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For centuries, fairies and humans have lived together in harmony. However, a certain genius named Ursidae had a scheme that almost caused fairies and humans to go to war. Read on as this tale unfolds, and decide which side you vote for.
Now let's begin the weird tale of Ursidae. He was nine years old at the time...
One hundred years ago there was a bear named Ursidae. He lived in a castle by the Fairy Woods. He was the richest bear in the land area of 1000 sq. miles. He was also the smartest bear in the world. Ursidae had a servant, named Carnivora, and he had a sister, named Mammalian.
Ursidae had a plot to capture a Jelly Belly Fairy. But first he would need a copy of their secret book. Luckily, Carnivora was taking a stroll by the Fairy Woods when he spotted something golden. It was a copy of the book!! Carnivora knew it because Ursidae had shown him what the book looked like on the computers. Carnivora rushed to his master's castle and went to the computer room, which was a big square room, with nothing but computers surrounding the walls. He rushed to Ursidae's chair and gave him the book. "Master I found this while taking my morning stroll." "Excellent, now all I have to do is translate their language and I'll be able to read their book and find out how they live," his master replied.
Just then Mammalian entered with milk and cookies. Ursidae willingly took them. After he told Carnivora and Mammalian to go about their usual chores and not to bother him, he started to type on his computers, trying to translate the book with every language in the world. His first attempt was to translate with Spanish and Italian. Nothing. He had tried hundreds of combinations; and then just as he was about to give up, he would try one more combination-Chinese/Italian. It worked!
The computers hummed as they translated every letter in every page of the book. Ursidae watched as the computers printed out the pages of the book translated from Chinese/Italian to English. Now he would know how the Jelly Belly Fairies lived!
* * * *
Commander Amos Stem, member of the UFP (Unified Fairy Patrol), had a lot to live up to because Cupid was his father. He had won medals in ten UFP tournaments. Yet his boss, Sergeant Leaf, still gave him a hard time. "Wake up Commander, you've got an important job." "Coming," said Stem. As he got up, he wondered what Leaf could want this time. He hoped his father hadn't come in again worrying about his shooting arrows. "I'm a commander," Stem thought, "I deserve an assignment."
As he went outside to try to get through the streets, Stem wondered how he was going to make it in time. He tried saying, " UFP officer coming through." But all the people would say was stuff like, "Yeah, right." When he finally got to the UFP headquarters, the receptionist said, "Leaf is waiting in your office, Commander." "Thanks, Alicia," said Stem. His office was at the back of the hall, so it wasn't a long walk. When Stem got there, Leaf was waiting for him.
"Sit down," said Leaf. Stem sat in his chair. "We've got a problem," said Leaf. "A full grown Goliath Troll is invading the Imperial City," Leaf continued. "We are going to stop time in half an hour. The UFP already has fairies heading down there. But I need you geared up and there by the time we stop time." Looking at Leaf in surprise, he had thought he'd never get an assignment. "I'll be right on it," said Stem, standing up. "I won't let you down, Sir."
Ursidae read the translated pages of the book. He read all their secrets and powers. "Wow!" he said. The book even said that when a fairy loses its powers, it has to renew them by planting a walnut under a Mango tree. Ursidae immediately figured that he could capture a Jelly Belly Fairy for ransom.
He spoke into his beeper. "Carnivora report to the computer room immediately." As he waited for Carnivora, Ursidae started looking for the number of Mango trees in the Fairy Woods. When Carnivora finally came in, Ursidae said, "Here are the number of Mango trees in the Fairy Woods and where they are located." Ursidae continued, "Start making as many salt darts as possible." (The book had told him that fairies fall asleep when sodium chloride is injected in their systems.) "By starting tonight, we'll be looking for weak fairies."
* * * *
With only fifteen minutes to get to the Imperial City before the time stoppage, Stem headed for the Gear Office right after the meeting. He was quickly on his way to see Anthony, the fairy that made gear for the UFP. When Stem arrived, Anthony was already getting the gear out of the shack. "Hello Anthony," said Stem. "I hope you have my gear and the portal fired up." Anthony looked at Stem in surprise. " I didn't hear you come in," Anthony said, "but, yes, everything is ready-- your electric wings, your updated sleep gun, the works." "Good," said Stem. "Help me get this stuff on, Anthony, there's no time to lose."
* * * *
Time passed faster in Ursidae's world, so that's why it was already nighttime. Ursidae and Carnivora set out for the closest Mango tree. They had worked out a plan. They would spend one night at every Mango tree. With 65 Mango trees in the Fairy Woods, they would restock on supplies each day.
As they set out to the first Mango tree, Carnivora wondered why they were doing this. He never asked, because he knew that Ursidae would tell him when he was ready. But he'd have to make conversation. "Ursidae, why do they bury a walnut under a Mango tree?" Ursidae turned around and explained, "Because the first fairy found that a mango has some magic of its own, which makes a person feel like it's the best tasting food in the world." "Oh," said Carnivora. "Then why a walnut?" Again, Ursidae turned around, "Because a walnut is very big, and it also has a little power of taste, too."
* * * *
Five minutes to the "time freeze" and Stem was in the portal. The closest portal to the Imperial City was J9, thirty miles from the Imperial City and a two-minute flight from there. "I'm ready," said Stem. "Ok," said Anthony, "you might feel a powerful shake, but it will only be for a moment." "I'm pressing 'Go' now," said Anthony. "Just do it, Anthony," said Stem, who was getting irritated. "Here you go!"
A sudden lurch made Stem feel queasy. "What did you do Anthony?" Stem asked faintly. He could hardly stand up. But then, it was gone, just as quickly as it had come. "I warned you about the powerful shake," said Anthony. "You didn't tell me I was going to feel queasy," said Stem. "You know what? Never mind, just put it on 'Full Power' now." "As you wish," said Anthony. "But you might want to sit on the couch, unless you want to be hurt very badly." Stem sat. All at once, a sudden rush made Stem fall back into the couch, and luckily, within one minute, it had stopped.
"You're only 30 miles from the Imperial City now Commander," said Anthony. "Ok," said Stem, "I'll fly from here to there." "According to my calculations, you will have one minute to spare if you fly right now," said Anthony. While starting up his electrical wings, Stem said, "I'm leaving as we speak. Tell Leaf that I'm on my way! He wanted to know." "Ok, Commander," said Anthony.
As Stem flew, he wondered why Leaf wanted to know when he got there. "Maybe he's just worried about me because it's my first assignment," thought Stem. When he was fifteen miles from the Imperial City, Stem saw it! Forty feet tall, twenty feet wide, the Goliath Troll made its way to the Imperial City.
Stem looked at his watch, it was two minutes until "Time Freeze." He had one minute to get to the Imperial City and tell them to stop time. He put his wings on top speed. He got ahead of the troll and got to the Imperial City ten miles ahead of the troll. When he found the UFP officers and told them, they confirmed the time freeze. Stem's watch suddenly stopped. In fact, all of China's watches had stopped! Now, China was covered with an invisible gold-colored blanket. This blanket was enchanted. Anyone that wanted to come in, would see China as it's supposed to be, do what they wanted, and get out. Everything and everyone, except the troll and the UFP officers, were frozen!
* * * *
Ursidae couldn't believe his luck! He'd been to ten of the Mango trees and not one fairy! Carnivora was getting worried. "Ursidae, what if we don't find any fairies?" Ursidae turned around and looked at his giant friend. "Then we will come back when we're finished, because this plan is going off without a hitch." Again, Carnivora spoke. "But what if we do this for years and years, Ursidae?" "We won't, Carnivora, because the book said that fairies renew their magic every three years, and that means fifty fairies renew their magic every night." "In other words, we have been in the wrong place at the wrong time." "Oh," said Carnivora, who was finally beginning to understand. "So, where are we going tomorrow night?" "To site #1, where we'll retrace that one spot."
* * * *
Leaf and his squad were already there. "What took you so long, we've been here for ages?" Typical of him-he always found something to complain about. "You're running high on magic, right?" said Leaf. "Of course I am!" Stem lied. "Good," said Leaf. "Ok men, gather around. Now, we've got a full-grown Goliath Troll on the rampage and we've got seven and one half hours to stop it! We'll do this the old-fashioned way. Everyone pick the position you want and I'll decide if you deserve it. Ok, Stem, you first!"
Stem thought about it. "I want to be the person who does the 'stunning'." Leaf thought about it. "Ok, I'll give you a chance, Stem." One by one, the UFP officers took their choice. The only one turned down, was Officer Foley, who wanted to be the bait. Instead, Leaf put him on "finishing-off" the troll. "Ok, I guess I could do that," said Foley.
* * * *
As Ursidae and Carnivora went back to the castle to restock supplies, Ursidae went looking through the book again. He just couldn't believe it! He had done everything right, but he still hadn't completed Phase I of the process. When they finally got to the supply room, they found Mammalian in the back guiding the driver of the supply truck. After they had restocked, they went into the kitchen for a quick snack.
Suddenly it hit Ursidae like a brick! He knew what he was doing wrong! He only had an assumption that a fairy was going to be at the Mango tree that night. He told Carnivora to take a long lunch, and to meet him at the base of the Fairy Woods that night. Ursidae couldn't believe it had taken him this long to figure it out.
What he needed was a tracking device. "Man, sandwiches are brain food!" he thought. As soon as he finished his lunch, he rushed to the computer room. He instantly began hooking up the computers to each other. If his computers had enough power, he could create a 3D image of the fairy-tracking device. Then all he would have to do would be to press "Print" on the main computer and the tracking device would pop from the screen!
Ursidae went to the main computer and typed in all of the characteristics that the device would need. When he was done, he clicked the "Enable" button on the screen. The lights in the whole castle went dark, as the computers sucked in all the power. The computers' screens were blank for a long time. Then two words appeared on the main screen: "Device Completed." One minute after the words appeared, the device was on the screen.
Now for the tricky part! Ursidae went over to the main keyboard, and as he pressed "Print," the entire castle went dark again, as if in a powerful blackout. It was dark for about ten minutes, when Ursidae heard a small "clunk." When the lights came back on, there was a fairy-tracking device right before his eyes! He had done it!!!
* * * *
With everyone in position, Stem wondered who was going to be the bait. Remembering that Leaf was the only one who didn't pick a position, Stem decided to play two parts in this operation, even if it meant getting fired. Stem put his wings on "Full Power." He put his Sleep Gun on to Level Three (Sleeping Beauty). He pulled the lever, and Zoom, he was off!
It felt like the journey was never-ending! A thought popped in his head- what if he was caught running "low" on magic? Leaf would probably make him do the ritual before anyone could say "Sorry." Then, he saw Leaf's post. Stem took whatever magic he had left and put on his shield. He landed and took a position behind Leaf.
The troll came. Stem knew that Leaf would try a ground bait routine, so he put his wings into action once again. Once he got high enough, he made the shield disappear and started to make funny faces at the troll. Since the troll was tall, he saw Stem and not Leaf.
Now, for the tricky part. Stem took the last bit of magic in him and turned on the shield, which instantly made him disappear. Then he took out his sleep gun, which was on Level Three. He pulled the trigger. The sleep gun immediately shot out a yellow ray and hit the troll's horns. The troll began to look drowsy. Stem wasn't sure if the one shot would be enough, so he fired one more beam of yellow light. In less than a minute the troll was on the ground, fast asleep.
* * * *
While the troll slept, five and one half hours of the time field had been used up. They only had two hours to get the troll back underground. They needed to activate a second time field as soon as the first was done. But that had never before been necessary, and they hoped it never would. The moment the troll fell asleep, the whole squad tried to push him to the portal.
It was slow work, but they finally managed it. As soon as they got him in, there were five minutes left on the field. When the troll was underground there were only two minutes remaining. It wasn't enough time to get to the portal. "Shields on," said Leaf. Stem tried. He really did! But the magic in him just wasn't strong enough. So Stem did the next best thing. He put his wings on high gear and UP he went! As soon as he got into the clouds, the field completely disappeared.
Once Stem was out of the clouds, he saw Leaf waiting by the portals. Leaf luckily didn't see Stem take flight. (Or so Stem thought!) Taking Leaf's temper very seriously, he decided to land behind him and try to sneak into a portal. The landing was easy, but when he tried to get to the portal, he heard "STEM! What did you think you were doing? First, you took an unauthorized flight so you could help me! Second, you fired your beam without permission! And third, you went on a mission without tons of magic!! I can't believe you didn't say anything! You're going to Mango Tree #1 tonight! Now, I don't want you back underground unless you're very full on magic, up out from your ear tips, you understand?" he scolded. "Yes sir," said Stem.
As soon as Stem left, Leaf went to the portal and hit the full power button. He was going to make sure that Stem didn't come back underground by going to Anthony's to monitor all the ways to get underground.
* * * *
Carnivora arrived just as Ursidae finished checking the salt darts. He was carrying fourteen bags of supplies. Ursidae was about to say that Carnivora had overdone it, but thought better. As far as the plan had been going, he was afraid that Carnivora was going to leave this mission to only him. However, if Ursidae was correct, he would need Carnivora to carry off an important part of the plan. So since Ursidae didn't object, Carnivora started setting up the tent. Like the tracking device, the tent was made from the computers. It could become invisible as soon as some kind of life with a body temperature of more than ninety degrees F. was inside.
* * * *
In the meantime, Stem had completed his first (and what might be his most dangerous) mission yet. He was going to be having tons of magic in about an hour. And he wasn't fired from the UFP! Now that was the real shock! He couldn't wait to get back underground with tons of magic. First, he would put an extra protection shield on the hostage fund. The hostage fund was for officers, who were captured when nothing they did worked. Then, they would give them the gold and send in a missile that would destroy only living tissue. They would then go back in and retrieve the gold. They hoped they would never have to do that!
* * * *
As Carnivora and Ursidae got in the tent, Ursidae pulled a thermal imaging scope and the tracking device from a bag. The thermal imaging scope was specially designed by Ursidae to detect only fairy blood. Through thermal imaging, a fairy's body looks mostly blue with a little red at the head and feet. Because it would still be hard to tell a human from a fairy, Ursidae designed this device to detect only fairy imaging.
* * * *
Now with Stem only 10 minutes from site #1, he decided to put on the walnut scanning goggles and began to look at the ground. It was so dark that he could only see two feet in front of him!
* * * *
Ursidae wasn't feeling too happy. The tracking device said that the fairy was closer than ever, but it hadn't landed. "Carnivora, please scan for human interference equipment within 100 miles from every direction." He stated. "Of course, Ursidae." The device was whirling and crackling, and then it stopped. "There's a small village 90 miles south of here, said Carnivora, "and in the ten square miles of it they are using enough power to fill the world's largest generator." Ursidae ordered, "Then shut the power off, in the whole village, even the part that's not in the 100 square miles." "Ok Ursidae," replied Carnivora.
* * * *
Stem was still looking for a walnut. Contacting Anthony, he asked, "Hey, are you doing nothing or are you looking for walnuts?" "Well, there aren't many walnuts, so these things take time," answered Anthony. "Wait, something's coming up, Stem. It's your lucky day. There's a walnut right by the tree. It seems that the computer almost missed it, as if it wasn't a walnut but a trap." Anthony just realized what he said. "Wait Stem, don't!" But it was too late. Stem had put his wings on full blast and flew as fast as he could to Site #1. Ursidae's tracking device said the fairy was somewhere within 200 yards. "Carnivora, please fill the rifle with the salt darts, it seems we have a visitor, " commanded Stem.
Stem landed by the Mango tree and took off his helmet, which fell into the grass camera face down, so it only recorded the grass. Stem looked around. Where was the walnut? Then, he saw it! The walnut was just a few feet in front of him. He walked over and was about to pick it up when something whizzed in front of him.
* * * *
As the fairy got closer, Ursidae rushed Carnivora. "Ok, remember, if we miss the first shot, the fairy will go into cover so will have to take a foot approach," said Ursidae. Carnivora nodded. He understood he had limited shots on this. He took careful aim and then, he fired. Wouldn't you know? It flew right in front of the fairy! What were the odds!
* * * *
Stem realized he was under attack. He raced to the tree trunk and curled into a small ball. As Stem drew out his shocking beam, he slowly uncurled and found himself facing something the size of a mountain. "Hello, little fellow," he heard. Then a second voice spoke. It gave Stem shivers just listening. "Would you like to fight or come in peace?" Stem quickly aimed his beam. "Ok, you'll go down the hard way." Stem fought as the salt dart pierced his uniform. He could only speak one more sentence. "I have magic that could hurt you." "You had magic," replied the voice.
* * * *
Leaf and Anthony had once again begun checking the monitors when Anthony got a beep. "Can you finish checking the monitors, Leaf?" said Anthony. "I have to go to the Department of Latest Developments." "Ok," said Leaf.
While Anthony was gone, Leaf checked the monitors. Weird! It usually took a much shorter time to complete the Ritual. But, it was a short walnut crop this year, so Leaf decided that Stem was late because of that.
He was just finishing the last monitor when Anthony came running in, clutching a tape and looking worried. "Leaf, we've got bad news." "What is it?" said Leaf looking worried himself. "That's what the tape is for." But, it has to do with commander Stem." "Just put the tape in, Anthony." Leaf knew it was bad, because Anthony was rushing to get the plasma screen television. "What's wrong, Anthony?" Leaf asked worriedly. "Just watch the tape, Leaf," said Anthony. Leaf watched. "Now, Stem leaves for Mango Tree #1. He flies and flies 'blah, blah, blah.' Here's the bad part. He takes a landing, then he reaches for the walnut. But humans come! The camera and microphone are in the grass this whole time." "We don't have a situation," said Leaf. "Yes we do," said Anthony. He rewound the tape. "There!" he shouted. "Do you see it?" Leaf saw it all right.
Right in front of his face was a salt dart. All Leaf could say was "uh-oh." "This must be worse than I thought, if all you could say is 'uh-oh', Leaf," Anthony told him. Now furious with himself, Leaf gave Anthony a simple question. " Do we have a strong connection with the locator?" Anthony replied, "You bet we do. Moving through the old country at about 65 mph." Anthony could see that Leaf, needed his technology. "We're going to have to wait until the signal will stop moving; but, hopefully will get above ground before that, " said Leaf.
* * * *
While Ursidae was inspecting the fairy's gear, he couldn't believe how much technology they had. When he got to the locator, he immediately had an idea! The fairies weren't tracking him. They were tracking the locator. He held the device up to the sun. Not very transparent, but good enough.
"Carnivora, please give me one of the mini-cams." "Ok Ursidae." With a little help from Phillips' screwdrivers and glue, Ursidae was able to install the mini-cam into the locator. He then directed Carnivora to return to the castle to install the locator by the front gate. He also asked Carnivora to find a suit of armor and sword, strong and big enough for him to wear, and to prepare for the next move.
* * * *
As Anthony helped Leaf get into gear, he also installed the locator signal onto his helmet's electric map. Anthony promised he would send some additional UFP officers to help, along with two tons of 24 carat gold. "The department of Captured Alive Magical Creatures said they would bring the troll from the Imperial City to help battle this human," announced Anthony.
Leaf and the other officers made their way to the castle. Leaf took out the solar-powered blowhorn and demanded, "Please give back Commander Stem, or we will be forced to attack with a Goliath Troll. If you would like to take a challenge, here it is! The challenge is to battle the Troll. If you win, you get the gold and release the commander. If you lose, you lose your life! Please yell back an answer to Sgt Leaf ASAP."
Now Ursidae spoke. "We'll take your little challenge because we have a secret weapon! Get the gold ready Sgt Leaf!" Ursidae now spoke to Carnivora. "Carnivora, get ready to fight a troll!" Now Carnivora was making his way down the hall where he would be facing the evil troll.
Leaf saw that the cage carrying the troll was set safely down on the front steps. "Release the troll," said Leaf. They did so. The troll made its way to the front door. It only had to push gently, because the doors were unlocked. Strange!
Carnivora heard the footsteps of the troll. He immediately hid behind a suit of armor. Then the troll came through the doors. Carnivora knew what to do. He got ready. As the troll looked around, he jumped out with his sword, ready to battle! Carnivora's training took over, and he pulled a hidden rifle off his back. The troll now looked into Carnivora's deep blue eyes and prepared to pounce. Carnivora was also ready, his rifle now into position.
* * * *
Carnivora stood on top of the troll, who was merely unconscious, not dead. Somehow, Carnivora liked it better that way. Since the troll had a status detector hook-up, Leaf knew it was now time to bring in the gold. He took the troll back to the department with Stem and hoped that they would never have to deal with that human again.
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