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Bill and Samantha are taken to another world |
| [Introduction]
Well the promised campfire is here! And the story that won is...Bill and Samantha are taken by the mirror to an Environmentalist's Nightmare of a World without green This an adventure for Bill and Sam, no other characters following them into the mirror, I want this to be like Narnia that when Bill and Sam come back to their world they only find a minute passed in their world and no one even knew they were gone |
| As the Hispaniola was leaving Moltra Matoaka turned to Sahara "Won't you come with us?" The Unicorn asked They talked for a few more moments then Sahara finally agreed to come with the other Humanimals As they sailed home for Earth Donatello looked sadly at the love canon, "Shame we never got to demonstrate it." He said |
| "To be honest, I'm kind of scared of the possibilities about it, especially if it was in the wrong hands," James said, as the wolf came up behind the turtle. "What's so scary about it?" Donatello asked. "It just makes people be good." "That's the scary part," said James. "It makes people be good. I mean, how do you know that you're a good person if you're forced to act a certain way? That doesn't sit well with me. Don't get me wrong, the idea is nice, and I wouldn't mind being put out of the job - I'd get to spend more time with Amy." The wolf looked over at the young cheetah girl he was taking care of. "The problem is if a Well-Intentioned Extremist got a hold of it and made it so that you couldn't even shoplift a candy bar, or something. I mean, there's this movie out there - Demolition Man - where the main Bad Guy flat out says, to the guy that was using him to wipe out those who opposed a Peaceful life, that 'you can't take away people's rights to be assholes!' Makes me chuckle at the idea of a villain trying to protect the people's rights." Donatello chuckled at this. "Maybe I'll take a look at it." |
| "It's a good point," Said Donatello, glad to find somebody sharing exactly his thoughts about the cannon. "On the other hand, for argument's sake... Lives are at stake in this war. Repugnant as brain-washing people into acting what we think the 'correct' way is, can we knowingly not use it when the alternative results in innocent people getting hurt and killed? When people die because we refused to save them because it doesn't 'sit right' with us?" "I wish I knew," Said James. "On the one hand, it goes against the Federation Constitution -and on the other, that thing doesn't govern what we do to our enemies, anyway. And I know better than anyone that it's hardly right to look at one single thing that happens on a battlefield and isolate it as 'immoral', even if it is mind-control. So much pain could be averted..." |
| "Of course..." Donatello said "The Wranglers brainwash their own citizens all the time, sometimes to the point of permanent brain damage so...What goes around comes around?" Meanwhile Ichabod was cooling off with a tall glass of ice water when he over heard Bill and Jim talking to Cyrus the Sa Snake and Crickwing the Cockroach. "That love canon is mighty impressive." Crickwing said "Do you think it will really have the power to reform Wranglers?" Asked Cyrus "I hope so..." Bill said "Particularly because a certain someone won't bite the bullet and fulfill the prophecy and..." "Hold it right there!" Ichabod yelled he ran to Bill and Jim "You, and you to my office." Ichabod said "Your office?" Jim asked "The room Marzipan and I have been sleeping in." Ichabod said When Ichabod was with Jim and Bill "Look," Ichabod said "I know you think Marzipan and I are being selfish for not making sweet love and fulfilling the prophecy...1, leave Marzipan out of this and 2 I have reasons for why I'm waiting?" "OK." Bill said "What are those reasons?" "Because I've got a monster inside me..." Ichabod sighed "The part of me that lusts to see fear in other people's eyes and dominate them...My inner scarecrow as I call it, Both my parents were sadists, but my old man was so much more so...And unfortunately I inherited his fear fetish." "Is that why your such a spankophile?" Jim asked "You're trying to replace the sadist with a masochist?" "To some extent yes." Ichabod said blushing "Also...It's a way I can satisfy my quite frankly enormous lust without penetration..." "May I say something?" Kong said entering the room "We can't force the chosen two the make love simply the make the prophecy come true, the prophecy just don't work like that the meaning of the prophecy is not sex but love, when the chosen two of their own volition make love then the New Age Will Dawn because that's when the universe will be ready, if the Chosen Two simply have sex out of obligation then the motivation is not pure and the magic won't work." |
| "Well, that explains a lot," Said Jim. Unconsciously, his paw crept to the hilt of his ever-present sword, perhaps thinking of all the screaming heads it had liberated from Wangler shoulders over the years. "Sorry Ichy; I should have realized that there was a good reason we couldn't force the Prophecy to complete itself." "Well, now you know." Said Ichabod. "It's okay guys; I really wish the War was over too." |
| Meanwhile Donatello put the cloth back on the Love Canon it was a beautiful invention, made of gold and crystals, the Crystals looked like Diamonds but really they were the same kind of intelligent alien crystals the Dark Crystal was the 'species' of their ability was to gather love and happiness from those around them, and as they filled up a glowing rainbow colored energy would fill each of the three enormous crystals. |
| Donatello soon encountered James again. "So, you say the Love cannon is the wrong call?" "Yeah," said James. "So, what do you think the best way to win the war would be?" Donatello asked. "Let's just say that, during WW2, the Americans came up with one, and used it on the Japanese," said James. "Shortly afterwards, Japan surrendered, unconditionally." "You mean, a bomb?" "One powerful enough to destroy a planet," said James. "That being said, I'm against using it. Kills too many of the wrong targets. Might make them surrender, or keep o fighting." |
| "That idea has been considered before, hasn't it?" Asked Donatello. "Forgive me if I'm not as familiar with the Army's secret pet projects." "Hyperspace-missiles," James nodded gravely. "Built exactly like space-ships, but packed with enough anti-matter to smash apart planets from the inside out, instead of life-support and crew quarters. Launched from secret space-born facilities, travelling through hyperspace like a normal ship would, with an exit vector set exactly inside the target planet -they would be completely undetectable, unstoppable, and perfectly effective." "But, then, we'd be short an inhabitable world, out of a limited number in the galaxy." Said Donatello. "Exactly- I know more senior officers and brass who'd kill billions and not lose a wink of sleep," James laughed mirthlessly. "After all, 'people are a renewable resource', they say. But I don't know anyone who's prepared to destroy an irreplaceable planet, especially when they can just send in the ground-troops and have them take it for them, with a huge net profit in the long run." "Right, right." Donatello cocked his head. "But what about Planet Darkseid itself? From what I hear, 'inhabitable' doesn't really describe it, and destroying it could very well win the war in one blow." |
| High Elder listened from a short distance away and sighed irritably, they didn't understand that this machine wasn't brainwashing, if anything it was a mind opener, for those who have closed their minds off to reason and logic, where mere words can not pry open their mind this machine which fills their Enemy's brain with the memories and experiences of many beings was to free the Wranglers from the brain washing their own government had put on them |
| "So, big bombs and fighting aside, what do you think is the way to win the war?" Donatello asked. James chuckled. "Hijack their communication systems, and broadcast some children's cartoons through them." "How would that work?" "Every time an officer had to talk to another, they'd be forced to compete with the Care Bears, or something, to try and pass on the message." Donatello chuckled at this. "Now that is just mean." "Might even reverse-brainwash them," said James. |
| Meanwhile, Minsk and Edward were standing at a balcony in one corner of the ship. 'Below' them, Saturn's rings passed in endless fields of kaleidoscopic colour, back-lit by the distant gas giant itself. "I never got to ask you honey- how did the mission go? Chasing a succubus -was it dangerous?" Asked Minsk, watching a shooting-star arc by, perfectly highlighted by the Hispianola's holographic suite's enhancement of the picture. Her tail curled around his lovingly leg at the sight. "You were starting to make me worried by the second day." "Well... Mordred took the bait quickly." He winced at the memory of the two of them grinding in a night-club. The things one did for their country... "But Sahara did all the work; she broke in and decapitated the succubus right in the middle of her apartment." "That sounds messy." "Yeah; Sahara seemed pretty shocked. I guess catching a face-full of her daughter's fresh blood struck her as uncomfortable. In any case, she insisted that I keep from calling you until after the funeral was over. Sorry about that." "Well, give me time," One of Minsk's paws snuck under his shirt. "Perhaps I can think of a way for you to make it up to me." |
| Once Donatello was alone, Belladonna approached him "The most powerful energy that can fill the Canon is is the energy that can make new life." Belladonna murred to Donny stroking her tail under his chin, "How about later tonight we start filling up the machine ourselves?" Later when everyone settled down to sleep, they were awoken by a Dragon Roar and a loud "Aw %*&# YEAH!" In the Hispaniola unlike the Fellowship their were no soundproof walls so everybody could hear Who would thought the mild, soft spoken Donatello would be the loudest Turtle in bed? "Sweet Genius!" Marzipan exclaimed "If those two were Cats they be getting boots thrown at them by now!" Bill and Samantha were also not appreciating the night music, Bill headbutted the wall, and from above opened a trap door with a rope ladder "That's new." Samantha said "Maybe this will take us somewhere quieter." Bill said they climbed the rope, It was quieter in the room the entered, it was a dusty room, with nothing but a very old mirror. "How very strange..." Samantha "...What could be the purpose of this room?" "Quiet time maybe?" Bill shrugged Then, with a jolt of what could only be described as 'space turbulence' the Bull and his Human Girlfriend stumbled into the mirror, falling through the Mirror they transpired through between time and space and apparently the stuff between time and space looks a lot like a Tron Movie. When they neon nightmare ended, they found themselves, in a dark alley, surrounded by tall buildings, above a dark cloudy sky, no one else around at the moment |
| "I don't need to be Captain Obvious to know that something is wrong here," said Bill. "Where are we?" Samantha asked. "I have no idea," said Bill. |
| "I think someone's coming!" They hid behind a garbage disposal chute. Samantha shuddered. "What's wrong?" Asked Bill. "Remember -this is probably a hologram of some kind." "I know -there's just something about this place that gives me the creeps already." Samantha whispered back. |
| Bill and Samantha saw a hooded figure come in and another one comes from behind a dumpster "About time you came, I thought the Cattle Patrol got you." it said in a male voice. "Sorry, I had to be careful. Ever since The Warrior of the West left us, things haven't been the same. Let's get inside before the Cattle patrol spots us." Bill was surprise when both figures removed their hoods, they are....A Female Green Pygmy Dragon and a Timber Wolf. They looked different, they weren't Humanimals they were something else (Note to Hertz, this IS NOT one of those, 'alternate version of the same world only everything went wrong story, this is a world with Anthro Animals who aren't Humanimals because they evolved a different way, there are no wranglers and Humans have not even left Earth) |
| (Author's Note: The Dragon and Wolf did not meet Bill and Samantha they were just talking to each other and they would not greet Bill warmly because he's a Bull and would assumed to be a member of the Cattle Patrol) "Wait..." The Wolf said "Puddleduck...I smell something that smells like a Bull." The Dragon whose name was apparently Puddleduck "Where is the Bull Wolfgang?" "Behind that chute." Wolfgang said |
| "We better run." Bill Said, he put Samantha on his back and was going to make a dash between the Wolf and Dragon, but they caught him, despite being smaller then him they had surprising strength. "Do you think we would let you leave Bull?" Sneered the Dragon "After everything you heard?" "Samantha!" Bill yelled "Flee! Go anywhere! Don't worry about me!" Samantha did as she was bid. Puddleduck blindfolded Bill and they entered into the secret underground world...The World of This Earth's Last Wildlife |
| Bill gulped as he was being led. After all, he was on some strange world, and aside from Samantha, he didn't know anyone here. And worse yet, this group seemed to think that he was the enemy, or something. |
| "Let go of me!" Bill struggled, bashing Puddleduck on the snout. "What the hell's going on?! Don't make me hurt you-" Wolfgang forced him to the ground. "We're almost at the entrance -we might as well knock 'im out now!" He panted, straining to keep the athletic bull down. Nursing a bloody nose, Puddleduck stumped up, hefted a buzzing police-baton, and rapped Bill over the head with it. The thrashing marine fell inert. Together, the duo dragged him through a concealed entrance in a dark corner of the city. |
| When Bill was dragged inside, a rabbit says "Puddleduck, did you get enough food and supp.." Then he saw Bill bound and blindfolded. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what may happen if you captured one of the Cattle Patrol? For all we know, that one could have a tracker." |
| "He heard too much of our conversation..." Puddleduck said wiping blood from her nose "We couldn't let him go free...Can I have a tissue?" "He is rather small..." Wolfgang said looking up and down Bill's size "Normally Members of the Cattle Patrol are three times the size of a man this one is only a few heads taller, maybe he's one of those miniature cattle we've been hearing about." A Black Rat came by, he was much smaller then a Humanimal Rat he would only come up to an Adult Human's knee "He looks like a body builder..." The Rat shook his head "...His meat would be tough, downright inedible." "OK Roland." Wolfgang said "What should we do with him?" |
| "Slash him up; see if he knows anything." Said Puddleduck. "Throw him in the incinerator if he doesn't." "Doesn't that sound like a wast of time to you?" Asked Roland. "I vote we try and boil him -after a while, he might be soft enough to gnaw through." |
| "There was someone else with him," Wolfgang said. "By the smell of him, a female of some sort, scared to." |
| Meanwhile, Samantha found herself in a post-apocalyptic city, human citizens living in misery and except for one building, cast in ruins. That one building looks almost futuristic complete with an LCD monitor. Samantha quickly went behind a wrecked car to see bull-like creatures 3 times the size of a human patrolling the streets. "What's going on here?" Samantha said to herself, "Some kind of alien invasion?" |
| One of the bulls saw her and Samantha became afraid. She ran the other way. "Halt!" yelled the bull. She wondered if it would shoot her, but she was too scared to stop running. For some reason the bull did not chase her, or maybe she outran it. All she knew was she ran until she was too tired to run any farther. And then she was alone in a desolate part of the city. |
| She crawled into a trash can to hide herself. She peaked out and saw three of the Bull Creatures "Did you see that Human?" Asked one "Looking at her clothes, she is definitely not one of the Peasants." Said another "She must be a Member of the Ruling Class who somehow got lost, we should return her to her Palace." "The way she looked at us..." The Third One said "...She looked so scared, you think she had never seen an Ultra-Bull before..." "She may have come from another land where the Human Calves aren't allowed contact with the Livestock." Said the First Bull The Three Bulls moved on, Samantha now had a burning curiosity, what was this strange world they had now entered? Now she had some idea of what the Cattle Patrol was and why those Wild Animals attacked Bill, it seemed the Cattle were serving a Ruling Class of elite Humans and every other Human lived in poverty. Meanwhile, Bill was put in a cage until the Wild Animals decided what to do with him. Inside the Wild Animal's underground city there were plants that could grow without the sun because of Puddleduck's special Dragon Fire lamp they could grow their own forest underground. |
| The dragon in question soon moped by Bill's cell, one claw rattling over the bars while the other toyed with a switch-blade. "Just you wait, runt! They might not want to even think about you now, but I sure am. In a few hours, they boss'll remember you exist, and then I can kill you -after exactly two hundred slices with this knife. Just like the last Cattle Patrol we caught." Deep in contemplation, Bill hardly even heard her. (Author's Note: Puddleduck is female) |
| (Author's Note: I guess no one saw what I just added This an adventure for Bill and Sam, no other characters following them into the mirror, I want this to be like Narnia that when Bill and Sam come back to their world they only find a minute passed in their world and no one even knew they were gone) Bill woke up and saw Puddleduck glaring at him, he decided to go limp and pretend to be brain dead, hoping he could overhear something |
| "Talking to the prisoners again, Putty?" Asked Roland, squeezing out of a crevice in the floor. "I think you're wasting your breath; he doesn't even look like he's paying attention." "He will before long -and, yes, when I'm carving him up, I'll give you a haunch or two." "You're a real pal, Putty. I hope we get to start killing him soon; I'm getting hungry." |
| At this, Wolfgang showed up behind the pair. "He's not to be harmed until the Leader talks to him. Like I said, he looks young to be on the Patrol." "He's the enemy!" said Puddleduck. "You say that because he busted your nose," said Wolfgang. "Maybe the only reason he was fighting was to try to protect that female that he was traveling with. You can't fault him for that. He doesn't even wear the uniform of the Patrol. Maybe he's from another continent, or something. Maybe he and his friend are members of their nobility, or something - we already have one enemy - don't need another." |
| "You are so darn tolerant!" Roland said. "Give him the benefit of the doubt. Where did you get that? In my neighborhood either you were with the gang or you were against the gang." "We're not kids any more," Wolfgang said. "Things aren't always so simple. This guy doesn't look like Cattle Patrol to me, so why should I act like a dork and say he is?" "You calling me a dork?" "Are you going to act like one?" |
| "That will be all!" Came a Commanding voice, The Leader had entered Puddleduck's Grandma Persephone Domina an Ancient Grey Pygmy Dragon over 300 Years old...A Powerful Telepath, her word was law, everyone bowed." "I have heard this young bull's thoughts." Said Domina "He is not of the Cattle Patrol he is not even of this world...He has no idea what is going on." Nobody questioned this, Domina would not lie, in fact everyone knew she was incapable of lying due to her powers so if she said it, it must be so..." "This Bull may serve as a blessing..." Domina said with a knowing smirk, "Since he is not a Wild Creature, we can use him to infiltrate the Cattle Patrol." |
| "I trust your wisdom, and I hope the others do as well," said Wolfgang. The wolf glanced at the other two. |
| "If you will pardon my impertinence, ma'am," Said Puddleduck hesitantly. "Why should he do that? We've already captured him; if we let him loose, won't he simply tell the Patrol what he's learned of our base? Oughtn't we to kill him?" "He was blindfolded and unconscious when you brought him here and dragged him through the base; I believe that the risk will be minimal." Said Domina. "But your point is valid. Wolfgang, take a squad and retrieve the other arrival as soon as possible; we may need her. In the meantime, we need to keep this one unmarked." She looked at Puddleduck pointedly. "That means no slicing." Wolfgang saluted and darted out, and Puddleduck reluctantly put away his knife. "Thank-you, Putty." Said Domina. "Now, please, both of you leave me. I am interested in talking with our captive." |
| Domina faced Bill "You can stop playing possum now, I know your not of this world Bill." Bill got up with a surprise on his face "How..how did you know my name?" Domina says "I am gifted with telepathic powers including mind reading, as long as I'm in charge no one here will harm you. My name is Domina, I'm the leader of this army. I'm sure you have a lot of questions on your mind." Bill says "In a matter of fact, I do. Let's start with where am I, and I mean what is this world?" |
| Domina looked steadily at Bill for a moment. "Think about your own world." Bill did as he was told. After another moment, Domina said, "I see. You want to know what planet this is and what star it revolves around. Unlike your people, Bill, we have no space travel here. Therefore our world is simply earth and the star is the sun. I have no way of telling you where we are in the cosmos. I do not even know if this is the same galaxy as you are thinking about." "Is it possible," Bill said, "that this world is my own world, but an alternate version of it?" "Anything is possible, Bill. I just do not have the kind of knowledge you are seeking. You want to plot a course from this world back to your world and I cannot tell you how to do that. I am sorry." |
| After Bill was let out of his cage, his stomach rumbled, he was hungry. Domina turned to a young Red Fox named Gideon "Go fetch our guest something to eat." Gideon saluted and headed into the garden "I can tell how we became intelligent." Domina said "It was 300 years ago, when I was very small, the great energy explosion it was called." Gideon came back with a dish piled high with fruits and vegetables Bill had never seen before! It seems time underground had caused the flora to mutate. Domina sat on her throne and Bill sat before her, as he devoured his meal,Domina continued her story "300 years ago..." Said Domina, a Human Scientist in a lab, unleashed a great explosion of energy, it went all around the world, and it awakened every Animal on the Planet, all Animals became as intelligent as Man." |
| At this, Bill's eyes widened. "Every animal?" "Yes," said Domina. "Every animal." At this, an unpleasant thought came to Bill's mind. "Try not to think about it too much," said Domina. "We don't commit that sort of thing, at least, not to members of our group. The enemy, on the other hand, well, most were created to be cannon fodder anyways. That and people have to eat." |
| "Most of the parasitical organisms didn't last long," Said Domina, smirking at the fond memory. "When everyone found out what they were and how to fight them, well... Some are obviously still around, hopping from host to host, but we killed millions more. The fact that the radiation unleashed by the Explosion also increased their size helped; hundreds of thousands of people died with giant worms in their guts, causing internal haemorrhaging. But now, the Parasites were easier to find and crack down on. And crack we did." They passed an alcove where a team were digging out a tunnel with simple cutting torches. Domina saluted, sparks of hot stone bouncing off her scales. "After the Parasites were dealt with, it was on to the Carnivores. Outnumbered as they were, most of the little vermin were exterminated quickly," She said with relish. "Wolfgang in fact was one of the few survivors; he had mutated as to be able to live off of a mixed diet of plants, similar to people like Roland. Supplemented with any prisoners we capture, of course." Her mouth curved up slightly. "It certainly helped to make sure that food was source wasn't much a divisive issue." "What about the humans?" Bill asked, patience at last exhausted. "By now, you probably know what went down on my world when something similar to the Explosion happened. What were they doing while you were handling all the Carnivores and Parasites and Whatever?" "That is why we are having this conversation here," Said Domina, tail flicking to indicate the miles of cramped, fetid corridors stretching away in all directions. "The humans were less rattled than we might have hoped, and the peace between organized Animalia and the hominids was short-lived. In fact..." |
| "...some of the parasites use humans for hosts." Samantha looked around and saw a familiar land mark, Big Ben only without the clockfaces and the Parlment lay in ruins. "My god," Samantha said to herself, "This is London." She spots a lady digging into the ground "Excuse me ma'am?" The lady looked up and she had a wild look in her eyes, completely feral and she hissed at her like she was a cat. Samantha is once again scared the way the lady behaved as she went after her when Samanta ran. |
| Once again Samantha's fast feet enabled her to outrun a pursuer. She stood by an old crumbling wall gasping for air. "Sooner or later Bill is going to realize this is London," she thought. "And he will look for me. Where would he go?" |
| Just then she was caught in a force field, she couldn't get out! "Well done Lou." Came a Texan Accented Voice Samantha saw two Anthropomorphic Canids, one was a tragic looking Greyhound, he was in a wheelchair and someone had branded the left side of his face, the Greyhound was chanting the spell that caused the Force field, the other, the one with the Texan Accent was a Coyote, with only one arm and his fur dyed completely black. "Take her in for questioning." Said the Coyote "If this girl is truly from another universe we can use that to our advantage." Domina was now describing the war between the Wild Animals and the Domestic Animals, there was a brief civil war within the domestics, with the Horses, Donkeys, Goats, Domestic Ducks and Domestic Geese deciding they could not destroy their wild relatives and choosing to flee rather then fight "Most think they did not survive." Said Domina She then told Bill about this particular colony in England, how she established four warriors as the Champions of this colony, her own Granddaughter Puddleduck was the Warrior of the South Roland the Rat was Warrior of the East, Wolfgang the Wolf the Warrior of the North... "...And the one who came to us from across the sea..." Domina said "Bartholomew the Coyote...The Warrior of the West." "Part lost an Arm in a Fight with one of the Imperial Guard Dogs." Said Wolfgang "We didn't think he could fight anymore so he became 'Keeper of the Nursery' basically a glorified cubsitter we never realized how much he resented that, because one day...He just left...No one knew where he went." |
| "Sounds complicated," said Bill. "That, and it makes me more impressed about the story of one of my friends." |
| "So... What do you want me for?" Asked Bill. "Your... Soldiers... were going to kill me- why did you want to talk?" "Because I think you can infiltrate the Cattle Patrol," Said Domina. "It will be dangerous, arduous, and extremely painful in the likely event that you are captured." She added flatly. "I see..." Bill cupped his chin. "Why should I do it? If I'm going to die anyways, why don't I try to hurt you as much as I can up-front?" "Don't worry; I have a reason." She cocked her head. "The human you came here with, Bartholomew has captured her. If you do not help us, she will die. The procedure will not be brief." Bill reconsidered the practicality of taking the dragon hostage for the third time; and sighed with the realization that he would have to turn that attractive possibility down. "You do know I'm going to kill you, right?" He looked at her sidewards. "You are remarkably determined to that end. But I am confident that you are mistaken." "I guess that only makes things easier. ...At any rate, what do you need me to do?" |
| Meanwhile, as Samantha was being led by the Coyote's little pack, A German Shepherd yells out "Bartholomew! Look out!" They all turned around and saw the feral woman that Samantha encountered. "Careful everyone," Bartholomew says, "She's infected." Samantha says "Keep her away from me." |
| The feral woman hissed and made lunging movements at them. The Greyhound in the wheelchair chanted a few words in a soothing rhythm, over and over. Suddenly the feral woman fell to her knees and began crying. "She will not bother us now," said the Greyhound. |
| "Lou my most faithful companion." Said our Black Bart Coyote "We make such a good team...Unlike those treacherous wild beasts I used to call friends." "Dogs are absolutely loyal and true." Said Lou, "Aren't you so much gladder you are a Dog instead of Coyote?" Samantha was brought before an Old Man sitting on a Throne "You are from another universe." Said the Old Man "You have entered our realm while it is in the midst of a great war." Samantha didn't say anything "We Humans and our Loyal Beasts plan to secure our survival by destroying all wild beasts." "Why?" Samantha asked "Why can't all of you live in harmony?" Everyone in the court gasped, one does not say such things in King Gregor's Court King Gregor, to his credit was a sane ruler not drunk with power like others I can name "Since you are from another universe, I will take no offense since you clearly don't know better, because perhaps, such a thing can work in your world but not in ours' I see you are tired wet and hungry so I will provide you some refreshments while we hold you for ransom." Samantha was served some sweet wine and a bowl of apricot soup, Samantha was so famished she ate the food her captors gave her, to her surprise it was not drugged |
| All the while, the King stared at her, seemingly trying to glean the most minute detail from her dress and act. He was only interrupted by the approach of an orderly. "Your Majesty; the Cattle Patrol have had another clash in the city." He whispered. |
| The orderly whispered back, "A Patrolman is on his way to make a full report." King Gregor returned his attention to Samantha. "Are you absolutely sure that you have no idea why you have been sent here?" "I do not. I didn't even know all this existed. Do you think you can send me back to where I belong?" |
| "Not quite yet." Said the King "First we will use you to win our war against the wild beasts." But he didn't elaborate on what that meant." Meanwhile, Bill was being suited up in a Cattle Patrol costume that was being tailored to fit his size. "Are you sure this will work?" Bill asked the Tailor Cockroach named Buzz |
| "It should," said Buzz. "Reminds me of an old Sci Fi movie thing," said Bill. "Guy tries to infiltrate the Plaice of Evil, disguised as the enemy, and a prisoner he tries to free remarks at how short he is." |
| "I see..." Buzzed Buzz. "In any case, you're going in as a Calf Patroller; you should be just the right size, though you may look a bit older than the norm." "But you think I've got a chance?" Asked Bill. "Certainly; you're built like and act little different that most of those egregious violent oafs in the Patrol. You'll fit right in." He tightened a couple of straps. "...Thank-you." Said Bill. |
| Domina comes in "Is he ready yet Buzz?" Buzz says "Just fiinishing up." Domina looked over Bill "I believe we're going to pull this off." Bill asks "Tell me again why am I infiltraiting the Cattle Patrol?" |
| "It's best if you don't know too much. If they capture you and torture you until you crack, then we don't want you giving away a lot of secret information, do we?" "Um, no, I guess we don't. But I have to know what to do, don't I?" Domina patted Bill's shoulder. "You just infiltrate. We'll set up some way to make contact with you after you're in, then we will tell you what to do." |
| Alone in the room the King provided for her, Samantha thought about the past 24 hours "Why was a running from all those Animals?" Samantha asked herself "Why was I scared of those Animals?" Samantha felt kind of awkward about how she had just run away from everything like Snow White in the Forest, her magic pearl should give her the ability to make friends with any Animal Anthropomorphic or not...So why didn't she think to use her pearl? Meanwhile Bill, watched the Cattle Patrol from a distance, as the quietly exterminated any feral. "I can see mushrooms growing from the backs of the ferals' heads." Bill said to Wolfgang "Yes..." Wolfgang said "This is the one parasite that survived the onslaught and the only fungus that grew intelligence after the energy explosion.:" |
| "How bad is it?" Bill asked. "Terminal," said Wolfgang. "You get infected, you'd better hope that someone kills you." |
| "How do you get infected?" Bill asked. Suddenly, one of the Patrol member's heads exploded, rupturing outwards in a mass of gore and parasitic fruiting bodies. The others -save for one who was busy vomiting- immediately swung about and blew the offender into even smaller fragments, continuing the barrage for a solid four-hundred seconds. They stood in a circle, panting, for almost half as long again. "Oh, hey!" Bill snapped his fingers. "Zombie fungi! Now I remember; the Wranglers have something just like this!" "The what?" Asked Wolfgang. "Nothing, nothing." Bill suddenly felt better at the sight of something so reminiscent of home. "How should I introduce myself?" |
| Wolfgang says "Call yourself, Smallhoof. Tell them you wish to recruit. I'm sure they're be more then happy to accept you now that one of their own made a sacrifice." |
| Bill edged closer to the Cattle Patrol. "Get out of the way, calf!" yelled a big bull. "I wish to join the patrol, sir!" Bill said. It didn't sound very convincing, even to him, but the bull didn't seem to find it unusual. "The recruiting office is on Gilyard Street by the Huff and Puff Saloon. Know where that is?" "I can find it, sir!" Bill said. He didn't want to sound like he didn't know his way around the area, but in fact, after a few questions to passersby, he found the recruiting station easy enough. The bull behind the desk looked up from the book he was reading. "Hello, calf, and welcome to your future." "I would like to join the Cattle Patrol," Bill said. "You're in, junior. Let's get you scheduled for some training and fitted for a uniform." "As easy as that?" "Do you see a line waiting to get in?" |
| Bill soon found himself at King Gregor's Castle with his new uniform, he was quickly noticed by all the Cows. "Oh my..." Said a young Jersey Cow "At first I thought you were a Calf but Calves don't have horns that large!" 'One of the benefits of being a Texas Longhorn.' Thought to himself "I'm amazed they let someone as small as you join." Said the Cow "Well..." Bill "...I may be small but I'm fast! So fast that some people..."(He was about to say 'compared me to race horse, but thought better of it when he remembered Domina telling him Horses were one of the deserter spaces) "...I could be an Olympic Sprinter." "What a fanciful idea!" Said the Cow"Unfortunately between the war with the wild beasts and the arrival of the Ferals there have been no Olympics for 300 years!" Just then Bill's stomach gave a fierce rumble, Bill realized the meal of fruits and vegetables Domina served him must have been more then 24 hours ago." "You're hungry." Said the Cow "Let me get you some thing to eat." She led Bill to the kitchen "The Humans get to call dibs on all the best things we grow in our greenhouses..." She said "But we do get our share of good things as well" She lifted the lid of a massive pot "Pease porridge?" 'Now I really feel like I'm back in medieval times' Bill thought, he sucked on the strange food, to his surprise it tasted slightly like hummus. |
| I hope that Domina contacts me soon, He thought. Then did a double-take as a familiar vision of beauty walked furtively past one of the doorways. Sam! With no one having told her that she couldn't do it, Samantha was quietly exploring the castle. She had, in fact, found a single small mouse hiding in a reclusive corner -but repeated failed applications of the Pearl had showed her that the magic apparently wasn't functioning in this dimension. Right now, she was just poking around for information. |
| Then Samantha spotted him, she looked around and sees no one else "Bill? Bill I'm glad your here, you'll never guess what city this is?" Bill says "I know, I saw most of the ruined landmarks." Samantha says "Judging by the way your dressed, I suppose your here to rescue me." |
| "Of course, but I'm on a mission for Domina," Bill said. "Can't we just leave?" Samantha begged. "Honey, I don't know how to get back. We've got to find that out first. And the only thing I can think of is play along with whatever they want us to do until we can discover a way back. By the way, why are you here?" |
| "Come to my room." Samantha said Once they were in her room Samantha held out her Pearl "My Pearl won't work on the Animals here." Said Samantha |
| Quickly she explained what had happened to her since they had been separated, such as that the King intended to use her in some mysterious way to harm the Wild Animals. |
| Before Bill replied, Domina spoke through Bill's radio, "Bill, now that your in the castle, here's what you have to do, but it's a two man job so you may have to trick another calf into helping you." Bill says "I think I have someone else in mind, so what do I need to do?" |
| "Listen closely," Domina said. "There is a secret room in the castle. We know it exists and that it's important, but we don't know where it is." "But I don't know either," Bill said. "I know that. Here's a plan that might work. You said you have a partner, right? One of you fakes an emergency that would require evacuating the castle. The other one keeps an eye on King Gregor. If whatever is in that secret room is important enough to save, then he will go there first on his way to evacuate the building. And then you will know where the secret room is." "I see," Bill said. "So then when they discover it was a false alarm and everything settles back to normal..." "Yes, if you can do it safely, explore the secret room." |
| Bill looked at Samantha A few moments later Bill saw an old fashioned fire alarm, no one was looking, he pulled it Everyone started panicking, the King's Daughter yelled to King Gregor how they had they had to leave right now. "Just a moment Princess." Said the King "I must secure the Council of Three and no one secures the Council of three but me!" Bill shadowed the King and followed him in secret, when the King passed through the Secret Door, Bill held the door ajar with his hoof,then he watched from behind the door "My Lords!" Said the King "There is a fire! We must leave now!" "We can not leave this room." Said Three Exactly the Same Voices Bill saw much to his horror that the Council of Three were ferals! In fact they were Mushrooms with Humans faces! |
| Time to pretend that I wasn't here! he thought, as he carefully made his way towards the others, who were still trying to leave. "Did you find something?" Samantha whispered, when he ran into her. "You don't want to know," Bill whispered back. |
| "Well, come to think of it, you probably would, wouldn't you?" They both jogged towards a sally-port, hoping to meet up with the crowd of humans and retainers congealing outside. "Yes, Bill! What was it that was so important?" "There were... Mushroom People in the Secret Room." Said Bill slowly as he unbolted the 'port, checking the coast. "From the way they were talking, it was like they shared one mind." |
| Domina is heard over the radio, "Judging by the GPS of your position, I guess you went into that secret room." Bill says "Yeah, but what I saw should've stayed secret." Domina says "Oh? Explain." |
| "Talking fungi," Bill said. "Mushrooms with human faces. It was horrible." "Were they pale white or brightly colored?" Domina asked. "Uh... pale white. And they spoke together as if they shared a mind." "I think I know what we're dealing with then." |
| "I think I do as well..." Bill said "Your true enemy is not Man or his domesticated animals, but the Fungus that is manipulating everything." Domina was silent "I'll explain everything, but first I'm bringing a Human over I'm letting you know so everyone will be cool with that." |
| 'Hold your position -we need you to stay within the Patrol as long as possible," Said Domina shakily. "You have done well, but there's more we need you to do." "Like what? I've found out the King's secret- can't we go home now?" "Not yet; we need a saboteur. Someone on the inside who can cause some damage while we attempt to figure out how to disseminate this information in the best possible." |
| Domina says "Okay, I sent Wolfgang out to pick up your human friend, just send him or her outside the castle. Don't worry about any terals, he's more then capable to protect others from their attacks." Bill says "Okay, will do." He turns to Samantha, "Just wait outside for Wolfgang, I think he's this world's James." Samantha says "One last thing before I go, do you think those mushroom people you saw are behind these ferals?" |
| "I'll explain everything when we're together again," Bill said. "Here's Wolfgang. Go with him. He'll keep you safe. I'll see you soon." "Be careful, darling!" Samantha said, and then she and Wolfgang were gone. Bill sighed and called Domina. "What do you want me to do?" |
| "Those three Mushrooms have to be destroyed!" Said Domina "Stop right there!" Came a voice Bill was now face to face with Bart the Coyote "So..." Bart said "My former friends have recruited a Domestic, to make up for the fact that I left them." |
| Bill looked right at the coyote. "Buddy, I'm going to give you a One-Time offer, just sit down, and don't bother me." "And if I don't sit down?" Bart asked, with a wicked grin. Bill made his face become as hard and cold as steel, trying to mirror the same look James always made before he made his threats. "Then I'll kill you, slowly, and cut you into pieces, and shove each piece, right down your throat, starting with your tail." |
| Bart gulped "What are you planning to do?" Bill says "Going after the real enemy." Domina says "Bill, what's going on?" Bill says "He seems to have a grudge on you. Can you explain what happened?" |
| Domina blew out a breath. "Not Bart again!" she said. "Do you remember how I told you about this particular colony in England, and how I established four warriors as the Champions of this colony? My own Granddaughter Puddleduck was the Warrior of the South, Roland the Rat was Warrior of the East, Wolfgang the Wolf the Warrior of the North, and the one who came to us from across the sea was Bartholomew the Coyote, the Warrior of the West. But Bart lost an arm in a fight with one of the Imperial Guard Dogs. We didn't think he could fight anymore so he became 'Keeper of the Nursery' basically a glorified cub sitter. We never realized how much he resented that until one day he just left and no one knew where he went. But then he returned. And apparently still resentful." |
| "OK Bart..." Bill said "Chill, I know you've been through a lot..." "What do you know of my torment?!" Asked Bart "The Wild Creatures are not your real enemy." Bill said "It's the mushroom people, they're the ones who have organized this whole...HUTTAH" Bill smacked Bart so hard he knocked him out cold |
| "Now to deal with the real problem," said Bill. "Too bad James isn't here with some C4, or whatever it is he likes to use. Hopefully the locals have something similar, like a dozen barrels full of blackpowder." |
| "Oh well," He said." 'Have to use the next best thing." Easily swinging the coyote over one shoulder, Bill set out into the crumbling city. It wasn't long before he heard a distinctive dry rustling sound; even less time before he had dumped Bart's living corpse in a place where a group of ferals would be certain to find and dispose of it throughly. Garbage on the street corner, he stealthily clopped back towards the fortress. |
| Wolfgang and Samantha made it back to the base, Domina says "You must be the human Bill helped, Samantha I presume?" Samantha "Yeah, but how did you know?" Then Puddleduck came in carrying someone. "Sorry to interrupt grandma but look who I found?" She puts down an unconscious Bart. "Ahh, the warrior of the West. Where did you find him?" "In a garbage dump, had to fight off a hoard of farels to get him." Then Bart woke up rubbing his head "Oh, that spy hits hard." Then he looks around "What? No. I'm not cubsitting." Domina says "I didn't say you were. Bart, how would you like to go back in action?" She steps to the side showing a mechanical arm on a shelf. |
| "Is that for me?" Bart said. Domina handed him the arm. "A present from the animals. You'll have to learn how to use it." Bart was already strapping on the arm with help from the others. "And I will be able to fight again, right?!" "Maybe," Domina said. |
| Bill went to the kitchen and looked for something that would burn, he found and old rag, he covered it in olive oil and ignited it with the stove |
| "Not fancy, but it will do," he said. "Now for the proper location to place this, so that the fire will spread." |
| He put it under the drapes with a set of tongs, before going back to the kitchen and quickly making some more. |
| Soon the fire spreads the drapes burn and so do the tapestries. One of the cattle patrol bellows out "FIRE!!!" before hitting the fire alarm. |
| Soon there were flames everywhere. They crackled and roared and danced and flickered. "It's kind of pretty, ain't it?" said Bill. They were watching from a safe location. "It shore is, partner!" Samantha said, holding on to his arm. |
| With that a Vortex suddenly appeared and they were sucked back into the room they came from. "What happened?!" Bill asked "Maybe we had done all we needed to do and the Mirror sent us home." Samantha said "That was bizarre." Bill said "I think we were gone for like two days I'm certain everyone's worried sick with us." When they got downstairs however it seemed they had only been gone for a few moments The End! |
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