Chapter 3: Into the Darkness

"Alright, Here's the plan," started of Rajah, "Everyone is to split up into groups of threes. Each group will receive one of these talisman medallions. Once all of you have successfully entered the world you've been assigned to, find the ether crystal as quickly as possible. Once you've reached the crystal, attach the medallion onto it. This will deactivate it, rendering it useless. Now just to see who goes where."
All of the nine friends huddled together and began to go over this issue. After a few minutes, they all agreed who was going with whom and where.
"Okay! We've made our decision Rajah," said Buster, "Since we're the bravest of the group, Me, Babs, & James are going to take on the Dark Realm. Plucky, Hamton, & Timmy have decided to go back to Toonity. And lastly, Shirley, Fifi, and Caroline will go to Reality."
"Very good," said Rajah, "Here are your talisman medallions. Oh, and one more thing; since Afghan has already placed the first two crystals in the Dark Realm & Toonity; Shirley, Fifi, & Caroline, you three may run into Afghan in Reality. Therefore, I advise you three to especially be on high alert"
Rajah then raised his hand and summoned a few words. Just then, three swirling masses of colors appeared in the room.
"These are the portals that will take you into Reality, Toonity, and the Dark Realm," replied Rajah, "You best be going now before the portals close."
Everybody looked at each other, the medallions, Rajah, and the three portals, and each gave a deep breath. Everyone had mixed feeling on what was to be before them. Some had a feeling of bravery, some had a feeling of adventure, others were worried, Hamton was hungry, and Plucky was thinking about the types of awards he would receive for saving the worlds from total disaster (that's Plucky for yah).
"Okay everyone, let's roll" was Buster's final words as he leapt into the portal to the Dark Realm. Babs and James followed him. Plucky lead Hamton & Timmy into the Toonity portal, and Caroline, Shirley, & Fifi were the last to leave.
"Good Luck my friends," shouted Rajah as he gave his final good-bye to everybody, "…and Godspeed."

After what seemed like an eternity of flying through space, Buster, Babs, & James finally ended up at their destination. They each crash landed on the hard, solid ground below them. After regaining balance, the three finally managed to stand up. They were now in a strange, new world. Looking around, they noticed that the whole world was pitch black in darkness. The sky above them was black as the night. There was no sun, just dark, stormy clouds. The land, however, looked much worse than the sky. The whole world was like a huge, rocky desert, with no plant life (or any life that is) whatsoever. There were, however, a few dead trees here and there, but beside those, there was no foliage.
"Man! Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore," said Buster.
"This must be the Dark Realm Rajah was talking about," James said.
"Now I know why they call it the Dark Realm," replied Babs, "You can barely tell if it's day or night here it's so dark"
"That's why it's so well named," said an eerily familiar voice. "The three friends turned around in a snap.
"Rajah" they exclaimed. It was Rajah, however, he looked different. He was very transparent.
"Yes, my friends, it is I, Rajah," he said, "However, I'm not really Rajah, Rajah! I am only a hologram of myself. I have only come to deliver a message to you three. I have come to show you the location of the first Ether crystal."
"Well…" replied Buster, "Where is it?"
"Up there" Rajah said, as he pointed straight ahead to a tall, dark mountain, "It is known as Death Mountain, and at the top, you will find the Ether crystal."
The three gave a huge gulp.
"Happily named" said a nervous Buster.
"I must go now." Rajah said as he started to disappear, "Good luck (you'll need it)".
The three just stared at the danger ahead of them.
Well," spoke up Buster, "That crystal won't destroy itself, let's go"

Plucky, Hamton, & Timmy had just arrived back at Acme Acres in Toonity.
"C'mon you guys," Said Plucky, "The sooner we find the crystal, the sooner I get MY picture in the paper."
"But Plucky," replied Timmy, "We don't even know where to look."
"Yeah," added Hamton, "Trying to find that Ether crystal here is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"If only we knew where it was," Timmy said.
"I can help you with that," said a voice behind them.
The three turned around to see a small green bird with a pink umbrella on his head. It was Gogo Dodo.
"Gogo, you know where the crystal is?" asked Plucky.
"Do I ever," replied Gogo, "I was taking a walk, minding my own business, when this huge crystal landed smack-dab in the center of Wackyland. Many of us there tried to pull it out, but I guess it was to heavy. It's a real eye sore to tell you the truth."
"So the crystal's in Wackyland?" said Hamton. "Absa-posi-lutley!" replied Gogo.
"To Wackyland" exclaimed Plucky as he charged off. Hamton, Timmy, and Gogo followed.

Back in reality, next to the tree house, a portal was forming. Out of it came three human girls, one of them being Caroline.
"Man, It's great to be back in the real world," said Caroline getting back on her feet.
After the other two got on their feet, it did not take long for them to notice something unusual about them.
"Like gag me with a spoon or some junk," exclaimed one of the girls, who, strangely enough, sounded a whole lot Shirley.
"Sacre Bleu," said the other, "what haz happened to my body. Though, I do declare, I do look magnifet, no."
It then came upon Caroline that the other two girls were Shirley & Fifi in their human forms.
Shirley, along with her trademark blond hair and pink sweater, was also clothed in a brown, leather vest, blue jeans, white cowboy boots, and violet Elton John-style sunglasses.
Fifi was wearing ruby-red suede shoes, bobby socks, a very short, blue skirt, and purple blouse. Her blondish-brown hair was in a tight ponytail.
Both girls, like Caroline, were Caucasian.
"Okay, enough admiring yourselves already, we need to find the crystal" Caroline stated.
"But we don't even know where to look" said Fifi.
"Need some assistance?" said a strange, mysterious voice.
It was coming from Shirley, whose eyes were glowing bright blue at the moment.
"Egad," said Caroline in a shocking voice, "Shirley, you don't sound like yourself. And what's happening?"
"This is Rajah," replied Shirley, "I am channeling my voice through Shirley to deliver my message. I have good and bad news for you three. The bad news is that Afghan has already arrived into reality. The good news is, I know where he's planning to place it, and he's far from the location"
"Well, where ez thez place Rajah?" asked Fifi.
"It is…it is…Washington, D.C."

"Why couldn't this place be named 'The Mountain of Pleasant Dreams'?" said James in an exhausting voice.
The three friends had been wandering the wasteland of the Dark Realm for at least a mile or so.
"What did you expect the mountain to be named," replied Babs, "This IS the Dark Realm after all"
"Yeah, but with a name like that, it's bound to be trouble," added James.
"You were expecting a pleasure cruise maybe?" said Buster, "This mission had a capital 'T' for trouble in it before we even started it yah now"
"Uh, Buster, James, don't look now but I think we just met up with that trouble" said Babs nervously as she pointed to a few trees in front of them.
Resting on the branches where a few dozen birds. The birds had dark, black feathers, and their beaks seemed to be made of metal.
"Wh…wh…what are those things?" stuttered Buster.
"I think this could answer our question," said James as he pointed to the old, wooden sign in front of him. It read:

WARNING! THIS IS THE NESTING PLACE OF THE FLESH-EATING RAZOR-BEAK BIRDS. DO NOT DISTURB! IF WOKEN, THESE BIRDS WILL ATTACK ANY LIVING, MOVING THING.

"Uh, did that sign say 'FLESH-EATING?" said Babs nervously.
"I don't know," replied Buster, "I was to busy worrying about the 'WILL ATTACK ANY LIVING, MOVING THING' part"
The three, quite scared, began to quietly walk backwards. Unfortunately, Babs failed to notice where she was stepping, and stepped on a tiny twig. Yet, this made a sound too quiet to be noticed, it was loud enough to wake the flock of Razor-Beak Birds from their sleep.
"Uh-Oh" said Babs.
"BAKAW" screeched one of the birds. The rest of the birds began doing the same, and started to take flight. The flock of birds began racing towards the nervous and frightened three.
"RUN!" shouted Buster to James and Babs as he began to run away from the angry birds. Babs and James decided to do the same.

"Washington D.C.?" said Caroline, "But that's miles from here!"
"You must get there before Afghan does," said Rajah, speaking thru Shirley,
"I must go now, good luck!" Shirley returned to normal, as the connection was cut-off.
"So exactly vhere iz Washington D.C.?" asked Fifi.
Caroline thought for a minute.
"Well," Caroline started, "It's about…oh…3 hours from here. That is, if you were driving. And since none of us can drive, it would approximately take us maybe a week, or two, to walk there."
"TWO WEEKS" exclaimed Shirley & Fifi.
"Like, we don't have that much time," said Shirley.
"Zere haz to be anozher option," Fifi added.
"Well, there's a bus station nearby," said Caroline, "It might be possible they have a bus on route to Washington."
"Well, like, c'mon, or some junk," said Shirley, "We haven't got much time yah know!"

At the Bus Station, Caroline carefully studied a map of the different stops the buses made.
"Good news girls," Caroline said as she pointed to a city on the map, "The furthest stop the bus makes is right here. It's a couple of miles from Washington, but we can transfer to another bus there"
The three went up to the ticket window. Inside was an old man, asleep & snoring.
"Excuse me sir," Caroline said as she tapped gently on the window.
The ticket man suddenly woke up and fell out of his chair. After regaining the rest of his consciousness, he managed to get himself back into his seat.
"Yes," he said, "What could I do fer yah young misses!"
"We need a ticket to the end of the line please," Caroline asked.
The man punched in a few numbers into the machine. Out popped three tickets.
"That'll be…er…31.25" he said.
The three girls rummaged thru their pockets, only to pull out 8 dollars, 47 cents, a bent paper clip, and a ball of lint.
"How much for this" Caroline said in an innocent grin.
"Sorry little missy," the man said as he shook his head in disapproval, "The tickets are 31.25! Either pay up or go on with your business"
Shirley stepped up to the window.
"You will give us the tickets," she said.
"I will give you the tickets" the man repeated, handing out the tickets.
"It is free of charge"
"It is free of charge"
"Have a nice day ma'am"
"Have a nice day ma'am"
Caroline and Fifi starred at Shirley with jaws dropped.
"How did you do that?" Caroline asked.
"Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, I have powers over weak minds too."
The three girls went of to the buses, with Caroline and Fifi still in amazement.

The flock of razor-beak birds were still on the tails of Buster, Babs & James.
"Normally I only had experiences like these in my nightmares," Babs said, "Unfortunately, there are no alarm clocks to wake me up!"
"Don't look now but I think our nightmare just got worse," exclaimed James, pointing ahead to a ravine.
The three halted suddenly at the side of the deep crevasse. Any further movement would have sent them falling into complete nothing. Unfortunately, now the gang had nowhere to escape from the razor beaks.
"Oh no, now what do we do" panicked James.
Buster looked around. He finally caught his eye at a dead tree. He ran over and snapped of a few branches.
"Here," he said as he threw some at Babs & James, "Use these to protect yourselves"
The three then began to attack the razor-beak birds. Many of them were able to swat away some few. However, they were not too successful in keeping away the birds. A bird flew into Babs and began biting her ear. Babs screamed as she tried to get the attacking bird off her. Buster was able to kill the bird. More and more the birds came at them.
"Oh man, It'll take a miracle of God to save us now" said Buster in a panic.
Suddenly, a huge lightning bolt flashed in front of them, killing the flock of angry razor-beak birds.
"Thanks Lord" said James to the sky above.
"Great, that moment just side-tracked us from Death Mountain" said Babs quite upset.
"I wouldn't put it that way, look," said Buster pointing to the mountain ahead of them.
"Death Mountain" exclaimed James, "We made it"
"Great," said Babs in a unsatisfied tone, "now the only trouble to face now is climbing up there."
The gang looked up at how high the mountain was.
"I should have worn my hiking boots," muttered Buster.

"C'mon guys," said Gogo, "The crystal is just ahead"
Plucky, Hamton, & Timmy were lagging behind, out of breath.
"Gee Gogo, don't you ever slow down?" asked Plucky.
"Nope," Gogo answered, "I keep going, and going, and going and…"
"Okay we get it!" said Plucky really annoyed.
Finally, the four reached a giant, glowing, green crystal.
"Well it's about time," Plucky exclaimed, "I thought my feet were going to fall off"
Plucky snatched the Talisman Medallion Hamton was holding.
"Gimme that!" said Plucky, "Let the respected duck do the hon…WAAAAA!"
Just then, a giant snake popped from out of the ground in front of Plucky. The snake lowered his head, and gazed his giant, red eyes toward him. Plucky began to shiver in fear.
"Sssssstay back, foolisssssh mortal" said the snake, "I, Ssssslytherin, by the power invessssted in me by Lord Affffghan, am the guardian of thissss crysssstal. And I, Ssssslytherin, ssssshall dessstroy you all."
"Hey you overgrown earthworm," remarked Plucky, "What makes you think you can just stand in our way into saving the world?"
Slytherin then let out a beam of red lighting from his eyes. Luckily for Plucky, he missed.
"Well, hee hee hee, I guess we'll be going now," said Plucky, in a toothy grin.
Plucky ran of screaming from Slytherin's beams of lightning. Timmy and Hamton did the same. Each one was screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Slytherin followed, trying to blast them with his lightning beams.

"Wait a minute," said Plucky, "Why am I doing this. I shouldn't be running like the dickens. I should be stopping that monster. For I ammmm…"
Then Plucky span around, and transformed into…
"Batduck!" "Hold it right there evildoer," said Plucky in his most heroic voice, "It is I…Batduck…here to stop your act of violence-y- stuff!" Plucky then pulled out a boomerang the shape of the Batduck logo. "Using my Batduck…er…um…evildoer…. slicing thingy…. ah, what the hey, with my thingamabob, I will slice you into tiny, itty-bitty, pieces" he said as he flung into the air. It did no damage to Slytherin.
"Err…" Plucky said, "It worked in the commercials"
Hamton and Timmy slapped their hands against their foreheads.
Slytherin then gave out a blast of flames from his gigantic mouth, scorching Plucky. Afterwards, Plucky was as scorched as scorched can get.
"Did you order crispy or extra crunchy?" he said as he fainted.
Slytherin whipped his tail towards Hamton, Timmy, and whatever was left of Plucky, & wrapped himself around them.
"Ssssay your lassst prayer, mortal foolssssss" he said.
Slytherin lowered his open mouth towards the three toons and was about to gobble them in one bite when suddenly, three other toons came running out of the distance. The other three jumped onto Slyterin's tail and began bouncing on it.
"Boingy, Boingy, Boingy, Boingy…" they chanted.
"Hey," said Slytherin, "What issss the meaning of thissss?"
"We are the Warner brothers," said the first two.
"And the Warner sister" said the other.
"Yakko, Wakko, Dot, bout time you three showed up," said Plucky in relief.
"What issss your purpose of you three being here?" said Slytherin.
"We have come…to annoy you!" said Yakko.
"Oohhhh…" said Dot, "You're a cute snakie-head. I have a pet that'll just love to meet you"
Then she reached behind her back and pulled out a little white box. When she opened it, a giant, rabid mongoose popped out.
"Yikesssss" screamed Slytherin, as he let go of Plucky, Hamton, & Timmy, and began running off into the distance with the mongoose on his trail.
"Phewww…" said Hamton in relief, "For a minute I thought we were snake food"
"Blah, Blah, Blah!" Plucky said, "C'mon we have a crystal to destroy"
Plucky took the medallion and placed it on the crystal. The crystal began to glow a bright light. With a giant flash, the crystal disappeared. Then, a hologram of Rajah appeared.
"Good work you three," he said. A giant portal appeared before the three toons. "Come on, there is still some issues to go over"
Plucky, Hamton, and Timmy waved goodbye to Gogo, Yakko, Wakko, & Dot, and jumped into the portal

"I hope that crystal is near, my feet are killing me!" James said.
He, Buster, & Babs where tracking up the mountain, trying their hardest to get to the top. The climb up was crude and brutal.
"Speak for yourself," Babs said, "At least your feet aren't as big as mine"
"Don't worry gang, we're almost at the top," said Buster.
A few minutes later, the whole gang reached the top. At the peak was a giant, glowing, green crystal.
"Finally, we made it!" Buster cheered.
"C'mon," James said as he went and rummaged through his pockets, finally managing to pull out the medallion, "Let's destroy it already"
"Wait a sec," Babs said, "Is anyone beside me think this is to easy. I mean look at it! It's sitting in the middle of nowhere. Don't you think Afghan would make it harder to get to this crystal?"
"Does that explain your que-question" stammered Buster.
He was pointing to a horrific creature that had just crawled from behind the crystal. James gave out a huge scream.
"Spider" he screamed.
Or at least it looked like that. It's front was that of a woman, with the wings of a bat, and the rest of it's body like a spider. Its woman half had sharp fangs, green skin, long, black hair, & red, sharp nails. It's spider half resembled a mix of a black widow and a tarantula.

"Foolish mortals" it said, "You think you can foil Afghan's plan of total chaos. I, Aracnia, Spider Mistress, loyal minion of Afghan, shall destroy you"
"Um, something tells me this isn't good," replied James.
"Prepare to die," Arachnia replied. She raised he hands into the air and began shooting strings of spider's silk at the three. Luckily, they each dodged every shoot.
"Resist while you can mortal fools," exclaimed Arachnia, "But you won't escape my wrath"
Finally, Arachnia successfully sprayed a thick coat of thick silk upon James & Babs.
"EEEWWWWW," exclaimed Babs.
Arachnia crept over to the helpless two.
"Any last words before we, or should I say, I eat"
"Yeah," exclaimed Buster holding up a can of bug spray, "Watch your head"
Buster let out a spray. Once on contact, the spray began to burn upon Arachnia's body.
"Ugh," she screamed, "I'm melting! Melting! MELTINGGGG! WAAAAA!"
The evil being that was once Arachnia had melted into a puddle of green liquid. Babs & James managed to get themselves out of the spider's silk.
"Buster" exclaimed Babs; running over to Buster, giving him a 'Thank-you' hug, "You saved us"
James pulled out the medallion and went over to the crystal. He took the medallion and placed it on the crystal. The crystal began to glow a bright light. With a giant flash, the crystal disappeared. Rajah's vision then appeared.
"At last," he said, "Two crystals down. Now come on, there is one more thing we need to do"
A giant portal then appeared before them. Buster, Babs, & James jumped into it, and disappeared.