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Toonium City - QC Planet

APQC-GP-07 Expect the Unexpected By Darrel James Vanwinkle (Ratseye/Pouchlaw) Re-Written on 08/26/2014

The Friday before the start of school was an interesting day to say the least for it was the day that Gerard and Arnie's two house guests were to arrive to move in with them. Victor Morgan was an African American male of the same age as Arnie, having two-tone black curly hair, blue eyes, and dark skin. He wore a black tee shirt, black jeans, and black Nike sneakers. He had a Walkman headset around his neck and the Walkman to match the set in his shirt pocket. As he peered over his shades which he had lowered briefly, he smiled at his two friend. "Hey bros! V is for victory! I made it!" And then hugs were given to both boys as Victor's luggage was unloaded from the cross town bus.

But when the pink, white, and yellow luggage was unloaded right after that, the Prince boy and the Domingo boy both arched their eyes at the colors. "Lenny has girly colored luggage?" asked Arnie as he saw all the cases being stacked up. Gerard replied, "This has to be a mistake; Lenny's favorite colors were green and red back in grade school."

But then the nearly perfectly shaped platinum blond FEMALE with silver blue eyes and fair skin stepped off of the cross town bus and she tipped the bus driver nicely. "Thank you, sir," she said with a smile. "It was good of you to drive the two of us down here." It probably didn't help that she was wearing a two piece jaguar skin bikini and flip flops.

Ace, Kelly, and Dum who had been standing nearby couldn't believe their eyes; there was no way this girl was 'Lenny'.

The lovely young lady then walked over to Gerard and hugged him. "Been a while since I saw you in grade school, Gerard." She then used one hand to close the boy's mouth. "Daddy said you guys might react this way. Back in grade school, Mom made me dress like a boy and she registered me in school under the name 'Lenny'. But my real name has always been Lena." She then turned to look at Arnie and she reached out with one hand. "Lena Hawthorne; Gerard knew me as Lenny. You're Arnie, aren't you? You're really cute."

Victor was enjoying the show since he got over his shock on the bus coming over. "This trumps anything I have EVER done!" he exclaimed with a loud chortle. "The boys get a GIRL moved into their new home and they were expecting a BOY!"

Blushing somewhat fiercely as he shook her hand, Arnie coughed as he looked at his long time friend. "I... I guess we should get her luggage moved into the house, right Gerard?"

"You guys don't sit around in the nude, do you?" came the next question when Gerard didn't answer right away. Lena and apparently Victor as well thought it was a funny question.

Fortunately, Ace stepped forward at that moment and said, "We dogs do but it is in our contracts. I am Ace the Bathound." He pointed a paw at the rabbit. "He is Royal Prince Kelly Willingham." And then he indicated the white Great Dane. "And he is Principal Dum from the school you both will be attending."

Principal Dum stepped forward and handed both Victor and Lena copies of the AniSapien pamphlets which explained the classes and a few of the rules there in. "By Monday, you both should at least understand a few of the rules in the book. Most are very easy to get used to." He paused as he looked at the female. "Um, nice bikini, ma'am."

Gerard turned his gaze to look at Kelly as he mouthed, 'I need to go talk to Lonepaw and Redears about this.' But then he turned his focus to all the luggage and said aloud, "We better get your belongings into the estate house. And every bedroom has their own private bathroom, guys." And he went over and picked up one of Victor's suitcases and one of Lena's suitcases as he turned and walked off in the direction of the house. He had mentioned the bathrooms publicly because he never wanted to see Lena naked early one morning by accident.

After he and Kelly were carrying luggage together, the rabbit quietly said, "Ear-Lang would have been more private, Gerard. I never expected your friend to look like that. We were all expecting two boys." To which the human boy replied, "You aren't the only one, Kelly. I had a lot of male activities all lined up for Lenny's participation and now I am going to have to reschedule everything because there is no way we can involve a girl in some of those things. But she IS my friend, despite the gender. We're just going to have to make this work, somehow. Too bad there isn't another female around the household." But then Kelly remarked, "Genie lives next door."

Later that afternoon, Gerard was indeed meeting with Lonepaw and Redears aboard their pirate ship in orbit. "...and imagine our shock when Lenny turns out to be a girl. I feel really bad for not finding this out sooner, guys. Arnie blushes when any girls see him in swim trunks."

"It is hardly your fault, matey," said the lapine pirate captain as he focused his full gaze on Gerard's lapine muzzle and eyes. "Sometimes unexpected events occur for important reasons. Damned if I know why it chose to occur now, however. But any time you need a reprieve from the headlights, you can join us on deck for male bonding."

"Speaking of that, Redears," started the young man in his rabbit form. "I noticed that you haven't contacted me about any jobs you said you would be having me do as a part of our truce agreement. Has it really been that quiet lately or is this the lull before the storm?"

"Summer is mostly a lull in space going activity, Gerard," replied Lonepaw as he gently rubbed one paw over the boy's lapine back side. "But between September and October, the activity really picks up and it is within that period of time which employment opportunities arise more often for those spacers who have an agreement with our captain. What this generally means is that during the Summer, the galactic patrol is out in full force and the smarter pirates, like us, choose not to perform any idiot actions which might get their attention."

"Therefore during the Summer months, you guys simply lay low until the heat passes by," reasoned the boy as he thought about what had been told to him. "Cooler weather means more employment opportunities. I had been wondering since it had been several months since we made that deal."

Redears smiled as he patted the Prince boy on the shoulder. "Worry not, matey, for I have been compiling a list of jobs you will be able to do for us. But as Lonepaw just told you, we cannot have you doing these things, legal or not, during the Summer since the patrol might think what you are doing is not legal even if we have the proper paperwork to prove that it is legal. And you did state in our truce agreement that the jobs had to be legal. Therefore we have to wait for the right time. I will give you the list I have so you can study it."

Gerard took the rolled up list and began to read over the jobs which the pirates were needing done. Apparently some activities in Frontier were more legal than QC jobs were.

Saturday morning and just after breakfast, Ace and Krypto were again meeting up with Gerard, Arnie, and Royal in the training chamber. "...and you say that your house guests are out exploring the property?" asked the Bathound as he got the training program prepared for their morning session. "Both Victor and Lena wanted to see the full layout of the grounds and I didn't feel that they needed us to be out there holding their hands," replied the Prince boy who was in his casual crew mate rabbit identity. "It is probably for the best since neither Victor nor Lena know that we are empowered heroes as yet."

The white super dog flew around the group one time before asking, "Will the rest of Showcase be joining us this morning?" Arnie in his casual eagle identity replied, "Aside from Covert who could appear at any time, Lighty is having to babysit his twin siblings, Tailshot is cleaning the ship's cannon's, and Lonepaw is tending to Redears personally this morning. Not to mention, Gerard just spoke to Lonepaw yesterday afternoon regarding having a girl in the house. That was when Redears gave Gerard a list of legal jobs they had planned in September."

Kelly then said, "I personally read over the list provided to Gerard and as of this time, I cannot discern any underhanded trickery regarding the jobs on the form. But since this list was provided by Redears, I will always be suspicious regarding his motives for wanting Captain Rabbit working for him."

"Enough nostalgia, guys," said Gerard as he walked out into the center of the gym. "We need to get into our gear." He then shot a look at Arnie and Royal with a wink. "Let's take it to the next level!"

"Lapine Armor Sequence!" Gerard's hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his lapine body, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Captain Rabbit!"

"Eagle Armor Sequence!" Arnie's hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his eagle body and around his wings, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Eagle Lord!"

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Kelly struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his fur stand on end, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power in a perfect three sixty and as he came back into view, he was wearing the noble armored ensemble of his home world. It was a crystal like three piece suit of armor, with gauntlets and plated boots, and a partial helm which allowed his ears to protrude freely and his eyes and muzzle to be seen clearly. He then leaped off of the disc, making some impressive lapine martial arts moves of his own as he landed in full view for all to see. "Royal Rabbit!"

From the shadows, Tyler raised his wrist comm in front of himself and he tapped in a numerical code and then he pressed the enter button before closing the hatch on the comm unit. His usual uniform turned black as his helmet with a black visor appeared over his head and a photon blaster appeared in his holster on his belt. He then leaped out of the shadows as he made a few martial arts moves in mid air before landing in full view, his visor slid up and he saluted the audience with a foxy smile. "Covert Fox!"

"You are never one to miss a training session, are you?" inquired Captain Rabbit toward the now present special operations fox. "Me miss a session with you guys? Perish the thought!" exclaimed Covert with a sly smile. "This beats listening to my brother and his friends talk about space missions on any day of the week. However... I do have a question regarding a team related issue. Now that you have civilians living in the house, where are you going to be holding your weekly Showcase meetings at?" Ace grinned. "Down here; where else? But in all honesty, on a lower floor of the sub levels, I do have a meeting base set up in case of emergencies for possible teams that I might have sponsored some day. Since this is an emergency, Bruce and I have agreed to let Showcase have the use of the space. Just don't be surprised if you catch Bruce in there working on the Batmobile occasionally."

"Batman in the house?" Eagle Lord said with a chuckle. "That would certainly keep bad guys away."

Ace chuckled a little. "Time to get this training session started, boys. Although maybe someday you might get a few ladies on the team. Too many boys may give the public the wrong idea about you." To which Captain Rabbit replied, "We wouldn't have this problem if Epona hadn't pulled out with the other Spacers just after the mystery solvers split off from the main team. But you are right, Ace; we need a few female team members around here. Even though membership is still open, we haven't been contacted by anyone with the interest to join up."

Since it wasn't a hard core work out this time, the training session was mainly to get the kinks out while preparing for the Autumn and Winter months to come. The session itself lasted about two hours before Ace called for a rest. Then it was Krypto's moment at the helm. "The best way to advertise your team without making it look like you are recruiting is to do regular patrols through out your territory. Since you guys are the premiere team for Toonium City, you need to decide what your local patrol routes will be. I personally have two distinct patrol routes. The main one occurs in Meta-Star City and it is during that one that I am on the Union Clock. But after work, I make a brief fly over in the canine suburbia before heading home. Remember that when I make the brief fly over that I am NOT on union time. So messing with Super Dog during my off time is a good way to get hurt."

Captain Rabbit thought about it for a moment before having Ace project a map of Toonium City and its zones on one wall. "I recall my dad telling me that Toonium City is actually made up of several zones. The zones are: Terryville Central (in the middle,) Spoonersville (where my parents and Goofy both live,) Faded Heights (the Pink Panther's classy neighborhood,) Reindeer Junction (where some of the elves and reindeer work and live in the off season,) Enchanted Forest (where most of the Harvey Toons live at,) Infinite Heights (where most of the animated felines live,) and Schtick Town (the dock district of Terryville.) We are currently in Kennel Court , where most of the local animated canines live. But for the record, we are actually just outside of the Toonium City borders and are actually part of the Coolsville region by a few blocks. So technically, we now live in Coolsville's animal team zone, but we still attend AniSapien High in Terryville. With the layout of the territory laid out before us, we can now choose what areas we want to patrol."

Covert remarked, "My brother has an air field on the other side of Kennel Court, so if it all the same to you, I want my patrol as far from that as possible." Royal smirked as he pointed to a region on the map. "I'll take the Spoonersville region; no sense in having the Prince family see their son flying over once a day. They might think something is wrong."

A few days later while Captain Rabbit was on a flight patrol with Royal Rabbit and Krypto, they got their first big break in the recruiting department when Epona the Rainbow Guardian suddenly joined them in mid flight. "Fancy seeing you boys pulling a patrol. But in truth, this encounter is not accidental; I heard a story that you really need a female on the team, Cap, and because I have the extra time currently, I would like to apply once again. However, I do not like the team name of Showcase. It sounds gamy and flabby; as if it was a temporary idea for the better idea to come. So if you can present me with a new team name while I am on planet, I will switch alliances from the Universal All-Stars to your team. In Frontier, mystery solving is next to non-existent. And aside from the wars and Galactic Patrol missions, Whitehorn and I long for something better. So what do you say, Cap?"

"What I say is that whoever told you that story was trying to make me happy," he replied with a rabbit like smile. "How does the team name of Justice Fury sound to you?"

"It's a start, Cap. Sometimes the simplest of team names work the best. As for the team itself, remember this one little fact: the team doesn't run your team; you do. You can get advice from the others, but the absolute decision in all things must be yours and yours alone. You wanted a female on the team and you mentioned my name. Well here I am."

Captain Rabbit actually smiled. "Just don't make us eat any of that food your people require to live by and I'll accept your membership. Thanks again, Epona. I really like you."

Epona flew over close to Captain Rabbit and laid a big equine kiss on his lapine muzzle. "I have always liked you. See you around, Cap." And with that, she flew off into the sky once again.

Krypto smirked. "Don't crash; we're still on patrol." He quietly chuckled. "That is a good team name, Gerard; what made you choose that one?"

"Batman and the Martian Man-hunter spoke to me a few nights ago inquiring if I ever considered working with a major league team," he replied as he flew along with the others. "I told them that I didn't consider myself in their class but a young rabbit like me could display some proper fury in their justice team. And then they looked at each other and they both grinned. The two most stoic guys in the Justice League grinned; I thought I had said the wrong thing. And then Batman gave me a JLU Identity Card and he told me to meet him at Mount Justice in a few days. I don't know what they have in mind but I get the feeling that my answer had something to do with it. When John told me not to quit my day job, I reminded them that I was still in high school at AniSapien. Then Batman chuckled before they headed off for the night. When he chuckles, you have to wonder if you will live to see another day."

The white superdog thought about the situation for a moment. "I'll go ask Ace about it later. His partner having any humor at all is never a nice thought."

After that, the three empowered heroes continued their patrol flight through their region of Toonium City.

At the Terryville City Council building, Leon had just barely entered the elevator on the ground floor when he heard Simba's voice coming from the street entrance. "Hold the elevator, Leon! I am loaded with packages for council hall!" The human adult held the door open to permit the large lion to enter the elevator car with him and then he allowed the doors to close.

"Thanks." The heavily burdened animated lion spoke as if he was embarrassed to be in such a private place with the male human. "Um... Leon," he started in a quiet tone. "I... I like you. I mean... about your being on council... and everything..." Leon glanced at the Lion King and said, "Keep it clean, Simba. My lawyer and my wife are only a push button away. However, I will listen to your words since we have this temporary privacy. What is really on your mind?"

With a forlorn sigh, Simba reached over and pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator. "I will keep this clean but please don't call your wife nor your lawyer. This occurred just after Nala divorced me. As you might not be aware of, we are only happily married in the Lion King movies; but truth is often stranger than fiction. While I did have a fetish for sexual fantasies with other males, Nala was having an affair with Timon behind my back. She probably never thought that I would learn about it; Pumba was the one who told me just after I left a council meeting one day. But even in knowing this, I simply allowed her to have her fun since I felt she wouldn't blink twice about my desires and pursuits. However, as you now know, she did get upset over it and she filed for divorce. My lawyer has pictures that Pumba gave me that show Nala and Timon having bed fun. I never used these in court because I still respect her regardless of what happened between us. Despite the rumors flying around that I was having sex with Kovu, it just isn't true. He is my son in law and I also respect him."

"Go on," Mr. Prince said in response during the break given by the lion.

"As you likely know by now, there wasn't an open position in the Terryville City Council when I was writing you the letters." He was looking down at his paws. "After the break-up with Nala, I chanced across your name in a political article on the internet and I was intrigued because your name literally meant Lion Prince in Latin and that got my attention. I had no idea how old you would be save that you were in city politics, so I was thinking late twenties or early thirties. Possibly still in his prime and wouldn't mind some play time with the big movie lion. But when you wrote back and said that your family would be making the move as well, I became frantic. Had you been single, the spare bedroom at my place wouldn't have been blinked twice at. The next day, I pressed forward an idea to get someone 'real' on council with us. While I did sort of lead them on that the 'real person' would be someone from Forest River... um, that is the region where the live-action children's show characters make their living... the voting to my pleasure was unanimous and they allowed me to make with the arrangements to contact someone. But as you know now, you had already been contacted; I couldn't back out of your coming then even if I wanted to. I was already walking on brittle ice as it were."

Simba then looked directly at Leon once again. "Once the council were on board for having a real person join us, I contacted Lord Albert and fibbed about a new program that the Terryville City Council had just passed which would allow a real family from Earth a trial period of living on QC Planet as a means of justifying Cheer Bear's Sponsor Family arrangement. Since you and your family were already coming, I told Albert that the program was called, Sponsor a Prince. To my surprise, he liked the idea a lot and he gave me clearance to make it so immediately. Then I informed him that I needed a nice house on the East side of Toonium City for the first family and he showed me that place where you and your family moved into. After that, I rushed the paperwork, with Albert's personal seal, then... I learned that Bugs and Scooby wanted to throw a welcome to council party for you guys. And the rest you know."

The lion looked down again at that point as he reactivated the elevator button for continuing the ride up. "I am so sorry, Leon. I was desperate for a roommate." Leon reached over with one hand and gently petted the side of Simba's head. "Thank you for finally telling me the truth. As for the future in Toonium City, we need to wait for my son to finish school. I swear... Ace has properties all over QC America." Simba leveled one eye on the adult human and said, "WayneTech. They keep homes all over the place for the Bat Family's usage."

Victor was actually meeting secretly with one of the random trouble makers from school early Wednesday morning in an alleyway behind the arcade. The cartoon boy was a foul tempered warthog but even he took notice when this real human paid cash to meet with him early before school started. Therefore, he was intrigued by what this human had to say. "Let me get this straight," the warthog boy said. "You want me to do something really bad in school today and when I am called into the office, you'll be there but I act like I don't see or know you. And when Principal Dum fills out the 'That Place' form for me, I distract him to go out in the hallway so I can explain that someone else put me up to the bad thing knowing that I would do it, which surprisingly will be the truth, and you'll fix it so I don't get sent to 'That Place'?" Victor had his arms folded as he smiled at the warthog. "That's right, Teddy. You have it down perfectly. And if you pull this off just right, there is another fifty dollars in this for you. But if you are sent to 'That Place' anyway, I'll take the heat for you because I was the one who hired you to do whatever the bad thing was in the first place. My friend Gerard mentioned wanting to know about where 'That Place' was and I can't have Fenmire do this for me because he won't do it once he would learn what I had planned for Gerard. That is why I turned to you. Word on the street is that you are on your last warning, so you can't even sneeze the wrong way or you go to 'That Place' anyway."

Teddy Wallowson grinned. "And proud to go, too. I sometimes wish I could just live there. It's actually more fun than Pleasure Island is rumored to be if that tells you anything. I am surprised you're so interested in 'That Place'. But as long as you're going to take the heat for me, I'll help you get there however possible so you can report back to Gerard later. And you're right; in school he is literally the favorite in every class. But you do know that if you get into 'That Place', you'll miss several days of school, don't you? Minimum stay is three days." Victor then asked, "And what is the maximum stay?" The cartoon warthog never stopped grinning. "That depends how mad Principal Dum is when he fills out the form and stamps it. Without the stamp, you can't get into 'That Place'." Victor was now grinning himself. "Oh don't worry. I'll get in." Teddy came over and hugged the human. "I wish I would have met you when you first moved in... You're okay, Victor. Shall we head on over to the school and cause some mayhem?" He winked with a smile. The human boy chuckled. "Sounds like a plan..." he added the pause for effect. "...partner." He winked back, grinning. The two then started out toward the school for what would be a day that no one would forget.

When Victor heard Principal Dum's voice over the loud speaker asking Teddy Wallowson to come to the Principal's office, that was his cue to go and get in there first. He left the bathroom where he had been hiding out just waiting for that moment, then he entered Principal Dum's office and sat down. "Excuse me? Principal Dum?" Scooby Dum looked across the desk at Victor and from Dum's expression, he had been extremely upset. Whatever Teddy did, it must have been a doozy this time. "What do you need, Victor?"

"I just now got to school and I need a tardy slip." Before Scooby Dum could reply to that, Teddy walked into the office and sat down. "You wanted to see me, Principal Dum?" Scooby Dum scowled at Teddy. "You pulled your last stunt, Mister Wallowson." And with that, he reached down to the middle drawer on the right and pulled out a 'That Place' form. "You were on your last warning and you still couldn't resist spray painting that eyesore picture of Velma in the bikini all over the school's rooftop. It's caused several airplane accidents already." He wrote Teddy's name and a length of time, 3 days, on the top of the form, and was getting ready to grab the stamping tool.

Teddy quickly said, "Principal Dum! Please, give me a chance to explain! Not in front of him, though... out in the hallway! Please!" Scooby Dum growled but then he glanced at Victor and softened a little. "Okay, you get one chance to explain yourself. And you better make it a good one." And the two headed out of the office and into the hallway, closing the door.

The black human boy wasted no time in getting up and opening that middle drawer on the right and pulling out one of the 'That Place' forms. Just as the Fox in Lord Merlion's Circus had told Gerard, this was the only ticket into 'That Place'. He wrote his name at the top of the form, then pondered how long to make his stay. When he heard Dum's paw on the doorknob, he quickly wrote down a three but he accidentally struck a one in front of it before folding the top of the page backwards, and pressing the form down over the top of Teddy's form so it would look like Teddy's form. Then Victor resumed his seat, just in time...

...because Scooby Dum and Teddy re-entered the office and Scooby Dum grabbed the stamp in his hand. "I don't know why you expected me to believe that story, Teddy! You've tried in the past to pin stuff like this off on other people! I gave you a chance and that was it! Good bye, Teddy Wallowson!" And he slammed the stamp down on the form in front of him!

Victor's next moment was landing on his naked ass in a nearly sweltering heat of a landscape where a red satyr with a clip board and a golf cap with a tinted visor glanced over at the human and scratched his head, as he began to check his clip board list. "That's odd... I don't have any real human boys on my list. I was actually expecting Teddy Wallowson, a cartoon warthog. What has he done this time?" Victor smiled privately as he picked himself up. This must be the infamous 'That Place' that no one would tell Gerard about. And Teddy was right, it's not bad here. In fact, aside from the heat, it's rather nice. He then slowly walked over to the satyr and looked over his shoulder and the clipboard and was surprised by how many names were actually on the list. The red satyr looked up at Victor. "You're not on my list of troublemakers. Who are you?" The human boy smiled as he held out his hand. "I'm Victor Morgan and I've been wanting to see 'That Place' every since my friend Gerard first heard about it. I made a deal with Teddy Wallowson and through him, and a reliable source, I was able to arrange for myself to get here. And after all the foul hype about this place, it's not that bad."

The red satyr smiled, shaking Victor's hand. "So you hired Teddy to do something and then got Dum confused and he inadvertently helped to send you here. Am I right?" Victor giggled openly. "There's no fooling you, handsome. You're my first satyr." The red satyr grinned. "Oh, I am not a satyr, Victor. I know I look like one, but I am not. Satyrs don't have barbed tails like this." And he then showed his long prehensile red leathery tail with a large barb on the end. The human boy had a sinking feeling at that moment. "Then you're a devil, aren't you?" The devil nodded his head. "I am called Dealer. And welcome to the punishments division of Rotunda City. This is the home of all the cartoon deities, overpowers, and under powers. Well, you're not on my list, so I can't take you to the tortures section. So what am I to do with you?"

Victor inquired, "Since I can't be tortured, is there someplace I can go to get some entertainment or maybe a part time job or even a drink of water. This heat is a bit much and my clothes are missing." Dealer hummed. "You can head on into the Rotunda. And don't worry about clothing, Victor. You're not going to see anyone wearing clothes here in the Underworld except for high ranking officials. The Job Taverns is where you can find part time jobs. Ask any devil mouse for help." The human boy soon walked through the nearby gate and he immediately saw the layout for an interdimensional mall with every species imaginable coming and going. He continued onward, noting that no one else wore any clothes that he could see and he soon located the first of many Job Taverns. This one appeared to cater to small semi-morphic hippos. He walked inside and glanced around briefly before heading forth to what appeared to be a hiring board.

He slowly looked over the list and from the titles and descriptions alone, he knew that these weren't ordinary part time jobs. Most just sounded weird. And the instructions for each was very specific: "to accept this job, push this button." After he read over one of the many jobs, one for making bread dough, he pushed the button and promptly disappeared.

Scooby Dum and Teddy Wallowson were still where they were just moments after Victor had vanished. Teddy's honest reaction that couldn't be faked was, "Where did Victor Morgan go without his clothes?!" Scooby Dum and Teddy searched the office and looked out in the hallway. Then they both returned to the office. Scooby Dum was looking at his desktop when he directly saw Teddy's 'That Place' form still sitting there and it wasn't stamped. "I think I know where Victor is and I am really worried about him now. Why would he do something like this? He got one of my 'That Place' forms and wrote his name on the top of it and put it here on top of yours, and when I stamped the form, the power grabbed him and his form and sent both to 'That Place', where you were about to be sent. Just tell me please why he would do that." At that point, Teddy just flat came clean and told the whole truth. "Gerard Prince had been asking around all Summer long about where 'That Place' was and no one would tell him anything about it. Then he had an encounter with a Pleasure Island Fox from Merlion's Circus who told him that the best way to find the way in was in your school desk. When his friend Victor arrived to live with him, he accidentally mentioned the Pleasure Island fox's information and thus early this morning just before school hours, Victor calls my house and asked me to meet him behind the arcade and he'd pay me fifty dollars to meet with him. Well, fifty dollars is a lot of money, Principal Dum. So I went to see what he wanted. He handed me the money, then he explained his plan to me. He asked me to make some sort of huge trouble at school to force you to call me to this office, and he'd arrange to be here when I arrived. Then when you pulled out a form, he would see where you kept them, and after that... and he didn't tell me that he was going to set up a form for himself at that point, mind you... he would arrange it so I didn't get sent there. I knew that he wanted to find 'That Place' for Gerard but I didn't know he was going to get himself SENT there. He said that if we pulled this off correctly, he'd pay me another fifty dollars for making it all work out so well. And that's the truth, Principal Dum." Teddy sniffled a little. "And... I was starting to like him, too..."

Scooby Dum sighed. "So you were telling the truth in the hallway before this happened. Victor hired you to distract me." Teddy said, "He knew I was on my last warning, Principal Dum. And he figured for the right amount of money I wouldn't care about messing up just one last time before getting sent to 'That Place'. I am really sorry, sir." The canine detective turned school principal could see that Teddy meant it this time and he ripped up the form and threw it into the trash beside the desk. "I want you to go to the roof with some cans of black paint and paint over that picture you put up there. After that, return to your classes. During lunch period, I'd like to see you in detention." The cartoon warthog said, "But... I thought you abolished Detention Hall." Scooby Dum said, with a tear leaking out his eye, "Yeah, but we need to have a meeting and that is a good place to have it."

When lunch hour arrived, Gerard and Arnie had been about to head to the cafeteria when they heard Principal Dum's voice over the P.A. speakers asking the boys to meet with him in the Detention Hall for a brief moment. Nearly everyone in school wondered what trouble the nicest boy in school had gotten into. Especially Fenmire Rat.

Principal Dum was standing at the front of the room when the boys walked in and that's when they saw Ace wearing the cape and cowl which meant this was serious business as well as Oslo Otter who obviously wasn't at the gym today. Perhaps what made the situation worse was that his father and the entire Terryville City Council were also present. That made Gerard wonder what happened himself. Scooby Dum sighed as he began his announcement. "Gerard... your friend Victor Morgan is stuck in 'That Place'." There was an immediate roar of near bedlam and arguing which was cut short when Oslo whistled very loudly. Then Scooby Dum continued. "He was not sent there as a punishment. He arranged his own sending there because no one would tell Gerard about it during the summer. A Pleasure Island fox at Lord Merlion's circus gave Gerard the information he needed for finding 'That Place'. When Victor joined Gerard at his home south of Toonium City, Gerard accidentally told Victor about it and the boy chose to help his friend find out where it was. And now Victor is there and I don't know how long he wrote on his own form. When I stamped the form, he had cleverly folded the top part down behind so I would only see the form for the other whom I was going to punish. But Teddy Wallowson was only going to be punished due to an act he did because Victor hired him with pay in advance to do it all in preparation for this."

Arnie then asked, "How are we going to get him out of there, Principal Dum?" In truth, both he and Gerard KNEW what they were going to have to do to rescue Victor from his latest stunt. "What are the protocols for contacting 'That Place' when a mistake has been made for someone sent there?" Scooby Dum shrugged and replied, "I don't know, to be honest. We've never made a mistake before. I have sent word to an associate principal in Jaded Shadow to ask about this. They have had mistakes made before so if there is a protocol, then they will know what it is." Gerard then remarked, "I am sorry he did this, Principal Dum, for I managed to get someone to tell me where and what it was just after I spoke to Victor. I just forgot to tell him that there wasn't a need to know anymore. But don't worry, sir. Ace can contact Captain Rabbit and Eagle Lord, and they can go rescue Victor for us. How much trouble is he in for doing this?" The white Great Dane replied, "Enough trouble to constitute community service for making the entire system worry about him." Arnie remarked, "Some things never change."

Just before the last hour field trip class, Leon and Ace arranged for both boys to get out of school at two-thirty so they could put their plan for rescuing Victor into action. Once they were in private, Leon said to his son, "I can't cover for you every time an emergency like this comes up, so make this outing count, son. Whatever your plan is, I hope it is a good one." Gerard nodded his head seriously. "It is, dad. Believe me, it is. Ace? Do you recall when Arnie and I told you about Infernal in Meta Star City?" Ace smiled breaking his usual grim look. "He's that hellhound student from Nexus Town who is studying to become an empowered hero. I see... he is to be your back door into 'That Place'."

Gerard shot a glance at Arnie and said, "Let's take it to the next level." His friend replied, "You got it, chum. Let's do it."

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Gerard struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular rabbit man came into view to take the place of the former human. His pirate crew costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Lapine Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his lapine body, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Captain Rabbit!"

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Arnie struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular eagle man came into view to take the place of the former human. His militia like costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Eagle Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his eagle body and around his wings, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Eagle Lord!"

Leon chuckled as he commented, "You better not let your mother find out that you boys are using martial arts or Simba won't be the only one with the canaries around his head."

When Victor exited the horribly painful job back into the tavern, there was an anthropomorphic hell hound watching him. "I've never seen a human do one of those jobs before. How do you feel?" The young man made a face and moaned a bit. "My ass hurts like fire; how do you think it feels?" The hell hound replied, "The local species have trouble with spelling. They misspelled the name of the job and therefore they were looking for magical species who didn't mind laying huge eggs for them. You get paid per egg you lay." Victor sighed. "Now someone tells me... but the job listing said it only lasted two hours. When two hours ended, it was still going."

The hell hound said, "Was the letters R and C behind the 2 in the two hours listing?" The young man thought about it before replying. "Yeah, it did." The hell hound grinned slyly. "Then that meant that the job would last two hours of Rotunda City time; which it did. However... the job didn't take place in Rotunda City; it took place in that other realm where there was a magical offset time difference. One hour of RC time is equal to one month of their time." Victor face-slapped his forehead. "No wonder I was panicking." The hell hound smiled at that point. "You will know the next time you look at a Job Tavern advertisement. If you see an RC, then that means there is a time difference where the job occurs. Otherwise, it is the length of time the job describes." Victor hummed. "And what is a D Rating... the job said it was a dash eight job." The hell hound silently shook his head before replying. "There are no dashes in the Danger Rating list. It goes from Negative Ten up to Positive 11 Plus. That job was a Negative Eight job. That means it had the capability of killing you if you had not been the size of the species of the realm. You got lucky is what happened to you. For future reference, never try to do any job that is under Negative Three. Cleaning the bottom of an outhouse is considered to be a Negative One type job, so you can imagine what the rest are like."

Victor smiled as he realized how handsome the hell hound was. "I've never seen your species before. You are really handsome." The hell hound smiled back. "Thank you. You're not bad looking yourself. But I do need to get going now. I have to place a job listing on the hell hound Job Tavern board. We need someone to sit in front of the alpha on all fours for a year."

After the hell hound and the boy had parted company, Victor was walking down one of the many streets when a strange looking shop sign caught his eye. "Pets 'R' U. Maybe the 'S' fell off the sign. But it's a pet shop." Then he walked inside. He then saw a large sign over the main counter but no proprietor was in sight. "Locate the animal you want then come back to the counter and ring the bell. Someone will be with you as soon as possible. If you don't know what kind of pet you want or are just window shopping, then don't ring the bell. Thank you." He smiled. "That is awfully trusting of the shop owner. Let's see what there is." And he walked off down one of the aisles and almost fell down a sudden flight of stairs to the lower level. Almost, that is. He finally reached the lower floor and began to walk along one of the center corridors between enclosures and stalls.

Soon, he reached a far back cul-de-sac of almost secluded enclosures. On one side, he saw a lone buck stag with his head turned toward a thick collection of trees in the back of his enclosure. In the other enclosure, there was what appeared to be a small anthro mouse with tiny horns on his head and he was stuck in a large pool of molasses as he struggled to get free. Carefully entering the enclosure where the mouse lay stuck in the gooey black liquid, the moment he was in the enclosure and took a step toward the mouse, he knew right away that what looked like molasses outside of the enclosure was actually a pool of tar inside the enclosure. He mainly knew this because when he had stepped into a shallow portion of the tar and as it covered his foot, he knew what it was. He couldn't stop then, however, as he continued over to help the mouse get free. On Victor's next step toward the mouse, he sank up to his knee which made him lose his balance and he fell forward into the tar himself. He was then covered up to his neck in tar as he shrugged and continued over to where the mouse was stuck. Victor figured that as long as he didn't stop moving, he wouldn't get stuck in the tar. When he reached the mouse, he picked the mouse up on his right shoulder, then made a circle and headed back toward the enclosure's edge where he had entered. As he neared the edge, it became more and more shallow, until he was stepping out of the tar and exiting the enclosure.

The mouse then directed his rescuer to a shower room in the back of the shop where they could both wash the tar off of their bodies. Once it was completely cleaned off of the two, Victor saw that the mouse was actually some sort of devil mouse. "Are you okay?" he asked small cute mouse. The devil mouse smiled and hugged Victor around the neck. "I've been stuck in that pool of ooze for months! I'd still be there if you hadn't come along, human! Because you saved me from a sticky end, I'm willing to grant you any three wishes you want! Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you, no questions asked! To the best of my ability! When you're ready for the wishes, just call my name and I'll appear! My name is Secxo!"

And as he said his weird name, he vanished in a smoking stinky poof of sulfurous wisp. After Secxo had departed, Victor headed back into the former cul-de-sac where the two enclosures were and when he casually glanced into the tar enclosure, he noticed another devil mouse stuck in the tar in the exact same position that Secxo had been stuck in. Now the human boy was very suspicious of Secxo's offer of three free wishes. Instead of helping the new mouse, Victor turned toward the enclosure with the lone buck stag within it. He cautiously entered the new enclosure and slowly walked over to the deer and touched his side very lightly.

Instantly, the buck stag turned his head directly at Victor and quickly whispered, "Get out of here, human, before the others show up." Victor was sort of taken off guard by the whispered statement, as he quietly replied, "Before who shows up? You and I are the only ones in this enclosure." The deer looked over Victor's shoulder, then stuck his nose to the humans nose and whispered, "I don't know what you are talking about, human. You're in the devil buck's herd grounds at the moment. And I have been hiding from the herd buck for a few days now. If he catches us here, you and I both will be mounted and enslaved by the devil buck. Then you'll be stuck for the rest of your life." Victor arched an eye, as he glanced over his own shoulder and could clearly see the way he came in. It was obviously still open, but for some reason the deer couldn't see it. "Come with me and I'll hide you from the devil buck in a far better place than this. I promise." The deer looked directly at Victor again, not sure if the human had lost his mind or not. "oh lords... now you are in trouble. Never promise anyone anything in Chaosmire. Very well, lead me to a far better hiding place. But if it's not a better place, then I will own you and your services for a whole year."

Victor grabbed the deer around the neck and backtracked to the enclosure's gate and said, "Leap when I do and don't let go of me. Just do it." And Victor began his leap through the opening, and the deer leaped with him... and sure enough... both landed in the corridor outside of the enclosure, where Victor then closed the enclosure gate. The buck blinked his eyes at the change of surroundings, then he saw Victor closing the enclosure gate...

...And just in time, too, as the Devil Buck chose that moment to emerge from the thick trees in the back looking back and forth, then searching the supposed dead end of his herd grounds. The deer and Victor both watched the Devil Buck search all over the place, then it growled, "He was just here! I can smell his scent! Where could he have disappeared to so quickly? No one can get away that fast!" Then it sniffed around again and lifted its head. "A human was here, too. I know humans can't teleport in my herd grounds without my permission. Something very fishy is up. Mark my words, Leaper and Human... I will find both of you." Then the Devil Buck turned and headed back through the thick trees. Victor at that moment released a slow sigh of relief, as he turned toward the deer who was apparently named Leaper. "As promised... a far better hiding place."

Leaper also released a heavy sigh of relief. "He looked right at us yet didn't see us at all. What do you call yourself, human?" The young man smiled, as he shook Leaper's cloven hoof. "I am Victor Morgan." The buck stag smiled back as he pressed his muzzle to the boy's mouth and kissed him very deeply. Victor was surprised by that action but he couldn't pull himself out of the kiss, either, so he just kissed Leaper in return in hopes that the deer would let go soon. When Leaper finally did release the kiss, Victor knew that something weird was going on. He knew something weird was happening because he was looking at his human body standing in front of himself, pulling away, as if stepping back.

"What's going on?" Victor asked, his voice coming out of Leaper's muzzle. "What did you do to me? Give me my body back right now!" Leaper, who was now in Victor's body, replied, "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for a pure human to come along for a long time... ever since my own body got changed into that shape and teleported into the Devil Buck's herd realm. And in a few seconds, you're going right back in there, Victor... I MEAN, Leaper!" And instantly, Victor found himself back in the enclosure where he had first encountered Leaper! He immediately turned toward the enclosure gate, but now he clearly couldn't see it. That rotten deer had stolen his body and got him stuck in a place he didn't want to be in.

The next word out of Victor's muzzle was... "Secxo!" And instantly, the devil mouse reappeared! "I knew you'd call me and..." Then he saw what was in front of him. "...who are you?" The now changed deer released a sigh as he replied, "It's me, Victor! I saved you from the tar pool! A rotten deer called Leaper switched bodies with me and left me here! I'm stuck!" Secxo examined the deer with a magic spell. "It really IS you! Oh boy... a horrible criminal had been sentenced to this realm for a bunch of crimes against the lords and the Rotunda itself! They changed his body into a male deer that smelled like he was in heat! Then they tagged a magical word to his new body and teleported him to this realm and anchored his body and the word to this Realm! Making it so even if he did get back out, all someone would have to do is say the word and he'd be right back in here again!"

Victor sighed. "I figured that out too late. The word is Leaper. And he has my body." Secxo folded his arms over his chest as he floated in midair. "So, is that your first wish? To have your body back?" Victor glared at Secxo. "No!" He then sighed... "Please, Secxo... if you get me my body back before the Devil Buck finds me here, then I'll... I'll... I will owe... you... three wishes..." He then closed his eyes, letting his tears leak out and hit the ground. Secxo slowly unfolded his arms. "Oh Victor... I can't accept a deal like that. I am sorry. You either have to use a wish or make a deal that I can accept." Victor thought about it for a moment then he lifted his muzzle to look at Secxo. "Then re-verify that you'll grant my wishes, no questions asked. Correct?"

Secxo said, "Contract Imp!"

And instantly, a floating contract imp appear in mid-air. "Yes Secxo?" Secxo grinned. "Let it be struck to the record that I will grant any three wishes to Victor, regardless of form, without question. Starting now." He smirked. "Now, read that back to us." The contract imp adjusted his reading glasses and recited, "Secxo has declared in a Lord's Realm that he will grant any three wishes to Victor Prince, regardless of Victor's form, without question and each wish will be granted immediately upon Victor's actually usage of the words, 'I WISH'. So it has been stricken to the record. It is now law until after the last wish is made." And with that, the contract imp vanished. Secxo continued to grin. "See? Just like I said."

It was now Victor's turn to grin. "I WISH THAT WHATEVER HAPPENS TO ME WHILE I AM IN THIS DEER'S BODY WILL BE DUPLICATED TO SECXO'S BODY TENFOLD!"

Secxo's eyes went very wide! "WHY DID YOU WISH THAT FOR?!" Then his paws went to his muzzle rapidly!

Victor shouted, "CONTRACT IMP!" The contract imp reappeared with a law imp this time. Victor exclaimed, "You were just here and you heard what occurred, correct? He questioned my wish. What are the consequences of reneging on a contract made in a Lord's Realm?"

The law imp replied to the question, "The consequences of breaking a contract made in a lord's realm is punishable by the lord himself putting the guilty party in their place. And because the body in question is this deer body..." And instantly, Victor was suddenly in Secxo's body and Secxo was in the deer's body! "...Secxo must assume your place for the lord."

Victor was now looking at his new devil mouse body. "I'll never get my human body back at this rate. At least I am not going to be Devil Buck mounted and molested." Then he looked at the former devil mouse as he felt sorry for him. "But I can't just leave him like this, either." The law imp asked, "Why can't you, Victor?" Victor replied, "Because all of this is Leaper's fault. He has my real body and is getting away with it. I accidentally helped free him and to repay me, he switched bodies with me. Because I let him go, any punishment is mine and mine alone. I made a mistake and now I am paying for it by being stuck in someone else's body. I am nothing but a stupid ass..."

At that moment, the Devil Buck emerged from the trees again and saw the congregation in his realm. "What is going on in here?" He then sniffed the air, sniffing Secxo first, then Victor... then to Victor, he said, "You're the human who freed Leaper." Victor sighed, nodding his head. "Yes, I am... and now he has my body and I am stuck in his body." He points at Secxo. "If you want to punish someone for making a horrible mistake, then I'll switch bodies with Secxo again and you can mount me and imprison me here forever..."

The Devil Buck turned to whisper to the law imp, who in turn vanished with the contract imp. And instantly, Victor was back in the deer's body and Secxo was back in his own body. Secxo says, "I don't get it, Victor. Why are you accepting this fate? You can contest this and probably win. Don't just flat give up." Victor turned and knelt his head down and spread his back legs toward the Devil Buck. "Secxo... if you want to save me from this pool of tar, then go get Leaper and bring him back here so we can switch bodies again. Otherwise... Devil Buck gets to take me down. You have until midnight."

The Devil Buck hummed. "An honorable deal if I ever heard one. I'll abide by that deal. If Secxo isn't here with your real body by midnight, then you will receive Leaper's punishment for him and become one of my omegas in the herd." Secxo vanished immediately!!!

Victor sighed. "Tell me about your herd, my friend. We might as well kill some time until midnight. What is your herd like?" The Devil Buck arched an eye. "If you get your own body back, why would you care about what my herd was like?" Victor replied, "Because I will still owe you for even being in your realm in the first place. I stupidly freed Leaper. And because both he and I heard you say the words, 'Mark my words, Leaper and Human... I will find both of you.' And now you have me."

"Let me get this straight, Captain Rabbit," remarked the anthropomorphic hell hound hero known as Infernal as the two empowered animal heroes spoke to him in Meta Star City. "Your friend Victor Morgan made a deal with a bad boy at AniSapien High and tricked Principal Dum into using one of the Underworld Transfer punishment forms on him simply so he could see where the punishment place was." He shook his head as he shot a disgusted look toward his usual study partner, Captain Ace, before turning back to face Eagle Lord. "I believe you now, Arnie; Victor IS trouble with a capital 'T'. What a stupid mess for him to be in. I hope you guys have a good punishment lined up for him."

"So you will help us with the portal to Nexus Town so we can look for him?" asked the heroic lapine to his empowered hell hound friend. "Yes, I will provide the portal for you guys," Infernal replied. "I still cannot believe some people still pull stupid stunts like this. We will go ask Dealer if he saw Victor arrive and we can start our search from there."

Once the portal was created, the four empowered heroes walked through to start their search for Victor in the Underworld.

At that moment, Victor (in Leaper's body) was telling the devil buck stag lord, "What happened to me in your realm wasn't your fault, Devil Buck. That criminal tricked me into switching bodies with him and he is the one who tried to get out and stay out. His behavior in my opinion indicates that he is not worthy of being a buck like the rest of you. His presence is an insult to both your species and your gender." The Devil Buck couldn't help but to grin at those words. "I am sure we can do something about that, Victor."

Along the back side of the merchant square, the bad demon who was now wearing Victor's body was wasting no time in trying to locate an ATM branch of Empowerment Services so he could get all of his original powers back. But as he was walking down one of the back corridors toward where he knew an ATM-ES station was supposed to be, he had an encounter that would remind him that walking around as a human wasn't always the best recourse. "HEY! Victor!" The bad demon stopped when he heard those words. 'I have to play along or the stupid hell hound will raise an alarm on me.' He slowly turned to face the approaching hell hound. "Um, yeah... Hi," he said as he was then disguising his voice to sound like the human's former voice.

The hell hound approached and said, "Just wanted to let you know that I got my job tavern ad posted for my alpha. I sure hope we get a good poser; where are you off to, anyway?" The demon replied in Victor's voice, "I got hired by a lord here in the Rotunda to fetch something for him. I have to get to the closest ATM-ES machine to make the trip worth the job. I can't seem to find it though." The hell hound smiled. "Oh, I know where it is. I'll take you straight to it. Though they did change the security log-in recently so both a voice and retina match are required to use it. But we can get you registered right at the ATM-ES for that. Come on." And he started walking with 'Victor'.

The demon was cursing mentally. He could still get at his account, but he'd have to register this stupid human body before he could gain infernal access. When they reached the ATM-ES machine, the hell hound instructed 'Victor' on how to get registered, then instructed him on using the new protocol. The demon was glad for the explanation as it was far different than how it had been before he had gotten stuck as Leaper. The hell hound then said, "I have to get moving now, Victor. Drop on by Saberfang Pack one of these days, and I'll introduce you to the alpha. He's a really nice guy." And then the hell hound departed. The demon then entered the ATM-ES booth and punched in his password so he could gain access to his account.

And the moment he pressed the 'enter' key... an alarm sounded and the demon was instantly teleported directly into the awaiting grasp of Secxo and the Rotunda Chaosmire Council! Secxo growled, "Nice try... Leaper! Now we're going to get you and Victor back into your proper bodies and that's that!"

The Devil Buck was poised just behind Victor as the remaining grains of sand trickled away in an hourglass. He was at the ready for the exact second that the time would end. "I really don't want to hurt you, Victor. But you did agree to this if Secxo didn't return by midnight." Victor sighed. "It would serve me right than to trust a devil mouse." The Devil Buck chuckled. "That is hardly fair for the devimice that can actually keep their word. But with Secxo... it is anyone's guess."

Victor looked at the hourglass and noticed that the sands had actually finished pouring out... but he didn't feel anything behind him. He then glanced over his shoulder. "It's midnight. Why haven't you done anything?" The Devil Buck replied, "I am giving Secxo one more minute. I want to be fair in case he had to put up with red tape in the council or something." The two waited and waited and waited, but still no Secxo.

Finally, the Devil Buck said, "Three minutes over the limit and still no Secxo. I am truly sorry, Victor. I think I was more than fair. Here goes..." And he reared back to make the penetration strike when suddenly, Secxo and the bad demon did appear!

Secxo shouted, "Damned council! They wanted to make sure this was Leaper! They made me miss the deadline! I'm sorry, Victor!" The Devil Buck stopped himself just in time as he stepped away from Victor slowly. "Actually, I hadn't done it yet, Secxo. I was right, though; there was red tape. If you had shown up just a few seconds later though... I'd have me an omega instead of a friend." Secxo said, "But I'm late! It's inexcusable! According to Victor's own words, he is yours to claim! And you didn't do it!" The Devil Buck said to Secxo, "One of my Captains likes Victor. So I didn't want to hurt him." Victor then asked, "How do I get my body back?" Secxo replied, "Kiss your body on the lips and you'll instantly be back in your own body! Once you're inside yourself, let go and slowly step back!" Victor did exactly that... a long kiss on the mouth, as he suddenly felt himself BACK in his own body, then he literally pushed Leaper away from himself and stepped over near the Devil Buck. "Finally... I guess I'm lucky he didn't put a demon's tail on my body, the bastard."

A few minutes later, Victor was quite appalled by what the Devil Buck and Secxo did to Leaper. Instead of mounting him and claiming him... He-Leaper was changed into a She-Leaper. That's right... totally female in ever way. Victor frowned, "Why did you do that for? Even I am disgusted..." Secxo replied, "The Council decided that he was only able to get free because he was a male demon deer who kissed a pure male human! So, they determined that if they changed his gender to female, then he would need a pure female human to get free! And most pure female humans are too behaved to end up in a place like this, so... he's stuck!"

Victor said, "Why aren't you claiming him, I mean, her, Devil Buck?" The Devil Buck just grinned as if enjoying some private joke. Then he replied, "Another Lord I know of has spoken for her. He needs another breeder doe for his 'farm'. It's not a place I would send a human, so Leaper will do just fine there." Victor hummed. "Why wouldn't a human like the place?" The Devil Buck grinned again. "That Lord is bisexual. If you went to visit him... well, I am sure you can guess what would happen to you." Victor said, "Oh! Bisexual! You mean like Oslo Otter!"

The Devil Buck immediately stared right at Victor as he started looking the boy over very carefully. "Did Oslo..." he started in a whisper. "'get' you... yet?"

Victor frowned at the question. "Of course not! Why does everyone always ask that question the moment anyone mentions his name?" Then he stopped as he realized something important. "Wait a minute... he's in Toonium City. How is it that you know Oslo?" The Devil Buck replied with a smile. "We ALL know Oslo. If he hasn't gotten you yet, then make sure he doesn't. Maybe you will end up being the one that got away." He winked and laughed. Victor smiled. "Speaking of getting away, I think Secxo better get me back to the Rotunda now."

Secxo grinned. "Whenever Devil Buck agrees that he's done with you, Victor, we can go!" The Devil Buck slyly grinned. "Well... there is two more dockets of business we need to conduct, then you both can leave." And the Devil Buck then closed his distance between himself and Victor while chuckling ominously and...

A little while later, Victor was back in the shower in the downstairs section of the pet store taking his second shower in 12 hours. "He didn't have to do that." Secxo grinned. "Sure he did! You gave him permission to do it with that little deal you made with him beforehand! At any rate, I still owe you three wishes! See ya!" And Secxo vanished in a cloud of stinky brimstone. Victor growled a little. "I just know there is a catch to these wishes."

After he finished his shower, he stepped out of the shower and walked along one of the lower corridors. After finding another stairway leading to yet another lower level, he soon came across a large enclosure with what appeared to be a massive flat of mud with several big otterbois stuck up to their necks in the sticky mire. Victor stepped to the edge of their enclosure and called out, "Are you guys okay?" One of the otterbois who could see Victor directly replied, "Um, for the most part we are. We're just stuck but you could try to help us if you wanted. This mud is secure enough on the surface to support your weight but only if you don't stop in one place for longer than a few minutes." Another said, "But if you do sink you won't be able to get out of it, so make sure you keep moving. Is the customer cute?" The first one replied, "Yeah, he's one of the hottest and cutest ones we've had visit our enclosure in a very long time." Victor blushed darkly, as he stepped closer to their enclosure. "Okay, I'm going to try to help you guys." And he set foot on the surface of the mud that they claimed was secure enough to support his weight. And sure enough, though it felt warm and spongy under his feet, it did support his weight.

Then he walked forward somewhat slowly, trying to get used to the tension of the warm spongy like surface, until he reached one of the big otterbois. "How should I try to lift you out?" Victor asked politely. The big otterboi replied, "I'd say get directly behind my head and in front of my friend's head, between us, and squat down facing the back of my head... grab me around the neck and stand up real fast. Don't worry about hurting me. We otterbois have really strong neck muscles." Victor hummed to himself and positioned himself as asked between the two big otterbois, kneeling down and placing his arm around the otterboi's neck. Then just as he began to stand up fast, the big otterboi behind him popped his webbed hands out of the mud and grabbed Victor's ankles and with a mighty yank, pulled him directly down into the mud between the two; neck deep!

Victor stood in yet another shower, this time on the same level as the otterbois were on. He was pretty mad at them for dunking him in their mud. The otterbois were showering as well. One otterboi said, "We're sorry, Victor. We don't get to play with someone very often." Victor growled, "You said you were stuck; I believed you guys." The otterboi replied, "We're demon otters, Victor. Every species in Chaosmire is going to be some form of extraordinary variety. Whether it's demon, devil, angel, or imp. And a friendly warning, Victor... if you think demons are bad, then never trust an imp or a partial imp species because they will do all they can do to trick and trap you. And I don't mean the worker imps, either. They are doing their jobs. I am talking about the wild imps." Victor sighed. "I am mainly mad because you guys got a little personal under the mud. I am sensitive about being touched when I don't know what's going to happen." Another otterboi said, "We are sorry; we really are. Please don't be mad at us. We rarely get any nice customers like you down here. You see... this isn't just a Pet Store, like the sign says... it's also a weird apartment complex. If you don't have a place to live, you can come here and find an available enclosure to set up your home in. That's why we're here. Our home realm was invaded and only a few of us escaped. We've been living here ever since. So please don't be mad at us."

Victor hummed. "Okay... but only if you can tell me something... I pulled a devil mouse out of a tar pit and he says that he owes me three wishes. Every time I see him, he reminds me that I have three wishes. I am suspicious of using these wishes because after I pulled him out of the tar pool, a little while later I saw another devil mouse in the same tar pool in the same spot I freed the first one from. Am I justified for being suspicious of these wishes?" All of the otterbois looked at each other, then all asked at the same time, "Was it Secxo?" Victor frowned. "Wow... in stereo. And yeah, it was."

The first otterboi replied, "Be VERY suspicious of him. Most devil mice you can trust. But he is one of the few that seem to get off on watching outsiders screw up. Especially if the thing you are screwing up is wishes. If you can avoid using them then don't ever use them. Instead, go find a lord or a Rotunda lawyer and explain the situation to them and see if they will exchange his debt to you of wishes for anything else. That way, they can ask him for wishes and he'd have to grant that lord or lawyer those wishes." Victor hummed with an almost diabolical sly grin. "Thank you ever so much, guys."

Some time later, Victor found himself in another Job Tavern looking at a job board. He didn't have any intention of taking any of the jobs, this time, but he wanted to see just what there was available. It was while he was looking at several canine styled jobs that a paw came to rest on his shoulder. "Looking to get a hound job, Victor?" He looked over his shoulder and smiled when he saw who it was. "It's you!" Victor then turned fully and hugged the hell hound standing there. "I haven't seen you in a long time. And you still look great." The hell hound sighed. "I would like to say that I am doing well but I'm not." Victor arched an eye, still in mid-hug. "Oh? What's wrong, my friend?"

The hell hound pointed at a job listing on the job board. "Do you remember when I first met you and I told you that I had to post an ad for my alpha on the Hound Job Tavern's Board? Well... no one has accepted the job and now, my alpha thinks that I botched the simplest of jobs of posting a job ad. He told me to make sure the job was clear and legible... or he'd demote me to Omega's Toenail Cleaner." Victor felt bad for the hell hound. Really bad. "Come on, let's look at your job ad together and we'll see what's wrong with it." And Victor reached over and held the edge of the ad so he could see the words better. "First of all, it says... Job Length: 1 RC Week. I assume you know the translated time between your home realm and here, so let's look at the next part of the ad." The hell hound nodded his head. Victor then balked at the next part of the ad. "Ten thousand credits plus one percent per day extra for pleasing the alpha?! Wow!!" The hell hound grinned. "Yeah, Saberfang pays well." Victor continued to read. "Simply stand on all fours before the alpha each day. Meals provided. Extra special sleeping quarters right near the alpha's main den." The hell hound nodded his head again. "Yep. That's right as rain."

Victor smiled when he saw the rating. "D Rating +9, with benefits. That's not bad at all. It sounds like the perfect cozy little job. I wish I could take this job myself." From out of nowhere is a quick and loud stinky cloud appeared Secxo! "Your wish is granted! Have fun, Victor!" He laughed evilly. Victor tried to shout out, "No! Wait a min-" And he was no longer at the job tavern!

One Rotunda City week later, Victor was once again back. Only this time, he was registering a complaint at the Rotunda City Law Offices. A complaint against Secxo. "...here's the thing, Victor," explained the bighorn demon ram wearing glasses. "Unless Secxo is charging you some kind of fee for these wishes, then there is nothing we can do about it. Free wishes are totally in the ball park. My best advice for you is to just use these wishes wisely while you're here in Chaosmire so you won't have to deal with them later." Victor said, "You mean, in order to be free of this runt that no one likes, I just have to use my wishes and be done with it?" The demon ram lawyer replied, "That's the bottom line. I'm sorry. If he was charging you without telling you the price, then I could do something about it." Victor hummed. "I already know what I want the last wish to be. But I have to be careful with the second wish. That little runt is just waiting for me to mess up." The demon ram lawyer hummed, too. "You better figure it out before you have to return to Toonium City or you will never be rid of the little slime."

Victor suddenly snapped his fingers. "Now I know what to make the second wish. I just have to go arrange a private meeting spot with the little mouse looking turd. Is there some place that he is scared of in Chaosmire?"

Some time later...

Victor was seated in a almost pitch black realm with a single lit candle on a tabletop before him. "Secxo! I am ready for my last two wishes now!" And Secxo appeared in front of Victor. Then he immediately saw where they were and quietly irked. "Why are we here?" he whispered?" Victor held Secxo in his hands and said, "First wish... I wish to know the way to be able to come and go from Chaosmire without using the 'That Place' form. Now." Secxo didn't know what to make of that wish. "Granted. I don't know why you'd want that but I've granted it. What about your other wish so I can get out of here?" Victor continued to hold on to Secxo. "I wish for my purity to be restored to how it was before I entered Chaosmire. Now." Secxo released a sigh but he granted that wish as well. "Done. I've granted it." Victor grinned slyly as he felt the wish restoring his bottom. Then he slammed Secxo down into a demon mule lord's demon-glue covered lap whom had been seated nearby. "Here is Secxo, Lord Mularri! As promised!"

Secxo was still screaming for help as Mularri and Victor shook hands at the edge of the dark realm. Mularri said, "Thank you for bringing this little renegade to me. He skipped out on a deal he had with me a long time ago." Victor grinned. "And don't worry about the finder's fee, Mularri. Just seeing him stuck to your groin is payment enough after all the crap he did to me in the past few months; Chaosmire Time." Mularri laughed. "Yes, I can imagine so, Victor. However, I have to pay you something. Those are the rules of the Underworld."

Victor hummed. "Transfer all of Secxo's powers to a magic ring and glue the ring on my finger so he cannot remove it; that will be payment enough. That way, he cannot use his powers to get away from you when you sleep." Mularri grinned. "I am glad you thought of that, Victor. I will make it so." And the magic ring then appeared on one of the human boy's fingers. "Until we do business together again... farewell." And the demon mule headed back into his dark realm as Victor returned toward the Rotunda in Nexus Town.

When he arrived there, he saw Captain Rabbit along with Eagle Lord, Infernal, and Captain Ace. He walked over to their group and said, "Am I ever glad to see you guys. I just got rid of a slimy little devil mouse turd that nobody likes." Captain Rabbit stated as he looked at the boy with an angry gaze. "You are in a lot of trouble topside, Victor. Although you may be smiling now, you won't be when you are making this up to Principal Dum." Then the rabbit hero paused. "Just who did you get rid of?" Victor smiled big. "The rotten runt's name was Secxo; everyone agreed that I was doing the right thing when I tricked him into appearing in Lord Mularri's realm." Infernal also smiled. "Oh, I know him. A real nice guy as long as you don't jerk him around and cheat him out a deal owed to him."

Eagle Lord then commented, "Anyway, let's get you back to Toonium City. I hope you learned something about this experience." Victor was still smiling. "Oh yeah, I learned a lot. Lord Saberfang knows some funny jokes; Lord Devil Buck runs his realm in a nice tidy manner; and big demon otterbois need to play with people or they go bonkers."

Needless to say, as soon as Victor had been returned to Toonium City, Mrs. Leghorn was chosen to give the human boy a spanking in front of the entire school's student body. Afterward, he was grounded to Oslo Otter's studio apartment in the downtown sector of Terryville. Of course he was given his own room for privacy but this was the punishment that everyone in school had chosen for him by a unanimous vote. While it was true that neither Gerard nor Arnie participated in that vote, Victor couldn't help but to wonder if they had arranged this punishment.

The night after he was fully moved in, Victor was sitting at his desk trying to get caught up on all of the homework that his classes had assigned for him... school work he had missed during his vacation into the Underworld. Oslo walked in with a Teriyaki meal and a drink as he set the items on a side table for Victor. "No rest for the wicked, eh?" He winked with a smile. Victor simply had to ask, "How did you convince the school to let me move in with you as a punishment; you, the toon otter with the biggest libido in town?" Oslo laughed for a moment. "I won the poll for the citizen with the most chores for a punished boy to do."

Victor blinked as he sampled the food. "I guess I am your roommate now. Will you be having me do dishes or something?" Oslo hugged Victor lightly as he kissed him on the nose. "I have a maid for that stuff. No, all I ask is for you to help me run the gym on Saturdays. Be lucky that it was Gerard who made that other deal with the Pleasure Island fox on Sundays or else you would be stuck doing that. And if you thought I had a big libido, foxes own the award in the activity. There is no contest when it comes to the stamina that a fox possesses." Victor rolled his eyes. "I assume you have dated one which is why you know?"

Oslo grinned as he started back toward the hallway. "I have dated a few of them. And I didn't get away either." He then paused at the door as he looked over his shoulder. "Once you get caught up on your homework, you will have free time for yourself. But for now, you need to eat some dinner; I made it myself."

Victor then ate his Oriental meal and drank his drink; Oslo was indeed a good cook. Perhaps it was just simply weird to be actually living with Oslo Otter instead of his friend Gerard, but he did learn a lot from those in the Underworld and he would go back when his punishment ended and if time permitted. After all, he did promise a few people that he would return but perhaps that was for another day. Tomorrow would be a new day in Toonium City.

Later that night while he lay in bed, a naked Oslo Otter plopped down in bed with him as he began to read Victor a bed time story. "Oslo," the boy said sleepily. "I am not a baby; you don't have to read me a story." The otter replied, "It is either the story or sex; choose one." Victor made a face. "I'll take the story." Oslo grinned winningly. "Good choice. Now where was I... Oh yes. There was once three demon hogs whom a hell wolf wanted to eat and..."

"Where did you say Victor got moved to?" asked Lena as she had breakfast with the two resident boys within the house that Ace the Bathound owned. "The entire school voted that his punishment be spent doing chores for and living with that lusty lutra of the large libido, Oslo Otter," replied Arnie with a chuckle. "He owns the Terryville City Gym." The female giggled as she replied, "He is as good as f-" the rest was dirty.

"What of yourself, Lena?" inquired the Prince boy. "Have you been staying out of trouble?" Their female friend replied, "Oh, I made friends with Miyuki Tsukino just after I moved in with you guys. We have a lot in common." Gerard knew that Miyuki could change into Dark Witch and if Lena had a lot in common with the anime female, then... "You are a witch, aren't you? Like council woman Wendy." Lena nodded her head as she said, "Actually, yes. Wendy is on council? I will have to meet her then. Later though; don't worry, guys; I won't change you into frogs."

Arnie then commented, "I am surprised that you didn't change Victor into a frog before coming here." To which the girl replied, "Oh I was tempted to but I didn't want to insult real frogs by making him become one of them." Everyone laughed out loud after that. Then Arnie nudged his friend, "She can use magic; do you think... you know..." He was giving Gerard the eye.

Gerard then focused on Lena fully. "Could you demonstrate some minor magic for us, please? There is a reason we are asking." Lena arose from the table and turned to focus on something across the room as she pointed her finger at the remote control and made it float into the air as she brought it over into her grasp. "Levitation spell. One of the first I learned." Then she vanished from where she had been standing and reappeared just behind Arnie. "Teleportation spell. One of my more favorite magical tricks." And finally, she made a three layer chocolate cake appear on the table. "Summoning spell. One moment, however..." She picked up her purse and pulled out a twenty dollar bill as she held it up and the money vanished. "Always pay for something you summon. It would be theft otherwise. Why the sudden interest in a magic show?"

Arnie and his friend also stood up at that point. "Because Captain Rabbit and Eagle Lord need a female member to join their team. And they don't have a magic user yet." Gerard nodded his head as he glanced aside to his friend. "Let's take it to the next level." His friend replied, "You got it, chum. Let's do it."

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Gerard struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular rabbit man came into view to take the place of the former human. His pirate crew costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Lapine Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his lapine body, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Captain Rabbit!"

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Arnie struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular eagle man came into view to take the place of the former human. His militia like costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Eagle Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his eagle body and around his wings, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Eagle Lord!"

Lena smiled as she clapped her hands. "I never would have guessed. So you want a magic user on your team, do you? Okay, I'm game. But first, I need to suit up myself."

Extending one hand into the air, magical sparkles began cascading out of her finger tips as Lena struck her pose and exclaimed, "Mighty! Magical! Power!" In a flash, her body transformed from her usual voluptuous perfect eleven of a human female into her white feline figurine of a figure which was perfect in every way. And then the true costume change began as she transformed into a wizardess wearing the swirled colors of blue with gold glitter. Her shiny boots and gloves appeared next, followed by a metallic belt and a tiara like crown around her head. Her weapon, a glowing magical scepter, appeared in her hand as she charged it up with the full power of the Sanctus Arcanum. "Felinox Majora! Princess Arcana! Mistress of Magic!"

Later that morning, Krypto was surprised when he was joined on his patrol by the heroic lapine, the heroic eagle, and a nice looking side saddle broom riding magical feline. "What the?"

"Krypto? This is our newest team member, Princess Arcana," said Captain Rabbit with a smile. The Kryptonian super dog rolled his eyes with a smile. "Wait until Ace sees her later. And to think he has enough trouble with Isis." He refocused on the new team member. "Nice to meet you, Princess Arcana." She replied, "The pleasure is all mine, stud muffins." This was followed by the lapine hero saying, "Try not to crash, Krypto. We're still on patrol." Another rolled eye movement later, the white super dog said, "Funny, Rabbit. Real funny. Streaky will be jealous for sure." Princess Arcana replied, "He isn't as hot as you are. Besides, he is already taken, if you know what I mean..."

Krypto almost did crash as she said that part.

"Sorry, Krypto," Princess Arcana remarked as she used a spell to bring Krypto back up to their level. "But you sort of left yourself open to that one." Then she mouthed her real name and the super dog seemed to finally get who she was. "So that is the type of humor you have, eh Princess? We will have to see what kind of co-ed training Ace will have for us later when we check in tonight in the training room." The feline heroine smiled. "He isn't as good looking as you are though. You smile a lot nicer than he does." Krypto replied, "Rudolph says that a lot, too. Plus I have more reason to smile these days. We have a sponsor boy in our household now. Harold Dangers, a charge from Cheer Bear's Big Brother program."

"Dangers?" pondered Captain Rabbit as he glanced aside at his avian partner. "Why does that surname sound so familiar?" Eagle Lord replied, "Wasn't that the name of one of the hunters line that your father mentioned encountering one year while deer hunting in Missouri? I strongly believe it was, Cap." The heroic lapine nodded his furry head. "I think you are right, chum. That was the hunter's name that dad said he met out there. He also said the guy had bagged about four bucks when he encountered him."

After that, the heroes continued their patrol through the southern part of Toonium City.

That night within the training chamber, the heroes were joined by both Lighty and Epona as Ace and Krypto prepared the training session for the team's current usage. "Nice to have you with us again, Lighty," said Gerard. "We haven't seen you in a while." With a sly smile, the fire horse from Sanctuary W replied, "Timesheart and Dalis kept me busy with a few mysteries they were solving for the last week or so. But then I remembered that I was also part of your team, so here I am for a training session. By the way, who is the new girl? I know Epona."

Arnie grinned as he introduced their friend. "Lighty, this is Lena Hawthorne. She is not only living with us but she has also joined us as our team's magic user." Lena shook Lighty's hand. "They said they needed another girl, so... here I am." She posed in place with a smile. Lighty replied, "It is great to meet you up close finally. I saw you hanging out with Miyuki in school, but she wouldn't tell me who you were." She giggled. "Better having me here than Victor. I am sure you heard what happened to him; Principal Dum and the City Council is making him live with Oslo Otter. As I told the boys earlier, he is as good as f-" and the rest was again dirty.

Gerard then said, "Okay, team... Ace just informed me that he thinks that we are ready for rank two training. Therefore, everyone suit up."

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Gerard struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular rabbit man came into view to take the place of the former human. His pirate crew costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Lapine Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his lapine body, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Captain Rabbit!"

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Arnie struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power as on the next position of the disc the form of a handsome and muscular eagle man came into view to take the place of the former human. His militia like costume appeared in a flash to cover his body. Then he exclaimed, "Eagle Armor Sequence!" His hero armor then appeared in flashes up and down his eagle body and around his wings, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally his clear safety visor which appeared over his eyes. He then leaped off of the disc in a mighty aerial flip as he landed in full view where he made a flurry of martial arts moves before striking his final pose for all to see. "Eagle Lord!"

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Kelly struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his fur stand on end, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then revolved around behind the pillar of power in a perfect three sixty and as he came back into view, he was wearing the noble armored ensemble of his home world. It was a crystal like three piece suit of armor, with gauntlets and plated boots, and a partial helm which allowed his ears to protrude freely and his eyes and muzzle to be seen clearly. He then leaped off of the disc, making some impressive lapine martial arts moves of his own as he landed in full view for all to see. "Royal Rabbit! Prince of the Lapines!"

The two lapine space pirates slid together, back to back, as they each lifted up one arm which had a wrist transformer in full view. "Frontier Light!" And they pushed their activation buttons. "Lapine Fight!" Side by side, the two alien lapines were each seen going through their armored costume sequences as reinforced battle armor appeared over their bodies, followed by boots and gloves, and a belt with pouches and a weapon holster. Over one lapine's head there appeared a black scarf mask which draped around his neck, while the other lapine received a headset with goggles and a laser cross-hair sighting scope. Then each lapine flipped into the air and then they landed close to each other as a laser light appeared in the targeting scope of one lapine and an energy saber appeared in the other lapine's grip. "Lonepaw!" "Tailshot!" "Lepus Privateers!"

Tyler stepped back into the shadows as he raises his wrist comm in front of himself and he tapped in a numerical code and then he pressed the enter button before closing the hatch on the comm unit. His usual uniform turned black as his helmet with a black visor appeared over his head and a photon blaster appeared in his holster on his belt. He then leaped out of the shadows as he made a few martial arts moves in mid air before he landed in full view, his visor slid up and he saluted the audience with a foxy smile. "Covert Fox!"

Lighty stepped into view as he winked at the audience as he ran one hand through his shoulder length hair. His shining neck tattoo gleamed and his entire body became enveloped in a magical cascade of sparkling lights. As the light dimmed slightly, his white uniform came into view first with gold racing stripes along his sleeves and leggings. His silver belt appeared around his waist as his silver boots appeared on his feet. He then spun around in place as a light show and explosive sparkles erupted all around him in a display which looked like both fire and ice. He then took out a designer pair of golden shades and placed them over his eyes as he smiled for the camera. "Brightburst!"

Extending one hand into the air, magical sparkles began cascading out of her finger tips as Lena struck her pose and exclaimed, "Mighty! Magical! Power!" In a flash, her body transformed from her usual voluptuous perfect eleven of a human female into her white feline figurine of a figure which was perfect in every way. And then the true costume change began as she transformed into a wizardess wearing the swirled colors of blue with gold glitter. Her shiny boots and gloves appeared next, followed by a metallic belt and a tiara like crown around her head. Her weapon, a glowing magical scepter, appeared in her hand as she charged it up with the full power of the Sanctus Arcanum. "Felinox Majora! Princess Arcana! Mistress of Magic!"

The training session went as expected, fortunately, as having a female on the team helped the rest of the heroic friends keep things honest and everyone strove to make the best impression on Ace and Krypto who were grading their progress. Even Lighty and Covert who were periodically gone during most training sessions and assigned patrols managed to perform to the best or better of their overall abilities.

After the training session ended, Lena served up the three layer chocolate cake to the entire team as a reward for a job well done. "I must say that training with you boys is a real gas. But didn't you say that Epona was rejoining your team, Captain?" Gerard replied, "She said she was. Although she might have had a case come up in Frontier since she never contacted me back after I sent her a message to tell her about tonight's workout session." Kelly remarked, "Most Frontier personalities are often surprised at the most inopportune moments and such may have been the case with Epona. But just to be safe, perhaps we should save her a piece of cake if or when she does arrive. Better late than never, right?" Lonepaw giggled as he snacked on his piece of chocolate cake. "Oh most assuredly right, Royal. At least this food is better than most of the stuff her people creates." Everyone made a bleck face as they remembered the smell.

End of Episode Seven

Stay tuned for the next episode, South Side Rumble