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Chapter 1:Good Day/Bad Day
Tony was loving life, the wind in his hair and the sound of the kicking rock track blaring from the stereo of his new red convertible, how perfect could a day off be? It was at this moment that the music stopped and the radio switched over to the news channel for an important update.
“Today it was announced that Parliament has passed a law against the sale of games and gaming related products due to last weeks horrific storming of a secondary school. It was later revealed that the students who had committed this crime had been playing point blank all day the day before. This law is passed immediately and all games firms will be inspected by the end of the week to ensure they are fully compliant.”
Tony sat their mouth open in shock, but soon realised that he was heading for nearby tree. He managed to swerve just in time but the door hit the tree and dented. He could smell a rat in this new law and he knew only one way to flush it out.
Pressing a concealed red button in the glove compartment, the dash revolved to reveal a TV and transmitter, as the fuzzy picture became clear, Ant’s face could be seen in the monitor.
“Ant. Good. Tony here…” Tony began as Ant smiled and stuck his thumb up in recognition.
In the background, Tony noticed Grix, Venombyte, Goatboy, Sonicrav, pb and Aliboy all sitting around the base that had been purposely built under Special Reserve Towers. They were all taking it in turns to play Soul Calibur on the big screen unit and were currently watching Bonus and Mr Nice Guy fight it out.
“I see that you’re all pretty busy then!” Tony shouted to get their attention. Bonus paused the game and they all huddled around the monitor. “Look, the news just reported that games companies were all going to have to stop making games and places like SR would have to stop selling them.”
“Places like SR?” asked Bonus, perplexed, “Is there somewhere else that sells games then?”
“Um, ok Bonus, look you guys, we need to find out who is behind this and change the mind of the politicians. Only you can do it, the gaming world is counting on you.”
“Hey! Sounds cool.” Said Sonicrav.
“Any idea on who it is?” pb asked Tony through the monitor.
“I have my suspicions…” said Tony, hinting.
“Not….Major Lee?” gasped a quick thinking Grix.
“Yep, he’s had it in for me ever since we brought those monkeys back from the alternate reality.” Tony explained gravely. “He’s got the force of the army behind him and has probably called a few favours in to get the politicians to agree to this.”
Chapter 2: SR MP?
They all thought for a while before coming up with a plan to foil Major Lee’s anti games war and show him up for the fraud he really was. The first step was to get the decision overturned in Parliament, and that would involve some careful manipulation, not to mention getting there in time.
“So, how are we going to get to the Houses of Parliament in enough time to stop this bill from becoming law?” asked Bonus.
“We’ll have to take the SR-Mobile.” Said FM as he pressed a red button on the console and ran to the garage.
They all huddled around as the SR-Mobile rose from the floor on a spherical turntable. The vehicle had been based on the design of a formula 1 car, but had somehow come out more like a cross between a Station Wagon, a Nascar Kart and a Reliant Robin, having one large wheel at the front and a shapely large twin exhaust, but enough space inside for 11 people. It had obviously seen better days too, but the twin turbo engine and ability to turn into a plane were still an advantage in heavy traffic.
Flying out of the entrance (disguised as a closed down shoe shop) they made their way to London at amazing speeds. Well, at around 70mph as there were quite a few speed cameras on the way. Once they had reached Inner London, they parked the car and ran to the underground to get to the houses of parliament. Luckily, the gang managed to find themselves caught up in a special tour of the houses and soon found themselves inside the building.
“This is going to be easier than I thought!” said Grix, putting on a false beard and suit.
Four of them, Grix, FM, Wookie and Mystique, entered the main lobby room with other members of parliament.
“I still don’t know why I had to wear a beard too…” whispered Mystique.
“Don’t worry, these people wouldn’t recognise if you were wearing clown’s trousers.” Replied FM, gesturing at some of the bleary eyed politicians.
They sneaked in and out of the canteen before the politicians came in to take a break and then Grix and Wookie sat in the corner waiting while FM and Mystique got ready to enter the main room with the people coming back from their drink.
Grix and Wookie sat their mumbling as the other suited people talked and guffawed. They made themselves just about audiable while saying things like “hm. This gaming lark, do you see anything wrong with it?” “No, I heard that in the US the president practically loves it and it cuts crime too.”
Polititians began to notice and were soon talking about the subject, while looking at the magazines that FM and Mystique had left on some of their tables. As they finished their drinks they walked back into the main hall, where they were seamlessly joined by Mystique and FM.
The two of them sat in the huge room while the usual boring people droned on about government tax on pineapples and how to get shot of all the old people in Brighton, then the speaker stood up and announced the crowd.
“Now, to the vote for the removal of gaming from these lands….”
FM and Mystique crossed their fingers. They had planted Special Reserve catalogues under the chairs of the major politicians in canteen. Tony had made up a special issue which contained a 25% discount to politicians, if there was one thing a member of parliament couldn’t resist it was a good offer.
“Now, now” said a smiling Tony Blair. “My sons have a PS2 and they are astoundingly happy with it. Why, I myself have played on this machine and it has done no harm to me or the other members of my cabinet….”
“It is with regret that I have to agree with the Prime Minister…” started Iain Duncan Smith, “I have a dreamcast and my whole party are thinking of getting Xboxes from that nice Mr Gates.”
The speaker nodded and a vote was taken. Almost unanimously, the politicians agreed with the keeping of games in the UK and the motion was dropped. FM and Mystique escaped the stuffy room before sleep took hold of them during the next boring conversation and ran back to the car.
Chapter 3: Major set up
“News just in, the ban on gaming has been reversed at the last minute, Tony Blair backed gaming as being good for the country…”
Ant turned the radio down slightly. “Great, part one of our plan has succeeded. Now what do we do?”
“I think that Major Lee will attempt something more drastic now his plan has failed.” Said Pb. “But I don’t know what yet.”
They caught the radio presenter again. “and it has just been reported that a plane carrying high level explosives has been stolen from Reading recently. The army are tracing the plane, but have no leads as yet…”
“What?” said Goatboy. “It must be Major Lee, he’s going to bomb SR Headquarters, I’ll bet! But how do we find him before he gets there? This car doesn’t go fast enough, even as a plane…”
“How about asking Sonicrav?” asked Mr Nice Guy. “He’s recently been working at one of the small airports around here, he could get us a plane…”
“Good idea, lets go” said Grix as he pushed the button and the car lifted into the air, wings folding out before it shuddered then leapt forward. “Whoa! Quite a kick”
SonicRav sat at the desk, radio on, oblivious to the fact that his SR emergency alarm had been bleeping. Just as he finished singing to Steps, he noticed the alarm and quickly reached down to find out what was wrong.
“Hi, Sonic here.”
“Hi Sonicrav, it’s Ant. We’re coming in to see you, be there in a minute. Can you get us a fast plane?”
“Um.” Said Sonicrav, looking around. “I’m only here to serve drinks you know! How can I….ah, wait a minute…Just meet me here in a minute…” The line went dead.
Chapter 4: Plane Sailing.
Sonicrav waited behind the door as the RAF man took off his uniform and went out. He quickly grabbed the uniform and got changed. It was slightly big for him, but he compensated by turning up the sleeves. Rushing out to the desk, he caught the others just coming in.
Grix went up to the desk. “Hello, is Sonicrav there?” he asked.
“Grix, it’s me!” said Sonic as he took the cap off. “Quick, you three come with me.” He pointed at Ant, Grix and FM.
Goatboy hurried the others along. “We’d better get in touch with Tony and Ali, get to the car….”
The single guard outside on the airfield looked slightly surprised to see someone coming out.
“er…I’m giving these civilians a tour of the planes.” Said Sonicrav in a deep voice.
The guard shrugged in a non-committal way and let them continue.
“Heavy security then?” said Grix as they passed.
Without a moments hesitation, the four of them quickly got into the planes and after a quick glance at the handy laminate instruction sheet in the cockpits, took off in two Harriers. (hey, if it worked in ID4…)
The planes whisked them into the sky and towards a blip on the radar.
“Just follow my lead, the army had these radar’s installed in the jets just recently, they’re quite powerful and tuned in to any nearby nuclear power supply.” Explained Sonicrav.
“Handy!” Grix pointed out as they headed out into the blue sky.
After circling Hinkley point for a short while, they realised that there was another blip on the radar that was actually moving and followed that instead at top speed.
Meanwhile, pb and Goatboy were in conversation with a worried Tony.
“No. My shop, I can’t lose it, I have to stay..”
Ali had already packed up and left as soon as he could, he wasn’t going to stay around and be bombed.
“Tony.” Said Goatboy. “You have to get out of there. We can build another shop, but we can’t do without you and your vision…”
“I’m staying here and that’s it!” said Tony.
“Right,” said Mr Nice Guy as they finished the transmission. “We’ll just have to try to get to him and hope the others do their job well.”
Chapter 5: Special Reserved?
The planes tore through the sky, over fields, motorways and buildings. All the time the blip on the radar got stronger and at last they could see the heavy cargo plane in front carrying what looked like a large A bomb.
“He’s stolen it from the war museum! I don’t believe that guy.” Said Grix.
Sonicrav got on the radio to the other RAF troops and told them about the situation. They told him that they would rally some troops nearby, but they wouldn’t be there for at least 15 minutes.
“FM, estimated time till Major Lee gets to the Special Reserve building?” asked Grix.
“6 minutes and counting.” Said FM in his best Maverick voice.
“Yikes! We need to do something fast!” said Sonicrav.
Ant spotted the SR Mobile down below. “Lads, I have an idea….”
“Ok,” said pb on the walkie talkie to Ant. “We’ll release the cushion at the right time, but it will be tricky…” he said as he got Goatboy to move the car around to get in front of the large plane.
Beads of sweat ran down FM and Sonic’s faces as they moved their planes in to position.
“Ready FM?” said a nervous Sonicrav.
“Ready!” said FM.
As one, the two planes fired and a small explosion erupted on the base of the plane, just above the bomb. The bomb released and they could just about hear a shreak from Major Lee as he saw it fall to the ground.
The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. The bomb dropped with its front slowly turning towards the ground and the road below with buildings on both sides. The SR Mobile swerved and tried to follow the bomb as it made its decent. As it neared the ground, Goatboy motioned and Mr Nice Guy pressed a small button on the dash. A massive cushion sprang from the back of the car and inflated.
They all watched with baited breath as the cushion stopped and the bomb made contact with it. The force of the impact made the bomb bounce back up and then to their relief it landed again, softly, on the cushion.
Chapter 6: Major Lee Finished.
The RAF pilots took Major Lee away as he fumed and turned to shake his fist.
“Well lads.” Said Tony. “You’ve saved us again and gaming is safe for another day.”
“Does that mean free games then?” asked Ant hopefully.
“Ha. Maybe. But it certainly means that you can get back to the SR Headquarters and play the massive screen for a while."
“Cool!” said Ant as they made their way back.
Tony was loving life, the wind in his hair and the sound of the kicking rock track blaring from the stereo of his new red convertible, how perfect could a day off be? It was at this moment that the music stopped and the radio switched over to the news channel for an important update.
“Today it was announced that Parliament has passed a law against the sale of games and gaming related products due to last weeks horrific storming of a secondary school. It was later revealed that the students who had committed this crime had been playing point blank all day the day before. This law is passed immediately and all games firms will be inspected by the end of the week to ensure they are fully compliant.”
Tony sat their mouth open in shock, but soon realised that he was heading for nearby tree. He managed to swerve just in time but the door hit the tree and dented. He could smell a rat in this new law and he knew only one way to flush it out.
Pressing a concealed red button in the glove compartment, the dash revolved to reveal a TV and transmitter, as the fuzzy picture became clear, Ant’s face could be seen in the monitor.
“Ant. Good. Tony here…” Tony began as Ant smiled and stuck his thumb up in recognition.
In the background, Tony noticed Grix, Venombyte, Goatboy, Sonicrav, pb and Aliboy all sitting around the base that had been purposely built under Special Reserve Towers. They were all taking it in turns to play Soul Calibur on the big screen unit and were currently watching Bonus and Mr Nice Guy fight it out.
“I see that you’re all pretty busy then!” Tony shouted to get their attention. Bonus paused the game and they all huddled around the monitor. “Look, the news just reported that games companies were all going to have to stop making games and places like SR would have to stop selling them.”
“Places like SR?” asked Bonus, perplexed, “Is there somewhere else that sells games then?”
“Um, ok Bonus, look you guys, we need to find out who is behind this and change the mind of the politicians. Only you can do it, the gaming world is counting on you.”
“Hey! Sounds cool.” Said Sonicrav.
“Any idea on who it is?” pb asked Tony through the monitor.
“I have my suspicions…” said Tony, hinting.
“Not….Major Lee?” gasped a quick thinking Grix.
“Yep, he’s had it in for me ever since we brought those monkeys back from the alternate reality.” Tony explained gravely. “He’s got the force of the army behind him and has probably called a few favours in to get the politicians to agree to this.”
Chapter 2: SR MP?
They all thought for a while before coming up with a plan to foil Major Lee’s anti games war and show him up for the fraud he really was. The first step was to get the decision overturned in Parliament, and that would involve some careful manipulation, not to mention getting there in time.
“So, how are we going to get to the Houses of Parliament in enough time to stop this bill from becoming law?” asked Bonus.
“We’ll have to take the SR-Mobile.” Said FM as he pressed a red button on the console and ran to the garage.
They all huddled around as the SR-Mobile rose from the floor on a spherical turntable. The vehicle had been based on the design of a formula 1 car, but had somehow come out more like a cross between a Station Wagon, a Nascar Kart and a Reliant Robin, having one large wheel at the front and a shapely large twin exhaust, but enough space inside for 11 people. It had obviously seen better days too, but the twin turbo engine and ability to turn into a plane were still an advantage in heavy traffic.
Flying out of the entrance (disguised as a closed down shoe shop) they made their way to London at amazing speeds. Well, at around 70mph as there were quite a few speed cameras on the way. Once they had reached Inner London, they parked the car and ran to the underground to get to the houses of parliament. Luckily, the gang managed to find themselves caught up in a special tour of the houses and soon found themselves inside the building.
“This is going to be easier than I thought!” said Grix, putting on a false beard and suit.
Four of them, Grix, FM, Wookie and Mystique, entered the main lobby room with other members of parliament.
“I still don’t know why I had to wear a beard too…” whispered Mystique.
“Don’t worry, these people wouldn’t recognise if you were wearing clown’s trousers.” Replied FM, gesturing at some of the bleary eyed politicians.
They sneaked in and out of the canteen before the politicians came in to take a break and then Grix and Wookie sat in the corner waiting while FM and Mystique got ready to enter the main room with the people coming back from their drink.
Grix and Wookie sat their mumbling as the other suited people talked and guffawed. They made themselves just about audiable while saying things like “hm. This gaming lark, do you see anything wrong with it?” “No, I heard that in the US the president practically loves it and it cuts crime too.”
Polititians began to notice and were soon talking about the subject, while looking at the magazines that FM and Mystique had left on some of their tables. As they finished their drinks they walked back into the main hall, where they were seamlessly joined by Mystique and FM.
The two of them sat in the huge room while the usual boring people droned on about government tax on pineapples and how to get shot of all the old people in Brighton, then the speaker stood up and announced the crowd.
“Now, to the vote for the removal of gaming from these lands….”
FM and Mystique crossed their fingers. They had planted Special Reserve catalogues under the chairs of the major politicians in canteen. Tony had made up a special issue which contained a 25% discount to politicians, if there was one thing a member of parliament couldn’t resist it was a good offer.
“Now, now” said a smiling Tony Blair. “My sons have a PS2 and they are astoundingly happy with it. Why, I myself have played on this machine and it has done no harm to me or the other members of my cabinet….”
“It is with regret that I have to agree with the Prime Minister…” started Iain Duncan Smith, “I have a dreamcast and my whole party are thinking of getting Xboxes from that nice Mr Gates.”
The speaker nodded and a vote was taken. Almost unanimously, the politicians agreed with the keeping of games in the UK and the motion was dropped. FM and Mystique escaped the stuffy room before sleep took hold of them during the next boring conversation and ran back to the car.
Chapter 3: Major set up
“News just in, the ban on gaming has been reversed at the last minute, Tony Blair backed gaming as being good for the country…”
Ant turned the radio down slightly. “Great, part one of our plan has succeeded. Now what do we do?”
“I think that Major Lee will attempt something more drastic now his plan has failed.” Said Pb. “But I don’t know what yet.”
They caught the radio presenter again. “and it has just been reported that a plane carrying high level explosives has been stolen from Reading recently. The army are tracing the plane, but have no leads as yet…”
“What?” said Goatboy. “It must be Major Lee, he’s going to bomb SR Headquarters, I’ll bet! But how do we find him before he gets there? This car doesn’t go fast enough, even as a plane…”
“How about asking Sonicrav?” asked Mr Nice Guy. “He’s recently been working at one of the small airports around here, he could get us a plane…”
“Good idea, lets go” said Grix as he pushed the button and the car lifted into the air, wings folding out before it shuddered then leapt forward. “Whoa! Quite a kick”
SonicRav sat at the desk, radio on, oblivious to the fact that his SR emergency alarm had been bleeping. Just as he finished singing to Steps, he noticed the alarm and quickly reached down to find out what was wrong.
“Hi, Sonic here.”
“Hi Sonicrav, it’s Ant. We’re coming in to see you, be there in a minute. Can you get us a fast plane?”
“Um.” Said Sonicrav, looking around. “I’m only here to serve drinks you know! How can I….ah, wait a minute…Just meet me here in a minute…” The line went dead.
Chapter 4: Plane Sailing.
Sonicrav waited behind the door as the RAF man took off his uniform and went out. He quickly grabbed the uniform and got changed. It was slightly big for him, but he compensated by turning up the sleeves. Rushing out to the desk, he caught the others just coming in.
Grix went up to the desk. “Hello, is Sonicrav there?” he asked.
“Grix, it’s me!” said Sonic as he took the cap off. “Quick, you three come with me.” He pointed at Ant, Grix and FM.
Goatboy hurried the others along. “We’d better get in touch with Tony and Ali, get to the car….”
The single guard outside on the airfield looked slightly surprised to see someone coming out.
“er…I’m giving these civilians a tour of the planes.” Said Sonicrav in a deep voice.
The guard shrugged in a non-committal way and let them continue.
“Heavy security then?” said Grix as they passed.
Without a moments hesitation, the four of them quickly got into the planes and after a quick glance at the handy laminate instruction sheet in the cockpits, took off in two Harriers. (hey, if it worked in ID4…)
The planes whisked them into the sky and towards a blip on the radar.
“Just follow my lead, the army had these radar’s installed in the jets just recently, they’re quite powerful and tuned in to any nearby nuclear power supply.” Explained Sonicrav.
“Handy!” Grix pointed out as they headed out into the blue sky.
After circling Hinkley point for a short while, they realised that there was another blip on the radar that was actually moving and followed that instead at top speed.
Meanwhile, pb and Goatboy were in conversation with a worried Tony.
“No. My shop, I can’t lose it, I have to stay..”
Ali had already packed up and left as soon as he could, he wasn’t going to stay around and be bombed.
“Tony.” Said Goatboy. “You have to get out of there. We can build another shop, but we can’t do without you and your vision…”
“I’m staying here and that’s it!” said Tony.
“Right,” said Mr Nice Guy as they finished the transmission. “We’ll just have to try to get to him and hope the others do their job well.”
Chapter 5: Special Reserved?
The planes tore through the sky, over fields, motorways and buildings. All the time the blip on the radar got stronger and at last they could see the heavy cargo plane in front carrying what looked like a large A bomb.
“He’s stolen it from the war museum! I don’t believe that guy.” Said Grix.
Sonicrav got on the radio to the other RAF troops and told them about the situation. They told him that they would rally some troops nearby, but they wouldn’t be there for at least 15 minutes.
“FM, estimated time till Major Lee gets to the Special Reserve building?” asked Grix.
“6 minutes and counting.” Said FM in his best Maverick voice.
“Yikes! We need to do something fast!” said Sonicrav.
Ant spotted the SR Mobile down below. “Lads, I have an idea….”
“Ok,” said pb on the walkie talkie to Ant. “We’ll release the cushion at the right time, but it will be tricky…” he said as he got Goatboy to move the car around to get in front of the large plane.
Beads of sweat ran down FM and Sonic’s faces as they moved their planes in to position.
“Ready FM?” said a nervous Sonicrav.
“Ready!” said FM.
As one, the two planes fired and a small explosion erupted on the base of the plane, just above the bomb. The bomb released and they could just about hear a shreak from Major Lee as he saw it fall to the ground.
The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. The bomb dropped with its front slowly turning towards the ground and the road below with buildings on both sides. The SR Mobile swerved and tried to follow the bomb as it made its decent. As it neared the ground, Goatboy motioned and Mr Nice Guy pressed a small button on the dash. A massive cushion sprang from the back of the car and inflated.
They all watched with baited breath as the cushion stopped and the bomb made contact with it. The force of the impact made the bomb bounce back up and then to their relief it landed again, softly, on the cushion.
Chapter 6: Major Lee Finished.
The RAF pilots took Major Lee away as he fumed and turned to shake his fist.
“Well lads.” Said Tony. “You’ve saved us again and gaming is safe for another day.”
“Does that mean free games then?” asked Ant hopefully.
“Ha. Maybe. But it certainly means that you can get back to the SR Headquarters and play the massive screen for a while."
“Cool!” said Ant as they made their way back.
“I still don’t know why I had to wear a beard too…” whispered Mystique.
hee hee hee
hee hee hee
er-no wrote:
> no er-no. :P
But apart from that essential essence.... it was a super read.
> :-)
Don't worry, you're in the next one, er-no. Can't fit everyone in!
> no er-no. :P
But apart from that essential essence.... it was a super read.
> :-)
Don't worry, you're in the next one, er-no. Can't fit everyone in!
no er-no. :P
But apart from that essential essence.... it was a super read. :-)
But apart from that essential essence.... it was a super read. :-)
Heh...
Nice one...
Sort of like an SR's Austin Powers/Top Gun/Thunderbirds...
I like your taste.. except the Top Gun part.. and the Thunderbirds... :D
Game
Nice one...
Sort of like an SR's Austin Powers/Top Gun/Thunderbirds...
I like your taste.. except the Top Gun part.. and the Thunderbirds... :D
Game
Ho ho, excellent. Nice work Pb.
First thing I read this year.
First thing I read this year.
Chapter 1:Good Day/Bad Day
Tony was loving life, the wind in his hair and the sound of the kicking rock track blaring from the stereo of his new red convertible, how perfect could a day off be? It was at this moment that the music stopped and the radio switched over to the news channel for an important update.
“Today it was announced that Parliament has passed a law against the sale of games and gaming related products due to last weeks horrific storming of a secondary school. It was later revealed that the students who had committed this crime had been playing point blank all day the day before. This law is passed immediately and all games firms will be inspected by the end of the week to ensure they are fully compliant.”
Tony sat their mouth open in shock, but soon realised that he was heading for nearby tree. He managed to swerve just in time but the door hit the tree and dented. He could smell a rat in this new law and he knew only one way to flush it out.
Pressing a concealed red button in the glove compartment, the dash revolved to reveal a TV and transmitter, as the fuzzy picture became clear, Ant’s face could be seen in the monitor.
“Ant. Good. Tony here…” Tony began as Ant smiled and stuck his thumb up in recognition.
In the background, Tony noticed Grix, Venombyte, Goatboy, Sonicrav, pb and Aliboy all sitting around the base that had been purposely built under Special Reserve Towers. They were all taking it in turns to play Soul Calibur on the big screen unit and were currently watching Bonus and Mr Nice Guy fight it out.
“I see that you’re all pretty busy then!” Tony shouted to get their attention. Bonus paused the game and they all huddled around the monitor. “Look, the news just reported that games companies were all going to have to stop making games and places like SR would have to stop selling them.”
“Places like SR?” asked Bonus, perplexed, “Is there somewhere else that sells games then?”
“Um, ok Bonus, look you guys, we need to find out who is behind this and change the mind of the politicians. Only you can do it, the gaming world is counting on you.”
“Hey! Sounds cool.” Said Sonicrav.
“Any idea on who it is?” pb asked Tony through the monitor.
“I have my suspicions…” said Tony, hinting.
“Not….Major Lee?” gasped a quick thinking Grix.
“Yep, he’s had it in for me ever since we brought those monkeys back from the alternate reality.” Tony explained gravely. “He’s got the force of the army behind him and has probably called a few favours in to get the politicians to agree to this.”
Chapter 2: SR MP?
They all thought for a while before coming up with a plan to foil Major Lee’s anti games war and show him up for the fraud he really was. The first step was to get the decision overturned in Parliament, and that would involve some careful manipulation, not to mention getting there in time.
“So, how are we going to get to the Houses of Parliament in enough time to stop this bill from becoming law?” asked Bonus.
“We’ll have to take the SR-Mobile.” Said FM as he pressed a red button on the console and ran to the garage.
They all huddled around as the SR-Mobile rose from the floor on a spherical turntable. The vehicle had been based on the design of a formula 1 car, but had somehow come out more like a cross between a Station Wagon, a Nascar Kart and a Reliant Robin, having one large wheel at the front and a shapely large twin exhaust, but enough space inside for 11 people. It had obviously seen better days too, but the twin turbo engine and ability to turn into a plane were still an advantage in heavy traffic.
Flying out of the entrance (disguised as a closed down shoe shop) they made their way to London at amazing speeds. Well, at around 70mph as there were quite a few speed cameras on the way. Once they had reached Inner London, they parked the car and ran to the underground to get to the houses of parliament. Luckily, the gang managed to find themselves caught up in a special tour of the houses and soon found themselves inside the building.
“This is going to be easier than I thought!” said Grix, putting on a false beard and suit.
Four of them, Grix, FM, Wookie and Mystique, entered the main lobby room with other members of parliament.
“I still don’t know why I had to wear a beard too…” whispered Mystique.
“Don’t worry, these people wouldn’t recognise if you were wearing clown’s trousers.” Replied FM, gesturing at some of the bleary eyed politicians.
They sneaked in and out of the canteen before the politicians came in to take a break and then Grix and Wookie sat in the corner waiting while FM and Mystique got ready to enter the main room with the people coming back from their drink.
Grix and Wookie sat their mumbling as the other suited people talked and guffawed. They made themselves just about audiable while saying things like “hm. This gaming lark, do you see anything wrong with it?” “No, I heard that in the US the president practically loves it and it cuts crime too.”
Polititians began to notice and were soon talking about the subject, while looking at the magazines that FM and Mystique had left on some of their tables. As they finished their drinks they walked back into the main hall, where they were seamlessly joined by Mystique and FM.
The two of them sat in the huge room while the usual boring people droned on about government tax on pineapples and how to get shot of all the old people in Brighton, then the speaker stood up and announced the crowd.
“Now, to the vote for the removal of gaming from these lands….”
FM and Mystique crossed their fingers. They had planted Special Reserve catalogues under the chairs of the major politicians in canteen. Tony had made up a special issue which contained a 25% discount to politicians, if there was one thing a member of parliament couldn’t resist it was a good offer.
“Now, now” said a smiling Tony Blair. “My sons have a PS2 and they are astoundingly happy with it. Why, I myself have played on this machine and it has done no harm to me or the other members of my cabinet….”
“It is with regret that I have to agree with the Prime Minister…” started Iain Duncan Smith, “I have a dreamcast and my whole party are thinking of getting Xboxes from that nice Mr Gates.”
The speaker nodded and a vote was taken. Almost unanimously, the politicians agreed with the keeping of games in the UK and the motion was dropped. FM and Mystique escaped the stuffy room before sleep took hold of them during the next boring conversation and ran back to the car.
Chapter 3: Major set up
“News just in, the ban on gaming has been reversed at the last minute, Tony Blair backed gaming as being good for the country…”
Ant turned the radio down slightly. “Great, part one of our plan has succeeded. Now what do we do?”
“I think that Major Lee will attempt something more drastic now his plan has failed.” Said Pb. “But I don’t know what yet.”
They caught the radio presenter again. “and it has just been reported that a plane carrying high level explosives has been stolen from Reading recently. The army are tracing the plane, but have no leads as yet…”
“What?” said Goatboy. “It must be Major Lee, he’s going to bomb SR Headquarters, I’ll bet! But how do we find him before he gets there? This car doesn’t go fast enough, even as a plane…”
“How about asking Sonicrav?” asked Mr Nice Guy. “He’s recently been working at one of the small airports around here, he could get us a plane…”
“Good idea, lets go” said Grix as he pushed the button and the car lifted into the air, wings folding out before it shuddered then leapt forward. “Whoa! Quite a kick”
SonicRav sat at the desk, radio on, oblivious to the fact that his SR emergency alarm had been bleeping. Just as he finished singing to Steps, he noticed the alarm and quickly reached down to find out what was wrong.
“Hi, Sonic here.”
“Hi Sonicrav, it’s Ant. We’re coming in to see you, be there in a minute. Can you get us a fast plane?”
“Um.” Said Sonicrav, looking around. “I’m only here to serve drinks you know! How can I….ah, wait a minute…Just meet me here in a minute…” The line went dead.
Chapter 4: Plane Sailing.
Sonicrav waited behind the door as the RAF man took off his uniform and went out. He quickly grabbed the uniform and got changed. It was slightly big for him, but he compensated by turning up the sleeves. Rushing out to the desk, he caught the others just coming in.
Grix went up to the desk. “Hello, is Sonicrav there?” he asked.
“Grix, it’s me!” said Sonic as he took the cap off. “Quick, you three come with me.” He pointed at Ant, Grix and FM.
Goatboy hurried the others along. “We’d better get in touch with Tony and Ali, get to the car….”
The single guard outside on the airfield looked slightly surprised to see someone coming out.
“er…I’m giving these civilians a tour of the planes.” Said Sonicrav in a deep voice.
The guard shrugged in a non-committal way and let them continue.
“Heavy security then?” said Grix as they passed.
Without a moments hesitation, the four of them quickly got into the planes and after a quick glance at the handy laminate instruction sheet in the cockpits, took off in two Harriers. (hey, if it worked in ID4…)
The planes whisked them into the sky and towards a blip on the radar.
“Just follow my lead, the army had these radar’s installed in the jets just recently, they’re quite powerful and tuned in to any nearby nuclear power supply.” Explained Sonicrav.
“Handy!” Grix pointed out as they headed out into the blue sky.
After circling Hinkley point for a short while, they realised that there was another blip on the radar that was actually moving and followed that instead at top speed.
Meanwhile, pb and Goatboy were in conversation with a worried Tony.
“No. My shop, I can’t lose it, I have to stay..”
Ali had already packed up and left as soon as he could, he wasn’t going to stay around and be bombed.
“Tony.” Said Goatboy. “You have to get out of there. We can build another shop, but we can’t do without you and your vision…”
“I’m staying here and that’s it!” said Tony.
“Right,” said Mr Nice Guy as they finished the transmission. “We’ll just have to try to get to him and hope the others do their job well.”
Chapter 5: Special Reserved?
The planes tore through the sky, over fields, motorways and buildings. All the time the blip on the radar got stronger and at last they could see the heavy cargo plane in front carrying what looked like a large A bomb.
“He’s stolen it from the war museum! I don’t believe that guy.” Said Grix.
Sonicrav got on the radio to the other RAF troops and told them about the situation. They told him that they would rally some troops nearby, but they wouldn’t be there for at least 15 minutes.
“FM, estimated time till Major Lee gets to the Special Reserve building?” asked Grix.
“6 minutes and counting.” Said FM in his best Maverick voice.
“Yikes! We need to do something fast!” said Sonicrav.
Ant spotted the SR Mobile down below. “Lads, I have an idea….”
“Ok,” said pb on the walkie talkie to Ant. “We’ll release the cushion at the right time, but it will be tricky…” he said as he got Goatboy to move the car around to get in front of the large plane.
Beads of sweat ran down FM and Sonic’s faces as they moved their planes in to position.
“Ready FM?” said a nervous Sonicrav.
“Ready!” said FM.
As one, the two planes fired and a small explosion erupted on the base of the plane, just above the bomb. The bomb released and they could just about hear a shreak from Major Lee as he saw it fall to the ground.
The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. The bomb dropped with its front slowly turning towards the ground and the road below with buildings on both sides. The SR Mobile swerved and tried to follow the bomb as it made its decent. As it neared the ground, Goatboy motioned and Mr Nice Guy pressed a small button on the dash. A massive cushion sprang from the back of the car and inflated.
They all watched with baited breath as the cushion stopped and the bomb made contact with it. The force of the impact made the bomb bounce back up and then to their relief it landed again, softly, on the cushion.
Chapter 6: Major Lee Finished.
The RAF pilots took Major Lee away as he fumed and turned to shake his fist.
“Well lads.” Said Tony. “You’ve saved us again and gaming is safe for another day.”
“Does that mean free games then?” asked Ant hopefully.
“Ha. Maybe. But it certainly means that you can get back to the SR Headquarters and play the massive screen for a while."
“Cool!” said Ant as they made their way back.
Tony was loving life, the wind in his hair and the sound of the kicking rock track blaring from the stereo of his new red convertible, how perfect could a day off be? It was at this moment that the music stopped and the radio switched over to the news channel for an important update.
“Today it was announced that Parliament has passed a law against the sale of games and gaming related products due to last weeks horrific storming of a secondary school. It was later revealed that the students who had committed this crime had been playing point blank all day the day before. This law is passed immediately and all games firms will be inspected by the end of the week to ensure they are fully compliant.”
Tony sat their mouth open in shock, but soon realised that he was heading for nearby tree. He managed to swerve just in time but the door hit the tree and dented. He could smell a rat in this new law and he knew only one way to flush it out.
Pressing a concealed red button in the glove compartment, the dash revolved to reveal a TV and transmitter, as the fuzzy picture became clear, Ant’s face could be seen in the monitor.
“Ant. Good. Tony here…” Tony began as Ant smiled and stuck his thumb up in recognition.
In the background, Tony noticed Grix, Venombyte, Goatboy, Sonicrav, pb and Aliboy all sitting around the base that had been purposely built under Special Reserve Towers. They were all taking it in turns to play Soul Calibur on the big screen unit and were currently watching Bonus and Mr Nice Guy fight it out.
“I see that you’re all pretty busy then!” Tony shouted to get their attention. Bonus paused the game and they all huddled around the monitor. “Look, the news just reported that games companies were all going to have to stop making games and places like SR would have to stop selling them.”
“Places like SR?” asked Bonus, perplexed, “Is there somewhere else that sells games then?”
“Um, ok Bonus, look you guys, we need to find out who is behind this and change the mind of the politicians. Only you can do it, the gaming world is counting on you.”
“Hey! Sounds cool.” Said Sonicrav.
“Any idea on who it is?” pb asked Tony through the monitor.
“I have my suspicions…” said Tony, hinting.
“Not….Major Lee?” gasped a quick thinking Grix.
“Yep, he’s had it in for me ever since we brought those monkeys back from the alternate reality.” Tony explained gravely. “He’s got the force of the army behind him and has probably called a few favours in to get the politicians to agree to this.”
Chapter 2: SR MP?
They all thought for a while before coming up with a plan to foil Major Lee’s anti games war and show him up for the fraud he really was. The first step was to get the decision overturned in Parliament, and that would involve some careful manipulation, not to mention getting there in time.
“So, how are we going to get to the Houses of Parliament in enough time to stop this bill from becoming law?” asked Bonus.
“We’ll have to take the SR-Mobile.” Said FM as he pressed a red button on the console and ran to the garage.
They all huddled around as the SR-Mobile rose from the floor on a spherical turntable. The vehicle had been based on the design of a formula 1 car, but had somehow come out more like a cross between a Station Wagon, a Nascar Kart and a Reliant Robin, having one large wheel at the front and a shapely large twin exhaust, but enough space inside for 11 people. It had obviously seen better days too, but the twin turbo engine and ability to turn into a plane were still an advantage in heavy traffic.
Flying out of the entrance (disguised as a closed down shoe shop) they made their way to London at amazing speeds. Well, at around 70mph as there were quite a few speed cameras on the way. Once they had reached Inner London, they parked the car and ran to the underground to get to the houses of parliament. Luckily, the gang managed to find themselves caught up in a special tour of the houses and soon found themselves inside the building.
“This is going to be easier than I thought!” said Grix, putting on a false beard and suit.
Four of them, Grix, FM, Wookie and Mystique, entered the main lobby room with other members of parliament.
“I still don’t know why I had to wear a beard too…” whispered Mystique.
“Don’t worry, these people wouldn’t recognise if you were wearing clown’s trousers.” Replied FM, gesturing at some of the bleary eyed politicians.
They sneaked in and out of the canteen before the politicians came in to take a break and then Grix and Wookie sat in the corner waiting while FM and Mystique got ready to enter the main room with the people coming back from their drink.
Grix and Wookie sat their mumbling as the other suited people talked and guffawed. They made themselves just about audiable while saying things like “hm. This gaming lark, do you see anything wrong with it?” “No, I heard that in the US the president practically loves it and it cuts crime too.”
Polititians began to notice and were soon talking about the subject, while looking at the magazines that FM and Mystique had left on some of their tables. As they finished their drinks they walked back into the main hall, where they were seamlessly joined by Mystique and FM.
The two of them sat in the huge room while the usual boring people droned on about government tax on pineapples and how to get shot of all the old people in Brighton, then the speaker stood up and announced the crowd.
“Now, to the vote for the removal of gaming from these lands….”
FM and Mystique crossed their fingers. They had planted Special Reserve catalogues under the chairs of the major politicians in canteen. Tony had made up a special issue which contained a 25% discount to politicians, if there was one thing a member of parliament couldn’t resist it was a good offer.
“Now, now” said a smiling Tony Blair. “My sons have a PS2 and they are astoundingly happy with it. Why, I myself have played on this machine and it has done no harm to me or the other members of my cabinet….”
“It is with regret that I have to agree with the Prime Minister…” started Iain Duncan Smith, “I have a dreamcast and my whole party are thinking of getting Xboxes from that nice Mr Gates.”
The speaker nodded and a vote was taken. Almost unanimously, the politicians agreed with the keeping of games in the UK and the motion was dropped. FM and Mystique escaped the stuffy room before sleep took hold of them during the next boring conversation and ran back to the car.
Chapter 3: Major set up
“News just in, the ban on gaming has been reversed at the last minute, Tony Blair backed gaming as being good for the country…”
Ant turned the radio down slightly. “Great, part one of our plan has succeeded. Now what do we do?”
“I think that Major Lee will attempt something more drastic now his plan has failed.” Said Pb. “But I don’t know what yet.”
They caught the radio presenter again. “and it has just been reported that a plane carrying high level explosives has been stolen from Reading recently. The army are tracing the plane, but have no leads as yet…”
“What?” said Goatboy. “It must be Major Lee, he’s going to bomb SR Headquarters, I’ll bet! But how do we find him before he gets there? This car doesn’t go fast enough, even as a plane…”
“How about asking Sonicrav?” asked Mr Nice Guy. “He’s recently been working at one of the small airports around here, he could get us a plane…”
“Good idea, lets go” said Grix as he pushed the button and the car lifted into the air, wings folding out before it shuddered then leapt forward. “Whoa! Quite a kick”
SonicRav sat at the desk, radio on, oblivious to the fact that his SR emergency alarm had been bleeping. Just as he finished singing to Steps, he noticed the alarm and quickly reached down to find out what was wrong.
“Hi, Sonic here.”
“Hi Sonicrav, it’s Ant. We’re coming in to see you, be there in a minute. Can you get us a fast plane?”
“Um.” Said Sonicrav, looking around. “I’m only here to serve drinks you know! How can I….ah, wait a minute…Just meet me here in a minute…” The line went dead.
Chapter 4: Plane Sailing.
Sonicrav waited behind the door as the RAF man took off his uniform and went out. He quickly grabbed the uniform and got changed. It was slightly big for him, but he compensated by turning up the sleeves. Rushing out to the desk, he caught the others just coming in.
Grix went up to the desk. “Hello, is Sonicrav there?” he asked.
“Grix, it’s me!” said Sonic as he took the cap off. “Quick, you three come with me.” He pointed at Ant, Grix and FM.
Goatboy hurried the others along. “We’d better get in touch with Tony and Ali, get to the car….”
The single guard outside on the airfield looked slightly surprised to see someone coming out.
“er…I’m giving these civilians a tour of the planes.” Said Sonicrav in a deep voice.
The guard shrugged in a non-committal way and let them continue.
“Heavy security then?” said Grix as they passed.
Without a moments hesitation, the four of them quickly got into the planes and after a quick glance at the handy laminate instruction sheet in the cockpits, took off in two Harriers. (hey, if it worked in ID4…)
The planes whisked them into the sky and towards a blip on the radar.
“Just follow my lead, the army had these radar’s installed in the jets just recently, they’re quite powerful and tuned in to any nearby nuclear power supply.” Explained Sonicrav.
“Handy!” Grix pointed out as they headed out into the blue sky.
After circling Hinkley point for a short while, they realised that there was another blip on the radar that was actually moving and followed that instead at top speed.
Meanwhile, pb and Goatboy were in conversation with a worried Tony.
“No. My shop, I can’t lose it, I have to stay..”
Ali had already packed up and left as soon as he could, he wasn’t going to stay around and be bombed.
“Tony.” Said Goatboy. “You have to get out of there. We can build another shop, but we can’t do without you and your vision…”
“I’m staying here and that’s it!” said Tony.
“Right,” said Mr Nice Guy as they finished the transmission. “We’ll just have to try to get to him and hope the others do their job well.”
Chapter 5: Special Reserved?
The planes tore through the sky, over fields, motorways and buildings. All the time the blip on the radar got stronger and at last they could see the heavy cargo plane in front carrying what looked like a large A bomb.
“He’s stolen it from the war museum! I don’t believe that guy.” Said Grix.
Sonicrav got on the radio to the other RAF troops and told them about the situation. They told him that they would rally some troops nearby, but they wouldn’t be there for at least 15 minutes.
“FM, estimated time till Major Lee gets to the Special Reserve building?” asked Grix.
“6 minutes and counting.” Said FM in his best Maverick voice.
“Yikes! We need to do something fast!” said Sonicrav.
Ant spotted the SR Mobile down below. “Lads, I have an idea….”
“Ok,” said pb on the walkie talkie to Ant. “We’ll release the cushion at the right time, but it will be tricky…” he said as he got Goatboy to move the car around to get in front of the large plane.
Beads of sweat ran down FM and Sonic’s faces as they moved their planes in to position.
“Ready FM?” said a nervous Sonicrav.
“Ready!” said FM.
As one, the two planes fired and a small explosion erupted on the base of the plane, just above the bomb. The bomb released and they could just about hear a shreak from Major Lee as he saw it fall to the ground.
The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. The bomb dropped with its front slowly turning towards the ground and the road below with buildings on both sides. The SR Mobile swerved and tried to follow the bomb as it made its decent. As it neared the ground, Goatboy motioned and Mr Nice Guy pressed a small button on the dash. A massive cushion sprang from the back of the car and inflated.
They all watched with baited breath as the cushion stopped and the bomb made contact with it. The force of the impact made the bomb bounce back up and then to their relief it landed again, softly, on the cushion.
Chapter 6: Major Lee Finished.
The RAF pilots took Major Lee away as he fumed and turned to shake his fist.
“Well lads.” Said Tony. “You’ve saved us again and gaming is safe for another day.”
“Does that mean free games then?” asked Ant hopefully.
“Ha. Maybe. But it certainly means that you can get back to the SR Headquarters and play the massive screen for a while."
“Cool!” said Ant as they made their way back.