Ah, the power of inspiration. It does wonders on a motivated person.

Last time, Sash and Syrenia are accepted into the Base, where they meet Rolag and Garhx, two of the members. Who else are they going to meet? And does Normality, being a Stu, have a horrid past he's ready to reveal? (Let's hope it's not over the top, now…)

-

Lunch was a chaotic affair in the Base.

Sash was hard pressed to actually get anything to eat, due to the long line of hedgehogs, shrews, and fluffy, pointy snouted creatures that Garhx called 'moles'. Their language was quite curious, seemingly composed of their own language and the everyday one everyone else used. They often squabbled amongst each other, arguing who was in front of whom, what they had dibs on, and the meaning and spelling of words like 'flamboyant' and 'antidisestablishmentarianism". However, whenever they were all served, they all cheered and trooped into the dining hall, where they commenced to fight and argue with the shrews over seating charts and lunch territories.

When Sash was finally served, he walked into the dining hall, where he ducked to avoid what appeared to be a glob of pudding that had nearly smacked him in the face. A massive food fight appeared to be happening on one side of the hall, complete with shouting and food stealing. It was the moles versus the shrews again, in a battle that would be unequaled for generations to come, for their lunch consisted of vegetable stew, rye bread, and mountains of pudding, perfect ammo for the troops to sling amongst one another.

The other side of the hall was a stark contrast to the rowdy moles, hedgehogs and shrews. Many of the former Stus and Sues sat there, eating prim and properly, never even dreaming of tossing their food around or dunking their snouts into their bowls and slurping it up like an uncouth animal.

'Big surprise,' Sash thought. 'Syrenia's already over there with some of her new friends.' Indeed the young otter maid was sitting with a group of former Sues. They were talking animatedly about their back stories, which meant nothing now, but it was still something worth listening to. Already, some of the otter maids had spotted him standing stupidly between the two sides, and they beckoned him to sit with them.

A tremor went through his spine. 'Not a chance, ladies!' he thought, darting to the rowdy side.

As he waded through the mess of stew and bodies, he spotted Garhx, arguing loudly with another otter his age.

"I'm telling you, Finn, it's pronounced, 'PO-TAH-TOE'!" The shrew yelled over the din.

"And I say 'PO-TAY-TOE', you idiot shrew!" The otter snarled back, splattering his friend's face with some cold stew he stole from a passing hedgehog.

"Why, I oughta…" Garhx growled, and then noticed a bewildered looking Sash standing waist deep in a mass of shrews, which were fighting over some floor bread soaked in stew. "Oh, hey Sash! Finn, this is my new friend, Sash. Normy brought him in this morning."

"Pleasure to meet you, mate!" The otter extended his paw, which Sash shook heartily. "Former Stu, eh? What was your obscenely long Stu name?"

"Sashblade Hawktalon, mate."

"Hmmm…Demi stu, right? My name WAS Finnsaber Talcus Piketooth, but I preferred Finn, so those snoots on the other side of the Hall kicked me out. Say, you gonna eat that bread?"

"No, go ahead." Sash tossed him the roll.

Catching it and rapping it with his knuckles, he grinned. "It's as hard as a rock. Perfect!" He then chucked it to the Sue side of the Hall, where it landed with a splatter in a bowl belonging to an otter maid Sash had seen earlier. She'd been part of the group beckoning him to sit with them.

"Music to my ears!" Finn laughed, as the Sues shrieked obscenities, trying to shake the warm, sticky stew off of them. Giving Garhx a high five, he turned casually back to Sash and said, "Saw those girls trying to put the move on you back there. I'm glad you can get over your former Stu ness like I did. Before you came along, I was the only otter over here."

"Yeah, and the reception he got was downright chilly," Garhx added, and then looked behind Sash. "Ah, there's Rolag. I was wondering where he'd gotten to. Oi, Rolag! Over here!"

The poor hedgehog was practically swimming through a mass of moles who were attempting to capture a shrew's serving of pudding. "Yes, the kitchen ran out of stew and all I could get was pudding! ARGH!" The poor hedgehog was forced to curl up, for the nearby moles had heard him say the magic word, which was 'pudding'.

"Is it always like this over here?" Sash asked Finn, as the moles fled, Rolag's needles in their paws and snouts.

"No, but you should see when we have turnovers. All I can say is bring an extra smock, if you can." Finn replied, grinning.

-

By the time lunch was over, the rowdy side of the room was splattered with stew, pudding, and who knows what else, while the Former Sue side was by far much cleaner.

"No worries about the mess, friend Sash," Rolag said as they trooped out. "Somehow, it's always perfectly spotless after everyone's left. It's mysterious, indeed."

"Sash! There you are!" The otter turned to see his sister run over to him. She looked excessively peeved.

"Oh, Syrenia, there you are." He said, but she held up a paw for silence.

"That…that SERPENT!" she snarled. "He said I have to either have to change my name completely, or shorten my current name!"

"So?"

"SO?! I can't change my name!"

"Then shorten your current one, sweetie. Easy as pie." Finn, who'd been listening in, added.

"Hey, stay out of this, buddy!" Syrenia snarled, shoving him aside.

"Oh, tough, aren't you?" He sneered teasingly.

"Hey, Finn, this is my sister, Syrenia. Syrenia, this is Finn." Sash said, looking nervously at his pissed off sister, who in turn was glaring at Finn with considerable hatred in her eyes.

"Ugh! You males are so insensitive!" She snarled, stomping off.

"Yeah, my hearing's not so sensitive anymore, thanks to your loud mouth, missy!" Finn yelled to her retreating form coolly.

-

Dusk was falling on Mossflower, and the glow from the surrounding foliage was already getting brighter.

Lady Rosalinia had changed from her flowing dress to a hunter's robe, her staff in paw. Windpaw followed her, keeping a considerable distance. That crazy fox could be as delusional as she wanted to be, he didn't have a crush on her! But he made sure he wasn't thinking that, because she had telepathy, and she was known to use it without warning.

"Where did you find the sashes, Windpaw?" She asked, her bushy tail twitching with excitement.

"Er, it was somewhere around here." He said, darting off. As fast as he was, however, Rosalinia kept up with him easily.

When the pair reached the clearing where Windpaw had found the sashes, they stopped, and the vixen sniffed the air. Shifting the dirt with her paw, she picked up a dusty copper scale, which was the size of her paw. Examining it closely, her eyes narrowed. "I should have known. It looks like he wasn't completely destroyed after all."

"What'd you find?" Windpaw asked, looking at the scale.

"Nothing, just proof that one of my old friends is still very much alive and well," Rosalinia tucked the scale inside a pouch attached to her silver, gem studded belt. "We need to get back, and we can't tell ANYONE about this just yet, are we clear, Windpaw?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" He replied, saluting.

"Good."

-

Normality was coiled in his personal study, reading an old, dog-eared hardcover book, when a knock came from the door. "Enter." The snake said, not looking up from his book.

Syrenia came in, considerably more calm than before, but still sullen. "I've decided to shorten my name…" She stated sadly.

"Please, do tell." Normality replied, looking up from the pages.

"I'm…I'm shortening it to Syren." She grumbled and winced at the sound of her new name. "There. I just gave up my heart, soul, and identity to you. Happy now, you bloody snake?"

"Hmmm…No." Normality said, returning to his book. "Before you scream your bloody head off, you, shut yer trap and listen: If you aren't willing to shorten your name there's no point in doing so. You can keep your old name if you wish."

"But…WHY DID YOU TELL TO CHANGE IT, THEN?!" She yelled.

"I tell that to all the new arrivals," Normality replied. "Few actually make the change willingly, like your brother and his new friend, but most are too attached to their names. After all, since they're no longer Sues and Stus, it's all they have left. They'll be subjected to some immunity boosters soon enough, anyway."

"Immunity boosters? What are those?" Syrenia asked.

"You'll see…you'll see." He replied distractedly.

"Hey, stop reading while we're talking! That's rude!" Syrenia huffed, stomping over to get a better look at the book. "What are you reading anyway?"

"Our Sue and Stu Recognition Guide. It needs to be updated." Normality replied. "Hmmm…That gives me an idea, but I need to be able to trust you…"

"Trust me to do what?"

"How about this: I put you in the Sue Recon Squad, and you promise not to go back to your Sueish ways?"

"What's the Sue Recon Squad?" Syrenia asked, intrigued.

"Basically, I make you look and give you powers like a Sue again, but you're actually spying for our organization. You'll be undetectable from any of the Sues' powers because you won't even remember you were spying for us until I give a signal. It's a program I recently started."

"Y-you mean…I can live my old live again, but not betray you or my brother?" She asked, daring not to believe it in case it was some sort of sick joke.

"Pretty much. We see what goes on through our agents' eyes without them or the Sues knowing about it, so we're covered." Normality replied, and was then tackled by Syrenia.

"Please, I wanna look like my old self again, please!" Syrenia cried, hugging the snake.

"Alright, alright! Just stop hugging me, jeez! Just meet me here after breakfast and I'll sign you up. Now get off! " Normality shrugged her off.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" She cheered happily. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, whatever just get some sleep or something…" Normality growled, returning to the book.

Once the crazy otter had left, Normality sighed. "I hope we can trust that little brat. It would be a shame to have to eliminate her if she squawks to the Sues about our location."

-

Back at Redwall, Rosalinia was looking up at the TV, but instead of a show, she looked up at the face of a handsome looking ermine. His honey colored fur was streaked with silver and across his left eye, a long scar sliced across it. His silver eyes stared down at the vixen silently. Then, he spoke in an even tone, "Alright, Rosalinia, why have you contacted me?"

"O, Your Handsomness, it would seem that our old friend is still alive and well."

"Hmmm…Really, because last time I checked, I ran through that traitor with my spear! Do you doubt my power, you ragged bit of vermin scat?"

Rosalinia winced at the harsh words. "Mightiness, it surprised me too, but I was investigating the disappearance of some of our recruits, and I found evidence that he may still be alive!" She removed the scale from her pouch, and held it up to the screen.

The ermine's expression didn't change. "That could have come from any reptile in the vicinity." He said dismissively.

"But sir! I polished it a little, and look!" Turning the scale over, she revealed that it wasn't a copper color, but a bright gold, the color of sunshine and something similar to the ermine's pelt.

The ermine's eyes widened. "No…He's still ALIVE?!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, sir."

"Very well, Rosalinia, I will send for more Sues in your area, but make sure, if you catch him, that he's kept alive. I want to be the one to take him down!"

"Yes sir!"

-

Oh noes. It looks like Syrenia's dream of looking like a Sue again has finally came true, and Normality's in danger! But who's this freaky ermine, and how does he know Normality? All will be revealed when the snake Stu finally decides to tell his back story…which will most likely be next chapter.

See you lot then!