The Wake of Destruction

The wake of destruction is miles wide. Black glass pops and fizzles, smoking in the sunlight. The glare is blinding; jagged hummocks and crevasses of it are all that can be seen in any direction. A cleansing fire has scourged this land, leaving only ruin.

The mammoth-like beast stomps through the ruin. The air around it shimmers with extreme heat, and the ground melts and fuses beneath it, blackening from its fiery aura. It has eight legs and, nonsensically, fur. It's about fifty feet tall, twice that in length, and has a large transparent bubble on its back. Inside rests the Baron von Nikolaus, vile archvillain, amidst his machines and implements. He cackles as he goads the beast forward with the instrumentation locked away in the heat-proof bubble. "Bwahahahaha!" he laughs maniacally. "Those fools at the Institute will learn what a mistake they made! They'll learn when my mutated methapthoer crushes them into pulp!"

A high-pitched whistling drew the Baron von Nikolaus's attention to the sky. There, he saw a orange rocketship, plunging towards him at high speed. "Who dares?" he exclaimed in indignation before the rocketship hit his methapthoer. Bouncing off the fur, it fell to pieces. Most of it flew over the Baron's anti-heat-dome, melting as it went, but the cockpit detached as the mooring bolts liquified with heat and plunged straight into the dome. The Baron wondered who could have copied his anti-heat material; he soon had the answer.

Three figures climbed out of the rocketship's cockpit, standing on the pistoning machinery filling the Baron's dome. Each of them was clad in a skintight uniform of the same design but a different color. The first of them, wearing red, announced "We are the Galaxy Patrol, come to stop your evil! I am Mr. Suresh!" The man to his right, in an orange uniform and hefting an imposing looking handgun, announced "I am Mr. Chen!" To Mr. Suresh's left, a violet-clad woman followed this with, "I am Ms. Tchetchetkine! Surrender now, "Baron" von Nikolaus, and we will take you away peacefully!"

The Baron leapt to his feet, enraged. "Never!" he shouted. "Not when I'm so close to my final victory!" Pulling a lever by his feet, he said triumphantly, "You'll change your mind, now that you've been hit by my reverse-o-beam-o-ray-o-matic!"

The Galaxy Patrol staggered. They looked at each-other, hatred in their faces. "Our feelings have been reversed!" Mr. Chen shouted, leveling his handgun at Ms. Tchetchetkine. "And let me say that I was becoming rather fond of you!" Firing with a bestial grim of triumph, he hit Ms. Tchetchetkine with the ray - set to stun! She crumpled to the floor, and Mr. Chen fumbled with the settings. He aimed again - and this time the gun was set to KILL! The Baron looked on, a grin on his face. He cackled. None of them would try to harm him - because they hated him before, they loved him now!

Mr. Suresh tackled Mr. Chen, hands around his throat. He began to throttle his fellow Galaxy Patrolman - then stopped. "What am I doing?" he asked himself. "What about the power of love, and friendship? What about the loyalties that bind us together? The power of hope, and the human heart? Of smiles, and a child's innocence, and unicorns and rainbows and everything beautiful? How can I let the reverse-o-beam-o-ray-o-matic take that away from us?" Rising to his feet dramatically, Mr. Suresh picked up Mr. Chen's handgun and leveled it at the Baron von Nikolaus. "Now you'll face justice, fiend!"

"No!" Nikolaus wailed. "How can this be! I have no defense!" Scrabbling under his desk, he found a hidden switch and pressed it. A hammer extended from a nearby machine, smashed Mr. Suresh onto the floor, and retracted. "Except that, of course," the Baron said with a satisfied smirk. "Now, my other minion," the Baron said to Mr. Chen, "Strike your friend down, and join me in glory!"

Mr. Chen picked up his handgun, set it back to "stun", and fired it at the Baron von Nikolaus. The Baron, a stunned expression on his face, fell to the floor bonelessly.

Mr. Suresh got to his feet woozily. "You did it, Mr. Chen!" he exclaimed jubilantly. "You defeated the Baron, and found the power of love within you!" Mr. Chen seemed speechless at this. Mr. Suresh walked to the Baron and manacled him, then pulled the lever for the reverse-o-beam-o-ray-o-matic. "Ah!" he said. "Now everything should be back to normal."

"Er." said Mr. Chen. "I feel obliged to note that I did not in fact find 'the power of love' within me. In fact, I found that entire speech so horrible, cliched, and otherwise annoying that, under the reversing effect of the Baron's machine, I was able to overcome my hatred for you and attack the Baron."

Mr. Suresh turned slowly to face Mr. Chen. "Well... all's forgiven? All's well that ends well?" he asked hopefully.

Mr. Chen sighed. "I think we will have words once we get back to Galaxy Patrol HQ," he noted, "But I am led to understand that they frown on whipping, so there's nothing I can do right now." He looked at the methapthoer, trudging along the barren earth, melting everything into its path. "For now, we have to figure out how to get off this thing!"