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Quest for the Zodiac Stones

"BAM!" They hit the floor with a sudden crash. Lara pulled Garfield up to his feet and they began surveying around their new location.

"Alright, where are we now?" questioned Lara aloud.

They were surrounded by darkness, and all they could spot was a glass case of some kind. Lara used a flare she packed along to light up the surrounding. To their surprise, they saw various glass cases surrounding them containing different types of Batman costumes inside. Garfield's mouth was wide open in amazement.

"This must be Batmans lair, the place where the second Zodiac stone is hidden. C'mon Garfield, let us look around the whole premises, said Lara.

Both of them began searching high and low for the stone. However, Garfield was searching for the hope of finding food. Lara was using her crowbar to pry out some machine part in order to see if the stone is hidden somewhere inside the machine. Just then they both heard an elevator sound coming from somewhere, but as they both looked around there was nobody so they just ignored it and search on. Lara was about to pry into the glass case containing the Batman outfits, when all of a sudden someone dashed onto her, making her drop down. Still stumbling in the dark (since her flare is finished) Lara reached for her pistols and aimed it toward the direction where the sound of the stranger that attacked her was coming from. But before she could pull the trigger the stranger threw a small winged object toward her pistols making them dropped to the floor. In desperation, Lara hold out her crowbar as a weapon. She tried to hit the stranger but missed him several times because he was moving pretty fast and furthermore he was wearing a black cat-suit which made it hard for Lara to see him in the dark. Finally, the stranger threw another winged object, but this time Lara ducked herself and her weapon just in time, so the winged object missed her and instead hit the wall behind her where Garfield was standing right under it. Garfield's head was almost cut if he was any taller than an inch more. In shocked as usual he fainted.

Quickly the stranger threw a rope at Lara. She didn't notice the camouflaged rope, so she was caught. Lara tried to break herself free, but the mysterious person was too strong, and he was able to pin Lara to the floor and tie her up. Lara lay helplessly on the floor with the rope around her, and the stranger walked away toward the wall. He pulled a switch and the whole place was lighted with extreme bright light that was blinding Lara for a minute. When her eyes were finally adjusted to the light, she saw that the mysterious person was standing right in front of her. She looked up to him and saw that he was indeed wearing a black rubber cat suit with a mask of -- Batman.

"What is going on down there?" questioned an old man's voice from the top of the stair.

Oh, just an intruder with a weird cat that tried to break and steal some of the things," replied Batman.

"We were not stealing anything. We were finding...." Before Lara could finish her statement Batman dragged her and the unconscious Garfield out of the room, while the old man slowly descended down the stairs and checked the machine and the Batman costumes to see if they were harmed. It seem that a few machine were pried open by Lara, but other than that everything was fine.

Batman dragged Lara and Garfield to a room with no window or any furniture. When the three of them were in there, he closed the automatic door.

"Look, we just need the stone and then we will be on our way," said Lara.

"Yeah? So how come you guys break in and destroyed our properties?" questioned Batman.

"Hey buster we have no time for asking and pleading. A village and thousand people will be cursed and doom if we cannot retrieve the magical zodiac stone soon. Me and my friends will not be able to go back to our dimension and time if we don't accomplish the task, and the only apology I can say now is I am sorry to break in, but we have no time to ask you nicely if we can search your place. If we asked you, of course you'll say 'no' so what is the use? And beside we cannot waste a second because lives are in danger!" said Lara in a high toned voice.

Batman just stood there and stared at her as if he didn't even hear a word she just said. Lara then continued, "Just tell us where is the stone Terry," At that instant, Batmans eyes grew wide.

"How? How did you know my name? Who are you?"

Lara smiled to herself knowing that her plan is working. And she said to him, "Look I know its hard to believe, but there are more than just things that surround us. Aliens, dimensions, time portals, you name it, they all exist. I am an archeologist and I traveled to different places as well as time. And from these journeys I recognize most of you." Of course Lara is not telling the whole truth. Actually she knew Batmans name from one of Johnny's meaningless story which was the cartoon series he watched. Batman untied her and Garfield who just woke up from his fainted sleep. Lara whispered to Garfield, "Man, this dude needs to learn about psychology and lies a bit more." Garfield just managed to say, "Huh?" Batman took off his mask and said, "Well I guess there is no point of hiding my identity from you now. You said you are looking for the stone?

Terry took out a stone engraved with a beautiful picture of a woman and handed it to Lara.

"Is this what you are looking for? I found this on my driveway last night. Why would you want a piece of worthless stone that was left on the road?"

"Its the Virgo stone!" exclaimed Lara with glee. "And trust me, its not worthless."

Suddenly Lara remembered that she hadnt seen the Virgo sign there but two little twins, so she was wondering how that stone had been found there. She asked Garfield what sign she saw in the lair just to make sure since he had written them all down and he confirmed that it was the Gemini sign they were supposed to find. Terry asked: What are you talking about? Do you really expect to find all 12 signs?. Garfield looked at him and said: Unfortunately Lara has this wild idea of helping a village called Greensfield.

While Garfield was filling Terry up on all they had been through, Lara was examining the stone carefully. I GOT IT she finally screamed out. This isnt the real Virgo stone but a mere imitation which was made since the stones had been separated Garfield interrupted her thats right and thats the reason you saw the Virgo stone in umm Lara looked at him with a wide smile and said the 12th century castle, Garfield was shocked since she had never looked at anyone like that before.

After trying to understand Garfields story, Terry remembered that his two twin cousins had come to visit him and so he informed the duo. In that instant Lara and Garfield looked at each other with puzzled looks and asked: Wheres Johnny?.

Where was Johnny? Well last time we saw him he was in hell, a captive of two different groups known as the GREENIES and the PINKIES. These groups liked sacrificing blond people and since the Pinkies had just created the Greenies they wanted to celebrate. Unfortunately after this we have no more information from him except that he is blocked in hell and that our insane evil Pinkies and Greenies creator wants to torture him. Thats all on todays news in hell. This was what Johnny was watching on television during his stay in the so-called Greenie/Pinkie prison. The Greenies/Pinkies wanted their sacrifice to be relaxed and feel at home (of course their concept of home was different from Johnnys). He described it using another one of his favorite cartoon series only 1000000000 worse: The Adams Family. Of course since Johnny was really scared to death at the moment we arent sure it he was referring to that or Frankenstein Jr.. Of course this prison had something else other prisons dont, like cotton candy walls (poisoned of course) and an enormous television which only showed horror channels and could never be turned off. Johnny was screaming 24 hours a day (that is if they knew when it was daytime in Hell).

In the meantime Garfield and Lara had decided to look for him later and continue their quest in peace (at least until he showed up). Terry explained that his cousins were superheroes as well and that they were sent there for an important mission, which they would keep very secret.

Terry explained that they were like little vampires and called themselves Vampirettes, they would sleep during the day and work by night, and they hated garlic.

Lara was very curious in meeting them because the sooner she did, the sooner she and Garfield could have been on their way. Garfield, of course, thought there was a catch and that everything was moving too fast. Terry brought them out of his lair and pulled a lever, which opened a secret door leading into another lair. Unlike Batmans lair, this one was colorful and had lots of bright drawings in it, other than that there were also lots of toys around the place. Garfield looked at the place and understood that two girls stayed there and the worst thing Garfield hated (apart from Johnny talking) was when little girls played with him. Lara also came to the same conclusion as Garfield but she also noticed another thing, for having two little girls in it the lair was quiet too quiet. Suddenly all the lights when out and the last thing Garfield and Lara heard before being knocked out was: WATCH OUT.

When they revived, they could hear Terrys voice: You shouldnt attack people like that. You should first understand if they are friends or foes then attack. The next thing they saw were two little girls in matching vampire dresses except that one was red and the other was black (you know the matching dresses the Powerpuff girls wear identical).

The girls looked at Lara and Garfield with a disappointed look. Sorry we attacked you but we thought you were bad guys. My name is Vampy said the one in red; Mine is Draculy said the one in black and then together they shouted we are the Vampirettes. We have come to visit Batman for a secret mission, which we havent told anyone about yet. One day we had a vision of finding a golden colored stone with the sign of two twins on it explained Vampy. Draculy then continued: We found the stone about a week ago and we had been protecting it from intruders for a week than I had another vision. We were supposed to give the stone to a lady and a cat which in exchange gave us another stone.

Lara and Garfield gave each other weird looks and looked at the Vampirettes. Then they decided to give them the fake Virgo stone in exchange for the Gemini one. They asked if the trade was okay but the Vampirettes refused and said: If you want the stone you have to give us the stone and play Good and bad guys with us including Uncle Terry. Terry had played lots of times with them before so he didnt mind. Garfield and Lara agreed as well so the twins started thinking about how to organize the game.

In the meantime strange things were happening in Greensfield. There had had 4 nights instead of 2 days and 2 nights and that meant that the ghost stayed on this side of the hill for four days. The inhabitants of the village were beginning to get worried and so they decided to all reunite in one house, the tallest one in the whole village so all the villagers went out with torches. Some screamed: We saw the ghost run for your lives and others would just try to avoid looking around until they reached their goal. Once everybody reached the tallest house in the village they all felt more secure but suddenly they heard some girlish cries for HELP. These screams were Johnnys and they were so loud that they reached many parts of the Earth even though he was in the lowest circle of hell. His screams were terrorizing all the inhabitants of the little village, which thought that the ghost was killing somebody.

Johnny was afraid that his tortures had already started even before they brought him out of the dungeon. It seems that the Pinkies knew exactly what blonde people hated specially the stupid ones which would wear sun glasses 24 hours a day. They had changed the television in the room and now it only showed the films Johnny dreaded and even worse films without girls.

The Vampirettes had decided that Terry and Lara would be the bad guys trying to steal the Virgo stone and that they would be the good guys. Garfield and another friend of theirs would be their assistants. In that moment the lair door opened and a flashing light entered the room, Lara and Garfield tried to see who was entering without being blinded but it was no use. A donkey came into the room and as soon as he saw Garfield he ran to him and said : Shrek, I didnt know you stepped into a time portal by mistake as well. Garfield looked at the donkey and explained: I dont know who you are but Im not Shrek!!!.

Well Im Donkey, and this pretty lady is oh my gosh princess, I didnt know you fell into a time portal as well!!!. Lara said she wasnt the princess and she introduced herself and Garfield.

The games began and after hours and hours of playing Garfield and Donkey both sat down to have a rest. About 48 hours later the twins finally gave up and the bad guys had victory. Draculy and Vampy went up to Lara and gave her the stone, she hadnt started disappearing yet so she went and sat next to Garfield and Donkey. After a while all three of them noticed that they werent in the lair anymore but in another dimension.

    

Garfield became tense and grabbed the nearest thing for security which was, unfortunately, Donkeys tail. He yelped as Garfield sank his claws in.

YEEEOOOOWWW!!! Ive been bitten Im gonna die, Lara HELP! ITS A SNAKE OH NO, IM GONNA DIE

Lara and Garfield automatically blocked their own ears. Lara asked herself, What did I do in my life to deserve such lousy partners in an expedition? and then yelled, DONKEY! THERE IS NO SNAKE!

There isnt? Oh yeah, of COURSE there isnt! It just got to me since my tail is very sensitive to

Shh. Lara said suddenly, grabbing Donkeys muzzle. There was a faint sound from far away.

It was dreadfully dark, and Garfield was getting nervous. UmmLara? You know that MOST cats are supposed to see in the dark, but Im not like most cats, and umm

Lara suddenly turned to him. Youre scared of the dark? she said, surprised.

Yeah, well, its not exactly like that, lets put it in another way

Oh, dont feel bad, Garfield, I used to be afraid of the dark too, until wait a sec. Im still afraid of the dark! HELP! ITS DARK

He was stopped from saying anything more by Lara, who firmly tied his mouth shut with some unbreakable synthetic rope. He continued mumbling.

Mmfninfufmoffiffmfm

Two words for both of you. Shut. Up. Theres someone coming this way. Lara commanded fiercely.

Footsteps echoed. Lara realized that they were in some sort of cave; she looked ahead of her and dimly saw stalactites and water dripping from them. The footsteps clunked against stone

Drip, drip, drip. Clunk, clunk, clunk. Drip, drip. Clunk, clunk. Drip. Clunk. Drip

They all felt tenser and stiffened as the unknown being approached them. Bracing herself, Lara turned and suddenly flashed her torchlight directly in his face. She drew in a sharp breath in horror, as Donkey and Garfield let out muffled yells of sheer fright.

A lame old man, whose face was so damaged and deformed that it no longer seemed human anymore. The skin was twisted and scarred and covered with strange growth of new skin among the dead skin. Two sad brown eyes looked out of this horrible mess, straight at Lara, with an expression of surprise. The next moment he covered his face with a long cloak.

I am sorry, I was not aware that beautiful young women were in the habit of coming to the haunted caves, said he, through his cloak.

Lara recovered from her initial shock. No, sir, were sorry. Do these caves belong to you?

They belong to no one, but since they are known to be haunted, no one comes here, and I thought it best to live here, away from everyone else. It has been so long now that they think that I am a monster of the caves. But I perceive you are travelers. Whither do you come from, and where do you wish to go? I can guide you to your destination as long as it is within France.

France? Now wait a second here, youre not telling me that we just flew all the way from America and landed on the other side of the sea in just about

Donkey! said Lara, giving him a poisonous look that could have killed a rattlesnake. She tied the rope back onto his mouth. Excuse him, hes a little confused. We are looking for the Zodiac stones, and since were in France I guess we going after Sagittarius in Notre Dame.

Although they couldnt see his face, they realized that he was shocked, and he jumped about a foot when Lara mentioned the Zodiac stones.

What do you want with the stones and the warriors?

Warriors? said Lara questioningly.

Yes, each stone has the spirit of a powerful warrior, and when all twelve stones are together, it gives the collector a great power. They have been scattered throughout space and time by the Time Lords so that only a worthy person would be able to collect them in times of dire need.

What is this great power?

That I do not know. I have been told by one of the Time Lords that one day, a woman would come to me asking help to do something she felt bound to, and if I helped her throughout, I could die in peace. That means I am to help you. But I didnt know that it was to gain the Zodiac stones. How can a mere woman live with such power?

Lara shifted angrily, but she spoke with a level voice. Suppose you tell us your story and we tell you ours, she suggested, leading them all out of the dark caves into the bleak winter sunshine. Oh, and tell me how long itll take for us to get to Notre Dame,

Its a three day journey by foot, replied the old man, covering his face further with his dark cloak.

And now we can go to the nearest inn and talk, continued Lara amiably, Donkey and Garfield in tow.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

But Dante, we dont have any control over the Sirens, are you sure this isnt too dangerous? We are responsible for visitors, you know, and I think if the Hellish Patrol knew

Stop worrying, Virgil, you make me tired. One of the reasons I took this job with Hellish Patrol was to get away from my wifes nagging, and now youre getting just as bad. Besides, this is the Pinkies and Greenies decision, and we have no control over THEM.

Virgil was silent. But he thought to himself. I give up. Its not like dumb macho blondes would last long in here anyway.

            To explain what was happening, let us just briefly outline the Pinkies usual sacrificial rites:

1)       Making the victim spend a whole night trapped in a dark chamber and not letting him sleep by making him hear evil laughs from women, scare him by seeing sudden flashes of light and glimpses of evil eyes, accidentally dumping thorns on the floor for him to fall on after tripping on the wire unintentionally placed there. Then in the middle of the night everything will become eerily silent, then they will bring in a lion to roar loudly; after that theyll let the lion spend the night with the victim, freaking him out entirely.

2)       The next morning, offer him a breakfast of Hellish Delicacies: 1st course Pureblood soup flavored with several spices e.g. slug lime, the intestinal juices of a pig, and I dont think we want to go on. Instead of bread or croutons to eat with it, we have eyeballs. What eyeballs? Oh, I dont think we want to know that either. 2nd course: Rat tail and insect antenna salad, very crunchy, with a special salad dressing made by Bloody Mary herself, including rotten eggs extract

3)       After breakfast is the parade with Johnny in a cage. The Pinkies and Greenies carry him around Hell and, since they are so small, accidentally drop Johnny very often. It is only coincidence that he is dropped into the Scorpion pit, the Snake egg nest, and other such places. The parade takes all day since Hell is so large and the Pinkies & the Greenies (Im gonna abbreviate to P & G from here) are so small.

4)       Special Treat for Johnny Bravo only: Next day (after another terrifying sleepless night): Johnny is informed by P & G that he can do a TV commercial, which will then allow him to be world famous. He is told that the ad concerns women very much, and is offering a $ 1 000 000 contract. Whod refuse? Johnny enthusiastically agreed. He is given the script and finds it a LITTLE weird. He is escorted to a TV studio that we didnt know existed in Hell. (It doesnt.)

Johnny is then told that the make up artist and costume designers are waiting for him. He goes along. Notice that he STILL does not know what product this advertisement is for, but he didnt think to ask. He doesnt get to see what he looks like after the make up artist and costume designer are done because the director of the advert is impatient. He runs along to the set in his outfit.

DIRECTOR <with suspiciously pink skin>: Ready, Johnny?

JOHNNY: Yeah, man, Im ready, but I

DIRECTOR: Great! OKLightsCameraACTION! Go on Johnny, its your cue.

<Unknown Samantha Fox music blares from loudspeakers>

JOHNNY <reading from teleprompter>: Erright, I gotta sing this <singing with high, girly, falsetto voice, and dancing as choreographer instructs from behind the camera>: YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A *NATURAL* WOMAN, YEAH! <Dancing wildly> OH, I FEEL LIKE A REAL NATURAL WOMAN

DIRECTOR: Cut! Now Johnny that was good work, my boy. Only, I want you to follow the same dance but with a different song. Okay? Heres the script.

JOHNNY: Yeah, sure.

EVERYONE ELSE ON THE SET <titters>: Were betting fifty Elf Dollars on the number of phone calls we get from viewers.

DIRECTOR <hair looking strange and badly cut, one side shorter than the other as he snickers evilly>: All right, everyone, breaks over. LightsCameraACTION!

<music blares from loudspeakers>

JOHNNY <belly dancing this time>: IM YOUR VENUS, IM YOUR FIRE!

EVERYONE ELSE ON THE SET: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pinkie#1: Listen to his falsetto voice!

Greenie#1: Look at him belly dance!

Pinkie#1: If he ever gets home, hell be so humiliated!

Costume Designer-Pinkie: We made sure that it was so dark that he didnt know he was wearing one of the Seducing your husband lingerie from the Elle magazine catalogue.

Greenie#2: Did anyone tell him this commercial was for womens underwear?

Greenie#1: Did anyone tell him that it was a live show and that 10 billion Americans are watching it right now?

The next day Lara and her two friends returned to the cave. They have a conversation out of the cave. They don't want the old man to hear everything yet. "Great! So it'll take three days to reach Notre Dame. We must head out now. Anymore delays and Greensfield will perish," said Lara.

Garfield with an annoyed look said, "We can't walk for three days, not without any wheels we're not. And what about the old man? His limbs are nearly torn apart, and if his limbs give up on him we suppose to carry him all the way to Notty Dorm?"

"Its Notre Dame Garfield, and beside I saw an old wagon with two stallions near the cave. It must belong to the old man, and we can use it for traveling. Furthermore, you could use a bit of exercise over there," Lara smiled and pointed to Garfield's tummy.

Garfield frowned and thought, "Hmm! Girls. They are always jealous of my beautiful shape."

The old man was looking at Lara and her friends from inside the cave. Lara approached him and said, "We decided to head to Notre Dame right now, but we might need to borrow your wagon for the journey. Oh and by the way, are you coming with us? Its not an easy journey you know."

The old man looked at her and said, "I am avowed to help you till the end, and I want to be buried in Notre Dame."

Lara gave him a confused look at his last sentence, but she had no time to waste thinking about it. She followed the old man to the back of the cave, and helped him prepare the wagon. Garfield and Donkey just stuffed the whole wagon with food they both found hidden in the old man's cave.

After half an hour everything was finally ready. Everyone hopped on. Lara was seated in front with the old man controlling the horses. Garfield and Donkey was seated at the back enjoying the food. They drove for several miles, stopping at every brook to let the horses rest and quench their thirst. Night filled the sky, but Lara did not let that stop her journey. From the corner of her eye, she saw that the old man who was seated beside her was staring at the road ahead. The silent was unbearable especially after Garfield and the talkative Donkey fell asleep. Lara decided to start the conversation. "Say, um sir. What is your name anyway? I didn't get a chance to ask you before?'

The old man turned to her and with a gloomy face said," Le souffrir."

Lara gave a slightly puzzled look. She said to herself, "If my knowledge of French is right, "souffrir" means "to suffer". What kind of a name is that?"

She did not dare say anything further. Silent once again filled the air.

It was after midnight. The old man was still driving the horse. Lara was nearly slumbering. Suddenly, from out of nowhere was a gunshot. Everyone in the wagon woke up. "You will never catch me alive boy!" was a hoarse voice.

In a few seconds, two men were running from behind the tree. It seemed that the man in front was being chased by another man at the back. But the night was so dark without a star that they can't even be sure that they were men. They both ran directly pass the wagon. The man in front turned around and tried to shoot the man that was chasing him with a rifle, but the man behind ducked just in time. The bullet shot and the commotion made the horses panic with fear that they neighed and jumped on their hind legs throwing everyone out of the wagon.

"Lara ,help!" shouted Donkey and Garfield who were buried under the wagon. Instantly after the name Lara, was called the second man who was chasing the first man ran toward them. Lara and the old man were fine since they were thrown off on the grass unlike Garfield and Donkey who were buried under the wagon since they both were sitting together there in the first place. Lara, the old man, and the mysterious man were trying to lift the wagon up. Lara did not even notice the stranger's face. She was concerned only for her friends.

"BAM!" The wagon was finally lifted. Garfield and Donkey's face were white as snow from shock and fear. "Why do bad things always manage to happen to me?" questioned Garfield angrily.

"At least you're safe now. These sort of things are expected to happen on a quest like this," said Lara. She turned toward the old man who was also half-petrified. She pitied him and said, "Thank-you for helping me save my friends." The old man was smiling a little but from his eyes it is sure that he is just faking the smile. Lara turned to find the mysterious man that helped lifted the wagon, "Oh and thank-you sir, so much even though we don't know...You?!" Everyone turned to see the mysterious man's face. But it was covered with a mask. "Batman?! What are you doing here?! How did you get in here?!" shouted Lara and Garfield at the same time. The old man and Donkey were simply staring with confusion.

Terry himself was shocked, "I can't believe it myself. I was on a trail of the notorious mad genius that called himself "Hourglass". Somehow he designed a time machine that was to take him to the past during World War One and change the history there for the worse. I struggled with him as we both were trapped in the time machine, and we must have accidentally knocked on a button that sent us to the wrong year. I was chasing him back there when I heard someone in distress calling Lara, and I still remembered your name. You and your cat were trying to break in to find the Stone a few days ago weren't you?"

Lara half in shock and half in anger said, "Hey, we told you before that we weren't breaking in. And what should we do now? We have too many delays. Now our wagon is smashed to bits and the horses have fled away in fear, and Greensfield will soon be doomed, and we can never get home!" She slumped heavily to the ground. Terry was looking at the old man who was looking back at him. Before anyone has time to say another word, a bright light shone in the sky above them. From the center of light everyone had a glimpse of a blond man falling down to the ground. Terry flew up and caught him just in time before reaching the ground. From above Dante said, "He is all yours now. We can't stand him. He was going mad and screaming non-stop." After he said this he disappeared.

"Another delay," said Lara. Johnny rushed to Garfield and gave him a big bear hug. He was bout to rush to Lara, but her angry eyes warned him to keep distance.

"What is going on?" The old man finally managed to say.

"Its a long story. We all better sit down," said Lara.

Everyone was sitting around the bond of fire that Lara managed to set up. Johnny was munching hungrily on the food Garfield and Donkey bought along. After all he had not eaten for days. Lara began, "Alright this whole thing is a piece of confusion. Everyone here may not know the other. I guessed every single one knows me at least. Anyway I and that Johnny (Lara pointed to Johnny whose mouth was filled with chocolate) met in Greensfield bar. It was a village in England. We both stumbled into the time machine. Then we both met Garfield who decided to join our quest. Our quest was to do an archeological survey, but everything was changed when we met a scientist named Hagar. She explained to us that the ghost of the Barbarians which once conquered Greensfield is haunting the village. And the bad news is that if we do not get rid of the ghosts they will follow Johnny, Garfield and me forever. The ghosts will forever haunt whoever sets foot in Greensfield which are the villagers and the three of us. The only one who know how to get rid of the ghosts is Hagar's brother. However, he was burned to death or said to have been burnt. But the truth is he is trapped somewhere in the other world. Hagar ,our only source is dragged off into another dimension when we managed to find out how to free Hagar's brother who in turn will get rid of the ghosts. We need to find 12 Zodiac Stones, which are hidden in various places. After we retrieve one of them, we will be transported to the next place containing the stone. And Johnny was sucked into Greenies, Pinkies land, and so Garfield and myself had to get the stone ourselves. We got one in the desert, hell, you name it. And we were transported to Terry's lair, and thats how we first met. Donkey here came to join us later on. And this poor old man is destined to help us find the next stone, which is in Notre Dame. And as you all can see Johnny is saved from the world beneath which means we can continue the quest. I hope we all can get to know each other now."

It was now 3 A.M. The old man decided they better move off now. It was only a few more miles so they decided to walk. Garfield, Donkey, and Johnny however, kept on whining and complaining of the long walk. Terry decided to join the team for now. After all he have to stay here until he catch the criminal. From time to time Terry would pick someone up so they don't have to walk. After all he can fly. Lara determined to walk without wanting any help to be lift up or fly. She's a tough girl. After 3 hours of weary walking, they finally reached Notre Dame. The team assembled for a plan.

"Alright here's what will do, Terry being able to fly it is best for you to search the bell tower. Le Souffrir (Lara tried hard not to laugh) sir, you can pretend to be a prayer to distract attention. Donkey, Johnny, Garfield and I will split up to search the North wing ,South wing and so forth." Everyone went into action to search for the stone. As Terry was searching the bell tower he spot a glittering object. He approached it cautiously. Suddenly, from behind, a weight was put on him. Before he know it he was struggling with a man who did not look like a man. He knew right away that it was the hunchback of Notre Dame. Terry tried to fight back but did not want to hurt him at the same time. "Wait, I'm a friend! Hold still will you!" shouted Terry. After half an hour of struggling and explanation, Quasimodo finally calmed down.

"Please, tell me this do you happen to know a special stone hidden somewhere in this church? Any stone that is peculiar," questioned Terry.

"I know of no stone. But I know master got one from the high Priest two days ago. Now I have already answered your question, so go!"

"Alright, alright!" said Terry. He returned to Lara and the old man.

"Hey I know where the stone is. Just meet me at the Palace of Justice." Terry flew off.

The team quickly followed. The whole gang put on a cloak to hide their clothes which may caused some commotion and approached the door. Terry carried Johnny, Garfield, and Donkey to the top floor of the palace. Lara and the old man knocked on the door. A guard opened it followed behind was Lord Frollo. He invited the vistors in partly because he was satisfied with Lara's face (you know that Frollo is not at all holy as he said? Well he liked Esmeralda, so why not Lara?).As Lara entered she saw a stone displayed on a glass cabinet, she knew right away that it was one of the stone. Terry and the rest of the gang saw what was happening from the rooftop. Lara was trying to distract Frollo while the rest of the team tried to sneak the stone from the cabinet. Frollo was easily fooled by Lara (naturally)and Terry quickly went to open the cabinet. It was a Sagittarius Stone representing justice, which is quite ironical to be in Frollo's place. "YIPPEE!" shouted Johnny with joy. Frollo turned toward the glass cabinet and saw a guy in a black rubber suit holding a stone and a weird fat cat with a donkey making a nervous face, and an old man who was about to escape through the window, and a freaky blond standing still and saying, "Oops! I did it again."

"Guards-!" Lara knocked Frollo from behind. Everyone ran to the back door and hid in an alley ."We got it," said Terry.

"We did it, sir Le Souffrir, sir we...where is he?" questioned Lara.

"Right here girl. I am here," said the old man who was lying on the floor with his head leaning on the alley wall.

"What 's wrong?" asked Terry trying to support the man up.

"My time has come to leave this world. I accomplished my task and finally I can rest in peace. I am glad that I can let go of this torturing old body and be free again, please do not think of me as a worthless old man and please remember me as a friend," the old man said, his voice nearly giving out.

"We will not forget that, thank-you so much for everything. You will always be remembered," said Lara for the first time with emotion and sympathy.

"Thank-you...."and that was the old man last words. His lips smiled and his eyes closed.

Johnny, Garfield, and Donkey were wailing and crying. Terry was holding the stone and sadly touched Lara's shoulder who was kneeling beside the old man, "C'mon. He is now in peace. Lets get on with our journey." The team wondered off sadly.

On the way Terry said, "I guess I cannot catch that crook I'm after now. I guess I have to join the quest with you. The whole team was beamed to the new destination

When all the French scenery had disappeared, nothing reappeared. Lara was very puzzled because of this fact and everyone else (except Terry) began to worry. All they could see was a white colored background and nothing would reappear. After about 15 minutes, Lara and Terry began worrying as well, thinking that they had disappeared into thin air and that they would never find their way back and complete their quest. They all sat down on the infinite white thing and would wonder why they werent floating through it infinitely. Donkey then began to run around and after a while he bumped his head against something. Garfield got up and noticed a doorknob, he turned it and told everyone that they had been sitting in a white room for the last 3 hours. Lara and Terry ran out of the room and started examining everything from the furniture to the walls. Garfield opened up the little notebook in which he wrote everything and said: I think we are in an English house the one of the which contained the Virgo stone. Lara looked at Garfield and said : Obviously!!!. After that she pointed at all the Virgo paintings and decorations in the room. Terry had gone out of the window for a quick look outside and when he came back he explained: Outside everything is represented with the Virgo sign. The fountain has a lady carrying a jug, the bushes are cut out like water falling from a womans hand, there grass is cut leaving a Virgo picture on the floor and so on. Donkey was puzzled, also because he didnt know what a Virgo or whatever was. Lara started explaining and Garfield made a statement. We are in ancient times, when people believed a lot in superstitions, and each part of the country was dedicated to a different zodiac sign. Obviously this British house on the Isles was made in honor of the Virgo sign and it is obviously where the stone was hidden as to not fall in the wrong hands Donkey interrupted him and said: Isnt that a pretty picture, that girls with a giant vase is pointing at something!!!. Lara looked at him and the picture then said: Of course, its a clue (or as Velma would say Jinkies), she is probably pointing to the place the stone might be. The problem is, we dont know if the portrait was here originally or if it had been moved. Suddenly they heard something break and voices screaming: Who are you??? What are you doing in my house??? Get out out OUT!!!. Everyone turned around and noticed an open door and Johnny missing (who else but Mr. Klutz in person). Garfield went to the next room and saw an woman with a giant skirt and umbrella hitting and screaming at Johnny apparently because he broke one of her precious vases. Johnny was screaming for help as well so they were making a horrible noise together. Terry stepped in between them to make them stop and Donkey started explaining that they were looking for a stone but Garfield stopped him. The woman looked at Donkey with evil eyes and asked him to repeat what he said but Lara stepped front and didnt allow him to repeat his words. The woman was middle-aged, tall and had an attitude very similar to that of Cinderellas stepmother, in fact at first Lara had thought it was Cinderellas stepmother. The woman looked at all of them very badly and then demanded what they were doing in her house but got no response. Lara looked at her with a suspecting look and then said that they had been wanting to visit the Virgo manor for a very long time and that they thought the easiest way was by stepping right in. The woman looked even more furious and exclaimed that they had to leave immediately but no one moved, not even Johnny (because he was terrorized of the giant umbrella and was beginning to think that it was better in hell with the Pinkies & Greenies). The woman then looked at them with a wicked smile and said : I would love to give you a tour of the manor but in exchange you have to perform some favors for me. The first reply was What kind of favors???. She looked at them wickedly and scared them out of their wits, specially Johnny and Donkey which are easy to scare!!! Then she spoke, I will take those two CHICKENS hostage and I will transform them into real chickens sending them for a tour of hell. After that I will transform them into two little toys and give them to my daughter. And I will keep on torturing them in many different ways, specially that blonde thing. Not only because he broke my precious vase but also because I hate blonde people with lots of hair STICKING UP!!! Johnny and Donkey started screaming. Lara didnt mind leaving Johnny behind another time but she was afraid for Donkey and refused fiercely.

The woman looked at her and laughed an evil laugh (MWAHAHAHA I guess she learned from Sanam) then looked at Lara and said: You dont know who youre dealing with so I suggest you be careful when you answer darling. I am the wickedest witch in the Universe, I appear in fairytale after fairytale and always help the bad guys. As a matter of fact, I want to introduce you to somebody . As soon as her words cut-off a giant cage fell on everyone and evil laughs echoed in the whole room. Some were strong like : MWHAHAHAH others were weaker like mwhahahaha but they would keep drive people crazy. Terry thought he recognized the owner of the evil laughs and after a while he screamed : Its Hourglass, the mad scientist I was trying to capture. How did he find his way to this era and . He was cut-off, the woman had now turned into a tall black monster with snakes instead of hair. She had two giant horns and a very long devils tail which would stretch till wherever she wanted it to (Guys, its a sort of mix between the bad guy in sleeping beauty, a devil and Medusa). I am the one that called him over here. I am the one that helps all the villains when they are in trouble. I am the one that leads all the evil in the world, including the one in Greensfield. And I am the one that stops people from doing good as long as I can. I am EVIL. Johnny looked at her and said: Well for being evil, you are beautiful!!!. No you idiot, my name is Evil yes its true that I am evil but thats my name!!! I can do any evil deed I want, just that it doesnt last very long so we better send you down to the dungeon before that cage vanishes. Evil whistled and a couple of ghouls entered the room, each one picking up a prisoner and heading towards the dungeon. Terry noticed a sign on the wall which said : ALCATRAZ DIABLO!!! So he screamed and asked Lara what it meant, in that instant Evil had turned and one of the ghouls had lost its power. It seems it was a password to call the ghouls back to the underworld. Garfield was free and he ran and hid as fast as he could. Luckily for him, he wasnt spotted by Evil or Hourglass.

Lara had understood that it was the password to send the ghouls back to the underworld. She also understood that each ghoul had a different password so she thought of words that had something to do with black magic. Suddenly she started screaming worlds such as Azkaban or Inferno. Her ghoul and another had disappeared but Evil grabbed her and covered her mouth while Hourglass knocked Terry out and was dragging him along to the dungeons. They both thought that all the ghouls were still there and that they had each prisoner under control.

Fortunately for our friends, Garfield was watching their every move. At a certain turn they had all vanished and Garfield didnt understand how or where too. After having searched for a long time he decided to go to the kitchen which was in the opposite direction. As soon as he got in the kitchen, he saw a giant cake, which had a map as a decoration, which looked like the map of the mansion. The Feline got a brilliant idea, he redrew the map onto his little black booklet and after having eaten the cake he started following the directions he had copied.

Meanwhile the rest of the gang were each placed in a different cell. Each cell was characterized by what the person in it hated most.

In Johnnys well all his hairspray cans and gel was finished so he couldnt fix his hair. He wasnt allowed out of his cell and outside there were lots of pretty mamas.

In Donkeys: He pictured princess Fiona in danger again, the trouble this time was that the castle wasnt protected by a fire breathing dragon but a giant Hydra which loved eating animals specially DONKEYS.

Laras cell was full of giant dead insects which would be squashed and torn apart continually by some weird looking animals which she didnt want to know the origin of. Once in a while she would shoot some of the insects because they would get to close to her. After about 1 000, 000, 000 shoots, she realized that she was just wasting her ammunition.

There was something weird about Batmans cell because it didnt have any special thing in it, it just had a blinding light which he couldnt even stare into. The thing is that unlike the other three cell occupants, he wasnt really as worried or scared as them. As soon as he was thrown in the cell he sat down and waited probably for Garfield.

Meanwhile Garfield found himself in a weird thorny forest (like the one in Sleeping Beauty). He kept trying to get through the thorns and after a certain point he found himself in a clearing. He looked at the map and noticed that the clearing wasnt signed on it. He went to the middle and noticed a hole, his feline instinct told him to dig so he did so. After having dug for about 5 minutes he reached a metal box. He was confused and decided to take it along just in case he had found the stone so he wouldnt leave the others behind. As soon as he picked the box up the forest disappeared and he found himself in front of an enormous Virgo fountain in the yard of the house. He wanted to see if the fountain was real so he started running to it, somehow he slipped and the box banged against the vase of the fountain. Suddenly a secret passage opened under the fountain, Garfield followed it slowly and ended up in Laras cell. They both got out of there and Garfield explained what he had gone through. Lara was curious to see what was in the box so they decided to open it. To their surprise, it wasnt the Virgo stone but a long black cloth with silver stars on it. Lara tried it on and they found out that it wasnt a normal cloth but an invisible cloak. Lara picked Garfield up and wore the cloak, then following the directions of Garfields map, they headed inside the house and towards the dungeons.

When they reached the dungeons Lara looked for the keys while Garfield went to assure everyone that they would be out of the cells soon, specially Donkey that was running around in circles trying to avoid the Hydras heads, specially the very sharp teeth. Lara couldnt find the keys to the cells but she had found the right equipment she could have used to open them, she started working on Donkeys cell door while Garfield was laughing his heart out watching Johnny suffer.

After having freed Donkey and Terry, all four of them went under the cloak and watched Johnny freak out because he thought that they had left him behind again. They were about to send Lara to work on his lock when they heard footsteps, Evil was back and she wasnt there to do good deeds. Johnny saw her come to his cell and started screaming at the top of his lungs while all the other could do was watch what was going to happen.

  

Evil walked in and did a double take. WHERE ARE THE OTHERS GONE?! she shrieked in Johnnys face. He whimpered like a lost cocker spaniel. Useless creature! Come here, were going to the highest point in the lighthouse

Lara gulped and Terry tightened his grip on Donkeys mouth, while Garfield tightened his grip on poor Donkeys back. Needless to say, clawing is very painful. They watched Evil drag Johnny away. As soon as they were gone Lara threw off the cloak and sat down, thinking hard.

Shes taking him to the lighthouse as a hostage to lure us out into the open, she said to Terry, the only other intelligent person present.

So our best bet is to find the stone and then find a way to rescue Johnny, replied Terry, sitting beside her. Garfield, that map, please, he said, reaching towards the little black book.

Youre not gonna read anything private? said Garfield suspiciously.

Lara gave an exasperated groan. Do we have the time to poke our noses into some unknown cats diary? she asked. Taking the plan of the house hed drawn, she spread it on the ground and began giving instructions. Right, heres plan A: Terry, you search the east wing following this path, and especially avoiding this room, and then use the secret passage here to meet me and Garfield in the garden by the fountain. Garfield, you and Donkey go in this direction going through the west wing and the attic. Terry, you look in the cellar first thing. Im going after that idiot Johnny. No matter what, be at the fountain in ONE HOUR. Lets go.

            Lara marched out, military style. Terry whistled and said to Donkey, Shed make some Major-General.

Well, if you dont my saying, I dont like em Major-Generals. Now that Colonel of that John Wayne movie, hes more my kind. You know, dashing, brave heart-breakerhe always does show

Come on, interrupted Terry, dragging Donkey along.

            They went entered a corridor, which seemed to be the servants passages of the fortress. Terry wasnt quite sure that it was a fortress since he couldnt remember his history lessons very well. (Well, who can blame him? Its not like Bruce Wayne ever gave him time to study.) Terry gave directions to Garfield and Donkey and followed the path previously indicated by Lara. He entered a small room which was at first very dark and empty but Terrys keener instincts told him there were more people in the next room. From the smell of perfume and the fabric around him, he guessed that they were in some sort of dressing room or a very large wardrobe. He listened at the door and then opened a crack and peeked in.

He saw a whole troupe of women, all chattering and surrounding a large ivory dressing table. Each on of them was holding something or doing something as they all laughed gaily. They were all dressed in long gowns and headdresses of the 12th century, about King Arthurs time.

Then a clear voice from the dressing table, in the middle of the crowd of ladies and maids, spoke loudly in slightly accented English. LEAVE ME, ALL OF YOU, THIS VERY MOMENT!

Silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

You heard me, said the voice more calmly. Please go. I am ready now and I do not need any more of your help to dress. Alice, viens à moi quand le temps est arrivé.

            They all left filing out, and whispering among themselves. As they left, Terry saw the owner of the voice more clearly. She was a very beautiful woman, and dressed in a sea of satin, watered silk and real Valenciennes lace trimmings. Her gown had a long full skirt and a massive train, and it was covered with pearls and diamonds clustering together, so that you could hardly see the white satin. She was also wearing a heavy choker of diamonds and sapphires with matching earrings. Her dark hair was in a net studded with pearls, so that it looked like the night sky with stars.

            Now she was leaning forward, looking very tired. Looking closer, Terry realized that she couldnt have been more than eighteen. He was debating whether to get out of the gigantic wardrobe and to speak to her or not when there was a tap at the door, and the maid called Alice entered. The woman half-turned, and spoke in French:

Alice? Cest deja

Non, madame, il reste un demi-heure. Vous êtes sur que vous allez bien?

Je suis sur de rien. With a weary gesture she covered her face with her hands. Vas-y, laisse-moi seule.

The maid left. Terry now desperately wished that he had paid some attention in his French class. *When I get back home* he thought to himself, *I will really learn this stupid language*. He sneaked into the room. As he came closer to her, he held his breath. *Please dont scream* he prayed.

            Suddenly she jumped up and whipped around, holding a dagger in her hands. She faced him staunchly, watching him like a cat watches a mouse.

Who are you, stranger? she said carefully. Your attire bespeaks not of my land, nor of this strange one that I am to be queen of.

Terry hesitated. He previously thought that noblewomen of this era fainted at the sight of a stranger and were scared of weapons. Unfortunately he realized that she knew exactly what to do with her dagger, which just happened to look very sharp.

Lady, I come from another land and time, and I know not who you are or where I am. I have been transported by magical powers unknown to your people, and I am on a quest with other worthy champions. (Terry decided that explaining science and technology to the people of 12th century Britain would be a little difficult, and so called it magic.)

            For some obscure reason, she believed him. She told him that she was the princess of France and that she was to marry the crown prince of England, who needed Frances support to conquer Scotland. She knew that there were other creatures and evil beings at this fortress, but she explained that for religious reasons they had to be married here, and that her husband-to-be and she had to exchange vows with the Virgo stone.

The Virgo stone? Terry said in amazement. But thats what were looking for!

You mean to STEAL the sacred stone? said the princess of France in stupefaction. That will prevent the marriage!

Im sorry, but we need the stone! replied Terry, determined to grab it during the ceremony.

But what will become of the alliances between France and England?

Well, I dont know about you, but *I* dont care!

The princess paced back and forth, silk rustling and jewels glittering. You are sure that the stone is vital for your needs? she asked.

Yes, replied Terry evenly. The lives of several people depend on it.

Then interrupt the wedding and grab the stone when the archbishop asks me to step forth and say my vows. It will then be uncovered and on a blue embroidered cushion, between myself and the crown prince, whom I have scarcely ever seen.

There was a knock at the door. Terry hastily hid himself behind the dressing table.

Entrez, said the princess. Alice came in. Madame la princesse, she said, curtseying. Il faut quon aille.

She took a deep, shaky breath. Jarrive, she said. Alice left. In urgent whispers she said, Hurry and leave this room as soon as you think is safe. Take the second door on the left of the third corridor on the right. It leads to the outer grounds, which are dangerous since strange and, I fear, evil creatures dwell there. But take courage, and go quickly towards the chapel and approach the southern window of colored glass. Underneath it is a small passage that leads to near the stones place in the marriage ceremony. Be cautious, for King Edward the Ruthless is cruel, once he finds traitors.

With that, she walked out with queenly grace and calm. Terry felt sorry for her. Life, even for the royalty in those times, was very hard. He waited till he heard no rustling of the womens gowns and then sneaked out to follow her instructions.

            In the meanwhile Lara was cursing under her breath as she watched Evil place Johnny on a gigantic fishhook and hang him like bait fifty thousand feet above the sea. Johnny suddenly discovered that he suffered from vertigo, and began screaming hysterically and begged pardon from every pretty momma he ever spoke to. They were on an old abandoned lighthouse and Lara had a bad feeling that there were more creatures of Evils type indoors. She went over her strategy for rescuing Johnny in her mind and then decided to wait till Evil looked a little tired. The problem was, from what they had seen, Lara was beginning to think Evil was IMMORTAL. She wondered absently whether she had seen Evil before on her other archaeological digs. (Ref. to Tomb Raider, you know)

"Great, how the heck am I suppose to get that pest Bravo?" questioned Lara to herself. Johnny was still whining and yelping for help, which caused annoyance among the ghouls guarding and Evil herself. Just then Hourglass appeared out of nowhere and whispered something into Evil's ear. After that Evil just left Johnny with the ghouls and followed Hourglass into a tower lighthouse nearby. The ghouls were having a ball as they take turn throwing rotten vegetables at poor Johnny.

"I have to act fast," said Lara to herself. She took a grenade from her backpack and equipped it in a grenade launcher. Quietly she sneaked pass some ghouls who were busy entertaining themselves from torturing Johnny. Lara hid behind several crates that were crowding around the tall fish hook pole that Johnny was hanging from. With a firm grip and tiger speed she shot a grenade into an open space where the ghouls were standing. The explosion let out a tremendous amount of smoke causing a commotion, keeping the ghouls occupied while Lara shot the rope that attached Johnny to the fish hook with her pistol. Down he dropped, screaming and praying. Lara dove into the sea waiting to untie the rope that he was trapped in. Within a second Johnny reached the surface of the sea water creating a tidal splash. Lara dove under the water to rescue him.

The grenade smoke was finally cleared by the wind and to the ghouls' shock, Johnny was gone from the fish hook. Lara and the limping Johnny (hey it was a long fall, he should have died but then again he is a cartoon character) swam toward the location where the whole team were suppose to meet.

Meanwhile Terry was ready in action to steal the stone. He put on some ancient European garment and sneaked inside the wedding hall. The ceremony already started. The hall was filled with royal families, but surprisingly only a few candles dimly lit the hall. The haunting music starts and in came the bride from the door. "Now is my chance," thought Terry. He tore off his garment revealing a rubber Batman outfit. With his jet boots he sprang into the air and headed to the Virgo stone. Everyone was naturally shocked, causing chaos and commotion. Terry grabbed the stone and burst out the glass window. Before he disappeared into the mist, he turned toward the princess and without any sound the princess could read from his lips that said, "Merci". Hopefully the guests did not notice this. Guards tried to shoot Terry, but it was too late.

Lara and Johnny were running back to the secret door that they all last parted. Terry was right above them, and from the other side came Garfield and Donkey rushing in.

"Great, now that we are all here together and we got the stone lets hope the next portal will be open soon so we can get out of here," said Lara quite out of breath. "Not so fast foolish mortals," echoed a voice from the wall. Suddenly Evil and Hourglass appeared in front of them. "Don't think youre just going to walk out just like this," said Hourglass. "To disappoint all of you, I used my spell to close the portal which means you all will be trapped here forever," rumbled Evil. However, after Evil said this, the portal opened and Lara and her friends jumped into it. "How is this possible?! I already put the spell on the portal!" yelled Evil with anger.

Inside the portal everything was black with billion of stars surrounding them. It was just like being float into space. "How was it possible that the portal opened even when Evil put some magic to prevent it from opening?" questioned Terry. "If I'm not mistaken, Hagar's brother powers must be increasing because of the stones we found so far. Hopefully he was the one that prevent it against Evil's magic," said Lara. The whole team just sat in the middle of space waiting to land at their next destination.

            As they floated onward Terry noticed something strange. This stone is, like, twice as large as all the other ones youve got, if my eyes havent gone wrong again,

Lara looked puzzled too. It does, she admitted, taking it into her hand and weighing it. Then suddenly Terry had a hunch. He snatched it from Lara and started trying to pull it apart. Hey, said Lara angrily. Even though youre a hero it doesnt mean you forget your manners,

No look! Its actually two stones stuck to each other! You remember that you saw Virgo in ancient Britain, held by a woman, and you saw Aquarius in a 12th century castle? They were the same place! So these are actually the two stones together, which explains the wedding. The princess was Virgo she mentioned her birthday and I guess the English crown prince was Aquarius! That explains everything!

Laras eyes widened. Youre right! But thenhow do we separate them?

Before Terry could answer, they crashed very violently into the middle of nowhere. Donkey hit his head on a rock and was flung the other direction onto Garfield, who then jumped in fright onto Johnny, who fainted in fright and landed on Terry, who jumped out of the way just in time for Johnny to land on Lara. Terry then was grabbed by something and thrown onto Donkeys unconscious form. Suddenly as Lara pulled herself out of this mess and Garfield tried sitting up, there was a distinct smell of chloroform. She tried to hold her breath but fell asleep before a minute could pass.

When they finally woke up it was very hot. Struggling to stand, though he was battered after being attacked the night before, Terry blinked and tried to guess where they were. He found that they were all tied up and had been dumped in the middle of African jungle. He gulped and wondered what animals they would find, or, would find them. As he untied himself he heard a groan. Oh, man, MY HAIR!! yelled someone with a high-pitched shriek.

Shut up, girly-mouth! Lara yelled back. I just rescued you and all you can complain about is your stupid HAIR!

UhLara, I think we need rescuing again started Terry.

Oh, dont worry, Ive untied myself, Garfield and Donkey already, she said, undoing Johnny.

No, I dont mean that, said Terry nervously.

Then Donkey, who was using an extra pair of Terrys long distance lens, shrieked: THERES A FREAKIN BUNCH OF HUNGRY LIONS COMING TOWARDS US! DO SOMETHING!!!

Uhlike what? asked Lara, the only one who wasnt daunted.

Garfield, Johnny, and Donkey replied in unison. LIKE RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, look, lions dont bother started Lara. She was grabbed around the waist and flung onto Donkeys back (Donkey was the one running in front since he was one of the most scared and also the best runner)

Terry flew ahead onto the top of an enormous old tree and helped the rest up. Naturally, Donkey didnt feel too much at home. Uh, Terry, just man to man, you know donkeys dont climb trees.

Lara gave him a look. Its our refuge until the pride of lions pass. Can you think of anything better?

Donkey didnt answer her, because at that moment, the gigantic leader of the pride looked up the tree and roared till every one of Garfield, Johnny and Donkeys hairs were standing.

RRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

roared the lion.

YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

yelled Donkey, Johnny and Garfield.

Look! yelled Lara to Terry over the deafening noise. The leader has something in his mouth! Can you move fast enough to grab it? I think its the stone!

Terry jumped, and before you could say Christopher Columbus he was back on the branch with a large, deep yellow stone that glowed with a golden light. The lion suddenly started howling loudly as if in pain.

Wow, said Terry as he held it up for everyone to see. Isnt it beautiful? It had, of course, the sign of Leo delicately carved into it. As they all stared at it, Lara noticed that the scenery was beginning to shimmer and disappear as they slipped into another dimension.

"Well done guys, I think-" Before Lara could finish her statement they landed on grass. This time the landing was softer and less rough than the previous ones since they landed on soft fresh grass with dew droplets on it. "Wow! Where, where are we?" questioned Terry.

"I haven't a clue, but wherever we are its sure is beautiful," said Lara dreamily as she stared at the never ending cover of green grass spread across the hill. The sky was pure ice blue, sparrows soared across the sky, soft gentle breeze blew, and despite the chirping of the birds and whoosh of the breeze, the whole area was peacefully still. Cool! Maybe this place won't be as bad as I thought. Hmmwonder if the chicks here are hot," said Johnny dumbly.

"Come on everyone, lets explore the place and search for the next zodiac stone," said Lara.

Everyone lazily stared at her even Terry himself, then Donkey just nagged, "Oh come on girl give us a break. We all nearly got killed back there and here we are, right now, in this magnificent place. Why can't we just take a nap for a while?" Garfield supported Donkey, "I second the motion. And I suggest for food too! We haven't eaten anything since ...since I don't know when!" Lara stared at them in disbelief and said, "Look I know we had a long tough day or night or whatever. But we can't just stop now. Greensfield is being terrorized every second that pass and Hagar and her brother are trapped and I, well all of you will never be able to return home until we finish this task and get it over with."

"Hey, Lara, maybe the guys are right, we really need a rest and definitely we need food. I haven't eaten anything since I chased that Hourglass back there. And we are not any archeologist explorers like you to walk and explore 24 hours. Well maybe I am but anyway the zodiac stone won't go anywhere." Lara simply sighed and said, "Alright. You all stay here. I'll go by myself and I'll be back in an hour or so."

"I'll come too! I'll come too! Its not safe for pretty babe like yourself to go wondering around without any bodyguards," said Johnny grinning. "Oh brother! Whatever, just don't give me any trouble. You just follow me and carry the tool box," replied Lara.

"Lara you really don't have to trouble yourself in searching right now, on the other hand no one can convince you not to," said Terry. Lara smiled at this and just dragged Johnny along.

Terry, Garfield, and Donkey laid on the soft emerald grass. Before you know it, all of them were in slumber land.

Several hours had pass and Lara and Johnny were not back yet. The rest of the guys were still snoozing. The cloud started gathering and the breeze turned into a strong wind. The whole area is gray with clouds and there was a chill in the air.

"Hey get up! Now!" shouted a female voice. Terry , Garfield, and Donkey immediately sprang up. In front of them stood two women. More likely two twins with long black hair and a Chinese-Mongolian face. One of them was wearing a black ninja outfit with black rubber boots and a ninja sword was strapped to her back. The other one was wearing a deep red Chinese robe with a black leather pant and boots under. She also has a ninja sword strapped to her back, in addition numerous metallic ninja boomerang stars were pinned all over her robe. "Alright. What the heck is going on here? And who are you two? Don't tell me, you two are the villains that will stop us from retrieving the zodiac stone right?" said Terry. The ninja twin gave him an evil smile and said in a hoarse voice," You're pretty smart to know this, boy."

"Hey was that an insult?" said Terry angrily. The twin in the red robe said, "Enough of this foolishness. We are the last descendants of Genghis Khan. I'm Anaya and my sister Melana. Obviously you have already guessed why we are here. You are stepping on our land. But thats not the reason we are here. You see a man or shall I say being paid us to track you down and prevent you from getting the stone. Simple as that. Lets see, does the name Hourglass ring a bell?" Terry's eyes widened. Anaya continued, "Hmm, I knew you knew him. Melana and I were trapped with Shunyu, a Huns leader who rescued us from prison in a Smurf World. I can see you're giggling but believe me you won't. Some brats known as the Quests transported us there, but then Hourglass came into that dreadful land and offered to help us in return for us helping him track you down. I don't know how and why he came to the Smurfs' World, but I guessed he must have got there by accident when he tried to track you down himself. Shunyu unfortunately slipped back into the Smurf land, that fool. Hourglass told us that on the night of the lunar eclipse which is tomorrow night, the zodiac stone that belong to this land only, will shatter and a water of eternal life will pour down out of it." Melana turned to her sister and said, "Too bad we don't know where that zodiac stone is ourselves." Anaya answered, "Don't worry we will find it. But we have to combine Aries stone with a Leo stone to make the spell work, Hourglass told me these people have it." Terry suddenly asked, "But wait a second. Where is Hourglass right now?" Melana turned to him and in snickering words said, "That idiot forgot how to open the portal fully. He let us out but end up in there himself! Fool! Thats what he is." Anaya interrupted her sister and approached Terry and his two friends, "The Leo stone. Give it now!"

"You will never get it. Trust me." said Terry. "Give it!" shouted Melana as she knocked Terry's head with her gun causing his head to bleed a bit. Anaya put the gun on Garfield's head and a sword on Donkey's throat. "Give it now. Or your friends will get a busted head and decapitate."

Terry tried to rise up and angrily said to them, "I said you can't have it. Each time we get a stone it will disappear and end up around the cage that trapped a wizard at Greensfield. Don't you get it, the stones we are seeking for is for freeing the wizard. It doesn't contain any water of eternal life. Hourglass lied to you."

"Liar! Okay thats it boy you want to play this the hard way," said Anaya angrily. She pushed the blade closer into Donkey's throat when all of a sudden someone kicked her skull from behind. "Sister!" yelled Melana as she ran to attack Lara who just came back with Johnny and the Aries stone.

Melana knocked Lara on the ground. Terry struggled to get up and the injured Anaya went to help Melana. The two strong twins knocked down Lara. Terry went to the rescue while Garfield and Donkey shrieked with fright and Johnny staring at the fight and said, "Ha what pretty chicks," and he went on screaming with his coward pals too. "We have to help them," said Donkey.

"Whatever" said Johnny. Before you know it Garfield, Johnny, and Donkey jumped into the crowd. The Aries stone was knocked out of Lara's hand and Anaya got it. Then Garfield clawed her back and the stone went flying to Johnny. Melana flipped him down sending the stone to Terry. Everyone's weapon was knocked off everyone's shield and pocket during this insane struggle. Anaya tried to kill only Lara because she was the one that kicked her head. And because she was injured Lara successfully pinned her down. Melana was left with four guys so naturally she was defeated. After the combat finally came to an end Lara put the Aries stone inside her canvas backpack. The twins were tied up, and Lara treat Terry's bleeding head. Johnny was busy bothering the tied up girls, and Garfield and Donkey joined him.

"What should we do with them?" questioned Terry to Lara.

"I think I have an idea," she answered.

Lara held the Aries stone high in the air and shouted out, "Hagar and ol' Great Wizard, please if you can hear me please, I know your powers increase each time a zodiac stone is found. So I beg you to grant this little wish. Send these two trouble maker twins to another dimension where they will not bother anyone again. I know they hated the Smurfs so I kindly beg you to send them to Teletubbies World instead! I know they will thank me for this!"

Anaya and Melana in fear screamed, "NOOOOO! Please! ANything NO!"

Too late for them because a bright purplish-reddish-greenish-yellowish portal was opened. Within a second the twins were sucked inside it. "Whoa!" exclaimed Johnny. Everyone smiled at each other and entered the next portal. Inside the portal everyone were talking and asking each other questions. Terry turned to Lara and Johnny and asked, "Where did you get the stone?" Johnny tried to prevent Lara from answering because he was so excited as to explain it himself, but Lara gagged his mouth with her arm. She continued, "Well after an hour or so we finally saw it glinting on top of the mountain. We climbed for hours. I think its the easiest zodiac stone to get. I just hope the next one will be just as easy." After Lara ended her explanation she handed everyone a roasted chicken. "Eat up everyone. We got these from some nomads camping around the mountain. After they finished eating everyone went to sleep.