Bucky O' Hare In Journey Through Time Episode I - The Final Battle By Andrew Norris SCENE ONE The Graham Institute, Genus BUCKY, JENNY and COMMANDER DOGSTAR are on their way into the grounds while they talk between themselves. DOGSTAR: Strange of the UAC to send us to this lecture. JENNY: Not really, Dogstar. They did ask for volunteers, didn't they? DOGSTAR: But the name "Prof. Fairfax" doesn't ring any bells to me. What did they say he was? BUCKY: According to Fritz, he's a newbie Nuclear Physician, and he has a new invention to show us. DOGSTAR: Well, for my sake, it had better be good, Bucky. I didn't drag myself away from the wars just to see an atomic-powered paperweight, you know! LATER... In the lecture hall, DOGSTAR, BUCKY and JENNY are alone with just a few other SCIENTISTS situated at Graham. On the stage in front of them is something covered in a large tarpaulin. DOGSTAR: (Grumbles) Double or nothing if it's a walking vacuum-cleaner. PROF. FAIRFAX walks on stage. He is a scrawny panther in a bulky white coat and baggy brown trousers. He bows to the small audience. FAIRFAX: (Raspy voice) Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you perhaps the most revolutionary device to have ever been created in the Aniverse. And now, I present to you for the first time anywhere... DOGSTAR: (Under his breath) Just get on with it! FAIRFAX: ...the Chronaton Manipulator! He pulls off the tarpaulin, to reveal a circular console with several dials, gauges and meters on it. At the centre of the console is a beacon with several red, yellow and blue lights inside. FAIRFAX: (Continued) This machine is able to create a pathway from pure Chronatons that have been stabilized by this machine and allow us to travel back or forth in time. BUCKY: (Raises his hand) Excuse me, Professor, but how would this benefit the UAC? FAIRFAX: I'm glad you asked that, Captain. Allow me to give you a scenario: the Toads take over a strategic planet and the UAC are having trouble in liberating it. Using this mechanism, you could travel back to warn this said planet so they are prepared for invasion. BUCKY: Do you think you could perhaps demonstrate to us? FAIRFAX: (Ecstatic) Certainly! He presses a few buttons, and the machine comes to life. Some of the lights inside the beacon start flashing a brilliant white, but FAIRFAX looks concerned. FAIRFAX: (Muttering) This doesn't seem right; what's going on? JENNY: (To Bucky) This doesn't look good. The machine suddenly drones loudly, and smoke billows from the underside. BUCKY and JENNY move to get FAIRFAX clear, while DOGSTAR tries to evacuate the panicky SCIENTISTS. FAIRFAX: (Shouts to Bucky and Jenny) Stop, you idiots! The beacon sends a light-beam over BUCKY and JENNY and they disappear. The machine winds down and stops, while DOGSTAR storms up the stage and grabs FAIRFAX by the collar, lifting him into the air. DOGSTAR: (Angrily) What have you done to them?! See what you've done with your infernal meddling! As DOGSTAR vigorously shakes FAIRFAX, his face falls off, to show he is FRANKENSTOAT in disguise, who cowers under DOGSTARS' threats. The SCIENTISTS gasp in both shock and surprise. SCIENTIST #1: (Gasps) Frankenstoat! SCIENTIST #2: Of all the rotten tricks! FRANKENSTOAT: (Whimpers) Please don't hurt me! Please! DOGSTAR: Why shouldn't I? You've just killed two of my best friends! FRANKENSTOAT: They were teleported, not killed, and this wasn't part of the plan! Please let me go! DOGSTAR: (Calmer) Plan? What plan? You call building a time machine a plan? FRANKENSTOAT: W...Well, sir, I was planning on bringing a vicious dinosaur from the Triassic period to be my pet and eat everyone in the Institute, but the Manipulator has short-circuited. DOGSTAR: Then fix it! Now! FRANKENSTOAT: (Yelps) I'll try, but it'll be hard to bring your friends back. I have to check their biopatterns and find out exactly where in time they've gone, and more importantly, if I can get them back... SCENE TWO Warren, Year 7009 BUCKY and JENNY are both unconcious in what appears to be night-time, and the landscape is now craggy and rough. BUCKY is the first to wake up. BUCKY: (Groans) Oh, my head! What happened? He tries to wake up JENNY, who stirs and clutches her head. JENNY: (Whines) Where are we? And why does my head sting? BUCKY: No idea, Jen. But I'm guessing that Fairfaxs' machine has sent us either back or forth in time. They get up and begin to walk, but they don't need to go far. Before them stand the remains of a city, with skyscrapers in ruins and the streets either in a distorted mess of jagged tarmac and derelict cars or are dumping grounds for waste. JENNY: Are we on Warren? BUCKY: (Ponders) Maybe; this place certainly seems to resemble the capital, Grassenham. JENNY: (Points to a sign) Bucky, look! She points to an old sign that has been covered in graffiti. The signs' text reads "WELCOME TO GRASSENHAM, WARREN. POPULATION 2,300,000." BUCKY goes wide-eyed. BUCKY: So, Warren has been turned into a wasteland, but by who and when? JENNY: Toads, perhaps? BUCKY: No. If it were Toads, they would've tried their best to turn it into a swamp; and this place hasn't a trace of swamp grime anywhere. VOICE: (In the shadows) Psst! Psst! BUCKY and JENNY are enticed over to an alley, where a FEMALE HARE in paupers' clothes are waiting. She is stunned at the sight of BUCKY. HARE: (Gasps) It can't be, but it is! BUCKY: (Confused) What? What's the matter? THE FEMALE HARE leads them into one of the old skyscrapers, and up a flight of steps to the fourth floor. JENNY: Miss, can you tell us your name? HARE: All will be revealed shortly, Jenny. JENNY: (Stunned) She knew my name? In one of the rooms, which had perhaps once been an office, THE FEMALE HARE has made a squat living space for herself. HARE: You two sit down and I'll tell you what has happened. It was said that you'd end up coming here, Bucky O' Hare. BUCKY: (Sits on the floor) I don't mean to be rude, ma'am, but can you tell us exactly what happened to turn Grassenham into a wasteland? HARE: (Sternly) Don't call me "ma'am", please. JENNY: (Kneels on the floor) Well, do you have a name? HARE: No, I'm only called "Z", and I'm one of the last of the hares. BUCKY: Well, Z, what has been going on? Z: The year now is 7009, and what happened to Warren is a long story. FLASHBACK, A GRAVEYARD ON GENUS IN THE NEAR FUTURE... BUCKY, JENNY, RAUL, MIMI and FLEET ADMIRAL RYGAR BLADE are all gathered around a gravestone, which reads "RIP SIRIUS DOGSTAR 3176 - 3251" Z: (Narrative) After Dogstar died, Fleet Admiral Blade decided to take an early retirement and Admiral O' Hare succeeded him as Fleet Admiral, and was to be the last Admiral for the UAC. FLASHBACK, IN ORBIT OF GENUS SEVERAL YEARS LATER... The four frigates and the assault ship Valiant are doing battle with perhaps the entire Toad Fleet over Genus. Z: The final battle in the Toad Wars was fought over Genus in 3278, by which time, Fleet Admiral O' Hares' health had deteriorated rapidly, and his daughter Chant'e was now a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the UAC. The red supergiant suddenly turns supernova and wipes out the fleet. Z: The sun had picked an awkward day to die, and with both the Toads and the UAC completely exterminated, the Toad Wars were over. BACK TO 7009... BUCKY and JENNY are shocked to hear the story, and continue to listen. Z: With so many planets unprotected, the Communists and the Daleks fought in an even greater war, causing the destruction of the Toad Homeworld and KOMPLEX during the battle as well as destroying each other. JENNY: (Interupts) But Z, what happened to Warren? You haven't explained that, yet. Z: After both wars, law and order fell into decline with no-one to lead the now-independant governments. Anarchy took over Warren and turned it into a No-Mans' Land. BUCKY: But if you're the only hare, then who else is there? They hear the loud droning of motorbike engines outside, as four HARES on motorbikes drive past jeering and throwing bricks into unbroken windows. Z waits until they've gone before continuing. Z: They call themselves The Gamma Gang, the last thugs left on Warren. JENNY: What happened to the others? Z: They died out centuries ago. I know this because my father happened to be a member of the Qasar Killers. She ducks as the bikes return for one more sweep. Z: (To Bucky) You have to get out of here before they come back. They've made it their mission to make sure that they're the only ones left alive on Warren; that's why I live up here, where its' safe. BUCKY notices a couple of files nearby, dating back to 3278. BUCKY: (Reads papers) "Property of Warren Central Archives. Earth Year 2715 - Last known transmission recieved from Earth. United Space Coalition suffering from severe lunar plague at Moon HQ. Total 187 dead, amongst those is Dr. A. Norris, former UAC agent 3225 - 3236. JENNY: Lunar plague? I don't understand. Z: When Bucky became an Admiral, WW3 broke out on Earth, and Andy thought that it was his duty to go and fight. BUCKY: Despite the fact that he'd been exiled? Z: Don't ask me, I just use this stuff for reading material. The trajectory of the black hole led him to the 28th Century, in 2704. He settled down as Chief Archivist for the United Space Coalition, and was among the last to die from the plague. BUCKY: Did anyone else survive the supernova? Z: Not many, but Staff Sergeant...I mean, Corporal Nass, moved to Atlantis and happily married to a soldier called Katar. Both died peacefully together, while Squadron Leader Adder, the last surviving Toad, became a hermit on Narnox, before the surviving mammals beat him to death. BUCKY: Great (!) Only two survivors! Let's just hope we can survive this nightmare. SCENE THREE Graham Institute, Genus, 3226 FRANKENSTOAT is hastily working on the Chronaton Manipulator while DOGSTAR holds him at gunpoint. FRANKENSTOAT: (Tinkers with wiring) Nearly finished. DOGSTAR: (Impatiently) Well, hurry it up! You're trying my patience! The machine switches on and hums softly for a moment. DOGSTAR: Now what's happening? FRANKENSTOAT: The machine is locating Buckys' biopath that he left in the Chronaton fields. Two lights, a green one and a pink one, light up one the display and the console stops humming. DOGSTAR: Well, where are they? FRANKENSTOAT: (Reads monitor) The exact time and place is Grassenham, Warren on Tues. 4th March 7009. DOGSTAR: (A little less rude) Can you bring them back? FRANKENSTOAT: I'll try, but it'll take a few moments to get the Manipulator warmed up. He pulls two levers and turns one dial. The machine slowly powers up and the lights in the beacon start flashing again. Suddenly, an alarm sounds and a red light flashes. DOGSTAR: (Worried) What's going on? FRANKENSTOAT: They're in trouble; someone must be trying to harm them. I'll have to give the machine full boost to get them away. DOGSTAR: (Frantically) Well, hurry man! HURRY! FRANKENSTOAT turns the dial all the way around and the power begins to build up. SCENE FOUR Grassenham, Warren, 7009 BUCKY and JENNY are indeed in trouble. They had been spotted by the Gamma Gang once they left the building and are being chased along dark, eerie streets by four nightmarish motorbikes. BIKER #1: (Chuckles wickedly) Run all you like, but you'll never get away! BUCKY spins around to fire his maser pistol, but it has no effect on the reinforced shell of the bike. BUCKY and JENNY are trapped in an alley with the bikes heading straight towards them. JENNY: (Whimpers) Please let there be a miracle or something! On cue, the Chronaton Manipulator pulls them away to safety, while the dazed BIKERS stop inches from the wall. BIKER #2: Where the frell did they go? BIKER #1: Search me! SCENE FIVE A Time Vortex BUCKY and JENNY are suspended in mid-air as they travel down a cylindrical tunnel that appears to consist of kaleidoscopes and other distorted images. BUCKY looks at JENNY as they continue travelling. BUCKY: (Echoes) Looks like your prayers were answered, Jen! JENNY: (Echoing) I just hope we land in the right time, this time! The tunnel grows brighter as they reach the end of the tunnel, but JENNY still feels that something isn't right. SCENE SIX Graham Institute, Genus, 3226 DOGSTAR looks around patiently as the Manipulator winds down and stops. He looks over to FRANKENSTOAT. DOGSTAR: Well, where are they? FRANKENSTOAT: (Examines instruments) That's the hard part to explain. That extra boost of power sent them back in time too fast for the time- clamps to get them here, but they are out of danger. DOGSTAR: (Roars) WHERE ARE THEY?!?! FRANKENSTOAT: (Cowers) Genus, 2005! Astroman times! It'll take a while to get the correct date and release the time-clamps, but otherwise, we should get them out in no time. DOGSTAR: But if you try and trick me, Dr. Frankenstoat, you'll have no time left! FRANKENSTOAT quivers and sets to work. SCENE SEVEN Genus, Year 2005 BUCKY and JENNY regain their balance and look around at the countryside around them. JENNY: (Ecstatic) We're back on Genus! BUCKY'S face drops when he sees what has become of Capital City. BUCKY: On Genus, yes, but now we're in the Astroman period! TO BE CONTINUED... NEXT EPISODE: PART II - OF CENTURIONS AND CHRONATONS