In out last chapter the Stars (minous Jim), Scarlet, Captain Phoebus, Quasimodo, and the whole circuis crew search all over the circuis grounds for the bombs, They found them all and deactivated them. But their troubles didn't stop there, a call from Jim alerted the team that Madelin and Pepitto had gone looking for Max and Smith. In a rush to make planes Scarlet slipped out to get her revenge on Claw, Will she sucssed or will the Stars Get their first? LEts Find out, Ready...GO!


The mountains of Paris were short, as far as mountain ranges go, with only a light dusting of snow covering the highest peaks. The rock itself was light brown with veins of an even lighter tan color running through it like blood vessels. The caves were not well formed or sturdy; old, badly-funded mining projects that had proven too unprofitable to continue.

The largest of these caves was just outside the view of the city walls and now the temporary home of Smithe, Max, and the remains of their small array of robotic agents. The cave was almost entirely cleared of equipment, robot parts, and any other evidence that M.A.D. had ever been there in the first place. The robots were packing everything into the cruiser shuttle parked outside.

"You know," said Max, "I'm going to miss this place. I wish we could stay for just one more day."

"Max, it's a cave, not a summer cottage," said Smithe exasperatedly. "It's cold, it's dark, the ceiling is ready to give way any minute, and every morning we woke up in a pile of bat droppings."

"Yeah, but that damp air was doing wonders for my sinuses," said Max. Smithe just sighed, rolled his eyes, and turned towards the ship.

Something struck Smithe hard against his iron breastplate, throwing him backwards into the mouth of the cave. Before Max had time to react, a force hit him in the back, pushing him down onto the floor next to Smithe. They both looked to the cave entrance to see Scarlet standing there, her beautiful visage scarred with fury and hatred.

"Well, look who it is," said Smithe. "The little orphan gypsy."

Scarlet didn't bother to answer. Instead, she threw up her hands, summoning all the power she could, and conjured a transparent pink wall at the cave mouth. Max sprang up and started to pound away at the door with his Elemental Lance. All the robotic agents were trapped inside the cave too. They blasted away at the wall with their lasers. The wall did not give or weaken, but the strain of keeping it up was showing on Scarlet's face. Her body was ridged as she poured all her emotion into the force field.

Max took a couple a swings at the force field with his Battle Axe, but it was just as ineffective; for the moment at least. The added force fighting against her power caused Scarlet to let out a feeble moan. She almost dropped to her knees, but recovered herself.

Smithe noticed her weakening condition. "You cannot hold us for long. We'll be out of here in one minute, tops, and then we'll teach you what happens to those who defy M.A.D."

Smithe spoke in a calm and controlled voice, but Scarlet's reply was overflowing with rage. "One minute is more than enough time." She drew something out of her pocket and lightly tossed it into the air. It passed through her force field and landed with a dull thunk on the cave floor. Only then could Smithe and Max see what it was: one of their own gas bombs.

Max started shouting hysterically. "It's a bomb. It's a gas bomb. It's a gas bomb that we built. We're gonna be killed by the fruits of our own hands." In a much calmer tone, he said, "You know, this would be a great plot for Shakespeare."

"It's been done," Smithe muttered to Max. To Scarlet, he said, "So, planning to extract a little revenge are we?"

"Yes," said Scarlet. Her chest heaved with emotion and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. "You took my loved ones from me and I will never forgive you for that. I magically fixed the timer on that gas bomb. In thirty seconds, the two of you will pay the ultimate price for what you did to my family."

"And would that price include them?" Smithe turned a motioned to two of the Big Rigs standing at the back of the cave. They came forward into the light until Scarlet realized in shock that the agents were holding Madeline and Pepitto. The two children were shouting and squirming with all their might, but the thick metal arms of the agents held them fast.

"We found these two kids nosing around just before you got here," explained Smithe with an evil grin. "I think they were looking for us; must be the French branch of the Scooby Doo fan club."

"If you take your revenge now, they'll go with us," said Max happily.

For a brief moment, Scarlet didn't know what to do. Her hatred for Dr. Claw and her urge to hurt these two representatives of that evil was overpowering the side of her that desperately did not want those children to be harmed. Madeline and Pepitto continued to struggle to no avail. Scarlet could hear them crying for help. Seeing their eyes so filled with fear – especially Madeline, such a brave girl – burned away any doubt she had. With another wave of her hands, the force field trapping the MAD agents dissolved and the magical timer on the gas bomb stopped.

As soon as he was free, Smithe rushed at Scarlet and slammed his fist into her stomach. Scarlet felt like the fist had ripped straight through her. Smithe tossed her into the cave. Scarlet landed on the floor gasping for breath and gritting in pain. The agents released the children who ran to Scarlet, asking if she was alright. The agents paid no more attention to any of them and followed Smithe and Max out of the cave.

"We probably should get rid of them, huh?" suggested Max.

"Good idea," said Smithe. "You take care of it."

Max drew his Elemental Lance and set it to its 'Earth' setting. The steel shaft of the lance crunched and popped as it mutated into solid stone. Max plunged the lance into the ground and set loose a surge of energy that ran through the cave walls and up to the ceiling. The pressure as too much for the old support beams. They cracked and groaned and finally gave way, showering Scarlet and the children in sand and gravel.

Scarlet was recovering from Smithe's punch slowly; she could not stand up yet.

"Quickly Pepitto! Help me!" shouted Madeline. Together, the two kids grabbed Scarlet by the arms and tried to force her up, but she was too heavy.

"Madeline, we have to get Miss Scarlet out of here or we'll be crushed!" said Pepitto. Instead of trying to lift Scarlet, he pulled at her arms, trying to drag her out of the cave. Madeline followed his lead, but it was obvious they we're not going to make it. More dust and larger rocks were falling around them like rain. The rock walls made a deep moan, like a wounded animal.

"Kids," Scarlet's voice was rough and she had to gulf some air before continuing. "Kids, forget about me a get out of here."

"No!" said Madeline. Her little face was set in a frown of determination. "We will not leave you here."

Scarlet was equally determined. "Just go!" The argument was settled by Smithe who drew his Blaster Axe and used its laser to draw a line of fire along the length of the cave mouth. The flames leapt up high, licking the stone roof.

"Bye, bye," said Smithe. "It's been nice working with you." He joined the other agents heading back to their ship.

Now there was no way for any of them to leave the cave. Scarlet might be able to use what little power she had left to protect the three of them from the fire, but before she could summon her magic, the loudest crack of all sounded right above their heads. They looked up to see a huge boulder fall loose from the ceiling straight for them. Madeline and Pepitto ducked their heads and huddled close to Scarlet. The gypsy spread her arms protectively around the children and also bowed her head. They waited for the crushing force of the boulder to squash them flat, but it never came. After several seconds, Scarlet carefully lifted her head and gasped.

Jim, in his transformed state, was standing above her. His green staff was in his hands, held vertically so that it was holding the boulder in place above all of them.

"So, do you come here often?" asked Jim in a slightly strained voice.

Scarlet answered in a startled whisper. "Jim?" The children looked out over Scarlet's arms and saw the young hero. "What are you doing here?"

Jim's arms were shaking with the strain of holding back the crushing load, but he managed to sound casual as he answered. "Well, I was out splunking when I saw you three in trouble and I thought: What the heck. I might as well save some lives while I'm out. Now, this…" he nodded his head towards his staff, "…was really the extent of my plan so I'm open to suggestions for step two."

In a strong voice, Scarlet said, "I think I have enough strength left for protect us from that fire." She pointed at the roaring blaze blocking the entrance. "We'll have to run through it quick."

"Sounds good," grunted Jim as he dropped to one knee. "Let's do it."

At Scarlet's instruction, Pepitto grabbed Madeline's hand and Madeline grasped Scarlet's hand. Scarlet hooked her free hand around Jim's elbow. Once everyone was connected, Scarlet dug deep and summoned her magic. A deep red aura surrounded the gypsy and spread down her arms to Jim, Madeline, and then Pepitto.

"Let's go!" shouted Scarlet. All four of them sprinted towards the fiery entrance. Jim was forced to release the power in his staff, so the boulder resumed its fall as the rest of the ceiling continued to collapse around them. Pepitto slipped on a rock on the ground and lost contact with Madeline and the protective spell. The red glow faded from his skin. Scarlet and Madeline looked back in horror, but without hesitation Jim reached out and hoisted Pepitto up by the waist. A few more steps and the foursome were out of the cave. The children collapsed on the ground in exhaustion as the teenagers threw themselves on top, protecting the kids from the shrapnel of the cave-in. A final crash and a cloud of dust and everything was still.

Jim and Scarlet looked back at the cave to see the entrance was completely blocked. They looked at each other and smiled in relief that they were safe.

Click-click.

Everyone looked at the sound. Smithe was standing above them, the barrel of his Blaster Axe pointed directly in Jim's face. Max had the others covered with his Element Lance which was ablaze with orange flames. A circle of Big Rigs had surrounded them; their arm-mounted laser cannons at point blank range.

"I thought you left," said Jim.

"We were going to," said Max, "But we saw you jump into the cave to save the girl and her kids. I bet Dr. Claw would give us a huge bonus if we brought him back a Super Star alive."

Smithe caulked his Axe. "Or dead."

"Let's go with alive," said Jim quickly. "That works better for me."

"Don't you touch him," said Scarlet. She tried to get up, but the agents all trained their weapons on her and she backed down, but not without throwing them all a dirty look.

"Don't worry," said Smithe to Scarlet. "You're not going to M.A.D. Mountain with us. You're no good to Dr. Claw alive." Smithe and Max were getting ready to fire their weapons and when they did, all the agents would start shooting as well. Jim pushed himself in front of Scarlet, Madeline and Pepitto, determined to give them some protection, even it if was futile.

"Static Shock!"

Bolts of violet lightning ripped through the air and engulfed all the agents. Smithe and Max looked around is surprise. While they were distracted, a shuriken and spiked ball flew through the air and knocked the weapons out of the generals' hands. They turned around and saw Tony, Penny, Mary, and Tom standing behind them, all transformed and in battle stances. Quasimodo was also there along with Captain Phoebus and at least fifty guards with drawn swords.

"Shoot them, you fools!" Max shouted at the agents. The agents could not obey his orders. They had been paralyzed by the lightning pouring out of Tony's hands.

"I realize this must be a SHOCKING development for you, Smithe," laughed Tony. At his silent command, the robotic agents rose up off the ground. Tony waved his hands and using the hero, Static's, electric powers, magnetically attached all the agents to the outside of the M.A.D. spaceship.

Max turned to Smithe. "We're not getting a bonus, are we?"

"We'll be lucky if we don't get an execution," spat back Smithe.

Phoebus pointed his own sword at the evil duo. "You two are under arrest."

"Guess again, Captain," said Smithe. Max pressed a button on his belt and a blue beam shot from their ship and drew them inside before the guards or the Super Stars could capture them. The ship took off and sped off for deep space with the agents still clinging to the outside.

"Now they were very, very bad hats," said Madeline while Pepitto nodded in agreement.

"Blast it! They got away," stated Phoebus angrily. He roughly forced his sword back into its scabbard.

"True," said Tony. "But at least we stopped their scheme. Everyone in Paris and the surrounding worlds is safe." That brought a smile of agreement to Phoebus' lips.

Jim was finally able to get up off the ground. After helping Madeline and Pepitto up, Jim extended his hand to Scarlet. The young girl looked at his hand for a second before taking it and pushing herself up. She swayed a bit since she was still tired form all the magic and excitement, but managed to stay on her feet.

"That you for saving the kids…and me," said Scarlet in a small voice.

"It was my absolute pleasure," said Jim. He noticed that Scarlet was staring at the ground and looked pretty sad. "You don't seem very happy about being saved though."

"No, I am. I am," reassured Scarlet. "It's just…I was so close to getting revenge for my family, but in the end I failed."

"You didn't fail." Scarlet looked up and saw Tony leading the others over to where Jim and Scarlet were standing. "You saved Madeline and Pepitto."

"Plus, you prevented Dr. Claw from hurting thousands of people," said Mary. She placed a hand gently on Scarlet's shoulder. "That doesn't sound like failure to me."

"Or me," said Phoebus. "I will admit; I had my doubts about your ethics, Scarlet, but when the time came, you did the right thing."

Scarlet welcomed their praise, but just couldn't seem to feel good about it. She was having trouble explained her feelings to all of them. "I still feel so angry and hurt. You don't understand."

"I do," said Penny. She placed her hands on Scarlet's shoulders and spoke in a sympathetic way. "I know the pain and hatred that you're feeling right now. Dr. Claw also destroyed my family and for the longest time all I could think about was how to get back at him; how to make him pay. Those feelings were threatening to overwhelm me and turn me into a bitter and angry person. I was ready to do whatever it takes and hurt whoever I had to to destroy Claw."

Scarlet looked at Penny with tears in her eyes. "But you don't feel that way anymore?" she asked in a soft voice, almost begging for it to be true.

"I won't lie to you and tell you the pain will go away," said Penny. "It will always be with you, but there are ways you can lessen the burden. It isn't easy; I'm still struggling myself. One of the things that help is to realize that there are still people that care about you. My parents and my friends; it took me a long time to see that."

"You said that your sisters may have survived," said Tom tentatively. "I'm sure they're looking for you and are worried about you."

"And you called the circus your family, don't forget," Mary reminded her.

"And you have us," added Tony. He spread his arms indicating Penny, Jim, Mary, Tom, and himself.

"You?" Scarlet was surprised that Tony would extent the hand of friendship to her.

"Of course," said Tony. "We try to make new friends wherever we go. If you ever need help, you can count on us."

Scarlet was truly touched. "Thank you. All of you." She looked at each of them and saw a warm smile, even from Phoebus and Quasimodo. "Well, I suppose I should get back to the circus and pack up. We'll be leaving soon." Jim was crestfallen as Scarlet slowly headed back to the circus camp grounds.

"You know, Tony," said Penny in a voice loud enough for Scarlet to hear. "I don't know if we ever mentioned this before, but there are traditionally five people on the Super Stars team."

"Huh?" Penny gave Tony a hard look and he got what she was trying to say. "I mean; Oh really, it that so?" He imitated her loud tone.

"Yes," she said. "We just have never found anyone to fill the position. But, maybe we can start taking applications." She looked over at Scarlet, who had stopped and turned around at the conversation.

Jim noticed Penny looking at Scarlet and also realized what she was saying. He grabbed Penny and shook her excitedly. "Oh, yes, yes. Please can we be taking applications?"

"How about it, Scarlet?" asked Tony.

Scarlet was stunned. "You want me to be a Super Star?"

"Yes, we do. We do! Right?" Jim looked askance at the others.

"You may be a hothead, but you have many heroic qualities," observed Mary.

"I bet Mike at ACME Labs can help you find your sisters," suggested Tom.

"I think with a little training and discipline, you'd make a great addition to the team," said Penny.

"You'd still be getting revenge on Claw by helping us stop his invasion," reasoned Tony. "And who knows, you might eventually get a crack at him yourself."

Scarlet's eyes sparkled at her new friends and the knowledge that they were putting their trust in her. Still, she pretended to be hesitant. "Well, I'd hate to abandon the circus, but I have always wanted to see Toon Town. Working closely with the Toon Master would be nice too." She eyed Tony as he shifted in embarrassment. "Very well, I accept your offer to be Super Star."

"YES!"

Jim realized he had jumped into the air and shouted when he saw everyone staring at him. He cleared his throat, walked over to Scarlet and politely shook her hand. "I mean, welcome to the team."

Before the Super Stars left Paris, Scarlet had to visit the circus camp grounds one final time. Everything had finally been packed into the wagons, albeit in a haphazard fashion. Tarps were loosely fitted over the wagon roofs and tent poles stuck partially out of windows, but no one seemed to care. After all that had happen, the circus folk were just anxious to leave. However, they lingered over saying goodbye to one of their own.

The portly ringmaster grasped both of Scarlet's hands with his own. He spoke in a gruff, but gentle voice. "I wish you would reconsider, Scarlet."

"Thank you, sir, but I have to go," said Scarlet. The offer to stay was tempting, but Scarlet always held firm to her decisions. "I've spent all this time brooding about revenge and now the Super Stars are offing me the change to do some good instead. Plus, I may be able to find my sisters."

The ringmaster bowed his head in defeat. "I understand. I hope you know that we all wish you luck. The circus will not be the same without you." The performers behind him all expressed their agreement.

"Thank you. I will miss all of you, but I'm sure we'll meet again one day." Without looking back, Scarlet left her former life and went to join the Super Stars gathered around the small transport ship which was now parked inside the camp grounds.

"You okay?" asked Tom.

Scarlet brushed at her eyes while replying. "Fine, I'm fine. I am a little worried about the circus, though. What if Claw attacks them again or tries some other scheme?"

"Not to worry," said Jim boldly. "I personally contacted the King of Toon World about that. (Penny rolled her eyes while Tony and Mary hid smiles behind their hands.) He's sending a squad of guards to protect the circus until their tour is finished."

"That's our Jim; the man with the connections," said Tony.

"Too bad none of those connections are between his brain cells," muttered Penny. Jim shot her a nasty look.

"Well then, I feel much better," Scarlet said happily. Jim looked back at her with a silly grin on his face, but Scarlet ignored him. She surprised Tony by taking his arm in hers and steering him towards the ship. "Shall we go, then?"

Mary followed the two of them into the ship, but Jim and Penny stayed outside. Both of them were scowling at Tony behind his back. Jim was wishing that he was the one escorting Scarlet into the ship and Penny was thinking of making Scarlet ride to Toon Town on the outside of the ship, although she wasn't exactly sure why she felt that way.

The two teenagers barely noticed as Tom came up behind them. "You know," he was saying, "it's kind of like a soap opera. Jim likes Scarlet, but she likes Tony who actually likes Penny and Penny…"

"Shut up, Tom!" shouted both Jim and Penny. Both fuming teenagers stomped onto the ship leaving Tom looking bewildered.

"What'd I say?"


And once agian the day is saved thanks to the...sorry wrong script. WEll it would seem that not only did Tony and his team beat claw once agian but they gained a new team memeber, and it looks as though Scarlet will definatly be shaking things up. Stay tuned for more exciting adventers!

Thanks for reading Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review.