It was a week or so after the Great Shugguth had been defeated by President Lincoln's heroic sacrifice. The world was in grief over his death yet in relief at the defeat of a genocidal monster. The agents of S.T.E.A.M. were still trying to remain optimistic while looking for the president, as well as the last of the aliens.
Captain Henry Fleming walked over to the crew of the Liberty, all of whom were busy checking the Antarctic landscape. "Any luck?" Henry asked Katherine.
"No luck, Captain Fleming," she replied, "No one's been able to find his body yet."
"Well, we've got to keep searching. President Lincoln was a smart man; he must've found a way to escape before A.B.E. exploded."
Katherine replied, "I want to believe President Lincoln is alive just as much as you do, Henry. But we haven't been able to find anything indicating he survived." She began tearing up. "If the cold weather hasn't killed him by now, he's probably starving to death," she cried.
"Don't say that!" Henry said, "We never say 'die' in this group! Well, except Califia…"
"I'm sorry, Captain," Katherine replied, "I'll contact the base and ask them to get the excavating equipment situated for subzero temperatures. Once ready, they can start going through the crater left over after the battle."
"Thanks, Katherine," Henry replied, "I knew I could count on you."
"My pleasure, Captain Fleming," she smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks. The captain smiled, too, walking back to join the others.
John Henry was sitting on one of the couches in the rec room. He had an empty seat next to him with his mechanical arm on the top of the couch. Tom Sawyer snuck behind the couch to check out the arm. When he was certain John wasn't paying attention, he slowly and quietly stood up and began checking out all the mechanics that made the artificial limb work. He held one of the fingers on the hand.
"Hey!" John said, "Knock that off!" He lightly swatted at Tom.
"Aw, shucks, Mr. Henry," the young Missourian replied, "I thought y'all was too distracted to notice me."
"Well, you're a quiet little kid when your mouth isn't ramblin'."
"So can you actually feel stuff with them metal fingers?"
"Yeah." John touched his robotic fingers. "I can still feel things with these digits. It's just…not the same as when they were flesh and bone." He sighed.
"Don't feel so blue, Mr. Henry. I'd give my left arm just to have one of them machines as a part o' me!"
"You wouldn't say that if you had to live with this thing for as long as I have…" John looked at his mechanical limb in disgust.
Dorothy came up to Tom. "Hey, Tom," the farm girl announced, "the on-board mess hall is serving tacos today."
"Oh, I do love me a good taco!" Tom and Dorothy walked away, leaving John in his gloom. He continued to stare at his arm.
"Why am I cursed like this?" John thought, "What horrid act did I do to deserve to be stuck with this…machine for a limb? What did I do that literally cost me an arm and a leg?" He held his head down.
At that moment, Henry walked in the room. "Hi, John," the captain said.
John looked up and smiled. "Henry!" he said, "Take a seat." He patted the cushion next to him. Henry sat down. "You look down. What's the matter?"
"No word on if President Lincoln survived," Henry explained, "I want to believe he's alive but all the evidence seems to point in the other direction…You also looked pretty sad when I came in. What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's…it's nothing," John said, trying to avoid talking about his woes.
"Well, whatever it is, I hope I can make it feel better." Henry sat close to John. John put his mechanical arm on Henry's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Randolph was playing a rousing game of chess against Scarecrow. Some of the other members had gathered around to watch.
"The king is incapable of a move like that!" the professor yelled at his brainless opponent.
"Mine has superpowers," Scarecrow tried to justify. Randolph began banging his head against the table in annoyance.
Tin Man stopped him. "Randy," he said, "you will kill valuble brain cells doing such a thing!"
"Maybe then I'll be at the same playing level as Scarecrow," Randolph retorted, "Have you seen how ludicrous he is when he plays this game? He even started the game by asking which of us rolls the dice first!"
"Patience," Tin Man replied, "He is new to this game. You cannot expect him to comprehend such a game of wits on his first try."
"I tried to explain the rules to him, but he keeps making up his own! He's like a six-year old child playing sports!" Randolph moved his bishop.
Scarecrow looked at his pieces. He picked up the rook and began jumping it over other nearby pieces like in a game of checkers. Randolph was rendered speechless by such a move. When he was done, he commented, "So does this mean I can put up a hotel on that square?" Randolph resumed beating his own head into the table.
"I call playing the winner," Lion declared. He whispered to Scarecrow, "You know, just between you and me, I think you're gonna win. You're so much better at this than he is."
"I heard that!" Randolph commented, taking one of Scarecrow's pawns with one of his pawns.
Califia took one of the captured pieces. "I like this 'queen' character. She is a fierce and powerful ruler, much like me."
Scarecrow picked up his knight and swung it across the board, knocking down all of Randolph's remaining pawns. "There! My horsie captured all of your munchkins! I've got you in checkbook!"
"Checkmate, my friend," Tin Man corrected. Randolph, in frustration, collapsed onto the floor.
Lion picked him up. "My turn!" he commented, giving Randolph to Tin Man. He sat down, ready to face his friend. Tin Man took Randolph to a couch to cool down.
Back in the control room, Katherine sat at her station, still looking for any sign that Lincoln could still be alive. "God," she thought, "I hope wherever he is, he's alright. And wherever he is, I hope we can get to him quickly." She then noticed a red light blinking. She recognized that as a distress signal. She activated the speaker. "Code Name S.T. ., Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace," she answered, "This is Katherine speaking. How may I help you?"
"Oh, thank God!" the person on the other end replied, "We need help!"
Once the call for help was finished, Katherine went to Lincoln's briefing room. She picked up the microphone. "All agents, report to the briefing room!" John and Henry got off their couch. Randolph and Tin Man got up with Tin Man still trying to keep Randolph calm.
"Aww," Scarecrow commented, "But I was just about to get the prince and princess married and unite the kingdoms."
"We'll leave our game this way," Lion said, "When we get back, we'll continue. Deal?"
"Deal!" The two friends stood up.
The agents all entered. "Now then," Katherine started. She saw Tom and Dorothy holding tacos. "May you two please finish eating those? You're eating them awfully loud." Tom looked at his, opened his mouth as wide as possible, and shoved the rest in his mouth. Dorothy was disgusted by that.
"You pig!" she commented.
"Hey, I was jus' doin' what the nice lady asked me to do."
"Where are your manners?" Dorothy asked. She took a few bites and finished her taco.
"Back on topic," Katherine explained, "We received a distress call coming from an airport. It seems some of the remaining aliens attacked and have taken it over. We predict they may be trying to rebuild their army inside the building, so we'll need you to go in and get rid of them."
"But what about the search for President Lincoln?" Henry asked.
"As much as I would love to keep searching for him, Captain Fleming, we need to save the civilians first. They need our help more right now."
"Alright," Henry said, "It's the right thing to do. But as soon as they're gone, we're coming back to Antarctica!" He turned to face his team. "Let's go, team!" He threw his fist in the air. The others all did the same. They all went to the prep room.
Henry put on his Patriotic Boiler, as did Randolph and Tin Man. Tom, Dorothy, and Scarecrow put on their butterfly-shaped Scout Boilers. And John, Califia, Lion, and Queequeg put on their Lincoln Superpack Boilers.
"I wish we had a more gender-neutral Scoutin' Boiler," Tom complained. He went and picked up his Punch Gun. The others grabbed their prized weapons as well. They all sat down on the benches.
"Anyone ever been to an airport?" Henry asked his team.
"I've been to a few," Randolph said, "Mainly for studying abroad."
"Anyone else?" Henry asked. No one had. "I don't blame you; I've only been to two myself. I just hope this experience doesn't turn you off to them for good."
They felt the Liberty's engines going faster. The interior was shaking and rattling. "Oh, I don't feel so good," Randolph moaned.
"Take some deep breathes, darling," the Fox commented, "You'll feel mucho mejor." Randolph began breathing slow and steadily.
"Okay," he said, "I feel better…"
"I have some papaya enzyme if you need them," Tiger Lily said.
"I hope I won't," Randolph said.
After some time, the ship slowed down. The door was opened by Katherine. "Before you head out," she said, "I just want to wish you all the best of luck." They all thanked her. "Also, I'm sending Stovepipe along with you guys." Randolph's eyes got wide. "Something the matter, Professor Carter?"
"I'm…um…I'm not fond of having him along.," he explained, "His voice is disturbing and the way he hovers along the ground is unnerving…"
"He's one of the best agents out there," Katherine replied, "He's quite durable and can produce a large amount of steam."
"If it makes you feel better," Henry told Randolph, "we can take Stovepipe in our group. That way, he won't bother you."
"Thank you, Captain Fleming."
"Disculpe, señorita Katherine," the Fox asked, "but will Marth and Ike be joining us?"
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Fox. They, as well as Robin and Lucina, had a previous arrangement to attend. They mentioned something about a tournament and 'smashing' something…"
"Aww," the Fox said, "that's too bad. Well, there's always next time…"
Katherine got a message on her wireless headset. "We're almost there. I'm going to turn on Stovepipe and leave you guys ready to go." Katherine turned to the door where Stovepipe was kept. She pulled the lever to open it. Once the door was open, Stovepipe's eyes lit up.
"Ready to assist," the mechanical soldier announced in his deep, monotone voice. He walked out of his refueling station. Randolph shook nervously.
"Good luck, agents!" Katherine said, giving them a thumbs-up. She left the room and closed the door behind her.
Randolph looked at Stovepipe. "He's the thirteenth agent," he told Tin Man, "Thirteen is unlucky."