A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

Whit sits in the chair apprehensively, when metal locks her wrists to the arm rests and a larger one on her back to the back of the chair. Whit begans yelling furiously and shaking to try and find some way to undo the locks- those she knows thats impossible.

"LET ME OUT!!!! AUNT DORI!!!! LET ME OUT!!!"

suddenly Dori appeared as another lock came this time around Whit's mouth and Dori spoke with a sneer.

"First, I'm not your aunt. After months and months of searching for you, you will finally be apart of the ever lasting MUPPETZ- until the end of time" and with this Dori leaves

not being able to speak Whit does anything to make noise- not to much effect. And in horrible sadness, scaredness and anger she begins to cry. She remembers just seeing Mal'ady beginning to swim toward her as she was first swept apart by the evil Dori. If she just would've gotten to her in time this wouldn't of happened.

Suddenly the room turns black as the huge screen comes to life...

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

"MUPPETZ ATTACK ON ANTI FAILING. ALL MUPPETZ AGENTS ARE CALLED TO LEAVE SHIP AND ABANDON ATTACK. SHIP HAS ALMOST SUNK. MORE INFO TO COME. -MUPPETZ SHIP MASTER COMPUTER

"Great," MUPPETZ Agent Fall groaned and leaned back in his chair in the MUPPETZ Spy Orb 06. He couldn't believe that yet again, the no-good ANTI had beaten them. Of all the worst things he could think of, losing to their enemies wasn't fair. For the last year he had been working here, and not once had he seen a victory yet.

Fall was one of the unlucky fellows who had acidentally seen a MUPPETZ brainwasher at the gym he had been working at. The program quickly hypnotized him, and that was the day his life had changed. Only whenever he was exposed to moonlight (which hadn't happened yet) would he remember who he really was, and learn of what spell had been laid upon him. But all he knew was that his sole mission was to get rid of ANTI, and to at last bring sucess to his agent pals and leader, Ellemo.

At the moment, he yanked off a speaker and yelled into it, "MUPPETZ agents, retreat! Either we let the boat take us down, let ANTI take us down, or come back to Hideout 1.333. When you get there, we can plan our next attack if needed be. Now GO!" And after that, he closed his eyes and thought of what else would be needed to do. In only 5 seconds, he exclaimed, "I have an idea! I need to call my cousin for some info, now!"

The Barracks of the Bounty Hunters Guild

Welcome, to all those who have no home. Those who fit in no category, those who have not joined the light or the dark (or those who simply want to be awesome Mercenaries like me) this is the Grey road, for our methods are Grey, and our goals are Grey, for the truth is we have no goals, each member is a free agent. Our only request is that you turn in ten percent of your earnings to pay for the overhead.

In return we provide Board and Bunks, all the weapons you could want from my updated Closet of DOOM! And plenty of training, which will be inserted strait from out computers into your mind. Which will save you hours of work, and its completely safe; trust me.

Basically, we work for money. We are Mercenaries, we can work for either the Tower or the Castle. Whoever pays better. Over to the left you will find the "Closet of Doom" it has been transported from the tower to here through a Quantum Dimensional Transporter. Or GDT, my invention.

Oh and by the way. Did I mention we have a Soda Machine? It has every type of soda imaginable! Its totally awesome, no longer do you have only Pepsi or Coke brands, for we have it all.

The shooting range is to the right, the mess hall (where the soda machine is) is to the left and right behind me are the rooms, take your pick. As you walk in the room will rearrange its self to fit your mood, so if you are happy. The wall paper will change to smiley faces, there will be random cute puppy dogs and such. And if you are feeling hyper... Well the walls and floor will be turned to rubber and the anti gravity will be turned on. Sweet or what!

Make yourself at home my friends. For now.

Does not include Dental, or Pillows.

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

Agent Thorn awoke with a start. She wasn't sure if "awoke" was the right word—she didn't think she had been asleep. It had felt deeper than sleep, almost trance-like.

She couldn't understand it. What had happened? She wasn't the kind of person to fall asleep on the job.

She lifted her cheek off the dirty floor, and saw the firepit had turned to cool embers. The cave was dark and cold. Across the way, Corter the hermit was fast asleep.

Cheyenne was nowhere to be seen.

The only sound was the CD player whirring, and then it fell silent, as if it had reached the end of the tracks, and the cave became so quiet Agent Thorn could hear her heart beating.

The uneasy feeling suddenly came back full-force.

She scrambled to her feet, and burst out of the cave into the jungle, wanting to be away from Corter and his strange music, and stalked along the shadows. She was half wondering if she should call for Cheyenne, and half afraid to give off her position away anyone, even to someone who seemed to be a friend.

There's something very strange happening on this island, the agent thought as she quietly traipsed deeper into the jungle, wondering who or what she could trust.

What she did know was she needed answers, and she didn't think she was going to get them from the Man in Black.

It was time to find out what was going on here.

Agent Thorn wasn't sure how long she had clawed her way through the perilous jungle when clear moonlight pierced through the gnarled trees. She was coming towards a clearing at the very heart of the island, in the shadow of the high cliffs.

Apprehensively, she approached the moonlit expanse, and peered through the waving hand of a short palm tree. What she saw, she didn't understand.

Before her was a huge athletic field. There was a track circling it, numerous broken equipment littered across it, and some hulking, warped, ripped masses of metal that looked like they had maybe, just maybe, once been bleachers. But that wasn't what caught Agent Thorn's eyes and held them.

In the middle of the field there was a short length of fence wrought of thick, twisting iron with a row of spikes across the top. It was no more than ten feet across, about four feet high, and did not keep anything in or bar anything out.

Silhouetted by the eerie white glow of a spot light, a terrible, furry and clawed creature leaped over the fence, and landed adroitly on the other side. Two seconds later, another creature similar to the first only in its horrific aspect, did the same. And it went on like this, creature after creature, shadow after shadow, leaping over the fence one by one until Agent Thorn wondered if she was dizzy.

There were mutants on that field—hundreds of them. All lined up in a circle that stretched a city block, all waiting for their turn to jump the fence, before looping back around and going to the back of the line to to do it all over again.

What on earth? The agent thought, quirking an incredulous eyebrow.

She squinted, trying to see through the gloom. The mutants were all shapes and sizes, all uniquely terrible, but one thing they had in common was the thin band of metal encircling their furry foreheads, glowing with a solitary red light in the center.

Mind control, Agent Thorn mouthed the two words as if they were the name of a poison. But what are they training for? Who is behind this? And why?

* * *
High on the cliff, perched on the brow of the mountain's skull, was a dark, menacing castle. On one of its many parapets stood a man, peering into a spyglass mounted on the balustrade. He wore a black, sweeping cape, had slicked back hair as dark as a new moon and a face whiter than salt, and was generally a very intimidating personage.

And he was talking to himself.

"Four hundred thousand and thirty two, four hundred thousand and thirty three, four hundred thousand and thirty four," he murmured in a peculiar, sing-song way, staring down at the athletic field hundreds of feet below like a hawk.

A small, nervous cough interrupted the man's numeric mutterings.

His head snapped away from the spyglass, and he glared at the intruder with eyes so dark, the pupils were indistinguishable.

"I told you never to disturb me when I am counting, Rogi!" He said, growling like a wolf. "You've made me forget my place, filth! How am I supposed to ever count to infinity if idiots keep interrupting me?!"

The buggy-eyed, furry, and hunchbacked henchman cowered.

"My apologies, master," the M.U.P.P.E.T.Z. whined, wringing his hands in a most pathetic, irritating way. "But the double agent is come to see you, sir. I wouldn't 'ave disturbed you, sir, but 'e said it was vitally imported that 'e saw you. . . ."

"What could possibly be more important than counting to infinity?" The man in the cape said in exasperation, turning back to his spyglass. "Send him away and tell him to come back in the morning."

The minion gulped, and looked as if he would infinitely prefer to just obey orders, but knew he would only get flogged harder later on if he did.

"'E said we 'ave a visitor, sir."

ANTI (or American Nitwits Think Intelligently)

Pacing back and forth in the overly large entrance hall, Cheyenne waited for the pathetic little MUPPETZ to return with his master... or at least return with a message.

It was always an annoyance for both parties when there needed to be a meeting. Annoying for Cheyenne because the Count would always start counting during the discussion and annoying for the Count because.... well, the man did not know exactly why but it obviously was.

Cheyenne casually began looking around at the cobweb covered armor, furniture and old, half faded pantings that took up almost an entire wall each. A bit melodramatic, I think.... the double-agent thought with a smirk as he stood in-front of a portrait of the Count commanding his forces with as much melodrama as any stage actor.

Just then the sound of a large, creaky door opening on the second floor made the rogue turn his attention to the grand staircase.

(((OOC: Hope this works, Dryad. )))

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

Echo breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Winter walk away. One more word from his blabbering mouth and all her plans could have been ruined. He knows, she thought. But if he knew for sure that it was really her why would he just let her go? No, there had to be at least a figment of doubt in his mind that she was posing as Agent Thorn, and Echo intended to keep it that way.

A siren blared from the ship's upper deck, and pulsing lights flashes between shades of red and yellow. Echo recognized the signal at once. Someone had ordered a retreat. Sure enough, the remaining MUPPETZ began pouring from the ship, through windows, doors, and hidden compartments. Tanks of pressurized air strapped to their backs sent them soaring away into the sky, like a bunch of dandelion seeds. From the Admiral's quarters, a small hovercraft rose and sped off.

Echo snorted. Typical of her father and Lieutendant Obofritz to forget all about her. But that was just as well. It would be hours before either of then realized she was not among the escaping MUPPETZ. And by then, she'd be far away. Hopefully.

A gust of cold wind ruffled through her air. Looking up, she saw the stormclouds closing in, their ominous shade of grey cracking with flashes of lightening. A sharp peal of thunder made her jump with fright. Then, all at once, the first raindrops came plummeting from the heavens - so huge that they made loud thumps when they hit the deck. As the wind picked up, the waves reared up and crashed into the ship, tossing it up and down like a toy.

And even worse, its bow was riding dangerously low in the water. It was sinking anyway, and it wouldn't take much - one good-sized wave - to capsize her and send them all into the churning sea.

Echo shivered. Having spent most of her life at sea, she had come to respect what water could do. There was no doing battle with the forces of nature.

She turned to Summer and Mal'ady. "We need to get out of here now, or we're all done for. I don't suppose either of you has a plan?"

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

Joe heard Cykos yell and attempted to throw himself out of the way, but he was to late. The nerd rope smashed into his chest and threw him back against the wall behind him.

He laid there against the wall. His eyes closed. For all intents and purposes he was dead.

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

must not open eyes

Whit fights herself as the music blasts in her ears, and the crackling laughs of the MUPPETZ shakes the room. She tries screaming at the top of her lungs to drown out the noise but this only lasts a few minutes before her mouth is dry and hurts severely.

Whit open your eyes, maybe you can be more help to the MUPPETZ than you were to ANTI

No! I cant! I am loyal to ANTI wether I am helpful or not

But maybe they are happy I'm not there anymore...maybe I should...

no...no... NO!

the internal battle ended as Whit slightly opened her eyes to see that evil pink thing on the screen- and the damage was done. She became pulled to watching the program just as Dori had pulled Whit to follow her.

Goodbye Cyko...Thorn..Mal...Mal...

She couldnt remember anybodys name now. Dori re entered the room and the lights returned, hurting Whits eyes for a moment.

"Welcome to the MUPPETZ Whit, head leader of the Childrens section of our humble society"

and though Whit felt like crying, and was very close to crying as well. The slightest part of her became proud of such a title, and the slight part of her slowly grew until it filled every spot in her body.

"Yes master. It is my greatest honor"

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

The Count's withered heart skipped a beat at the minion's words. In the length of a second, he remembered what Head Honcho Ellemo had told him so many years before.

Everything had changed then. One day he had been calmly counting coconuts on the land of his forefathers, and the next, the island was crawling with mutants.

He had adapted, of course. One couldn't give up one's dream of counting to infinity just because your private island was being ravaged by furry, bloodthirsty, natural born killers. He had made the best of it. Had even grown quite fond of the little beasts over time, as they had aided him in his counting games by jumping over a fence like sheep.

But if there was a challenger on the island. . . . Someone who was on to the island's true purpose. . . . Someone who knew what to look for. . . .

The Count shuddered.

If anyone found the Artifact, it would surely be the end of him.

. . . Not to mention the entire M.U.P.P.E.T.Z. nation as well, but the Count wasn't as worried about that at the moment. Unlike him, most of his fellow countrymen didn't have Vision. They weren't trying to count to infinity. They were expendable.

"Ours is a high and lonely destiny," said the Count, very gravely.

"'Scuse me, sir?" The henchman coughed uncertainly.

"Oh, are you still here?" The Count said, quite having forgotten the minion's presence. "Begone. I will receive the double agent myself."

Before sweeping down the stairs towards the interior of the castle in a flurry of dramatic black cape, the Count picked up a small remote with a solitary red light, and pressed a button. The light suddenly turned to cool blue, and down on the athletic field so far below, all of the mutants suddenly froze as if they were pieces on a chess board. One had been in the act of jumping the fence as the Count pushed the button, and ended up doing a faceplant in the dirt on the other side.

But the Count was in no mood to laugh at the moment, and instead swept down the rickety staircase with a grim countenance, and made the long, gloomy trek towards the overly large entrance hall.

There were exactly twenty steps on the grand staircase, and precisely sixty-six iron spindles, all of which ended in a delightfully sharp point that pierced through the banister. If anybody got any ridiculous notions about sliding down the staircase, they would be in for a surprise.

The double agent was waiting at the bottom, looking cool and composed. That irritated the Count. What am I paying him for? If there's someone meddling around on my island, he should be sweating bullets.

The Count didn't descend the last two steps of the staircase so he could loom over the man in black instead. The Count liked looming over people. Especially when he was afraid.

"What's this about an intruder?"

* * *
Suddenly, as if time itself had stopped, the mutants froze.

A trick? Agent Thorn thought. But no one knows I'm here. . . . Right?

But the night wore on, and none of the mutants moved an inch. They stood stock-still in the moonlight as if they were statues. Even the one that had frozen in the act of leaping over the fence and had smashed head first into the earth (rather comically, it must be said) didn't move a muscle.

It was a long shot, but she had to try. She had to get close enough to those mind control devices to examine them; with some luck, she might be able to tell who had built them, and better yet, who controlled them.

Calling upon all of the stealth techniques she had learned when sneaking around Primberley as a sapling of a dryad, Agent Thorn crept out onto the athletic field, her heart pounding. As slow as a sloth, she tentatively entered the glow of the spotlight that was illuminating the mutants, wondering who or what might be watching.

Silent as a cat, she approached the nearest creature until she was standing right in front of it. She lifted a shaking hand and waved it in front of its grotesque face, but the goggly eyes continued to peer unseeingly over her shoulder.

Well, this is all very unnerving, the agent thought as she took out her notebook and pen, and began copying the strange symbols slashed into the mutants headgear onto the dirty, lined paper.

ANTI (or American Nitwits Think Intelligently)

"You have an ANTI agent on your property.... and I think she's a dryad." Cheyenne said nonchalantly gesturing with his right hand to the grand entrance. "Seeing as how we had a deal about any ANTI agents arriving on the island, I thought I should let you know." the man continued in the same non-phased way that always drove the Count mad... er. Not being affected by his melodramatics always seemed to upset him slightly.

Walking around the Count, Cheyenne continued, "She's presently at old Corter's cave." the man paused for a minute and looked at the Count. "I can bring her here if you like. She seems to trust me to an extant." Another slight pause, for effect. "... though I'll need an extra $350 plus the fiber combustion engine as we agreed on, for my troubles."

With this, Cheyenne took off his fedora and put both his hands behind his back.... crossing his fingers on his free, left hand as well. Now to see if the Old Creep will take the bait.

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

Summer knew Thorn wasn't kidding about the danger of standing still and doing nothing as the storm raged around them. She wondered what the MUPPETZ were up too, for they were running away from the ship and leaving it immediately. But for now, she and her fellow agents needed to escape before either the ship or the storm took them down.

Bring! Summer jumped and realized her cell phone was ringing. But wait, wasn't my Phoney Phone smashed earlier? But then it hit her: she also had brought he normal phone with! Slightly confused at how a normal phone has reception in a stormy, she picked it up. "Hello?" She nervously asked.

A deep, solemn voice muttered "Hi, it's me."

"Fall!" Summer cried pleasently. Fall was an old friend of hers. "Where are you? I haven't talked to you in a year!"

"It's complicated. I need some information on something. Can you tell me?"

Summer pondered saying anything about finding her brother and learning she was a HumETZ, but remember Winter's warning and kept silent on the matter. "I wish I could help you right now, Fall, but I'm in a big situation. Can you call back later?"

"Fine. Goodbye." The other line went click, and Summer felt somewhat hurt by it. Something seemed wrong with Fall, but what?

Turning back to the deal at the moment, she proclaimed "I have an idea! I brought a black hole transporter. It has a few kinks, but it will take us to wherever we need to be. Want me to try it?"

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

(((Cor, talk to me before you post again? Thanks. )))

"Yes, yes, whatever you want," the Count said with an impatient wave of a skeletal hand. "Just make sure the trespasser is eliminated, but not before I have a chance to interrogate the vermin. You say she is a dryad? Highly irregular, but rather convenient. The mutants will be able to track her down by sniffing out her plant DNA in no time."

Pulling the remote out of his pocket, still glowing with a pale blue light, he pressed a series of buttons, then entered a vocal command in a monotone. The light flickered to dark red.

The Count peered through a nearby window, staring down at the jungle below with a rapt expression that was not unlike someone who was watching a favorite sport.

"They'll be on her like wolves. I wonder how many seconds it will take? One, two, three. . . ."

* * *
Just as Agent Thorn was reaching up to touch the mind control device around the immobile mutant's head, the spell broke and the night seemed to come back to life. Suddenly the creature before her seemed to jerk awake, and for one terrifying moment, the mutant's goggly eyes locked onto hers like a missile that had found its target.

With one powerful, furry swipe, it grabbed her wrist in a death grip, threw her over its massive shoulder, and started off into the jungle towards the cliff.

"Put me down!" She cried, pounding, pulling and pushing at the creature with all her might, but to no avail. It was like fighting a rock.

She hastily raised her gauntlet, and aimed it at the brute's heart. She pressed the thorn trigger—and nothing happened.

"The stupid things aren't dried out yet!" She howled, furious, not caring one bit who heard her just now. "For the love of cheese puffs, why didn't Dr. Weirdsworth make these water proof?"

The entourage of mutants didn't respond, didn't act like they could even hear her at all. They only marched doggedly on, like zombies, and slowly began to ascend the cliffs. Agent Thorn had no idea what they were planning on doing up there until a bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, and a small castle at the top of the mountain was illuminated.

That's where they're taking me, she realized with a gasp.

* * *
"Well, that was quick," the Count said, pleasantly surprised, as the remote suddenly glowed green.

Just as a quick mod reminder, please label your posts with the story title. Thanks!!!

ANTI (or American Nitwits Think Intelligently

Cheyenne's expression went from pleased to slightly miffed in an instant when the Count agreed to their terms, then ordered his furball army to retrieve Thorn. She was my captive, after all..... the rogue thought sulkily as he watched the Count meddle with his controller-thing and peer out one of the large windows.

After the Count announced that the girl had been secured, Cheyenne was about to inquire as to when he would receive his payment when a loud banging was heard on the massive entrance doors. Forgot those brutes were fast! the turncoat thought as he casually backed his way into the shadows of a large pillar.

From his hiding spot, Cheyenne got a lovely view of the entrance room and could hear any conversations perfectly. Thank the sea this place has great acoustics... The rogue thought with a sly smile as the front doors opened and the familiar sight of the Furball Troop entered.

A.N.T.I. (American Nitwits Think Intelligently): The Rebellion

CyKo rushed over to Joe, who had fallen upon the deck of the ship. "Doctor! Doctor Weirdsworth! JOE!" The Doctor did not wake.

CyKo let the tears flow freely, for it was with the Doctor that he had founded ANTI and been on such amazing adventures. The two had become great friends over the past years... and now he appeared dead.

Attempting to see where the wound had struck (and whether there was a way to save him), CyKo pulled off the Doctor's lab coat.

Underneath was a bulletproof vest.