Fafner's Cave (Neidhöhle), Rhineland, Hyrule, X-iverse.  Stardate 1 066 947.95; June 11, 3012.

Later, at dawn, Mime and Siegfried neared the cave from the southwest.  Siegfried now had Nothung in a rope belt.  When they got there, Mime said, "We've reached the spot.  You can stay here!"

            "Is it here that I shall learn fear?" Siegfried asked, lying down under the linden tree directly in front of the cave, directly to its west.  "You have led me far.  We have travelled through the woods for a whole night.  Now, Mime, leave me!  If I do not learn here what I must learn, then I'll go on alone.  At last, I shall be free of you!"

            "Believe me, dear boy, if you don't learn fear here today, you will scarcely find it elsewhere at another time.  Do you see that dark cavern mouth there?  Within dwells the dreadful, savage dragon.  He is enormously fierce and huge.  His hideous maw gapes open.  The brute may swallow you whole, hair and hide, in one gulp."

            "I think it wise to close his gullet.  Then, I won't be bitten."

            "Poisonous saliva pours from his mouth.  If it spatters you, your flesh and bones will waste away."

            "So that it won't harm me, I'll keep to the dragon's side."

            "He twists a serpent's tail around himself.  If he wraps it around you and grips you tightly, your bones will shatter like glass."

            "I'll keep my eyes on the brute to avoid his tail.  But tell me, does the dragon have a heart?"

            "A ferocious, cruel heart!"

            "Does it sit in him where it beats in everyone, man or beast?"

            "Certainly, boy, the dragon's lies there, too.  Now is fear coming to you?"

            Siegfried jumped up.  "I'll thrust Nothung into his heart!  Is this what's called fear?  Hey, you ancient fool, is this all your so-called cunning can teach me?  Then go on your way!  I won't learn fear here!"

            "Wait awhile.  You deem what I say to mean little, but you must see and hear the dragon yourself, and then your senses will reel!  When your sight blurs, the earth sways under you, and your heart quakes with fear in your chest, then you'll thank me for bringing you and remember how Mime loves you."

            "How many times do I have to tell you you're not to love me?" demanded Siegfried.  "Out of my sight!  Leave me alone, or I'll not stay here any longer if you start babbling about love once more!  That nauseating nodding and that blinking of your eyes, when shall I see them no more, when shall I be free of you, dolt?"

            "I'll leave you now.  I'll lie down by the spring over there, Siegfried.  You simply stay here.  When the sun is higher, look out for the dragon.  It will crawl out of its cave, then turn by here to go drink at the spring."

            Siegfried smiled deviously.  "Mime, if you wait at the spring, I'll let the dragon go there.  I could thrust Nothung into his guts after he's gulped you down, so I advise you not to rest by the spring!  Now, take yourself as far away as you can and never come near me again!"

            "After the ferocious fight, you would certainly not forbid me to bring you some refreshment?  And call me if you need advice or if fear grips you."

            "Be off!"  With a violent gesture, he shooed Mime off.  Mime went in the direction of the spring, towards the southwest.

            "Fafner and Siegfried, Siegfried and Fafner," Mime said to himself.  "Oh, may they destroy each other!"

            Siegfried stretched comfortably on the ground beneath the linden tree again and watched Mime leave.  "Oh, how glad I am that he's not my father!  Now, at last, I can enjoy the cool woods.  Finally, cheerful daylight smiles on me, now that the disgusting dwarf has left me, and I don't ever have to see him again!"

            Hiding up in a tree a few metres south of Siegfried's linden tree were Ludwig and Larry in the form of woodbirds.  Speaking bird-talk, Larry said, "There's the bellicose young man, Ludwig!"

            "Ooh, excellent," said Ludwig.  "We shall witness today the death of Fafner and of Mime."  He turned.  "And I see young Johanna and Johannes approaching and keeping their distance just a bit to the southwest of the cave.  Johanna has the Sword of Omens, all repaired.  It matters little to me.  Once I have that Ring, you, MotherBrain, and I shall be invincible!"

            "Yes.  Once Luna's plot comes to fulfilment, the N-Team will be unable to stop us!"

            Another bird came to them.  "I, Mumm-ra, am here, Ludwig," the bird chirped.

            "Good," Ludwig said.  He used his left wing to point to Johanna and Johannes.  "There are the junior Wilytwins, with the repaired Sword of Omens."  He then pointed with his right wing to Siegfried.  "There is young Siegfried, awaiting Fafner so he can learn fear.  Vain attempt."

            "I see," Mumm-ra said.  "Why not simply turn into delightful mites, hop into Fafner's cave, and warp the Ring away, leaving a cheap imitation behind?"

            "I wish not to disrupt the story, Mumm-ra.  I've thought about what you suggested, but it wouldn't be as satisfying.  Just think!  You'll surprise the heck out of Johanna and Johannes when you show yourself after snatching the Ring!"

            "Hee, hee!  Very well, Ludwig.  That's quite an idea.  Has Alberich sparred with Wotan yet?"

            "Right on schedule," Larry said.  "The dwarf is hiding under that ledge to the north of the cave.  Mime has gone to the southwest in the direction of the spring."

            "I was watching the world last night with my cauldron when the Eye of Thundera streaked across the sky," said Mumm-ra.  "Johanna made it.  I then directed the cauldron to show Wilykit and Wilykat.  They, Captain N, and the Game Master's twin twits are heading this way from the west."

            "Thank you, Mumm-ra," said Ludwig.

            "I estimate that they will arrive when Siegfried has left with that little birdie."

            "Very well.  Just to be safe, maybe we ought to stall them.  Larry, I'm going with Mumm-ra.  You remain and watch Siegfried."

            "Yes, Ludwig," said Larry.  "I'll watch the wolf's cub for you, and also the cat's kittens."  Ludwig and Mumm-ra flew off to the west.  Siegfried could be termed the wolf's cub because Volsa, Siegmund's father, had taken the pseudonym "Wolf."

            Siegfried lay comfortably under the tree for a while.  He asked himself, "What did my father look like?  Ha, like me, of course!  For if Mime had a son, wouldn't he look just like the dwarf?  Just as ugly, grizzled and grey, stunted and misshapen, hunchbacked and hobbling, with drooping ears and bleary eyes.  Off with the dwarf!  I don't wish to see him ever again!"  He lay back and thought some more.  He smiled as he saw two birds leaving a tree for another are of the woods.  He knew not that these were enemies in disguise.

            "But what did my mother look like?  I cannot imagine that at all.  Certainly, her eyes shone like the doe's, but far more lovely, maybe like dear Johanna's!  When she bore me in sorrow, why though did she die there?  Do all human mothers die of their sons?  That would be sad, indeed.  Oh, if I, her son, could only see my mother, a human mother!"

            As he rested, he heard a particular bird singing, and he found its song very lovely.  "You pretty little bird!  I've never heard you before.  Are you native to this area of the woods?  If only I understood its sweet speech, it might be telling me something, perhaps of my belovèd mother.  A rotten dwarf told me once that one could come to completely understand bird-speech.  How might that be possible?  Ha, I'll try to imitate it, singing its song on a pipe!  If I miss its words but attend to its tune, I'll be singing its language and surely understand what it's saying!"

            He jumped up and ran to the nearby spring.  There, he cut a reed with his sword and cut holes in it to form it into a pipe.  At the spring, Mime asked, "What are you doing?"

            "I'll learn bird-talk and learn about my mother!" said Siegfried, elated.  He quickly returned to the tree where he had been resting.

            Mime shook his head.  "How can the fool imitate bird-talk on that thing?"

            Siegfried watched the bird as it sang its song.  The bird then stopped.  "He stops singing and listens.  So, I'll begin!"  He blew his pipe, making an oboe-like sound.  Something sounded wrong, so he cut new holes in the reed and trimmed it.  He again blew.  He shook his head and trimmed the reed again.  He tried once more.  Beginning to lose patience, he squeezed the reed with his hand and tried a final time.  Smiling, he gave up.

            "That doesn't sound right.  The sweet song doesn't go on my pipe.  Little bird, I think I'm stupid.  It's not easy to learn from you!  Now, I'm quite ashamed before that little rascal listening there.  It looks at me and hears nothing.  Hey, there!  Now, listen to my horn!"  He tossed the reed away and took his silver horn, pitched in F like an ordinary French horn (though he did not know that).  "On that silly reed, I could do nothing.  You shall now hear a cheerful woodland tune that I can play.  With it, I called for a good comrade.  Nothing better than wolf and bear has come to me.  Now, let me see what it will bring to me.  Perhaps it will attract a dear companion!"  His song began with an energetic, staccato tune in the major mode with long, sustained notes at the end of phrases.  Then came a slow, lovely tune in the relative minor, ironically the one Wagner had written to signify Siegfried in the Ring cycle.  His theme finally disappeared and gave way to the first that he had played.  It began quietly and grew louder and faster, very boisterous on his horn.

            There was movement at the cave.  Fafner, still in dragon form, rose from his lair in the cave.  He came through the undergrowth and heaved himself abruptly up onto the higher ground, so that his front legs were firmly planted on it as he emitted a loud yawn.  Siegfried stopped playing, turned around, and stared at Fafner in astonishment.

            "Ha, ha!  So, my song has roused something lovely!  You'd make a pretty companion for me!"

            "What is that there?" asked Fafner.

            "Well!  If you're a beast that can speak like me, perhaps I can learn something from you!  I am someone who does not know fear.  Can you teach it to me?"

            "Is this bravado?"

            "How do I know whether it's bravery or bravado?  But I'll cut you to shreds if you don't teach fear to me!"

            "Ah!  I was going to have a drink.  Now, I also have lunch!  Ha, ha!"  He opened his mouth and approached the young hero.

            "You show me a nice mouth, teeth laughing in a dainty muzzle!  But it would be good to close your gullet.  Your jaws gape too wide!"

            "They are not suited to idle chatter, but my throat is well made to gulp you down."

            "Ho, ho!  You grim, gruesome knave!  I have no desire to tour your digestive tract, but it seems right and proper that you should die without delay."

            "Bah!  Come on, bragging boy!"

            "Beware, growler!  The braggart comes!"  He drew his sword, took a run at Fafner, and stood challenging him.  Fafner heaved himself up higher and spewed venom from his nostrils.  Siegfried leapt out of the way to avoid the venom, then moved in closer, keeping to one side.  Fafner tried to reach him with his tail.  Siegfried, now very close to Fafner, jumped over the lashing tail and wounded Fafner there.  Fafner bellowed in pain, quickly withdrew his tail and raised his front legs in order to drop on Siegfried with his full weight.  In doing so, he offered his breast to his opponent.  Siegfried saw the spot where the dragon's heart beat and thrust his sword in up to the hilt.  Bellowing, Fafner reared up even higher in pain, and, as Siegfried let go of his sword and jumped aside, the dragon fell forward over his wound.  Siegfried said, "Lie there, murderous beast!  Nothung lies through your heart."

            "Who are you, bold boy, that have pierced my heart?" Fafner asked.  "Who kindled your fearless, childish courage to this deadly deed?  Your brain did not conceive what you have carried out."

            "There is much that I still don't know, not even who I am.  You yourself goaded me to engage you in mortal combat."

            "You bright-eyed boy, you who do not know yourself, I will tell you whom you have killed.  Of the towering race of giants, the leaders Fasolt and Fafner, the brothers, are now dead.  For the accursèd gold gained from the gods, I dealt death to my brother Fasolt.  He who defended the hoard as a dragon, Fafner, last of the giants, has fallen to a fresh-faced hero.  Keep a sharp watch, jubilant boy.  He who prompted you in your blindness to this deed is now, after your triumph, plotting your death.  Mark well how it will end!  Heed my words!"

            "Then tell me where I came from.  In your death, dragon, you seem wise.  You will know from my name:  I am called Siegfried."

            "Siegfried!" exclaimed Fafner the moment before death took him.  As he died, he turned on his side and exposed Nothung's hilt.

            "The dead can tell no tales.  So, protect me, my living sword!"  He pulled his sword from the body, but as he did so, blood spattered from the body onto his hand.  "Ow!  The blood burns as if it were fire!"  Involuntarily, he put his fingers in his mouth to lick the blood from them.  As he stood still in thought, his attention was drawn increasingly to the song of the bird whom he had heard before.  "It almost seems as if the birds were speaking to me!  Did the taste of blood affect me?  That strange bird there. . . hark!  What is it singing?"

            The woodbird sang, "Hey!  Siegfried now owns the Nibelung treasure!  Now, he'll find the hoard in Fafner's cave!  If he wants to take the Tarnhelm, it will help him perform wonderful deeds.  But, if he gets the Ring, it would make him ruler of the world!"

            "Thanks, dear bird, for your counsel!  I'll gladly heed your advice."  He entered the cave.

            Larry watched from his high perch.  "Ha, ha!  That stupid bird has told him to get the Tarnhelm and the Ring.  Time to call my big bro!"

            * * *

            The Wilytwins, Kevin, Thomas, and Kelly were resting to eat.  "Good breakfast, as usual, Wilykat," said Thomas.

            "Yeah," Kelly said.  "Your tricorder replicates very well."

            "It takes intricate programming to get the best cross between absolutely perfect and partly imperfect," Wilykat said.  "That cross is called 'just right.'  Well now, I guess we'd best get moving."

            "Agreed," Wilykit said.  Wilykat took his tricorder and reduced the replicated plates and replicated utensils they had used to useful molecular oxygen.  "Luckily, you can only reduce replicated items.  Oh, no.  I feel the approaching presence of a certain turtle and a certain mummy."

            "Ludwig and Mumm-ra?" asked Kevin.

            "Yes, Kevin."  Two birds entered the area, and when they had come within a metre of the group, they turned into Ludwig and Mumm-ra.  "I detect an evil presence," said Wilykit in the centre of her alto register to sound like a fortune teller.

            "Ha, ha!" laughed Ludwig.  "I tell you, Wilykit, you ought to be a comedian!"

            "You came from the direction of Fafner's cave," said Wilykat.  "What have you done there?"

            "Spying, and only spying.  After all, why upset a perfect plot?"

            "When you could have that Ring already?" Wilykit asked tauntingly back in her high soprano voice, her arms crossed.  "With my powerful Thunderian voice in a far-reaching heldentenor register just as powerful as my brother's, I could call the Sword of Omens here and smash in your skull, but your skull would probably be too hard for a Thunderian super-diamond to cut."

            "I thought you only ever said that about your brother."

            "Shut up," Wilykat said.  "You're obviously stalling us."

            "Yes, aren't we?" Mumm-ra asked.

            "I thought you were substituting as Ganon, Mumm-ra," Kevin said.  "Why are you showing your true self outside your pyramid on this world?"

            "To show that I don't intend to insult your gargantuan intelligence."

            "How thoughtful," said Wilykit sarcastically.  "What were you doing as birds?  Isn't the sweet, lovely form demeaning to you ugly creeps?"

            "I see that being Lord of the Thunder Cats has not dulled your sharp tongue," Ludwig countered.  "I bet you and Wilykat could argue all day now just as well as you did a thousand years ago."

            "Very amusing," Wilykat said.  "You have yet to provide an appropriate response to her query."

            "You use language well, Thunder Kitten," Mumm-ra said.  "It satisfies me to know that your brain isn't a small world after all!  You know the Disney song."

            "Either tell us something we wish to hear,. . ." began Wilykit.

            ". . .or beat it!" Wilykat and Wilykit finished together.

            "To answer your question," Ludwig said, "if we were in the form of birds, none would suspect us.  It's the perfect form in which to spy on people in this part of the wood.  Now. . ."  Ludwig's communicator chirped. . . and chirping came from it!  "Please excuse Larry!"  He hit his communicator, and words began coming through.

            ". . .repeat, please respond, Ludwig," Larry said.

            "Ludwig here," replied Ludwig.  "What has happened, my brother?"

            "Siegfried has now killed Fafner.  He entered the cave after that silly little bird had commented about the Tarnhelm and the Ring."

            "All right!  Things are definitely moving along."

            "Ooh!  And Mime is coming out to the cave to see what's going on!  Alberich is running out to him!"

            "Good.  Thanks for the report, Larry."

            "Certainly.  Larry out."  The communicator chirped again.

            "Is your disgusting brother now a featherbrain, too?" asked Wilykat slyly.

            "No more than you!" said Ludwig tauntingly.

            "Do not insult my brother!" Wilykit warned loudly.

            "Be calm, Thunder Twitten."

            Evenly, Thomas said, "I now see why my father and the Wilytwins dislike you so much, Ludwig.  You fight with rotten vocal artillery."

            "I see your good father has taught you well, Tommy."

            "Call me Thomas, please," Kevin's son replied calmly. . . but with an ever slight tone of warning.  "Everyone always referred to me like that, and no nicknames refer to me."

            Hm.  I must be wary of this one, Ludwig thought to himself.  He may turn out to be trouble.  "How Vulcanly logical your attitude seems, Thomas Keene.  Now, what if I told you we'd done something. . . something terrible with dear Lana?"

            "What?" snapped Kelly.  "Why, you little. . ."

            "Kelly," Thomas said firmly but logically, "losing your temper will achieve little, especially when he implies something that is false."

            "Hm.  You have good insight, Your Highness," Ludwig said, and actually bowed.  Now I know he will be trouble.  "It is true that we have harmed no part of Lana, nor of Wesley, for that matter.  Well, since you five so wish to get to Neidhöhle and see the younger Wilybrats, Mumm-ra and I shall lead you."  He snapped his fingers, and he and Mumm-ra became birds.  They flew slowly towards Neidhöhle as the five good guys followed at a steady pace.

            * * *

            Johanna and Johannes watched events from hiding.  "Well," said Johanna, "the plot has progressed as it should."

            "Yes, sister," Johannes said.  "Siegfried is in the cave, looking for the Tarnhelm and the Ring.  Hm.  What does our mother look like?"

            "Ha!  Like me, of course!" said Johanna with a smile.  "Now, let's pay attention."

            "But our father?  He wasn't Thunderian."

            "We'll ask him when we see him," Johanna said with perfect ironic sarcasm in her voice.  "Now, let's watch.  Ah!  Mime's running out to the cave.  Alberich is running out to him from his hiding place under the ledge."

            This was indeed happening.  Mime looked about timidly, making sure Fafner was truly dead.  Alberich emerged from his hiding place and barred Mime's path to the cave.  Alberich demanded, "Where are you slinking so slyly in such haste, you rascally rogue?"

            "Accursèd brother!  I don't need you here!" Mime snapped.  "What brings you here?"

            "Villain, are you greedy for my gold?  Are you after my property?"

            "Get away from here!  The spot is mine.  What are you searching for here?"

            "Perhaps I disturb you in your sly work if you're here to steal!"

            "What I have achieved by arduous effort shall not elude me now!"

            "Oh, was it you who robbed the Rhine of gold for the Ring?  Was it you who cast the spell that clings to the Ring?"

            "Who made the Tarnhelm, which can change one's shape and transport one elsewhere?  Though you needed it, did you devise it?"

            "What have you ever known, bungler, about the black art?  The magic Ring put you and your skill at my service."

            "And where have you the Ring now?  Wotan took it from you and used it as alternate payment to the giants for his hall, instead of giving them Freia!  What you lost my guile will gain me."

            "Would the miser now cling to what the boy has won?  It doesn't belong to you, fool.  The lad himself is its lord!"

            "I brought him up!  He can pay me now for rearing him.  I've waited long for the wages of my pains and efforts."

            "For rearing the boy, does the stingy, shabby slave now coolly and brazenly claim to be made king?  The Ring should more rightly go to the mangiest dog than to you; never shall you gain the mighty ring, you fool!"

            "Keep it, then, and guard the gleaming Ring well!  Be the master, but also call me your brother!  I'll trade it to you for the delightful toy of my Tarnhelm.  We'd both be satisfied if we thus shared the spoils."

            "Share with you?  And the Tarnhelm, at that!  Ha!  How sly you think you are!  I'd never sleep safe from your snares.  You'd just invisibly take my Ring away from me!"

            "Not even exchange, nor even share?  Must I go empty-handed, quite unrewarded?  Will you leave me nothing at all?"  The last words came incredibly high in his high tenor voice.

            "Nothing at all!  You won't even take a nail!"

            "Then you'll have neither Ring nor Tarnhelm!  I shan't share with you!  I'll call Siegfried against you with his strong sword!  The headstrong boy, dear brother, will humble you!"

            "Turn around!  He's heading this way from the cave!"

            Turning around and standing to his brother's right, Mime said, "He surely chose childish toys."

            "He's holding the Tarnhelm!" shouted Alberich, quite unhappily.

            "And the Ring, too!" said Mime, delighted.

            "Oh, curses!  Not the Ring!"

            "Get him to give you the Ring, then!  I'll soon win it for myself."  He withdrew southward and hid.

            "And yet," said Alberich quietly, "it shall belong at last only to its master."  He, too, withdrew, but back to the ledge to the north.

            Siegfried slowly came to the tree under which he had rested earlier.  He looked thoughtfully at his spoils, the Ring and the Tarnhelm.  "I know not what use you are to me, but I took you from the pile of gold because good advice guided me.  So, let your beauty serve as witness to today.  The trinkets will be a reminder that I vanquished Fafner in fight, though I still haven't learned fear!"

            He heard the same bird say now, "Hey!  The helmet and the Ring now belong to Siegfried!  Oh, he must not trust the treacherous Mime!  Let Siegfried listen alertly to the villain's lying words.  He can now understand what Mime is thinking in his heart.  This is how the taste of blood has affected him."  Siegfried's stance and gestures showed that he had clearly understood the bird.  Mime came from hiding and began approaching.  Siegfried stayed where he was, leaning on his sword, watchful and withdrawn.

            Mime said to himself, "He is thinking, trying to find the value of his prize.  Perhaps a wise Wanderer tarried here, roamed around and spoke crafty talk and tales to the boy.  Doubly scheming now I the dwarf must be.  I'll set the subtlest snare so as to fool the proud boy with friendly yet fraudulent words."  He approached Siegfried.  "Welcome, Siegfried!  Tell me, valiant one, have you learned fear yet?"

            "I haven't yet found the teacher," replied Siegfried.

            "Oh.  But the dreadful dragon, you've killed it, right?  I mean, wasn't it a fearful fellow?"

            "Though indeed it was grim and spiteful, I felt no fear of it, and its death grieves me sorely, especially since more evil villains go unpunished!  More than the dragon, I hate the one who bade me kill it!"

            Siegfried heard Mime say, "Now gently!  You'll not see me for much longer.  I'll soon close your eyes in eternal sleep!  You have done what I desired of you.  Now, all I need is to steal the spoils from you.  I think I can succeed in that, since you're very easy to deceive."  This, however, was not what actually escaped the villain's mouth.  Mime actually spoke lies.

            This angered Siegfried.  "So you plan to harm me?"

            "What, did I say that?  Siegfried!  Hear me, my darling son!  I have always hated you and your kind in my heart.  You nuisance, I didn't rear you from love, as the treasure in Fafner's cave is what I toiled for, and if you don't give it up to me gladly, Siegfried, my son, you can see for yourself that you must pay me with your life!"

            "I rejoice in hearing that you hate me!  But must I pay with my life, too?"

            "That's not what I said!  You mistake my words!  See, you are tired from your great efforts.  Your body must be burning.  I do not delay to try to refresh you with a restoring draught.  As you and Johanna were fixing your swords, I was brewing this broth.  Drink it now, and I shall win your trusty sword and with it the helmet and treasure!"

            "So, you would steal my sword and what it earned me, the Ring and the booty?"

            "Why must you mistake me?  Do I stammer or stumble over my words?  I take the utmost trouble hypocritically to hide my inmost thoughts and you, stupid scamp, misunderstand me.  Open your ears and listen closely; hear what Mime means!  Here, take and drink this draught.  My drinks often refreshed you.  When you were in morose mood and seemed surly, you always took whatever I brought you, however testily."

            "Actually, I'll gladly take a good drink.  How has this been made?"

            "Hey!  Just drink it, trust to my skill!  Your senses will soon sink in murk and mist.  Unwaking, unwitting, your limbs will soon be stretched out.  As you lie there, I could easily take and hide the booty, but if you ever woke up, I would be safe from you nowhere, even if I had the Ring.  So, with the sword that you made so sharp, I'll just hack of your head.  Then, I shall have peace and the Ring, too!  Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee!"

            "You wish to slay me in my sleep?" demanded Siegfried.

            "I want what?  Is that what I said?"  Mime took his drinking-horn and poured the poisoned drink into it.  "I only want to hack off the boy's head!  For, even if I didn't hate you so much and hadn't so much to avenge from your jibes and the shame of my labour, I still would not delay to dispatch you from my path!  How else could I seize the spoils since my brother, Alberich, is also after it?  Now, my Volsung, you Wolf's son," Siegfried heard Mime say as Mime offered the horn to Siegfried, "drink and choke yourself to death.  You'll never taste another drop!  Hee, hee, hee, hee!"

            Suddenly violently disgusted, Siegfried shouted, "Taste my sword, loathsome babbler!" and most forcibly hit Mime in the head with a broad side of Nothung's blade.  Instantly, the dwarf fell to the ground dead.

            From under the cliff ledge to the right of the cave, the north of the cave, came Alberich's mocking laughter.  "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

            "Nothung has settled envy's wages.  That is why I needed to forge it."  He took Mime and put him in the cave.  "Lie here in the cavern on the treasure!  You pursued it with plotting and perseverance, so now, be lord of its lustre.  I will even give you a good guardian.  Lie there, too, grisly dragon!  Guard the glittering treasure, together with your booty-envying enemy.  May you both find rest now!"  With great effort, he hauled the dragon's body in front of the cave-mouth until access to the cave was blocked completely.  "I'm hot from the heavy task.  A fire races through my raging blood, and my hand on my head burns.  The sun stands high.  From the blue heaven its eye gazes steeply down onto my head.  I'll seek cool shade under the linden tree."  He went back to the linden tree and lay under it again, resting his weary body from his busy morning.

            Johanna and Johannes came over to him.  "Ah, Siegfried," Johanna said.  "Finally, that dirty dwarf is dead."

            "Yes, the despisèd one," Siegfried said.

            "You sure look tired, pal," said Johannes.  "How about a drink that won't harm you?"

            "Don't worry, you can trust us," Johanna said.  "We intend harm only to evil itself."

            "No, but thanks.  Who are you two, or do you know?" asked Siegfried.

            "We know who we are, Siegfried.  We are Wily-johanna and Wily-johannes, daughter and son of Wilykit and Wesley Crusher.  Wilykit, our mother, is the ruler of our native land and the hereditary Lord of the Thunder Cats, who fight to keep good people from being harmed.  She left us with Mime so we could watch over you."

            "Unlike the dwarf, then, you wish me no harm."

            "That's true.  How did you know what Mime was thinking?  He spoke very deceptive lies. . . telling you how wonderful the drink would make you feel."

            "The dragon's fiery blood let me hear his true, evil intentions over the lies he was telling.  I am glad that your concern is truthful.  You two are, indeed, far better-looking than that disgusting dwarf."

            "Thank you, Siegfried, and so are you.  Now, call your friend, the little bird."

            "Certainly.  Will you be my friends?"

            "Yes, Siegfried.  But there will come a day, I fear, when we must leave you, and thus you need another companion, one who will never leave you."

            Siegfried got up and looked up in the tree where the woodbird was.  "Once more, dear little bird, since for so long we rudely disturbed you, I'd like to listen to your song.  On the branch I see you blissfully swaying.  Twittering and bustling, your brothers and sisters surround you with gaiety and love.  But I am practically alone; I lack brothers and sisters.  My mother is dead, my father slain, and their son never saw them!  One of my three sole companions was a detestable dwarf.  His kindness never kindled into love, stealthily he set sly snares for me, and at last I was forced to kill him!  My other two will have to leave me, though them I love like a brother and a sister.  Friendly bird, I ask you now, will you grant me a good companion?  Will you give good advice?  So often I have sought, but never succeeded.  You, my dear, will surely do better, since you've advised me so well already.  Now sing!  I'm listening to your song."

            The bird sang, "Hail!  Siegfried now has slain the wicked dwarf!  Now, I know a wonderful wife for him.  She is sleeping on a rocky height, with fire surrounding the spot.  He who can first break through the blaze and wake the bride, Brünnhilde would be his!"

            "Oh, lovely song!" cried Siegfried.  "Sweetest lay!  How its message burns my breast like fire!  How fiercely it inflames and pulls at my heart!  What shoots so swiftly through my heart and senses?"

            "Gaily in grief I sing of love, and blissfully from woe I weave my lay.  Only lovers know its meaning!"

            "It drives me forth from here, rejoicing, out of the forest to the mountain.  Once more, tell me, lovely singer:  shall I break through the fire?  Can I wake up the bride?"

            "A coward can never win the bride, nor awaken Brünnhilde.  Only one who knows no fear can approach her!"

            "Ah!  The stupid boy who knows no fear, my little bird, that is I!  This very day, I vainly strove to learn fear from Fafner.  Now, I burn with longing to learn it from Brünnhilde!  How can I find the way to the mountain?"  The bird alighted from its branch and flew around.  "The way will be shown to me, then.  Wherever you fly, I'll follow closely!"  He ran to and fro for a while as the bird darted about in different directions to tease him, but as it turned and flew southward to the mountain at last, he followed it and ran off.

            "Should we follow him, Johanna?" Johannes asked.

            "No.  I think we ought to wait just a bit longer for Mom to find us."  She drew the Sword.  "Maybe I ought to make that bright light and that loud roar again."

            "Possibl-. . . wait!  A bit away, in the west, I see movement this way, sister!"

            "Ah!  That could be she."  She put the Sword back, then sat under the tree.  "Come, brother.  Let's wait."

            "Sure."  He sat down next to her.  "Do you think Siegfried's actions were justified?"

            "Well, I really don't know.  Our laws forbid murder except in certain circumstances.  Maybe he was justified because he knew of Mime's foul intentions."  Two birds zipped by in front of them.  "Hey!  Those two silly birds should watch where they're flying."  The Sword of Omens growled.  "What are you trying to tell me, Sword?"

            "Please let me look!" begged Johannes.

            "Sure, Johannes."  She handed him the sword, whose hilt he put to his eyes.

            "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight."  The hilt-apertures formed, and the Eye showed the two birds that had flown in front of him and Johanna.  "It's those two birds.  Wait.  They've. . . they've just changed form!  A humanoid turtle and a mummy?"

            "Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa and Mumm-ra!" Johanna gasped.

            "Gee, yeah!"  The view in the Eye shifted to the tree directly south of them and up to another bird.  It became Larry.  "It's showing another tree.  Another bird there is actually another humanoid turtle.  It's Larry (Bowser)Koopa, I'd wager."  He took the Sword from his eyes and pointed to the tree branch.  The bird fluttered away.  "Oh, drat!  He just split."

            "Oh, shoot."

            The three birds returned, sat on the ground, and turned back to their true selves. . . Ludwig, Larry, and Mumm-ra.  "You two little scoundrels seem quite astute," Ludwig said.  "Your mother is heading hither."

            "Prince Ludwig 'Kooky' von(Bowser)Koopa!" snapped Johanna, snatching the Sword from Johannes and springing up.  She pointed the tip threateningly at Ludwig.  "You made a terrible mistake showing your face here!  How dare you subject Siegfried and us to that foul dwarf!"

            "I subjected that boy to nothing, Johanna Wily vân Crusher," Ludwig said.  "You are the only ones I affected.  Johanna, your mother would not approve of this display of lack of temper.  We are only here to watch."

            Reluctantly, Johanna sheathed the Sword.  "Then spy elsewhere, Koopaling brat," she snapped.  "Siegfried is no longer here."

            "Ah, yes.  You certainly have your mother's fire, Johanna.  You need only learn to count, blockhead, and you'll be just like her!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            "I'm no blockhead!"

            "Ludwig!" called Wilykit's voice.  She and Wilykat entered the area.  "Beat it, you three creeps."

            "Is this any way to thank us for leading you to your children, Wilykit?" Mumm-ra asked, pretending to be shocked.

            "We were on the right track already, Mumm-ra," Wilykat said.

            "Oh, the ingratitude!"

            "Shut up!" snapped Johanna.  "You're sounding like that ugly dwarf!  You're not even as frightful a sight as he is, mummy."

            "Gee," said Larry, "you're pretty when you're mad!  Hee, hee!"

            "Don't look at my daughter like that, you vulgar turtle," Wilykit said.

            "You're no fun, Thunder Cat."  He smiled even more licentiously at her.  "Especially since I'd rather do it with you, anyway!"

            "Oh, go back to Metroid and leave Siegfried be!" said Wilykat.

            "We intend not to harm him directly, Wilykat," Ludwig said.  "It is Hagen who will plot against him next.  We really must be off if Larry and I are to intersect Wotan before he reaches Erda's cave, and Mumm-ra has other tasks.  See you later, Thunder Cats!"  He snapped his fingers, and he, Larry, and Mumm-ra disappeared.

            "Oh, Mother!" exclaimed Johanna and Johannes, hugging Wilykit simultaneously.

            "Easy!" said Wilykit, smiling.  She hugged them.  "Oh, my dear children, I've missed you."

            "So've I," said Wilykat.  "Remember your uncle?"

            Wilykit released her children, who next jumped onto Wilykat as they had her.  "How could we forget you?" Johannes asked.  "Our dear Uncle Wilykat!"  Smiling, Wilykat returned the hug.

            "Oh, guys!" said Wilykat.  "You're definitely still like all other Thunderians.  We love our mothers' twin brothers almost as much as our mothers."

            Johanna and Johannes released him, and he them.  "What about our father?" Johanna asked.

            "He's still in MotherBrain's foul clutches," said Wilykit.

            "I see.  What does he look like?"

            Wilykit smiled.  "Just think of the handsomest human boy you ever saw and multiply his good looks by a billion.  That's what I think of my husband's looks."

            "The only human boy we've ever seen is Siegfried," Johannes said.

            "You look more like my belovèd brother now than my husband, Johannes," said Wilykit.  "Yet, I see in your hair a slight shade of that beautiful blond hair, in your skin a mild shade of Wesley's pale skin.  May I see the ears of both of you?"  Johanna and Johannes showed her their pointed ears.  "Once they were rounded like human ears.  Now, they're completely pointed, like Thunderian ears."

            "Our Thunderian traits must be dominant over our human traits."

            "Yes, but not supremely.  For instance, you have very humanly blue eyes."

            "Hey, Wilykit!" called Kevin.  "Can we come?"

            "Oh.  Sure, Kevin!  You guys come along!"

            "Captain N?" Johanna asked, seeing them.  "Is that Captain N, also known as Kevin?"

            "That's right."

            "But. . . who are those two with him?" asked Johannes.

            Kevin, Thomas, and Kelly approached the two pairs of Wilytwins.  "Hello, Johanna and Johannes," said Kevin.  "Remember me?"

            "Sure, Kevin!" said Johannes, shaking hands with Kevin.

            "Certainly," said Johanna, doing the same.

            "Gosh, you were so small when we saw you last.  These are my nearly grown children, Kelly and Thomas."

            "Well!" Johannes said.  "I thought so but wasn't completely sure, though you both bear quite a resemblance to your father.  I'm glad to meet you."

            "Nice to meet you, Johannes," said Thomas, shaking hands firmly with Johannes.  Kelly did the same.

            "Last I saw you two," said Johanna, "you were smaller than I was."  She shook hands with Thomas.  Her eyes lingered in his for a bit.  "Oh, God.  Something's coming over me."

            "Me, too," said Thomas.  "You're quite beautiful, Johanna."

            "Why, thank you.  What is this overpowering feeling running through me?  My. . . my heart feels like it's racing!"

            "My dear," Wilykit said, "you are feeling exactly what I felt when I first saw your father.  It's called love, and it's why I eventually married him."

            "Really?  And. . . Thomas, you feel this feeling?"

            He smiled.  "I certainly do, Johanna."

            Johannes said, "All I feel when I look at Kelly is something of a strong sense of friendship.  Only warm feelings, but not burning love."

            "That's perfectly all right, Johannes," Kelly said.  "I feel the same way.  We need not be attracted just because our siblings are."

            "That's quite true," said Wilykit.  "Johanna and Johannes, you two must continue to watch Siegfried."

            Johanna and Johannes turned to their mother.  "All right, Mom," Johanna said.

            "Some things will happen that you may not like, but you are not to disrupt them unless they are directly instigated by our foes," Wilykit said.  "You will witness first that Siegfried shatters Wotan's spear.  Then, you should accompany Siegfried through the fire and watch as he awakens Brünnhilde.  Once their exchange has finished, you should agree to be their friends, then come back down the mountain, where we will be waiting.  We'll take you to our home on this planet, where for the first time you will sleep comfortably."

            "At last!" said Johannes.

            "And food?" Johanna asked.

            "Your uncle has worked miracles with that tricorder's replicator," Wilykit said.  "His expert programming has given us good food.  Few replicators can satisfy our sense of taste like his."

            "Good," Johanna said.  "Anything's got to be better than Mime's disgusting slop, anyway."

            "I'm sorry I had to leave you guys in his care, or more accurately his lack thereof."

            "That's all right by us," said Johannes.  "At least someone was around to be kind to poor Siegfried."

            "The bird is leading him to Brünnhilde's rock, I presume?"

            "Yes," Johanna said.

            Johannes said, "I did tell Mime before the Wanderer's quiz that only the one who knew no fear would forge the sword, but the Wanderer still told him his head would fall to the one who knew no fear."

            "Of course," Wilykit said.  "It mattered little whether Mime knew that, and something probably told you that.  Siegfried would kill him anyway, just to escape the disgusting dwarf."

            "Not all human mothers die of their sons, do they?" asked Johannes.

            "Happily, they don't," Kevin answered.  "Sieglinde was weak and ill.  But with the lack of medical technology in this time, she would probably have died even if she hadn't borne Siegfried.  It would have just lasted longer, and it would have increased and prolonged her agony."

            "It was very painful to watch her give birth," Johanna said.  "Mime did help her as best as he could.  We saw him and his own brother bickering cruelly!  How can that be?"

            "They both let evil overcome their dark hearts," said Wilykit.  "None of this would have happened if Alberich hadn't stolen the Rhinegold and formed it into the Ring, or if those stupid Rhinemaidens hadn't so cruelly taunted the dwarf.  Alberich has a son, Hagen, who will plot against Siegfried.  As I've said, you mustn't disrupt things.  If you do, then we don't know when Ludwig will take the Ring."

            "Why couldn't you just take it from Fafner, Mom?" asked Johannes.

            "Thunderians do not just take things, Johannes, not even from those to whom the things do not belong.  The things have to belong to us or to friends of ours.  We should interfere as little as possible with the natural course of events."

            "All right, Mom," Johanna said.  "We'll do as you ask.  What if we see Ludwig, Larry, or Mumm-ra around?"

            "Then keep them from polluting the course of events.  I doubt they will, though, until the very end.  When at last Brünnhilde tosses the Ring to the Rhinemaidens, to whom the gold of which the Ring is made rightfully belongs, try to keep the Ring from being snatched up by an evil pig by the name of Ganon."

            "All right."

            "Could we have some lunch, Mom?" Johannes asked.  "I'm hungry."

            "Sure, Johannes.  Li'l bro?"

            Wilykat smiled tersely.  "Please endeavour to recall, my female duplet sibling, that your male duplet sibling lacks any affinity whatsoever for that pseudonym."

            "Certainly, my dear male duplet sibling.  Now, please provide my children with food far better than Mime's slop, brother."

            "Certainly, Wilykit."  He pulled out his tricorder and made two plates of food appear.  Johanna and Johannes picked them up and tasted the contents.

            "Delicious!" exclaimed Johannes in delight.

            "I agree!" Johanna exclaimed.  "Very, very good."

            Wilykat made everyone else a plate of the same.  Wilykit tasted.  "Mm, this is good, 'Kat!  New recipe?"

            "Yep," said Wilykat, eating.  "Not that I mean to brag, but I think I did a superb job with this."

            "Mm, you're right," Kevin said.  "At least Thunderian ideas of good food correspond largely with human ideas thereof.  VideoLand inhabitants can be particularly persnickety.  With this kind of food," he joked, "I could almost leave video games for a while to eat!"

            Wilykit smiled.  "That's quite a compliment for you, Wilykat.  You know how much this guy loves video games."

            "He may get uncharacteristically frustrated with the one I have in my head," Wilykat said.  "A puzzle game of epic proportions."

            "I love puzzle games," Kevin said.

            "It also requires cunning.  You are pretty cunning, Kevin, but I'm talking major-league here.  If I had half as much cunning while Lion-O was taking his Anointment Trials as I do now, he'd not have succeeded in pulling that sly trick on us."

            "In the cartoon show, it was almost funny, seeing you two pulled back by that rope he had strung around that tree and either end of which he tied to you two," Kevin said.

            "Ha, ha!" laughed Wilykit.  "We found it most funny when we watched it!  We ignorantly let him trick us!"

            "Yeah," said Wilykat.  "The joke was on us.  This reminds me that our most recent lord has yet to undergo her Anointment Trials."

            "Don't worry, kid," Wilykit said.  "I'll take them.  I'll pass the trials, and I shall defeat Ludwig single-handedly."

            "Gee, you're pretty confident, Wilykit," said Kevin.  "Sure you're not overconfident?"

            "I am determined, Kevin.  Maybe I am be overconfident, but I will show that I can be Lord of the Thunder Cats."

            "Do you have to take a trial to be a Thunder Cat?" Johanna asked.

            "No, Johanna.  Since you two are offspring of a Thunder Cat - namely me - you only require initiation by a Thunder Cat other than me, because I'm the lord.  You don't need an application, and you have your mother's permission."

            Wilykat smiled.  "I can do that.  It won't take long, I assure you.  I'm not big on really long ceremonies."

            "Oh, golly," said Wilykit.  "Remember that one initiation ceremony Tygra took us to, Wilykat?  I nearly went to sleep!"

            "Yeah," Wilykat said.  "Of course, if we suffered from boredom now even half as much as we used to, we'd probably be in utter agony by now.  The trees here aren't designed for us solid, fairly heavy Thunderians to leap about in their branches."

            "No, they sure aren't.  Well, we won't have to stay here for too much longer.  When the present affair is over, Johanna and Johannes, you will see the splendour of the Q-niverse, as well as its great technological superiority as compared to this world.  Thundera, Hyrule, Mount Icarus, the Palace of Power, Romulus, and many other worlds have remarkable variety of scenery.  This area just has forest.  It is important and beautiful, mind you, but that isn't all there is to see.  England alone has a most impressive variety of scenery, and that's a small yet very important island kingdom on Earth."

            "Who first forged this mighty sword?" asked Johanna, drawing the Sword of Omens and handing it to her mother.

            "It was Jaga, who brought ultimate order to Old Thundera with the Code of Thundera.  When he formed the Thunder Cats group as the upholders of Thunderian law, he forged the Sword of Omens with great heat, and asked God to imbue life into the Eye of Thundera.  The Eye would serve as the source of the Thunder Cats' power.  You did a wonderful job.  As I expected, Johanna, you made the sword stronger than Jaga could have made it because of our race's natural super-strength.  We have strength such that the Sword can't permanently augment it like it can other Thunder Cats, so we don't suffer if the Sword is harmed.  When we are twenty-eight, few forms of Thundrainium affect us, but they affect other Thunderians, including and especially Thunder Cats whose power comes from the Eye of Thundera.  You could move Fafner's body with a very small amount of energy, unlike even the mighty Siegfried.  Any of us four Wilykats could.  Now, of course, as with other Thunder Cats, the Eye can temporarily augment our powers, but not for nearly as long as it would for other Thunder Cats."

            "Why do you suppose Jaga made such a strong sword, Mom?" Johannes asked.

            "A good sword-user is more powerful and accurate at short-range than a good gun-shooter.  Thunderian steel can be broken only with very few solids and with only great energy.  Wilykat, could you scan the blade?"

            "Certainly," said Wilykat.  He moved his tricorder across the sword-blade.  "Golly, that metal is sure fused together, much more strongly than before!  Johanna, you did a great job."

            "Thank you, Uncle," Johanna replied.

            Wilykit said, "For the time being, Johanna, keep the Sword."  She handed the Sword back to her daughter.

            "Thank you, Mom.  If the Eye growls at me and begins flashing, that means trouble, right?"

            "It does, yes.  Often, it means danger."  Just then, the Eye glowed and growled again.  Johanna handed the Sword back to Wilykit.  "There it goes again."  Wilykit put the hilt to her eyes, and the hilt-apertures formed.  "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight."  The Eye showed her the Luna-tacks and the Mutants in conference.  "It's those blasted Plundarrians.  They're conferring."

            In the Plundarrians' conference, S-s-slithe said, "Ha, ha!  S-s-since those silly Thunder Kittens-s-s aren't around to s-s-stop us, maybe we ought to attack Thundera!  Ha, ha!"

            MotherBrain warped into the hall where the Plundarrians were speaking.  "That is an interesting idea, S-s-slithe," she said.

            "Well, good day, MotherBrain," Luna said.

            "Greetings-s-s," said S-s-slithe.  "So, MotherBrain, do you think we ought to carry out my plan?"

            "Oh, now, it's a nasty, rotten thing to do to those nice guys, my dear husband," Luna said.  "I thus believe it to be a great idea!  Ha, ha!"

            "Yes," said MotherBrain.  "Those infernal Silver Hawks may interfere.  Thus, I suggest we meet with Mon*Star to tell him of this.  He and the Mob would jump at an opportunity to keep the Hawks, shall we say, busy."

            "The N-Team Base, the Mario-Team, and the Justice Twerps may attempt to interfere, too," Luna said.  "The Fearsome Ten and your Brain-Team Base could distract them, too."

            "Good thinking, Luna.  And, with such a simultaneous strike, we may only need to deal with the senior and junior Wilytwins, Kevin, Thomas, and Kelly when Ludwig has gotten that Ring!"

            All the villains laughed madly.  The Eye closed.  "Pardon my language, but damn it!" Wilykit exclaimed.  "That blasted S-s-slithe has decided that the Plundarrians should attack Thundera.  In addition, MotherBrain, Luna, and S-s-slithe have plotted to get all the Brain-Team to attack the N-Team.  MotherBrain seems to think that we seven will be the only N-Teamsters to be dealt with after Ludwig has achieved the Ring!"

            "The deluded brain," Wilykat said.  "The N-Team can stop any onslaught by those Brain-Twerps."

            "Hm.  Think for a minute," said Kevin.  "The only N-Team members who have Q-cubed powers are temporarily out of her way, and she is Q-cubed.  They cannot stop her if she doesn't want them to stop her."

            "Darn it," Wilykit said.  "You're right, Kevin.  We'd best get done with this business first.  There's no use letting Ludwig know of this before MotherBrain tells him."  She put the hilt back to her eyes.  "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight.  Show me where the Wanderer is."  The Eye of Thundera showed her the Wanderer, nearly to Erda's cave.  On the mountain path, he was speaking with Ludwig and Larry.  Wilykit took the Sword from her eyes, and it returned to its inert state.  "Wilykat, how long will it take you to initiate Johanna and Johannes?"

            "Oh, just a few minutes," Wilykat answered.

            "Good.  Johanna and Johannes, are you ready?"

            "Sure, Mother," Johannes said.

            "Good.  Please proceed.  I want to warp out to the mountain so you two, Johanna and Johannes, can hear what the Wanderer and Erda are talking about and so you can afterwards meet Siegfried before the Wanderer does."