Insane Cafe 3: The Curse of the Haunted Hotel

[Kor]

Sara nuzzled Tarrax back as they flew back to the hotel.  "May as well." She said.

--

"It does look like they are finished." Jason said looking at the area where the 2 dragons were.

"I wonder what their next move will be." Brooklyn said still looking at the area where Tarrax and Sara were.

"perhaps nothing till the actual attack." Odysseus said  looking up a bit also.

[Serris]

Deimos looked around. "I'm going to take some parts of the drone to see if we can identify them," he said. "And Fred, this turret cost me over $20,000. I would prefer it not be destroyed before the war starts." He then went over to where the rocket armed drones were shot down.

Nothing was left of them but a pile of wreckage. He grabbed a black box from the wreckage and placed it into the Mystery Machine.

On his second trip, he tripped over another black box. He picked it up and placed it into the Mystery Machine. He then entered the Mystery Machine.

"Okay, we're ready to go. I picked up some flight data recorders from the drones. I want to see if we can extract useful data from them," he said.

------------------------

"Some of our missiles have a very long range. We could theoretically launch cruise missiles at them or we can resort to shelling them with artillery," the Goat said.

"Surf Point is a coastal town, we could always do shore bombardment," the Rattlesnake said.

"We have no navy."

------------------------

Rime nodded. "Well, maybe we don't need additional autocannon turrets," he said.

"Tarrax and Sara provide an excellent anti-air defense but they could be overwhelmed by a massive number of aircraft. Besides, if they do die or are injured in combat and we have no anti-air defenses, then what?" Strut replied.

[Nick22]

Its extremely unlikely that Tarrax will die, given that he's lived as long as I have" Stripetail replied. " as for being overwhelmed, that is a  far more likely possibility. We're going to need more then just those two  flying in the air. We have Cynder and spyro, who are also dragons, and a number of the Digimon can also fly..  I suspect that this air battle  has been a wash, they have learned about some of our capabilities, and we have learned about some of theirs, however, we must adjust our strategies to reflect what we have learned. We must assume that they have the most  advanced weaponry your world possesses, these "drones" are just the beginning" Stripetail frowned. " alert Captain Milos to these new developments as soon as possible..
_
The Hotel is not our objective, the town is" chong replied "The Hotel is isolated, whatever protections they have, we can bypass by attacking the town. I don't care about one dumpy building, any more activity there will compromise much of our strategy. As for the cruise missiles.. launch one into the middle of Surf Point, as a warning shot, or retalitory strike, however you wish to call it.  Chong looked at the screens which showed nothing but static.
_
Fred  climbed back into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. " Back to the hotel then. Nice shooting, you obviously know what you are doing. If I nmay ask how do you expect to gain any information from these boxes?' He asked as Shaggy buckled himself in.

[Kor]

"Never reveal to your enemy what you do not want them to know if you can avoid it." Jason said.

"And misdirect and give mis information when you can." Odysseus said.

[Nick22]

we're ready if needed" Spyro said to Stripetail. 'if I may ask what did that riddle mean?
_ It will lead to the next few clues." stripetail replied, as he began looking around at the gathered group. " We must find the last of the clues before the invasion begins.. If we don't there won't be any time to complete the search, we'll be too busy fighting off the invasion.."

[Kor]

"How long till the invasion happens?" Velma asked.  "At least a week or so I hope."

[Nick22]

It will be a week, give ot take " Nick said. " Once Scooby and the others get back we need to figure out that riddle we saw in the sky.."

[Kor]

"Good, I have a few things I want to do before the attack happens." Jason said.  "If it gets done they may or may not help.  Not sure yet." He said thinking of a few folks he'd like to pick up as well as wanting to get the 2 zords into working order.

[Serris]

"Understood," Zachary said.

"Now where do we begin?" Rime asked.

"Perhaps we could look in the underground ballroom again?" Mr. Bigmouth said.

"'Alice sips her tea?'" Dr. Kerzach muttered, "Could it be a reference to Alice in Wonderland? "

"And down the rabbit hole!" Dr. Zanasiu said, "The clue may indeed refer to the underground ballroom that Mr. Bigmouth discovered."

---------------------

"See what type of drones they are and their stats," Deimos replied, buckling himself in.

---------------------

Two soldiers driving a mobile ballistic missile launching vehicle stopped by the command post.

"Chong, we have found and repaired several short range ballistic missiles. Though they normally carry cluster munitions; we can load them with chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons," one of the soldiers said. "We await your command to fire," he added.

[Kor]

"I guess it would  not refer to wonderland since that is pretty far from here.  The only natural gate is over in England." Jason said.

[Nick22]

'Chemical is the most abundant of the weapons we hacve.. a good whiff of mustard gas particularly against people not previously exposed to it, would be very very effective.. Chong replied. Launch  the weapon in 5 minutes.. pick out a target n the mif\ddle of the town.. and fire..
_ then that is where we will start searching' Stripetail replied.  remember tough there are other parts of the clue.. there are 3 clues we'll find at the end of thos.. perhapd the owner ran short of time and hid several close together..

[Nick22]

The Window that has no glass the key that opens no door..' dixie mused as the group began heading dowewnstairs.
_
Tiger walked along behind Stripetail " so what exactly was wrong with Tigress. " He demanded. Stripetail gave him a look. "Later Tiger, I have more important issues on my plate right now than your domestic affairs...
_ Domestic affairs? Tiger snapped " Look all I wanted was an answer wizard. " Tell me
_ Tigeer..' Stripetail's voice contained a note of warning. "He's busy Tiger" Dixie said coming up behind them.. " when he's ready he;'ll tell you. I didn't hear anything from Tigress when she came back in, so whatever problem she had, her immune system has taken care of it..

[Serris]

The Pelvanida Group, the Lipizzaners and the NUMA Group headed downstairs.

The Lipizzaners donned their LED headlamps as they entered the passageway.

Mr. Bigmouth had a plain arrow already nocked in his bow. He was carrying a quiver with 25 poison arrows and 20 plain arrows.

---------------------------

The soldier nodded and got back into the truck. "We have authorization to launch," he said.

The driver looked at an image of Surf Point that was generated from one of the surviving drones and pinpointed the town square. Even though it was nighttime, some sort of festival was taking place. "Target acquired," he said.

"Okay, we are ready to launch in 5 minutes. Target is Surf Point's town square. Estimated time of arrival: 1 hour." the driver said into his radio.

----------------

"Copy that," the Goat said into his radio. He then turned to Chong. "They are preparing to launch. Target: Surf Point's town square. Time from launch to impact: 1 hour," he said.

[Kor]

"Nothing serious, I can assure you." Jason said, thinking that wither Tigress knew herself or not she'd likely prefer to tell certain folks like Tiger herself then someone else.  

"So where are we off to next?" Moran asked.

[Nick22]

Stripetail lit his staff casting a white .light on the room in front of them.. " look for anything that might look like a cup of tea. " He said, moving his staff around so the others could see. 'I'm not familiar with this place called Wonderland so others will have a better idea of what to look for" stripetail said
_ Fred pulled into as parking spot and stopped the van./. " alright guys we're heading back in
 'Rixie, rhere rare rou?' Scooby said speaking into his ring
-
 Dixie heard Scooby calling her and Answer
 We're headed down to the ballroom in the basement " Meet us there when you can. we're looking for more clues..

[Nick22]

Excellent. we'll give those fools something to think about..' my army is nearly ready although there's no such thing as too much scrap metal. we can use destroyed cars , for example as material for my metal army"He grinned as a counter appeared on the computer in front of him. the timer was now at 4; 30 and dropping.. "Lets see how the Surf point defender react to our strike.."

[Serris]

The group was walking down the stairs behind Stripetail.

"We discovered a kitchen in the ballroom before," Werner said.

"Sounds like a good place to look for a cup of tea," Franz added.

"Maybe we have to make the tea?" Ms. Swimmer said. She had her twin sticks out and was looking for anything strange in the stairwell.

---------------

Deimos got out of the Mystery Machine. The rocket launcher was strapped across his back and the black boxes he picked from the wreckage were tucked under his arms.

He entered the lobby and placed the ash covered boxes on the ground. He tore off a sheet from the guest book and quickly wrote a note explaining what they were and placed it on the boxes.

He then decided to relax in the dining room.

-----------------

"Target locked on and fire!" the soldier shouted. He slammed his fist down on a red button. With a loud roar, the missile flew from the launcher and soared into the night sky.

"We have liftoff!" the driver said.

[Nick22]

Nice work, in one hour,  that strike will probably kill half of the town's remaining population.. normally that would be in thousands, but not now.. keep an eye on its trajectory.. we don't want any weather coming in and wrecking havoc.." Chong said.
_
 Scooby Shaggy abnd Frd made thier wau\y to the stairs leading down to the ball room
- Stitch and Angel activated their armor and followed Stripetail at a close pace. ' I've read Alice in Wonderlsnd Mr Stripetail.." Nani said. "I think "where Alice sips her tea" Refers to the Tea Party with the Mad Hatter, there might be something like a carvindg of the teaparty or a painting..
_
Interesting Nick said. "What about the key that opens no door, and the window that has no glass..
 Agumon stratched his head " could it be  an animal perhaps .. Like a Monkey?"
 He guessed. 'Theys a "key" in it but its not a key that opens a door..

[Serris]

"Roger that," the driver said, saluting Chong. He kept a careful eye on the radar screen.

-----------------

"A window with no glass? What about a plasma window?" Dr. Kerzach said. He had a flashlight in one hand and his switchblade in the other.

"Yuri, I don't think plasma windows existed hundreds of years ago," Zachary said.

"Hey, I have heard the saying that 'eyes are the window to the soul'," Dirk said.

Mr. Bigmouth thought a moment. "You know Dirk, you may have a point. And the key that opens no door, it could arise in the term 'the key to love'." he said. He then narrowed his eyes in thought. "So that means we'll need to look for a romantic painting, possibly involving the consumption of tea."

"Hey Stripetail! I think Mr. Bigmouth and Dirk got the clue!" Rime called out.

[Kor]

"It may make more sense once we get to the spot and get a good look around." Jason said, putting on his sensor wrap around glasses so he could see in the darkness.  

Moran and Odysseus took out small flashlights to see better with Brooklyn not needing any help seeing in dark since he saw far better then humans did being a night species by nature.