The TSD Kids:

The S.P.F. Gang!

Lv. 16

Fortress of the Swamp

Well now, we’ve finally gotten through that sandy crypt, with a little help from Sheila. All that we hope for is that we find our way back to the forest again!

T: “Whooooooooaaa! Oof!”

I landed in a clearing that was almost too familiar...

T: “Guys? Where are ya?”

Hsien-ko: “Incoming!”

T: “Crap!”

Everyone else came out of the void after me!

Sakura: “Here we are, T!”

T: “Oh… did you all have to fall on me?”

Ryu: “Sorry about that…”

T; “Ah, it’s all right… wouldn’t be the first time that happened…”

Hsien-ko: “Hey, T, you’re still wearing that funky-looking crown!”

The crown Hsien-ko speaks of is the crown that was on my head back in the treasure room in the Temple of Anakaris.

T: “Eh? Oh I am, aren’t I? Doesn’t it look regal on me?”

Sakura: “You look like a royal goob!”

T: “You’re just jealous! Nyah!”

Ken: “Is this where I think it is?”

“Oh! You’re back!”

T: “Huh?”

Sitting under a tree draped in red, basket in hand, was none other than…

T: “Well, if it isn’t Miss Little Red Riding Headhunter!”

As Hsien-ko hid behind me, she said,

Hsien-ko: “What’re you still doing here, B.B. Hood?”

B.B. Hood: “Oh, I was waiting for you, actually…”

Ryu: “I hope you’re not still trying to hunt us or anything…”

T: “Cause you know what I’ll do to ya!”

B.B. Hood: “No way! And face that iron grip again? I was wondering how you all disappeared like that!”

Tessa: “It was a while ago, but I still remember. A void snatched us up.”

We told her all of what happened.

B.B. Hood: “Whoa… that’s some tale!”

Sakura: “And it’s all true!”

B.B. Hood: “Yeah… so whatcha gonna do now that you’re back?”

T: “What else? Go to that swamp and find my friends!”

B.B. Hood: “Then I won’t keep you. I’ve a certain wolfman to pay a visit to now anyway…”

T: “Whatever…”

B.B. Hood: “The swamp’s in this direction, you know.”

She pointed to the east.

Ryu: “Thanks.”

T: “Oh! Look what else I picked up!”

Felicia: “Meow, what a lovely bracelet.”

T: “It’s real alright… but I have no need for it.”

I tossed it to B.B. Hood.

B.B. Hood: “Huh?”

T: “We’ll be going now. Cheers!”

I took the crown off my head and stashed it in my bag. As we walked off, she eyed the treasure.

B.B. Hood: “Say… this’ll make me a mint! That green kid’s alright!”

After clearing some bushes, we finally caught sight of…

Morrigan: “The swamp!”

T: “This is it!”

Not to mention… we also caught wind of…

Ken: “Oh, man! What is that stench?!?”

Sakura: “I’m liking it even less already…”

T: “Never mind the smell, we gotta keep going!”

Ryu: “You’re right; this is nothing… a warrior has to be trained for everything… even if it stinks to high heaven…”

We walked across the somewhat squishy swamp ground.

Tessa: “Hmm… now that we’re back, you should check the next letter, T.”

T: “Oh, okay… whoa! It’s the last letter, everyone!”

Felicia: “You mean the weird one?”

T: “Yeah.”

Deer T,

IS U 0aky? Wee are feign. You sh0uld c0me out h3re… W3 ar3 hav1ng l0tzz of fun… D0n’t bee afraid… c0m3… Y0u’r3 n0t a n00b… are y0u?

T: “Huh… no matter how many times I look at this letter, it creeps me out… what happened to them?”

Felicia: “I’m sure they’re fine, T; don’t worry.”

Sakura: “You know, when I looked at that letter, I noticed something…”

T: “What might that be?”

Sakura: “I think the paper might be folded… but it’s so caked with dirt I couldn’t open it. I didn’t want to risk tearing it the first time I read it.”

T: “Well, thanks. Let’s try opening it, then.”

Carefully, I got the dirt off. As I was though, Tessa noticed something about the debris.

Tessa: “Hold on…”

She took some of the dirt off the letter and looked at it closely. She then picked up some of the mud on the ground and observed them intently...

Tessa: “I knew it. This dirt and this mud have the same composition!”

T: “What?”

I scanned them just to be sure.

T: “You’re right!”

Morrigan: “If that’s so, then they have to be somewhere in this area.”

Cotton the Bunny: “(Okay! We’re close, aren’t we, T? Uh, T?)”

The bunny’s voice fell on deaf ears, for I was looking at the letter, which was indeed folded over… No one there could comprehend the look on my face…

Hsien-ko: “What’s the matter?”

The others looked at the letter.

Y0u kn0w, w3 actua11y n3v3r l1k3d y0u… Y0u th1nk y0u’r3 s000 c00l, b31ng th3 l33der… and y3t, y0u’r3 n0th1ng… N0th1ng but a n00b…

W3 w3r3 sh0wn th3 truth…

W3 kn0w what y0u did t0o us…

W3’11 n3v3r f0rgiv3 y0u…

1f w3 find y0u, w3’11 pwn y00…

Find u5, y0u find y0ur d3mis3…

T: “What is this…?”

Morrigan: “What a mean-looking letter!”

Felicia: “I’ll say! Who the heck writes like that?”

Morrigan: “No, aside from that. How did those guys think T would feel after reading something as cold-hearted as this? It’s almost as if they don’t want him to find them!”

Cotton: “(Are you okay, T?)”

T: “…Something’s seems wrong. I know they wouldn’t really write a crap-letter like this. I bet I know what happened…”

Sakura: “What?”

T: “Soul Control Apparatuses…”

Morrigan: “…Come again?”

T: “When I stormed the Organization base to rescue them, I found them wearing the thing I just mentioned on their backs. The Organization was controlling them, and I was forced to fight them. It was so… one-sided. They nearly got the best of me, but at the last moment… I did something… a giant release of energy… I try not to think about it… it hurts.”

Tessa: “If you feel uncomfortable, you needn’t talk about it.”

T: “No, I’m fine, it’s just… I bet it’s those things… they must be on them again… I’m not weak, I know I’m not…”

Hsien-ko: “T?”

T: “Huh? Oh… never mind. Time to go!”

I decided to hide how I really felt with a smile. But I had an inkling Cotton understood how I was feeling…

We trudged further into the swamp. We started seeing multiple ponds and marshes. The smell got worse, obviously, and there were flies and other bugs buzzing around…

T: “Ugh, this place is almost as depressing as the gray region from our adventure with those energy chains…”

Ryu: “I don’t even see anything dead here… yet there are so many flies!”

Morrigan: “Yeah, in fact the only dead thing here has to be you, Hsien-ko.”

Hsien-ko: “Undead! I’m undead, okay?”

T: “Hey, chill out guys! Maybe the stench of this place is just getting to us; that’s all.”

Felicia: “Actually… I don’t smell anything anymore…”

Sakura: “You’re right! Finally, I can breathe again!”

Tessa: “But I still see flies and… oh, T.”

I had transformed and surrounded us all in a pocket of air.

Morrigan: “What’s this now?”

T: “I cleaned the air around us all. I hope that helps!”

Sakura: “It does actually! I thought I was gonna barf!”

We eventually made it to a cleaner part of the swamp. That is to say, at least there was no smell, so I returned to normal.

T: “(Deep breath) Ah, the air’s cleaner, but this place doesn’t look much prettier...”

Cotton: “(Eeww…)”

T: “What’s that?”

I turned around.

Sakura: “So this is that sludgy stuff they told us about back in Cacti Town. It looks even worse up close!”

Ryu “That’s not something I’d wanna fall into!”

T: “Okay, since this place is where all the letters and visions led us to, let’s look around! Search every bush, overturn every rock, and stuff like that.”

Morrigan: “That seems doable. It’s not like we’re gonna run into trouble in a place like this.”

Ryu: “You can never be too careful, Morrigan. Even most calm of places can have something evil lurking about…”

I was so intent on searching, Cotton and I kinda strayed away from the others. After some time…

Cotton: “(Find anything?)”

I was sniffing around as a raccoon dog.

T: “Nope.”

I reverted back and got up to stretch.

Cotton: “(It’s been a long day.)”

T: “It sure has. And we haven’t gotten a good night’s rest from trekking through that desert. Let’s find the others so we can set up camp and…”

Sakura: “(In distance) Aaaaaaah!!!”

T: “That sounds like Sakura!”

Cotton: “(I guess Ryu was right to be wary!)”

We ran back to the clearing where we were, leaping over pits and bog filled with the salty slime.

T: “Sakura? Ryu? Anybody there?”

Cotton: “(T, look!!!)”

T: “What?!”

I stood at the edge of the first pit of goo we saw. A hand was sticking out of it!

T: “Who’s…?”

Then the face rose out! It was Sakura!

Sakura: “T… We were caught off guard…”

T: “Hang on, I’ll…!”

Sakura: “Look out for…”

In a split second, she sank beneath the slime!

T: “No!”

I stood up for a moment. I knew this was a bad situation…

T: “Look out for what? What did she mean by…?”

WHACK!

T: “Aah!”

Cotton: “(Ouch!)

Something hit us fast, sending the two of us into the mud!

Cotton: “(What slammed us?)”

T: “Ugh… (Gasp!) …It’s you.”

Standing before me, was the one dressed in blue… the one with the spiked bracelets…

T: “Chun-Li…”

Cotton: “(Why’d you run off? We were gonna help you!)”

Chun-Li: “You’re trespassing! This land belongs to Bison!”

T: “What did you say?”

Chun-Li: “Outsiders be gone!”

Cotton: “(She may have talked, but she still isn’t normal!)”

T: “Then we have no choice but to beat it outta her!”

I drew my hammer, then rushed forward. She tried using that strange missile trick she did back at Cacti Town. I avoided them and swung horizontally. But she jumped up and stood on the hammerhead!

T: “No way!”

She tried to kick me, but I leaned backward, did a short handstand and double kicked her away!

T: “Rollerball!”

Before she could strike with that drill attack, I rolled up and spun in place, giving her a mud-slap to the face!

T: “Don’t like that, huh? Didja hear? Everyone’s trying the swamp mud facial! Ha!”

Apparently, Chun-Li didn’t find this funny. She was busy trying to wipe the stuff off.

T: “Cotton! Gimme a boost!”

Cotton: “(Okay!)”

After transforming, he lifted me and sent me over her head.

T: “Analyze Beam, copy Chun-Li!”

After I scanned her, I landed behind her.

T: “Convers… Oof!”

She got the mud off just in time to kick me in the middle! I got the wind knocked outta me as I staggered close to the edge of the pit of slime.

Cotton: “(Are you alright?!?)”

T: “She’s too fast! And I lost the data I scanned from her! Damn!”

She then took a stance focusing her energy.

Cotton: “(Oh, no she’s gonna do the Big Bang Laser again!)”

T: “And there’s no one to copy data from! We’re screwed!”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: T, I sense impending danger! WARNING!

T: “A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.?”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: I scanned something odd… there is something mechanical under us! A strange cavity, perhaps!

Cotton: “(Where?)”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: In that pit there, behind you! You must jump in!

T: “But… but that’s where…!”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Go! NOW!

The unknown had to be better than imminent doom, so I jumped in without delay!

Cotton: “(Wait for me!)”

T: “Ew! Nasty! It’s… all sticky!”

But I was hoping I would sink faster to escape the attack. I just held my breath and hoped for the best…

BOOM!

When the beam subsided, Chun-Li looked around. I was nowhere in sight.

Chun-Li: “Now Master Bison’s plan will go uninterrupted…”

In an instant she disappeared!

Cotton: “(T? T, please wake up!)”

T: “Uhh… huh?”

I came to and sat up.

T: “Eww… this stuff is still on me! Hm. They were right. It is salty…”

I used the T Tornado to spin the stuff off me.

T: “Cotton, what happened?”

Cotton: “(We jumped in before Chun-Li blasted us, remember?)”

T: “Yeah.”

Cotton: “(We fell through into this strange place.)”

T: “Oh!”

I pulled out A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.

T: “You saved us back there. Thank you.”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: I do what I can to protect my creator and our friends.

T: “I’m really glad I built you! Now about this place…”

It was a cold metal hallway. It looked dark on either end.

Cotton: “(Looks scary in here…)”

T: “Quite…”

It was then that I just remembered who also fell in!

T: “Oh no! Sakura and the others must’ve also dropped in here! Where are they?”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Perhaps something carried them off…

Cotton: “(A monster?)”

T: “Man, I hope not…”

Cotton: “(T! I hear something heading this way!)”

T: “Huh?”

Cotton’s hearing was more focused than mine, being a bunny and all, so he heard it first. Soon I heard a rattling and clanking sound get gradually louder.

T: “Stay close, Cotton.”

I quietly transformed and went invisible. Emerging from the shadows in the distance was…

Cotton: “(It’s a Guard Guy…)”

T: “It can’t be…”

After eyeing the uniform… yep, a Guard Guy…

T: “But it’s different… is it made of metal???”

Weird as it was, I decided to scan it. Aware of the situation, A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R. gave a silent readout.

Name: Mecha Guard Guy

Species: Machine

Habitat: Unknown

Info:

Apparently, Mecha Guard Guys are robots fashioned after the Organization’s foot soldiers, with a few… ‘upgrades’ Who built them? No one knows…

T: “And to think the normal kinds were just ten kinds of annoying…”

Remaining invisible, I walked silently along with the robot…

T: “Hmm?”

But something was amiss… instead of the O emblem on the shirt, there was an S, and on the hat, instead of a ‘GG’ emblem, there was a winged skull! I stopped short and the mech continued walking. It was out of earshot shortly…

T: “Well, now I know who made it; Bison!”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Are you sure?

T: “The winged skull emblem doesn’t lie. I saw it on the contraption that nabbed Chun-Li and the machine that created that void back in the woods.”

Cotton: “(Maybe a bunch of those metal Guys took the others someplace.)”

T: “Maybe… it’s up to me to check.”

It seemed safe to go down the hallway, in the direction the Mecha G. Guy was headed. I walked down until I saw lights.

T: “Hey…”

I took a few more steps forward and looked around the corner.

T: “I don’t believe it!”

I got a look at a large area with the biggest winged skull I ever did see!

T: “Okay, that big ol’ thing there proves that Bison is here! I don’t believe it, an underground fortress!”

But I had to believe it. I was in there, after all!

T: “Hmm…”

Cotton: “(What’s up?)”

T: “The scan said that these Mecha Guys have upgrades, much unlike their fleshy counterparts. I wonder what they are…”

I reached into my bag, but all I could find was a cookie. I tossed it into the middle of the room, near two of the Mecha Guard Guys. They turned around and looked at the cookie with glowing red eyes.

T: “Uh…”

Then suddenly, their arms turned into big laser cannons (compared to their size) and totally fried it! All that was left was a black burn mark on the red carpet! When Cotton looked at my face, it was white as a sheet!

T: “Holy sneeze! That could be me!!!”

Cotton: “(If we’re not careful that is…)”

T: “(Sigh) You’re right… I gotta remain calm.”

Cotton: “(T, look there!)”

Several Mecha Guys were carrying the others in cages! And they were followed by…

T: “It’s Bison! Ooh… that jerk!”

Filled with anger, I was actually about to rush in to bash his head in, but Cotton held me back!

Cotton: “(No! T, don’t do it!)”

T: “Aah!”

He succeeded in pulling me back before a Mecha Guy looked in our direction.

Cotton: “(If you do that, they’ll capture us too! Then we’ll never rescue the others, or find our friends!)”

T: “(Cools off) Okay, you’re right… but that guy… really pisses me off…”

We went to the corner to look again.

Bison: “How fortuitous that we’ve captured this lot. Their power will definitely help us out, especially that of Ryu and Ken’s! Now open it.”

At his command, the Mecha Guy did… something… and the mouth of the skull opened!

T: “Oh! That’s… interesting…”

Bison: “Good. There are so many of you bucketheads, it’s hard to keep track of who has the key. Here…”

Bison took the Guy’s cap off and placed a bright yellow work helmet in place of it.

Bison: “Good. Now go do your work.”

It walked off.

Bison: “Now let’s go. And you two guard the door. If you see anybody, shoot first and ask questions later. Noting will get in the way of my plans…”

He headed in with his entourage of Mecha Guys, which carried the unconscious group. As the skull closed, the last thing I heard was…

Bison: “By the way, I wonder if Shadow Lady has come back from her patrol yet…”

Cotton: “(What now, T? Bison’s got the others…)”

T: “I know, but if we tail him, we just might get em’ back, and maybe find out if he’s involved with the disappearance of our friends!”

Cotton: “(But you saw what those Mecha Guys did to that cookie… and I wanted to eat it too…)”

T: “If we just watch it and be careful, then maybe I won’t get my ass blasted then! It’s like Sho says, ‘give them no quarter’! I’m gonna give it my all to save them; to save all of them!”

Cotton: “(...Yeeeeah, me too… but if anyone asks, I’m saying I did it all for the cookie.)”

T: “Maybe we should give those two guys an pwning from a distance… Roaming… Hadouken!”

I guided two Hadouken attacks fast into the Mecha guys, breaking them completely!

T: “The coast is clear!”

I ran into the open and stood in front of the skull.

T: “There had to have been someway they opened this thing… eh?”

I spied a keyhole…

T: “A keyhole… wait, that Mecha Guy! Bison gave him the key!”

Cotton: “(But which one? They all look like each other!)”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: That, and there must be an innumerable amount in this fortress. That would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

T: “True but did you see what Bison just slapped on its head?”

Coton: “(A work helmet…)”

T: “Right-o! Something as bright as that will be undoubtedly noticeable!”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Find the robot, find the key, and rescue… A solid plan!

T: “It went down that other passage… A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R., see if you can get that thing’s signal.”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Please wait… loading… loading… Success! I have the Mecha Guard Guy’s internal signal. I have also downloaded a map of the fortress.

T: “Oh, good!”

A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.: Just track his whereabouts on the map.

We headed down the passage…

Meanwhile…

Ryu: “Ugh… Uhh… huh?”

Ryu was the first to wake up.

Ryu: “W-where am I…? A cage?”

Bison: "Ah, I see you’re awake. Did you hit your head, hmm?”

Ryu: “What? Bison! What have you done?”

Bison: “You and your friends are will have the honor of being my servants! Just like Chun-Li…”

Ryu: "You jerk! I’ll see to it that you pay!”

Ryu looked at the others in their cages.

Ryu: “(Thinking) T’s not here… Maybe he wasn’t captured… I hope he can get to us in time…”

Apparently things weren’t looking good for Ryu and co., a fact that I was well aware of!

T: “I think we’re closing in on it!”

I was still trying to track down the Mecha Guy, now dubbed ‘Yellowhead’, because of the yellow hardhat.

Cotton: “(There he is!)”

We found it in a room with lots of shutters on the walls.

Yellowhead: “Ack! Oh no, an intruder!”

T: “There you are! I want that key you have, fork it over!”

“Uh, what key???”

Cotton: “(You can’t lie! We saw that goob give it to you!)”

“Ohh… M-Master Bison will deal with you! As for me… Bye-bye!”

Yellowhead hit a button then left through a passageway!

T: “Hey, wait!”

The doors closed before I could get to him!

Cotton: “(Are we trapped?)”

Then the shutters opened, and Mecha Guard Guys spilled out!

T: “That’s a yes…”

They all circled around me, then with making a quick twirl; they each readied their laser arms!

M. G. Guys: “SHOOT INTRUDER, SHOOT INTRUDER, SHOOT INTRUDER, SHOOT INTRUDER, SHOOT INTRUDER…”

T: “Not cool…”

Seeing as I haven’t reverted back yet, I used the Windshield to keep the shots at bay. Then when they ran out of ammo…

M. G. Guy 1: “OUT OF AMMO. CAN’T SHOOT.”

M. G. Guy 2: “DOGPILE!”

T: “Aah!”

Suddenly, they all jumped on top of me! Those that kept getting pushed to the top fell off and just jumped back into the fray!

T: “Ugh… man…”

I climbed out from underneath the mountain of robots.

T: “Whoa, that was close… time to stop this!”

I turned into a raccoon dog and scaled the wall, and when I was high enough…

T: “Two-Ton Drop!”

M. G. Guy 1: “UH-OH…”

SMASH!!!

I crushed all the Mecha Guys in the room in one drop! The doors opened shortly afterward.

T: “We gotta get him! If Bison’s gonna do what I think he gonna do… I don’t want them to end up like Chun-Li!”

Cotton: “(Ooh! Ooh! I see him!)”

T: “After him!”

Yellowhead: “Yikes, it’s that green boy again!”

“Clearly…” I thought, “This guy’s not like all the other bots here…”

We cornered him in another room. It was labeled the ‘Freezer Room’.

T: “The jig is up! I’ll be having that key, now!”

“N-no! Master Bison gave me this key! He trusted me with it! You can’t have it! My buddies will stop you! S-sound the alarm!”

He pulled out a strange electronic whistle and blew into it. Then red siren lights blared!

T: “That can’t be good…”

“Ha! You have a better chance at getting this key then me getting whacked by some guy in pink with lame attacks!”

T: “Hey! Get back here, you tin-plated prick!”

He bolted, but he foolishly forgot to close the room doors!

Intercom: “INTRUDER DETECTED! INTRUDER DETECTED! RELEACE THE BOMB-BOMBS!”

Suddenly, hatches opened, releasing Bomb-Bombs, but of a blue color. The air suddenly got colder…

T: “Brr! Why is it so cold? Is it cause’ of those? I must scan it…”

Name: Freezy Bomb-Bomb

Species: Oddball

Habitat: Cold Regions

Info:

The Freezy Bomb-Bomb is a chillier type of the Bomb-Bomb species. They love to cast Ice-Type Spells and shoot icicles at enemies. As always, They go out with a bang when defeated, but try not to get frozen by the cloud of super-cold air it releases upon exploding…

T: “First the Lava Bomb-Bomb, then the Toxy Bomb-Bomb, and now the Freezy Bomb-Bomb? Oh man, this is not what I need…”

I dodged several Ice Spells and icicles, before hitting one with my hammer.

T: “Ooh, bad call!”

It exploded, releasing super-cold air, encasing me in a block of ice!

Cotton: “(Why’d you do that, T? You know what A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R. said! But wow, did it freeze you but good!)”

T: “J-j-just sh-sh-sh-shut up and h-h-h-help m-m-m-m-me!”

Cotton transformed and double kicked the ice shattering it!

T: “Thanks…”

Cotton: “(How will we get out of this without becoming Popsicles?)”

T: “I hope this works…”

Concentrating hard, I used the TNT Gloves to create a baseball-sized ball of energy.

Cotton: “(What is that?)”

T: “It’s something I’ve been working on; but every time I practiced, I always bombed myself by accident!”

Cotton: “(That had to hurt.)”

I dropped the ball off energy as it glowed brighter!

T: “Now run!”

We dashed out the door before it closed, then…

BOOM!

The explosion took all the Freezy Bomb-Bombs with it!

T: “Let’s go!”

After that were even more close shaves! We nearly got shot at, frozen, burned to a crisp, poisoned, flattened, pincushioned, kicked bitten, and all other stuff they could think of! Pretty soon, I had enough…

A few painful hours later…

I managed to get away from the onslaught of security hazards, but as much as I searched, there was no sign of that one Mecha Guard Guy!

T: “Oh, man, this is bad! Here I am, all by myself in this maze of a fortress, I’ve got an army of crazed robots after my hide, and everyone is gonna be part of the ‘Mind Control Brigade’ if I don’t do something! That and the bad guys will win! Somebody help!”

“Yahoo!”

T: “AAAH!!!”

Whoever that was behind me scared the crap outta me! I turned around, hammer raised, to see that it was…

T: “…Dan?!?”

What in the world is Dan doing here, of all places? I don’t know, but I bet you will in the next episode!