Galaxy of the Mustelids: A Spinoff of "The Ferret Universe"

Chapter 9

"There he is! GET HIM!"

I whirled around, widening my eyes as a hovercraft loomed over me. Igor, Zorro, their wolverines, and their enslaved Alienated Ones were back.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling a surge of rage.

Zorro was holding a hexagonal gadget— its wires were linked to a helmet that encapsulated the head of an Alienated badger. Zorro's other hand moved rapidly across the hexagonal gadget, and the badger exhaled black flames in my direction.

I dodged, deflecting it with spouts of waterballs.

Then Igor hovered up to me, a sneer on his old, scarred face. His hexagonal gadget had four wires linked to the helmets of four minks. One of them summoned a gust of wind that flung me into an alleyway.

I hit the wall and my vision was spinning for a moment. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. I jumped and did a sloppy somersault in the air, summoning a swirl of cracked tables and funky-looking machetes. They crashed against the wolverines and their Alienated Ones, distracting them enough so that I could zoom away, hiding from their sight.

I stopped at the corner of a building, panting. When I was no longer dizzy, I gazed around myself....and I felt like I would grow dizzy again.

I realized I was in a city populated with Alienated Ones wearing helmets linking to the wolverines' hovercrafts. But they weren't the only mustelids here.

I saw familiar faces of badgers, minks, and weasels— all of them from the Mustelid Planets. They all had chains around their necks, which were tied to the wolverine hovercrafts.

And the chained mustelids were fighting one another.

I saw Badger King Bartholomew tussling with Weasel King Ulrich. Each were linked to a different hovercraft—the wolverines in each hovercraft cheered on their battle. When Bartholomew threw Ulrich against the wall, leaving his body limp and unmoving, the wolverine on Ulrich's linked hovercraft gave a frustrated snarl. He turned to the wolverine on Bartholomew's hovercraft and handed him wires that linked to the Alienated mink he owned.

I widened my eyes. I summoned an air current to allow myself to ascend higher so that I could get a better view of the city—everywhere, the badgers, weasels, and minks from the Mustelid Planets were seen battling one another. The wolverines were whipping at them, shouting for them to fight harder. The wolverines who oversaw the losing mustelid would hand over their Alienated One to the wolverine with the winning mustelid.

Jedidiah was right...the mustelids from the Mustelid Planets had all lost their Elemental Powers, like the wolverines did. And now, those wolverine brutes managed to enslave them and use them as battle-pets, just to humiliate them for their powerlessness.

I felt like I was going to puke. I really wished I could wake up from this dream...

Then I started to wonder.....what if this wasn't a dream? This was all feeling so real and so vivid, and the longer I spent here, the more real it felt. What if this was reality, and the world I thought was real turned out to be the dream?

A loud, familiar cry sounded. I turned to see Wendy and Bertha wrestling with each other. The wolverines who owned each of them were giving vehement shouts, whipping at them and making them grow more violent in their attacks.

"Wendy!" Without thinking, I summoned a tornado that blew their wolverines aside. But then they swerved around, took out their gadgets, and had their Alienated Ones summon a giant metal hand. The hand grabbed my tail and tossed me across the city.

I tumbled and somersaulted in the air— I caught a glimpse of Jaden and Wayne fighting against two minks while their wolverine masters yowled and whipped at them.

Then I came to a halt, hovering over a great stadium. At the center of the stadium were about several dozen weasels and minks engaged in a chaotic group battle, all of them fighting whomever body they came in contact with. Mildred was among the brawl, her tiny body darting around to dodge or strike her surrounding opponents.

"Mildred! Nooooo!" I yowled.

The wolverines were seated on the benches of the stadium, letting out vehement shouts. Each wolverine had an Alienated One with a helmet linked to a gadget they were holding. I felt a sudden surge of helplessness. It would be almost impossible to fight them all and rescue all those mustelids.

Then I found myself circling the air, my thoughts running.

This is just a dream...this is just a dream....the real Mildred is.....

I felt my heart wrench. The real Mildred wasn't safe either. Zorro had trapped her inside a glass-ball filled with Black Fog. The real Mildred was going to lose her Elemental Powers, just like the one in the stadium did.

And the same was going to happen to Wendy, Wayne, and Jaden.

A hovercraft zoomed over me— Wolverine King Igor was back. He let out a laserbeam that zapped me, causing me to thrash around in the sky.

Then I descended. I fell into a manhole and tumbled down a narrow tunnel. I landed with a small thud on the sewer floor, beside a stream of odorous liquid.

I lay there, groaning. I didn't bother trying to exert myself anymore. This was just a dream....no need to waste my energy here anyway....

"Mmm-hmm-hmmm!"

The sound of soft, airy chortling echoed through the tunnel. I started to smell something like warm vanilla sugar. Raising my head, I turned and saw a flash of white.

"Felix?" I groaned.

A white tail disappeared around the corner of the tunnel. The airy, smooth laughter grew more distant, as did that vanilla scent. I found myself rising, ready to scurry after him. But my weak body collapsed and everything went black.