The story begins!

[Spectro]

Right, it's been a week since I started the signup for this story. Not many people showed interest, though. Well, as long as the character hasn't made his/her appearance, applications are available :-)

Anyways, the first chapter. It's just an introduction of my writing style to you guys. Read and comment!

CHRONICLES OF CARROTUS

Part 1: Against a Menace


Episode 1: C.O.R.E



-12.00 AM – Rootana, Capital city of Carrotus-

At this time of the day it was still noisy out there in the streets with the sound from dozens of vehicles as well as pedestrians, but deep in the alleys it’s a total different world. It’s an atmosphere of nothing but a peaceful silence, an atmosphere that lured everyone into a deep sleep. It could, however, never be able to achieve its absolute state since it’s occasionally trespassed by strangers trom the street world, creating small to large ruckus as they fled by.

Presently there was a brown rabbit, and he was running quickly along the narrow alley. Behind him was three other rabbits, who could be easily recognized as Jazz, Spaz and Lori of the Jackrabbit family. They were chasing after the rabbit in front of them, but it seemed that he’s slowly outrunning them. Spaz, after leaping over a large trash can, threw a furious stare at the back of the rabbit while kept running.

“Grrr... Fast.” Spaz grumbled with his usual simple language.
“He’s right.” Lori turned to Jazz, “At this rate we’ll never going to catch him.”
“I know, he’s fast. But...”

Jazz bent down forward, his feet motion became faster and faster. “I’m even faster”, he smiled. He then separated himself from the formation and began to catch up with his target. The rabbit fugitive, clearly heard the closing in footsteps, turned his head back and couldn’t help but be astonished when he realized that Jazz was only about three steps away from him. His right hand were stretching out in an attempt to grab the jacket of his target. The fugitive however, being as dogged as he was, still tried to escape, and this time he did it by all means necessary. He quickly shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, and Jazz could only catch a glimpse of something red with his eyes wide opened before warning his teammates: “EXPLOSIVES!!!”

Spaz and Lori immediately stopped at their legs and fell forward, both hands on the head. There was no more than half a second between their actions and the explosion of the TNT bundle. Then a light emanated from the TNT, a light so strong that the two rabbits could still feel it even with their eyes shut, along with a loud boom and a powerful force that would have blown them away if they had been standing. A large portion of the wall from both sides of the alley were destroyed, debris fell apart and piled up thus created a rather effective smokescreen. Of course, some citizens were waken up from the explosion, they looked down from the windows and emergency doors with panic eyes, only to see two rabbits standing up and a heap of cement next to them. Lori then realized Jazz was missing.
“Jazz? Where is he?” Lori panicly looked around.
“Spaz not know.” Spaz shook his head.
“Could he have...?”

Meanwhile at the other side of the smokescreen, the rabbit fugitive was still running, but slower than before since he thought he managed to stop his pursuers. That was his biggest mistake, because it didn’t take him long to get the feeling he’s still being followed. Looking over his shoulder with a faint hope to see nothing but the silent tenement houses, he was once again stupefied when seeing a green rabbit chasing after him. However this time his feet were not on the ground, instead they were against the walls as he was moving at an amazing speed. Only now that the fugitive could snap out of his delusion, and he began to run as fast as he could, but it was too late. Behind him, Jazz quickly jumped to a conveniently placed pole on the wall, swung two rounds, then launched himself forward like an arrow. He took a spin in midair and landed neatly on the ground, right in front of his prey. The fugitive had no choice but to stop right where he was. He drew out his blaster and so did Jazz. Two RFs were launched out, Jazz immediately turned himself aside to dodge them, at the same time aimed and pulled his trigger. A light blue projectile with a cold aura flew out from the blaster muzzle and hit the rabbit fugitive directly. The next thing happened, the blaster and also the rabbit’s hand were frozen. While he was trying to get the ice off his hand, he received a punishing punch in the face from Jazz which sent him a few steps backwards. Stars appeared in his eyes, but he shook his head to erase the illusion, then wiped the blood stream coming out from the corner of his mouth. Jazz was standing there, puffing his fist as if it was a smoking gun. The rabbit stood up and ran toward Jazz, this time he used Toaster. Flame started pouring out from his muzzle and flew to Jazz with a speed faster than the attacker himself. He expected Jazz to become confused at what to do with the incoming fire wall. Much to his amazement, Jazz stood firmly, and without even looking, pointed his blaster at his target and let out a normal bullet. The bullet pierced through the fire wall and slipped past the fugitive’s temple. ‘Was that a miss?’ He thought to himself, because that bullet could have blown a hole in his eye if it were to hit the spot. However he was immediately brought back to reality as he saw Jazz himself jumping past the flame and then standing in front of him, absolutely unscathed.

[Spectro]

“Did that hurt?” Jazz smiled. “I knew I should have stayed away from the head.”
Due to the expression on Jazz’s face, the brown rabbit could easily tell that he aimed for that shot back there. Obviously he wasn’t fighting seriously. Feeling his self-respect deeply hurted, the brown rabbit burst out in a rage and charged at Jazz, multiple Seekers flew out from his blaster. Jazz, in return, retaliated with the same amount of Seekers. The rockets collided in pairs and exploded, creating a large black cloud which the rabbits both entered. We all knew the effect of smoke, it disables the sense of vision, otherwise the smoke grenade wouldn’t have been invented (some with new features like knock-out gas, but this isn’t the case). Thus, although turning back and forth with very high cautiousness, the rabbit could barely see anything around him. It was awfully silent, so silent that it sent a chill on his spine as if he’s in the climax scene of a horror movie, until... WHOOSH! Something just ran by! His blaster was at once lifted up, and he pulled the trigger repeatedly, releasing dozens of bullets to his front. But the shadow was long gone. He then returned to his on guard state, bracing himself to be ready to shoot as soon as he saw his enemy. Unfortunately there was no second chance for him, because just when he was focusing his mind to the highest he suddenly felt something on his shoulder. It was just a normal rabbit hand, but the fear that had soaked into his body earlier made him jump out of his skin. He quickly turned around, at the same time felt the pressure on his shoulder increased, but again there was nothing. The hand was still on his shoulder, but he didn’t have the time to get panic-stricken as he received a hard hit from behind and fell forward. By that time the black smoke had dissipated enough to see through. The fugitive rabbit turned his body over and saw Jazz, right leg raised exactly to the spot that was previously his back. It was him who leaped over his shoulder and gave him the kick in his defenseless point, though in a prettly lazy manner.

No matter in what way, the fugitive was defeated. Utterly defeated. He sat up with his head bent down, awaiting Jazz to come and pinion his arms. Yet again, Jazz showed sign of fooling around, he made a “come and get some” gesture with a half-smile. The rabbit, being provoked, became furious again as he stood up and reload his blaster for another fierce round of the duel. But standing up was the only thing he was able to do, because he was struck from behind by an upgraded Freezer bullet. The upgraded Freezer shells contained two shots in one cartridge, both of which had been enhanced to have double the effect of the original Freezer shot, thus in fact quadrupled its power. These upgraded versions weren’t popular if not to say somewhat rare, but let’s get back to what’s happening. Much to the effect of Jazz’s previous Freezer shot before, all of the upper-half of the brown rabbit were covered in a thick layer of ice, and even some of his thighs and elbows were frozen, rendering him unable to move or do anything. The one who took that shot was Lori, who was standing behind the rabbit with her blaster pointed at him. Seeing her bullets hit the bullseye, she lowered her blaster and walked to the convict.

“Racer Rebbie, you’re under arrest.” She said to the brown rabbit, who was still trying frantically to break free from the ice cell, his eyes concentrated on Jazz with a firebursting look.
“Hey, I’m not done with him!” Jazz exclaimed with a rather discontented manner.
“Sorry.” Lori seemed irritated, but she tried to avoid breaking out an argument. “I was afraid that he would have gotten away.”
“How could he get away when I’m here?” Jazz said while making a rather weird pose which he thought meant I am trustworthy!
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Lori shook her head with a sweat coming down her furry face, while Jazz slipped off his pose and fell down. “Let’s bring this guy out of here and call a pickup truck.”
She then pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number, while Jazz lifted up the living ice cone with arms and legs still moving wildly. Spaz then appeared, which is a relief to Jazz. “Ah, Spaz. A little help here, please.” Spaz then quickly came to his brother’s aid, and they both walked after Lori with the criminal on their shoulders.
“Hey Spaz,” Jazz suddenly asked, his face looked depressed with a little bit upset, “Am I not trustworthy?”
“Spaz know brother.” Spaz nodded, his tongue stuck out of his mouth as usual, “Trustworthy.”
“Yah, thanks.” Jazz replied with a more delighted voice.
“Who are you?” Suddenly, the rabbit convict spoke. “Until now, there was no one I couldn’t outrun.”
“Well, now you meet me.” Jazz grinned. “Remember, it’s Jazz Jackrabbit.”
“Spaz.” Spaz continued.
“And Lori Jackrabbit.” Lori turned her face back.
“We’re the Super Rookie team” Jazz paused for a moment to stress on the former of the sentence “of the C.O.R.E.”

[Spectro]

Ok, that one was pretty confusing, I'd say. So here's another chappie (again, just for introduction). The timeline is several months (or years) after the Devan Shell incident.


Chapter 2: The Tournament


The next morning, at C.O.R.E headquarters...

“Rebarion Rickard, a.k.a Racer Rebbie. Committed in crimes of bank robbing, mugging, vehicle stealing... A wide range of crimes that I wouldn’t bother listing out myself.” The middle-aged rabbit lady chuckled at her own joke. “Currently his bounty was... wow, five thousand white gems. Quite a notorious one you’ve got here...”
“Thanks, Shayna.” replied Lori. She was standing in front of Shayna’s counter.
“I assume it was your brother who handled the guy, wasn’t it?”
“Err... Yeah. That’s him.”
“Boy does it feel good when you’re young and full of potential.” Shayna took out a seal and stamped it on some kind of a confirmation paper. “Well, that’s it. Just hand this over to the cashier, and your reward will be transferred directly into your bank account. 0Another job well done.”
“Got it. Thanks again. Bye!” Lori took the paper from Shayna, then turned around and walked away.

The C.O.R.E (Corporation Of Rabbit Enforcers) was founded fifty years ago. At first it was nothing more than a group of bounty hunters, but later as the group grew in size, they came to the need of a place to settle and organize their works. Thus the C.O.R.E headquarters was built. It was originally similar to a typical apartment house, so far numerous upgrades over the time had featured it not only more rooms, but they were divided into different sections as well. There were the Financial Dept, where income and expenses are maintained; the Intelligence Dept where news about crimes and bounties throughout the planet are gathered; the Research Dept where some widely used blaster models as well as many weaponry productions originated from; the Training Area and the Office Area for bail agents. After a long series of successful apprehending, politics offered the organization to join the government, and it accepted. Therefore the name of C.O.R.E was adopted, the organization itself belonged to the government but still operated independently.
Rabbits who wished to join the C.O.R.E had to endure a very hard and strict “basic training” of shooting, fighting, gathering information, then they would be further trained focused on a domain by choice. Agents who favored fighting were called “brawlers”, whereas shooters were “snipers”, and “spies” for information collectors. A typical agent team consisted of a brawler, a sniper and a spy, the last of whom was usually a female, since they were considered better than males at this field. But this way of classifying agents wasn’t really appropriate, since nowadays agents tend to become more and more versatile, capable to perform well in fighting, sniping and info gathering; some might even have extra abilities such as hacking, operating/repairing machinery, etc. So today they’re only called “agents” to distinguish them with “researchers”, “informers” and “stingy crones”.

Lori, having received another paper from the cashier, was making her way back to the office. To put it simple, it was Mr. Jackrabbit that had his children work in the C.O.R.E, but Jazz had always preferred the lifestyle of a free agent. Of course he had to be a good boy and listened to his father, but he could easily be found complaining. Like now. Lori was still a few steps away from the door with “Team Jackrabbit” on it, yet she could already hear her elder brother groaning “so boring”. Shaking her head disappointedly, she opened the door and walked in. The first thing she saw was Jazz, leaning comfortably on the chair with his legs placed on the table in front of her. She didn’t complain because she was used to seeing this, instead she just closed the door and walked to her brother.
“Your tedious chorus line again?” Lori asked. It was unclear what she meant was tedious, the lifestyle or the line itself.
“It’s not like I have other things to do.” Jazz yawned.
“There are always things to be done,” Lori said, “And that’s my table, if you don’t mind.”
“Alright. Sorry.” Jazz jumped from the chair and walked away while Lori took his place. He then put his back to the wall and said, “Our work here is to catch the bad guys roaming out there, right? But for me, it-”

The door suddenly broke open, and Spaz came running in. He kept dashing around in circles with a horrified look. Jazz noticed it after a few seconds taken aback, he stopped his brother by grabbing his left arm, a feat that made Spaz slipped out of balance and fell on his back. While Jazz was helping Spaz standing up, Lori stepped out of her table and asked, “What happened, Spaz?”
“Cut... cut... no like cut...”
“Ah,” Lori immediately realized, “You went to the barber’s by yourself again, did you?”
“And got his hair fur trimmed, got totally freaked out because of new look before wreaking havoc on the whole building.” Jazz listed out a series of action as if he was there. “Always the same.”
“I told you, next time at least tell me or Jazz so we can accompany you.” Lori stared into Spaz’s bloodshot eyes.
“O-Ok.” Spaz replied, he seemed to have calmed down. He sat down on a nearby chair.

[Spectro]

“Now where were we?” Lori asked as she strolled back to her seat. “Oh yes, there are always criminals for you to catch, Jazz. Have a look at this list.”
Jazz took the paper sheet from Lori, looked over it quickly, then threw it aside. “These are not even in my league. Of all the convicts I’ve caught, that Racer guy was the toughest, yet I-”
“I know, you pwned him.” Lori replied while rearranging the paper pieces on her table. “Something I couldn’t, or wouldn’t have done.”
“And yet you, not me, are the captain of this team?” Jazz’s lower lip began to pout out as he showed an expression of dissatisfaction.
“Don’t ask me, I didn’t make myself captain.” Lori shrugged. “These guys may not be strong enough for you, however their crimes added together could equal to the ones done by high-rate criminals.”
“Then let me ask you, between breaking a bundle of chopsticks and breaking each one individually, which way is more difficult?”
“Of course it’s the former, but...” Lori looked up, her brother’s question got her baffled, “no one would try it. They’ll probably pick the easier way.”
“Where’s the FUN in it, then?” Jazz grinned.
“Ok, I give up.” Lori raised her two hands and sighed. “Do whatever you want.”

Jazz won the argument. However his sister seemed a bit vexed, so he tried to comfort her by saying: “Don’t worry Lori. We’re not the only team around here. I’m sure the rest of C.O.R.E are more than enough to-” His eyes stopped at a piece of paper which stood out clearly among other papers on the table. “Hey, what’s that?”
“What’s what?” Lori looked up again, surprised.
Jazz didn’t answer his sister, he marched upon the table and pulled the sheet out.
“The Federal Fighter/Shooter Championship Tournament?”
“I don’t remember seeing that on my table before.” Lori gazed at the paper’s back, trying to read the reversed content.
“Fighters and Shooters from the whole planetary system will gather here, the best of the best. Be the champion and claim a prize of 100000 white gems!” Jazz read out the paper, then nodded his head, “Cool. This seems to be a good place to test my mettle.”
“We won’t be allowed to go there.” Lori said, once again bothered. “We’re C.O.R.E agents. We’re supposed to remain at HQ and be ready for any task that comes up.”
“You know what? That’s exactly what bored me out of my mind.” Jazz pointed at his sister repeatedly. “But this time, I’m not gonna be stopped!”
“Even by father?”
“Don’t speak of him in front of me!” Jazz suddenly become frightened, his previous macho state had completely disappeared, “It gives me the chills.”
“Well, you won’t be seeing him if you don’t do anything wrong.” Lori smiled.

Just at that moment, a rabbit came into the room with a delightful face. He exclaimed with a happy voice, “Good news! Due to the rapidly decreasing crime rate this month, all of us have been awarded with three holidays, starting now!”
“HELL YEAAAAH!!!” Jazz cheered at the news. Spaz barely understood what’s happening, but judging from how his brother expressed himself he could guess that it’s something good, so he popped out of his chair and started jumping around yeah-ing like crazy. Normally Lori would be glad with the news too, however this time she couldn’t bring herself to even smile at it. When the rabbit was gone to inform other teams, Jazz came to Lori and laughed enjoyably.
“See? It must be fate! God wanted me to participate in this!” Then he looked up with his hands clasped on his chest, “Thank you God, if you’re there!”
Jazz was so happy that he seemed to have lost it, because he joined Spaz and started to jump around the room screaming like a lunatic. At the same time Lori was getting more and more irritated. She picked up the advertisement that Jazz dropped, read it, then suddenly she said:
“Ok, so God wanted you to participate in this tournament. Let’s hope he also did something so you can sign up for it.”
“What do you mean?” Jazz was immediately brought back to reality, a sign of palpitation crossed his face.
“The deadline for the FCT signup is 10.00 PM today.”
“In other words...”
“You’ve got less than half an hour to get there and sign up.” Lori said as Jazz’s lower jaw began to drop down. “Duh.”
Jazz appeared to have been frozen for a second or two before he shouted, “Then we must hurry!”
“It’s no use.” Lori shrugged. “The space station where the FCT is held is between Medivo and Technoir. It will take at least twenty minutes to get there by spaceship, not to include going to the space port from here.”
“I have no intention of going to the local space port.” Jazz grinned slyly. “After all why travel such a far distance when you’ve got just the thing right here, right now?”
“Please tell me you’re not going to do it.” Lori shook her head. Jazz in return gave her a look that somehow made her back sweat.

There was nobody in the corridor outside team Jackrabbit’s office. Suddenly the door was opened in a sabotaging manner, then Jazz rushed out with his hand gripping his sister Lori’s wrist. He was pulling her while running at such a speed that her feet didn’t touch the ground. Lori herself was resisting unyieldingly “Let me go!”, but it was of no avail , Jazz pulled her along anyways. And Spaz was right after their tails. Yet no one noticed a pair of eyes behind the corner, which set sight upon them the very moment they stepped out of the room...

----------------------------
That should explain a good deal. Next chapter will be available next Sunday, since I'm currently full of inspiration! Whooooo!

[Doubble Dutch]

Oooh, God makes an appearance for once, this promises to be interesting!

Not many people showed interest, though.

I told you, any openings for petty villains, that's me!

[Xobim]

In case the shooting contest isn't the main part of the story, I can see where this could be going... :)

[Spectro]

In case the shooting contest isn't the main part of the story, I can see where this could be going... :)

Yeah, stories like this are always predictable... Bad guys show up, good guys kick their butts, and the good side always win. It's just the "in what way does it all happen" that matters :)

[Doubble Dutch]

Well, you never know; sometimes the bad guys can turn good, or escape, or not actually do anything; there are a million ways to break the mold.

[Spectro]

That's what I meant. There will be lots of events before the final showdown. It's mainly that part that makes stories interesting.

[Xobim]

You just have to take the basic theme and add as much originality and unusual parts to it as possible.

[Spectro]

Ok, it's sunday! ...whoops, it's still saturday, but well, here's the next chapter! Enjoy laughing :p

Chapter 3: Getting warmed up

During its development, the C.O.R.E also established a port for spacecrafts and aircrafts to enter and leave the headquarters. However since C.O.R.E mainly carried out cases on Carrotus, the majority of the port were aircrafts. Only a few spaceships were stored in the garage, the high-speed type used in emergencies. Thus only authorized personnels could be granted control of one, and in special occasions (I repeat, only AUTHORIZED personnels). Also to avoid faking conditions to get authorization, a handprint of those of captain-rank and above was required to open the launch gates, so that they could make sure of the real situation.
The time was 9.35 AM, around the busiest time of the day at the Airport. Planes, jets, even skyboards going in and out flocked the whole place. Some crafts had to queue for the landing strip, while skyboards seemed more convenient since they don’t require strips to land. Anyways, that’s the Airport area with a direct contrast next to it, the Spaceport. Although the lights were on just like everywhere in the building, the place was covered with a silent and eerie atmosphere, unlike its noisy and bustling neighbour. The entrance was blocked by two gates made of a special alloy, capable of withstanding a C4 blast, and two rabbit agents were standing at each side of it. Obviously it isn’t going to be the way in for our heroes, so let’s forget all those fortifications and check out the ventilation system. The cover of a hatch in the spaceport area was suddenly blasted open. From the hole came out Jazz, Lori (being pushed out by Spaz) and Spaz. They landed quietly on the ground and started dusting themselves off.
“Why am I dragged into this?” Lori asked unpleasantly.
“Cause I need your handprint.” Jazz replied. “Besides, I can’t let you walk around telling everyone what I’m up to.”
“I don’t have to.” Lori folded her arms. “They’ll know sooner or later.”
“Well, sooner or later you’re going to receive the same punishment as us” Jazz opened an electric box on the wall and ripped off a few wires to disable the cameras. “So quit your whining and give me a hand, will ya?”
“Do I deserve this, God?” Lori looked up and murmured while walking to the launch gate console, “And are you there already?”

Jazz and Spaz had already strapped themselves onto the seats of a spaceship, and they’re directing it to the launchgate. At the same time Lori took off her glove and pressed her right hand against the handprint reader on the wall. The console then replied: “Handprint approved. Opening launch gate...”
The authorities should be alerted of our presence here by now. Jazz thought as he slowly pulled the control stick. The spaceship started to accelerate toward the opened gate. Just then the spaceport entrance gate sunk to the ground, and the two rabbits who were standing guard outside entered with a few other rabbits along. Almost immediately they noticed the spaceship in motion headed to the launch gate.
“STOP!!!” One of the rabbits shouted.
Jazz stopped, but only when he reached his sister who was standing at the console next to the gate. “Get on.” He waved his hand up. Lori, having no choice left, climbed up the ship and tightened her seat belt, while Jazz closed the canopy and shouted excitedly: “Now, let’s SPEED!!!”
And with that, he forcibly pulled the control stick to its maximum inclined state. The ship shook as four rocket engines started pouring out gigantic blue flames, then launched itself up the long sloping tunnel, lighting up each speed-checker arch it passed as the speed meter in the cockpit kept going up at an astonishing rate. The bright sky appeared outside the tunnel exit, and it didn’t take more than 1 second for the ship to reach it. Jazz kept his two hands positioned when the spaceship penetrated through the clouds. Its speed was going up steadily, but so was the shakiness. Just a little bit more! Jazz clenched. The spaceship went on for about 5 more seconds, and then the seismism started decreasing. From their back seats, Spaz and Lori could feel themselves escaping the G-force, and they could also see the sky darkened. The spaceship had just left the Carrotus atmosphere and entered the vast vacuum of space. Far away to the left was the sun radiating her light and heat onto the planet, while sparkling stars occupied the rest of the vision.
“And now we’re out in space. Yahoo!” Jazz exclaimed with his hands up.
“I have to admit, this is pretty cool.” Lori followed.
“Now to set the coordinates and go to that FCT satellite” Jazz opened the advertisement, “Honestly I didn’t think that breaking out of the space port was so easy.”
“Better not, brother” Spaz suddenly grabbed Jazz’s shoulder, “They coming.”

Jazz turned to his brother’s warning. There, a few miles behind them, was two spaceships of the same model as the one Jazz’s piloting (they only have that model stored in the port, but it’s for multipurpose usage, and it’s pretty reliable too). From the speaker on the control board, a voice came out:
“To whoever on the Raven-III: You are currently acting out of authorization. Please stop and return to the base immediately for report. If you don’t comply, then we’ll have no choice but to open fire.”
“These guys never give it a break.” Jazz smacked his toungue as he turned on the voice reply and said, “Please, can’t you just let it go once? I’m only borrowing this for a while.”
“That voice... You’re Jazz Jackrabbit, aren’t you?” The rabbit on the other side seemed to recognize Jazz. “Please turn back at once, for your own sake.” The next thing he saw from his cockpit was Jazz’s spaceship, the Raven-III began to slow down. He thought Jazz listened to him so he slowed down as well, just enough to catch up with Jazz. But, when he was saying “Very good. Now let us go back and...” he totally didn’t expect the engines in front of him to suddenly burst out flames and the ship quickly dashed ahead, leaving a trail of smoke behind.
“Sorry, no can do.” Jazz spoke. “I’ve got an appointment which I can’t allow myself to miss.”
“So be it.”

In the radar screen, Jazz could see two dots began to move after his dot at the center. One of them suddenly flashed red, followed by the warning siren. Jazz quickly barrel-rolled the ship to the right, just in time to dodge a white ray which came from behind.
“Wow, they really did it.” He said while rolled the ship left to avoid yet another shot.
“We have to outrun them!” Lori shouted.
“Hm, you’re helping me?” Jazz grinned.
“Then how about ‘We have to turn back and turn ourselves in before we’re toast?’ ” Lori replied, sarcastically.
Jazz tilted the spaceship to the right to avoid two simultaneous shot aimed for the wings.
“Ring!” Spaz exclaimed out of the blue.
“Not the right time to imitate sounds, Spaz.” Jazz turned his eyes to his brother.
“No. Ring!”

Lori and Jazz looked to the front and immediately realized what Spaz meant. Ahead of the spaceship was a colossal planet with a ring surrounding it, and they’re heading directly into that ring. There’s only a few dozens of miles left, yet the white shots from the pursuing spaceships made it rather difficult to maneuver.
“Change the direction, Jazz! We have to avoid it!” Lori said.
“You don’t have to tell me!” Jazz answered, but then an idea came through his mind, “...because I’m not going to avoid it.”

[Spectro]

“What!?”
Jazz ignored his sister and accelerated toward the ring.
“Are you thinking clearly!? There are tons of debris in that ring! They’ll crush us into scrap metal in the blink of an eye!”
“Not if I crush them first!”
Jazz quickly pressed a few buttons and brought up an aiming screen. “Pulse cannons ready,” the computer said. Lori didn’t know what her brother was up to, so she could only sit and watch as Jazz shot the debris pieces in front of the spaceship one by one. The pieces hit by the white beams exploded into smaller pieces and scattered out, no longer blocked the ship’s head. Obviously Jazz was trying to create a path through the ring, but what was the point when the pursuers could use that path as well? The answer was revealed when Jazz pulled out two wires from the console and swapped them with their sockets. Mysteriously outside the Raven-III, the scattered debris began to regroup and followed its trail, thus effectively filled up the hole on the ring created by Jazz. The two other ships had to stop at once when they saw it. They intended to turn back, but the debris behind them had already returned to its orbit, closing the entrance behind them as well, so they were stuck in that ring.

“It’ll take them a while to get out of there.” Jazz looked back while rearranging the wires.
“How did you do that?” Lori asked.
“Well, those debris are made of metal, so I just reversed the electric polars to create attraction. Kinda cheap trick.”
“Not to me. I’ll remember to use it when the time comes.”
“You’re going to see more when you see me at the FCT” Jazz smiled.
The spaceship went on for several more minutes. Jazz turned around to ask Lori: “How much time left?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Earlier than I thought. Maybe we can slow down a bit. This speed is currently exceeding the limit, you know.”
“Jazz, look out!” Lori suddenly pointed ahead.
Jazz turned his eyes to the front. There was a large net made of green-matter rays about to ensnare the spaceship. Jazz grabbed the control stick right away and tried to avoid the net, but it was too late. As the net covered the ship’s engines, they died instantly and wouldn’t come back no matter how hard Jazz tried. A smaller spaceship with a top flashing with blue lights then appeared next to the Raven-III. Another voice came from the speakers:
“This is the Spatial Police. You have exceeded the speed limit in this area and we are taking you in.”
Great. I was just about to slow down too. Jazz were very annoyed at this apprehension.

A few minutes later, at a nearby SP station...
“What’s your name?” The police lizard asked.
“Jazz. Jazz Jackrabbit.” Jazz was sitting exhaustedly with his cheek propped up in his right hand, the other hand was pressing on the table.
“Your occupation?”
“Let’s make this quick, shall we?” Jazz lifted his head up. “You guys want a fine, right? Just say the amount!”
“Of course we’ll fine you, but we also have to keep your ride for a few days and put a mark on your spaceship piloting license. Speaking of which, do you have a license?”
Jazz couldn’t answer this question, because he only had a skyboard license. I’ve never hated these prolix procedures as much as now. He held his head in his hands. Meanwhile, Spaz and Lori were sitting outside waiting for their turn. Spaz took a peek into the room and noticed Jazz’s despair state.
“Three minutes left. Looks like we aren’t going to make it after all.” Lori looked at the clock on the wall.
“Jazz seem sad.” Spaz said.
“I know, he’s disappointed. But this is for his own good.”
“Please don’t talk while waiting.” The police rabbit watching Lori and Spaz spoke. “It’ll be done soon.”
Just then, a loud grumble of Jazz echoed out from the room, “I risked violating the rules for THIS!??”
“He should have thought of that earlier.” The police rabbit looked into the room and shook his head.
After listening Jazz’s wail, Spaz was silent for a while before suddenly bursting out of the long chair and running toward the port area. The police rabbit was completely surprised, “Hey, come back!” and he was about to chase after him when the door next to him was bashed open and Jazz came out flying with a kick aimed at his face. He was immediately knocked out cold, just like the lizard lying in the room. Hearing the noise, other police units from further rooms came out and noticed Jazz and Lori standing there as well as Spaz making his escape. Jazz shouted to Spaz: “Just get on the ship and launch! I’ve already set the coordinates for you!” before turning back to face the police. “Ok Lori, it’s time to rock the house!”
“Once again, you’ve got me involved in a sitch.” Lori said as she drew out her blaster and then loaded it with her Upgraded Freezer cartridges. The battle began...

Spaz, although being a simple-minded one, managed to find where the Raven-III was kept, and incredibly, set off with it. The coordinates were entered, so everything Spaz had to do was speed up the ship and avoid any obstacle in its way. After all it’s a complete miracle, so don’t ask me how he arrived at the FCT space station only 10 seconds before the deadline. The receptionist cat greeted him:
“Welcome to the FCT. It looks like you’re the last one. What’s your name?”
Like I said, he’s simple-minded, all he was thinking of was to speak the name of his team. So there it went, “Jazz...”
“Jazz who?”
“Jazz Jackrabbit.”
“Oh, that famous rabbit!” The cat seemed excited, “He’s actually here!”
“Spaz Jackrabbit...”
“Huh, what, you’re making a reservation?” The cat scratched his head. “Don’t know if it’s allowed, but... Ok, Spaz Jackrabbit.”
“Lori Jackrabbit...”
“Lori Jackrabbit, here it is.” The receptionist wrote the names on a list. Then all of a sudden the bell next to him rang loudly. He smacked it away and laughed: “Ding! Deadline’s here! You’re pretty lucky. If you’re just 10 seconds later...” He stood up and walked into the rather crowded corridor, not forgetting to tell Spaz: “Come. I’ll show you to the preparation area. Don’t worry, your brother and sister got their spots.” Then he clapped his hands to get the attention. “Ok everyone, let’s move. The tournament will begin shortly.”

As for Jazz and Lori, they had frozen all the police units, but it still cost them several minutes. They stole a police spaceship and headed directly to the FCT station.
“I hope Spaz had registered for me.” Jazz said anxiously.
“C’mon, what’s the big deal? It’s just a tournament. There’s always next year.” Lori shrugged.
“By that time I may have already died of boredom.”
Lori said nothing in return, she thought it’s best to just let this conversation end. Finally they arrived at the space station. Jazz rushed out from the port and proceeded immediately to the main entrance, Lori followed him closely. No one was there. Jazz focused and heard some noise from the hallway to the left. He quickly ran to it and saw a big room at the end of the corridor. A cat with glasses was standing next to the entrance, with some kind of a list in his hand. Jaz came to him and asked:
“Excuse me, did a red rabbit with ruffled fur come by earlier?”
“Oh yes, he did. You’re his siblings, right? He registered for you.”
“Thank goodness.” Jazz sighed in relief.
“You must be Lori Jackrabbit.” The cat looked at the list, then pointed at Lori.
“What?” Lori was surprised, “But I don’t fight!”
“Sorry, no changes allowed.”
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.” Jazz gave his sister a clap on the shoulder.
“And you are Spaz, are you not?”
“WHAT!?” Lori and Jazz replied, in chorus.
“I know that expression. Like I said, no changes.” The cat fixed his glasses, then turned and walked away.
“But... I’m Jazz! He’s Spaz! Hey, do you hear me?” Jazz screamed out loud, but the cat ignored him.
“You’re right. This turns out to be fun after all.” Lori laughed enjoyably.

[Doubble Dutch]

I like this more and more.

[Xobim]

Wait a minute, smoke and flames in space???

[Doubble Dutch]

It can happen, but this is one of the more common scientific errors, along with sound in space.

[Spectro]

Whew, it's been a while ppl. A busy while really. But I managed to get this done! :cool:

Wait a minute, smoke and flames in space???

I'm not an expert in this field, so i'll be glad if you can tell me what kind of engine is used in spacecrafts. :-)
Anyway, enjoy reading!

Chapter 4: Rushion V.Trackrabbit


The cat was walking to the Organization Board room with the list of participants on his hands, and a smile on his face. What an amateur imposter. He should have arrived sooner than his brother. Then he seemed to realized something. Come to think of it, I haven’t met Jazz Jackrabbit either. What if that green rabbit was the real one? The cat’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a figure in front of him. It was a rabbit wearing full body armor, including a helmet that covered his entire face. The cat glanced at his obstacle and asked:
“What are you doing here?”
“I want to make a registration.” The rabbit spoke with a rather unusual voice.
“Too late. The deadline’s ten minutes ago. If you want your role in this tournament, try visiting the Board leader.”
“I already did.” The rabbit replied. “And he accepted my proposal as soon as he knew who I am.”
The cat eventually paid attention to the latter of the sentence, he looked up while the rabbit took off his helmet. A sense of astonishment emerged on his face when he saw the rabbit’s identity. “You... are...”

Moments later, in the preparation area where all the competitors were, the screens on the walls were suddenly turned on, and a frog appeared. He started to talk and his voice came out from the speakers around the walls: “Ahem, all competitors please gather at the entrance immediately. I repeat, all competitors please gather at the entrance immediately.”
Everyone did as the voice said. It then continued: “Welcome to the Federal Fighter/Shooter Championship Tournament. Now, some of you may have been here once or more while for others it is the first time. So, allow me to give you a basic idea of our staff, our sponsors, and how things go around here. First of all, I’m Rotesque Slaimy, main announcer of the Tournament, and I will be the ref of the final matches. That means you’re going to see me in person!” He blinked his eye, an act that somehow sent a shiver of grossness to the female competitors. “Next, there are...”

Some people paid attention to the frog announcer. Some people didn’t, including Jazz and Lori. They were roaming in the large room searching for their brother. Jazz had been upset since the registration mistake, thus even though he said sorry, others were still irritated at the way he pushed them aside. Lori on the other hand was very gentle and polite, but still she couldn’t get further progress than her brother. Suddenly someone crashed into her. When she regained her senses from the daze, she realized it was no one else than Jazz. Jazz himself however didn't seem to recognize his own sister, he pushed her aside with a “sorry”, then continued his frantic search. Lori grasped her brother’s shoulder and pulled him back.
“Stop it! You’re being way too disturbing here.”
“Oh.” Jazz turned back, but he responded in a different way than Lori expected him to. “Didn’t see it was you. Sorry.” Then he tried to continue his work, but Lori tightened her grip to make her brother stay in place.
“I said STOP! This isn’t getting anywhere.”
“But we have to find Spaz!” Jazz, finally stopped, turned back and face Lori. “I need him to go tell that stupid cat about the registration mistake! Uh... I mean... Don’t you care about him?”
“Of course I do!” Lori folded her arms. “I only said what we’ve been doing isn’t the right way to find him. We have to try other methods.”
“Like what?”
“Well, we can ask the Announcer Room to call out for Spaz.”
“You know that he listens to nobody but us.” Jazz spoke with his mouth half-closed.
“It’s still worth giving a shot.”
“Wow, you’re Jazz Jackrabbit, aren’t you!?”

Lori and Jazz both turned about to see where that voice came from. Their eyes stopped at a rabbit who was walking toward them with a cheerful smile and wide opened eyes. He had light blue fur, was wearing a black waistcoat, black leather pants and white sneakers. When he came facing Jazz, he gave him another thorough stare from bottom to top before exclaiming:
“It’s really you! You are the famous Jazz Jackrabbit! I’m a big fan of yours! Hey, can I have your autograph??”
“Whoa whoa, slow down.” Jazz waved his hands trying to lower the blue rabbit’s outburst. “Wait, you know who I am?”
“Of course. Who doesn’t? You’re the one who single-handedly destroyed the notorious Devan Shell and his dreaded Time Machine! If it wasn’t for your valiant deed, we all might have never been born on the world!”
“Hm. Glad there’s someone who understands the importance of my endeavor.” Jazz smiled contentedly, but then he immediately frowned when he glared at the rest of the crowd that didn’t seem to pay attention to the disturbance the blue rabbit just created. “Unfortunately it’s just the minority, in my point of view.”
“My name is Rushion V. Trackrabbit, but just call me Rush. Pleased to meet you!” The rabbit catched Jazz’s hand and shook it.
“Nice to meet you too.” Jazz shook back his hand in rhythm with Rush.
“And you must be Lori Jackrabbit.” Rush turned to Lori, keeping his smiling face. “I heard that you helped your brother much in his campaign.”
“Well, yea... Not that much.” Lori modestly replied.
“She and my brother Spaz kicked the butt of many of Devan’s lieutenants.” Jazz proudly admitted.
“Wow, that’s great of you!” Rush nodded his head in amazement, then said “And you look much more beautiful in person too.”
“Thanks. That’s really sweet.” Lori smiled gracefully.
“It’s such a surprise to see you guys here.” Rush remarked. “Are you waiting to interfere with some ruckus about to happen?”
“No, we’re here to participate in this tournament.” Jazz answered.
“Both of you?”
“Actually there are three of us, including Spaz...” Jazz suddenly realized “Oh no! We still have to find him!”

Jazz was about to continue the search for Spaz, when the walls below the screens around the room were swiftly pulled up revealing arena rings with people, presumably referees standing on them. There was a total of eight rings which matched with the eight screens. While everything was happening, the frog kept speaking on the screen:

“Today we have 512 participants, divided into eight groups, so each group will have 64. Fighters in one group will compete against each other under the rule of direct elimination. This is a fighter/shooter tournament so guns and other weapons are allowed, but to avoid the destruction of potential yet self-unaware individuals, all but Freezer ammunition is forbidden in the qualification round. Other rules including no attack aimed at the eyes or the groin area, no biting, no pinching, no scratching... and NO KILLING. Fights are not over until one is knocked off the ring or collapses and can’t get back up, or until three minutes have passed. And don’t worry, there will be no draw. The one participant who remains unbeaten in the group will be able to move on to the quarter-finals.”

On the eight screens around the large room, the frog’s face disappeared and was then replaced with the competing order of each group. However the frog announcer could still be heard from the speakers:

“Now, we have randomly arranged each of you into one specified group and one specified start point. Please note that this arrangement is completely RANDOM. Any coincidence of rivalry or grudge matches in these orders is absolutely by chance, and may I restate that NO KILLING is allowed. If you violate that rule, you’ll be disqualified and be taken into custody immediately. Well, that’s all I have to say. I’ll be seeing eight of the 512 of you later.”

The frog ended his speech with a clattering sound, and right after that music started to come out from the speakers, the heavy metal style. Everyone felt the energy rising within themselves, telling them it’s ready to rock. The referees on the stages were all equipped with a small mic on their collar, so their voices were amplified to a level that competitors could hear them clearly in the loud music.

“Let us begin with the first duel of eight groups! Participants who see their names on the screen please come onto the ring ASAP.”

[Spectro]

Meanwhile Jazz was still anxious about his brother. He asked Rush:
“Have you seen a... well, rather dumb-looking red bunny somewhere? He’s my brother.”
“A dumb-looking red bunny?” Rush repeated the question “Yeah, I think I have.”
“Really?” Lori and Jazz both asked in relief “Where did he go?”
“I saw him running to the spectators’ entrance. He should be among the stands in the final round arena by now.” Rush stroked his chin, then suddenly his eyes opened widely. “Hey, it’s him!”

Jazz and Lori immediately turned to the direction Rush was pointing at. There was a screen with a big VS between two images, one of which was Spaz’s face! But below it was the words “Jazz Jackrabbit”.

“Dang it! Why now!?” Jazz exclaimed bewilderedly.
“Hey, isn’t it your name? Why is your brother’s face in place of yours?” Rush asked.
“Let’s say that he participate on behalf of me, and vice versa” Jazz replied in a hurry, then turned to Lori “We have to get him here at once!”
“But how? How are we going to find him and then bring him back here in just a matter of seconds?”
“Jazz Jackrabbit, please get on the ring immediately. I repeat, Jazz Jackrabbit get on the ring immediately. If you don’t show up after thirty seconds, then we’ll have to disqualify you.”
“This is crazy. Come on Lori, think!” Jazz grabbed Lori’s shoulders.
“Don’t push her. She cannot think clearly if you keep pestering her.”

Rush interrupted Jazz, an act that Lori would really like to thank him for, but she was busy thinking. Lori was also confused because of the situation, but it didn’t prevent her bright mind from noticing things around her. “Wait, why do I hear cheerings?”
“Because the fights here are being televised on the screens out there, and the sound of the crowd’s cheers is transmitted back to this area” Rush explained. “They say it’s to increase the morale of participants.”
“That means if Spaz’s out there then he will see us!” Lori finally found out.
“Let’s call him!” Jazz then turned to one of the cameras and shouted loudly. “HEY SPAZ, COME HERE!!!”

Ten seconds passed. Spaz didn’t show up.
“I don’t think that works.” Rush said.
“Grrr...” Jazz grunted “SPAZ, COME BACK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE DISQUALIFIED!!!”
Jazz was getting himself out of control. Lori on the other hand remained calm, she looked around to see if there’s an option. And there it was! A rabbit was pushing a trolley full of delicious carrots along a corridor outside one of the area’s entrances. Lori quickly dashed to the trolley and snatched the handles off the rabbit’s hands much to his fright. “I’ll buy all these!” she said, then she turned the trolley around and drove it to the ring where Spaz’s fight would take place. The people all jumped back to make way for Lori because they knew it wouldn’t be nice to be hit by a cart running at such speed. As soon as the trolley hit the platform, Lori lifted the handles up, thus dumped the whole carrot pile on the ring. While the ref and the other participant were completely surprised, Lori took a deep breath and then shouted, even louder than Jazz:
“HEY SPAAAZ, IT’S MEAAAALTIIIIIIME!!!”

Almost everyone was startled, they turned to see who could have let out such a mighty cry and it completely stupefied them when they noticed she was just a frail-looking yellow rabbit. Lori knew it would greatly embarass her if she stared back at those wide-opened eyes, so she kept her stance still like a statue. Fortunate for her, the crowd’s attention were drawn to an explosion on the wall which occured less than three seconds after her scream. A big hole was blown on the ceramic surface, and from the other side came in Spaz with his blaster full of TNT. His red fur was fairly burnt from being too close to the blast, but he seemed to not care the least about it. Instead, Spaz launched himself toward the carrot filled ring with the speed of an arrow; his eyes were so protruded that many wonder how they could still be stuck in his skull, and his drool was spilling rearward from the corner of his big mouth. He took a high leap and dove into the yummy carrot heap, then he started stuffing himself. Spaz’s opponent was rendered speechless before his feats, but the ref’s voice awakened him:
“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jazz Jackrabbit. The battle will now... BEGIN!”

The ref then took a few steps back, while the other competitor drew his gun. Spaz didn’t care about what’s happening anymore since he had lost himself into eating. His opponent already saw numerous openings, however he still acted cautiously because he believed this was the outstanding Jazz Jackrabbit. He’s probably pretending to let his guard down, but as soon as I come close enough he’ll send me flying with a kick or freeze me with his blaster. I won’t fall for that trick! He slowly advanced around Spaz, his gun kept pointing at the target. Spaz was still eating, and he didn’t seem to have slowed down yet. Ten seconds, then twenty seconds passed. Spaz’s opponent began to doubt his own thoughts... Maybe he’s really unguarded? I’m standing behind him, and he didn’t even look back. Hmm... I get it. He’s underestimating me. That’s why he can act so carelessly. ...And then became angry... How arrogant. You need a serious lesson, Jazz Jackrabbit! Feeling his self-confidence at its peak, he lifted his gun up and pulled the trigger, releasing a freezer bullet at Spaz’s head. Spaz suddenly turned aside to pick up another carrot, and that action saved him, because it was the carrot, not his head was hit by the freezer bullet. It was immediately crystallized and crumbled in Spaz’s hand. Spaz stared at his empty hand, his enemy also stood still. It didn’t took too long for him to realize how big a mistake he made, because Spaz turned at him with a berserk face. He spoke through his clenched teeth:
“You... ANNOYING.”

Spaz jumped out of the carrots, then charged straight at his opponent. Spaz’s enemy didn’t even have time to react when he received an uppercut in the lower jaw and then a powerful side kick which sent him flying about five meters before falling on the ground below the ring. It all happened so fast that the all the spectators could do was astonish in silence. The applause and cheerings rose up only after Spaz reverted to his normal dimwitted state and jumped back to his feast. The ref announced:
“Winner... Jazz Jackrabbit!”

A few moments later, the carrot heap was moved from the ring to a corner with Spaz still eating on it. Next to it was Spaz’s siblings and their new friend Rush. Jazz murmured “I don’t know how far he can ruin my reputation more.”
“Come on Jazz, he did well.” Lori remarked. “At least he managed to defeat his opponent.”
“In a way that not many people are capable of.” Rush supplemented.
“I’m not talking about his techniques. I’m talking about his behaviour. He’s going to need a serious lesson about it.” Jazz turned to Spaz with the intention to pull him out.
“Um... You can leave it to me, because you’re going to be busy for a while.” Lori pointed at the direction behind Jazz.

Jazz turned his head around to see what his sister meant, and saw his image on one of the screens other than the screen which showed Spaz’s. Knowing it’s his turn, Jazz quickly sprinted to the ring, not forgetting to shout to Spaz: “We’ll talk about this later!” Upon midway to the destination, he copied his brother and took a high jump, spinning a few revs then used his trademark move Copter Ears to land neatly on the stage. He looked at his opponent. It was a lizard wearing military uniform. Having fought many lizards before, this is indeed an easy duel for Jazz. He stood firmly and smiled at his seemingly nervous enemy, until the ref said:
“We’ll begin when you’re done showing off and step into your position, Mr. Spaz Jackrabbit.”
Jazz was at once snapped out of his delusion. He looked on his feet and realized he was three steps away from the “X” marking start positions. He hurried to the spot after laughing off his hilarious mistake.
“Please remember, if you keep trifling around I’ll have to disqualify you.” The ref continued.
This is what I’d call BIASED. Jazz glared at the ref when he’s not looking.
“So that’s the brother of the famous Jazz Jackrabbit?” From behind Jazz a voice rose up.
“This’ll be a tough fight for our Trecko.” Another voice answered.
“Not sure about that. I heard this Spaz guy ate the dopefish, so he’s very stupid.”
“Really? He doesn’t look so stupid to me.”
“Of course, because I AM Jazz Jackrabbit, you tards!” Jazz suddenly turned around and shouted at the crowd.
“Ahem!” The ref cleared his throat, and Jazz immediately returned to his position facing his opponent with a wince on his expression.
“I take back what I said.” That voice spoke again. “He’s not just stupid. He’s totally lost it.”
“Argh...!” Jazz grunted. “Just wait till I finish with this guy...”
Jazz became furious, but it was unknown if his fighting abilities would be amplified or reduced. What was known was, as soon as the ref lifted up his hand and declared “Begin!”, Jazz launched himself toward his opponent with a striking speed...