundarrians have transported to Metroid." "Great," said Tygra. "You hear that, Wilykit?"
Wilykit said, "Unfortunately, I did. Thank you, Tygra. Keep watching that blasted planet."
"Right, Wilykit."
"Wilykit out." She tapped her communicator. "The Brain-Team seems to be congregating at Metroid."
"Yes, but what for?" asked Quicksilver. "I'm sending out Tally-Hawk." He tapped some buttons on the controller on his wrist.
* * *
Control Room, Tourian, Metroid, VideoLand, Milky Way Galaxy.
"ProtoMan, are the rest of the members of the Brain-Team arriving?" asked MotherBrain.
"Yep," said ProtoMan. "They're beaming into our congregation hall. Malcolm, call up the roll of the Extended Brain-Team from Ludwig's computer and print it out."
"Certainly," Malcolm said. He began to call up the file.
"If those N-Team twits can call roll, so can we."
"Why'd I let Ludwig take Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo?" asked MotherBrain. "I need some idiots to abuse."
"Shall I call in CutMan and GutsMan?" ProtoMan asked. "They'll fill the role nicely."
"All right, Proto." ProtoMan went to call them. "Malcolm, can Kilokahn attend our get-together?"
Malcolm said, "Way ahead of you, MB! He'll be there."
"Excellent. Sandra?"
"Same story."
"I'm pleased, Malcolm."
"CutMan and GutsMan are on their way," ProtoMan said.
"Thank you, ProtoMan."
A couple of sheets of paper came out of the printer of the super-computer. "Here's the Brain-Team Roll, ProtoMan," Malcolm said.
ProtoMan said, "Thanks, Malcolm." He took the sheets when Malcolm handed them to him. CutMan and GutsMan emerged from a warp. "Ah! Hello, guys."
CutMan said, "Hi, Proto. What's up?"
"Until Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo return, I assign you to be MotherBrain's substitute abusees."
"Ha! That don't sound too hard!" said GutsMan.
MotherBrain said, "Wrong verb form, fool!"
"Hey! You're right, Gutsie!" CutMan said. "This won't be hard at all!"
"Well," said ProtoMan, "shall we descend to the congregation hall in Lower Brinstar?"
"Yes," MotherBrain said. She opened the door to the short passageway. She, ProtoMan, CutMan, GutsMan, and Malcolm entered. As they progressed, she said, "I have several different paths through this planet - seven to date, excluding these 'maintenance' paths. All seven pass through the lair of Ridley and end at my control room."
"How do you create the paths?" ProtoMan asked.
"I control this planet telepathically. I block off specific areas for each path or, if you prefer, each maze. Path number seven I just completed. It is the most complex maze I've ever engineered. Even that Wilykat would have a hard time getting through."
"But my little bro, MegaMan, has an automatic maze mapper."
"Ha! I fixed that, Proto! I flooded it with Valkyric radiation so that his mapper won't work."
"Ooh! Brilliant, MB!" They reached a door.
"That goes to the congregation hall."
"All right." ProtoMan opened the door. The villains arrived in the congregation hall. Several of the Brain-Team members had arrived. Ridley noticed MotherBrain and went over to her.
"Hi, MB," said Ridley. "Most of us are here, but some have yet to arrive."
"Very well," MotherBrain said. "We'll wait a little longer before Proto calls roll."
"Hardware said to tell you he's leading the Mob in Mon*Star's absence," Ridley told her. "Luna has command over the Plundarrians and Negaduck over the Fearsome Ten with Mumm-ra and Liquidator absent with our beloved emperor."
"Thank you, Ridley."
A computer panel became active. Sandra Velaztra popped out of the monitor, then Kilokahn appeared in the monitor. Ridley looked at ProtoMan's list, then surveyed the room. He said, "I believe that everyone who's supposed to be here is here."
ProtoMan said, "Then I'll call roll." He and MotherBrain went to the podium at the front of the room. "Attention all Brain-Teamsters! Roll-time. Mon*Star's with Ludwig. Yes-Man?"
"Here! Yes, yes!"
"Hardware."
"Here."
"Pokerface."
"Here."
"Windhammer."
"Here."
"Timestopper." "Here."
"Zero."
"Here."
"Buzz-Saw."
"Here."
"Mumbo-Jumbo."
"-Grunt.- Here."
"Mo-Lec-U-Lar."
"Here."
"A-Tom-U-Lar."
"Here."
"Mumm-ra's with Ludwig. Luna and Amok?"
"We're here."
"Tug-mug."
"Here."
"Chilla."
"Here."
"Aluro."
"Here."
"Red-eye."
"Here."
"S-s-slithe."
"Here."
"Monkian."
"Here."
"Jackalman."
"Here."
"Vultureman."
"Here."
"MotherBrain."
"Here."
"King Bowser and all Koopalings are with Ludwig. Eggplant Wizard, King Hippo, and Mouser are also with him. Try-Clyde?"
"Here."
"Koopa-Troopa."
"Here."
"Dr. Wily's with Ludwig. I, ProtoMan, am obviously here. CutMan?"
"Here," CutMan said.
"GutsMan."
"Here."
"Ridley."
"Here."
"Charles Nuclesís."
"Electron Charge, Proton Brain, and Neutron Head."
"Here," said the three fools in unison.
"Malcolm Frink."
"Here."
"Sandra Velaztra."
"Here."
"Kilokahn."
"Here."
"Negaduck."
"Here."
"Mega Volt, Liquidator, Quacker Jack, and Bushroot are with Ludwig. Steelbeak?"
"Here."
"Ammonia Pine."
"Here."
"Moliarity."
"Here."
"Tuskerninni."
"Here."
"Norton Nimnul."
"Here."
"Is there anyone whose name I called not?" No response. "All right. MB, you're up!"
"Thanks, ProtoMan," said MotherBrain. "Hardware, what's Melodia's status?"
"Hmph. If she just had a metal suit, she'd be a Silver Hawk," said Hardware. "They don't need psychological control over her as Mon*Star did. Moreover, I think that blasted Deanna Troi has made it so that her mind will no longer accept any of the Planet Master's psychological programming."
"Drat. Well, what do we need her for?" "For her musical skills! If not her, we should have another virtuoso musician because music is a very powerful weapon, especially when applied to lasers, phasers, and disruptors."
"Then get another musician if you can find no way to get her back, Hardware."
"Gotcha."
"Do you have a Sound Smasher to see how it works?"
"No, and she deleted all the dratted schematics from the computer."
"Malcolm?"
"Yes?" Malcolm said.
"Can you break into Hawkhaven's computer and get Hardware some schematics?"
"Sure, if I can get access to a computer in the Limbo System."
"I'll fix you up with one, Malcolm," said Hardware. "Brim*Star's near enough to that blasted hawks' nest."
"All right," said MotherBrain. "Tomorrow's the birthday of the offspring of three pairs of goody-good rulers: Wilykit and Wesley, Lana and Captain N, and Zelda and Link. There must be some way to turn that to our advantage. Can anyone think of anything?"
"Funny you should mention that!" said Luna deviously. "Those insufferable do-gooders couldn't stand to see something. . . something tragic befall their precious offspring. Ha, ha, ha! I happen to know that the birthday party will take place in the new Kakariko City Restaurant, Bar, and Café in the Kingdom of Hyrule. The guards on the Triforce will be lax, I'm sure. Ganon and Agahnim and their monsters have been inactive for a while. Now, you put my plan together! Ha, ha, ha! I've already told Ludwig and Mumm-ra."
MotherBrain's lips slowly concaved upward into a vicious smile. "You are a diabolical genius, Luna. Once our meeting has adjourned, go over to Hyrule and inform Ganon and Agahnim of your evil plot."
"With pleasure!" Luna said. "Hardware, do you have that special transporter I ordered?"
"Ha, ha!" laughed Hardware. "I have it!"
Electron Charge asked, "What is the plot, Your Wrinkledness?"
"DON'T SAY 'WRINKLES'!!!" screamed MotherBrain. She grabbed him with her tentacle. "THESE ARE BEAUTY LINES, YOU FOOL!!! BEAUTY LINES!!!"
"I understand, Your Beauty-lined-ness! Just let me down!"
"Certainly." She dropped him on his rear. "I cannot discuss the plan right now. That cursed Tally-Hawk could be spying on us. He shouldn't be able to see into Brinstar, but he might be able to. Those N-Team twerps are very observant. Revealing the plot now could be detrimental. Get me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Meanwhile, the N-Team has returned most definitely. However, the Brain-Team shall emerge in victory, and we shall control all creation, because Luna's plan is fool-proof!! This meeting is adjourned."