Ch.16: A Venomous Dip
"You've got to be kidding me," said Danger, when Dodgers came to back to the emergency room with Plucky by his side " You expect us to trust this guy after all that's happened?"
"I have to agree with Duck on this one" said Ace " Greenie here has been nothing but trouble since he arrived."
"And yet I stayed around to save your friends lives" said Plucky, narrowing his eyes " Can you call me trouble after that?"
"It doesn't really matter now if we trust him or not" said Tech " our main objective right now is to rescue Kim, and figure out whatever Darkstar might be up to."
"That I can already answer" said Plucky " Darkstar plans to hand over Kim to Master Rasvim so he can harness the power of the Star Child. If he succeeds, the whole universe may die as a result."
"Then where should we go?" asked Lexi, looking at the green duck.
"Darkon" said Plucky " That's where he lives. The coordinates were automatically locked in my ship, but I still remember the code. Get me to a computer, and I can lead you straight towards Rasvim."
"I still don't think we should trust you," said Duck.
"Then you're willing to let your friend die" said Plucky " If you're truly wanting to save Kim, you'll have no choice but to trust me and go."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, Judge Doom was busy mixing another batch of his venomous dip when he received a surprise as Darkstar and Master Rasvim suddenly appeared.
In his claws, the jackal held Kim out to Judge Doom, stating that after all his years of searching, the Star Child was in his hands.
Kim growled, white fur glowing as she clawed at the orb she was trapped inside. Judge Doom looked at her carefully before speaking.
"Are you sure that's she's the one?" asked Judge Doom " You have made mistakes before Rasvim."
"I'm sure" said Rasvim with a grin " I did an energy measure after Darkstar gave her to me. No doubt, she is the Star Child."
"Excellent" said Judge Doom, taking the orb, and ignoring Kim's glare from the inside " then let's prepare the ray. Our great design shall soon be achieved."
Meanwhile, up aboard the Loonatics inter-stellar ship, Plucky stood in the cockpit with the others flying towards Darkon, following the coordinates as he remembered them from his mind.
The journey lasted for hours, until dark green and black planet suddenly appeared a few yards ahead.
"There!" said Plucky, pointing out to the sphere "That's Darkon!"
Deciding to trust the source, Ace gently commanded for the ship to go down, breaching the planet's atmosphere. Once under the black and green clouds, the civilization of Darkon was spread out wide for all of them to see.
"Nice real estate" quipped Dodgers, looking around " early Casablanca?"
"What?" asked Danger, looking towards the space hero.
"What, you don't watch the classics?" asked Dodgers.
"I guess that's Rasvim's palace," said Tech, pointing to a large, gothic castle standing up ahead.
"Yes" said Plucky, grimly " but I doubt he's the throne room at this moment. He's probably downstairs with Judge Doom."
"Judge Doom?" asked Lexi " Who's he?"
"Yeah" said Danger " you never told us about anyone like that,"
"What's up Doc?" asked Ace, looking at Plucky hard " What secret are you hiding?"
"Judge Doom" said Plucky " is Master Rasvim's top executioner with a grudge against anyone who crosses his path. He has this stuff called 'dip' that is extremely deadly to toons. I know, I saw it in use more than once, serving Rasvim for all these years."
"Is it really that bad?" asked Rev.
"The worse you've ever seen," said Dodgers, before Plucky spoke, surprising the entire crew.
"You saw the dip before?" asked Plucky stunned " But when? How?"
"Back in the 21st Century" said Dodgers " but this is not the time to reflect on my past. We're here."
And without further words, the Loonatics ship landed, allowing the crew to debark and storm inside the palace, hoping to save the world before it was to late.
A few minutes after they had gotten inside, Plucky's suspicions proved correct that Master Rasvim and his henchmen were waiting around in the throne room, and they headed out towards the lower levels of the palace.
Reaching the basement, where Judge Doom's lab was set, the Loonatics, Dodgers, and Plucky all stopped a few feet inside the entrance door, their eyes widening with amaze.
Inside the lab, the could all make out a giant ray gun, standing out from a vat of venomous dip, pointed towards an open hole to space where it could let its power fly. Attached to the tip of the ray was a clear, round orb, with a struggling Kim howling inside.
"Kim!" cried Danger, worrying about the state of the poor wolf.
"Well, look who's here?" said Darkstar, appearing out of the shadows with Rasvim and Judge Doom behind " Company calls just as our new order is about to rise. Time for them to get a taste on what it's like to be crushed."