Do not think that it was only the Thundercats and Lunatacs who felt the call of Cthulhu. When the corpse-city R'lyeh was above the waves, Cthulhu's poisonous dreams encircled the globe. And there are more things in heaven and Third Earth, dear readers, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

At least, not by sane dreamers.

Alluro was a morning person. However, this morning he wished to be a morning person from the comfort of his own bed.

Two minutes after he was supposed to be on shift, the intercom screeched to life: "AAAALLLUUUUUURRROOO!"

The hypnotist yawned, stretched a long arm over to the intercom, and pulled off its front panel. "So sorry, Luna, but I cannot hear you. The intercom is broken." With that, a sharp nail sheared through a wire.

Luna shrieked in annoyance as the intercom connection gave way to static. The rest of the Lunatacs sat stoically, trying not to laugh. Alluro was the only one of them who ever really stood up to Luna. Psychro, Psikaris, Red-Eye and Tug-Mug were mercenary enough not to care who they were working for. Chilla and Knave figured that since Luna was royalty, she was their best chance for getting off Third Earth. Mystan had lost to her fair, and apparently respected that. Alluro had simply stopped caring. Luna needed him more than he needed Luna, and could afford a bit of casual disrespect.

For her part, Luna was most definitely not a morning person, unless morning suddenly got moved to the afternoon. She turned to her nearest subordinate. "Tug-Mug, drag Alluro up here."

The rotund Lunatac made a face. "Do I at least geeve heem a chance to get dressed?"

Luna closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and started to count to ten. She got to four.

"You most certainly do," snapped the ice Lunatac.

"You had to think about that one, did you, Chilla?" snickered Psychro.

"What?" Chilla shot the ice/psi hybrid a death-glare. While it was true that she was attracted to the hypnotist, and had even slept with him once, there was no way she was going to let any of the others know.

"Psychro may have something there..." started Red-Eye.

Chilla redirected her glare. "Just because I wouldn't look at you twice, you..."

"Some ego you have. I'm not that desperate." Except for Knave, Red-Eye was the only male Lunatac who could get away with saying that. Unlike the others he was, at least before getting sealed in lava, married.

"Don't send Psikarees," chuckled Tug-Mug. "She wouldn't come back."

"Jealous, pork rind?" rasped Knave. While Psikaris' attraction to the hypnotist was common knowledge, Knave didn't consider it a subject of humour. Fortunately, she was not in the control room for the moment, likely engaged in minor repairs. Mystan was also absent, stuck on Darkside patrol that morning.

Psychro also leapt to his twin's defence. "Leave 'Karis out of this..."

With a screech of frustration, Luna steered Amok out the door. If you wanted something done at all, sometimes you had to do it yourself.

A few minutes later, Alluro was unceremoniously deposited in a chair at Skytomb's conference table. His hair was dishevelled, his heavy rust-coloured bathrobe looked hastily put on, and to everyone's relief, he was wearing pants. Though he looked tired, the smug, self-assured smile seemed to say, I've caused Luna to throw a tantrum, and it's not even eight-fifteen yet.

He yawned, the gesture a delicate balance of exhaustion and boredom. "I'm flattered to see my presence is so vital to this operation."

"Stuff it, Alluro. Here's the new plan..."

Alluro didn't think he really needed to listen. He mentally tuned out Luna's voice ( with great difficulty ) and substituted his own version. Here's my new far-fetched, hare-brained scheme to rid us of the Thundercats, Alluro filled in, It will involve us walking into obvious traps and making fools of ourselves. The snarf, of course, will beat us single-handedly. The Thundercats will say something smarmy and laugh. We will return to Skytomb in defeat and come up with our next idiotic plan. Suddenly, the riding crop hit the table in front of him, startling the hypnotist. He looked up and found himself at eye-level with Luna, who was standing on the table.

"I saw that look. You could come up with something better, hmm?"

It was then that Alluro realized that he was completely at the end of his patience. The hypnotist stood up, pointing a long nail at Luna's nose, "For years I have faithfully served you, Luna, and have gone along with every ridiculous scheme you have concocted. You never listen to alternate suggestions, as your working definition of a bad idea is any idea that comes from someone else. I tire of wasting my abilities here."

Luna batted his hand away with her riding crop. "Then you can pack up and go."

Alluro turned on his heel and stalked off. Which would have been more impressive if he wasn't wearing the bathrobe.

Chilla stood in the doorway, arms crossed, leaning against the sill, watching Alluro pack. She said, "Good job pushing Luna."

The tall Lunatac didn't even look over. "Don't you start on me. Besides, Skytomb doesn't need me. Psikaris can handle the engineering fine, and can ask Tug-Mug or Red-Eye for help if she gets stuck."

"What're you going to do now?.. No, wait. Let me guess. You're going to try to kill the Thundercats by yourself, just to show up Luna." When the hypnotist didn't respond, Chilla continued. "Oh Hells, you are. Think about this new hypothesis, then: What if this is Luna's new scheme? She actually hasn't been underestimating you and figures you can do anything if goaded into it."

Alluro snorted. "I wouldn't credit her with that kind of subtle intelligence." He looked over his shoulder at the ice woman. "While we're swapping worrisome theories, how about this one: Once we've killed off the Thundercats, Mumm-ra doesn't need us any more. Luna's been deliberately coming up with stupid plans as a stalling measure."

"What's Mumm-ra going to do? Sic the Mutants on us?"

"Maybe not so worrisome." Alluro fastened the latches on his pack, stood up, and slung it over one shoulder. "Why don't you come with me, Chilla? You cannot stand Luna any more than I. We are the smartest and most powerful of the Lunatacs, we could..."

Chilla shook her head. "I want to get back to the Moons, and staying with Luna might be the only way. Good luck, Alluro." The ice Lunatac turned and disappeared down a hall.

After a stop at his workshop, Alluro headed down to the hangar. While Luna wouldn't let him take an actual vehicle, he took one of the jetpacks. He knew it looked silly, but it was better than walking.

He had an evil scheme to implement.

Alluro's plan unfortunately required different equipment than what he actually had, and he couldn't take all his equipment with him. Much as it made him sick, he would have to ask the Mutants for help. He set down in front of Castle Plundarr.

"Nyah, what do you want?" Jackelman's voice said through the intercom.

Alluro glared up at the not-so-hidden camera. "I have come to speak with Vultureman."

"Hmm, I don't know..." Jackelman was obviously enjoying the control he had over the Lunatac. Probably to make up for how powerless he normally felt.

The hypnotist couldn't bring himself to care about the psychological reasons. "Jackelman," he intoned, "you will open this door right now." Obediently, the door swung open, and Alluro entered the Mutants' base.

He had been to Castle Plundarr a few times in the past. Much to the Lunatac's disgust, it was exactly the same, except maybe it smelt worse. Fortunately, he remembered the way down to Vultureman's labs, and didn't have to actually talk to any of the inhabitants.

In Vultureman's lab, Alluro remembered why he appreciated the avian Mutant. The vulture was almost as smart as a Lunatac, and could make absolutely anything work, at least temporarily. While Alluro was bound by some amount of feasibility, the Laws of Physics seemed to have long ago given up on Vultureman. Plus, he kept his lab fairly tidy and bathed at least once a week.

Vultureman noticed the hypnotist. "Caw, Alluro. What brings you here?"

"Would you by chance have a device to measure psychic output and range?"

"Testing yourself?"

"No. And I'll need to use your lab for a while." The Mutant raised an eyebrow at him. Deciding that he'd get more co-operation from the avian scientist if he explained, Alluro handed him a computer pad and said, "This is a report Chilla did earlier this year on a creature called the Mad Bubbler. Basically this monster would envelop his victims in bubbles, which in theory enhanced their negative emotions, causing them to fight one another. For some reason, the Mad Bubbler's sphere of influence wasn't very big, so I do not think it was entirely a chemical-based control."

"Caw, why can't you do your work from Skytomb?" asked Vultureman.

Alluro looked as dignified as possible. "I am working freelance now."

"Luna fired you."

"Something like that."

Vultureman read through the report, then wandered off to another part of the lab. A few minutes later, he returned with a bizarre contraption of metal and glass and wire. "It just so happens," he said, "that I have this Psionic-O-Meter..."

Alluro smiled and accepted the machine. That was the other great thing about Vultureman: No matter what piece of equipment you needed, no matter how ridiculous or improbable, Vultureman made one just last week.

Alluro had borrowed Vultureman's personal craft ( probably called the 'Vultureplane' or something equally idiotic. The avian was a brilliant scientist, but he couldn't come up with good names to save his life ) for the trip to Hook Mountain. Using the report as a guide, he found the entrance to the Mad Bubbler's cave. The Lunatac parked the plane outside and entered the cavern.

The air smelled of toad, which, while an improvement over Castle Plundarr, was still quite disgusting. After a ways, he came to a large chamber. The Mad Bubbler himself was sprawled in his pool, asleep. Alluro set up the equipment just inside the tunnel. He would need the Bubbler awake, but not yet.

He quietly walked over to the Bubbler, then around him. Eventually he found a spot in the pool not filled by the creature. Carefully, without getting any on himself, Alluro filled a jar with the weird liquid. He took it out to the Vultureplane, then went back in.

For the next part of his experiment, he needed the Bubbler awake. Alluro switched on the ( he shuddered ) Psionic-O-Meter. Then, picking up a handy rock, he tossed it at the huge toad.

With a bellow, the Mad Bubbler surged awake. Eyes the colour of human blood opened and glowed dimly in the gloom as the bloated shape heaved itself to a sitting position. It looked rather like a giant toad, with a mottled green back, white underbelly, though his arms were long and humanoid. Large tusks were on either side of the wide mouth, and it stank of ancient swamps. After a few seconds of searching, it fixed Alluro with a baleful glare. "You," the Bubbler growled, "I know you. I saw you through His dreams."

"You have met others of my species," said Alluro, "Not me."

The Bubbler continued, "I saw you through His dreams, but His dreams are weakened now. All that nasty water blocking His thoughts. I saw you through His dreams, and I know what part you played."

A germ of suspicion was forming in Alluro's mind. "You cannot be referring to who I think you're referring to..." started the hypnotist.

"Ia, Cthulhu fhtagn," sighed the Bubbler, "Cthulhu continues to wait."

This was a new development. The creature seemed nothing like the single-minded lump that Luna, Amok, and Chilla had faced. Alluro decided to push the Bubbler's talkativeness: "What is the connection between yourself and Cthulhu?"

"I remember when Cthulhu first came. I was... different then. I don't remember. Smaller, at least. I liked to watch Him torment the subcreatures. No, there were no humans then, no Earthly sentient life. Cthulhu brought His own entertainment. And one day He told me I would be rewarded for my attention and worship, and he gave me this form, and told me to spread destruction.

"Soon after that, Cthulhu was put to sleep and great R'lyeh sunk. I think He knew what would happen and left me to continue His work." The Bubbler fell silent.

"And have you?"

"Yes," smiled the Bubbler, "Oh, yes. But my power is dependant on the Great Cthulhu. With R'lyeh above the waves, I could stretch my mind across the globe. But now, with Cthulhu trapped so deep underwater, I can hardly sense you. It is like being blind. Come closer, small creature, so that I may see you."

Without thinking, Alluro stepped into the cavern. Seconds later, he realized his mistake. He pulled a knife from the leg-strap of his sandal and popped the bubble just before it reached him. Last time, Alluro thought, with Chilla and the others, the Bubbler had the advantage of surprise. This time, the monster had to be tricky.

"Destroy or be destroyed!" laughed the creature, flinging more bubbles at the hypnotist.

Alluro was fast, but not fast enough. As he tried to duck back into the tunnel, he was picked up by a bubble. However, he popped it and ducked back into the tunnel, out of range, before the Mad Bubbler could command him. He picked up the Psionic-O-Meter and ran back to the Vultureplane.

The Bubbler chuckled. "Destroy or be destroyed."

Despite being not welcome at Skytomb, Alluro headed there anyway. The reason for returning to Skytomb was so that he could discuss the Cthulhu side of things without a huge explanation or preamble. He would go back to Castle Plundarr later to finish his experiment.

The radio came on and Red-Eye said, "Halt, Mutant."

"Don't take that tone with me," snapped Alluro, "I have some rather important information, and I would like to impart it."

Red-Eye alerted the other Lunatacs to the meeting, but failed to say whose idea it was. Thus, Luna ( on Amok ) came in, saw the hypnotist, and shrieked, "Alluro! I told you to get lost!"

"Luna, this is important..."

But it was too soon after their original argument, and Luna wouldn't be placated. Red-Eye and Knave stepped back, realizing what would likely come next. "Get him, Amok!"

Alluro jumped out of the way, dodging Amok's fist by inches. "Luna, be reasonable."

"No!"

Typical, thought Alluro, ducking. Maybe I'll just escape with my life, finish my experiment at Castle Plundarr, and return in a couple weeks when Luna has calmed down. Then something flashed in his mind and Alluro thought something else.

Alluro ducked another punch, then sprang to the main command console. He tore open the lower panel, then used the hooked end of his psyche club to pull out a handful of wires. Several ripped, sparks crackling at their ends. When Amok charged at him, Alluro flipped the psyche club, smacking Amok full in the chest with the live wires. Amok collapsed, and Luna fell off of him. Both were unconscious. Amok's great bulk protected him from the brunt of the shock, and also protected Luna. Amok could wait. Alluro advanced on Luna, cold murder in his eyes.

Knave was always looking for an excuse to injure the hypnotist, and everyone would agree that Alluro started it. The cheetah hybrid spat ice, but expecting such an attack, Alluro ducked it. He also sidestepped Knave's charge.

The cheetah hybrid doubled over in pain, clutching his midsection. Moving his arm he found it covered in his sticky, purple blood. Four shallow gashes showed where the blood came from. He looked over in surprise at Alluro, whose right hand had purple stains. Sandwellers too had claws.

Startled and injured, Knave couldn't stop Alluro's doubled fist from crashing into the side of his head.

A small missile knocked Alluro back, and he focused on his new assailant. Red-Eye readied his Sidewinder. "Calm down, Alluro. Don't make me hurt you."

Chilla and Mystan came in. "What's happening here?" demanded the ice Lunatac.

Alluro used Red-Eye's momentary distraction as an opportunity to hit him with the panel removed from the console. The Dark Lunatac crumpled to the floor. Before Alluro could react, Mystan's telekinetic power snatched him into the air. The tall Lunatac now floated several feet above the floor.

Alluro twisted uselessly in the air before fixing Mystan with a hateful glare. "Put me down!" The normally suave voice was a snarl, but held enough hypnotic power for Mystan to comply. Before Alluro could continue his attack, a blast of cold hit him, and he found himself stuck to a wall, covered in ice.

As Mystan shook his head to rid himself of the residual effects of hypnotic control, Chilla stormed over to Alluro. "What the Hells is wrong with you?"

The ice cracked as Alluro pulled himself free. He advanced on the ice Lunatac. "Destroy," he hissed, "or be destroyed."

Chilla hit him with a chair.

Vultureman now found himself surrounded by displeased Lunatacs.

They called Castle Plundarr and requested him, so he borrowed a Sky Cutter and came. Now he was surrounded by grumpy Lunatacs. Luna was sitting on Amok and glaring at the avian. For some reason, her hair looked puffier than usual.

Luna got to the point. "Why did Alluro go to Hook Mountain?" she demanded.

Vultureman looked around. Alluro was conspicuously absent. The psyche club dangled from Chilla's belt. "He wanted to study the Mad Bubbler. Caw, he thought that it wasn't just the bubbles that caused mind control." The avian was roughly turned, the loose skin of his throat held in a delicate, white-gloved hand.

"Yeah, well, the Bubbler got him," snarled Chilla. "Now, we've faced the Bubbler before, and his control stopped outside his cave. We want to know what's changed. We also want a cure for Alluro." She let go of his throat.

"Caw, he seemed to think that the control was part chemical and part psychic. He didn't explain any farther." Vultureman rubbed his neck, then said, "My vehicle was in the hangar. He might have my equipment in it."

Vultureman and the Lunatacs were in Alluro's workshop. Alluro himself was in a dungeon. Chilla was also absent, running a chemical analysis on the weird liquid from the Mad Bubbler's pool. Vultureman was peering at the readout on the Psionic-O-Meter. If he had lips, he would have let out a low whistle.

"If Alluro was right, then we have a problem. See this line here?" He pointed to a green streak at the bottom of the screen. "What Alluro did was record the Mad Bubbler's psionic output for several minutes. Now here," the green line went up a little, "The Bubbler started to use his power. Here," the line shot up, two-thirds of the way off the screen, "is probably where Alluro was taken in." Vultureman hit a button. The green line was now almost at the top of the screen, and pulsing.

"What's this, then?" asked Luna.

"Caw, the Psionic-O-Meter is still tuned in to the Bubbler. This shows what he's doing now."

Vultureman and the Lunatacs speculated various theories until Mystan came down. He put the jar of slime down on a table and pulled a long print-out from somewhere in his robe.

"Apparently," he said with undisguised disgust, "the Mad Bubbler makes enough of his bubble-mix that he ends up secreting it from his pores. This chemical absorbs through the skin of his victims and does something to the brain, making them more compliant to hypnotic suggestion. The fumes from the chemical are enough to cause a little of the effect, enough to confuse you if you inhaled them long enough." He looked over the print-out. "Actually, the chemical part of it would explain why the Bubbler could control Amok." Amok's breed were normally immune to psychic influence.

"Can you make an antidote?" asked Luna.

Mystan sighed. "I only know enough chemistry to identify things, not synthesize them."

"Caw, I can." Vultureman took the jar of liquid, and Chilla took him up to the medical lab.

It took several days for Vultureman to synthesize an antidote to the Mad Bubbler's chemical. During that time, Alluro showed no signs of improvement. Apparently, the chemical took a long while to wear off.

When Vultureman declared the antidote finished, he and Chilla went to the dungeons. "So we just splash it on him?" asked Chilla.

"Caw, it should work that way." With that, he sprayed the tall Lunatac with the liquid.

For a minute, it looked like Alluro was going to try to attack Vultureman, even with the bars in the way. Then he stopped, blinked a few times, and asked, "Vultureman? Why are you in Skytomb?"

Chilla unlocked the cell. "You seem okay to me," she said to the hypnotist, "but if you try anything, you're iced."

"I do not think I am under the Bubbler's control any more, but I didn't think I was when I left him, either," said Alluro. Something occurred to him and he said, "Chilla, the Mad Bubbler is worse than we thought. He..."

"We know," she said. "His influence extends beyond Hook Mountain."

"No, it's worse. I know where he got his powers from." Alluro took a breath to steady himself. "Chilla, he works for Cthulhu." Chilla paled.

"Caw, what's a 'Cthulhu'?"

Various explanations were traded. Vultureman got to hear about how an alien god/sorcerer named Cthulhu had awakened a month ago, threatening to destroy Third Earth with his malignant dreams. Vultureman told Alluro about the chemical properties of the Mad Bubbler's bubbles. And Alluro tried to piece together what the Mad Bubbler had told him.

"I think what happened," said Alluro after all the background was explained, "is that while Cthulhu was awake, he boosted the Bubbler's powers. The Bubbler said something along the lines of Cthulhu being able to see the future a little ways. Likely Cthulhu knew that he would be put back to sleep, and enhanced the Bubbler's psychic abilities."

"And you were dumb enough to get caught by the Bubbler why?" asked Luna.

Alluro gave her the 'haven't you been listening at all?' look. "Because when the Bubbler told me to come closer, I had several minutes exposure to the chemical fumes. It was enough to get me out in the open."

"I hardly see how thees ees a problem, Allooro," said Tug-Mug. "Thee Bubbler ees trapped een a cave. The way een ees twisty, so a bubble could not escape."

"Caw, because eventually the Bubbler's going to have the sense to knock a hole in Hook Mountain," explained Vultureman.

"Right," said Luna. "How are we supposed to kill the Mad Bubbler?"

Alluro folded his hands on the table. "Well, a sensible precaution would be to immunize ourselves against the bubbles..."

Skytomb flew to Hook Mountain. Vultureman and Alluro had come up with an immunizing agent and inoculated the rest of the Lunatacs. Given the sheer size of the Mad Bubbler, ordinary weapons probably wouldn't work against him. The plan they had finally agreed on was to use Skytomb's heavy weaponry to blow a hole in the side of Hook Mountain. Then the smaller craft could swoop in and finish the Bubbler. The fastest way to the Bubbler's cave was through the concave side, so those whiny Snowmen would have nothing to gripe about. Except maybe a few avalanches, but who cared?

After a few minutes of high-power laser excavation, the smaller craft launched from Skytomb's hangar: Tug-Mug, Luna, and Amok in the Lunattacker, Chilla on her Ice Runner, Alluro on the Sky Cutter, and Vultureman in his Vultureplane ( no one had thought to ask him what it was called. However, considering the Psionic-O-Meter, maybe they didn't want to know. ) Red-Eye and Psikaris monitored their progress from Skytomb.

Closing in on the opening, Alluro contacted the Ice Runner on the radio connection. "Chilla, remember how the day I left we were swapping theories on truly devious plans?"

"Yes."

"Here's a new hypothesis: What if the Mad Bubbler's sneakier than we thought? What if this is a trap?"

Chilla was about to reply that she had faced the Bubbler before and that he was a moron, but then the bubbles hit her. The Ice Runner was an open vehicle, and offered no protection against the attack. Instead of the usual large bubble surrounding the target, this was a stream of smaller ones that simply popped against her skin. In the last seconds before her will became that of the Bubbler's, she realized exactly what that trap was.

"Cheella's been heet." Tug-Mug reported, steering the Lunattacker up the side of the mountain.

"Good thing Alluro and Vultureman came up with an inoculation to the bubbles," said Luna.

Then the Ice Runner banked into a wide turn, looping around to fly behind the Vultureplane. "What the Hells does she think she's doing?" screeched Luna. The Ice Runner opened fire on the larger vehicle.

"What does eet look like?" shouted Tug-Mug as Vultureman was forced to take evasive manoeuvres.

Luna hit the intercom. "Alluro!" she screamed, "Your lousy immunizing agent didn't work!"

"It did what I wanted it to." Alluro allowed Luna a few seconds confusion before continuing. "You don't want to kill the Mad Bubbler. You want to land quietly in his cave. Come, I will take you to meet the Mad Bubbler. Trust me."

Tug-Mug and Luna were completely taken in by Alluro's hypnotism. Amok, being immune to psychic influence, was not. The guardian Lunatac considered whacking Tug-Mug to snap him out of the trance, but that wouldn't help Luna. Whacking Luna was not an option. A tiny spark was burning in Amok's thick skull, so he waited patiently for the Lunattacker to reach Alluro.

The Vultureplane dodged another volley of laser fire. He had tried to get behind Chilla, but the Ice Runner was more manoeuvrable. Grasping at straws, he tried to reason with the blue woman. "Chilla, you're under the Bubbler's influence. Snap out of it, Chilla!"

The ice Lunatac's reply was short and to the point: "Destroy or be destroyed!"

Vultureman wasn't looking forward to either option.

The Lunattacker landed just inside the cave, next to the Sky Cutter. Alluro was waiting for them. With dazed expressions, Luna, Amok, and Tug-Mug filed out of the tank. Alluro kept up his control. "Yes, that's it. Come this way..."

Amok's thinking may be summarized thusly:

Statement:

Facts:

Observations:

Solution:

The hypnotist was knocked backwards several feet and into a wall, where he collapsed in a tangled heap. Luna and Tug-Mug quickly snapped out of their trance.

Tug-Mug looked around. "What happened?"

Amok grunted and pointed at the fallen psychic. Luna put two and two together. "This is a trap. Alluro is still controlled by the Mad Bubbler. The Bubbler wanted us to blast a hole in the mountain, so that his bubbles could escape. Alluro helped Vultureman on the inoculations, so they wouldn't work. So now Alluro and Chilla are controlled by the Bubbler." She patted her steed on the head. "Good boy, Amok."

Conclusion:

Bonus Question:

"I suppose we can leave Allooro here, but what about thee Sky Cutter?" asked Tug-Mug, "Neither of us can use eet."

"Carbine it. Then it can't be used and we won't get whined at for wreaking it."

Tug-Mug shot the Sky Cutter, which promptly rose to float almost two metres off the ground. Then he rejoined Luna in the Lunattacker.

Vultureman hadn't been shot at for nearly a minute, and the Ice Runner was nowhere to be seen. Hence, the avian was being extra vigilant. However, what he didn't know was that Chilla had actually stopped attacking him.

At a mental command, Chilla had switched her target from the Vultureplane to the Lunattacker, which was currently the greater threat to her master.

The Lunattacker rocked under the sudden onslaught. "Eet's Cheella!" Tug-Mug shouted.

"Forget her! Find the Mad Bubbler!"

Tug-Mug wasn't sure that forgetting about who was firing at you was a good idea, but there wasn't much choice. The Lunattacker had no weapons on its aft side, and the cave they were in was to small to really manoeuvre. At least it was a sturdy craft, and should be able to take anything the Ice Runner threw at it. Two volleys later, the tank roared into a large cave. Near the centre, in a stagnant pool of slime, was the bloated form of the Mad Bubbler.

Luna was leaning over Tug-Mug's shoulder, and she nearly deafened the rotund Lunatac when she yelled, "There, Tug-Mug! FIRE!"

The second the Lunattacker had any space at the side, the Ice Runner zipped in along side it. Chilla spat at the larger craft.

"Eet's no good, Loona! Cheella's ice has frozen thee weapons system." Three seconds later, Tug-Mug decided not to worry about the weapons, instead deciding to focus on the fact that the Lunattacker probably wasn't manoeuvrable avoid that wall coming up. This was one time that Tug-Mug was not pleased to be right.

When the Lunattacker crashed, the Mad Bubbler sent Chilla off to find Vultureman. If the Lunatacs in the tank were dead, fine. If not, the Bubbler could easily take them on in his own cave. The huge body lurched around to face the wreckage, and he waited. Much to his annoyance, he couldn't reach the ship from his pool.

Presently, there was movement. At first he was mildly annoyed that it came from behind him. It was only his first servant, the lanky gray alien with the long hair, stumbling slightly. The Bubbler gestured to the Lunattacker. "Bring me the survivors."

Alluro went to the tank and knocked on the hull. "Luna, Tug-Mug," he said in his most soothing voice, "It's safe to come out now. Won't you come have a look?"

Fortunately, the thick hull all but silenced Alluro's hypnotic voice. Luna and Tug-Mug took stock of the situation. They all survived, mostly uninjured. Both Amok and Tug-Mug had natural padding, and due to Luna's tiny stature, she had merely tumbled into Tug-Mug.

"The second we get out, he's going to bubble us," said Luna.

"And eef we wait much longer, eet weell eventually occur to Allooro to take the Lunattacker apart," Tug-Mug added.

"And if we don't stop the Bubbler, no one will," finished Luna. "Open the doors." Luckily, the doors were on the side of the ship facing away from the Bubbler.

Alluro saw the hatch swing open and started around the ship. "Ah, Luna, so good of you to listen to rea... ow!" Luna smacked him on the shoulder with the riding crop. Then Amok grabbed him, tossed him into the tank, and slammed the door.

"That weell buy us maybe five meenites," grumbled Tug-Mug.

Luna tapped the riding crop against her palm. "Here's the plan. Tug-Mug, I want you to..."

Suddenly the Skytomb-fashioned cave entrance became very interesting.

Vultureman, being fairly certain that he'd lost Chilla, had doubled back and headed for the opening in Hook Mountain. He passed Chilla on her way out from the cave. The Ice Runner then did a fast 180-degree turn, and was back on Vultureman's tail. Vultureman decided to acquaint Chilla with some of the Vultureplane's many features.

One button released a thick cloud of black fog. While Chilla was choking on the smoke, Vultureman dropped speed to keep pace with her. A grappling hook shot from the side of the 'plane, snagging the Lunatac. The Ice Runner flew on.

Luna tapped the riding crop against her palm. "Here's the plan. Tug-Mug, I want you to..." she started, when the Ice Runner screamed out of the tunnel, trailing a few wisps of black smoke.

Tug-Mug realized that Chilla was not aboard, and fired the gravity carbine at the runaway vehicle. It was now several times heavier than it was, but inertia kept it going. Moreover, the force of the carbine blast changed the Ice Runner's direction slightly.

Chilla's Ice Runner was designed for speed and manoeuvrability, and was now a rather deadly missile. Before he could react, or even notice, the small craft had smashed into the Mad Bubbler's back, stopping only when its nose protruded from the creature's chest. A stench like a decaying bog filled the cave.

The Vultureplane landed, and the avian scientist stumbled out, carrying Chilla. "Caw, she just fell unconscious and... what is that smell?" He saw the ruined form of the Mad Bubbler, slumped in his pool, the Ice Runner lodged halfway though his body. Thick, whitish blood dripped slowly into the strange fluid that was the pool. "Oh." Even as they watched, the Mad Bubbler's body disintegrated into a sticky mess.

"You deed that?" asked Tug-Mug, incredulous.

The disbelief stung Vultureman's pride. "Of course I did. Never send a Lunatac to do a Mutant's job."

Chilla woke up, and realized where she was. "Gah!" She twisted out of Vultureman's grasp and rolled into a defensive crouch. "Keep your filthy hands off of me, Mutant."

"That's our Cheella," smirked Tug-Mug.

At a signal from Luna, Amok opened the door to the Lunattacker. Alluro walked out, leaning on the ship for support. "I... I felt... Is he dead?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh." Alluro surveyed the carnage, looking rather ill. He turned to Luna. "I left Vultureman's Psi... machine," he said, unable to say the hokey name again, "in Skytomb. Once I pick that up, I'll go again." He started back outside.

He was stopped by a small hand on his shoulder. "Alluro, you will not. Vultureman can pick up his own silly invention. You're coming back with us."

Alluro turned around, surprised. "But, Luna, you fired me."

"Yeah, and look at all the trouble you got into."

The hypnotist straightened up. "If I hadn't investigated, the Mad Bubbler would have found some other way to achieve his ends. If it wasn't for me, he might never have been stopped in time."

Luna's nose nearly touched Alluro's. "You wanna come back or not?"

"Since obviously the team would fall apart without me, I suppose I must."

The tiny woman gave him a disdainful snort and turned Amok around to leave the cave.

Chilla walked over to Alluro. "Don't tell me," she said, sarcasm dripping from every word, "You deliberately set up this entire crisis just so Luna would ask you back. My, you are devious."

"Careful, Cheella," said Tug-Mug, "You'll make hees ego even beegger."

"Ha ha." Alluro tried to scowl, and his sarcastic laugh turned into a real one. He draped a long arm around Chilla, and rested a long-nailed hand on Tug-Mug's shoulder. "Don't tell Luna this, my friends, but it's great to be back."