A beautiful sunrise started to show upon Miami. As the sun starts rising over the horizon, a sweet guitar sound could be heard among these rooftops. When everything was once shadow, things could now be picked up in the light.
The light shone down on the minstrel, showing herself as Corona. The sweet melodies plucked up on her strings, reflecting upon the peaceful red skies around her. But… that was until a thud was heard from beneath her.
"What on Earth..."
She placed her guitar back in its place and started dashing down the steps, towards her apartment. Within that, she managed to trip up and as she landed... she was looking straight up at Bubble.
"Whoa there, slow down", chuckled the starfish. "Don't get too excited, furry!"
"I just want to know what's going on!" asked Corona as she stood up. "The thud sounded like it's something bad."
"It IS, you dimwit! Gadget fainted as soon as she entered her bedroom to check if Neo was up yet."
"Why?" she asked.
"We haven't seen him all morning! I've been right after his hiney, and you know what?"
"What?"
"He's... missing", he sighed when bringing his head down.
The bear then gasped. "OH NO!"
"Don't panic – they call me the Big Brother of the house, meaning that I have been watching everyone", smiled Bubble as he pulled out a cassette tape from his pockets.
"Hey, you seem pretty protective. Have you seen it yet?"
The starfish gave out a laugh. "I always check them before you wake up!"
Corona had a sweat drop coming down her face, and was blushing anime-style.
"The ultimate scene of this crime shows how he escaped... or was rather... KIDNAPPED!" Bubble shouted as he pulled out a photograph, instantly placing one of his fingers onto a feminine figure outside an open window. "This girl here carried him out of the room, using psychic power! Any ideas on this one?"
"What's the matter with you? It seems like you can't recognise her", sighed Corona as she leered on at him.
"OK. Tell me who it is."
"Right – it looks like Ms. Cheese!"
"What?"
He then came to a sudden stop, thinking hard to the events that occurred last night. And then, Chad's quote came back into his mind.
"Soup and the others don't know where we all live!"
The thought soon managed to vanish from his mind, leaving him with nothing to do than to look at Corona with a pair of blank eyes.
"ACK!" he screamed. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!"
"Don't panic - we'll gather everyone around and tell them everything.."
It wasn't long until everyone gathered around the breakfast table in the kitchen and heard Bubble and Corona tell the events towards their comrades.
"...and now all we gotta do is track her down and re-claim him!" Bubble exclaimed with determination.
"You must be joking me!" Snappy said with widened eyes.
"He's right!" said Corona as she stood next to Bubble. "We haven't heard from him all morning, and Bubble has a videotape to prove it!"
"Oh I can see what's coming", sighed Chad. "Let's just fast forward to how to find him."
"I'm telling you now that it's not gonna be easy", frowned Kiwi.
Brio turned towards her. "Why not?"
"Because we don't know where their hideout is!"
Travis then sighed before standing up. "Looks like we're gonna do it the hard way..."
He went to the back door and opened it, but despite being a beautiful day already, some of the snow from last night has remained there.
He then gasped. "Hey guys – we're in luck!"
Everyone quickly rushed over to him, with a miracle right in front of their eyes.
"Footprints!!" Kiwi gasped.
"Yep – they're footprints of high-heeled shoes all right", smirked Snappy.
"Maybe we should track them down and find our target", Kiwi said with a broad smile.
"Good idea", chuckled Gadget. "If we lose him now, then now what are we gonna do?"
"Don't panic", Chad said calmly. "We have to move fast!"
Quickly they followed the footprints by foot towards their target. Little did they know that their journey was going to be tougher, now that the temperature is coming towards 100ºF, and this means that the snow could vanish.
"Come on sunshine, wake up and smell the fear."
A female voice managed to bring full alert to a figure lying near her. He could hear her voice, he could feel a cold table upon his back, and he can smell the dust hanging in the air… yet his vision was pitch black.
"Wh...where am I? I can't see a thing..."
"That's what they all say", she then giggled viciously.
"And... what's with my body? I can't move!"
"You wanna know why?"
"Please, if anything!!!"
"Be prepared to see the light!"
And in split-second timing, a black blindfold was taken away from the figure's eyes, leaving him to look straight into the eyes of Mozzarella Cheese, with an abandoned factory being the backdrop ahead of his viewpoint.
"Now what have you to say to that?" Mozzarella snickered as she looked on at the figure.
It wasn't long until she leant on top of the figure, who showed himself to be Neo. He was shown handcuffed to a conveyor belt on the feet, hands and neck.
"For a person named after a dairy product", he started, "you're just plain rotten!"
"Thank you", she smiled pleasantly.
"Hoo boy", Neo sighed as he rolled his eyes.
"Well you're probably wondering your purpose now, are you, Corty- boy?"
"Shoo fly", he growled. "Don't bother me."
"Corty-boy! Corty-boy! Corty-boy! Oh... how many times have I said that?" Mozzarella then glared at him viciously.
"Just show him the termination weapon!" said Tiko's voice from behind her.
"OK!" she then moved out of his view.
Then in front of his eyes, there was a grinding machine up ahead, where the conveyor belt passed just half a centimeter under a massive steel wheel.
"This is what I call..." Mozzarella sneered, "the Iron Maiden!"
"That's a nice name and all", Neo started, "but why the lack of originality?"
The enemies in the room had large sweat drops down the sides of their faces.
"Was there something else with that name? I never knew..." she shrugged before turning to the machine. "As soon as I start the machine the conveyor belt will carry you towards the wheel, and grind you in half!" she paid attention to the lever. "Which will be too easy!"
She walks up to the wheel and grabbed onto it, but... it never budged!
"Oh bloomin' 'eck!" she kicked the machine, causing her foot to rebound from the surface. "I forgot the most important thing of all!" She then turned towards the others around her. "Give me a tee."
"T", they said in low toned voices as they placed their arms out horizontally.
"Give me a tee!" she started to say with a more vicious tone.
"T!" the others repeated their actions.
"I SAID GIVE ME A TEE!!" she snapped on at the others.
"T!!!" they shouted while placing their arms horizontally again.
Mozzarella then gave out a vicious sigh. "You guys are as thick as milkshakes, you are." She then started to leave the room. "We're not gonna get this thing working without a golf tee..."
"Oh right", Tiko said with confused eyes.
"Call me thick?" Soup growled back to her. "I'm a criminal mastermind!"
"Yeah, and I'm one of those people who got six high school diplomas before moving onto a career in the movie business", Deksta shouted back while thinking back to her late teenager days.
The door was slammed shut, leaving Neo in the room alone. The secret was out, but even with that in mind, there still had to be a way to escape. The handcuffs were already known to be tough to beat, as well as escaping without the others noticing. After looking around the room, he then heard some waves of water from outside, and with that, he gave out a promising smile.
The sun was already at its mid-morning position, and the golden sands started glimmering like precious jewels. Even at this stage this area was packed with people as far as the eye could see. The babies and toddlers were crawling about in the sand, most of the children were building sandcastles close to the sea, the teens and young adults were romancing themselves with their big muscles (in the male case) and eye-popping thongs (in the female case) with some of these surfing and swimming in the sea, and the adults were lying down on beach towels, soaking up some sun. Near one of them, there were some familiar footprints, and as we looked on, the search team had ended up around here. Misty was panting her socks off at the back of the line and eventually fell on the sand.
"Come on slowpoke!!!" Bubble cried out towards her.
Misty growled before bringing her head up. "Hey, it's not MY fault I take less exercise than all o ya!"
"We know, but we can't give up now!" said Snappy as she pulled her up onto both feet.
"You don't realize that I really didn't want to do this", she sighed to him.
"What did you say?"
Gadget resorted to stepping on Snappy's foot, causing him to yelp and hop up and down on the other. "After nearly a day of being together you don't even know about Misty's relationship with your friend?"
"What was it?" he said while losing balance and falling onto his back.
She then sighed. "You're as thick as a milkshake, you are..."
"You guys are as thick as milkshakes", said another female voice from nearby.
"Déjà vu", Snappy said while carefully bringing himself back up.
"More than that", blinked Travis. "That voice is from Mozzarella Cheese!"
"I think we're getting close here", Kiwi smiled.
"You're right!" Corona exclaimed while pointing on at the group, coming inside the warehouse again. "They're right next to that abandoned warehouse over there!"
"And I think we have found their hideout!" Chad smiled on at her.
Brio then gave off a devious laugh. "That was toooooo easy!
"This one is ours for the taking, I guarantee!" Chad said while patting Boron and Goliath, whom were both growling towards the door.
They quickly dashed towards the entrance of the warehouse, unexpected of the surprises up ahead. Having been an ABANDONED warehouse, they may consider themselves lucky in there... or will they?
From a bright red locked door, the vault started to open slowly, and through the door came Tiko and the others. Mozzarella, leading them, had a vicious smirk on her face, and one of her hands carrying something that can't quite be identified yet. Finally she came towards the Iron Maiden with determination spelt across her face (no pun intended)! She got a towel and rubbed the face paint markings off her face, and then leered down to her target.
"Finally I have what I want!" she said while holding a small white golf tee in front of Neo's eyes.
He then gulped. "I have a bad feeling about this..."
"HA! It's too late, Corty-boy!" she sneered on at him, leaving him to growl back. "Once this is in place your life is over", she continued to speak as she brought the tee closer to her own eyes.
She then went straight up to the machine and slotted in the tee, leaving her to pull the lever down with ease.
"Farewell Neo Cortex, the so-called Chosen One – you will have that title... no more!!!" she started snickering back towards her opponent.
"Way to go, Missy Mo!" Tiko cheered on in the background.
The conveyor belt started moving gradually, but the wheel spun around as mad as it possibly could. With the pressure of the handcuffs squeezing down alongside, it seemed like there wasn't a chance to escape. Time was ticking away, and at this stage he passed just a quarter of the journey. But just then… one of the windows shattered into pieces, and through it came the others! There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for him.
"What the...?" Mozzarella gasped.
"Stop that thing now!" Snappy verbally fought back.
"Oh, shall I?" she sneered. "Let me demonstrate something!"
She goes up to the lever and tries to pull it back up again, but... the lever snapped!
"Sorry, but once it starts, it never stops!" she smirked will looking onto the others. "Well, unless something happens inside the machine."
"AH!" Snappy shouted as he focused his attention to the others. "Corona, Travis, Bubble and Brio, you try and destroy the…" He turned to Mozzarella with a confused look. "What's it called?"
"Iron Maiden."
"I think SHE'S as thick as a milkshake", he sadistically laughed before turning to the others. "Kiwi, Boron and Goliath, you guys try and free Neo from the-"
"But the handcuffs are made outta steel!" the parrot frowned. "How am I gonna peck through that?"
"My claws may be a teeny bit fragile but they're still tough", he smiled. "Think about it."
"Oh right!"
"The rest of you will come with me and take on the jerks!"
"Get ready guys", she sneered before turning backwards… awaiting a surprise. "What?"
No one was behind her at all!
"Chickens!" she growled under her breath.
"Change of plan", smirked Snappy. "I'll help you guys destroy that machine and Gadget, you help the pets set Neo free."
"No problemo!" she said with a light smile.
"Let's go!"
Within no time at all everyone quickly reached their battle stations. Snappy and his party were slashing away at the machine furiously but at this stage there was no damage. Meanwhile Gadget and the others had a few problems on how to break the handcuffs, or stop the conveyor belt from moving any further. But Misty and Chad however... didn't come in with an attack as yet!
"Yeah! You never know what she'd come up with", said the turtle.
"What, after a while of battling against her?" Chad asked her. "You know that she has the..."
"...magic finger?" She finished off her sentence and showed her index finger on her right hand. "Once this is triggered you guys are mincemeat."
"If you wanna make someone mincemeat", she growled before turning to Neo, now two thirds of the way to the grinder, "try that pig for size."
"MISTY! LIVEN UP FOR ONCE!!!" Chad exclaimed while leering into her face.
"Why should I?"
"Because if you don't, we're easy targets..."
And easy targets he was right – Mozzarella quickly fired a white beam of power towards the two of them... but they barely escaped it... and struck the side of the Iron Maiden!
"Come on people!" Snappy started singing. "Thiiiiings can only get betteeeer..."
Suddenly a clank was heard, leaving him to almost jump from his position, with his eyes widening along with his actions.
"What the...!"
He then looked towards the side of the machine, and saw a surprise in front of him through its circuits. What he saw in front of him... was the conveyor belt getting faster! By then the conveyor belt moved to its three-quarter point... and yet there hasn't been a single scratch on the handcuffs!
"OH - MY - GAWSH!" Snappy shouted, as he turned towards the rest of his team. "SPEED UP GUYS - WE'RE IN MORE HOT WATER THAN WE THINK WE ARE!!!"
"Yes sir!!!" they exclaimed before charging into the machine faster than before.
Whilst this was going on, the power of the magic finger was spread about all over the place, tearing down some parts of the warehouse, ranging from water pipes to electricity cables. The sirens started going red, and the whole area started to cave in.
"WE NEED TO GET OUT – QUICK!" Misty screamed.
"But what about Neo?" Chad asked. "Without him we can't-"
"WHO FOR PETE'S SAKE CARES??? JUST GO!!" she exclaimed.
"A good soldier never leaves a man behind!" Gadget shouted back.
Back outside, the beach activities were going on as normal until... an explosion occurred. The whole warehouse went up in smoke and everyone panicked as they saw this occur. Within a few seconds a black shadow could be seen from the smoke. Sooner enough we see her... as Misty.
She came to a stop near a rock, catching her breath. "Who needs them?"
She starts walking off, but sooner enough, she came to a stop. She then looked to the sky... with more of a concerned expression across her face. Then a few thoughts came in her head.
"We heard that the Chosen One could do totally different things to what normal people could do", said Bubble's voice in her mind.
"We can't win the wars without him!" followed Corona's enthusiastic voice.
"Way to go Neo dude!" followed Snappy's.
"Yeah – where could we be without you?" followed Gadget's sweet tone.
Misty's own voice took a deep breath before shouting. "He's just a downright show-off!" it exclaimed with an echo on the last word.
The thoughts came out from her mind. She then started to feel much more uncomfortable, and started shaking. Finally she turned back into the now ash-ridden warehouse... and saw no signs of life... but then...
"HEY!"
Misty gasped at the sound of the voice. "OVER HERE!!"
It wasn't long until eleven more shadows could be made out from the smoke, one of them limping as he ran – the rest of the gang survived the blast!
"WHOA – YOU'RE ALIVE!!" she exclaimed happily as she went towards them. "Ah", she started to speak again with tears of joy. "Where would I be without you?"
Kiwi then growled by pulling her up by her t-shirt collar. "Never mind that – how about where YOU would be without your head!!!" she said while leering on at her.
"Yeah right", Misty responded while rolling her eyes.
"Chick, I'm for real!" The parrot started exclaiming rhythmically, dropping the turtle to the ground as she did so. "Shut your mouth you dirty girl! You know you want it in your world..."
"Ladies, please don't fight", Neo said as he stepped between the pair. "We've been involved in too many already." He then brought his attention straight towards Misty. "Speaking of which, I'd like to thank you for sending your crew out there into saving my life."
She then turned away from him. "I was just doin' it for myself."
"But Misty..."
She started looking around the beach... and saw a tipped over crate of Brussels sprouts at her feet.
"You don't understand mate", she growled as she picked up a sprout. "Us turtles are like sprouts!"
"They stink?" Neo said with a confused expression.
"Yes..." Her eyes widened after she said that. "I MEAN NO!!! Look at them – they're green, and that's my color all the time."
"Be careful with her - she's always moody", Chad sighed before he suddenly felt a painful joly across his right leg. "OW! MY ANKLE!!"
"WHAT?!!?" Misty growled on at him.
"He said that she'd like to pose as a nudie!" Snappy exclaimed with a toothy grin, leaving Misty to show an expression of disgust.
Chad was soon helped up onto both feet by Gadget and Corona. "By the way, did any of you see Cheese on the way out?"
Everyone shook their heads and said a moan-like "no".
"Well that's OK", nodded Brio. "Looks like she'd be out of the road for a long time."
"I'm not sure, because her psychic power can teleport her to safety. Who knows where she'd be", Gadget sighed as she placed her head down.
"I'll be on the lookout when we get home", Travis smiled.
Bubble then brought out a smile. "That's my boy, always prepared!"
The golden sands blew in the wind pretty rapidly as they left the beach back to their apartment, but a bit slower, due to Chad's ankle. Back at the ruins a black hand started to rise from it, as a set of police cars surrounded it. The good alliance had taken care of half of the evil alliance, but with that in mind they know that the last three will be the hardest to annihilate, yet the location for them is yet to be known.
-end of part 4-