I'll Be Dog-Gone (8)

Ragnar sat with his feet propped up on a barrel of fine whisky, a filled gold chalace in one hand and one of Momma's better cigars in the other. She sat opposite him in a crushed velvet chair, likely equiped with drink and smoke.

Momma had grown a bit nervous at his apparent confidence and had chosen to move to a more secure portion of her inner sanctum. Well at least one she felt more comfortable in.

He smiled but shook his head all the same. "No Momma, not this time. Sometimes it just isn't that simple anymore. Some decisions you make only lead you one way. There isn't always a way back."

"Yeah..." She smirked, her own bit of disgust stained her voice..."I almost hate to turn you over to them loosers but....."She really did sound reluctant...gotta look after me boys. You know how it is." More of a statement than a question.

"Why don't we make a wager on whether you actually manage to hand me over to the reality people or i get out of here with all I came for, inluding the women slaves you've been gathering."

"Hmmm. Okay how about this. If I pull it off....You get out of the slave trade and stick to good old smuggling like you used to. You write off the ladies i get away with, and you cover my escape once i get back to my boat. Plus add a little embelishment to the legend of the mightly viking." He smiled."As far as getting away, I make it back onto the long boat with the women and you call it quits."

That got her attention. Those maps were rumored to be priceless! They supposidly showed where a great deal of the goodies were buried in the realms. Untold treasures indeed....not to mention the mine. She'd been after that for years! Ragnar could almost see her salivating.

"Why thank you Ma'am," Vi replied. she disappeared into her Groovy girl Pup Tent and came out with two folding chairs, a small table and a small grey box. After she and Mary had settled themselves down, she sipped her tea, set the cup down and picked up the box.

"This Mary, is a G.P.S.S. That's short for Global Postioning Scooby Satelite System. It's the only way to try and keep track of my friends." Vi looked a trifle flustered. "We all have a tendency to get very, very lost. Let's see..." Vi fiddled with the controls. "Ragnar is with Mamma.."

Viridian nodded solemnly. "Yes, I remember ALL too well. Hmmm, 6th and Drum are moving quickly-- they are being chased by other life forms... Kara and Sweetiepie are with a ... dog?" Viridian frowned and looked in the direction of the hold. "I thought all the dogs were here...hmmm... I think they are being chased by a dragon in the forest. Nothing new there. Mousie, Spyral and Sunny are being held captive in town, Rae is fighting off bad magic in the forest.. artickat is with.." Vi smiled, "why she is with Pooh! How wonderful for her! I hope she is having a lovely time! Of course, Jila and Chryse are off flying with Peter. My, is that everyone?" Vi frowned again. "Where the heck is Artist?" She shook her head. "This system isn't perfect. He's probably being chased by a jealous husband." she looked at Mary and cleared her throat. "If you know what I mean."

"Well, if they want me, they all know how to call." Viridian announced. "None of our adventures has found a single home for the dogs." She went back into the tent and brought out the huge roll of paper and a huge marker. Unrolling the paper, she wrote out a sign-- "Cute Doggies Need a Good Home." Tacking it up between the mast and the controlroom, she stood back and admired her work. "Maybe this will help."

the activity around the castle from her perch on the northern ridge. *Sigh....she just couldn't see how she was going to get in! The whole place was surrounded with a mote and the drawbridge was aswarm with the sheriffs men. Not that she really knew the difference in armor penions but they all looked alike and it was HIS castle...she thought.

as she shut the hatch to the cargo hold. "Did you find Kaybe, Mary?" she asked, "there is Ghostie as well, but the G.P.S.S. doesn't pick up ghosts very well." Vi turned to walk over to where Mary was when she was grabbed from behind. A very cold, very wet gloved hand clamped over her mouth. The rancid combination of stale smoke, wet wool, mothballs, body odor and whiskey assaulted her nose and she tried not to gag. She knew who it must be. The sight of a large hook dripping with seaweed comfirmed her guess.

through the corridors for what felt like hours. Most of the open doors they found were storage rooms. Mama had been racking up quite an amout of wealth it seems. *But no Ragnar*, 6th thought, *Not yet, at least.*

"Quick, in there!" 6th grabbed Drum by one sleeve and hauled him towards the barrel. He climbed in, and she jumped in afterwards pulling the cover over the top, leaving a crack open.

"Oof!" Drum gasped as 6th sat on him. She couldn't see his face, the inside of the barrel was too dark. But it was large enough for them both to not be TOO cramped, and 6th wasn't that heavy, so she assumed Drum was teasing.

"Hook." Drum whispered. 6th nodded. She peeked out of the barrel to watch Vi being dragged down the hallway by the seaweed covered Captain. Vi was sharp, plus she was facing back down the hallway. She therefore glimpsed 6th peek out of the barrel at her. Hook, facing the other way, did not.

"To Mama, lass. To get paid for ye. Ye and yer mates may have taken my boat away, but I'll have her back soon enough. And tho ye let me other captives fly off with that dratted boy, I'll be getting paid for you, sure enough!" He carted Vi away down the hall. 6th climbed out of the barrel and gave Drum a hand.

"And I think they're in the next room, too." 6th walked down the hall to the closest door. The window in the door was too high for her to look through. She looked at Drum, and waved him over.

"Criminitley!" said the Sheriff. He mopped his face with a hankerchief. "It's so hot in here!" One of the guards was asleep. The other looked like he was setting up a game of solitare. Mouse, Sun and Spyral sat behind bars. 6th could see a ring of keys hanging on the wall. She hopped back down. Just in time too. Drum and 6th ran back to the barrel and dived in just as Hook came back with Vi. Hook carried a sack that jingled, and Vi had a disbelieveing look on her face. Who would of thought she'd see the day when Ragnar sat by, smoking and drinking, acting like a king while she was sold into slavery right in front of him??? She was too shocked to speak. *What the frell is going ON?* she thought.

6th sat in the barrel, thinking hard. Ragnar must be down the corridor. He'd be with Mama. But what to do about the others? If she and Drum freed either Ragnar or the others, the Smugglers would be down on them before they had a chance to get ALL of them out of there. What to do...?

"No, I'm not. YOU are going to free the gang. I'm going to go get Ragnar. It's the only way we can get them all. If we freed one or the other, the smugglers would sound the alarm before we could rescue whoever we didn't rescue first, see?" Drum nodded, but he was not happy. How was he supposed to rescue Sun and the others? He was outnumbered for one thing...and his magic...he didn't even have a plan!

Drum gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, concentrating hard on casting the spell, and not the bouncing. He chanted. There was a feeling of flowing freely into 6th's mind...then back out again, almost instantly. But coming out, he had her plan in his head, complete with what spell he needed to cast to get the gang free. His head spun, he felt giddy. And began to wonder if entering 6th' mind was addictive...it was beginning to feel that way. He had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing her head again and reentering her mind. Not that he thought she would mind...but 6th's mind was filled with anxiety and the sense of urgency. He could still feel that worry even now.

"Give me ten minutes. If you hear a ruckus before then, don't wait, get them out and get back to the longboat. Cut her free of the pirate ship. Shoot off flares. Hopefully Peter will see those and get back to the ship. We'll have to run for it."

"I don't know." 6th sighed, "Maybe we can sail around the coast and find them. Right now, we need to get Ragnar and Sun and the others out of here. We'll figure out what to do about the rest of them later." Drum nodded.

"Uh...huh." Drum nodded slowly. He wondered if many guys rescued people with loopy grins on their faces, or if he'd be the first...he knew he wouldn't stop grinning for a while.

A dozen guards stood outside Mama's inner sanctum. They were supposed to be on their guard, but confidence was high. Honestly, who could break into Mama's lair? It had never been done!

6th leaned against the wall around the corner listening. She shook her head slowly. Ragnar certainly was well known here, but for things she still found hard to believe. Then she shook her head as if to clear it. Only five minutes left before Drum started his end of the plan. *Better get moving!* she thought. She turned around and slid one leg up the corner of the wall. The sudden silence that met her ears let her know she was being watched by a dozen pairs of drunken eyes.

"Do you see that?" one guard whispered. Another wiped his sleeve across his mouth. "Yup. Looks like some kitchen wench wants to play!" he chuckled. The guards watched as a slender arm appeared, one finger beckoning them closer. The drunken guards were on their feet in a flash, their duty forgotten. They hurried down the hall.

"Well looky here!" one of the men in front elbowed another as the chuckled drunkenly. "Looks like the little dancing girl came back to play. Mama's been looking for you." he shook his finger in her general direction.

"Oh yes, little minx. But so have we." another said. "We have other ideas for you..." he laughed low as the others chuckled and elbowed each other. The feral look in their eyes would have been more nerve-wracking to 6th if it hadn't been overshadowed by the drunken haze of way too much ale for guard duty.

"Really?" 6th asked, fluttering her eyelashes. "Well, what a coincidence!" she took a deep breath, watching the men's eyes bug out. Then she grabbed the man closest to her by the collar, and pulled him nose to nose with her. "Because I have other plans for you too!"

The fight was over quickly. If the men had been sober and if they had all jumped her at once, 6th probably would have lost. But, like all movie bad guys, there seemed to be an unspoken rule about waiting your turn to kick the good guy's butt. 6th didn't play by those rules, to the extreme disadvantage of the smugglers. And on top of that, they were drunk...

6th walked down the corridor with three minutes to spare, sparing not a glance for the pile of completely unconscious men behind her. Nope, they had no clue who they were messing with!

"Ragnar? Coming?" 6th asked, her gun trained on Mama. The old woman had a shocked expression of disbelief on her face. But she didn't move. 6th's gun looked awfully dangerous...and 6th looked even more deadly.

"You're gonna have to!" Rag chuckled. He kicked over the barrel his feet had been resting on. A trickle of whiskey spilled out of the barrel. "I don't believe I could get up if I tried!" he continued laughing.

"Aw, no 6th, it's'not like that, see?" Ragnar tried to stand and made it halfway before he sat back down. "Apparently a steady diet of good ol' Punch of Doom doesn't effect at ALL the amount of whiskey one man can drink!"

"Oh yes, I did." Ragnar laughed, puffing away on his cigar like there was nothing wrong at all. He propped one foot on the empty barrel, rolling it back and forth. "Drank most of it myself. Don't look at me like that! What'dya want me to do while I was waitin around for you to come get me?"

Rae and MaleficentDragon were engaged in mortal combat - and though she was the most powerful sorceress everywhere else, Rae was at a horrible disadvantage because her spells weren't working proplerly. Her weapons had long ago been destroyed or proved useless againt the evil QueenDragon.

The GSS pointed out to no one in particular that Mouse and Spyral had been moved from the dungoen of the castle through the tunnels that interconnected it with Mama's grotto.

Drum finished his spell, just as he jumped through the doorway. Spheres of energy shot from each of his hands. One of the spheres hit the sleeping guard, and trapped him in an energy shell. Another of the spheres struck the guard with the cards.

Drum ducked, throwing his hands over his head. The glowing sphere past over him, and bounced off another wall. It began to bounce off every wall in the room, causing both Drumheller and the Sheriff to duck and dodge several times.

Hook lunged at him, but Drum was able to parry his strike. With a quick flick of his wrist, Drum disarmed the pirate, sending his cutlass flying into the corner of the room.

Hook sat down in the middle of the room, as Drumheller began another spell. Drum finished his spell, and web-like strands appeared from his fingertips wrapping themselves around Hook. Drum then pulled a scrap of cloth out of his bag, and used it to gag the pirate.

"Yeah, I guess that 4 years of fencing class in High school really paid off!" Drum replied. "We need to get back to the longship. 6th is going after Ragnar, I guess she'll meet us there."

Rae shrieked. "I DON NOT CHEAT AT CARDS!!!" Another stream of acid bounced off of her weakening defense wall. The next stream would certainly make it through. *Bad business, this.* Rae thought, and on the heels of that, *You know what you have to do?* "Hezmana yes." Rae mutters. "YOU'RE JUST A POOR LOSER! AND A WORSE CHEATER!!!!"

Blind with tears, Rae doesn't even see the dog as she turns and runs. As she picks up speed, aided by the spell, she looses her bearings. She hears Malificent roar in frustration, unable to keep up, and runs faster. *Beyond the capacity for rational thought, there is only survival. Run faster.* Rae puts on another burst of speed, well aware that she's doing herself serious damage. She isn't so much breathing at this point as she is screaming air in and out.

Trusting herself blindly to instinct, she keeps running, ripping at the acid-soaked clothes as she goes. Finally, she bolts into a small cave and keeps running, ultimately plunging straight into a subterranean lake. The cool water brings her back to herself.

"Oh." Ragnar stopped, reeling slightly. He looked at 6th, who was pulling ineffectually on his hand. "Can't have that now, can we!" He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, walking down the hall, listing from one side to the other.

"Here, take this." Ragnar shrugged off his jacket, wrapping it around 6th. She tried to bat his hands away. This was getting them nowhere! But Ragnar was by far much bigger than her.

"I know the way! It's this way...no...it's this way? Mama's made some renovations..." the viking began to mutter to himself, as 6th rested her chin on one hand, drumming her fingers on his shoulder.

"That's just what I said! That way!" And Ragnar headed out down the hall. She wondered if Drum had made it back to the boat with less complications than she had. She had no idea that he and the others had gone back to help her. Maybe if she hadn't been so frustrated with Ragnar she'd have picked up something--but 6th wasn't even aware that Drum had formed a mind link with her...

Kara and Sweetiepie can see the lines of power from the creature's eyes - they watch in horror as ArtistPuppy flies suddenly backward, smashed against a tree to fall in a quivering heap on the forest floor, whining pathetically.

The dragon looms menacingly over the little dog - about to crush it - then stops and returns to where Rae was last seen. Unable to catch her scent, the dragon writhes uncomfortably as it awkwardly changes into a blood hound. The bloodhound races off, hot on Rae's trail.

Kara cuddles the abused cocker spaniel, sick to her stomach from the violence and the terrible waves of sorcerous magic. The forest is silent and filled with foul odors. She picks up the wounded dog and heads off with Sweetiepie toward the docks.

KaraS resettled the spaniel in her arms and the dog whined. Actually, he was heavy and carrying him was tiring. Kara just put one foot in front of the other trusting her sense of direction to get them back to the boat. Bad idea.

Kara put the dog down and looked him over. He was scraped and bruised all over but nothing seemed to be broken. He stood up and shook himself, tired to walk and started to whine again. He was limping on his right front foot.

Sweetiepie flew up, to get an overview of the forest, fixing Kara and Artist's position in his mind. Then he flew off toward what he thought was the ocean. He flew a long time but when he reached it he found he had been flying in the wrong direction. What he found was not an ocean but an ocean of sand, a dessert.

....you feel a mite lumby there....the happily drunk viking effictionately petted the pocket of his coat and gave the contents a squeeze not knowing the difference between that and the svelt woman underneith....nor caring that she was sure to point it out to him later.

There's not much to see in the cave (except for enough diamonds to give Sweetie a coranary), and her own reflection is just depressing. Currently, a number of competing pieces of (very confusing) information are struggling for a foot-hold in her brain. Foremost among them is that she has, indeed been followed.

An anxious whine catches her attention. Rae shakes her head and slides further into the lake. There's something about the dog... But, dogs can't take scent-readings in the water, so she should be safe for a while. Besides, the water feels soooooo good right now.

Rae forms a shield around herself and plunges under the water. Artist, and now Malificent as well, are both competing for real-estate in her brain. Rae fills her head with pain, and she feels both presences pull away. The pain, she realizes, is the key to keeping her head free of alien influences. It will be useful in the future.

Feeling along the bottom of the lake, Rae feels a large hole. She pulls herself into it and finds herself not in a lake this time, but in a salty, undergroung ocean. Her subscription to National Geopgraphic keeps her from being totally suprised by this phenomena (there's one under Australia), but she never would have expected one under Diney land.

But then, she's not sure she's even IN Disney any more. Her powers are definitely working differently here. No problem keeping her mind free. Oh, and the salt in the ocean feels so good. But where is that light coming from?

The fisherman does a double-take, noticing Rae's burns for the first time. He rows hard and the pair soon reach the dock. Hands help her onto a wooden dock, which is the last thing she's consciously aware of.

6th trying to carry Ragnar... Drum and 6th mind-melding... Sweetie-Pie talking to Iago... Raganar carrying 6th... A blood-hound in a cave searching... Vi and Mary Poppins held hostage by Captain Hook... Kara talking to a blue Genie...

Her dreams turn to the past, trying to make sense of the pain her body is in, and before she wakes, she has relived most of her basic training as well. But what are her friends doing there? And why is 6th wearing that absurd get-up?

a large, powerful bloodhound whines and barks and prances about in intense frustration and anxiety. Because of what ArtistPuppy did, the hound has great power - but its sorcery is limited. It does not have enough sorcery to reach Rae and deal with her once it got there.

After some time, the dog gives up and turns about, padding its way through the underground maze, finding its way back to the surface with its nose. Rae is unavailable - but there are other Scoobs to be dealt with.

"You didn't say anything in our bet about stopping you before you got to the boat." Mama puffed on her cigar and chuckled. The smugglers laughed, but it wasn't a friendly laugh at all. 6th twisted around in Ragnar's grip trying to see the smugglers.

"Stop for a second, gang, and keep watch. I'm going to try something." Sun, and Mouse took one side of the hall way, SPyral and Vi the other. They stood guard as Drum sat crosslegged in the floor and began to chant. He didn't know if a remote channeling would work, but it was worth a shot...

6th wailed away at the smuggler currently attacking her, while kicking back to crack another hard in the jaw. There were swarms of them! She spared a quick glance at Ragnar, who was more than holding his own againt the bad guys. But they were both tireing.

"Well, boys, I think our little slave girl here needs some re-education. Care to teach her a lesson?" The smuggler sitting on 6th's back grinned a toothless grin and pulled 6th's head back, forcing her to look at Mama.

*what do they MEAN, re-education?* Drum growled in 6th's head. She realized then that he could hear what was going on. She wasnt' sure he could see it though. Which, given the looks she was getting from the smugglers who surrounded her, was probably a blessing. She didn't hold out much hope that she'd get out of this one, and she didn't want Drum to see her in the circumstances she was about to be in.

*Don't worry about that now!* 6th tried. She knew it was useless, he'd worry anyway. *I'll take care of it. Just Get RAGNAR!* She had continued struggling while talking to Drum in her head, and the smugglers must have tired of her kicking and biting. They wacked her in the head and she passed out.

Ragnar looked up from the cell floor. Through the grogginess in his head, he thought he had heard a gun blast and familiar voices. He slowly lifted himself off the floor, and turned just as the cell door swung open....

Ragnar, sensing the urgency in his voice, didn't even slow to open the door. Shouting a loud warcry, Ragnar charged strait through the door, Drumheller following after him...

The lead smuggler shook 6th as she kicked at him. "You'd best save your energy girl. You're going to need it!" he laughed, joined by the other men, who looked hungrily at the secret agent. She smirked at them.

"Oh yes." the smuggler said softly, his foul breath choking 6th as he leaned in to stroke her face with the whip. "I do indeed." He snapped his fingers. "Chain her to the wall, boys."

6th fought hard, but there wasn't much she could do against 12 smugglers with her hands tied. They jerked her hands roughly up and chained her against the back wall, laughing and joking all the while.

Ragnar stood in the doorway, absolute rage on his face. He'd caught the end of the whip in his hand as he'd barreled through the door, and held it tightly. His eyes were on fire with pure anger. He hauled the smuggler in by the whip, the man being too shocked at seeing the enraged viking crash through the door to do anything but hold on and quiver in terror.

Drum stepped around Ragnar, his fingers crackling with energy. He'd been chanting and building up energy the entire time they'd run. He probably could have knocked the walls down if he'd wanted to. He shook his head, grinning.

6th smiled and leaned her head on the wall, listening to the sounds of thrashing behind her. Her arms ached. Her head ached. But the relief that filled her was overpowering.

He'd been busy the last five minutes, tying up the leader of the smugglers with his own whip and hanging him by his feet from the ceiling. He stood back, admiring his handiwork as 6th grabbed him.

longboat with Peter touching down right behind them. Thanking him for the wondorous flying tour, they both gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, to which he responded by blushing mightily. The women were waving goodbye to him and Tinkerbell when Jila saw the magic carpet above them. "What is THAT?" she asked.

"Vet, Schmet," Chryse exclaimed, "leave him to Jila and me. We'll have him good as new in no time-- not back in his original form..." she gave Kara a troubled look, "but at least he'll be a happier puppy than he is right now."

The cocker spaniel began to glow. He howled as the magical energy surrounded him. He began to shimmer. Then, all the magical energy jumped off of him and sped across the water and into the forest. The cocker spaniel was unchanged.

"I think her brain's turned to mush." Sweetiepie confided in Iago. "She used to be such a tough cookie, now look at her. I remember when she volunteered to jump into an erupting volcano." Sweetiepie sighed. "Those were the days."

Rae looked around as she tried to sort out a resonable answer. "Good question." Rae starts to get up. "I remember--AH!" She collapses back into the bed. "Okay, we won't try that again soon."

"Listen, girly!" Rae snaps, suddenly feeling very much the soldier and not at all spiritually inclined. "I have nothing but resepect for your profession, but, rule number one: DON'T. FRELL. WITH. RAE!!!"

"Better." Rae starts pulling off bandages and examining her injuries. "Acid burns. Yeah, though so. Feathers should grow back... Eyebrows may not... Going to KILL Artist... Going to need to re-do some tattoos... Oh, good, that one's okay... Where am I?... Ohh, that's at least third degree... Gee, that one looks more like a plasma burn... How'd I get here?... Laser surgery there... 'least everything still works... How am I still alive?" Rae finally pauses and looks up at the healer.

"What's a matter? Afraid your miracle might keel over?" Rae shakes her head. "I need supplies. Food, clothes..." Rae walks to the door of the hut and looks up. "Rock-climbing equipment."

"Rule number one, dear. How much do I owe you for services rendered?" Rae walks back to the bed and picks up the remains of her clothes. Her money-pouch was the only thing that had survived completely unscathed. She pulled out a handful of silver dollars and a few gold galleons and handed them to the healer. "Where can I pick up supplies?"

"Thanks, dear." Rae hefts her money pouch and feels another handful of coins from her bedroom replace the ones she just gave out. *How much do I have left?* "Why you asking me?"

Rae quickly buys all the supplies she will need, including several potions from a local apothacary and rock-climbing supplies masquerading as mining equipment. Then she sets out to find a wall to climb.

Mumble, mumble, mumble. Momma chomped down on cigar and pushed her way out onto the balcony. It wasn't much of an affair, just a stone structure jutting out from the wall of the cavern, but it was large enough for a table and chairs and more importantly it gave her a near unobstructed view of her domain out side the tunnels.

Leaning over the rail she peered about. Men, her men, were running everywhere. The scene had become a bit chaotic. It was hard to tell who was who in all the din but where she didn't know where Ragnar was she knew where he had to go.

"Ah." Sure enough. Three figures could be seen working their way out of the tunnels. They were trying to sneak along amung the massive piles of crates and such but that didn't stop her from seeing them., not from where she was.

"Get down there and get him! And send a bunch down to the docks themselves. He'll have to have transportation to get to his ship. While yer at it, send a bunch of the boys out to sieze the thing!"