LOVE EPIDEMIC--Part 6 -------------------- Back at the Coffeehouse, on the Dragon Planet. Take Three John D has just emerged from the back room after talking to his boss. While the others were fooling around with the clown in the basement he started to put the plan into action. First he went to where he had his backpack and took out the item that he had inside. Physics siad it couldn't exist. All scientists said it was impossiblr. But he had it, the most destructive weapon ever made by man. The Warp Bomb. John D ----------------------- [...unWARP!!!] Good evening. ************* The J.A.M. was wondering how could Dyglo enter and leave in such a hurry, and mess with Dulcy and then try and get her back. When Dyglo came back and roared, with a roar that more than surpassed his own, he felt something was wrong. "Bunnie, did you smell anything different when Dyglo came in and left and came in again?" The cyborg-rabbit thought for a moment, and replied, "It's hard to tell, Sugar. I smell mostly coffee around here." "Well, whatever's going on, Dyglo said he was going after someone, and I wouldn't throw *him* against anyone, would you?" "Not in the way he was rampaging." "Then it's time we did something. I'm going after Dyglo, and I need help. How's your arm?" Bunnie shook her right arm a bit, and replied, "I think it's operational now. I'm right behind you, Sugar!" "But the Coffeehouse has a bazillion corridors!" said Dale. "How are you going to find Dyglo?" The Panther replied, "There may be a bazillion passages, but only *one* Dyglo, with *one* signature scent. Anyone without a cold and who's not human should be able to track him. You, however, also have a good nose. We could use you." "I'm in then!" "Me too!" replied Foxglove, unwilling to leave her husband alone. "Very well, then. ¡Síganme los buenos!" "Huh?" asked Bunnie. "'Good guys, follow me'," said Foxglove. The Jaguar thus led the Rabbit, the Chipmunk, and the Bat from the cafe and followed the dragon scent. . . . . .unknown to them that *two* nearly identical scents were winding their way through the maze. . . ************* Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening. [WARP!!!] The J.A.M. -------------------------- He's coming. *thud* That door won't hold for long! *thud* *thud* I have to put some distance between himself and myself. *thud* *thud* *crack* Why did Mr. Rockefeller send me here? *thud* *thud* *thud* *BOOM* He's through. I'll duck in that side corridor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chris(RC) was still trying to make sense of all that had happened in the past few hours. Where is Rose? Is she behaving? How come Knuckles is trying to make Sonic overflow with espresso? Will all this worrying give me grey hair? What's that guy pulling out of his bag? Is Dyglo feeling okay? Where's J.A.M. taking Dale, Foxglove, and Bunnie? If everything I say is a lie, and I say, 'I am telling a lie,' what would that mean? Which came first, the chicken or the coffeebean? How long is Antoine gonna stay knocked out? How can I get anymore caffeine if the glasses are shattered? How long is Julie going to fondle over James like that? I'm too young for this kind of heavy duty thinking. Chris(RC) stared at the table, lost in his own thoughts. He began to absent-mindedly doodle on an empty sheet of paper. A hedgehog partially based on the Sonic style was before him(on the paper). In Chris's(RC) imagination, the hedgehog practiced with a nasty looking sword on the page that was almost half his height in length. I wonder if Julie would like a sparring partner. She probably doesn't get much practice with that sword of hers. Oh well. I can always save this guy for some story. Dyglo --------------------- [...unWARP!!!] Good evening. ************ At a particular intersection that was actually nowhere in particular, The J.A.M., Bunnie Rabbot, Dale, and Foxglove appeared to be somewhat confused. The Jaguar and the Chipmunk were both on the floor, almost pressing their noses it. "I'm telling you, I smell TWO different dragons!" said Dale. "Are you sure, Cute Stuff" "Positive!" "But how can that be?" asked J.A.M. "Dulcy is *still* up front, and Dyglo is the only other one here!" "Then why does the scent split up?" The Panther blinked at this, and sniffed the floor again, from where they came from, and indeed, sensed the scent branching off in two different directions. He sat up. "You really should trust Dale," said Foxglove "Well, either Dyglo backtracked, or---" . . .boom. . . All four of them froze. The dull "boom" had come directly behind them. "---or we're in for yet *another* evil twin story," said Bunnie. . . .Boom. . . The Feline and Rodent immediately stood, and all four stood side by side, trying to identify what was approaching. Foxglove sounded the corridors. "It's large and scaly," she said. "Dyglo." "Or his 'twin', if any," added The J.A.M., unsheathing his claws. Dale and Bunnie tightened their fists, while Foxglove took deep breaths and curled her wings into balls, hoping this would not be a one-sided batle. . . ************ Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening. [WARP!!!] The J.A.M. --------------------- Is this thread dead, or is it just experiencing a lull? The table was beginning to overflow with papers containing sketches, diagrams, and blueprints. The creative spurt had run out in the drawing department for Chris(RC). With nothing to do anymore, he felt in the mood for some tunes. Walking to their vast selection of songs, he picked out a few that he liked. "Closing Time" by Semisonic, "The Unforgiven" by Metallica, "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, "Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, and all the Weird Al he could get his hands on were just the tip of the iceberg that he put in the sound system. The music was good, but no matter how hard he tried, Chris(RC) couldn't shake the feeling that he was just trying to not worry about Dyglo. He finally resolved to prepare himself and go after the dragon. With the theme to Independence Day at his heels, he set out on his search. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I have you now!" said Dyglo as he caught scent of someone. He sprang into the hallway the scent was coming from and frightened the wits out of a jaguar, a bat, a chipmunk, and a partially roboticized rabbit. "What're you doing here? This guy is mine!" The J.A.M. was the first to answer... _________________________________________________ Don't tell me the story's already over! Or is it just a slow point? Oh well. If it ends, it stops going. To be continued? Dyglo ------------------ [...unWARP!!!] Good evening. ************ "Dyglo??!!" exclaimed the Jaguar. "Foxglove, I thought you said he was in the other direction!" "He *is*! I mean--he *was*--I mean--" "What do you mean, 'this guy'?" asked Bunnie. "What are you talking about?" "Nograd Olgyd!!" "Gesundheit," said Dale. "My negative counterpart! He locked me and Chris, and *he* was the one who made Dulcy break up with me!!" "Two almost identical scents," said The J.A.M. "That would probably explain why we sensed *you* ahead and Foxglove heard Oglyd--" BOOM "--behind us. . ." she finished. *BOOM* "Esto no me gusta nada," said the Panther. . . ************ Come ON, people! Dyglo and me can't do this by ourselves! Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening. [WARP!!!] The J.A.M. --------------------- Oh woah, I'm so confused I've completely lost this, so please forgive any mistakes now ================================================================ Chris (AC) looked around. He appeared to be in a corridor. "Well, at least I got out of that drawer, I nearly had to inhale" he thought. "Wonder where Dyglo is? Better get going anyway, I'll have to see how Adam is". He walked through a few passageways, then he heard something. BOOM. "What on earth?" Then another one. BOOM. "Two booms,I've gotta find out what that is. If Adam and Rose are doing something I'll"... BOOM. "That was close" Chris thought as he virtualy froze in fear. Whatever was causing the BOOMS was close. Then he heard something else, It was a female voice, It sounded like Foxglove. Then he heard Dale's voice. Skirting through a few more corridors, he walked out and saw Foxglove first. She was stood staring at something in front of her, so was Dale. The J.A.M. and Bunnie where doing the same only the opposite way round. Chris turned to his right. "Oh, hi Dyglo! Been looking for you." Then to his left. "Oh, hi Dyglo! Been looking for Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!! What's going on? So the rest of the assembled broke the scene for a few moments to fill Chris (AC) in on everything, and even had time for a game of tiddlywinks, though J.A.M. and Bunnie passed on another arm-wressle. Having resumed their positions in the corridor, Chris (AC) was the first to speak. "All right then, I've just got one thing to say, Mummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"NegaDyglo was just about to advacne, when Chris (ac) spoke again. "Actually, can I change that?" "Yeah, sure s'pose so" NegaDyglo told him aggreeably. "Okay, I've got one thing to say, where's the flippin' chest of drawers!!!" "The first one was better, Chris" Dale told him. "Was it, ah well, whichever's nearest". "Snap otu fo it Chris, we've got a situation to solve" J.A.M. scolded. Chris wasn't about to argue with a panther. "Now, which is which" J.A.M. said, disregarding the 15 minute time out they'd just had in which everyone had introduced themselves and performed a music-hall great for the rest of the crowd. There was a long silence. "Oh, sorry, It's me next isn't it?" NegaDyglo realised as six pairs of angry eyes settled upon him. "right, er ahem, I am NegaDyglo!!!!! I am going to destroy Dyglo and the coffeehouse, and no-one can stop me!!!!!! Will that do?" "Well, you may want to roar menacingly as well" Foxglove added helpfully. "Oh right, roooooaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "That's pretty menacing" Chris (AC) congratualted, still holding his ears. "Thankyou, now I kill you all"!!!! NegaDyglo growled. Foxglove was about to remark at how he'd suddenly got into a bad mood, but didn't have time, as NegaDyglo launched at the gang. The J.A.M. was about to jump forwards, but Dyglo stodd in front of them all. "This is my battle, I have to beat my own self for me to live fully!!!!" he told them, before launching at his arch nemesis. "Cool line!" Dale remarked behind him. The rest could only watch, as the two dragons fought , in a scene reminiscent of "Dale Beside Himself". They couldn't work out which was which, so just cheered whichever was winning at the time. Meanwhile in the cafe, Karl suddenly decided to take bets on the winner if two dragons, who where alter egos, hapened to meet in a corridor and had to fight to the death. He didn't know why. Dale ----------------- Having fun. Back in the main room of the Coffeehouse, Tom and Max were still sitting with Chip and Gadget, and had been having a wonderful conversation before Dyglo had given that ear-splitting roar and stormed out of the room. Then they had watched in awe as in a mere matter of seconds, the Coffeehouse maintenece robots had not only cleaned up all the broken glass, but removed the resulting various beverage stains from the clothes and fur of all the patrons, and replaced the lost drinks. "Golly!" Tom said. "I could sure use some of those for my room back home." "That, or a shovel and a dumpster." Max joked. "Ha, ha. Very funny, Max." Tom said, smiling. "It's messy, but not THAT bad. And who said you could give me that kind of attitude, anyway?" "Hey! Lighten up! I just get it from you, remember?" "Yeah, yeah. I keep forgetting. I don't have that much experience with this, you know." "Don't worry." Gadget told Tom. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." Then they all went back to discussing one of life's eternal mysteries. The true color of Gadget's hair. Tom and Max were having a grand time in the discussion, and enjoyed the debate as much as wathcing the interaction between Chip and Gadget. Gadget was taking a scientific approach, analyzing its spectrum and luster in relation with various color charts, while Chip simply compared it to the color of her eyes, yet another quandry. This was too fun! :) Tom ------------------ Uh-oh, catfi-... um, I mean dragonfight Having gotten himself lost, Chris (RC) stopped to rest for a second. Then he heard a roar. With stamina renewed, he rushed toward the sound. At the end of the hall, he saw Dyglo slide to a stop. "Dyglo!" he shouted as he began running to the dragon. Then another Dyglo pounced on the fallen Dyglo. Dyglo punched Dyglo in the face, which got countered by a foot in the stomach by Dyglo. "Huh?" Thankfully, the intersection was large enough that Chris (RC) was able to slip around the dueling Dyglos. "Hi! pretty good fight, eh?" J.A.M. quipped. Dale was sitting in the floor with a big bowl. "This is better than pro wrestling! Popcorn?" "No thanks. Who's the other dragon?" "He calls himself Nogard Oglyd. The only problem is, we don't know which is Dyglo and which is Nogard!" informed Chris (AC). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You can't defeat me! I took training from the great Larri-Mo-Curli!" bellowed Dyglo as he went for an eye jab. Nogard countered the move with his hand/paw/talon/whatever-you-call-it. "Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk! I too watched the Three Stooges! Your training is useless!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John D was beginning to set the timer. Little did he know that two skunks were watching over his shoulder as he attached wires and the like. "Hey Adam! Let's have a little fun with this guy!" "What do you have in mind, Rose?" "Watch." John cracked his knuckles (not the echidna!) and began to punch buttons to set the timer. Rose reached around and punched a few buttons herself. John looked at the timer display and wondered what went wrong when he set it. Deleting the time he prepared to start over, having not seen the overcaffinated skunk mess with it. "Hehehe, looks like fun! Let me try!" John pushed buttons, and Adam pushed a few of his own. Beginning to get irritaded, John deleted the time and started over. This game was beginning to look like it was going to be a lot of fun for the two skunks. Dyglo ----------------------- Knuckles finished pouring the fifteenth double espresso down Sonic's throat, then stood back, grinned at the crowded room, and pulled a power ring from behind his back. "Watch this!" He tossed the ring to Sonic. Instinctively, a very buzzed Sonic grabbed it. There was a flash of blinding light as the substance of the power ring somehow bonded with Sonic's body, covering him like a knight's armor. Then he disappeared. "I would not have predicted that!" "How'd you get in here, Road Rovers?" "Through the front door!" Sonic raced to find those pesky skunks. He was going in the wrong direction, but that was not a problem at the moment. Unknown to anyone, especially himself, he was approaching the Intersection of the Dueling Dragons, and everyone knows how dragons feel about knights in shining armor... Karl ------------------- John D set the warp bomb on the floor and started the timer. Knowing that when it was all over there would be nothng left of the coffeehouse. You see even though the warp bomb uses anti-matter as fuel it does not create an explosion in the typical sense. Instead for just a fraction of a second a warp bubble is formed then it collapses upon itself. Anything that was within the radius of the bubble would be completely annihilated. Only leaving a crater behind, which would not look out of place on the Dragon Planet.all of those who betrayed him would get what's comming to them. And the General would be pleased with him. After making sure evreything was set he walked outside and singled his ride he was ready to go. Within about five minutes he was enveloped in the familiar blue glow of the transporter. John D --------------------- Two skunks, one bomb, and no time to spare "Aww, he ruined all our fun!" "Do you think this thing could be dangerous? He was in an awful hurry to get out of here." "Maybe. Should we get one of the more experienced people to help us?" There was a brief silence between them. they dismissed the idea simultaneously. "What do we do with it?" "I don't know." Rose looks around the room for the first time since she started being super hyper. What she noticed is that there were two different types of people. There were those who seemed really really slow, and surprisingly she saw others. There were others! They were moving at the same speed as them! Mostly they were just throw away characters. They were mingling with each other just like the slow people were. There was even a bartender moving at their speed! Rose tried to get Adam's attention while staring at them. "Not now. I'm trying to think of a way to stop this thing." "I really think you should look at this." "I'm too busy. Show me later!" "No, I will not show you later! Who do you think you are using that tone of voice with me?" Rose continued to yell at Adam. Adam tried to look anywhere but at her and noticed what she had been trying to tell him about. "Where'd they come from?" "That's what I've been trying to tell you about!" I think I shall dub this co-existing universe, The Speed World! Has a nice ring to it don't you think? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The group had lost the two dragons. Then they entered a big hangar area reminiscent of the Obi-wan's last fight scene from Star Wars. Their clothes had changed accordingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After leaping through some strange opening, light sabers appeared in the two dragons' hands. With a snap-hiss the sabers came to life. The battle raged on, complete with the fancy fighting style. "When I left you, I was but a student. Now I am the master!" "You'll never defeat me. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could even imagine." Chris (RC), getting a little carried away with the scene, spoke up. "Ben? Ben!" Dyglo looked over at his friend. with a cocky smile on his face, he turned off his saber. Nogard swung just like in the movie. "BEN!!" Dyglo ducked and avoided the lightsaber. "Please, do you think I haven't seen this scene a million times before?" Dyglo punched Nogard in the gut and relit his lightsaber. They started dueling again. Gradually they moved out of view. The others began to follow. J.A.M. looked at Chris (RC) a little strangely. "Ben?" "I got a little carried away," Chris (RC) replied. Then they passed through another egress and were changed again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The clink of spurs made Dyglo turn. Behind him, Nogard was decked out in the traditional bad guy cowboy outfit. He spat to one side and said two simple words that rang out clearly in the stillness. "Draw varmint!" Dyglo whipped out his pencil and paper and drew a nice example of a weasel from the Redwall series. "Whatcha' think?" he asked as he displayed his drawing. Then they got back into the fight and stumbled through the Saloon breaking tables, chairs, bottles, you name it. If it were not so serious, it might be considered funny. The dragons went through another doorway, and J.A.M. followed with his pals. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turning a corner, they saw Dyglo and Nogard fighting once again. Dyglo was dressed as Liu Kang and Nogard was dressed as Shinnok. Nogard delivered a devastating combo to Dyglo. A loud voice boomed, "FINISH HIM!" The companions ran forward just in time to see Nogard rip the other dragon's head off. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" "I guess I need more practice," said a familiar voice. "Hah! Lots more if you want to beat me!" Nogard bragged. The dragons were each holding a controller connected to a gaming system. Then they began fighting again. Dyglo ------------------- [...unWARP!!!] Good evening. ************* Having gone through various changes of scenery and wardrobe, The J.A.M., Bunnie, Dale, and Foxglove, and even Chris (RC) were getting a trifle winded down from this. "Dyglo, are you sure you don't want our help? Five against one may be a better option for this!" "That's right, Sugar!" added Bunnie. "Dulcy's *my* friend, too!! *I* should also have a crack at Nogard!" "But who's who?" asked Dale. "Even *I* can't tell them apart!" added Foxglove. "Their voices are practically identical!" The Jaguar thought for a moment, and then he said, "Wait here." [WARP!!!] Suddenly, he was gone. The fight continued for a few more minutes, and then-- [UNWARP!!!] Suddenly, the Panther was back, and he had something behind his back. "Miss me, dear?" he asked Bunnie. "You brought--" Foxglove, using her sonar, identified what The J.A.M. brought, but a suddenly raised index digit hushed her. Then, he called out, "Dyglo!!! PLEASE let us help you!!!" "I told you [POW!!!] this is MY fight!!!" he roared. "That's all I needed to know." The J.A.M. thus knew who Nogard was now. He kept an eye on him, and then, when another uppercut knocked Nogard on his back-- [WARP!!!] The Feline, taking a big risk, was suddenly next to Nogard, and before the evil dragon could assess what was happening, The J.A.M. painted a white "N" on the dragon's side. The J.A.M. underestimated Nogard's recovery time, however, and the enfuriated reptile lashed his tail at him before he could warp away. The paint brush flew in one direction, and the Jaguar in the other, leaving the dragons between him and the others. He succeeded in marking Nogard, but now he lay on the floor, half-conscious. "J.A.M.!!!!!" yelled Bunnie. . . ************* Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening. [WARP!!!] The J.A.M. -------------------- Shield of steel? Just as things looked bad for the fearless feline, a white woolly wonder burst out of the shadows and there was an almighty clang as steel blade met Nogard's claws. "Hold it right there!" cried Knightram (for it was he). "The J.A.M. is a friend of mine - you want him, you'll have to come through me!" "Knightram!" the panther exclaimed in surprise as he came round. "Where in fanficdom have you been?" The ram smiled good-naturedly. "Well, that's quite an interesting story involving action, romance and a valuable moral lesson. But," he added in a hurry as Nogard regrouped for a second onslaught, "we haven't got time for that, or for dreadfully outdated Brian Jacques referenced that nobody'll get anyway." Dyglo, stout warrior that he was, grabbed the imposter dragon by the wings and held him in a clever grip he saw on "Martial Law" once. "I've got him! Now's your chance!" yelled Dyglo, but just as Knightram and the J.A.M. prepared to act, Bunny interposed. "Sorry, sugs, but isn't right about now the time when the writer cuts off for an unnecessary but excitin' cliffhanger?" Knightram scratched his horned head, a little confused. "Possibly," he admitted, "but no-one could be that - Knightram ---------------------- Bomb disposal Back in the main room of the coffeehouse, the two skunks were still trying to decide what to do with the warp bomb. "How much time does it have left on it?" Adam asked Rose. "Looks like about 1 minute." "Then we'd better think of something fast." But while the skunks were arguing between themselves, Slappy walked by and naturally noticed the bomb on the floor. "A bomb?" she said with half surprize. "Of all the... Good grief! Who's the wise guy that came up with this?" Slappy, having great experience with explosives of all kinds, pulled a toon hole from behind her back, and dropped it on the ground. She then picked up the bomb, dropped it in the hole, and picked the hole back up again, then stuffing it in her pocket. A muffled pop could then be heard coming from her pocket. "Ooo! 'Scuse me, there. Must be time for my kaopectate." Tom ---------------- Meanwhile, moving right along... Sonic didn't have a reputation for great intelligence, but he did have a certain intuitive understanding of distance and speed. He understood that had he been on Earth, he would have circled the globe a little over twice by now. This was because he did *not* have an intuitive understanding of direction. He had traversed several alternate universes (starting no few odd new religions in many) and was starting to get a handle on his caffeine-induced condition. He'd been trying to stop, but when he slowed down, he sped up. Only by running faster could he reduce his speed. "Cool!" he thought. The air compressed by his passage was heated to several hundred degrees Farenheit, while behind him the partial vacuum cooled it again. A rolling thunder followed him, the corridor windows rattling in spite of their unearthly strength. He was Shockwave, animated. He blew through the scene of the Dragon Fight in an immeasurably brief moment, but those behind him were stunned by the blast. Karl ------------------ Injury assesment [...unWARP!!!] Good evening. ************* The reptiles and the mammals lay on the floor, wondering just what on earth had passed by just now. Foxglove, being the most audio sensitive one, was momentarily deaf, which to a bat was one of the worst sensations one could feel. She wsa lying next to Dale, who looked at her and asked anxiously, "Honey, are you all right?" "What?" "Are you all right??" Foxglove looked at him with the most frightened face she had ever made, and frantically tried to unstop her ears. "Dale--Dale--I can't hear you!!!!! Oh, NO!!!!!!" While Dale attended to his wife, The J.A.M. felt something metallic and fuzzy on his head, and when he looked up, he noticed that his head was against Bunnie. "Hey, I thought only Chip got to wake up like this," he said. "Sugar, why did you try a dumb thing like that?" she asked, painfully standing up. "Well, my writer thought that this whole thread needed some more action, so he wrote a part in which somefur would actually receive bodily injury." As he stood, his entire left side was in pain. "Ouch. Thanks, Knightram. We should get Nogard tied up before he awakens fully. You know, that blue flash reminded me of a certain hot dog loving insectivore--" He suddenly noticed that his t-shirt was damp and matted, not to mention torn. Since it was black, he couldn't see very well what had stained it, but then a sharp scent caught in his nose. "Oh dear. . ." He had sustained a massive gash on his left side. The scent of blood awakened both dragons. . . ************* Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening. [WARP!!!] The J.A.M. --------------------- The awakening... Dyglo was the first to recover fully between the two dragons. "Anybody get the licence of that truck?" Nogard was a close second. "*sniff* *sniff* Mmm, I love that smell. Wounded jaguar. I haven't eaten in weeks..." Dyglo turned a few shades greener and lost his lunch. Nogard began to advance on J.A.M. licking his chops. "Hmm, should I roast him, stir-fry him, or just eat him raw?" "Nobody eats my friends. Put one claw on him and die." Dyglo stood behind Nogard a few feet, a menacing look was in his eye. "Heh, you won't kill me. You can't kill me. It's against your nature. Good guys can't kill." Nogard waved a talon near J.A.M.'s head. "Gee, I've always wanted to be discussed over as a snack item," quipped the jaguar sarcastically. "I should slay you for what you did to Dulcy, but I might've just beat you up a little and drragged your whimpering self to her. Now you have threatened my friends. If you harm one hair on J.A.M.'s body, you will have signed your own death warrant." Dyglo's crazed eyes surveyed his opponent, taking note of every injury, every weakness. "Hmmmm, let me think about this. Hmm, umm, err, No!" Nogard swung his talon. J.A.M. dodged as best as he could, but it still clipped his ear. Dyglo sprung at his double. The fight had changed. Before, Dyglo excercized the restraint to not use his claws. Now they were brought into play, as well as teeth... and fire. Nogard was hard-pressed to defend himself. The onlookers (J.A.M., Bunnie, Dale, Foxglove, Knightram, Chris (RC), and Chris (AC)) did their best to get out of the battle area. With a mighty roar, Dyglo picked Nogard up. "I hath warned thee. Thou hast sealed thy fate. Now, go and meet thy ancestors!" Dyglo hurled Nogard through the gigantic television screen. The immense amounts of electricity required to power it now coursed through Nogard's body. Then, the television exploded. Thankfully, J.A.M. andthe others were out of the blast range. Chris (RC) just had a terrible thought. "Where's Dyglo?" he asked, his voice on the fringe of panic. "He's still in there!" He started running toward the blazing inferno. Chris (AC) held him back. "He's gone. He gave his life to rid the world of a great evil." "NOOOOO! DYGLO!" Chris (RC) collapsed. His body shook with his sobs. Foxy may have lost her hearing, but she hadn't lost her compassion. She started to walk towards the bereaved human. Dale stopped her. "let's get him up to the cafe." Foxy had to resort to a barbaric talent she had not had to use for years to understand him, lip-reading. She nodded in understanding. Slowly, they brought the teen back to the cafe and put him in a corner booth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oscar arrived at the scene as the fires died down. Rubble was everywhere. A little bit of it was still burning. "Tragedy strikes the Coffeehouse." As he turned to go, he noticed a claw rise from the rubble, then go limp. "There may be hope after all..." Dyglo ------------------- Foxglove deaf? Nooooooooooooooooo! Chris (AC) didn't know what to do. He was trying to comfort Chris (RC), get over the fact the Foxglove had lost her sense of hearing, and that his fellow drawer-trapped friend was gone. The gathered party stood in silence for a few moments to remember the courage and bravery shown by Dyglo, in giving his own life to rid the world of a crazed maniac who would have definately destroyed everything. The gang then realized that the Cafe had...burned to the ground. Immediately fear crept into their hearts. Where's Chip? Roy-Neal, Gadget, Julie, Karl? Adam, Rose/ With horror, they realized that there friends were within the rubble amassed on either side of them. There was not a second to lose, they had to try to get them out, no matter what it took. Each one started digging about furiously in the rubble. Chris (AC) was the first to strike lucky. He came across Adam and Rose hugging each other. "Oh, thank the Lord you are okay! C'mon, grab hold" he told them, and gradually pulled them out. When Chris (RC) saw that his little Rose was okay, he shrieked for joy. He could bearly cope with one loss, but not two, that would have finished him. He gave her an enormous hug, which moved most people in the room, before continuing to dig for survivors. Adam started to join in, but was quickly stopped by the J.A.M. "No, this is no place for you, go and sit in the quiet air, you've been through enough". All of a suddedn, Chris (AC) let out a tremendous cough. All the dust from the rubble was getting on his chest, and he'd forgotton his inhaler. This was bad, but he couldn;t stop. He had to find his friends, he tried to continue, but collapsed on the floor in agony. He could not breathe! Dale dragged him away from the rubble, as Chris's coughing started to subside. "No way, I'm not losing you too. Why don't you take care of Adam and Rose while we continue?" Chris nodded, though he could not as yet speak. "Adam, Rose! You come and keep Chris (AC) company" Dale shouted, and they complied. Dale returned to the rubble. "I've gotta find Chip!" He thought. Then he shivered as before him he saw......Chip's hat. "Chip...no' he said silently, as his eyes filled with tears. He began to dig frantically down and down, and eventually found a body to go with the hat, and to his delight, it was alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chip, you're alive!!! he cried ecstatically as he pulled Chip to the surface. "Thanks partner!" Chip said as they hugged, and then they carried on searching for people. The number of survivors was growing, until eveyone had been found. Except one. "Where's Roy-Neal?" Foxglove said to Dale, mortified. As if her parayers were answered, a sudden "help me!!!' emanated from by the side of a tired but strong Monterey, who immediately started away at the rubble and eventually found Roy-Neal virtually unconcious, a group effort ensued, and Roy-Neal was among them, though looking distinctly unwell. "I think we'd better get you to a hospital" Gadget announced, "and you Foxglove, and Chris (AC) and numerous others. C'mon, let's get out and survey the damage from a safer distance". The gang walked slowly and slightly pitifully away from the site, a few helping others, like Roy-Neal and Chris (AC) , while others consoled Chris (RC) and hugged Foxglove to support her, as having no hearing was frightening her very much. At least they were all okay, and they owed that to Dyglo. Dale ------------------ James? Unzapped? Noooooooo! "Jessie, I'm scared!" screamed the purple-haired young man, grabbing onto Julie for dear life. Needless to say, Julie hugged him back, despite the fact that they had already been rescued from the rubble. "It's okay," Julie said absently. She couldn't bring herself to inform him that her name was Julie, not Jessie--besides, she knew that even someone as dense as James would figure it out eventually. Besides... "Come on, James. Let's go to the hospital." "But I hate doctors!" James whined. "I'm not hurt! I don't wanna go!" Julie could almost understand why Jessie whacked him around so much. *Almost.* "I *know* you're not hurt!" She paused. "But some of my friends are. And...and..." She shuddered a little, remembering how bad some of them looked. James hadn't let go. He blinked. "You're..." Julie didn't have time for this; any brilliant realizations could be done in the waiting room. "James, come on! We're going to the hospital!" she commanded. Julie grabbed James by the collar, and James whined in such a high-pitched tone, it's probably a good thing that Foxglove couldn't hear it. Julie -------------------- There's hope... Rose was comforting Chris (AC) when she saw it. The light was glinting of of a piece of metal. Curiousity came over her and she had to investigate. As she neared it, a distorted voice asked, "Good evening madam. Would you like another Double Café Mocha with chocolate curls?" Rose may have been alive, but the loss of Dyglo was too much. Chris (RC) was practically a vegetable when a mouse walked up to him. "Mr. Davis? My name is Oscar. Come with me. I have someone I think you would like to meet." Puzzled, Chris (RC) followed him. Before him was a smoking figure. Even though it wasn't the right color, he could tell who it was. In a weak voice, he spoke to Chris (RC). "*cough* *cough* I got him... I finally got that son of a gun." "Dyglo... How did you...?" "Survive? You don't think I'd let a little old thing like an explosion keep me down, do you? Oh, what beautiful colors..." Dyglo slipped away into a deep state of unconsciousness, bordering on coma. Chris just sat there holding his dearest friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All was quiet for Foxglove. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the search, it was quiet. Suddenly, in a big rush, a sharp high pitched ringing echoed in her ears. It was high pitched to the piont of pain, so she did what anybody would do under the circumstances. She screamed. Her eyes were clenched shut with the pain. "Foxy! what is it?" "Make it stop! The ringing! AAAAAAAAH!" Foxglove may not have recognized the importance of what had just happened, but others did. "Foxglove, what kind of ringing is it?" "AAAAH! High pitched! Make it stop! Make it stop!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tails had shielded Tammy from the rubble. When the rescue party found them, he was in worse shape than she. "Help him! Please!" "Don't worry, he'll be fine." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A strange form made it's way over to the others. It was Major-General Hannafield of the Royal Welch Lavaliers. He still hadn't gotten a mouth. Dyglo -----------------------