The Citadel of the Pigs was awe-inspiring if a miserable and foul place. Carved out of a massive rocky peak the pigs named Mt. Revolution, it loomed above the barren valleys and other mountains like a big tree on the plains. It rose like a pyramid with five steps pierced with lesser towers and smokestacks until it stretched into a single tower where a massive flag displaying the Pink Snout waved in the polluted air. Today the paths winding up the mountain were clogged with grunting armored pigs marching in rows of six abreast, spears held in salute above their heads. William slowed the transport saucer to a near-hover as he closed in on the giant docking door. It slowly slid open and he carefully steered into the great hangar at the base of Mt. Revolution. He was hauling a load of humans from Darwin Port who refused the generous amnesty the Pig King had offered that were to work as slaves unless they looked good enough to be eaten. Not that those who joined them deserved any better…William guffawed a snorting laugh and he stopped the saucer in the middle of the hangar.

Preparing to unload the humans, a sow’s voice snorted. Some pigs carrying shock-spears rushed out of a door in the towering wall and hurried over to the saucer. William took a big chunk out of his apple as he watched the pigs force the ragged humans out of the door, marching single-file with their heads down and their wrists chained together. He couldn’t help chuckling when they shocked a fat boy who was lagging a bit behind and holding up the line. After the dreary procession was out the double-doors leading into the complex, two pigs ducked back in and pulled out another human, a muscular man with his greasy hair sagging low around his head. They led him through the doors in silence. William didn’t know this, but that last man was Daniel Patterson. Just hours before, he was the leader of the Gull Isle Pig Resisters, the last hope the humans might ever have had at keeping Gull Isle a free nation.

He had no idea how long he had been on the elevator, nor did he care. He did know, however, that he was being taken to the Pig King for a grand execution. Finally the elevator stopped with a little ding and the two pigs were hauling him out. He was in a massive and dark round chamber, with mighty columns holding up the domed ceiling hundreds of feet above him. The lights flashed on, and a huge black throne appeared dramatically in the middle of the room. Surrounding it were large pigs in full armor and long capes with great swords on their backs. But Daniel wasn’t looking at the guards; he was looking at the person seated on the throne. To his surprise, it was not quite a pig, but it was a grossly obese pig-like man wearing a gray suit, thick blonde hair covering his eyes. He grinned a sinister, toothy grin and the pigs dropped him to the floor.

"You’re the Pig King?" he asked shakily in his raspy voice.

"No," the man said in a high-pitched voice that made a chill go down Daniel’s spine, "I’m substituting now that he’s in Eagleland. And you’re Daniel Patterson, that guy who rallies a pathetic country with a hopeless dream of defeating us. What a big ugly idiot!"

Not that this man had room to speak, but he threw his blubbery head back and laughed hideously as if it were a rich joke. Daniel’s spine jolted at the sound of it.

"You’re only a petty menace," the man continued, "so I’ll go easy on you. I’ll ask again: Do you choose to join us or will you die?"

Daniel climbed to his feet and laughed, "I was fighting against you with all my strength for the sake of my homeland and my family. I led a resistance force against you and you’ve cursed me, led campaigns against me and even tried slipping a cyanide pill into my vitamin bottle. I just can’t help but laugh now that you think I’ll even consider joining you."

"Kill him," the man said coolly. The pigs drew their swords and closed in without hesitation. The Daniel did something very strange.

"Hey, Krause! Tell Ricky to reach Cloudy Valley! North of Stilt Town, in the mountains!" Then he was skewered.

Krause opened his heavy eyes and everything around him was blurry. If that wasn’t a weird dream nothing is, he managed to think. The still felt a throbbing pain where he was bashed in the head, and as his eyes focused in, he found himself lying on a white bed in a matching room filled with odd-looking equipment. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his bandaged skull.

"Krause," a man’s voice said, "That pig did hit you hard. Do you know where you are? Do you know who you are?"

"Yeah…in some freaky base under a swamp. I don’t have amnesia!"

"Good, and do you understand we aren’t liable for any injuries or damage caused while in or around the Quagmire?"

"I’m not suing anybody! I’ve got something to tell Ricky," he said in an annoyed tone. The man, who was a scientist seated beside his bed, frowned.

"You shouldn’t really get out of bed, you need rest."

Krause began to pull himself out of bed, but his head began pounding again like some painful bass drum. He groaned and slumped back down.

"You’re right…but now that I’m here, I want to know a few things. First of all, who the heck are you nerds and why did you kidnap my brother?"

The scientist shook his head, "Sorry. We can’t tell you - "

"I’m not in the mood for this! Answer the question, or I’ll break your ribs once I can get out of bed!"
The scientist sniffed, "There are some things in this world that are better kept a secret. Do you understand this?"

Krause’s nails dug into his palm, "ANSWER MY QUESTION RIGHT NOW YOU LETHARGIC GEEK!"

He said that last part so loud that a woman carrying a tray of food outside the door dropped it with a loud clatter. The scientist gave a wide-eyed look at Krause.

"Well…like my sister once said, ‘If you can’t win by reason, move to volume.’ I don’t think I’m exactly the right guy to tell you…That girl (Meara?) is asking the Boss about it now. I know she’ll tell you."

"Mera," Krause said, beginning to calm down, "But could you at least tell me what you did with my brother?"

"Oh…you have it wrong. We weren’t trying to hurt him, although we did work for the Pig King. For about the decade, we were the official genetic engineers for him. We were even going to be spared in what they called the Time of Retribution."

"Why did you join them? They even TOLD you that they were trying to kill us!"

"I, like most of us, were against it very much. But the guards who were with them looked like they wouldn’t hesitate in ripping us in half! Our project leader, Curt, wasn’t the nicest person in the world to being with, so the papers were signed and before we knew it, we were moving our laboratory underneath a swamp. We were supplied with a highly advanced defense system and some strange robots the ambassador called ‘Remnant Starmen.’ And now we’ve scared the swamp people into thinking we’re a monster. Anyway, we were ordered forcefully to do the unthinkable. Those who fell into our…trap we were to turn into mindless mutant slaves or genetic pulp. When we refused, they threatened to shut down our lab and kill us one by one. We sent several shipments of this stuff to the Pig King secretly. We captured Ricky as nonviolently as possible, as an urgent ‘Dead or alive’ bulletin warned about him and the threat to the Retribution. Curt’s heart must’ve softened, because he decided that they wouldn’t capture him. So we sent a Remnant Starman and…I hope you can forgive me."

Krause’s eyes narrowed, "I have no clue if you’re telling the truth or a big fat lie, but I will forgive you if it’s true. But once I can get out of bed, he’s coming with me. We have to save the world!"

"Ricky? Ricky!" Krause said, knocking on the door. His head still hurt a bit, but he wasn’t spending another minute here if he could help it. He opened the door, stepped in, and gasped. Sitting on a bed in the corner, Ricky had his hand out, a blue flame dancing above his open palm. Mera was watching intently from a chair.

"Ricky!?" Krause exclaimed, his jaw dropping. The flame suddenly disappeared and Ricky was looking up, grinning.

"Krause!" he said, "It’s great to see you alive!"

"Did you just have a blue flame burning above your…or did he hit my head too hard?"

Ricky grinned even broader, then his eyes narrowed and the flame reappeared.

"Mera…" Krause said, backing away, "What is he doing?"

Mera looked just as amazed, if less frightened, as he was, "Psychokinesis, or PK. I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never seen it actually working."

"Ricky, when did you begin doing this?"

The flame flickered out again, "Oh it was awesome! I remember waking up and feeling…different. It’s like a rush of energy, all throughout your body…don’t you think it’s cool?"

"Yeah, right. Of course I do."

Ricky flinched a bit and flame flickered out once again, "I guess now that we’re all back we can blow this Popsicle stand!"

Espeon and SD were perched under an overhang in a bluff just a half a mile away from Craggy Cliffs. In the once-festive amusement town below, white tanks and artillery were rolling and the cavalry were milling about in preparation for a battle. The two adventurers were traveling just ahead of a legion of pigs and war machines that could only be described as bizarrely futuristic. Some appeared to be crude looking, gargantuan hovering tanks with highly advanced cannons, others were skiffs being piloted by the skinnier pigs, and the unforgettable silver UFO’s, just to name a few. They were going to warn the town of the attack, but it seemed they already got the message. The sun was sinking low, and the army would soon be upon the town like ants on a soda spill. A glint of metal was appearing on the flat, still-blazing horizon and soon the hums and clanks of machinery were heard.

"Well, SD. Are we waiting it out?" Espeon asked with a sigh. His mute friend just grunted and began winding his crossbow. The sun was slipping towards the west, illuminating the rapidly advancing army ominously. In only minutes, the loud calls of "FIRE!" were heard and the artillery batteries were blasting. There were several blasts and the shape one of the hovering behemoths rocked, then exploded. Lasers from the other side were now firing like mad, and the first wave of pigs were charging the cavalry and tanks. A few UFO’s whizzed in and began firing into the ranks. Espeon frowned. The tanks should’ve been in the middle, backed by the cavalry and behind the infantry while they fired. Then the cavalry should support the infantry when the enemy charges…The two sides were now blasting each other like there was no tomorrow and making a great deal of noise. White tanks were being fried, pigs were squealing as their armor failed them, artillery shells were nailing war machines, UFO’s were darting here and there while breaking some laws of physics and horses were shrieking like mad. The dust was clearing and Espeon saw both sides retreating. The tattered Eagleland soldiers were behind a makeshift wall of stones and barbed wire and the maimed pig troops were slowly backing away. Artillery and lasers were still firing, blasting more holes into the battlefield and blowing more things up. Espeon kept spotting tactical failures until he realized that he was just an adventurer, not a general! SD suddenly made a snarling noise and pointed his crossbow towards the path they had come up. Sure enough, maybe five pigs were coming around a big boulder. SD nailed the first smack in the nose, and Espeon held his whip up. Then the pigs did something totally unexpected. The four began to slide their fat selves down the steep, rocky slope. SD took out another, right before a tremendous BOOM threw them against the wall of their shelter! They opened their eyes and saw through the dust that the boulder that the pigs came around was gone. A massive avalanche of rocks was cascading towards the town! Espeon then realized in horror that that boulder was the only holding back a huge amount of stones. They looked down helplessly as the soldiers who had taken shelter in the town were fleeing right into the enemy’s fire or being buried in the rocks. Without a word, the two of them began running back down the path. At least two towns had fallen already. How many before it would be too late?

"So what you’re saying is that we’re supposed to go to this place called Cloudy Valley in the middle of the mountains just because some guy in one of your crazy dreams told you to?" Ricky said to Krause as a scientist led them down a short hallway to the docking bay.

"Well…yeah."

Mera laughed, "You’ll never make it there alive. It gets worse north of here. First there’s a field of reeds and cattails so high that anyone could get lost and be eaten by alligators, then it gets even better! Mountains rising out of the forest, no doubt where monsters live. You’ll need an airplane to get there, and even then, where are you gonna land it?"

The scientist opened the door at the end of the hall and gave a sweeping motion for them to follow. They all hesitated a bit, then stepped in. This didn’t look like a docking bay at all. It looked instead a lot like a ten-foot cube of metal.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Krause said, turning around. Much to everyone’s horror, the door slammed shut.

"Yes," the scientist’s voice said, "This is your place. This way you’ll never tell anybody where we are. And good night."

Before any of them could open their mouths to say swears plumes of white gas began to pour into the little room. Just then a wild flame ignited in Ricky’s eyes.

"We will not die!" he shouted. The other two looked in amazement as the iron door first shook, then was torn to shreds by some great invisible force. Ricky dashed through the opening with the others close on their heels.

"We’re finding the docking bay!" he shouted to the others. They turned left down the corridor, knocking over a scientist holding a machine gun and came to a large double-door marked DOCK. Ricky hurried over and pressed the button.

"Access denied," the door said before being obliterated by the same strange force that freed them from the gas chamber. Ricky’s head was throbbing and sweating as he sent two armed scientists twenty feet away to the floor. The docking bay was small, and the only apparent vehicle was a small yellow submarine with a large periscope near a hatch on the floor.

"To the yellow submarine!" Ricky said, and in the midst of his sudden migraine he remembered a Beatles song sharing a similar name. He stumbled to the hatch, thrust it open and jumped inside, panting heavily. Krause and Mera dropped in after him. There were just enough seats for the three of them, and even then it was very cramped. Gadgets of all sorts lined walls and ceiling.

"Ricky?" Mera said, "Are you okay?"

He could only groan. Krause managed to jump to the controls, which looked like a joystick for a computer and Mera helped Ricky into his seat.

"Stop! Get out of there!" a voice shouted from outside. Mera shut the hatch while Krause fumbled with the controls. Sounds of gunfire were heard as the lights finally turned on.

"Let’s see what this sucker can do!" Krause said with a grin. He hit a button and the little screen told them the bottom hatch was opening. Finally they were being lowered into the water below, bullets dancing against the heavy armor of the submarine.

"Thrusters on, depth at twenty meters, speed at 21 knots. I hope that’s fast enough…" Krause said to nobody in particular. The submarine was moving through the water now, and Ricky groaned again and began pulling himself up in his seat.

"Hold on!" Krause said, "I think their ‘security system’ found us!"

"Oh crap!" Mera said, "Move faster!"

But even as she said this, a disturbing thud was heard on the port side of the sub and everything rocked violently.

"Does this thing have any weapons?" Krause asked himself as he began frantically searching for anything he could possibly use. Ricky’s eyes lit up again and there was the sound of a muffled blast, then they broke out like a chased mouse. They finally broke surface and everybody heaved a sigh of relief.

"Where are we going?" Mera asked.

"Krause and I are going to the mountains," Ricky replied, sweat strangely pouring down his face. "You can go home now."

She just laughed, "No, Ricky. I’ve never left this bog before. And if I don’t go with you, I’ve got no friends and my dad could give a buckwud’s rear about me. Going off and saving the world beats that hick town! I’m good with knives…"

"We thought the same thing about adventures a month ago," Ricky said, "We don’t want anybody else getting caught up in this."

"No, you’re just thinking I’ll get in the way."

Ricky shook his head, "If you want to come with us, I want to make it clear right now that this won’t be a petting zoo. We’ve already nearly killed ourselves at least ten times and I have a feeling it won’t get any easier. If this all fails, say goodbye to humanity."

"All the more reason to help," she said with that catlike grin.

There wasn’t much talking as Krause steered around Stilt Town and headed further north. The water was getting more and more shallow, until the submarine finally hit the mud and wouldn’t move any further. Ricky, whose head was starting to feel better, popped the hatch and looked out.

"Oh my gosh…we’ve reached that big field of reeds."

Sure enough, both reeds and cattails towered at least two feet above their heads.

"Yeah, the water gets really shallow here," Mera said, blinking her cat eyes, "But there’s nasty things living here. Keep one eye ahead of you and one eye looking at the water. It wouldn’t hurt to make little landmarks either."

They slowly climbed out of the submarine and into the knee-deep murky water. The reeds made a wall that blocked all vision around them. Mera took out her long knife and began hacking away at the reeds and the twins followed close behind. The water was putrid and stagnant here, and the fact that dark clouds were rolling overhead didn’t really help. Mera stopped hacking through the reeds and stopped.

"My arm’s getting as tired as heck…" she said, her eyelids heavy over her yellow eyes, "I didn’t even sleep last night, those clouds mean rain and there’s supposed to be alligators nearby. Is this adventuring then?"

Krause nodded and they set about to figuring out how they would sleep in two feet of water. Ricky finally flattened a little section of reeds by just pushing air and made a hard platform. They settled down and the rain came. Neither knew if the other had any sleep that night and the rain didn’t stop, but they got up at around 4:00 nonetheless. Ricky’s indispensable watch said that it was 1:12 PM when Mera let out a shout of joy. The twins looked and saw why she was so happy. The sea of reeds was gone, and tall green mountains loomed in the near distance, just beyond a dense wood. Mera seemed to lighten up even more.

"This looks like the place. The Point of no Return…"

"What?" Krause said.

"There’s only one person who came back from here, and he described it very well. He was an alligator hunter…I was only eight, but he said there were things in these woods that were much worse than ‘gators. He said Nature herself seems to turn against you, you feel like you’re not wanted. He was attacked by something from behind. He just barely managed to escape, and he’s got the scars to prove it. We’re gonna have some fun."

"You’re loony, girl," Krause grunted.

"Oh lighten up, will you?" Mera said, "You didn’t just hack through all those stupid reeds."

"You’re insane. Don’t you feel the air?" A wind gusted eerily from the nearby mountain, which was blue and snowcapped. Leaves blew up around them, and Krause swore he heard an ominous whisper, Go back. A chill ran down his spine, but he shook it off.

"Let’s go," Ricky said. Without another word, the three walked towards the wood ahead of them. Up on a high branch in a gnarled tree a bird sat, red eyes watching them intently. It rustled its black wings, snapped its sharp hooked beak and took off into the deep reaches of the forest