Chapter 6: The Assault

"Yeah, it's me," said Vega. "It's time to die, Bert Raccoon! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

He slashed at Bert, but the raccoon ducked and fired his laser gun at the villain. He rallied his team and the other cops to help him fight Vega.

In the north part of the forest, Akuma came out and did the Hadoken at Buster, but Alex II jumped in front and countered it with another Hadoken. Akuma smiled evilly and said, "So, finally we meet again. Now DIE!" Then he began charging towards him.

"You first!" snarled Alex II, running towards Akuma.

In the east, Sagat came out, shouting, "TIGER UPPERCUT!" He sent his attack to Colleen, but Charles III blocked it. He shouted, "FIRE STORM!"

Charles III sent his attack to Sagat, but Sagat dodged it and they continued to fight.

In the west, Balrog punched Cooler in the nose, but PowerPaws came and punched Balrog hard, sending him reeling over to the edge. He got up slowly and laughed. He said, "What's this? A girl that's stronger than me? Well, that's a good change." Insulted, PowerPaws ran towards him and pummeled him with all her might. Cyrus was over by the side of the cliff, starting to reload his laser gun. He shouted, "Where's Nose Marie?"

"I've seen her walk off into the forest somewhere," answered PowerPaws. She struggled to lift Balrog off of the ground in an effort to wrestle him. "With Bert Jr., I think."

"Right. I'll go and get her."

Back at the Raccoons camp, Lisa was trying to fend Vega off. She shouted, "Bert! Where's our son?"

"Oh, you mean Bert Jr.?" said Bert, as he was tending to his injured bushy tail. "I saw him wander off into the forest just moments before this whole mess began."

Lisa pushed Vega away and ran off. She said, "You go and deal with Vega. I'll be in the forest to find him."

In the middle of the forest, Gerry was busily setting up bombs around the forest. As he doused the trees in kerosene, he sang cheerily, "Evergreen is burning up, burning up, burning up, Evergreen is burning up, and I'm so happy!" He finished the song off with an evil laugh, and he was just getting to what he thought was the last one when someone shouted, "Hey! Watch where you pour that stuff, man!"

Gerry backed away. He looked for the source of the voice but couldn't find the person who was speaking to him. Walking away, he muttered, "Sorry...whoever or wherever you are."

That was only Bert Jr. speaking. He and Nose Marie had been hidden under the dark shadow of the tall tree and both of them had no clothes on. After getting up and putting their clothes back on, Nose Marie sighed happily and said, "Wow! That was pretty good...at least, for now."

"I heard some screams coming from afar off," said Bert Jr., looking around. "Do you think our teams might be in danger?"

"Well, they sound like they are. And look at us! We're all doused in this foul-smelling liquid!"

"Some scraggly old man was here pouring that stuff all over where we was making love minutes ago. Who was he, anyway?"

Not far away, Gerry was walking far off into the environs of the forest, thinking about what had just happened. But then, something dawned on him--the person who told him to stop pouring kerosene all over the tree was none other than Bert Jr. himself. When he had looked down at the spot where he was dumping the stuff, there was a bushy tail with a scar mark on it (Bert Jr. got that scar when he was bitten by Rayian in the battle at the Anime Convention in Japan in 2040). He could recognize that mark anywhere. Gerry muttered, "The president's son...he discovered my plan! He'll be the first to die..." And he walked back, with a swiss army knife in his paw.

Bert Jr. and Nose Marie had not gone far away when they heard running footsteps coming towards them. They turned around and saw Gerry running towards the couple. Nose Marie screamed, "Bert Jr., LOOK OUT!"

Gerry was about to stab Bert Jr. in the chest when a mysterious shadowy figure swooped in and tackled him to the ground. They couldn't see who it was, but they was pretty sure that it had wings, as a single black feather landed right on Nose Marie's nose, which caused her to sneeze. After being attacked by the figure for what seemed like a while, Gerry got up and ran off, shouting, "I'll get back at you yet, you...you...bird!"

A bird? Just who was Gerry actually referring to? There was only one way to find out. The figure approached Bert Jr. and Nose Marie, while the two looked up. When it started flapping its wings for a moment, they flinched--it was as if the creature was about to finish them off as well. But it didn't. Instead, what they heard was a familiar voice: "Bert Jr.? Nose Marie? Is that you?"

They looked up at the figure again and gasped in surprise. It was Selena Snooper, A.K.A. the Raven. Bert Jr. stammered, "Selena? We thought you was--"

"Dead?" replied Selena, sheathing her laser sword. "Of course not. I managed to escape the battle with Jackson Roberts over in Washington DC a few years ago."

"But how did you--how did you do that? Does Snooper know you're still alive?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the rest of the team."

By that time, the TTC had conquered the bad guys and sent them retreating back to their secret hideout. The teams reunited and they had only started to celebrate their victory when Lilo shouted, "Look! They're back!"

Bert Jr. and Nose Marie had come back to the group, with Selena not far behind. Snooper was stunned--having had a second wife (named Creampuff), he didn't know his first one was still living.

"Where was you when we needed you?" asked Lisa. "Cyrus and I were looking for the two of you when we thought you wandered off from your teams."

"I'm sorry, Mom," said Bert Jr. "But Nose Marie and I--well--we wanted to spend some time with each other alone."

"We understand that," said Bert. "Can you do us a favor and don't wander off during a dangerous time like this?" Looking at Selena, he continued, "At least Selena is back with us. I have no idea how she managed to survive the battle we've had in DC with Jackson Roberts."

Snooper and Selena spent a few minutes talking with other other, before embracing each other and sharing a kiss. Snooper said, "Selena, I missed you very much. How did you get here? And how did you survive the battle in Washington DC?"

"It's a long story," replied Selena. "But first, we'll have to go a safer place so I can tell you and your friends my story."

Bertha said, "I know where we can hide--how about that big old cave over there?"

Bert looked at the place she was pointing to. A nostalgic fancy started to enter his brain--the Endless Echo Caverns! He said happily, "That's a good idea! Let's go there!"

The TTC arrived at the cave. Inside, there were hundreds of recesses that they figured they could use for temporary sleeping/living quarters. It was there that Selena proceeded to tell them the story of her life after the big battle in Washington DC.