"The Mask of the Chameleon"

Written by ApacheMan2K

Key        "..."    = spoken dialogue
        (...) = thought dialogue
        [...] = indicates tone of voice or verbal action

A very special thanks to...

Atari, for refreshing my memory of Bucky O'Hare
and
Pow!ree, for her cool ideas she's given me


Part 1 of 3 - "A Reckless Spy"

Scene 1
San Francisco, Earth
DuWitt Residence
03:15 PM

Willy returned home from school on a late Friday afternoon. He went 
upstairs to his room, and set his heavy backpack next to his bed. The 
bag was filled to the zipper lines with loose papers and textbooks, so 
carrying it around would have been quite tedious for a ten-year-old.

Mrs. DuWitt

"Willy! Like, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Willy

"Sure, Mom."

He walked back down the stairs and into the dining room. She had just 
hung up the phone as she took her seat at the table.

Mrs. DuWitt

"I just got a call from your Uncle Simon, and your cousin, Max is 
coming to spend the weekend with us."

Willy
[surprised]
"Max is coming here?"

Mrs. DuWitt

"Aren't you excited?"

Willy

"Erm...yeah, I sure am."

He looked down onto his right pocket, where his hand was rubbing his 
memory stone. He had hoped that the Righteous crew would not need him 
for three whole days, even though he knew the odds of that would be 
very uneven.

Scene 2
San Francisco, Earth
DuWitt Residence
06:21 PM

The doorbell rang like a chord of a sitar. Mrs. DuWitt opened the door. 
A NASA scientist named Simon Thompson and his son, Max, were standing 
right in front of them. The little one was carrying a suitcase, jammed 
with clothes and spy toys. Simon took it and gave it to Mr. DuWitt.

Simon

"Thanks for watching Max while I'm gone."

Mr. DuWitt

"No problem, brother. We're, like, always happy to have another little 
dude on our turf."

Simon

"Now, you be a good boy for Uncle David, Aunt Susie, and Willy, okay?"

Max

"Don't worry, I will."

Simon

"That's a good boy."

He said as he bushed up Max's black hair and chuckled a little.

Mrs. DuWitt

"See you later, Simon. Have a good time in Los Angeles!"

Simon

"I'll try, sis. See you Monday!"

He waved as he went back to the taxi cab and left the neighborhood.

Mrs. DuWitt

"Willy's upstairs if you'd like to play with him before dinner."

Max

"Okay."

Mr. DuWitt carried the luggage upstairs and led his nephew to his 
cousin's room. Max then knocked on the door. Willy, who was talking to 
Jenny through his stone about his guest's visit, was jolted by the 
knocking. It seemed like he came sooner than he expected.

Willy

"Uh-oh, gotta go!"

When Jenny's face faded, Willy stashed his stone in one of the drawers 
of his desk. The stone was now hidden beneath thin wires of different 
colors.

Willy

"Come in."

In response, his cousin opened the door and stepped in, dragging his 
rather heavy suitcase in.

Max

"Hey, Willy, how are you?"

Willy

"Not bad. How about you?"

Max

"I'm fine myself. I've brought all kinds of cool spy gear I'd like to 
show you."

With eagerness, he opened up his suitcase and rummaged through his 
clothes to find his gear. The first thing he took out was a silver-
plated watch.

Max

"Check out this watch! It's not just a watch that tells time; it also 
squirts ink. I tried it with Doug McKenna once, but one of his friends 
beat me up for it."

Willy

"Geesh...that wasn't very smart."

Max

"I know. That was the last time I ever used it."

Next, he dug out what looked like a silver-plated pen, with black 
markings on the writing end.

Max

"I know what you're thinking: it's just a pen. But..."

Max shut all the lights off. Then, he twisted the end, turning on an 
infrared light at the writing end. When he pointed it to a wall, a 
small, red dot appeared. He started moving it all over the place, and 
into each other's eyes.

Willy

"That's a cool toy! I guess that's the first infrared pen I've ever 
seen."

Max

"Thanks, but that's not my favorite. *This* is."

Lastly, he took out a small, black, rectangular tape recorder, with a 
blank cassette tape inside. There was also a microphone on the right 
edge, though it could not be seen unless someone took a closer look.

Max

"This is my trusty tape box. I can do all kinds of things with it -- I 
can warp someone's voice, I can make someone think the principal's 
coming, and I can even get the truth from bad guys, without them 
knowing it."

Willy

"Like that one time when you fooled Randy?"

Max

"Yep. That jerk thought his 'teacher's pet' jig was finally up. I 
pulled one on my dad, too; he thought it was his boss."

Willy laughed at his clever trickery, as he liked what he heard.

Willy

"Now I know why you like it so much. Maybe we could try fooling Mom and 
Dad some time."

Max

"Sure, that'd be a lot of fun."

Mrs. DuWitt
[heard from downstairs]
"Dinner's ready!"

Scene 3
San Francisco, Earth
DuWitt Residence, Willy's Bedroom
10:02 PM

The boys were settling in, getting ready to hit the sack for the night. 
Willy was just setting his glasses on the desk near his bed, while Max 
unfolded and unzipped his blue sleeping bag.

Max

"Man, I'll never forget those baked tofu tenders. Ugh!"

Willy

"I know tofu's not great, but you'll get used to it."

Max

"Like that's ever gonna happen."

When Max slid inside of his bag, there sat a fascinating device that 
caught his eye. It was the photonic engine that Willy invented months 
ago.

Max

"Hey, Willy?"

Willy sat up after he was thinking to himself about his teammates in 
the Aniverse.

Willy

"Yeah?"

Max

"What's that thing?"

...He asked as he pointed to the engine.

Willy

"That? It's just, um, a failed experiment."

Max

"Oh. Do you have any other inventions we could look at tomorrow?"

Willy

"Nope, not a single one."

He thought he had convinced his cousin that the engine was not working, 
so he easily changed to a different topic.

Willy

"Shouldn't we get some sleep?"

Max

"Yeah. Good night."

Willy

"Good night."

After Willy turned off his lamp, he tucked himself under his blanket, 
and shifted onto his side, facing the wall. For some reason, Max could 
not help but wonder if the engine was truly broken. He wasn't entirely 
convinced that this was true. Quietly, he stood up and baby-stepped to 
the desk. He couldn't see much, so he used his pen as a little 
flashlight.

Max

(I wonder if it really is broken. I guess there's only one way to find 
out.)

Using his pen, he searched the whole engine for a switch would turn it 
on. No sooner had he started searching, than he found the arm switch 
that turned on the power.

Max

(That must be it. But...)

He looked over to the bed. Willy was fast asleep, murmuring words that 
nobody could even hope to make out.

Max

(...Maybe, I should wait until he's awake.)

He thought of doing this, but he was so curious that he could not wait 
for even a fraction of a second.

Max

(Forget the wait. I think I'll just give it a little pull.)

As slowly as he could, he pulled the switch down. The engine began to 
hum with power that flowed from the walls to the engine.

Max

(It's working! Willy's gonna be surprised that I got it to work.)

He stifled his excited chuckle before he would have let it out. Behind 
him, the keyhole in the closet door and the space under the door began 
to light up. Max turned around and looked at it strangely.

Max

(Huh? The closet light's still on? I thought Willy turned it off.)

Max just shrugged, deciding to shut the light off himself. He tip-toed 
over to the door and cracked it open. Behind the door, there was a 
blinding light that seemed to light up the whole closet, and Willy's 
bedroom as well. Max shielded his eyes and stepped into the portal. 
Soon, he found himself in the engineering bay of the Righteous 
Indignation! He observed the entire room in which he was standing.

Max

"Wow, Willy sure has a cool closet."

Just then, he heard footsteps coming from the ladder ahead of him.

The kid was jolted by those sounds, having found out that someone was 
coming.

Max

(Huh? Someone else is here!)

He shifted his head left and right, wondering where he should hide. As 
the steps grew louder, he lept and hid behind a console. Leaning 
against it, he looked over to the ladder. Engineer Bruiser and AFC 
Blinky came to clean the engine tubes.

Bruiser

"Man, dis cleanin' job would be much easier wid our other engineer."

Blinky

"That is correct, although I regret that he will not be able to join us 
for the next three days."

Bruiser

"Yeah. Jenny said somethin' about havin' his cousin over for dat long."

Max stuck his head out from his hiding place. He looked on, watching 
the two characters that looked so strange to him. 

Max

(Those guys look creepy. I gotta get out of this weird place before 
they see me.)

Max began to sneak back to the door. It seemed like he would make it 
safely, but he tripped over a cable and landed hard on his chest.

Max

"Ungh!"

Blinky quickly traced the noise from behind and extended his neck. His 
large, spherical eye spotted him, out in the open. He began to make a 
shrill noise when he found the unexpected guest.

Blinky
[alarmed]
"Calamity and woe! Intruder alert! I repeat, intruder in engineering 
bay!"

Then, more footsteps stormed from above. Bucky, Jenny, and Dead-Eye 
quickly descended the ladder to follow Blinky's alert signal. They, too, 
found the "intruder". The entire crew was left aghast by the sight of 
another human in their presence. Max, paralyzed with fright, let out a 
yell and quickly opened the door. He stormed back into Willy's bedroom, 
slammed the door, and leaned against it, as if trying to block it. His 
heart was beating fast; he was breathing rapidly. He rushed over to 
Willy's bed and shook him madly.

Max
[quietly]
"Willy! Willy, wake up!"

Willy moaned quizzically while waking up. He rubbed and opened his eyes, 
put on his specs and sat up, facing his scared cousin.

Willy
[tired]
"Wha...what's going on?"

Max

"Willy, there are animals in your closet!"

Willy

"Animals?..."

Max

"Yeah, four animals -- a baboon, a four-armed duck, a pink-haired cat, 
and a green hare. And, a little, one-eyed robot, too."

Willy began to think, could his own cousin have just stumbled on his 
secret? Or, maybe he was just having a bizarre dream. Whichever was the 
case, he decided to play dumb.

Willy

"That's very weird. I think you were just having a nightmare."

Max

"But, I saw them with my own eyes! Didn't you see that light in your 
closet?"

Willy

"I'll shut it off. Don't worry about it."

Max

"Funny. I thought it was off when we were going to bed. When I turned 
your engine on --"

Willy
[interrupts]
"What?!"

Max

"I turned on that engine. I just wondered if it was still working."

Unfortunately for the boy genius, Max indeed stumbled upon the mystery 
of his engine. On the inside, he felt very uneasy, now that someone 
else knew of the Aniverse.

Willy

[stammers]
"Um, i-it's still got some kinks in it."

Max

"It was working fine to me."

...He said with a shrug. Willy paused for a moment. He began to wonder 
if his crew mates actually saw Max on their ship. He briefly looked 
back to his desk, since the stone was still in that drawer. Supposedly, 
if Max did find out, perhaps he could be trusted because of a saying he 
once heard: 'Blood is thicker than water'. The first thing he wanted to 
do was find out for sure.

Willy

"I'll be back in a second. Don't go anywhere!"

He got out of bed, snatched the stone from his drawer, and sprinted 
over to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and sat in the 
empty bathtub and pulled the curtains to hide himself in case anyone 
suddenly walked in. There, he looked down on the stone spoke into it.

Willy

"Jenny? Are you there?"

The stone flashed, dimly lighting the dark room. Jenny's face instantly 
appeared on the glowing stone after she managed to mind-link her stone 
to his.

Jenny

"Yes? What is it?"

Willy

"Did you see someone who looked kind of like me, but with dark hair, 
aqua eyes, and no glasses?"

Jenny

"We did, although he was here for only a moment. He seemed as surprised 
as we were when we found him in the engine room."

Unfortunately for him, his hypothesis was correct. Willy felt quite 
dismayed as he spoke back to his crew mate.

Willy

"Darn it! I knew Max was there..."

Jenny

"Come again?"

Willy

"Max is my cousin, the visitor I told you about. Jenny, I'm sorry that 
happened. I had no idea he'd even think about -- "

Jenny
[interrupts]
"You don't need to apologize. Captain Bucky said that he would like to 
meet him properly, if you don't mind."

Willy

"Well...alright. I guess we'll see you in a few minutes."

Jenny

"Okay."

Her face disappeared, and the stone stopped shining. Willy, though 
still hesitant, knew that he was to do Bucky this favor, partly because 
he was in charge. He returned to his bedroom and closed the door, and 
then he put the stone on his mattress.

Willy

"Hey, Max?"

Max

"Yeah?"

Willy

"I've got something I'd like to show you. But, don't tell *anybody* 
about it."

Max

"Um, no problem."

Willy

"Let's get changed first though."

Max

"Why?"

Willy

"You'll see."

Willy did not feel comfortable with the idea of being seen by anyone 
else in his pajamas. So, he suggested that they change to their regular 
clothes. They did this, and after that he checked the humming engine to 
make sure the portal was still open, and took hold of the knob of the 
closet door.

Willy

"Ready?"

Max

"Yeah."

Max pondered, what if they were going to see the mammals that he met? 
As Willy slowly twisted the knob and pulled the door open, Max was so 
nervous, his teeth were lightly chattering. Together, the boys walked 
into the blinding light, and into the bay of the Righteous Indignation.

Scene 4
The Righteous Indignation, Engineering Bay
10:50 PM, Universe Time

This time, no one was there. They stepped on the floor, as Max shifted 
his head around to look at their surroundings.

Max

"Is this really your closet?"

Willy

"Nope. By the way, I have some friends who'd like to meet you."

Thinking that Willy's friends were the "animals" he saw, he grew more 
tense. You could easily hear his teeth chattering more rapidly. Willy 
could hear his teeth, and yet he knew that he'd find out that there was 
nothing to be afraid of.

Max

"Um...o-okay."

As Willy led him to the ladder leading to the bridge, he could see how 
nervous his cousin was. Putting a hand on one of the ladder's legs, he 
looked at him with a slighted expression.

Willy

"Are you feeling okay, Max?"

Max

"What about those animals are upstairs?"

Willy

"They're my only friends. Would you like to meet them?"

Max

"Well, if they're your friends...sure."

Willy began to climb up the ladder. After going up five steps, he 
looked down and signaled Max to follow. He took hold of the ladder bars 
and climbed up to the top, where Willy was already standing. Just as 
they were on their way to the bridge, Blinky spotted them and began to 
make his shrill alarm noises again, and his head spun around rapidly 
with each blare.

Blinky

"Oh, calamity and woe! The intruder has returned!"

Willy approached Blinky and calmed him down.

Willy
[yelling over the sounds]
"Blinky, it's okay!"

Blinky stopped his motions and sounds as he returned to his normal, 
sentinent state.

Blinky

"Please permit me to ask, do you know this stranger?"

Willy

"Yeah, he's my cousin. Max, this is Blinky, a first-class android. 
Blinky, meet Max."

Blinky

"Ah! Most humble android is pleased to make an acquaintance, sir."

As a formal greeting, Blinky stood in front of Max and saluted him, as 
if he was one of S.P.A.C.E.'s own allies.

Max

"Um, nice to meet you, too."

At the bridge, the others were gathered, as if awaiting their Earthling 
crew mate and his guest. Bucky and Jenny were in the pilots' seats, 
Dead-Eye was near the laser pod, and Bruiser was standing on the 
opposite side of the laser pod. The captain stood up from his seat and 
greeted them with a salute.

Bucky

"Welcome back, Engineer DuWitt."

Still nervous, Max whispered in Willy's ear.

Max

"Are those animals really your friends?"

Willy
[whispering back]
"Yeah. Don't worry, they're good guys."

Max nodded a little, gathered his courage, and tried to mimic Bucky's 
salute to greet him back. His salute was not quite right, though.

Max

"Um...hi?"

Bucky

"Nice to meet another human. You must be Willy's 'visitor'."

Max

"Yeah. I'm sorry about what happened before. I swear I didn't know 
about your ship."

Bucky

"Don't worry about that. I don't think we've been introduced. My name's 
Bucky O'Hare, and I'm the captain of this ship, the Righteous 
Indignation."

Max

"Um...my name's Max."

Bucky rolled his eyes towards the crew's navigator and pointed a flat 
hand towards her, making her next in line for introductions.

Bucky

"This is First Mate Jenny, from Aldebaran. She's been a part of our 
crew since the day we met, and she has been a great deal of help for 
our crew."

Jenny stood up and formally greeted him by bowing her head.

Jenny

"We are pleased to meet you."

Bucky and Max looked toward the gunpod, where Dead-Eye was waiting his 
turn.

Bucky

"This is Gunner Dead-Eye Duck, from Korsair III. He used to be a pirate, 
until he started working on our side."

Dead-Eye took both of Max's hands with two of his arms and shook them 
in a friendly manner.

Dead-Eye

"Welcome aboard, matey!"

Bucky

"And, here's Bruiser, whose job is backing us up with the toads."

Bruiser approached Max and gave him a hearty slap on the back, knocking 
him down to the floor.

Max

"Ungh!"

Bruiser

"A friend o' Willy's, is a friend o' ours. Sorry 'bout dat, buddy."

Max shook his head and got back on his feet.

Max

"No problem. Do you guys really know Willy?"

Bucky

"Yeah. He's our ship's engineer. We've been at war with the Toad Menace, 
who is bent on enslaving the Aniverse."

Max
[confused]
"Don't you mean the universe?"

Willy, answering this question for his captain, shook his head.

Willy

"No. The Universe and the Aniverse are two different worlds; the 
Aniverse has only animals, and they're just like us."

Max

"That sounds weird, but cool! The Toad Menace part, though, not so 
cool."

Jenny

"You can only imagine what horrible things they have done."

Max

"What horrible things?"

Bucky

"They've attacked our planets, and they've enslaved half of the planets 
they've taken over."

Willy

"They also use what is called a climate converter, which changes a 
planet into one giant swamp."

The visitor didn't like the sound of every word he heard. In fact, he 
could easily see why the Toads were the very foes to hate.

Max

"Gosh -- now, I know why they're called the Toad Menace.

Dead-Eye

"We've been croakin' those toads for years, and they still haven't got 
the best of us. But, they just won't quit."

Max

"How did Willy get here, anyway?"

Willy

"Remember that engine you turned on?"

Max stopped to think for a moment. He recalled that before he turned 
the engine on, the whole bedroom was pitch-black. After he switched it 
on, the closet lit it up. Thinking about all this, he figured out a 
solution.

Max

"Yeah. Before I turned it on, the closet was dark; but then, it looked 
like the light was still on."

It was then he was struck with another idea. Since Willy, his own 
relative, is part of a crew that fights against a whole empire, Max 
believe this was an opportunity to live his lifelong dream of being a 
super spy. He thought of every spy movie he had seen in the past, and 
decided that he could use the moves he learned from watching them. So, 
he had another question in mind.

Max

"And...can I ask you something else, over there?"

Willy

"Um, okay."

The cousins went downstairs to the bay, where they could have a more 
private conversation.

Max
[quietly]
"Do you think I could join your crew?"

This question took Willy by surprise, and he was left without an 
immediate answer. All he could say was...

Willy

"...I'm not sure if that's a good idea. It's pretty dangerous, fighting 
against a whole army of enemies."

Max

"Yeah, but I wanna help you guys out."

Willy

"I dunno, Max. I'm just the engineer. Why don't we ask Captain Bucky?"

Max

"If we have to, then okay."

They returned to the others on the bridge, and stood before Bucky.

Willy

"Hey, Bucky?"

Bucky

"Yeah?"

Willy

"Max wants to know if he could join us. He says he'd like to help us 
out."

Bucky, too, was not thrilled by his question. Not only would he be 
likely to get in their way, he would also be likely to putting his neck 
on the line without caution.

Bucky

"I'm sorry, but the answer is no. Not everyone can be part of 
S.P.A.C.E., you know."

Max looked down as he tried to mask a feeling of disappointment that 
began to rise within him.

Max

"Okay, I understand."

Willy

"I guess we better get to bed."

Bucky

"Okay. Good night, you two."

The boys returned to Willy's room and changed back to their pajamas. 
Willy shut the engine off and got back in his bed. Max slowly sat down 
in his bag, dangling his head the whole time.

Willy

"Are you okay?"

Max looked to Willy for a second, then back down. He drew a sigh as he 
replied.

Max
[unsurely]
"Yeah, I'm fine..."

Willy

"I'm sorry he turned you down. I guess we just don't need any more help 
right now."

Max

"Yeah, whatever......"

Willy yawned and slumped back in bed.

Willy

"Let's go back to sleep before Mom and Dad catch us awake."

Three hours into the night, Willy was fast asleep. Max, on the other 
hand, had his eyes opened for some time. His anger had kept him awake 
as thoughts of jealousy raced inside his mind.

Max

(If Willy can be in the crew, then why can't I? I can spy, can't I? I 
can fool the bad guys, can't I?! I'll show them -- I'll show them all 
what I can do!)

Very quietly, he got out of his bag, picked up his spy toys and tape 
recorder, and turned the engine back on. It began to hum, and it 
coughed, but Willy was too deep in his sleep to hear it. Next, he 
packed his items in a bag and he walked over to the closet door.

Scene 5
Oceanus I
1:48 AM, Universe Time

Willy's closet door appeared as Max entered the Righteous's bay. At 
that time, no one else was in there. In fact, no one was on the entire 
ship, for everyone already had left the ship. This seemed like a 
perfect opportunity for the kid to prove his worth. After checking 
around, he found the door that was already open. He took a peek outside. 
The crew was just heading off into a thick quay, while Blinky was 
staying behind to guard the ship. Max put himself flat against a wall 
next to the open door.

Max

(Oh man! If those animals find me here, I'm toast.)

He stuck his head out the door. Blinky was standing guard, holding a 
laser gun. Max crept out the door, hoping not to even tap. Bending his 
knees and taking baby steps down the ramp, he carefully watched the 
guard. By the time Blinky looked back to the door a few seconds later, 
no one was there. The boy sneaked off the ship and into the swampy 
bushes. Ahead, he could see a huge, abandoned observatory with a dome-
shaped roof.

Max

(That place looks strange. I bet something's going on in there.)

He went into the observatory and looked around. It was dimly lit, and 
guards were nowhere to be found. He rolled his eyes from left to right, 
and he saw that the coast was clear. The inside was pretty dark, so he 
turned on his "pen" and beamed it straight ahead, using it as a little 
flashlight. As Max walked down the path, voices were heard from a 
distance not far away. He turned around and saw three flashing lights 
ahead of him.

Max

(Uh-oh, I gotta hide!)

Max lept into an empty room and hid behind the door, peeping through 
the crack under it. Bucky, Jenny, and Dead-Eye were investigating the 
perimeter as well.

Bucky

"I haven't seen anything so far."

Jenny

"Me neither. I suspect the toads could be hiding deeper inside."

Dead-Eye

"Do ya think those bilge-suckers would waste their time in this dump?"

Jenny

"They wouldn't if they had no reason."

Bucky

"There's only one way we'll find out. C'mon!"

The trio continued their mission and went further down the path. Max 
overheard them and learned that the Toads were possibly hiding out 
inside the observatory. And then came an idea that would be costly to 
him: to find the Toads and foil their scheme before the Righteous' crew 
could.

Max

(This is getting interesting. I think I'm gonna find out what's going 
on, too.)

The boy got out of his hiding place and continued on his own path. As 
he traveled further and further into the dark halls, he found a square-
shaped A/C vent. With confidence, he pulled off  the rusty vent filter 
and set it aside. The square-shaped pipes were kind of roomy, so he 
could easily fit inside of them. He stooped down and crawled further 
inside, hoping to find a good place to peep out of. He crawled, and he 
crawled, for over 50 feet. But, he found nothing in the holes that he 
looked through. Just then, he heard voices coming from the very last 
vent. Curious, he commando-crawled to that vent, and he quietly set his 
face against the filter, his eyes glaring through it to see what was 
happening. In that room was a group of villains conspiring. Captain 
Smata, along with a group of toad scientists, were in there. KOMPLEX 
was there as well, being their leader and monitor. It seemed that they 
were constructing some sort of gigantic device that was pointing to the 
roof.

Max

(What *is* that thing? It looks like a huge laser cannon...)

While Max was pondering what the device was, KOMPLEX approached the 
captain and asked for a status report.

KOMPLEX

"How is our new weapon progressing?"

Chief Scientist

"It is almost complete, Master."

The gray-bearded chief scientist, Dr. Slyme, was carrying a projector. 
He set it on the floor as he cleared his throat.

Dr. Slyme

"For your viewing pleasure, I would like to share with you, a plan that 
will revolutionize life in the Aniverse. Lights, please!"

The room went pitch-black, and above the crowd appeared a three-
dimensional projection. This film was a demonstration of a terrible, 
top-secret scheme that was soon to be hatched. The animations, the 
plots, and the aftermath of the plan all looked so astounding to the 
toads, that they cheered with whistles and yells of praise. In the 
vents, Max, too, was watching the dreadful sights in the presentation. 
It was so bizarre yet so creepy, that his eyes had widened and he let 
out a soft gasp.

Max

(You have *got* to be kidding!)

Unbenownst to him, the A/C vents were so dusty that a cloud of dust 
went up his nose. The nerves in his nose were tickled, and he geared up 
to sneeze. Desperately trying to keep himself quiet, he pinched his 
nose and sealed his nostrils. The feeling was gone, and he was relieved. 
And then, he sneezed so loud, it echoed around the entire building's 
A/C system. The toads, now startled, looked all around to see what made 
such a thunderous noise. 

A soldier, who happened to be right near the walls, checked the A/C 
vents nearby. Max kept still, hoping the toad would not find him. He 
just laid himself on his stomach as lowly and flatly as possible. 
Unfortunately for him, the soldier looked into the exact vent in which 
he was hiding. The storm toad found an intruder in the enemy's midst!

Storm Toad

"Storm Toad to Captain -- we've got a spy in our base! Repeat, we have 
an intruder!"

Now that the toads had found him out, Max started crawling for his life, 
hoping to find a safe exit. He found his way back after three minutes 
of searching, but two troops were standing in the hallway, pointing 
their disruptor rifles at him. He refused to give up, so he turned 
away and went back into the tunnels. The two toads tried to shoot him 
down, but their accuracy was so poor, he easily avoided their shots. 
Resuming his search for a safe way outside, he crawled around to other 
parts of the A/C system. However, every outlet in the building was 
guarded. So, he had no choice but to surrender. One of the storm toads 
grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him out. His hands were cuffed 
together, and his legs were bounded by motion sensors rings. He was 
turned over to the leaders. One troop nudged the struggling intruder 
from behind, forcing him to step forward. The captain approached him 
and looked upon him in disbelief.

Captain Smata

"Who and what are you to barge in, uninvited?"

Max
[struggling]
"If you think your crazy plan's gonna work, you've got another thing 
coming!

Dr. Slyme

"We'll just see about that, won't we?"

KOMPLEX

"This brat seems to know so much about our plan; perhaps *too* much. 
What interests me is that he is a human...just like O'Hare's engineer. 
I have plans for you. Great plans...ha, ha, ha!"

KOMPLEX chuckled sinisterly, and Max trembled with growing fear as his 
eyes widened at the sight of the nightmarish foe that looked at him 
with his red eyes.

Meanwhile...

Scene 6
Toads' Hideout
02:35 AM, Universe Time

Bucky and company heard cackling that reverberated throughout the empty 
hallways of the east wing of the grand building. It seemed startling, 
they could recognize it somehow. Jenny was the first to take notice of 
this familiarity.

Jenny

"That laugh -- it can't be!"

Bucky

"Commander Dogstar was right. The Toads *are* hiding in here! This 
way!"

In order to pinpoint the Toads' exact place, Bucky, Jenny, and Dead-Eye 
followed the sound as much as they could. Soon, however, the laughing 
faded. Then, came the crackling of electricity that got them back on 
track. This crackling lasted for nearly a minute, which was enough time 
for them to walk into the dome room. The dreadful weapon, which was 
near completion, was in plain view. They looked questioningly at it, 
wondering about its potential for danger and disaster. Unbenownst to 
them, they walked right into a trap that the Toads had laid for them!
Storm Toads marched out of hiding and encircled them as they pointed 
their maser rifles, with the iron will to shoot if they moved even a 
fraction of an inch. The supervisors stood before them, Captain Smata 
smirking pompously towards Bucky as he chuckled at the current state of 
him and his crew mates.

Captain Smata

"Ah, if it isn't the bold and daring Captain O'Hare. We meet again."

Bucky

"What are you wart-brains up to this time?"

Dr. Slyme

"Oh, let's just say you are all in for, shall we say...
[maniacally] a 'career change'."

Dead-Eye

"What the heck are you talking about?"

Dr. Slyme

"In just a few seconds, our secret weapon will fully charge itself. 
When it fires, well...you will find out soon enough."

The cannon's had soon reached its maximum, and now it was ready to fire. 
An operator pointed it towards them, its shooting end flashing a green 
light. The light shrunk, and was about to grow into a laser, when 
suddenly, a voice shouted from out of nowhere.

??????

"Wait!"

A figure, about the size of a berserker baboon, materialized out of 
thin air. He wore a navy blue modern ninja-like suit, heat-retardant 
gloves, and a blue helmet with a chameleon's horn on top. The helmet 
and its darkened visor completely hid his face; no one could tell if he 
was a mammal, an insect, a human, a bird, or an amphibian. The mammals 
were baffled.

KOMPLEX

"What is the meaning of this? Can't you see we're finally about to 
defeat our enemy?!"

??????

"Why use it on just this planet? We should try it on the whole 
Aniverse!"

Dr. Slyme took a moment to groom his beard with his hand again while 
giving the idea some thought.

Dr. Slyme

"Hm...you have a bright idea. Master KOMPLEX, what do you propose?"

KOMPLEX

"His proposition shows great potential. Consider yourself lucky, 
mammals. In a few days, the entire Aniverse will be ours. Just try and 
stop us if you dare!"

KOMPLEX faded away with a cruel laugh, and so did the toads. The figure 
stood and glared towards them, tilting his head forward and pointing 
his index finger.

??????

"We'll show you who the real heroes are. Just you wait!"

He, too, disappeared. Bucky turned his view towards the giant weapon 
that was then being lifted by a giant crane from high above. As he 
watched the Toad Mothership carry it off, he began to ponder what this 
secret weapon was, and what it could be capable of.

Bucky

"What do you think they plan to do this time?"

Jenny slowly closed her eyes and shook her head.

Jenny
[quivering]
"If only I knew..."


What do the Toads intend to do with their device, and the entire 
Aniverse? What happened to Max? And, who is that suited figure? 
Questions such as these will be answered as "The Mask of the Chameleon" 
continues...