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The Pure Ones have come...To rid the Universe of all animal life |
| [Introduction]
Hi Everybody! Back from England and to celebrate here is a campfire, about Humans who tried to colonize Planet Io but got mutated and mind warped by the harsh environment, now call themselves The Pure Ones and wish to eliminate all 'inferior life forms' by that we mean all non-human life.
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| OK in Endangered Species League we see Bill, Jim and Bob, but where were Ichabod and Marzipan? Well you see...Ichabod and Marzipan needed a day off, Ichabod was feeling very tired, he didn't want to go with the rest of the crew to America so he stayed at his little home away from home, Lavender House, the little cottage in the wood, Ichabod decided he would dedicate this day to doing everything he wanted to do, and today he wanted to plant some flowers frond Lavender House, so he started planting some daisies and sunflowers. Marzipan was enjoying to warm sunshine when all of a sudden she felt sick to her stomach she vomited "Oh Marzi!" Ichabod said quickly getting up and rushing to Marzipan's side "Marzipan! Do you need a bucket? Do you need an antacid?" "They're coming..." Marzipan moaned "The unthinkable is coming!" "Who is coming?" Ichabod asked "The Extinctioists." Said Marzipan Ichabod took Marzipan to the cottage and made a pot of chamomile tea (Slowly but surely Ichabod was learning to make more then hard boiled eggs" "Here Darling." Ichabod said "Drink this your stomach will feel better." "Thanks Sweetie." Marzipan said and she drank deep |
| While Marzipan sipped her tea, elsewhere at the Federation training grounds James was testing Endangered Species League member Freddie Freedom "You know Freddie, except for that unique powers of yours, you remind me of a friend of mine." Freddie says, "Really? Who is it?" James says, "I'll tell you about him later, right now let's test that sonic wing power of yours. Try to knock down those barrels I set up earlier ." He points to the barrels set up in 5 sets, stacked like bottles in a carnival game. |
| Once Marzipan had finished her tea, Ichabod sat down beside her on the bed. "All right Marzipan." Ichabod said "Who are these...Extinctioners you mentioned?" "Extinctionists." Marzipan said "My Mama told me about them back when I lived on Planet Mizzer, when I was very small and first heard the story I thought they were nothing but a fairy tale and not a good fairy tale at that, but I realize now they are all too real." "I have learned from experience not to doubt your premonitions." Ichabod said "Bad things happen when I don't heed your warnings. So...What did your Mother tell you?" "Well..." Marzipan said "You do know how that even in the early 21st century there were racists and white supremacists right?" "Yes." Ichabod said "I know of them...It would be laughable if it wasn't so sickening." "Well..." Marzipan said "...In the story Mama told me in the early 21st century, a bunch of white supremacists got the crazy idea that they could go away to another planet and create an all white world, they got a spaceship and went into the stars, they got their wish all right, but in the worst way possible." "They landed on a planet covered completely by snow an ice, they couldn't grow and crops and all the animals they brought with them died." Marzipan sighed "The snow did strange things to them, it bleached them totally white, they lost all their hair even eyebrows and eyelashes even their blood turned white! They became obsessed with whiteness to the point all other colors became nauseating the idea of the rainbow made them vomit. And they all became alike! All the women were identical and all the men were identical...The idea of difference became anathema to them." |
| Marzipan says "Yes, but at a price. Not only did their altered body chemestry made them cruel and ruthless, it made them nearly immortal." Ichabod says "If they're immortal, how do we beat them?" Marzipan says "I said nearly immortal, they have a weakness. We need to find it." At the training grounds, Freddie used his sonic wing to knock down the barrel targets and he managed to knock down all 5 stacks down easily as James looked on "Impressive Freddie, next time I should use weighted barrels." Freedie jokes "Do I earn a kupie doll?" James remarked "This is a Federation training ground, not Coney Island." Freddie says "Can you tell me about the friend you told me about?" James says "Sure, His name is Justifier, I remember when I first met him on Speedwall 5 when..." His discussion is soon intruppted by a strange weather, a snow flurry "Strange, snow at this time of year?" Freddie says "If you think that's strange, we're in Florida." |
| Bob who was hanging around sipping a soda suddenly felt a chill go down his spine "Oh Gods..." Bob said rubbing his head "I...I don't feel good." "Are you feeling a premonition coming Little Bro?" Bill asked "This snow..." Bob said "This...Snow..." Suddenly something inside Bob's mind just clicked "We have to get back in the Fellowship!" Bob shouted "Everyone! Get on the ship!" Marina the Snow Leopard along with Freddie, Wingate and Geronimo the Giraffe (Who was on a blind date with Donkey Girl when he noticed some of his fellow Hybrids hanging out with the Federation Humanimals) Were confused "Why do we have to get on the spaceship?" Marina asked "A little snow can't hurt us." "Oh yes it can!" Bob said firmly |
| Bob says "Have you ever heard of acid rain?" Merina says "Yeah, water mixed with chemicals and I surely wouln't be in it when it falls." Bob says "Think of this as acid snow." Wingate says "Acid snow!?" Freddie says "How can this be acid snow?" |
| "First get on the Spaceship." Bob said "Then I'll explain." After everyone got on the Fellowship, Bob polished his glasses and explained. "Has anyone ever heard of the Planet called Io?" Bob asked "I know Jupiter has a Moon called Io "said Wingate. "Yes, yes I know." Bob said "But this isn't about Jupiter's Moon this is about a planet in a separate solar system, it is a world of ice and snow, but it's not frozen water type snow, it's more like frozen acid type snow." "Doesn't sound like it would be habitable." Marina said "It shouldn't be." Bob said "The Humans who colonized Io lost all their crops and animals when they arrived, they had subsist entirely on algae grown in the sea under the frozen ice." "Sounds disgusting." Said Freddie. "It is." Bob said "Back when we lived on Nuthanger Farm our Mother's told us a tale of Humans who went into Outer Space to a world of ice and snow, they were the only living things on that planet apart from the algae hey ate for food, having gone so long without seeing any other animals they developed an intense hatred of other animals even though they had not seen one in years, they believed non-human animals were abominations to be destroyed." "Kind of ironic." Bill said "When you consider their planet was named after a Greek Goddess who took the form of a Cow." "Io was no a Goddess." Bob said "She was a Nymph with whom Zeus had one of his many flings with, in a Jealous fit Hera turned Io into a Cow and sent a gadfly to torment her, so Io wandered for many years until at last she became human again." Back at England however the weather was still perfectly fine, Marzipan was napping on the bed while Ichabod was reading a book trying to not worry himself sick over Marzipan's premonition. Suddenly the phone rang, Ichabod picked it up "Hello?" Ichabod said "Ichabod," Came a familiar voice "It's me." "Oh! Father!" Ichabod said "How are you?" "I'm feeling just fine." Jonathan said "I'm on the shuttle and I'm about to reach Earth." "Is Mother with you?" Ichabod asked hopefully "No," Jonathan said "She's still on Alderbaren tending her plants." "Oh." Ichabod said "I'm not upset or anything, but it does seem Mother hasn't visited for an awfully long time." "I know." Jonathan said "She does have her plants to take care of you know." Ichabod sighed deeply "Ichabod." Jonathan said "When we've come to England we're almost always at Earthport, and Earthport is merely a single building, albeit a particularly large one capable of supplying everything a human being could possibly need, but there is so much of England yet to be seen, and London is a short drive away, so I was wondering if you'd like to meet somewhere in London?" "London..." Ichabod said "Come to think of it I've only been to London twice since I joined the Fellowship and both times we were driving through." Marzipan yawned waking up from her nap "Something about London?" She murmured sleepily "Marzipan." Ichabod said "Father wants to meet somewhere in London, is there anyplace in London you want to see in particular?" Marzipan thought for a moment "Well..." She said "I've always wanted to see the Natural History Museum of London..." Ichabod nodded spoke into the phone "Marzipan says she'd like to meet in the London Natural History Museum." "That sounds wonderful." Jonathan said "I knew your Marzipan was Feline of taste on intellect." Ichabod chuckled "Well..See you there." He said |
| (Sorry for any delays- watching a walkthrough of Donkey Kong 64- ah, the memories of childhood.) Meanwhile, Kong was in the gym section, lifting weights. "Hmm, for some reason I have a strong desire to throw barrels, kidnap princesses, make fun of Italian plumbers, battle a crocodile, and eat lots, and lots, of bananas." |
| Meanwhile on Planet Io, the Pure Ones as they now called themselves, were listening to their leader Number 1 (Pure Ones have Numbers instead of names, the first of every new generation is always called Number 1 and is the leader) "Why should we leave our beautiful white planet?" Asked a Man "Outside this world are colors and plants and...ANIMALS!" Shrieked a Woman "Don't you see?" Proclaimed Number 1 "It's because those things exist we must go forth and destroy them! We will never be safe until all inferior life forms and colors are exterminated!" (And now begins a parody of a song from Disney's Pocahontas) Number 1 began to sing "What can you expect, From filthy little beasties? This is what you get When the species are diversed! Their blood is hellish red They're only good when dead They're vermin as I've said and worse!" The Pure Ones answered back "They're animals! Animals! They're not even human! Animals! Animals!" "Beasts from days of yore." Said Number 1 "They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil...We must sound the drums of war!" "They're animals! Animals!" Sang the Pure Ones "Dirty stinking devils! Now we pound the drums of war!" |
| Number 1's devoted partner Number 2 says "You made your point, so where do we go?" Number 1 says "We go to Earth, already I converted most of it's weather to Io's snow so it can support our way of life all we need is to distroy plants and animals, sense the colors will be gone by the time we get there." He calls out to the rest "Today is the day we take action, and bring death to our enemies! Who's with me!?" Everyone cheered on. Number 1 smiled and said "Then let's advance to our new planet!" (The song continues as they approach a starship) "Now we make 'em pay, Now without a warning, Now we leave 'em blood and bone and rust, it's them or us, They're just a bunch of Filthy, stinking animals animals, demons, monsters." Number 1 "KILL THEM!" "Animals animals, what are we waiting for? Destroy their evil race Until there's not a trace left now sound the drums of war!" |
And so the band of warp-minded, near immortals settled into their sleak starship, Ice Queen, and flew hundreds of lightyears to Planet Earth. THey slipped into a stealth orbit and observed the Earth through powerful viewing glasses. "Look at all those abominations!" said Number One. "It's terrible!" agreed Number Two. |
| Number One nodded solemnly. "Indeed. And we must take steps to purge this planet. We should feel shame for allowing the racial home of our ancestors to be overcome by such filth. Where is Earth's fleet garrisoned?" "They have a base on the planet's moon; northern pole, sir." "Good. We'll perform a fly-by; go in cloaked, unload everything we have as we get in close, and then skedaddle. Our ship shouldn't be able to withstand the base's defenses for more than a few seconds, and so timing is crucial. Our goal is to lead as many ships away as we can, as far as we can, before we can turn around and head back towards Earth. Summon all hands to battle-stations." Klaxons whooped and screeched all down the length of the pale vessel as it altered trajectory, the anti-matter engines straining to bear it with the greatest speed towards the unsuspecting Federation fortress below. |
| Meanwhile at the Natural History Museum Ichabod and Marzipan were waiting for Jonathan and for Jonathan to show up. When Jonathan appeared they greeted him enthusiastically. Then they noticed he was with someone. "Father..." Ichabod said "Who is this?" "This is Flora Trueblood." Jonathan said "You remember her right? She's helped us several times." Ichabod looked at the Snake Woman she was a Yellow Bellied Sea Snake, she was wearing a white dress (As it is hard to wear pants when you have no legs) And had a wig of black hair to further identify herself as female. "Um...Father." Ichabod said "Is there a reason the two of you are...Holding hands?" Jonathan and Flora looked at each other |
| "Let's just say that we were really good friends when we were younger," Johnathan said. "Way before I met your mother." |
| On board the Fellowship while everyone is at their posts, Jim gets an incoming communications "Captain, we just got a message from the moonbase. they encountered an alien ship in orbit and it's hostile. My guess it's origin is Io." Matoaka says "Could you ask the Base commander to show us the image of the ship?" Jim says "Yes Captain, I will ask him." |
Jim let out a long, low whistle as an image of the Ice Queen, the spaceship of the Ionians, formed on his monitor. "It glistens!" "It's constructed of hyperwater," Matoaka said. Jim's mouth fell open. "Hyperwater! What the heck is that?" "It's a rare and practically unknown form of water. Think of ice at room temperature but with the strength of carbon fiber. We would probably construct all spaceships from it if there was an easy way to do it, but there isn't." "How did THEY do it?" Jim asked, wondering what rare beings must be piloting such a rare ship. "I don't know," Matoaka said, "but I believe it takes a blend of Technology and Dark Magic." |
| At the Moonbase the People there were scared, they did not know what was going on, they knew some strange snow was starting to fall all over the Earth, and they new a mysterious ship was slowly circling the Moon, but they did not know what these mysterious people wanted. However one woman, a black woman named Marcella knew something about these visitors "I know who these jerks are..." She said "I read about them, bunch of crazy racists who decided they couldn't stand living on a planet where people of color existed so they went away to another planet, legends have been told of Space Sailors who crashed on a mysterious plant of ice and snow and they were murdered by snow white people for having 'colors' well we'll not have it! I know just what to do!" As the Ice Queen made its final circle around the moon, the crew heard a strange sound they had never heard before, it sounded like a whizzing sound suddenly...BOOM! And explosion of colors! Red! Orange! Yellow! Green! Blue! Violet! The Moonbase launched fireworks at them, and the exposure to the bright colors made them writhe about in pain. Meanwhile at the Museum, Ichabod and Marzipan were hanging out with Jonathan and Flora at the Museum's Cafe "So...How long have you known Flora?" Ichabod asked "I met her when I was thirteen." Jonathan said "But I told you what happened...Didn't I? I had the bad sense to dump water on her head and she...Punished me for it." Flora giggled a little hissing laugh and Ichabod blushed "I did not see her again for many months" Jonathan said "In fact all the Humanimals of the Great Gotham Forest withdrew deeper into the forest, they were no longer stealing our crops and livestock, many farmers were relieved." Flora took a deep drink of water and sighed deeply "What Flora has told me is that Wranglers were harvesting the Humanimals of incredible magical talent..." Jonathan sighed "That is what caused them to retreat, Flora and her friends Darkling and Trevor were all kidnapped from Great Gotham Forest...Many months went by, months turned to years, then when I was sixteen years old, out hoeing the cornfields again I met her again, quite unexpectedly, I was...scared." Jonathan was hesitant to admit being scared in public place "Not only was she a lot bigger before, but we had not seen each other since I had played my prank on her, and even though she had punished me, I was terribly afraid she was still mad at me...But I looked at her eyes and something had changed, her eyes seemed deeper, wiser...even though we were roughly the same age she seemed so much older then me." Jonathan took a drink of water to wet his whistle before continuing "She said absolutely nothing to me, not a thing, she just looked at me and then disappeared into the forest, I felt strange, the kind of feeling you have when you think you have seen something you can not explain, I felt strange feelings I had not felt in years, tender feelings I felt bad for what I had done to Flora...I wondered if my cruel prank was what drove the Humanimals deeper into the forest no matter how silly that sounded. So every night for two years I laid out food for the Humanimals to eat in hopes they would come back...Growing up so poor I didn't have much to give, mostly just fruits and vegetables, none of which I imagined a Snake would find palatable, but I knew a Humanimal heard did not consist of one Species, but any and all Humanimal species, so I was sure there was someone who could eat it, and I'm sure the Humanimals were eating it, because every morning the food was gone and in its place a flower or a brightly colored stone, a small token of gratitude...Then on my eighteenth year...That was the year I committed my first murder bringing a gun to the senior... Well you know the rest Ichabod..." "We should stop talking about the past." Flora said "We should talk about what lays ahead of us...Now that we're at the museum what exibats would you two young people like to see?" "Well..." Ichabod said "I'd like to see this new exhibit on extinction and conservation..." "That one costs money." Jonathan says "...And I have plenty to spend on my soldier's salary." Ichabod replied "I'd like to see the hall of mammals if that's OK." Marzipan said "I'd never imagine you'd enjoy that." Ichabod said "My Fellowship friends have told me they never like seeing the taxidermied animals for as Bill puts it and I quote...'From an Animal's perspective visiting the taxidermied animals is kind of like going to one of those creepy wax museums, it just gives me the creeps, knowing I'm looking at stuffed corpses' I couldn't help but see his point." "I think it depends on how close you are to you animal side." Marzipan said "The Fellowship Herd was raised on a Humanimal Farm, where they were treated like animals, during the first eight years of my life I lived on the Free Planet of Mizzer where Humanimals were treated like people, so I'm not bugged by the stuffed animals..." |
| One of the museum patrons, a human carrying a huge stack of books was running down the hall most of the people get out of his way but Ichabod wasn't too lucky when he collited with him books was all over the floor "Oh, I'm so sorry sir. Didn't see you there." As Ichabod was about to get up, he noticed a photo of the man that ran into him with a man that looks closly like Pure One leader Number 1 with fair skin and bleach blond hair on the floor. "That's alright, hey who's this?" |
| (Um Hertz I did mention that Pure Ones have absolutely no hair anywhere on their bodies) Ichabod then noticed something was not right about the guy in the photo, he was more then just fair he was downright albino! Except, well Albinos should have pink eyes but this person just seemed to have blank white circles for eyes...Like Little Orphan Annie. He then looked at the man he crashed into, he was pure white too, his clothes were all white two, white shirt, white pants, white shoes, and his eyelids were tightly closed held closed by white tape. Flora knew exactly what to do, she went over and peeled the tape off the Pure One's eyes "Hello Number 42..." She hissed "Long time no see." "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!' The Pure One screamed "Colors! Colors everywhere! They burn! They sing!" Flora wrapped up the Pure One in her coils "I remember you well Number 42..." She hissed "I met you on my long journey home from the Intergalactic Zoo...You were banished from Io for being imperfect! You did not look like everyone else on your planet!" Ichabod wondered what she could possibly mean, then he remembered what Marzipan had told him, all the Pure Ones were as alike as identical twins, he looked at the photo and saw that Number 42's nose was larger then the Pure One in the photo. Flora began to squeeze Number 42 in her coils "Imperfect Pure One." She hissed "What are you doing on our planet?" "The Pure Ones have decided now is the time of the great cleansing." Gasped Number 42 "To purge the universe of all Non-Human life." Everyone in the museum, Human and Non-Human alike gasped in shock and horror! "Where are your brothers and sisters?" Hissed Flora "12 of them are in a room here in the museum." Choked out Number 42 "The room is kept in total darkness so the colors don't offend their eyes." |
| Johnathin asks "Do you know this guy?" Flora says "Number 42 is from the planet Io, an arctic planet and the snow is toxic." Ichabod says in a threatening manner "What is the great clensing you talked about?" Number 42 says "We're killing off every animal on this planet, every stinking animal. Humanimal or otherwise." This made Marzipan angry "WHAT!" She extended her claws. "Let me at him, I'll use him as a scratching post." Ichabod says "Easy Marzipan, We'll tet Matoaka handle this one." He takes out a radio "Ichabod to Matoaka, I have a live one for you." |
| "Let me get some My Little Pony tapes, and he'll talk." "Matoaka, that's way too cruel." |
Matoaka chuckled. "I'm glad we can keep our sense of humor in the midst of this crisis. But seriously, folks. We can't allow any kind of cleansing to take place, not even the aborted beginning of one. We must stop these Ionians as quickly as possible." |
| Aboard the Fellowship, Bob scrambled into the bridge and saluted Mataoka. "Captain! Citadel Luna just radioed in! The Ionians have pulled back beyond the atmosphere and are out of fire-works range. They're using a few long-range weapons, but for the most part they seem to be withdrawing. Now would be a good time to finish them off or board 'em, if they've lost their heart for the fight." |
| "First we have to get back to England." Matoaka said (Remember the rest of the crew was on North America at this time) "Now let's just get this started..." Matoaka tried to turn on the Fellowship but she heard sounds that sounded like when a car won't start. "Oh no..." Matoaka said "Oh no!" "What's wrong?" Marina asked "This acid snow!" Matoaka said "It's frozen the Fellowship like a common car!" "Oh Gods!" Bob said "I forgot about the Snow! That must be why the Pure Ones sent their snow here! It would bring all transportation to a screeching halt!" Meanwhile at the Museum the Patrons noticed snow starting to fall outside the windows "Why is is snowing?" A young girl asked "It's June!" Number 42 giggled malevolently On Ichabod's radio Matoaka said "Ichabod! Don't let anyone touch that snow!" |
| Ichabod says on the radio "You mean that's not ordinary snow?" Matoaka says "Yeah, something in the snow froze up the Fellowship. We can't take off." Screetched and crashes are heard outside the museum. "I hear what you mean." Ichabod looked outside the window and sees a British postbox(mailbox) begin to disolve. "My god, what's in the snow? Acid?" |
"You have to neutralize the acid!" Matoaka said. Ichabod turned up the radio volume. "How?" "Baking soda will work. Get as much baking soda as you can. Sprinkle it on anything critical that will be or has been exposed to the snow."" |
| "The Captain told me what can neutralize the acid snow. Do you know if there's a cafeteria or restaurant in here? We need a lot of baking soda fast!" Said Ichabod, as he waived off the device and turned to the rest of the group. |
| There were two places you can eat at the London Museum, the small cafe and the slightly larger restaurant (The cafe has cold sandwiches and salads, pastries and hot and cold drinks of all kinds, the restaurant has more hot foods like pastas and pizzas and slightly less dessert options) Ichabod grabbed plenty of baking soda from both. "But how do we get it on the snow?" Marzipan asked "We can't go outside in that weather! Not without protective suits!" "True." Ichabod said "But we can call our friends in Earthport who do!" So Ichabod called Earthport to send aid So came Melody Silverwings, Void the Cuttlefish, Mercer Blackpaw, Cooper Cooner, Albatair Gundow an the science expert Marissa Tort, a Pygmy Mouse Lemur and good friend of Melody. They were all wearing protective suits, when they arrived at the museum, Cooper saluted Ichabod "Ready and willing." Cooper said "What are your orders?" "Take this baking soda and pour it on the snow..." Ichabod said, No sooner he had said that Number 42 shouted "NOW!" Suddenly all the lights went out in the museum, it was only by the light of the moon and the stars shining through the windows that anyone was able to see anything The sound of two doors slamming startled everyone, suddenly man's voice echoed though the museum, it seemed to come from every where. "I am Number 1." Said the Voice "The Pure Ones have taken over this Museum! We have taken seven Humanimals hostage..." Everyone was silent "The seven Humanimals are locked within the Extinction exhibit, and the countdown has begun...For every day you do not give in to our demands a Humanimal should be slaughtered." "You're going to slaughter all the animals anyway!" Ichabod yelled "Why are you even playing this game with us?!" "Because you Earth humans have a terrible affliction called 'love' and we know for a fact that several of the Humanimal Hostages are loved by a Human." Number 1 seemed beyond disgusted by the idea a Human could love someone of a different species "OH CRAP!" Screamed a voice Ichabod knew only two well Rory Stag was there, along with his wife Bernadette and his daughter Victoria, with him was Boomer Bluegum the Grey Kangaroo and his mate the Albino Kangaroo Vanilla (Her real name was Ophelia but she preferred to be called Vanilla) Boomer's friend also from Australia Phoenix the Dragon (Boomer and Phoenix were the only Members of the League of Submissive Gentlemen not native to Paradise Valley, they lived Down Under the only country on Earth that refused to make Humanimals slaves and allowed Humanimals citizenship even when everywhere else they were slaves) the other members of the League were Warhol the Walrus and his mate Nancy (Don't worry, the story of the Omnimals is still canon so Nancy and Jezebel still exist) Peter Susano the Bison, Scipio Fortuna the Peacock, Rockhopper the Mountain Goat, Chester Cat who was half American Curl and half Scottish Fold and new member Eomer the Horse, also with them a family of Grey Squirrels who were unusually small normally rodent Humanimals like squirrels and rats are at least half the size of a human, Jim and Jordan were only one head shorter then Ichabod, these Squirrels were only a foot high, Ichabod read their name tags, the Mother Squirrel was Chara her son was Howard and the daughter was Sarah "CRAP!" Rory screamed "My friends and neighbors are in there!" "Your friends and neighbors?" Ichabod asked "As Prince of Humanimals I was leading a charity tour group!" Rory said starting to panic, some of my tour group wanted to go into that new exhibit! So the group separated in two, all the Humanimals in there were part of my group! Niccolo the Beaver, Merric the Moose, Rama the Water Buffalo, Penelope the Porcupine, Julie the Rabbit Roger the Rat and Nancy the Gazelle are now trapped with those lunatics!" "It's going to be OK." Cooper said trying to prevent the young Deer from bursting a blood vessel "No it's not OK!" Rory snapped "As their Prince I was responsible for them! If they die it will be my fault!" |
| While Ichabod and group is held up in the museum, Matoaka has the Endangered Species League on different missions each one wearing a special acid-proof suit and carrying barrels of Baking Soda. Freddie is over times square pouring the baking soda while Gatorchomp(An Albino Alligator-humanimal hybrid) is in Miami who took a big bite out of his barrel before spreading the baking soda downtown. Wingate flew up and down the Las Vegas strip spreding his powder. Matoaka called into the radio "How are you all doing?" Freddie says "A OK on my end, Time Square looks more stable." Gatorchomp says "It's amazing that something simple as baking soda neutrilizes this toxic snow." Wingate says "Yes, this mission is almost too easy." Matoaka says "Your next mission is going to be challenging." Freddie says "Okay, I'm up for it. What's the mission?" |
At that moment the radio went dead. "Matoaka?" Freddy said. "Matoaka? I think we lost our connection." He stared at the radio. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Meanwhile in the museum, Rory had become more and more hysterical until now he was foaming at the mouth and kicking at anyone who tried to get close to him. "What the heck is going on?" Ichabod yelled. "I don't know," Cooper said. "It's like he has the strength of a maniac. I don't think I can hold him!" And with that Rory burst loose from them and went clattering down the hall. |
| With an ecstatic shriek, a laser pulse sprang from nowhere, smashing into the wall in front of the charging stag. Shocked off his hooves, he fell backwards towards the group as shards of plaster and rock exploded from the impact point. "That was a warning shot. Attention everyone currently inside the Museum; you will now proceed to the main atrium. Anyone we find outside by 21:00 hundred hours shall be executed when we sweep the building. Move." Said Number One over the PA, sounding slightly aggravated. The shock of nearly being killed seemed to snap Rory back to his normal self. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me there." He straightened, visibly pulling himself back together. "Now, has anybody called the police? The authorities need to know what's happening here." He asked quietly as they all walked back towards the atrium. |
| "The authorities are aware of it." Void said "I used my head set...But there are going to be issues." "Issues?" Ichabod was feeling very worried "These Pure Ones obviously have some powerful weapons." Void said "But we don't know how much heat their packing. The police may not be able to do anything about it." Ichabod sat down and thought about how miserable the situation was, then he felt his stomach give a loud rumble "You're probobly hungry." Marzipan said "Let's go back to the cafe and eat something." |
| Matoaka says "Freddie? Wingate? Gatorchomp? Come in." Jim says "All communications are down, two-way, radio and television broadcast, Internet an cellular. It's got to be this snow that's causing it." Matoaka says "Then how will I communicate with hybrids?" Marina comes in "Perhaps I can help, this snow may have disabled electronic communications, but not my telepathic powers." |
Marina put all her will power into trying to communicate telepathically. "It's not working," she mumbled. "I don't have anyone on the other end that can receive me." "Aim it at Freddie Freedom," Matoaka said. "He may be in the sky and in a better position to receive you." "It's not a radio signal, "Marina said. "But I will concentrate on Freddie." |
| As Marina sent out her psychic call, Number One paced in the museum's main office, looking over the banks of security monitors. Several extras had been placed looking outside by the other Extinctionists, keeping a tab on the half-melted police cordon now surrounding the building. He was slightly indecisive as to what to do now. He had his hostages; the group in the extinction exhibit, and the larger number in the atrium. Now only what to do with them? A negotiator hadn't been dispatched yet by the locals, which he considered a good thing. If the traitorous humans were plotting a surprise attack, they would probably have attempted to stall him. On the other hand, he hadn't issued an ultimatum yet. There wasn't really that much to negotiate. Perhaps he should just go to Plan A and have the Icequeen commence an orbital bombardment. An asteroid or two nudged into a rapidly decaying orbit could work wonders on a formally rotted planetoid... "Sir! We've received word that Federation affiliate James's ship has been spotted in the area." One of his hand-picked squad members, Number Seven, rushed into the office and saluted. "James? Ah yes; the conscientious merc. Wasn't he prominent in the Speedwell Revolution and the Death of Mercury ?" Said Number One absently, still wondering what to do with his new found negotiating power. "Yessir. He has been a recursive ally of Matoaka's, and a dangerous one. We also think that some of her crew might be in the museum now, including Ichabod Crane, and even Prince Rory. Should we attempt to root them out of the crowd in the atrium?" |
| Number 1 sighed deeply "This planet is so warm!" He complained bitterly "Even importing our snow has not cooled the planet off significantly! All this heat is giving me a severe headache!" "Sir!" Came another Pure One, it was Number 1's breeding partner (They are so emotionally detached they don't have 'husbands' or 'wives' they just have 'breeding partners') Number 4 "There is a curious affliction with the Pure Ones guarding the seven in the Extinction Room "What could possibly have happened?" Number 1 grumbled "They all have become stricken with terrible hunger pains!" Number 4 said "Hunger pains?" Number 1 was confused now "But they had their prescribed algae at six o'clock like everyone else!" "They were complaining about how empty their stomachs were..." Number 4 said "Saying they wanted things like...Brownies and...Peanut brittle..." "What pray tell are those substances?" Number 1 asked "Sir." Number 7 said "I believe those are things Earthlings eat." "I figured as much." Number 1 said flatly "But what those things are made of..." What had come over the Guards? Well the Seven Humanimals who were locked in the room, without food or drink, and separated from anyone else had come up with a plan to fight back, using only their thoughts. It was Uncle Rama the Water Buffalo who led them, Rama had worked for many years against his will for the evil alien Rumble Red so he knew one or two things about psychology...and magic. He had everyone speak in ancient Animalese (The language all animals speak and understand, but to Human ears all we hear is 'Woof' 'Meow' and 'Neigh') "We have weapons." Uncle Rama had told the others "Even if it doesn't look like we do, we have our own magic, Nature's magic..." "What can we possible do?" Julie the Rabbit asked "We can fight back with our thoughts." Rama said "We can use our own pain and suffering against them, make them feel what we feel." "I don't think those those monsters are capable of empathy." Said Roger the Rat "Maybe not." Said Rama "But they are not immune to the same basic needs that are also required buy the Animals they so despise, they need the same basic things we do, food, water, shelter and sex...The last one is somewhat optional, sex is not necessary for the individual but very much so for the species as a whole." "So do we turn our own hunger against them?" Nancy the Gazelle asked "Yes." Rama replied "They have lived all their lives eating slime." |
| While Uncle Rama is planning to fight back the Pure ones, Marina managed to contact Wingate telepathicly "Wingate, can you read me?" Wingate says "Yes, loud and clear. What happened Marina? Matoaka was about to give us our next mission and then we lost contact." Marina says "It's this snow, causing problems for everyone. Including broadcast signals. Right now Matoaka wants you all back at the ship so she can give you all the next mission face to face." Wingate says "Okay, I'll fly to New York, Miami and head back to the ship quick as a flash." Shortly afterwards, Wingate, Freddie and Gatorchomp are back on the Fellowship in the briefing room with Matoaka "Okay we're here." Freddie says "What is the mission?" |
| Meanwhile, James was heading towards the museum- he sensed the most trouble in that direction. "Thank goodness I keep an acid-proof suit next to my lava-proof suit." He looked at the snow, and groaned as it pitted his vehicle. "Remind myself to shove my boot up this guy's ass." |
Matoaka looked at her loyal friends and smiled at their extreme readiness to do battle. "Not yet, folks. Be patient. The moment is near. But we are waiting for word from all parties involved." "That's just gobbly-gook, Matoaka!" complained Freddie. "Let's DO something!" |
| Freddie might have been still more impatient had he known exactly what was happening. At that moment, James was kneeling on the ceiling of the target museum, peering in through a skylight. He quietly thanked himself for attaching 'geck-tech' pads to his armour as he took stock of the situation below Seven humanimals were lying on the floor, bound paw and hoof, occasionally wriggling and making quiet noises in what James recognized as animalese. A quartet of lightly armored, identical guards stood nearby, shifting in obvious discomfort as they attempted to watch the hostages. At length, one hit his gun against the wall, before throwing his arms up stamping in a circle. "Gah! I can't stand it any more! I don't know what it is, but... But it hurts! I'm groign crazy! Even those weird little things in the baggies in that vending machine didn't help! Ergh." He slumped against the wall, starting to hit his fist against the palm of his hand in some kind of nervous twitch. "I think it's this scum." Said another sullenly. "They haven't shut-up since we tied them down. And I haven't felt this... Whatever it is... Until after we started guarding them. Aaarrgghh-Be quiet already you lot!' He snapped, standing up and advancing on the captives. "Oi! Number One said we don't so much as poke 'em, 32!" Another pure one jumped up and made as if to intercept his volatile ally. "Mess with them, you mess with him!" "Oh, I'm not gonna poke them." Said thirty-two, priming his plasma-fed machine gun as he move dup on the helpless humanimals. |
| James quickly used his own his own plasma gun to shoot at the guards, with his precise aim he made sure to hit only the guards and not the hostages. |
| Unfortunatly, James' action did not go unnoticed as Number 4 heard the plasma shot "Did you hear that sir?" Number 1 says "I sure did, we have an intruder somewhere attempting a rescue, and this I don't like, take several men, find the intruder and erraticate it. Also make sure the hostages are in place." Number 4 says "Yes sir," He turns to some soldiers "You heard number 1, let's find the inturder and make sure it doesn't complete it's rescue mission." As he and the men leave the room. |
| James had not made the mistake of jumping down into the room from the skylight. He knew the sound of gunfire would draw reinforcements. So he waited. And when the new men burst into the room, SWAT style, looking left and right... James mowed them down from above. He was a little slow getting the last one and the skylight disintegrated around him as it took a hit. He fell into the room. But unhurt. |
| The surviving Pure One dropped to a crouch and leapt behind a pillar, unloading fire on the humanimal. James rolled aside as sparks and shrapnel flew around him, whipping his gun above his head and shooting as he went. The column shielding the Pure One glowed, hunks of masonry bubbling and running down the side of the roof support. James sprang up and behind an exhibit pedestal, as the short-lived trade off came to an end and the plasma ceased flowing. Around the room, bound humanimals squirmed in there restraints, struggling to vacate the various lines of fire. One offered a particularly desperate plea as the human seized them and dragged them to their hooves. "Throw down your gun or you'll be short one hunk of living filth!" The human snarled. James paused, internally berating himself for rolling to the left instead of the right. From here the hostage's body and the pillar checked his fire, as opposed to what would have been a better angle from the opposing side. No time to worry about that now, however. "No surrender? I guess you vermin are made of sterner stuff than I thought. I'll just kill this one and then you- after all, we've got plenty of spares..." "Wait! I'm coming out, just -hold your fire!" Called James, reluctantly putting down his gun and standing up. "You're also smarter than I imagined. Slide the gun over here, put your paws on your head, and step over." Ordered the human. James dutifully carried out the instructions, and the Pure One casually threw his captive aside once he was in close. The human knelt down and started throughorly patting down the side of James's pants, keeping his gun trained on James's chest the whole time he searched. As he stood and moved in slightly closer to check around the collar of James's suit, the lupine sighed, resigned to what the situation called for- and then lunged forward. His left arm snapped down, catching the humans limb and throwing off his plasma pulse. The blast melted a hole in the fabric of James's suit as it grazed imperceptibly past, but didn't contact the fur beneath. Meanwhile, his left leg hit the inside of the human's, knocking back his center of balance as James's upper body pressed forward. His right arm swept across, blocking a retaliating blow and hitting the Pure One square in the visor. The blow did far more damage to the humanimal's paw that to any part of the human's anatomy, but in knocked his helmet back. Something that James's teeth took full advantage of as they swept in, locking around the newly exposed throat. James wrenched his head savagely to the side, clamping down hard and tearing as he grabbed on to with his arms to keep the human's spasming limbs from interrupting him. "Sorry I had to do that. But you'd have killed me anyways, and in the end, I value my life more highly than yours." He said, guiding the limp carcass to the cold floor. |
| James then undid the captives binds "Does...This mean we're free?" Asked Merric the Moose "Not yet." James said "Everyone in this museum is still trapped in here, but everyone else had more freedom to move about then you did, but enough talk you probobly need something to eat and drink after your ordeal." Marzipan asked the museum workers if she could be allowed to cook in the restaurant's kitchen as cooking normally helped her feel better about whatever situation she was in, the workers agreed Marzipan had a unique power, if she let a few tears fall into whatever food she was making the food would be ever so much more delicious, but only a few tears were needed, too many tears and it would whoever ate the food could feel the sadness on his or her tongue and from what I hear, eating pure sadness can give you a stomachache. Ichabod sat quietly by himself and wondered what they could do stop these Pure Ones...What was the one chink in their armor they could exploit? Well color was a very good weapon, but now it was night, and the pure ones and disassembled the light fixtures, so in the museum everything was dull and colorless. Ichabod was suddenly distracted by the sight of his Dad and the Snake Woman Flora Trueblood, at a different table...Kissing each other... Ichabod's heart skipped a beat, he wondered what the heck was happening...Then after thinking for a moment he realized just exactly what was happening During one visit to his parents' house Ichabod got up in the middle of the night, to use the toilet and get a drink of water. As he gulped down his second cup of water (He was really thirsty that night) He heard footsteps in the hall, and his parents talking, he didn't know why his parents were up so late, but he overheard them talking They were talking about how awkward it felt, Jonathan aged like a normal human being, but Pamela did not, they were talking about how unnatural it felt for one partner to grow old while the other remained young. Pamela told Jonathan that he shouldn't have to feel bound by their marriage vows, she officially gave him permission to have an affair with a woman more his age. Ichabod was rendered silent with horror, and Jonathan told Pamela he wasn't sure how he could bring himself to have an affair. Ichabod did not know what to think...He quickly took a deep drink from his glass of water "Ichabod!" He said to himself "Don't be a hypocrite! You don't have the right to condemn your Father for his personal choices! What he does is of no concern to you!" "Talking to yourself?" Marzipan asked Ichabod looked up, there was Marzipan with a tray of food |
| "I guess I'm the pot calling the kettle black," Ichabod said. "I'm having trouble believing my father's choice in friends, when I made similar choices in friends." Marzipan chuckled. "Least you didn't befriend a creature that used to be prey, or a predator, like a cat and a mouse." Ichabod smiled. "That would be trouble." |
| Meanwhile in Earth's orbit a federation shuttle appoaches a communications sattalite inside Hunter and Starglow inspects it. "Just as I thought," Hunter says, "The sattalite's been damaged, asteroids is my guess." Hunter puts on his space suit, "The sooner I get it fixed, the sooner we get communications back." As he is about to get in the airlock, Starglow says "Be careful Hunter." in the airlock, Hunter puts on his helmet and puts on his lifeline and teather then he goes out to the sattilite with tools as he inspects it closly, Starglow says "Can you fix it?" Hunter says "Of course I can, wait a minute, these are burn marks, plasma burn marks. Someone used it for target practice." Starglow says "My guess, the Pure ones. The same group holding that museum hostage. Better watch your back. There could be someone there preventing you to fix the sattilite." Hunter says "Too bad for them, I'm fixing it anyway." |
"We have our communications back," Matoaka said. Freddie did a fist pump. "Everyone give me a full report!" Matoaka ordered. Ichabod stared at the radio that had suddenly come alive again. "What shall we tell her? That we are sitting in the restaurant of the museum eating snacks?" |
| "Mataoka! Captain, we're still in the museum! The Pure Ones have this place locked down like the Reserve, but they're not bothering us much. They're holding a bunch of humanimals in the Conservation Exhibit, and-" Ichabod was rudely interrupted by the sound of muffled cries as a squad of Pure Ones barged into the mass of museum patrons, weapons held high. "On your feet, scum! You're moving out. Form two files here and follow us to a more defensible area, pronto!" The leader, Number One's breeding partner, barked out, whacking an elderly humanimal with her rifle butt. She was none-too happy that the invading humanimal -supposedly Federation agent James- had blown a painful dent in her favorite shoulder pads, and had then proceeded to mow down an entire Pure One squadron. She could only hope that the reinforcements sealing off that wing of the museum had more luck. She didn't want him going anywhere. "Hey, what's this!" Snarled one of the racist space-invaders, roughly snatching the radio from Ichabod's hand. "Number 4! This one has a radio!" |
| Rory was beginning to panic again, he knew the situation would quickly go from bad to worse unless someone did something. Rory turned to Bernadette, his Human bride "We have to bring out the big guns now." He whispered "If someone doesn't do something, someone could die!" Bernadette nodded and subtly as she could removed from her purse the secret of Rory's power, his crown. It wasn't so much a crown as it was a ring of gold worn about the forehead, as Humanimals put more emphasis on practicality then pomp and show...Besides if you're an Animal with your own natural crown in the form of antlers or horns, what do you need a big poofy crown for? Rory quickly slipped on his crown, and like something out of an Anime his clothes transformed from a T-shirt and jeans to flowing purple robes, his magic shone with burning bright light which hurt the Pure Ones' eyes "I have had just about enough of this!" Rory said in a much deeper sounding voice (Kind of like what happens to Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh!) "We have put up with your nonsense for far too long! Now comes time to end this" Rory created the illusion of a brightly burning sun, brilliantly shining in red, orange and yellow The Pure Ones thought they were about to be burned to a crisp! They started moaning and groaning "You will release us!" Rory said "Or I will kill all of you." |
| (OK prepare for a humongous turning point in the story) At last Rory's strengh gave out and he had to stop the illusion, at this point dawn was starting to break and the birds were beginning there morning chorus 'How can they possibly hope to conquer nature?' Ichabod thought to himself 'Did they think they planet could not possibly defend itself?' He never felt so glad to see the sunrise, he whispered so low only Marzipan could hear "Daylight, see the dew on the sunflower, and a rose that is fading, roses wither away, like the sunflower, I yearn to turn my face to the dawn...I am waiting for the day...' Bernadette rushed to Rory's side, that's when she noticed something had changed about the Pure Ones For one thing they had hair now, on their head and eyebrows and eyelashes as well, and their skin was no longer snow white, it was...Well it was regular Caucasian skin color, Number 4 now had long red hair that tumbled down her back It was Number 4 who got up first, she said "What happened...Am I...Dead?" "No." Bernadette said "But we can fix that for you if you want us to." A Man with brown hair got up and said "I feel so strange...One minute I was burning, the next I am seeing all the beauty in the universe..." "That's strange." Melody whispered to Mercer "I thought looking directly into the sun made you go blind." Flora approached the transformed Pure Ones "You were mind raped." She said "The Snow caused you to think unnatural thoughts..." |
| "...and you somehow developed a hatred towards animals." The brown haired man picked up Ichabod's radio. Meanwhile back on the Fellowship, Hunter reported in "Fine work Hunter," Matoaka says, "We have communications back." Hunter says "Just doing my call of duty, I was lucky there was no guards there, made my job a lot easier." Just then there was an incoming broadcast "This is Number 1, I wish to let the hostages go and surrender myself to the Federation." Matoaka, Hunter and the hybrids look at the radio in puzzlement. Matoaka says "This better not be a trick." Number 1 "I assure you, it's no trick. I've been shown the error of my ways." Freddie says "Sounds like he's been changed somehow." Matoaka says "Okay, let me talk to whoever changed you." |
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