On a private island off the shore of California, inside of an over elaborate mansion isolated from the world, a disgusting man lies. His sins are heavy, and by far he has caused more suffering and pain to the planet than most would in their entire lives, and yet he lays there in a state of physical and mental trauma from the events that happened to him nearly a year ago. Of course he had his servant to take care of him; one that would never leave his side and was always loyal to him no matter the situation. Still as he lies in silence after watching the news report of today's planned events with the Planeteers at Mr. Everest, he closed his eyes and for a brief moment remembering his awful past, and the terrible sins he had committed, and regretted them.
A moment later the sounds of an air craft landing in his private landing strip brought him back to the world around him. He feebly attempted to look out the window, but the paralysis of his body prevented it. Five minutes later there was a knock at the door followed by his Servant's voice, "Boss, you have a visitor!" Normally he would be upset from any interruption, but in the more recent days he had become more timid and remorseful of his situation. "Let them in Rigger." He called out.
Entering the room was Dr. Blight followed by a tripedal mechanical creature about four feet high with an open monitor displace of Mal's face. "Greedly, it's been ages!" She proclaimed as she walked in and took a seat by Greedly's bed. "Blight" he replied, "what brings you to my humble home?" Greedly attempted to bring about what little composure he could give his current state of being. "I need to ask you one final favor Greedly." She asked flatly, "I'm sure you are aware of today's events." Dr. Blight took the remote control lying next to Greedly and turned on the television to show the live news coverage of Mr. Everest and the World Summit. "I need you to finance one last thing before I begin my final plot." Greedly still had yet to look at her since she had entered the room; he continued to look out the window.
"I do believe he is rather moppy right now doctor." Mal said. Blight was of course already aware of this, "Greedly, after I engage them today and stop their disgusting plan, I will need the funding to transfer the energy from the battery I have into my latest invention. I'm counting on" Greedly cut her off, "Blight, you still don't get it. Those kids, those planeteers have already won. No matter how much damage we do, no matter how hard we fight, they have always beaten us and all because of Captain Planet." Blight was taken back a moment, "Greedly, don't tell me you have given in to their eco nonsense! Look at what they did to you… What Captain Planet did to you! You can't let them get away with that!" Dr. Blight's anger was starting to get the better of her, "Blight, for years I've had all the money I have ever needed. I've needlessly took more than I ever needed just for the sake of having it. What happened to me? This showed me that I really had gone too far."
Dr. Blight stood up, "No, all we ever did was try to achieve our own goals and all the time those pesky Planeteers have gotten in the way! No more!" At the moment the report on the television brought up an interview with Hogworth Greedly, Hoggish Greedly's son.
"Ever since the Planeteers saved me from that terrible smog trap of my fathers, and took his line of cars off the market, I've been a full support of them. I'm happy to say that my company is more than willing to take the financial obligation that the Planeteers have inposed to achieve today's great deed. Oh, and don't forget that all food is on me!" Hogworth Greedly gave a thumb up to the camera and smiled.
Blight looked back to Greedly seeing that the report had also grabbed his attention. "See how they turned your own son against you so many years ago! Even now your son is by their side instead of here with his poor father, after you have given so much for that ungrateful child!" Greedly was torn; he did feel anger at his son and the Planeteers but also at himself. "Very well Blight." Blight smiled as Mal transformed into a mobile computer stand, "Right here Greedly, just electronically sign and transfer the funds into the good doctors private account." Mal said as cheerful as ever. Greedly reached over and typed in a few things, he then looked up at Blight with a fire in his eyes he had been lacking for some time now, "Make them pay." He then pressed the enter key to send the information through. When it was done processing Dr. Blight said one final thing, "Greedly, you won't regert this! Hah hah hahah aha hahaha… Ah."
As the Eco Cruiser touched down at the world's summit and Kwame opened the door to get out. Outside was a gathering of planeteers from all over the world, many who were converted from their once polluting ways, but now their efforts work towards world peace and a cleaner future.
Wheeler stood up next to Linka and offered her a hand up, she giggled, "Thank you Wheeler." She looked at Wheeler as she stood next to him, "Wheeler, for such a formal occasion you should really tuck in your shirt! When will you ever grow up!" She said as she reached over and tucked in the half of his shirt he always had out. Wheeler reached up and scratched his head, "I guess you are right Linka, but it's the style." Gi giggled as she watched the two, "That hasn't been 'the style' for 5 years Wheeler!" she said. Ma Ti simply rose and got off without saying a word, it was clear that he was worried about something.
As the Planeteers exited the Geo Cruiser, there was a loud applause for them from the countless people around. The path was cleared for them to enter the monument of world peace, a building erected a few years prior in the name of Commander Clash, the Planeteers closes and most trusted ally. Inside the Planeteers took their place at a podium at which the world's leaders were gathered around. Kwame took the mike firsts,
"Thank you, all of you for hearing us out and supporting our cause. I know that many of you do not agree with one another on every topic, and until recent years there had been far too much violence for any of us to live truly peacefully. In truth, none of these issues can be resolved in this single meeting, but today we will make a large step towards the future of all of us by removing the world's nuclear weapons once and for all!" There was a large round of applause as many even factions of earth, even opposed factions clapped in agreement.
Ma-Ti then stepped up to mike, "Heart!" he said as he held he ring up to his head and yellow energy emanated from it, "About 12,000 of us here today have gathered in agreeance that nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence only breeds more war and unneeded suffering to all nations. I can sense that all of you are sincere when I say that nuclear weapons and technology though useful at times, has only lead to needless suffering in our lives. Today you have all made agreements, not as individuals but as a species to abolish this technology and move on to a safer tomorrow for our children!" and yet another round of applause for the Planeteers occurred.
Gi then stepped up next, "For those of you with any doubt that what we are doing is not the best path, I urge you to remember the tragedy of Oceanus two years ago. One of the world's greatest accomplishments was destroyed due to a nuclear disaster, and as a result the entire city and all it's people were lost." A single tear escaped her eye as she said this, "To continue to use nuclear power is to risk again and again this very same accident! Now we have learned from out past mistakes, and now all of us will do the right thing and find safer power such as geo thermal, wind, hydro electric, and solar power for our daily needs." Another round of applause was made present by the world leaders as she finished her statement.
Linka then stepped up, "Today what we do is a simple yet complicated task of disrupting the nuclear fission process of these weapons on an atomic level. To do this we shall call Captain Planet and he shall physically alter the atomic make-up of the atoms in each of one of these weapons until they are changed into harmless carbon ash. I will not lie and say that what we do is safe; in all truth it is risky for all of us here! It is here though that all of us will stand, united as a single world and single unit against a threat that has plagued us since World War II. Together we stand, and united with our powers we shall move on to a new world peace and an era where nuclear weapons are a thing of the past!" This time the applause was much stronger.
Wheeler then stepped up scratching his head; Wheeler was never really any good at public speaking, "Now it is time for us to um… You know… Do the right thing! Our children, planet, and our entire legacy are at stake. Us Planeteers have fought for ten years for this planet's safety and we have taken down a lot of terrible people to get to where we are now. We have sacrificed a lot, and so before we do this I would like us all to take a moment for all who were lost in our fight, especially our close ally and friend Command Clash." Wheeler looked up the world flag as he and everyone in the room held the right arm up over their heart, "This is for you guys, and for the future!" At that point every one in the room called out, "For the Future!"
Kwame once again stood up as the rest of the Planeteers made a circle around the podium, everyone in the room stood up out of respect for what was about to happen. Kwame then called out in his strong voice, "Very well, then for the sake of the future, let our powers combine!" Kwame held up his ring as every one but the other planeteers called out, "Earth!" Wheeler smiled and raised his arm as once again everyone joined in, "Fire!" Link looked up to the sky as again the crowd yelled with her, "Wind!" Gi joined in also accompanied by the crowd, "Water!" Then Ma-Ti joined in as the crowd continued, "Heart!" The five rays of energy shot into the sky through the glass dome of the ceiling and merged into the sky. There was a sudden flash as the colors merged to form a crystal based life form, "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!" The familiar disembodied voice called out as the light faded leaving Captain Planet floating in the air. "Go Planet!" Call out not just the Planeteers, but the entire world summit along with many millions watching from their homes.
Captain Planet descended to the middle of the podium; transforming his body into electricity to pass harmlessly through the glass dome then back to his normal crystal based self. He stood there at the podium for a few brief words. "All of you, world leaders, children, politicians, friends, and families. Ten years ago, we came into duty" he gestured to the planeteers around him, "and in that time we have made more progress that I thought could happen. I want you all to know though, that today's victory is not mine or the planeteers, but the earth's itself. You must always remember that they power is yours to change the world and to make it into what it ought to be, I am merely a helper in the name of the planet, and that is what I am going to do today; so without further ado." Captain Planet then flew up into the sky, once again escaping the dome by transforming into electricity.
Flying up high he quickly spotted the large pile of nuclear weapons, easily several acres. "What a mess." Planet said as he flew towards them, down below he saw a familiar face, Sly Sludge. Captain Planet landed next to him, "This is all of them right?" Sludge looked up at captain planet, "Look, we may not see eye to eye on everything, but I get done what I am paid to do, I'll tell you that!" Sludge accompanied these words with a stern poke to Captain Planet's chest, "Very well, I trust you. You saved Gi's life, and at the last moment last time you pulled out and proved you are not the slime we thought you were. I appreciate that, and I am glad to see that even you can change."
At this point the Planeteer had managed to catch up to Planet, "Time to get to work." Planet said. Captain Planet's body then began to change into a fire based form, as his bodies crystalline structure desolidified into various chemicals elements, he began as he sank into the first warhead. The weapon began to glow a bright red as Captain Planet slowly but surely altered the basic atoms of the weapon itself into harmless carbon. After about a thirty seconds the warhead stopped glowing and literally fell apart into ash as a flaming humanoid shape remained in the middle; Captain Planet. "That was simple enough, now to take care of the rest!"
Captain planet's body then returned to its standard form as he then breathed on the weapons with frosty cold breath. Doing so, he froze the weapons together into a large ice chunk, "Time for me to take this to the next level! I'll disarm them in the sky to minimize the risk to the planet." he said as he lifted them up into the sky and began to fly into orbit with them.
Though things were going according to plan, now something unexpected happened. Flying up through the cloud cover of the mountain was a large airship about the size of a fighter jet. It had a brilliant design to it, however its pink color threw out whatever cosmetically pleasing look there could be to the ship. The Planeteer's eyes opened wide with shock as they saw this.
"It can't be!" Wheeler exclaimed, "I thought she was dead!" Ma-Ti replied, "Just because it has been years dosen't mean she was gone for good." As the ship began to hover in place, the doors to it open revealing the Planeteer's most terrible villain, Dr. Blight. She was dressed in her pink lead suit, loud speakers boomed out as she spoke, "Surprised to see me?! Hahaha hah ahah aha hah hah…. Ah" Her laugh echoed in their ears; in their minds from the many encounters with her in the past.
"Sorry to cut your little celebration short, but I have other plans!" Dr. Blight knew that she was being broadcast all around the world to countless viewers. "Mal honey, the laser cannon!" She said as she pointed to the large stock pile of nuclear weapons. The front of the ship then changed slightly into a large cannon pointed directly at the weapons. "Listen well you eco pest, and all the world leaders!"
Captain Planet had to do something, but he was not in a good position. If he let go of the weapons to stop Blight, they would fall easily a hundred feet, and if just one of them were to detonate from the fall it would cause a chain reaction of explosions that would be disastrous, but at the same time if Blight shot the weapons, they would also detonate. "What is your game this time Blight!" Captain Planet yelled at her in frustration.
"Do you really think that you people can live without weapons?" She proclaimed point down at the leaders of the planet, "There will always be war; always be the animalistic need for dominance over lesser people, and above all else, there will always be hate! I'm here to remind you just of that, and even if you can pretend that you can live without it I shall prove to you today that once your precious heroes are taken out you will all fall apart!"
Kwame spoke out "Dr. Blight you monster! You have threatened the planet for years with your intentions of simply destroying it! You are Mad… and without redemption!" Gi looked over to him with an odd look in her face, "Kwame, nobody is without redemption." Kwame looked Gi straight in the eyes with a look so serious he couldn't possibly be lying, "She has murdered thousands and threatens us even now with a nuclear disaster larger than anything the world has ever seen before! I cannot… I will not forgive her!"
"Ahaha hah ahah hahah… Ah. You kids might have grown some, but you have a long ways to go before you see the truth of this world!" Moving out from behind her was a large lead cylinder. "Blight" Captain Planet yelled out again, "If you are crazy enough to detonate this pile of weapons, you will be killed too even with that suit!" Once again Blight laughed, "That is what you think!" The lead cylinder then opened up revealing a body that the Planeteers had once again not seen for years, Duke Nukem.
Nukem's body however was heavily distorted, his form had continued to mutate over the years to where he seemed even less humanoid that he had before. A machine was interlaced in the naked body, cords penetrating the flesh. The gamma green eyes slowly opened, yet as the body was there supported by Dr. Blight's machine, it remained motionless. Ma-Ti looked away in disgust, unable to watch the display of cruelty. Wheeler was enraged by this, "Blight! What have you done?"
"Not as much as I am about to do now!" She replied followed by yet another outburst of laughter. "Mal, begin phase two!" Dr. Blight commanded, "As you wish Dr. Blight." The disembodied voice of Mal replied. The cannon on Dr. Blight's ship began to charge up and an ominous humming sound could be heard by all. Captain Planet now saw that Dr. Blight did intend to detonate the nuclear weapons he was holding, and the result would not only be hear death but the death of all the people on the mountain not to mention a ecological disaster that would be carried over for millenniums. Captain Planet knew he had to do something…
"Blight, I will not allow you to hurt the planet or these people!" He proclaimed, then calling forth all the strength he could muster, so that he could tossed the nuclear weapons up high into the sky, high enough to not attain escape velocity of the planet's gravity, but enough so that the decent of the weapons would slow long enough for him to do something about Dr. Blight. So as he began to throw the weapons Dr. Blight screamed in rage, "No, not this time Planet!" The cannon had finished charging and modified its angle to detonate the weapons still. As the weapons gained altitude and approaching the exosphere of the earth, the cannon fired and to everyone's dismay, the ray connected with the weapons. There was a brief flash followed by a moment of silence and nothing seemed to happen.
"Good going Cap!" Wheeler proclaimed followed by the cheers of the people at the summit, but then at that moment there was another flash of light as the first of the weapons detonated. The cheers quickly turned to screams of panic all the while Dr. Blights laugh could be heard over the crowd. Linka, aware of the upcoming displace yelled out, "Everyone cover your eyes!" as she turned away form the coming explosions. Wheeler was there next to her, he cradle her head into his chest and pivoted his body between her and the upcoming blast. Kwame, Ma-Ti, and Gi also turned their backs to the explosions covering their eyes.
Captain Planet was a little shocked over what just happened, he turned to Bight with visible fire in his eyes. "Do you have any idea what you have just caused?" He yelled at her as he flew towards her. "You have no idea what I have done Captain Planet!" She replied. Just then three more flashes of light occurred as three more bombs detonated, followed quickly by several others. Captain Planet had to choose between two choices, take out Blight or trying to protect everyone on the mountain. Perhap's it was Wheeler's fire in him, but he chose the path of valor. "I don't know what you intend to do Blight, but you won't get away with it!" He called out as he then flew away from her to between the explosions and the world summit. Captain Planet held out his arms and began to twirl about similar to a toy top as his crystalline structure changed into that of a think cloud. The cloud blanketed area to act as a shield against the upcoming radiation, and though not a standard cloud one might expect, this could was made up on a molecular scale of particles that were particular absorbent of radiation similar to the ozone itself.
Dr. Blight's ship began to gain altitude as Captain Planet did this to escape the protection of Planet's cloud. As the bombs exponentially exploded finally the rush of sound and radiation reached the world's summit, the many members of the world's consul screamed in fear, as the televised broadcast was lost.
The massive amount of nuclear radiation collided with Captain Planet's cloud, and as he predicted he absorbed much of the radiation. The surround area of Mt. Everest however was not under his protection, and so the mountain took some heavy damage. The snow was the first thing to go as it vaporized on contact. Dr. Blights however was using Duke Nukem's body as her shield. His body absorbed nearly all of the radiation thrown her way, and as his body absorbed it Mal transferred the bio energy from his body into a specially designed battery stored on the ship.
After the explosions had finished nearly three minutes later, the radiation had finished bombarding the cloud that was Captain Planet. The cloud then reformed into Captain Planet's crystal body; a body that was obviously hurt from all the pollution of the explosion as the globe on his chest had turned dark and grey. Captain Planet couldn't rest yet though, there was something far more important that needed to be taken care of… Blight. He flew towards her ship at top speed; Dr. Blight was in a state of shock. "Mal!" She yelled, "You said the blast would destroy him!" Mal was busy with his tasks but still managed to reply, "It would have a point blank range doctor!" Mal then activated the ship's defenses as several armed laser turrets began shooting at Captain Planet. As Captain Planet flew closer however, yet another unexpected thing happened, Duke Nukem's body pivoted and his arm stretched out toward Captain Planet. It would seem the radiation from the blast had given him enough energy to move his body, though it was unclear as to if he was alive or dead. His mouth opened and his voice, almost a whimper cried out, "Planet… help…"
For a moment time slowed to a stop as Captain Planet raced forward, his mind through Ma-Ti's power connected with Duke Nukem. There in a void of blackness, stood Captain Planet and the middle aged Caucasian scientist who Duke Nukem had once been.
"Captain Planet" the man said his voice calm and filled with reason, "I was wrong. I thought that nuclear mutation was the next step of evolution for humanity." The black background changed to reflect Nukem's past, and the process he engaged in to mutate his body with the help of his assistant Lead Suit. "I was wrong though, and I knew it from the start, but I so desperately wanted to believe I was right I over looked the results. After Oceanus, I ejected their shuttle into space where I stayed alive on what ultraviolet radiation I could gather. My isolation in my prison I felt was a fitting end for me, and so I drifted in space never to be seen again. That was when Dr. Blight abducted my cancerous body. In my weakened state I was unable to resist her, and despite my reasoning she took me against my will." The surrounding once again shifted to show the scene that Nukem had just described, Captain Planet stood there motionless with a stern gaze.
"Nukem, you've changed." Planet said flatly, "Yes, I have." The man continued. "All my destruction of the planet and my endless threats, I see and am willing to admit now were a desperate attempt to prove myself right. This however…" The scene shifted now to the present, his body strapped into a lead container to be used to an energy converter for Blight's evil scheme. "This is too much; I'm no longer a man or even a crazed mutant but a tool used against my will." Tears streamed down from Nukem's face, "Captain Planet, if there is any sympathy in you for a foolish man, please shows it. I should have died long ago, please stop my suffering." The empathic link with Nukem then ended as thing changed back to the present.
Captain Planet continued to fly towards Blights ship dodging the laser as he approached. "Mal! Shoot him down!" Dr. Blight screamed as she stomped on the ground violently. "I'm trying doctor, but he is rather evasive." Mal responded. Captain Planet's body then shifted into fire consuming more of what little stamina he had remaining; he changed his trajectory from Blight to Nukem's body. Captain Planet's flaming body collided with his, burning through his flesh as Captain Planet flew through his body and the lead cylinder he was trapped in. Nukem's body twitch for a moment as there was now a gaping hole through his abdomen. His head shifted to look to Captain Planet, "Thank… you…" It said as the gamma green eyes closed, followed by a bionuclear explosion from his body.
The explosion rocked Blight's ship and knocked her to the ground, but Captain Planet was also thrown the ground as he was caught in the explosion. He had taken far too much damage, and so he looked toward Blight and said one thing, "You will not get away with this!" Dr. Blight suit had protected her from most of the blast, she quickly got back to her feat and began to laugh, "Hah hah ahahaha haha hah… Ah. I already have!" She then ran up to Captain Planet who was bent over on the floor and with a sturdy lead reinforced kick, knocked him off her platform plummeting to the ground below. "Mal, get us out of her!" She commanded, "Right away doctor." Mal responded as the booster engines from the ship started up.
As Captain Planet's body plummet to the ground he said in a weakened tone, "I'm sorry Planeteers… The power is yours…" His body broke apart back into the five elemental energies that made him, and returned to the rings of the Planeteers. The major crisis had been averted, but damage was still done and a lot of clean up would still be necessary. Blight flew away with her fully charged nuclear battery, and the Planeteers stood there helplessly looking at her ship escape.
Copyright 2007 by Nelio Belmont. The characters from the Captain Planet series which appear here are property of and copyrighted by Ted Turner and used without permission. The others are mine. You may distribute this work provided this notice is included and distribution is not done for monetary gain. Please do not post this work to any newsgroups and/or sites without my permission.