Meanwhile, the Huntsman was continuing to wreak havoc on Heatherfield with the Heart.
"With such power as this at my disposal, no one will ever oppose me again" he said "I bet I could even bring Vilgax to his knees!"
"Who's that?" #89 wondered.
"That ugly tentacled alien the boss works for" #88 replied "pay attention fool!"
"Yes, well I will no longer have to kowtow to his will" Huntsman said "and once I finish with the dragon, I shall deal with Vilgax."
"You really think the dragon is just gonna come to you boss man?" #88 asked.
"He should" Huntsman replied "he can't stand the suffering of innocents, it's his greatest flaw."
"And yours is that ugly skull helmet of yours" came Jake's voice from nearby.
Huntsman looked up and saw Jake flying towards him, with Leonardo on his back. "Ahh, two heroes for the price of one, this day keeps getting better" he said, aiming the Heart at them.
A power blast emerged from it, although Leo deflected it with his katana. Jake then landed, allowing him to dismount.
"Surrender now Huntsman" Leo said.
"That's one way to go" Huntsman said "but how about instead I destroy you and the dragon?"
And he fired another blast from the Heart, which Leo could barely hold back with his swords.
"I hope the others are having better luck" he said.
Indeed they were, for at that moment, Gear, Sonic, & Static were mere feet away from the abandoned factory that served as Huntsman's base.
"See, I told you" Sonic said "they must be making portable factories to bring with them."
"Never mind that" Gear said "my tracker says that Weather Vane's in there."
"So what's the plan, do we rush in and beat their butts?" Sonic asked.
"If you want to do this the easy way, then sure" Gear said "however, I have an idea that's a bit more clever."
"Why is it whenever you say that, we always end up fighting somebody?" Static asked his partner.
"Weather Vane, there you are" Joker said upon seeing her "the Huntsman was wondering what happened to you."
"Those lousy heroes captured me" she said "but I managed to escape them. Hey, what are you doing here, and where's Huntsman?"
"He got tired of waiting for you, so he launched an attack on the restaurant" Joker explained "he nabbed the girls and got that Heart thing he wanted. I think he's off taking it for a test drive. As for me, well, old Vilgax sent me here as backup."
"Well thanks for coming to get me" Weather Vane replied angrily.
"I told you, he didn't know where you were" Joker said "but don't let it rain on your parade."
"I'm glad you're a villain and not a comedian, because your jokes are lame" she replied.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Are you expecting anyone?" Weather Vane asked.
"Who else knows we're here?" Joker added.
The evil mistress of mists floated over towards the door "who is it?"
"Pizza delivery."
"We didn't order any pizza, unless you did clown boy."
"Not me" Joker said "although I wouldn't turn one down."
"Go away" Weather Vane ordered the pizza boy.
"But your pizza will get cold."
"I don't care, I told you we didn't order any…" she said, throwing open the door.
At that moment, a dozen Zap Caps hit the floor, blinding the villains with their flashes.
"This isn't pizza, more like paparazzi" Joker joked.
"Man, your jokes are lame" Sonic said, as he rushed in, knocking Joker aside.
Before Weather Vane could regain her composure and fire any sort of weather, Gear incapacitated her with one of his metahuman restraint grenades.
"Grrr, let me out of here!" she yelled.
"Sorry no dice" Gear said "anyway, we're just here to pick up a group of girls. Have you seen 'em, they're an ethnic mix with several different hair colors."
"Call me crazy, but I think that door with the two pug uglies guarding it might be important" Sonic suggested, pointing to said door at the rear of the building.
"Punch, Judy, pound a little sense into our guests here" a recovered Joker ordered.
The two massive goons left their positions at the door and ran to engage the heroes in battle.
"Okay, you guys have any suggestions?" Static asked.
"You two take care of Dumb & Dumber over there" Sonic said "I'll try to break down the door."
"On top of it" Gear replied, as both flew into battle.
The two heroes flew around Punch & Judy, forcing the two large henchmen to try and swat them.
"You may be strong, but your aim isn't very good" Gear mocked.
Meanwhile, Sonic dashed towards the door in the rear of the warehouse, only to suddenly find himself stopped in his tracks.
"What the?" he wondered, and looked down, noticing his shoes were stuck in a pile of glue.
"I hope you weren't planning a daring rescue" Joker said, emerging from a nearby crate "because I'm afraid you're going to be sticking around for a while."
"Ya know, I don't why they call you the Joker, 'cause your jokes aren't funny" Sonic replied.
"Well, I'm sure you'll find this amusing" Joker said, producing several playing cards from his jacket "a little game of 'cut the cards.' And the best thing is, I have a 'captive' audience to perform for."
Joker tossed the cards at Sonic, who dodged every one.
"Darn I missed" Joker said, grabbing his flower "but I don't think I'll miss this time."
He fired a spray of acid at Sonic, who jumped out of his sneakers at the last minute.
"Uh-oh" Joker said, moments before Sonic came down on top of him.
"Might want to try a new line of work buddy" Sonic said, as he got up from the unconscious villain.
Then he noticed the acid had dissolved the glue, freeing his sneakers. Thankfully, the material that Sonic's sneakers were made of were designed to resist high friction, because of his incredible speed. As an added bonus, the Joker's acid also had no effect.
"Thanks for that" he said, putting on his sneakers and heading off towards the door.
Meanwhile, Static and Gear were still avoiding the attacks of Punch & Judy.
"We can't just keep dodging these guys all day, can we?" Static asked.
"No, we probably should do something" Gear replied.
"Electric blast?"
"Give it a shot."
Static fired an electric charge at Punch; Judy saw that and headed to help his pal.
"Sorry buddy, but my pal doesn't need any interruptions" Gear said, flying low and tripping the massive goon.
Judy collided with Punch and both fell to the ground, where Static shocked them into unconsciousness.
"That was way too easy" he commented "I keep expecting some kind of monster to pop up out of nowhere and attack us."
"Yeah, this Joker isn't quite as resourceful as the one we know" Gear said "come on, we've got girls to save."
By the time both heroes made their way to the back of the warehouse, Sonic was still waiting impatiently.
"What kept you?" he asked.
"Couple of big guys, no big deal though" Gear replied "you wanna do the honors on the door?"
"My pleasure" Sonic said, using his Spin Dash attack to destroy it.
On the other side, Hay Lin emitted a muffled noise of confusion from behind her gag.
"Not to worry ladies, the cavalry, such as it is, has arrived" Gear announced.
Sonic quickly rushed over to Will and removed her gag.
"Am I glad to see you" she said, as Sonic went to work untying her "you've got to get us out of here!"
"That's what we're trying to do" Sonic told her.
"You don't understand, the Heart of Candracar can be dangerous in the wrong hands" Will explained "we need to get it back."
"And we will, as soon as you girls are free" Static said, as he worked on untying Taranee.
"I just want you guys to know, just 'cause you saved us does not mean you're getting kisses" Irma told Gear as he worked on freeing her.
"I'm heartbroken" Gear replied.
"What do we do about the villains once we've got the girls free?" Sonic asked, as finished loosening the last of Will's ropes.
"They're not going anywhere" Gear said "once we mop up Huntsman, we'll come back here and send them on a one-way vacation to prison."
"Okay, but if they escape, I'm blaming you" Sonic replied.
"How can they? They're out cold" Gear commented "and I'm gonna take special care of Dumb and Dumber over there" he said, approaching the two massive henchmen. Throwing down two of his grenades, he soon had them wrapped in thick metal bonds.
"Okay, I'm convinced" Sonic said "now let's jet out of here."
Meanwhile, back in downtown Heatherfield, Leonardo & Jake were still battling Huntsman. Yet despite the odds being two to one (the Huntsboys refused to get involved) both heroes were finding it difficult to keep up the fight.
"I admire your tenacity, but you're only delaying the inevitable" Huntsman told Leonardo.
"A true hero never gives up" Leonardo replied.
"A fitting remark…for your tombstone!" Huntsman replied, firing a blast that knocked the turtle a few feet.
"I got ya man" Jake said, swooping in and catching Leo in his arms.
"How fortunate, now I can destroy both of you" Huntsman said and fired another blast, which knocked Jake and Leo down.
"Okay, I am really getting sick of him" Jake said "how much longer do we have to deal with this?"
"Until the others get back with the girls" Leonardo replied.
"Well I hope they hurry up" Jake said, taking to the air again; while Leo deflected Huntsman's blasts with his katanas, Jake took advantage and flew down to whap the villain with his tail.
"Good, he's down" Leonardo said.
"But not out!" Huntsman replied, rising quickly and blasting the turtle before he could make a move.
"You'll have to be quicker than that to catch me!" Jake mocked, taking to the skies.
"Man I am so clever, I'll just lead Huntsloser on a chase through the city" he said.
"A clever plan, save for one detail" Huntsman's voice came from nearby. Jake turned and saw the villain floating in mid-air.
"No way dawg, how'd you…?"
"The Heart grants its' user many powers" Huntsman explains "flight is simply one of them."
"Well you still ain't faster than me!" Jake said, and took off, with Huntsman in hot pursuit.
"Give up dragon, I've already told you that you haven't the chance to defeat me" Huntsman said, as he flew after Jake.
"Anybody ever tell you that you talk waaaay too much?" Jake replied.
The dragon tried to lose his pursuer by heading down and keeping close to the ceiling of a nearby building, but that only resulted in the villain firing blasts at the ceiling.
"Yipe! One of those nearly singed my tail!" Jake commented "I'd better end this. Yo, Hunty is that the best you got?" he asked mockingly.
As expected, the villain fired a barrage of blasts, but Jake avoided them and flew down off the roof, reversing course and heading back to where they had previously fought.
"Interesting strategy" Huntsman said "but stupid."
Instead of following Jake, he let loose a powerful blast that knocked the kid from the sky, sending him skidding several feet on the ground. Since the majority of the citizens had fled during Huntsman's initial attack, there were no witnesses.
"Let me guess, you were hoping to keep me busy to buy time for your little friends" Huntsman said, floating down and approaching Jake "but it's all over dragon. Once I dispose of you, I'll track them down and deal with them as well. And then nothing will stop me!"
"You should know by now to never say that" came Sonic's voice.
Huntsman looked beyond the grounded Jake and saw the other heroes, with the Guardians and a hurt but stable Leonardo.
"Fools, even you are no match for me!" Huntsman bellowed "this amulet bestows powers upon me you can't possibly imagine!"
"The Heart does have a lot of power" Will replied "but there's one you forgot about; the Heart will always return to the one who wields it."
Putting out her hand, Will stood there as the amulet magically pulled itself off Huntsman's neck and floated back to her.
"That's mine!" Huntsman shouted, and attempted to run after it, but Sonic made a split second zip forward and tripped up the villain
"Sorry pal, finders keepers, losers weepers" he said.
"You wanted to see the Heart's true power?" Will asked "well allow us to show you. Guardians Unite!"
In seconds, the five girls were transformed into their Guardian forms, complete with colorful tights and wings.
"Wow" Gear commented.
"Even though I knew they had powers, I still never imagined this" Sonic added.
Using her powers, Taranee created a ring of fire around the Huntsman, as he struggled to escape.
"Your turn Cornelia" Taranee said.
Her blonde friend then used her powers to rip up the ground from where Huntsman was standing, and cause him to be flung unto a nearby manhole.
"Ooh, me now" Irma said and caused the water in the sewer to shoot up, like a geyser, with Huntsman trapped atop it.
"You wanna do the honors Hay Lin?" she asked.
"If you insist" the Asian girl replied and fired a tornado-like burst at the geyser.
The impact sent Huntsman flying through the air, his destination unknown.
"Well, that takes care of that" Sonic commented, as Gear helped up Jake.
"Hey, what about Huntschump's little fan club?" Jake asked.
"Not to worry, we left Static to deal with them" Gear added.
"You two have fun up there now" Static said to the two Huntsboys a few feet away. He had subdued both with little trouble and had hung them from their belts by a nearby lamppost.
"Hey dude, you can't leave us like this!" #88 said, as Static flew off.
"Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a bad guy, does it?" #89 asked his partner.
Soon after, at the Silver Dragon, the heroes were saying their goodbyes.
"Thank you for your help" Will said "who knows what would've happened if you hadn't shown up."
"Eh, no big" Sonic said "saving the world is what we do."
"But what's to stop Huntsman from trying again?" Hay Lin asked.
"After the beating he took, I doubt Huntschump will be coming back here again" Jake said "but if he does, we've got your backs."
"It was fortunate that we were also able to recover the Seeker" Leonardo added, displaying the magical necklace.
"Yeah, I can't believe it was left out in the open in his base like that" Gear said "seriously, how do the villains expect to rule the world if they keep making mistakes like this?"
"Not sure, but they'll keep trying" Leonardo replied.
"And we'll be there to stop 'em" Sonic added.
At that same time, Huntsman eventually landed in another part of the city and eventually made it back to his warehouse base, freeing his compatriots. After awhile, they arrived back at E.V.I.L HQ, and, after learning what happened from Joker & Weather Vane, Vilgax summoned Huntsman to him.
"Not only did you lose a powerful magic artifact" Vilgax said "but I heard you were planning to use it against me."
"All lies, I assure you oh mighty Vilgax" Huntsman said, bowing in reverence "the ones who told you that were just trying to damage my reputation so they could court your favor."
"Enough! Be thankful that you are still useful to me" Vilgax said "and do not forget that I could take you from the land of the living whenever I wish."
"Of course, oh mighty one" Huntsman said again, hiding his distaste.
"Now then, I have learned of someone who may be able to help us in our plans" he said "gather the others, we have a trap to set. One that will guarantee the end of our foes."
Next time:
Our heroes receive a distress message from Dr. Eggman, claiming the villains are being held prisoner by Dr. Doom and head off to rescue their foes. But it turns out to be a trap and they are captured by Doom and E.V.I.L. However, Doom soon turns on the villains and harnesses their unique abilities for himself; G.O.O.D soon find themselves teaming up with a quartet of super powered heroes and their own enemies in order to stop this powerful foe. Can they defeat him, or will Doom have the last laugh? Find out in the next adventure "Doomsday."