Here then, is part 5. - The Space Ride

Rascal reached the entrance of the cave first, with Lemy hot on his heels.

"Hey Rascal, what does 'hot on his heels' mean?" Lemy asked looking around.

"Huh?!!" replied Rascal "What are you talking about?"

"Those words that keep appearing in my head....it's as if someone's writing a story about what we're going through..." answered Lemy.

"Whatever are you talking about Lemy?" barked Rascal. "All I know is that if we don't get out of here soon, the muck monsters will get us and drag us back to Mr Weasel."

"Let's get that Blue Fox out of the cage first, and then we'll head back to the ship."

Lemy followed Rascal to the other side of the entrance where the cages were left in the open. The Blue Fox was looking anxiously at them.

"You have to get away from here," said the Blue Fox. "It's too dangerous to hang about."

"We'll all get away, as soon as we open this cage door..." said Rascal. "C'mon, Lemy let's break this lock."

They grabbed a biggish sort of rock and smashed the lock that held the cage door secure. The lock broke off after taking a couple of hits. Together, the three of them scurried away, just as the muck monsters came charging out of the cave. Lemy threw rocks at them as the muck monsters retreated to a safe distance.

"They're not so tough...." said Lemy. "They just look real ugly, that's all."

The Blue Fox was crying as she ran, and both Lemy and Rascal were puzzled. After they had climbed up a ridge and taken refuge behind a big boulder, Rascal asked the fox what was upsetting her.

"It's my sister Vixy" sobbed the fox. "She's still trapped in the cave with the other animals, and I'll never see her again... Wail!"

"Shhhh....not so loud, they'll hear you," said Lemy.

"So, you have a sister who's still back there?" asked Rascal sympathetically.

"Don't worry, we'll think of something and get everybody out. Nobody will go to the zoo, I promise. By the way, I'm Rascal & he's Lemy."

"Oh..." said the fox. "I'm Charmer, and I actually live here on this planet."

"And just how are we going to rescue everyone else??" asked Lemy sadly. "We haven't got any weapons or anything..."

"If only SuperTrain were here....", began Charmer.

"Supertrain?? What's that?" asked Lemy

"Not what...who! SuperTrain used to have a docking station here in Mortac...and that evil weasel would never come around when SuperTrain and the TrainStar are around."

Lemy and Rascal were both confused, so Charmer explained to them about SuperTrain.SuperTrain was once a train from the planet earth. However, he was transformed one day into a metal being, and took on the name "SuperTrain". Nobody knows how it happened and what he really looks like because he's dressed all in black with a long cape.

He usually carried a saber that was made of pure orange light, and the weapon was powerful enough to deflect any blast. Several years ago, SuperTrain teamed up with a crew of adventurers called the Centurion Raiders, and they built a huge ship called the TrainStar, which brought them from place to place. When the TrainStar first arrived at Mortac, the evil Mr Weasel had a shipping base on the planet, where he shipped captured animals to the zoos in the various galaxies. SuperTrain defeated Mr Weasel and ever since then, the weasel would only sneak back when Supertrain went off to the other planets where he has docking stations and bases.

Charmer also told the stripey pair that SuperTrain was very strong but always acted as a defender of the weak, which was why the inhabitants of Mortac and the surrounding planets liked him so much.

"Wow!" said Lemy at last. "Looks like we have to find that SuperTrain character or we'll never save those animals."

"But...if we fly off, we may not come back in time and the animals may be smuggled out long before then." replied Rascal.

"I have an idea," said Charmer. "Why don't I take off in the craft and look for SuperTrain...I'm sure I can find him."

"You can fly our craft??" asked Lemy incredulously.

"Why...yes" came the reply. "All blue foxes know how to pilot spaceships. We instinctively know what to do and how to navigate."

"Well, I hope you do because we have no time to waste." said Rascal. "You head back to the ship while we try and see if we can rescue the animals."

So, Charmer took off in Lemy & Rascal's ship, while the two of them sneaked back to the cave. When they got there, they found the whole place crawling with muck monsters. There was a lot of activity around the caves, and before long, a huge transport ship came into view. It was Mr Weasel's escape ticket.

Lemy looked at Rascal in dismay.

"Oh no....it looks like that weasel is going to make a break for it, and there's not much we can do to stop him." said Rascal. "Mr Weasel must have figured that we'd go for some help, and if that SuperTrain character is all that Charmer says he is, then its quite possible that Mr Weasel has reason to be afraid of him."

Lemy picked up a couple of rocks and said to Rascal. "He won't get away that easily - if we can distract him, maybe SuperTrain will come to the rescue..."

"It's worth a try." his buddy replied. "Let's go charging straight at them!"

"What?!! Don't you have a plan??" asked Lemy. "If it were up to me, I'd have a plan you know..."

"OK then," said Rascal. "What's your plan?"

Lemy looked at his friend and then gave a huge grin. "My plan is that we......we...hmmm....we...oh heck! Let's just Charge!"

The stripey pair came charging down from their hiding place growling at the top of their voices. "Yaaaaaarghhhhhhhhh!!!!!"

The muck monsters for some reason, just froze in place and didn't move. They seemed surprised by the sudden assault, as Lemy & Rascal charged forward for all they were worth. Then, the muck monsters quickly made an about-turn and fled - some dived into the muck while others just scurried away on all eight tentacles. The monsters who were handling the cages just dropped them and fled too. Everything was in disarray, and even Mr Weasel who was a little further off in the distance ran off, while the huge transport ship turned around and powered the boosters for an escape.

"Hooray!" shouted Lemy. "We did it! We actually scared off the muck monsters!" And he clapped his hands and did a little jig.

"Errr...Lemy," said Rascal looking up above. "I think I see the reason for the panic..."

Lemy looked up and got the fright of his life. A tremendously huge ship was hovering above them - it was the 'TrainStar'. And standing at the doorway of the ship, was the dark metal being that Charmer had described.....SuperTrain.

The ship was so huge that the entire area surrounding the cave was darkened, and within seconds, the muck monsters had disappeared. Mr Weasel of course was nowhere to be seen. All that was left, were the caged animals.

SuperTrain had rescued them!

But just who was this being, and what was he really like? Both Lemy & Rascal felt nervous about this mysterous character, and as the TrainStar landed, they both clung to each other as they edged cautiously towards SuperTrain.

What happens next? Well, that's another story.

End of Part 5

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