Battletoads The Revamp of the Toad

by Railgunner Cross

The Battletoads, a dimension so little have wanted to explore or understand, an adventure full of dread and traps. Three friends, tester of a massively powerful gaming machine, are sucked into a conflict that could lead to salvation of a far away universe while endangering the safety of their own. This is their fist adventure and the tale of how they became the Battletoads!

Battletoads

The Revamp of the Toad

Introduction and Author Notes

*-To begin, Author's Notes-*

This is not a necessary section, but I would appreciate it if you were to read this little piece of crap, and why is it crap? Because I am going to bore you lot for a while with the notes, so feel free to read it... or not, as you wish really. The only thing I would recomend you to read for your own safety is this:

"Bla,bla,bla..." - Normal talking. If you aren't used to this then you don't read much.

'Bla, something, bla...' - Quotes to highlight something, you probably will guess way.

"Bla,bla,bla..." - Whispering, for when you want to be sneaky and fail.

'Something, something...' - Thinking, though many will not do this if they can avoid it.

*Something exploding* - Usually sounds such as explosions and such. I don't use it much but meh, better tell you only in case, it is not like anything is going to explode in... oh.

[Important stuff] - For when the narrator feels like breaking the third wall or saying something out of character (OOC for those that do not roleplay).

(Inner monologue) - Usually for when someone mutters to him/herself during a conversation, or maybe some quick thinking while saying something. Since only a couple of people around are competent we may have few of this.

Now this is legal stuff and some warnings.

I do not own Battletoads, I THINK Microsoft does, but then again, Microchof owns a lot of things... I do not own the official characters nor do I own the official story. I own the revamped story so to speak and I am doing this basically for fun, so no money is going to come out of this (If I could make money writing by now I would be happy though). I own the OCs (most, if not nearly all of them, will be there to give the story some sound) that I have created and, if by miracle someone makes anything for this, I will give credit where credit is due to OCs of others.

That is basically all, now let's get crazy and give some brutal games (and single cartoon episode) a nice revamp since the owners of the Battletoads AREN'T going to. But, before that, the warning:

WARNING:

Blood, curses and that kind of shit. Really, Battletoads Arcade was how things should have been (Bloody, gory and funny) AND the main characters are teenagers as far as the intended (though not fully developed) cannon intended. Give the world I chose to make for them, all of this is more or less reveling against the law to an extent, which is something teenagers are usually good about, and I should know since everyone has been a teenager after all. There will be comedy, yea, but we also need the plot to move, so it is very possible it will take some time to come.

*-Chapter One: It is a weird world-*

Earth, the year is 1983 in what most people would consider a 'parallel dimension', a warped reality where humanity developed much faster in every sense when we compare our society to theirs. .Technology surpassed our own by a landslide, going from just smart enough IAs so as not to rebel but capable of doing most works, clean energy, laser and plasma technologies and terraforming to keep the Earth from polluting with what little harms it nowadays. It all seems to be perfect when looking from outside, but it has given this version of our world, of us, a negative effect many of us in the modern era could hardly understand and much less want. This is the reason why we came here to watch and also the catalyst that would spawn the adventure that would be remembered in our world as one of the earliest and most brutal (and technically inexplicable) games of our world.

The Battletoads.

However, what could have created such chances so as to make this happen? Well, let me tell you.

Nearly seventy percent of the population grows up to maintain the machines that work the day to day work to keep the world and its resources stable, many of them ensuring that the energy converters, capable of transforming energy to many different things (such as metals or other minerals), function day and night, while the rest work to impart knowledge and preserve it. It is a world where there is little hope for a future with too much entertainment.

What little there is of what we could call 'leisure' comes from few movies, songs, comics and games made by the privileged five to ten percent that were above and beyond certain skills that would be considered 'wasteful' in a world populated by masters of electronics by necessity or vocation. It is such a focus that sports for the peak of physical health, documentaries to maintain the ecosystem, cartoons to entertain children and other technically 'useful' creations and recreations are something that is barely seen with better eyes, to the point where such activities and creations are considered secondary.

After all, for health they have their technology, for information of the environment they have machines, and there is the same solution to keep a kid entertained and well cared for when there is no adult at home. Families are knitted together and very loving thanks to the free time for them being calculated for the workplace to adjust and keep everyone happy, something easy with artificial brains helping short it out, but entertainment is hard to get.

In a world where work is law, as it is the only thing that keep everything from collapsing, the very few people that are capable of doing any kind of art, being it physical, such as sports or acting, mental, like writing or making games, or based in skill, such as drawing or creating wondrous things in any way, are outcasts unless they create things that the public outright loves. Thanks to the more than fickle interest of the population in many things, as most grow to be perfectly dedicated to work, such rising stars are hard to come by.

Many creations of our time are not present in this different world, a place that is seemingly alien to us in many ways, with a perfect example being the gaming industry almost in its total extent thanks to most people considering it a 'way to get your brain rotten'. Violent sports such as boxing are practically banned thanks to the risk of brain damage and are, at best, allowed to be played in 'softcore' events. There are many examples, but security goes to such a point where the young generation is to the border of revolting to the only sacred duty that is studying just to get to do what many of us would consider 'fun'.

While humans here have ingrained a desire to work, focusing all their time into such an activity is harder the more developed the society becomes if there is not a secondary way to relieve possible stress and frustration This means that the young generation gets the feeling that the world is constrictive, a sentiment shared by some of the youngest couples up to the early forties and a very small group of older people wishing for change.

The worldwide government [W.W.G from now on] decided to give this 'leisure', a wasteful thing by their standards, have a go... with very limited personnel and strict rules to acquire new potential. While anyone could have TVs, video and music players, comics, books and gaming consoles, however bland by our standards and their technological capabilities, which didn't alleviate the problem too much.

Begrudgingly it has to be admitted that the creations are impressive for what little this world could show, however in most cases it was not enough to entertain people that wanted thrills of many kind in their lives simply because it was known that MUCH MORE could be done. Such problem was solely the W.W.G's fault as most people that had done things that they now needed had been banned, re-educated or simply had lost the interest on doing such things after running away for so long. Very few people capable to supply this new need were around and the government was getting stressed fast.

For this reason the W.W.G decided to pick those that had shown most promise during the successful enterprises mixing what bordered legal and illegal, then grouped them in the company that would be called 'Psicone'. Hopes lied in positive result and divergent minds capable of creating new wonders for the general public to sate their newest needs.

The man in charge would be Yuriko Tashoku. As the CEO he was picked thanks to a warm character and business mentality that coupled satisfying the consumer while defying the government in what many would call 'young spirit' for a man in his late forties and with a daughter that followed his footsteps.

To back up the W.W.G's interest would be Alexei Vakuse, the direct Executive and mastermind director of many movies that were acclaimed by the public while still orbiting the ideals of the government's policy to a frightening extent, something that showed the man's genius.

Finally, as the last of the three initial members of Psicone, Silas Volkmire, one of the most elusive game makers of the world, previously in cahoots with rogue designer Alexei Ziegler, as the main game designer. He had been made viral in the internet evading security, mostly because he created things that were technically legal thanks to their instructive nature, but the security system learned too late that such things were used for destructive purposes within the game.

These three men would soon mix their resources and make Psicone the first multi corporation designing sports, games, movies and more, all of them in a new way and with leeway from the government. However this would come at a cost: While people could enjoy the comics, books, movies and such, sports and games were not allowed to the public, instead being a pay per view event in which virtual reality was used for the game and armors of various kinds were issued for extremely dangerous sports.

Uproar after uproar during the newscast were meet with a surprising reaction: Yuriko came to the public with the standard contract for both the sports and the gaming system, one that explained the dangers and expected the ones to 'play' to relinquished the right to sue the company for permanent damage or death during the games. Yuriko swore that everything was done to ensure security, but this kind of fun could come at the ultimate cost of the ones giving entertainment to the rest of the world, which was why the events would be pay per view and done by those trained for them.

Faced with real danger in a world where it barely existed, very few decided to tackle on the chance to pursue the dream except the very few that one could consider in this world to be 'misfits', something that is all but common even amongst the young populace. However there were enough and the effort would end up paying off the gamble that the W.W.G risked with allowing the people their little wish.

Soon the sports section would be located in Eurasia, having mayor areas in Russia, China, Japan and England with smaller stadiums in at least every capital. While such a radical change would already call to us, it was not the area where our story takes place. Our sights would go to the gaming industry, located in the USA, the meeting area for the W.W.G and also the continent where most technological discoveries were shown. It was a perfect location for the future of gaming.

In the sports section the employees are issued green jumpsuits, a heavy makeover and, in extreme cases, a small holographic generator to hide them from the world. In the gaming industry it is the same. This is to make the people working in this new industry the feel of them being 'unreachable' and 'mythical'; figures of power that had gone beyond what once was considered normal and that maintain anonymity only to go forth and give everyone what they want.

It is because no one really knows them that the players can live normal lives with no difficulty whatsoever. Most of them, or at least the ones in the sport section, being what one could consider barely normal in this world. When we come to see the people that joined the gaming section... things get rough. And to know why we have to go where the group of misfits that our radar locks on lives: Oxford college in Cypress CA, California.

Few misfits can be found in most cities in this world, some have none at all, but in most cases you can find one, maybe two... Waldo P. Oxford High has the dubious honor of being the one school to have one of the highest records in the USA when it comes to misfits, and three of them are famous on the city.

Thanks to the city's 'weird' population, a description most the USA seem to find fit in this case, that three individuals stand out for a big handful of people considered 'different' is not exactly something to be proud of, in fact they are considered to be what one could call a, quote unquote, dipshits.

"You all are a bunch of losers"

Or that too, though why calling them that? Well, that needs some explanation too.

Waldo P. Oxford High, a school known for being capable of taming the most rebellious youngsters in the USA, or at least tone them down. This school had been manned by the Walker family for nearly five centuries, something that brought honor and respect to the family. It had been tradition that the most direct descendant of the Walkers would live in California, guiding the school, which had been harder and harder with each passing generation.

It was impressive since the more the technology advanced, the harder the crowd this school took it by the rebellious young men and women attending to it. Cortes C. Walker, whose father had to retire by a little accident caused by the previous generation, is considered to be one of the most rigorous principals that this school had had the privilege to bear. For most, if not all, of the school, and even the staff, he is also one of the heaviest and harshest punishments dished to those that attend school here and dream of breaking the rules.

At the age of 47, Cortes is a balding man of jet black hair with a prominent nose, brown eyes and a very prominent chin that is turned smaller thanks to the glandular problem that makes the man slightly rounder than he should, meaning that he has a nice belly and cheeks that make him look much more jolly, as most round people usually are, than he really is. Dressed conservatively, always like if he was doing business, Cortes is a man that likes to direct the school with a steel fist, making sure to dish out harsh punishment.

He is backed up by the W.W.G since, for such a deviant city, few have the right to correct him as far as his methods hurt no one and yield results even if the young students feel them to be too much at first. It is speculated that he has a hate for most rebellious youths, since the accident that hit his father years ago, even if it was minor, and just made his father retire thanks to his nerves being already shoot. It was known that Cortes' wished to continue on his father's footsteps, however, for many reasons to be explained latter, the two families, or at least the sons of the rascals, that forced him to retire were today in his office... again.

That he had to endure reliving the memories of the incident each time they came was not something that made the round man happy, at all.

"I have to admit I love it when you guys break something or bother someone, after all you get sent to me and I can chew you lot with impunity"

Very, very hard to notice but, while it may not look like it, Cortes is not a vengeful man. He, however, gets exasperated quickly and years of having to live with the seed of his father's retirement, a couple of dolts that seem to be impossible to correct, just got to him way too much.

It was not much better that in this world there is only one irredeemable quality, something nearly everyone hates, and that is being clumsy. It is so because in a world where delicate craftsmanship is needed to maintain the working order you need to pay attention to what you do, so if you are clumsy you may hurt someone, which may be because you are thinking in something you shouldn't. In all his years as a principal he had never seen a deviant and such inability to do one's duties or manual things right , at least he hadn't seen both of them coupled together and perfected to such a level.

You could say that Cortes was under a little bit of stress.

"But now let's be serious please. Look around you. What do you see?"

To top it off, while his father had been lenient as far as this civilization goes, Cortes had grown to be a bit of a control freak that hoped only to get things in the perfect order for them to work. His mahogany chair and chair exactly fifty centimeters away from the back of his white office, a large painting of the calm sea with a children playing in the sand behind him, something that he created in his free time during adolescence. That painting meant much to him and made him remember good times, which calmed him and was used to ensure himself that he could keep his cool.

On the left three large windows with red and curtains and old, mock weaponry in small and perfect to the millimeter exhibits for the weapon lovers to fell comfortable with that little touch of regal splendor coming from the rich view that offered the garden outside combined with the bright curtains and the oftentimes perfect lighting. The left was littered with bookshelves, filled with old and new textbooks ranging in ages to the beginning of the school in the year 1476. All of it, even the white door, planed to give as much of a perfect appearance as he thought was needed. It, to him, helped to show his devotion to work and to straighten up the little evildoers that came here.

A room that was a very small museum, expository and show of progressive 'art' even. However, to the three teenagers in front of Cortes, this was something else to just shrug off. They were used to this little talk and it would not be the last, they knew that much. The three of them were just nodding and looking down in either real or mock shame whenever he talked.

Cortes, of course, knew that and was one of the mayor reasons he was getting angry right now, something his voice betrayed "Ziegler, I thought you would finally pay attention, but it seems you just like to keep your head down and nod, as always. I still wonder how your father got such luck as to have a little carbon copy of himself"

The man sighed without seeing the grimace on Morgan Ziegler, a redhead young man with oversized glasses to partially conceal his nearly black eyes and a very clear skin that was approaching albinism in the tone. At 6' 3" and with a very slim build, you could consider Morgan a weak geek, in our world that is. Messy hair, child like factions, awkwardness towards most people, very distracted when thinking of his own things and very intelligent, and dangerous, if there was need for it.

However that he was tech savvy, but wasn't a people's person, was something not really common in this world. Mostly everyone was the opposite, but Morgan simply felt outright awkward or threatened with certain people close by, or if he didn't know them. It was surprising since it was known that the skinny man was very knowledgeable when it came to biology, that he was very fast and that he was capable of needing nothing more than to hit someone only once or twice to bring them down. Studying biology if you weren't going to back up medic bots was not common, but it seemed to pay off to the young man.

It would be more than possible for him to get over his little fears and maybe even stop being a butter fingers if he allowed people to come closer, but much like his father, Morgan had some flaws most people avoided: He liked to be lazy whenever he didn't have anything urgent to do, it was easily coupled with how he dressed in whatever he could get his hands on. If it was not enough he enjoyed a bit too much to play or design ideas for videogames, drifting off to his own world. This was a problem that got him really weary of most people except those that he considered his friends and had been able to know him better.

Of course, it didn't help that he had been abandoned when he was young in front of his best friend's house. It may sound technically nice, probably not all that cruel, to an extent, but it was a huge problem because he was old enough to remember his parents and that his new family wasn't his real one, however he did not remember why he had been left out. For this reason Morgan had a natural distrust towards nearly anyone and was very hard to break that little mental problem, being it so ingrained in him after such a shock. It worsened his chance at communicating because he shuttered and his hands trembled, making it easy for delicate equipment to fall down, which, at best, annoyed most people.

"I wish I knew myself... shame he isn't around to tell" However there was one thing everyone agreed on: No one liked the chances that mentioning his family brought into the table.

"Sorry, sorry, I think I went too far there" Cortes, again, was not vindictive, but Morgan's father had been a rogue game maker and even today a lot of his stuff was circling the net. His antics were the cause of Cortes' father retiring and sometimes a bit of anger arose and clouded his judgment "But you have to admit this is getting tiring after years of the same shenanigans"

This time Morgan did really feel ashamed "Sorry sir..." Though he would not be the one to say that he was ashamed because he had been sent here again, not because he hadn't changed.

"And what about you?" Apparently satisfied, Cortes turned to look at the victim in the middle "Dave Shar, I know your mother was a Rock Idol during her youth, but she decided to stop trying to go against the government's rules when she knew she would have you! Do you think your antics and your brutal showoff personality, as well as those horrendous puns and catch phrases, make her happy? You are worse at making friends and getting along than the others!"

Dave Shar, a 6' tall boy with a punk like attitude with brown eyes and brown hair, usually turned purple, pink or other strident color while wearing it in a mohawk like fashion. He is the son of one of the few 'super stars' of the world, Angelica F. Shar, a Rock Star that was deemed illegal through her career during her youth until she ended up pregnant at her 24. She gave everyone a surprise when she announced it, telling only to a few who the father was, though in the city everyone knew about him. She ended up turning herself in to the police in exchange of getting a normal job in urban security thanks to her expertise in camera usage, maintenance and footage editing, which served to see where someone would try to mess with it.

Dave Shar would grow up to have the same eccentric likes as his mother and would lack a 'normal' father figure, which ended up making him idolize his mother's career and personality. He could be quite good at emulating his mother, but the lack of experience and excessive eagerness made him look like the class clown. It only got worse when his mother praised him, saying that his slim and strong appearance made her remember his father, something that only made Dave want to continue down that path to emulate not only his mother, but whom he thought now as someone that would have been a huge rocker if he was still around.

That said, Dave was extremely friendly towards everyone, oftentimes even after he is made fun of since he is a very carefree person, very silly whenever the chance shows itself and artistic prone, which may be a reason as to why he tries to fit everywhere he goes so as to, probably, get some praise. Dave is not really good with technology beyond cameras, drawing or painting programs, though otherwise he is great with music editors even if all those skills aren't exactly something most people would be proud of.

His lack of practical skills, eagerness to please and self esteem of steel makes him a goofball that everyone likes to push around a bit since he doesn't seem to mind. In a more controlled environment he would dress formally and be a model student thanks to his high IQ, however as it is he wears a leather jacket with fire on the lower side and red armbands, short camouflage pants, a black shirt with a broken skull motif (if he wears anything at all under the jacket) and steel clad boots that shows his rebellious nature against the rules and a carefree spirit that is impossible to kill.

With that information it would be easy to see why he would just shrug it off and don another part of his wardrobe: His trademark sunglasses "My mother is happy as far as I am happy. I feel it right to honor her vocation dude. It is the government's fault that she had to change to protect me and I won't be caught dead doing any of that"

"Of course you would not be caught dead, it has been a long time since anyone has died when the law decides to come crashing down on you" Cortes' voice was deadpan and his look harsh "After all that is what stun guns are for and why rehabilitation centers exist"

"Whatever man" Dave crossed his arms "Am not going to change who I am"

"So it seems, but you and Morgan have one thing in common: Both of you got in problems when you were little because of your fathers, and in both cases those fathers aren't here" The stern look on Cortes' face intensified "Morgan got abandoned when he was five and, worse yet, your mother got left alone when you were conceived. Those two were friends when they were here, they were BORN here, and you can see where their actions led them: Away from a pair of children that need them after leaving them without a fully functioning family. You both could have benefited from them adapting to society instead of leaving"

The third teenager decided to chime in "That is mean, sir"

"And there is our last problem, and one I still regret having" With a much more gentle look on his face, Cortes turned "George Pie, your mother and father are a loving pair, I know them since they were little, I understand why Alexei Ziegler would leave his son with them, with you as his step brother... Even if it was still a cruel thing, he made sure to give him a good family and, thus, giving you a good brother. I cannot believe, however, how negative the whole thing was in so many levels"

George Pie, son of Jonathan J. Pie, a huge man to whom George owes his massive 7' 4" of height, messy blonde hair and dark blue eyes, though the wide belly and large muscles come, ironically, from his big boned and both brutally strong and loving mother, Ellen W. Ramirez. He was a big man with an imposing figure and a heart of gold much like his locks.

Having been born with technically non harmful complications in the long run for someone his size, George did not give really any problem to his parents and would practically be an exemplary son, however he was born really big and really heavy. This would prove to be at most mildly annoying at birth, but his massive size, for a child, would be too much for a normal woman, even one as strong as his mother.

Minimal but localized damage would make it impossible for him to have any brothers in the future even with modern medicine. The danger was nonexistent outside of needing to remove certain parts that had been damaged, as any toiling that would make them grow back could as well hurt Ellen if it did not heal her properly. With a mother in the energy converters and a father tasked with helping the growth of modified plants for certain food supplements, work was hard and their free time was scarce, so even if they had wanted to go along with it, the treatment would have made their free time evaporate and that would have meant not being with their children. This would play an important role when, about to reach five years of age, George found Morgan in one of those scarce days when they all were at home.

Developing a very protective relationship with his step brother, George used his bulk to help the young kid that came to his life. He made sure other kids didn't bother him, that no one messed with him and protecting him in every way. This would come to mean, in most case, ending up in fights when he tried to get in the way of older kids. He would come to grow tall, strong and slightly fat, though the extra weight only made him more durable and, while he tired quicker than more muscular people, he was capable of hurling punches that would crack the stone tiles of the walls of the school. All of this would end up creating for him a most fearful reputation of being the behemoth of the school. It was something 'cute', really, mostly because George was shy as hell, being unable to talk to girls unless he was able to see them as friends, was all too nice to those 'innocent', like children, and was loyal to a fault, which also included a little honor code that usually got him in problems too.

Of course most people saw him, his simple minded desire of helping, his inability to focus on his studies properly thanks to mostly being there to help and support his friends (which in turn meant his incompetence with most mechanical things) and his shyness towards nearly any girl to be mockery issues. Deciding that he didn't care much, he just shrugged it off day by day, wearing usually long shirts with shredded sleeves, long trousers, sport footwear and, courtesy of Dave, a chain around his neck, long enough to wrap around his arms. It should be noted that said chain was for aesthetic purposes, he found it impossible to use in anyone, no matter how much they angered him, which was an impressive show of restrain in the hulking muscle of the group to those that didn't really know him.

"I don't see where is the problem, sir" He would conclude after it was obvious Cortes was waiting for a response "I just make sure my friends stay safe"

"And that is the problem!" A loud smash made the wooden table tremble, going so far as to spewing one of the table's drawers' contents "Sss... I need to repair that" Rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment, Cortes pointed at the group "YOU ALL! You force a negative effect on each other! Morgan!" Pointing at said teen, he started chewing them out worse than he ever had "Your fear to approach others rubs on your friends! You may think you don't, but because you are highly uncomfortable, or you fell outright threatened, in the presence of others you make your friends refuse to be close to nearly anyone else!"

"B-but... we have some friends" Morgan was used to Cortes, but this little outburst had made it clear that he could be much more direct, and threatening, than the young man thought "I m-mean, take Katia for example..."

"That is not the thing!" Another slam made the drawer fall of its place and Cortes had to control himself not to get angrier "You and your friends count SIX, and the only ones to be always together are you three! It was because of dumb luck or because Dave and George that you got someone else to talk from time to time, and it was during the first year! How long has it been since you socialized again with someone you didn't get to consider a friend on your first year here?"

Protective as ever, George butted in "Sir, that is not..."

"YOU!" Pointing with his finger, George's instinctive fear, much like any other kid and even most grownups, kicked in when it came to a figure of power "You make both of them think they are protected to a nearly perfect state! You think that you can make sure they do not have any problem during their whole lives? They sometimes do very stupid things, and you make sure they don't suffer the damn consequences, you think that is right George?"

"I... I think" Looking ashamed, George shook his head "I suppose it is... not right... but I don't want them hurt"

Giving a gentle smile, Cortes relaxed his voice "Believe me, I can understand your plight George, I really can, but unlike you, I was not as physically capable to do it, so in my case we had to learn to cope with others when I was your age" As he turned to Dave his harsh gaze returned "The problem is that there is someone that does not know how to abide to the rules and is going to get you all into more problems that you could run in by yourselves"

"Hey man, what is that for?" Dave stomped hard with his boots, making the metallic thud clatter in everyone's ears as he took the glasses away in anger "You are basically saying all the shit hitting the fan is my damn fault!"

"And it isn't?" Cortes let a few seconds pass by as Dave tried to mouth some words "You feel safe, you don't want to approach anyone else, both of them when you are with Morgan and George, however when you are alone you try to talk to everything and everyone. You usually end up butting in on anything you can, being silly and goofy, trying to get mixed in anything that catches your fancy. Is that a problem? Yes, it is. It is a problem because you DO get involved even if the others don't want, trying to change topics, designs and other things into what you like, into 'radical' things, while nearly everyone is not a fan of your crap. When you aren't with your friends you lose the sense of closeness and safety and you try to convert everything to your liking so everyone would treat you nicely or to make them laugh and like you even if they DON'T want"

"I just want people to be a bit more lax man" Dave slumped a bit, seeing this time Cortes had a point, and he had to shut up "Everyone is so damn bland and have sticks so big up their asses that a damn paladin would have been the life of the party if we had any today! Heck, my mother's friends in security are animals if we compare them to most people that are near the end of their school period here! Is it so bad to beg for some radicalness around this joint?"

"Yes, which is the POINT" Getting up, Cortes rounded his table to get in front of the teenagers "You all have to fit in society, very few that don't end up achieving something. I will NOT tell you three to stop being yourselves, but try to find a way to fit in, each of you, or you will someday find that you are all alone and with nothing to back you up" Sighing, Cortes looked at each one, one at a time, very slowly, until he had addressed the three "And to ensure that, starting tomorrow, I will have to order you to do this: For a month you WON'T be with each other during school time, sitting NEXT to each other will be a punishable act, TALKING to each other will also be an offense and BEING within a yard of each other unless it is mandatory will also be a punishable offence. This means that all of them will be enforced by half an hour of detention AND an extension of one day per transgression to this month I am issuing"

The three teenagers were shocked beyond words, going so far as to have Dave open his mouth in a gaping way while slowly rising a hand. Before it turned out to be another of his mockeries, Cortes lifted a hand and finished.

"Morgan needs to get used to different people and remain calm around those he does not know. George needs to loosen up, let you two be yourselves without him turning into a mother hen AND maybe center himself with studying. AND you, Dave, need to stop trying to please everyone and, more than anything, cut out such things as, urgh, cosmorific, psychotronic, geeky-o-matic (while referring at you three) and other things that I don't know how they aren't a crime under current laws" Again, Cortes rubbed the bridge of his nose, something that signaled him getting really, really annoyed "Now get out of here and remember: Tomorrow starts the small trial. If I see improvements at the end, I will lift it if you all obey the rules, now go"

With that said, and a few encouraging pushes afterwards, the three friends found themselves out of the office and into the main corridor of the second floor of the school. The little shock would last until they were nearly out of the school as the bell rang, telling nearly everyone that the classes had ended except for the few younger ones with some attitude problems that had yet to be cut down.

"That asshole is splitting us apart man! But not before I split HIM!"

Dave was about to turn back and open a pat through the students as they went to their homes, but Morgan placed a hand on his shoulder before he did something really impulsive "Dave, relax... everything will be all right, I am sure of it" Dave looked back, eyeing him as he took his sunglasses back to their place once again "He is going to mess with us in school all right, but we have places to be where he can't touch us"

"Heh, yea" George took both of his friends in a bear hug, lifting them up as they walked down the now busy street towards his home "Wonder what he would do if he knew what we do in our 'free time'. I bet everyone in school would be amazed at what we do for a living"

"Ya know... since I don't follow the rules..." Dave looked at his friends with a little devious smirk.

"Absolutely not!" Freeing one of his hands to pull away of George, Morgan jumped to the ground "The contract says we cannot tell who we are, it is part of the deal!" As quickly as he all but yelled that, his friends forced their hands on his mouth.

"Man! I was kidding, heck, I wouldn't dream of smashing such psychotronic dream! Seriously!" With a chuckle, Dave looked around "Luckily everyone has gone away quickly but the younger ones, and they seem to think we are a brutal group of weirdos... How much I would like to give them a nice scare with this mad secret of ours, though"

George chuckled as they let Morgan breathe at least "You know Dave, Cortes is right, you should try to use less slang. I mean, it is not bad as in some cases, but I picture you going into a rampage with silly catchphrases at some point"

Laughing, the group walked away, with Dave taking a moment while glaring dangerously at his friend.

"Come on man! If I don't do this shit who will? You?" Running to catch with his friends, he added "Besides, cosmorific is silly and you say it a lot, and Morgan likes a little too much to say 'incredible' at anything that surprises him. We are totally awesome when we do it during our little shows anyway"

Laughing and talking, the group went downtown to their area of the suburbs, ready to have a quiet evening before they would need to do their weekly trip, something they had been doing for nearly a year since their deal came to pass thanks to the lack of volunteers. That they were not yet even seventeen years old didn't matter when they were perfect for the job, however adventures never come to pass when there is no danger, and as the group of misfits goes away planning for a new day of fun to compensate for future problems, there is someone watching with distaste.

And, what would you know, that someone is the same person I have told you a moment ago and that has just ordered our three little friends apart. Cortes may not wish to attain vengeance on the sons of the ones that messed with his father, but the desire to get these kids off his back was due something else entirely.

A phone rang in the ground, part of the contents that had been dropped during his little tirade. He almost told them the real reason why he was angry and why the three had been getting on his nerves, and nearly the rest of the teachers, as of late. There were few people that knew, and the man on the other side of the line was one of the few that knew just how important was for these kids to get expelled.

"Cortes on the phone. I gather mostly everything is complete on your end?" Without missing a beat and all business. Perfect order as Cortes wanted it to be.

The voice on the other side of the phone still unnerved Cortes. His own voice was deep and sometimes grave, much more so whenever he got angry. Morgan was a bit nasal but pleasant, and if it wasn't because of the danger the kid posed, he would be one of the few that Cortes would commend for that new company that promised entertainment, something he enjoyed mostly thanks to his son... which also was part of the problem. George was deep and sometimes guttural, much like his father, but Dave was slightly high pitched and would end up making you grit your teeth when combined with his usual smug smirk.

He had a large repertory, and in most cases he could tell everyone apart by their voices, sometimes even figuring people by their tone and way to speak, after all he was a people's person and knew very well how to decipher nearly anyone. The fact that this man had always used a voice encoder, a little device to mask his real voice with a tone impossible to achieve, made him second guess himself a lot. Weren't it for the documents he had been given, the horribly dark voice on the other side of the phone would have been discarded the first day. The problem was that the offer was too good to let it pass.

"Yes, it will be ready soon" The nearly growling voice on the other side of the line practically smirked "I have a few things ready for those three and my own reasons to make them suffer a bit as you know. If all goes well they will be off your back within a month. With some luck they won't even put a feet on the USA ever again even"

"I hate doing business with you" This was one of those few situations when the nearly perfectly even disposition and controlled emotions didn't play out as he wanted them for the perfect effect. Cortes just got uneasy all too easy with this person "But it is getting worse. The younger members of this school are getting attracted to these three's antics, their little group of friends is trying to get them to interact with others all together. There are enough people around here that sympathize with them and they are causing more problems than it has ever been recorded in this school. If I don't do something the years they have left will be total chaos and we will attract the W.W.G, THEN everyone here will think the disciplinary measures are my fault"

How ironic could it be? Cortes was worried about what little control he felt like having in this school would slip through his fingers thanks to the young trio. The teenagers were attracting the younger generations thanks to their weird camaraderie and extravagant antics that made them look sometimes like fools, yea, but daring fools. It was not their fault that young people were slightly stupid, but Cortes could not afford them to really mingle, so pulling them apart and just ordering them to do exactly that would, probably, solve things.

"I can understand you" The voice said in quite the empathetic tone "I have something against those three, yes, but they aren't the only ones... Much like you, their parents hurt me in some ways. Since they are not around anymore for me to discuss it with them, some payback will be enough" With a little chuckle, the voice turned to a business like demeanor "Tomorrow is Friday. The group will have bad news today about something I cannot discuss, however it will only aggravate the angst they will get by being separated for most of the day. During the weekend there will be another surprise for them... if all goes well, there will be no further problems from them soon. In the worst case scenario, they will be too preoccupied to cause more mayhem for you for a while"

"Sincerely; I hope you are not going to harm them in any way" Cortes growled lightly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose "They are a danger if they spread their way of acting and I know there are schools for such cases, yes, but I don't want them hurt, just out of here"

The voice suddenly picked a very angry tone "If this doesn't work you are going to realize way too late what kind of danger these three are" And, with a warning growl, it added "They may very well be endangering everyone close to them, and I mean they are in danger of death! If this plan goes down the drain we all may have to kiss not only your precious city, but a good part of the USA goodbye"

And, like that, the line was cut and Cortes was left with an angry scowl on his face. He had been tested for years thanks to the antics those youngsters were pulling, but he had never thought them to be SUCH a danger. True that the worst of those lazy dweebs had gone to prison to teach them a lesson and prepare them to do something productive, with the worst of them just being left to work in places like the only comic and game story in the city; Stop and Scarf, however it had been few times, if ever, when people like this were a danger for others but themselves. If this person was saying the truth, though he only had a few things given by 'him' to go by, then his fear could easily turn into hatred.

His son wanted to be part of that damn group of miscreants.

Well, he wouldn't allow it!

*Crack!*

Cortes realized way too late that he had been putting increasing pressure on the phone, not until it burst into little pieces "Damn it... titanium fiber and compact formula to be anti shock, on board pc, perfect navigation system, camera with X-Rays and heat vision and a promise of it working longer than myself... Well, half a month worth of salary down the drain" The man sighed as he spared a glance towards the way the three friends had gone "God, I hate those perps sometimes... but I do hope they show me wrong soon"

*-Within the Pie household, half an fifteen minutes a walk from school-*

"So spill it! What do you mean 'canceled for maintenance'?! I tell you man, we need to kick some serious ass after today's class! Yes, I am serious! No, I am not addicted to the game... Well, yes, I enjoy dishing out pain a lot in there but... COME ON! I didn't mean it like that! Hey, HEY! Don't hang up you piece of crap! I DON'T care that you pay me! You are not going to find other crazy idiots like us to play around in your toy! Yes! I called us crazy idiots because we have to be crazy to jump on that thing once a week! No! I will not shut the fuck up!"

"Ya know, Dave is a bit more worked up than I initially thought"

"Word" Morgan chuckled as he 'bro fisted' George while Dave glared daggers at them.

After the little disaster that had been their day in school it had been easy to kick back and relax at the Pie's home. The ground floor was, as always, immaculate with the green walls everywhere and the many plants making it look like a forest thanks to George and Morgan's dad and his fixation with nature. With the pet fish in the large tank by the plasma TV screen in the main room making those calming burbling sounds as Morgan and George relaxed in the large sofa, trying to prepare for tomorrow's more than probable catastrophe. Dave, on his part, had thought of calling Psicone to see how was the beta developing, much to his friend's chagrin and partial amusement.

Being such a big and dirty mouthed guy when he was pissed off, Dave had found it weird that the game was undergoing 'tweaks' now as every Thursday had been gaming day for a few months now. It was a day that many people wanted, a day to see something of such a scale that you couldn't hope to see even in the sports section of the programming. However it was pushed to Saturday after some unexpected problems had been found, and Dave was in a bad mood that forbade him from hanging the pone and let it be.

"Seriously Dave, let it slide. It was clear today wasn't our day" Morgan chuckled at the still glaring young man "We may even welcome it! Tomorrow we have to be away from each other until school ends, then we will go smashing things on the weekend. I think it will make us a bit more destructive than usual"

Dave just raised a hand while putting up a face "Yes! I want to know why the fu... What do you mean the boss got hurt?"

At that George and Morgan perked up and got besides his friend faster than light. There were animosities floating about with most of the head staff of Psicone, but the head honcho himself, Yuriko Tashoku, was liked by the three friends. Morgan had been basically forced (or 'gently encouraged' by his friends, so to speak) to try and be nice and relax in their meeting. Turns out it wasn't needed though; Yuriko was a man that no one could hate, at least that is what the friends thought.

'Bossman', as e was called by the three regardless of protocol, was a kind guy and told the youngsters that the part that warned about death or other effects was partially a lie. Some tests would be made and if they fit within certain parameters, they would have no real risks, but it was easy to scare those that wouldn't take the job seriously... which was most of the population.

It had been quite the fun time with the man: Yuriko was someone that was as eccentric as the group of friends themselves, was quite young and capable to understand their plight and, of course, was all too eager to work with capable minds, allowing them to be themselves, which made an insta-friend of him. Of course the work relations had to be mostly professional and not of 'buddies', mostly so there wouldn't be problems with the few, like Vakuse, whom wanted it to be a serious business.

Yuriko admitted it was a pain in the ass, but the W.W.G wanted things that way until the staff was confirmed to be stable. In short: Until the year of privation ended, the trio would still be tested regularly even though they were the only volunteers to this point. The boss had been thankful that they had brain patterns compatible with the machine they would be used and was trying his best to get the W.W.G and Vakuse to let it rest already, because it was a very real possibility that they could lose the friends' support, but in his words "Hardasses will be hardasses"

"Yes, I know the boss likes us and all, what does it have to do with...? He wanted to test the finished version first? I didn't know he was compatible with the machine to... Oh, he and his daughter? Well it guess it makes sense" Dave stopped for a second as the deep voice of Alexei Vakuse was barely hard by the friends "I see... So the finished game creates phantom pain and knocks you out when you suffer a death? How bad is it? Muscles cramp up, pain flares and inability to move 'cut' body parts? Man, that sounds..." Again a moment of pause as Vakuse explained something over the phone "Oh well, if it only lasts so long it is not a problem, but I suppose that the phantom pain persisting for a while may be a bitch. Yea, I will calm down now, sorry Vakuse. Yea I should not yell next time, but the principal is splitting us apart in the school and you know by now what happens when we aren't together... Yes, I'll make a photo of the school if we burn it... and yes, if you do a movie about that WE will want part of the money. See ya boss"

Hanging the phone, Dave sighed "He may be a manipulative asshole all right, but Vakuse does like to keep business in perfect order. I doubt he tried to lie to me... but man did that sound bad when he explained it"

"Man! Explain up!" George basically lifted Dave to sake him side to side "What happened to the boss?"

"Calm down you gorilla!" Dave chuckled as he pushed his large friend away "Vakuse said the boss thought it was time to test the complete game, ok? He didn't tell anyone it seems, but he and his daughter can play without any problems, like us. Put me down and I'll explain ok?"

George let go of his friend and Dave dusted himself off with a grin "You could break me up like that man, I am not as used to your bear hugs as your bro here" He pointed at Morgan who had the same eager expression as George, both wanting to know about what he had been told "Well, as I was saying, Vakuse told me that the boss and his daughter both can get in the game. Since Volkmire had said that connecting the full game to the mainframe could affect the machine until everything was tuned in, it was theorized we would have to do beta testing for nearly two years. Do you two remember that?"

Morgan gave a nod "Yea, I was paying real attention to Silas, remember? I heard every last word and, I have to be sincere here, it made sense. They have created literally a whole universe for the players to explore. We have been able to play in a few battlegrounds and little else, but even there the attention to detail and the huge areas to explore would still overload most common computers, and that is saying a LOT today"

"The graphics are cosmorific man!" George cut in "I didn't care back then and I won't care now: We smash, we bash, and we kick everyone's ass! I mean, most games that are allowed to the public for a very quick stress relief are crappy and look like cartoons, if there were GOOD cartoons around" Then he stopped for a moment "We could fit nearly all the games that are allowed by the W.W.G in one single computer, but I am sure one percent of the game we play as our 'work' would be too much for a common one"

"I am more than sure it would" Morgan nodded at his friend "The Cerebral Bore is a super computer, yes, but I took a look at those blueprints..."

"And?" Dave crossed his arms as he gave his friend an angry look over his sunglasses, knowing all too well what Morgan was thinking "I know you don't feel... well, good when you approach people you don't know, in fact I am surprised you just slightly dislike Vakuse and you enjoy yourself around the bossman. I found it normal that you disliked Silas because the man seems off in the company: He is perfectly normal when it comes to devotion to work and wanting to do everything by the book. I am surprised he even designed a gaming console instead of the next generation of robotic bodies for the IAs"

Morgan didn't make any comment. The discussion had already taken place back in the day after they saw the large machine. It was weird to Morgan since he could easily remember a less polished version of the thing, a partially assembled machine that was part of his earliest memories alongside his father and a few figures he could not make out. Morgan toyed with the idea, he even told his friends about the possibility, that his father could have been part of the group that made the machine. The problem and discussion immediately focused in Silas.

The man that owned the designs and to whom the machine was credited to was a young researcher, no older than thirty six or so. He had a clean profile except for the issue that was Morgan's father, his previous associate: Alexei Ziegler. Game maker extraordinaire and rogue against the law, a person that was the father of most HEAVILY watered down games of today, 'tamer' versions of his creations, and expert hacker with a fondness to toy with the government for any reason. He was friends with Dave's father, whom was also a known troublemaker in his youth and, at least, had been in good graces with George's dad at some point. That last part was what most people, including Morgan and Cortes, though since at least the teenagers had never asked for various reasons.

It was this little stain in the man's curriculum that brought a lot of alarms to Morgan's mind, that, and that little memory of his. He was sure that Silas knew something, maybe even Vakuse, since he seemed to have made himself good friends with both the big boss and the developer thanks to his smooth acting. However he never brought up his father and neither did Vakuse, whom could also know nothing about it, but Morgan was simply that suspicious, or Silas, whom Morgan KNEW had information about the whys behind his father's little escape.

All of it spelled danger to him, but then again, nearly everything did at first when it was him who was asked about what he thought. It could be possible that Silas knew nothing and just decided to continue with the work his father had started. They had been friends after all, or so it seemed, and Silas would not talk about it with Morgan since it could probably be possible that Morgan knew nothing and wanted to know nothing about the one that left him behind.

Thinking about it, Morgan was thorn beyond his natural distrust towards most people and the guilt that Cortes basically forced down his mind after the little talk they had earlier. It all took a few seconds in his mind, so he decided to just play it cool and not poke at Silas again. Time would tell what would need to be done.

"The machine is insanely powerful alright, but if it was to use all its capabilities a normal brain could probably have problems. I suppose that is what happened to Yuriko when he tried to play, after all it was prepared to work for US specifically" He rubbed his chin in thought "It just would bombard you with anything you can imagine really fast"

"So you are saying it could overload a brain" Dave smirked at his friend's node "Radical man. It is like we could psycho out all the way because the machine launched us into the game FOR REAL! Can you imagine that? Going across an alien galaxy dishing out brutal pain?"

"Yea, and dying as much as we do, it would make the adventure very, very short" George smirked as he patted Dave hard enough in the back to nearly throw him on the ground "Stop dreaming buddy"

"Ok, ok, don't hit me again"

Getting away from the chuckling friends, Dave jumped onto the couch to turn on the TV and load one of the few cartoons that wasn't crap. If he was not going to kill anything he would at least kick back and relax.

"Now, since you are all going to strangle me if I don't finish" Clearing his throat as something exploded on screen, Dave decided to finish the previous tale "It seems he decided to tell the team to install more memory for the Cerebral Bore, presumably so our brains don't need to get so worked up if we suddenly have new bodies to control and a huge environment to take" Morgan sat besides his friend, nodding at his reasoning "Plus a bigger cooling system alongside with more safety protocols and a few firewalls to disconnect you if you fucked up" George took the remote away from his friend and changed the channel, much to Dave's chagrin "With some personnel to watch over him (thanks very much George! Another police robot test, seesh!). I suppose that saved his ass, but Volkmire reprimanded him because, while he had tested enough to make the game leap nearly all the way for it to be ready, he had taken a HUGE risk that could have made death something possible"

Morgan grimaced when his friends weren't looking "I suppose Volkmire did have real reasons to take things slow" Which maybe meant he had to be less suspicious around him... maybe "At least there were enough upgrades ready to lessen the blow"

Dave nodded slightly as he tried to take the remote away from George "Yea, I suppose he did his job and no one can deny that, though I still dislike the smug asshole"

"Still, half an hour knocked out? Neural paralysis? The phantom pains are something 'tame' in comparison" Morgan did his best to hide the smirk that Dave's comment brought to him "Unless they have placed every single thing on the machine and assure us we aren't going to get fried, I will not work this week"

"What?!"

Both Dave and George turned their heads, George trying to get closer to Morgan, worried at the possibility that his bro had decided to bail out. He would never admit that he was slightly scared, after all scaring the behemoth was something hard to do, but if his brother decided to quit, so would he.

Dave in truth turned to try and move away from George's path more than anything, of course, for his size, George was way too fast and he ended halfway on the floor and on the sofa, his legs trapped under George's weight as he approached Dave.

"Man down! Man down!" He screamed as he felt the bones on his legs cave in "Man is unable to feel his legs for god's sake!"

"Are you sure bro? If you don't want to play I won't go without you, you know that" George, worried as always to be with his brother and make sure he felt ok, tried to not be pushy even when he wanted oh so much to play again "But if that is the case we should give a call..."

Morgan waved it off with a smile "Nah, don't worry George, I am sure the machine will probably be perfect when Saturday comes around. I just am a bit worried you know?" He pointed at the TV and at the robot as it went through a steel door "If it is that powerful, who says we aren't going to believe it is real when the full potential of the game is unleashed? Our work as beta testers MAY end up being dangerous"

George sat up once again and thought about it, moving away from his friend's legs as a grateful "THANKS GOD!" was heard while Dave rubbed his poor and shore legs. George just enjoyed the nice and simple pleasure that was destroying things up in a game, besides, while little of the history of the game had been revealed, they were, of course, supposed to be the good guys. It was not so common in this world, but the three had dreamed many times of being heroes like in the games, though in this case they were a bit too destructive, but no one would supposedly care. Hell, even if they weren't the good guys, the people loved their antics in the game. The fun just had made the idea of it being dangerous all but nonexistent.

"Then again, I probably am worrying too much once more" Morgan patted at his brother's shoulder "If we aren't given any warning we will go play ok? If not we will postpone it, I doubt that Bossman will probably mind after what he went through"

With a smile George nodded, both glad that his brother would not call it quits and that he had thought of a 'safety measure' so to speak. They would go play as far as the thing would not mess them up, which was sound since their boss would probably tell them himself that they would not be allowed to play until it was safe again after he decided to put the whole thing in the computer. George wasn't as tech savvy as most people, but he knew that taking away the pieces and the game again would take a lot of time, and it probably was much easier to just buff the safety measures up instead of taking down the whole thing.

Happy with the resolution, George decided to take his mind back to the program, as he always enjoyed the destructive capabilities of security robots. It was weird since they were nearly never allowed to break things in their line of work thanks to how safe everything was, but hey! It was only sensible to test the thing in full... problem was that the robot was not there and instead one of the new cartoons with a samurai anthropomorphic cat was cutting down a silly looking robotic bird.

"What the hell?!"

Dave jumped from the ground yelling "Cartoons time, bitches!" Before running away with the remote.

Well, at least there would be some entertainment.

*** Far, far away, something else is cooking, ready to catch the three by surprise ***

Aboard the Vulture, flagship of the great researcher, and once ace pilot, Professor T. Bird, Princess Angelica, daughter of Queen Miranda and 'The Terran Emperor', try to escape the clutches of the Dark Queen. Universes away, in the one known as U-34, dubbed Rilerhn, the empire of Queen Miranda and its capital, planet Arels, has been subdued and their military forced whipped out by the treacherous Dark Queen in hopes of capturing the next generation, Princess Angelica, to retrieve one of the most powerful artifacts in the known space: The Galaxy Amulet.

Had it not been for the surprising intervention of two of their most elite forces during their escape, T. Bird and Angelica would've been captured irremediably by the genetically engineered forces of the Dark Queen. As it stands, their small cruiser class ship flees the much larger destroyer of the Dark Queen herself, the Gargantua, a brutal ship forged in the equally brutal world X-102, Ragnarok.

The Vulture, a small capital ship crafted in honor of Professor T. Bird, was loosely modeled to resemble the professor with a bird like bridge, side engines in the form of wings and slender main body. Mostly crafted as a mobile base and research lab, the ship has insanely powerful shields, platting and a capable warp engine for interstellar traveling. Personalized by T. Bird mostly as a mobile home, it was not intended to be taking the punishment of the destroyer on their tail.

*BOOM!*

"Professor! The left engine has been damaged!" Said the sweet voice of the figure clad in white royal garve, a small gold crown on her blonde hair and a seemingly unimportant golden collar with an emerald on her neck.

The other, simply dressed in a lab coat, did his best to stay at the ship's helm "I know it princess! Please try to grab to something! The enemy weapons and scanners will scramble if we reach the nebula!"

Professor T. Bird was a representative of the many Arelsian species, creatures that evolved extremely fast thanks to an accident from long ago. In T. Bird's case, the old professor was of bird heritage, however the Arelsians had lost part of their animal ancestry, which meant that even while his whole body was covered in feathers, T. Bird would be unable to fly. However, for that sole reason, most of the Arelsians alike to him in their genus were ingenious fighters and quick tinkerers.

Having a long but soft beak, akin to that of an eagle, T. Bird held a certain resemblance to said animal, was it not for the brown and well maintained feathers turning red from neck down to cover nearly the rest of his body but his legs. Once of a mighty psyche, now T. Bird was much after his long age had taken a tool on him, going around the 5' 45'' feet compared to his once very impressive 6' 45'', with his once brutal muscles now showing the regression of age. Even with that, and having to wear glasses all the time in his beak to keep his fading vision from leaving those yellow eyes, T. Bird was still a very resourceful, and I dare to say, dangerous individual.

Childhood friend of Queen Miranda's father, T. Bird is an old school Arelsian with the mindset of helping the crown first and worry about his own neck afterwards. Loyal to his old friend and honored as to Queen Miranda's godfather, T. Bird is a man capable of extreme kindness, bouts of comic relief and also prone to exploding things up when he is bored, something Queen Miranda enjoyed thoroughly. He is both a wordy man and capable of having the graces of both the middle man and those that respect a solid mind more than social or less practical skills.

Now though, the best attribute right at this point was how hard he was to be deterred under fire, though even the old veteran was getting nervous under the many alarms that the main computer was giving off. Capable of devising attack or defense plans within seconds, if not minutes at worst, T. Bird had been the perfect squadron leader of the old royal guard, something surprising since they were initially nothing more than militia, volunteers on service. If he was unable to save them from their dark fate no one would.

"My ship's shielded against the nebula's disturbing ionic fields" The old professor assured Angelica as he forced the big, but still fast ship, to avoid an incoming missile and conserve the precious shield "We will be able to get behind one of the many asteroids while the nebula's effects blind the Gargantua's crew"

"But what will it matter? The Dark Queen knows where we are headed" Angelica, depressed enough to make the sweet voice break under pressure, was not so positive as her friend "She will reach it faster if she goes at full speed"

Princess Angelica was part of the few human, or strongly human resembling, Arelsians. Daughter of the man known as 'The Terran Emperor', it was thanks to his father, whom was of no royal blood whatsoever, that she resembled a seven foot tall woman with an impressive, Amazon like figure. With powerful muscles in arms and legs to put a man to shame, the Arelsians women were still extremely feminine, practically showing no muscle. It had been an evolutionary adaptation to make these impressive huntresses catch prey unaware when they thought they were the ones stalking food. Nowadays it works mostly to give both male and female Arelsians equal rights.

Shy of her strength, Princess Angelica developed a very gentle nature and carefree spirit, something that most her followers seen as a sign of a good heart, but not of a totally sound mind. The blond, with waist length hair, is still capable of taking decisive actions, but with her parents still around she hasn't seen the necessity to, until now. She has a massive desire to see her people flourish and is unable to think of causing any harm, at much wanting to do her best to maintain a neutral stance to please everyone. Those that know her, however, know perfectly well how easy the princess can bend titanium in a fit of anger that the still young woman sometimes suffers when under stress.

As the future queen, she was ensued the Galaxy Amulet, an ancient artifact that was also the cause of the alteration of the Arelsians and their actual 'immortality'. She finds her duty to be extremely heavy, as the Arelsians are a people that is connected to the universe after the 'accident' in a way that they cannot die until they do so of old age, instead they disappear when they are 'dead' and reappear instants latter (hours at worst) in places they consider safe. This works only as far as the Galaxy Amulet is safe, for it was once damaged and the pain it caused the people until it was restored was immense.

Being the bearer of such a heavy burden, Princes Angelica, whom would only be different to a normal human if you performed a blood test, is considered a hero amongst her people, even if she is quite different to the other 'humans' of her home planet. This is what has made her grow up as very nervous ruler to be, being insecure if she will do what is right or if her followers will still love her after she assumes her place on the throne. The attack of the newest Dark Queen has forced her in a state of mental unrest that is turning a woman from someone capable of ruling an empire into prosperity, into a scared child that would cower under her blanket if given the change.

"Well princess..." T. Bird looked to the side to give her a smirk, showing perfect white teeth that you wouldn't expect in a bird "We can make a jump and they will be unable to while they search for us"

Angelica let out a little "Oooh" as she returned the smile wide eyed with those beautiful emerald eyes showing surprise as she hadn't thought of something so simple. Turning red at how much her mind had wandered out thanks to her plight she just nodded in acknowledgement. Her only worry was, then, that the bridge would not be damaged, the lateral or frontal screens broken or that both engines were rendered useless. They were a few thousand kilometers away from the nebula after all, only a minute or two more. She knew this ship had survived worse punishments during T. Bird's little voyages.

She should, after all she went with her 'grandpa' T. Bird in some of those little trips.

However they weren't the only ones to be positive in this little scenario. Far behind them, but not far enough, was the much heavier and slower Gargantua, a massive ship with a ferocious snake like bridge and a heavy and not so elongated body with both posterior and lateral engines, a night impregnable shield and hundreds of small laser turrets that could shred even the larger Cruiser or Dreadnought class ships to smithereens. It had been thanks to Ragnarok's black metal and plasma like magma that flooded its dangerous interior that such a monster could have been build to serve the evil Dark Queen.

"We have damaged their left engine my queen" A guttural voice echoed on the bridge "It is minor, but we will be able to track it even if they reach the nebula"

"Perfect" A husky voice practically purred "I will soon have the Galaxy Amulet and the pretty blond head of the one that wears it"

"Uh... mistress, isn't that a bit heavy? I mean, she is your sister..."

*Slap!*

"Half sister you buffoon! And I don't want to kill her, just to scare her and see what her idiot of a father did to me! If they don't want to repay the damage my 'dad' created, then they will be forced to!"

The Dark Mistress, a woman one could call a bombshell, was nearly as tall as Princess Angelica but for 2". She was a figure of wonder with raven black hair nearly as long as the princess while also covering half her face and beautiful red eyes, a careful dose of mascara to empathize her beautiful factions. With an hourglass figure that hid muscles much like those of her sister, if not even more powerful, it was already an impressive sight, however one has to be direct and say that those impressive melons and that black cape and leather corset, boots and gloves would probably draw the attention away from anything else.

Following the footsteps of a figure that appeared from time to time in Arelsian culture, the Dark Queen, whose real name was Valeria, had decided to turn away from their people to try and forge her own empire. Unlike previous Dark Queens however, she had been able to pose a real treat. Since the 'accident' that created the Arelsians as they are, Dark Queens have appeared to make a grab for power, wishing to change the peaceful Empire into the unstoppable conquering machine that their pseudo immortality would make them.

Being the illegitimate children of 'The Terran Emperor', the Dark Queen claimed her place of power now that her father was king. Queen Miranda refused, and thus a war was called. With her superior intellect and ruthlessness, the Dark Queen created the Eraser, a weapon capable of 'killing' the Arelsians, though in fact it only sent their essence into the cosmos to be alive once again somewhere else, such power was granted by their pseudo immortality. However the Dark Queen had known of that and had also crafted another device to capture said essence, with the only thing capable of returning the trapped Arelsians into their bodies and to life being in the possession of the princess.

Power hungry as she was, the Dark Queen decided to not 'erase' her father, instead capturing him... however she DID erase the queen and her youngest daughter, sending a clear message to her half sister that she would do anything needed to get the amulet. She went so far as to let her half family's essence escape, thus regenerating somewhere else that not even the Dark Queen knew about. As if it was not enough, she would then destroy the royal guard and subdue the militia based army, capturing all and any Arelsians that had opposed her with the Eraser, having plans for them once she got the amulet from her 'sister'.

"General Slaughter, rise up you dolt" The Queen ordered to the one she had slapped "I don't have time for you lying about when we are near our victory"

"Y-yes my queen"

At 10' 5" the Arelsian known as General Slaughter was one of the tallest and strongest of the Arelsians with ruminant like appearance, in his case, partially like a bull. With short purple like hair implanted in his bald cranium, a huge nose ring, large ears, sharp yellow fangs all over his mouth and four small, but capable of enlarging themselves, horns on the top of his head, General Slaughter was a vision that only a mother could love with his ugly mug always having a snarl.

In Arelsian society violence was relegated to tournaments and some sports. There were always rebels, but in most cases those rebels, or sometimes pirates, fought because they wanted things done differently or simply because they thought it would be an easy way to earn a living. General Slaughter was aptly named because the huge titan loved to give great fights, fights that didn't even have to be encouraged as Slaughter would simply pick fights with whoever was strong in the room. Not stupid but not smart, this hulking mass of muscle would usually just break down a door to seek someone to curb stomp for fun.

Because of his brutality and willingness to revel in it, General Slaughter was forced to be an outcast, something that only made him happy as he formed a pirate band with mostly rhinos like Arelsians. His only drawback was that his impressive and muscular body was extremely weak in the arms, legs and, of course, the privates, weak points that the Dark Queen exploited to hand him an insanely humiliating defeat during the time where she wanted to recruit followers. Having found someone stronger than himself, Slaughter bowed to follow the Dark Queen in her conquest.

While dangerous and fickle, the Dark Queen rewarded Slaughter for his strangely strong loyalty with heavy shoulder straps on his, armguards, leg guards and crotch protection that only SHE could take away with some of her little creations. The arm guards would be fixated in place, alongside the shoulder straps, with a biometalic mess capable of moving around to protect the huge Arelsian's weak point, the same mess would join the knee guards and the groin, fixating them in place while offering both mobility and defense. With how tough the hide was nearly everywhere else, and because no one was crazy enough to try and get close to the hoofs of this beast to attack his lower legs, General Slaughter had been nearly invincible since he got into the Dark Queen's service.

Except for the Dark Queen herself, for someone so big, one slap of the woman could turn his face to muss.

Finally getting up, the massive muscle bound bull decided to try his luck a bit more "But don't you think that it would be better to just blast their engines, mistress? They could get away"

"A sound plan... but that small ship may very well blow up, and I do not want my little sister to reappear back on Arels, she could have another escape plan that depends on me accidentally blowing her up" The Dark Queen mussed more to herself than to her general "Just keep herding her. Once she enters the nebula we both will be out of commission for a minute, two, tops. We have a crew and she only has that pathetic bird to help her, we will not lose her"

"If you fear destroying her, my mistress, then we may still have a problem"

General Slaughter moved besides his queen to point at the large bridge. At least fifty crewmembers were on the lower level of the deck, with both General Slaughter and the Dark Queen overseeing their activity. Most were part of Admiral Oink's smaller Psychopigs, another species of Arelsian, or the rat like Arelsians from Big Blag's scavengers. They were aiming weapons, plotting course and correcting it at each moment and, most importantly, showing the holographic screen with the nebula about to be entered and the thousands of either big or simply huge asteroids that it had within.

"If they power down, at their current velocity, and judging how much the asteroids move around thanks to their high metal content inside the nebula's fields, they may very well fall prey of one of those rocks" General Slaughter nodded at one of the rats to signal that the cameras could return to the previous course "There are a lot of chances they may not remain intact"

"In that case it will not be my fault, but her own, so maybe I can still use that for latter" A devious smirk crossed the Dark Queen's black lips "How long until the field hits us?"

"A few seconds my Dark Q... GAH!"

One of the pig like Arelsians covered his eyes, then everyone else did the same. The nebula they were in was called the 'Bright Eye', not because it was colorful, in truth, the nebula was only picked up in scanners, nearly invisible to most eyes. The problem was that the magnetic and ionic fields made most computers all but crazy while they were within range and, to top it off, most mechanisms stopped working entirely for a minute, two, sometimes going so far as to stop half an hour. If that wasn't enough, camera feed from outside the ship turned into a mess of red, orange and yellow while extremely fast lights traveled all over the screen as the equipment was scrambled.

Quick reaction came from the Dark Queen as she instructed her crew on what to do to quickly nullify the field. It was a show how the rats and pigs crashed onto each other, nearly all of them half or totally blinded for a few seconds. Would've been comical if the queen wasn't about to murder someone, then go to the chambers of the ship where they came back to life and do it again a few more times, something that made Slaughter move away a few feet, to be on the safe side.

When the cameras came back on and the ship was restored everything calmed. It hadn't been so bad, but the special equipment that kept gravity and illumination in the bridge was not located all over the ship, so complains came fast from the rest of the massive hull as the troops decided to put up a shit storm, not caring if their queen got fed up with them. They would latter regret it as when the screen came back, the shout could be heard all over the Gargantua.

Outside of the heavy ship, the only thing seen was space, for the naked eye that is, inside the destroyer the screens still flashed with colors and they would not go away until they escaped the nebula. It would not be all that of a problem if only the passive scanners worked and they indicated that the ship they had pursued had gone ahead, seemingly undeterred by the nebula's negative effects. The Dark Queen's red face, full of anger, could be pictured by both Princes Angelica and T. Bird within the Vulture, hidden close by, near one of the asteroids, the ship powered down except the vital necessities so the passive scanners would not catch them.

"Well now, princess" T. Bird could hardly hide a smirk as the Gargantua went in deeper, following the probe that the professor had launched with their energy signature "I think it is time to make a jump towards Battlions"

*** End of chapter 1 ***

I am sorry if, for Battletoads, this is plot heavy... wait, this nearly anything was plot heavy for Battletoads back in the day... Well, next chapter will have massive brain damage for some baddies so just way. Wishing to give this a decent enough plot is NOT easy when you try to be loyal to the comic and the TV pilot as well as the games since there is little to go by and many things that would make people probably dislike this. In any case, see you in Chapter 2: Birth of the Battletoads!