Thorne lunged toward the blue-furred bear, but Kat grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. He looked at her and forced back his rage. “Let us pass, Brexbin.”
“No. I don’t think so, Thorne. This is a happy place and I don’t want you to ruin it.”
Mason drew the disruptor wand and powered it on. “We’re getting on that plane, bear.”
“I’m sorry. We need that plane. Thanks to Glitch, we now know how to make the whole world happy.”
Glitch stepped forward. “You’re going to kill people, Brexbin. That’s not what Bearberry Bears do.”
“I think I know what we do better than you.” Brexbin whistled and his army appeared.
The Fairyfolk came first from out of the rubble. There were more now than they had seen earlier. A ten-foot giant, possibly Jack’s giant but now bearing peach fur, stepped out from behind the burned-out shell of the Princess Portrait Studio. Gnomes and sprites bounced and flitted about wearing tiny bear ears and puffy tails.
Then the others began revealing themselves. The missing Monkeynauts and Major Ursa and his Cosmomutts, Ivan, Pietor and a time-displaced Laika stood side by side. Stanley, now more bear than monkey, maneuvered the A.P.E. exoskeleton in behind them. It was as tall and imposing as the giant. Presidents of all stripes filled in the crowd.
Two of the camera drones whizzed through the crowd while two more pulled back for a wide shot of the gathering.
Brexbin smiled at his army and turned back to the team. “It’s all of us against the seven of you, so it’s safe to say the plane is ours. Now why don’t we put a smile on your faces and use our imagination to go to amazing places?”
The army rushed forward and Mason fired a blast at Brexbin. The Bearberry Bear squeaked as he flinched at the incoming pulse. But the blast fell short of its target as a fairy exploded and two translucent wings fluttered slowly to the ground.
Brexbin giggled and disappeared behind the approaching army.
Mason shouted, “Stupid pixie!”
“I think it was a fairy,” Glitch said.
“Shut up, lizard man.”
“That hurts, Mason.”
Jake pulled the trigger on his own disruptor and hoped that Savant’s patch job worked. He felt the current warm the wand and held his breath as the charge arced from the wand and knocked Sleeping Beauty out cold. “Call them, Thorne.”
The jungle king, dressed as Michael the survivor, cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed his trademark call. Part animal and part rage, the shout carried above the clatter of the marching machines and thunder erupted.
Behind the team came their own army of white apes, giant tigers and the lone Triceratops. Atop one of the tigers, Tyler screamed his battle cry, “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”
Behind the charging creatures ran the rest of the Presidents to join the fray. Obama dropped to one knee and fired a musket ball that took out a gnome’s kneecap. The half-size bear fell to the ground and Obama pumped his fist. “Now let me be clear!”
The front line collided with Brexbin’s army in a crash of metal and roars. Several Fengali took on Jack’s giant while the others thrashed the Fairyfolk. The tigers pounced on a contingent comprising characters from Wonderland and Oz. Tweedle Dum lost an arm immediately and the Tin Man’s body was flattened like tin beneath the weight of Tyler’s tiger.
Jake and the others picked off random fairytale characters as they tried to escape the carnage. Commander Mike leapt into the frenzy and made his way about the crowd by jumping from head to head, distracting the characters and calling out shots for any who would listen. “Shoot this one. And this one. This one, too.”
Goldilocks screamed as she rode Papa Bear into battle. Mama Bear and Baby Bear loped along beside them and mowed down a few of their own as they charged toward Jake and the others.
Hailey spotted the charge and screamed a warning. “Bears!”
“No shit, Hail,” Savant said as he shot one of the Billy Goats Gruff.
“I mean more bears,” Hailey clarified, and turned her disruptor on the tiny blonde.
Papa Bear dodged the blast and it took out Baby Bear, which really pissed off Mama Bear. She charged ahead of Papa Bear and leapt into the air to strike Hailey.
The paw was massive and the claws were six inches long. Hailey crouched and closed her eyes, so she didn’t see the Triceratops take out the Three Bear Assault. Goldilocks shrieked and Mama Bear’s growl crackled as Thorne’s last dinosaur pal impaled the Fairyfolk on its face and swept them away.
Glitch put an arm on Hailey, his real arm, and helped her up. “You okay, Hailey?”
“I am, Glitch. Thank you.”
The cyborg smiled at her. “Keep firing. We’re winning.”
They were winning. The Fairyfolk were no match for the Fengali and the tigers. Even the larger machines like the trolls were struggling against Thorne’s forces. W kept screaming “Mission accomplished!” after every shot he fired dropped a munchkin. Only the flying monkeys were proving difficult to down. And Stanley.
The Monkeynaut worked the giant exoskeleton like an extension of her own self and was holding off three Fengali at a time. Despite this, the battle was certainly going in their favor. Jake even caught Savant looking optimistic.
The Cragosaur’s roar brought everything to a halt. Both armies turned toward the sound and grew silent. The ground shook with each step the monster took. But not like before. The solid beat of two footsteps was gone and replaced with an earthshaking pound, followed by a long, slow grating. The sound repeated steadily. Thump. Scrape. Thump. Scrape. And, whether by design or coincidence, it set the rhythm for the haunting song Brexbin and Bearberry Bears sang as they approached.
Here we come
“No,” Savant groaned. “I thought we were done with the singing.”
Here we come
“It’s the theme song,” Glitch said.
The Bearberry bears are coming for you
“It opened every show,” he added. “They’d march together singing this.”
Savant rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the info, nerd.”
A lone bear yelled, “We’ll take you and make you have such fun”
Another followed, “We want to see a smile on everyone”
The Cragosaur stomped into view. Its fur was still torn from the earlier battle and it dragged its damaged leg behind it as it walked. But it was standing. And once more Brexbin stood on its shoulder. At its feet was an army of Bearberry bears. Buttersnap, Lilypuff, JoJo, Scramp, Hankysmank and all the rest lined up in ranks. The blue bear smiled and finished the first verse of their song. “And we won’t stop until we’re done. And everyone is having fun.”
The Fengali charged the dinobear and were met with a mighty swipe of its hand that sent more than a couple of them flying deep into Enchantasia.
The Cragosaur roared as it tried to stomp on a tiger that was chewing on its toe.
The rest of the bears waddled forward into battle and they sang the second verse as a battle hymn. Through broken speakers and out of tune modulators the song took on a haunting sound that sent shivers through the team.
Here we come
Here we come
The Bearberry Bears are at it again
We’re making up games and making everyone play
We let our imaginations get carried away
Now we’re all happy and that’s how we’ll stay
We’ll laugh and sing and play all day
And learn some things along the way
The song alone caused Tyler to pause and the approaching army of technicolor teddy bears came within seconds of swarming over the President and his tiger. “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!” he shouted as he made a retreat.
The Fengali were falling back as well while doing their best to stay out of the Cragosaur’s reach. The monstrous bear limped forward, edging closer to the gate with every drag of its foot.
“Thorne,” Mason said as the beast limped closer, “I think it’s tim
e to signal Teddy.”
Thorne raised his hands to his mouth once more. His chest expanded as if the machine was actually drawing breath and then he yelled.
“Bully!” came the reply as Theodore Roosevelt brought the cavalry.
Reagan screamed something about commies as he fired the powerful IMP. The rifle sent a ripple through the air that melted a hole in Hankysmank and sent a line of Bearberry Bears scrambling for cover.
Van Buren wore two disruptors and held a discharger in each hand. He fired both with deadly accuracy and yelled, “The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity,” with more bloodlust than it had ever been yelled before.
The mighty ape Kor led the Fengali reserves and commanded the division of white apes with grunts from the back of his tiger.
President Roosevelt let them run ahead and then smiled and said, “Let’s give ’em hell, Tommy.”
“Happy to, TR.” Jefferson said in response to the President on his shoulder, and waded straight into the battle. The twenty-foot President crushed JoJo and Honeypoo as he charged toward the Cragosaur.
The Bearberry Bear army gasped as Jefferson crushed Gingerscotch and Buttersnap beneath his massive bronze feet and drove a shoulder into the giant dinobear.
The Cragosaur seemed as shocked as the ground troops to see a giant bronze man join the fight. It growled as it stumbled backward.
Brexbin rolled backward and fell from the beast’s shoulder. The tiny bear grabbed a handful of fur and stopped his plummet.
“I warned you, you damned bear,” Teddy shouted from Jefferson’s shoulder.
Jefferson followed the charge with a right cross and knocked the Cragosaur farther back into the park. He kept the pressure and the blows up until the giant bear had been removed from the fight.
With the Cragosaur occupied by the former Presidents, Brexbin’s troops on the ground were exposed.
The team opened up on the bears. Mason shot Goldisocks. Kat fried Scamp. Hailey took out Plixy and Fizzlybub since the two were holding hands when the blast hit them, and Glitch impaled Baby Boo on his new claws. Sniggles and Tinkerfitz fell as well and soon the rest were retreating.
“We’ve got the commie bastards on the run!” shouted Reagan.
“Now let me be clear!” agreed Obama.
“Press forward!” Jake waved the team on behind him and they pushed into the park.
The Bearberry Bears were running now; only a few straggling Fairyfolk put up any resistance, and the Fengali were more than happy to sweep them aside.
Jet engines screamed above them and they watched as the aircraft passed over Enchantasia. They waved frantically to get the pilot’s attention.
“There’s our ride!” Glitch shouted.
“Dibs on punching Lucas!” Mason said.
They raced deeper into the park where parts of the buildings still remained. The aircraft circled wide and slowed as it switched to vertical flight at the far end of the park.
“This way,” Kat shouted as she pulled Thorne down a pathway between the buildings.
But that way was blocked by Stanley in her A.P.E.
“Stanley!” the Commander shouted in delight.
The Monkeynaut in the mech showed no signs of recognition and smashed a giant metal fist toward Mason. Glitch tackled his friend out of the way as the A.P.E. hand drove itself into the asphalt. The A.P.E. raised its hand to strike again.
Savant fired a blast from his disruptor. The blue bolt of electricity struck the driver’s cage of the exoskeleton and ran across the mesh screen. The spark dissipated and had no effect on the machine.
“What the hell,” Savant said as Commander Mike pulled him out the path of another blow.
“It’s protected,” the Monkeynaut explained. “The Faraday cage protects the driver from cosmic rays.”
“That’s not how a Faraday cage works,” argued Savant.
“Sure it is,” the monkey commander was focused on the machine’s driver.
“That’s bullshit science, monkey. No wonder your show was canceled.”
But the Commander wasn’t listening. “I have to talk to her. She has to know me.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Mike,” Jake said as he fired another shot at the A.P.E. that ended up being as ineffective as the first.
“I have to try.” The monkey’s brow hardened. “She would do it for me.”
Savant groaned, “This is ridiculous.”
“You’re a sad human being,” the monkey said.
“Mike,” Jake put a hand on the Commander’s shoulder. “You can’t do this.”
“I’ll save her, Jake. And while I do, your friends can escape. Don’t worry about me. You have to catch the plane and stop Brexbin.”
Savant stuck out his hand and shook the monkey’s paw. “With writing like that it’s no wonder your series got pulled.”
“Now, go!” With this, Commander Mike McMonkey sprang into action. He leapt on a nearby wall and sprung onto the A.P.E.’s windshield. The mech stumbled backward as Stanley tried to wipe Commander Mike away. But the monkey was too fast. He scrambled all over the cockpit shouting his undying love for the monkey inside.
The distraction left an opening in the road ahead and Kat pointed it out. “Everyone, run!”
They all dashed through, and the avenue led to the castle where the two behemoths were still going at it. Jefferson had the Cragosaur pinned against one of the towers with a forearm under its chin. Teddy cheered him on as Tommy delivered blow after blow into the machine’s stomach.
“Thank you, Mr. President!” Glitch shouted as they ran past the two titans.
Roosevelt looked down from Jefferson’s shoulder and smiled. His teeth gleamed in the last rays of the setting sun. “It’s our pleasure to serve, boys.”
Brexbin was cowering behind the Cragosaur’s ear. He peeked out and shouted, “That’s my plane!”
Mason laughed. “Good luck catching your flight with the Sage of Monticello kicking your ass.”
“I’m not letting you take it!”
“I’d like to see you stop us!” Savant laughed.
Brexbin ran across the Cragosaur’s shoulders and jumped into the air. “Craggy, throw me.”
Before anyone could tell Savant they told him so, Brexbin landed in the Cragosaur’s hand and was hurled over the castle walls in the direction of the plane with a long, drawn out, “Wheeeeeee!”
“Damn,” Roosevelt said. “I didn’t see that coming. Catch your plane thing, my friends. And save this great nation of ours.”
“You think he could survive that?” Kat asked.
“We can’t take a chance,” Jake said. “We have to get there first.”
They ran on past the castle and saw the plane setting down on the outskirts of Enchantasia. Smittens tried to surprise them by jumping out of a trashcan but Hailey blasted the bear before it could say “boo.”
They passed other Bearberry Bears as they raced for the plane, but in smaller numbers they weren’t much of threat. And they waddled so slowly that they were soon left behind.
The team soon reached the edge of Enchantasia and saw the plane waiting for them in a field beyond a chain link fence. Glitch’s new arm clawed through the fence with little trouble and each member made their way to the aircraft.
Overgrown vegetation was flattened by the jet wash of the waiting engines. The loading ramp was lowered and lit with floodlights.
“I don’t see Brexbin anywhere,” Hailey said as they ran for the ramp.
“I hope that little blue bastard is at the bottom of a crater somewhere.”
They reached the ramp and Jake ran inside. “Lucas?”
The cargo bay was empty.
“Lucas? Where are you?”
A monitor near the cockpit door lit up. Lucas’s face appeared. “Thank God, you’re alive. You are all alive, right?”
Jake stared into the monitor. “Barely.”
“That’s good. My law
yer says barely counts.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I’m, uh, I’m back here. They wouldn’t let anyone on the plane. They said it was too dangerous.”
“What are you talking about? Who is flying?”
“They’re flying it remotely from here,” Lucas said.
Hailey stood beside Jake and leaned in close to the monitor. “Who is ‘they,’ Lucas?”
“Uh. So I may have lied about the legality of all this.”
Mason raced to the screen. “You piece of shit!”
“No, no,” Lucas insisted. “It’s okay. Since no one died, we won’t be charged with murder.”
Kat and Thorne climbed into the craft and closed the ramp behind them. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Lucas lied and now he’s been arrested.”
“Well,” Lucas cleared his throat. “We’re all being arrested, technically.”
“What do you mean ‘technically’?” Savant asked.
“Well technically I guess I mean actually.”
“Who is this man on the screen?” Thorne asked.
Lucas moved closer to the screen. “Who is that?”
“His name is Michael,” Jake said. “He’s a survivor from the incident.”
“Oh my… really?”
“Really,” Glitch said.
“That’s great! This is really going to help our case.” Lucas smiled. He turned to someone off the camera. “See? I told you it was a rescue mission. What do you mean it doesn’t matter? I can’t go to prison!”
Jake turned the monitor off as the aircraft lifted into the air. He sat on the canvas bench and let his head rest against the hull. “I want to say ‘I can’t believe it’ but I totally believe he lied to us.”
“I’m not even surprised,” Mason said as he settled in across from Jake and Hailey.
“Do you think they’ll let us play the ‘saved the world’ card one more time?” Savant asked. “I’m still not sure I’ve gotten my mileage out of it.”
“At least Kat is happy,” Glitch said.
The group turned to look at Kat and Thorne cuddled together at the back of the aircraft.
Hailey took Jake’s hand in her own and squeezed. “Who would have thought closure would look like that?”
Junkers Season Two Page 21
