Note- It may be awhile for this series to be finished, for I have another series on the go, and am currently helping my cousins with stop-motion movies, (watch for Master Brick Theatres, you animation connoisseurs, you!). Enjoy! (Credit goes to my one-time writer friend Brakkiss for the... unique characters names for the Canucks B-Team...) Rated R for violence later on... Chapter 2- Switching Countries "This is your captain speaking, flight Neuf-cent, quatre-vingnt, dix-neuf, Japan to Canada, is approaching its final destination. We would ask that you buckle your seatbelts, and return your seats to their upright position. The local time is 6:54, and we are ahead of schedule. The temperature is at 7 degrees Celsius, which is unusually odd for this time of year. Thank you for choosing Canada 4000 Airlines, and have a safe trip." Carla, after hearing the pilot over the intercom looked out her window. "Oh birdie, look at the forests!" She giddily finished. Bird yawned and looked over. Indeed there was a large forest. Incredibly large. Just... green. Then a large city came into a view. It looked from up on the plane all of Little Tokyo could have fit into the large city, ten times. Carla thumbed through a traveller's guide. "That's Vancouver, hmm... 1995 population... 515,499." "So many people..." Bird mumbled. "At least we are staying in the countryside." "I hope we can stay near the mountains." Carla said peering out her window as the plane begun to land. Now Good Bird was totally awestruck. As the plane descended through the atmosphere it only showed just how big the mountains to the East of Vancouver were. Comparing these to mount Coochie, Coochie was an anthill. The snowy peaks of the mountain range seemed to peak upwards to the heavens. "That's high." Bird choked out. The plane shook slightly as it landed on the pavement. The plane slowed down, and turned towards the airport. It finally came to a stop, and all of the eager passengers stood up, stretched, and grabbed their luggage, and poured out of the plane into the strange new country. Good Bird, having been trained as Ninja Crow, had a definite advantage when he 'exited' the bustling plane. For the next short while, Good Bird and Carla had to get their luggage and perform all of the basic airport procedures. The couple had now gotten to the front of the airport. "Carla now what do we do?" Bird asked while looking around the bustling city. Carla thumbed through some notes Speedy had jotted, after his intercontinental-conversation. "We are being picked up, by one of their team's members... The mechanic," Carla could read no more, as the writing was jotted down too fast, and was unintelligible. No sooner has she finished when, she saw someone near a van with a sign, saying Good Bird & Carla on it. She dragged Good Bird along. As GB and Carla approached, Bird considered a loud wolf whistle. The woman with the sign was a vixen, with a cherry red coat, and hair dangling to her tail. She wore nothing special, jeans, and a T-shirt, but her green eyes seemed mysterious and alluring. "Wow." Bird spoke plainly. "Birdie." Carla quickly scolded, as walked over to the vixen. She recognized them, as Carla called out, "Hi! It's us Carla and Good Bird!" "Hello." Good Bird said. The fiery red vixen smiled a smile so bright, that the sun would have to wear shades. "Hi, I'm Christine. Jeremy thought you're flight would be early. Well, there's a bit of drive to the cabin. Hop in." Carla climbed into the backseat, as Bird quickly put their bags into the trunk of the Jeep. Christine turned the key in the ignition and the Jeep roared to life. Christine pulled out of the airport while changing the radio to a pop music station. Bird seemed annoyed but was unnoticed as the two girls laughed and sung along to the music. It's going to be along day thought Bird sorely. ~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, across the Earth (6 pm local time)~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, here she is," Speedy proudly began, "Our Pizza Parlour." Rob, Derek, and Jeremy stared at the oddly shaped building. "Well it's... an architectural design. A unique one." Jeremy poorly complimented. "A nightmare more like it." Derek muttered under his breath. "Well, regardless of looks, it makes the best Pizza this side of little Tokyo." Francine smiled. "Amen to that." Guido heartily agreed. The group walked inside the pizzeria, while their Canadian friends looked around avidly. "Nice place you got here." Jeremy commented. "Indeed, this establishment meets all structural requirements for this designated area." Rob monotonously replied scanning the building over. His hands almost seemed to twitch. "It's more than that, it's our base of operations." Fran proudly stated. Derek couldn't contain his laughter. "In a pizza place! I was expecting some 'Fortress of Solitude,' or secret lair. Not a third rate, fast food stand!" Derek burst. Jeremy sighed at his obnoxious brother. Francine was beginning to boil in rage. The other cats weren't too impressed either. "I and I suppose you have a secret fortress, for your base." Francine calmly said, veins beginning to bulge on her neck. "Hell yeah, but our base in concealed under a lake. No pizzas there." He snidely ended. Francine was going to turn red. Not many people insult the pizzeria with such... finesse. He is a true annoyance, but his brother is there to bail him out... as always. "Uh...uh... Derek means that this place is a lot more fun than any underwater base." He quickly ended. "No I- OOf!" A quick elbow to the stomach shut his brother up. "He's just forgot to take his brain medicine. Don't mind him. I think we better drop our stuff in our room. Where is it?" Polly spoke up. "You're taking my room." "We don't to mean to impose..." Jeremy began. "Oh no, you don't understand, when me and Speedy are... Well... together." She finished blushing. Speedy turned a little crimson himself. Jeremy raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "...And I moved in with him in his room, so my room has just been a spare. It just has a single bed, an old dresser, and maybe some other things. If you need anything-" "No we don't need anything, you've already been too kind. We'll just be a minute. Rob? Where's our droid?" Mechanical sounds could be heard from the kitchen. "ROB!" Derek yelled. The machine walked out of the kitchen obediently. "Masters, I found that the cooking utensils are not 100% clean, and perform only at 89% efficiency, and by cleaning the ..." The machine droned on as it followed its masters to Polly's old room. Once the trio had left Speedy piped up. "So? What do you think of them?" He asked. Everyone began to talk at once. "The taller one is pretty rude." Francine growled quietly. "Third rate, fast food stand indeed!" "They're okay. The robot's annoying though..." Guido spoke. "Jeremy is lot more polite than any foreigners I've ever met." The cats thought back to their mission to Manhattan. "And he's a lot cuter than any of the locals." Polly teased. She and Francine laughed. Guido and Speedy crossed their arms annoyed. Polly looked down at her watch. "Oh my gosh! Look at the time! We better start supper soon, how is everyone for pizza?" The question was rhetorical. "I think we have the recipe for a Canadian style Pizza somewhere." Guido offered walking into the kitchen. "I wonder if C-3PO there was right about the ovens?' Fran wondered walking into the kitchens. Speedy looked outside. The city was already asleep at six. Speedy locked the front door, and went see his Canadian friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I get the bed." Derek simply said, sitting defensively on the bed. "All I need is 3-prong power outlet to maintain power levels, masters." Rob offered. "That's fine Derek take the bed, Rob there's an outlet right over there. I'll ask if I can sleep on the couch." Jeremy offered, unpacking his clothing. Derek mulled over the idea. "Deal... Wait a minute... that means your can watch TV when you wake up. I'm taking the couch." "Okay, I'll take the bed." "Deal... Wait a minute... That means your have a comfy bed. I'm taking the bed." Derek boldly stated. "Okay, it's the couch for me." ".... Man this is confusing." Derek replied rubbing his head gingerly. "Take the bed." His brother sighed. "What do you think?" "Hmm?" "About the trip our, our hosts, and our guests back in Canada? What do you think of it all?' "I dunno about you, but I like the time off. You're a smart dog, you should be able to appreciate the letup of crime." "Yeah... I guess... But I can't help but fell as if something is amiss..." "All preliminary scans on biological subjects are uncontaminated. Machinery is undamaged. Canucks HQ, reports no hostile or mysterious activity." Rob stated blankly. "Not the cats something else... something elusive." Jeremy pondered. Derek rolled his eyes. Rob seemed to think about what Jeremy had said. "Subject three approaching." He immediately said. "What?" Derek and Jeremy said in unison. A knocking came from the other side of the door. "Jeremy? Derek?" It was Speedy. "Yeah." Derek coolly responded. "Dinner will be ready soon. Everything all right in the room?" "It's fine." Derek to Jeremy, "Everything will be fine at our place too." Derek said. Jeremy nodded agreeing. "Unless they touch my stuff!" Derek began. Jeremy just kept nodding. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Halfway across the globe, one lone Jeep trekked through endless terrain towards its goal. It zoomed through fields, shadowed by the omnipresent mountainous terrain. At long last, in entered a large valley, by mountains with a large lake in the valley's centre. Various home lay on the bases of mountains, with, on small airport at the lake's opposite end. The land was an isolated paradise. "And we had to pay for was airfare!" Bird was overjoyed. Carla was just laughing. Tourists, Christine thought, as she turned the Jeep onto a dirt road. The Jeep pulled up to a large wooden house/cabin. It had large living room with a large window that looked out over the lake. Christine pulled into its driveway, and stopped the Jeep. She looked around the front seat a revealed a large bag. "Now," She began, "This has keys, important notes, tourist guides, important phone numbers, and so on." She finished handing the bag to Carla. "If you need anything, I live next door." She pointed to another cabin several hundred metres away. "Well thank you for all of your help." Carla thanked. "It was a pleasure to meet you." Christine smiled. Bird was busy lifting the entire amount of luggage to the cabin, without help. Christine pulled out of the driveway and drove to her house Carla waved goodbye, then reached into the bag for the house keys. She produced one small key. She walked over the front door, and put the key into the lock the door gave a slight click as it opened. Carla waltzed, with Good Bird trailing. "Oh Birdie!" She jumped with excitement. From the beautiful furniture, pine hardwood floors, 50" TV, completed basement, hot tub, sauna, wine cellar, etc., these superheroes obviously made more money than them. "Jeez," Bird was stunned, "The palace isn't this nice." "Bigger country, bigger salary." Carla said walking into living room. Just my luck they the world's biggest country, and I get one of the smallest, Bird sorely thought. Carla looked around and saw a light blinking on house' s answering machine. She instantly pressed the play button. The recording machine made several small buzzing noises then played back the recording. "Welcome, or should I say konnichiwa? I am Jeremy, or at least, I made this recording." Some annoyed groan resonated in the recording background. "At that's my brother Derek. Now, knowing Speedy you barely know anything about our house, not to fear I'll explain everything. First off, your room is up the stairs, in the loft. It has a nice view of the forest from there. Most of the food here has been, eaten, ask Christine about any shopping malls nearby." Carla smiled at this notion of shopping. Bird just rolled his eyes. "The lake has various hot springs around it heating our area to a tolerable temperature, so you might want to swim, but try not to swim too far into the centre of the lake." Bird thought the last remark was odd, but kept on listening. "The sauna and hot tub are in the basements, and can be used, but you break you repair. The wine cellar is off limits, sorry Bird. Oh, and the mosquitoes may get bad around dusk and dawn. Go outside at your own risk. This is Jeremy signing off." The recording stopped. "Aside from the mosquitoes, this places sounds like a dream Carla began, hugging Good Bird. "No invertebrate parasite threatens us Carla." He proudly stated. Carla smiled and begun to carry her suitcase upstairs. Bird was about to follow when a slight knocking came from the door. Bird casually walked over it and opened the door. He saw two gigantic brown feet, staring at him. He slowly looked upwards seeing a monstrous brown bear, much taller than door way. Bird would have guessed he was tree time his size. Before the bear could react, Bird called upon primal energy, and directed from years of advanced teachings of the Ninja Crow, to slam the door shut. He quickly fastened the deadbolt, locked the keyhole lock, and dragged a nearby chair to block the door. He then unsheathed his sword, still quivering from the immense size of the bear. But nothing happened. Then some more knocking came from the outside. "Carla," Bird began, eyes not leaving the door, "Why don't we see what's in the basement." He heard her approval from up in the loft. Bird slowly backed away from the door. The knock sounded like a gunshots. "Birdie what's that?" Carla asked coming downstairs. "Just a woodpecker." He lied. As the couple walked down the stairs, Good Bird glanced back at the door. Re reluctantly went downstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hello." The bear began knocking on the door. "Hello. Housewarming." The bear said holding a basket of assorted foods. I hope I didn't offend them, the bear thought. "I'm, leaving them right here." He finished. Nothing. He shrugged and continued on his way walking down the street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Scanning... Target temperature 36 Degrees Celsius... No radiation... No poisons... Scan clean." "Rob, it's pizza." Derek said. Everyone laughed. "I present to you..." Guido began in a suave voice. "The first Canadian style pizza ever served in our fair restaurant." A small round of applause went around. Everyone reached over and took a slice. Derek casually took a slice and bit in. "It's not without it's values. Could stand to be better." "Look Derek," Guido began, "If my pizza is not good enough for you, then you march yourself into the kitchen and cook one up for us." Derek's expression remained unchanged. "Gladly, tomorrow I'll show you how to make a pizza, my foreign friend." "You're the ones foreign here, Canuck." Guido began threateningly. "Jeremy do something." Fran whispered. "Relax, just calm down Guido, I'll handle the rest." He looked at his watch, "We'll, I'm just going to excuse myself and watch some TV if that's alright." Derek's ear's perked up, and he wagged his tail. "Ooh, Simpsons." He abruptly walked into out of the kitchen. "Guido, I don't care what he thinks about you're pizza, it's the best Canadian style pizza I've ever had." Fran complimented. Guido sheepishly grinned. "It's the first you've ever had." Polly muttered under her breath. "Hey there's no FOX on this TV!" Derek yelled from the living room. "We're in Japan stupid!" Jeremy yelled back. "... No YTV or Cartoon Network either." Jeremy sighed. "How do you think your friends are holding up in Canada?" "Knowing Good Bird, Speedy began, "He won't have a care in the world." "Yeah we haven't had much crime in Canada lately." "Same for Little Tokyo, but that because we exiled the Big Cheese." "The who?" "The Big Cheese," Guido started, "He is a rat/fox who was prime minister." "That must give you a bad image of Canada's prime minister. "Well he embezzled money, and evil robots to battle us." "Doesn't sound much better than ours." Jeremy joked. "He also exploded when he got angry." Francine piped in. "Fascinating, please continue." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Canada~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once Bird was sure the bear was gone he went outside and discovered the housewarming gift. Nothing too extravagant was in it, a loaf of bread some Maple Syrup, and surprisingly a bottle of wine. Among some other small items in the basket, the wine was the highlight. Bird was going to order pizza, but the local shop didn't serve worms as a topping. Bird noticed some frozen Bass in the freezer, and spent the afternoon trying his best to make a romantic candlelight dinner... The lights were dimmed, the candles flickered, the glasses were filled with wine; the atmosphere was perfect. Carla sat in her seat smiling at what her husband had been doing for the last several hours. From the kitchen, Bird walked out with food for two. "Fit for a queen." He smiled. She couldn't help but laugh at his feeble Casanova impersonation. "To a great honeymoon," Carla said lifting her glass in a toast, "That's just begun..." She ended smiling devilishly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A man that spontaneously combusts, and survives, and continues this cycle when mad... Big Cheese breaks all the laws of physics!" Jeremy pondered. "That and he broke most of the kingdom's laws too." Guido added while rummaging through the fridge. Derek, Polly, and Francine were now watching TV. An old Japanese ninja movie was on. "You must think first before you move, HAI!!" The ninjas duelled. "What is it with boys and fighting?" Polly asked Francine. "Men." Derek corrected pointing an accusing finger at Polly. "Could've fooled me." Polly said. Derek sat back on his chair. "Polly, have you ever been mistaken for a man?" He sneered. "No, have you?" Some laughing came from the fridge and kitchen. "Don't ever bother." Speedy said walking to the restaurant's front door. "She's pretty handy with kitchenware." "Where are you going?' Polly asked Speedy. "Hmm? Oh, personal business." "COUGH! ...Drugs...COUGH!" Derek coughed. "Straight from the dog's mouth." Fran muttered. Derek flashed a lopsided grin. "Hey where's the robot?" Fran said looking around. "He went out to observe the city and it's architectural designs, or some garbage like that." Derek said while reaching over to grab the remote. "See you in a minute." Speedy said walking out of the doors. The chilly wind whipped by his face, as he walked down the street, into the centre of little Tokyo. Speedy noticed the streetlights cast a small amount of light through the city. Someone must be draining the power he thought. He looked up to the palace where windows light up momentarily and shocks flew from the building. Remodelling, he thought. He approached his destination, and opened the door on the small jeweller's shop. "Eh, what? Oh it's the feline. Your order has been filled young...um...er..." The jeweller trailed off. "Cerviche. Speedy, Cerviche." He coolly responded. "So it's done?" "Yes, this particular design was fairly difficult for the goldsmith, and is thus costly..." Speedy opened his wallet and pulled out several bills. "Well... that should cover it." The old man gleamed. Speedy gave the man the bills and he handed Speedy a small velvet box. "Er, come again." The man smiled. Speedy pocketed the box and left the small store, deep in thought. Something moved on the dark rooftops of the city. Speedy looked up and saw a figure jumping from building to building via the rooftops, cloaked in darkness. Speedy unsheathed his sword and with cat reflexes lunged up to the rooftops. His tinkered with his helmet, and switched on night vision, a new tool from Guru Lou. And he saw his mystery man running at inhuman speed, and lunging from buildings approaching the Palace fast. "An assassin!" He sneered, sprinting towards the cloaked figure. He jumped high and was approaching the villain fast. "HIYAAAAHH!!" He swung his sword mightily upon the figure. A loud clash of metal resonated. And Speedy was flung back. He gracefully landed on his feet. Night vision was failing; it seemed the figure had time to strike Speedy. Speedy could make out the figure in the darkness but one, crimson red eye stood out amidst the gloom. The villain charged, and lunged at Speedy. He managed to jump above the threat, and kick him downwards onto some loose roof tiles. The figure moved around to find a good handhold, but slipped off the several story high building and fell downwards. A loud smack signified victory. Speedy cautiously looked over and saw him stand up. He stared directly at Speedy with the one red eye, and in a blur of motion, turned and ran through the streets, moving like there was no tomorrow. Speedy jumped onto a nearby roof, and ran alongside the suspect, only several stories up. The figure smashed through fences mercilessly, and did not slow down. Speedy sprinted and dove off of the roof aiming directly at the black figure. The red-eyed person glanced back in time to have the cat slam onto him. The figure was launched forward into a car from the impact and smashed the windshield. Speedy clutched his shoulder in pain. This assassin was wearing armour no doubt. Possibly a rogue ninja crow ronin, intent on revenge. The silent figure moved and twitched a little. It stood up, eye gleaming brighter than ever. It revealed an elongated pistol, and opened fire upon Speedy. The strange thing was that the strange pistol shot rounds of energy, rather than bullets. It continually fired upon Speedy, who skilfully dodged every shot. He ducked behind several garbage cans, and then he flung a lid directly at the figure. It knocked him off guard, and the gun spiralled upwards, and out of sight. Speedy forcefully flung his sword at the cloaked assassin. With a loud bang of metal, the sword dove itself deep into his chest. The man let out a low grunt, and turned, revealing the sword had completely plunged through his chest. He pulled the sword out and threw a small object to the ground. A blinding flash emitted form it. Speedy looked around. The mystery man had given him the slip. He was obviously good. Big Al won't be pleased... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Junior get to bed!" Mama-san yelled at her disobedient son. "But mama, I just saw a ninja cat fighting a bad guy!" He defended. "Now where do you think up that?" "But mama! I saw it!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lucille was awake, having supposedly heard a noise she looked around her teahouse. The register was fine and nothing was too out of the ordinary, but muddy tracks were left in the teahouse. She grabbed a nearby broom and held it defensively. She followed the tracks to the counter where she kept the comet pieces. "What?" To her astonishment, the box was empty. There must have been several hundred pounds of metal there, and it was silently stolen. But most surprising, there were only tracks for one person. She rubbed her head. This was very odd... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "An assassin? Are you sure?" Big Al asked. "Positive. He moved, fought, and escaped like an assassin." Speedy declared. Big Al rubbed his chin. "Cold-blooded murder is not the Ninja Crows style and the have disbanded anyway." "That's a myth Al, for all we know some new power have seized control over the crows, and they are his soldiers." Al stroked his chin again. "If what you say is true, then we had better get the royal guard up and running. Princess Vi won't like this..." From the ceiling above a familiar assassin waited quietly for the animals below it to leave. The moment Al closed the door behind him; it jumped down to the floor. It grabbed its weapon, and scanned the area. Once it was satisfied, it stealthily ran out of the back door. Joey, a raccoon was up and patrolling the halls. This was the last thing he needed. BANG! He walked smack into the black figure. "CODE ONE! CODE ONE!" He yelled into his walkie-talkie before being forcefully kicked into the wall. Alarms blared. The red-eyed menace would have the entire palace guard upon him in seconds. It ran, and turned running straight up the wall! It did not slow or stop. It ran down several corridors, and jumped back down to floor. Joey had regained balance and caught up with it. "OVER HERE!" He yelled. The assassin coolly levelled his gun and fired several rounds into the raccoon. He yelped in pain and slumped over. The assassin, kicked opened a nearby door and opened fire again. The targets were bystanders in the palace's library. After the smoking cleared the assassin made his way through the puddles of blood to one specific shelf holding the reconstruction plans for the palace. He approached the reconstruction plans for the palace. He quickly snatched them and concealed them. Two more guards had caught up. "HANDS ON THE GROUND!" The one yelled. The assassin flipped him off, and turned aiming at them. "DIE YOU SON OF BITCH!" The other yelled. The two opened fire. The bullets merely dinted the armour, while the assassin effortlessly picked both off. Running at its top speed to the elevator. He crushed the doorway open and jumped into the elevator shaft. More guards arrived watching the assassin climb up the elevator shaft. "DON'T MOVE!" Its eye gazed down. "THERE'S NO WAY OUT, THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPON!" The assassin looked upwards and shot the elevator car. The guards opened fire upon the figure. After several tries, the laser bolts hit the car's cable. It shook violently then fell down knocking the assassin out of view. The guards all jumped back as the elevator flew by them. After another second a crash resonated from the basement. The guards looked grimly at each other. "Bob, its your turn to tell Vi." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speedy unlocked the doors to the pizzeria. He had spent more time than expected and the rest of the cats and dogs were asleep. "Trouble sleeping?" Speedy turned around sword sheathed. Only Rob was there. "Oh thank god, it's only you Rob." Speedy was relieved. "Sir what is the matter? Trouble sleeping? The other fells asleep several hours ago, however my cells are fully charged so I decided to clean you restaurant." "Thanks." "I believe the term is no prob." "Goodnight Rob." Speedy said while heading off to his room. "Goodnight sir." The robots ended. It began to twitch after Speedy had left. And it ran it hands over a hole through its chest... that Speedy had failed to notice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speedy tiptoed into his bedroom and silently got into bed. He kissed Polly good night, and pulled up the covers. "You're late." Polly said. *Sigh* "Good old Polly waiting up 'till early in the mourning for me." Speedy said. "No, the robot just needs oil." She smiled. "Goodnight Polly." "Goodnight Speedy." "Speedy answered with a snore. To Be Continued...