Part Three
By: Me, Tato


Later...

Harlan, Rabear, Scarebird, Eltoto, and Aluminum Foil Man walked
through the forest, eying every corner cautiously.  

"Y-ya know...I think I'm much happier without confidence," Rabear said
suddenly.  

"No you're not pumpkin," Eltoto said with a grin.  

"Hah!  Pumpkin?" Harlan said with a laugh.  "Why dont you call him
CHERRY!! That's the color he's turning now!"

Rabear grinned and tried to cover his face.  He was, indeed, changing
to an interesting shade of red.  Eltoto only smiled at his constant
bashfullness and held his hand.  

"No need to be JEALOUS Harlan Band."

"Me?  Jealous?  That's nuts!"

"Sure, Harlan.  Whatever you say HARLAN," she said with only a hint of
sarcasm in her voice.  Harlan grinned.  

"Who cares?  We're going to die, I KNOW it!  It happens all the time!!
I bet it'll rain, with my luck."

"Ha ha!!  That would be interesting. The first time I'd ever see
aluminum foil rust."

"Do you EVER shut up?" Aluminum Foil Man said with an evil glare.
Harlan only shrugged off the glare and the remark.  

* * * * * *

"Ha ha ha!!!!!  All right, my precious little darlings!   Go get
Harlan Band and his little do--oh...um...Eltoto," the wicked witch of
the equator ordered.  Several small animals who looked strangely like
the slinky heads flew away with their assignments.  [authors note:
I say "slinky heads" from "All You Can Eaty."  Remember?  The slinky
fashion statement!  Anyway, I mean the two tricksters Aaaaeeiii and
Stewart.  Okay?  K!!]  

* * * * * *

Harlan, Eltoto, Rabear, Scarebird, and Aluminum Foil Man walked along
the road.  Each step they took, they became more and more bored.

"Man, how long is this going to TAKE?" Harlan whined once again.
Eltoto rolled her eyes.  How many times had he said that in the time
limit of an hour?  She had stopped counting after 138.  She had to
admit, it WAS boring. But she already knew that. She didn't need
Harlan to point out the obvious once again.  She slowly walked along
until she noticed that Rabear had been trailing behind.  She slowed
down a bit so she would just HAPPEN to be next to Rabear.  What a
shame!!  [authors note: that was sarcasm, just to let you know!!
Hey, some peopole just dont get my sarcasm I guess.]  Just as
Harlan was about to announce how incredibly bored he was again, he saw
several figures flying into the air.  For a moment, he dismissed the
fact.  But then he realized that NOTHING could be dismissed in THIS 
land.  "What's that?" he asked pointing up to the flying figures.  

The small slinky heads swooped down and started to attack the small
group.  Two grabbed Scarebird, lifted her up several feet into the
air, and dropped her to the ground.  Stuffing flew out everywhere.

Several other slinky men grasped Aluminum Foil Man and slammed him
into several talking trees until his body had grown limp.  The slinky
men then flew over to Rabear backing away from a large group of slinky
men closing in on him.  He waved a friendly hello, but nothing
happened. They only grinned evilly and got closer to the poor,
cowering creature.  

The last few took Harlan and Eltoto and lifted them into the air.
They quickly flew away calling the other slinky creatures along.  The
group backed away from Rabear, Aluminum Foil Man, and Scarebird.  All
that was left was an old piece of metal, a frightened bear, and hay
all over the place.  Rabear revived Aluminum Foil Man--a very
difficult task--and together, they put Scarebird back in place.  


"So Harlan Band...how are you?" The wicked witch of the equator asked
grinning.  

"What do you want you witch?"

"It's not what I want....it's what YOU want."

"No it's not."

"You're right.  I want that medalian!!" the witch shouted angerilly.

"No way," Harlan said challengingly.  

"Fine.  All right my little pets," the witch said to the slinky men.
"Take Eltoto here and drown her in the waters."

"Aaaahhh!! No!!  And just when I found a cute guy!" Eltoto screamed 
trying to get loose from the slinky-heads' grip.  

"No, let GO of her!!"

"Then GIVE ME THE MEDALIAN!!"

"Okay....okay, fine.  I will."

The witch grinned and put out her hand to recieve the medalian.
Harlan started to pull it off but the realized how incredibly heavy it
was.  That was strange.  When he would let go of it, it would be
light.  But then if he tried to take it off, he wasn't able to.
"I....I cant get it off!!"

"WHAT?  I should have known.  It'll stay there as long as you're
alive."

Harlan looked up to the paranoid woman.  "WHAT?"

"So....I'll just have to kill you.  Heh heh heh!!  This hour glass
shows how long you'll have to live!"  The wicked witch of the equator
picked up a large hour glass and showed the young boy.  

This couldn't be happening to him!  After all of the adventures he
had, he was going to die in a place that was almost like a dream?  It
couldn't be happening!  The witch set the glass down and left the room
laughing maniacally.  Harlan felt a lump in his throat.  What was he
supposed to do now?  As he sat deep in thought, a face began to
appear in the large crystal ball in the corner.  It was Commander
Goddard.  

"Mister Band!  Where are you?  Mister Radu, any luck finding him?"

"None Commander.  No sight of him."

"MISTER BAND!!!"

Harlan looked at the crystal with amazement.  He couldn't help but
call out to the figures.  "Guys!  I'm right here!  Cant you hear me?
I'm HERE!!  I'll find a way to get to you, I promise!"  Harlan's face
fell when he saw the witches face replace Goddard's.  

"'Guys I'm right here, guys I'm right here!!'  Hah!!" the witch said
with a laugh.  Harlan sat back down and rested himself in an awkward
position.  How would he get out of this one?

* * * * * *


Eltoto raced over the rocks and through the forest.  She had managed
to escape the slinky-people, but now she had no clue to if they were
behind her or not.  She had to find help, and fast.  If the witch got
a hold of the medalian, it would mean the end to her people! She raced
to the original place and found Rabear and Aluminum Foil Man
re-stuffing Scarebird.  

"Oh my gosh, I'm SO glad I found you!" she said racing up to Rabear
and hugging him. He patted her on the back and let her catch her
breath.  "Okay...see, Harlan's going to die!!"

"WHAT?  Well show us the way!" Scarebird said slightly panicked.

Eltoto nodded and motioned for the 3 of them to follow.  


Eltoto, Rabear, Scarebird, and Aluminum Foil Man snuck up behind
several rocks.  They spotted several men who looked remarkably like
Jin and Pel--from the race Fernaherna.  But nothing mattered now.  The
only thing that mattered was getting Harlan out safely.  

"I think I have a plan...." Aluminum Foil Man said staring at the
marching Fernaherna walking into the castle.  Aluminum Foil Man
whispered the plan, and each one agreed reluctantly--Rabear, the last.

"Okay," Rabear said at last.  "I'll go in there.  But there's only one
thing I want you guys to do."

"And what's that?"

"Talk me out of it."

All three smiled and shook their heads.  As Rabear sighed heavily and
prepared, he glanced around and made his way to the back of them where
4 Fernaherna's were about to attack.  "Uh..." Rabear mumbled tilting
his head over to the direction of the three attackers in hopes of the
others getting the hit.  

"SSHHHHHH!" they hissed loudly.  

"But...this is reallly...."

"I SAID...." Aluminum Foil Man started slightly agitated.  He never
finished his sentence.  He turned swiftly around and saw the attacker.
"Oh god," he said suddenly.  

This caused the other two to turn just in time to prepare.  

Rabear, Eltoto, Scarebird, and Aluminum Foil Man were seen minutes
later with the wardrobe of the gaurds.  Shaking slightly, they quickly
ran up to the marching line and joined in. They briskly walked into
the tower doors, the doors closing from behind.  They continued to
march until they were able to duck behind a way.  

"Well, NOW where do we go?" Aluminum Foil Man said hopelessly.

"This way," Eltoto said motioning for the others to follow.  Each one
exchanged expressions on their faces and followed.  Eltoto led them to
a door.  The door had several bolts and locks on it.  

"Harlan?" Scarebird whispered through the large, wooden door.

"Is that you guys?" Harlan asked, hope springing into his eyes.

"Yeah!!  Unlock the door!"

"I CANT!"

"Oh, I'll do it," Aluminum Foil Man said rolling his eyes.  He took
his ax in hand and started to pound the door away.  Harlan backed
away, slightly shocked at what he had seen.  He could have been 
KILLED!!  But the important thing was that he was getting out of that 
hell-hole.  Harlan released a sigh of relief once he saw his strange 
friends.  It was good to be alive.  

"I'm so glad to see you guys!!  Man, I thought I was DEAD!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" The wicked witch of the equator laughed maniacally while
walking up to the trapped little bugs.  "Leaving so soon?  Why, I
wouldn't HEAR of it!  The party's just begun!"  She grinned her wicked
smile as she closed in on the small, meak group.  

Scarebird scanned the room in a terrified manner.  She looked up and
her face lit up.  There, above the threatening mob, there hung a large
chandelier.  And idea immediately hit her.  She quickly grabbed
Aluminum Foils man hand which contained the ax, and cut the rope
holding the chandelier.  But there  was one thing Scarebird didn't
overlook.  When she had cut it, she didn't cut it precisely in time.
There, the chandelier smashed to the floor.  But it did, however,
cause quite a disturbance.  The witch and her men looked at the fallen
light and looked up to laugh at their foolishness.  But the next thing
she knew, they were gone.  "Aaah!" the witch screamed.  "Get them!
Find them!!  Dont let them escape!!"  The Fernaherna immediately took
action and began racing around every corner of the castle, until, at
last, they had found the cowering beings.  

"Hah!" the witch laughed once again.  "You thought you could escape,
huh?  Well, now is the proper time to dispose of them.  And we'll have
Harlan the last.  He will see his little friends die.  Let's start
with you, SCAREBIRD."  The wicked witch of the equator took out a
small CompuPad and started to type maddeningly.  

"What's going on?" Harlan asked a bit confused.  

"She's *bzzzt* scrambling and era*zzz*sing my memory!!  *zzzzz*"  

"Oh god, what do I do?" Harlan asked slightly panicked.  Harlan slid
over to a container of sulfuric acid and dumped it on the witch.

"AAaaah!!" the witch screamed.  "Look what you've done!!  I'm 
desintegrating!!  I'm desintegrating!  Ah, how could a terrible child
like you destroy such beautiful wickedness like me?  AAaaah....I'm 
desintegrating....destintegrating...."   And the witch was no more.  
For a moment, nothing was said.  The Fernaherna were speechless, the
slinky heads were speechless, and for once, Harlan was speechless. 
Finally, one Fernaherna looked up.  

"You killed her," it said in a semi-stupid tone.  

"I'm....I didn't mean to, but she was..."

"Horray for Harlan!!  The wicked witch of the equator is dead!"  The
others chorused along.  

"Horray for Harlan!!  The Wicked witch is dead!"  

Harlan grinned as he saw the happiness he had brought.  Even Eltoto
was happy of what he had done.  She gave him a thumbs up and a smile.

"Well...can we take her CompuPad of spells?"

"Yes, please take it!  And safe journey!"

"Thank you.  Yes!  Now we can go back to the Enchanter and give her
the CompuPad!!"  Each one jumped up and down slightly at the
excitement.  This was really happening!!


The trip back was gleeful.  This time, Harlan was HAPPY to sing along
to the songs.  Although they became quite annoying because of the
pepiness to it, he was glad to be going back home.  He had no worries
at that time!!  When they had reached the Enchanter once again, he
confronted her gleefully.  

"What?  You come back STILL?" the enchanter said slightly annoyed.

"Yes, we've brought the CompuPad of spells like you said!" Harlan said
holding the device up.  "And it wasn't easy either.  We disintegrated
her!"

"Ah yes.  You melted her.  Very good."

"Yeah.  But you promised, so cough it up.  We want what we came for."

"Not so fast."

"WHAT?  No, we did what you wanted, now you do the same!"

"Come back tomorrow, and I will decide."

"Now hold it!  We're not going ANYWHERE until we get what we came for!
I want to go back NOW! Not tomorrow!"

"The great and powerful Foz has spoken!!  Now GO!"

Eltoto rolled her eyes and prepared to sit down.  If she knew this
Harlan character at all, he would stay and argue.  She sighed heavily
and looked around mindlessly.  But she then saw a moving curtain off
to the side.  She silently tip-toed to the curtain and slid the
curtain opened.  Inside, a woman with streaks of rainbow sat messing
with several controls.  She turned around and saw Eltoto standing with
arms folded in disbelief with several others staring.

"Uh...ignore that woman over there!  She's NOTHING!" the Enchanter
called out.  

"Who are you?" Harlan asked stepping up to her. 

"I am the great and powerful..." she stepped away from the mic.
"...Foz."  

"What were you DOING?  You were lying to us the whole time?  You
couldn't do ANYTHING for us?" Harlan asked slightly angry.  

"No, not at all!  I can help you all!  This is my own invention...to
make me look...more powerful."

"Oh.  So...Foz...what--"

"Oh, I'm not Foz.  I'm Suzee.  Pleased to meet you."

"Yeah....Suzee?"

"Yeah...what?"

"Nothing, nevermind.  But how can you help us?"

"It's simple!" Suzee exlclaimed as if it were obvious to the world.
She motioned for the others to come along.  She opened a cabinet and
pulled out a bag. She then stood in front of them all.  "Okay, Eltoto.
You seem to already have found a cute guy of your own," she said
pointing to Rabear.  "AND you'll be rid of Harlan soon."

"Good!" Eltoto exclaimed a bit too suddenly.  

"Now Rabear.  You say you have no confidence.  Am I correct?"

"Well..."

"Of course!  Okay, you're mistaking confidence with re-assurance.
You're only making sure things are safe.  You actually have more
WISDOM!!  Back where I come from, there are people called heros.  But
they have one thing that you dont!"  She pulled out a small pin.
"This."  She pinned it on him.  

"It says 'wisdom'!!" Rabear exclaimed excitedly.  

Suzee nodded and smiled.  She moved on to the line.  "And you 
scarebird.  You say you dont have a brain...er....memory crystal.  But
you're mistaken.  You DO have one, otherwise you wouldn't have been 
able to get out of the predicament with the witch!  Your crystal IS 
cracked, but I can fix that!"  Suzee pulled a small crystal out and 
swirled it around, sparkling dust flying around.  When the dust 
cleared, she had a new crystal.  "And another thing."  Suzee then 
pulled out of her bag a CompuPad.  She pressed several buttons an 
handed it to Scarebird.  "A diploma!" she said gleefully.  She moved 
along.  "I cant forget you, Aluminum Foil Man!" she said grinning.

"Oh heaven forbid," he said rolling his eyes.  

"Here!"  Suzee pulled out a clock in the shape of a heart.  

"Oh gee THANKS.  I'm SO glad I didn't have to pay the horrendous $5
from the gift shop down the red brick road."

"Take what you can get," Suzee said with a shrug.  

"But...how will you get ME home?" Harlan asked impatiently.

"Not to worry!  I know how to get you home!  I'm a space girl myself!
I'll leave with you right away!"  Suzee raced off to prepare.

Harlan raised an eyebrow.  This wasn't going to be such a bad trip
after all!  


Harlan and Suzee prepared to leave the rainbow colored place. The
whole town square was packed with spunch-kins, Fernahernas, slinky
men, and many others.  This was an exciting day.  Catalina sat in her
carriage smiling at the ceremony.  This would be a day to remember! 

Suzee and Harlan sat in the starling preparing to take off.  Harlan
couldn't WAIT til he got out into space.  As he grew more and more
envious, he finally realized who that rainbow-headed girl reminded
him of.  

"Catalina!" he exclaimed.  

"Huh?" Suzee asked looking over at Harlan.  

"It's Cat!  Isn't it?  Oh gosh, I have to talk to her!  Hold the
flight!"  Harlan quickly exited the doors.  

"But I cant--oh...."  Suzee folded her arms in frustration.

Harlan raced out of the starling.  But no sooner did he leave that the
small vehicle started to fly away.  "No, WAIT!" he called after it.

"I cant stop this thing!" Suzee shouted through the speaker.  "I'll
see everyone later!"  

"Bye!" everyone shouted out as the starling grew out of sight.

Harlan slouched down to the rim of the sidewalk-like floor.  He sighed
heavily.  He's be stuck in here forever!!  All hope was lost.  As he
looked up into the sky and observed the faces of each pitying person,
he noticed something in the distance.  No, not a starling...but
something else.  Something familiar.  Yes! It was Rosenda in bubble
form!!  How he praised himself for not popping her earlier.  He sprung
up from where he had been sitting and met the young child.

"Hello Harlan!" Rosenda said gleefully.  

"Hi.  My ride just took off!  Will I be stuck here forever?"

"No! You could go all the time!"

"WHAT?  Then why didn't you TELL me?" Harlan whined.  

"Because you had to learn a lesson for yourself."

"What did you learn?" Scarebird asked curiously.  

"Well....I think that I learned that it's not enough to want to see
the crew again.  But I really had to....feel it.  And now I know that
if I ever want to run away, I'll never go so far than my own
spaceship.  Is that right?"

Rosenda nodded.  "Now, take the medalian," she instructed.

Harlan clutched the metallic object and closed his eyes.

"Now repeat to yourself....'there's no place like the Christa....
there's no place like the Christa'....keep repeating...."

"There's no place like the Christa.  There's no place like the
Christa...."  Harlan continued to clutch the medalian and repeat over
and over again.  He felt swirling around him.  Harlan opened his eyes
and saw his comrades standing over him.

"Commander, here he is!! I found him!" Radu shouted out.  

"Good work mister Radu!  Harlan, are you okay?"

"Man," he said rubbing his head.  "I had the wierdest dream.  And you
were in it...and so were you!!"  Just then, Bova, Rosie, Ms Davenport,
Suzee, and Catalina raced up to Harlan.  

"There you are Harlan!  You all gave us quite a scare!" Suzee said
grinning.  

"Grozit Harlan, what were you doing?"

"You were all in my dream!!  But...it was real too."

"Sure Harlan," Bova said rolling his eyes.  "And I've just decided to
live the MERCURIAN way.  Happy and peppy and disgusting."

"Oh Bova, it's GREAT being happy!  Try it sometime!"

"I did...it made me queasy."

Rosie grinned.  "Come on Harlan.  I better get you to medlab to make
sure there arent any internal wounds."

"But...it was real!!"

"Sure Harlan."  Each of his friends helped Harlan to the MedLab.
Harlan couldn't BELIEVE it!!  They wouldn't believe him!!  Was it
really a dream?  Did it really happen?  He could never guess.  He
sighed heavily and walked along with his friends.  Elmira had joined
in.  Harlan glanced around the forested area he was in.  As he walked
away, he could SWEAR he heard giggling...and a little spunch-king
running by.  

The End