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Rated: 18+ · Campfire Creative · Novella · Fantasy · #2084676
Mystic coati dreams of other worlds, other times...
[Introduction]
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NAOMI


Clickable links...
The Second Dream
The Third Dream
The Fourth Dream
The Fifth Dream
The Sixth Dream
The Seventh Dream
The First Dream


The sky was purple, the ground was orange, and there were a lot of yellow things bouncing around. Blue trees grew along the road. Fanny the Dagalong sat on her cart watching the scenery roll by. The big two-legged lizard pulling the cart said, "How much farther?"

Fanny flipped her ears back. "Maybe an hour. Maybe less."
Just then 3 raccoon bandits came up in front of the cart, the leader points the pistol at Fanny and bellows out "Stand and deliver or the devil he may take ya!"
"Do we have to talk like that all the time?" one of the raccoons asked. "My daddy raised me to be a highwayman, not a pirate."
"Oh, shut up, Jethro!" said the leader. "I am so sick of hearing about your daddy."

Jethro sniffed. "Just because you never had no daddy-"

"I said SHUT UP!"

The third raccoon, who was the smallest, said, "Are we gonna rob this Dagalong or not?"

Suddenly there was a tremendous BANG and all three raccoons dropped to the ground and covered their heads as grains of sand fell on them.

Fanny was standing on her cart holding a smoking blunderbuss. "You boys ain't robbing nobody today. Now get out of here before I sick Zarth on you!"

The three raccoons tripped over each other in their haste to run away. "I told you it was a bad idea!" Jethro was heard to say.

Fanny snapped the reins. "C'mon, Zarth, let's get moving. I can almost smell the hot coffee at the inn."

The big lizard grunted and put his shoulders into moving the cart.
At the inn, a wolf in chainmail armor is enjoying a cup of hot coffee made by the badger waitress, Naomi. As Naomi poured a refill, she couldn't help but to look at one of the wanted posters hanging out of the satchel. "Friends of yours Sir Humphry?" Humphry replied "No, these are bandits that have been praying on unsuspecting travelers on the forest road, Their leader Phil is known to be living a highwayman code, and there his two henchmen, Jethro and Bob. Speaking of which..." He gets up and hangs the poster on the wall and points to it, "Do not allow them in the inn, they're dangerous." Naomi says "I will remember that, don't worry. They won't come anywhere near here."
"What makes you say that?" the wolf asked.

"When more than four dozen well armed adventurers, mercenaries, patrolling guards, villains, and miscreants drop by every day, it pays for even hardened criminals to be on their best behavior," said Naomi. "After all, they don't want to end up on the wrong side of a bar brawl, especially if they decide to use weapons."

Sir Humphry took a careful look around at the other patrons. Some of them seemed to match the descriptions on some of the posters he had, and yet they got along amicably with those who were clearly on the other side of the law, as well as those who could be on either side. "I see what you mean. This is a nice place you have. No one would want to cause trouble here."

Fanny told Zarth to park the cart while she entered the inn.

"Hello, Fanny!" said the waitress. "The usual?"

"If that means a steaming hot cup of coffee, then yeah! How's business?"

"Wonderful! We serve good food and strong drinks and the word gets around."

Fanny noticed a distinguished-looking wolf in chain armor sitting on the next stool at the bar. "Don't believe I have seen you in here before," she said.

"It's not my first time," said the wolf, "but I'm glad to meet you. I am Sir Humphry, and I am the King's Enforcer for this district."

"I thought you looked important!" Fanny said. "I'm Fanny the Dagalong. I'm glad you are here. Three raccoons tried to rob me just outside of town."

Sir Humphrey pulled out one of his posters. "Did they look like this?"

"They did indeed!"

"That's Phil, Jethro, and Bob. If you would be so kind as to tell me exactly where you saw them, then maybe I can pick up their trail."

Fanny told Humphry what exactly happened, Sir Humphry says "Good thing you were well armed. most of their victims lost their possessions from these three."
"Yeah, well maybe some folks should go armed more often," said Fanny.
"I couldn't agree more," said Sir Humphry. "But only the trustworthy, of course. Weapons in the hands of idiots and children is not a good idea. Thank you for your information."

The wolf said his good-byes and backtracked down the road to the place Fanny had described. It didn't take him long to pick up a scent. The smell of a frightened raccoon is strong. He followed the trail of the three bandits until he came to a place where they seemed to be camping. They weren't there, but the ashes of a campfire were.

Sir Humphry decided to return to the spot late at night with some help. If he was lucky he could catch the bandits while they slept.
Captain Blackmane, a Lion knight was first to arrive "This better be good Humphry," Blackmane stated. "I staked my reputation catching these 3 red handed," Humphry says "I got a feeling there'll be here." Sir Fastrak, a cheetah knight came in, "What makes you think that?" He said.
"It's a well-traveled road, with lots of good," said Humphry. "If you want to catch something, locate their prey."
A couple of hours after midnight, Blackmane, Fastrak, and Humphry crept through the woods as only predators can until they were near the raccoons' camping spot. The three raccoons were not asleep, they were awake, but they had been drinking all evening. Jethro was singing...

Oh the Billy Bong Bang and the Willy Wong Wang went down to see the sea!
They didn't get wet so a table was set and they had a spot of tea!

"Looks like our boys are feeling pretty good," whispered Captain Blackmane.
Jethro then says "Except for that Dagalong, we did a pretty good haul this evening. Phil says "You should've seen the reaction from that farmer when I threatened him. 'Please sir, take the money just please don't hurt me.' he said." Bob says "How did that farmer have such a large amount of money?" Jethro answered "He must've sold his goods at the market." Bob says "Here's my next question, what should we do with all this loot?"
"Could go to a place that has some wenches," said Jethro.

"And do what?" Bob asked.

"How can you not know what a wench is for?" Phil asked.

"I never had a girl." said Bob.
Phil and Jethro fell down laughing. "Ha ha ha ha! A virgin!"

"You don't have to mock me!" Bob said.

But the other two raccoons just laughed louder.

"I said don't mock me!" Bob's face was red and he drew his sword. "By golly, you'll show me some respect or I'll run my blade through your bellies!"
Humphry, Blackmane and Fastrack overheard their conversation. Fastrack whispered, "This is starting to get out of hand, let's arrest them before they kill each other."
"Yeah, that would decrease the value on their heads."

"Who said that?" Sir Humprey asked.

"I did."

The three knights turned, and found themselves looking at a female black cat, who was up in a tree.

"Who are you?" Blackmain asked.

"Name's Sally," the cat said, as she leaped to the ground. "Been trailing these guys for a while, along with my partner, Tony."

"And, what is your partner?" Fastrack asked.

"He's a fox, and between us, we can charm anyone into doing whatever we want," said Sally. "Fortunately for the average person, we go after criminals. Seems they don't understand that females aren't that helpless, nor do they realize that my friend is a terrible shot with a crossbow, and tend to let me tie them up and take them to the local law representative who has the highest bounty on them."

"Where's your partner?" Humprey asked.

"Up here, buddy."

The three knights looked again, at another tree, and there was a fox, with a crossbow.

"You any good with that thing?" Humprey asked.

"Terrible actually," said Tony. "This thing refuses to kill people. Aim at their legs, fine. Arms, fine. Any place non-vital, fine. Lethal shot, forget it. Bought it off of a wizard, so who knows what he did to it."
"The point is," Sally said. "We claim the bounty. We got here first and we been tracking these guys before you did, so the bounty should be ours. Do you agree?"

Humphrey looked around at Blackmane and Fastrak. "What do you say? Does she make a good case?"

"Aye!" said Blackmane. "Let her have the bounty."

Humphry grinned. "I'm an officer of the king, young lady, and could not claim the bounty in any regard, but consider this. The raccoons have not been caught yet. Are you proposing that you and your friend in the tree will round them up with no help from us?"
Bob, still holding up his sword to both Phil and Jethro, Phil held up his hands "Bob please, don't do this. You're jumping to conclusions. You know it's all in fun." Bob with a crazed look in his eyes, "All in fun eh? Let's see how fun it is when I skewer you both like a kebab! Before Bob pulled it off an arrow flew by narrowing missing Bob's hand and disarmed him of his sword, the sword ended up hanging by the loop of it's handle at a nearby tree when the arrow planted itself into the trunk. "What?" Bob said, "Who shot that?"

Humphry was astonished by Tony's marksmanship "Nice shot there." Tony says "Thanks, always disarm them first before going in." Sally says "Well sense we already have their attention, shall we go in?" Tony got down from his tree, "After you."
"Oh my, I hope we're not interrupting anything," said Sally, as she and the fox strolled into the raccoons' camp.

"Oh no, not really," said Jethro. "Bob was just about to show us a trick or two with his sword, and this apple." The raccoon tossed one up in the air, and caught it.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting the performance," said Sally. "My friend is very protective, and tends to react first before thinking."

"Right," Bob said, rubbing his wrist.

"Anyways, we're trying to get to the palace, because we have a valuable item that they'd like," said Sally. "Perhaps if you were to help us out, we might share the reward."
"Share the reward?" Jethro said. "Sure, we might be interested in that. What's the valuable item?"

"You," Sally said.

"Huh? Me?"

"They be bounty hunters!" Phil said.

Jethro looked through narrowed eyes at Sally. "Is that true?"

"Quite true. If all three of you will kindly extend your hands, please, so I can tie your wrists together."

Phil made a slight move and Tony aimed an arrow at him. "Don't try it. You had the urge to run away for a moment there, didn't you?"

Bob took advantage of all the attention being on Phil and Jethro and went crashing off into the woods only to sprawl flat on his face when he tripped over the extended foot of Sir Humphry.

"Oh, pardon me, sir," said Sir Humphry. "Let me help you up."

Bob clearly sees the armor Sir Humphry is wearing and Sir Fastrack and Captain Blackmane, "Great, out of the frying pan and into the fire. If it's not Bounty Hunters it's the King's elate guards." Captain Blackname says "In the name of the King, you're under arrest."
"Well, not a bad haul," Sally said, once the three knights brought Bob back. "We'll just take them to the authorities, collect the reward, and be on our way."
"Thank you, my friends, for your help," said Humphry to Blackmane and Fastrack. Let's go to the inn and I'll treat you both to a mug of grog."


Meanwhile, Fanny the Dagalong had concluded her business in the village. Now she was ready to get back on the road, but this time instead of a load of watermelons, she was carrying two dozen sacks of stone-ground corn meal. "Look lively, Zarth!" she said to her two-legged lizard.

Zarth put his shoulders into it and the cart creaked into motion.

* * *

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The Second Dream


Somewhere in Poland, stands a military camp. Most of the area is surrounded by a barbed wire fence but the flag over the main building gives out what it is: an extermination camp.

Just then, all hell breaks loose as the camps alarm goes off and through a hole in a fence one of the prisoners makes a daring escape. Malkov, a polar bear, rushes into the woods. "I better make it back to my unit. I'm too weak to make it all the way. I need help, but I better find it quickly before the guards catch up."

At a nearby motorway, he sees a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost travelling north. "A bit old fashioned, but at least it's still running. I hope the driver is friendly."
"Then again, I can be persuasive," said Malkov.
Anna Lisowski, a red fox, was napping in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce. When her chauffeur screeched to a stop, she woke up. "What is it, Claude?"

"A polar bear in the road," Claude said. "He motioned us to stop."

"See what he wants, but be careful."
As the Rolls-Royce slowed down to a stop, Malkov rushed over, and sees the chauffeur looking at him, he says "May I help you sir?" Malkov says "If you don't mind, I would like a ride to the next town over, and I need to get in quick." The chauffeur says "Why are you in such a rush?" A german voice from behind Malkov says "Achtung!" a hail of bullets fly past Malkov and the Rolls. Malkov ducks and says "Does that answer your question?"
"Really bad timing," said Anna.
"Should I let him in, ma'am?" said Claude.

"Yes! Yes, but hurry!" Anna slid over to make room for Malkov, who jumped into the Rolls as soon as the door was unlocked.

"Go! Go!" Malkov said. Claude stomped on the gas so that the Rolls Royce spun wheels and then rushed quickly away.

Gunshots sounded behind them and bullets whizzed past them, but none found their target.
Inside the base office, Colonel Richter was going over some paperwork. He's a black panther wearing an SS officer's uniform. A knock on the door "Come in." Richter says in a heavy German accent, A guard comes in. "Sargent Schmidt, did you manage to help recapture the escaped prisoner?" Schmidt says, "No Colonel, Malkov escaped by a waiting car." Richter says "That's too bad,,,,Malkov?" He slaps Schmidt with this glove, "Dummkopf! That prisoner was supposed to be executed tomorrow, the Führer himself was supposed to see his execution. Did you see the make, model and most importantly the tag number on the car he escaped in?"
Anna looked at Malkov. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, and I don't care," the bear said. He then sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"

Anna groaned, and cracked open the window. "I told them to lay off the sulfur-producing foodstuffs."

Malkov heard some sounds, like voices, coming from the storage compartment behind them.

"Who's back in there?" the bear asked.

"A pig, his wife, and three children," said Anna. "They're Jews."

"What does that mean?"

"The Nazis have been rounding Jews up, along with others, and sending them to these camps," said Anna. "They're killing them because of their faith or nationality."

"I wondered why I got sent there instead of to the typical P.O.W. camp," Malkov said, as he pulled out his dog tags, which had an H on them, for Hebrew/Jewish.

"What's your name?" Anna asked.

"Malkov."

"Funny, you don't sound Russian," said Anna.

"Father moved to the United States after the Great War," said Malkov. "You?"

"Duel German-British citizenship," said Anna. "Father was a soldier during the war, got wounded, and captured, and fell for a nurse on the other side. Funny how that all works out."

"So, where are we going?" Malkov asked.

"I have a contact I have to meet," said Anna. "I drop the family off with them, and they get taken to Switzerland."

"Are you sure about that?" Malkov asked.

"I hope so," said Anna. "Otherwise, it's all been for nothing. They have nothing but Faith, Hope, and Love to help them get through this. Problem is, we've got a problem."

"What's that?" Malkov asked.

"You. If those soldiers that were after you recognized this car, it's not just you that's in jeopardy."

Malkov frowned. "I'm sorry."

"Luckily, I have done this sort of stuff before, and I know of a trick to keep the soldiers from examining the car too closely, although it might still lead to your capture," said Anna.

"What's the trick?" Malkov asked.

"The two of us will, simply put, have sex."

"Sex?"

"They will not bother a male and female in the throes of lovemaking," said Anna. "Don't ask me why, although I guess showing some decency and respect for the woman comes into play, and the fact that most of them are quite young themselves. Makes them think of things other than war I guess."

"I see."

(True story - many airmen shot down over Nazi-Occupied France were able to avoid capture by the Germans because French Farmers, who supported the French Resistance/Underground, would shelter them, and if German soldiers came near, would place the Allied Serviceman in the Daughter's/Sister's room, and tell them to get "Busy". The Germans, for whatever reason, would not interrupt the two lovers, although it could be assumed that the Serviceman would probably sneak out the back window, though if this was before or after having sex with the woman can be left open to interpretation.)
Claude drove the Rolls Royce so recklessly fast that they almost tipped over rounding a curve, but they managed to stay well ahead of the soldiers chasing them. They roared into a village and slammed to a stop at a small hotel.

"Hurry!" said Anna. "Everybody inside! Claude will continue on with the car."

Malkov and Anna and the pig family managed to scramble inside before the soldiers arrived. The soldiers saw the Rolls Royce far down the road, so they kept up the chase, not knowing they were now chasing an empty car.

Inside the hotel, the manager, who was Anna's contact, had opened a hidden door and pushed them all, except for Anna, into the cellar. "Wait there until tonight. Then we will have a way out of the village for you."

Upstairs, Anna and the contact had a quick conversation. "What about Claude?"

"I think he will be alright," Anna said. "He knows what to say. The soldiers will think they followed the wrong car."

"I don't know. A Rolls-Royce is not a common automobile around here. How could there be two of them?"
Anna says "My family owns two, the other one is leading the soldiers to an ambush."

Meanwhile at a city street leading to a beach resort(in which is secretly an allied base), Captain Blackmane and Lt. Fastrack along with 8 others wait to make their move, Commander Humphry comes by "Captain, Claude called. The wild goose has taken the bait and it's coming in." Blackmane says "You heard him, now get ready. Let the Rolls pass and when the soldiers come we'll surprise them."
(I'll be using ^ to indicate German.)

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Anna brought some food down for the pigs and Malkov.

^The owner apologizes for not having more to spare for you, but it should do until tonight, when another person will pick you up, and take you to your next destination,^ Anna said, in German.

^Thank you so much,^ the father pig said. ^We will include you in our nightly prayers.^

^You're welcome.^

Malkov accepted his food, and walked over to a small window. He then looked at Anna. "Why are you doing this?"

Anna frowned. "I had a friend, and we'd known each other since school. She was a rabbit, and a Jew. Didn't care about that though, we were like sisters, talking about boys, doing our hair. She got married, had some kids, and I was like an aunt to them. Then, it became illegal to be a Jew. SA Stormtroopers, and others, started killing Jews. I managed to convince my family to hide Tayna and her family on some property we owned. A neighbor noticed them though, and informed the Gestapo. Tayna and her husband had five kids, and they'd fight to protect them."

"What happened?" Malkov asked.

"The Gestapo set fire to the place, and killed Tayna and her husband as they ran out the back."

"And the kids?"

Anna smiled. "Tayna's husband was a contractor, and made a hidden room in the basement, stocking it with food and water. I found them hiding in it when I searched the property a few days later. They were all safe, smelling like smoke and such, but safe."

"After that?"

"Father knew a few people, who managed to convince others that we knew nothing about Tanya or her husband being there at the time," said Anna. "After that, we sent the kids on their way to Switzerland."
Malkov sighed. "I feel terrible that people have to run such risks just so I can survive."

"Don't think that way," Anna said. "Every life is precious and those who work to save lives are ennobled by the experience. Even though now my life is in greater danger than ever it was in the past, I feel so much better. Life has meaning and purpose for me now. I am happy to help you escape."



The Rolls Royce came roaring by the hidden soldiers. Claude's face was intense with his need to concentrate on his driving of the heavy car at such a high speed.

Then the big Nazi vehicle full of soldiers came roaring up, it's diesel engine growling and popping.

"Now!" said Captain Blackmane.
Lt. Fastrack chucks a hand grenade in front of the lead vehicle which explodes on impact, all the vehicles stopped.
One of the enemy says , ^AMBUSH!^ As the soldiers got off their vehicles, and before they could even fight back more allied soldiers lead by a Bison 5 star general comes up from behind them in a convoy of vehicles lead by a Ford Fordor which now outnumbers the Germans, "What do we have here? Unless your paying us a visit, attacking this base is a big mistake." Captain Blackmane says "General Longhorn, we didn't expect you to drop by. Judging by the looks of it, we glad you did."
"Find anything?" the bison asked.
At the hotel in the village, shortly after midnight, Anna pulled Malkov and the pig family out of the cellar. "Our ride is here. Say nothing. Move quickly."

In the street was a large farm truck filled with hay with a tarp stretched over the hay to keep it in place.

"In you go," Anna said, and they all buried themselves as deeply into the hay as thy could.
Malkov asks "Where are we going?" Anna says "I have an Estate just near the German-Polish border. We'll be safe there." Malkov asks "What about the soldiers? Will they search the area?" Anna says "Being part German has it's perks. You can't search a private estate without a warrant."
"Of course, that's as long as the searcher isn't Gestapo," Anna cautioned.
The truck rumbled on through the night. The pigs all fell asleep, but Malkov remained awake, thinking. It all seemed too easy, the way the car had been there on the road when he escaped, the fact that the occupant of the car was willing to help, the way they had fooled the Germans, the arrival of this truck. Was he overlooking something?

On the other hand, what could he do but accept the flow of fate and chance? The car was there, the truck was there. He was on his way to freedom. Just accept the fact that life was finally going for him instead of against him. And hope it stayed that way.
Malkov on the other hand is racking up his brain, there was still an unanswered question. Why was he sent to an Execution camp instead of a P.O.W. camp and why was he marked Jewish when he knows he's Christian? Is there a secret about him that he doesn't know about the Nazi's want to make sure they cover up?
Of course, some mysteries will always remain that.
Malkov must have fallen asleep because he jerked awake at the sound of harsh German voices. The truck was stopped. A Nazi soldier was arguing with the driver of the truck. It seemed there were no vehicles allowed on the roads at night unless they had the proper authorization papers.
Back at the base, Captain Blackmane and his team is in a meeting with General Longhorn along with Claude, "Are you sure his name was Malkov?" Asked the General. Claude answered "Yes, He and Anna are currently smuggling a Jewish family to freedom away from the Germans, I imagine they are currently transporting them to our estate near the border of Germany and Poland on the Polish side." The General says "Captain, you will send a couple of your men with Claude, and retrieve Malkov." Blackmane says "Sure, but why?" The General says "A few months ago, Malkov was part of a rescue team to retrieve a scientist forced to work on a Nazi experiment, to ensure that his work won't fall into the wrong hands, the formula for the experiment is placed in Malkov's subconscious. It can only be retrieved by a certain code phrase in which he alone knows." Blackmane says "So that's why he was sent to an Execution camp." The General nodded, "The rescue got a bit rocky and he was captured, with the information in Malkov's subconscious could put an end to the Nazi superpowers."
Malkov gripped a knife he had on him. He'd use it if he had to.
The truck driver protested, but one of the German soldiers used a long bamboo pole to probe the hay in the truck. It passed within inches of Malkov's face. Then it hit one of the piglets. The piglet started squealing and all three piglets jumped out of the truck.

"Now see what you have done!" yelled the driver.

But the soldier was from a farm family himself, so he stopped probing and helped the driver recapture the piglets. "Why is this piglet wearing shoes?" he said.

The piglets, like the young of many anthropomorphic animals, looked more pig than human when young. It was only as they got older that the more human characteristics became obvious. Taking advantage of that fact, the piglets had stripped off their clothes while hiding in the hay.

The driver could think of no answer to the soldier's question.

"Is it some kind of joke?" asked the soldier.

"Yes! That's it!" said the driver. "Haha! We were drinking while loading the pigs and it seemed amusing at the time. Haha! A pig with shoes! Haha!"
The soldier then says "The Third Reich normally doesn't condone this kind of humor, but sense I was raised on a farm myself I'll let you off on this. You may pass." As the truck continued on his way, Anna and Malkov breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close." Malkov said.
"Just be glad they didn't say anything understandable," said Anna.
"Yes," said Malkov. "Talking pigs would be hard to explain away."

The truck reached its destination without further interference - an old estate in Poland near the city of Gubin. They went through the checkpoint from Guben, Germany to Gubin, Poland without incident.

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As the truck pulled in to the Estate, Claude was there meeting them at the gate, "Did you loose your pursuers Claude?" Claude answered "Yes Ma'am, with a little bit of help." Anna and Malkov noticed that they had company, a wolf and a cheetah. "Pardon our intrusion ma'am," said the wolf, "I'm Commander Humphry and this is Lieutenant Fastrack of the Allied forces. We are here to bring Agent Malkov back to base." Fastrack says "We better do so, right away. I just intercepted a coded broadcast from Hitler himself, he wants Malkov dead at all costs." Malkov says "Is that the reason why I was sent to an execution camp?" Hunphry says "Your mind contains a secret in which can only be revealed by a certain code phrase." Malkov says "Which is?" Humphry says "I don't know, only the scientist you helped freed knows it and he's meeting us back at base."
"Must be important enough they want me dead," said Malkov. "Makes one feel honored, almost."
"Good-bye," Anna said.

Malkov shook her hand. "Thank you for all your help. Good luck, little pigs!"

"And now to get back across the lines," said Commander Humphry. "We have a small airplane hidden nearby."
As Malkov followed Humphry and Fastrack off Anna's estate, they lead him to a hidden hanger containing a Grumman F6F Hellcat aircraft, "May not be much, but we managed to make the cargo hold passenger worthy." Humphry opens the cargo hatch revealing a seat. "Good way to smuggle you across the lines in case we run into an enemy aircraft or two." Malkov gets into the cargo hold "A little uncomfortable, but it's better then dead." Humphry closes the hatch while Fastrack gets into the cockpit, Humphry sits in the seat behind him and shortly the aircraft is in the air.
"Let's hope this works," said Malkov.
It was a bumpy ride and Malkov felt his stomach threatening to upchuck, but he gritted his teeth and vowed to swallow it if it happened. Bears aren't made to fly, he thought. If we were we would have wings.
After 3 hours of flying, he felt the aircraft landing and when the hatch opened, he got out. Captain Blackmane and General Longhorn was there to greet him. "Welcome to Ft. Beachfront Malkov," said the General, "I'm sure Commander Humphry and Lieutenant Fastrack explained why you've been bought here." Malkov says "Because I have something in my brain, a secret the Germans want me dead then tell." Captain Blackmane says "In a way, yes." Malkov says "Except, I don't know that secret yet." Captain Blackmane says "Perhaps the Professor will help jog your memory. Nurse Naomi. Escort Malkov to the infirmary."
"We'll find out," said Malkov.
Professor Potbelly was a koala who wore granny glasses and a rumpled white lab jacket. "So you iss de bear wid de memory problem, eh? Don't worry. We unlock that box."

"How are you going to do it?" Malkov asked.

"Wid a combination of drugs and hypnotism. Very effective. It vill be like popping a pimple."

Professor Potbelly held up a hypodermic needle. "First, vee inject Phase One, then wait. OK?"

"That's a pretty big needle."

"You iss a pretty big bear. Haha! Don't worry. Nurse Naomi vill hold your hand."
The Coatimundi Nurse held on to Malkov's huge paw-like hand, "Don't worry sir, Professor Potbelly knows what he's doing." The professor then injected the needle into Malkov's arm, yet he doesn't even cringe at the injection as he removes the needle "Dare done. Now to Phase Two." He puts on goggles and gives the other pare to Nurse Naomi, then he pulls down the screen on one wall, and starts a projector but all it shows is a spinning swirl in which immediately puts Malkov in a trance like state. "Malkov, do you hear me?" Malkov says in a monotone voice "Yes professor." The Professor then says "Okey, tell me about codename: Heißwasser(Hot Water)."
"Hot water, boiling water, sterilizes germs. Used in making coffee and tea," Malkov said.

"Is that it?" Blackmane asked.

"Give him time," said Potbelly. "Some of it will be nonsense, at least at first. Wait ten minutes, and then he'll tell the real information."
Malkov continued in his gruff monotone. "Hot water, cold water, not the same. Hot water hot, cold water cold. Hot water make soup. Soup poison. Soup toxic. Be careful with that soup! How do you make the soup? First you need hot water."

"What's he talking about?" Blackmane said.

Potbelly shrugged. "I told you a lot of it would be nonsense, but I wonder if hot water refers to radioactive water?"
Then Malkov says "Codename: Heißwasser, A top secret chemical compound that turns water into a liquid explosive, created by German scientist Dr. Heinz Eisenberg, it's supposed to be the weapon to end all weapons and to prove that, German forces are testing it on city on water."

Captain Blackmane says "Good god, a water based weapon, but where are they testing it?"

Dr, Potbelly then asks "Which city are they testing Codename: Heißwasser?"

The next answer was a shock to the troops "Venice, Italy."
"Their own ally," said Blackmane. "And the Soviets complain about us pestering them for not helping us with Japan."
Commander Humphry nodded his head in agreement. "I'll make sure this information gets to Allied Command right away. I wonder if they will warn Italy about what the Germans are up to?"

"If they do," Blackmane said, "I'm sure they will find a way to do it that will maximize tensions between Germany and Italy."
As soon as General Longhorn got this information. "I don't believe this, I thought Mussolini and Hitler were allies." Captain Blackmane stated "Perhaps Hitler meant to betray Italy with this attack." The General says "Captain, gather all your troops and head to Venice. Codename: Heißwasser must be stopped at all costs."
"Well, it could be a scorched earth tactic," said Blackmane. "Just how close are our forces in that area?"
Malkov had a headache after he recovered from the drugs/hypnosis treatment. "What's to become of me?"

Professor Potbelly closed Malkov's file folder. "I'm sure you will be well provided for. Any place in particular you would like to go?"
"I would like to go to bed for now and plus I got this splitting headache." Potbelly says "That's understandable." Captain Blackmane asks "Side effect from the treatment?" The Professor nodded "Yes, by the way aren't going to Venice to stop the attack?" Blackmane turns to his men, "You heard the professor, let's go to Venice." As Blackmane and his men flew to Venice. Nurse Naomi gives Malkov an asperin and he took a nap. That night, Blackmane and his squad returned victorious after stopping the Germans in Venice.
There was always something out there though.
"I'm glad I could help," Malkov said when Blackmane told him about the success of the mission.

"Have you decided what you will do next?" asked Blackmane.

"Yes. I'm going back to Poland and find Anna and help her in her work. This war isn't over yet and I want to do something useful."

"Good for you!" Blackmane said. "I wish you much success."

* * *



** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

The Third Dream


Setting: 1870's, Old West.

A bucket of water splashed in the wolf's face. "Goddamnit! Who did that?!"

"Time to wake up, Sheriff," a voice said.

The wolf groaned, as he sat up, and put his feet on the floor. "What is it this time, Alex?" he asked. He looked at Alex, who was an orange-furred cat.

"Mayor Brown wants to talk to you," said Alex.

"Probably wants to talk to me about that fire last night," the wolf said. "Tell him I'll see him at noon."

"It is noon."

The wolf looked at his deputy. "What?"

"Well, given between the fire, and the fact that you was busy helping folks get out of the place, and you didn't get into bed until well after midnight, I thought it was best to let you sleep in a little," said Alex.

The Sheriff yawned. "Oh. What does Brown want me for anyways?" he asked. "Does he need someone to hold his pants up while he puts his new belt on?"

"Actually, he was like, 'Deputy Alex, if Sheriff William is not at my place after noon, I'm going to kick him out of that broken-down cot myself!' Those were his words, sir."

William yawned again. "He'd have to use that cane of his then. His leg didn't heal right after that bank robber shot him all those years ago."

"What happened?" Alex asked. "I mean, no one has told me what happened."

"Right, you only moved in last year," said William. "It was ten years ago, and he was the Sheriff then, and I was a Drunk, and his son was a Deputy. Well, the Peterson's Gang tried to knock off the bank, and he and his son tried to stop them. The son was killed, and he was wounded. Me, I was Sober, and I was passing by heading towards the Saloon, saw them, saw the son's gun, grabbed it, as well as Brown's, and well, five shots later, no more Peterson's Gang. Then I got drunk, got into a fight, passed out, and then got locked up. Then, I got deputized."

"What for?" Alex asked.

"Needed the money to pay for the table, and a couple of chairs that I broke," said William. "That, and Brown saw something in me, though what I do not know, at least at the time anyways."

"What was that?" Alex asked.

"The possibility that I might be more than just a Drunk."
"Thanks for telling me all that about yourself," Deputy Alex said. "It helps me understand the situation here a little better. Now I'll tell you something about myself."

Sheriff William made a push away gesture. "Some other time, Alex. Right now I have to talk to Mayor Brown."

Mayor Brown was a big fat Prairie Dog. He had a wife and three kids. He liked being mayor of Panhandle. It was a sleepy little town where not much happened and not much was ever likely to happen. An easy place to be the mayor.
The only real issue Brown had was his bad leg, and the loss of his eldest son from the shootout, and the loss of his first wife from Yellow Fever. He looked at some old tintypes, and sighed. Junior had taken after his mother in a number of ways, too stubborn to change his mind, but that was because he always had to do the right thing.

He heard the knock. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing Sheriff William. "You wanted to see me?"

"Jesus William, did you sleep in those clothes?" Brown asked, annoyed. "And take off your hat!"

William took off his hat.

Brown sighed. "Will, how long have we known each other?"

"At least ten years, sir," said William. "Came here after the war."

"As did most everyone," said Brown. "And you were nothing but a drunk." He sniffed the air. "And you still are!"

"It was just a little something to help me sleep," said William.

"Have you had something to eat?" Brown asked.

"No, came here after my deputy got me up."

Brown sighed, and rang a bell.

A woman came in. "Yes Mayor?"

"Get the sheriff something to eat, he hasn't had lunch," said Brown. "And get some milk for him to drink."

"Yes Mayor." The woman left.

Brown sighed. "William, when are you going to start taking care of yourself?"

"Sir?"

"You wear the same clothes every day, until they about fall off your body, you forget to eat, you always drink, and you never take a bath-"

"Hey! I always take a bath when I visit Tina!"

"That doesn't count."

The woman came in, with a tray of food, and a glass of milk.

"Thank you, Mavis."

The woman left.

"Eat, William."

The wolf started to eat.

"William, I need to talk to you."

William looked at Brown. "I hope you're not thinking of sacking me. I do my job."

"It's the only thing you're good at!" said Brown. "You're good in a fight, you're good with a gun, you can track better than most, and nothing stops you! But you need to learn how to deal with people, and you need to quit with the drinking."

"The drinking is a little hard for me," said William. "It's how I keep away the memories."

"We all did things in the war," said Brown. "Best thing to do is move on."

William frowned. "That might be tricky." He resumed eating.

Brown sighed. "William, I checked out the hotel. It wasn't an accident. I located some kerosene cans out behind the place, all empty, still smelling of the stuff. Do you know what that means?"

"Arson?"

"That's right," said Brown. "All while people were still inside in their beds. Someone is going to hang for it."

"Are you sure it wasn't an accident?" William asked.

"One can tipped over, I might believe that, but five cans? Someone wanted someone dead."

"I see."
Elsewhere, a shifty-looking weasel, entered the office of land grabber, Strypse. A tiger with a greed for realty. "Did you make sure the hotel fire was an accident Martin?" He asked "Yes Strypse, no one was the wiser." "Good, make sure that next job does the same way. Soon Panhandle will belong to me."
Martin sat in his favorite thinking spot, the saloon, and thought about his next move. If he did another fire people would get suspicious. He needed a way to make the next property worthless so Strypse could buy it cheap. If he couldn't burn down Wilson's Stable, then what could he do? It came to him in a flash. Disease! If the horses in the stable started getting sick and dying, no one would want to keep a horse there. Wilson would be forced to sell out... cheap.
William took a look behind the burned hotel. However, there was a number of scents belonging to different people, more than a few had been busy trying to put out the fire, or escaping from it. He did find the kerosene cans, but there wasn't much he could do, the scent still being powerful enough to clog someone's nose. As for tracks, well, there was some. He sniffed those; one set belonged to Mayor Brown, but he wasn't foolish enough to do something like this. The other belonged to a weasel, who smelled of floral soap.

William scratched his chin. The only place he knew that regularly had floral soap was the brothel, where the clients had to take a bath before seeing the girls, so that they could smell nice and clean. The Madam was very keen on that - and had arms strong enough to haul those who refused to take one out the doors - no bath meant no girl.

William walked towards the brothel where, sure enough, some cowhand just got their ass tossed out on the dirt road that was Main Street.

"No bath! No girl!" the woman yelled. Then, her tone changed. "Oh, hello, Sheriff. Here to see Tina?"

"She available?" William asked.

"Take a bath, and she will be by the time you're done," the woman said.

"Alright," said William. "By the way, did any weasels visit here recently?"

"Yeah, about fifty of them," the woman said. "Most of them were polite enough to take a bath. Others, found out like he did." She looked at the cowhand, who was in the process of trying to pick himself up. "You want a girl, take a bath!"

"Makes one feel sorry for skunks and others like them," said William.

The woman waved a hand in front of her face. "I'm okay with that, so long as they make an effort at taking a bath, and try not to stink up the place on purpose. My issue is with those who refuse to get the dirt and sweat off of them."

William chuckled. "And this coming from a sow. So, Petunia, perhaps you could help me by getting me a list of names?"

"Does this have to do with last night's fire?" Petunia asked.

"Potentially," said William. "But, since I could be wrong, let's just keep this between you and me." He then gave her some coins.

Petunia looked at the money, and slipped it into her pocket. "Let's call that a down-payment. Take your bath, enjoy your time with Tina, and I'll work on that list."

"I always did like a good human woman," said William. "Brown hair and green eyes help as well."

"Enjoy yourself, Sheriff."
While the Sheriff is having his bath, Martin is busy with his scheme. Wilson was busy feeding the horses at the stables so Martin spikes the hay with a combination of laxatives and Sodium bicarbonate, "Hahaha, this mixture will do the trick."
Mayor Brown did a little investigating of his own and discovered that a certain Mr. Strypse was making offers on property around town, including the building that burned down.

"Hmmm," said the mayor to himself. "I wonder if there is any connection there?"

Deputy Alex came running in. "Mayor! My horse is sick and so is yours!"
"Get Doc Hodgens then," said Brown.

"Where's the sheriff?" Alex asked.

Brown grinned as he remembered the scent of floral soap near the tracks by the kerosene cans. "He's on the scent of the culprit by now, or at least has his arms wrapped around the body of a woman."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Between you and me, the person who set the hotel on fire was a weasel who visited one of Madam Petunia's Ladies," said Brown. "Madam Petunia is a stickler for cleanliness, and makes sure that any man who wants to enjoy one of her ladies has taken a bath. No bath, no girl, as she'd say."

"Got any other ideas?" Alex asked.

"Just go get the Doc, and tell him to check on the horses," said Brown. "The vulture usually comes if the situation is serious anyways."

"So, what do you think is going on?" Alex asked.

"I have my suspicions," said Brown. "I'm sure that William will have a list of names in about an hour or so, for the two of you to check out."
Alex sees Doc Hodgens at his office, a Ram. "Wilson stables has sick horses eh? I'll go there and find out what made them sick. First I need to check the hay for anything that made them sick."
"Aha!" said Doc Hodges. "My intuition was right. It's the hay. You are what you eat, my friend, and these noble creatures ate shit. I think they will recover if they are still on their feet. That horse over there lying on the ground puking green foam... I don't think he's going to see the sun rise tomorrow."

"But that's my horse!" said Deputy Alex. "Me an old Bones been together for over ten years."
"Happens," the Doc said. "There's nothing I can do however. It's up to Fate at this point. Perhaps if you got him to drink a lot of water, he might stand a chance."
Alex spotted two discarded boxes in the corner, "What do we have here?" Doc then asks "Sense when does Wilson feed laxative and Sodium bicarbonatein to the horses?"
"He doesn't" said Doc. "I think a Bad Guy has been here and done this."

"Do you think?" said Alex. "Let's go tell Sheriff William. First a Bad Guy burns down the hotel, then a Bad Guy poisons the horses. I'm wondering if it's the same Bad Guy."
A while later, William was putting his pants on.

A pair of arms wrap themselves around him. "Are you sure you have to go, Sheriff?"

William chuckled. "Yes Tina, I have to." He removed the woman's arms, and turned to face her. "Has anyone told you that you're beautiful?"

Tina smiled. "Only every day."

William placed his arms around her, and brought her face close to his, and kissed her. "Until we get another chance."
Alex stops by "William, I'm surprised you're clean." William says "Is that all?" Alex says "No, while you were busy, horses has been poisoned. I got a feeling it's the same bad guy that burned down the hotel." William says "There's gotta be a connection, we need to ask Wilson who might want to do this, he may have some answers."
Wilson was a canine of dubious heritage, but don't call him a mutt unless you want to fight. He spat out a wad of chewing tobacco before he answered the sheriff's question. "I reckon ten years ago there might have been a few people who wanted to do me harm, but I'm not the same man I was then. As far as I know, I've got no enemies."

The sheriff nodded. "So, nothing unusual happening around the stables lately?"

"Not unless you want to call somebody wanting to buy it unusual."
"He offer you a good price?" William asked.

Wilson spat. "No. It was way too low, even lower than the usual low price your smart buyer would have offered."
William asks "Who's the buyer?" Wilson says "His name is Strypse, he wanted the property for something but I turned him down. This stable is my life's work." William says "Hmm, looks like poisoning the horses may make you change your mind, I'm going to ask around to find out what else this Strypes wants to buy, Alex, as soon as your horse is better, ride over to Ft. Darwin and tell Captain Blackmane what's happening in Panhandle."
At Ft. Darwin, Captain Blackmane, a lion in the army, listened to Deputy Alex with interest. "I've heard of this Strypse character. He's a land grabber. Made quite a name for himself with his unscrupulous tactics. This might be an opportunity to finally bring him down. Let me make a few arrangements here and I can be in Panhandle tomorrow."

When Alex returned to Panhandle, Sheriff William said, "Excellent! Blackmane is a good man."
William looked at the hotel again. He was soon joined by Horace, the owl who owned the remains.

"Run a place for seven years without much trouble, except for the occasional fight between guests, and then this happens," the owl said.

"Can you rebuild?" William asked.

Horace hooted. "Of course I can. I keep some of my money in a fireproof safe, and the rest in the bank. Just need to buy the materials, pay for the labor, some new beds, a few blankets, and it will be better than before. Saved up at least ten thousand dollars. It shouldn't cost me more than two thousand to restore it to the way it was, though I might pay more to expand it and make things better."

"Really?" William asked.

"Folks coming and going and all of them needing a place to lay their head down for the night, or day in the case of those who are more active at night," said Horace. "Funny, some fella offered me five hundred dollars the other day. Turned him down, the least I would have accepted was a thousand dollars."

"Why would someone want to buy your hotel?" William asked.

"Railroad's coming through, or so some railroad workers from Silver Creek told me," said Horace. "Nice flat ground for the tracks, and a good supply of water nearby. Why, if one was to control the hotel, store, and the stables, and the land the railroad needed to purchase, they could make a lot of money."
Meanwhile, Strypse is seeing the Silverback brothers. A trio of gorillas hired as muscle. "I have a job for you three, you see I have tried to buy some property in Panhandle but turned down. No one says no to me. I want each of you to go to certain locations." Butch, the first one says "Sure boss, I see what your saying, convince them to change their minds. Where do we go?" Strypse says "Butch, you go to the bank. Russ, the Saloon and Sampson, the Town Hall. Remember, don't take no for an answer." Butch just chuckles "We never do."
Butch Silverback walks into the bank and says, "I want to see the manager."

Girl says, "Can I tell him what it's about?"

Butch says, "Tell him it's about his wife and kids being safe."

Girl is shocked. "Oh my! Has something happened to them?"

Butch says, "Not yet."
"Butch Silverback."

The gorilla turned around at the mention of his name, and saw the Sheriff standing at the door. "What do you want?"

"For you to get your brothers, and get out of town," said William. "You're not Wanted here. I'd like to keep it that way."

"What are you talking about?" Butch asked.

William reached inside of his shirt, pulled out a folded sheet of paper, and tossed it at Butch. "That should explain."

Butch picked up the paper, unfolded it, and saw an image of himself, and his two brothers.

"You're wanted for extortion and assault in the next county over," said William. "Saw you and your brothers as I went to my office. Now, I've had a bad night's sleep, and today has not been good either, so let's do this the easy way, where you and your brothers just ride on out of town, and don't come back."

"And if we was to refuse to leave?"

"Find something to arrest you on," said William. "Like the fact that you've got something in your pockets, and if I was to check it out, and if it turns out to be what I think it is, I could arrest you for violating the town ordinance rule where carrying firearms is concerned. So, if I were you, I'd walk out of here, get my brothers, and ride on out of here while I still had the chance. After all, folks around here don't carry weapons, at least not those I can see, and if I see you're carrying one, it's thirty days, or a hundred dollars."

"So, we just leave, and don't come back," said Butch. "What if we need something, like coffee and beans?"

William smiled. "Me and my deputy could help you out there; you give us a list, and the money, we'll purchase what you need, and give you your stuff, plus the change."
As William lead Butch to his office, Butch was surprised to see both Russ and Sampson already caught, "Get in there with both of your brothers." Alex says "Russ was at the Saloon trying to start a barroom brawl, Sampson tried to threaten Mayor Brown." "Is that right?" William says and turns to the Silverback Brothers, "We don't appreciate troublemakers here in Panhandle. You're not the kind who do this for laughs so someone must've hired you to do this, tell us who?"
"I'm not a rat," Butch said. "And neither is Russ and Sampson."

"I already have my suspicions about who it was," said William.


Meanwhile, Strypse was getting the news about the Silverback Brothers being arrested. "Damn this little town of Panhandle! I've had more trouble here than anywhere. And mostly it's because of the sheriff, I think."
"What are you going to do with us?" Butch asked.

William smiled. "The hotel, as you might have noticed, is in need of renovation, as it were. I reckon that if you was to help Horace rebuild, of your own free will, he might throw in pay, plus meals, and he doesn't stint his workers on either end. Otherwise, you get to eat my cooking, and even I won't eat my own cooking."

"You'd make us work?" Russ asked.

"It's that or sit in there until the Circuit Judge comes here next month to try you, and that will give me time to get a hold of all of those who want you in their jail, or wish to press charges," said William. "Of course, if enough folks was to say that you were hard workers who could do something better, the Judge might be lenient, and just have you work off what you owe, instead of locking you up."

"Do you mean it?" Sampson asked. "We help rebuild the hotel, and we'll get a reduced sentence?"

"Mayor Brown and Judge Simmons go a ways back," said Williams. "I won't even ask you who hired you."
"Alright then," Sampson said. "It's a deal."

"Wait a minute," Butch said. "Who died and made you boss of the SIlverback Brothers?"

"Sorry, Butch. What do you think?"

Butch scratched his chin and looked at Sheriff William through narrowed eyes. "I reckon we can trust this one. He looks honest enough."

"Thank you," William said, without smiling.


Strypse was talking with Two Gun Malone, a gunslinging orangutang from Arizona. "I've got a problem with a sheriff of a little town called Panhandle."

"A sheriff, eh? That will cost you big, Strypse. If they get me for killing a lawman, it won't be jail, it will be the rope."

"I can pay you big money for this job. I stand to make a fortune off of Panhandle property if I can just get my hands on it. With the money I give you, you can retire and go to Mexico and live the good life."

Two Gun Malone sighed. "I probably should think about retiring. In my last shoot out I was a little too slow and the guy winged me in the arm. It won't be long before I am as old and slow as you, Strypse."

"Shut up! I'm still a young man with plenty I want to do."

"If you don't know your foe, it's possible to end up dead," said Two Gun Malone. "What kind of a shot is he?"

"Why is that important?" Strypse asked.

"Is he a fast shot, who relies on speed, does he fire all the rounds in his gun in the hopes that one of them will hit, or is he the kind who will take his time, calmly aim, and gently squeeze the trigger, sending just one round, right into his foe's heart?" Malone asked.

"Why do you care about that?" Strypse asked. "You're a sure shot with your right, and you're not bad with the left."

"Yes, I'm a good shot with both hands, and even with my feet," said Malone. "However, if he's both quick and accurate, might have an issue."

"From what I hear, he's drunk half the time."

"We shall see then."


Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Panhandle, Alex was setting up a number of empty whiskey bottles on a tall rock.

"Do you think it will come to a gunfight?" the cat asked, as he set a fifth bottle down.

"That's enough bottles," said William. "Depends on the enemy. I just want to make sure I still have it."

Alex walked over to the wolf, a distance of thirty feet. "You do realize that anyone can hit those bottles from this distance."

"I'm going for the necks," said William. He checked his gun, and holstered it, on his left side. "Tell me when."

Alex looked at the bottles, and looked at William, who had his left hand ready. "Now!"

William pulled his gun, carefully took aim, and squeezed the trigger. The neck of a bottle came off. The next four, after careful aiming for each shot, came off as well.

"Why do you use your left hand instead of your right?" Alex asked.

"It unnerves the other fella," said William, as he reloaded the gun. "They rarely expect it. That, and it makes the other guys with him think that I'm slow."

"Well you are slow."

William grinned, and holstered the gun. Then, he pulled out the gun on his right side, checked it, and holstered it. "In that case, tell me when."

"Now!"

Within the blink of an eye, William pulled out the right gun, and took out all five bottles.

"That's quick," Alex said, as he looked at the glass shards.

"And accurate," said Mayor Brown, as he came up behind them, carrying a double-barrel shotgun. "Set me up a few bottles."

"You're going to fight if it comes to that?" William asked.

Brown gave a nod. "It's my town. Besides, as those gamblers who come to town say, it's wise to keep an ace up your sleeve, in case you need it."
Captain Blackmane arrived with 2 of his officers, Major Humphry and Major Fastrack Alex says "Captain Blackmane, you made it." Blackmane says, "I sure did, Mayor, we have heard that Two Gun Malone is in town and he's bad news." Mayor Brown says "How bad?" Blackmane says "According to his record he always shoots Akimbo-style. He's also a quick shot and never looses to a showdown."
Two Gun Malone's preference was to ambush the sheriff and give him no chance to draw, but that proved difficult to do. Sheriff William seemed to have an instinct for avoiding bad situations and not only was his deputy Alex constantly covering his back but the sheriff himself seemed to have eyes in the back of his head that caused him to spin around at the slightest suspicion anybody was about to do a number on him.

So Malone decided maybe the best approach would be to challenge the sheriff to a man to man shootout and hope the sheriff's pride would lead to his downfall. Malone had no doubt that he himself would prevail in a gunfight. No one had ever beat him to the draw, except that pesky kid who shot him in the arm, but Malone had a cold that day. Now his health was excellent.
"This Malone," said Alex. "Do you think that you can beat him?"

William looked at his deputy. "Do you know how a person gets the title of having the Fastest Hands?"

"No."

"You need to beat the guy carrying the title in order to be called it," said William. "Two Gun Malone, I've seen him in action before."

"Where?" Alex asked.

"There was a bank robbery twelve years ago, in Silver Deer City," said William. "I was a bank guard, along with my brother. And then Malone came, with a half dozen men. I was at the saloon, enjoying a beer, when I heard the shots. When I got to the door, I saw him and his men coming out of the bank, with the money. The Sheriff and his deputy came out of their office. Malone shot them in their hands, so that they couldn't shoot at him. He has some scruples about killing those he doesn't have to kill, and only a fool would unnecessarily kill a lawman. Anyone who pointed a gun at him got their hands shot. My brother came out of the bank with a rifle, and got off a shot; killed one of Malone's gang members. Malone didn't like that, and shot my brother, right between the eyes. He, and his remaining gang members, got out of town then. Buried my brother the next day, and I set out after the bastard. Funny thing is, my horse broke its leg, forcing me to stumble into this town, where I crawled into a bottle, until Brown decided to break it over my head and tossed me into a cell."

"So, what are you going to do?" Alex asked.

William got out of the chair he'd been sitting. "Arrest him for his crimes, let him be tried, and if he's found guilty, watch him hang."

"Don't you want to kill him?" Alex asked.

William grinned. "Oh I'd love to to do that, but there's just one problem." He tapped his badge. "I swore an oath to uphold the Law, the same as you. Killing him in cold blood is murder. Of course, if he decides to accommodate me by Resisting Arrest, well, I do have the right to protect myself and those I'm sworn to protect."
Alex says "I know you had your oath, but you should be the one to face him, after all you said he killed your brother."
There was a note waiting for Sheriff William on his desk.

Sheriff, you are a no good, cheating drunk just like your no good brother that I shot. You ain't got the guts to draw against me in a fair fight. You think you can outshoot me I'll meet you at noon tomorrow in the street. You tell my man yes or no. He's the one in the red vest standing outside your office.

William motioned to Alex. "Go see if there is a man standing out there who is wearing a red vest. Bring him inside."

After a moment Alex returned with the man. "Here he is, Sheriff."

William waved the note in the man's face. "Tell Malone I'll be glad to meet him in the street, no tricks, no funny business. He knows he can trust me, but can I trust him, eh? Tell him to play it straight and clean. And tell him I'm a lot faster with a gun now than I was back then. Tell him he ought to get out of town while he can and save his own life, because otherwise he's gonna die right here in Panhandle."

After the man in the red vest left to deliver the message to Malone, Alex said, "Are you sure you can take him?"

Sheriff William's face was grim. "If there is any justice in this world it will be me that prevails."

"So, what are you going to do?" Alex asked.

"We need to play this right, and smart," said William. "Are you any good with a Winchester rifle?"

"Yeah, I'm good," said Alex.

"Take one, and get to the top of the second tallest building in town, tonight, and stay out of sight," said William.

"What for?" Alex asked.

"Unless Malone is an idiot, he'll send a sharpshooter with a good rifle into the tallest building in town, an hour before noon, so that he'll have me where he wants me either way," said William. "He's yours. Kill him when he tries to line up on me. After that, shoot anyone trying to shoot me. As it is, Mayor Brown, and some of the others will join the shooting; try not to shoot them."

"I understand," said Alex.
That night on the roof of town hall, Alex looked towards the tallest building which happens to be the bell tower of town church He saw movement there because it was too dark, he currently can't tell who was up there. Could it be the sniper Malone hired or just Reverend Jarome looking out?
Shooting the reverend would not be good. Alex decided to wait until the sun came up and see if anyone was still in the bell tower. Then he had a better idea. He climbed down off the roof, went down the street to the parsonage, and knocked on the door. There was no answer. So maybe it was the reverend in the bell tower. Or maybe it wasn't.

He still had the option of climbing up into the bell tower himself and seeing who was there. The only way into the tower was through the church, but he found the church door was unlocked. Slowly, quietly, he climbed the steps of the bell tower.
William was checking his guns, for the tenth time, when he heard a knock on the back door. Carefully covering his one hand, which had a revolver in it, with his hat, resting it carefully on the desk, he called out. "Come in."

The door opened, and Tina stepped in. "Sheriff?"

William lowered the hammer. "What is it?"

Tina looked at the hat. "The 'Gun under the Hat' Trick?"

William chuckled nervously, as he removed his hat, and his hand, from the gun. "Rather have a hole in my hat than in my head."

"I found out who hired the gunfighter that's after you," said Tina. "Strypse. He tried to buy the brothel, but Petunia told him that she wasn't selling. "He said he'd hired Malone to kill you, and could use him to kill her, or one of the Ladies."

William grinned. "I bet that's when he found out that he made a big mistake, threatening you Ladies."

Tina chuckled. "Petunia tossed him out the door, faster than someone who refused to take a bath. To be honest, we'll need a new door; she was so angry she plumb forgot to open it before tossing him."

"Making her angry would do that," said William. "Where's he now?"

"Heading towards the saloon, holding his head," said Tina. "Sheriff, I've heard about Malone. They say that no one alive can outdraw him."

William put his hat on, and holstered his gun. "That may be true, but I don't intend to outdraw him, just outsmart him." He then stood up, walked over to Tina, place his arms around her, brought her close to him, and kissed her lips.

"What are you going to do?" Tina asked.

"Go to the Saloon and have a drink, buy Strypse one, and then arrest him for being rude to you ladies," said William. "Malone won't make a move if I have his boss, unless he wants to kill me for free, and I'll make it clear that's what will happen if he tries to bust Strypse out. After all, trying to escape from jail is a good way to get yourself killed."

"I see," said Tina.

"Now, just go out the back door," said William. He let go of her. "I'll see you when this is over. There's things I'd like to discuss with you."

"Like what?" Tina asked.

"Well, they'd involve talking to a priest for one thing."

Tina smiled. "I was wondering when you were going to ask." She gave him a kiss, and left out the back door.
In the church, Alex was about to open the door to the bell tower when the door opened, Alex backed away quickly and took out his Winchester, it was only Reverend Jarome, "Don't shoot me Alex." The coyote said. "Sorry Reverend," Alex said, "I thought you were someone else." "Who do you think I was?"
"There is a gun slinging orangutan in town," said Alex. "He's gunning for Sheriff William. I thought one of his henchmen might be hiding in the bell tower."

"No, there's nobody up there. Maybe I should block it off or something."

"That would be good if you could make it inaccessible," Alex said. "It's a mighty good spot for a sniper to sit. I'd go up there myself but it doesn't have a wide enough view. I have to be able to see the whole town."

Reverend Jarome nodded. "So where are you going to be?"

"On the roof of the town hall. Listen, Reverend, if you see anything at all unusual, get word to me or the sheriff right away. OK?"

"I'll do it, Alex."
William checked his guns, again. That was when he saw the sawed-off shotgun on the rack. Brown, back when he was the Sheriff, had taken it off of a drunk, and never gave it back. William had never bothered with it, except for cleaning it, because, it was his brother's gun. He lifted it from the rack.

William frowned as he remembered his brother. Tom had been a bad shot with rifles and handguns, it was luck if he hit anything, even if it was the wrong thing. Thus he'd gotten a shotgun, and got a gunsmith to cut down both the barrels, and the handle, so that it was easy to use. Anything ten feet in front of the gun got destroyed, though past twenty, it tended to piss people off. After Tom was killed, William had taken to carrying it, until Brown had locked him up for being drunk and disorderly.

William opened it, inserted two shells, and closed it. "Alright Tom, let's see this through." He held it as he walked out the door of the office, and walked over to the Saloon. Things quieted down as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, before he stepped in. He saw Malone and Strypse sitting at a table, Malone watching the door, only to grin, and nod towards him. Strypse turned his head, and saw him.

William looked at them, and then walked up to the counter, where he set his brother's gun down. "Whiskey."

"Trying to summon some courage before you face my champion?"

William turned his head, to look at Strypse. "Helps one deal with the pain, and I'm feeling generous; Joe, give Strypse a glass, a big one, the one you use for beer, and fill it to the top with whiskey." He glanced at the orangutan, who was grinning. "Give a glass to his friend as well; he can pick out his own size."

Malone laughed. "That's kind of you, Sheriff. People ought to be kind to their enemies, before someone gets killed."

Strypse growled. "Malone, I'll give you an extra two thousand if you kill him right now!"

William grabbed the sawed-off shotgun, pulled back both hammers, and pointed it at Strypse. "Get up."

"Three thousand!"

Malone grinned. "Do you have it on you now?"

"I can get it!"

Malone chuckled. "Not if you're dead."

"What?"

"Your Champion has a point," said William. "He makes one wrong move, and you're dead. Whether he kills me or not afterwards won't matter, because men like him will only kill if there's something in it for them. I kill you, and he'll have no reason to try and kill me. Now, get up, and start walking; you're spending the rest of the night in the jail."

"Are you going to let him do this?" Strypse asked.

"Safest thing for you is to listen to him," said Malone. "I'll get you out, after noon, and then will discuss my payment."

William looked at Strypse. "Now, move."

Strypse got up, and started walking towards the jail, William covering him.
Sheriff William turned the key in the lock. The clank was loud to the ears of Strypse. "Sheriff, you can't lock me up when I've done nothing wrong!"

"It's called protective custody, Strypse, because I was very much afraid I might have had to kill you if you kept mouthing off. And I prefer to put you on trial. That's the way of the law."

Strypse muttered a curse at the sheriff, but William just smiled as he walked away. If he could make it happen, Strypse would never see freedom again. But first... Malone!
William looked at the clock. It was two, in the morning. He still had some hours to go until noon. He grabbed a chair, and shoved it under the door handle, and tilted it. Any way a door opened, it was bound to make noise. He then grabbed another chair, and set it on the far side of the other cell, away from both Strypse, and anyone who might use the window to snipe him from, and sat down.

He then looked at Strypse. "I do hope that you intend to pay Malone what you owe him, if he succeeds in killing me."

"What do you mean?" Strypse asked.

"I remember a fella, hired Malone to kill five men, for ten thousand dollars," said William. "Problem was, he only killed four, the fifth fell of his horse, and broke his neck. He's an honest sort, you should know, and made sure that the man got a decent funeral, paying for it himself, same with the others. After all, when someone kills you, the least they can do is give you a proper grave, and say a few words over you, and maybe mark it. Well, when the man that hired Malone found out that he'd only killed four of the five, he refused to pay him. Now, Malone, he would of settled for a decrease in the payment, eight thousand as opposed to the full ten, as he did not do the full job, but he didn't like being told he was going to receive nothing. What he did to that man, I wouldn't tell in polite company, but since you're not polite company, I'll tell you; he tied that man to a drying rack, like he was some sort of pelt, cut off his fingers and toes, gouged out his eyes, cut out his tongue, and cut off his manhood. Then, he cut him all over, nothing major, but he wasn't pretty afterwards. Then, he rubbed salt all over him, and let him hang there in the sun. And, to prolong the torture, he made sure that the man was feed, and had plenty of water, and made sure that no predators, or scavengers, was going to offer him an easy release. Five days later, he cut the man down, and dropped him off at the doctor, and took out the full ten thousand."

Strypse gulped at this. "He didn't kill the man?"

"No, but the message is clear enough," said William. "Cheat him of his pay, and you'll be begging for death to come."

"What's to stop him from killing those you care about, like that whore everyone knows you're sweet on?" Strypse asked.

William grinned. "The fact you didn't pay him to kill her. Oh, if she tries to use a gun, she might get her hand shot, but he doesn't believe in killing folks he wasn't hired to kill, unless they kill one of his men, then it's sort of an obligation; why work for a man who doesn't care about you, or won't avenge your death, and he gives them reason to follow him - those who are injured get an increase in the split, their families get ten times the pay they would of gotten if killed, and anyone who kills them gets killed, and he doesn't like traitors, although if you're an undercover lawman, he'll make an exception; one fella got both his arms and legs broke, was tied to his horse, and sent back into town, to tell the Sheriff what had happened. A real traitor, he'd be hanging twenty feet up in a tree, arms tied to one branch, and his feet tied to a lower one. The idea being, free your hands, and you'll be hanging upside-down right quick. He doesn't waste bullets on them."
Nalone knew that with Strypes in jail, he won't be paid for his job. This primate gunslinger was smart. He knew the Sheriff will try to booby trap the office with the direct approach. So he hired Larry the Mole. "Let me get this straight," Larry says, "You want me do dig under the sheriff's office to free Strypes?" "Yes, if you can do it before dawn, I'll make it worth your while."
"Well, I'll sure try!" Larry said. Malone was glad Larry was dumb enough to do the job without wondering what would happen to him if he got caught.

The mole dug furiously and an hour before dawn told Malone, "I'm almost there. A few more scoops and the floor of the cell will collapse.

"What?" Malone said. "It ain't a dirt floor, is it?"

"No sir, it's cement alright, but I have experience with these things. You remove the support from under a thin layer of unreinforced cement and you can just jump up and down on that cement and break it."
The plan worked, except for two things; a person would of had to of been deaf not to hear Larry digging, and Two, the person that jumped down into the hole with Larry was holding a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun.

"Well, if it isn't Larry the Digger," said William, aiming the weapon at the mole.

Larry chuckled nervously. "I bet you're wondering why I was digging under your office."

"Oh, I'd say it's fairly obvious," said William.

"It is?" asked Larry.

"Yep, Mayor Brown has hired you to dig out a cellar, so that we can store supplies, and perhaps make a few cells for those who don't like the sun," said William, as he lowered the shotgun. "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah," said Larry. "That's right."

"Good," said William, as he climbed up out of the hole. "I'll check on your progress in the morning."

"Just great," Larry muttered.

A few minutes later, Larry was looking at Malone. "I ran into a snag."

"What kind of a snag?" Malone asked, as he checked his guns.

"The Sheriff caught me digging," said Larry. "He seems to think that I'm digging out a cellar for him."

Malone shook with laughter. "He's a clever one. You have to admire him. He knows that you were trying to get Strypse out, but has now wrangled you into making some civic improvements on the place."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Larry asked.

Malone cocked his gun, and pointed it at Larry. "Get back to digging out the cellar, like he told you to do. We can still get Strypse out, we just need to bide our time, and wait until the Sheriff is outside, before we get Strypse out."

Larry gulped. "Right." He then got back down the hole, and resumed digging.
As Larry left, Malone's henchmen came in, "Aren't you supposed to be in the bell tower?" Malone asked, "The tower's locked up. The reverend is out and he has the only key." "Couldn't you pick the lock?"
"No," said the Henchman. "I'm just a Henchman, not some kind of fancy cat burglar. I've never picked a lock in my life."

"Then just kick the door down!" Malone said. "Have some initiative, man!"

"If I had any initiative do you think I would be working as a Henchman for you?"

"I don't like your attitude," Malone said. "Get back over to that church and find a way into the bell tower. If I don't see your face up there you'll be in big trouble with me."
Back inside the sheriff's office, William closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

An hour later, he woke up. He removed the chair from the door, and stepped outside.

"Sheriff, when are you going to let me out?" Strypse asked.

"The moment the judge says to," said William. "Trying to pay someone to kill me is against the law, so is hiring someone to burn down the hotel, and poison the horses in the stables."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Strypse.

"Funny thing is, each of those actions is worthy of the Hangman's rope," said William. "People could of died in the fire, horses could of died with a rider in the middle of nowhere, which is just as good as killing them, and I value my own life. The judge won't be here until next month, so that gives you plenty of time to think."
Inside the church, the henchman was about to knock down the bell tower door with a sledgehammer but before he got to swing it, he felt something metal touching the back of his head as he turned around he ended up staring down the barrel of Alex's Winchester. Alex asked sarcastically, "What exactly do you think are doing?"
The Henchman grinned sheepishly. "Uh... the door was locked."

"Come on," Alex said. "I have accommodations waiting for you."

Ten minutes later both Strypse and Malone's henchman were in cells in the jail.

"You are a total screw up," Strypse said. "When we get out expect to be punished. Nobody fouls up my plans and gets away with it."

"I don't take orders from you. I take orders from Malone."

"Well, Malone takes orders from me. It's called Chain of Command. Dummy!"
"And that's what gets you the rope," said William, as he looked at Strypse. He then looked at the henchman. "As for him, ten years in Yuma, or some such place. You are responsible for whatever he does while he's under your command."

"I won't swing from some rope," said Strypse.

William grinned. "I can accommodate you there as well; Shot while Attempting to Escape."

"You wouldn't dare."

William revealed his teeth. "Try me."
Then Blackmane came in "Sheriff, I got word that you're going to face Malone in a showdown." Then he paused mid-sentenced, "and it looks like you have Strypes locked up, good work." Williiam says "Too bad the judge won't be here for another month." Blackmane says "Why wait a month? I can arrange to have him on trial in Possum City," He faces Strypes. "There are a lot of people you cheated there who wanted to see you hanged." Alex says "Sheriff, I hope your shooting is top notch. It's 11:30 and the showdown is at Noon."
Sheriff William walked out into the glaring sunshine. Word had got around about the showdown. People lined the street.

He motioned to Deputy Alex. "Push those people back. We don't need the townsfolk catching any stray bullets."

Malone stood at the end of the street looking calm and steady. His face had the smug self-confidence of a gunslinger who has killed or wounded every man he ever drew a gun against.
Malone looked at his foe. "Well now, you showed up. No matter what anyone else says about what happens, I'll say this, you're a brave man."

William looked at the orangutan. "I could say the same about you."

"Tell me, Sheriff, are you getting thirsty?" Malone asked. "Liquor isn't easy to get over. Folks get the shakes awful bad. Affects the aim."

"Is that a fact?"

"That's right."

"Joe, get ten empty bottles," said William. "Me and Malone are going to put on a little demonstration before the main event."

Malone watched the bartender rush inside the saloon. "Going to try and scare me off?"

"It works," said William. "Seeing me shoot makes people think twice."

Ten minutes later, five bottles were lined up on top of the rock outside of town.

"So, this is where you do your target practicing," said Malone. "You go first."

William drew the gun on his left side, and slowly, one by one, shot the necks of each bottle. He then holstered his gun.

Malone grinned, and laughed. "Real slow and easy like. Still, good shooting." He drew his gun. "Let me show you how it's done." He then blasted the bodies of the bottles, and then drew his other gun, and shot up the remains. Nothing was left. "What do you say to that?"

"Joe, put up the other five," said William, as he pulled out his other gun, and took out one of the bullets, leaving just five.

A few minutes later, the bottles were standing. "Your call," said William.

Malone grinned. "Now!"

In the blink of an eye, William drew the gun on his right side, blasted away all five bottles, and holstered his gun.

The smile left Malone's face. "Now, that's what I call some impressive shooting."

"Last chance to back down," said William.
Malone says "I never back down, forget all this trick shooting and let's just draw." William says "Okay, but your making a grave mistake."
"A grave mistake?" Malone said. "Ha! It's gonna be your grave, not mine."

The two old-timers faced each other from opposite ends of the street. Neither one was truly old, but they both had a few years on them, and the harshness of the West takes it's toll on the body. Some it toughens, turning their skin to leather and their muscles to steel. Others it weakens so that they stumble and fall and become a meal for the buzzards.

William and Malone were tough as leather and cold as steel.

For a long moment they looked like two statues. Betty Sue Johnson couldn't stand the suspense and ran back into the hotel sobbing.

Malone's eyes glittered like a bird of prey. William stared right back at him, neither man blinking.

When it finally happened, it was fast and furious. A blur of action and three shots fired quickly, two from one gun and one shot from the other.

One man slowly crumpled to the dirt. The other man remained standing.
At this, Malone grinned. He'd beaten the wolf. He'd beaten the sheriff. He stepped forward.

That was when the pain hit. His hand went to his stomach, and came away covered in sticky red blood. He looked. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sheriff move, with a groan. Lifting his head, Malone saw William get to his knees, and then stand. The sheriff had his hand on his side, blood trickling from the wound.

Malone gulped, and tried to lift his gun, but his hand failed him, and his gun fell to the ground.

William moved his left hand, and drew the gun on that side. "Tell the Devil I send my regards." He fired his gun.

For a moment, Malone felt nothing. And then, once the right and left sides of his brain found nothing connecting them, he collapsed, dead.

William collapsed again.

"Quick!" someone yelled. "Get Doc Hodgens!"

Alex ran up to the sheriff, and rolled him over. "William?"

"ina?"

Alex realized what the wolf meant. "Where's Tina? He wants her!"
Alex got Tina to William "My god, you're hurt!" William tried to get up but he is too injured to move. That's when Doc Hodgens came with his first aid kit. "Tina quickly, lay him on the ground while I examine him."
William struggled to speak. "He was quick..." There was a long pause while he struggled for breath. "...but I got him."

Then William's eyes closed.

"Is he dead?" Tina asked.

"No, just unconscious," said the Doc. "If he doesn't bleed too much, there's a chance he'll make it."
A few days later, later, William's eyes opened. "Where am I?" he croaked.

"My guest bed," the Doc said, as the ram walked over to him. "Touch and go for a little while. The wound got infected from that dirt on the street."

"My side hurts," said William.

"Count yourself lucky," said Hodges. "It was a through and through. Looked worse than it was, which is a good thing in my experience. Messy wounds have a way of not being as fatal as those that are nice and neat, unless you're talking about getting your head blown off, or getting full of buckshot. Still, you had quite a bit of dirt in there from the ground."

"Malone?"

"Dead and buried, although we did give him a rather respectful funeral," said Hodges. "Which was more than he deserved."

"Strypse?"

"Alex has been watching the jail, and so has Brown, and a few others," said Hodges. "Oh, and it seems you have a new cellar, to store supplies and make a few cells for those who don't like the sun."

"Good. When can I leave?"

"Three days at the very least," said Hodges. "Five would be better. Rest is the most important thing right now."

"All right."

"That being said, there is someone who wants to see you," The Doc walked out the door. "He's awake, but don't tire him out."

Tina walked in. "William?"

"Tina?"

She sat in the chair next to the bed, and held his hand. He gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Tina, will you marry me?" William asked.

Tina smiled. "Yes."
A few days later, William made a full recovery, but when Martin heard about all the events happening, he tried skipping town by stealing the ticket to the next stage out but was quickly caught by Alex. The month passed and Strypes, Martin and Malone's henchman was bought to the Judge, A Panther named Judge Blacke. Now Sheriff William, Alex, Mayor Brown and Captain Blackmane wait in anticipation for what fate falls for Strypes and company.



** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

The Fourth Dream


Captain Tyrone yelled, "Banzai!" as he goosed the accelerator of his jet and buzzed the herd below. They stampeded in a panic, trumpeting their fear and alarm.
"Could you knock off the fooling around!" came a voice on the radio. "The Base commander hates getting calls from Herd Leaders complaining about the stunts you pull."
Another jet flown by a Triceratops(Triton) meets up with Tyrone's jet "Tyrone, you were promoted to leader of the Air Rex Squadron for a reason, we can't just barnstorm over herds like that."
"Well, dammit! When are we going to see some action?" Tyrone said. " it's nothing but training, training, training."

"Patience, Little Beaver," Triton said. "Word is the Mammoths have an army on the move right now. I think it's getting to be time to roast some mammal meat."

"Yahooo!" Tyrone said. "Easy pickings!"

"Maybe not so easy. They say the Mammoths have developed a new armor that can stop anything we can throw at them."

"Ha! That will be the day!"
Another jet, crewed by a Utahraptor joined them. "You need to respect your enemies, because you never know if they will turn into your friends."

"Don't be silly," said Tyrone. "A mammal and a dinosaur will never be friends."

"They said that of the different species of dinosaurs, due to our diets," said Utah. "And now, us carnivores eat reconstituted meat made from modified protein growths."

"I still say a friendship between a mammal and a dinosaur is unlikely," said Tyrone.

"If you were stuck in the middle of an ocean on a boat that requires two people to operate, and the other person is a mammal, would you be willing to put up with them until you got to shore at any rate?" Utah asked.

Tyrone was silent.

"Sounds like there's a story in there," said Triton. "That have anything to do with the reason you decked that security guard who was being rough to that prisoner?"

"That would be correct," said Utah. "If one doesn't respect their enemies, they have no reason to be respected in turn."

"Sounds like it was more than that," said Tyrone. "I've read your file. You got shot down a while back. You never did tell people what happened."

"Let me put it like this," said Utah. "A mammal saved my life. They didn't have to, but they did."

"Why?"

"The same reason you'd save someone trapped in a burning building," said Utah. "Because you'd hope that, if you were in that situation, someone would help you."
The voice on the radio says "Lieutenant Triton, Sargent Utah and Captain Tyrone, enough maneuvers for today and report back to base, and Captain, the base Commander wants a word with you."
Commander Mega was an older gigantosaurus with a well-scarred hide. "Captain Tyrone, your flying skills are exceptional, but you are not to use them to frighten the herds. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" snapped out Tyrone.

"I've got some news for you. You are going to see combat. The Mammoth army is now at the extreme range our jets, so we are going to send out a squadron and see what damage we can do to the Mammoths. You will be piloting one of those planes."

"Thank you, sir!"

"And another thing," said Mega.

"Sir?"

"No showboating. It's a simple bombing and strafing mission. Do not be foolish. You're a good flyer, but that will not save you if my superiors order me to ground you."

"I'm the best pilot you have," said Tyrone.

"Maybe, but your lack of respect, and your occasional disobedience could get you into trouble," said Mega. "I'd advise you to learn a bit from Utah; the fact that he was respectful is what saved him when he was captured during our last war with the mammals."

"How did that save him?" Tyrone asked.

"Because of him, a number of POWs managed to escape back to our lines, and the enemy were none the wiser, because a number of POWs were on the fire-fighting crews, and he used that as a means to fake their deaths, which let them escape," said Utah. "He also made sure that those in the camps were well-treated, especially after an incident where he saved the commander's son, who was trapped in a collapsed cave."

"He saved the guy's son?" Tyrone asked. "I'd of let him die."

"Would you really let a saber-tooth cub die in a cave-in?" Mega asked.

Tyrone was silent.

"That commander returned the favor, when a burning building that Utah was using to conduct another POW's escape from, collapsed a bit premature and trapped him," said Mega. "Granted Utah was a prisoner, but there is honor between fellow fighters. That commander risked his life, and possibly more, to save him."

"How do you know this?" Tyrone asked. "That isn't in the file I read."

"But it is in the file I read," said Mega. "That escape business that Utah conducted is highly Classified. Very few people know about it. He also conducted sabotage, espionage, and even assassinations, all while seeming to be a captured POW."

"Sounds like a TV show I heard about once," said Tyrone.

"Yes, that made for a good bit of misdirection," said Mega.
Just then a Saber-tooth Tiger broke into the office gung ho style, "You cold-blooded bastards shall die with your ideals!" just before he's about to strike Mega, he's shot with some kind of liquid and then he's frozen in place. "What? Can't move." A Dilophosaurus came into the office "Are you alright commander?" Mega says "Yes, thanks to your quick thinking. Oh Captain, this is Spitball. He'll be flying with you on the mission." Then he presses the intercom, "Security, to my office. I was nearly attacked by one of the mammals, and on the double before Spitball's nerve paralyzing spray wears off."
Tyrone, Utah, and Spitball came in low over the caravan of armored mammoths, but their strafing guns seemed to have no effect.

"That's good armor!" Utah said. The three were flying close enough that they could see each other in their cockpits.

"Let's see what a few missiles will do," Tyrone said, as they doubled back to make another pass over the mammoths.

The mammoths were pulling a number of large wheeled catapults with them and one of these suddenly launched a shower of stones into the sky as Tyrone's jet was just about to go over it. There was thud and Tyrone's plane shook.

"I've been hit!" he said.
"Can you still fly?" Utah asked.

"Yes," said Tyrone. "But my controls aren't too good."

"Then it's time to head back," said Utah. "After all, it's safer to crash on Friendly Ground than it is to crash on Enemy Ground."

"In what way?" Tyrone asked. "The plane still gets wrecked."

"True, but you're closer to the base on Friendly ground than on Enemy ground," said Utah. "Easier to get to your own side."
As Tyrone was about to turn back to base, another stone launched by a catapult hit his jet right on the wing causing it break off, both Spitball and Utah watched in horror as Tyrone goes down in Mammoth territory. "Tyrone!" Utah bellowed.
Tyrone barely had time to pull his ejection lever. He grunted as the ejection mechanism pushed him up into the sky where his parachute popped opened and then almost immediately he was hitting the ground. As he struggled out of the harness he could hear his crashed jet burning not far away and then he saw the smoke rising. The mammoths would be looking for him. Better get away fast.

Utah and Spitfire buzzed him, wiggling their wings to let him know they saw him and knew he was still alive. Then their jets streaked back toward the base while they still had enough fuel to make it.
"What's going to happen?" Spitfire asked.

"He should be fine," said Utah. "There are strict rules in matters like this, which everyone observes, least someone returns the favor."

"Meaning?"

"He'll be taken prisoner, sent to a camp, fed good food, and either make him very exhausted or too content to try to escape," said Utah. "That's how I managed to convince Colonel Joshua Curve-Tooth that I was not interested in escaping; turn the place into a resort, and they don't want to escape. Colonel Curve-Tooth never did have a successful escape on his hands; that saber-tooth was always able to outwit escapees, or, so it seemed."

"What do you mean?" Spitfire asked.

"They were decoys, who enabled the real escapees to get out in the confusion," said Utah. "Still, he was a good sort."

"Heard something about how the person who captured you saved you from a fire," said Spitfire.

"I would of been fine. I had another tunnel ready, just in case," said Utah. "Still, the fact that he was, honestly, concerned about me, was nice to know. I send him letters, nothing Classified of course, but he did say to keep in touch after the was ended. He sends me replies, nothing Classified of course."

"So, what do you think will happen now?"

"He'll probably be placed in charge of all prison camps; a perfect no-escape record looks good on a career sheet."
Mega heard the conversationbetween Utah and Spitfire, "Tyrone, I hope this wasn't the result of your showboating habit." He presses the intercom "Arrow, please report to my office. I have a mission for you." Few minutes later a Pterodactyl came into the office "You wanted to see me commander?" Mega says "Yes Arrow, you're our best scout. One of my best pilots, Tyrone, has been hit by enemy bombardment and went down in Mammoth territory, Sense you can fly without detection scout the area and report any status of his condition. Utah and Spitfire has the full details. Another thing, if you do see Tyrone, lead him back to base." Arrow salutes. "Understood and I'm on my way."
Tyrone struggled through the thick underbrush composed mostly of Ironwood trees. Even for a dino with Tyrone's size and strength, an Ironwood jungle was tough going, but that was probably a good thing since the Mammoths would not find it any easier.

After a while he realized that no one seemed to be chasing him. Did they think he perished in the crash? Maybe they didn't see his parachute, but how could they miss it?

He stopped. There was another possibility. The direction he was headed might be crossed by a road. All they would have to do is station someone on the road to watch for his crossing.

A soft whistle in the sky made him look up to see a Pterodactyl cruising overhead. He recognized Arrow from his wing markings.
As Spitfire and Utah flew, Spitfire had some questions.

"So, just what are the mammals like?" he asked.

"Like you, me, and everyone else," said Utah. "Full of hopes, dreams, hates, and fears, among other things. The only thing different about them is biology - warm-blooded, give birth to live young, females produce something called milk, and more active in colder weather."
Arrow leads Tyrone towards the base occasionally looking around for enemy troops, even though Utah says that mammals share the same ideals but he knows that some mammals hate the dinos pure and simple so he has to be careful not to lead Tyrone into Mammal troops.
"That was a close one," Tyrone said to Utah when he finally made it back to the base.

"We knew you would make it back," Spitfire said.

"You had faith in my abilities, eh?" said Tyrone.

"No, Arrow was sending us reports on his wing radio."

The loudspeaker announced: Captain Tyrone, report to Commander Mega's office immediately.

Mega glared at Tyrone. "I thought I told you not to be a hot shot up there?"

"How was I to know about their catapults?"

"You cost us a plane, Tyrone, and for what? Apparently you and your two buddies did very little damage to the Mammoths."
"At least we know that their vehicles are armored," said Utah, as he came in. "Also, more importantly, he made it back, safely."

Commander Mega blinked before standing up, and gave the Utahraptor a salute. "Nice to see you, Sargent. Have a seat."

Utah chuckled as he sat down. "I really wish that you'd treat me like every other Sargent, and every other NCO, and not go all formal on me."

"I know," said Mega. "But, if I didn't, then a lot of other people would be breathing down my neck about disrespecting you."

"You could say that I gave you permission to treat me like everyone else," said Utah. He looked at Tyrone. "One little medal, and everyone starts saluting you, including Generals."

Mega chuckled. "That's what I like about you, Utah; you got the Medal of Honor for your actions, and yet you still want to be treated like an ordinary Sargent, wherein you go around saluting your superiors, and having to stand, instead of the other way around."

Tyrone blinked. "Medal of Honor?" He then saluted.

Utah chuckled. "You see what you started Commander; my captain's saluting me now."

Mega smiled. "So, no damage do to the enemy."

Utah sighed. "Sadly, none at all."

"What were they doing?" Mega asked.

"Starting to invade," said Utah. "Personally, I'd recommend building a thick and solid wall. It would slow them down a bit."

"Aircraft?"

"Didn't see any, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were out scouting."
Spitball came in, "Sorry to bust in but we have a situation." Mega sighs, "What is it now?" "After leading Tyrone back, Arrow went back and scouted and found something disturbing." Mega says "Well? What is it?" Spitball turns on the radio "Better listen to this." On the radio, Arrow says "To anyone listening to this broadcast, I am flying over what appears to be a secondary base. except this one is mobile, almost the size of Dinotropolis, completely armed and completely armored, and worse, it's heading towards our base."
"We'll need reinforcements," said Commander Mega. "General Blueback's brigade of allosaurs is within marching distance. I'll get them moving in our direction right away. Spitball, you and Utah join Arrow and take cameras with you. I want pictures."

"What about me?" Tyrone said.

"I've got three planes in maintenance undergoing repairs. Stop by there and see if they can get one of them ready to fly."


When Spitball and Utah joined Arrow over the Mammoth's mobile base, Spitball said, "That's even bigger than I expected!"

The mobile base was a multilevel monstrosity bigger than an aircraft carrier that creaked along on a combination of huge tractor treads and rubber-tired wheels. It leveled everything in its path and was very slow, but on every level there were big guns waiting to be fired. Mammoths could be seen using their prehensile trunks to stack ammo.
Utah chuckled as he looked at the base. "Well, I know this much; it needs a good road to go anywhere."

"Why do you say that?" Spitfire asked.

"Too heavy to go on regular ground," said Utah. "Prepare to bomb the road. If nothing else, it will slow them down."
Tyrone waited impatiently for a plane to be available but one thing worried him, even with a new plane it may not last long against the approaching danger, that thing must have some kind of weakness so he went to the holding cell where they kept that Saber tooth tiger that nearly took down Mega. "What do you want?" It said sarcastically. "There's a moble superbase comeing towards us and I want to know how to stop it." He chuckles "So, Commander Tuskar did it. Bahemammoth is on the move. Even if I did know. I'll never tell you." A voice behind Tyrone says "Oh? I'm sure you will, given the right treatment." Tyrone turned around and saw...
Tyrone turned and saw Doctor Slither standing there. The velociraptor had the characteristic expression of his kind on his face, a slit-eyed, grinning mask of mayhem. "As they say in the storybooks, vee have vays of making you talk."

"Doctor Slither," Tyrone said. "I did not hear you approach."

"No one ever does," Slither said., "I walk on little cat feet, like a kitten in the fog."



Utah and Spitfire bombed the road but it did not slow down Bahemammoth. The mobile base continued its steady advance.

Spitfire watched it keep crawling through the smoke and explosions. "That thing can negotiate any terrain!"

"I doubt it can climb a mountain," Utah said.

"There are no mountains between here and dino territory. It's all flatlands and swamps."
"In that case, bomb the road in the swamp," said Utah. "Anything can crawl over packed dirt, but it takes special equipment to go through swamp. Besides, it's still a heavy object, and thus should sink, unless they made it buoyant, so that it can float."

"Do you think it's possible?" Spitfire asked.

"I know of a vehicle that can drive on land like an automobile and move through water like a boat," said Utah.
Tyrone ran into the hanger where a bomber is waiting but it's waiting for it's payload, Mega was waiting for him "Did Doctor Slither tell you?" Tyrone asked, "He sure did, can't believe the weak point of that monstrosity is the engine hatch." "What is amazing is what Doctor Slither did to loosen that tiger's tongue. A power drill in one of those saber shaped fangs of his."
Two Hadrosaurids comes in carrying a huge bomb "Here's that payload you requested commander." Mega says "Excellent, load it up into hatch." Tyrone asks "What kind of bomb is that?" Mega says "You will drop this into the enemy mobile base's engine, not only will it stop it completely, the corrosive chemicals in it will cause that base to fall apart at the seams, but first the engine must be exposed." One of the Hadrosaurids says "It's loaded and ready, anything else?" "Yes Hunter, radio Arrow and tell him to fly over the rear of that monster, tell him to look for it's engine hatch." "Yes sir."
Arrow radioed back, "Hatch identified, but it looks pretty sturdy to me, like a bank vault."

Tyrone was already in the air. "They assured me this bomb I am carrying could destroy Bahemammoth if I can get it through the engine hatch."

"I'm sure your aim is good, but how are we going to get the hatch open?"

"Utah and Spitball are handling that with a little help from Special Forces."
"Alright fliers," said Utah. "Demolish the road, and they'll have to modify the engine, and they'll have to do it manually."
Both Utah and Spitball bombs the road to make it impassible, on cue the Bahemammoth comes to a halt, a voice within it "Attention maintenance crew, adjust the engine to 4 wheel-drive so we can continue!" A few hatches open and out pops sloths with wrenches, and opens the engine hatch.

In the air, Tyrone flew in, "There it is, and the engine is exposed. Time to be a hero." He looks through the bomb target until the crosshair is aligned with the engine hatch. "Ok, lock on. Time to drop it." He presses the button to open the Bombay doors and drops the bomb.
An alert mammoth spots Tyrone's plane dropping a bomb. "Close the hatch!" he yells.
Utah looked out his window, and watched as the hatch was shut, and the mammoths dived back inside. Averting his eyes, the bomb went off.

"We didn't take it out!" yelled one of the pilots in another plane.

"Don't need to," said Utah. He saw a mammoth open a door, and look around. "Found a nice target." He fired his plane's machine gun around the door, forcing the mammoth back inside. "Just keep them penned in, and they won't be able to change the engine. Bomb the area around them, so they can't go backwards. As long as we can keep them from moving, they'll run out of supplies."
All the pilots bombs the area behind the moving base, keeping it stationary for as long as possible. Even though the engine hatch is closed Tyrone's bomb hit the mark, amazingly the impact alone was enough to break through the hatch. Utah was amazed, "The engine hatch is the weak point? Should've known."
All this time the Mammoths had been firing the guns mounted on every level of Bahemammoth. Although their aim was very bad, they fired so many rounds that eventually one was bound to connect. Spitball's wing was clipped and began trailing fire and smoke.

"I've been hit!" he said.

"Try to land as far away from here as you can," Tyrone said.

"Land? LAND?! The wing is half gone!"

"So crash then, you crazy monkey. Don't worry. We'll get you."
"Good news is, base is an easy walk from here," said Utah. "I've made that same walk a few times in the last war."

"While you were a POW right?" Tyrone asked.

"One time I bailed out of a plane so that I could sneak back into camp before Role Call," said Utah. "Not Easy. Hey Triton, keep an eye on him. I don't want to hear from his mother about him getting lost!"
As Spitball ejected from the plane, he looked at the wreckage. "The commander is not going to be happy with this, I hope he'll understand what just happened." He looks up and sees Triton's plane, He reaches in for his personal radio, "Okay Triton, which way back to base?"
At the debriefing a few hours later, Commander Mega heard their reports. "So we lost another plane, eh? Not good, gentlemen. Not good."

Tyrone said, "I think you care more about the damn planes than you do us pilots!"

"I can replace a pilot in a couple of days. A plane? Not so easy."
"He doesn't mean it quite like that, sir," said Utah. "An injured pilot can be healed, thanks to our medical technology, quite easily. Repairing a wrecked plane, that still requires a thinking brain to fix the little problems." Utah looked at the Commander. "The good news is that we have the mobile base stranded - can't move forward, can't move backward. It's a matter of time until their supplies run out. I suggest you talk to your counterparts in the Army and Navy bases, and let's set up a Ghost Force."

The Commander grinned. "Dummies and Inflatables. If nothing else, the mammoths will waste their ammunition trying to shoot them. It's hard to destroy something made out of cloth."
Tyrone says "Let me give it a try." Tyrone switches his radio to bullhorn mode, "Attention commander of the Bahemammoth, this is Captain Tyrone of the Air Rex Squadron. Do you wish to discuss terms of our differences that settle both Dinosaurs and Mammals lives?"
The voice of the Mammoth commander came trumpeting back. "If you are asking us to surrender, dino boy, forget it! The future belongs to the hairy! Let those with scales surrender to us!"

Tyrone whispers to those around him. "Why does he want to make it about skin structure?" Then he spoke into the bullhorn. "I said discuss our differences. I did not use the word surrender."
Utah had been listening to the mammoth commander, and grinned. "I know this guy."

"Who is he?" Mega asked.

"General Cracktusk, who has a penchant for never forgetting, or forgiving, a wrong done to him," said Utah. "Encountered him during my stay in that POW camp. No one liked him, considered him to be too brutal towards anyone under him. Funny, according to my last letter from Curve-Tooth, the big nose was supposed to be on his way out of the Mammalian Armed Forces, because he was supposed to take, shall we say, Early Retirement, over an incident during the war."

"What incident?" Tyrone asked.

"There was a village along the border - Mammals on one side, Dinosaurs on the other. Problem was, the inhabitants were friends with those on the other side of the line, as it were, and decided to stay out of the war," said Utah. "Used it to help escaping POWs sneak through."

"Never heard of a place like that," said Tyrone.

"It was sort of like if a politician had mated with their maid, and that mating resulted in eggs being laid, and hatched," said Utah. "In short, an embarrassment for both sides. It was in a disputed area, where people were trying to get away from others. It was tolerated because it was a useful place to recruit agents, double agents, and counter agents from, on both sides."

"So, what happened?" Tyrone asked.

"Cracktusk came up with the idea to invade Dinosauria through the village, and forgot to tell the locals to leave their homes for a few days," said Utah. "So, when they decided to go through the village uninvited, the locals reacted like anyone would do upon finding an intruder in their home, and they fought back - it didn't matter who the other force was, they were going to work with their neighbors, and protect their home from any would-be invader. Cracktusk didn't like that."

"What happened?" Tyrone asked.

"He had the entire village destroyed; mammal and dinosaur alike," said Utah. "It was an unauthorized action that should of have him removed from command, but he had too many friends, at the time. Now, he has none, and there's plenty of pressure for him to resign, or face a military tribunal. I guess he decided upon a third option; he wants to go down swinging."

"Any ideas?" Mega asked.

"Get a hold of the other Mammal Commanders, and ask them for help in dealing with one of their renegades," said Utah.
"You make that sound easy," Mega said. "We're at war. It's not like I spend any time chatting with mammals."

"You have to make time," Utah said. "Listen, Commander Mega. I know the popular attitude is that mammals are totally different from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are superior and noble beings while mammals are an inferior degraded species. But I've been there. I've lived with them. They may look different from us on the outside, but inside we are all the same."

"You're starting to sound like a One Worlder, Utah."

"I'm not saying we have to have one government for everybody. I'm just saying we can at least understand the basic needs are the same for everyone. They have to raise children and find food just like we do."
"So, Utah," said Mega. "Who would you recommend?"

"Funny enough, Curve-Tooth has an uncle who is a general, General One-tooth," said Utah. "He'd be a good start."
Commander Mega ordered two mammalian prisoners sent to his office. They were not Mammoths, they were Chalicotheriums. Since they were plant eaters, Mega considered them to be no threat.

"I am releasing you to return to the Mammoths carrying this message from me." Mega gave the Chalicotheriums a large box. Inside were gifts for the Mammoth leaders and a scroll containing Mega's wish for a peaceful discussion.

The Chalicotheriums were soon on their way to Mammoth territory, but events there were already changing rapidly.

When the top Mammoths learned that Bahemammoth had become immobilized in the swamps, General Cracktusk's command of the giant fortress came under question. His enemies wanted him replaced with a better general. His friends, of which there were few, struggled to help him stay in command.
"This will be interesting," said Utah.
General One-tooth was anxious to meet with Commander Mega. They met on neutral territory, a stretch of desert that was equally distant from both dinosaur and mammoth territories.

They shook hands and One-tooth said, "I was extremely pleased to get your message. In my opinion, warfare is not the best way to settle the differences between our two nations."
"Why would you say that?" Mega asked.

"Truth be told, I used to think that the only good dino was a dead dino," said One-Tooth. "Used to be I would of supported Cracktusk's actions."

"What changed your mind?" Mega asked.

"Two things; my favorite grand-nephew got caught in a cave-in, and it was some dino POW who got him out," said the old sabertooth. "My wife was not as blessed as my brother was with his wife when it came to children, you understand. The kit is the closest thing I have to a grandson."

Mega nodded. "I know what you mean. What's the other reason?"

One-Tooth kicked at the dirt, revealing a slightly buried road. "The reason I requested to meet in this location."

Mega looked at the disused road, before looking at a series of mounds which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be the remains of homes. "The village Cracktusk destroyed."

"I commanded a garrison near here when I was younger," said One-Tooth. "Nice place to be when you had a weekend pass. There was even a park, where the young of our races played together at. Sickened me a little, at first. Used to sit at a table, and watched the disgusting show. Shortly after the first time, I noticed that the other side of the table was occupied, by my counterpart from the dino garrison, and he too had a look of disgust. Funny thing is, being disgusted at what was going on got boring, and next time I sat down, while he was there, he got out a chess set, and asked me if I wanted to play as black, or as white. We played a few games, and passed the time that way. Soon enough, we started swapping stories, safe topics mainly, about our families and such. I won't say that we became friends, but, after a while, I couldn't hate him for being a dino."

"Were you here when the attack happened?" Mega asked.

One-Tooth shook his head. "If I was, I would have done everything to prevent it. Like I said, it was a nice place to be."

The wind blew some sand, revealing a worn sign saying "Village Park".

Mega looked at the sign. "What was it like?"

One-tooth frowned. "Green for one thing, with trees, a pond for swimming in, some ball courts, and other such things. Parents would sit at tables to watch the kids play while food cooked, before calling them to eat. It was a nice place to be. Then Cracktusk came up with his idea. Now, a fight with an enemy soldier, I understand; been there myself. But this, this was parents trying to protect their young, people trying to protect their friends and loved ones, folks working alongside their neighbors against a hostile outside force; it was murder, plain and simple."
"After Cracktusk destroyed the village," continued One-tooth. "There was a movement to oust him or at least strip him of his rank, but he had too many politically powerful friends. Nothing came of the effort except hard feelings on both sides.

Now Cracktusk has screwed up again, but this time it's different. He's put the plans of the Top Command in jeopardy. They have a lot riding on the successful use of the Bahemmoth Mobile Fortress. Cracktusk stepped on a few toes in his desire to command Bahemammoth. He figured his success with it would elevate him even higher in the power structure, but it's looking like the opposite will be true."

Commander Mega had been listening closely. "Interesting, but we haven't destroyed Bahemammoth, we've only stopped it from moving. Cracktusk will get it moving again."

"I know," said One-tooth, "and I prefer that it be destroyed, but not if mammoths will die."

"What are you proposing?" said Mega.

"When you think you have the firepower to take down Bahemammoth, I will make sure it is evacuated. You'll get no anti-aircraft fire and I'll get the lives of the mammoths saved."

"You've got a deal," said Mega.
One-Tooth gave Mega a chip. "Plans for the Bahemammoth. While the engine is a big weakness, a less obvious one is the ventilation system," the old sabertooth said. "It will filter out dangerous gases, toxins, bacteria, and the like, but if it's not lethal, it won't stop the substance from entering."

"Meaning?" asked Mega.

"Sleeping gas," said One-Tooth. "Should the crew be unable to operate the equipment, the Bahemammoth will automatically shut down all functions, save air filtration and the like. It's a safety protocol, to prevent any serious accidents. After that, all that anyone has to do is open the door, and they can get the crew to a medical tent."

"What about turning it back on?" Mega asked.

One-Tooth grinned. "I'd advise against it. It's safer to take the crew prisoner than it is to take the machine."

"Why is that?" Mega asked.

"The machine requires a code to turn back on," said One-Tooth. "Type it in wrong, and the machine will self-destruct, destroying most everything within 500 feet of it."

"Useful to know," said Mega.
On his way back to Mammoth territory, One-Tooth encountered a squad of Mammoth soldiers who arrested him and took him to see Cracktusk.

"What's the meaning of this?" demanded One-Tooth. "Why am I being treated like a criminal?"

"Because you are one!" Cracktusk said, pounding his fist on as table. "You are a spy and a traitor!"

One-Tooth said nothing.

"I know all about your little meeting with the dinosaur commander," Cracktusk said. "What did you two have to talk about? Did you exchange cookie recipes?"
One-Tooth grinned. "Actually, I have something for you. Left breast pocket."

Cracktusk looked at the soldier in the room. "Get it."

The soldier removed an envelope from the sabertooth.

Cracktusk looked at it. "Seal of the High Command." He opened it, and read the letter. "What the hell is this?"

One-tooth chuckled. "Official notice; you've been relieved of command, pending an investigation into your actions. Consider yourself under arrest for treason, and endangering national security, to say nothing of the murder of five thousand civilians."

"But, I've always fought to protect this nation," said Cracktusk.

"That is why there is an Alternative: Resign right now, and you will do so with Integrity, Honor, Respect, keep the medals you've earned, receive a pension as due your rank, as well as the right to a military funeral when you die, complete with a full salute," said One-Tooth. "Refuse, you'll be subjected to a Court-Martial, and I doubt the outcome will be favorable."

"What do you mean?" Cracktusk asked.

"The evidence is heavily stacked against you," said One-Tooth. "If found Guilty, you'll be given the Highest Punishment; Medals ripped off your uniform, symbols of office destroyed, paraded throughout the country while wearing a sign stating your crimes, before eventually being executed, all while the dinos watch."

The sabertooth stood up, pulled out a pistol, and checked the ammunition, leaving only one round. "That being said, there is the Alternative Alternative." He set the gun down. "Your choice: Early Retirement, Court Martial, or Suicide. One means you live, one means a high chance of dishonorable death, and one has certain death."

Cracktusk grabbed the pistol, and pointed it at One-Tooth. "What's to stop me from killing you?"

"Kill me if you want to," said One-Tooth. "The dinos have the plans for this vehicle, and can disable it. The crew will be taken captive, and turned over to Mammal Military Command, where they will be investigated as to whether or not they knew of your plan to attack, or if you were under investigation. As for you, well, killing a ranking officer is a good way to qualify for the Death Penalty in its own right."
Cracktusk weighed his options while continuing to point the pistol at One-Tooth. "There is another option," he said. He went to the door and called, "Captain Yago, come in here please."

"Yes, sir?"

"Is the squad of soldiers that brought One-Tooth here still around?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have them take him back to where they found him. No, make that even farther away from everything. Leave him there with water. As far as the soldiers are concerned, they never picked him up the first time. Can we trust all of them to stick to that line?"

"I think so, sir. Especially if I threaten them with punishment if they don't."

"Good. My engineers inform me that Bahemammoth is ready to roll again. We are going to proceed with the attack. When we are successful, it will not matter what old One-Tooth says. By then I will be a national hero."
"Very well," said One-Tooth. "If you will not listen to me, perhaps your captain will." He looked at the soldier. "Tell me, Captain Yago; what is the fate of those who follow a superior officer who has been relieved of command?"

Yago blinked. "They face Court-Martial for desertion, possible more depending upon other factors. Punishment could range from a prison sentence of no less than five years, up to death by execution."

"I'm glad you are up to date on those details," said One-Tooth. "General Cracktusk has been relieved of his command, due to an investigation concerning his actions both now, and at a certain point in our past. Captain, I'm charging you with the duty to see to it that your fellow officers, as well as the soldiers under your command, are notified of this development, and they are hereby ordered to stand down. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

The mammoth gulped. "Yes, sir."

"Good," said One-Tooth. "I'll wait outside, to see if you've chosen to obey the orders of the lawful government, or of a renegade general." The sabertooth walked outside.
Cracktusk glared at Yago. "I hope you paid no heed to his words, Yago. He's a renegade."

"No, sir."

"Your loyalty will be rewarded, Yago. Don't let his serpent tongue turn you from your duty."

"I won't, sir."

"Good. Now do what I told you. I want him out of the picture."

Yago joined the squad of soldiers to escort One-Tooth back into the wilderness.

"Did you think about what I told you?" One-Tooth asked.

"Yes, sir. I think I have two generals above me in the chain of command giving me contradictory orders."
"Yes, I can see how that would be confusing," said One-Tooth. He pulled out an envelope, and gave it to the captain. "This should help with that."

"The Seal of the High Command?" Yago asked. He opened the envelope, and read the letter. "So, it is true - General Cracktusk is to be relieved of his command, and the next senior Officer or NCO is ordered to return the Bahemammoth Home, if that is possible."

"That is correct," said One-Tooth. "It's very difficult to find someone who can outrank the High Command, so unless you wish to follow the orders of a renegade, and risk being charged with desertion, and perhaps treason, I'd advise you to give that letter to whomever is next in command. If they will not obey orders, then that person is to be relieved of duty, and the order is to be passed to the next person in line, and so on, so make sure everyone is in the room when you read that message - and I mean everyone. The High Command is forgiving of those who unknowingly followed the orders of a renegade, merely stripping them of their current rank until the end of a period of no less than three months, to a year, but those who knowingly follow a renegade will be subject to a Court-Martial, on charges of Desertion, and possibly Treason. You know where that can lead to."

Yago nodded.

"Good," said One-Tooth. "You have your orders."
Yago took One-Tooth to a place where he could temporarily hide, then he arranged for all the officers on the Bahemammoth to meet with him in the largest conference room. There he read the letter from the high command and passed it around so they could verify it.

Captain Madrid, the chief gunner, spoke first. "I don't see that there is any doubt what we must do."

"Why do I feel like it's a mutiny?" asked a lieutenant.

Yago flourished the letter. "This makes it not a mutiny. When ordered to do something by high command, we must follow their orders."
"I still don't like it," said the lieutenant. "We've all served with him, at one point or another."

The others frowned, and nodded.

"I don't like it myself, but we have our orders," said Yago. "General Cracktusk is to be relieved of his command."

"What do we do?" Madrid asked.

"Here's what we must do," said Yago. "First off, lock Cracktusk out of the mainframe, and change the password to the self-destruct - only we are to know of it. Second, inform the rest of the personnel, quietly, that while Cracktusk is to be respected and cared for, his orders are not to be followed, for he has been relieved of command, and is to be confined to quarters."

"I guess that makes sense," said a sergeant. "Don't want someone unknowingly following an illegal order."

"Once these two steps have been followed, me and five others will go to his quarters, and respectfully ask that he step down," said Yago. "This is our best option; if he relinquishes command of his own free will, and accepts retirement, he can keep his honor and dignity, and it won't feel like we were forced to take command. Otherwise, we will be forced to apprehend him, strip him of his command, and lock him up as if he was a criminal, and that option I do not like. We'll show him the letter, and inform him that everyone knows its contents."

"It's a good plan," the sergeant said. "The last thing we need is an Illegal Mutiny or some such thing, as opposed to relieving an unwell, or unfit, commander of his duty, when having been ordered to do so."

Yago looked at the sergeant. "You've done this before?"

"Sometimes officers make, misguided, decisions," the sergeant said. "It's my job to, correct, them, to save as many men as possible from an otherwise disastrous decision. We all face this fact."
Meanwhile, Commander Mega had heard nothing further from One-Tooth and came to the conclusion that something unplanned must have happened. Perhaps One-Tooth had been locked up by Cracktusk.

"Gentlemen," he said at a meeting of his flight officers. "We will proceed with our plans for an attack on Bahemammoth. Two hours before dawn, we will cover the fortress with sleeping gas. I have a squad of Special Forces who know what to do next. If they should fail... then we will launch an all out attack and rain hellfire down on Bahemammoth."
Fortunately, it was then that One-Tooth made a call to Mega. The old sabertooth looked at his opposite number. "I managed to get in touch with General Cracktusk. He has refused to stand down, even defying an order from the High Command to do so."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Mega.

"That being said, the High Command gave me two letters, the second of which was given to one of his officers, with orders for him to read it to the others," said One-Tooth said. "By now, they know that General Cracktusk is to be relieved of duty, and the next-in-command is ordered to have the Bahemammoth be returned home, if possible."

"So, they will leave without a fight?" Mega asked.

"It is one thing to question the High Command, and to check up on the issued orders, but outright disobeying them, you need a very good reason to do that," said One-tooth. "Simply put, if the soldiers continue to obey Cracktusk, especially now, they face the possibility of being charged with desertion and treason. I'm sure that most would rather avoiding going that far. It is one thing to obey an order that turns out to be wrong, but it is another to knowingly obey an order that is known to be illegal."
Meanwhile, Tyrone, Triton, Spitball and Arrow were called to the ready room. There they spot Utah talking to A sabretooth tiger. Utah says "Hello, I like for all of you to meet One-Tooth."

Arrow asks "Is this why we were called here?"
"General One-Tooth has been most helpful to the cause of peace," Utah said. "I'll let him tell you his story."

When One-Tooth had finished with his account of recent events, Tyrone said, "So Bahemammoth will simply turn around and go home?"

"It's already happening, gentlemen. If you were to fly out there to where she was bogged down, you would find nothing but tracks in the mud."


Hertzman, are you ready to do Dream #5? BBWolf, can we wrap up Dream #4 soon?
Earlier, on the Behamammoth;

Yago looked at Cracktusk, holding the letter. Five other officers were in the room with them. "Sir, do you know what I have in my hands?"

"Some sort of paper," the general said.

"It's orders for you to relinquish command, and for the Behamammoth to return home," said Yago. "Every member of the crew knows about it."

"Mutiny? Is that what we've come to?" Cracktusk asked.

"Sir, Mutiny would be a criminal act," said Yago. "This is orders from the High Command. If we don't try, we'd be at risk of being charged with desertion and treason. At least we can say we obeyed our orders. We've already removed your overrides from the computer, and the crew knows not to obey your orders. This is a formality; the record can either state that you stepped down of your own accord, with all Honors intact, or it can state that you were forcibly removed from command, and locked up like a criminal, after which you will be Court-Martialed for Desertion and Treason."

"So, you've already removed me from Command," said Cracktusk. "Now you want to figure out how to write the report - retired with Honors, or arrested with Didgrace."

Yago nodded. "That's right, Sir. That's why we are first asking you to step down; we all respect you, and we don't want to be forced to arrest you, but we will if we have to."

Cracktusk looked at the captain's eyes; there was tears in them. He looked at the other officers, who tried to avoid his gaze. He sighed. "Very well. Captain, take good care of her; the Behamammoth is yours to command."

"I'm glad you understand," Yago said, as he and the others walked out of the room. "Enjoy your retirement." He then looked at a soldier. "See to it his needs are taken care of."


** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

The Fifth Dream


In the year 1647 at the coastal town of Buccaneer Bay, a wedding reception is going on at the home of Jacob Klaus, a Fennec fox ship merchant, and his new bride Leona, an Otter.

Leona is hobnobbing with some of the guests when she hears the hired storyteller, a one-eyed wolf Mariner named Rodger, say, "One after one by the star dogged moon, too quick for groan or sigh, each turned his face with a ghastly pang and cursed me with his eye. Four times fifty living men and I heard nor sigh nor groan, with heavy thump, a lifeless lump, they dropped down one by one."

Leona says, "Whatever story you're telling, it sounds gruesome."

A tigress says "Rodger was telling us how he endured his curse. Congratulations. I hope you and Jacob have a long and happy marriage."

That's when Jacob comes in. "Thanks, we will. Darling,? Would you like to hear Rodger's story? It's very fascinating."

The otter says, "Sure, why not."

Rodger says, "Well, it started when my ship, the Baracuda was lost near the cold waters of the south..."
Leona interrupted. "How can the waters be cold in the south?"

The wolf Rodger grinned and made one fist like a ball. He pointed at it to explain. "The world is a globe, my lady, and those who travel toward either pole must encounter ice and snow. It is only in the middle where things are warm.

"I see. Please go on with your story."
"As I've said, things get cold that far south," said Rodger. "Still, the fishing was still good."
Rodger then says "But seriously, me and my crew was lost within the fog and ice of the south but luck soon changed, then I made my own luck which soon turns into a mistake I soon regretted."

Flashback to the incident in which Rodger commanded his ship the Barracuda, the first mate a Boar says "Captain, we seem have luck on our side." He points to an Albatross flying overhead. "If you want to get out of this icy mess," it said, "follow me." The Barracuda soon follows the Albatross north to warm waters and mist. The crew praises the Albatross but Rodger took out a cross-bow and shot it dead, "With my cross-bow, I shot the albatross." Soon the crew is shock on what he had done, "Do you know what you did?" The first mate said, "You killed the bird of good omen!"
"They all snubbed me," Rodger said, "for I had killed their precious lucky bird, the albatross. But as the days progressed, the winds blew us into warmer waters and they began to change their tune."

"It was right," said they, "such birds to slay, that bring the fog and mist."

Rodger sighed. "It was good to have them like me again and it did look like luck was now on our side."
"What's happened next, is that a storm came up like a wrath of god is punishing us. We ended up in uncharted waters near the equator where the waters are becalmed."

The first mate muttered:

"Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot – Oh Christ!
That ever this should be.
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs,
Upon the slimy sea."

"The crew change their minds again and blame me for the torment of their thirst. So as a punishment, they hung the dead albatross around my neck perhaps to illustrate the burden I must suffer from killing it, or perhaps as a sign of regret:"

As the crew hung the albatross around Rodger's neck, he said:

"Ah! Well a-day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the albatross
About my neck was hung."

"Shortly after that, things became strange indeed," said Rodger.
"Becalmed in that wide ocean," continued Rodger, "we soon ran out of fresh water to drink. We were slowly dying of thirst. Occasionally a little rain would fall, but not nearly enough, not nearly enough. We lay like lifeless corpses, our lips dry and cracked. Then one day a feeble cry from one of the crew..."

A sail!

"When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.

At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered."
"Soon the shape became a ghostly hulk as it turns into deathly-pale woman."

"What do we have here?" The woman asked, "Lost souls lost at sea? Perhaps you gentlemen would like to play a game to pass the time?"

"The woman challenged us to a dice game, but as she won each game, each of my crew members fell dead, all 200 members of my crew until I was the only one left but when I lost, she let me live because she knew what I had done and living with the guilt is worse then death."
"Things got even stranger after that," said Rodger. "For next thing I knew, I was in a palace, filled with more women than any longing man could dream of. They came in all shapes, sizes, and races. They attended to my every whim, save one."

"What was that?" one of the audience asked.

"None would free me from the length of chain that connected me to the bed," said Rodger. "I could go to the privy, thank God for that, but try as I could, I couldn't remove the chain. Food, drink, and women, I got plenty of, but after a while, you begin to hunger for a bite of freedom, you thirsted for it, and you lusted for it. Food drink and women became nothing compared to freedom."
"To protest my fate I stopped eating and told the death pale woman I must have freedom or die. She laughed at me and said no matter how much I wished for death or freedom, I would have neither."

Leona and Jacob clutched each other tighter as they listened to the wolf's story.

"But you must have gotten your freedom," Jacob said, "for you are here with us now."

"And likewise," said Leona, "it must be true you did not die. At least, I hope it's true and you are not some ghost come to haunt the wedding."
"For seven days I suffered, but when I looked over the side I saw all sorts of sea creatures. Instead of looking at them with disgust, I admired their true beauty and began to bless them. But as I prayed, the albatross fell from my neck, the curse starts to break. Then a gentle rain fell as my guilt is partially expiated. I decided to steer for home but even though my crew is dead, I felt them that they were with me as the ship moved.
"Thing was, the stars were all wrong," said Rodger. "The Southern Cross wasn't there, nor were any of the others from that area. Instead, they were ones from the China Sea, or so I believed they were."
"But what could I do but follow the wind? For day after day I sailed, always blessed with rains to refresh my water supply. The fish were plentiful and easy to catch. The crew seemed to be with me in spirit encouraging me to persevere."
"But after nearly a month, I saw something I recognized. The old lighthouse near my home port,"

Oh! Dream of joy! Is this indeed
The light-house top I see?
Is this the hill? Is this the kirk?
Is this mine own countree?

We drifted o'er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray—
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep alway.

"But alas, the curse played one more cruel hand. All that time at sea had a price on the Barracuda, the panels of wood began rotting away as I drew closer to port. I also saw a welcome sight, a boat headed towards mine, on the boat the old hermit with the pilot and his boy, I hoped that they'll make it before my boat sank."
"Alas, the seas plagued me again, for that was when a rock rose up, and holed my ship," said Rodger. "I tried to stay on her for as long as I could, but a Sea Witch took me captive then. Seems she took a fancy to me. When I awoke, I was on a bed, though not chained. However, the place was underwater, though how it worked, I do not know."

"What happened?" Jacob asked.

Rodger took a swig of rum. "Seems she was looking for a husband. Specifically, one she lost years ago, long before you or I were born."
"She dressed me up in wedding clothes of seaweed green and she herself wore a gown of pearls. How many oysters gave their lives to make that gown? The preacher was an ancient fish of a species to me unknown. We floated before an altar made of some white stone."

"Do you take the dear beloved?" asked the preacher with a grin.

I stood there silently, my tongue unable to say, "I do", while I could feel the witch grow angry beside me. I was spoiling her wedding day.
Steev, prepare for Dream 6

"As I was unable to speak, the sea witch got so angry that she teleported me back into the sea, I thought I was done for when I woke up in the boat with the pilot, his boy and the hermit. The pilot was surprised that I was still alive, that's when the Hermit prayed and shrives me of my sins. The boy on the other hand thought I was the Devil."
"In any case, it felt good to be on dry land once more," said Rodger.
Hearing the hermit praying for me brought an ecstasy to my soul. I clutched his robe and told him,
"O shrive me, shrive me, holy man!"

The Hermit crossed his brow.
"Say quick," said he, "I bid thee say—
What manner of man art thou?"

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woeful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.

Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me and
To him my tale I teach.
"And that ends my tale."

Leona says "That's quite a story, you know Jacob? I feel sad."

Jacob says "I feel sad too, but also I feel wiser. I was going to take you on a trip at sea and now I know I can avoid killing any albatrosses or I may end up like Rodger."

Leona says "I suppose we're all wiser from the tale."


The Sixth Dream: Thief's Honor


7 years ago

Robert looked in the mirror as he slicked his hair back, straightened his tie, and fixed his collar. It was always the little things that made the difference between folks noticing you, or not noticing you. Blend in, and no one saw you. What people did see was the guy dressed in black with a black ski mask. All others were invisible.

Robert stepped back from the mirror. He was a clever fox, and an even better thief. Then, something made him turn around. Standing in the doorway was his seven year old son.

"Daddy, do you have to go out tonight?" Robert Jr. asked.

Robert ruffled the hair between his son's ears. "Daddy has to work son."

"Can't you work in the daytime?" his son asked. "Its important for fathers to spend time with their sons, so that they grow up right."

Robert smile. "That's why you and me are going fishing this weekend. See you later."


A while later, Robert was in the home of a rich businessman, and looking at a picture. He spoke into a small mic. "Hey Fred, who did you say this guy went out on a date with?"

"Some 18-year old blond," said Fred, who was down the street.

"Get any pictures?"

"Oh yeah," said Fred.

"Try not to mess with them too much," said Robert. "If nothing else, they'll serve for blackmail."

"Right."

A few minutes later, Fred contacted him. "Neighbor's just pulled in. We might have a problem."

"What kind?"

"C O P."

"He's got a cop?"

"Yeah, all tied up to."

"Who is this neighbor?"

"Russian mobster. Suspect in several murders."

"Fred, call 911, and get out of here."

"What about you?"

"Fred, I'll be alright," said Robert. "Worse comes to worse, I'll be spending time behind bars."

"That's if you're not dead!"

"Fred!"

"Okay! I'm going."

Robert pulled out a collapsible baton. "Never thought I'd have to use this."


Present Day

Robert sat in a chair in front of the desk, rubbing his ankle. He looked at the person behind the desk, a rabbit.

"Mr. Whitetip, I'm glad you could meet me today," the rabbit said.

"I'm sure you are, Janelle," said Robert.

Janelle looked at him, and sighed. "Listen, the judge knows what you did for me, all those years ago. That's why I've been assigned to be your parole officer."

"Parole officer? You?"

"That's right. Unless of course you want to return to prison to serve the rest of your ten to fifteen years."

Robert groaned. "Well, working at that pawn store does beat making license plates," he said. He then smiled. "That, and being with my son helps."

"How is he?" Janelle asked.

Robert chuckled. "A chip off the old block, so far."

"I see."
Robert frowned. "You say that like it's not a good thing he is a chip off the old block."

Janelle smiled. "Let the chips fall where they may. So what do you intend to do for employment these days? Not going back to your old ways, I hope?"
Robert shook his head "No, I'm going to find something better. Something more legal. First, I like to go home. I'm sure my son misses me. I hope he isn't too upset that I broke his promise." Janelle asked "What promise is that?" "I promised to take him fishing."
"Seven years in prison, and you're worried about a missed fishing trip?" Janelle asked.

"Among other things," said Robert. "School events, plays, ball games - an hour's visit every month doesn't cover it."

"At least you had that," said Janelle. "Some people don't even have that."

"I guess you're right there," said Robert.

"Some folks here wouldn't have done what you did," said Janelle. "You gave up your freedom, and bought time for the police to show up to save me from Koskov, before he could make me disappear the way he did all other would-be witnesses against him. That polar bear didn't leave folks alive after they saw him in the act."

"All I did was hit him over the head," said Robert.

"Repeatedly," said Janelle. "Along with ten of his fellow bears."

Robert chuckled. "Funny. I thought it was just six."

Janelle smiled. "That's what I like about you; modest."

"I try," said Robert. "Can I go back to the pawn shop?"

"So long as you keep the bracelet on, so I can track you down."

Robert scratched his ankle. "I'll keep that in mind."
The owner of the pawn shop where Robert Whitetip worked was an old badger named Cahoot. He had owned the pawnshop for 30 years and was very set in his ways, as Robert discovered one day when he made a suggestion for improving the layout of the shop.

"You do not change something that is not broken!" said Cahoot.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it was broken," Robert said. "I just meant it can be even better than it is."

"No! We change nothing. I am not a success because always I am changing things. I am a success because I do not change anything."
Robert says "I'm here to get back to work."

Cahoot says sarcastically "You were gone for 7 years, and what makes you think I should rehire you?"
"For one thing, someone is trying to do the Loving Couple tactic on your clerk," Robert said quietly.

Cahoot looked at a strategically placed piece of chrome, and say a couple, a wolf and a cat, in front of the counter. The cat was holding onto something, a piece of jewelry probably, as if admiring it, while the wolf talked to the clerk, preventing the clerk from seeing what the cat was doing with the jewelry.

"I'd better interrupt them before she swaps it for a fake one," the badger said. "I don't like finding fakes in my shop. I loose money that way."

Robert smiled. "You know very well no one ever traded me a fake, or swapped one of ours for a fake, while I was here."

Cahoot nodded. "I'll grant you that. However, business first, and then we'll talk."

The badger turned around, and walked over to the couple.

Rodger grinned. Either the couple would buy the item, or they'd leave it.
Rodger wasn't expecting the third option - the cat suddenly ran from the shop - but he was ready to leap into action when Cahoot yelled, "Stop, thief!"

The cat was fast, but Rodger had not spent seven tears in prison sitting on his butt. To make the time pass faster, he had engaged in an extensive exercise routine every day and now he was more fit and buffed than ever in his life.

He quickly caught up with the cat and tackled her. They both went down on the sidewalk. By the time the cop that Cahoot had called showed up, Rodger had the cat hogtied and the stolen jewelry recovered. Her partner, the wolf, had vanished during the commotion.

After the cops hauled the cat off to jail, Cahoot said, "Thank you, Rodger. That was quick action. Look for a bonus in your paycheck."

Rodger grinned. "So I have a job?"

"Be here first thing in the morning."
Meanwhile the wolf made it to the building in the warehouse district where a bear looking angry is waiting. "Malcolm, I sent you and Glinda to that pawn shop to steal the Hartman jewels, and you came back empty handed and alone. What happened?" "Sorry, Mr. Volkov. but we that old badger wasn't alone, a fox was with him and when Glinda made her move, he went after him and he caught her." The bear just sighed "Great, complications. Why did it had to be a fox, my plans was foiled by a fox 7 years ago when I tried to wipe out a nosey police officer."
"What happened?" Malcolm asked.

"My brother, Koskov he was running an operation for me, to help acquire the jewels," said Mr. Volkov. "Thing was, that cop was patrolling the area he was working at, and caught him while he was purchasing some recreational drugs. That rabbit tried to do the old 'Halt! You're under arrest!' bit, but Koskov isn't that sort of person, so he hit her, knocking her out. He called me up, and told me the situation, and I told him to get rid of her. Thing was, Koskov had this habit of giving female victims one last thrill before killing them. That was his downfall."

"What do you mean?"

"He had a big fancy house, in one of those gated communities," said Mr. Volkov. "Funny thing is, the place next door was in the process of being robbed when he got home. Seems the thief took a look out the window, and saw my brother with a tied-up cop, and figured out that things weren't looking good for the officer. That thief took a nightstick and beat my brother, and ten of my henchbears to the point that by the time the police got there, due to some neighbor calling about what was going on, all eleven were knocked out, and he gave his own self up! Because of him, Koskov's on Death Row, awaiting his execution date."

"At least he's in jail," said Malcolm. "I mean, it's not like it was the same fox, right?"

Mr. Volkov grabbed Malcolm by the throat, all but choking the wolf. "We'll see about that. Find out who he is, and you'd better not fail me this time, or it's the Sausage Grinder for you!" He then dropped the wolf, and turned to another bear. "Ivan, go bail Glinda out. Then, cut the tip of her tail off."

The bear nodded, and walked away.

Malcolm chuckled weakly. "Better her than me."

Mr. Volkov snapped his fingers, and several bears grabbed Malcom. He pulled out a chopping knife. "Better her than you? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should of helped your partner out. As it is - Make sure you hold him good and tight! By the time I'm done with you, people will be calling you Stubby, and that cat will have more tail than you!"
Robert stopped at a game shop on his way home to buy a game for his son.

[BBWolf, how does Robert live? Alone? With his son? With his wife and his son?]

He figured Robert Jr had the same taste in games as he did... first person shooters with canine heroes!

And wouldn't Janelle be surprised to hear he had his old job back?
Robert was about to open the door to his home, when it opened for him, and a Fennec fox looked out at him.

"It's been a while, Robert," the Fennec said.

"That it has, Fredrick," said Robert. "How have things been since I got arrested, now that we can talk freely?"

"You were the thief, and I was the driver and lookout," said Fred. "We had a good thing going, and then you went and saved that cop, and well, it wasn't the same. I'm no good at the whole breaking and entering. Did a few odd jobs, and some driving, here and there, and after my last job at the Northeast bank, I decided it was best to go straight."

"Yeah, I heard about the Northeast job," said Robert. "One of the guys in the crew shot a cashier, at which point the driver in the getaway car took off. Everyone else was arrested, but the driver was never found."

"I have no problems robbing the wealthy, or banks, but one does have to have standards, and when folks go around hurting others for kicks, that's when I leave," said Fred. "Sammy just had to shoot that cashier, all for looking at him funny. You, sure, you've taken on a few security guards, and the like, but you settled for broken arms and legs. Sammy on the other hand, he went and killed that cashier, and her daughter was there too, saw the whole thing in front of her eyes; bad guy in a mask killing her mother while she was working. I couldn't work for someone like that."

"I heard that the others were real quick to testify against him, to save themselves from the Death Penalty," said Robert.

"So did I," said Fred.

"So, how's Bobby doing?" Robert asked.

Fred made a nervous face. "We might have a slight problem there."

Robert looked at his partner. "What kind of problem?"

"He got into a fight, and he got hit about the face and-"

Robert pushed passed Fred, and saw his son in the living room, playing a game on the TV. He sat down next to his son, and saw that he was playing a sword fighting game. "Any good?"

"Not really," said Bobby. "Storyline sucks, and it's too short. The real value is the Multi-player part. You fight other people on teams."

Robert looked at his son, and saw his face; black eye, and cut lip. "What happened?"

"Chad was picking on a girl. I told him to leave her alone. He told me to leave before I got hurt. I hit him, and then he hit me. I won in the end."

Robert chuckled. "You got into a fight, over a girl?"

"Becky helps me out in science class."

"I guess that makes a difference," said Robert. He then pulled out the game he bought. "You interested in this?"

Bobby glanced at it. "Wrong consul, dad."
Robert saw that he was holding a Gamestation 4 game and the game console is a FoxBox 1. "Oh, I think I'll take this back to the store and trade it. I also like to apologize for breaking my promise." "Yeah, Fred told me what happened. It's alright, and besides, you sacrificed your freedom for a police officer's life."
"Let's go to the store together," Robert said. "If you had been with me I wouldn't have screwed up."

"Okay, Dad," Bobby said. "I still remember all the stuff we did when I was little."

Robert almost teared up thinking about how much fun little Bobby had been and how 7 years of their relationship was taken away from both of them. by his prison time.

"Yeah, Bobby," he said. "Good times. But we'll have more of them."
As he and Bobby walked, Robert talked to his son. "So, how are things between you and Uncle Fred?"

"He's not my uncle," said Bobby. "It's not like you and him are actually brothers, and he isn't related to mom. He's basically, just a babysitter."

"Maybe so, but me and him have been through thick and thin together, and he saved my life a few times, and I saved his as well," said Robert. "Still, I see he's done an okay job raising you."

"I guess so," said Bobby. Then, the young fox chuckled. "You should see him when we go fishing at the creek, and all we're catching is crayfish. He acts like they're going to bite him or something. I have to get the things off the hook."

Robbert grinned. "He doesn't like anything with pinchers, especially after Tony Taponi stuck him head-first into a tank filled with lobsters. Didn't matter that the things had rubber bands on them, you see something with big claws all around you, you're going to freak out a bit."

It was at this moment, that a car pulled up alongside of them, and the window rolled down. "Hello Mr. Whitetip."

Robert chuckled. "Hello, Janelle. What's the occasion?"

"Just testing your tracking bracelet," said the rabbit. "So, this is the famous Bobby I've heard so much about. What happened to your face?"

"Got into a fight at school," said Bobby.

"Apparently, it involved a girl," said Robert. "You know how those can be."

"I know," said Janelle. "So, what are you doing?"

"Going to the game store," said Robert. "Seems I was a bit of an idiot, and bought the game for the wrong consul."

Janelle smiled, and shook her head. "Sure you didn't do that on purpose, just to have an excuse to spend time with your son?"

Robert grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Got any plans for later?" Janelle asked.

"Not really," said Robert.

"Know of a nice place where we could discuss things," said Janelle. "Good food and the like, though I don't think the kid will like it too much."

"Sounds interesting," said Robert. "Six o-clock?"

"That would be good," said Janelle. "I'll pick you up." She then drove off.

"Do you like her dad?" Bobby asked.

"Always visited me, at least once a week," said Robert. "I suspect she has a crush on me."

"Well, it's not like you've dated anyone," said Bobby. "At least, not since mom's accident."

Robert frowned. "I know."
That evening at the restaurant Janelle said, "I've been meaning to ask about what happened to your wife, or is it to painful to talk about it?"
Robert looked thoughtful. "Let's wait until after dinner to talk about it. What's a bunny like you going to have?"

Janelle grinned. "You're expecting me to say a carrot salad, aren't you? I do like my veggies, but I'm in the mood for a quiche tonight."

"Fried chicken for me," Robert said. "I was raised on it and I still love it."
An hour later, Janelle was driving Robert to his home. It was raining.

"Take Stanford Street," said Robert.

"Why?" Janelle asked. "Allen Street is a straight shot to your place."

"I don't take Allen Street when it's raining," said Robert.

"Is it because of the accident involving your wife?" Janelle asked.

Robert nodded. "It was a simple trip to the grocery store, a trip that Sally had made a thousand times, if not more," Robert said. "It was raining heavily, preventing anyone from seeing clearly. The driver of the other car, a single father, who had two kids in the backseat, turned his head to try to settle an argument. The car crossed over the line, and their car hit the one my wife was driving. The kids were fine, but as for him and my wife.... the services were held a week later."

"I'm sorry," said Janelle.

"What was worse was that the insurance companies wouldn't pay up," said Robert. "There was some legal fine print or something. The father had a History, so the kids weren't even to get a Trust Fund from the Insurance company, and I'd been screwed over on some late payment."

"What happened?" Janelle asked.

"Check my record."

"They say that your first B and E's were the homes of some higher-ranking insurance agency employees," said Janelle. "Went in disguised as a repairman, while the owners were out, stole jewelry, vandalized electronics and furniture, with the exception of things in the kids' rooms or things that were family heirlooms."

"Some things are too valuable to destroy," said Robert. "The kids' stuff I left alone because, well, it wasn't right to destroy that stuff. Family heirlooms, well, that was how I got most of my stuff, and second-hand goods. These people, they had the stuff that just said 'I have money, and you don't!' I didn't like that. I wanted to show them that money meant nothing."

"I see," said Janelle.

"The scary thing is just how easy it was," said Robert. "I was expecting guard dogs, alarms, security patrol, the neighbor to look in through the window at me to pick up the phone to call the police; there was nothing. Thing is, I always dressed like I had a reason to be there; repairman or some such thing, just in case someone showed up. Then, after a while, I got addicted to it, and thus started to do my research, and soon enough, I was breaking into those protected places, looking like I belonged there. I was invisible, so far as anyone was concerned."

"I know," said Janelle. "That's how it is, when people don't see you. What about your partner?"

"What about him?"

"We know you had one, but he was never found," said Janelle.

Robert looked at Janelle. "I don't tell you his name."

"Statute of Limitations is up," said Janelle.

"Yes, but I'd rather keep quiet," said Robert.

"Because he's the one who raised your boy, right?" Janelle asked.

Robert smiled. "Some things are worth keeping quiet about."
Meanwhile, Mr. Volkov met one of his henchmen "Boss, I got good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?" "Give me the bad news first." Said Valkov. "Sorry to say, Kaskov has died this morning. They fried him on the chair. But the good news is that I found out about the fox Malcolm encountered, his name is Robert Whitetip a small-time thief just released on parole recently, no doubt he's the same fox that foiled your brother's plan to kill that cop." "It's time he shall pay the price." "What are you gonna do boss?"
Volkov the bear got up from his chair and walked over to look out the window. He stood there for a moment with his hands clasped behind his back. Finally he turned and looked at Petro.

"I don't want a quick death for this fox. I want him to die slowly while I watch."

Petro shivered. The boss could be very cruel sometimes. "Whatever you say, boss. I'll get a couple of the boys and we'll go grab the fox for you."

"Petro! Don't make it sound easy. The fox is no fool. Use care. Use caution. And don't screw up."
A while later, Robert entered his home, and saw Fred looking out from behind a curtain. "Anything going on?"

"Someone's been looking for you, and I'm not talking about the cop," said Fred.

"Who was it?" Robert asked.

"Malcolm Whitepaws, one of those guys who thinks that they've made the big time, just because they work for some mafioso type," said Fred. "Truth be told, he's nothing compared to you. Bungled a simple Loving Couple scam this morning, and you were the reason why."

"Takes a thief to catch a thief," said Robert.

"Yeah, but his boss is bad news," said Fred. "Vlademer Volkov, brother to Kaskov Volkov, that polar bear you helped get locked up, who just got fried today."

"How do you know this?" Robert asked.

Fred twitched his ears. "I listen. Also, social media. I keep in touch"

"Really? I thought that the police would of caught onto that," said Robert.

"Yeah, they did, and they follow the Big Boys, as it were," said Fred. "Thing is, it's all in code, only it doesn't look like a code."

"What do you mean?"

"School events, reviews of movies and book, and other such innocent-looking things, but in truth, payoffs, hits, trade deals, and a whole lot more," said Fred. "Managed to figure out the code as well."

"Useful to know," said Robert.

"Yeah, and Volkov has put out a hit on you and your rabbit friend," said Fred.

"Really?"

"Yeah, made a reference to Zootopia, showed an image of the main characters, only instead of linking the image to the actors, your prison record and her police file came up, plus a mention to Night Howlers, which was linked to a knock-out drug."

"I see," said Robert. "At least, he isn't after you or Bobby."

"Hey, I keep a baseball bat by the door," said Fred. "I was never fond of guns, you know."

"Neither am I," said Robert. "Still, you keep the sawed-off double barrel shotgun under the couch seats?"

Fred chuckled. "About the only places I don't have a gun stashed at are Bobby's room, and the kitchen, and that's out of safety."

Robert walked up to the computer desk, and hit a spot on the top, causing a hidden drawer to reveal itself, containing a small .22 pistol, and some ammo for it. "Useful to know." He shut the drawer, which blended into the rest of the desk. "And the saferoom?"

"In the cellar, behind the shelf of wine bottles," said Fred.

"Right, you never know when you get thirsty," said Robert.
At the precinct, Janelle was doing some paperwork when a lion came in "Officer Janelle, you need to stay here tonight. You've been marked for death along with your parole, Robert Whitetip," "Again? I thought Kaskov Valkov was executed this morning." "He was, it's his brother Vlademer that marked you two."
"I can't stay here every night," Janelle said.

"I know that," said the lion. "It's just for tonight. We need time to organize round-the-clock protection for you."

"What about Robert Whitetip?"

"He's not a police officer."
"But, he's got a son," said Janelle.

"Janelle; Robert successfully evaded the police and others for five years, before he decided to give himself up when he saved you," the lion said. "I doubt that anyone will get a hold of him easily."



Back at Robert's place, Robert was checking out a patch of berries, and picking some blueberries. He then brushed aside some mulch, revealing the edge of a pot, which had been buried in the ground

"Sits right on top of the Emergency Exit," said Fred. "Opens from the inside, and I always make sure it's in working order, every three months."

"Sally loved her blueberries," Robert said, as he replaced the mulch. "I find it a comfort to know that she's keeping me safe."

"I wish you'd let me plant some more," said Fred. "They produce more berries if they have a pollinator you know."

"Yeah, but this was her special plant, grown from a mere cutting from off of her father's farm," said Robert. "That's the only real reason I bother with it - I prefer blackberries and raspberries. I see you finally put in some gold ones - tricky to find around here. Any luck on the purples?"

"Might have to order online for those," said Fred. "I'm sort of surprised you want the thorny blackberries - there's thornless ones you know."

"Thorny ones produce more, and better, berries," said Robert. "How are the strawberries?"

"Had to put them in a pot," said Fred. "The ground isn't right for them."

"Alright," said Robert. "And perhaps we should get a few more blueberries. Might make things less obvious."
Petro, Smook, and Benny arrived at Robert Whitecap's house shortly after midnight. They didn't announce themselves. Instead they hid in the shrubbery.

""Looks to me," said Benny, "that we can just smash in and grab the fox. I don't see any special defenses."

Smook rolled his eyes. "What do you expect? A sign in the yard saying This home protected by ADT services?

"We have to be creative," Petro said. "He's probably taken precautions against the usual smash and grab. We need to do it in a way he didn't expect."
Unfortunately, Petro, Smook nor Benny saw that the area has a hidden camera just overhead on the drainpipe where Bobby is watching on his computer "Well, it seems we have uninvited guests, waiting for a long time to try this setup but let's see how far they can get past my home made booby traps?" Then he presses a key on his computer.
At this, a spider-like thing popped up from the ground, startling Benny.

"I hate spiders," he said.

"It's just a Halloween thing," said Petro. "Probably motion activated. My wife has a cat thing that meows whenever someone steps in front of it."

Smook chuckled. "Looks like some kid made it. Cute."

Benny kicked it, snapping the stick it was on. "Let's get going."



Bobby watched through his camera. Okay, the spider was one of his first things he'd ever made, and was indeed childish, but the way the trio acted, something was up beyond the usual night prowler.
Petro noticed that there was a way into the attic by climbing a tree whose branches were close to the house. Each end of the house had a vent for the attic that looked big enough to crawl through after you removed the grill. He put his idea into practice and soon the three kidnappers were perched just outside the attic vent with the grill removed.

"Looks clear," Petro said. "Who wants to go in first?"
Smook raised his paw, "I'll go first." As he made it into the attic he found it pretty cluttered managed to trip and end up in a lawnchair. But he didn't see that it's set up against a large inner tube stretched into a makeshift slingshot aimed towards the attic window. "Oh, Has this guy ever cleans his attic?" as he tries to stand up, he hits a loose board triggering the trap and Smook ends up making an unexpected flight "AHHHHHH!!!!" Petro and Benny saw this "Smook? What happened?"
"Someone thought that I had wings," said Smook, as he tried to stand up. "I get the feeling that someone has seen 'Home Alone' a few times too many."

"Ain't that the one where the kid outwits the two burgles?" Benny asked.

"One mishap and you think it was a trap," said Petro. "Let's try the front door. It's not like anyone actually locks it, right?"

"You're the one who suggested the attic thing," said Smook.



Inside the house, Robert was watching things through a window blind. "Kid's got a knack for creative traps, right?"

Fred chuckled. "That he does. You'd be surprised."

"Yeah, well, as much as I hate to spoil things for Bobby, I don't want people to get too badly hurt," said Robert. He then walked over to the couch, removed the cushions, carefully pulled out the sofa bed, and removed the hidden sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, and a box of shells. He then loaded the gun.

"You know that I sleep on that," said Fred, as he tapped the desk, removing the .22 pistol from its hidden drawer, and loading it. "I don't feel right sleeping in another man's bed."

"Well, Two-Sandles Lizzy is still looking for Mr. Longears, you know," said Robert. "At least, that's what one of her ex-boyfriends told me."

"I don't ever want to meet up with that poodle again," said Fred, as he felt his ears. "I still have nightmares from when she threw those knives at me and tried to pin my ears to her wall. She was one crazy bitch, in every sense of the word."

"Sally could get that way too," said Robert. "Let's make things easy for them."



A few minutes later, Petro, Smook, and Benny had crept around to the front door.

Petro opened it. "Well, what do you know - thief keeps his own door unlocked." He pulled out his gun, as did the other two. They stepped inside, where they saw Robert standing behind the couch, his shotgun pointed right at them.

"I know what you're thinking," said Robert. "You're thinking that between the three of you, at least one of you will be able to kill me, because I only have two shells in this thing, meaning, if you move fast, at least one of you ought to be unscathed long enough to kill me. Normally, you'd be right, except there's an additional 8 bullets pointed right at you."

Benny turned his head, and saw Fred standing in the corner, pointing the pistol at them. "That's a puny pistol. Beretta 950 Jetfire, 8 .22 caliber rounds."

"It might be small, but it's very accurate," said Fred. "At this range, I could put a round in each of your eyes. Oh, the best part, instead of going through your skull, the round will bounce around inside, scrambling your brain. Saves having to patch a hole in the wall, and confines the blood to a relatively small area, making clean-up easy."

Petro holstered his gun, and motioned to the others to do the same. "We will leave, for now. Just know that we will be back."

"I look forward to it," said Robert.

The three intruders left.

"I don't like it," Fred said, looking out the window, keeping an eye on the trio. "Those were Vlademer Volkov's goons. Mr. Volkov wants you dead, I know it."
Volkov listened to Petro, Smook, and Benny relate their experiences at the house of Robert Whitetip. He shook his head sadly. "It's so hard to get good help."

"Hey, we tried," Petro said. "They've got that house booby trapped and he's not there by himself. One gun against three is good odds but two guns against three is not that great."

"Alright," Volkov said. "I've heard enough. Getting him at home is not the way to go. We need to wait until he leaves home and is off by himself. The three of you keep an eye on him for the next few days. Take shifts and keep a notebook. Record everywhere he goes. Then I'll make a decision."
Then one of his henchbears, Samuel says "Franklin just called in, that Janelle has never showed up at her house, that means she's still in the precinct. I say we should storm it and...." Valkov interrupted "Get thrown in the slammer? Do you know how many cops we have to go through to get to her?" Samuel says "Sorry boss, I didn't think." "That's your problem, you don't think. Wait until she leaves the precinct and in an area away from it before doing her in."
In the morning, Robert was watching Bobby walk to school. "Are you sure he'll be alright."

Fred chuckled. "You can bet your tail he'll be alright. I've got eyes and ears on him."

"You're using your uncle's connections, right?" Robert asked.

"When the Favorite Nephew of the Godfather is your Godfather, you tend to be safe from harm," said Fred. "Of course, I do keep quiet about that stuff around him; Uncle Tony isn't the type of fox that you can invite to a kid's party, unless he wants an alibi, you understand."

"I thought he didn't kill people, anymore," said Robert.

"Doesn't stop him from giving orders to his henchmen," said Fred. "That and he was useful for when we needed to fence something big."

Robert then turned his head towards a familiar sound. "Yeah, well keep quiet about that. I see Janelle's car."

Fred turned his head as well. "Yeah, and she has a tail, two of them. One obvious, one not so obvious."

Janelle parked her car, and a police cruiser passed on by. At the same time, a truck pulled over to the side of the road, the driver getting out a map, as if lost.

Robert walked up to Janelle's car. "Trouble?"

"Sort of," said Janelle, as she got out. "Vlademer Volkov has put a hit out on both you and me. I had to spend the night at the precinct."

"Been there, done that," said Robert. "I just hope you got the couch and not one of the cell beds."

"Very funny," said Janelle. "You're not going into work today. Also, I'm staying here with you."

Fred grabbed Robert. "She can't stay here!" he hissed between his teeth. "We can't have her snooping around the place. She might find a few things."

"Let me show you around," said Robert. "Fred, you go and tidy up."

"Good idea," the fennic said, as he went back inside.

"I get the feeling he doesn't like me," said Janelle.

"Just don't mess with his ears, and you'll be fine," said Robert. "He doesn't like it when someone tries to damage them."

"I know how that feels," said Janelle.

"Let's go around back."



A little while later, the two were on the backside of the house, and Robert was checking on his berry bushes, seeing if they were damaged by the intruders.

"Trouble last night?" Janelle asked.

"A few stray cats, nothing major." He frowned as he looked at the blueberry bush; several new shoots had been broken. "Except for some damage to my wife's blueberries." He took out a pair of pruners, and removed the damaged stalks.

"You know, if you get a tray full of wet sand and moss, you can use those to produce new bushes," said Janelle. "Of course, a root hormone helps."

Robert looked at Janelle. "You grow blueberries?"

"Grew up on a farm, and mother was always growing one bush of one sort or another," said Janelle. "Name it, and she'd grow it. It's been a while, but I still know how to do it myself."

Robert smiled, and gave the cut pieces to her. "In that case, call these a gift."
"Thanks," Janelle said. "You're sure you don't mind me staying here? I guess I was pretty aggressive about it."

"No, I don't mind," Robert said. "In fact, I like the idea. It's Fred that doesn't like strangers on the house, specially if they seem snoopy. Can you be careful about not seeming interested in anything when you are around him?"

"Sure, I can do that. What a great berry patch."

"My favorite place," Robert said.
Jenelle helps Robert bring in a batch of Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries, "You grew all these?" "Technicly, yes but the garden is originally Sally's so I maintained it after she died." "That must've been hard on you." "At first yes, but it sure brings back happy memories each time I pick these berries."

Fred saw Jenelle and Robert in the garden and waited for them in the Kitchen. as Robert and Jenelle entered the Kitchen door. Jenelle says "That must be Fred, I hope you don't mind but Robert invited me to stay over due to that I'm marked for death." Fred says "Let me guess, by Vlademer Volkov." Fred then turns to Robert, "Can I have a word with you, in private?" Robert says "If you excuse us?" Jenelle says "Sure, I'll put the berries in the fridge for you." They go into the living room, Fred says "Are you out of your mind? Bringing her here after dealing with 3 of Valkov's stooges last night? What if they decide to return tonight?"
"You saw the guy in the truck," said Robert.

"Yeah, Obviously Lost Driver," said Fred. "And, in thirty minutes, he'll drive off, only for another lost driver to take his place, also trying to find his destination, followed by another, and another."

"We use her to see if the driver is a fellow cop or not," said Robert. "At the very least, they act as a warning system, which can call for help."

"Yeah, but it's still dangerous," said Fred.

"Does the door to the Safe Room in the cellar work?" Robert asked.

"Tested it last week," said Fred. "Pull on the Bella Rosa bottle, and the wine shelf swings into the room. After that, pull the lever to close the door, and swing the bar into its holder to lock it. Remove the bar and pull the lever to open it back up."

"And no one will be able to find it, and it's backed with a good two inches of steel sheeting, providing excellent protection from gunfire," said Robert. "And there's the Emergency Exit under the blueberry patch."

"I still don't understand why you used a Bella Rosa as the trigger handle," said Fred. "I'd of used a Dom Pérignon. Bella Rosa is a cheep wine, whereas a Dom Pérignon is a sign of prestige to your serious wine collector."

"Because it was a Bella Rosa that me and Sally had at our wedding, and there was no way we could afford a Dom Pérignon on what we made," said Robert. "Especially then."

"Alright," said Fred. "Anyways, I can guess the plan - we spend the night in the Safe Room, right? Problem is, that means Janelle would know about it, and so would the police."

"Only if we have to," said Robert. "For now, we set up a couple of cots in the regular cellar. That way, if there is trouble, we can get into the Safe Room. If there isn't any trouble, then Janelle, and the police by extension, won't find out about the Safe Room."

"Alright," said Fred. "But I still don't like it."

"You don't have to like it," said Robert. "Still, I appreciate the help, with everything. If it wasn't for you taking over as Bobby's Guardian, he'd be in Foster care, and I wouldn't have been able to see him while I was in prison."

Fred chuckled. "Hey, what are partners for if they won't help each other out. Heck, he's been an excellent excuse to avoid going to some of Uncle Tony's parties, especially those Italian-style ones, especially the more risky ones, where he invites his enemies to dine with him, and you don't know if he's just feeling forgiving, or plans on giving you food poisoning, if you get my meaning."

"He ever dine with Volkov?" Robert asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Fred asked. "That bear insulted my uncle over being Too Old-Fashioned in his mannerisms. Uncle Tony doesn't like people insulting his manners, as he always tries to be polite, even when he plans to have you killed. He dislikes rudeness, especially intentional rudeness."

"Well, worse comes to worse, we can rely on your uncle to help us out," said Robert.

"I'd rather not," said Fred. "And don't mention my connection to him to that rabbit. I don't want the police to connect me to him."
Several days passed with not much happening, then one day they ran out of eggs.

"I'll go get them," Robert said.

"Is that safe?" Janelle asked.

"I can't stay cooped up in this house 24/7."

"Maybe I better go with you?"

Robert waved a no with his hand. "I'd rather you stay here and protect Bobby. I'll only be gone a few minutes. There's no lurkers parked outside and the store is only a block away."

"OK, but be careful."

Robert pulled out of the driveway in Fred's Honda Civic and turned right.
In a car at the side of the road just out of sight, Benny, Smook and Patro was sitting. Both Benny and Smook were snoozing while Patro was keeping watch then he saw Robert just passing by them "Hey guys, wake up our little target is on the move." Benny says "Looks like he's doing some shopping." Smook says "We'll grab him just as he leaves the store, come on." Patro quietly moves the car so it won't be heard.
Robert looked out the window of the store. "Well, well. Trouble just had to follow me. Probably plan to snatch me as I leave. This will be fun."

He walked down the Household Cleaning Aisle and picked up a mop and a broom. He walked up to the counter, waited in line, paid cash, and walked out of the store. Then, he walked up to the car, containing the three bears.

The bears got out.

"You're all alone now, foxy," said Patro.

"Yeah, I'm alone," said Robert. "I was alone when I took on Kaskov Volkov and ten of his fellow bears."

"We have guns," said Smook. "You have nothing except a couple of sticks."

Robert grinned. "You did remember to bring silencers, right?"

"Of course," said Benny, as he pulled his gun out. "And they are on."

"Good. That way I don't have to worry too much."

Robert dropped the mop, and swung the broom, hitting Benny in the hands, forcing him to let go of his gun. Moving quickly, Robert dashed up to his foe, and snatched the gun before he could pick it up, and fired twice.

Benny blinked, as he checked himself. "You missed?"

Robert grinned. "Not exactly."

The three bears heard a sound, and turned their heads, before turning back to face each other.

"He shot out our tires!"

Again, moving quickly, Robert grabbed the mop and broom, and swung them into the built-in vulnerable spot of any male, taking out Benny and Smook. This left Patro. Robert swung his two weapons again, taking him out.

Robert chuckled, as he put the mop and broom into Fred's car. Then, he lifted the wallets from the three goons, made his real purchases, and went home.



"Everything alright?" Janelle asked, as Robert walked inside. "I just got a call about a disturbance outside the store."

"Ran into Volkov's goons," Robert said, as he put the wallets on the table. "They were easy to deal with."

Fred and Bobby came into the kitchen, where they saw the wallets. Fred looked the driver licenses, and then at Robert. "You took these guys on?"

"Used a mop and a broom, and basic biology," said Robert.

Bobby picked up the credit cards, and ran into his room.

"What's he doing?" Robert asked.

"Remember when I told you he altered his grades last month," said Fred.

"He didn't! Did he?" Robert asked. "I thought he took an after-school class to restore them."

"It was an after-school class alright, but not that kind," said Fred.

"You didn't teach him, did you?"

"'2-Bit CPU' Charley was here babysitting him, alright," said Fred. "He taught the kid a few things, and Bobby took off from there. Said he was the fastest learner, and hacker, he'd seen."

"I hope he works for the Good Guys when he grows up," said Robert.

"Aside from his grades, he hasn't done anything really malicious," said Fred. "I've checked on that."
At mealtime Bobby was grinning from ear to ear.

"What's got you looking like the cat that swallowed the canary?" Fred asked.

Bobby chuckled. "Those credit cards just bought me a new computer and a few other things."

"Did you max them out?"

"Oh yeah!" Bobby said.

"That's fraud!" Janelle said.

Robert looked at her. "Aren't you forgetting those three goons tried to kill me? Would you prefer that they be dead instead of taking a financial hit? Is it not fair that they should pay me for the emotional pain they caused?"

Janelle shook her head. "Oh, I suppose so. I don't like it, but you are right. Three dead bodies to explain I would like even less."
"Makes me wonder a bit," said Janelle. "I've checked your records, and you do have a certain capacity for violence; there's a number of instances where you broke someone's arm or leg with a well-placed blow, usually without a weapon, and in some cases, the guard in question was ex-military or ex-police, with a good knowledge of martial arts and hand-to-hand fighting techniques. How did you beat them?"

"Truth be told, your basic punch to the face tends to do the job," said Robert. "Same with a knee to the groin. A simple staff, mop, or broom, or walking stick, or a crutch, or anything simple, is usually better. Ever see a butterfly knife?"

"Seen a few," said Janelle.

"It's real interesting to watch someone open one one-handed, and close it," said Robert. "Thing is, the humble crowbar, which isn't all that interesting, just being a bent piece of metal used to pry boards, can be used to break Mr. Knife-Guy's wrist before he can open said butterfly knife."

"Really?" Janelle asked.

"Minor incident involving a guy who worked for the Mexican cartel," said Robert. "He was holding my partner hostage, and told me to rob this bank; seems he owed his boss some money. I'd seen him open it, and close it, and I made a wager; I could beat him and his goon, and get me and my partner out, before he could get the knife open again. He laughed, and then I grabbed a crowbar, hit him in the wrist, breaking the bones, took out his goon, freed my partner, and as we left, smashed his Lincoln's window."

Fred chuckled at this. "Then there was that time you dealt with that ninja guy who had those swords."

"Did you see him?" Janelle asked.

"I heard the story before," said Fred. "Guy used two of those Katana sword things. He was doing some kung fu flashy move. Robert, he grabbed a garden hoe, and swung the handle into the guy's crotch. Down goes the other guy. Robert even took his swords."

"Don't ask where those are," said Robert. "I'm not sure."

"Right," said Janelle. "Tell me; do you think you could kill someone?"

Robert looked at her. "I hope to never find out."
Meanwhile, still nursing from their wounds, Benny, Smook and Patro reported to Valkov who is currently busy on the phone "Listen you old fashioned pompus, I don't care if you were the Godmother, no one tell me what I can or cannot do. Besides my henchmen will always trump yours." He slams the phone "That was Don Lupione, he wants me to stop hunting down Robert. Don't know why but no one tells me what to do. And what happened to you three? you looked like you had a beating of a lifetime." Benny says "It was Robert, they guy's been trained in hand to hand fighting." Smook says "When we tried to grab him, he fought back with a mop and a broom." Volkov says "I see, it looks like I guess I have to use my assassin to get the job done, Samual, get me Spectre."
Sometime later Valkov looked up from his desk to see Spectre standing before him. "I didn't hear you come in."

"No one ever does," said Spectre in a low, husky voice. Spectre was dressed all in black.

"I have an assignment for you," Valkov said. "Double the usual fee because this guy seems difficult to catch."

"Catch?" Spectre said. "I don't catch, I kill."

"Oh, he will be killed, alright, but I want it done slowly where I can see it."

"Ideas like that are distasteful to me," Spectre said. "I'm an assassin, not a procurer for sadists. I kill cleanly and quickly. I'm afraid your slow death with voyeur scenario does not appeal to me."

"I'll triple your fee!" Valkov said.

"You might live in a world where men sell out their principles for money, but I do not. I shall try to forget how much you have offended me today. Good-bye."

"Wait!" Valkov said, but Spectre had already slipped silently away.
A while later, Fred was looking out the window, when he backed away. "Oh shit!"

"What?" Robert asked.

"She's here!" Fred said, running upstairs.

"Who's he talking about?" Janelle asked.

Robert looked out the window. "Well, I understand why he went upstairs, probably to hide under my bed."

"What?" Janelle asked.

"Take a look."

Janelle looked out the window, and saw a white cat, dressed in a rather suggestive outfit. "Who is she?"

"Maria Papanova, a Russian Mafia princess," said Robert. "Suspected to be the assassin-for-hire Spectre, and responsible for twenty murders, though no proof has been found. Also, she's Fred's ex-wife."

"That's a very good reason for him to hide," said Janelle.

"You don't know the half of it," said Robert.

The door soon opened, and Maria stepped in. "Ah, Robert, darling. I heard you were released from the gulag."

"Nice to see you to," said Robert.

"How's my precious Freddy doing?" Maria asked, taking her coat off, revealing more of herself.

"The bullet wound in his ears healed up nicely," said Robert.

"Good to know," said Maria. "Maybe he'll listen better next time someone tells him to get down."

"Given that getting down would have placed his face right in your chest, I could understand his reluctance to do so," said Robert. "Especially since your idea of fun involved trying to suffocate him with it."

"Ha, I thought he enjoyed it," said Maria. "I know part of him did."

"What are you doing here?" Robert asked.

"Vlademer Volkov wants you dead, only, he doesn't want someone to kill you," said Maria. "He wants someone to abduct you, so that he can torture you to death."

"So, why are you here?" Janelle asked.

Maria looked at her. "Cop?"

"I have a badge, and a gun," said Janelle.

"Neither of which would do you any good," said Maria. She looked at Robert. "Volkov tried to hire Spectre, to kidnap you, but Spectre does have his standards - quick clean kills, not some long slow torture, during which the victim might find a way to escape." She then picked up her coat, and walked to the door. "Oh, tell Freddy, we'll always have Kiev." She then left.

"Trust her to rip off a movie," said Robert. "At least she won't kill me, unless someone pays her enough."
Meanwhile, Benny, Smook and Patro realized that their wallets are missing. "My wallet! I lost my wallet!" "My wallet's gone too." "So is mine!" Then Benny said "I bet we lost them at the store when we got clobbered by Robert. If I get a bill with expenses that's not my own. I'll kill that fox." Then Valkov came in "Boys, I have a job for you." Smook says "I hope this doesn't have anything to do with that fox." Valkov says "Get to the prison and release Syd Lafftrak." Then the 3 henchmen looked surprised and Patro says "Not 'Psycho' Syd Lafftrak?" Smook says "He's a real Lunatic." Benny says "Remember that Fireworks factory indident 10 years ago when he held a father and his two sons hostage?"
Valkov looked sarcastically at Benny, Smook, and Patro. "You three have little reason to criticize anyone's mental health. The three of you added together would still be a nut case. This Robert job is getting on my nerves. Maybe somebody like Syd Lafftrak is what I need. He's totally unpredictable."

"Yeah, that's the problem," Benny said. "We spring Psycho Syd from jail and then he kills all three of us as a thank you gesture."

"Don't be paranoid," Valkov said. "He's not that crazy. Besides, we are going to make him an offer of a lot of money and a surefire getaway plan. I think he will go for it."

Smook raised his hand. "Uh... boss? We'll need money and drivers licenses. We lost our wallets."

Valkov did a face palm. "Idiots!"
Samuel says "I'll go get him boss, Thomson, Franklin, let's spring Syd Lafftrak from the Gulag."

Meanwhile at the city prison a wolf guard is nursing a bite in the ear when another guard comes in. "Wendell, what happened?" "I was assigned to feed that nutcase Syd Lafftrack and when I bought in his tray, he sprung at me and bit me in the ear." The other guard says "'Psycho' Syd, I can still remember that Fireworks factory hostage situation, it almost ended in a disaster if it wasn't for a quick thinking of a decorated police officer." "Yeah, thank goodness no one was killed."

While the two guards was busy having a conversation, Samuel, Thomson and Franklin slipped past them unnoticed and came up to a metal door marked 'Psycho' Syd. Inside was a hyena and he noticed 3 bears outside his door "Ooh, visitors. No one ever visits me. What's the purpose of this visit?"
"Got a job for you," said Samuel. "You are needed to kill one Robert Whitetip."

Syd grinned. "I've heard of him, even in here. Took on eleven polar bears, and beat them. Apparently he was protecting a female police officer, specifically, a rabbit."

"You need to kill the rabbit as well," said Samuel.

"Robert Whitetip, I've seen him through my window, as he worked out on the Yard," said Syd. "He's good, but I'm better." At this, the hyena walked up to the door, and then turned around, and charged through the wall, leaving a large hole in it. "When the door is unlockable, use another way out." Then he laughed, and ran, barreling over anyone in his way; guards, guests, other convicts, the prison priest, and abducted the nun as he ran through the fence.

Thomson looked at Samuel. "He could have left at any time, but had no reason to."

"I think this was a big mistake," said Franklin. "I mean, he kidnapped a nun for Christ's sake!"

"Let's get out of here," said Samuel. "I doubt anyone would be interested in us, at the moment, so let's leave calmly."
"For the love of Christ!" said the nun. "Release me immediately or you will burn in hell forever!"

"Sorry, sister," Syd said. "I thought I might need a hostage. You can go."

"Alright then, and if I were you, young man, I would march right back to jail and serve out the rest of my term."

Syd laughed. "And if I were you I would get a job in the bar district as The Stripper Nun and make a ton of money."

"Mercy!" said the nun. "You are a sinner but there is still hope for you."
Samuel, Franklin and Thompson caught up, "You rushed off before we told you where Robert lived." "So I did," Syd said, "oh my." Franklin says, "I wouldn't recommend going in there though, 3 others tried to break in only to spring a booby trap set up in their attic, chances are there could be more." "Then I'll lure him out, with bait. Does he have a wife?" Samuel says "His wife died in a car accident." Syd just sighed "How disappointing." Thompson then says "But he has a son." Syd grins fiendishly "Perfect."
The next day, Janelle watched as Bobby left for school. There was something about it, that made her wish she had a child of her own. Then, she shook her head, and went into the backyard, where she found Robert laying on the ground, halfway under an untamed rose bush, muttering to himself.

"Worried about his ears getting scratched. What's a few scratches compared to a good memory? Ow. Right, next wedding, he tells me to use thornless roses! Or the next funeral, whichever happens first. Always complaining. Never sees the beauty, nor the memory."

"Robert, what are you doing?" Janelle asked.

Robert came out, holding onto several long, and dead, rose branches, well, they were more like branches than stems. "Pruning mine and Sally's Wedding Rose. Fred let the thing grow wild while I was locked up. Berry bushes he gets, as those make free food, but flowering bushes, he could care less about."

"A Wedding Rose, I've never heard of those ones," said Janelle.

"Me and Sally got a white rose for our wedding, just a flower, and a long stem," said Robert. "I was just going to stick it in a glass of water, but Sally, well, she went and cut the head off, cut it into six-inch long sections, added root hormone, stuck the ends in potting soil, and three months later, it was the start of our first rose bush." He pointed to some more, all in different colors. "Every birthday, Valentine's Day, Anniversary - they are all here. Knowing her, I always got a different one each time. A bouquet of twelve roses soon became the start of twenty-four hopefulls, which usually became anywheres from five to twenty bushes. She could grow anything."

"What about you?" Janelle asked.

"Seven years in prison gives you a lot of free time," said Robert. "Worked in the garden, learned quite a bit there. Might try my hand at getting into an actual rose and bush business."
Syd sat slumped in his vehicle, his eyes on the school about half a block away. He was pretty sure he had correctly identified a boy as being Robert's son Bobby that morning, but best to be sure. Snatching the wrong kid would only complicate things.

Franklin was in the car with him, out of sight now because he was sleeping on the back seat. They had taken a lunch break at McDonalds. Now they were waiting for school to let out.
Bobby woke up when the School bell rang, "Was I asleep? Ms. Kranston is going to be mad at me in the morning for playing Hooky."

Fred says, "Don't worry, I told her that there was a family emergency and with your father on Volkov's hit list, hired assassins may use you as bait. Let's go home."

Syd saw the school kids pass by his car but none of them resembled Robert's son. "Hmm, either he lives in another direction or doesn't attend this school." Then he saw him, in a back of a Honda driven by a Fennic Fox. "Oh snap, he has been picked up."

Meanwhile, Janelle received a phone call. It was her superior warning her "When did 'Psycho' Syd escaped from prison?....Yeah I know how dangerous he was, I read the reports about the Ming Fireworks shop hostage situation.....Yeah I'll warn him."
"Robert, do you know of someone known as 'Psycho' Syd?" Janelle asked.

Robert chuckled. "When you're locked up, you hear about everyone. I heard about him alright. Guards were afraid to be near him, murderers were afraid of him, folks sharing adjacent walls refused to communicate with him, even by Morse Code, and everyone else avoided him. He'd kill you while you slept, while he himself was asleep, to say nothing about what he'd do if he was awake. 'Too messed up for the Asylum,' is what everyone said about him. The Judge was too scared to give him the Death Penalty - afraid about what would happen if Hell refused to open its doors for Syd, or so I heard."

"Well, seems he escaped for some reason," said Janelle. "Busted through the wall of his cell, and through the fence."

"Anyone else escape?" Robert asked.

"No."

"Folks probably felt safer in the prison then," said Robert. "Syd is someone you wouldn't want to go to sleep knowing if he was close by."

"Did you have anything to do with him?" Janelle asked.

"He was on the 'Do Not Talk To' Lists, both the Official list, and the Unofficial list," said Robert. "As for me, Gardening crew. I mean, I was part of the Second Chance Gardens group."

"The work-from-prison group," said Janelle. "They take care of the public landscapes, right?"

"And, if you're not in town for a few weeks, they can mow the lawn, weed the flowers, take care of the vegetable garden, all while supervised of course," said Robert. "Had to qualify, and be part of one of those programs, or something similar, before I could see my son more often, and gardening was one thing I knew."

He looked at his garden. "It was really the only thing I knew, besides stealing. All I really have is a basic collage degree in biology, and that mainly helps you to say where an individual has an inherent weakness that you can use against them. I did pick up the whole security systems thing, but I needed someone brainy for some of the stuff. I just know the basics - I'm good because no one saw those who they didn't see normally. No one ever sees the gardener, or the repairman, or the waiter, or the servant, especially other servants. I listened, and learned. I learned the codes by watching the person leave their home, and as they entered. I became invisible by seeming to belong at the place."

"And the pawn shop?" Janelle asked.

"I needed the job, and they needed a security guard, and a handyman," said Robert. "I could do those. Picked up on the other stuff as well."
Syd and Franklin sat with Samuel and Thompson at a drive in fast food joint called Sonic.

"At least we know what the kid looks like and when he goes to school," Franklin said.

"Yeah," Syd said, "but if that fox is always going to be driving him back and forth what good will knowing do us?"

"We could hijack the fox."

"Hmm, four of us, one of him. You might be on to something."
Fred and Bobby made it home, Janelle says "Glad you two made it home, because 'Psycho' Syd is on the loose, Fred says "I heard of him, he's both psychotic and dangerous. He even tried to join err..The .Lupione family but the Don turned him down due to his unstable behavior." Janelle says "How do you know this?" Fred says "Never mind that the better question is why did 'Psycho' Syd escape?"

EDIT: Franklin is BAD guy, Fred is GOOD guy.
(Hertz - you mean Fred, or Fredrick)

"I'm not sure," said Janelle. "My superior told me to be on the lookout for him. The guy just busted out of his cell, and out the fence."

"Do you think Volkov hired him?" Robert asked, looking at Fred.

"You'd have to be a special kind of crazy to think about hiring him," said Fred.

"I'm going to work on homework," said Bobby.

"Might not have anything to do with us," said Robert. "People with long prison sentences try to escape all the time."

"Possibly," said Janelle.

"You have a point there," said Fred. "He just picked to escape now. Still, my ears have been twitching a bit more than normal, lately."

"Your ears always twitch," said Robert. "I suggest you take care of my roses, and you say your ears are twitching."

"They were, at the memory of being scratched before," said Fred.
On the next school day Syd walked into the school wearing a good suit. "Hi! I'm here to pick up Bobby for his doctor's appointment."

"Excuse me?" said the lady behind the front desk. "I don't have any memo about that."

"Really?" Syd said. "It's an important appointment. I can't believe you lost the memo."

"I didn't lose anything. I would remember it if I had seen it."

"What am I going to do?" Syd said. "The appointment is in less than an hour and the doctor said it was very important that Bobby make it."

"Here," she said. "Fill this out. I'll get Bobby from his class." She pressed a button on the intercom. "Ms. Ricardo? Send Bobby to the office, please."
Ms. Ricardo looks over to Bobby, "Bobby, could you report to the office?" Bobby does so without question, "Could this be about yesterday?" He wondered, "Uncle Fred said it was a family emergency." When he got to the office, he saw a hyena in a suit and faced the lady "You wanted to see me Ms. Kranston?" "Yes, you have a doctor's appointment and this gentleman is going to take you there." "I don't recall having a doctor's appointment, besides, if I had one, Uncle Fred usually takes me." Syd says "Fred is busy today, so he sent me instead." Bobby was no fool and if someone did send someone else, it's usually a codeword involved and he remembered it quite well. "It's quite a nice day isn't it?"
"That it is," said Syd, as he looked out the window.

That was when Bobby noticed the fella out the window, and saw the slight bulge in the person's coat.

"It's alright, Ms. Kranston," he said. He then made as if to locate his cell phone. "Um, could you call my father, and let him know we're on our way to the doctor's? He always worries about me, especially when I'm with someone other than Uncle Fred."

"I'll do that Bobby," said Ms. Kranston. "I hope it's nothing serious."

"You and me both," Bobby said, quietly. It was one thing to cause some minor trouble, or hack his grades, but these looked to be the kinds of people who meant business, and he didn't want anyone to get hurt.
Ms. Kranston watched Syd and Bobby walk out, then called Bobby's home. "Hello, Mr. Whitetip? Bobby wanted me to let you know he's on his way to the doctor appointment.... What? Uh, a hyena in a nice suit.... Well, how was I to know that? He certainly seemed like the real deal and Bobby didn't say anything to the contrary. ... Hello?"

But Robert had hung up the phone, realizing he didn't need to be wasting time talking to her. "Come on, Fred!" he said. "We got trouble in River City!"
Robert says "Ms. Kranston said Bobby's on his way to a Doctor's Appointment by a hyena in a suit sent by Freddie." Freddie says "If Bobby had a Doctor's Appointment, I would've have taken him and according to my schedule he has no such appointment today." "Just as I feared, I believe this hyena in question is 'Psycho' Syd." Janelle says "We better find them before Syd kills him." Fred says "I would worry about that, knowing him. Syd will regret kidnapping him." Robert says "How will you know that?"
"Because, knowing you, you'll take a crowbar, and wallop the guy upside the head," said Fred. "That and Santa put a few things in my Christmas stocking."

"Like what?" Janelle asked.

Fred looked at her, and then at Robert. "Wait here with her, please." He then left the kitchen.

"What is he going for?" Janelle asked.

"Let me put it this way; Fred believes in being prepared," said Robert. "And so do I."

Ten minutes later, Fred came out with a number of shotguns, assault rifles, submachineguns, various handguns, several knives and -

"Katana swords!" Janelle exclaimed. "You said you didn't know where these were."

"I didn't know if he moved them, or sold them," said Robert. He then pointed at the knives. "I see you got one of those butterfly knives."

"A memento," said Fred.

Janelle picked up what looked like a bazooka. "You do realize a lot of this is a little hard to get, legally."

"I have a permit for that," said Fred. He gestured to the rest. "Same with these."

Robert then picked up a BAR. "I'm surprised you don't have a tank."

"Funny you should mention that," said Fred. "I'm still short on that. However, I have the next best thing - a limo strong enough to shrug off tank rounds, yet smooth enough to take the ladies to the Grammies, and the Oscer, and walk on the red Carpet."

"Anything else?" Robert asked. "Such as your ex-wife?"

"Hello, darling."

Fred's eyes widened. "She's standing behind me, isn't she."

"Nice to see you, Maria," said Robert. "You heard?"

"I need a paycheck," said the Russian cat. "Make me an offer."

"Five grand for joining us," said Robert. "Twenty if you kill the person who kidnapped my son, forty if you let him live so that the police can catch him."

Maria grinned. "I'll let Spectre know your offer. After all, while he doesn't do the whole torture thing, it's not the fisherman's fault if another angler catches his catch." She then left the house.

Fred breathed a sigh of relief. "I hate it when she does that."

Robert picked up a crowbar. "This will do me just fine. I don't want to violate my parole. Of course, things do happen, especially when one forgets to check the trunk."

"Right," said Fred. "Give me a few minutes to put this away."

"You know this might violate your parole," said Janelle.

"This guy took my son," said Robert. "I want him, and whoever hired him."
Syd drove Bobby to McDonald's where Franklin and Thompson joined them in the car.

"Now what?" Franklin said.

"Now we go to that abandoned building we found and we wait until Robert shows up and then we capture him," Syd said.

Franklin and Thompson exchanged looks with each other. "You make it sound easy," Franklin said. "This Robert person is no wimp. He'll come in shooting."

"No he won't," Syd said. "He doesn't want to accidentally shoot his kid."
Samuel waited in an abandoned building that was once a Blockbuster. He's talking to Vlademer Volkov on the phone, "I know you may like this but we have a way to lure Robert to us, right now Syd, Franklin and Thompson are bringing in his son as bait,....I knew you like that......Yes boss, we'll bring him in to you where you get the pleasure of seeing Robert die and if he brings that cop, she'll join him. A very good plan."
At about that time, Robert, Fred, and Janelle were in the limo, about a block from the old movie store.

"Are you sure about this place?" Janelle asked, looking out a window. "It looks empty."

"My, um, source, is reliable," said Fred. "Three men came here with Bobby, where they met a forth - three polar bears, one hyena."

"Sounds about right," said Robert. "Time for a closer look."

"Are you sure this will work?" Janelle asked. "This dress is not exactly what I'd wear for a stakeout. And then there's your tux."

Robert grinned. "Two blocks over is a high-class diner, and take another look, especially at the people on the sidewalks."

Janelle looked again, and saw that the walkers were all well-dressed, in rather casual dresses and tuxedos. "Strange."

"Always dress to blend in with the crowd," said Robert. "There's even other foxes and rabbits, plus mixed couples. We are, practically, invisible, so long as we don't stand out."

"So, what do we do?" Janelle asked. "I want to go over the plan again."

"We just walk on by, and, a few minutes later, walk on back, nothing fancy, no tripping on our heals, or pretending to be drunk, or anything," said Robert.

"Why don't we do that?" Janelle asked.

"Folks focus on you if you do that," said Robert. "Including the target. You want to be another face in the crowd, forgotten."

"But, they are looking for us," said Janelle.

"They are looking for someone trying to make a rescue attempt, not a couple of pedestrians," said Robert. "I have done this before. We are just scooping the place out, or at least I am. You, try not to be nervous about a simple walk along the sidewalk."

"So, when are we going to try to rescue your son?" Janelle asked.

"Midnight, or just afterwards," said Robert. "People do need to sleep after all."
"As long as it's going to be so much later and since this is a diner...?"

Robert grinned. "I get it. Let's have a meal."

Janelle blushed. "I mean, I'm sorry to suggest food at a time like this but I'm pretty darn hungry."

"Hey, it's no problem. It will help us blend in. Let's take that walk first then we'll grab something to eat."
As Robert, Janelle and Fred went ate their meal, they noticed that Syd and the 3 bears took Bobby in a car and drove away, "Where are they going?" Janellle asked, Robert says "You're asking me?" Fred stood up, "I'll follow them, I'll call once I find their destination." Robert says "Be careful."
"Will he be alright?" Janelle asked.

"He's always alright," said Robert. "No one messes with him, not if they wish to see tomorrow."

"Is he that good in a fight?" Janelle asked.

"Well, he's not bad, but he's not good," said Robert. "He's the type who would shoot you in the knees, and elbows, before kicking you in the groin, pragmatic. Grab him, and you're going to lose a finger, and that's if you're lucky."

"And, if you are unlucky?" Janelle asked.

"You don't see tomorrow."

"He'd kill them?"

Robert looked at Janelle. "Are you wearing a wire?"

"Not that kind of wire," said Janelle.

"The answer to your question is this; Fred is related to a big player in one of the local criminal organizations," said Robert. "Exactly who, I'll plead the Fifth on. However, I will say this, this person is the sort that would make you disappear, until, thirty years later, someone renovates a building, and finds your remains in the foundation, or so the rumors claim."

"I see," said Janelle. "They protect Fred because he's related to them."

"Pretty much," said Robert. He looked at Janelle again. "Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes, by the way?"

Janelle blushed at this. "A few times."

"Any boyfriends?" Robert asked.

"Not at the moment."

"Useful to know," said Robert.

"What for?"

"Just in case you ever need a warm body to sleep next to, and hold you close," said Robert. "There's always benefits to being single. Also, Bobby likes you."

"Why do you say that?" Janelle asked.

"He hasn't stolen your credit card information, or run up a huge bill on it," said Robert. "Makes me wonder if those three bears have checked out their credit statements."
Fred was an expert at tailing, so Syd and company never suspected he was following them.

"I thought we were going to wait for Whitetip to show up in that old Blockbuster building?" Samuel said.

Syd gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Change of plans. My sixth sense detects trouble."

"So where are we going now?"
Syd says "I have a hideout in the warehouse district, I used it until 10 years ago when I was arrested. More spacious and hard to get to if your a cop."
Robert and Janelle soon finished their meal, and stepped outside.

"Fred still hasn't called us," said Janelle.

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Robert. "I have an idea on where Syd is going."

"Where would that be?"

"The warehouse district," said Robert. "Lots of things go on there."

"Did you do business there?" Janelle asked.

"No, but I know someone who does," Robert said, as he walked up to a really expensive car. "Well, here's a car that's just begging to be stolen. The idiot forgot the keys in the ignition. We'll just keep an eye on it for them." He then opened the door, and got into the driver's seat.

"Robert, Grand Theft Auto is a violation of your parole, you know," said Janelle.

"Actually, it's borrowing without permission," said Robert. "Besides, better us than the chop-shop crew down the sidewalk."

Janelle took a look, and saw a small group of people walking along the sidewalk, some testing the doors of cars in a surreptitious manner.

"They'd chop this car up and sell it to some sucker in another country for fifty grand," said Robert. "We're doing the owner a favor."

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess it isn't stealing," said Janelle, as she got in. "I've always wanted to ride in the passenger seat of an expensive car."

"Good." Robert turned the car on, and drove off, passing by the chop shop crew, who groaned in disappointment.

A while later, Robert stopped at a place on the wrong side of the tracks.

"What is this place?" Janelle asked.

"Your friends in Vice would know," said Robert. "Pimps, hookers, drug users, and dealers, and people who sell things that fall off of backs of trucks."

"So, who are we looking for?" Janelle asked.

"Charlie the Pimp," said Robert. "A bastard if I ever saw one, who deserves to be robbed every day. Tends to slap the hookers around."

"Why doesn't someone report him?"

"Not if the girl wants to work here," said Robert. "That and the police don't care about them."

"So, what are you going to do?" Janelle asked.

Robert raised his ears. "First off, pull him off of the girl he's beating, bust his nose, and force him to talk about what he knows."

"How do you know him?"

"Robbed his place, and blackmailed him when I found out he was cheating on his wife," said Robert. "His wife's father is rich, and would castrate him if he found out that Charlie was fooling around on his daughter."
Charlie looked up in surprise. "Robert! What are you doing here?" Charlie looked around nervously. He doubted Robert Whitetip was there to give him a birthday present.

"I want some information," Robert said.

"Sure! Sure! What do you want to know? I don't have any secrets from you, Robert."

"What's Syd up to these days?"

"Psycho Syd? Yeah, I heard he busted out of jail. That's crazy wild, huh?"

"I already know he's out of jail. Give me more than that, Charlie."

"What do you want to know?" Charlie asked.

"Where did he have his hideout?" Robert asked.

"I don't know," said Charlie. "It wasn't like he was a frequent customer."

"Funny, word is you know everything about everyone," said Robert.

Charlie grinned. "A slight exaggeration, I'm sure."

"Really." Robert grabbed a hold of the pimp, and dragged him out into the hallway, where Janelle was waiting. "Janelle, meet Charlie the Pimp. Charlie, meet Janelle, my parole officer, and a cop."

"I ain't saying anything," said Charlie. "You can't make me talk without my lawyer present."

Robert grinned. "She's not here to talk to you. She's here to talk to the girls about Labor Conditions, about how they could get better treatment from other pimps in other areas of town, or get paid better, especially if they talked to your father-in-law."

Charlie's eyes bulged. "Shit, don't talk to him. He'd think that I was cheating on his daughter."

"You're right," said Robert. "I hear he's real good with a knife, especially making meat filets, and his Rocky Mountain oysters are always legendary. After all, he was a vet, and there was plenty of bulls and other male animals with undesirable genes that needed to get neutered. I'm sure he'd have no issues removing yours, frying them up, and force-feeding them to you."

Charlie gulped, and spoke, his voice at a slightly higher pitch. "I'll tell you what I know."
Fred followed Syd and company to an abandoned building in the warehouse district and saw a limo waiting in front of it, saw the chauffer open the back door and Fred recognize the passenger, Vlademer Volkov, he smiled when Syd brought out Bobby, "So, this is Robert only son. Too bad it's the last thing he'll see before he dies." Bobby says "What has ever done, to you!?"
Volkov chuckled. "What makes you think somebody has to do something to me before I kill him? Sometimes I just do it for the fun of it. Didn't you ever kill anything?"

"No," Bobby said. "Except maybe a bug or something."

"That's it!" Volokov said. "To me you are like a bug. I'm going to squash you."
Bobby grinned, baring his teeth. "My dad's going to kick your ass."

Volkov looked him in the eyes. "I don't think so."

"Didn't this speech happen in one of those Mummy movies?" a henchbear asked.

Volkov looked at the henchbear. "Shut up, and get ready. Were you followed?"

"There was a rather strange limo on our tail the whole way," said Syd. "It's out there, as if waiting."

"It's said that Robert had a partner, and some of the others have mentioned seeing a smaller fox with him at his place," said Volkov. He looked at Bobby. "Who is he?"

"Probably Uncle Fred," said Bobby. "He says he has an Uncle Tony who is a powerful criminal."

"Tony? That's short for something," said Volkov. Then his eyes bulged. "Anthony Lupione, head of the Lupine Family." Then, he laughed. "So, you're the godson of the Godfather's Favorite Nephew. Interesting. Explains a few things."
Just when Robert and Janelle finished interrogating Charlie, a limo pulls up on the curb their on, a fox in a suit comes out of the driver's door. "Robert? Tony wants to see you and please bring your friend here." He opens the back door. Janelle says "Who's Tony?" Robert says "Must be Fred's uncle, he mentions him all the time." As they got in A fox resembling Vito Andolini Corleone is sitting in the back seat, Janelle recognized him. "Anthony Lupione, should've known." Tony says "At least someone recognized me but please, I'm not here for trouble officer, we have a same enemy in common, that's Vladamer Volkov. I tried many times to get you two off his hit list but setting a psychopath is over the line, now I heard he has your son. Big mistake and I want to help."








"Sure," Robert said. "We would be grateful for your help. This must be why Fred says you are his favorite uncle."

"I am his only uncle," said Anthony Lupione.

A few minutes later they pulled into the street where Fred was parked. Fred ran back and joined them in the limo.

"Uncle Tony!"

"Yes, I come to maybe give a little assistance to a nephew in need. One of my favorite nephews."

"Thanks, Uncle Tony. Here's the situation..."

Fred quickly explained.

Robert said, "Bobby's life is in danger and you were just sitting there?!"
"What did you expect me to do?" Fred asked. "Get out my RPG and blow a hole in the wall? My aim isn't that good. He's got at least twenty goons in there. I couldn't take them all out. Then there's Syd, and finally, there's Bobby; my aim isn't that good."

"Alright, I see your point," said Robert. He then looked at the building. "There's only one way to do this; Fred, my crowbar."

What are you going to do?" Janelle asked, as Robert took his crowbar.

"I'm going to steal my son from him," said Robert.
Janelle says "I hope he has a plan, going up against Volkov henchbears with just a crowbar is suicide."
"Don't worry about Robert," Fred said. "I've never seen him fail yet."

Janelle gave him a look. "Then why was he in jail for seven years?"

"Let's not talk about that now. Look, I've got to believe Robert can pull this off. Don't you understand?"

"Yeah, I get it."

Anthony Lupione chuckled. "Always impulsive was that one, but he has some instinct that guides him, Most of us do not have that. Only a few have it. Robert is such a one."

Robert used all his stealth skills to slip closer to the building, holding the crowbar with a tight grip, almost like it was a sword.
He slid up to the fuse box. "Like the old strategist used to say, in the dark, all forces are the same size." He opened the box, and pulled the Master Switch.

Soon enough, people inside the building were yelling.

"Who turned out the lights?"

"Anyone got any lights?"

"I can't see a damn thing!"

"He's here," said a voice that sounded like one used to giving commands. "Search for him, carefully!"

"Sounds like that must be Volkov," Robert muttered. He soon located an open window, got inside, and got on the floor. It was funny how people forgot to look down in dark shadows.

A guard came into the room, and checked the window. "Nothing here." He closed the window. Then, he felt something cold on the back of his neck.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," said Robert. "You're thinking 'Can this fox actually thrust a piece of metal through the back of my skull?' Truth be told, I'm not quite sure. The flat edge of your typical crowbar isn't very sharp, but given the fact that I work out quite a bit, and I'm properly motivated by the fact that your friends kidnapped my son, you might want to ask yourself a different question; 'Is he motivated enough to kill me by tearing out my throat with said crowbar?' because the answer to that is yes."

"Ha. You're not a killer," the henchbear said. "You don't have it in you."

At this, Robert shoved the bear into the window, breaking the glass, and began to beat him with the crowbar, hitting him in the shoulders. "I! Don't! Need! To! Kill! You!" he said, punctuating each word with a blow. "Tell! Your! Boss! To! Let! My! Son! Go! Alive! Out! The! Front! Door! Alive! Or! I! Will! Kill! Him! Now! Go!" At this, he shoved the bear out the window, which, being on the ground level, wasn't very far off the ground.

Robert then left the room, looking for yet another guard to terrorize in the darkness.
Syd and Samuel is stumped on what's going on, "What happened to the lights?" Samuel responded, "Maybe you forgot to pay the electric bill." Bobby says "Now you're in for it, this is my father's doing." Syd says "Is that so? Samuel, your with me, first we'll go to the circuit breaker and turn the power back on and take care of Robert. Franklin, Thompson. Stay here and watch the kid." Thompson asks "How are we supposed to do that? It's too dark to see anything."
"You've got hands, don't you?" Syd said. "Both of you keep a grip on him."

Franklin and Thompson each grabbed one of Bobby's wrists. "Are you going to hold hands with me?" Bobby asked.

Syd and Samuel slipped away toward the circuit breaker where they found one of the other bears writhing on the ground. "He's in the building!" gasped the bear.

"We figured that out," Syd said. "Which way did he go?"
"He attacked me from behind," said the bear. "He told me that we ought to release his son, or he's going to kill the boss."

"What did he use?" Syd asked.

"An extra large crowbar, one of the really big ones."

Syd rolled his eyes at this. "I doubt it was more than two feet long. He never was into elaborate things, like tazers, Some broken bones was more his style. Never got caught, until he risked his freedom for that cop. He was still belaboring Koskov and his ten henchbears when the police finally showed up, and apprehended all of them. I even heard why he was still there when the police came upon the scene. Koskov had drugged the cop, leaving her unable to do anything, which would have made disposal very easy. But that fox, he just had to protect that bunny, and thus did not let up on his assault, and would not stop, until he was sure that the cop would be safe from harm, and thus, the window for him escaping, closed. Funny, he didn't even know her. And now, we have his son, whom he treasures above all. This will be interesting."

Then, he heard the sound of someone screaming in pain. "I guess he found someone else."



Inside, Robert had found another guard, only this one screamed in pain after being hit.

"That was your wrist," said Robert. "Plenty more bones for me to break."

"You'll never get all of us," the bear hollered

"I'll keep that in mind." Robert swung again, smashing the bear's jaw. He swung again, dodging an attempt at a blow, and caught the bear in the chest. Then, he swung again, hitting the bear in the skull, knocking him out. "Two down."
Then the lights went back on, and Robert found himself face to face with 'Psycho' Syd. and he's armed with a Stiletto. "So you're Robert." Syd says, "At last we meet and you won't survive this night." Robert says "Give me back my son, or I'll bash your brains in with this crowbar." Syd just chuckles, "I doubt that, I know you don't have that killer instinct. Me on the other hand have that. With this knife I'll slit your throat."
"Big talk from a little man," Robert said.

"I'm little, but I'm fast, like this!" Syd made a lightning fast lunge with the knife that shocked Robert by how fast it was. Robert didn't even have time to get completely out of the way and the super sharp blade of the stiletto neatly cut away part of his shirt.

Syd grinned. "Ceramic blade. Wait until you see how it cuts though flesh."

Robert had the crowbar up in front of him to block any knife lunges, but he was worried. Crazy people were unpredictable. He needed to neutralize Syd quickly before he did something Robert wasn't expecting.
"What's the rabbit like?" Syd asked.

"What?" Robert asked.

"It's been a long time since I've had a woman, I've all but forgotten how good it must feel to have someone beneath you as you dominate their body. Or. is she on top, dominating you? Some females are like that, where they control things. Or, maybe she prefers that smaller fox, or are you into him? And what about your son? He's of the age, and some women like their lovers to be real young."

Robert growled, and rushed the hyena. Syd tried to stab him, but Robert grabbed his wrist, and slammed him into the wall. Then, he drove his knee into Syd's groin, slammed his elbow down on his head, and tossed him to the floor. Then, he spat on him. "Never talk about my friends and family in that manner."

Syd chuckled. "Pressed a button, didn't I. Heard about your wife. A real man would of done something."

Robert growled again, and slammed his crowbar on the hyena's leg. Then, he kicked him in the face. "Shut your mouth." He then walked away.

Robert soon entered a room, where he found Volkov, and the rest of his henchbears, as well as Bobby. Volkov had a handgun pressed to the back of Bobby's head.

"Hello, Robert," Volkov said. "Drop the crowbar, or I'll kill your son."

"What guarantee do I have that you won't just kill him?" Robert asked.

"The fact that I'll kill him if you don't drop the crowbar."

Robert growled, and let go of the piece of metal.

"I see you took out Syd," said Volkov. "Phsyco Syd, crazy bastard who would of had no issue killing your boy, and you beat him. Is he dead? I hate paying incompetents."

"I left him alive for the police," said Robert, as he looked towards the window. "I have standards."

"I see, morals," said Volkov. "I don't bother with too many, save honoring my family, and you killed my brother."

"He got caught, and the jury sentenced him to Death," said Robert. "I didn't kill him."

"You might as well have pulled the switch," said Volkov. "He'd be alive, if it weren't for you."

"Let my son go, and you can't do whatever you want with me," said Robert. "Just let him leave alive, and unharmed."

"Ha, like I'd do that!" said Volkov. "He'd only come after me in ten years."

"Too bad," said Robert. "I hired Spectre to help me out."

"Really? You don't have the money to hire that assassin," said Volkov.

"No, but you do," said Robert. "Funny thing about bank accounts - they are all connected, and I traced your henchbears's accounts to yours, and thus, forty-five thousand dollars, five for signing up, and forty to deal with you."

"I offered him two hundred thousand to capture you," said Volkov. "He wouldn't bite for some reason."

"Funny thing; that assassin has a thing for kids, as he's got his scope lined up on you, right now."

"Yeah right."

At that moment, the window broke, and Volkov went down, screaming in pain, as he grabbed his leg.

Robert rushed up to him, kicked his wrist, disarming him, grabbed his son, and ran out of the place.


A while later, Robert was outside of the place, holding onto his son, while both were checked by paramedics, while the police questioned Janelle about what had occurred. Fred was in the limo, and Anthony and his mobsters were gone. Some ambulances, escorted by police cars, drove off, carrying Volkov and his more seriously injured henchbears.

Janelle walked over to Robert. "Was Syd in there?"

Robert pointed at the bandage on his chest. "He gave me a scratch. I left him singing saprano with a bad leg, and a busted lip."

"He wasn't there when the officers took a look," said Janelle.

"Well, he'll keep for another day," said Robert. "I want to go home with my son now."
That night, Robert woke up suddenly. He wasn't sure why until he heard a slight noise. Someone was in the house!

He slipped out of bed, grabbed a big wrench he kept handy, and tip toed to the door of his room. The sounds came from downstairs. He eased his way out of his room, over to the stairs, and began silently moving down, thankful that the house was sturdy and none of the stairs creaked.

At the bottom of the stairs he paused, debating what to do, because the sounds had stopped. Then he heard a slight rustle from the den so he carefully moved in that direction, every sense alert and straining. A familiar scent reached his sensitive nose. Psycho Syd!
"Ah, Robert," Syd said, as a light came on in the room. "I know you are there."

"What the hell do you want?" Robert asked.

"Well, I'd like to kill you, but that would be no fun," said Syd.

Robert looked around. "What did you do to Fred."

"Tossed him downstairs. He'll have a nasty headache when he wakes up," said Syd. "Unless, of course, I decide to kill him. Then, there's that rabbit, fine piece of tail by the way, wouldn't mind having fun with her. Tied her up downstairs. Finally, your precious Bobby, I could do plenty to him, though I will be honest, I'm not a child molester, as that sort of thing disgusts me. I remember one fella, raped his own daughter. I took a six foot length of pipe, and shoved it up his ass, out his mouth, then I roasted him like the pig he was."

"Sounds like you were real proud of that," said Robert.

"They should of given me a medal," said Syd. "Instead, Isolation. Seriously, they gave this guy a fifteen year sentence for what he did. I did the world a favor."

"Why didn't you just stab him like any other murderer would have done?" Robert asked.

"I wanted to make sure he suffered before he was sent to Hell," said Syd. "It was a rather fitting punishment."

"You have issues," said Robert, as he entered the room, where he saw Syd with a wine bottle.

"You have a nice little selection down there," said Syd. "A little of this, a little of that. No Dom Pérignon though. You have some cheap stuff as well, like Bella Rosa, a really cheap wine."

"Cheap, but it is good," said Robert. "Or at least it was when I got it. My wife liked it."

"Noticed the berry bushes," said Syd. "You only have one blueberry. They do better when they have a friend, you should know."

Robert grinned. "It never needed one. Self-pollinator."

"Oh, grafted a few branches to a main trunk," said Syd. "Seen that before."

"Actually, Sally did something more unique than that," said Robert. "She took cuttings of roots from a number of different blueberries, and joined them together. You see, her father grew over a dozen varieties, and at the time, we simply didn't have the space to grow separate bushes of each, but, with regular grafting, there's a chance you'll accidentally cut off more of the one kind while pruning than the rest, or it could turn up dead. With her method, you always get a cane of the variety, if not more, especially if I ever took it out of the pot."

"I see," said Syd. "You're holding it back for some reason."

"A really good one," said Robert. "So, what are you going to do?"

Syd opened the bottle, and poured some of the wine out. "A nice vintage," he said, as he got out a cloth, and stuffed it into the bottle. "Too bad really." He got out a lighter, and set the cloth on fire.

At this, Robert ran out of the room, just as the bottle hit the floor behind him.

"I'll see you burn," said Syd.

Robert ran to the basement, where he found Bobby trying to untie Janelle, while Fred was still out like a light.

"About time you got here," Janelle said, as they freed her bonds. "That guy's crazy!"

Robert looked upstairs, and saw the flames in the doorway.

"It's no good," said Bobby.

"There's another way," Robert said, as he lifted Fred up. "Go to the wine rack, and pull out the Bella Rosa."

"Wine, at a time like this?" Janelle asked.

Bobby ran to the rack and pulled out the wine, which caused the rack to move inward, revealing an opening.

"A hidden door?" Janelle asked.

"Contingency plan," said Robert. "Panic Room complete with emergency exit, under the blueberries." He looked back. "Best move now."
Robert, Janelle and Bobby carried Fred through the emergency room and out the emergency exit, as they got to the garden Fred came to, "Ooh, my head. Anyone have any aspirin?" They put down Fred and pointed at the house which is now an inferno. "I'm afraid we don't and I don't dare going back in there to get any."
"Where's Syd?" Fred asked.

Robert shook his head. "He's crazy enough to still be in the house."

As if to answer them, the face of Syd appeared in a window surrounded by flames. He was laughing like a maniac. "They always told me I would burn in Hell! Hahahaha!"

"Please tell me he's not immortal," Janelle said.

Robert put his arms around here. "He's not. I hope there is enough left of his charred corpse that we can identify him."

"I don't understand why he lit himself on fire," Bobby said.

Robert included Bobby in the hug. "Because he was crazy, son. Crazy people do crazy things. Promise me you will never be crazy."

"I won't."

Are we at the end of Dream 6, BBWolf? Add THE END to your post if we are.

Hertzman, you want to do Dream 7? If you don't, then skip your turn (unless BBWolf didn't write THE END)


In the morning, after the fire-fighting crews had done their job, and the arson investigators did theirs, Robert investigated what was left of the house, most of which, surprisingly, was left, and in good condition, structurally.

"Your modifications?" Robert asked, as he looked at Fred, who was beside him.

"Given all the firearms I have hidden around the place, it wouldn't be good for the ammo to cook off," said Fred, quietly.

"I hear you there," Robert said, just as quietly. "Funny how they saved the house."

"When your uncle is in the construction business, you pick up a thing or two," said Fred. "Shame about the furniture; I really liked that couch bed."

"It can be replaced," Robert said, as he looked at a picture, which was, remarkably, in good condition. "At least this is still good."

"She looks like a remarkable woman," said Fred. "Funny how some get all the luck."

"Which turned bad on me," said Robert.

"Might turn good again," Fred said, as he started twitching his ears towards Janelle, who was busy on her phone. "She ain't too bad, for a cop. Hell, she's been seeing you every week for the past seven years. Makes you practically married."

"She's just my parole officer," said Robert. "Although I wouldn't mind having her as a friend." He walked over to one of the salvage experts. "Let me see what you take out, just in case it's important to me."

He walked outside, and looked at Sally's blueberry bush. He'd managed to drag the pot with them when they escaped the fire, but there was still some damage from the fire. He grabbed a pair of pruning clippers, and started trimming the burnt sections.

"You know those things are resilient to most issues," said Janelle, as she walked up to him.

"I know," said Robert. "As it is, I think I'm going to put it into the ground, so that it can be what Sally meant it to be."

"There's something that needs to be cut off though," said Janelle.

Robert checked the plant. "Right, thanks," he said, trimming another damaged branch.

"That's not what I'm talking about," said Janelle. "Give me your clippers."

"You see some damage that needs removed?" Robert asked.

"I was talking to my superiors, and they have been talking to the judge," said Janelle. "Pull up your pant leg."

"What for?" Robert asked, as he lifted his pant leg. "I think the bracelet still works, or does it need fixing?"

"It needs to be removed," Janelle said, as she snipped the bracelet off with the clippers. "In return for bringing down the Volkov Family, saving your son from a hostage situation, and saving my life, again, the judge has agreed to reduce the rest of your sentence to Time Served. You're a free fox, Mr. Whitetip."

"Heh, funny, I was getting used to the feeling," said Robert. "I guess I'll have to get used to being free again."

"You'll adjust."

"Oh, and one more thing." Robert grabbed Janelle, and kissed her. "Let me know if you're having trouble looking for Mr. Right, because I'm looking for Mrs. Right."

Janelle smiled. "I'll think about it." She kissed him back. "See you later. I'll probably get reassigned to some other parole now." She left the yard, and got into her car, and left.

Fred nudged Robert in the side. "Why didn't you propose to her?"

"What, and embarrass her in front of witnesses?" Robert asked.

"Still, it was the perfect moment."

"Tell me; ever break into a cop's place, and handcuff yourself to their bed?"

Fred grinned. "I didn't know you was into that sort of thing."

"I'll see how she responds to it," said Robert. "Perfect position either way."

"You have that right."

The End


** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

The Seventh Dream


Meet Charlie Parker. Not only is he a tiger but he's the latest generation of owners of a family oriented theme park, Wonderland.

Wonderland has fallen on hard times lately. Debts are piling up. Charlie's wife Mary says "I hope you can come up with the money, honey. Mr. Karlsgrow wants to buy the place and he certainly won't take no for an answer."

Victor Karlsgrow is a billionaire who wants to buy Wonderland and turn it into an office complex. The strange part is that Wonderland was a popular place to go for families before Karlsgrow got interested.

Charlie's son Billy says "Dad, I think we have a customer," as he points to the limo pulling in to the parking lot.

Charlie says "Son, I don't think that's a customer."
Victor Karlsgrow is a grotesquely fat warthog. His chauffeur has to help him out of the limo, but though Karlsgrow seems to move with difficulty, his voice is strong.

"Well, Mr. Parker, have you considered my latest offer? I think it's very generous, don't you?"

"Listen, Karlsgrow," Charlie said. "I told you before and I'll tell you again. This business has been owned by my family for four generations and I do not intend to sell it. One day my son Billy will run it."

"So is your answer yes or no?"

"No, you stubborn old fool! And don't make me any more offers to buy Wonderland. I'm not interested."

Victor Karlsgrow stared at Charlie for a moment without saying anything, then turned around and got back in his limo and drove away.

Mary Parker clutched her husband's arm. "Oh, Charlie, are you doing the right thing? If we go bankrupt then we'll lose the park anyway and have nothing to show for it."

"Damn it! We're not going to lose Wonderland!"
It was at that moment, another limo pulled in. Unlike Karlsgrow's, which was a pure white color, this one was a deep black, like a moonless night, with no stars, a sense of fear coming over anyone who looked at it for long, even those who claimed not to fear anything. The driver, a rabbit, got out, and walked around, to open the door, letting out a wolf,dressed all in black. A sense of dread oozed from him, as if the Devil had arrived, and had fled at the sight of him.

"So, this is Wonderland," he said. "Funny, I expected more children, and more families. Makes one wonder if this place is worth it."

"Excuse me, who are you?" Charlie asked.

The wolf looked at him, as if noticing him for the first time. "John Blackpaws, Establishment Rescuer."

"What?"

The wolf walked passed him, the rabbit following, and stepped inside the entryway, into the park. "A little run-down. The sign needs fixing, folks can't even see it from the driveway." He resumed walking.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" Charlie asked, following the pair.

John stopped by the restroom, opened the door, and sniffed. "Well, that's a plus. You clean this place?"

"Um, everyday."

The wolf nodded. "What about food?"

"We accommodate all tastes and diets," said Charlie. "We serve some excellent dishes in our restaurant."

"I'll be the judge of that," said John. "Sam, you try the herbivore stuff while I try the carnivore stuff."

"Yes, John," the rabbit said.

"Um, this way," said Charlie.

"Be sure to serve up one of everything."

Charlie looked at the pair. "Alright."


About fifteen minutes later, the rabbit and wolf were sitting down, eating, sampling small amounts of everything.

Sam, the rabbit, was enjoying his food, relishing every bite. "What did I tell you John? This place is worth it."

John, the wolf, was more somber, and spat another piece of meat into a napkin. "You need to learn more about food tasting; never eat the food, or drink the drinks."

Charlie looked at the rabbit. "He's wasting quite a bit of food."

"When it comes to being a food taster, and a food judge at cook-offs, you don't eat the stuff the people serve you," said Sam. "Excellent fried squash and zucchini by the way."

"Um, thanks," said Charlie.

"The food is good," said John, as he wiped his mouth. "Nothing exciting, but good." He looked at Charlie. "Consider me interested."

"Interested in what?" Charlie asked.

"I'm interested in rescuing this kiddie park of yours," said John.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Work under me for a week, and by the end of the week, once everything has been rescued, fixed, trained, and improved, you will be on your way to ridding yourself of your debt, and you won't have to sell the place to the likes of Karlsgrow."

"What?" Charlie asked.

"He's going to help you renovate the place, help you hire staff, see that they are trained, improve the food, and everything else," said Sam. "All out of his own pocket."

"What?" Charlie asked.

"I have rescued over three hundred establishments of all sizes and functions," said John. "Everything, from kiddie parks to strip joints. I'm going to put you through a week of hell, after which, you will be thanking me, for saving this place."

"And, if I say no?" Charlie asked.

"We'll leave, and in eight months, you'll be selling this place, and see it turn into an office complex," said John. He gave Charlie a card. "Call me, if you are interested." He then put down three hundred dollars. "Good food by the way; I liked the veal."

The pair left, as Charlie looked at the card; John Blackpaws - Establishment Rescuer. Love him or Hate him, He'll save your Dream.
In his limo, Victor furiously types on the keyboard on his laptop about his competitor, John Blackpaws, he found lots of story about him on how he helped kids rebuild a community park despite that they were terrorized by a street gang, housed tenants that was unfairly evicted by a ruthless slumlord, and other stories about how he helped kids and families. Including his job, a billionaire philanthropist. "Sorry you didn't get thje park boss." His chauffeur says "But I'm sure that wolf you hired may fair better." "I didn't hire him Jeeves." Victor stated, "Mr. Blackpaws may pose a problem to my plans." Jeeves says "What are you going to do?" Victor takes out his cell phone and make a quick phone call. "Hello, Joshua Weasel? I got another job for you and your brother Jason."
Joshua held his hand over the phone and called to his brother. "Jason! Get in here! I want you to hear this."

When Jason, a weasel even more weasely than his brother Joshua, entered the room, Joshua put the phone on speaker phone. "Go ahead, Karlsgrow. Tell me about that job."

"There is a park called Wonderland," Karlsgrow said, "run by a tiger named Charlie Parker."

"Like the jazz musician?" Joshua said.

"What?" said Karlsgrow. "I don't know anything about jazz musicians. This Charlie owns the Wonderland Park and he refuses to sell it to me."

"You want me to convince him?"

"If you mean beat him up, then no. I want you to sabotage the rides. Mechanical failures. That sort of thing. I want Charlie Parker to have to be repairing something everyday."

"We can do that," Joshua said. "When do we start?"

"Right away. I'm an impatient man and I need to close this deal."
As they drove away, Sam glanced in the rearview mirror. "It's nice to know that you'll be helping them boss."

"Sam, knock off the 'boss' bits, I don't like them," said John, as he opened a door to a mini fridge. "I don't like people calling me boss."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Then, Sam heard it, and cringed at the sound coming from behind him. He looked at the middle mirror, and saw John holding a black handkerchief to his mouth, which came away, covered in red blood.

"Um, boss, how long do you have?"

"The doctor said six months, seven months ago," John said, as he tossed the handkerchief on the floor. "Then he said six months, again, like he always does."

"It's been five years since you were diagnosed with that cancer, boss," said Sam. "Perhaps you can beat it."

The wolf looked up at the rabbit's mirror. "I can only delay the inevitable." He then got out a bottle, and poured the contents down his throat. "Shame about the food; I would have enjoyed actually eating it, instead of tasting and spitting it out. But, these damn pills are about all I can stomach."

"I know that, boss," said Sam. "Boss, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For you, and the pain your going through."

John growled, and coughed some more. "Don't you dare feel sorry for me. You owe me that much."

"Yes, boss."

"Hell, if it weren't for me, you'd be sitting in prison as an accessory to bank robbery, and your taxi company would of been sold off," said John. He grabbed a bottle of water, and took a swig of it.

"I remember, boss," said Sam. "My taxi company was going through hard times, bills piling up. Then, four men in business suits got into my cab, and told me to drive to the bank. When we got there, the one put a gun to my head, while the other three got out masks, and went inside the bank to rob it. The one with the gun told me that I'd be alright, if I did as he said, otherwise, he, and the others, would say that I was an accomplice. I looked at the picture of my family on the dashboard, and prayed for a miracle. Instead, you opened the door, dragged him out, and threw him to the ground, telling me to drive off. That was when he pointed the gun at you, but you just grabbed his wrist, and broke it, took his gun, and hit him over the head. The other three came out, saw you, and shot at you. But, you just stood there, not fearing anything, and then you shot each of them in the shoulders."

"I did save a shooting range, just prior," said John. "Helps to know what you were saving. Go on."

"Then, you started coughing up -"

"Skip that part."

"The police came, arrested the four, and you coughed -"

"Skip."

"You asked me to take you to where you live, and you coughed-"

"Skip."

"You told me about your life, and how you were unlucky with everything except money, and I told you how I was hurting and would soon lose my company, when you offered to help me out," said Sam. "That was one hell of a week, but you set me up for success, and I haven't been in the red since."

"That's the part I like," said John. "I always like happy endings. I only wish for my ending to be, happy."

"You've helped out a lot of people, boss."

"Never call me boss. I don't like being called boss."

"Whatever you say, boss."
Meanwhile Joshua and Jason snuck into Wonderland "Here we are Jason, Wonderland." "Yes, brother and it looks like our job is easy, look at this place? Completely run-down." Joshua noticed the debris, "So I see, still we got a job to do, and do be careful where you step."
"How about the Tilt-N-Whirl?" Jason said. "That ride always made me throw up."

Joshua's eyes popped. "You're kidding! That's like a baby ride."

"It made me sick. What can I say?"

"So for you it was the Tilt-And-Hurl, huh? OK, then, let's loosen a few bolts. The next time it tilts it's gonna do more than just whirl. Hahahaha!"

"And we can put holes in the boats for the boat ride."

"Yeah, and plug the holes with something that will dissolve slowly so the boats don't sink tonight before anyone gets a chance to sink with them."

By noon the next day there were Out of Order signs on the Tilt-N-Whirl and the Boat Ride and Charlie was hoping none of the kids who got hurt when the Tilt-N-Whirl flipped over had parents who would sue him.
Charlie sighed as he got his tools, when a feeling of dread came over him. Turning his head, he saw John standing behind him, along with his driver, and some others.

"Heard about your accidents," said John. "Were the children alright?"

"Some bumps and bruises, and one lost their lunch," said Charlie. "Others got wet when the boats sank. Thankfully the Tilt-N-Whirl has specially cushioned seats, and the Boat Riders wear life jackets."

"Just in case of accidents," said John.

"Yes, especially with the whole liability issues," said Charlie. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some rides to fix."

"Aren't you curious as to why the Tilt-N-Whirl went upsy-daisy, and why your boats have something in common with the Titanic?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"He wants to know if you want to know why your rides don't work," said Sam. "Was it old age, wear and tear, simple neglect -"

"I never neglect my rides," growled Charlie. "I inspect them at least once a month, sometimes more if we are busy, and I shut them down if there is an issue."

"The other possibility is sabotage," said Sam. "Either accidental by someone sneaking an after-hours ride, or intentionally by someone trying to shut you down, or just some vandal."

Charlie blinked at this. "But, that could cause injury, or even, death. No one in their right mind would do something like that."

"You'd be surprised," said John. "Frank and Joseph here are structural engineers; they can figure out if it was old age, or sabotage, that caused your rides to fail."

"Then tell them to get to work," said Charlie. "I need these rides up and running."

"Only if you agree to my terms," said John. "You work for me for one week, and in return, you, and your business, will have access to engineering experts, construction experts, safety experts, security experts, culinary experts, advertising experts, plus material for all of the above, and more. Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand.

"Why does it feel like I'm making a deal with the Devil?" Charlie asked.

John grinned, and then quickly grabbed a handkerchief, and coughed in it, and tossed it into a trashcan.

Charlie noticed the red liquid on the black cloth, and looked back at John, who merely grinned, his teeth slightly stained with red blood.

"I'm sure you'd prefer the Devil when I'm through with you." Once again, he held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Charlie shook John's hand, "It's a deal. If it is sabotage, we should add in some security guards to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

John says "I'll look right into that."

Meanwhile, Victor visits the Weasel brothers, "Did you two read this." He shows the newspaper story about the Wonderland accident.

Jason says "Look bro, we made the news. Well, sort of."

Joshua says "I see, but we're not finished. I guarantee, tomorrow the headline will read 'Wonderland closed down due to unsafe conditions.'"

Victor says, "I like the way you think, so what are you planning to do?"

Joshua says, "Sabatage Wonderland's signature Rollercoaster. Flight of the Jabawok. Imagine the carnage once we derail it."
Around 2am Joshua and Jason suck into Wonderland with their tool belts full.

"We've got a lot of bolts to unscrew," Joshua said. "The guy who designed this roller coaster didn't believe in welding."

"Good thing for us. I'd hate to have to hacksaw everything."

By 3am they had a bag of bolts and a whole section of the Flight of the Jabawok's track was loose and ready to tumble down when the roller coaster passed over it.
"This is going to be a whole lot of fun," said Joshua.

"It will shut them down for good," said Jason.

That was then a pair of heavy hands set themselves of each Weasel.

"Well, look what we have here Boris," said a deep voice. "A couple of sneaks trying to get some free rides."

"They look like saboteurs to me Will," said another deep voice. "I remember what we did to the last saboteurs we caught."

"Yes, but I doubt that the Boss would be happy if we did that here," said the first voice. "This is a family place after all. The boss wouldn't like it if we tied them to the top of the flagpole and left them hanging there."

"Right, we had to cut them down, and they had to get their feet cut off," said the other. "All of that green puss. Couldn't get rid of the smell."

"I say that they just wanted a ride, and I say we let them have one," said the fist voice.

Joshua and Jason looked at their captors, a grizzly bear and a polar bear.

"Very well," said the polar bear, Boris. "Roller coaster is what we are next to. One ride, and then they leave."

"Sounds like fun," said the grizzly bear, Will.

The pair picked the Weasels up, and walked over to the ride, and sat the two in the front seat. The Weasels tried to get out, but the bears slammed the Safety Bar all the way down, locking them in.

Will got by the Start Button. "Please remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop."

"No, don't press that button!" Joshua shouted.

"Something you want to tell us?" Boris asked. "Is this not the ride you wanted to go on, or did you do something to it that could potentially cause injury and harm? The Boss would like to know himself."

The weasels looked at each other, nervously. The way these bears seemed, they were not the type that liked funny business.
Boris noticed the bag Jason's carrying "What do we have here?" Will grabbed the bag and opens if, "Bolts, no doubt from the roller coaster." Boris says "Good thing we caught them, last thing this park needs is a fatal accident caused by a couple of troublemakers." Joshua says "What are you going to do to us?" Boris and Will nods to each other and Boris says "You are going to put these bolts back before sunrise."
Later, neither Boris or Will knew how the Start Button got pressed. It wasn't deliberate. Someone must have bumped against it.

As the roller coaster began it's climb, Jason and Joshua shouted to be set free.

Boris and Will looked at each other and quickly established that neither had pushed the button.

"How do we stop it?" Will asked.

"I don't know," Boris said. "I'm not an expert on carnival rides."

But by then it was too late to stop it, because when the coaster reached the top of it's powered climb, it was automatically set free to go plunging down the long first hill.

Boris and Will thought Jason and Joshua's screams of terror were the most genuine they had ever heard at an amusement park.
Fortunately for the Weasels, the Bounce-house was between them and the ground as their cart flew off the track.

Problem was, they were still alive, meaning that, when the morning came, they found themselves looking at John Blackpaws.

"You are lucky that you are alive," he said, in a cold manner. "And you are lucky that it was you on that ride. If it had been a kid that got hurt, or worse, I would hunt you down, and see you suffer." He looked at the bears. "Lock them in an empty storage shed, and tell the police to send a car. The people at the local prison enjoy seeing those who endanger children."
Unfortunately, the incident made the news. Victor Karlsgrow was watching the morning news, The Anchorlion says, "I'm at Wonderland and sometime during the middle of the night, the Flight of the Jabawok's fell apart, fortunately the riders survived but it wasn't kids, a couple of sabatours identified as Jason and Joshua Weasil. The two are being held for interagation, Mr. Parker do you have any comments?"
"Yes, I do," Charlie said. "A certain businessman is trying to buy Wonderland from me, but I will not sell. It's been a family business for generations and I intend to keep it that way."

"Are you suggesting there might be a connection between this businessman's interest in buying the park and the string of accidents you have been having?"

"Anything is possible," Charlie said, "but if you are asking if I have proof, then no, not yet. However, the police are interrogating the weasels. We''ll see what they say."

"And what is the name of this businessman?"

"I don't wish to say at this time."

Victor Karlsgrow turned off the news in disgust. "Damn screwy weasels never do anything right! If the news media sink their teeth into this I'll never get Wonderland!"

Charlie walked over to John, who was sitting in the restaurant, along with Sam.

"Are you sure I shouldn't mention Karlsgrow's interest in this place?" he asked, as he sat down across from the wolf.

The wolf got out a bottle, opened it, and pour the contents down his throat. He set the empty bottle down, and looked at the tiger. "No. At this point, it would be easy for him to get rid of those weasels, which is why I had a polite word with the police chief to place them in another county's jail. As it is, he would deny any interest, aside from saying, 'If he's willing to sell the place, I might buy it off his hands. I've always wanted to own my own amusement park.' He'll lay low for at least a day, before calling you up to make an offer."

"I have to ask you, where did you get those two bears from?" Charlie asked. "They don't act like typical security guards I've known."

"Boris is from Moscow, Russia, and Will is from Trenton, New Jersey, and neither of them are choir boys," said John. "Thankfully, for them, neither am I. Boris worked for the Russian mafia, and Will for the Italian/Sicilian one, that is, to say, they were followers, but not actually members. Both groups made a common enemy - me. You see, I own a number of businesses, all over the world, in this case, Trenton, New Jersey. Two of them in fact, one in each mafia's territory. They demanded that I pay them protection money. I, politely, told them that I would not pay this protection money. They made some overt threats about the families that take care of the businesses, which are just small Mom and Pop places, like this place, and they promised that they'd come back when I had time to think things over. I told them that I would be waiting. Imagine their surprise when I was at the locations, waiting, and the locations were wired with enough explosives to blow them to kingdom-come. They were willing to waive the protection fees."

"You threatened to blow the places up?" Charlie asked.

"All while I was inside, with them as well," said John. "You'd be surprised at how people become willing to negotiate when their lives are on the line, especially when the other has no fear of death, and is wearing a Deadman's Switch Detonator - kill me, and you kill yourself, that was my offer, and I'm the only one who can stop that clock from ticking."

"And the families, who rightfully owned the locations in question?"

"All Expenses Paid Trip to Disney World," said John. "They never knew what I did, and I made certain that the Russians, and Italians, agreed to not tell them how we came to the agreement."

"And Boris and Will? How do they fit in?"

"They were among the guys sent to try and make me pay up, which would have made them true associates to their respective mafias," said John. "The fact that I was willing to die for some people I barely knew impressed them enough to walk away from a life of crime, and come work for me. I have to say, they have their uses."

Charlie looked at the bottle near John's paw. "How long do you have?"

John shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The doctor always says that I have six months, and I always live them, and have for the past five years. And in that time, I've seen a lot of things; been to Antarctica, climbed Mount Everest, drove, and fired, a tank, drove a freight truck a thousand miles, was a conductor on a train, panned for gold. Working on the old Bucket List really, and spending money along the way."

"Is owning an amusement park on the list?"

John grinned. "Funny you should mention that. Number 248 to be exact."

Sam rolled his eyes. "He knows his list from top to bottom," the rabbit said. "And side to side."
A panther construction worker comes up to John "Mr Blackpaws, we're ready to fix the coaster but before we start, should we put the bolts back on or remove the rest of the bolts and weld the tracks?"
John turned to Charlie. "What do you think?"

"I want to keep it bolts," Charlie said. "It's easier for me to maintain. I can replace wood that gets rotten."

"Make it bolts," John said and the panther left to get the work done.

"I guess Victor Karlsgrow will not be bothering me anymore," Charlie said.

John shrugged. "I wouldn't bet on that. I know his type. They don't just walk away defeated. I think he will make one last effort and it will be a doozy."

"What do you think he will do?"

"I have no idea. Let me correct that. I have lots of ideas, but I don't know which one Victor Karlsgrow will try. We'll have to stay alert for the next few days."
"There's something I want to know," said Charlie. "I've looked you up online - wealthy, generous, traveling, always helping out the common person, the occasional run-in with the law - there is no mention of you being sick."

"Three reasons; doctor-patient confidentiality, news stations receive nice gifts to keep my name off of the TV screen and out of the paper, and I have some really good computer experts that are good at editing files," said John. "Never let your enemies know your weaknesses, while you seek to learn theirs."
Victor Karlsgrow is sitting on a lounge on the balcony of his Penthouse Apartment when a figure of unknown species in a black ninja costume jumps on to the railing and says almost in a whisper "You sent for me Mr. Karlsgrow?" Victor says "Yes agent Shadow, I got a job that requires your unique skills." Agent Shadow says "I'm listening." Victor says "I'm trying to get my hands on a piece of property called Wonderland, but I have a competitor that's trying to fix the place up and so far every, I recently hired two men trying to sabotage the park but they ended up getting caught," Shadow says "Err, Mr. Karlsgrow. If your expecting me to finish what they started. that's not how I roll. I'm a spy, I don't do grunt work." Victor says "I want you to spy on John Blackpaw. Find out what secrets he has so I can exploit them." Shadow says "That I can do."
After seven days of nothing happening, Charlie Parker, the tiger who owned Wonderland, was feeling confident that maybe nothing would. His new friend, the wolf John Blackpaws, who made a career out of helping businesses in trouble, was not so sure.

During the seven days, Shadow, the mysterious ninja hired by evil billionaire Victor Karlsgrow to get information on John Blackpaws' weaknesses, had stealthily observed the two friends. He made his report on the seventh day.

"He's sick," Shadow said.

Karlsgrow scrunched his nose. "What do you mean he's sick?"

"John Blackpaws is dying from a fatal disease."

"Interesting," Karlsgrow said, idly tapping his desk with is fingers. "Now how can I use that..."
On the seventh day, Charlie went to the hotel that John was staying at. He found himself at the Penthouse, which, easily, cost a thousand dollars a night. Inside, he found the wolf holding onto a cutting from a rose, and grafting it to a bush that was a rainbow of color, and made from the stems of many different varieties of roses.

"That's interesting," he said.

John looked at him, before looking back at the rose. "Main rootstock is a wild rose, and I leave a single stem of that, to show its real colors, even when its surrounded by more exotic varieties. Funny thing, you know, they always remove the suckers and branches of the root variety, and place on the stems of the desired variety, mainly because the desired one can't grow in the soil right, while the rootstock can."

"What's the story behind it?" Charlie asked.

"It's my story plant," said John. "When I was diagnosed, and told that I only had six months to live, the first time mind you, I wondered, 'John, what are you going to do to plan for your own funeral?' Fancy mansion? Can't take it with you. Money, that burns. I looked at all I owned, and called it worthless. I stepped outside, and saw this wild rose bush, and called it the ugliest thing I'd seen, and I tore it out of the ground, roots and all, and left it out of the earth, so that it would die. That was when this kid snuck into my backyard, and I caught him using some pruning loppers to cut off the branches of this rare plum tree I owned, mainly because it was expensive, and he stole these branches, and I chased him, because no one was going to steal anything from me. He was a good runner though, and I followed him to this house on the other side of the tracks, where he gave the branches to this old man, and that old man looked right at me, and he said 'I see my grandson stole these from one of your trees. This plum is hard to come by without money.' That was when I looked at his trees.

"He had many varieties of apples, citruses, stone fruits, pears, and more, but he only had ten trees, if that. He was a grafter - that stone fruit tree had easily a dozen varieties of plums, peaches, nectarines, almonds, and all that other stuff. The apple tree - Granny Smith, Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Golden Delicious - well, it was simpler to say what wasn't on it, and that was a short list, because he even had wild apples on the thing. Citrus tree - oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits - he had them all. Pears of all colors on the pear tree. I looked at them and said; 'This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.' I asked him how he did it. He offered a demonstration, in exchange for me forgiving his grandson, and for one of the branches. I agreed, and let him have the branches, all of them in fact, and I watched him graft those branches right onto this tree.

"I called it the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. He told me that he'd seen more amazing things. That was when I saw him point to one branch, and he told me that he's gotten the stock for it while on a trip to Poland, how he met his first wife there. He pointed to another - came from the tree outside the church where they got married. That was when I looked at the boy; there he was, watching this old man tell his life story.

"When I went home, I found that wild rose bush, and I decided that it would be my life story. I brought it with me to the old man, and I became his best pupil in forty years of passing the gift on. That wild rose became my rootstock, and every flower represents a part of my life since."
Victor is holding a presentation for is investors in the meeting room at his home office, "We here at Karlsgrow Corporation thrives on our clients and business partners and thanks to them we made quite a gain on our last quarter, so we have plans to expand so let me introduce to you.." The slide projector shows a massive building on the screen, "...The Karlsgrow business complex, that means there'll be new jobs and new opportunities for our sales." A Mandrill in a business suit and wearing glasses raises his hand, "Mr. Karlsgrow, where exactly are you planning to build this complex?" Victor says "Funny you should ask I plan to build it on a site with a dying business and the owner is a bit stubborn to sell."
"A bit stubborn?" asked the mandrill. "Does that means he has refused to sell and possibly never will?"

"He has refused so far," said Karlsgrow, "but he will eventually sell. I'm an expert on persuasion."

"Yes, we know about your persuasive techniques. You've managed to stay one step ahead of the law. I'm not sure I want to risk my own reputation on you trying to persuade a reluctant seller to sell."

"That's up to you. You can't make money if you are unwilling to take any risks. Are the rest of you as yellow-bellied as this coward?"

"Hey!" said the mandrill. "No need to get personal about it!"
"Anyways, here is my plan; it seems that the owner is behind on certain, bills."


Back at the penthouse, John got a phone call on his cell. "Yeah. Uh hu. Okay. I see. Alright. I'll tell him about it." He hung up, and looked at Charlie. "Did you take out a loan for a hundred thousand dollars from the bank?"

"Five years ago," said the tiger. "I needed the money to do some repairs to some of the rides."

"You put the park up as collateral?"

"Yes, the bank manager came out to inspect it himself, and, well, as it turned out, he loved the place, and was a frequent guest, and had many fond memories of the place, and even held company picnics and family event there," said Charlie. "He made me a very good deal, with a very reasonable rate. I wish he was still there; he passed away during the winter. He was understandable person, and very forgiving if you were late on your payments."

"I take it his successor is not so forgiving."

"He threatens to call the whole thing in if your even late by a day," said Charlie. "I understand that they have to do business, but professional courtesy and manners are just as important - be rude to people, and they won't have anything to do with you. Why are you asking me this stuff?"

"You know that thing about being rude to people? I make it a matter pride to know the local cleaning people, in case I have to hire them to do business with me - folks are more willing to tolerate things if they have a good impression of you - I buy them coffee and doughnuts, and other such things, and I even talk to them at times. Person that called me works for the cleaning crew that cleans out Karlsgrow Corporation, and he doesn't like working there all that much, truth be told, but it is a good-paying job, but he'd like to work elsewhere. He called me and told me that Victor has been talking to the manager at the bank, and it seems you're behind on your payments."

"What? I have another week before I need to make a payment on that loan," said Charlie. "Did Victor pay him to alter my agreement with the bank?"

"Seems that the bank manager frequents a casino owned by Karlsgrow, and has a substantial debt," said John. "In exchange for your park, his slate will be wiped clean."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Can you pay off the remainder of the loan, right now?"

"No, I still owe another thirty thousand dollars on it, and I don't even have that much in the bank."

"In that case, the bank is going to own the park, and give it to Victor."

"What am I going to do? I can't pay off the loan."

"There is another way," said John. "If you sold the park to someone, they would be responsible for the park's debts, right?"

"Yes. But who would I sell it to? I'd have to leave everything I've worked on my whole life!"

"Unless you made a deal with the right person," said John. "I did say that I've always wanted to own an amusement park."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Sell the park to me, and I'll see to it that you are named Manager, with Self-Autonomy - all that will change is that you will get a paycheck from me, and I'll take care of the bills," said John. "I'll also see to it that, upon my eventual death, ownership of the park reverts to you, for a token fee of course."

"That means, if you bought the park from me, Karlsgrow would have to deal with you."

John grinned. "That's right. I'm good at playing games to."
As Victor wrapped up his meeting, he gets a call on his cell phone, "This is Victor Karlsgrove speaking...What's that?....That is good news!...How much does they owe?...Thanks bye." As he hangs up "So, Mr. Parker owes the bank thirty thousand dollars and he has until the end of the month to pay it, of not, they'll close the park and I get it all lock, stock and barrel. This is going to be my best day ever?" As he got to his office, he saw shadow just leaving the window. "I just left something on your desk Mr. Karlsgrove." On his desk is an empty bottle as he examined it, "Ooh, and it just got better."
"Strong medicine," murmured Victor Krasgrow as he examined the bottle. "So this is what John Blackpaws is taking. I doubt he will be an obstacle to me for much longer. He's on his way to Glory Land. One foot in the grave, as they say."



John and Charlie signed the necessary papers to make John the new owner of Wonderland and the bank received it's full final payment.

When Victor Karlsgrow got the call from the banker his face darkened. "Son of a bitch! Well-played, John Blackpaws."

He turned to his assistant. "Pack up! We're leaving this backwater slop hole. I've got better things to do than build an office park here."

He could feel the bitterness eating at his gut, but he was a business man. You couldn't expect to win them all, but nobody likes to lose.


This campfire will be ending now. If you feel there are some loose ends to tie up, please make an addition. Or if you like, you can skip. Great campfire! I liked all the dreams. I'll be sending out invites for the new campfire soon.
John picked up his cellphone, and saw the message. "Well, I see he knows when to fold them."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Got a message from Victor - 'You played this round well, but next time, I will hold the upper hand.' Makes me wonder what he's learned about me," said John. "I always enjoy a good game, and I would have enjoyed seeing his face in person."
Okay, let's wrap this up and finish this campfire.

Karlsgrove found another site for his office park, He bought a old ghost town but there were several things wrong. He bought it from a crazy old goat prospector and building it cost him a fortune and by the time the construction work was finished, he was filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Worse of it, due to his weight, he was diagnosed with type II diabetes.
Charlie lived to a ripe old age with his son taking over Wonderland and his grandson looking forward to doing the same.

John died not long after Charlie met him and was buried at Wonderland per his request. Charlie had a special little graveyard built with an iron fence around it and a sign that said In Loving Memory of A Dear Friend.

The End!

© Copyright 2016 Steev the Friction Wizurd, Hertzman, BIG BAD WOLF is hopping, (known as GROUP).
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