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Toonium City - QC Planet

APQC-GP-04 Carrots and Curfews By Darrel James Vanwinkle (Ratseye/Pouchlaw) Re-Written on 02/06/2014

Sunday morning, Gerard sat in his room contemplating the words that were used about him when he returned home from Pleasure Island. Even though Wilwick vouched for what happened to his clothes, he still got grounded for fibbing about who knocked him in the poop on the first day of school. "I'm grounded. How could they ground me? It's not like I got married to Daisy Duck or Petunia Pig. I think they're being unfair. But what can I do about this?" Yes, some things didn't matter if you were on Q.C. Planet or not. Being grounded was one of those things. At least he was beginning to understand now why Cris, Brent and Alex preferred staying on Pleasure Island. You couldn't be grounded there. "Grounded for a week. No after school activities and I can only spend time with Arnie here at home rather than be with anyone else. I had plans this week. What would Fenmire do?"

As Gerard pondered this, he suddenly recalled a lesson that Alex had given him prior to his leaving the carnival. He still had the toon hole. It was a painted hole of black that was removable if you knew how to do it. And Alex had taught him how to use the toon hole properly. At least now he knew how he could get away from home whenever he wanted. Let them keep their grounding. He aimed to get out and have some fun as often as he wanted. And no one was going to tell him otherwise. And so, he started plotting where all he planned on checking out during the days of his grounding. The Kennelmount Breeding Barn on Monday night, Oslo Otter's Pad on Tuesday night, Alex's Quarters on Wednesday night, Scott Rat's Room on Thursday night, Jaded Shadow in Meta-Star City on Friday night, Montropolis in Japanopolis on Saturday night, and to finish things off, Comita-Gotham in Meta-Star City on Sunday night. He'd heard rumors about the last few places but wanted to see for himself what those places were like.

He would like to have seen Wonderland but he had precautions about visiting that realm. Wonderland was where his sister Lupa-Vega and her jackal friend, Spike, were going to college, so he would have to be careful if he visited there so as to not run into her while there. His sister, Lupa-Vega, would snitch on him in a heartbeat. But for now, it was Sunday and he really wanted to talk to someone other than Arnie without screwing up his punishment. He was starting to hate being grounded.

Fortunately, Oslo came by to see him and that perked up his day a lot. "I heard you got grounded for lying about your Monday outing," said Oslo. "Care to fill me in on what happened to you? I promise to keep it confidential." Gerard gladly told the otter what had happened to him. "...but they're acting like I got drunk or high on dope or something. Being grounded from now until next Sunday is going to be torture but I do have a plan for getting around it. But you can't tell anyone what I tell you about this." Oslo nodded his head as Gerard told him the plans for each night of the coming week. Then Oslo hugged the boy. "Just don't forget that you'll be receiving homework starting tomorrow."

Downstairs within the dining room, Leon, who had been at the dining table with Bugs and Daffy going over another council project for the city, glanced over at Arnie who had been reading a comic book and said, "Is Gerard still upstairs in his room?" Arnie looked over at Mr. Prince and replied, "Yeah. Since you grounded him, he doesn't even want to see me. Personally, I think you and Mrs. Prince are being a little harsh. I understand that honest is the best policy, but you should have given him a freebie the first time, as in a lecture, but not a grounding. To be grounded implies he did something a lot worse. As in he lost his clothes instead of only lying back on Monday. I am sure the council members fib sometimes."

The human man now looked to the cartoon rabbit and the cartoon duck. "Truth or consequences time, boys... how often do the council members lie during the council meetings, not counting Simba?" Both toons irked and looked uncomfortable. "Do you want the exact number, doc, or just a percentage?" asked Bugs nervously. "Is it really that much? Very well, make it a percentage," said Leon as he kept his eyes on the two. "I would have to say it is about sixty to sixty five percent of the time, although Mickey fibs the least while Yogi fibs the most; even more than Simba," commented Daffy. "That sounds right to me," agreed the animated rabbit.

"Told you so," remarked Arnie as he resumed reading his comic book.

"I guess it was a little harsh to ground Gerard since the council lies more than half of the time," stated Leon with a sigh. "But we had to deal with Simba's incessant stupidity all week and having Gerard's lie on top of all that, and mind you, gentlemen, my son as far as I know has never lied until we moved to QC Planet, my wife and I were upset when we found out about his losing his clothes and his lie on Monday." Daffy reached over and patted the man gently on the arm. "Leon... you are in toon land now. No one around here is perfect. Perfection would be boring for kids to watch on TV. It would be like Bugs wearing a coat, a tie, slacks, and loafers just standing there for thirty minutes without smiling. Not even eating a carrot or talking. What kid would want to see that?" Bugs nodded his head. "Daffy is right, doc. In toon land you have to give your family lee way because things are bound to happen. And besides, there is another issue you will be dealing with eventually."

"And what issue is that, Bugs?" he the man asked. "All toons over the age of thirteen are considered to be adults on QC Planet," said the toon rabbit. "unless the family are of the My Little Pony variety and then their adult age is eighteen. Most thirteen year old toons have their own homes and live there. Your son and his friend are living here in your household and they are far older than thirteen. I know life was different on Earth, but again..." Daffy continued for him. "...again, you are in toon land, Leon. Your son is what? Fifteen, Sixteen? And still living at home? He could be living anywhere he wanted. While it is true you and your wife want to protect your children, corporal punishment and grounding is not protection."

"Meaning Simba could bother my son and his friend at school whenever he liked," remarked Leon dryly. "Exactly right, doc," said Bugs. "However, with Simba under medical evaluation for thirty days, this might be a good time to see about getting your son and his friend their own house. As for money, food, and rent, I wouldn't worry so much about that. Simply have them buy stocks in any three QC stock companies and every week their bank accounts would receive the dividends from the companies. There are some fast movers out there right now." Daffy opened up the Sunday newspaper to the QC Stocks section and read off a few of the best companies. "Taco Tokyo up by three points; Arden's Pizza up by fifteen points; Rover Mechanics up by seven points; Los Angeleos Outlets up by twelve points; and Stage Studios up by one and a half points."

Arnie then asked, "Say Daffy? Are there any rabbit stocks doing well right now? I ask because Gerard has been distracted after getting a kiss on the mouth from Commander Rabbit."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "She kissed him on the mouth? No wonder Gerard is getting into trouble; Gerard is probably confused over what happened. I know I was after my first time being kissed by a girl like that." Daffy smirked. "You aren't the only one, buddy." Bugs chuckled and said, "I think we have all been down that road, Daffy. Remember the first time Lola kissed me on the mouth and how I melted on the floor?" The duck giggled. "And then she walked all over you. Oh I remember that all right. But all in all, I would say it was a learning experience for all of us. But in Gerard's case, he is an attractive young boy so he is likely to get a lot of toon kisses, not just from girls but from boys as well."

Leon glanced over at Arnie who returned the look as the two both said, "Bleh!" which made the two toon guests start laughing.

Gerard was glad that Oslo spent the night with him for support, although the following morning, the toon otter was already gone even before Gerard's parents checked on him. He got ready for school, briefly seeing Arnie in the bathroom, yet otherwise not speaking to his parents at all; he was still miffed at them for grounding him. After a quiet breakfast, his mother told him to call home after every class ended. This upset Gerard even more. Then the bus came and the boys headed out to get on the bus. Arnie sat with his friends, while Gerard sat with Huck Hound and Tom Dane. He quietly explained his grounding to the two but when the bus didn't stop at Fenmire's stop, Gerard asked Huck what was going on. He explained that Fenmire had already gone to school that morning to speak to Principal Dum about something on behalf of Gerard.

At the school at that very moment, the toon rat sat in the Principal's office. "Thank you for agreeing to see me this early in the morning, sir, because what I have to explain cannot wait for later." Principal Dum remarked, "It's a rare day when you come to school before anyone else. So what do you have to tell me that is so important?"

Fenmire took a deep breath, then started his explanation. "As you may know, Gerard got grounded over the weekend. But what you probably don't know is why it happened or how it came about. I care about Gerard a lot and it's not fair that he's being grounded over something that isn't his fault. Anyway, here's what happened... Gerard joined us for a day of doing some volunteer public service work on Lord Lampwick's island repairing that old broken down amusement park. Yes, I was working... I could tell you were about to interrupt me. Now, when lunch hour rolled around, Lampwick's assistant offered to take Gerard to lunch; most of us were working at different parts of the park, so none of the rest of us heard the request. En route to the assistant's house, they got separated in the park, and... Gerard accidentally got Pleasure Island chocolate all over his clothes. You know how corrosive that stuff is on real world cloth; it removed his clothes in no time at all. While naked, one of the donkey boys thought Gerard was another victim and proceeded to escort him on rides and stuff. Gerard ended up with the ears and tail of a donkey. He eventually was taken to Lord Donkaroo for a restoration and it was there that the assistant rejoined him and took him to a clothes warehouse they have out there and he helped Gerard find some toon clothes to wear. Gerard had the assistant come home with him to explain to his parents about his clothes. But what got him grounded wasn't his losing his clothes. The assistant admitted that he was the one who pounced Gerard last Monday and that confession allowed the parents to know that he had lied to them about a student pouncing him. Now Principal Dum... you know as well as I do that toons tell a little fib to protect someone else half of the time. You have done it yourself."

Principal Dum nodded his head. "So his parents grounded him because he chose to protect the assistant rather than tell the the truth about who pounced him?" Fenmire also nodded his head. "Also after the pouncing, Lord Lampwick told Gerard to fib to his parents on the basis that his little story about falling in poop would be far tamer than his parents' first Monday on QC Planet. Gerard's been unfairly grounded because of something we all do; me somewhat more than others... but I'm trying to clean up, sir. I just wanted you to know the truth and see if you can figure out a way to convince his parents to lift his grounding. It's really not fair to him at all. I mean... I care about him, sir." The southern white Doo brother smiled. "It's a welcome change to see you concerned for someone other than yourself, Fenmire. Because you were honest with me, I will see what I can do about the situation. No promises, though... human families have weird ideas." Fenmire hugged Scooby Dum. "Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate this a lot and I am sure Gerard will too." The toon dog nodded his head again. "I am sure he will be happy to know that his friend cares so much."

At The Surreal University of Mechanics in Wonderland, Farrel watched Master Splinter as he trained Lupa-Vega in the art of Ninjutsu. Despite his age, that famous toon rat was better in his movements than most young men were in their prime. And the lady was keeping up with his moves nicely. The fabulous fashion genius was doing some last minute homework before a scheduled class later that morning. He could see a group of mutant turtles waiting in the wings for their master's signal and the four looked very familiar.

"You are doing well, Lupa," remarked the venerable Master Splinter with a grin. "Do you think you are ready to put what I have taught you to the test?" She shot a grin at the mutant rat with a likewise grin. "Certainly, Splinter. There's always time for chaos." And then she had barely winked when all four mutant turtles leaped out of where they had been waiting and began the assault exercise on the young lady. Except Lupa-Vega was no lady when it came to hoodlum males. And as many had witnessed already, history was about to repeat itself.

As Farrel watched in horror yet fascination at the same time, what seemed like unfair odds against the human female was anything but that in practical use. Especially not when she could do acrobatics like Kim Possible and martial arts like Bruce Lee -- at the same time. When a turtle tried to leap with a foot kick to her head, she would dodge, grab his leg as he sailed past her position, then he found himself in an airplane spin accidentally striking his own brothers before being released in a dizzying flight over Splinter's head into the dumpster.

"Work together, bros!" shouted Donatello, as he was tempted to fetch his bo stick. But the master said 'no weapons; hands only'. Leonardo and Raphael maneuvered around to one side of Lupa while Donatello and Michelangelo worked the other side. And to their relief, Master Splinter joined them in the fray. But then... the Red Queen arrived and shouted, "Need some help, Lupa?!" To which she replied, "This is just a class, your majesty! Up to you if you are simply bored!" And then all Hell broke loose.

Turtles flew backwards and Splinter fell first but he was quickly on his feet again. He had forgotten that his female student knew all of those other martial arts. But remembering the warning, he began to counter every attack (or defense?) she presented to the old cartoon rat until finally, the inevitable happened and she was down on her back with Master Splinter's fingers at her throat as he glared directly into her eyes. "I yield," she muttered softly. The mutant rat then backed off as he helped her upright. "And that is why I am the master."

The Red Queen applauded as she laughed. "That was well done, Splinter. But all in all, how would you say she did before you intervened yourself?"

"My sons are rusty in their technique," he replied with a grin as he looked over at the mutant turtles slowly shaking the stars out of their eyes and picking themselves up to stand nearby once again. "They expected a lady to fight like a lady. But Lupa apparently has had to deal with hoodlum males before. What was his name?" And there came the growling reply since she hated to even mention the cad. But Master Splinter had asked with a grin, so she replied, "Rex Tralfazworth, the ape of a bleepity bleeping bleep."

The mayor remarked, "Oh yes, that is why I came to see you, Ms. Prince. The cad's sister enrolled at The SUM this morning and there was a boy with her matching 'his' description."

And if the toons thought they knew every dirty word in the book, this human female proved them wrong that morning as she issued forth a string of filth regarding the cad and how she really felt about him. Lupa ranted and raved on and on until she was seemingly out of breath. Then she calmly composed herself as she said, "Boys aren't allowed in the sorority."

The Red Queen just laughed out loud since it seemed that Lupa's language had burned the mutant turtles' ears.

Gerard's first Monday at school went gruelingly slow. Perhaps the worst part of this was that he had to call his mother in between every class. "They're treating me like a criminal. It's just not fair." And soon, it was the last class of the day and in a way he was glad. The last class gave him that extra excuse for being away from home for a good three hours after school normally let out. However and as he was starting to report to Professor Stromboli, he encountered Bugs and Daffy. "Oh no... did my dad send you guys here?" The toon duck shook his beak side to side slowly. "Actually, no... we are here for a different reason. For the next five days, you are being excused from P.I. Sciences and you will be coming with us for three hours to look at real estate around the region." Gerard arched an eye. "Real estate? What for?" The famous rabbit replied, "It's like this, doc... Sunday we told your dad some information about the adult age here on QC Planet and he seriously had no idea. All toons are considered to be adults at the age of thirteen; eighteen for the My Little Ponies. Toons of the adult age have the privilege to live within their own house anywhere in the region." Daffy then said, "You will be house hunting for a place for yourself and Arnie to live in." Bugs then added, "When your grounding ends, you boys get to move into your own house and live there as long as you like. The only catch is that we have to let your parents know where the new house you select is so they can check up on you. Aside from that, after this coming Sunday, no more groundings; you write your own rules. Any questions?"

Ecstatic and excited didn't even begin to describe how happy this turn of events was making him. He and Arnie could live on their own while on QC Planet. Anywhere they wanted. Gerard was getting ideas now. "When you guys say 'region', how large of a region do you mean? And please say 'continental'." Sadly, Bugs and Daffy obviously meant within the same city and that was all they did the first day was to check out three available homes, which was all they had time for each day. Gerard vetoed all three of them. In every case he said, "Not enough bedrooms. A Bed and Breakfast Inn or a former hotel would work a lot better. The homes you're showing me are too small. And none of them have a good homework session chamber large enough for eight people." The toon rabbit asked, "Why eight people? Who else are you going to have in there?" And Gerard replied, "Timesheart, Dalis, and Miyuki, of course. Arnie and I are friends with them. We have to have a room large enough for them to come over and do homework with us." The toon duck stated, "Those guys are a grade level higher than you."

"So you are saying you would rather I just stay friends with Fenmire Rat instead?" he remarked with a set eye on the two cartoon greats. And that ended that argument right there. He mentioned the name no one wanted to speak of within a discussion. Instead, Bugs said, "Tomorrow we'll see about bigger homes. But I'll warn you now, doc... the larger homes are owned by rich toons. I don't think they would sell for any reason." The human boy replied, "What about an empty lot for which a new home could then be built? I noticed a lot of empty lots around the city. We could go that route. At least be thinking about that aspect before vetoing it. A small house will never do." Daffy remarked, "He might be on to something there, Bugsy Boy."

When the day thankfully ended, Gerard went home and did his homework in under 3 hours; only then did he have dinner. His parents tried to have a conversation with him but he was still mad at them refusing to talk to them. Finally, his father said, "Just because you're grounded is no reason to give us the cold shoulder treatment." Gerard replied with, "I suppose you have never lied to protect someone before, have you?" And the conversation ended on that note, as he left the dinner table, went upstairs into his bedroom, and slammed the door closed behind him. Then he quietly locked the door and prepared for his first Toon Hole outing. Rianne looked at Arnie and said, "And how was your day in school?" The friend to Gerard replied, "It might be better if you guys would drop his grounding right now. Gerard won't even talk to me anymore; not even in school. He's my friend and this is getting hard to deal with."

Leon remarked, "In truth, Arnie, the grounding could have ended this evening if Gerard had chosen one of the houses he was shown. But while he is in our household, he cannot tell his parents a lie for any reason." The boy arched an eye at Mr. Prince. "What do you mean by choose a house? What are you up to?" Mrs. Prince explained, "Instead of attending his usual last hour class, Bugs and Daffy are meeting with Gerard and escorting him to houses around the region and the moment he chooses a house for you and him to live in, his grounding ends at that second. But apparently the two council toons reported that Gerard wasn't satisfied with the small two-bedroom houses he was shown." Arnie grinned. "If I know Gerard as well as I think I do, I can bet that the first thing he asked the bunny and the duck was... by 'region' do you mean 'continental'? And if they replied that region meant the 'city' then he may never choose a house to live in. I don't think he would want a house where you guys could just walk over and stick your heads in the door whenever you liked. Otherwise, you would be doing the exact same thing Simba had been doing here before you got that restraining order against him."

Leon was back to growling at the thought of that accursed animated lion, while Rianne thought about it for a moment. "How about this, Arnie... as long as he continues to go to school locally, he can live anywhere on QC Planet. But the commute would be crazy. Could you imagine the time you and he would have to get up each morning just to get to school?" Mr. Prince nodded his head. "My wife has a good point as usual. As long as Gerard schools locally, he can have a house anywhere on QC Planet or even in the Cloud Kingdoms. Does that sound more fair, Arnie?" The boy nodded his head with a smile. "Oh very much more fair, sir. I can tell him that in the bathroom tomorrow morning and then maybe he will break his silence and talk to me once again. I miss having him as a close friend. And it is this grounding that is making him bitter."

"Now that we have that decided," said Rianne with a smile and standing up. "How about telling us about the rest of the school day while I bring in the dessert? Gerard could have had some himself, but he quickly went to his room." Arnie replied with an eager smile since he loved the desserts that the Prince family served. "Let's see... Fenmire Rat fessed up to Principal Dum in an attempt to get you guys to remove the grounding on Gerard. He told the truth and everything. The whole school was in shock that the rat who usually lies about everything actually told the truth. I think Principal Dum is going to use Fenmire's offer of the truth to get him to reveal where the missing boys are at."

"He should," said Leon. "Especially since he was the last one seen with all three missing boys. It still bothers me that Gerard is friends with him."

Gerard's first trip was to the Kennelmount Breeding Barn where Buckeye the Stallion told him not to enter unless he liked being caught with his pants down. So if he went wearing shorts, then he couldn't be caught with his pants down because he wouldn't have any pants. After stripping down to his shorts, he turned the light in his room off and utilized the Toon Hole, transporting him from his room to just inside the entrance to the Breeding Barn. Gerard was very curious to see what was going on in there. Buckeye had made it sound bad, but he wanted to simply see for himself. And as he cleared the inner doorway, he was grabbed by some sort of automated machine and he found himself with his shorts removed from him and then... he was hooked up to the milking machine! Gerard moaned and tried to yell for help but the Breeding Barn must have been sound proofed for just such a reason. And he wasn't alone in the barn, either. There were horses, bulls, and goats all getting the same treatment as he was getting. One young horse next to him reached over and put a bridle bit into Gerard's mouth to stop his hollering. Then he said, "Seems like it caught you too. It will let you go in a few hours. You can call me Fernandez. What's your name?"

Unable to yell anymore so he turned his head to the nice young horse and said, "I'm Gerard Prince. Nice to meet you." Fernandez grinned. "I'm glad to meet you, too, Gerard. Sorry you visited on milking night but I will make it up to you another time. I Promise." Gerard was stuck until the machine was finished, then he returned home achy and sore, as he passed out in his bed and slept for the rest of the night.

In the bathroom on Tuesday morning, Arnie confronted Gerard to tell him what he had learned from the parents the previous night. "...so you see, I was able to get your mom and dad to relent to the idea that as long as you attended school locally, you could live anywhere on QC Planet. And I was thinking that since you and I could change into heroes... I could easily fly us between home and the school from anywhere on QC Planet. Therefore, as long as you can find a house for us both, you could be free of your grounding the moment you choose and move into the new house. Was it worth it to learn this information? I miss talking to you, Gerard." That bit of news did indeed make Gerard smile. "You did all that for me even though I've been investigating Fenmire Rat for the Union? Oh Arnie..." The other boy grinned. "Ezrel's boss in the union told us last Saturday about the deal you made with them to find the missing boys who were last seen with Fenmire. You could have told me so I wasn't so worried about you." With a wink, Gerard replied, "I didn't want too many people to know what was up in case Fenmire was able to learn that I was only being his friend to find the others. But I have learned where two of the three missing boys are. Now I just have to find the last one."

"You already found two of the three?" said Arnie with a smile. "You really are awesome if you are over half way there. Anything else I should know?" Gerard replied, "Just one other thing. Remember when we first got our powers on Earth and how Commander Rabbit explained that neither she nor I could fly?" Arnie gave his friend a look. "Yeah, and we never questioned it. So what did you find out?" The Prince boy explained, "Remember also that you and I both said that we had read their comic book adventures originally. The other day, I pulled out one of the comics with Captain Rabbit and Black Eagle in it since it is the closest match to Captain Rabbit and Eagle Lord that we have. And I discovered something interesting in the issue. Turns out that Commander Rabbit fibbed to us. In the comic I am referring to, Captain Rabbit who has never worked with Black Eagle before says, 'I didn't know you could fly.' and the other replies, 'It isn't real flying like you do, Captain. My family learned the gliding ability which helped a lot in the circus.' It mentions in the comic that Captain Rabbit can fly. So I dug out a double-sized issue, one of the Super Team Up issues which has all twenty heroes in it. And sure enough, you see Captain Rabbit and Captain Leo on a flying patrol over England. Captain Rabbit can fly, Arnie. This crouch and jump crap is a lie." Arnie thought about it for a moment. "Then we need to test that theory since you are Captain Rabbit now."

Somewhere on Wonderland campus, Lupa had just just emerged from one of her classes when she heard the voice that she really had no care for.

"Hello Lupa." It was none other than the cad of an ape, Rex Tralfazworth. "Surprised to see me?" "I don't have time for you, Rex," she replied. "I am enrolled here at Wonderland and I have two hours of homework to complete before my afternoon class in Advanced Robotics. As for you, unless you are a student here, you have no permission to be here at all. What do you want anyway? As if I didn't already know..." He smiled in that sick manner of his. "If you already know, Lupa, then just admit it: you still love me. You are my girlfriend and I don't let a girlfriend get away so easily." Lupa glared at the unwanted suitor. "I am dating Spike so you are out of luck. Just get off of campus before I have you removed." Rex growled, "Over my dead body! I'll kill him! You are MY girlfriend! What does that filthy toon jackal have that I don't?"

And as a parting shot before Lupa simply walked away carrying her books, she replied, "A bigger dick, for one." The cad started growling fiercely; he was angry.

At the city council chambers, Simba's temporary replacement had arrived to fill in for him during his absence. Surprisingly, the toon movie fox in a green jerkin and leather feathered cap was available and Mickey was glad that Robin Hood had accepted the part time invitation. "Welcome to council," said Scooby-Doo. "I hope you have been informed on why you were needed to fill in for Simba." Robin Hood smiled as he replied, "Ooh de la li! Mickey told me that Simba was under some sort of 30 day mental evaluation at the Insanitarium! So I felt honored to come assist you kind gents and lady in your time of need."

With the introductions out of the way, the council day began in earnest. Leon was working with Yogi on the plans for the upcoming city picnic. Mickey and Scooby Doo worked on an educational project. Daffy was politely filling in the blanks for what all was available to work on to their newest council member. During lunch period, Leon informed Bugs and Daffy on the change in decision regarding Gerard's search for a house and he asked the two toon greats to work within the boundaries of the new guidelines.

The rest of the day was uneventful on all fronts. During the house hunting outing, better housing prospects were presented to Gerard by the toon greats. And they were really better and larger houses which impressed the young man, but the locations were a problem and thus, the newest three houses were vetoed, not because of size, but because of convenience.

Later that night, Gerard arrived via Toon Hole at Oslo Otter's swinging bachelor pad. Oslo was kind enough to give Gerard a full body massage while talking to him. "So you got stuck in a milking machine. No wonder you're in so much pain. Don't worry a bit. When I am finished with you, you'll feel like a new human being. Of course, you wouldn't be in so much pain if you had remembered to simply switch between your human form and your hero form. Instant regeneration occurs when you transform." The boy moaned softly as he replied, "I got to meet a nice horse named Fernandez; he said he would make it up to me." The toon otter chuckled as he worked on Gerard's body. "I know Fernandez; you met a nice one." Gerard then asked, "How is it that you know Coach Winslow?" Oslo grinned as he rubbed all over the young man's body. "Did you ask him about me?" Nodding his head, Gerard stated, "Yeah, I did and he got all shy and wouldn't say anything. A kangaroo named Jack told me a story about you two but I don't know if it's true or not."

Oslo smiled at the memories he had of the reindeer and the kangaroo. "I know Jack, too; kangaroos are fun to play with. Coach Winslow and I went on a date late one night and things got a little close, and... we woke up the next morning in questionable positions. He was all embarrassed but it was a normal date for me; I love getting close on the first date." Gerard groaned as the otter worked his hands over a painful spot. "I think I get the drift of what you meant when you said you were bisexual the first night we were on the planet." The toon otter replied, "I swing both ways, of course, but I prefer to stay single though. It allows me to fish the market for the best stock, so to speak. You did know that Bugs Bunny is bisexual, didn't you?" The Prince boy thought about it before answering. "I thought I did. He kisses guys on the mouth a lot in his cartoons. Have you dated him, too?"

Oslo grinned. "Not yet. I think he and Daffy Duck have something going." He winked then laughed.

Gerard had to laugh at that as he almost purred softly from the otter's expert massaging paws working the body oil into his tensed and pained pores. "How'd you get so good at this massage stuff?" The toon otter smiled, saying, "I own and run the Terryville City Gym. If you want to see some hunks, drop on in some Saturday once you are free of your grounding and you will get to meet some real studs." The boy grinned slyly at the thought. "They really pump some iron, do they?" Oslo grinned back. "Among other things..." He winked again as he finished up Gerard's massage session. "You had better get your clothes back on. We don't want your parents to catch you gone, do we?" Gerard gathered his clothes and put them on, before giving the toon otter a nice hug and a kiss. "Thanks for the session, Oslo. Just so you know, my parents are offering me a deal regarding Arnie's and my living arrangements anywhere on QC Planet provided I continue schooling locally. You wouldn't see me over at the family house then. Thanks again for a wonderful night." And then he headed home.

Wednesday morning at breakfast, while the boys were eating their bowls of cereal, Gerard asked his father, "Dad? Oslo Otter told me that there was a place in Toonium City called Terryville. Would you happen to know where that might be?" Glancing out from behind the morning paper, Leon commented, "Nice to see you breaking your silence to the family, son. According to the others on council, Toonium City is literally broken into several suburbs. Collectively, the whole is called Toonium City. The section we live in is called Spoonersville; I am told that Goofy lives a few streets away from us. In addition to Terryville which Oslo told you about, the other sections are in no particular order... Faded Heights where the Pink Panther lives, Christmas Junction where a few of Santa's reindeer and elves work during the off season, and finally the suburb where Casper and Wendy live is called the Enchanted Forest. The very center of Toonium City is literally Terryville. That's where Council Hall and the High School are situated. And as you know, I have to go to Terryville every day because my job requires my presence there. It has been a lot more tolerable since Simba's enforced medical leave."

"Is it true that Simba was looking at... um, your butt... at the golf course last Saturday?" asked his son almost afraid he might get grounded for a longer period of time for even asking. Leon replied, "Mickey spotted him doing it. That nasty lion had no shame at all; he was spying on me. Had been all of that week. Your mother wanted to slay him."

Arnie then said with a smile, "It takes a lot for Mrs. Prince want to slay someone, doesn't it?"

No one was brave enough to answer that question since Rianne was literally on the other side of the table reading a romance novel.

"Seems my family is learning what not to say to my face this early in the morning," remarked Mrs. Prince as she shot a smile at the others in the room.

Although the boys had no intention of speaking to Principal Dum that morning at school, both Gerard and Arnie couldn't help but to notice the full feral toon donkey with a diplomatic ribbon around his neck speaking to both Dum and Professor Stromboli just outside of the school building. The donkey was obviously Lord Lampwick who was rarely ever seen off the island, so apparently some concern had come up regarding the class that would have went to the island that day. Gerard himself wasn't very concerned about it since all that week, both Bugs and Daffy had him legally out of the last hour class looking for potential homes to live in.

Later between classes, Arnie was meeting with Connor at their shared locker. "That pop quiz was absolutely brutal," remarked the boy as he put his books into the locker and reached for the next hour's hard bound. "By the way, what is the word from Christmas Junction?" The toon reindeer boy placed his books into his part of the locker as he replied, "Blitzen barely avoided a confrontation with a union judge yesterday afternoon after a misplaced lightning discharge. And Vixen is pregnant again." He grabbed his notebook. "Nothing new, you know." "Seems as if she is always getting pregnant. So who is the father?" the boy asked. Conner grinned as he set an eye on Arnie. "No one will fess up this time."

During lunch hour, Gerard noticed Jack Roo speaking to a rather handsome toon boy with long hair that covered his neck. When the toon kangaroo joined Gerard at his table, the real human boy commented, "New boyfriend, Jack?" "Naw, the bloke is just a nice friend Ah know. Maybe during the teachers meetings Ah might introduce 'im to yas."

Within the council chambers at City Hall, Mighty Mouse was addressing the council members with a very serious topic; a topic which would make Leon Prince growl. "Even though Simba is at the Insanitarium for his medical leave, I was reviewing the security cameras during our annual device inspection and I discovered that one of the cameras is an unlisted one which was sending a video directly back to Simba's hospital room. And Leon... that secret camera was focused directly at you. Even though he is not here, he has found a temporary way to keep watch over your activities." The Earth man did indeed growl in a monstrous way as the empowered mouse continued. "I have disabled that camera and tracked down other suspicious cameras positioned all over City Hall. Because this violates his enforced time out, I am going to have Dr. Warner transfer mister snoopy lion to his brother's extreme security ward."

All of the council members cringed at the thought of the extreme security ward owned by Dr. Wakko Warner. Mr. Prince arched an eye however. "What is so bad about Wakko Warner?" Mighty Mouse replied, "His bedside manner is... disturbing... um, yeah." All of the toon council repeated the last word. "Yeah..."

That night after the family had gone to bed, Gerard was back at Pleasure Island in Alex's quarters to keep his word to a good friend. And he brought Alex a hot meal and a cool drink as well as a load of Alex's old belongings from the donkey boy's old house. Alex smiled as he ate. "I never thought I'd see any of this stuff again, Gerard! You're the best friend I've ever had! Thank you so much!" Gerard smiled back, while he watched Alex eat. "It was the least I could do. Besides, you taught me how to get away from home whenever I liked. My parents grounded me for being dishonest to them on Monday. Because I had Wilwick explain why I had to wear someone else's clothes home, they didn't punish me for that. Can you believe it?"

The donkey boy arched his eye and replied, "They grounded you for that?! Doing the same thing the city council does? That's crazy! You should have just stayed naked then; sounds like you'd have been better off that way." Gerard grinned. "For that matter, I could have just stayed here with you if I knew they were just going to ground me." Alex chuckled. "Cris was asking about you Monday night. I think he'd rather you'd stayed, too. Oh, and Brent told me that he was glad his clothes were getting some use by someone who needed them. It's a shame your parents are so cement about the whole thing. How long you here for?" Gerard replied, "Until 1 AM at the latest. Then I need to get back home and get some sleep before going to school again." Alex then asked, "What is the rest of your escape schedule like?" Gerard replied, "Scott Rat's Room tomorrow night, Jaded Shadow on Friday night, Japanopolis on Saturday night, and to finish things off, Meta-Star City on Sunday night. And then, my grounding will be lifted on Monday morning... unless Arnie and I can find a place to live during the week. Bugs and Daffy convinced my dad to have the live away from parents option the other toons get by default. Every day during last hour class, Bugs and Daffy have been escorting around to places where I and Arnie might be able to live. Sad part is that with those two around, I cannot choose to live out here with you guys. Best I can get though."

The donkey boy thought about it for a moment. "You might wanna be careful when you go to Jaded Shadow; I grew up there. It's not a nice place. You'll likely meet cartoon and anime folk who are related to famous TV stars but never got chosen to be on the shows. You will know what I mean when you meet them. You can find the majority of them at the Outcast Bar and don't worry about age limits there; they don't have any age limits. They allow anyone that wasn't given a fair shake to come in. Just tell them that you were grounded unfairly and you will be in like Flynn. Believe me." Gerard arched an eye. "Really?" Alex nodded his donkey head. "Oh sure. Like I said, you'll understand when you meet them."

Gerard spent a few hours with Alex chatting about various things, then his watch beeped and it was time to head home again. He again promised that he would be back another time, then he stepped through the Toon Hole and was back inside his bedroom. He got undressed and went to bed. As he lay there, he pondered living with Alex and the others with a sly grin on his face.

On Thursday morning after the boys had all departed for their designated destinations in Toonium City, Rianne Prince was preparing snacks for a few toons who were slated to show up that day for a ladies discussion. When the knock on the door occurred, she knew it was too early for the ladies arrival and thus she went and used the peep hole to see who was standing outside. But when she saw who it was, she did open the door fully. "Alphonzo? What are you doing here in Toonium City? Toon authority are only permitting my family to be here as a test run. And you better make it good. Gerard and Arnie are off at school today."

"My siblings and I are previewing a home in Wonderland at the moment while our transfer application is being processed... if they process it," the short obese boy replied. "But my reasons for coming here today do involve Gerard but it is you specifically I wanted to talk to." He then handed over a large flat manila envelope to the Prince mother. "I took this screen cap of a television show that is airing back in Atticus. A cartoon that only started the day after you guys moved up here."

Rianne opened the envelope and pulled out the large photo of the cartoon team in a line-up. "What the...? Except for the majority of this group, Miyuki, Dalis, and Timesheart school locally. I've seen them. They are a grade level higher than Gerard and Arnie." She then glanced at Alphonzo once again. "What goes on in this cartoon?" she asked curiously. The boy smiled winningly since he thought his rival was about to get in more trouble over this. "The male rabbit in the series claims that he isn't the original Captain Rabbit. And in a cartoon episode just before my siblings and I went to Wonderland... Captain Rabbit the Second is telling his team that he had just got over being grounded by acquiring a home of their own locally and that Eagle Lord is living with him there. I didn't know what that meant until the rabbit says later than he is glad that he doesn't have to put up with Alphonzo anymore. The rabbit pops off MY NAME, Mrs. Prince. And the only person who might be glad that they didn't have to deal with me anymore would be your son. Was he grounded recently?"

The adult woman was quiet for a moment before replying. "Yes, he was grounded but he got out of it by acquiring a place of his own by recommendation from the council. The council convinced Leon to go along with this plan since the adult age on Q.C. Planet is 13... 18 for My Little Ponies. Toons qualifying for the adult age mostly move out on their own. If Gerard is Captain Rabbit and Q.C. has been airing his adventures on Earth without my knowledge, then life is about to get dangerous around here. All males might have to protect their family jewels. And here I thought Simba was the only one being this stupid."

Alphonzo gulped as he covered his midsection with one hand. He knew how dangerous it got when Mrs. Prince got out of control with that steel rolling pin.

At the SUM in Wonderland, Lupa-Vega was in a study session with April Hare, Persephone Lion, and Artemis Reindeer, the last being another local college student who happened to be posture problematic or otherwise referred to as a feral or non-morphic. Artemis was the niece of the famous reindeer known as Dasher. Tigra was off on a date with a friend of her's and was unavailable currently. Spike and the other boys had gone bowling in practice for the college league.

"Are you serious, Lupa?" remarked the blue toon lioness. "The cad threatened to wipe out Spike?" The female hare added in, "He really is a pain in the tail if he is still making a nuisance of himself around campus." The able human young lady glanced up from the work sheet she was helping the reindeer with. "Rex is a relentless and annoying ape. He even followed me to Throttle's museum yesterday afternoon and when he had words with the biker mouse, Modo escorted the bleep out of there. Man, that grey Martian mouse looked mad. Rex made the mistake of comparing the Biker Mice to Master Splinter." Artemis smirked. "I thought everyone knew not to call Modo a rat. It really sets him off."

"If he shows up during the Red Queen's croquet game we are all invited to this weekend, she might kill him herself," commented the Prince girl. "We all know how skilled the Queen is."

Back in Toonium City, Leon Prince was spending time with Robin Hood during a council project outing. "I watched your movie when I was younger, Robin, but I have often wondered something. Before you and Marian got serious, were you intimate with anyone out in Sherwood Forest?" The animate fox in the green leather jerkin outfit smiled at the man as he patted the council member around the neck. "Oh sure, Leon. I played the field a bit on both sides of the fence. But in the end, I always remained true and dedicated to Maid Marian. Like your wife, she can swing a mean rolling pin. I think it is a ladies skill they are born with. I am just glad they don't swing them like golf clubs. I prefer archery. Do you have any bow and arrow skills?" Mr. Prince chuckled. "I've dabbled a bit. I'm no pro like you, but back in college, I accidentally shot an arrow into the instructor's backside." Robin laughed out loud.

That night brought Gerard to Scott Rat's room. Apparently and much to his surprise, Fenmire wasn't home. And that for reasons unknown worried him, but he didn't let it bother him because he had come specifically to see the older brother. "Hi Scott." The swamp rat who was a few years older than the real world human had been about to get some sleep and was surprised to see Gerard sticking halfway through a Toon Hole into his bedroom. "You little stinker!" He then chuckled. "Well come on through, Gerard. Where in the name of Yosemite Sam did you get a Toon Hole?" "Alex Donkey not only gave it to me but he taught me how to use it as well," he replied. "And I had planned to come see you tonight anyway so you could teach me something like we agreed upon the other day."

The rat smiled. "I thought you'd forgotten all about that. I'm glad you're here... but you know the rules, you gotta sit with me while I teach you." Which meant in the mud hole in the rat's lap. The boy nodded his head as he carefully slid into the mud with Scott and into his lap. "By the way, where is Fenmire tonight?" The muddy rodent replied, "He spent the night with Ben Weasel. So you and I won't have any interruptions. And because you already know how to use the Toon Hole, I'll teach you about Infinite Item Sacks instead." Gerard cooed and was excited to learn about those things.

Scott said, "Any good toon will tell you that his infinite item sack is his life preserver. From this sack, a toon can pull forth any item or animal that he needs from the unlimited depths of the sack's insides. You never have to look inside the sack; you just reach in quickly with what you need in mind and when you pull your hand out, you'll have the item in your grasp. I don't have one to give you, Gerard, so you'll have to earn one by passing Pepe Le Pew's Toon Physics class. Anything is possible on the Q.C. Planet. You were partially donkeyed once already, weren't you? So maybe other toon tricks are possible as well." Gerard asked, "Like what?" With a smile, the rat replied, "All manner of things. You see, the reason humans get hurt by things is because they have bought into the belief that physics and gravity can hurt them. Toons are trained to use such toonery so they can be successful in their shows." The boy smiled as well. "What would be the best way for me to learn to be a toon in my spare time?" Scott thought about it for a moment before replying. "I'd suggest you talk to the Pink Panther. He lives in a mansion over in Faded Heights and operates the Ink and Paint Club which he also owns. If you really want to know more about being a toon, go to the pink."

Gerard thanked his silty rodent friend as the rat helped him to get cleaned up as per his promise before sending the boy back home via the Toon Hole.

On Friday morning, Rianne surprised the boys by asking them to ride with her in the car instead of riding on the bus. She had made a prior arrangement so that Leon would car pool with Mickey Mouse which would give her a chance to talk to her son and his friend. "You may be wondering why I am escorting you this morning." Gerard remarked, "Yeah, it did cross my mind, mom. What's the deal? You normally only do something like this when you have something on your mind that you don't want dad to learn about first." His mother kept her focus on the steering wheel as they sat at an intersection. "Yesterday morning your old rival, Alphonzo Tralfazworth, arrived at the house and told me some things about you and Arnie and some extra information regarding some of your high school friends. Normally I wouldn't believe anything he said, but when he dropped the bombshell regarding this issue, I took notice."

Arnie arched an eye in suspicion. "We haven't seen any of Rex's family in over a week. What did the snide little pumpkin say to you that made you believe him this time? I mean, his own parents don't even like his lies and tricks." Rianne then tossed the manila envelope over her shoulder to the boys. "Look at that picture while I explain what he had to say." And as the two opened the envelope, Gerard's mother began to explain verbatim what Alphonzo had to say regarding the All-Stars cartoon on Earth and what Captain Rabbit had said to his team. When she had finished, she added, "Who wants to tell me the truth about this first? Or do I have to resort to moving the entire family back to Earth -- one way?"

With a sigh, Gerard lifted his head and began. "Mom... we were trying to protect the family by not revealing what had happened back on Earth. Therefore if you did move us back to Atticus, it wouldn't be long before... Captain Redears, the Lapine Space Pirate, arrived and began taking pop shots at the town in his attempt to get at me all because I ended up with a super formula that Commander Rabbit had been developing from the fluids of her deceased brother, the original Prince Kelly Willingham... A.K.A. Captain Rabbit. His dying wish was for his powers to be transferred to a deserving Rabbitarian citizen so that his heroics could continue to be used to fight against evil and the forces of injustice throughout the universe. The accident I was in at the softball field was when I received the super formula. When Arnie wrongfully gave me mouth to mouth in his attempt to revive me, he accidentally siphoned out the avian contamination absorbed when the gel orb passed through our Earth's ozone layer. That is why he becomes Eagle Lord and I... become Captain Rabbit. Commander Rabbit told us that Redears would stop at nothing to get his paws on that formula and because my body has internalized the chemicals, the only way he can get it would be to kill me. However... lately, he has been having his cute first mate, whom Arnie does not trust, try to persuade me to willingly work with them so I don't have to be killed and then they would have access to the power. The only flaw in Redears' plan is that our powers only operate while within the yellow sun radiation of our local star. If we were to be taken away from Earth or QC Planet, we would lose our powers and simply be stuck in the form we were in at the time. The rabbit's home world had a blue star which explained why their royal family never had powers on their planet."

Glancing into the rear view mirror at her son, Rianne replied, "While I appreciate your wanting to protect the family, Gerard, you really should have brought this up before the move to QC Planet. We could have gotten help from the Founder and others on QC Planet regarding the danger we are all apparently within. But I can understand why you felt you shouldn't. I've read Commander Rabbit's comic in the old days myself. She was a very headstrong bunny whose strange solutions always involved the words... never tell your loved ones what is going on. Knowing her from the comics, that IS what she instructed you boys to do, isn't it?" Arnie replied honestly, "Yes, Mrs. Prince. That is exactly what she told us. But furthermore, Gerard has also been doing a secret mission for the Union regarding Fenmire Rat which is why he was being chummy with the guy in the first place. Gerard is looking for the missing boys."

Rianne smiled at that point. "So that explains your misadventures on Pleasure Island; you think the boys are hiding out there. Secret missions run in the Prince family, Arnie. It stems from his personal nobility and royal view point. Leon's ancestors were Lords in Medieval England and he has traced the family back to an actual noble family who lived there at the time. They had been friends to the king's son at the time and thus, they were the Prince's Protectors. This title was later shortened to simply 'Prince' and the surname was born. So whenever you thought Gerard was being noble, he truly was. Since you are literally an empowered frero, my word for 'furry hero', and you may use that from now on as well, I will excuse you from your grounding under the agreement that you keep me privately informed regarding your adventures. As for Alphonzo, he suspects that you are Captain Rabbit and Arnie being Eagle Lord. So you boys need to arrange to be seen at the same time as your frero counterparts so he no longer believes in what he thought he knew before."

"Thanks mom," said Gerard as he saw the school coming into view. "One of our friends is a magic user. We'll make the arrangements to fool Alphonzo. And thanks for understanding this whole mess." Arnie added, "That first mate's name is Lonepaw and he is a huge flirt, Mrs. Prince. He has already tricked Gerard into some foreplay previously... right in front of Oslo and I, and I hate watching things like that. Personally I think he was trying to goad the formula out of Gerard through sex and I really hope the plan failed. A super powered first mate is NOT what we need to deal with later." Rianne giggled. "He is a tempter then. I would advise you carry around a frying pan. It does wonders for dissuading the male ego. Now you boys have fun in school. And I don't mean behind the bleachers." "MOM?!" "MRS. PRINCE?!" were the simultaneous responses from the boys as they grabbed their books and got out of the car.

After his mother departed, Gerard smiled at Arnie and patted his back. "I wonder if we should have told her that there will only be half a day of school today because of next week's teachers meetings?" Arnie grinned back. "Look on the bright side, Gerard... only three days left of your grounding in your dad's point of view. Your mom let you off the hook; but he doesn't know that yet. He is still under the housing agreement deal with you. Have you found a place yet?" With a grin as they started walking toward the school building, Gerard replied, "I never knew how difficult choosing a house could be. I need to find a house by this afternoon or else we will still be stuck with the family next week."

In the first hour, the entire school was gathered in the auditorium where they saw Salem the Witch Cat, the Dean of the Consortium of Magic, who had come to AniSapien to offer free magic scholarships to any interested students for use after they graduated high school. To Arnie's surprise, Gerard raised his hand when the students were asked who all were interested. He wasn't interested himself, so he was a little curious as to why Gerard wanted one of the scholarships. The second hour class for the two boys were spent in Pepe Le Pew's Toon Physics class. Sadly, however, Pepe assigned them with a week long study project in preparation for finals week which would occur the week after the teachers meetings.

Then came the early lunch period.

As Gerard was about to join the lunch line, he was stopped by one dog paw and pulled out into the hallway. Before him was Ace the Bathound in his cape and cowl. "What are you doing here, Ace? I thought you would be filming on a day like this." The grim canine grinned briefly, then he got serious again. "Dalis told me that you were trying to find a house for..." he then lowered his voice to whisper, "...your team." He then resumed his normal voice. "...you and your friend Arnie. I happen to own one that I can permit you lease to own over time. You would become the caretaker of the farm, although I would check on you and your friends from time to time. I won't be spying on you; you were right about my filming schedule. The main house is partially furnished so you and your friends will need to purchase other appliances and furniture to suit your needs. Are you interested?" Gerard smiled as he gave the known dark dog star a firm hug. "I am very interested, Ace. And thanks. As soon as Bugs and Daffy arrive, I can go see the place." Ace shook his head. "They aren't coming this time, Gerard. Emergency council meeting. I am to be your escort today. And we need to get going right now."

Friday night took Gerard via Toon Hole to Jaded Shadow, to a spot across the street from the Outcast Bar, a place that Alex Donkey had told him about. As Alex had told him, Jaded Shadow was not a nice place. In fact, it reminded him of a mix between black and white cartoons and full color Gothic. The overall theme just seemed to be nocturnal black and midnight blue. Gerard carefully made his way across the street to the entrance of the Outcast Bar, where a hefty rhino bouncer with a patch over one eye was on doorman duty. The bouncer snorted as he looked Gerard over, then said, "This isn't the place for the likes of you, kid. Go home before you get hurt." The boy looked the rhino in his eye and replied, "I was grounded unfairly recently for something that wasn't my fault." The mutant rhino thought this over and then said, "I hate it when that happens. I guess I misjudged you, kid. Come on in. The name is Rollsteady, Rocksteady's brother-in-law. He gets the fame of being with the mutant turtles and I get stuck with being a bouncer here at the bar."

Gerard stepped past the rhino and into the Outcast Bar.

The atmosphere of the bar was what one might expect to see in a nightclub from one of those old black and white cartoons from the 1930s. And like Alex Donkey had told him, the patrons looked similar to some of the most famous cartoon and anime stars of stage and screen, except these people were obviously not the originals. Most, if not all, seemed as if they were at the bottom of the auditioning bucket, and a majority looked drunk, or nearly so. Gerard walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. "Let me have something with lime in it, please." he said to the bartender who looked like a Smokey the Bear reject. And no sooner had he placed his order, Gerard noted how quiet it got in the bar.

The bartender served up a frothy drink with lime in it to Gerard and said, "Wait a minute... you're not a toon like these other bums... you're real." He walked out from behind the bar and examined Gerard from different angles. "Yeah, you're a real boy." He turned to the crowd and shouted, "HEY! WE GOT'S US A REAL BOY TONIGHT!!" The teenage human blushed somewhat; the attention isn't what he was expecting. "Um, is that a problem around here? Alex Donkey said this was a nice place to come to on a Friday night." The bartender then shook Gerard's hand! "I'm Snookie the Bear, Smokey's cousin. That's Malfred Dog at the piano, you met Rollsteady at the door, and that's Kal-Em in the kitchen preparing the meals. What brings a real boy to Jaded Shadow?" Gerard then explained what had happened to him on Pleasure Island and with his clothes and how his parents reacted to his coming home in a toon's clothes. Malfred stopped playing the piano and exclaimed, "Now that's just wrong... They should've been glad to have you back human."

Gerard nodded his head. "Yeah, but they're treating me like I robbed a bank or married the worst toon on the planet." Kal-Em chuckled, as he looked out of the kitchen. "Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that you're welcome here at the Outcast Bar whenever you like, Gerard." Gerard smiled. "Thanks guys. So what goes on around here on a Friday night?" Snookie grinned and winked. "I'm not sure if you're old enough to be into this sort of thing, but we have some live stage entertainment. And it's not often that we get Bosom Bunnie to perform for our joint. But she had a free night and needed the extra dough, so she agreed to perform for us tonight on our stage. In fact, her little number should be starting in any moment..." And at that moment, the lights were turned down low, as a single shaft of moonlight projected down on the curtains of the stage, and slowly, the curtains opened as Malfred Dog played a number on his piano... and that's when Gerard saw the hourglass shaped body of the nearly unclad Bosom Bunnie, as she slinked and sexily strutted across the stage to the awaiting microphone.

Then, with a nod of her head at Malfred, the piano music changed to something more melodramatic, as Bosom began to sing... "Moon...light... lonely moonlight... I stand in the rain without shelter... Moon...light... lonely moonlight... stood up by my belter... all alone... awaiting my bus... Oh moonlight... a time when we found our trust... and now...." She smiled at Gerard and winked at him as she continued to sing. "...a new man I crave... one who is daring and brave... to meet me in the moonlight... lonely moonlight... the rain has passed... my belter has cast... his body in stone... Oh lonely moonlight..." Bosom sauntered slowly down off the stage, walking as she sang, until she stood before Gerard... placing her bunny paws on each of his shoulders. "Bring forth my new man... he is calling my name... together we'll run... showing no shame..."

And Gerard found himself being kissed on the mouth by Bosom!!!

When she let up, she was still singing, though now, was walking slowly toward the piano. "...Lonely moonlight... oh lonely moon...light... I stood in the rain... now I feel no pain... lonely moonlight... oh lonely moonlight... I am alone no more... 'til tomorrow night..."

The sexy hourglass rabbit lady stopped singing and smiled as she winked at the audience who were applauding. "Thank you all for having me here tonight. This is one of my most favorite places to perform and I got to see a real boy too." Gerard smiled. "Bosom... what a nice rabbit." No sooner had he said this, when a hulk sized bunny paw rested on his shoulder. "Ms. Bunnie is my boss; you can look but don't touch," the musclebound rabbit dude in leather gruffly said. Gerard gulped. "But... she touched me first... anyway... I'm probably too young for her..." He pulled out a ten-spot and handed it to the big rabbit. "I enjoyed her show. Please give her this for me. I need to get going before someone notices that I'm not where I'm supposed to be." And so saying that, Gerard left the Outcast Bar and nearly collided with Lonepaw who was waiting for him with two other rabbit pirates.

Lonepaw smiled as he planted a kiss on the boy's mouth again. "This is the last place I thought I would have a chance encounter with you, Gerard." The other two rabbit pirates were holding the boy on both sides as the first mate continued. "So your friend doesn't like me coming on to you, does he? He needs to get over it. You're a rabbit and I'm a rabbit. This is what rabbits do. By the way, lover boy... a message from Redears. He wants to meet with you next week. Alone. No Eagle Lord; no Commander Rabbit; no other All Stars. Just you. Of course I will be there for incentive. The captain has given me permission to date you since I am interested in you. If you fail to show up, the captain will blow your secret identity to the whole city. Be there, handsome... I actually love you enough to protect you, but I still have to obey orders. Besides... you were good the other night..." he paused before leaning in close and whispering as he rubbed a paw over the boy's groin. " ...and then some." He kissed the blushing boy again as he nodded his head to his friends and they departed.

Gerard was panting quietly and HARD, in more ways than the obvious, as he watched the three pirate bunnies depart into the night. "Damn him... he has to know what his scent and his touch do to me every time he gets that close to me. It drives me crazy. I am going to need some advice from Oslo. Tomorrow night during my Japanopolis and Montropolis outing, hopefully the otter can give me some useful advice on what to do. I about melted tonight under Lonepaw's touch. It is getting super hard to resist the guy."

After calming himself over the next hour, the boy glanced around one last time at the surroundings in Jaded Shadow before hopping home through his convenient Toon Hole. But instead of going straight to bed, he choose to strip naked and hit the shower in the bathroom where he turned on the cold water to hopefully force his raging pride to go back to normal. "Stupid rabbit... why does he keep doing this to me? And how come my Captain Rabbit side isn't affected by Lonepaw the way I am?"

"I am a little suspicious of Ace just happening to have this farm property to give you, Gerard," remarked the magical exchange student from Japanopolis as she helped to carry a few lamps into the new two story farm house. "I for one won't hesitate to turn that dog into a frog if he checks on me too often." And yes, Miyuki was being very serious. Gerard smiled at the thought although he knew that only he and Arnie would actually be living at the farm since everyone else had their own homes. "Arnie and I will be the only ones having to put up with the dark hound of MYTHS, Miyuki," he replied as he and Arnie slowly carried a mattress into the house. "Let's get your mattress up to your room, Arnie."

The large panthagoyle legacy was carrying most of Gerard's furniture himself while Timesheart and Commander Rabbit did an inventory check with Ace the Bathound. "Green energy, Ace?" said the care bear tiger cousin of time. "You surprise me sometimes. Gerard was talking about having the power turned on come Monday, but with solar panels and those wind turbines, they are going to have all the power they want." The grim dark furred Great Dane smiled briefly. "Gerard agreed to my lease to own contract so utilities isn't something he should have to worry about. That wouldn't be fair to him at all. And I am being reasonable as the landlord. I have a schedule so I am not going to have my nose up his butt every day." The female rabbit hero smirked as she continued to review the checklist. "And you are thinking that if Redears attacks your farm, it will give you and your allies open permission to return the favor on behalf of Gerard. Right, Ace?" The Bathound chuckled. "You know me all too well, Princess."

"I don't care if you thump Redears on his rear," stated the human boy with the formula power as he returned to pick up another piece of furniture. "just don't hurt Lonepaw, the first mate." Ace smiled. "I can tell you like him. By the way, as you may also notice from all of the out buildings around here, if farm animals want to live out here, you can come up with a rental agreement for their staying here and you would be their landlord, Gerard. The extra income could help you with our lease to own agreement. Otherwise, you can pay me off in full any time you like as long as you keep me informed of emergencies that you need outside help with. This is still my property until you make the final payment."

After the furniture was placed, both Gerard and Arnie were relaxing poolside on waterproof lounge chairs when a black Great Dane sporting the classic Scooby coat pattern and wearing a gold collar with diamond spikes padded by the two examining the property and sniffing over the two boys one at a time. Gerard arched an eye since he did not recognize the Scooby relative. "Can we help you with something, sir?" The large dog whose property tag was in the shape of an A. and a D. within a diamond triangle glanced back at the boy and replied, "I am Alpha Doo, the clan head of the Scooby pack. I live on an estate near here. I wanted to know who my newest neighbors were." He then grinned briefly with a wink. "The TV shows never showed me, but my darling wife, Ruby Doo, is Scrappy Doo's mother as well as Councilman Scooby's sister."

Arnie smiled as he shook the canine's paw. "Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Arnie Domingo and he's Gerard Prince, my best friend." The clan head then looked at the pool water briefly before checking both boy's swim trunks one at a time. He seemed glad that they were dry still. "Before you boys swim in this pool, you had best have Dalis and his UEC friends give the pool a safety cleansing. The chlorine used in the pool contains non-safe minute amounts of Toonium and I am sure you boys don't want to end up as toons. Get Dalis to clean it up. And..." he paused with a smile. "...that black kitsune is very sexy." And then he departed quietly.

A call was placed to the son of the Panthagoyle immediately and the emergency clean up commenced.

"So you are telling me that the presence of the Chlorine Toonium isn't Ace's fault at all because it is commonplace in certain products and these products help toons keep their colorful revivification for their original appearances?" asked Gerard to the tall and sexy black kitsune male member of the UEC. The dark furred five-tailed unclothed anime vulpine replied, "Exactly correct, boys. It is unfortunate that humans can have reactions to Toonium exposure. To learn more about Toonium, you should have a full conversation about it with Mr. Pink since he is the authority on the Toonium mines and the Toonium factories on planet. The UEC simply work for him with the added benefit that all UEC agents are given the immunity to Toonium exposure for life. Sadly to get this immunity, you will become toon in the process but forever after you are no longer affected by random Toonium accidents that might occur."

Arnie eyed his best friend as he remarked, "Sounds like a sick Catch-22 if you want the immunity especially if you are trying not to get tooned in the first place." His friend nodded his head in reply. "I totally agree, Arnie. Without the immunity, you can get randomly tooned into just about anything. But with the immunity, you become a toon version of your human self. Hardly a protection in this case. You get tooned either way." Gerard turned to the black kitsune and shook his furred hand. "Thank you for giving us this information, sir. It is very important for us to stay human as long as we are able to." He looked at his best friend. "Come on, Arnie... we need to let the UEC get back to the task at hand."

Later that day at the local arcade in Christmas Junction, Gerard and Arnie got some video game tokens from Prancer and Cupid who were manning the counter along with an elf who was running the cash register. Once they had their tokens, the boys parted company to play the games they were the most interested in.

While Arnie was playing an 'Immoral Reindeer Combat' game with the Comet character who was wearing martial arts gear, Conner and Parker came up on either side of him to watch him play. "Playing my dad, I see. As long as you aren't playing 'WITH' him, mom won't kill you." Arnie made an 'eww' remark as he had the video game character kick a wolf's tail end. "Did you have to make that kind of remark while I am playing a video game? Just eww, guys. Unlike Gerard, I'm not into that sort of thing. I know I act like a prude but it keeps me on Mrs. Prince's good side and far away from that rolling pin of her's." And that statement made both toon boys flinch and cringe since they had forgotten about the threat of being 'Simba-lized' with that club.

Gerard on the other paw was wearing 4-D goggles and playing in a virtual reality game with three other toons as their group was playing the 'Crown Quest IV' video game. He was manning the Monk/Cleric character who was (what else?) a rabbit, while a toon bear with yellow fur played a Marksman/Fighter and his porcupine friend who wore a Hawaiian shirt was playing a Magitek Guardsman. The fourth player was a horse who had joined the game after Gerard already had his goggles on so he hadn't seen who it really was. But the horse's character was playing a Rogue/Mage with a Fire specialty. (Shameless character plugs abound!) Working as a team, they played their way through several encounters and managed to get well inside the dragon's castle.

The boys then got back together at the snack machines where they were retrieving sodas and chips. "The dragon's stupid skeleton guards back attacked my Monk. How did you do with Comet-Fu?" Arnie smiled as he opened his can of cola. "I got up to world five before Conner and Parker grossed me out too much to finish the game. Anyway, we still have a bunch of tokens. What should we do next?" Gerard chuckled at the mention of being grossed out. "How about a game of table tennis, love? You know I can beat your shorts off of you." He winked with a giggle. "In your dreams! I am all the time beating your sorry ass at that game!" His friend was still smiling as he walked over to the open table tennis table. "Put your money where your mouth is, Mr. comic book reader who does things with an union judge behind closed doors!" That infuriated the other boy who stormed over and the match was on! And not surprisingly... Arnie won! Five times in a row!

Saturday night provided Gerard with an escort to Montropolis in the form of Oslo Otter who apparently knew the Q.C. well and suggested a restaurant where they could make arrangements for having a nice dinner. And after a quick Toon Hole jump, the two arrived at a place just outside of a swanky establishment which was called the Animanmega, a restaurant that catered to both human and non-human anime. While the toon otter headed inside to procure reservations for the both of them at a nearly private table, Gerard waited outside at the sidewalk where Oslo had asked him to wait for the arrangements to be made. Suddenly from down the street, he saw a strange looking digimon running directly at him, while a boy with green eyes, foxy brown hair, and fair skin was giving chase not far behind him. The strange looking digimon was about the size of a leopard but maned softly, his large wings were tight to his back, and his long legs ended in four hoofed/clawed paws. When he stood up, he was about three feet tall. He was wearing a beast like 'lionish robe' and the tail was leonine but had much more hair too - like a horse's tail. His muzzle was very wide and equinish; in fact it's blunt in front but, like a lion's, it opened to show huge nasty ivory teeth. His large nose was like a horse, quite soft, and his eyes were arrow shaped and very expressive, yet he could see quite sharply and clearly. The digimon running in biped mode and had strange crystals floating around his head. And when the digimon accidentally slammed into Gerard, the collision knocked both of them to the ground as the crystals fell all around them.

The anime boy finally arrived and helped the real boy and his digimon partner back to their feet. "We're really sorry. I'm Vance Slystalker and this is Kahidomon, my digimon partner. We are on our way to an audition here in Montropolis, the home to anime monster programs, such as Digimon, Pokemon, and Monster Rancher. If you are ever in our area someday, stop on by Shinjuku, the local suburb where we live, and visit with us." Vance then looked at his cute partner. "Come on Kahidomon... grab your crystals and let's go." The unique lion like digimon located all but one of the crystals as he nodded his head. "Got the ones I could find, Vance! Let's hit the studios, partner!"

While Gerard watched the two depart, Oslo emerged from the restaurant and took hold of Gerard's arm. "I got us a nice two seat table facing the stage. I hope you like my choice. Just order anything and I'll cover the bill. Let's get to our table." And the otter led the boy into the restaurant and across the dimly lit chamber to the private table. Once they were seated and had placed their orders for their drinks, Gerard smiled at Oslo and asked, "Do you know a Vance Slystalker?" Oslo smiled back replying, "I've heard of him. I think he's been waiting for ages to star in an Anime of his very own. Nice kid, though a little foxy... and he has soft and silky brown hair."

After the restaurant dinner and weird stage entertainment ended, the toon otter and the human boy were walking down a street in nearby Japanopolis where they entered a tattoo parlor which was ran by an feral styled anime boar and an anthropomorphic raccoon who had a quiver of energy arrows on his back. Oslo grinned as he said, "Special treat, Gerard. Choose a picture and I'll pay for your getting it tattooed on your body." Gerard irked as he turned to his friend. "Um, I don't know... my mom would kill me if I suddenly got a tattoo out of nowhere. She would demand to know where and when I got it. And I don't want to be hit by that rolling pin." The otter was still grinning at the thought. "We'll keep her from finding out for a while. Trust me. Besides, it's not like your parents have any say so now that you own your own place, you know. It'll be fun. Choose something."

And so, Gerard began looking over the available picture designs in the parlor. It was while he was looking at the tattoo designs when a group of five lapine pirates walked into the parlor. And their leader and first mate were rabbits whom he knew on sight. It was Redears and Lonepaw along with three of their crew mates. Gerard went into defense and was in his pre-morphing pose instantly. "Redears!" The rabbit pirate captain didn't even bother to reach for his weapons as he waved a wad of greenbacks at the mercenary raccoon parlor owner. "I'm a paying customer, Rosco. Three of my newest crew mates need the team tattoo. Is my money still good?" He then glanced at Gerard sharply and acknowledged him with nod of his head. "If you suit up, Rosco will fill you with so many holes that not even the Warners will be able to patch you up. As you can see, you are the only one on the verge of entering combat. This isn't the way I wanted to meet up with you later this week, but since we are all here now, we can have a civilized meeting without anyone getting hurt. Why are you here, Gerard? This is hardly the business I would expect you to be interested in. There is a comic book shop a few blocks down. Or can we be civil this time? You initiated the last fight, too."

Realizing that the captain was completely right, the boy released his fists back into a casual stance as he replied, "Oslo Otter is treating me to my first tattoo." Redears then noticed the bisexual otter nearby, then he glanced back at the human with a very concerned look on his muzzle. He leaned forward to the boy and whispered, "Oslo hasn't... you know... mounted you... yet, has he?" Gerard's facial expression was enough to let the rabbit pirate know that Oslo hadn't done anything. Redears then continued in a whisper, "Good. Oslo sometimes gets carried away on his dates. Lonepaw told me about his encounter the other night and what he did to you. He didn't have permission to touch you like that, Gerard. He and the others had just departed from a scented massage parlor which my crew swears by and that lapine scent can drive non-lapines out of their minds."

Gerard swallowing his pride chose to be civil as he shook Redear's gloved paw-hand. "You are right; Arnie and I were at fault during the last fight. For the sake of these places where you and I seem to encounter each other coincidentally, we should be civil since they are privately owned." He then paused as his eyes drifted back to the tattoo chart. "I wonder what kind of tattoo I should get?" Redears thought about an idea for a moment then he made a suggestion. "How about a small crew tattoo at first? You shouldn't go for anything big the first time. A small one would get you used to the needle. And before you complain, while I do want that formula, we learned you cannot pass the power no matter what we do and it would be silly to try to kill you to get it. So instead, if you agree to get the crew tattoo, I will make an offer to employ you for legal jobs around the Q.C. star system. Completely legal. No criminal acts. I swear." He held up one paw and with the other he crossed his heart where the owners of the parlor could see him do it. The young man quietly thought over the offer. If he agreed to the offer, no more unprecedented attacks on him and Arnie, and he would no longer have to worry about his parents getting hurt by accident. Redears was swearing with witnesses that the offered jobs would always be legal but he was also admitting that he really wanted that power. Something about the deal seemed too easy, but the promise of a truce was the selling point. The human boy replied, "You have a deal. No more attacks on me and my friends and you leave my parents alone. You get my services whenever you ask as long as your requests are both legal and do not interfere with my schooling schedule. Agreed?" The rabbit captain smiled. "Agreed." He then looked to the Raccoon again. "Better make that four new crew mates, Rosco. Gerard is agreeing to my terms. You are my witness on his agreement."

The tattoo artist coon got to work on the stylish full color tattoo of the lapine pirate crew icon. It took a few hours but soon the process was finished and Gerard was admiring his new tattoo in a mirror. His first tattoo and it didn't hurt at all. He actually liked the design. Lonepaw hugged him fondly as the boy looked in the mirror. "That looks good on you, partner. And I am sorry about the Friday night encounter. Those masseuse oils were stronger than usual and I shouldn't have physically touched you like that. I am sorry." He then kissed the boy on the mouth again. Gerard couldn't stay mad at the first mate for an innocent mistake, so... he kissed back and though he was trying not to make this into a scene, the others were enjoying the show. Oslo grinned as Gerard came up for air. "That tattoo is sure to impress Fenmire. He'll probably get jealous when he sees it." As the otter paid for the tattoo, Redears grabbed the boy's shoulder and surprising said the same words others had been giving him about the toon rat. "If you are palling around with Fenmire, step lightly, mate. He is worse trouble than you thought we were. Unlike him, we never got directly in the cross hairs of the Union. Stay on alert when you have to be around him. Truth telling or not, he doesn't do anything without thinking he is getting something in return. He is far worse than a space pirate, me laddie. Oslo is safer than he is. And that's saying something. Believe me, matey." And then he allowed the boy to depart the parlor with the otter with an overactive libido.

Sunday morning during breakfast, Gerard and Arnie had a quiet breakfast together since none of the other All-Stars were around and this was their first official day within the house by themselves. As a joke, the Prince boy remarked, "What's on your mind, Arnie? You have that look on your face." When the other lifted his eyes to look at his friend, he saw the smile on the others face. With a giggle he replied, "I was thinking about exploring the area during the week to find out who our other neighbors are. I mean, this is a livestock farm with no livestock and we know there are other farms around the region. But what's on your mind, Gerard? I know about your Toon Hole you have been using. I saw you playing with it last night. You have been making outings without me. I thought we were friends." Gerard smiled back. "We are and my next planned outing is to a region which you are more familiar with than I am. Meta-Star City. I was planning on heading up there today to see the sights and maybe see about meeting a few empowered heroes... like us. You want to come along?"

"You know I do!" exclaimed Arnie with a big smile. "And I know a few places where we can go while there, too! They have a powers testing facility where empowered heroes can get their powers rated and registered officially. And since we are both heroes, we could make it official. Sound like fun?" Gerard nodded his head. "I like the sound of that, Arnie. Let's finish breakfast and head up that way."

Once they finished their food and cleaned up the dishes, they used Gerard's Toon Hole to step from the farm to the streets of Meta-Star City. They had barely arrived when they had their first encounter. Standing at a bus stop was a bald gentleman wearing a business suit who had been reading a newspaper with the logo 'Daily Planet' written across it's front page. Because the boys had inadvertently bumped into him, he turned to them to see who they were. Arnie recognized the man immediately. "You're Lex Luthor. Why are you just standing around reading a newspaper and not out doing some evil scheme?"

Lex grinned. "Actually, I am not on scripted time today. Plus my union would dock my pay if I robbed a bank or tried to destroy Superman with Kryptonite on a Sunday. I don't recall seeing you boys around here before. Are you the offspring of some powered individual or are you from one of the other animated regions?" Gerard replied, "My dad is the new councilman in Toonium City serving on the Terryville City Council." Arnie added, "We still don't know why they needed a human on a council full of loony cartoon greats." Mr. Luthor did something unexpected at that moment as he placed his hand to his chin and hummed softly. "Hm... your father isn't a toon like the others?" Gerard started to explain the situation. "No. Originally, we were living on Earth in Atticus, Georgia... in the real world, and when they hired my dad, my family and my best friend had to move to Toonium City." The famous villain thought about this strange circumstance; he had been at the Toonium City celebration when the Prince family arrived, but he had assumed that they were simply from the live action region known as Forest River where Dr. Yakko Warner and Dr. Tennyson lived. Then he looked at the boys once again. "I can almost bet that there is an ulterior motive to their wanting your dad on council and I don't like seeing other people getting used... unless I am the one using them. What are your full names? I'll do some investigation into this mystery using my connections and I'll find out what they are really doing in Toonium City."

"I am Gerard Klayton Prince and this is my best friend Arnie Domingo. My sister, Lupa-Vega, is attending The SUM in Wonderland. She has a toon jackal friend named Spike. My father's name is Leon and my mother's name is Rianne. Oh! And I need to warn you about our rivals... the Tralfazworth brothers. They are a pain in the tail. Rex is harassing my sister and his chubby brother Alphonzo is all the time trying to humiliate the two of us." Lex nodded his head as his black limousine pulled up to the curb. "My ride is here. Don't you worry, boys. I will find out what they are up to. You try to do as your parents tell you and by all means stay out of trouble. And if you are in Toonium City, the worst trouble you can avoid is that rat named Fenmire." Then, he got into the limo and it drove down the street and turned the corner.

Arnie glanced at his friend and said, "See? Even Luthor knows that rat. And he's the most famous arch enemy in Meta-Star City." Gerard nodded his head in return. "Redears told me the same thing last night when Oslo and I were in Japanopolis. He actually said he would trust Oslo before he would trust Fenmire. And that was saying something. But... an ulterior motive? Dad would never believe me if I told him... but maybe he'd believe Mr. Luthor." Arnie nodded his head as well. "I hope Lex can get some proof for your dad. He has enough on his plate without having to deal with Simba sniffing his crotch at every turn." The prince boy laughed for a short moment, then he got serious once again. "I'm a little worried now." The two boys then headed off down the street wondering who else they were going to see in Meta-Star City. So far, it seemed like a good outing.

They soon came across an empowered student park where various new personalities were practicing their abilities just before Noon.

Perhaps what really caught their eye was the semi-animated anthropomorphic Hell Hound sex symbol with a muscular body and wearing a red and bronze costume with a golden embroidered black cloak who was holding up a park bench in one hand. The bench had an animated toon boy wearing a white military uniform with the Ace of Spades imprinted on both the front and the back, black gloves, black boots, and a simple white eye mask tied in the back. He was studying a floating college text book while juggling a standard deck of playing cards. Arnie giggled and said toward the powerful hound, "That looks like some power you have there." The muscular Hell Hound grinned revealing all of his razor sharp white teeth as he replied, "Thanks. The name is Infernal, real name of Warfang, Scion of Pack Battlepaw. And this is my buddy, Captain Ace, real name of Richard Spade. He's the son of Super Spade and Queen Neuter." The Captain glanced down at the boys with a smile as his juggled card all landed back in his hand all nice and neat. "And who are you guys? You don't look animated like the other locals. In fact, you look like you both might be from the real world." Infernal smirked. "Captain Obvious always seems to hit the nail on the head. But you do look real."

"This is Arnie Domingo and I am Gerard Prince, the son of the Toonium City's newest councilman. We have been living on Q.C. Planet for about two or three weeks." Infernal glanced up at Captain Ace as the two exchanged an odd look. Then the Hell Hound set the park bench down on the ground said, "Terryville hired a real person for their council? That's unheard of. Why would they do that for?" Captain Ace had to agree with his friend. "Infernal is right. I'm not dissing your father's abilities, Gerard, but... I always heard that only cartoon residents of longer than a year could be on the council." Arnie offered the following to the conversation, "Lex Luthor thought it was strange when we mentioned it to him, too. We don't know why everyone thinks it is so strange. Although... it was sorta sudden." Infernal said, "Mr. Luthor would be the one to know about such things. He teaches a class at the Heroes and Villains Academy on Plans and Schemes; he is always thinking about such things. The Terryville City Council must be up to something. But I'll be damned if I know what it is."

Captain Ace playfully slapped the Hell Hound's shoulder with a grin. "You already are damned, Warfang." He winked as he laughed again. The Hell Hound smirked back. "Behave or I will give you some knots later tonight and we know how much that hurt you the last time, don't we?" He winked as well with a naughty grin. The human boys smiled as well since it seemed these two were good friends and only good friends could tease each other like that. "Arnie and I need to get going. We are planning on visiting the local powers testing facility after lunch." Arnie added with a grin. "We have the week off due to Teacher's meetings, and next week are the finals before Summer vacation starts. We are both hoping to get a good enough grade to earn an infinite item sack from Mr. Le Pew." Captain Ace grinned. "You boys took a class in Toon Physics? If you pass his class in the top ten, it will be the first time a real boy was able to do that. I wish you luck, guys. I'll expect to hear how you did in Le Pew's class." Infernal laughed. "This is the first time any real boys were in his class."

After a shared lunch at the local Arden's Pizza (courtesy of Captain Ace and Infernal, since the Hell Hound had a VIP Exchange membership card which was good in that restaurant,) the boys parted company with the two student heroes and soon walked into the Meta-Star City Empowered Examination Labs. "This is it, Gerard! Overcat showed our class this place during the field trip class," then he whispered, "but I didn't volunteer to try it then because you and I are supposed to be protecting our secret identities." He then resumed his normal tone of speaking. "We know Commander Rabbit and Epona are both registered already and now we can make it official for us. And don't worry... they are always confidential here."

After getting signed in with Dr. Hank McCoy, yes, Beast of the X-Men himself, Gerard was up first in the testing chamber. "Whenever you are ready, Gerard. Utilize every power you have then power down." And the human boy stepped out into the center of the testing chamber and turned to face the observation window.

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Gerard struck his pose and felt the energy rush cascading up his body from his waist to his head. Then as he felt his hair stand on end and goosebumps ripple over his skin, a circle of power and a conic pyramid of energy illuminated his body brightly. The circular disc he stood on in front of the pyramid of conic energy then moved around behind the pillar of power as on another disc the form of a handsome and muscular rabbit man came around from the other side to take the place of the former human. Then his costume appeared in flashes up and down his new body, followed by his gloves and boots, and finally, his clear visor appeared on his head over his eyes. He leaped off of the disc and made some impressive martial arts moves as he landed in his finishing pose for all to see. "Captain Rabbit!"

Then with a quick crouch he shot into the air of the testing chamber with a fast launch. He stopped in mid air, exactly like the original Captain Rabbit would have done in the comic books, proving that Gerard had been right about the good lapine being able to fly. Dr. McCoy then activated a few robot drones to fly out into the chamber and proceed to give the empowered rabbit man a real workout to which Captain Rabbit proved that he was no slacker in the punching, kicking, and bashing department. Although he wasn't as good as the original and certainly not as skilled at flying as Angel would have been, for what he could do was very impressive indeed. He was a true hero and there was no doubt about it. When the simulation ended, he landed on the floor once again and... much like Commander Rabbit had done with Epona, his long ears began broadcasting Morse code, proving another fact about his powers.

Finally, he powered down and walked out of the chamber where he sat down and accepted some bottled water from the good doctor. Now it was Arnie's turn. The best friend walked out to the center of the chamber and turned around to face the observation window. "Just as Gerard did, Arnie. Utilize every power you have then power down."

And then it happened.

"Empowered Legacy! Activate!" Arnie struck his pose and felt... nothing. He looked at himself holding up his arms and hands and looking at his still human form. He decided to try again. He struck his pose and focused very hard. "EMPOWERED LEGACY! ACTIVATE!" Still nothing happened. A look of despair was now crossing his face. He knew he could do it. Why wasn't it working? "Gerard? I need your help. Could you come out here please?" With a nod from Beast, Gerard walked into the chamber and stood beside him as the two shared a wink at each other as they began their sequences. "Let's take it to the next level!" Gerard initiated his sequence without fail and while Arnie proceeded to activate his at the same time. Except... Only Captain Rabbit appeared. Eagle Lord was missing. Arnie slowly slumped down next to his friend on the floor and started sobbing.

Moments later within one of the examination rooms, Dr. McCoy and Professor Xavier gave the depressed boy a full empowered scan while Captain Rabbit waited just outside in the hall. Prof. X emerged within his floating hover chair as he said to the hero, "You told Hank that you boys got your powers at the same time, right?" "Well, not exactly, Professor X. I got my powers first and then Arnie accidentally siphoned part of the formula out of my mouth when he tried to give me mouth to mouth instead of using the chest pumping action. After that, Commander Rabbit beamed an activation ray into our eyes and we both transformed into our hero forms. We have used these powers at least three times together within the last three weeks. I don't know what could be wrong. He was fine the last time we used our powers." The wise instructor of the mutant school placed a hand on the hero lapine's shoulder. "Arnie's problem is something you might know about especially if you are both comic book fans. Are you familiar with the lapine hero known as Captain Carrot?" After a nod of his head, Prof. X continued. "When Arnie gave you mouth to mouth, he did the exact same thing that hero would do. He drank the left over fluids you had in your mouth. That's why he only got a part of the formula. But like the good furry hero from that comic, the charge he gained from the, if you will pardon the expression, meal... only imbued him with enough energy to make three transformations. Without another dosage of the formula for your friend to partake of, his days as Eagle Lord are over. He will be depressed over this turn of events but you have to show him support."

"And I will, too. This isn't fair for Arnie at all, Professor. He was really excited to be an empowered hero like me when it first happened. Coming here to get the tests was his idea. Isn't there anything you can think of that would give him the power?" The mutant master of mental prowess thought about it for a moment, then replied, "We could create a device that would allow him the power, but like the formula, he would have to recharge the device periodically. Ultimately over time, the device might fail and depending upon which form he was in at the time... he would be stuck for the rest of his life. Aside from that, the only other solution I can think of is pretty costly." Captain Rabbit arched an eye. "What is it?" The bald mutant replied, "Yuskay Groomers claim to be able to empower anyone with powers. Sadly, the only Yuskay Groomers location I know of is in the Rotunda, a merchant sector of Nexus Town which is located in the Underworld. Reaching the Underworld isn't very easy. An infernal could possibly open the way for you. Otherwise, the only way in is shrouded in mystery."

"That means I will have to talk to Infernal again," stated Captain Rabbit. "We had lunch together and he is a stud Hell Hound. And being what he is, he has to know how to get there." Professor X nodded his head. "Then you should make the arrangements with him when you are able. In the meantime, you might want to take Arnie back home. He feels awful about the whole thing and he may need to just spend some time with his best friend."

After powering down, Gerard pulled out the Toon Hole and he held on to Arnie as he helped his friend through the animated black hole and into the living room of their farm house. After putting away the Toon Hole, he told Arnie what the new plan was going to be. "...so you see, you can permanently get the power back but we have to get you to Yuskay Groomers in the Underworld. And that means I have to convince Infernal, our sexy Hell Hound hero friend, to open the way for us. Is this plan okay with you?" Lifting his head to Gerard, there was a bit of hope in his eyes. "You're going to help me get Eagle Lord back? Really? Oh thank you... thank you..." And he hugged his friend tightly as he cried a bit more.

The rest of the day was spent reading comic books in their den and preparing a dinner for the both of them. Gerard knew that they both had plans for the coming week and they needed to be rested for those plans to bear fruit. Jack Roo was supposed to introduce him to his horse friend and Arnie had voiced exploring the nearby farms to see who the rest of the neighbors were. Aside from that, he was glad that they wouldn't have to deal with surprise lapine pirate attacks. But tomorrow was another day and they would survive to see what it brought.

End of Episode Four

Stay tuned for the next episode, Elemental Unity