"All's Well ..." by Claudia Carranza and DJ Clawson First draft - 3/30/01 Second draft - 11/2/01 Final draft - 12/16/01 Edited by Rygar 4/11/09 SCENE 1 ­ DARK PASSAGEWAY, TOAD CAMP The hallway is sparsely lit by awkwardly jutting shafts of light and random computer terminals. A young hare, clothes dirty and torn, runs down the hall. A thick metal collar is clamped tight about his neck. Skidding to a stop, the young hare pulls out a computer disk. With a shaky paw, he presses the disk into the terminal and types furiously at the keypad. A mere heartbeat later, a tiny red light flashes on the side of the hare's collar. The hare clutches at the collar with one hand, obvious pain shooting through his body. Fighting the intense pain, the young hare manages to finish his typing and pull the disk from the drive. With blood beginning to seep from the bottom edge of the collar, the hare snaps the disk in two before falling to the floor. Moments later, three toad sentries move other to collect the dead hare. They don't spot the broken data disk, lying in a shadow near the wall of the hallway. SCENE 2 ­ MAMMALIAN PLEASURE CRUISER The CAPTAIN, an elderly and graying fox, sits at the helm, looking rather bored. He watches the message indicator blink, showing a backlog of unchecked messages. CAPTAIN (without looking at the young fox behind him) Dyanne, transcribe these messages. DYANNE (looks up from her navigational charts) Yes, sir. DYANNE, a petite young vixen, stands and heads to a side office. She casually begins typing the sounds coming from her headset, eyes closed in relaxed concentration. A soft smile never leaves her face until the final message, where the calm expression is replaced by a growing expression of confusion and fear. Her eyes snap open, and she rewinds the message and listens to it again before yanking her headpiece off and running back to the bridge. SCENE 3 ­ THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION, GENUS The Righteous Indignation is on a docking slip on Genus. The ship's running lights are off, and no one is in the plotting bay. AFC BLINKY, never sleeping, sits manning the command station, watching the sensor readouts scroll past. The communications light blinks, and Blinky turns to the ship's intercom system. BLINKY (over comm) AFC Blinky to Captain O'Hare. CAPTAIN BUCKY O'HARE responds after a long moment's delay. His voice is raspier than normal and sounding slurred. BUCKY Go 'head, Blink. BLINKY (continuing without comment) AFC Blinky has noticed a priority one communication is incoming from Genus. BUCKY (tries to cover the sound of soft grumbling) Send it to my quarters. Blinky reaches forward to type in a short command at the console in front of him. BLINKY Aye, Captain. SCENE 4 - BUCKY'S APARTMENT, GENUS Bucky forces himself awake enough to stumble out of bed. He sits at his desk, runs a paw through his mussed hair, and hits the "activate" button. BUCKY Captain O'Hare. Access code 11A-123B. FRITZ (over the comm, a hint of tensing in his voice) Catch you at a bad time, Captain? BUCKY (sighs, somewhat annoyed) It's the middle of the night, Fritz. What do you want? FRITZ (with a hint of humor) A pack of Camels, but we haven't the time for that. I need you to investigate these coordinates. (transmits something to Bucky's computer) A mammalian pleasure craft intercepted them twelve hours ago on the other side of Sector Eight. We think there's a potentially dangerous toad base out there. BUCKY (cuts in while scanning the transmission) And you'd like me to sniff it out, blow stuff up, and generally save the day as usual? FRITZ (smiling) If you think you can fit it into your hectic schedule. BUCKY (rolls his eyes) I'll pencil you in. O'Hare out. As Bucky leans back with a fatigued sigh, FIRST MATE JENNY pokes her head out of the bed nook. JENNY (her hair far more mussed than Bucky's hair) Trouble? BUCKY (sighs and looks over at the rumpled cat) It can wait 'til morning. JENNY (smiles softly) Then come back to bed. BUCKY Is that an order, First Mate? Jenny shifts, exposing a bare shoulder and the blanket covering the rest of her form. There is a big grin on her feline features. JENNY Only if you give me a hell of a promotion, Captain. SCENE 5 ­ EARTH, SAN FRANCISCO It's clearly a Friday. The school kids are chatting more than normal, and the talk is about movies. A group of young girls, near ENGINEER WILLY DUWITT's age, are talking near Willy as he moves to make his way home. One of Willy's female CLASSMATES stops him. CLASSMATE #1 Hey Will! WILLY (looks over and pushes his glasses up) Yeah? CLASSMATE #1 (moves over, the group in tow) Doing anything tonight? WILLY (gulps slightly as he is half-encircled by girls) Hmm ... working on ... a science project? CLASSMATE #1 In case you didn't notice, as of four minutes ago, we're on summer vacation. (laughs with the rest of the group) Anyway, there's a party at TJ's tonight, and we need a supplier. WILLY (blinks and looks utterly confused) Uh ... what? CLASSMATE #1 You know. Grass. Weed. WILLY I don't know what you're talking about. Another classmate chimes in. CLASSMATE #2 C'mon, Susie lives next door to you, and she says you have a garden in your backyard. WILLY It's not mine. So ... I really ... can't. The girls just laugh as a slightly red-faced Willy moves off down the street. He wipes his brow and sighs just as his memory stone activates. Willy gasps, then takes off full speed toward his house, two blocks away, causing the group of girls to laugh at his retreating form. Once home, Willy rushes in and slams the door behind him. MRS. DUWITT Everything OK, honey? Willy spins around to see his mother, MRS. SUSAN DUWITT, straightening things around the living room. DR. DAVID DUWITT is carrying suitcases down from upstairs and putting them in the hallway. WILLY Yeah, Mom. Just a weird day. MRS. DUWITT Do you have work now? WILLY (without glancing at his watch) Yeah, I really do. Sorry I can't drive you to the airport. Not that I can drive, or anything. MRS. DUWITT Then this is goodbye. (embraces him and kisses him on the cheek) Have a good summer. WILLY Enjoy India. DR. DUWITT We left you some money on your dresser. If you need more, send us a telegram, and we'll wire you some. Or borrow from Captain O'Hare, and we'll pay him back when we get back. WILLY I'll be fine. Willy helps his parents out, and after a few more sentimental goodbyes from his parents, he is finally alone in the house. With a sigh, he shuts off the lights and heads upstairs. WILLY (to himself) A summer in the aniverse ... how cool. (with a twinge of guilt) Though I think I'm actually going to miss my parents. That's weird. Willy changes into his work clothes. WILLY (thinking) (beat) Shrugging it off, Willy finally takes off his cap and calls Jenny. WILLY (to Jenny) JENNY (not noticing) WILLY JENNY WILLY (opens his closet and retrieves his bag) JENNY (gives a mental sigh of frustration) WILLY (grins) JENNY (beat) WILLY (blushes) A few minutes later, after getting redressed, Willy steps into the engine room of The Righteous Indignation. WILLY (glancing about) Hey guys. What did I miss? BUCKY (moves over) Not much. It was actually pretty quiet until a mammalian pleasure craft got a hold of this. (holds out a small printout, which Willy takes and reads) It looks like a toad base, but the coordinates place it in an uninhabitable system. It's a binary star system with only giant gas planets and their moons in orbit. The only plus to the system is its proximity to mammal shipping lines. There have been some attacks on some scrap ships, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Bucky glances at GUNNER DEADEYE DUCK. BUCKY It's also a heavily pirated, by many races, and so the UAC Security Council doesn't bother with it. (takes the paper back) That transmission came in just under a day ago, and we need to investigate. WILLY (grins) So be ready for battle stations and get the mark-5 warmed up, huh? Bucky nods as Willy heads to engineering, while he himself turns to the piloting bay to join Jenny. SCENE 6 ­ THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION, UNKNOWN SYSTEM The Righteous streaks into the remote binary star system with no trouble and slows to scan the area. BUCKY (running the scan) The coordinates match up. There's a high concentration of steelian alloy on the fourth planet's outermost satellite. JENNY Taking us in. Jenny smoothly pilots the ship closer to the medium-sized moon while Bucky scans the surface. BUCKY I'm not detecting any life forms, though there are a few surfaces buildings. It looks like there are some defense systems in place, but they aren't powering up. (beat) That's odd. Come to think of it, the power output from that base is extremely low. I don't think they've even got life support at this point. (looks up at Jenny) The base looks deserted! JENNY Then there must be a reason, wouldn't you agree? BUCKY (grins) Take her in, pilot. JENNY (smiles) Aye, aye, Captain. SCENE 7 ­ TOAD BASE, SURFACE OF THE MOON, UNKNOWN SYSTEM The surface of this moon is barely livable. Biting winds swirl dust and grime against the crew of the Righteous. Just inside the bay doors, Bucky gives some last minute orders. BUCKY Blinky and Willy will stay behind to watch the ship while the rest of us head into the base and take a look around. I don't have a clue as to what we might encounter, so I'll decide if we're splitting up once we get inside. (glances at Jenny and Willy) I want you two to keep in contact every fifteen minutes or so. Jenny nods. Bucky then turns to Willy. BUCKY If you fail to get in touch with Jenny, I want you to send off an automated, encoded distress call and get out of here. We'll be giving live feed reports into the computer, so you'll be able to give us a hand using those schematics in case my data pad goes down. We'll also use that link as a real-time feed in case we run into trouble. Jenny's our failsafe. (waits for the crew to nod their readiness) Let's do this. SCENE 8 ­ ENTRANCE, TOAD FACILITY The corridors are dark, illuminated solely by random showers of sparks and the low glow of barely powered computer terminals. The crew walks in carefully, surveying the area. The hallway is littered with bodies. Toad bodies. They lie in macabre positions, holes drilled into their flesh from every imaginable angle. Though these creatures are the crew's sworn enemy, even Bucky feels remorse for the pour souls that died. BRUISER is the first to comment. BRUISER Man. Looks like somethin' beat us to these toadies. DEADEYE (nods, swallowing hard against the gore) Aye. Let's hope there weren't any mammals that fell t' the same fate, matey. BUCKY (looking at the gruesome sight of toad wallpaper) What could *do* such a thing? JENNY (shakes her head, kneeling near a toad, spell gems fading) I haven't a clue, and neither did they. (stands) Whatever it was, it wasn't toad, mammal, or anything flesh. DEADEYE (turns to look at Jenny) Could it'a been Dallion? BUCKY (shakes his head) Can't be. Dallion's messy, but even he wouldn't have gone this far. BRUSIER (calls from up ahead) I found sum stairs! The crew moves over and follows Bruiser to the next level of the base. SCENE 9 ­ SURFACE, OUTSIDE THE RIGHTEOUS Three unclear FIGURES stand outside the Righteous. FIGURE #1 (looking at data pad) There's a mechanical life form inside. FIGURE #3 The robot. FIGURE #2 Neutralize it. FIGURE #1 Should we wipe its memory core? SCENE 10 ­ LEVEL TWO, TOAD BASE The crew move through more halls with more corpses tossed about as carelessly as a spoiled child would toss an unwanted doll. Deadeye moves to a computer terminal as Bucky calls Willy. BUCKY (over comm) O'Hare to Righteous. WILLY (over comm) Righteous here. Go ahead, Captain. BUCKY (over comm, looking around) We're in level two. Double-check the schematics. Deadeye's trying for a direct up link. WILLY (over comm) Searching. A few tense moments pass while Deadeye types furiously at the terminal. WILLY (over comm) You should be in corridor 002-A014. The corridor ends four hundred paces north-northeast at a blast door. I don't have the access codes. DEADEYE (trying to be loud enough to be heard) Don't ya worry, matey. I'll find 'em. Bruiser is about to add something when Deadeye's terminal sparks, showering the Canard with white-hot specks. He lets out a startled scream and hops back quickly. DEADEYE Maybe not. BUCKY Don't worry. We'll figure something out. Keep us informed, Willy. WILLY Aye, aye. SCENE 11 ­ CORE ROOM, TOAD BASE A lifeless monitor suddenly springs to life. It begins to scroll text: Intruders detected. Level 2. Section 14. Internal sensors indicate movement toward inner core. Sentry 00415, Sentry 00416 intercept. A set of glowing yellow eyes flicks on. The text continues a line down: Sentry 00415: Acknowledged. Another set of glowing yellow eyes flicks on. The text continues another line down: Sentry 00416: Acknowledged. SCENE 12 ­ BLAST DOOR, LEVEL TWO, TOAD BASE The crew arrive at the blast doors and find, not surprisingly, that they are sealed shut. Bucky nods to Bruiser, who moves over to the doors. With a mighty bellow, he pounds the door twice. With each hit, the doors shudder on their frames. They finally fall to the floor of the hallway. BRUISER I got yer security codes right here! Deadeye and Bucky grin before following Bruiser in. Two steps into the hall, a brightly searing blaster bolt streaks out of nowhere and tags Deadeye in the lower right arm. He rolls into an indention in the hallway, crouching near a toad corpse, while the rest of the crew scatter and return fire. Jenny pauses to magically sense ahead. JENNY (startled) It's not alive! BUCKY (nervous) Is it Toadborg? JENNY (eyes closed in concentration) No. I sense ... no intelligence! (opens her eyes to look at Bucky) It's mindless. BUCKY (yells and fires with more determination) Take it down! Take it down! The crew is nearly unpinned when a second set of blasts streak in from behind them. BUCKY Damn it! There's another one! (thinking quickly) Bruiser, take down the first one. We'll start injuring the new one. Bruiser smiles and runs from his hiding place. Whooping his war cry, the baboon charges the first creature. Flesh meets metal, and a raging fistfight ensues as blasters ring out behind him. Bruiser grabs a pipe off a wall and beats the vaguely toad-sized, toad-shaped metal thing into scrap. Turning on his heel, adrenaline coursing through him, Bruiser charges, without orders, directly at the second thing, ignoring the two blaster bolts that cut into his arm and thigh. A short time later, he's left panting over a pile of smoldering, twisted metal. JENNY (moving out of her hiding place behind Bucky) What were those things? BUCKY (moves over to examine one) It looks like an android. DEADEYE But it's a toadie, lad. BUCKY I know. That's what makes this weird. (looks up) We have to get to the main computer core and see if there's enough power left to let us access and download the plans of whatever these things are. (looks at the metal thing again) They're obviously well armed and well armored. They could be dangerous to the UAC. The crew nods and moves off. SCENE 13 ­ CORE ROOM, TOAD BASE Text flickers across the same single monitor: Sentry 00415: eliminated. Sentry 00416: eliminated. Deploying Sentries 00145 through 00159. SCENE 14 ­ OUTSIDE THE RIGHTEOUS The three figures have moved up and are next to the ship's hull. FIGURE #2 (finishes attaching a device to the hull of the craft) EMP secured. FIGURE #3 EMP in five ... four ... three ... two ... ready... now. A soft blue pulse wave ripples through the ship. The lights flicker and go out. WILLY (from inside) What on Earth? FIGURE #1 Target sighted. SCENE 15 ­ LOWER LEVELS, TOAD BASE The crew has fought a few more of the robot-toads, having run into one every corridor. They've managed to, in the short time they've encountered them, find a way to drop them quickly and without hassle. BUCKY (standing over their latest kill) They look less and less complete. (looking up) Has anyone else noticed? BRUISER Yeah. They smash easier. JENNY (holds a hand to her spell gem) Willy's contacting me. (goes silent as she communicates in her mind before speaking aloud) He's fine. Something caused a power short on the ship. He's taking a look at it, but normal communications will be down for some time. He'll contact me again when his repairs are done. BUCKY (nods) Good enough. (waves) Let's move out. They press on, moving through doors and corridors. They arrive at an intersection that Bucky's data pad indicates leads directly to the main core. Bucky pauses by the intersection and glances in quickly. He glances in a second time, seeing nothing. He waves the others to follow as he boldly rounds the corner. Just as Jenny is about to step foot in the corridor, a green blast rings out of nowhere and knocks Bucky back against the far wall where he slides down and remains there, motionless. JENNY (quickly drops back into cover) Shit! Bruiser, Deadeye, cover us. I've got to find out what we're facing! As Deadeye and Bruiser take up firing in volleys around the corner, Jenny casts Astral Projection and floats to check on Bucky. After assuring herself that the blast hit his blast vest and that he's only unconscious, Jenny turns to float down the hallway. She looks around and pales. The room is a virtual factory, complete with conveyor belts carrying parts of metal and mammal body parts. She follows the belts, noting that the flesh parts are being ground down to make a noxious form of hydraulic fluid while the metals are being melted and poured into parts and molds. On the far side of the room, semi-complete robot- toads step into activation. An ever-growing number of robots turn to face Bruiser and Deadeye. Jenny investigates quickly and finds a computer terminal with command strings scrolling past at near-blinding speed. Concentrating on her paw, she forces her magic into an electrically disruptive force. As she opens her eyes, she presses her paw, first against the monitor, then into it, and into the heart of the central processing unit. Jenny's eyes widen as KOMPLEX's mechanical face appears suddenly, its expression filled with shock, fear, and pain. She grins and flares her powers, realizing she has KOMPLEX. At last, the war could be won! KOMPLEX's face screams, a high-pitched mechanical whine. Behind Jenny's transparent form, Bruiser and Deadeye blast their way into the room as the robots slow in confusion. Just as Jenny feels she is close to victory, Deadeye levels a blaster at the computer's connection, severing KOMPLEX from the terminal. The backlash of the two forces causes the terminal to explode violently, unleashing a wave of both electrical power and magical energy, knocking Jenny forcibly back into her body. She falls to the ground as Bucky shakes his head slowly, waking. SCENE 16 ­ RIGHTEOUS, LEAVING ORBIT The crew has returned to the ship, and Jenny appears to be OK, though she requests a light piloting schedule on the way home, to which Bucky agrees. They found Blinky rebooting and no sign of Willy, though his door was active. BUCKY (taking over the controls from Jenny after they are headed home) Find Willy, then get some shuteye. Jenny nods silently and closes her eyes. A moment passes. JENNY I ... I can't reach him! BUCKY (startled) What? JENNY (turns to Bucky) He's gone! BUCKY You mean, he went home? JENNY No, I'd be able to reach him if he was home. Captain, I think he's still in the aniverse. BUCKY But you can't reach him ... JENNY Which means he's probably unconscious. Bucky curses in Warrenian. BUCKY Take us back to that base! SCENE 17 - THE BASE The crew is now outside the ship, which is at the entrance to the base. BUCKY OK, we'll split up and search the place. Things should be pretty quiet, since we already subdued the toads. But keep your comms open and report anything suspicious. (to Jenny) Keep trying to raise Willy. JENNY I'll try. They salute and split up. Bucky leaps across the place at a frantic place, his mind racing. BUCKY If anything's happened to him ... The place is eerily quiet, which further disturbs Bucky. He's reached a point of desperation when he finally finds a stray TOAD TROOPER and charges him, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him against the wall. BUCKY Take me to Willy! The toad shrugs. TOAD TROOPER #1 If you insist ... In his desperation, Bucky has not seen a second trooper sneak up behind him. He pays for it when the trooper smacks him in the back of the head with his blaster. The hare collapses on the ground. TOAD TROOPER #2 Take him to Toadborg. They cuff Bucky and drag him off. SCENE 18 - TOAD LABORATORY The toad troopers drag Bucky to what looks like a dead end. One of the troopers holds up a keypad and places it on the wall, and part of the wall slides open to reveal a hidden room. This room is a sophisticated toad laboratory, obviously the main point of the base. In the center of the room is Willy, unconscious and strapped to what resembles a dentist's chair. He is being monitored by several toad scientists in lab coats. TOADBORG is present, watching with interest. One of the scientists places a sensor on Willy's left temple and activates it. Willy snaps awake and takes stock of the situation. Toadborg leers over him, and Willy makes a semi-confident guess that this is this going to be a torture situation, and responds with the official soldier response. WILLY (putting up a brave front) Engineer William DuWitt. UAC Fleet, ID number 35714. TOADBORG (to his scientist) Bring me the machine. He grabs Willy by the jaw with his metallic claws. TOADBORG Your bravery is admirable, but futile. WILLY (like he's reading off a card) Engineer William DuWitt. UAC ... The cyborg releases him and turns away to greet the arrival of a gigantic machine that resembles a ray gun propped up on a platform. It is obviously toad technology and has the KOMPLEX logo on both sides. It is on a cart that is being pushed in by white-clad scientists. One powers it up as another positions it so the canon is facing Willy's forehead at a few feet's distance. Willy has a look of horrible despair on his face. WILLY (weaker) ... fleet, ID number 35714 ... One of the scientists begins to strap down Willy's head to the headrest of the chair so it cannot be moved. Another scientist removes his glasses. WILLY Um ... help? The door suddenly slides open behind Willy, but he can no longer change his viewpoint. Behind him, a toad soldier speaks. TOAD TROOPER Toadborg, sir -- we have the hare. TOADBORG Wonderful. An unexpected surprise. Bring him in. The two troopers drag in the handcuffed and barely conscious Bucky. He is brought to his knees before Toadborg, held in place by the pair of toads. Toadborg slaps him. TOADBORG Wake up! I want you to see this, Captain O'Hare. Bucky comes around and spots Willy's mysterious predicament. BUCKY Willy! WILLY Captain! The hare struggles to get up but is held fast. BUCKY Toadborg! What are you doing? TOADBORG Just a little experiment, O'Hare. Ever since our attempt to broadcast KOMPLEX's ingenious brainwashing signals in a frequency that mammalian brains would accept, I've had a little theory about your other- dimensional engineer. And now I finally have a chance to test it. With Toadborg's signal, the scientists begin to power the machine. A red targeting light appears on Willy's forehead. BUCKY Toadborg, let him go! He's just a child! TOADBORG A child with the mind of a genius. A mind that the Toad Empire needs. WILLY No! I'll never work for the toads! TOADBORG Foolish human. To deny your fate ... (beat) You deserve to have only the best opportunities to put that precious mind to work. (to the scientists) Fire at will. Toadborg steps away farther away from the chair, giving the laser a clear target. Willy squirms in his seat but is unable to free himself. It now takes three toads to hold Bucky back. WILLY Captain! BUCKY Willy! To Bucky's horror, he is forced to watch as the machine fires a red laser into the center of Willy's forehead. He screams as a charge of energy launches through his body. Everyone but Toadborg has to look away because of the intensity of the light. After twenty agonizing seconds, the machine stops firing and begins to power down. The light extinguished, they are all able to look back at the chair. Willy is unconscious, with a small burn mark in his forehead where the laser hit. A scientist takes his head out of the straps and it slumps forward limply, Willy's long hair falling over his face. The scientist scans him with a medical instrument. SCIENTIST His vitals are normal. Toadborg approaches Willy's body and lifts his chin up gently. It is the only gesture of kindness Bucky has ever seen in the cyborg. TOADBORG DuWitt? Can you hear me? Willy's eyes open halfway. He looks disoriented. WILLY (slurred and delayed) Yes. The cyborg takes his claw away, and Willy is able to hold up his head. He blinks slowly. TOADBORG How do you feel? WILLY I ... dunno. OK, I guess. TOADBORG Do you know why you're here? WILLY (brow furrows) I don't know, sir. TOADBORG And what is your mission? WILLY To serve the Toad Empire, sir. Willy says it with a matter-of-fact attitude that horrifies Bucky. BUCKY Willy! But Willy either doesn't hear Bucky or chooses to ignore him as he is unstrapped released. Free of the constricting chair, he stretches quickly and salutes Toadborg. WILLY Sir. Bucky can no longer be held back. He throws off the three toad troopers and charges at either Willy or Toadborg, but since they're standing so close, his target is unclear. He his stopped only a few feet away by a stunning blast from one of the toad's blaster rifles. He slumps to the ground, unconscious again. Willy looks rather alarmed at this turn of events. TOADBORG KOMPLEX will protect you from all of your enemies, Engineer DuWitt. Now if you would come with me ... Toadborg leads him out through the door, leaving the troopers with Bucky. SCENE 19 - HALLWAY, TOAD BASE The troopers are still dragging Bucky when they get tired and momentarily drop him. TOAD TROOPER #1 What are we supposed to do with this guy, anyway? TOAD TROOPER #2 Beats me. Toadborg didn't give us any orders ... Their dialogue is interrupted as the ground begins to shake with the unmistakable rhythm of a berserker baboon, and Bruiser appears around the corner. He spots the toad standing over his injured captain and goes on a rampage. BRUISER GET AWAY FROM HIM! AYOOGA! The toads yelp and run away. Brusier momentarily plans to chase them, but his priority is to his superior officer. Scooping up Bucky, he clicks on his comm-link. BRUISER Uh, Jenny ... the Cap'n's injured. JENNY (over comm) Bring him back to the Righteous immediately. Bruiser stamps back toward the entrance with a weight that continues to shake the place. SCENE 20 - THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION Back on the Righteous, the available crew -- now only consisting of Jenny, Deadeye, and Bruiser -- has collected to attend to Bucky. He has a blaster burn on his side and blood trickling from a tear in the back of his head. Jenny tends to his wounds as he returns to consciousness. BUCKY Ugh ... JENNY Who did this to you, Captain? BUCKY Troopers ... Toadborg ... JENNY Did you find Willy? BUCKY (coming around) Willy, he's ... (he searches for a way to say it) They have him. JENNY We'll get him back. BUCKY No, it's not that simple, he's ... (beat) They got him. They brainwashed Willy. If they weren't paying full attention to Bucky before, they are now. There is a disbelieving silence. BUCKY It's true. Willy's been brainwashed. By laser. He's aligned with KOMPLEX now -- unless he was acting. JENNY Willy can't act. BUCKY I know. Bucky tries to stand up, but he grunts in pain as he makes the attempt, gripping his injured side. Jenny and Blinky force him back down. DEADEYE Don' worry, Cap'n -- we're not leavin' without him. BUCKY Good. Then let's ... JENNY Bucky, no! You're injured. You should stay put. BUCKY I can't. Not while Willy's in slimy toad hands. JENNY Captain, you're going to stay on that cot if Bruiser has to strap you in. Do you understand me? BUCKY (reluctantly) Yes. JENNY Good. Now, where did you see Willy last? BUCKY Lab. (thinking slowly) Third hallway to the right. Follow it to the end. I think. I don't remember ... Bucky closes his eyes, and Jenny eases back against the cot, then turns to the remaining crew. JENNY Bruiser, are you still up for some toad croaking? BRUISER Do ya hafta ask? JENNY Good. Let's get Willy back! They nod in agreement. SCENE 21 - THE LABORATORY Some time later, the three Righteous members have managed to locate the hidden laboratory. They find it empty of life forms aside from a scientist, who cowers when he spots them. Bruiser grabs him and holds him up in the air so Jenny can safely question him. JENNY Where is Toadborg? The scientist points, and a side door opens. Toadborg steps in. TOADBORG Ah, I figured there'd be some pathetic rescue attempt. You mammals are so predictable. BRUISER (dropping the scientist) What've you done wit' Willy?! TOADBORG Obviously you would like to see the results of my fabulous experiment. Engineer DuWitt ... Willy steps through the door, wearing a white toad scientist lab coat over his work clothes. He salutes Toadborg. TOADBORG Do you have anything to say to your former allies? WILLY Not really. JENNY Willy, come with us. I know you're confused ... WILLY (sternly) I'm not confused. I've never been less confused in my life. I know where I stand. JENNY Willy, as your master ... WILLY You're not my master anymore. My only master is KOMPLEX. TOADBORG Enough of this prattle. Let us return to the home world. JENNY (reluctant) Willy, if you won't come willingly ... Jenny hurls a magical blast of energy at Toadborg. Willy merely raises his hand and makes a signal, and as Jenny's ball of energy gets within a foot of him and Toadborg, it is deflected by an invisible barrier. TOADBORG Guards! Toadborg likewise snaps his claws, and several storm troopers appear from behind them and form a wall of soldiers between them and the Righteous trio. TOADBORG I will not tolerate any further distractions. I suggest you mammals leave immediately. Come, DuWitt. Willy obediently follows him out the same door through which they entered. The troopers begin firing on the Righteous crew, which is forced to retreat. JENNY Back to the ship! They rush back to the Righteous, which takes off. Inside, Blinky is tending to Bucky's wounds. He reads the crestfallen looks on all of their faces and realizes they were unable to convince Willy to come with them. BRUISER What's the move, Cap'n? BUCKY We return to Genus and report to the Security Council. We're going to need the full resources of S.P.A.C.E. to get Willy back. They nod and salute. Bucky painfully salutes them back. Only when they disperse does Jenny let her emotions affect her, alone in piloting bay, staring out at the empty space with tears in her eyes. JENNY Willy ... THE END