"Are we there yet?" Socrates moaned, impatiently.

"Rupert's spaceship is approximately three hundred light years from present location," said the computer.

"Oh come on," Socrates muttered. "Can't you make this stupid thing go faster, Bucky?"

Sherman glared at Socrates.

"I assure you!" he yelled. "It will go faster! It just needs time to warm up."

Socrates narrowed his eyes to slits, and held up his arm.

He began scratching vigorously on it, causing orange and black hairs to float to the ground.

"YEEK!" Sherman screeched. "Here, I'll just engage the hyper drive."

Sherman leaped off Andy's shoulder, and hopped over to the control panel.

He pushed a couple of buttons, and the ship began to pick up speed.

He then hopped off the panel, and walked back to Andy.

Socrates rolled his eyes around, and swiped his red-striped tail to the right.

WHACK!

"Whoops," Socrates grinned, as his tail sent him flying into the wall. "Sorry, rodent breath, stay out of the way.

Sherman gave Socrates a murderous glare.

Suddenly, the computer started beeping.

The four turned and stared at it.

Unknown aliens approaching.

"Hmmmm," Hobbes muttered. "That's weird."

Hobbes looked outside.

They were surrounded by red planets.

Hobbes mouth suddenly went dry. The last time he had seen those planets…

"What's that!" Sherman demanded. "And what's it doing clogging up my radar screen!"

Hobbes eyes darted to the radar screen.

They were coming. From all directions. They were being hunted.

Socrates looked over at Hobbes.

"Hobbes," he started. "I think you know what these things are called."

Hobbes nodded slowly.

"And would they happen to be of the friendly variety?"

Hobbes shook his head slowly.

"Uh-huh. And what are these things called?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Shadowfax," Hobbes uttered.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Shadow facts?" Sherman said, in disgust. "What the heck are Shadow facts?"

"How about Twenty Questions!" Socrates said, excitedly. "Let's see, first let's study the name. Shadow Fax. Hmmm… I'm guessing they're dangerous fax machines that cast a bunch of shadows, right?"

Hobbes shook his head.

"No? Well, let's see. A shadow that uses fax machines? No? Well, how about giant, shadowy facts that…"

"THEY'RE MONSTERS!" Hobbes bellowed. "LARGE, BLACK, LETHAL, SCREECHING MONSTERS!"

Andy gulped.

"Do they eat meat?" he asked, nervously.

"They'll eat anything they can get their hands o—" Hobbes was cut off, when suddenly something big collided with the ship, and sent Hobbes and the gang crashing into the opposite wall.

Suddenly, something of equal size collided with the side Hobbes and the gang had flown into, and they went flying back into the other wall.

There was a moment of tense silence.

Hobbes rolled his eyes around.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sounds of screeching and high pitched wails.

Andy gasped as one of the Shadowfax attached itself to the window, and stared at him with hungry, bloodshot eyes.

"Don't worry!" Hobbes yelled. "Light shrivels them up!"

Hobbes rushed to the control panel, and stared at it.

"Hey, rat, where do you keep the flashlights?" Hobbes demanded.

Sherman snorted, and crossed his arms.

"Ya know, I might just not want to tell you, for personal reasons," he sniffed.

Suddenly, there was an extra hard crash on the side of the ship, and the screeches got louder.

"You were saying?" Hobbes asked.

"It's in that red compartment," Sherman said.

Hobbes grabbed a Black 'n' Decker flashlight out of the compartment, and switched it on.

He grinned as a thick, line of bright white light shot out.

"EAT SUNLIGHT!" Hobbes yelled.

He spun around, and shone the flashlight right on the…Shadowfax, and it didn't do much good, actually, which confused Hobbes.

"Oh yes, Hobbo," Socrates said. "It's already disintegrating into a hideous green, gelatinous mass."

"Shush!" Hobbes spat. "I'm trying to think!"

This didn't make sense. It worked last time! Hobbes shines light on Shadowfax, Shadowfax explodes, day dramatically saved. Everything had been going his way! BUT IT WASN'T WORKING THIS TIME!

"TAKE SHELTER!" Sherman yelled, as the Shadowfax started banging his fists into cracking glass.

"I think you mean, take cover," Socrates corrected.

"Do you want to hide, or teach grammar! COME ON!" Andy and Sherman bolted down the ship.

Hobbes and Socrates followed.

"I don't get it!" Hobbes huffed. "Calvin and I beat off the Shadowfax last time! Why isn't it working now?"

"How big were those last Shadowfax?" Socrates asked.

"What?"

"I said, 'how big were they last time?'"

"I dunno, about three or four feet."

"Uh huh, and how big are these things?"

"They looked like maybe…"

Hobbes paused.

"…eight feet tall."

"Uh-huh," Socrates said. "So, I'd predict they're some kind of special species. Doesn't that just make you wanna go space-walking?"

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Hobbes snarled.

The four ran towards a metal door with a wheel instead of a doorknob.

Sherman grabbed the wheel with his tiny paws, and pushed.

It didn't budge.

"Which of you fools closed this door up!" Sherman demanded.

Andy sighed, and opened the door himself.

The four then ran inside.

"Now what?"

"We wait here until either the Shadow-whatevers eat the entire ship, or till we die," Socrates said.

"SOCRATES!" the three screamed.

"Sorry," Socrates said, rolling his eyes around.

Suddenly the giant breed of Shadowfax collided with the ship again, and roared.

SCREEEEEECH!

"Too bad we don't have that alien manual like we did last time," Hobbes said. "That helped us out a lot."

"That's it!" Sherman yelled.

He turned to Socrates.

"I'm thinking of a number between 98461 and 98463!"

Socrates stared at him.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Just say the number!" Sherman yelled.

"I'm starting to get suspicious here, rat."

"SAY THE NUMBER!"

"WELL MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO!" Socrates screamed even louder.

"I'll tie your tail into a knot if you don't!" Sherman yelled, louder still.

"Prepare to burn, buck tooth!"

Socrates marched over to Sherman and whacked him into the wall.

"OW!" Sherman yelled. "How dare you! I am a genius! SAY THAT STUPID NUMBER!"

"MAKE ME!"

"Make ya, huh?" Sherman yelled, angrily. "I'll make ya! I'LL MAKE YA A HAM SANDWICH, IS WHAT I'LL MAKE YA!"

"YEAH? I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TR—"

BANG!

There was an extra loud boom, and suddenly, the sound of running footsteps filled the ship.

"98462," Socrates said.

He suddenly jumped into the air, landed on his tail, spun around, closed his eyes and put his hands up.

"This is the Galaxy Transmitting System sending out a transmission from space. Please state the planet you are trying to reach?" Socrates said in a high-tech voice.

"Galaxoid and Nebular," Hobbes said.

"Galaxoid and Nebular being contacted. Please wait…Do, do, do, duh, do, duh, do, dee, dudaloo… We have reached contact with Galaxoid and Nebular. Please wait."

There was a moment of silence, and suddenly, Galaxoid's voice came on.

"I told you I didn't want fries with that water, you dolt!"

"Yes, oh wondrous creature of my unworthy skin!" said the voice of a slave robot.

"Hey, Galaxoid, the light to the intercom's on."

"Huh?"

"I said, 'Hey Galaxoid, the light…"

"I heard what you said!"

"Why'd you ask then?"

"I asked because… Never mind, Nebular! You take a good idea, and run it into the ground! I'm sorry I brought it up!"

"That's OK, you couldn't help it."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Hobbes hated to cut two aliens off, but there was scratching heard from behind the steel door, and the Shadowfax were sniffing the area out.

"GALAXOID! NEBLUAR! We're under attack!"

"Huh! Who said that?"

"Never mind who said it!" Hobbes screamed as the Shadowfax started banging their fists into the door. "Just tell us how to defeat ten foot Shadowfax!"

"Shadowfax?" Galaxoid asked. "Wow. We haven't faced off with one of those things for a while. Do you remember how we defeated it, Nebular?"

"We did something with a flashlight," Nebular said. "But those were those simple three footers. You wanted to know how to defeat the big ones?"

"YES!" Hobbes screamed.

Andy shrieked as a black fist exploded out of the three inch steel door.

Those Shadowfax were skinny, but they were STRONG! I mean, they could reduce three inch thick steel to sawdust in less than a minute. And that info didn't fascinate Hobbes much.

"Let's see," Nebular said. "Was it water?"

Hobbes grabbed a bucket of water and poured it over the Shadowfax's arm.

"No, you're thinking of Blackosts," Galaxoid said.

"Oh," Nebular said. "Well. Maybe it was fire."

Hobbes grabbed a match, lit it, and threw it on the Shadowfax's arm.

"No that was the Spacers. That kind of Shadowfax LOVE fire."

Hobbes slapped his forehead, as another black arm blasted a hole in the steel.

"WOULD YOU HURRY UP!" Sherman boomed.

"Wait, wait!" Nebular said. "I remember now! It was ice! Yes, I'm almost sure it was! I'm giving you an Almost Guarantee."

"What's an Almost Guarantee?" Galaxoid asked.

"It's one notch shorter from a Gold Plated Guarantee," Nebular said.

"I think they want the gold plated one, if it isn't too much trouble," Galaxoid said.

"I'm afraid were all out of that kind."

"Oh darn."

"SIGN OFF!" Sherman yelled.

"Fine, fine. Galaxoid and Nebular signing off."

Socrates' high-tech voice came on.

"Resume normal functions in three, two, one…"

Socrates shook his head, and muttered, "Whoa. What happened? Besides the creepy arms grabbing at Hobbes, and the loud screams?"

"Socrates, old buddy," Hobbes said. "What's the meanest, sneakiest, nastiest trick you can think of that involves ice and freezing conditions?"

Socrates grinned, darkly.

"Hobbo, you've come to the right place."


The Shadowfax continued to claw at the entrance.

"Hey guys!" said Socrates' voice.

The Shadowfax looked up.

Socrates grinned over at them.

"Looking for a juicy tiger to eat? I'm your man! Technically, I'm your tiger, but you get the picture."

The Shadowfax stared at him.

Then one of them howled and dove after him.

Socrates spun around and bolted off with the Shadowfax on his tail.

Suddenly, Socrates leaped into the air and landed on his feet next to a steel door.

The Shadowfax zoomed towards him.

Socrates placed both hands behind his back.

"All you can eat buffet!" Socrates yelled. "Is that as fast as you can go?"

Darkness began to enclose the tiger as the Shadowfax moved in.

Suddenly, one of the black creatures stepped on a catch rope that had been placed ever-so perfectly on the ground.

That Shadowfax grabbed the other and that other grabbed the other, other.

The catch rope flung upward, and the Shadowfax flew through the air.

Socrates ripped a steel door open, revealing a freezer.

The Shadowfax all tumbled in.

Socrates slammed the door shut, and listened to the screams and wails inside.

"Gee, that was easy," Socrates said, dusting his hands together. "I'll have to try that one on Calvin."

"You better not have left black stains in my freezer, CAT!" Sherman screeched, as him, Andy, and Hobbes stepped out of the shelter.

"Oh, dry up," Socrates said. "There's nothing wrong with your stupid freezer."

Sherman glared ice picks at Socrates, as Hobbes closed up the door to outside and pushed the OXYGEN RESTORATION button.