Episode 2

Invasion

A wind blew through a hole inside the huge tree hollow, making an eerie howling sound. "Sean, are you sure that's not a monster growling?," a tiny blue wolf inquired from the tunnel leading in. "There's nothing to worry about," said the spiky haired 7-year-old boy leading the wolf and her red-furred brother, "It's just the wind. I've been here a bunch of times."

"Okay. But suppose there really IS a monster in here," barked the little red wolf. "Think we could take it on, all three of us?" "Of course we can!," said the boy with confidence, "There's nothing we can't do together!"

The three friends poked through the roots and leaves to the center of the hollow. A large wooden door rested on the far wall. "Now, this is our little secret, guys," the boy said to the wolf pups. "Nobody else is allowed in here." "This is neat, Sean," the blue pup stated, "I never knew trees to make a hollow this big."

"Rain…Blood…" said the boy, "I'm only letting you two in because you're special."

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Sean sat in the giant hollow, all alone. Today is the last day before our trip, he thought to himself as he looked at the crayon and chalk drawings laid upon the roots and rocks. He looked over drawings of him, Rain, and Blood; of them riding on a ship at sea, fighting giant monsters, and playing tag. He saw his own signature next to Rain and Blood's paw prints. This place was so full of treasured memories. He set his hand on Rain's paw print, smiled, and sighed. I'm really going to miss this place, he thought.

"This world has been connected…"

Hearing the strange voice, Sean dropped his smile and spun around to meet the source. "Huh? Who's there??" he inquired to the mysterious, robed figure standing right next to the large door.

"Tied to the darkness," the figure continued. "Soon to be completely eclipsed."

"Huh?," a perplexed Sean asked. "Wh…What're you talking about?...Uh, where'd you come from??"

The figure spoke again. "You know nothing. You understand nothing." It then floated off the ground and vanished right through the closed door. "Uh…Hey!" Sean yelled to the figure as it disappeared.

"Sean!" Rain's voice barked at him. Sean turned his attention to his female friend. "Huh. I thought you'd be here," she said. "Oh," he responded, "Just…catching up on my memories from here." "Okay," Rain sighed. "Come on, let's go back and finish up."

"Uh…Okay, sure," Sean said. As he headed back out with Rain, he looked back at the door to see if the figure was still there, but he was already gone. Nothing really out of the ordinary, he thought, How did he get here?

As they walked through the forest and towards Sean's house, Rain said to Sean, "You're really going to miss Forest Hill, aren't you?" "Yeah," he responded, "I spent my entire life here. Of course I would miss it here." Rain sighed, and told Sean, "I admit I was a little afraid at first, too. But I'm ready now."

Noticing the faraway look in Sean's eyes, Rain continued, "Don't worry. No matter where we go or what we see, we know we can always come back here." Smiling, Sean responded, "Yeah, of course. You're right…Thanks." Rain said, smiling back, "You're welcome."

Then she turned her head to him and said, "Sean, don't ever change." "Huh?", asked Sean, startled by the statement and stopping. She went a little ahead of him and stopped, saying, "I just can't wait. Once we hit the road – you, me, and Blood – it'll be great." The friends then continued forward as the sun set once again.

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"OK, OK. Lemme get this straight, guys," said Rob in the Kingdom of Canis audience chamber. "Lord Storm just, whoosh, went up and left? Just like that?"

"Yes, Rob," said the purple-furred wolf sitting on one of two short thrones. She was adorned with earrings and had a short, lilac-colored mane. This wolf was none other than Lady River, sitting next to an empty throne belonging to her missing mate.

"When I got up this morning, I looked to my side to greet Storm, and he was gone," she continued. At the round stone table in the center was Hobbes, Rob, and Cody, as well as Lady River's ladies-in-waiting, Dolly the dolphin and Shana the orca. Fawkes sat near the entrance, listening and pacing nervously. "All I saw next to me was this letter he left behind," she explained as Hobbes held the letter in his paws. "As soon as I read it in its entirety, I called Fawkes and asked him to call you all here."

Standing at the table with a concerned expression, Cody said, "What did the letter say, Lady River?" "Yeah," Rob blurted out, "Does it say, like, why he decided to ditch us and what the heck we're supposed to do with him outta the picture and stuff like that?"

"Oh, yes," said Lady River. "Hobbes has the letter. Would you please, Hobbes?" "Yes, ma'am," Hobbes complied as he raised the letter up, cleared his throat, and read what Lord Storm had to say:

Dear friends:

I am terribly sorry to leave you all so abruptly, but I am afraid that a great crisis is upon us.

I have received a vision, one foretelling of danger on the far horizon, painfully evident in the stars in the night sky going out, one by one. I'd hate to leave all of you like this, but I have to check into this.

Now, the following instructions are for Rob, Hobbes, and Cody, my most loyal subjects, to carry out:

There is someone with a 'key' out there, the key to our very survival, one that had appeared in my vision. I need all three of you to find him and stay by his side at all times.

We'll all be in grave danger without the key. So go to Gadget Town and find Claw. He should be able to point you in the right direction. Time is running short; we must all make haste if we are to avert this crisis.

There is one last bit of information I will leave you all with: My vision has also revealed that my two lost children are still alive. I must find them before they are lost again to the darkness.

Sincerely,

Lord Storm

"Gadget Town?," Shana expressed with a questioning tone as Hobbes finished reading. "Another world?," Cody exclaimed as the weight of the situation came down on everyone in the room.

"My goodness," Dolly expressed with great distress, "What could this mean?" "It means," assured Lady River, "that we have no choice but to trust Lord Storm."

"Well that's just wonderful," Rob said sarcastically. "He leaves us right in the middle of some kind of doomsday scenario and expects us to find some guy who may or may not be willing to help a bunch of talking critters, and who may or may not magically reveal Lord Storm's hidey-hole. Not only that but we may or may not have to babysit a bunch of wolf kids we haven't seen in, I dunno, a decade."

"Well," Cody said with concern, "Wherever he is, I certainly hope he's OK." After folding up the letter and putting it in his pants pocket, Hobbes said authoritatively, "Lady River. Don't you worry. We'll find Lord Storm, your children, and this 'key'."

Smiling but still troubled, Lady River said, "Thank you, all of you." As Cody headed over to Hobbes' side, the bear said to Shana, "Shana, Dolly. Would you mind taking care of the –" "Of course," Shana said. "You three be careful now." As everyone exchanged words, Rob switched from a dreadful face to a cheesy smile, afraid that he was going to be dragged along for the journey.

"Oh," said Lady River after a few seconds, "Before you leave, I would very much like to introduce you to someone." She pointed to the empty throne next to her, saying, "He will accompany you, and will be chronicling your travels." But when Rob looked, he saw nothing.

Then a voice came from the throne, as well as a small person jumping up and down. "Over here!," it shouted to the heroes. When everyone took notice, this character stopped jumping and introduced himself. "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service." He was indeed a cricket, albeit sporting a top hat and a fine set of clothes. "Nice to meet you," said Cody as he waved hello. "And nice to have you with us," said Hobbes. Jiminy jumped off the throne and behind Cody's goggles, happy to come along.

"We all pray for your safe return," Lady River said to the heroes. "Please, bring Lord Storm and our children safely back home."

As Hobbes and Cody looked through the crowd, they noticed that Rob wasn't beside them. Sporting a wide grin and waving his tail, Rob said, "Well, have a nice trip. Say hi to Lord Storm and the kids for me!" Hobbes walked over to Rob and, grabbing him, stated, "Nice try, but you're coming, too."

As Hobbes dragged the snake out the door and Cody followed, Rob lamented, "Man…Why do I ALWAYS get dragged along on these things??" Cody assured him, "Because, Rob…You care about Lord Storm just as much as the rest of us. Besides, you're the Royal Court Magician. We need you." "Oh, I get it," Rob responded, "You just need me to work my mad Cure skills on you guys while I try to avoid becoming the daily lunch special."

After a short pause, Rob spoke again, "Okay, I guess you're right. Besides, I wouldn't want Lord Storm in deep kimshee, now would I?" Reminded of his feelings for Lord Storm, Rob slipped out of Hobbes' grip and slithered alongside them on his own.

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After Rob and Cody underwent a quick change of clothes, the four heroes headed deep into the castle. Cody had on his striped red shirt, brown cap and goggles, brown slacks, light armor plates on his shoulders and knees, and fingerless gloves with reddish crystals on them. Rob was dressed in his dark blue vest and short pointy hat.

"Wow, Jiminy," Cody said as they walked down the spiral staircase, "Your world vanished, too?" Riding on Cody's cap, Jiminy confirmed, "It was terrible. We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this kingdom."

"So if we don't do something," Rob said, "This world is going to fall into a weird abyss, too? Thanks, but I DON'T want that happening any time soon."

"All right," said Hobbes as they approached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the Gummi Ship hangar, "You three know the rules of travel, right?" "Yes, we do," Cody responded. "Yup," said Rob, "Always act casual, never let anyone know where we came from, and all that. Got it."

They walked down the long hallway at the bottom and through a large door. Inside was a huge menagerie of gears and machinery, with a large orange vessel in the middle. In a large window opposite the entrance, three medium-sized dragons looked on as the four heroes entered. "Welcome, gang!," the green one and largest of the dragons greeted.

"Hello," Hobbes greeted back. As Hobbes and the others reached the boarding dock, he said into the speaker there, "Blaze, Red, Nigel. Any time you're ready." "You got it!" said Blaze, the big green dragon. He gave the thumbs up to Red, the orange dragon, and Nigel, the shortest one with the green scales and purple underbelly. They were all wearing black-and-silver aprons adorned with the Kingdom's logo, a big wolf head. Nigel pressed a few buttons, which extended the bridge to the ship's cockpit. "In you go, chaps," he said as the heroes boarded the Gummi ship. Once they were all in, a few more button presses drew the bridge back in.

"Alright," shouted Blaze, "All systems go, gang!" With a slow but intense rumbling, the ship lifted off the ground as the engine warmed up. As Cody readied the ship controls, Hobbes told the dragon brothers, "Remember to stay in constant contact with us when we're in the ship!" "Got it!," Red shouted as he and the others performed final checks and preparations.

Once all systems were a go, the ship slowly moved forward as the engine built up more and more energy. A few seconds later, Blaze yelled, "Blast off!!!," as the engine released its energy and propelled the ship forward in an incredible burst of speed. As Rob, Hobbes, Cody, and Jiminy lurched backward with their seat belts fastened, the ship sped down a long tunnel before coming out into the candy-colored cosmos.

"OK," said Cody as the Kingdom of Canis shrunk behind them. "Next stop, Gadget Town!" Hobbes programmed the location into the ship's computer as Rob blankly stared out ahead, recovering from the launch.

In the cosmos, the ship continued speeding forward until it disappeared in a blink of light on the horizon.