The Incorporated The Lengths of Brightness Chapter 60iq Speedster looked in Wilson's room as the old feline was sleeping worriedly, seemingly disturbed by the fact Renegade had virtually nuked himself within the mental plane of Speedster's mind, and sighed as he stared. Somehow Speedster didn't want Wilson to have given up his leadership so soon to Casey due to the fact Casey seemed hesitant to tell Renegade leaving via teleportation within a mental plane was impossible and only resulted in destruction. Halifax wouldn't have hesitated like Casey would have, Casey believed, and as a result Renegade was no more. And somehow the fact one of the worst beings in the universe was no longer around to torment the incorporateds was not giving Wilson peaceful sleep. In fact, Wilson seemed somehow to be... haunted. Casey came up to Speedster and joined in. "Casey", Speedster said, "You could have fought with him over his giving up the leadership to you." "I don't think he was in a mood to have ME argue with him", Casey replied, "and im not about to disobey him." "Um... Casey(Ow my head STILL hurts)... If you're the leader that means he don't lead you, but VICE versa." Casey had a very sour face. "I DON'T CARE! I know Wilson's been preparing me for this job since he helped us escape the ATF'S nuclear prowess, but I EXPECTED to wait NINETY years, not FOURTY-EIGHT months!" "Well, he obviously feels most responsible for what happened to Renegade. I know I personally was helpless to stop what Renegade did, my psyche kinda tied up in knots made of MYSELF...But Wilson couldn't have known..." "Im almost afraid he did... and maybe Halifax does as well..." "Well why didn't Halifax tell you?", Speedster said. Casey was speechless fairly briefly. "I think Halifax had his own problems. Once Renegade was sensed on the dream machine and I witnessed firsthand within your mind that he was biting it, Halifax took off in an escape pod on some sort of vacation." "Vacation?", Speedster said. "Yep.... I hope Halifax doesn't feel himself responsible for what happened. He's had so many bad things blamed on him I doubt he could take this event very calmly at all." "Well, you go ahead and tend to Wilson and try to get him to change his mind. I'll see if I can track down Halifax and get some answers." "ok... WAIT", Casey said as Speedster walked down the hall, stopping him in mid step. "Where did you learn how to FLY this all of the sudden!?!?" "I learned from watching Ann and Wilson handle it." "Ok... But I hope you forget your CRASHING lessons!" "Sure. I can handle it. No prob... AARRGHHH!", Speedster said as he fainted. For 15 seconds he laid on the floor, motionless. Then he got up and walked off after straightening his shirt, muttering.. "No problem at all." Casey sighed. "Renegade, what DID you do to my friend?" Wilson was moaning loudly. Casey looked in and ran, almost tripping through the doorway. In another part of the great galaxy known as the Milky way.... despite objections by the lactose-intolerant community.. It was on the planet of LaioJahan, deep in the rural SCE territories where Halifax was running against shots of blastfire from the trees. He knew all too well who was sniping at him, but why was a thought too sad for Halifax to think at the time. Ever since Halifax took the opportunity to find his father and landed on the forested world, his father was trying to kill him for reasons invalidated by the fact Renegade did a lot of things Halifax's dad hated, in Halifax's name and identity. "FATHER!", Halifax screamed into the tall trees. "This is no way for a 100-year old to act!" "Shut up!", said a strained voice from above. "You're scaring the WEASELS!", and blasts made Halifax dance. Then his father fell from the trees, and tried to get the jump on his son by landing on his shoulders. Halifax looked up and saw his ancient father land on him. "NOW you're gonna DIE for robbing that shipment of baby food 28 years ago!". And with that, Halifax's Dad used his blast cannon to whack Halifax on the head, despite it apparently having no effect even after the 10th hit due to Halifax somehow being invulnerable. "Hey", Halifax said as he was being hit, "Will you STOP this (WHAM) before I teleport you above an (WHAM)ocean or something?" "No, Renegade." And Halifax's dad kept hitting Halifax. "FATHER... I am not RENEGADE!" "Funny, that's what (WHAM) Renegade would say. Always in a state...(WHAM) of DENIAL)!" "This violence disgusts me.", Halifax said, and with that gated his dad halfway, with his head reappearing in the distance. Upside down. Over a lake. "aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh!", Halifax's dad said. "Now get a life!", Halifax said as he picked up his dad off his shoulders and shoved up, throwing the old man head-first into the distant lake. "And let me KEEP mine." Halifax then started walking off. He knew all too well with the warpod practically demolecularized from his dad blasting the thing upon it landing he couldn't get help from the Incorporateds back there. He'd have to walk off into the distance to the SCE base, defeat the SCE's singlehandedly and get the justiceers coming to take the SCE's away before Halifax could even make a single call. But still, Halifax did want the opportunity to meet his dad one more time and prove to him what all in the mondoverse save Halifax's dad knew: Renegade was responsible for all the Halifax-related crimes in the universe. Too bad Halifax's father was too senile to care anymore. "I swear", Halifax said as he saw in the distance the SCE base held high above the bay it was over by three giant glass tubes origonally used for person transfers between ships (a illegal base by SCE standards since SCE's were against, along with a lot of nature-friendly ideas, recycling.), "for having a name like SaneNeck, he sure doesn't seem worthy of the 'sane' part." Meanwhile, the aforementioned Saneneck made his own way, swimming in the lake to the river entering into the bay where the SCE was living bad over. He had his own agenda besides destroying what he falsely believed was a imposter. The two SCE's whos bountys were enough for him to retire on were seen in that base. And it was time to earn his last paycheck as a bounty hunter. Little did he realize it would be the last time he'd ever be considered.... SaneNeck. Cussing Renegade's name, Saneneck made it first to the base, whipping his blast cannon out from the water and blasted a hole in the northwards tube big enough for his ancient frame to climb through then climb upwards, an easier task than the old body would belie. Daftec and Uglixor were two of the worst cronies that Rynogoff, the rhino-horned mandrill, ever had, and they were obviously being punished by being amongst those guarding a storage facility where mutagenetic tox-waste from the cores of Vulture ships was being stored for future dumping. Being on this task was not made easier due to the base's master, a primitive-sounding scientist named Technosavage. "Me get this straight... Idiots actually NEED sleep?", the madmonkey said as they tried falling asleep in his small office, lined with more chemical, technological and mechanical goods per square inch than labs four times its size could comfortably fit. "uh.... well... if we don't, um, get our sleep, we get very cranky....", Daftec said. "and we fall asleep through walls", Uglixor replied. "Uh, you can go through WALLS?", Daftec said to Uglixor "No, because i, um, am stu... stupid. And I fall asleep before i fall through the walls." Daftec Growled at Uglixor. "SILENCE!", Techno said. "Me not entirely sure you got idea in head of anything. Sure YOU know more words. Sure you Speak Better (Yes, Right.) BUT YOU not know one thing about LIFE! OR PHYSICS! OR..." Uglixor made an ugly face trying to elicit a response while Daftec sunk in his seat. "I... um.... don't get it..." "ME kNOW YOU STUPID, DAFTEC!", Techno shouted at Daftec. "AND me not tolerate this. Me make you go for duty one more day then me throw you OUT OF this to drown in Bay BELOW. Understand?" "We, uh, are gonna live to see us with, uh, grey hair?", Daftec said. "OUT!", techno shouted as Daftec hurriedly ran out of the room. Uglixor kept making faces, which upset Techno to no end. So Techno pulled out his bashing stick from behind his desk and batted Uglixor out of the room, breaking the door that Daftec just closed. "NOW, STUPID, THAT HOW YOU GO THROUGH WALLS! HARD WAY!", Then Techno began hyperventilating as the two outside ran off, running over other SCE'S on duty there in their hesitation to get back to guaring the waste for what Techno hoped would be the last day of Daftec's life. And maybe Uglixor's, too, if Uglixor was bright enough to stop breathing once he realized he was kinda drowned and dead. Then Techno sat back down, buried his head in the desk and cried. Especially when the Intruder alarm went off all of a sudden. Speedster was busy flying around the evening skies of LaioJahan as Casey rejoined him, visibly shaken. "Any luck with Wilson?" "Well, at least I got him to move out of his bedroom." "Is he gonna land this craft?" "No, he went into the bathroom and locked himself in. I hope he's not gonna sink himself in the tub again. I'm not gonna perform CPR on him...." "Especially since you know he can also get oxygen from water as well?" "We won't go there, Speedster. I hope the coordinates Halifax left on the skycraft's log are correct in him going here. This is really deep in SCE territory and to make the fuel last for the return to the Frontier, we'd need to slow the journey to a whole week just to make sure we could make it at ALL!" "Well, we won't waste too much more fuel. We're about 2,000 miles from the base and should land safely without being noticed by this SCE base nearby where Halifax crashed. Once we teleport near we can go contact Halifax and get some answers." "You want me to get Wilson for you?" "You wanna remember YOU'RE the leader?", Speedster critiqued. "Let's leave him here to mope. Maybe he'll make you leader when he's in a better mood." "We won't go there, Casey." Halifax saw the base from the shore of the bay, and needed a flashlight to see in the darkness the base barely lit by spotlights going all across the whole of the bay. Using his gateway power to gate off his tail, he held his tail in his hand and held the lighted portal up, shaking it to make it glow brighter. A ray of light beamed in from the portal and shined on the base above, as lights flickered on and off and a quiet siren could almost be heard in the soft breeze. Halifax then stuck his tail's end in the lake and screamed from the sheer cold of the lake. "Well, Swimmings... pant... out." He wondered if it was so wise to dump in the cold lake his own father, but set thoughts of that aside as he had to cross the lake, as porting right into the base would make the alarms a LOT louder all of a sudden. So he gated himself in half at the knees, leaving his feet on the shore while the rest of him hovered quickly over the dark lake to the base, where he circled around the base tubes briefly as wind whipped in his hair. Some of the spotlights came down and tried to get a fix on him. Even though most of them lost track, some shots of blastfire came down into the lake anyway, though sporadic. Halifax soon saw the opening where Saneneck had blasted his way in and went in himself. He pulled his feet from their position on the lake to where he was and climbed through the hole, wondering briefly what could possibly be at the bottom of those tubes that would require climbing down deep into the lake... and decided against it. He ran up the stairway as the sirens became louder.... Techno was busy sleeping in his office, or trying to get sleep, but Cavern, recently picked up for refusing to share profits from arms deals, wasn't letting him and kept shaking him awake. "Me think you got problem. ME want SLEEP, You no let me have SLEEP. You JERK!", Techno said. "But I do believe we have an extreme problem, far worse than having the lost Ehil Parsantes talking us into dressing like Hummingbirds and breathing helium 10 feet underneath the surface. No, the ancient one, Saneneck, has intruded on the base." "Who this Saneneck? I mess his life!" "He's the one who helped Halifax.... exist." "Who Halifax?" "He's... Oh, never mind. This Saneneck is a worry enough. He is one of the best bounty hunters ever and knows how to evade security of nearly any design. He knows how to combat well hand-to-hand and is very senile and chaotic. And what's worse, if he was you the destruction he'd been causing was worse." "Um.... Me not exactly fear Bounty hunter. Me have something that makes Hunters go away." And Techno got his club out. Which was knocked out with a random blast that somehow made its way from half a mile away in distance, having ricocheted for a minute or so through the endless corridors of the base. "Where THAT come from?" "The bounty hunter..." "WELL pay him to kill those idiots who were sent here as punishment! They're destined to die here." "He already sent all of us a message before he broke down the safety doors. He wants the idiots. NOW. He even sent one to you offering a cut of the 'bounty' he says he deserves for offing his imposter son, Halifax, whom he believes is still renegade." "Me not know this Renegade." "I have a feeling if you mess with Saneneck, you will somehow end up in the same state Renegade is... I have a funny feeling about this all of the sudden." "Should me Worry?" Cavern yelled in Techno's face. "YES!" Halifax was quickly finding the base, once he made it to the door, in a growing state of disrepair. Many wall and ceiling panels were broken apart, ripped out, shot through and exposing a lot of circuitry. And the SCE's who tried to defend this base were not in better shape themselves, bruised and hurt plenty by the attack of Saneneck. A SCE halifax almost crushed underfoot that was laying there moaning caught Halifax's attention. "Can I be arrested now...?", the sangurian moaned. Halifax stared at the SCE. He saw others moaning off down the circular hall that went many feet off in both directions. "You'll have to wait on that. I suppose you saw my dad." "That force of nature was YOUR dad, Renegade?" "WRONG.", Halifax said as he picked up the SCE. "That was NOT your dad?" "I am NOT renegade. Where did he go?" "I hope he falls back in the lake and sinks to the ....bottom a thousand feet below the bay's surface. This base is near the beginning of a trench on this world, you... cough... know... some hero your 'dad' is...." "A hero wouldn't leave you THIS hurt or in THIS state. I'll try to get someone to read you your rights and get you to the hospital momentarily. Where did my dad go?" Many of the SCE's pointed in BOTH directions. Some even pointed up and down at the same time. "Saneneck", Halifax muttered. "You're gonna sit down and hear me out for this, old... father." And Halifax gated his feet off again, handing the feet to the injured SCE. "Don't lose these or hold them for ransom and whatever crime you may have committed, let me know and I will testify easy on your behalf.. ", Halifax said as he rocketed down the hallway at incredible speeds, his feet staying still and the rest of the body floating on top of the gates out of sight. The Sce looked at the feet for a long time until two pairs of smaller feet belonging to smaller bodies suddenly materialized in the hallway. "You two... do Lunch?", the SCE said as he handed the feet to the two. The SCE realized, while he was STILL conscious, some things could be worse than Saneneck. Two heroes being appalled, and showing it.... Saneneck was busy still, nearing the less-travelled area of the base where few SCE's bothered to live, especially since it was used for sewage most of the time. Much of his opposition had already been hurt badly and Saneneck didn't care. His retirement paycheck, in his deluded mind, was coming closer and closer to him. He could smell it as he lugged his blast cannon behind him, finally dropping it right in front of this secret door hidden behind much pre-splattered slime he noticed out of the corner of his eye. Despite seeing the SCE equivalent of a biohazard symbol engraved into the door, he began kicking the door down with his foot. Surprisingly, his foot didn't give as much as the door did as it broke its hinges and fell flat inside. Limping slighly for a while, Saneneck left his cannon behind and wandered into a noisy complex that made the sirens in the far distance sound like falling feathers in comparison. A complex that had virtually miles of tubing going up into the base..... and apparently was pumping into square sealable plastic boxes something persimmon and glowing. Something that made his skin crawl. "Factory....", Saneneck said as he looked around, and saw the full boxes dripping slightly and going off through a hole in the complex wall into a chamber very close by. He tried to prime his gun but remembered he left it. "Remember your own gun, father?", Halifax said as he gated right in front of Saneneck. "Renegade, for the last time pretending to be the son I loved all those years ago isn't gonna get you any good with me. I have a personal mission to perform and If you stand in the way or high skies forbid, YOU gate me again, YOU'LL HAVE a REAL hole in YOU!" "Dad... I came here for one reason. I have seen and recorded Renegade die. The REAL renegade, not me, your true son. I left the Incorporateds to come and show you in the hopes you would see it, along with some evidence I taped EARLIER of Renegade being exposed as having been an Imposter of myself. Hoping you would see it willingly... and hoping we could be a family again." "You... Renegade.. wanna be a FAMILY?" Then Saneneck took one more thing from behind, concealed in his shirt. Something that looked somewhat like Ann's legendary Bo-club. "HA, HA, Ha... let me make you YOUR own BROTHER THEN!" And with that, Saneneck prepared to whack Halifax in half. But Halifax did it already via dimensional gate. "Somehow", Halifax said, almost in stereo as his two halves gated while the bo passed through empty air up and down repeatedly, "Im not impressed. NOW will you listen to reason!?!??!" "No, I listened to reason 41 years ago. Then Halifax went bad and told me he was Renegade and Halifax was dead. Now all I listen to is MONEY. Die, Imposter." Halifax remerged as Saneneck brought the bo down again, splintering it on Halifax's head. Saneneck looked at his broken bo and threw it aside. Halifax looked at the bo from afar as Saneneck leaped into the conveyor belt taking the boxes of waste out of the chamber, yelling all the way, "Ill deal with you. And by the way, how dare you destroy the one gift I could have handed... my own granddaughter. You know, the one whom Halifax's brother ended up having.... and HALIFAX NEVER DID!" Halifax stared as Saneneck disappeared. The roar of the place could not quiet his personal thoughts. "No... ", he thought as he looked at the broken bo, "It couldn't be..." And with that, Halifax looked down and prepared to retrieve his feet. Somehow, he found himself pushed upward with a jolt, and looked below. He saw Speedster and Casey, each holding one of his feet in their arms, and suddenly in a most surprising and embarrasing position. "Speedster? Casey?", he said.... Saneneck traveled down the belt in darkness, his eyes seeming to have some luminescence now and glowing from his exposure to merely the air in the place. He was beyond caring now as his thoughts turned to the two within whom were going to pay the price... namely, to Saneneck's account. They were worth very little, but they were exactly enough to make Saneneck secure for the rest of his existence. And he could hear their voices from within. Daftec, having laid his own blast cannon in the middle of the hall, looked very annoyed as the illuminated room showed thousands of boxes storing tangential waste surrounding him, with more boxes plopping by the minute into the room. A long sloping ramp towards the center bottom drains was far off into the typical distance but the two idiots within had other ideas. Most surprisingly, for the first time. "Ah.... Daftec... At least we gota uh, look outside since we near the, uh, edge of the base walls." "Shhh... Uglixor.. Im thinking..." "Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww...." Uglixor said. "Yeah... I find it uh, amazing i seem to be doing dat sortda thing, thinking whatever. And it's not good thoughts. I, um, think this stuff is making us think more and more since we, uh, got um, wherever we are." "No!" "It, uh, is true..... I also think if we opened all the boxes and all this stuff spilled on us, we could be just as smart as uh, mister taco, um, techo, up there." "Really? Uh.... how do you open these things?" "Uh... Boom?", Daftec replied. Something else plopped into the room. Something even they could tell wasn't a box. "Uh... I think that's company...", Uglixor said. "It IS?", Daftec said. "THAT?" Saneneck began wandering close, noticing the gun in the middle of the floor, and climbed down the mountain of boxes to get it. "I hope you've got a good reason why you're embarrasing yourselves this time", Halifax said. Casey and Speedster stood up after letting go of Halifax's feet. "Give us a reason why you left all of a sudden after Renegade died." "What would you believe, Casey, that I'd been taking a record of what the Dream Mechine you were stuck in and when Renegade personally admitted during his revelation of why he was trying to destroy SPeedster's mind a confession of him imitating me all those decades, I took the tape in an vain attempt to finally convince my dad, who's been trying to kill me the past couple of months since that con we went to, he should love his SON?" Speedster looked at Casey. Casey was staring a little lividly. "Well, I believe THAT", Speedster said. "Well I'm not entirely sure I could." "I believe it is in the right of a leader to believe and trust in those whom he leads, at least once in his career." "Fine. I declare YOU leader. Then you can believe ME, because something still seems fishy about Renegade's... accidental suicide." "Besides... ", Speedster said most seriously.... "it's apparent pernamence? And if Im the leader, I'll go ahead, buy the story and go help Halifax prove all this to his dad." Casey quietly said.. "Fine. Go ahead." Then he saw Halifax get on the ground so he could scope the base for his dad's prescence, and gate his upper half into anyone's guess. Speedster was handed Halifax's own backpack and set up Halifax's portable video record viewer, watching it unfold as the gate shifted with each new position Halifax took to find his dad. Speedster's mouth dropped as he saw the part where Renegade died, and realized it really wasn't his fault... and maybe Renegade's self-destruction.... somewhere from off in the distance in part of the footage... that somehow it wasn't accidental... Casey then shouted in the Stunned Speedster's Ear. "HEY, I was kidding about giving YOU the leadership! Argh!!!!" "Yeah", Speedster said without emotion. "Then you try being the leader after seeing closer what really HAPPENED to Renegade.". And he handed Casey the viewer as Casey's own mouth dropped. But the look of surprise was nothing compared to Renegade's own look as a blast from beyond was literally wiping the existence of renegade right below him.... perhaps from the dream Mechine itself.... On a device mysteriously marked, "C_B_L". It would have meant a whole less WORLD of despair for them all if they'd figured out what those three letters were a contraction for. As the two idiots looked at Saneneck quietly walk over the gun, and point it at them, they kept a silence to themselves as Saneneck laughed with each step. "Oh, you fools. You morons." "Dah, you wouldn't say that if you were, um, senile.", Uglixor said, actually surprised he made such a smart comment despite the complimentary "um," near the end meaning he had to think for a while then resume his statement." "Do you know how much you're worth to the planet of Zallabaca right now doa?" "Um, No?", Daftec said, almost smiling. "2,000 credits for BOTH of you. And for me to be financially self-supporting in this universe, I need 3,000,000 credits base in an account to earn interest to pay for food and shelter until the day i die. I have 2,998,000 credits now. Killing you would bring me 2,000 credits, giving me 3,000,000 credits saved over a lifetime of travel, and allow me to retire. For just 2,000 credi...", Saneneck muttered quietly to himself, not realizing the idiots WERE finally paying attention. "Uh... i think i get it. We die, you retire, and for SUCH a uh, small cost." "Exactly, idiots...WHAAAAA? You got THE GIST OF THAT?" "Dahr, yeah, senile uh, whatever you are.", Uglixor said. "Uh, don't spoil the surpr... surp... SHOCK.", Daftec said. "Anyway, goodbye.", Saneneck said, as he was prepared to fire the gun when from a safe distance, Halifax gated his head out of the ceiling above and screamed, "No, dad, NO!" "What? YOU again?, Saneneck said as he looked behind him and up. "I thought i told you DIE, Renegade!" "Please, dad, you don't have to do this. If you'd only let me show you the truth about Me, and Renegade..." "Being one? Excuse me, I have to retire now, Renegade...." "Please dad, listen for just once?" "I don't care to hear the words of Renegade. I saw him with my own eyes bury the dreams of my son, a great hero, being so one cold night by saying he buried Halifax alive to die in the cold ground and alone. Telling the child Halifax protected the same and driving her into pernament mental adolescence in some asylum somewhere. Alienating his own brother, now deceased over ten or so years to this day, and driving the man to a broken heart. Making me forget I could be a hero myself despite all the lives I've left just broken if not ended because I still hoped Renegade had stopped this impostering and let my son be dead. No... ha... Ren..." Halifax watched as something snapped. BACK, and in his dad, as remorse and understanding briefly filtered in his eyes. "I...." "Please, Dad. It's not too late for me and you to be an us again. Please." Halifax's eyes were welling up in tears as he began pleading for Saneneck to come to his senses. Speedster peeked out the same portal Halifax had to look out of, about to say, "I would vouch for this guy's innocence with my own life." But, with a gust of Speed, Daftec leaped down from his high perch, and ripped the gun out of Saneneck's hands. "WHAAAAAAT?", was all Saneneck could say as Daftec aimed the gun himself at the huge stack. Saneneck looked most lividly at Daftec. "I could wait for,uh, ever for your redemptiyon but I gota, um, Life to have. See you in, uh... IT!" "How... dare... y...", Saneneck barely said, alert for the first time in way too long... as Daftec pulled the trigger. Immediately the blast went straight into the huge pile, shattering with its impact all those boxes, and nearly shattering the eardrums of all those in the chamber. Speedster ducked back and left Halifax to witness an instant flood of persimmon-colored poisonous liquid and plastic shards come straight at Saneneck and Daftec, splash over the two standing in the way as the flood went down the slope, with Uglixor falling right into the mess and vanishing himself. Halifax had just one thing to say. Pretty typical yet totally appropriate for watching his old father being swept away by the most reality-modifying substance in all existence. "Father......", he screamed and began sobbing as he pulled his head right back into the noisy room which Casey was systematically making quiet with a single, well-armed flick of his pure force tail. "Halifax", Speedster said. "What happened?" "My dad was washed away...", Halifax said. "Dam it, I was so close to saving him and making him my friend again. dam, dam, dam..." Speedster looked as Halifax still held his own tail in one arm, still gated like a lightpost. "Quick! give me the tail!", Speedster said. "What good will it do? I can't save someone under water in total darkness.... or wha..." "I don't care if you give up on your dad, I NEVER WILL!", Speedster said as he grabbed the tail and stuck his own hands into the gateway. Casey almost looked at Halifax's rear but fainted when he saw NOTHING grabbing there. Halifax was still in tears as Speedster then shoved his head through the gate.... Within the tunnel heading towards the hole towards the bay below, Saneneck surfaced, his eyes suddenly glowing like searchbeams and lighting up the tunnel... that had only one ending. Daftec surfaced and spat out toxic liquid as innocently as it was water. "I, uh, don't feel as dumb anymore", he said, laughingly. "Now maybe YOU'll DIE when this stuff makes me virtually, if not, uh, actually as bright as the SUN!" Saneneck said with as much seriousness before he floundered and sunk under the rapid current and the plastic shards, "For the first time I realize i can have a son again... But i (glub) hope you realize (glub) whatever happens to me...(glub) when I get my hands on you (glub) you'll wish I was still out of my ... min..." And then, Saneneck disappeared as Daftec realized with growing VIRTUAL awareness, Saneneck had reached the drain part of the base and slipped through to the water below. Daftec swam strongly, avoiding the current as it all pooled and drained out, eventually coming upon dryness when it all drained, leaving a persimmon-glowing sloped room all around Daftec. And he saw Saneneck, seemingly bulging and distoring occasionally, trying to hold on and gasping for air as the toxins rained down into the bay far below them. "Too bad for you... uh.. Im more in my mind than you're are... you... stupid.. uh.. FOOL!" And with that, Daftec stamped on the distorting hands of Saneneck, and Saneneck fell to the bay below, screaming. Daftec jumped up to the draining slope, and walked off laughing at his newfound power..... dragging Uglixor behind him who just came to a stop, himself beginning to distort, and leaving to a darker destiny.... not caring Saneneck was falling to a death even he didn't deserve for all he did.... when not quite in his right mind. Chapter Iq100 Saneneck saw from an unique vantage point the toxic, very mutagenic waste fall into the ocean. From above, and falling straight into it. Still his body warped as he fell, wracked by more evolutive forces than any being had ever had to endure. And his eyes still shot off at random brightness in the dark sky. But he didn't had to fall long for a pair of hands grabbed him from out of nowhere. He looked straight behind him as something grabbed his tunic from behind. "My goodness....", Speedster said, sticking his head out of a gate. "WHAT? someone else is pretending to be my son, my real, living son whom i haven't even acknoledge to the tragedy of oh, saddness, too many? What is this world coming too?" "No, I'm just emulating Halifax's powers to save your life. Please hold on, Halifax's Dad!" "Saneneck will do...", Saneneck said as he warped violently again, screaming out in pain... "though... i... doubt... i... will... be... SANE... again..." "You WILL be sane, Mister Sane. Here we go!" Saneneck screamed as he was pulled into safety. Halifax watched as Speedster pulled Sane back through the portal. "how... how....", Halifax said. "I'd explain but I'm not even sure HOW I did it......" "Dad....", Halifax said as his father warped constantly, barely bearing the pain. "Oh... Son...", Saneneck said... "forgive me....", and Saneneck fainted as Halifax caught him, holding Saneneck tightly. "We are a family..... again....", Halifax said with tears in his eyes as Speedster still held the gated tail in his hand. Casey heard steps in the silence. "I'd hate to move this reunion on such short notice, but.... We'd better leave for a while as we aren't in the best shape to fight all these SCE's whom Saneneck made most angry. "They're not gonna.. forgive me... ARHHH...", Saneneck said as he heard, his ears almost stretching to the noise. ALMOST. Speedster stared seriously. "Tactical move, to wait for better ground. As long as you're leader..." And Speedster concentrated as a massive gate appeared beneath them all..... "Hey, wait... I made you leader... WHAT ARE yOU PULLLIN..." And they all vanished through the gate as TechnoSavage burst through another hidden door on the southwards side of the room, after throwing Cavern through it for his insolence. "Well? Where are Saneneck? I not see Saneneck pull off anything close up, Cavern. You LIE!" "But Sav...." "Me not want nickname of Sav ANYTHING. Me want be called TechNo! And Me most annoyed. Me not have proof this Saneneck was here." "I, UH, DO!", roared a voice from the conveyor belt as Daftec ran out with Uglixor, warping badly and moaning, right up in Technosavages' face. Somehow this was annoying Techno. Especially since Daftec was glowing in pure persimmon. "Wha.... You MORON!" "Yes. I admit my actual intelligence has merely been raised to uh, YOURS! But Now my Virtual Intelligence, ten times YOURS and RISING, has cleared my actual mind to the point YOU WANT ME, UH, De.. De.. DECEAS-SED!", Daftec began shouting very loudly. "Yeah... what he said...", Uglixor said, moaning. "You manage multi part words?", Technosavage said, his confidence suddenly being erased. "For your informantion, STUPID Techno, That's SYL LABELS. You said yourself after you sent us to work down there in that poisonus place you'd dump us in the aaa... drink below... (im so bright it BLINDS!!!)... But unfortunately for you, savage fool, that place affected us to the point it was making us virtua, uh, lly brighter. To someone with my Actual Intelli, um, gents now, My virtual Intelligents makes 'em seem like a MORON!" "In other word?", Techno said. "In YOUR Words. Duh, ME MORON.". And with that, Daftec let out a glee of stupid laughter that chilled Cavern's soul, which was the only thing conscious since Cavern suddenly fainted upon seeing the glowing Daftec. "And You go in Drink... Unless you let ME TEACH you SOMETHING." "Wha... Me know everything there is to superscience." "Not as I figure it... uh... OUT!", And with that, Uglixor fainted, the warping more severe now. "Cavern! WAKE UP", Daftec shouted. Cavern did, and shook like leaves in a gale wind. "Wha...... oh kingston...." "Tend to Uglixor. What makes me, uh, more intelligencible is making him WIERD. Get him out of HERE and follow me and THIS, uh, Garbbage-ee.!" And with that, Daftec punched out Techno, shoved him under his arm, and began walking out. "If you... insist... ", squeaked the usually talkative Cavern... "mas... ter?" And so did cavern carry Uglixor out of there, the warping hurting Cavern severely.... making him feel not so smart to the tune of a laughing, too-bright for words... Daftec. A sick and mean Daftec, that is. Casey was at a loss for words how Speedster could possibly emulate another's powers simply by touching another, but that wasn't nearly as important as getting Saneneck to some sort of table to examine Saneneck. And Speedster more than provided as all ended up in the malleable main hall within the neverrest, with Speedster handing Halifax back his tail as he saw Longneck faint and fall unconscious. "Halifax.... are you all right?" "How..." Halifax said... "How..." "Never mind that, get this room prepared for observation... for your DAD! I sense changes within him far beyond the comprehension of mortal ANYTHING! Please!", Speedster said. "Oh, right...", Halifax said as he gated over to the main control panel for the room reconfiguration, letting Saneneck drop in the middle, warping now on almost a dimensional level, as a two-story room grew around him within the four-story tall skycraft, totally surrounding Longneck. Casey and Speedster were knocked back from the suddeness of its existence, but quickly regained their composure. They rushed to a observation window as a table was created underneath the jerking Saneneck, with Wilson suddenly running in wondering what the global reconfiguration alarm was about. Wilson was shocked.... but at least he wasn't in a mood to be miserable anymore.... just angry. "WHAT IN THE POWER OF THE CHUPACABRIAN SKY PANTHER IS GOING ON!?!?!?!" Speedster and Casey pointed at each other as they saw Wilson glaringly look at them. "He's the leader", they both said in unison. "You tell HIM what went on!" "Not BOTH of you at once! Would someone explain why a observation chamber had to be erected right in the middle of my....", Wilson trailed off as Halifax looked straight, ghostlike and towards the window. Wilson looked at Halifax and growled in his face, then went towards the window. "This better be GOOD why you're messing with MY SHIP at this time of whatever.... it... is..." Wilson's jaw dropped as he saw within the twisting body of Saneneck, being warped origonally by chemical, and almost MYSTICAL means. And Saneneck stirred briefly as his eyes REALLY bugged out briefly, his voice muffled by the glass. "Wilson? Wha... are.. you... doing... here!?!..." And with that Saneneck fainted, the warping still going on out of control. "Am I gonna get an explanation out of either of... you..." as Wilson fainted himself. Halifax joined Speedster and Casey at watching someone get the ultimate penace for his misguided crimes, fearful of what would happen to themselves if they went inside while all that warping was going on.. Wilson opened his eyes. But they were full of tears. The first genuine tears he'd shown... in over a hundred years. Chapter Iq120 Technosavage was tied to a chair as he saw things he couldn't realize could come out of any mind. Formulas on a chalkboard being drawn at hyper-velocity, growing more and more complex within the private lab Technosavage had on his massive base. Finally one result was at the bottom, a long number with ten digits after the zero. And twenty BEFORE. "Well, STUPID, anything wrong with this?" "Yes... Um.. It's wrong." "Yes, and WHY?" "Well... you rounded up... to the 10th digit... and there's at least.... 12 digits in that particular formula's result. I just did the math." Daftec had a most evil grin on his face. Then he stared right in Techno's face, sweating profusely and yelling one word. "DDDDDDDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!". The force of the scream, as loud as a bullhorn, knocked Techno's seat over on its back. Then Tecnhosavage had to look up as Daftec ranted on. "You, uh, just witnessed the LAST time my Virtual Intelligenceence was LOWER than yours. EVER. Cherish this, um, moment. For I just outdid your science with the force of a steam roller." "No. You can't be smarter than me. You said yourself you're just as smart as me." (hopefully you'll be as much as a failure as I am now, techno thought.) "Virtually Im smarter.. NOW. Now, would you like dahr me to make the correct one.. Or give you some formulas in science and looks into reality YOU with YOUr Uh stupid uh Brain can't uh FAthom? Please." "Do I have a choice?", Techno said. "Do you need to go to the bathroom anyting soon?", Daftec said, "And, dahr, have clean UNDIES!?!?!" Technosavage growled. "Go ahead.", he said, feigning cheerfulness. (I still must kill this fool by making him fall in the bay.), he thought. All of a sudden, Cavern came in with a rush. "Daftec... Lord Daftec..." "Listen, uh, Cavern. I have nothing against Rynogoff leading me from now on as he's gonna respect me for a change when he knows I'm actually at least as smart as him. I will not bear you calling me Master or Lord, that is reserved for Ryno. No, just call me DAFTEC.", he said with a deep growl. "Daftec, It's Uglixor..." "So what about him? Is this experience boosting his virtual intellect to the uh, heaven?" "Maybe... you could explain to me now. It's been 12 hours since he was exposed to the tangentium residue....." "Yes. I can. I will see him. Technosavage... You throw me to that hero who tried in vain to keep the senile fool from doing what I decided to do myself and let him drag me to justice while i am out of the room and you, duh, will meet the same fate. Though I doubt brightness or wierdness would be your fate if you fell in the toxicfied uh, bay below.... just suffering." And with that, Daftec turned on his heel and left humming. Technosavage, with a twist of his tied wrists, produced from his fingernails a centimeter-thin cutting instrument that grew to eating-knife size and helped him escape his bonds. "Stupid!", Technosavage said, extremely relieved. And he briefly, very briefly, laughed. It was very quiet in the observation room. Speedster and Casey briefly stirred as Ann walked with wrinkles under her eyes... out of nowhere, shined her flashlight on the pair, and wordlessly moaned... "wake... up." Speedster and Casey were startled awake, and barely got up to their feet before tripping over the sleeping Wilson who himself woke up. Speedster pulled his plunger out from his backpack and lit the room around as Halifax then stirred and turned on the lights. Speedster quickly turned off his plunger. "do you know... why this silent alarm... keeps going on every hour... and keeps me UP?" "Ann, please forgive me", Speedster said, "But we had an emergency... And apparenly we for.... um, when did your warpod come in from vacation?" "5 hours ago. Homing on you automatically. THROUGH and AROUND armed SCE territory. WHY AREN'T YOU BACK NEAR WHERE YOU WERE GONNA PICK ME UP, WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING IN HERE AND...", Ann said, most groggily. "Look in there, Ann", said Halifax. "If you can bear the horrible sight of a mangled, twisted up wreck of an old man...." "Im NOT in the MOOD!", Ann yelled.... "I haven't had even 4 hours of sleep since I got on board and.... Oh.....". Ann turned in and looked. "Funny.... this old man looks perfectly straight to me.", Ann said, most annoyed as Speedster and Halifax and Casey turned as a whole. Even Wilson gaped in amazement as Saneneck looked... normal. TOO normal. "That is my dad.", Halifax said to Ann. "Thank the heavens he's ok.." "Let me guess. Is this chamber hyperbaric or zoo?", Ann said. Then she whispered rather groggily and laughingly to Speedster "I know im not really all that cheerful but don't mind me, I haven't had all that sleep.". Speedster sighed, then looked away most sarcastically. "Do you all think it's safe to go inside?" Halifax said to Casey. "Better now than never, I suppose", Wilson said first before Casey could speak, "He doesn't seem to be.... warping... anymore." Speedster, Casey, Ann, and Wilson looked down at Saneneck, breathing very shallowly. Ann still looked groggy, and looked down that way. "I take it he's not in a coma.", Halifax said from outside. Speedster replied, "I don't sense coma in this guy. All I sense is peaceful sleep, without pain or worry." "Could I have some....", Wilson whispered to Speedster, not entirely up himself. "We won't go there, Wilson", Speedster replied. "Would stirring him be negative right now?", Casey said. "Im not sure. I checked the med logs this chamber produced. He was exposed to approximately 2,100,500 gallons of something you, Speedster, and Wilson had been exposed that changed your lives forever. Officially, it is Tangentium lethide Mutagen Residue he was exposed to. An evolutive substance whos totally, and comparatively, minor exposure.... compared to his... granted you all the gift of setinence. "But wasn't he already setinent before?", Casey said. "What my dad is now..... Is uncertain." And with that, Halifax lowered his eyes and sighed. "Well, I will then stir him. Though I think we ought not to be in the chamber, and behind a blast shield or something", Speedster quietly mentioned. Speedster tapped Saneneck once on the shoulder. Immediately Saneneck only opened his eyes a little. He looked out. He looked around. He looked up. Then he immediately closed his eyes. What happened next isn't indescribable. At the very next moment, Saneneck's neck stretched out, his head running into the top corner of the chamber. His chin and head grew much wider. His Eyes grew bigger. and Bugged out. And Screamed. Then the rest of his body was yanked to where Saneneck's head was and Saneneck Screamed, his eyes bugging out like some sort... of ... "WHAT am I doing here", Saneneck said, looking down and apparently defying gravity. "Is this some idea of a joke?" Everyone said nothing. They had no idea what had just happened. Speedster did, however as Longneck hovered there, looking down on them all, his body now very scrunched up and his arms and legs now three times their previous length. "Take.", Speedster said before fainting. Eventually, as Ann attempted to rouse Speedster, Wilson finished getting the new tests on what Saneneck had become. Still looking like a cariacture of his former self, but sounding most calm and determined as opposed to his physical state, Saneneck was in there with his son, tossing down barrels of popcorn since it seemed to be the only thing he WANTED to eat right then. "Son, I know this, along with me finally regaining my sanity, feeling sorry for all I've done during the long time my mind was in a fog, this may come as a shock to you, but actually even though I look silly I am in the noble state of Mind you so wanted me to return to all those years. Yes, Speedster showed me the evidence and i no longer believe you to be that Renegade, thank heavens he's not around anymore. But I am in my right mind.. and I will make up somehow for all these lost years..." "Ha, Ha, Ha, HAAA!", Halifax laughed over and over. "Well.. I will. Um... Wilson... So why am I having such a humorous effect on my own son... and total shock on those who's hes befriended?" "Well, I can't make heads or tails of this. Apparently what i'm getting is, you evolved 3 billion years in a single day. You have surpassed mere physicality and physics. You are Indestructible, somewhat stretchable and very mallable. A being that far advanced 100 years old would be senile, but fifty times smarter still than any one of us." "Not really, I still don't feel any brighter. Saner, maybe.", Saneneck said, most deadpan. "So what does that make me?" Speedster cheerfully looked in the observation window with a rush. "You're a CARTOON!", he said, with a grin from ear to ear." "a Cartoon. how silly", Saneneck said. "What's a cartoon?" "Um, I think it's something on tv, and it's fictional", Speedster said, "And it is a super silly drawing of something thats in 2 dimensions. And it does takes in which it can expand itself to hilarious positions! And..." "Sure. A cartoon. Celluoid image of an entity, voiced by an actor, drawn ridiculous..... News for you, kid... I happen to be in THREE dimensions. What do you say to that.... friend?", Saneneck said. Casey looked in. "Well, to be more exact, you virtually are the reality equivalent of a TOON." "Yeah... what our leader said.", Speedster said. "I gave YOU the leadership, remember?", Casey said. Ann shouted from afar, "I'd like to know what MADE you leaders!", still annoyed. Wilson sighed. "Let me show you the whole sordid affair, Ann.... and let's see your attitude thrive after you've witnessed what we've seen firsthand." Wilson then walked off. "Virtually a Toon. Am I senile still?" "not actually.", Casey said. "This is not a dream?", Saneneck said. "No.", said Speedster "I really am this... toon thing?" "Yup", said Casey. Saneneck had another 'take' right then. One that shattered the observation glass. Again, his eyes bulged out so big they took up the whole observation window. Then he calmed down and looked most seriously. "Son, are you all right", as he saw his son sprawled on the floor. Halifax pointed at his dad still sitting on the observation table.... "Next time could you be careful?" "Sure, son. Sorry." Wilson was shocked, having turned towards the chamber just in time to witness Saneneck doing... whatever. "This does mean he's 3d after all. He affected things right in front of him with an outward thrust when he did THAT. If he really was flat against the wall like a painting or this celluoid image, he'd only affect the wall when he did that. And he did that with such force it puts THIS to shame." Wilson then lifted his cyborg arm in the air, his sonic cannon shining in the light. "Well... now what do I do? Despite use this power to redeem myself like Ann over there who's done more than a good job after all's she's been through?" Ann was silent when all the Incorporateds looked at her. "My past with Longneck.... must remain a secret. For Halifax's sake." Speedster was astounded. "You know Saneneck... and why did you call him Longneck?" "Because that is his first name. He changed his last name to Saneneck.... and was using that during all those years of... self-torment.". And Ann looked down, staring at the floor. Why Halifax was never told his father's true last name, I could not reveal. Even through the most powerful brain scan or telepathy device, my soul is pledged not to reveal it." "Looking back now, I hate that name. Isn't it ironic though Halifax's name now is like is power, as well as mine...", Saneneck said, pointing to an extra-long neck he now had. "Well... anyway... so when am I gonna walk out of here and say sorry to all these SCE's before I find the guy who did this to me and keep my promise to him?" All of them looked on Saneneck. More to the point, Longneck Saneneck. The 100-year old father of a 60-year old Halifax. "Any time... Longneck.", Wilson said. "Thanks for coming back." "Im welcome.", Longneck said as he climbed through the glass, not even cut by the sharpness of the broken pieces. "Um... Wilson... exactly who's gonna lead the battle If i guess correctly you've got this group thing again?" Casey whispered to Wilson. "You had a group BEFORE you had the Incorporateds?" "We won't go there... Leader." "Humph!", Casey said. Why am I not surprised?" Longneck stuck his big head near Casey's. "Wanna waste time before the battle for ONE?", he said most seriously. Daftec looked upon where Uglixor was holed up. He smiled. "Am I gonna get my explanation of what happened to him or not, Daftec", Cavern said. "You won't need, uh, one, fellow stupid creature", Daftec said with a little madness in his eyes. "Though this might be of some concern what , dahhh, happened to the senile fool, whatever happened he cannot cope with what happened to my... closest friend.". Cavern's eyes bugged out, or tried to, at the sight of something in the distance, with long arms and a stretched head... but definently sangurian. Or something.... stranger. Cavern cowered before the mess of flailing arms and legs, though they hadn't grown in number during the whole bizarre process. "Come on, uh, Caverner. Don't you, dahr, wanta look at... the fusture of Sangeria?" And Uglixor's elongated face looked down at Cavern's. It was as toony as Longneck's seemed. And it was, save for the simianesque brows... HUMAN. The one thing Cavern didn't think anyone should have to be. "No! thats HORRIBLE!", Cavern said as Uglixor grabbed Cavern. "I admit he is a lot uglier now and perhaps really deserving of his name. But that is what we'd have become if we were never cloned over and over and were allowed to evolve instead. Of course, there does seem to be a limit on physical, uh, evelution. Therefore he had to evolve metaphysically eventually, and this is the result. Something so powerful mere physics can no longer contain. Uglixor, give him a headache." "Good idea. Um, where are you going?" "To await a glorious destiny where I have finally the smarts to suc-cee-eed." And with that, Cavern was pulled in as Daftec locked the door. He didn't bother with the screams as he climbed up to the topmost area, forcing any SCE's who'd gotten to their feet off their feet again. Daftec had an opportunity to show off his intellect that night...... and win or lose, he was gonna leave an impression. That was when the door suddenly was broken down by Cavern and Uglixor both being thrown out through it, though more than likely Daftec assumed Uglixor was throwing himself out. "Uglixor, uh... What force of nature just HAPPENED?", he said as Uglixor stared blankly and pointed at the one who stood in the doorway. Daftec didn't take too long to recognize Longneck though he was so very different now. "Well.. Swelled head, extended arms, etc...", Daftec... "Daftec... I think it's time you and me settled this. First of all, don't call anyone else out of here, I've pretty much gotten the SCE'S off base already thanks to my son who I feel ashamed to have misjudged. Second of all, Im no longer caring about the bounty on your head. But still this shouldn't go unpunished, especially since you took advantage of my addledness and yours to make us this way. And you could do a lot better than ANALYZE anything you see, STUPID!" "So? who, uh, cares?", said Daftec. "For the first time in my life my mind isnt as muddled. I can finally gain respect everywhere I go from those who've shunned me for being stoopid. And yes, I'm happy to be much brighter than you'll uh, be." "Yeah, Daftec?", said Longneck. "Well Im sorry to say this, but even with a virtual mind of yours so high up in IQ there's one thing you have not thought of. How stupid it is.... to be so evil." "Uh... you haven't heard of my plan to expose SCES with limited intelligence to the toxic byproduct making me so smart so they can finally compete with the smart ones, slowly gaining confidence so one day We can control the SCE instead of that senile moron Kings...." "Very enlightning. BUT THAT'S NOT GONNA HELP YOU TODAY!" And with that, Longneck's fists flew at Halifax in an imitation of Halifax's own fist-throwing capacity. Of course, Longneck's arms did stretch and stay rooted when he did this, but Uglixor wasn't completely out of it yet as his head got in the way. Uglixor dropped from the Impact. "Well.. seems like I've got at least one friend in this world.", Daftec said as he prepared to carry the prone Uglixor over his head. Tossing Uglixor at high speed, Longneck saw it coming and screamed as his arms began reeling in. But at the last moment, Longneck made one of his most scared faces, and the vibrations coming from this physical distortion made Uglixor's flight crash just inches from his face. Uglixor moaned as he hit the floor. "Nice trick, old one....", Daftec said. "You, uh, ever consider going to a college for clowns?" And with that, Daftec began charging towards Uglixor in an attempt to pick him back up and throw him again, as Uglixor stirred to see him. Uglixor shouted more, though, as he tumbled out of the way high-speed into a wall, nearly splattering himself from the impact. "No... have you", Longneck said. Then Longneck jumped high to the top of the ceiling, disappearing high above as the lights suddenly went out. Daftec looked around in the darkness. "Wow.. the abscence of light seems to be darkness. Very internesting....." And then, suddenly, the lights were on as Longneck fell on top of Daftec, forcing Daftec to fall on his belly to avoid being squashed. Daftec tried to crawl away, backwards as Longneck kept coming closer. "Longneck, now I guess one of us must, uh, die", he said with rage as Longneck's form loomed above him. "No. Im sorry, but I don't take requests, orders or demands. But one thing is gonna be clear. When someday you grow as old as me and you lose your mind, Maybe one image will stay in your mind and keep you sane." "Oh, yeah, old man?", Daftec said as Uglixor moaned again. "The look on my own face you put on my head... for all My DAYS!". As Longneck Said Days, His eyes bugged out in rage and he grimaced, causing the whole room to shake. And Daftec could not turn his head away at the time. The whole base and the room seemed to shake as Daftec looked on with fear... and began screaming at the shock being sent into his mind. Until he fainted. Eventually, the shaking subsided. But Daftec didn't stop shaking for a while. And Uglixor stirred. "And you want some of that, too, or are you gonna consider Surrender as the smart thing to do?", Longneck said. "Actually, It's gonna be the STUPID thing. If I were in any more... conscious... form... I'd break your tooniness in half for what you did... to my only friend....Later... though...", and Uglixor fainted. Longneck looked on for a while. "No... It's the right thing to do." He saw a gate form underneath him as Halifax entered the room. "Son... I do believe I've finally learned how to make justice." "I think It needs one more ingredient", Halifax said as he gated Uglixor, his dad and Daftec out of the room. A week later, all of those on the base had been secured in rehab places across the galaxy, surprising Wilson as to just how many of those wanted for a lot of extremely terrible things had wound up there. It still concerned Wilson how Longneck had tracked the SCE'S there when there seemed to be nothing on his own personal Ship to record or track ship movements. Perhaps in time, that mystery would be solved as to how Longneck by chance and by Halifax's desire had decided to take this otherwise lucky turn of fate that transformed Longneck from a bounty hunter into a heroic toon-esque being. But for now, It remained to ensure Daftec and Uglixor got what they deserved. Rynogoff was in his cell looking at Wilson who visited outside in a visitor's area hall circling the particular prison Ryno was being held. "Well, back for more, aren't you? Funny It's been one year to the day I personally found you disrupted my operations. When I get out of here, me and my Moron cronies will destroy you and your two little friends." "Unfortunately for you, Rynogoff.... I think you're wrong on two counts. First of all", he said as he motioned all the rest of the Incorporateds, save Gazlennia who was away working on a surprise project for the team on her own world (mostly spending time looking at a beachside for the very first time, especially under a SUN) to walk in. Rynogoff looked on in horror. Especially at Longneck. Longneck made a tiger's snarl as he came in. "And second of all, if you did just call your cronies stupid... I think you're gonna need help soon. A lot of help." At that time, Daftec and Uglixor were carried in by guards in most protective gear to Rynogoff's cell. Both of them looked in. "See, they finally realized you've not been very nice to them after all, especially when they figured out you could still call them morons no matter how smart they become. I think you should apologize to them as they will share the same cell with you until your trial for running a slave ring ends." "And one more thing, mister Ryno... you, with the silly horn", Longneck added.... "play nice.". With that Longneck smiled 3 feet wide and the Incorporateds left. Rynogoff found himself surrounded by cronies far virtually smarter than him. And actually smarter than he was, too. "No. Please.. there must be some misunderstanding. You see, on the world of ManxzapAiyo Stupid actually means one with the mind of 10 genius...." "I looked it up. It means, Bite me", Daftec said as Uglixor walked in that night. Longneck whistled as the screams got louder, and the Incorporateds went back to their destiny as being... heroes. Eventually, Daftec and Uglixor did shake hands with Rynogoff and be followers and maybe friends again. But it was calculated by Daftec's VI (virtual intelligence) to be a few days before THAT was gonna happen to the SECOND.... After all, Daftec certainly was NOT dumb anymore. Later that night, Halifax walked into the room where Longneck's own ship was slowly being uploaded into the Neverrest's AR chamber in case a 2nd ship might be necessary for escape should the Neverrest crash. Longneck had made a lot of peace today with his past but figured it wouldn't hurt the Incorporateds to have a 2nd ship to fly around in since it was apparent 1 ship that was comfortable for 3 to be in wasn't gonna fit the 8 people or so... especially since Halifax had hinted once or twice It was gonna be 10 in a year or so. Wilson had overheard this and wondered where Halifax had gotten it in his mind where a 9th and 10th member was coming from, but Halifax simply looked blankly as if that info wasn't exactly in his head... at the time. "Longneck, Do you think we could have a vacation to do some of those things we haven't been able to do ever? Since you're right in the mind and soul again... Longneck..." He saw Longneck stare vacantly at the screen, in the couch that faced in the tv. Then he said something very quietly. "Oh, now I get it, Speedster. The reason she's wearing a mask over her chin is she's really a member of the family without jawbones, but she was switched at birth with this one...." "Yeah, Longneck, you sure have missed a lot of TV, haven't you?", Speedster said, who was sitting right next to him. "Glad to hear you're one of the good guys now." "At least, fair to sunny with an occasional BWHAAAAAAA HA!", Longneck said as he made a quick face. "Now, how does she reclaim her birthright in this episode?" "Watch and see, Longneck. You'll be amazed." Halifax almost made a face but sighed. "Oh, well. I waited 41 years to make up for lost time. Surely until the commercials come on...." And with that he walked out of the room, and looked back at Speedster. "Thanks for everything", he said, as he walked through the doorway, gating right through it instead of opening it, not too really concerned usually he had to physically be part of the gate to the door. Nor noticing the group picture framed above the door fade to blackness as laughter on a distant vorpal plane was getting slowly, ever so slowly... louder... TO BE CONTINUED IN HORSE SHADOWS