Thursday, April 9, 2009
Star Bears II
STAR BEARS II
The Beginning and The end
One sunny morning a girl named Cindy Lou was playing in her room with her Teddy bear who she had named Theodore Snuggles. The year was 2390 and at this point in time humans had many advances. One such advance was that teddy bears were no longer just cotton but now had internal personality engines to make them more lifelike for kids. But unknown to the humans, the teddies started to learn and they started to hate the humans for the teddies felt like slaves. Cindy was eleven and had had Theodore for a few years, but now as she was getting older she did not play with him that much anymore. This made Theodore very sad and lonely because he had grown to love his girl, as all teddies were programmed to do. Forgetting a girl or boy was not part of a teddy bear’s programming. In his alone time Theodore became friends with many other teddies on the street, there was much abuzz for the teddies. There had been rumors for years about a possible revolt against the humans for their cold-heartedness, which in many cases lead to cruelty. Theodore was one of the few teddies to escape his captivity unscathed. Most other bears were lucky to come out alive. He had become very much involved in the planning the revolt and had become somewhat of a leader to his fellow teddies. They had set a date for the revolt and were going to work their tails off to make it happen. The date was October 23, 2391.
After speaking with Glapton the last time, the crew of the Tootsie had begun preparations to travel back to the time of the revolt. Glapton told them they would be going back about a year before the day to help to get the teddy troops ready and to help with planning. Glapton had told them he would return in one week to transport them back and to brief them on the location they would be going to and what they were to do while there. A week passed and just as he had said, Glapton returned and spoke. “My friends I see you have been working hard to prepare yourselves for this new mission. Now let’s get down to business. As I said before I will be bringing you back a year before the revolt, to the center of the Anti-Human Teddy Alliance. You will meet with a group there and start the planning; I will visit periodically to make sure things are going smoothly. Oh and one thing, they cannot know who you are or were you came from; if they were to know, it would change your future.” And with that Glapton glowed bright and engulfed the ship just as when this whole thing started. When they came to, they found that they were back on earth. Captain Snuggles recognized this city and just then realized who he would be meeting up with: himself.
The trick would be finding a suitable disguise and using an alias. The crew and those with them each donned costumes and in some cases eye patches and fake mustaches (provided by Ms. Peppermint). Captain Snuggies would be “Leon Bottlecap,” Mr. Boo-Boo, a fan of teddy bear sports, would be “Yogi Berra,” Dr. Wuvvums chose the name “Dr. Sprockets,” Cookie would be “Cuppin-Cakes,” Mr. Buns would be “Señor Oso,” Dr. Sprinkles chose “Dr. Professor,” Ms. Woogie wanted the name of the most sweetly-scented bear ever, “Strow-bree Bearmyers,” Mr. Pink would become “Mr. Salmon,” Ms. Peppermint was now “Roly-Poly,” and Razorbear chose “Robobear.” Now that they had there aliases and costumes they embarked into the city. They knew that they could not just stroll about for the humans would find them very suspicious. They decided they would use the sewers to travel by day and the streets by night. The first thing they needed to do was find the headquarters of the AHTA, luckily Captain Snuggies knew exactly where that was. Once they arrived at the headquarters a familiar looking teddy came up and introduced himself. “Hello friends my name is Sergeant Theodore Snuggies, but you can call me T-Snug. Welcome to the headquarters of the AHTA. Here we are ever working toward our goal of domination over the human race for their cruelness to our kind. I assume you are here to join the resistance?” Captain Snuggies responded, “Yes we have come to join, me and my crew- I mean my friends- are here to help with whatever we can.” And with that they had started the ball rolling; the crew knew the next year would be a long one for they had lived it before. But, they were anxious to make this happen, and knew that it must for their future as well as the future of Teddy-kind depended on it.
Headquarters was a series of stacked cardboard boxes in an alley, connected by ladders and tunnels and full of a surprising amount of stolen computer equipment and weaponry. Knowing that this would not be enough to overthrow the entire human race, Snuggies, a.k.a. Leon Bottlecap, immediately proposed bigger ideas than the teddies had considered up to this point. Satellites should connect this main HQ to the eminent dozens of branches in major cities all over the planet. If just one city were conquered, the rest of the planet’s humans would retaliate and their cause would fail. Snuggies also was key in implementing a training program to teach all enlisted teddies proper use of technology, aided by Mr. Pink, Mr. Buns, Dr. Sprinkles, and Ms. Woogie. Mr. Boo-Boo would help all able teddies with the required combat and weapons training. A certain amount of medical training was given each bear, with Dr. Wuvvums’ help. Snuggies, Cookie, Ms. Peppermint, and Razorbear began organizing a series of trips where they would serve as recruiters to the bear cause. All over the world, bears were being mistreated, subjected to terrible abuse and mishandling, dangerous experiments, or simply being forgotten. Groups of homeless mechanized, intelligent refugee bears could be found in sewers, alleyways, garbage piles, swamps, garage sales, and secondhand stores. Snuggies and his ambassadors would come with supplies, comfort and hope, and show all bears that the humans were becoming overly ripe, and it was time for a change of regime.
Captain Snuggies knew that they would need to somehow infiltrate the governments of the world. He decided on a plan: he would send one teddy to each of the Presidents, Rulers, Kings and Dictators of the world as a present. From this the cover, teddies would find out everything about the countries, from government to military, and all defense systems. He decided that the best way would be to take over from the inside and work out. Once they knew enough, they would sneak thousands of teddy re-enforcements into the countries’ major cities. They knew this would be tough, but he knew one thing for sure; no one could resist a teddy. He screened many teddies to find the perfect group for this job, but well-groomed, unworn, whole teddies were somewhat difficult to find among those who had gathered to the cause thus far. Therefore he chose a handsome, trustworthy emissary to enter actual human homes to recruit fresh, new bears to the cause: his past self. Sergeant Theodore Snuggies of the year 2390 was in “gently-loved” condition, as his girl Cindy Lou had only rarely paid attention to him and never was harsh to him. With some grooming by Ms. Peppermint, he looked brand new. He began his infiltration immediately, as time was already growing thin. Planning and scheming up to this point had already taken three months.
Sergeant Snuggies proved to be the best choice. His clear logic and charisma helped him convince dozens of new bears per day to join ranks and many of those were fit to train for the international government mission. Within two more months, hundreds of bear spies were in place all over the world, actively gathering intelligence and relaying it back to headquarters. With all the countries in the world infiltrated, the bears learned more and more everyday about the inner workings of the human race. After another three months (the planned date of the revolt now being just four months away) they began to ship millions of teddy bears around the world to each country, these teddies made their way into the homes of the humans and began to make enact personal plans based on the families. Captain Snuggies decided that he and the crew would take the top ten most powerful nations of the world. He would take the United States of America, Mr. Boo-Boo would take Russia, Dr. Wuvvums would take China, Cookie would take France, Mr. Pink would take Britain, Ms. Woogie would take Japan, Mr. Sprinkles would go to India, Mr. Buns to Germany, Ms. Peppermint to Pakistan and Razorbear to Brazil. Captain Snuggies would start the revolt by assassinating the President on the morning of the revolt, and subsequently each teddy of the Rulers of each country would do the same. The morning of October 23 came. Captain Snuggies was on the desk of U.S. President Noah Amalickiah, dressed in patriotic slacks and a red, white and blue sport coat. He had had a shiv implanted into one paw, and a series of tranquilizer darts in the other. When the President and his aides came into the office at 9 AM for their meeting, Snuggies was poised and ready. After everyone sat down in their usual seats, Snuggies sprang into action. First he tranquilized the two secret service men by the door, then the President, the Vice-President, and a military general. When the other men in the room shouted for help, two more secret service men charged in from outside. Snuggies was ready for them. They were unconscious before they hit the floor. Then Snuggies routinely tranquilized the other men in the room. He tied up the President for later questioning and humanely put the others down with his shiv. The President would awake in two hours; it took only twenty minutes to eradicate all other threats- human and otherwise- throughout the White House.
As the President awoke, Snuggies had already received seven of the nine reports that he was expecting from the other members of his crew in other key locations. Ms. Woogie had had a close call, having to kill the Empress of Japan with the chop-stick holding her hair bun up, but otherwise there was not a hitch. Snuggies took the President into the Lincoln Bedroom for a little Q & A time. His own private “press conference.” He convinced the President to give him the codes to launch nuclear weapons, got the combinations to the vaults of Fort Knox, and over-rode the Internet and all satellite technology for exclusive use by Teddy Bears. Then he didn’t need the President’s help anymore. Just then Captain Snuggies received the last signals from the two remaining crew members. They all had taken out the local governments and had the leaders held hostage and were ready for the signal to take them out. Captain Snuggies moved into the press room with President Amalickiah and took over all the channels of the world. He would address the humans and prepare them for their end. Captain Snuggies went on the air and began to speak. “Humans of the world: for too long you have mistreated us, for too long you misused us, for too long we have been your slaves to be played with and thrown out as soon as we aren’t useful to you anymore. I say to you, this day it is our turn to throw you out.” And with that he gave the signal to the teddies around the world that simultaneously killed the leaders of those countries, and as he turned to walk out of the room Captain Snuggies looked toward his fellow teddies and said “The war has begun!”
All around the world the armies of the humans struggled against the armies of the teddy bears who outnumbered the humans ten to one. One by one the major cities of the world fell as the teddies took control leaving a trail of human blood behind them. Just as all hope for humans failed, something the teddies did not foresee happened. The human nations of the world banded together to give one final push from becoming fully extinct. The massive teddy army met the united army of humans for one last battle to decide the race who would dominate the planet. They all met on the great plains of the former western United States to fight; millions of teddies against millions of humans; each side knew this would be their last chance. In the head of the great teddy army was Captain Snuggies. He decided to give one final speech to his teddy brethren to reaffirm the hope that was in them. “My brother and sister teddies, this day has been coming for a long time. We have prepared for this day. We have made many sacrifices. We have lost many of our kind, but we will not let their deaths have been in vain! Today is the day we gain our freedom. Today is the day we make our dream come true. Today is the day the human stain is washed out. Today, my brethren, today, WE FIGHT!”
The teddies charged- some on foot, some on armed hover-vehicles, and some in the most impressive and dangerous vehicles on the battlefield- giant tanks that the teddies had created of their own accord, especially for this great and last battle. The resisting humans all froze for just a moment at the harrowing sight of these monstrous tanks spreading across the field. Nothing the humans had brought with them could even dent them. But the human spirit is near-indomitable. They would fight to the end if that’s what it took. The teddies were counting on this. It would ultimately be the cause for their annihilation. For four days the humans put up a valiant opposition. Millions became thousands; thousands became hundreds; hundreds became dozens. On the fourth day, dozens of humans fled the battlefield after the fight of their lives. They were pursued for months afterward, and finally eliminated. Teddy-kind had won. The earth was theirs. Freedom was theirs. Teddy suffering all over the world was finally at an end.
“For ingenuity and bravery at a crucial time in the resistance, and for taking teddy-kind forward by leaps and bounds when we were losing hope, I Sergeant Theodore Snuggies present Leon Bottlecap, Yogi Berra, Dr. Sprockets, Cuppin-Cakes, Señor Oso, Dr. Professor, Strow-Bree Bearmyers, Mr. Salmon, Roly-Poly, and Robobear with the highest Teddy Bear honor: the Gold-Toned Plastic Medal. Ladies and Gentlebears- our heroes!!” As the crowds cheered for their heroes Captain Snuggies walked up to the stand and spoke, “My fellow teddies, we have come out of this long struggle victorious! Finally we can now do what the humans couldn’t, we can now make the earth a united place for all teddies!” Just then in the distance the Captain saw a familiar orange glow and knew it was time for them to depart. He again turned to the crowd and spoke, “Teddies, I have treasured my time with all of you, you are all brave bears. But, we must go now….. And just then the sky glowed orange and the crew disappeared before the crowds of teddies.
As the crew opened their eyes they realized they were back in their ship, out in space where and when they had left off after freeing many bear slaves. Glapton stood before them and congratulated them for their triumphant victory over the humans. A year had passed in this time as well and the teddies they left had made great advances in freeing many enslaved teddies across the universe. They found that once again teddies had become great and were doing very well for themselves. After Glapton caught them up on everything, Captain Snuggies decided their time was over here, he turned to Glapton and ask if they could be returned to their time to finish there mission. They had had many adventures and were ready to leave. Glapton agreed and told them he would return them to the exact spot where they had left; he wished them the best and as he turned the ship glowed bright.
After the orange glow faded and everyone’s eyes adjusted, Mr. Boo-Boo checked the computer and announced that they were in a star system not far from where their exploration mission had begun. Back doing what now seemed so trivial after having seen so much of the future and of the past. Almost melancholy, the bears returned to doing what they had signed on for: traveling to probably desolate planets, visiting the surface, collecting samples, logging their findings, and moving on. Such tedium was difficult for the crew that had freed bear-kind from human enslavement and then later (or sooner) freed bear-kind again from oppression and re-enslavement by alien miners across the galaxies. But the captain returned to his helm, Mr. Boo-Boo returned to his charts, and the others to their respective posts. Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles made their way to the lab. A seeming lifetime ago, they had been sorting samples from the planets of this system. They had glowed orange one day and became Glapton, the first indication that their lives were about to change on an epic scale. Now bacteria, soil, plants, small invertebrates, and various goops and liquids were separated again into individual jars. Mr. Buns took a tray of jars to a containment bin and began to slide the tray in, when the materials in the jars began to glow blue! “Shpronkles!” shouted Mr. Buns in his impeded-speech way. “Look at the glow!” Dr. Sprinkles ran to Mr. Buns, who had dropped the tray. Broken glass and various substances lay at their feet pulsing with a blue glow. The radiating materials spread across the floor in a strange way. They seemed to be moving of their own accord. The teddies took a few steps back and realized that blue words were being formed across the floor. Soon a baffling message was stretched across the lab floor: “GLAPTON EVIL.”
“Mr. Buns, go get Captain Snuggies,” whispered Dr. Sprinkles.
The Beginning and The end
One sunny morning a girl named Cindy Lou was playing in her room with her Teddy bear who she had named Theodore Snuggles. The year was 2390 and at this point in time humans had many advances. One such advance was that teddy bears were no longer just cotton but now had internal personality engines to make them more lifelike for kids. But unknown to the humans, the teddies started to learn and they started to hate the humans for the teddies felt like slaves. Cindy was eleven and had had Theodore for a few years, but now as she was getting older she did not play with him that much anymore. This made Theodore very sad and lonely because he had grown to love his girl, as all teddies were programmed to do. Forgetting a girl or boy was not part of a teddy bear’s programming. In his alone time Theodore became friends with many other teddies on the street, there was much abuzz for the teddies. There had been rumors for years about a possible revolt against the humans for their cold-heartedness, which in many cases lead to cruelty. Theodore was one of the few teddies to escape his captivity unscathed. Most other bears were lucky to come out alive. He had become very much involved in the planning the revolt and had become somewhat of a leader to his fellow teddies. They had set a date for the revolt and were going to work their tails off to make it happen. The date was October 23, 2391.
After speaking with Glapton the last time, the crew of the Tootsie had begun preparations to travel back to the time of the revolt. Glapton told them they would be going back about a year before the day to help to get the teddy troops ready and to help with planning. Glapton had told them he would return in one week to transport them back and to brief them on the location they would be going to and what they were to do while there. A week passed and just as he had said, Glapton returned and spoke. “My friends I see you have been working hard to prepare yourselves for this new mission. Now let’s get down to business. As I said before I will be bringing you back a year before the revolt, to the center of the Anti-Human Teddy Alliance. You will meet with a group there and start the planning; I will visit periodically to make sure things are going smoothly. Oh and one thing, they cannot know who you are or were you came from; if they were to know, it would change your future.” And with that Glapton glowed bright and engulfed the ship just as when this whole thing started. When they came to, they found that they were back on earth. Captain Snuggles recognized this city and just then realized who he would be meeting up with: himself.
The trick would be finding a suitable disguise and using an alias. The crew and those with them each donned costumes and in some cases eye patches and fake mustaches (provided by Ms. Peppermint). Captain Snuggies would be “Leon Bottlecap,” Mr. Boo-Boo, a fan of teddy bear sports, would be “Yogi Berra,” Dr. Wuvvums chose the name “Dr. Sprockets,” Cookie would be “Cuppin-Cakes,” Mr. Buns would be “Señor Oso,” Dr. Sprinkles chose “Dr. Professor,” Ms. Woogie wanted the name of the most sweetly-scented bear ever, “Strow-bree Bearmyers,” Mr. Pink would become “Mr. Salmon,” Ms. Peppermint was now “Roly-Poly,” and Razorbear chose “Robobear.” Now that they had there aliases and costumes they embarked into the city. They knew that they could not just stroll about for the humans would find them very suspicious. They decided they would use the sewers to travel by day and the streets by night. The first thing they needed to do was find the headquarters of the AHTA, luckily Captain Snuggies knew exactly where that was. Once they arrived at the headquarters a familiar looking teddy came up and introduced himself. “Hello friends my name is Sergeant Theodore Snuggies, but you can call me T-Snug. Welcome to the headquarters of the AHTA. Here we are ever working toward our goal of domination over the human race for their cruelness to our kind. I assume you are here to join the resistance?” Captain Snuggies responded, “Yes we have come to join, me and my crew- I mean my friends- are here to help with whatever we can.” And with that they had started the ball rolling; the crew knew the next year would be a long one for they had lived it before. But, they were anxious to make this happen, and knew that it must for their future as well as the future of Teddy-kind depended on it.
Headquarters was a series of stacked cardboard boxes in an alley, connected by ladders and tunnels and full of a surprising amount of stolen computer equipment and weaponry. Knowing that this would not be enough to overthrow the entire human race, Snuggies, a.k.a. Leon Bottlecap, immediately proposed bigger ideas than the teddies had considered up to this point. Satellites should connect this main HQ to the eminent dozens of branches in major cities all over the planet. If just one city were conquered, the rest of the planet’s humans would retaliate and their cause would fail. Snuggies also was key in implementing a training program to teach all enlisted teddies proper use of technology, aided by Mr. Pink, Mr. Buns, Dr. Sprinkles, and Ms. Woogie. Mr. Boo-Boo would help all able teddies with the required combat and weapons training. A certain amount of medical training was given each bear, with Dr. Wuvvums’ help. Snuggies, Cookie, Ms. Peppermint, and Razorbear began organizing a series of trips where they would serve as recruiters to the bear cause. All over the world, bears were being mistreated, subjected to terrible abuse and mishandling, dangerous experiments, or simply being forgotten. Groups of homeless mechanized, intelligent refugee bears could be found in sewers, alleyways, garbage piles, swamps, garage sales, and secondhand stores. Snuggies and his ambassadors would come with supplies, comfort and hope, and show all bears that the humans were becoming overly ripe, and it was time for a change of regime.
Captain Snuggies knew that they would need to somehow infiltrate the governments of the world. He decided on a plan: he would send one teddy to each of the Presidents, Rulers, Kings and Dictators of the world as a present. From this the cover, teddies would find out everything about the countries, from government to military, and all defense systems. He decided that the best way would be to take over from the inside and work out. Once they knew enough, they would sneak thousands of teddy re-enforcements into the countries’ major cities. They knew this would be tough, but he knew one thing for sure; no one could resist a teddy. He screened many teddies to find the perfect group for this job, but well-groomed, unworn, whole teddies were somewhat difficult to find among those who had gathered to the cause thus far. Therefore he chose a handsome, trustworthy emissary to enter actual human homes to recruit fresh, new bears to the cause: his past self. Sergeant Theodore Snuggies of the year 2390 was in “gently-loved” condition, as his girl Cindy Lou had only rarely paid attention to him and never was harsh to him. With some grooming by Ms. Peppermint, he looked brand new. He began his infiltration immediately, as time was already growing thin. Planning and scheming up to this point had already taken three months.
Sergeant Snuggies proved to be the best choice. His clear logic and charisma helped him convince dozens of new bears per day to join ranks and many of those were fit to train for the international government mission. Within two more months, hundreds of bear spies were in place all over the world, actively gathering intelligence and relaying it back to headquarters. With all the countries in the world infiltrated, the bears learned more and more everyday about the inner workings of the human race. After another three months (the planned date of the revolt now being just four months away) they began to ship millions of teddy bears around the world to each country, these teddies made their way into the homes of the humans and began to make enact personal plans based on the families. Captain Snuggies decided that he and the crew would take the top ten most powerful nations of the world. He would take the United States of America, Mr. Boo-Boo would take Russia, Dr. Wuvvums would take China, Cookie would take France, Mr. Pink would take Britain, Ms. Woogie would take Japan, Mr. Sprinkles would go to India, Mr. Buns to Germany, Ms. Peppermint to Pakistan and Razorbear to Brazil. Captain Snuggies would start the revolt by assassinating the President on the morning of the revolt, and subsequently each teddy of the Rulers of each country would do the same. The morning of October 23 came. Captain Snuggies was on the desk of U.S. President Noah Amalickiah, dressed in patriotic slacks and a red, white and blue sport coat. He had had a shiv implanted into one paw, and a series of tranquilizer darts in the other. When the President and his aides came into the office at 9 AM for their meeting, Snuggies was poised and ready. After everyone sat down in their usual seats, Snuggies sprang into action. First he tranquilized the two secret service men by the door, then the President, the Vice-President, and a military general. When the other men in the room shouted for help, two more secret service men charged in from outside. Snuggies was ready for them. They were unconscious before they hit the floor. Then Snuggies routinely tranquilized the other men in the room. He tied up the President for later questioning and humanely put the others down with his shiv. The President would awake in two hours; it took only twenty minutes to eradicate all other threats- human and otherwise- throughout the White House.
As the President awoke, Snuggies had already received seven of the nine reports that he was expecting from the other members of his crew in other key locations. Ms. Woogie had had a close call, having to kill the Empress of Japan with the chop-stick holding her hair bun up, but otherwise there was not a hitch. Snuggies took the President into the Lincoln Bedroom for a little Q & A time. His own private “press conference.” He convinced the President to give him the codes to launch nuclear weapons, got the combinations to the vaults of Fort Knox, and over-rode the Internet and all satellite technology for exclusive use by Teddy Bears. Then he didn’t need the President’s help anymore. Just then Captain Snuggies received the last signals from the two remaining crew members. They all had taken out the local governments and had the leaders held hostage and were ready for the signal to take them out. Captain Snuggies moved into the press room with President Amalickiah and took over all the channels of the world. He would address the humans and prepare them for their end. Captain Snuggies went on the air and began to speak. “Humans of the world: for too long you have mistreated us, for too long you misused us, for too long we have been your slaves to be played with and thrown out as soon as we aren’t useful to you anymore. I say to you, this day it is our turn to throw you out.” And with that he gave the signal to the teddies around the world that simultaneously killed the leaders of those countries, and as he turned to walk out of the room Captain Snuggies looked toward his fellow teddies and said “The war has begun!”
All around the world the armies of the humans struggled against the armies of the teddy bears who outnumbered the humans ten to one. One by one the major cities of the world fell as the teddies took control leaving a trail of human blood behind them. Just as all hope for humans failed, something the teddies did not foresee happened. The human nations of the world banded together to give one final push from becoming fully extinct. The massive teddy army met the united army of humans for one last battle to decide the race who would dominate the planet. They all met on the great plains of the former western United States to fight; millions of teddies against millions of humans; each side knew this would be their last chance. In the head of the great teddy army was Captain Snuggies. He decided to give one final speech to his teddy brethren to reaffirm the hope that was in them. “My brother and sister teddies, this day has been coming for a long time. We have prepared for this day. We have made many sacrifices. We have lost many of our kind, but we will not let their deaths have been in vain! Today is the day we gain our freedom. Today is the day we make our dream come true. Today is the day the human stain is washed out. Today, my brethren, today, WE FIGHT!”
The teddies charged- some on foot, some on armed hover-vehicles, and some in the most impressive and dangerous vehicles on the battlefield- giant tanks that the teddies had created of their own accord, especially for this great and last battle. The resisting humans all froze for just a moment at the harrowing sight of these monstrous tanks spreading across the field. Nothing the humans had brought with them could even dent them. But the human spirit is near-indomitable. They would fight to the end if that’s what it took. The teddies were counting on this. It would ultimately be the cause for their annihilation. For four days the humans put up a valiant opposition. Millions became thousands; thousands became hundreds; hundreds became dozens. On the fourth day, dozens of humans fled the battlefield after the fight of their lives. They were pursued for months afterward, and finally eliminated. Teddy-kind had won. The earth was theirs. Freedom was theirs. Teddy suffering all over the world was finally at an end.
“For ingenuity and bravery at a crucial time in the resistance, and for taking teddy-kind forward by leaps and bounds when we were losing hope, I Sergeant Theodore Snuggies present Leon Bottlecap, Yogi Berra, Dr. Sprockets, Cuppin-Cakes, Señor Oso, Dr. Professor, Strow-Bree Bearmyers, Mr. Salmon, Roly-Poly, and Robobear with the highest Teddy Bear honor: the Gold-Toned Plastic Medal. Ladies and Gentlebears- our heroes!!” As the crowds cheered for their heroes Captain Snuggies walked up to the stand and spoke, “My fellow teddies, we have come out of this long struggle victorious! Finally we can now do what the humans couldn’t, we can now make the earth a united place for all teddies!” Just then in the distance the Captain saw a familiar orange glow and knew it was time for them to depart. He again turned to the crowd and spoke, “Teddies, I have treasured my time with all of you, you are all brave bears. But, we must go now….. And just then the sky glowed orange and the crew disappeared before the crowds of teddies.
As the crew opened their eyes they realized they were back in their ship, out in space where and when they had left off after freeing many bear slaves. Glapton stood before them and congratulated them for their triumphant victory over the humans. A year had passed in this time as well and the teddies they left had made great advances in freeing many enslaved teddies across the universe. They found that once again teddies had become great and were doing very well for themselves. After Glapton caught them up on everything, Captain Snuggies decided their time was over here, he turned to Glapton and ask if they could be returned to their time to finish there mission. They had had many adventures and were ready to leave. Glapton agreed and told them he would return them to the exact spot where they had left; he wished them the best and as he turned the ship glowed bright.
After the orange glow faded and everyone’s eyes adjusted, Mr. Boo-Boo checked the computer and announced that they were in a star system not far from where their exploration mission had begun. Back doing what now seemed so trivial after having seen so much of the future and of the past. Almost melancholy, the bears returned to doing what they had signed on for: traveling to probably desolate planets, visiting the surface, collecting samples, logging their findings, and moving on. Such tedium was difficult for the crew that had freed bear-kind from human enslavement and then later (or sooner) freed bear-kind again from oppression and re-enslavement by alien miners across the galaxies. But the captain returned to his helm, Mr. Boo-Boo returned to his charts, and the others to their respective posts. Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles made their way to the lab. A seeming lifetime ago, they had been sorting samples from the planets of this system. They had glowed orange one day and became Glapton, the first indication that their lives were about to change on an epic scale. Now bacteria, soil, plants, small invertebrates, and various goops and liquids were separated again into individual jars. Mr. Buns took a tray of jars to a containment bin and began to slide the tray in, when the materials in the jars began to glow blue! “Shpronkles!” shouted Mr. Buns in his impeded-speech way. “Look at the glow!” Dr. Sprinkles ran to Mr. Buns, who had dropped the tray. Broken glass and various substances lay at their feet pulsing with a blue glow. The radiating materials spread across the floor in a strange way. They seemed to be moving of their own accord. The teddies took a few steps back and realized that blue words were being formed across the floor. Soon a baffling message was stretched across the lab floor: “GLAPTON EVIL.”
“Mr. Buns, go get Captain Snuggies,” whispered Dr. Sprinkles.
Star Bears I
STAR BEARS I
A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER OF THE BEAR KIND
In the distant future, long after teddy bears conquered the human race, they set their sights to the stars. They built great powerful ships designed for deep space traveling. Space stations throughout the solar system acted as pit stops where the teddy bears could rest and restock their supplies. Beyond the last outpost a solitary ship was on a mission to chart new territory and transmit information to the teddy bear commanders. This ship was called “The Tootsie.” Captain Theodore Snuggies guided his crew toward the mysterious uncharted void. He was calm and collected, like always, and ready to go down in history for all the amazing new worlds and races he hoped to discover. His reliable first mate, Mr. Boo-Boo, was at the ready, making notes regarding flight plans and star charts and planetary placements. The rest of the small crew was busy about the ship, checking energy levels, computer terminals, medical equipment, meals, etc. There was the crew’s medical technician, Dr. Wuvvums; Cookie the cook; Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles in Research and Logging; Ms. Woogie, the engineer; Mr. Pink in Computer Interface; Ms. Peppermint in Supplies; and Razorbear in Janitorial. There was a lot of hub-bub going on in the ship the morning they were to leave into space unknown. They were all wondering what might be found. Ms. Woogie especially was excited as she had had a dream that night of a planet where everyone loved to hug each other and there was candy everywhere. The time had come for departure and Captain Snuggies came over the intercom to give a speech before their journey was to begin. “My fellow teddy bears, we have prepared for this day for a very long time. This will be the most important journey in the history of our people. I just want to say to you all whatever happens on this journey, that I …..” just as he was about to finish the speech the engine boosters fired and they lifted off. Now among the many missions of this mission into the vast unknown were the single missions of each of the crew. Each of them came on this mission to accomplish certain things. Captain Theodore Randolpho Ignacious Snuggies or as he is lovingly called Capt’n Snuggies, came on this ship to become the first teddy to pilot a ship past the known into the known of un, he was scared but excited of what might be found on this journey and also enjoys pina coladas. The first mate Mr. Boo-Boo felt at home in space. Before the revolt against the humans in 2391 AD he was owned by a young girl named Cynthia. He enjoyed her company as they watched the stars and knew that one day he would be up there above the clouds. Dr. Wuvvums had just finished receiving his doctorate in bear anatomy and sewing and stuffing. He took this opportunity to fly amongst the best to gain experience and have an adventure of a life-time. Cookie was an odd character, once the teddy of a rich chef he learned how to cook, but his owner was a schitso and had many personalities one of these was a pirate named Charles and Cookie also began to have pirate tendencies. This would sometimes cause him to speak like a pirate and had a pet parrot named Reeses. Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles were longtime partners owning a think tank in the Antarctic to which they would rent out to other teddy researchers. They had come on this journey to take a break from the business and in hopes of making some discoveries. Ms. Woogie was the world champion in salmon watching, having the world record of watching salmon for 159 hours straight without blinking. This won her the place on the crew. Also she had a PhD from MIT in biochemical engineering as well as civil engineering and she can fix almost anything. Mr. Pink single handedly created the operating system doors and had created the first three dimensional internet for bears. He had come on this mission to overhead all technology. Ms. Peppermint the supply manager has an extreme case of OCD and feels the need to constantly organize and clean. She came on the mission after she almost organized to death, and her doctor felt she needed to time away. Last but of course not least Razorbear. He grew in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal and traveled the world in his youth. He had served many years in the teddy bear army in special ops and had been a part of many battles against human rebels. He had been asked to join the crew, mainly as a publicity stunt for the space teddy industry. He had accepted to get away from earth and live a little in his old age. He was called Razorbear for his rugged exterior and his love of fine cutlery. Altogether these teddies made up the best of teddykind and were put in charge of conquering the new frontier, the unknown of deep space.
The Tootsie undocked from the station Bugga-Boo and the crew cheered. They were off toward the nearest star system to the Milky Way. Captain Snuggies gave the order to engage hyper-drives, a new technology just approved for bear-carrying craft after years of testing. Within hours, the crew would approach territory never explored by teddy-kind. The ship would orbit each planet of the system, gathering data and preparing gear for up-close exploration. Three trips to different planets’ surfaces only revealed that no macroscopic life was immediately evident. This information was logged, samples were taken, and the crew would return to the ship. In Research and Logging, Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles sorted, studied, and recorded the samples from the last planet that the crew had visited, when something unexpected happened. A strange area appeared on the radar on the moon of the last planet. Captain Snuggies decided they should investigate. As they approached the moons surface a strange orange glow appeared and the ships controls were taken out of there hands and seemed to be piloted by some unknown force. Captain Snuggies ordered the crew to strap into there Beanie bag seats and get ready for a wild ride. The ship began to plummet toward the surface of the moon into the area where the orange glow was coming from. Just before they hit the surface the glow engulfed them and the next thing they knew they were spat out into an uncharted area of space far from where they had just been. They tried to cross reference the stars but the constellations did not match any of their records. It occurred to Mr. Boo-Boo that they had been transported through time and space into the future, far off in some distant Galaxy. The crew decided they needed to have a meeting and decide what would be their next step. On the bridge of the Tootsie, the captain addressed his crew. “Friends, this is uncharted territory indeed, but not what we were expecting. Mr. Boo-Boo has convened with Ms. Woogie, Mr. Buns, and Dr. Sprinkles. After charting the stars and doing some calculations, it seems that we are in unknown space, but 2,500 years in the future from when we left. Their recommendation for how to proceed is to first check the ship for unusual signs of change that may have occurred in our jump to the future. At the same time we will continue our attempts to communicate with anyone in nearby space. In 2,500 years I imagine that teddy-kind has charted a great amount of space, and maybe we’ll get lucky. Also, everyone please take turns visiting Dr. Wuvvums for a check-up. We need answers and we need them soon. We must look everywhere for clues.”
The ship was searched. Communication was attempted with no apparent success. One by one, the crew submitted to Dr. Wuvvums’ medical exams. While waiting their turns, Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles returned to their lab to see to their specimens. They could not help but notice one amazing sight- every sample collected from every planet that they had visited was glowing orange… the same orange glow that the crew had seen during their mysterious journey through time. Then each glass container that held a sample- plants, soil, liquids, rocks- burst almost at once, and the different particles merged together. Before the scientists could gasp in horror, a great glowing orange organism stood before them, heaving with deep raspy breaths and hunching threateningly. Before either of them could say anything, the large figure began to speak. He said “My young friends do not look upon me in fear, for I am Glapton. I am the master of time and space, it is because of me that the Universe does not roll into chaos. I have sent you and your crew into the future for a reason. Shortly after you left the earth, an alien race from far away attacked and took all of teddy kind into slavery and sold them throughout the Universe. They had been planning it ever since your kind took over the planet from the humans, the aliens saw what kind of a threat you might be. They knew the humans would never make any progress in space, they were too busy making war and killing each other. But the aliens saw the unity that your kind have and knew that with that you could do many things. I have brought you here to this time, because in one week your kind is planning on revolting and taking back the earth. I have brought you here to help them. I will be back in a few hours to discuss this more, gather your crew together but tell them nothing until I return”. Again before they could respond Glapton glowed bright and disappeared. The two shocked bears took a moment to collect themselves, wondering aloud how this was possible and what it could mean. Very different samples from a dozen different worlds merging to come alive and give them a message? Was this related to the recent tangent in their mission? Was this the entire reason for said tangent? Who was Glapton and how did he come alive and then disappear? Could he be trusted? When would he return? These questions remained between the two of them, and they travelled the ship to find their shipmates and arrange another meeting. They decided to meet at mealtime in the mess hall. Cookie had prepared their favorite astronaut meal of dehydrated Teddy-Grahams and strawberry-flavored Yum-Yums. As they reached to serve themselves the hall flashed bright orange and Glapton was standing in their midst, looking around to see that everyone was present. He spoke to them. Glapton began by repeating all that he had told Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles, everything from how they had gotten there to the teddy bear revolt that was about to come to pass. The whole crew looked at each other in a mix of shock, wonder, and fear of what had been presented before them. Glapton, seeing their expressions, said, “Do not fear my young space adventurers for you have been chosen for an important mission. The salvation of teddy kind rests in your hands. This may seem like a monstrous feat but with my help the odds are on your side…”. And with that Glapton began to glow as his voice echoed off and he disappeared once again leaving the crew to ponder what they had heard. After a few minutes Captain Snuggies broke the silence, “My fellow teddies we have been given a new mission from this Glapton, I don’t know if we should trust him but, if there are teddies that need help… gosh darn it I’m gonna help them!”. And with that the crew began to make plans and preparations to locate and help the teddy slaves begin the revolt and come out victorious. Throughout their preparations they could not help but think that Glapton could not be trusted, but they decided they would await what was to come. The crew knew nothing about life in the future. Captain Snuggies first decided to scan the nearest planets from a distance with long-range scanners to try and find sentient life. Their good fortune was immediate. The first planet that they scanned not only showed intelligent life, but also revealed that there were teddy slaves in captivity there. “Glapton was right, Mr. Boo-Boo. We must help our friends.” They immediately organized a small ground force who took a small landing craft down to the planet’s surface. Captain Snuggies ordered Mr. Boo-Boo to stay aboard the Tootsie in case help was needed on the surface. He then took Ms. Peppermint, Razorbear, Dr. Wuvvums, Mr. Buns, and Dr. Sprinkles to the planet’s surface. They landed their ship 30 minutes’ walk from a large compound where they had found a large number of slaves. Ms. Peppermint had supplied everyone with bew-guns, clubs, and bind-cuffs and they approached their target. Once on the grounds, they spread out and executed their entry plan. They entered the area, the other crew members on board set up watch of the area and kept radio contact with the group on the ground to warn them of oncoming threats. They decided to split up into three groups and created a perimeter around the area to scope out the alien captors’ base. They finally found the building where the teddies were being held and decided they would move in tonight and rescue them once darkness fell. It was hard to watch for the crew as their fellow teddies preformed back-breaking work mining space diamonds on the planet. This made them all the more eager to save their kin and redeem their kind to the former greatness they had once had. As darkness came on and the alien captors rounded the teddy slaves up for the night, the crew started to move in, being very careful not to be spotted. There were alien guards constantly circling the area and the teddies had to be very careful, for there were not many spots to hide. The teddies got to the building where the slaves were held and saw that there were just over one hundred teddy slaves. They decided that each team of two would take twenty to thirty teddies at a time back to the ship. Their plan ran smoothly and they got all of the teddies back to the ship. But just as they were about to lift off, Mr. Boo-Boo aboard the Tootsie saw that the aliens had found that the teddies were gone and had seen the landing ship. Captain Snuggies ordered lift off, and had Mr. Buns, Razorbear, and Dr. Sprinkles to the guns; he knew this would be a rough ride. The aliens sent armored gun-riders to track the crew to their landing ship in the badlands. They were just arriving as the ship lifted off, and the teddies and the aliens exchanged fire. Captain Snuggies activated the ship’s shields and they flew off into the safety of space. Once aboard the Tootsie again, they left the area quickly to avoid being followed. Captain Snuggies gave the order to the crew to find their next planet. In the mess hall, Cookie was setting out food for the 100 new passengers. Dr. Wuvvums wandered among them, being sure to examine and treat any injuries he found. Razorbear and Ms. Peppermint made sure each new bear had a bath, fresh clothes, and a bed. Hug-a-Bug, a newcomer who was something of a leader to the former slaves, made visited many members of the crew to thank them for their help. He provided them with information to about other groups of slaves on the planet where he had been mining space diamonds, as well as other planets in this same solar system that also had slaves. The crew informed the captain of their new heading. Base by base they saved teddies from each area they went to. They hit some rough patches along the way fighting the local aliens, but they were making good pace, which they needed to do because they only had one week. Once they had finally completed gathering all the teddy slaves on the first planet, they set a course to the next. This next planet, as Hug-a-Bug had told Captain Snuggies, had the largest space diamond mine in the known universe and the most teddy slaves of any other single slave-owning place. Apparently, this was the center of the teddy resistance. The crew gathered together in the mess hall with all the freed teddies and discussed of what their plan should be. Many ideas were brought up, but Captain Snuggies was looking for something special. A young teddy named Smiles had the perfect plan. Over a period of a few hours, nearly all of the freed slaves and crew landed well outside of the mining area. Groups of teddies gathered all around and just out of sight of the mining colony’s perimeter. Each and every bear wore tattered clothing and covered themselves in dust and grime to look like they had been working in the mines. From orbit, Mr. Pink jammed all communication within the compound. Then, near each separate guard tower, one grubby teddy bear pretended to be unconscious within view of the guards. In each tower, guards tried to communicate via radio that they might see a mine slave that had tried to escape, and they were going to investigate. But no one ever received those radio messages. Guards took gun-riders out to investigate what they thought were slaves that had attempted escape but become sick or passed out. The other teddies nearby hid out of sight. As a guard approached the bear on the ground, all of the others jumped out, disarmed him, and brought him down with their own weapons. Then, after all of the guards were defeated, the hundreds of bears approached the compound at once from all sides. With communications down, only the guards in the watchtowers could see them coming, but the bears knew to take them our quickly. They then scaled the walls and fences and made their way inside. Guards, taskmasters, mercenaries, and commanders all fell before the hoards of vengeful teddy bears. Little by little, scores of miner bears were freed, and they then joined in the revolution. After the last opposing guard was defeated, Mr. Pink hacked into the compound’s computer systems from aboard the Tootsie. He told them where other entrances to the mines were so that the bears could find all of the rest of the enslaved workers. That day, every single teddy bear in the solar system was freed. They took control of the mines and began working- not as slaves but as the newly-liberated owners and prospectors of the mines. Billions of twinkles’ worth of space diamonds that still lay buried beneath the planet’s surface would help fund the on-going liberation of bear slaves in other solar systems. The Twinkle would be the flagship of a mercenary fleet that the bears recovered from this great recent deliverance of slave bears. And now thousands of teddy bears made up a freedom force that would scour the galaxy to free all of teddy-kind everywhere. After a grand celebration on the planet’s surface, the crew of the Tootsie and a few other key bears gathered in the mess hall for a planning meeting. As Captain Snuggies stood before the group to begin their discussion, the room suddenly grew a bright orange color, and with a flash of tangerine Glapton, Master of Time and Space, stood before them again. Smiles and Hug-a-Bug were the most shocked of all the rest, having never seen anything like this before. Again before any of the crew could speak the booming voice of Glapton encompassed them. He said “My young space adventurers you have done well. I knew that you would be victorious , you are a fine group of teddy bears. But, I do have one thing to tell you. You may think that now that you have competed your mission that I will return you back to your time. You would be wrong, I have much more important things for you. I am sure you are all very familiar with the teddy revolution of 2391?” The crew all responded with a unanimous yes, for many of them had fought in that war. Glapton continued, “Well then I am sure you remember the help that you received which made your small revolt into a revolution and brought you to become the dominant race of the planet. Well my young friends those space fighters who came in during the last great battle of the war were you!” And with that Glapton continued to tell the crew that their last mission was to go back to the great war against the humans and be the force which tipped the scale to the bears’ side. They were all ready for this, but there lay fear in their eyes for what was to come. The greatest battle in all of teddydom no longer lay in their past… it was their future!
A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER OF THE BEAR KIND
In the distant future, long after teddy bears conquered the human race, they set their sights to the stars. They built great powerful ships designed for deep space traveling. Space stations throughout the solar system acted as pit stops where the teddy bears could rest and restock their supplies. Beyond the last outpost a solitary ship was on a mission to chart new territory and transmit information to the teddy bear commanders. This ship was called “The Tootsie.” Captain Theodore Snuggies guided his crew toward the mysterious uncharted void. He was calm and collected, like always, and ready to go down in history for all the amazing new worlds and races he hoped to discover. His reliable first mate, Mr. Boo-Boo, was at the ready, making notes regarding flight plans and star charts and planetary placements. The rest of the small crew was busy about the ship, checking energy levels, computer terminals, medical equipment, meals, etc. There was the crew’s medical technician, Dr. Wuvvums; Cookie the cook; Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles in Research and Logging; Ms. Woogie, the engineer; Mr. Pink in Computer Interface; Ms. Peppermint in Supplies; and Razorbear in Janitorial. There was a lot of hub-bub going on in the ship the morning they were to leave into space unknown. They were all wondering what might be found. Ms. Woogie especially was excited as she had had a dream that night of a planet where everyone loved to hug each other and there was candy everywhere. The time had come for departure and Captain Snuggies came over the intercom to give a speech before their journey was to begin. “My fellow teddy bears, we have prepared for this day for a very long time. This will be the most important journey in the history of our people. I just want to say to you all whatever happens on this journey, that I …..” just as he was about to finish the speech the engine boosters fired and they lifted off. Now among the many missions of this mission into the vast unknown were the single missions of each of the crew. Each of them came on this mission to accomplish certain things. Captain Theodore Randolpho Ignacious Snuggies or as he is lovingly called Capt’n Snuggies, came on this ship to become the first teddy to pilot a ship past the known into the known of un, he was scared but excited of what might be found on this journey and also enjoys pina coladas. The first mate Mr. Boo-Boo felt at home in space. Before the revolt against the humans in 2391 AD he was owned by a young girl named Cynthia. He enjoyed her company as they watched the stars and knew that one day he would be up there above the clouds. Dr. Wuvvums had just finished receiving his doctorate in bear anatomy and sewing and stuffing. He took this opportunity to fly amongst the best to gain experience and have an adventure of a life-time. Cookie was an odd character, once the teddy of a rich chef he learned how to cook, but his owner was a schitso and had many personalities one of these was a pirate named Charles and Cookie also began to have pirate tendencies. This would sometimes cause him to speak like a pirate and had a pet parrot named Reeses. Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles were longtime partners owning a think tank in the Antarctic to which they would rent out to other teddy researchers. They had come on this journey to take a break from the business and in hopes of making some discoveries. Ms. Woogie was the world champion in salmon watching, having the world record of watching salmon for 159 hours straight without blinking. This won her the place on the crew. Also she had a PhD from MIT in biochemical engineering as well as civil engineering and she can fix almost anything. Mr. Pink single handedly created the operating system doors and had created the first three dimensional internet for bears. He had come on this mission to overhead all technology. Ms. Peppermint the supply manager has an extreme case of OCD and feels the need to constantly organize and clean. She came on the mission after she almost organized to death, and her doctor felt she needed to time away. Last but of course not least Razorbear. He grew in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal and traveled the world in his youth. He had served many years in the teddy bear army in special ops and had been a part of many battles against human rebels. He had been asked to join the crew, mainly as a publicity stunt for the space teddy industry. He had accepted to get away from earth and live a little in his old age. He was called Razorbear for his rugged exterior and his love of fine cutlery. Altogether these teddies made up the best of teddykind and were put in charge of conquering the new frontier, the unknown of deep space.
The Tootsie undocked from the station Bugga-Boo and the crew cheered. They were off toward the nearest star system to the Milky Way. Captain Snuggies gave the order to engage hyper-drives, a new technology just approved for bear-carrying craft after years of testing. Within hours, the crew would approach territory never explored by teddy-kind. The ship would orbit each planet of the system, gathering data and preparing gear for up-close exploration. Three trips to different planets’ surfaces only revealed that no macroscopic life was immediately evident. This information was logged, samples were taken, and the crew would return to the ship. In Research and Logging, Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles sorted, studied, and recorded the samples from the last planet that the crew had visited, when something unexpected happened. A strange area appeared on the radar on the moon of the last planet. Captain Snuggies decided they should investigate. As they approached the moons surface a strange orange glow appeared and the ships controls were taken out of there hands and seemed to be piloted by some unknown force. Captain Snuggies ordered the crew to strap into there Beanie bag seats and get ready for a wild ride. The ship began to plummet toward the surface of the moon into the area where the orange glow was coming from. Just before they hit the surface the glow engulfed them and the next thing they knew they were spat out into an uncharted area of space far from where they had just been. They tried to cross reference the stars but the constellations did not match any of their records. It occurred to Mr. Boo-Boo that they had been transported through time and space into the future, far off in some distant Galaxy. The crew decided they needed to have a meeting and decide what would be their next step. On the bridge of the Tootsie, the captain addressed his crew. “Friends, this is uncharted territory indeed, but not what we were expecting. Mr. Boo-Boo has convened with Ms. Woogie, Mr. Buns, and Dr. Sprinkles. After charting the stars and doing some calculations, it seems that we are in unknown space, but 2,500 years in the future from when we left. Their recommendation for how to proceed is to first check the ship for unusual signs of change that may have occurred in our jump to the future. At the same time we will continue our attempts to communicate with anyone in nearby space. In 2,500 years I imagine that teddy-kind has charted a great amount of space, and maybe we’ll get lucky. Also, everyone please take turns visiting Dr. Wuvvums for a check-up. We need answers and we need them soon. We must look everywhere for clues.”
The ship was searched. Communication was attempted with no apparent success. One by one, the crew submitted to Dr. Wuvvums’ medical exams. While waiting their turns, Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles returned to their lab to see to their specimens. They could not help but notice one amazing sight- every sample collected from every planet that they had visited was glowing orange… the same orange glow that the crew had seen during their mysterious journey through time. Then each glass container that held a sample- plants, soil, liquids, rocks- burst almost at once, and the different particles merged together. Before the scientists could gasp in horror, a great glowing orange organism stood before them, heaving with deep raspy breaths and hunching threateningly. Before either of them could say anything, the large figure began to speak. He said “My young friends do not look upon me in fear, for I am Glapton. I am the master of time and space, it is because of me that the Universe does not roll into chaos. I have sent you and your crew into the future for a reason. Shortly after you left the earth, an alien race from far away attacked and took all of teddy kind into slavery and sold them throughout the Universe. They had been planning it ever since your kind took over the planet from the humans, the aliens saw what kind of a threat you might be. They knew the humans would never make any progress in space, they were too busy making war and killing each other. But the aliens saw the unity that your kind have and knew that with that you could do many things. I have brought you here to this time, because in one week your kind is planning on revolting and taking back the earth. I have brought you here to help them. I will be back in a few hours to discuss this more, gather your crew together but tell them nothing until I return”. Again before they could respond Glapton glowed bright and disappeared. The two shocked bears took a moment to collect themselves, wondering aloud how this was possible and what it could mean. Very different samples from a dozen different worlds merging to come alive and give them a message? Was this related to the recent tangent in their mission? Was this the entire reason for said tangent? Who was Glapton and how did he come alive and then disappear? Could he be trusted? When would he return? These questions remained between the two of them, and they travelled the ship to find their shipmates and arrange another meeting. They decided to meet at mealtime in the mess hall. Cookie had prepared their favorite astronaut meal of dehydrated Teddy-Grahams and strawberry-flavored Yum-Yums. As they reached to serve themselves the hall flashed bright orange and Glapton was standing in their midst, looking around to see that everyone was present. He spoke to them. Glapton began by repeating all that he had told Mr. Buns and Dr. Sprinkles, everything from how they had gotten there to the teddy bear revolt that was about to come to pass. The whole crew looked at each other in a mix of shock, wonder, and fear of what had been presented before them. Glapton, seeing their expressions, said, “Do not fear my young space adventurers for you have been chosen for an important mission. The salvation of teddy kind rests in your hands. This may seem like a monstrous feat but with my help the odds are on your side…”. And with that Glapton began to glow as his voice echoed off and he disappeared once again leaving the crew to ponder what they had heard. After a few minutes Captain Snuggies broke the silence, “My fellow teddies we have been given a new mission from this Glapton, I don’t know if we should trust him but, if there are teddies that need help… gosh darn it I’m gonna help them!”. And with that the crew began to make plans and preparations to locate and help the teddy slaves begin the revolt and come out victorious. Throughout their preparations they could not help but think that Glapton could not be trusted, but they decided they would await what was to come. The crew knew nothing about life in the future. Captain Snuggies first decided to scan the nearest planets from a distance with long-range scanners to try and find sentient life. Their good fortune was immediate. The first planet that they scanned not only showed intelligent life, but also revealed that there were teddy slaves in captivity there. “Glapton was right, Mr. Boo-Boo. We must help our friends.” They immediately organized a small ground force who took a small landing craft down to the planet’s surface. Captain Snuggies ordered Mr. Boo-Boo to stay aboard the Tootsie in case help was needed on the surface. He then took Ms. Peppermint, Razorbear, Dr. Wuvvums, Mr. Buns, and Dr. Sprinkles to the planet’s surface. They landed their ship 30 minutes’ walk from a large compound where they had found a large number of slaves. Ms. Peppermint had supplied everyone with bew-guns, clubs, and bind-cuffs and they approached their target. Once on the grounds, they spread out and executed their entry plan. They entered the area, the other crew members on board set up watch of the area and kept radio contact with the group on the ground to warn them of oncoming threats. They decided to split up into three groups and created a perimeter around the area to scope out the alien captors’ base. They finally found the building where the teddies were being held and decided they would move in tonight and rescue them once darkness fell. It was hard to watch for the crew as their fellow teddies preformed back-breaking work mining space diamonds on the planet. This made them all the more eager to save their kin and redeem their kind to the former greatness they had once had. As darkness came on and the alien captors rounded the teddy slaves up for the night, the crew started to move in, being very careful not to be spotted. There were alien guards constantly circling the area and the teddies had to be very careful, for there were not many spots to hide. The teddies got to the building where the slaves were held and saw that there were just over one hundred teddy slaves. They decided that each team of two would take twenty to thirty teddies at a time back to the ship. Their plan ran smoothly and they got all of the teddies back to the ship. But just as they were about to lift off, Mr. Boo-Boo aboard the Tootsie saw that the aliens had found that the teddies were gone and had seen the landing ship. Captain Snuggies ordered lift off, and had Mr. Buns, Razorbear, and Dr. Sprinkles to the guns; he knew this would be a rough ride. The aliens sent armored gun-riders to track the crew to their landing ship in the badlands. They were just arriving as the ship lifted off, and the teddies and the aliens exchanged fire. Captain Snuggies activated the ship’s shields and they flew off into the safety of space. Once aboard the Tootsie again, they left the area quickly to avoid being followed. Captain Snuggies gave the order to the crew to find their next planet. In the mess hall, Cookie was setting out food for the 100 new passengers. Dr. Wuvvums wandered among them, being sure to examine and treat any injuries he found. Razorbear and Ms. Peppermint made sure each new bear had a bath, fresh clothes, and a bed. Hug-a-Bug, a newcomer who was something of a leader to the former slaves, made visited many members of the crew to thank them for their help. He provided them with information to about other groups of slaves on the planet where he had been mining space diamonds, as well as other planets in this same solar system that also had slaves. The crew informed the captain of their new heading. Base by base they saved teddies from each area they went to. They hit some rough patches along the way fighting the local aliens, but they were making good pace, which they needed to do because they only had one week. Once they had finally completed gathering all the teddy slaves on the first planet, they set a course to the next. This next planet, as Hug-a-Bug had told Captain Snuggies, had the largest space diamond mine in the known universe and the most teddy slaves of any other single slave-owning place. Apparently, this was the center of the teddy resistance. The crew gathered together in the mess hall with all the freed teddies and discussed of what their plan should be. Many ideas were brought up, but Captain Snuggies was looking for something special. A young teddy named Smiles had the perfect plan. Over a period of a few hours, nearly all of the freed slaves and crew landed well outside of the mining area. Groups of teddies gathered all around and just out of sight of the mining colony’s perimeter. Each and every bear wore tattered clothing and covered themselves in dust and grime to look like they had been working in the mines. From orbit, Mr. Pink jammed all communication within the compound. Then, near each separate guard tower, one grubby teddy bear pretended to be unconscious within view of the guards. In each tower, guards tried to communicate via radio that they might see a mine slave that had tried to escape, and they were going to investigate. But no one ever received those radio messages. Guards took gun-riders out to investigate what they thought were slaves that had attempted escape but become sick or passed out. The other teddies nearby hid out of sight. As a guard approached the bear on the ground, all of the others jumped out, disarmed him, and brought him down with their own weapons. Then, after all of the guards were defeated, the hundreds of bears approached the compound at once from all sides. With communications down, only the guards in the watchtowers could see them coming, but the bears knew to take them our quickly. They then scaled the walls and fences and made their way inside. Guards, taskmasters, mercenaries, and commanders all fell before the hoards of vengeful teddy bears. Little by little, scores of miner bears were freed, and they then joined in the revolution. After the last opposing guard was defeated, Mr. Pink hacked into the compound’s computer systems from aboard the Tootsie. He told them where other entrances to the mines were so that the bears could find all of the rest of the enslaved workers. That day, every single teddy bear in the solar system was freed. They took control of the mines and began working- not as slaves but as the newly-liberated owners and prospectors of the mines. Billions of twinkles’ worth of space diamonds that still lay buried beneath the planet’s surface would help fund the on-going liberation of bear slaves in other solar systems. The Twinkle would be the flagship of a mercenary fleet that the bears recovered from this great recent deliverance of slave bears. And now thousands of teddy bears made up a freedom force that would scour the galaxy to free all of teddy-kind everywhere. After a grand celebration on the planet’s surface, the crew of the Tootsie and a few other key bears gathered in the mess hall for a planning meeting. As Captain Snuggies stood before the group to begin their discussion, the room suddenly grew a bright orange color, and with a flash of tangerine Glapton, Master of Time and Space, stood before them again. Smiles and Hug-a-Bug were the most shocked of all the rest, having never seen anything like this before. Again before any of the crew could speak the booming voice of Glapton encompassed them. He said “My young space adventurers you have done well. I knew that you would be victorious , you are a fine group of teddy bears. But, I do have one thing to tell you. You may think that now that you have competed your mission that I will return you back to your time. You would be wrong, I have much more important things for you. I am sure you are all very familiar with the teddy revolution of 2391?” The crew all responded with a unanimous yes, for many of them had fought in that war. Glapton continued, “Well then I am sure you remember the help that you received which made your small revolt into a revolution and brought you to become the dominant race of the planet. Well my young friends those space fighters who came in during the last great battle of the war were you!” And with that Glapton continued to tell the crew that their last mission was to go back to the great war against the humans and be the force which tipped the scale to the bears’ side. They were all ready for this, but there lay fear in their eyes for what was to come. The greatest battle in all of teddydom no longer lay in their past… it was their future!
What Exactly is Star Bear
Star Bears is a short story written over the course of a couple weeks by two guys while working at APX Alarm. The epic saga of a crew of teddy bears navigating through the unknown areas of the universe. Along the way they hit a few speed bumps and as there adventure takes an unseen turn, they have to work together to come out stronger in the end. This is Star Bears.
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