CANNONBALL RUN 4: HIGH OCTANE

By The Turbo Man

CHAPTER 11: LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

DISCLAIMER: The usual. The end is not far in sight, but I hope you've enjoyed yourselves thus far.

In San Francisco, the Cannonballers had just come off the bridge from Australia and were now on their way to LA.

"The finish line is not far." Sora said in the Phantom, wearing the Captain Chaos mask. "I am confident that we shall be triumphant!".

As they drove through the city, the Gauntlet pulled out of a parking lot and was joined by several other cop cars.

"This is it, men!" Harris yelled into his CB. "We've got to stop them from reaching that finish line!".

Seeing the approaching police vehicles, Jessie sneered. "They just never learn, do they?".

She put her foot down on the accelerator and shot forward. The Cannonballers were all determined not to be beaten.

Los Angeles....

Brock, J.J. and Victor were all standing on the deck of the Sea Phantom, waiting for the arrival of Mr. X.

"I was sure he would have contacted me by now." Brock said.

"We've got Jack and the boys here, Brock." J.J. said, nodding to Jack Spade and his friends, who were standing near the entrance to the Marina. "They can handle it.".

The sound of a horn was heard and the three men looked towards the Marina entrance. A large Greyhound bus with tinted windows was heading for the gate.

"Hello, what's this?" Victor said. "You think it's some more fans?".

"Hmmm, I'm not so sure." Brock said. Brock picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Jack, check that bus before it comes any further.".

"Roger, Mr. Yates." Jack replied.

The bus stopped as Jack, Slade, Hammer, Slammer, Flyguy and Joe approached it.

Suddenly, the headlights of the bus began to emit a bright, pulsing light, and the security men began to feel sleepy.

"What the..?" Flyguy said. "Those lights are hypnotic!".

The men tried to look away, but couldn't. They all groaned and fell to the ground.

Inside the bus were Jennifer, Elizabeth and a squad of Red Skull's troops.

"Drive into the Marina and intensify glare." said Jennifer to the driver.

"Roger." he replied.

"Ladies and gentlemen, something strange appears to be happening here." said Misty to the camera as the bus drove into the parking lot.

The headlights emitted a much stronger hypnotic glare, which affected everyone who saw it.

The reporters and the band all struggled to stay awake, as did the crowd, but it was no good. They all fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Let's get out of here!" Brock said as he tried to shield his eyes from the glare.

He, J.J. and Victor all tried to run for the gangplank, but their limbs felt heavy and they felt as if their feet were stuck in quicksand.

"J.J.!" Brock yelled. "Activate the beacon!". Brock fell to the ground unconscious.

J.J., mustering all his strength, moved to the bridge of the ship.

As he went, a platoon of the Skull's troops got out of the bus and headed through the throngs of unconscious people to the ship. They were all wearing eye protection, which shielded them from the hypno-ray's power.

Stumbling into the bridge, J.J. headed for a large red button on the control console and pressed it. An emergency beacon was activated.

J.J., finally overcome by the power of the hypnotic glare, fell to the floor.

On deck, the troops scooped Brock up and took him off towards the bus.

One of the soldiers left a DVD in the unconscious Victor's hands and followed the others as they left.

"Perfect!" Elizabeth said, smiling. "We have the money, we have Yates, and we have Needham! And soon, we'll be getting a lot more money!".

"I'll inform Mr. Luthor right away." Jennifer said as she picked up the CB on the bus.

On a large cargo plane heading for the US, Ms. Foyt, Mr. Benedict, the Dregs, Freddy and Jim, Van Pelt, KARR and the remaining troops were being transported to Luthor's hideout.

"Good news, everyone." Ansem said over the radio. "Your efforts have not been in vain. The money is now in our possession. You are all to come to Rancho Splendido, for some much deserved recreation.".

The villains cheered, especially Ms. Foyt.

"We did it!" she said. "We've beaten the Cannonballers!". She was smiling for the first time since her close encounter with Death back in Australia.

"I wish I could see the expressions on the racers' faces when they realise they have just wasted all these months on the road!" Benedict said, grinning evilly.

In the villains' office, Red Skull uncorked a bottle of champagne.

"I believe a celebration is in order." he said.

"Yes, indeed." Luthor said as he picked up a telephone. "I just have something to take care of first.".

On the road, not too far behind the Cannonballers, Joe Dirt's Roadrunner was speeding along.

Marcus answered his ringing cellphone.

"Yes, Mr. Luthor." he said.

"Marcus, the plan to steal the money has been successful. No thanks to you and your brother I might add." Luthor said.

"Well, sir, we delayed the Cannonballers, didn't we?" Marcus protested.

"All you did was your usual job: screwing up! You two cost me about ten million dollars alone with the vehicles you wrecked, including my Stratos 0!".

"But, sir..." Marcus said.

"But nothing! I've had enough of your incompetence! The others did a much better job than you two! So you needn't bother showing up at Rancho Splendido for the celebration. You're both fired! Now good day to you!".

Luthor hung up the phone.

Marcus threw the phone down in frustration.

"What's up?" Regis asked.

"We've just been fired!" Marcus said. "Luthor said the others did a much better job than us!".

"WHAT?!" Regis yelled. "It was OUR idea to hire Freddy and Jim! He could at least give us some credit for that!".

"I know! We've been running our asses off trying to stop this race! I didn't see Luthor, or Ansem, or the Skull out here trying to stop it!".

"Yeah! We do all the dirty work while they sit on their asses eating Beluga and drinking cheap champagne!" Regis said. "And they treat us like crap!".

"Well I'm damned if I'm gonna take it lying down!" Marcus said. "You know what? I think the Cannonballers would be very interested in what's been going on.".

"You want to tell them about Luthor?" Regis said.

"Yeah. Then we'll see who's laughing if they go after him! Regis, step on it and find us a Cannonballer!". Marcus said.

"No problemo!" Regis said as he activated the Roadrunner's nitrous.

Further up the road, Sora had received the signal from the distress beacon on the radio.

"Something's wrong at the finish line!" he said. "Do you think the others received the signal?".

The Direwolf, the Interceptor and the Hermes all shot past the Phantom at high speed.

"I'd say they did!" Cid said. "Burn rubber, Captain!".

"Right!" Sora said as he put his foot down.

In the Oval Office, the President had also received the signal.

"Looks like the Cannonballers need some help." he said. He turned to the Secretary of State. "Are the police still chasing the Cannonballers?".

"Yes, sir. Captain Thaddeus Harris is leading them." the Secretary replied.

"Put me through to him." The President said.

In the Gauntlet, the CB buzzed.

"Captain Harris, this is the President of the United States." the President's voice said.

Harris looked a bit nervous, but he picked up the CB.

"Yes, Mr. President?" he said.

"I understand that you have been pursuing the Cannonballers.".

Harris gulped a little. "Well, sir. I haven't actually arrested any of them. I mean I know about your decree, but they still cause a bit of trouble, these guys. Someone has to keep the peace.".

"Are you finished?" the President said. "As Commander in Chief of this nation of ours, I hereby command you to aid the Cannonballers should they need it.".

"What?" Harris said.

"A situation has arisen at the finish line. I'm not sure what but it is big. Police help may be needed." The President said.

"Work with the Cannonballers?!" Proctor said. "But, Mr. President...".

"I said that is a direct order! Am I understood, Captain?".

"Yes, sir." Harris said grudgingly.

"What do you think's happened, sir?" Proctor asked Harris.

"I don't know, but it better be good!" Harris said as he prepared to contact the other cop cars to inform them of the situation.

The Stinger 2 was behind the rest of the racers. Chili had his foot on the accelerator in an attempt to catch up with them.

"Great! It looks like while those scumbags kept us busy on the road, someone was planning something back here." Tommy was saying.

"I don't know. I can't seem to raise anybody back at the finishing line." Chili said.

He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the Roadrunner coming up behind them.

"Well, whaddaya know?" he said.

Marcus waved his hand, telling Chili to stop.

Chili brought the Stinger 2 to a halt.

The Roadrunner stopped behind them.

Tommy reached into his jacket and took out his Magnum as he got out of the Stinger 2.

Marcus and Regis had gotten out of the Roadrunner and approached Tommy.

As soon as they saw Tommy's gun, both brothers held their hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"Whoa, easy. We're not here to cause trouble." Marcus said.

Tommy looked the two over. "You're those photographers who were at the Cannonball Dome at the start of the race." he said. "But you're not really photographers, are you?".

"Unfortunately no. But listen, we have information for you and the other Cannonballers." Regis said. "We know what's happened and who's responsible.".

"We can help you, if you'll just hear us out." Marcus said.

Tommy narrowed his eyes. "Okay, talk and talk fast.".

Two hours later, the rest of the racers had arrived at the L.A. Marina.

The people had all come around and were confused. As Sora got out of the Phantom, J.J. and Victor approached, with serious expressions on their faces.

"J.J., Victor. What happened?". Sora asked.

Some more of the racers approached, all shouting at once.

"Everybody calm down!" J.J. yelled.

As the racers hushed themselves, J.J. continued. "I'm afraid that there is a situation here. Brock and Mr. X have been kidnapped, and the prize money stolen.".

The racers looked shocked.

"It must be those people who've been trying to stop us on the trip." Homer said.

"Do you know where they are?" Priss asked.

Victor held up the DVD. "There was a ransom message left on this DVD. Mr. McClure and I have listened to it.".

"We don't know who the kidnappers are, but they're demanding another $300 million for Brock and X's release." J.J. said.

"Yeah, right!" Crash said. "I say we should just go get these guys! We didn't race all around the world for nothing!".

Several of the racers agreed.

"Hello? We can't just go get these guys!" Kairi said. "We don't even know who or where they are! And you've all seen the power of their forces on the road.".

"I hate to say it, but she has a point." Domino said.

"Are there any clues as to who these people are?" a voice said.

The Cannonballers turned around to see Harris and several police officers approaching.

"Oh, great!" said Austin, rolling his eyes. "Look, pal, we've got enough trouble here without you trying to bust us.".

Harris turned to face Austin. "As much as I would love to bust the lot of you, I've been ordered by the President to assist in any way I can.".

"Are you serious?" Mario asked.

"We're deadly serious." Proctor replied.

"So, are there any clues?" Harris asked J.J.

"Well, one of the guys talking on the DVD had a German accent, but that's about it. You see it was just a sound recording.". J.J. said.

"We know that the Machinegal Dolls were working for them." Lara said. "Mirai recognised them.".

"Yeah, and this biker gang called the Dregs were involved too." Mai added.

"The Dregs?" Proctor said. "Then God knows who they could be working for. Those guys work for whoever pays them the most. Could be mob, Triads, anything.".

"That crazy broad Foyt was there too." Daffy said. "She tried to cook Bugs and me.".

"Yeah, I know she was involved." Harris said. "And Mr. Benedict, the sharpshooter. That gives us a clue. He and the Machinegal Dolls are rumoured to have been in the employ of some criminal organisation for a while now. But we never found out who.".

"Well we have to try and find out!" Cid said. "Cause I don't know about you guys, but I plan to find whoever's been after us and rip 'em a new one!".

There was the honk of two horns. Everyone turned around to see the Stinger 2 and the Roadrunner driving towards the ship.

As the four men left their vehicles, Tommy and Chili nodded hello to their fellow racers.

"There's no need to update us, we know the situation." Tommy said.

Chili got behind Marcus and Regis and pushed them forward.

"It's those two creeps who attacked us back in South America!" Corvax said as he recognised the two.

"They gave us some trouble in Japan too." Chun-Li said.

"Our new friends here have something they want to tell you." Chili said. "Right, guys?".

"Right." Marcus said.

"I know you two." Harris said. "Marcus and Regis Ellenstein. A pair of cheap hoods from Los Angeles. Were you two involved in this?".

"We were, but we're willing to help the Cannonballers in exchange for our freedom." Regis said.

Austin and Nemesis moved over to the two hoods, Nemesis towering over both of them.

"You guys can work a deal when you've told us what you know." Austin said.

"Okay." Marcus gulped. "Our employers hired us, the Machinegal Dolls and everyone else who's tried to stop you guys so far to keep you busy while they found out where the money was so they could steal it.".

"And who exactly are your employers?" asked Jack Spade and he and his friends came over.

"Lex Luthor is our main boss." Regis said. "The other two are his partners, the Red Skull and Ansem.".

"Did you say Ansem?" Riku asked in disbelief.

"That's right. Why? You know him?" Marcus asked.

"Damn!" Sora said. "I thought we'd seen the last of that creep!".

"Well that explains why the Heartless attacked us." Kairi said. "But I hoped we'd never see him again.".

"Lex Luthor and the Red Skull too?" Harris said. He looked stunned. "This is WAY out of my league.".

"What do you mean?" Dr. Scratchensniff said. "You're a policeman, aren't you?".

"It's not that simple." Tommy said. "These guys are powerful. They've literally got a private army to protect them.".

"Yes, and they're totally ruthless too." Fearless Leader said. "Unlike us, they would kill people. They would certainly think nothing about taking all of us out.".

"Besides that, they and all the others are now most likely holed up at Luthor's new holiday resort, Rancho Splendido." Regis said.

"I've heard that advertised on the radio." Marge said. "I heard it was a new hotel resort with a golf range and all that.".

"It is. One of Luthor's legit businesses is a hotel business. Rancho Splendido is Luthor's next big project, out in the Nevada desert." Regis said.

"He's hoping it'll knock the socks off the hotels in Vegas. It's not officially open yet, so he's using it as a hideout for now.". Marcus added.

"So is that where Brock and Mr. X are?" Buckaroo asked.

"Most likely, but the place is bound to be guarded like Fort Knox." Regis said. "And we're talking guards with major firepower here. You've seen the BATs and the Heartless? Well, in addition to them, the Skull has about 1000 armed soldiers. Plus the other agents you've met on the road.".

"Great." James said. "Our money might as well be in the hands of Don Corleone himself!".

The Cannonballers looked a bit depressed.

"Wait!" Sora said. "Maybe Him can get in there!".

Jessie looked at Sora down her nose.

"Maybe Him could get himself horribly murdered and take you with Him, kid!" she said. "Wake up! We'd need an army to take that place.".

"She's right." Ethan said. "We need a plan.".

"Well just sitting talking about it won't get anything done!" Hagar said. "I say we put our heads together and think of something.".

"Right." J.J. said. "Everyone aboard the ship. We've got some serious thinking to do.".

"So, can we go now?" Marcus asked.

Nemesis picked the two men up and brought them along.

"Not yet." Austin said. "You guys wanna help? Then you'll tell us everything you know about the layout of that Rancho Splendido place.".

"Hey, we're willing to co-operate!" Regis protested. "Put us down! He's making my underwear ride up my ass!".

"Shut up, Regis!" Marcus snapped.

The crowd, the band and the reporters had all observed what was happening.

"Well, folks, by the look of things, the Cannonballers are down but not out. We will keep you informed of things as they..." Lazlow broke off as Victor stepped in front of the camera.

"Okay, guys. No more filming for a while. The bad guys could be watching." he said.

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Prinzey." Misty said.

"Hey, Victor. What's the situation?" Chazz called down from the stage.

"Don't worry guys. This race will still be finished, one way or another.". Victor said.

"I hope so! I've got $2 million riding on this race!" Burt Bacharach said.

Rancho Splendido, Nevada....

Lex Luthor and his cohorts intended Rancho Splendido to be the best hotel complex outside Las Vegas, and it was certainly heading that way.

In the centre of the complex was the huge Hotel Piedmont, a thirty storey building with enough rooms for over 5000 people. The complex also had an Olympic swimming pool, a bowling alley, a cinema and all other kinds of entertainment facilities for children and adults.

Brock Yates and Mr. X were not enjoying the facilities as the two of them were locked in the penthouse suite of the Piedmont.

Brock looked out the window, annoyed that he had been snared.

"It's my fault. I should have had more security people involved." Mr. X said as he sat down in an armchair.

"No, Ray. Don't blame yourself." Brock said. "These guys were really organised.".

"That we were, Mr. Yates." a voice said over an intercom. It was Luthor.

In a control room, Luthor, Ansem and the Red Skull were sitting in front of a monitor, on which they could view the penthouse suite via a hidden camera.

Brock went over to the intercom device on the wall and pressed the button.

"You're our host I take it." he said.

"Yes, we are your hosts." Ansem said. "I hope you're enjoying the accommodation here.".

"We'd enjoy it a lot more if we weren't locked in." Mr. X said. "Who are you guys anyway?".

"You want answers?" The Red Skull said.

"We want the truth!" Mr. X said.

"You can't handle the truth!" the Skull replied. He then laughed. "I always wanted to say that!".

"Well, gentlemen, the length of your stay here depends on Mr. McClure, Mr. Prinzey and the rest of the Cannonballers." Luthor said.

"If they wish to see you again, they'll have to dig deep and find a large amount of money." Ansem said.

"The Cannonballers won't sit idly by and let you get away with stealing the money." Brock said. "They'll think of something.".

"HA! Those lead-footed losers!" the Skull snorted. "In my opinion, it was pure dumb luck that they got past that blockade in Sydney!".

"Besides, not just anybody can get into this complex." Luthor said. "I doubt very much that your precious racers will find a way.".

"Stranger things have happened." Mr. X said.

"Yeah, like Titanic winning all those Oscars." Brock added.

Luthor reached forward and turned the monitor off.

"Those guys amuse me." Ansem said. "They actually think the Cannonballers can help them!". He laughed.

"Security is ready, just in case." the Skull said.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Luthor said.

The door opened and in came Foyt and most of the goons.

"Ah, you're here." Luthor said. "I'd like to congratulate you all on a job well done.".

"Yeah, swell. Now when do we get paid?" Big Ray grumbled.

"Hey, watch it, fat boy!" Freddy warned Ray.

"Is it true, Mr. Luthor?" Foyt asked. "Have we beaten the Cannonballers?".

"Was there ever any doubt?" Luthor asked.

"We most certainly have." Ansem said. "You should all be proud of yourselves.".

"Your pay will be delivered soon. In the meantime, you can relax here at the resort if you wish.". The Skull said.

"You got good booze here?" Ripper asked.

"The best. We spared no expense.". Luthor said.

"Now THAT sounds like fun." Benedict said.

"You guys can relax if you want." Foyt said. "But I would like to take charge of security, just in case.".

"Do you think it necessary?" Ansem asked.

"Those racers are nothing if not persistent." Foyt replied. "I want to keep my eyes peeled for them. If I know them, they'll have formed a plan already.".

Los Angeles.....

"We could distract the guards with a pokemon attack!" Jessie said.

"You want your pokemon to get blasted by those android things? Be serious!" Blackadder yelled back at her. "I say we should just sneak in and check the place out.".

"And what if we're discovered? There are quite a lot of us in case you hadn't noticed!" Conker replied.

"Hey! HEY!" J.J. yelled. "Could everyone calm down a minute. We have to hear what info the Ellenstein brothers have to give us.".

The Cannonballers were all in the grand ballroom of the Sea Phantom. Some of them had started to try and think of plans before they had heard the whole story.

After J.J. had yelled, everyone turned his or her attention to Marcus and Regis, who were sitting near the head of the large table.

"Okay, guys. Go ahead." Victor said.

"Okay. The Rancho Splendido complex is huge. The main building is the Hotel Piedmont. It's most likely that Luthor will be holding Yates and X there.". Marcus said

"But security is tight. Near the hotel is the main security building. From it, the guards can monitor any part of the complex by using the security cameras. The hotel is probably wired for sound too.". Regis added.

"Cameras are no problem." Snake said. "I still have plenty of chaff grenades.".

"Yeah, but as we said, there are a lot of guards. " Marcus said. "There are at least a hundred battalions of BATs in a underground hangar under the complex.".

"Plus, Ansem still has the Heartless to command." Regis said. "He can call on them at the drop of a hat!".

"Yeah, don't we know it." Sora replied.

"And we're not sure, but we've heard it rumoured that Luthor has some kind of bad-ass security robot to use as a last resort weapon." Marcus said. "The kind of thing that could take out a small town within six minutes.".

"Do Luthor and the others have any means of escape?". Cid asked.

"Sure. There's a helipad with a chopper and some cars in a garage.". Marcus said.

"Hmmm. This could be tricky." Buckaroo said. "Not impossible, but tricky.".

"Do you really think WE can do anything?" Lisa asked.

"Hey, Lise. We came this far, didn't we?" Bart said.

"Well, people, that's the situation." J.J. said. "If anyone has a bright idea, we'd love to hear it.".

"I've thought of something!" Lara announced.

"You've got a plan, Lara?" Mai asked.

"Yes. It may sound crazy, but I think it'll work.". She addressed Marcus and Regis. "The place isn't quite finished yet, right? Are any workers allowed into the complex?".

"Well, every week, there are guys who deliver food to the restaurants in the complex. They come from Las Vegas every Monday.". Marcus said.

"Do you know which route they take?" Lara asked.

"Sure." Marcus said.

"Perfect. Ethan, Snake. You two are great at infiltration. You could hijack the caterers and take their place, then sneak around.".

"I think maybe we should provide some kind of distraction to keep Luthor busy." Cid interjected.

There was a knock on the door of the ballroom.

"Who is it?" Victor asked.

The door opened and Tom Jones entered. "It's me." he said. "I overheard you guys talking on the dock. You say that Rancho Splendido is where Brock and Mr. X are being held?".

"That's right, but what's that got to do with you?" Harris asked.

"It's the resort that's been bugging me to perform at their grand opening in two months time." Tom said. "But I've been suspicious about it. Especially when I couldn't find any details on this Dieter Zane guy who I was talking to.".

"Dieter Zane. That's Ansem's alias." Regis said.

"So it IS run by criminals." Tom said. "I believe I could help with a distraction. Are there any girls here who can sing?".

The Cannonballers looked pleased.

"Sounds like we're getting a plan." Blackadder said. "But suppose the spies get rumbled?".

"Then it's obvious that we all move in and open up a big can of whoop-ass!" Austin said.

"We'll need help." Wakko spoke up.

"Leave that to me." Dom said as his eyes lit up.

"And us." Harris said. "I'll have every cop in ten states on Luthor's ass.".

"I can call in some help too." Buckaroo said. "But maybe we shouldn't all rush in at once. I think that just Cannonballers should go first.".

"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe we can take these guys by ourselves." Strong Bad said.

"I doubt it." Marcus said.

Flyguy spoke up. "We can call in the rest of Mr. X's agents. They can help.".

"We'll see." J.J. said. "Okay, guys. I think you all need to prepare yourselves. Get your cars ready and all that.".

The Cannonballers started to head for the door.

Sora walked over to Victor. "Victor. I really need to speak to you a minute.".

"Okay, Sora." Victor said. "Let's go somewhere more quiet.".

Victor and Sora left the room. Unknown to them, Kairi and Cid followed behind, wondering what was going on.

Victor and Sora went up on deck.

"So, what is it, Sora?" Victor asked.

"Victor, did you know that the Captain Chaos mask you gave me really DOES have powers?" Sora asked. "I was able to dodge bullets with it.".

Victor smiled and said "Sure I know. I've always known. You see, few people believe me, but Captain Chaos DID save me from being beat up by some kids at school. He was the janitor of the school, but he had once been a race driver.".

Sora listened, interested. Victor continued his story.

"One time, after a race, he managed to stop some crooks from stealing the racers' payroll from the racetrack office. He discovered then that he had powers. It's hard to explain, but he had lightning fast reflexes and great skill in fights.".

From their hiding place, Cid and Kairi took this in, amazed.

"He explained to me once that he wasn't sure how it came about, but that it happened when he wore the Chaos mask. He told me that he just found it lying around in a junkyard once. He didn't know where it came from, but whenever he put it on, it felt like it gave him skills he never knew he possessed." Victor said.

"Incredible." Sora said. "So you think the mask comes from...another dimension or something like that." Sora said.

"I really don't know, but what I do know is that that mask is something special." Victor said. "Before he died, the original Chaos passed the mask on to me. He said that he knew that deep down, I had courage even though it was hard for me to show it. You, Sora, have courage that you have used greatly in the service of the various worlds you've visited. You would do anything to help those in need. That's why, when I saw you, I knew that you deserved to be the next Captain Chaos.".

A tear fell from Kairi's eye as she smiled.

"But, Victor. When it comes down to it, will I be able to do what is needed. The Cannonballers are a large force, and with all the help that the others will call in, we may stand a chance, but the odds are still against us.".

"Sora, you'll be fine." Victor said. "You alone have beaten overwhelming odds before and I'm sure that this will be no exception.".

"Besides, you have us to help you." Cid said as he and Kairi stepped forward.

"You guys heard that?" Sora asked.

"We heard it all." Kairi said. "Sora, we won't desert you, or Captain Chaos.".

"Thanks, you guys." Sora said, smiling.

"Okay. Lecture over." Victor said. "Now go and get some sleep, because some major arrangements have to be made.".

Banzai Institute, New Jersey....

Reno Nevada sat, idly flicking peas at empty beer cans when the red telephone in front of him rang.

He straightened up in his seat and answered it.

"Banzai Institute." he said.

"Reno, it's me." Buckaroo's voice said.

"Buckaroo! We saw on TV that Yates has vanished. What's happening?" Reno said.

"There's a major situation here, Reno. We may need your help. As many Blue Blaze Irregulars as you can muster must be briefed on the situation.".

"Holy Frejole!" Reno said. "Give me the details!".

"I'll send them to you via computer in a few minutes." Buckaroo replied. "Is Rawhide well enough to face a mission?".

"He's just taken his medication there. I'll let him know." Reno said.

"Good." Buckaroo said as he hung up the phone.

The door to the room entered and Rawhide entered. He still looked very pale, due to the fact that a permanent cure for his condition still had to be found, but he looked rough and ready as always.

"You sounded excited, Reno." Rawhide said. "Do we have a mission?".

"You bet we do, big fella!" Reno said. "Send a message to all BBIs in the tri-state area.".

"Will do." Rawhide replied.

The Atlantic ocean....

The Nautilus was moving through the ocean at high speed. The members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were assembled on the main deck.

"So, this sounds like a big one." Tom Sawyer said. "Will there be a problem?".

"I doubt it." Nemo said. "We may need a big land vehicle, though.".

"There's a message coming through from the Mystery Men, Captain." the first mate said. "They say they know where we can find a vehicle.".

Nemo picked up the radio. "I knew I shouldn't have given you people our frequency." he said. "You're always eavesdropping.".

"Well, we just wanted to help. We have our Cannonball vehicles, so you guys can use our old Herkimer Battle Jitney. Just dock at Champion City docks and go to Sally's Auto Yard." Mr. Furious said. "You should find it there.".

"Okay, thanks." Nemo said.

Skinner took hold of the radio. "Hey, Furious, has your Invisible Boy developed his powers any further yet?".

"A little. He can become invisible when people are looking now. I just wish we could solve the nudity problem.".

"Comes with the package I'm afraid, mate." Skinner said.

Dr. Jekyll turned and looked in a mirror. Looking back at him was his huge and powerful alter ego, Mr. Hyde.

"So, Henry. It looks like I'll be needed again." Hyde said.

Jekyll looked a bit weary.

"Don't look at me like that!" Hyde said. "You know I can be of help.".

"Alright, I suppose so." Jekyll said. "But try not to cause too much damage.".

"I'll try, but I make no promises." Hyde replied.

"So, this is it." Mina said. "Time to kick some arse, as the Americans say.".

Freeway....

Herbie was speeding along. Undercover Brother was driving. In his back seat were Spiderman, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt.

Not far behind them was the spy car, driven by D.J. Drake and Kate and the pickup truck with the three Mariachis.

"We should be at the boat shortly." Spiderman said. "This should be fun.".

"You've got a strange definition of fun." UB said.

Suddenly, a red car shot past both vehicles, heading the other way. It was El Diablo.

"That was one of our Cannonballers." D.J. said. "Where are they going?".

"Beats me." Kate replied.

"Hey, Strong Bad, where are we going?" Homestar asked. "Shouldn't we be helping the others?

"We will help the others. We're just heading back home briefly." Strong Bad said. "I've got a favour to call in.".

The Cheat looked at Strong Bad and made a noise.

"Yes, it's him." Strong Bad replied. "He'll make sure we beat the bad guys.".

"Is it who I think it is?" Marzipan asked.

"You'll see." Strong Bad said.

Miami....

In Brian's houseboat, the phone rang. Brian answered it.

"Brian, it's Dom." Dom said.

"Dom! Are you guys okay? We saw on..."

"Skip it for now! This is important! You know that favour you owe me? Well, now's the time to repay. You got much clout with the Miami racers?". Dom asked.

"Sure." Brian said.

"Then here's what I need you to do." Dom said.

Brian listened carefully.

A week later....

On the highway, leading to Rancho Splendido, a large van marked GLEASON RESTAURANTS LTD was driving along.

In the driver's seat, wearing a chef's uniform was Snake. Sitting next to him was Ethan. In the back was Regis, wearing a false beard and moustache.

"You okay back there?" Snake asked.

"Fine." Regis said. Regis picked up a walkie-talkie.

"We're on our way." he said to Marcus. "I don't see what we still had to come for.".

"Hey, maybe Yates will reward us if we help to spring him." Marcus said.

"Does J.J. still have the Cheetah, Snake?" Ethan asked. "After the rescue, we still have a race to run.".

"I'm sure he'll give it back to us.". Snake replied.

In the desert, near Rancho Splendido, Marcus had parked the Roadrunner on the crest of a hill. He was keeping watch through a pair of binoculars.

"Marcus to J.J. Decoy team is approaching position. Over." he said into his radio.

"Roger. We'll be ready." J.J. replied.

A long limousine drove up to the gates of Rancho Splendido. A guard approached it and signalled for the person in the back to roll his window down.

The window was rolled down to reveal Tom Jones.

"Ah, Mr. Jones." the guard said. "You decided to take up Mr. Zane's offer?".

"Maybe. I've got a support act he might like to see." Tom said.

The guard leaned through the window and saw three young women. All three had blonde hair and great skin. With them was a tall, red-haired woman wearing a leather trenchcoat and sunglasses. She was obviously their manager.

"Okay, you can go through." The guard said as he waved them on.

As the limo drove through the gate, Jessie scratched her head under the wig she was wearing.

"Damn, this is uncomfortable." she said.

"Well, it's necessary so we can gain their confidence." Mirai said.

"Well, hopefully, it will work." said Lara, dressed as the manager.

"I still don't see why we have to dress up like bimbos." Jessie grumbled.

"Thanks for doing this by the way, Mr. Jones." Domino said.

"It's no problem. Anything to help Brock out." Tom said.

"Mirai, do you have your Mol-Unit?". Lara asked.

"Sure. What about you? You packed?" Mirai asked.

Lara lifted her skirt up and showed she had a gun in a holster attached to her leg. "Ready for any situation." Lara replied.

The Stretch limo headed for the Piedmont hotel.

In the main cabaret bar of the Piedmont, Ansem and the Red Skull were sitting.

Ansem had changed out of his robe and was now wearing a simple business suit. Red Skull was wearing a facemask, which made him look like a normal man. Sitting with them were Freddy and Jim.

All three were watching the stage where an act was being performed.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Papa Lazarou." said a voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who swallowed razor blades for a hobby.

The man was... unique looking. He appeared to be in black face, and he had a wicked smile, with mainly golden teeth. He wore a ringmaster's outfit. In general he gave off a very scary vibe.

On stage with him were three dwarfed men, one dressed as a medieval jester, one dressed in an outfit similar to Papa's and one in a raincoat.

"And we are the Pandemonium Carnival. In a moment Simba, Tik-Tikk and Pebble" Papa continued, gesturing to each of the men, "Will be performing tricks with our talented animals. But first, I shall demonstrate my amazing psychic powers, for this I will need a volunteer."

He then pointed at Jim.

"You, what is your name?" he asked.

"Diamond Jim." Jim said, a bit nervous. Even he was creeped out by Papa.

"Dave." Papa said nodding.

"No, Jim." Jim corrected.

"If you could come to the stage Dave." Papa said.

"My name's not Dave." Jim said, a bit more aggravated.

"Ok Dave." Papa said.

Jim was about to utter an expletive, but instead just got up and got onto the stage.

Papa suddenly pulled some odd faces and danced a little bit, before placing his hand on Jim's forehead.

"I sense you are troubled, Dave." He said gravely.

"Um, no not really." Jim said.

"That there is a great pain deep in your heart."

"Maybe a little indigestion bu-" Jim said, before being cut off.

"Tell me Dave, are you grieving?"

"No." Jim said getting confused.

"Is it for your sister, Mary?" Papa inquired.

"I don't know anyone named Mary." Jim answered.

"Then why do you grieve for her?"

"I don't."

"Good, for she tells you not to grieve!" Papa said as he posed, awaiting applause and receiving modest at best.

"Uh, thank you, Papa Lazarou." Ansem said. "If you'd just like to clear the stage.".

"We'll let you know in a while if you're hired." the Skull said.

"Thank you, Dave." Papa said, bowing. Papa and the three dwarves all trooped off the stage.

Jim came down from the stage, looking spooked.

At that moment the four girls and Tom Jones had entered. Jim perked up when he saw the girls.

Freddy, the Skull and Ansem saw them too.

"Looks promising." Freddy said.

"Ah, Mr. Jones. Welcome." Ansem said as he stood and shook Tom's hand.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Zane." Tom said.

"So, what do you think of our offer now?" the Skull asked.

"Well, Mr. Arad, before I accept, I just wanted to see what you think of my support act here.".

He gestured to Mirai, Jessie and Domino.

"Like, hi." said Domino, putting on a Valley girl voice. "My name's Catherine, and that's Susan and Tara there." she pointed to Jessie and Mirai in turn.

Stepping forward, Lara extended her hand. She put on an Eastern European accent.

"My name is Adrienne. I'm their manager." she said. "Tom informed us that you need lounge acts for your big opening."

"That's right, my dear." Ansem said. "You want to show us your stuff?".

"Like, sure." Jessie said. The three girls got up on the stage.

They immediately caught Papa Lazarou's eye, as he watched from the wings. His smile became more devilish and a small wad of drool escaped from his mouth.

"Simba!" He ordered.

"Yeah boss?"

"Have you brought the nets?" Lazarou asked.

Simba nodded.

"Good, I think I could use some more wives." With that, Papa began to cackle evilly.

The Catering truck approached the gate of the complex.

The guard looked suspiciously at Snake.

"You're not the regular guy." he said.

"Regular guy's off with the flu. I'm taking his place." Snake replied. "So do you want this week's order or not?".

"Okay, go on in." the guard said as he waved them on.

In the security building, Foyt watched the van arrive on the monitor.

"That van comes here regularly, you say?" she asked a technician sitting at the control panel.

"That's right." the technician replied. "They deliver food to the restaurants.".

"Hmm." Foyt said. "There's something familiar about those guys in the van. Tell the guards to stand by.".

"Roger." the technician said.

In the lounge, Jessie, Domino and Mirai were on stage, performing a dance routine and singing a version of Dancing In The Street.

Ansem and the other villains were enjoying the performance.

"Well, Tom. They've certainly got talent." Ansem said. "Where did you find them.".

"In San Diego County. They won a local talent contest and were playing some local gigs." Tom said.

"I wouldn't mind some entertainment from those ladies." Freddy said, smiling.

"Are you doing anything tonight, Ms. Adrienne?" Jim said to Lara.

"I'm afraid I have a VERY busy schedule." Lara said, pushing Jim's hand off her knee.

In his office, Luthor was also watching the performance on his monitor.

"They're good. I'll give them that.". He went over to his safe and entered the combination. The safe contained the briefcase with the Cannonball prize money.

"I think I'll go see how much their asking price is." he gloated.

The catering van was parked not too far from the hotel. Regis kept watch from the van as Ethan and Snake snuck around the back.

Regis was watching the swimming pool near the hotel, where the Machinegal Dolls were enjoying some recreation.

He tried not to drool at the sight of the android women in bikinis. Suddenly, his radio crackled on.

"Regis, what's going on?" Cid's voice said.

Regis snapped out of his reverie and picked up the radio.

"Snake and Ethan are heading in. Lara and the others should be distracting the bad guys right now. Snake will use chaff to knock out the cameras briefly. I'll signal you to move in if things go wrong.". Regis said.

Sitting by the pool, Isabelle was a bit tense.

"Remember what Foyt told us." she said to her sisters. "At the first sign of trouble, we go into action.".

"Okay." they all chorused.

"Right, there's the vent we want." Ethan said, pointing to a vent cover on the back wall of the hotel. There was a security camera near it.

"Okay, here goes." Snake said as he threw a chaff grenade forward.

The grenade detonated, causing the camera to malfunction.

The two then quickly opened the vent and climbed in. Ethan closed the vent behind them as the camera started to work again.

"What happened?" Foyt demanded of the technician.

"Ah, this system still has a few bugs in it." the technician said dismissively.

"Don't be so sure." Foyt said. She spoke into a microphone.

"You guys get ready. We may have a situation." she said.

At a dirt bike track in the resort, the Dregs heard her.

At a shooting gallery, Benedict and Van Pelt also heard the warning.

At the pool, the Dolls got off their recliners. Isabelle pressed a remote control and with a blue flash, the Dolls' armour was teleported onto their bodies.

Ethan and Snake were crawling up the long network of ducts, making their way to the top floor.

"Regis said the penthouse is where Luthor likes to keep his 'special guests'." Ethan said. "It makes sense that he would keep Brock and Mr. X there.".

"Yeah, but I still think we should have entered the hotel and gone up a few floors." Snake complained.

In the ballroom, Ansem and the Skull shook each of the girls' hands.

"You were excellent." the Skull said. "I do believe we'll hire you.".

"Thanks, sir." Jessie said.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll have to confer with our employer. He's a bit reclusive so we'll have to speak to him alone." Ansem said.

"Oh, it's no problem, darling." Lara said.

The four girls and Tom Jones left the room. As they exited, Luthor entered the ballroom through a rear door.

As he entered, the Skull removed his mask.

"Lex. I take it you were monitoring the performance." he said.

"Indeed I was." he said. "I take it that Mr. Jones will perform for us if we let the girls join too?".

"That's what he said." Ansem said.

"Well, then. Let's see." Luthor said as he opened the suitcase. "I'd say, about 20 million should do it.".

In a corridor leading away from the ballroom, Lara turned to Tom Jones.

"You were great, Tom. But I think you should get out of here before things get hairy." she said.

"No problem. Good luck to you girls." he said as he hurried towards the exit.

"Damn!" Mirai said as he went. "I should have asked him to autograph my CD.".

"Never mind that now." Jessie said. "We have to..."

Suddenly, there was a yell and Simba, Pebble and Tik-Tikk darted out of a utility room and draped a large net over the four girls.

"What the hell?" Domino yelled as they struggled.

"Don't fight it, ladies." Tik-Tikk sneered. "Papa wishes to speak to you.".

"You'll be sorry if you don't let us out of this, you little creeps!" Mirai yelled.

Lara tried to go for her gun, but Pebble snatched it out of the holster.

"Don't think I don't know how to use this!" he said as he cocked the gun.

"We got them, boss!" Simba said.

Papa stepped out of the closet and smiled at seeing the captive women.

"Ha ha!" he said. He leaned down and observed the women.

"You're my wives now!" he sneered. "I need a few cheetahs for the Circus. I think you'll do nicely.".

He looked at Jessie.

"Do you like animals, Dave?" he said.

"Who are you calling 'Dave', you freak?!" she said.

Papa laughed.

"Bring them with you." he said.

Simba, Pebble and Tik-Tikk picked up the net with the girls in it and began to drag it along with them.

On the top floor, Ethan and Snake looked out through the cover of the vent at the two guards who were standing at the penthouse door.

"Okay, here goes." Snake said as he took aim with his modified Colt M5.

Neither of the guards expected it when they were hit by the tranquilliser darts fired by the gun.

They had little time to react before they fell to the ground, stunned by the knockout darts.

Ethan opened the grate and the two of them dropped down. Snake readied another chaff grenade as Ethan approached the door.

Ethan tapped a Morse code message on the door.

Standing near the door, Brock heard the tapping and went closer to the door to hear it. After a few minutes he smiled.

"What is it?" Mr. X whispered, knowing that the room was wired for sound.

"It's some of our buddies here to get us out." Brock whispered back as he tensed up.

"Get ready to haul ass. Things will get a bit tough.". Brock added in a sotto voice.

In the corridor, Snake removed the pin from another chaff grenade. Ethan stood back as he threw it forward.

In the security building, Foyt narrowed her eyes as the camera in the penthouse went out.

"No way that was a coincidence! Everybody move!" she said into the microphone.

"Roger!" the voices of the various units replied.

Ethan kicked the door open hard and let Brock and Mr. X out.

"Come on, let's go!" he yelled.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Mr. X replied as the four ran for the stairwell. As they ran, the alarm began to sound.

Out in front of the hotel, Papa Lazarou and his assistants stopped as they heard the alarm.

"That doesn't sound good." Simba said.

As the four were distracted, Jessie had managed to activate her Pokeball and release Seviper.

"Seviper, chew through this net!" she yelled.

Before Papa Lazarou could react, Seviper had chewed through the net and released the four girls.

"I can't let you do that, Dave!" Lazarou yelled.

"Stand clear, girls!" Mirai yelled as she pulled out her Mol-Unit.

"METAMORFORCE!" she yelled. She was engulfed in a blue light as she transformed into Moldiver. The fabric of her disguise was completely shredded by the heat as she transformed.

"Great! Another cute outfit ruined." she grumbled as she took on the Moldiver form.

Pebble fired a few shots from the gun at her, but nothing happened.

Mirai kicked the gun out of his hand, and Lara caught it as it flew through the air.

"Now, what was that you were planning to do?" Lara asked.

Lazarou backed off a bit and the girls ran off in the opposite direction.

"I WILL have new wives!" Papa yelled in frustration.

"We'll get 'em, boss!" Tik-Tikk said.

In the catering van, Regis spoke into the radio. "It's going down! Get ready to move!".

As he put the radio down, the back door of the van was opened.

Regis turned to find himself staring down the barrel of Foyt's gun. She reached forward and yanked his false beard off.

"Regis." she said. "So you betrayed us. Shall we find out what Luthor thinks about this?".

Luthor, the Skull and Ansem headed towards the exit to the hotel.

"Well, thank God Ms. Foyt is paranoid." Luthor said. "Or we could have lost the money very quickly.".

"We can deal with these racers once and for all!". Ansem said, laughing.

Snake, Ethan, Brock and X burst through the emergency exit at the rear of the hotel and saw the four girls heading towards them.

"Come on! We have to get ready!" Lara yelled.

"Do you guys have a plan?" Brock said. "Because I certainly think we need one.

The sound of motorcycle engines was heard as the Dregs roared into the area, all armed with Uzis.

"You ain't goin' nowhere!" Ray yelled.

Not far behind them was a jeep with Benedict and Van Pelt in it.

Behind the girls, the seven Dolls landed on the ground. Mirai turned around to face her old enemies.

"We have a lot of pain we owe you, Moldiver!" Isabelle said.

"Bring it on, then!" she said.

Freddy and Jim emerged from the hotel, also holding guns.

"At ease, everybody!" Luthor yelled as he and his cohorts arrived on the scene.

The spies tensed as they found themselves surrounded.

Ansem applauded politely.

"Bravo, my dear Cannonballers." he said. "A brave try indeed, but all for nothing.".

"Did you honestly think you could just walk in here and get Yates out just like that?" the Skull said.

Foyt appeared, leading Regis at gunpoint.

"Even with inside help, you were doomed to failure." Luthor said. "You should really plan these things out.".

"Oh, but we did." Lara said, smiling.

The ground started to tremble a little. The roar of engines could be heard.

"I hope that's not what I think it is." Foyt said, looking anxious.

Sayuri lifted off the ground and looked out into the desert.

"Holy shit!" she yelled. "It is!".

In the distance, going for all they were worth, the Cannonball vehicles were speeding through the desert.

Every racer was pushing their car for all it was worth.

"CHAOS TO THE RESCUE!" Sora yelled in the Phantom. "EVIL WILL NOT SUCCEED!".

"Here we come, girls! Hang on!" Mai said in the Infernus.

"Regis, I hope you've managed not to get yourself killed." Marcus said in the Roadrunner as he drove with the Cannonball pack.

"I hope Jessie's alright." James said in the Direwolf.

"Let's kick some ass!" T-Bone said in the Typhoon.

In the Gauntlet, Harris spoke into his radio.

"Gauntlet to Skimmer. Ramjet, are you with us?".

Overhead, a red and white seaplane appeared.

"I'm here, Captain." Roger said. "Gadget is with me. I just hope I can avoid being shot down this time!".

Sometimes when your hopes have all been shattered
And there's nowhere to turn
You wonder how you keep going
Think of all the things that really mattered
And the chances you've earned
The fire in your heart is growing
You can fly, if you try leaving the past behind
Heaven only knows what you might find

Flying alongside the Skimmer were the Deluxo and the Banshee.

Lee had attached a parachute around his middle.

"You sure you want to go right into it, Lee?" Carter said.

"I'll be okay." Lee said. "Just get me overhead.".

"CLOSE THE GATES!" Luthor yelled. "Call out the guards and the BATs!".

He threw the suitcase over to Ansem.

"Put the money somewhere safe! And bring out the heavy artillery! We may need it!" he yelled.

"Right!" Ansem yelled as he headed off.

Suddenly, Mirai flew forward towards the Dolls and knocked a few of them off their feet.

Regis back-kicked Foyt, making her drop her gun.

Soon a fight had broken out. Within seconds, a troop of armed guards had arrived on the scene.

Some of the Dregs got off their bikes and ran forward to join the guards. They all raised their guns to be ready for the Cannonballers.

"Seviper, tackle attack!" Jessie yelled. Her snake pokemon launched itself at the bikers and guards.

Dare - dare to believe you can survive
You hold the future in your hand
Dare - dare to keep all of your dreams alive
It's time to take a stand
And you can win, if you dare

A huge steel gate began to close over the entrance to the resort. At the front of the pack of cars was the huge Titan.

"Like that will do any good!" sneered Shredder. "Hang on! We're gonna ram it!".

Further back from the Cannonballers was another huge pack of vehicles. At the head of it was the Securicar, in which Jack, Slade, Flyguy, Hammer, Slammer and Kung Fu Joe were sat. Next to them was Herbie and next to him was the truck with El Mariachi and his friends. The silver spy car was next to them.

The Mystery Men's Herkimer battlewagon was behind them, in which were seated the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Behind all of them were a huge assortment of street racing cars and police vehicles.

"I hope I don't wreck my car doing this." Tej said. "If you weren't my good buddy I wouldn't be doing this, Brian.".

"It'll be fine, Tej." Roman said.

"Remember everyone." Jack said over an intercom. "When we get the signal, we move in."

"Solid!" Undercover Brother replied.

Everybody's trying to break your spirit
Keeping you down
Seems like it's been forever
But there's another voice if you'll just hear it
Saying it's the last round
Looks like it's now or never
Out of the darkness you stumble into the light
Fighting for the things you know are right

The Cannonballers were nearly at the gate.

Mirai was still fighting with the Dolls and the other three girls, Brock, Mr. X, Ethan and Snake had taken cover behind a wall.

"This is it!" Ethan said as he fired some shots at Benedict and Van Pelt. "The battle of the century.".

No one had noticed Papa Lazarou and his helpers standing on a terrace on an upper floor of the hotel.

Lazarou had seen the other vehicles approaching.

"Oh, boy!" he said. "Plenty of people to make my wives! Boys, get ready to nab some of them!".

"But, boss..." Pebble began.

Papa gave the three a look and they groaned.

"Yes, Papa Lazarou." they chorused.

Dare - dare to believe you can survive
The power is there at your command
Dare - dare to keep all of your dreams alive
It's time to take a stand
And you can win, if you dare

"HERE WE GO!" Shredder yelled as the Titan rammed into the massive steel gate and smashed it completely.

As the vehicles roared into the courtyard, Luthor and the Red Skull ran off to arm themselves.

"Okay!" Riku said as the Phantom screeched to a halt. "Let's show these guys that Cannonballers don't back down from a challenge!".

Dare - dare to believe you can survive
You hold the future in your hand
Dare - dare to keep all of your dreams alive
The power is there at your command

Dare - dare to keep all your love alive
Dare to be all you can be
Dare - 'cause there is a place where dreams survive
And it's calling you on to victory

Dare!

Dare by Stan Bush.

Luthor and the Skull arrived back just as the gate had been breached. They raised a pair of assault rifles. The Dregs, guards, Benedict and Van Pelt took aim.

"Let them have it!" Luthor yelled as he and the Skull took out guns and started to fire at the Cannonballers.

The Van Go and the Van Itty both swerved out from behind the Titan.

"You guys ready?" Shoveler called over to Invisible Boy.

"Ready!" Invisible Boy called back.

"Okay! Activate magnets!" Mr. Furious said.

Bowler and Blue Raja both pulled levers on the dashboards of their vans. From the roofs of each vehicle, Doc Heller's Electro-Nuclear Magnets extended.

With a loud hum, they powered on and Luthor and his cronies found their guns wrenched from their hands and attached onto the magnets.

"Holy sheep shit!" Big Ray yelled.

"That's most unsporting!" Van Pelt yelled as his shotgun was yanked towards the magnets.

The Titan's ramp lowered, letting Fulgore, Jafar, Wild Dog and Shredder off.

"Time to kick some ass!" Shredder said as he got into a fighting stance.

The Black Knight let Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter off.

As the villains watched, both the Titan and the Black Knight transformed into their giant robot forms and trained their guns on Luthor's people.

"Plan B, I think, people." the Skull said.

"What's Plan B?" Foyt said.

"RUN!" the Skull said as the rest of the Cannonballers rushed into the complex.

The Skull headed for the Piedmont while Luthor and the others ran further into the complex.

"You guys stand and fight!" Luthor yelled to the human troops. The men looked scared, but were loyal to their masters.

Lara came out from behind the wall. "They're making a break for it! Let's get them!".

She ran after Luthor's group, while the guards prepared to fight the Cannonballers. Jessie and Domino stayed with Brock and X.

The other Cannonballers got out of their vehicles and ran off after the villains. El Diablo pulled up beside the Buckshot. Only Marzipan was inside.

"I think I'll stay here. I'm not much of a fighter." she said to Conker.

"Where's Strong Bad and the others?" Conker asked.

"They'll be joining us soon." Marzipan said.

"If you say so." Crash said.

"DUN! DUN! DUN!" Sora yelled as he rushed towards the soldiers, with Riku and Cid beside him.

"RRRRAAARRRR!" Nemesis yelled as he charged the guards and knocked several of them flying.

Austin applied strong kicks to two of the guards, and applied the Stone Cold Stunner to both before they fell.

Sora dodged a punch from one guard and drove his fist into the guard's stomach.

Cid swung the handle of his spear into a guard's groin and then chopped him on the back of the neck.

Lee, who had landed, delivered a lightning fast series of kicks to the guards who rushed him.

Close to him, Miss Piggy and Marcus were both applying martial arts moves to some more guards.

"You guys are good!" Lee yelled. "Where'd you learn moves like that?".

"I watch a lot of Jet Li movies." Miss Piggy replied.

"Jet Li movies?" Lee said, sounding a bit offended.

The Angels and Austin Powers were all attacking the guards with their skills.

"Judo chop!" Austin yelled as he delivered a hard chop to the necks of two guards near him.

Dylan and Natalie double-teamed two guard who rushed them.

"Cacnea, pin missile!" James yelled.

Cacnea launched a stream of pins, which struck the soldiers.

Squealing in pain, the soldiers ran away.

As the final group of guards prepared to attack, the Deluxo swung overhead. Marty was leaning out the window with the ray gun.

"Here we go!" he yelled as he fired a ray at the guards.

The guards were suddenly paralysed.

"Thanks, good citizens!" Sora yelled, giving the Deluxo a thumbs-up.

"No problem!" Doc said.

"You guys can go down!" Ramjet said to the Deluxo over the radio. "I'll keep an eye on things up here!".

"Thanks, Rog. But I think we'll stay up here." Clara replied.

"As you wish." Roger said as he saluted.

"That was easy!" James said.

"Don't get cocky. There'll soon be more!" Lee said.

"Let's get after them!" Austin Powers yelled as the Cannonballers ran further into the park.

"Hey, wait for me!" Regis yelled as he joined up with Marcus and ran after the others.

"Where are you guys going!" Mirai yelled. Isabelle flew forward and hit her right in the stomach.

"Worry about yourself, bitch!" she yelled.

Mai looked up and saw Mirai under attack from the Dolls.

"Don't worry!" she yelled. She attached a metal disk to her arm and slid a card into it.

Suddenly, from the disk emerged a huge, harpy creature. Sayuri noticed this and sneered.

"That can't hurt us!".

"Wanna bet?" Mai said. "Harpy Lady, attack!".

The Duel Monsters creature flew forward and hit Sayuri right in the middle, sending her flying right into Elizabeth.

It then fired a beam of energy at the Dolls, blowing them far across the complex.

"Well done, Mai!". Mirai said.

"Thank your brother for inventing this thing that makes the Duel Monsters solid!" Mai said. "Now let's go!".

Harris and Proctor ran over to Brock and Mr. X, and the girls.

"Mr. Yates, are you alright?" Harris asked.

"I'm fine. But what about my racers?" Brock asked.

"They'll be given help." Proctor said.

"Come on, let's get you out of here!" Harris said as he led Brock and Mr. X away from the danger zone.

Hanging around at the back of the group were Chili, Tommy and the Terminator.

Tommy had opened the trunk of the Stinger 2 and was handing out weapons to his friends.

"We saw some of them go into that hotel. We're goin' after them." Tommy said.

"I hope it'll be only BATs we run into.' Chili said as he cocked his Colt Python.

"What do you want, big guy?" Tommy asked the Terminator.

The Terminator looked into the trunk.

"The Uzi 9mm."

Tommy handed him the Uzi.

"Also the MP5." The Terminator added.

Tommy handed him the MP5. "Anything else?" Tommy asked.

"Got a rocket launcher?" The Terminator asked.

"Just what you see, pal." Tommy said. "I would have brought my rocket launcher, but there wasn't enough room.".

"Okay, let's go!" Chili said as the three rushed towards the hotel.

The Shadow followed after them, waving to Buffy and John to follow the other racers.

Luthor and his cronies reached a crossroads in the complex.

"Split up!" he yelled. He, Foyt and Benedict ran in one direction, the Dregs and Van Pelt in another, Freddy and Jim another.

As he ran, Luthor activated a button on his wristwatch.

In the hangar under the ground, the battalions of BATs were activated. Each one reached in front of it and got its' weapon from the gun rack. In unison, they headed for the elevators that would take them to the surface.

The Skull rushed into the main office of the Piedmont, nearly running into Ansem, who had the money in a suitcase.

"You've got the money?" The Skull said. "Good! Now I suggest we beat a hasty retreat. Head for the Maverick!".

"What about Lex?" Ansem said.

"What about him?" The Skull replied. "Let him take care of himself. Give our friends a little parting gift!".

Ansem smiled and closed his eyes. A glow emitted from his hand.

From the ground outside the hotel, hundreds of the Heartless emerged, and started to advance after the Cannonballers.

At the same time, the BATs emerged from the surface elevators and began to move after the racers as well.

"That doesn't look good!" Mr. X said.

"Hang on!" Harris said. He took out a walkie-talkie and yelled into it. "Second wave, move in!".

"Roger!" Brian said over the radio.

Mirai had landed again and her and the others were on their way to join the group.

Suddenly Papa Lazarou appeared in front of them.

"Not this guy again!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Who's this weirdo?" Mai said.

"I dunno. Some voodoo guy!" Domino said.

"I should warn you Dave," Papa began speaking coldly, "I can do things."

He produced a magic wand. "Klattu barada nikkto!" He called. Nothing happened. Papa looked confused.

"Shimmy, shimmy coco pop, shimmy, shimmy pop!" He then commanded. A string of hankies shot out of the wand.

"Kabucku booger kwang hi keeba!" Papa tried, a small electric fizzle occurred, but nothing else.

"Damn thing's on the blink again!" He cursed, as he started to shake the wand. He then brought the wand to his eyes and stared at it.

"To heck with this." Domino sighed, and she just kicked him in the crotch. Papa fell to the ground, using ancient sounding curse words.

The girls ran off.

As one wave of the BATs opened fire, Conker quickly threw himself to the ground to avoid the laser fire.

"GUYS!" he yelled to the other racers. "WE'VE GOT COMPANY!"

The others turned to see the BATs and Heartless advancing.

"This could be problematic." Blackadder said. "I think we'll let you guys handle this!".

He and Baldrick ran off to the side.

"Chickens!" Crash said. "I'll handle this!".

Crash started to twirl around and shot towards the first group of BATs, going very fast.

Conker reached into his jacket and pulled out a handgun.

"Let's give him some covering fire!" he said.

"Will do." said Lara as she raised her gun.

"I'll be glad to help too." The Mask said as he took out a long balloon and quickly made it into the shape of a machine gun.

To everyone's surprise, the gun fired and the first group of BATs took hits.

Crash had managed to knock most of the BATs out of the way. Some of them kept firing laser blasts at him.

The Herkimer had come into the compound and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen had disembarked.

Captain Nemo's crew were firing on the BATs. Tom Sawyer took careful aim with his rifle and took the heads off some of them.

"If you can't do it with one bullet, don't do it at all." he said, remembering the words of his mentor.

"Time to help our buddies out!" Razor said as he fired the Black Knight's guns at the BATs and the Heartless.

Dick Dastardly followed suit and fired a round at the creatures as well.

"Shouldn't we go out and help the others?" Cyril Sneer asked him.

"And risk physical harm?! No way!" Fearless Leader said.

"Shut up so I can concentrate on my aim!" Dastardly yelled.

The three Mariachis had caught up as well. They were looking at the Heartless.

"What are those things?" Fideo asked.

"I don't know, but they're trying to waste our racers." El replied. He opened his guitar case and took out a pair of Colt 45s.

Lorenzo raised his flame-thrower guitar case and fired a blast of fire at the Heartless. El fired a few blasts from his guns.

To their surprise, the Heartless simply sank into the ground.

"This doesn't look good." Lorenzo commented.

Up ahead, Sora and Riku raised their swords as some of the Heartless appeared in front of them.

Riku turned to the other Cannonballers.

"You guys go after those creeps. We'll handle the Heartless!" he said.

"Kairi, you go too." Sora said. "We'll show these things we're not rusty!".

"Good luck, Captain!" Kairi said as they ran on.

Brock and Mr. X noticed Sora and Riku making a stand. Mr. X yelled to all of his agents who had arrived on the scene.

"You guys take out those androids so they can't get in the way!" he said.

"Right, boss!" Flyguy said as he and the others opened fire on the BATs.

Spiderman shot a web that snared several BATs and attached it to an overhead beam.

"Just hang around, guys!" he said.

Herbie drove past the others. Undercover Brother and Kung Fu Joe were now inside.

"We've gotta get a piece of the action." UB said. "Just go through those tin soldiers, Herb!".

Herbie honked his horn and ran through several BATs.

Crash had finished knocking the BATs around and had gone to catch up with the other racers.

Jessie, Mirai and Mai had fought their way through the BATs. Jessie's Seviper had taken out a couple of BATs by stabbing them in their chest units with the sharp point of its' tail.

Domino blinded some of the androids with one of her 'tulip' smoke launchers, allowing Mirai to get the drop on them. They eventually reached the front.

Sora and Riku were both taking on the Heartless.

"Ansem could at least have taught these things to fight better." Riku said.

Sora slashed out with his Keyblade and took out about five of the black creatures.

"Maybe. But don't let your guard down!" Sora replied.

"You guys go after the others!" Riku yelled to the girls.

"Right!" Jessie replied.

Behind them, the BATs had broken up and were now moving out to various other parts of the resort.

"Are they retreating?" Kate asked.

"No. Probably just trying to regroup.". Nemo said.

"Some of the guys went into that hotel!" Brock said, pointing to the Piedmont. "Two of the villains are there too. Some of you go and help them.".

"Right!" Skinner and Hyde chorused as they ran into the Piedmont.

Lorenzo, Fideo and El blasted some of the retreating BATs with gunfire, cutting several of them down.

"Come on, guys! Let's stay on their tail!" El said as he ran off after them.

The other racers had got to the crossroads the villains had reached earlier.

"Okay, spread out!" Memphis said. "They can't have got far!".

Carter had landed the Banshee nearby.

"Some of them went over to that bowling alley." he said as he pointed.

"Right! Let's go!" Homer said as he and Hagar ran towards the alley.

"Homer, this is no time to try and win a beer frame!" Marge said as she, Bart and Lisa watched them go.

"I think we should go help, Mom." Bart said.

Marge sighed. "Okay.".

She turned to Lucky Eddie and handed him Maggie. "Take care of her 'til we get back.".

"Uh, okay." Eddie said.

Hiding behind a bush nearby was Foyt. She raised her walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Code Red! Major security breach! I want as many troops as possible here and I want them now!" she whispered furiously.

"Roger!" a voice replied.

On an upper floor of the Piedmont hotel, the Red Skull and Ansem had been talking to Sektor, Cyrax and Smoke.

"You three take care of the intruders!" Ansem said. "We'll try and make it to the Maverick!".

"Yes, sir!" the three cyborgs chorused.

"I'll send that BAT I had modified!" the Skull said as he pressed a button on a remote control.

A few floors below them, Tommy, Chili, the Terminator and the Shadow were bounding down a corridor. Skinner and Hyde appeared behind them.

Sensing their presence, the Shadow turned around.

"Friend or foe?" he asked.

"Friends!" Skinner replied. "Need any help!".

At the front of the group, the Terminator suddenly yelled "Get down!".

A volley of rapid gunfire ripped through the corridor. Everyone hit the ground.

"What the hell is it?" Tommy yelled.

The Terminator looked up and saw a BAT advancing towards them. The BAT had a minigun grafted onto the end of its' right arm.

"Oh boy!" Chili said. "It was bad enough when they were shooting lasers!".

The Terminator did a quick scan of the area. "There's a service elevator down that way." he said, pointing to the left. "Take it! I'll deal with this BAT!".

"Are you sure?" Chili said.

"Just go!" the Terminator replied.

As the others moved off towards the service elevator, the Terminator rose to his feet and drew his Uzi and MP5.

The BAT raised its' arm and fired a few volleys at the Terminator. The Terminator took the chain-gun fire right in the chest, but it didn't deter him. He fired back at the BAT, damaging its' armour.

After a few minutes, the Terminator's guns had run dry. So had the BAT's gun.

The two mechanical warriors stared each other down for a moment. Then, the Terminator rushed at the BAT. The BAT rushed forward to, and swung a punch at the Terminator.

The Terminator took the punch head on, but quickly swung his fist back at the BAT. The BAT grabbed hold of the Terminator and slammed him up against a wall, leaving a dent. The Terminator drove several punches into the BAT's stomach.

Sora and Riku had managed to decimate most of the Heartless, but more kept coming.

"I think we should fall back, my friend!" Sora said.

"Yeah, but we ain't beat yet!" Riku said as he and Sora ran off.

"Hang on guys!" Dogtanian yelled as he and Willy Fogg ran up to join the two boys. "We can lend a hand!".

"Thanks! You guys hold the Heartless here while we help the others!" Riku said.

"Right!" Fogg said.

Dogtanian drew his sword and Willy again swung his cane like a staff at the Heartless who attacked them.

"Eat this!" yelled Dogtanian as he slashed at one of the creatures with his sword.

The Mystery Men had entered a building marked CLUB TROPICANA, a nightclub.

"I thought I saw someone coming this way." Blue Raja said.

"You saw a whole lotta someones!" Ripper said as he and a group of about fifteen Dregs emerged from their hiding place behind the bar.

"Let's kick some ass, boys!" he said, smiling.

"Heads up!" Shoveler said as he raised his shovel and ran forward.

Bowler threw her bowling ball right at the bar and Ripper ducked to avoid getting hit by it. But the ball suddenly shot downwards and landed on his foot.

"OW!" he yelled as he straightened up.

As he did, Shoveler whacked him in the face with his shovel, and then delivered several kicks to his stomach.

Some of the other Dregs had drawn guns, but using his strange powers, the Sphinx cut them in half.

Invisible Boy had ducked into a corner and had turned invisible. He picked up a chair and whacked a pair of the bikers with it.

Mr. Furious was engaged in a fistfight with one Dreg. He was taking a lot of punches. The Dreg was laughing at how much of a pushover Furious seemed to be, but suddenly, Furious roared in anger and fought back with a combination of lightning fast punches, eventually knocking the biker to the ground.

Blue Raja had thrown a series of knives at some of the Dregs and had succeeded in pinning them to the wall by their sleeves and trouser legs.

"Well isn't this a fun little party?" Furious asked as he and Shoveler continued to pound on some of the Dregs.

"I hope everyone else is okay!". Shoveler replied.

Blackadder and Baldrick were hiding out in one of the buildings, when suddenly, some Heartless began to emerge from the floor.

"Uh oh!" Blackadder said.

Suddenly, he grabbed Baldrick and held him up like a club.

"What are you doing, sir?" Baldrick asked.

"Putting you to good use, Balders!" Blackadder said. He swung Baldrick at some of the Heartless, knocking them away. Baldrick was actually hurting the Heartless.

"You always did have a hard head!" Blackadder said.

One Heartless appeared behind Blackadder. He quickly kicked it in the crotch and then slammed Baldrick down hard on it. It and the other Heartless disappeared in a flash of light.

"Excellent!" Blackadder said. Baldrick groaned.

"You alright, Balders?" Blackadder asked.

"Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener...." Baldrick sang.

"Yeah, you're alright!" Blackadder said.

Kairi, Ghost Rider and Buckaroo were in a group. Buckaroo had activated some kind of beacon on a wristband he was wearing.

"Calling in more help, Buckaroo?" Ghost Rider asked.

"Yep. I think it wouldn't do any harm!".

Suddenly, a huge screech was let out. From up above, the Witch King dropped to the ground, his massive sword at the ready.

"I said I would have revenge, Ghost Rider!" the undead lord said.

"Oh boy!" Buckaroo said. "Kairi, get out of here!".

"No way!" Kairi said. "I can help!". She pulled out a material orb and got it ready.

"I owe Yuffie big time for teaching me how to use this." she thought.

"Foolish child!" The Witch King sneered. "You shall perish with your friends!".

Buckaroo stepped forward and pulled out a samurai sword from a scabbard on his back.

Ghost Rider got ready to shoot a fireball as well.

"You want a fight? You've got one!" Buckaroo said. He threw himself forward and soon there was the clash of steel on steel as Buckaroo and the Witch King duelled.

The Terminator slammed the BAT through a wall, but the android got back up and punched him back hard. The Terminator fell to the ground and the BAT advanced on him. The Terminator raised his boot and kicked the BAT in the chest, damaging its chest unit.

The BAT began to let out sparks and stumble. The Terminator got back to his feet and drove another hard punch right into the BAT's chest.

The BAT began to slump to the ground, and the Terminator delivered a kick, which took the android's head off.

The BAT fell to the ground, destroyed.

The Terminator then turned and headed after his friends.

Mirai, Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter were running along a path between some of the buildings when the Dolls jumped them from behind.

"Damn!" Mirai said. "Don't you ever give up?!".

"Not by a long shot!" Brooke said.

"Okay! If that's how it's going to be!" Sailor Jupiter said. She delivered several martial arts kicks to Jennifer and Vivien.

Mirai took on Isabelle while Sailor Mars fired several blasts of fire at the Dolls.

Sayuri threw herself to the ground and rolled to extinguish the flames.

Shredder took out two BATs with his martial arts skills. Wild Dog fired on another group with his gun arm.

Fulgore took out three of them with a blast of electricity, and as four more advanced on him, he opened his head up to reveal his cannon and fired a blast, completely destroying them.

Jafar was using his magic on a group of Heartless. "Is this the best our enemy can produce?" he sneered as the black creatures were destroyed.

Both Rath and Armon had transformed and were using their powers on the villains. One group of human guards was blown back by one of their attacks.

Mathayus was fighting hand to hand with another one. He succeeded in overcoming the guard.

Nearby, Mick Dundee stuck his knife right into the chest unit of a BAT, short-circuiting it.

"Well done, Mick!" Steve said as he kicked the feet out from under two guards.

"I hope this fight doesn't go too long." Dundee replied.

"We shall win!" Mathayus said. "HAKU MACHENTAY!"

One guard opened fire on Secret Squirrel, but the bullets bounced off his bullet-proof coat.

"Now, I think I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!" Secret said. "Morocco, my cane.".

"Here you go, Secret." Said Morocco as he handed Secret his machine-gun cane.

As Secret cocked the gun, the guard dropped his and put his hands up.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Secret said. "Get down!".

The guard dropped to the ground as Secret opened fire on an advancing group of BATs.

Nearby, Conker was also machine-gunning the BATs, while Crash continued to spin around and knock BATs, Heartless and guards flying.

"WA-HOO! This is fun!" Crash yelled.

Brian, Roman and the other street racers had formed a cordon around the entrance to the resort.

"No one should be able to get past us!" Roman said. The cars had the entrance blocked for about fifty yards.

"Yeah, well just remember to be on the look out." Brian said

Captain Harris and Proctor were with Brock and Mr. X. The other cops were standing by.

"There should be a lot of bad guys to bust soon." Harris said. "Do you think the Cannonballers might need reinforcements yet?".

The sound of several helicopters was heard overhead.

"I think reinforcements have arrived." Brock said.

Several helicopters with the Blue Blaze Irregular logo appeared overhead.

"YAHOO!" Rawhide yelled in one chopper. "Head for that hotel, Reno! Make sure the bad guys don't try and escape by the sky!".

"No problem!" Reno said. "Attention all choppers! Deploy BBIs now!" he added into his radio.

Roger Ramjet was still flying the Skimmer above the resort and was circling.

"No sign of the bad guys." Ramjet said. "I'll try and bring some of them out of the woodwork!".

He opened one of the seaplane's windows and dropped a couple of grenades out.

On the ground, Luthor dived out of the way as one of the grenades detonated near him.

"Shit!". he said. He spoke into his watch communicator.

"KARR! Where are you?!".

"I'll come and get you now, sir." KARR replied.

"Good! Take me over to the bunker! I'll send in the REALLY big guns!".

Luthor looked and saw another platoon of human guards heading right for him.

"Sir! Are you okay!." the leader asked.

The Skimmer performed another circle, and Ramjet dropped some more grenades.

The guards and Luthor dived for cover.

"Shoot that plane down!" Luthor yelled.

The guards raised their guns and got ready to open fire on the Skimmer.

"Oh no! I will NOT be shot down again!" Ramjet said. He prepared to fly away.

"I'll just give them a spot of bother." Gadget said as he activated his chopper.

He opened his door and flew out of the seaplane.

He raised his arm and fired a blast of the blue toothpaste from his blaster, blinding some of the guards.

"Shit!" Luthor said. "Let's get out of here! Regroup!".

He and the guards ran off. Luthor yelled into his watch as he ran.

"KARR! Home in on my signal. I'm making a run for it!" he yelled as he activated a beacon on his watch.

"Roger!" KARR replied.

"You guys go that way!" he yelled to the guards. "I'll take a short cut!".

Luthor ran onto the dirt bike course and got on a bike. As he rode off, Priss approached. Seeing Luthor, she got onto another bike and rode after him.

"You ain't leaving me behind!" she yelled as she came up alongside him.

Luthor pulled out a gun and got ready to shoot at her.

"Oh no, you don't!" another voice said. A cane hooked onto Luthor's arm and yanked it, making him drop the gun.

Luthor looked to see Scrooge and Gyro on a dirt bike on his left side.

"Why don't you just save yourself some trouble and hand over the money?" Scrooge asked.

"Not on your life!" Luthor yelled as he accelerated his bike. He shot over the crest of a hill.

"Hang on tight, Mr. McDuck!" Gyro said as he sped up. Priss sped up too and the two bikes shot over the hill too. As they came down the other side, they saw Luthor turn out of the course and go through an alley between two buildings.

"Let's get after him!" Priss yelled as she followed.

Near the top floor of the hotel, the Skull and Ansem heard the sound of the approaching BBI helicopters.

"That doesn't sound good!" Ansem said.

"Who cares!" the Skull said. "Head to the penthouse! I have an idea!".

On the floor below them, Tommy's group exited the elevator and made for the end of the hall, when Sektor, Cyrax and Smoke stepped out in front of them.

"Halt Cannonballers!" Cyrax said. "You can go no further!".

"What is it with these guys and robots?!" Tommy asked.

He raised his Colt Python and fired a couple of shots at the cyborgs. Their armour wasn't even dented.

"Uh oh!" he said.

"Stand aside!" Hyde said. "THEY'RE MINE!".

Cyrax fired a net at the massive creature, but Hyde tore right through it.

Hyde roared and knocked Cyrax about fifty feet down the corridor.

Sektor launched a missile from his chest and Tommy and Chili quickly ducked to avoid it.

"Doesn't he know not to do that in a tight space?" Chili said.

"HANG ON!" Hyde yelled. He delivered a massive punch to Sektor and the cyborg collapsed from the strength of the blow.

Smoke fired a harpoon at the ceiling above Hyde and pulled on it, bringing some of the ceiling crashing down on the huge beast.

Tommy and the others were stunned, but to their relief, Hyde just rose up out of the rubble.

"Guys! I think we should leave Edward to it and go after the baddies!" Skinner said.

"YES! GO! I'll handle these things!" Hyde said.

"Okay!" Tommy said as he led the others towards a stairwell.

On the top floor, Ansem and the Skull exited the penthouse. Ansem was now carrying a black suitcase, identical to the one Skull had.

"This should cause some trouble." Skull said. "I'll head for the chopper and distract those guys in the air.".

"Right! Let's move! I think they're coming!" Ansem ran off to the left and the Skull went right.

Tommy's team emerged just in time to see the two villains split up.

"We'll go after the Skull." The Shadow announced.

"Right!" Skinner said. Skinner whipped his overcoat off and wiped the greasepaint from his face to become totally invisible.

Tommy and Chili ran off after Ansem.

Tommy noticed a sign pointing in the direction Ansem was running.

"Oh boy!" he groaned.

"What?" Chili said.

"Swimming pool." Tommy said. "I can't swim and I might end up in the water.".

"Oh come on! You can't tell me you're scared!".

"Okay." Tommy grumbled.

Blue Blaze Irregulars were being lowered from the choppers on cables. Mirai and the Sailor Scouts had all but finished with the Dolls when they saw the troops arriving. The cops had also begun to advance into the compound.

"YEAH!" Mirai yelled. "Looks like we've got this fight in the bag!".

The battered Dolls got to their feet.

"What do we do now, Isabelle?" Brooke asked.

"Well, she who fights and runs away...." Isabelle began.

"Lives to fight another day!" the other Dolls finished. They all activated their teleport devices and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"HEY!" Sailor Mars yelled.

"Don't worry!" Mirai said. "I'm sure I'll run into them again in Tokyo.".

"Where the hell did he go?" Priss said as she looked around for Luthor. He had got out of their sight.

"Just keep looking!" Scrooge said. "He can't have got far!".

"Hey! Are you guys alright?" Carmen asked as she and Juni headed over.

"I think we should go help the others." Priss said to Scrooge and Gyro. She called over to Carmen and Juni. "Can you two look for Luthor?".

"Will do." Juni said as he and his sister headed off.

Sektor, Cyrax and Smoke all fell to the ground, after being beaten by Hyde. The Terminator ran up to join him.

"Where are the others?" The Terminator asked.

"Upstairs." Hyde replied. "You think they need our help?".

"Let's just get these goons out of here." The Terminator replied.

Outside, Kid Rock, BD Joe and DW saw a villain fleeing up a staircase.

"Hang on! I'll go get him!". Kid Rock said as he followed the goon.

"Be careful!" Joe said.

"Don't worry! I'll be right back!" Kid Rock said.

The villain suddenly turned around and drove several fast punches into Kid's stomach, knocking him down the stairs.

He landed at Joe and DW's feet.

"Want me to go?" Joe asked.

"Hang on, I've got him!" DW said.

DW ran up the stairs. The goon tried to punch him, but DW dropped down and punched him in the crotch. DW then headbutted him and punched him in the jaw.

The goon fell.

Kid Rock and Joe cheered. DW turned back to face them and gave a mock bow.

The Skull bounded down the corridor. He looked behind but could see no one following him. He smiled and then turned and looked up ahead.

He stopped frantically as he saw that the floor in front of him appeared to be collapsing.

"What?!" he yelled. He turned to go the other way, but started as he saw that the floor behind seemed to be collapsing too.

In a panic, he opened a nearby door and entered a ballroom. He sighed in relief. As he had his back to the door, he didn't notice it swing a bit as some unseen figures entered.

Suddenly, the Skull felt someone punch him in the stomach and then in the ribs, but he saw no one.

He heard a deep, menacing laugh coming front of him. He raised his gun and fired, but appeared to hit nothing.

"OVER HERE!" a voice yelled. He turned his head and saw a shadow on a wall. He fired the gun in that direction but again hit nothing.

Suddenly, some unseen force kicked the gun out of his hand and then punched him in the jaw.

As the Skull staggered backwards, he saw the Shadow materialise in front of him.

"You can go no further!" The Shadow said. "Mr. Skinner, if you please.".

The invisible Skinner drove his elbow into the Skull's stomach, winding him.

The Skull fell to the ground and dropped the suitcase. Skinner opened the suitcase and saw that it was empty.

"Ansem must have the money." he reported.

"Then let's hope Tommy and Chili catch him." The Shadow said.

Herbie was driving through the complex, and stopped as he saw the three WOOHP spies, Buffy and Lara taking on a group of thugs. They were having a tough time.

"Looks like they need some help, Joe." UB said.

"Right!" Joe said. Both men got out of Herbie and threw themselves into the fight.

"Glad you guys could join us!" said Buffy as he punched out two goons.

"No problem!" Joe said.

Soon, the goons found themselves outclassed as the Cannonballers and their friends pummelled them.

"We've been in tougher scrapes than this!" said Alex. "But then again, we've also been in easier ones!".

Herbie looked on, but was then surprised as two small figures got into him. It was Carmen and Juni.

"Hey, Herb." Juni said. "Can you give us a ride. We're trying to find Luthor.".

Herbie honked his horn and drove off.

Little did they know that Luthor had abandoned his dirt bike and was hiding in an alley across from them.

KARR drove up to him, very fast. The Phoenix was following him and firing laser blasts at him.

"Are you alright, sir?" KARR said.

"I will be! Get me over to the bunker!".

KARR drove off fast, still under fire from the Phoenix.

Luthor yelled into his communicator.

"Ansem! Skull! Come in! Where's the money!".

"Safe for now!" Ansem replied. "You'll have to excuse me, Lex! I'm in a spot of bother!".

Ansem ducked to avoid the gunshots that Tommy and Chili were firing at him.

He burst through the door to the swimming pool. He saw a mop and bucket sitting by the side of the pool. Smiling, he knocked the bucket over, soaking the floor behind him.

As Tommy and Chili entered the area, Ansem ran off.

As Tommy and Chili tried to follow, they slipped and fell into the pool.

"SHIT!" Tommy yelled as he thrashed around in the water.

"Hang on!" Chili said as he swam over to Tommy and grabbed hold of him.

"Just put your feet on the floor!" Chili advised.

Tommy put his feet down and breathed a sigh of relief as his feet touched the ground.

"He ruined one of my best suits!" Tommy complained.

"Let's get after him!". Chili yelled.

In the corridor, Ansem quickly opened a utility closet and took out some kind of metal backpack and strapped it on.

"Just in case." He said as he ran on.

Beetlejuice had turned himself into a giant, clown-like figure with huge mallets on the ends of his hands and was knocking some of the goons out of the way.

"Is that the best you can do?" The Mask sneered. The Mask pulled out a huge cannon and started to fire cream pies at the guards, blinding them.

"HAH! You are a rank amateur!" Beetlejuice sneered. Beetlejuice let out a huge burp, and a cloud of green smoke was shot at the guards. They all started to gag as the foul-smelling gas invaded their nostrils.

"Bad smell, fellas?" The Mask asked. "Then allow me to get rid of it for you!".

The Mask reached behind his back again and pulled out a huge fan. He switched it on, and a powerful wind blew up, sending the guards flying.

Beetlejuice looked at the Mask. "Okay. I admit it. I'm impressed!".

He shook the Mask's hand.

"Maybe we should go into showbiz together." The Mask said.

The Simpsons and Hagar finally entered the bowling alley. Homer was gasping from the long run.

Big Ray and the other Dregs were waiting for them.

"All tuckered out are ya? Good. Then this should be easy!" Ray sneered. "That money belongs to our bosses now, and you ain't getting one bent dime!".

"You bark, fella, but where's your bite?" Hagar said, drawing his sword.

"Okay! Let's give it to 'em!" Spider said.

"Now, isn't there a nice way we can talk this out?" Marge said.

"Up yours, lady!" Pitbull said.

"I guess not." Marge said as the Dregs rushed forward.

Lisa backed towards a counter that had several pairs of bowling shoes on it.

Thinking fast, she grabbed some of the shoes and hurled them at the approaching bikers. Some of them took the shoes right in the face and fell to the floor, stunned.

"YEAH! That's showing them, Lise!" Bart said. Bart jumped up onto one of the pool tables and started to hurl the billiard balls at the Dregs.

Homer and Hagar went forward and began throwing punches at the bikers.

Ray and Homer faced off. Homer delivered several fast punches to Ray's face.

"2, 4, 6, 8. You suck, I'm great!" Homer chanted with each punch.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Ray yelled.

"I think not!" Homer replied as he hit Ray on the top of the head.

Spider and Pitbull rushed right at Marge. She quickly grabbed a huge floor polishing brush and ran right at the two with it.

The two were knocked to the ground and pushed along. Marge ran the two of them right into a wall.

Four of the bikers rushed at the pool table Bart was standing on and dived onto it. But Bart quickly jumped into the air and the four bikers collided in the middle of the table.

Hagar and Lisa both grabbed bowling balls and hit two nearby Dregs in their stomachs with them.

Marge picked up a skittle and knocked the Dregs who approached her on the head with them. One of the bikers was so dazed that he swung punches at her, which just missed. Laughing, she dangled the skittle in front of his eyes like a punching bag. He threw a couple more punches, but missed. Marge hit him on the head with the skittle and he fell on the floor with his friends.

Homer had continued to pummel Ray. Ray was now almost unconscious. Homer grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and threw him onto a bowling lane.

Ray slid down the lane headfirst and rammed right into the skittles, knocking them all over.

"STRIKE!" Homer yelled.

Buckaroo was exhausted from duelling with the Witch King. Ghost Rider had fired several fireballs at the undead warrior, but he just kept on coming.

"It's ready!" Kairi yelled. "Buckaroo! Ghost Rider! Take cover!".

Buckaroo and Ghost Rider dived out of the way.

"What foolishness is this?!" The Witch King demanded. "I cannot be destroyed!".

"Wanna bet?" Kairi said as she raised her summon material.

"Ultimate End!" she yelled.

Before the Witch King knew what was happening, the light around him seemed to fade.

With a mighty whoosh, a huge, armoured figure appeared, completely dwarfing the dark lord. The figure brought its' mighty weapon down and delivered a powerful blow to the Witch King's body.

The Witch King hardly had time to recover before another huge figure appeared and attacked him. Eleven other times, another warrior appeared and attacked him.

By the time the light returned, the Witch King slumped to the ground. He had no more strength. In a blinding flash of light, the undead lord vaporised.

"Whoa!" Buckaroo said. He turned to look at Kairi with admiration.

"Well done, Kairi!" he said.

"Well done indeed." Ghost Rider said.

Kairi was stunned by her victory, but she smiled all the same.

"Right. Let's go help the others." she said.

Freddy and Jim led some goons down one of the streets and saw the Angels, Austin, Marcus and Regis coming towards them.

"Uh oh!" Regis said as he saw the goons.

"Quick! This way!" Dylan said as she led the group into a building on the right.

"Let's get after 'em!" Freddy said. "We owe those creeps Marcus and Regis for double-crossing us!".

"This ought to be fun!" Jim said as they led the goons on.

As Jim kicked the door open, they saw the door to the bathroom on the first floor swing closed.

"They're trapping themselves in there!" Freddy sneered.

The goons trooped towards the bathroom. Jim opened the door and the group looked around.

There was no sign of their quarry, but the doors to the stalls were all closed.

Jim waved the others on and they entered the room. The guards whipped out their nightsticks. Jim stood in front of one stall, Freddy in front of another and two of the guards in front of a third.

Jim kicked the stall door open and just had time to see Alex and Natalie holding a fire extinguisher before they blasted him with it.

"AH!" he screamed as he was blinded.

The other stall doors opened.

Dylan was hanging from an overhead beam and swung forward, kicking Freddy in the middle. Marcus, Austin and Regis jumped out of their stall and started to spar with the guards.

One guard tried to clobber Marcus with his stick but Regis kicked it out of his hand and delivered several hard punches.

The Angels succeeded in taking down Freddy and Jim with several high impact moves.

Marcus and Regis flipped one guard over their shoulders and sent him crashing through the door of one stall. They double-teamed the other one and knocked him to the ground.

"You bloody backstabbers!" Jim yelled.

"Aw, shut up!" Dylan said as she punched him in the face, knocking him out.

Austin managed to flip one of the guards over his head and threw him right through the door of a stall. The guard demolished most of the stall as he crashed through the door and landed on the ground.

Ansem emerged onto the roof of the hotel and headed straight for the red and white chopper. A couple of the BBI choppers were circling above. The main one, piloted by Rawhide and Reno started to descend towards the roof.

"Hold it right there, buddy!" Rawhide said over the PA.

Ansem reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol. He fired a couple of shots at the chopper.

"He ain't goin' nowhere!" Reno said as he trained the chopper's cannons on the Maverick. The chopper exploded. Ansem simply smiled.

"Let's see you catch me now!" he said. He activated the rocket pack on his back just as Tommy and Chili came out onto the roof.

"So long, fools!" Ansem yelled as he took off.

"Shit!" Tommy yelled.

"Guys! Try and catch him!" Rawhide yelled to the other choppers as they tried to follow Ansem.

Mario's team had come across some BATs and were engaging them. Mario had used one of his fire-flowers and was shooting blasts of fire at the BATs.

Samus rolled herself into a ball and planted some bombs near the BATs and they were caught in the explosion.

Fox fired blasts from a laser pistol at the BATs.

"HAH! This isn't so bad!" Mario said.

"Luthor ought to get his money back from whoever sold him these things!" Fox replied.

'Stone Cold' and Nemesis were both having little trouble taking out the guards.

"Ain't nothin' like a little exercise!" Austin said.

"RRRRRRAA!" Nemesis replied.

The Jackass team were looking around.

"No one wants to take us on by the look of things." Johnny said.

"Hang on! I'll scout ahead!" Wee Man said as he went on.

"Come on! Let's look over this way!" Steve-O said.

Suddenly, a net was dropped on the four men.

"What the...?" Chris said.

Before the four could react, Simba, Pebble and Tik-Tikk jumped on the group and began to tie them up.

"Hope you guys like animals!" Simba said.

"HEY! What's going on?" Wee Man said as he arrived back on the scene.

"You mind your own business, mister!" Pebble said.

Wee Man adopted a fighting stance.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" he said.

"Alright then!" Tik-Tikk said as he rushed forward.

Wee-Man also rushed forward and clothes lined him. Simba tried to grab him from behind, but he was taken down with a martial arts throw. Pebble attempted to punch him, but Wee-man grabbed him arm. He then gave Pebble a boot to the head.

"Anybody else?" Wee Man growled.

Pebble, Simba and Tik-Tikk were laid out.

"Okay, now get us outta here!" Ryan said.

"Okay!" Wee Man said as he began to untie the others.

Sora and Riku had come across several guards and were now engaging them in hand-to-hand combat. Cid ran up to join them.

"You guys having fun without me?" he said teasingly.

One guard raised a gun, but Cid quickly raised his hand and yelled "Ice!".

The gun was suddenly frozen. The cold touch caused the guard to drop it and it shattered into a thousand pieces.

"I hope Kairi's okay." Sora said.

"Someone say my name?" Kairi said as she joined them.

Some Heartless appeared out of the ground behind her.

"Look out!" Riku yelled.

Kairi quickly turned and yelled "Fire3!".

The Heartless were engulfed in a huge blast of heat and disappeared.

Fogg and Dogtanian ran up to join them.

"Sorry about that! Some of them gave us the slip!" Dogtanian said.

"No big deal!" Sora said. "This is a tough fight, but I think the odds are now in our favour.".

Dizzy Devil and Fifi Le Fume held hands as Dizzy began to spin. As they span towards some villains, Fifi released her skunk stink and the guards reeled away in disgust. Some of them ran away.

Some of them ran down one path. They noticed some gas masks had been left on the ground and ran towards them.

As they reached the gas masks, the ground gave way as they fell into a concealed pit.

Above them, Wile E. Coyote and Marvin looked pleased.

"At last, a trap that worked!" Marvin said.

The bad guys who took the other path ran toward a door that lead into a building. The door was just painted on, so they hit the wall and fell unconscious.

Buster, Plucky and Babs emerged from their hiding place, looking pleased.

"The old methods are the best!" Plucky said.

Memphis, Dom, Carter and Lee ran across the promenade and came to a halt when they saw Foyt and a group of security guards armed with nightsticks approaching them.

"Okay, assholes!" Foyt said. "This is where you get yours!".

"I beg to differ!" Carter said. "Bring it on, lady!".

Foyt pointed and some of the guards rushed forward.

Memphis and Dom immediately gave high kicks, knocking two of the guards over.

"Carter? If you please." Lee said.

"Right!" Carter said. He gave Lee a boost and then flipped him over, sending him spinning through the air. Lee twirled and delivered kicks to the two guards nearest to him.

Carter dodged a guard who swung at him and swept out with his leg, knocking the guard to the ground.

Foyt screamed in frustration and ran forward.

Lee kicked out at her and knocked her to the ground. Foyt's shades fell off and broke. She looked at them in anger.

"Those were designer sunglasses, you degenerate!" she yelled.

"I think you made her mad, Lee." Dom said.

Foyt reached into her jacket and pulled out a carving knife.

"Uh oh!" Lee said.

"YAAAAAAH!" Foyt screamed and rushed at Lee. Lee quickly moved to avoid the knife as Foyt slashed out at him. Carter quickly jumped her from behind and grabbed her wrist, squeezing the nerve end. Foyt yelled in pain and dropped the knife.

"You guys give me a hand!" Carter yelled.

Dom and Memphis helped him pin Foyt down. Carter twisted Foyt's hands behind her back and began to handcuff her.

"Glad I brought these along now." Carter said.

"YOU BASTARDS! YOU'LL SUFFER FOR THIS!" Foyt screamed.

"Yeah, yeah!" Memphis said.

"Lee! Look out!" Dom yelled.

Lee quickly delivered a spinning back-kick to a goon who was coming up behind him. The goon went down.

"Thanks for the warning!" Lee said, giving a thumbs-up.

Chun-Li and Mai were running along and saw the Twins approaching them.

Both Twins adopted fighting stances.

"Time to test those skills I taught you, Mai." Chun-Li said.

"No time like the present.". Mai said.

Twin One rushed at Chun-Li and aimed a high kick at her. Chun-Li ducked to avoid it, and then launched a series of rapid kicks right to Twin One's stomach.

Mai sparred with Twin Two. She managed to grab his arm and flip him over her shoulder, onto the ground.

Twin One fell down to join his brother as Chun-Li finished with him.

"Let's go." Mai said.

As both girls ran on, the Twins got back to their feet and got ready to pursue.

"Hey, guys." A voice said behind them.

The Twins turned around and were greeted by punches thrown by Beavis and Butthead. The Twins went down again.

Mai and Chun-Li had turned to see what Beavis and Butthead had done.

"Thanks." Chun-Li said.

"No problem." Beavis said. "So, you wanna score after the race?".

Scooby, Shaggy and the gang were running around, throwing food at the guards, disorienting them and Fred and Daphne then delivered martial arts kicks to them.

"It's a waste of good food!" Shaggy complained.

"Reah!" Scooby said.

"Are you kidding?" Velma said. "It's being put to good use.".

"Here! We'll join in!" Wallace yelled as he and Gromit joined the group, armed with porridge-shooting guns. With a series of loud squelches, more villains were blinded and left open to attack from Fred and Daphne.

"I'm glad some of my skills rubbed off on you, Fred." Daphne said.

"Thanks." Fred replied.

KARR was managing to keep ahead of the Phoenix. Luthor pressed a button, which dropped a proximity mine in their path.

"That should keep my twin busy!" KARR said.

The black car pulled up in front of a large concrete bunker.

Luthor went up to it and pressed some buttons on a control panel.

Just then, the Phoenix swerved around the proximity mine. Herbie appeared, coming from another direction.

"There he is!" Juni yelled.

"Excellent, kids!" KITT said. "We have him now!".

"I think not!" Luthor said, smiling, as he got back into KARR.

The huge door of the bunker slid upwards, revealing a huge, bipedal robot with huge cannons on its' arms.

Carmen and Juni turned pale when they saw it. Herbie let out a beep of shock.

"That must be the security robot that Marcus and Regis mentioned." Carmen said.

"That's not just ANY security robot!" KITT said. "It's an Enforcement Droid Series 209! That thing gives a whole new meaning to 'lethal'!".

The huge robot lumbered towards the two vehicles as KARR drove off.

"Intruders!" ED-209 thundered. "You must surrender! You have twenty seconds to comply!".

The robot trained its' cannons on the vehicles to show he meant business.

"I think we should go warn the others!" Juni said.

"Yeah!" Carmen said.

Herbie and KITT backed up and drove back the way they came. ED-209 lumbered after them, firing powerful blasts from his cannons.

Corvax and the Nomad were taking out some of the Heartless with their scimitars.

"These things ain't so tough!" The Nomad sneered.

Nearby, a couple of guards were trying to sneak up on the two Cannonballers, but they were clobbered by huge toon mallets. As they fell to the ground, the three Warners cheered.

"That's what you get for not playing fair!" Dot said.

Some Blue Blaze Irregulars threw themselves into the fray with Corvax and the Nomad.

The three Mariachis were advancing down a road. Hiding nearby were Mr. Benedict and Van Pelt. They both cocked their guns and jumped out.

Reacting quickly, El, Lorenzo and Fideo drew their guns and fired.

Benedict and Van Pelt fired too. After about twenty seconds, the shooting stopped.

No one appeared to have been hit.

"After all that, you missed?" Benedict said, raising an eyebrow.

"So did you." El pointed out.

"So what now?" Van Pelt said. "Fisticuffs?".

Van Pelt felt a gun being pressed to his temple. Benedict felt the same. They both turned to see some cops, BBIs and Captain Nemo's men pointing guns at them.

"No. I think this is where you surrender." A cop said.

John McClane, Flyguy, Hammer and Slammer were fighting with Max Damage and several goons.

"Is that all you've got?!" John yelled as he kicked one goon into a corner.

"Yippi-ki-ay, moth....".

"Shut your mouth!" Hammer yelled.

"Sorry." John said.

Slammer delivered a huge kick to a guard and then grabbed his foot in pain.

"Damn! My bunion!"

"Use your fists then, dummy!" Hammer said.

Max and Flyguy were sparring. "Okay, Huggy Bear!" Max sneered. "It's the end for you!".

"Wanna bet?!" Flyguy said as he delivered punch after punch to Max's face.

"WHAM!" Flyguy yelled as he delivered one hard punch. Max staggered.

"BAM!" Flyguy said as he delivered another hard punch.

Max looked like he was about to fall over, so Flyguy turned his back on him.

But Max reached into his jacket for his gun. Suddenly, a flock of bats appeared around him and resolved themselves into a woman. It was Mina Harker. She punched Max hard and he fell with a groan.

Flyguy turned around and saw this.

"Thank you, ma'am." He said as he tipped his hat to Mina.

Lara and Michael Knight were fighting side by side.

Some of the goons had them surrounded.

"This doesn't look good!" Michael said.

"Don't worry." Lara said. "I'll think of something!".

"Guys! Take cover!" a voice yelled.

The two looked and saw that behind the guards were Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rizzo and Animal, all hanging onto a powerful fire hose.

They quickly ducked out of the way as the Muppets hit the guards with a great blast of water.

Captain Nemo, Max Rockatansky, Tom Sawyer and D.J. Drake were firing lasers at a group of bad guys. Max looked up and saw Ansem flying above them.

"It looks like he has the money." Nemo yelled.

"Can you get a shot at the rocket pack, Tom?" Max asked.

"No problem!" Tom said as he took careful aim with his gun.

He scored a direct hit on the rocket pack and Ansem began to descend to the ground.

"Damn!" he yelled.

He managed to steer himself towards the roof of one of the nightclubs of the complex and touched down on it.

"Got him!" D.J. yelled.

Keanu and Ben were both fending off the human guards with the martial arts moves they had learned for The Matrix and Daredevil respectively.

"Thank God for martial arts training." Ben was saying.

Leo was also using the fighting skills he had learned for Gangs of New York.

"Who says acting is all make-believe?" he said as he delivered a hard punch to a guard's face.

Donald delivered a high kick to a few guards.

Snake and Ethan were fighting off some of the human guards with the modified M5s, firing knockout darts.

Jessie and James' pokemon kept attacking the BATs.

"This is getting tough, Jessie!" James said. "Any ideas?".

"Sure!" Jessie said as she drew another Pokeball. "Go, Wobbuffet!".

"Wobbuffet?!" James and Meowth chorused.

"You'll see." Jessie said as she winked.

Jessie's Wobbuffet materialised in front of the BATs. The BATs opened fire on the blue pokemon with their lasers.

Wobbuffet shook a little as the beams hit him. Then a red glow appeared around Wobbuffet and a beam of red energy fired back at the BATs.

"Oh, I love it when this happens!" Meowth said.

The beam blew the BATs back.

"Well done, guys!" Ethan said, giving the three a thumbs-up.

Buckaroo and a group of BBIs had met up with New Jersey and Tommy. "What's up guys?" he asked.

All three heard frantic horn honking as Herbie and the Phoenix approached them.

"What's got them in such a..." New Jersey broke off as he saw ED-209 chasing after them.

Buckaroo turned pale. "This is not good!".

The BBIs raised their guns and opened fire at ED-209.

New Jersey and Tommy did so as well.

ED-209 opened one of his missile launchers and fired.

Buckaroo and co dived out of the way of the missile, which hit a bingo parlour and blew it sky high.

The Deluxo was still flying above, and Doc noticed the trouble the racers on the ground were in.

"Never fear! Help is here!" Doc yelled.

Herbie and the Phoenix steered into a parking garage to seek refuge as ED-209 advanced.

Looking up, Juni saw the Deluxo. "Be careful, Doc!" he yelled.

Doc delivered a salute out the window of the Deluxo.

Marty and Clara both took hold of their ray guns.

Doc pressed a button and a satellite dish extended from the front of the car.

"Use freeze to immobilize that thing while I try to hack into it's system!". Doc said.

"Boy, this is heavy!" Marty said as he drew a bead on ED-209's legs.

Clara did the same and they both fired at the enforcement droid's legs.

They were instantly frozen. The huge robot growled and looked upwards to see the Deluxo.

"Surrender or die!" ED-209 yelled. "You have thirty seconds to comply.".

He raised his gun to aim at the car. Marty quickly turned his gun to the electric ray and fired. The huge robot was momentarily stunned.

"Please hurry, Emmett!" Clara pleaded.

Doc stared at his console and smiled as the details of ED-209's circuitry appeared on his screen.

"Perfect!" he said.

The screen displayed a message. It read ENTER COMMAND NOW.

Doc smiled and typed in the command 'Deactivate'. He pressed the enter key and below them, ED-209 lowered his guns as he was shut down.

Buckaroo and friends came out of hiding.

They all cheered and whooped.

Herbie and the Phoenix honked their horns in jubilation too.

Doc saluted again. Clara kissed him on the cheek and Marty clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good one, Doc!" Marty said.

"It was nothing." Doc said.

A group of the few remaining BATs came across Bugs and Daffy.

Daffy pointed at Bugs.

"Shoot him! It's rabbit season!" Daffy yelled.

The BATs pointed their guns at Bugs.

"No it's not! It's duck season!" Bugs said.

The BATs now aimed at Daffy.

"Rabbit season!"

"Duck season!"

"Rabbit season!"

"Duck season!"

"Rabbit season!"

"Duck season!"

The BATs were now confused, not sure where to aim.

Suddenly, Bugs yelled "BAT season!".

"BAT season! FIRE!" Daffy yelled.

The BATs turned their guns on each other, and before they realised it, they fired on each other, destroying themselves.

"YEAH! Those things sure are dumb!" Bugs said.

"High four!" Daffy said. He and Bugs 'high-foured' each other with their hands (since they only had four fingers).

Ansem was stuck on the roof. Priss, Max and most of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were on the ground below him.

"You've got nowhere to go, Ansem!" Priss yelled. "Just give us the money!".

Suddenly, a jet of gas was shot at the racers and their friends and they all staggered, coughing.

KARR drove forward and stopped just below Ansem. KARR had fired the gas.

Luthor opened KARR's sun roof.

"Ansem!" Luthor yelled. "Throw the money down!".

Ansem came to the edge and threw the suitcase down to Luthor, who caught it.

"Great! Now we can get out of here!" Ansem said as he prepared to jump.

"Less of the 'we'!" Luthor mocked as he drove KARR off.

"You bastard!" Ansem yelled as KARR disappeared.

Below him, Priss and the others got up again, and some more Cannonballers and BBIs had run up to join them.

"Where's the money?" Cid asked.

"Luthor has it! He went that way!" Tom said, coughing.

"Let's go friends!" Sora yelled as he led his team after KARR.

The others looked up at Ansem.

"You'd best give up now!" Jessie yelled to him.

"NEVER!" Ansem yelled.

He closed his eyes and concentrated hard. His hands and his eyes glowed and there was a mighty rumble.

The Cannonballers turned to see literally thousands of Heartless emerging from the ground.

They were outnumbered.

"Oh...shit!" Buffy said. "You think we can take 'em?".

"Maybe." Clover said. "But I think we'll need some sort of distraction! Something crazy!".

Suddenly, a voice yelled "YAHOO!".

Before the Heartless could react, they were hit by a massive blast of flame.

Many of them dissolved instantly. The stunned Cannonballers looked up and saw Strong Bad, Homestar and the Cheat riding on the back of a massive green dragon, with one beefy arm.

"Hey, you guys!" Strong Bad yelled. "Did we come at a bad time?".

"Say hello to Trogdor, the Burninator!" Homestar yelled.

"Trogdor's REAL?" Scrooge asked in disbelief. He thought Trogdor was just a creature Strong Bad had made up.

"You bet he's real! Now you guys get after the bad guys while we make some Heartless toast!" Strong Bad yelled.

Trogdor roared and let out another blast of flame, destroying another group of Heartless.

The Cannonballers cheered and ran off after Sora.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" Ansem yelled.

He jumped to avoid a blast of flame that Trogdor fired in his direction, falling off the roof in the process.

He landed in a dumpster at the back of the club, his head sticking into the garbage.

"Damn!" he said as he pulled his head out of the garbage. He felt something odd, and looked over his shoulder to see the Jackass crew standing near him.

"So, you morons going to take me in?" he asked.

"In a minute, perhaps." Steve-O said.

"What are you waiting for?" Ansem snapped.

"We're waiting for the firecrackers to go off." Ryan announced.

Ansem looked nervous. "What firecrackers?".

"The ones I stuffed in your pants when your head was in the garbage!" Chris said evilly.

Ansem looked down in horror and saw there were indeed firecrackers stuffed into his pants.

As they started to go off, he screamed and started to run around, while the Jackass guys laughed their heads off.

Luthor drove KARR towards the entrance to the compound while the remaining BATs and Heartless were being picked off by the Titan and Black Knight's cannons and Trogdor.

Spiderman had wrapped up most of the remaining humans in his webs.

"Show's over, boys." Spiderman quipped.

Luthor brought the car to a halt as he saw the cordon the street racers had set up.

"There's no way out for you, essa!" Orange Julius said.

"Damn straight!" Slap Jack said.

Luthor looked behind him and saw the Cannonballers on foot catching up with him.

"Lex Luthor is never beaten!" Luthor yelled. He took out a remote control and pressed it.

A hatch opened in the ground in front of him, revealing a ramp.

The street racers were stunned as Luthor drove into the underground tunnel.

The Cannonballers were appalled as they saw what was happening.

"Goodbye and good riddance!" Luthor yelled.

"I won't let him get away!" Sora yelled as he ran for the Phantom.

"Hang on, Captain!" Kairi yelled. "We're coming too!".

Sora turned to face her. "Kairi, I must do this alone. For justice.".

Kairi looked at him for a minute, but then nodded.

"Okay, go.".

"Make sure you get the money back!" Riku said.

"Fear not, my friends! I shall not fail!".

You got the touch
You got the power

After all is said and done
You've never walked, you've never run,
You're a winner

You got the moves, you know the streets
Break the rules, take the heat
You're nobody's fool

You're at your best when the goin' gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

Out in the desert, the other end of the tunnel opened up and KARR drove out.

"Now get us out of here, KARR!" Luthor said. "Leave them in your dust!".

"Indeed I shall!" KARR said.

Luthor closed the tunnel, but back in the compound, Sora aimed the Phantom's missile launcher at the ground and opened the tunnel again.

As he drove the Phantom after Luthor, Brian and Roman looked at him.

"I vote we should go help him!" Brian said.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Roman said as Brian started the Evo up.

Suki smiled and started her S2000 up. Tej, Slap Jack and Julius followed suit and drove out of the compound.

You got the touch
You got the power

When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm

You got the heart
You got the motion

You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch

In the desert, Sora crashed the Phantom through the door at the other end of the tunnel. He saw KARR in the distance and drove after him.

"DUN! DUN! DUN!" he said as he put his foot down.

He heard the roars of many engines as the street racers joined him. He looked over at Brian, who gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, my friend!" Sora said as the convoy drove on.

You never bend, you never break
You seem to know just what it takes
You're a fighter

It's in the blood, it's in the will
It's in the mighty hands of steel
When you're standin' your ground

And you never get hit when your back's to the wall
Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all

You got the touch
You got the power

When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm

The other Cannonballers looked on in awe as the group pursued Luthor.

"That kid may not be very smart." James said, grudgingly. "But he's got guts!".

"That he does!" Lara said.

"So what do we do?" Stone Cold asked.

"I'll start the clean-up around here." Harris said. "But I'll radio ahead. Captain Chaos will have all the police help he needs.".

Brock smiled. "Victor, you have taught your pupil well." He said to himself.

"I know about Victor's training, Brock." Mr. X said. "He will not fail.".

You got the heart
You got the motion

You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch

You're fightin' fire with fire
You know you got the touch

You're at your best when the road gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

You got the touch
You got the power

You got the touch
You got the power

The Touch by Stan Bush.

TO BE CONCLUDED

AN: Whew! That was a long one! Hope you liked it! Only one chapter left to go! Hold on to the edge of your seats! See ya!