Chapter Three
Author's Note: Anyone who figures out where the name's Gogo, Edgar and Strago come from will get a cookie!
"Guys…" Raiden said minutes after getting up. He was looking out the window in utter disbelief.
"Ugh…what?" Trenk grumbled. He took one look outside, and his mouth dropped open. "Oh geez…I knew I shouldn't have had that last three-bean burrito at midnight…I must still be asleep. Pinch me, wolf-boy."
Raiden did so, with great force. The imp winced, and when he looked again it was the same scene…it was something right out of an old-school cartoon: trees with faces talking to each other, squirrels doing the can-can, arguing weasels…and the sun, with an overly pleasant smile on his face shining down.
"Where the hell are we?" Raiden exclaimed.
"That's what I'd like to know…" Shadow said. "It looks like we should have taken that left turn at…"
"Don't…you…DARE." Raiden growled. "Say that city with A at the start of its name, and I swear I'll be having hedgehog for breakfast!"
The door burst open, and suddenly three goofy-looking hedgehog soldiers popped in, their pole-axes ready for combat. Obviously they were trespassing in this strange land.
"By order of His Great Royal Highness, King Adrian, we place all who occupy this vehicle under arrest!"
"I don't know who you nitwits are, but you aren't taking this bus without a fight!" Raiden ran up to the nearest one and belted him in the chin…but to no effect. The soldier's neck stretched and snapped back like a rubber band.
Crimsa burst in. "Okay…who's the wise guy who laced the drinking water with…" she stopped short, and she looked on with simultaneous horror and confusion.
"This ain't no hallucination…this is real…" Raiden grumbled.
"Are you going to come quietly, or is this going to get loud?" one of the soldiers said. They all laughed at his bad pun.
"You puns are as poor as a beggar, soldier!" a very haughty and large voice came. "Bring them hither!"
"Come on, you…" the soldier said, prodding the wolf with his pole-axe.
"Do we have a choice?" Crimsa asked. "Maybe this Adrian king will go easy on us. Besides, if what I'm thinking is correct, these guys are toons."
"Alright…let's go…" Shadow sighed. Crimsa, Trenk, Raiden and Shadow left the bus. Renoplax and Yakujo were still asleep, so they had no idea where they were. When they left the bus, they discovered the source of the voice to be a comically muscular knight at least three inches taller than Raiden, complete with a pronounced chin, blond hair, and a sword as big as the wolf.
"I am Sir Edgar of King Adrian's court. You are trespassing on the King's castle grounds…"
Shadow tried to reason with the knight. "We didn't know…we all just woke up when your flunkies burst in and arrested us. Let us off, will you?"
"King Adrian loathes trespassers. But since your crime was not intended…perhaps he will be merciful. Now come, reprobates! Guards, bind them! And take special care with the wolf. I do not trust him one bit."
-- -- -- -- --
"Play with me again, nanny!" the young hedgehog Adrian commanded Amy. "Play with me now! Play!"
"I've played with you for so long, Adrian…just let me rest! I'll play with you later! What about your toon friends?"
"They're not as fun as playing with you, nanny!" Adrian replied angrily. "Now play with me, or I'll send my dragon on you!"
"All right…all right…what do want to…"
"My liege! I have returned!" Sir Edgar's voice boomed from the other room.
"Oh pooh…I guess we'll have to play later." Adrian moped as he stood up. "I hate doing all this boring stuff!" He got up and marched out of the room.
The two came to a splendidly colorful throne room, mostly decorated with pastel pinks, yellows and blues. The tapestries were gold and brick red, and the floor was tiled with pastel purple and yellow. Adrian sat upon his large throne, and impatiently drummed his fingers on one of the arms. Amy sat on a nearby stool.
"Well, Sir Edgar…what's all this stuff going on?"
"I found these four trespassers not far from here…they claim that they didn't know that they would end up here…there was an imp, a wolf, a bat and a hedgehog."
"I wanna see them. Bring them in."
Seconds later, the door burst open, and the four marched in with their heads bowed, unaware of the ones they were to face. Amy, however, quickly recognized the prisoners (except Trenk's, of course), and she quickly addressed the young king.
"Adrian! Three of those prisoners are friends of mine! Adrian, please let them go!"
"Huh? These are your friends?" Adrian asked. "If it will make you play with me…Sir Edgar, let them go!"
"As you wish, my king," the knight replied. He snapped his fingers, and the four found themselves free. Immediately Amy rushed over to Shadow and began to embrace him, tears of simultaneous joy and sadness running down her cheeks.
"Ew! Cooties!" Adrian retched. "Amy! You know I hate that mushy stuff! Edgar, make her stop!"
Amy realized her faux pas…she had forgotten, in her emotional moment, that Adrian was but a young boy. She immediately released Shadow.
"I'm sorry, Adrian…I didn't know what came over me," she apologized.
"Amy! Why do you listen to that kid? Let's get out of here," Shadow said to her.
"I can't leave him…you don't know what he's been through!"
"Are you done yet?" Adrian moaned. "It's almost time for my lunch!"
"Good King…I may seem out of line when I say this, but perhaps your nanny needs some time…judging by her unintentional breach of conduct, she has not seen these friends of hers for quite some time."
"Nonsense!" a voice came from another adjoining room. Out marched a very astute, wrinkled lizard-like humanoid. "Amy is your nanny, and she must cater to your every whim!"
"Yeah…no…I...I…wanna be alone!" Adrian stammered. He bolted off his throne and back into his play room.
"Do not listen to Baron Von Dardnik, Lady Amy," said Sir Edgar, "…go with them. He's just unsure of himself."
"I demand that you go and comfort your king!" the Baron screeched. "It is your duty! Can you not hear his wailings of sadness?"
Amy looked at Sir Edgar, then Von Dardnik, and back again. She was obviously unsure of what to do.
"Do what you want, Amy," Crimsa said. "Don't let them decide for you."
Amy thought it over. "The king can wait…I'm sure Gogo can cheer him up. Gogo!"
"Gogo?" Crimsa asked to no one in particular.
"Did somebody call for me?" called a wacky voice that seemed to be a higher-pitched version of Big's. In sprung a clown dressed in pastel red, yellow and green. His legs and arms were, quite literally, springy.
"I've seen some strange clowns," Raiden whispered to Shadow, "but this one really takes the cake."
"Adrian's in a bad mood…can you cheer him up, Gogo? You're so good at it."
"HoohooHOO! Can do, Amy! One order of clown, hold the onions…away!" the clown yukked, and bounced off into Adrian's room. A few moments later, all sorts of wacky sounds issued forth from the room, and no longer could Adrian's crying be heard, but instead, delighted laughter came forth.
The Baron grumbled, and stormed out of the room, leaving the four prisoners, Amy and Sir Edgar in the room.
"Ah, good Sir Gogo…he never fails to cheer up the good king…" Sir Edgar sighed. "It's a pity that only Amy and Gogo can cheer him up…"
"Why?" Amy asked.
"Come with me…Sir Strago would be able to explain it best."
-- -- -- -- --
"Here's his lab," Edgar said, stopping at a door. He knocked on the door with surprising force. The shattering of glass, and a small explosion came from inside.
"You really need to learn to knock more carefully, Edgar," Amy scolded. The door opened, and a very old man, comically scorched in the face by the explosion was standing there. He seemed very annoyed. He opened his mouth to speak.
"I know I know…I knocked too hard again. My apologies, good Strago."
The wizard shook himself off and soon he was all clean, as if nothing had happened. "Very well…come in. I see we have some guests. Come, sit."
The group entered the lab. It was the stereotypical wizard's lab: beakers, strange ingredients, tubes...anything you would find appropriately placed in a wizard's lab, it was there.
"Now, what can I do for you?" the old wizard said after everyone was seated.
"Amy wishes to know why Adrian is so attached to her. You, Gogo and I are the only ones who know the truth. Oh, and I never even learned your names. How ridiculously impolite of me."
"Shadow…" Shadow said.
"Raiden of G.U.N," Raiden then said.
"Crimsa," the bat said.
"Trenk. Pleasure to meet ya," the imp said in his typical bad-boy voice.
Strago nodded, and stood up. "Well...consider that all, save the imp, know Amy so well, I may be able to trust you with this information. It also regards the reason this world of toons exists."
Everyone, save Edgar and Strago, listened closely.
"You know how the outside world is a desolate wasteland, a place without hope or happiness." Amy gasped slightly. She had never laid eyes on the grim world since the day of the group's separation.
"Adrian lost his father on that day, and his mother died a few days after. Losing both parents at such a young age is, without the shadow of a doubt, even more of a tragedy for someone even a few years older. He is only seven years old."
"I know how it feels to lose a parent…" Crimsa said.
"Adrian was beside himself…he cried for days. One day he was approached by a mysterious figure…all I know is that his shape was like that of a monkey, and he had huge claws and a large cranium…"
"Geddon!" Shadow cried angrily, slamming his fist down. "He couldn't settle for destroying the world…he has to torment every last creature on it until they all go insane!"
"But that still doesn't explain the toon world." Amy noted.
"This 'Geddon' gave young Adrian a stupendous power…the power to manifest, using nothing but his imagination…cartoon landscapes and creatures that are real."
"Wait…I'm starting to get the connection…" Raiden said. "You know how you toons are virtually indestructible? I punched one of your soldiers in the chin, and his head snapped back like a rubber band!"
Edgar jumped in at this point. "Yes…Adrian ultimately decides which toons can get hurt…but speak to us of this Geddon…if he is as vile as you say, then surely plans to make a toon army for whatever fiendish plots he has in mind."
Crimsa answered this. "Geddon is a demon of great power that lives on planetary energy. No doubt he is sucking this planet dry right now."
Strago continued. "Indeed. Gogo, Edgar, and I are all manifestations ofAdrian's goodness. If this Geddon has any hand in the way of this land…then he surely has someone…of course! Von Dardnik! I knew he was suspicious!"
"We can't charge him with any crime unless we catch him in the act," Edgar noted. "How can we convince Adrian that the Baron is a bad guy?"
Raiden smirked. "Y'know…cartoon villains are notoriously foolish, even if they are smart. It's a law of cartoons."
"You…watch cartoons, Raiden?" Crimsa exclaimed with disbelief. The others looked shocked as well.
"What?" the wolf said, shrugging. "There's no shame in watching them!"
"Okay, Raiden…what do you have in mind?" Shadow said.
"If my cartoon knowledge is correct, he should be reporting to his master around midnight or so. Normally we would wait until he attempts a takeover before we reveal his dirty little secret."
"Your knowledge of the ways of villainy surprises me, Raiden…" Edgar said with a hint of distrust.
"So…we catch him reporting to Geddon…or Vector…" Crimsa said.
"A partner in crime of this Geddon creature you speak of, no doubt." Strago interrupted.
"Anyway…we catch him, restrain him and throw him before Adrian." Raiden said. "Hopefully it will work."
"But…who's going to do the spying?" Shadow asked.
"I'll do it!" chirped Trenk. "I'm small, quiet and he probably wouldn't suspect a fellow demon to be spying on him."
"It's agreed then. When you feel you have obtained sufficient information, call us and we'll come running. I'll notify Gogo of our plans." Amy said.
"You can count on me, Amy," the imp chirped."Besides, I wanna get out of this cartoon nuthouse as soon as possible!"