Chapter 1

Beyond the Californian breeze and beneath the mighty waves of the powerful Pacific, a submersible laboratory lies in harmony. Unknown to the outside world, this place is inhabited by four living beings. With little or no access to the civilization next door, things are bound to get a little odd in this isolated place.

"WAKE UP, Monkeyfish! Get your bed organized and get to work on the mechanical rat, already! Spidercat, go get the automatic wrench from shelf number 27z and finish the rocket booster on time. Horseman…"

The deafening roar rocked the lab from side to side, putting a sudden end to the silence and harmony. Before the mutant animals, monkeyfish and spidercat, could get out of their beds, however, the mad doctor John Steel briefly suspended the clamor. He muttered with astonishment before an empty bed.

"Horseman?"

A pony that was standing upright at his usual workplace called off John's suspicion.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you were working this early," said John uneasily. "I though that you were stealing sugar canes from the storage again…"

But the horse produced a batch of sugar canes from his pocket and replied snidely.

"You are right to be suspicious. To be honest, I've been taking these things daily since last month!"

One could imagine John's reaction to this type of insolence. The laboratory trembled as the mad doctor unleashed his rage.

"Have you realized that your actions are reducing our sugar cane rations significantly? Don't you understand the labor that has been put into is required to growing these things, ESPECIALLY 500 feet beneath water! It would be…"

The speech went on for half an hour. A grumpy spidercat was unable to cope with the noise any longer and finally came to horseman's aid. The cat promptly left his quarter and criticized John in an inquisitive tone.

"Calm down, Dr. John Steel. As our Creator, I would have believed you, above all people, would know that horseman is a bit obsessed with sugar. Of course, we use sugar as a supplement only and I don't understand, Mr. Steel, why you are making a big deal out of this!"

Dr. John Steel was dumbstruck after being resisted by his creation. But he tolerated them this time.

"Get back to work." he muttered impatiently, "horseman, go repair the Robo butler, I don't want that thing putting raw eggs in my soup any more!"

Horseman quickly proceeded and mended the machine with his skilled pair of hooves. However, spidercat was less honest with the mad doctor. He sneaked up to monkeyfish, who was busy with the mechanical rat at the time, and whispered.

"Are you sure that leaving this place in s a good idea? What if Sir John found out ahead of time and hid the submarine!"

Uncorking the computer chip from the rat, monkeyfish calmly replied. ,

"Don't worry! If John already knew about our plan, we would've known because he would've been yelling at us! Even if he knew, I don't think that he would waste any time on hiding or locking that thing."

Alleviated of his stress, spidercat meowed with relief.

"I'll see you at twelve tonight then. I'm sure we will get that sub started and we'll be ready to go!"

Meanwhile, John Steel was disappointed, seeing that his creations were chit chatting with one another during their working hours. "I'll see about that!" He cleared his throat and bellowed.

"Spidercat, what are you doing over there?"

"I'm borrowing some bolts from monkeyfish," replied spidercat, "I seem to have just run out of them."

John Steel knew better not to trust spidercat's excuse, but he didn't bother to check on him.

The day was a long one and it was followed by a equally long night. Anxious to flee from the lab and into the freedom of the outside world, monkeyfish and spidercat waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they escaped from the laboratory, safe with the cover of darkness.

With a laser blaster in one hand and the fruit-shooting gun in the other, monkeyfish had just had the time to slide his coconut shell sword into his sheath when spider cat mumbled alertly.

"Don't just arm yourself! Get the luggage! We can't live off of laser beams and fruit pits!"

Despite the fact that the luggage was still hidden on the ceiling, monkeyfish cleared that height with a single jump. After retrieving a bag that was almost twice as big as him, he landed from the roof with inconceivable stealth and precision.

Monkeyfish and spidercat had not stopped for a moment to pause, for they could waste any more time. They hurried down the endless pass ways and staircases until they reached the only outpost to the outside world-the pressurized chamber. Knowing that it was "freedom at last", our mutant friends skipped the ground open the valves connected to the submarine. With the press of a button, monkeyfish and spidercat were within the safety of the submersible.

But the troubles of our mutant friends were far from over. Startled by the noises from below, Dr. John Steel discretely switched on the lights, illuminating the entire lab. Furious that his creatures were gone, John traced the mutants' trail of footsteps towards the pressurized chamber. Unfortunately for Mr. Steel, But monkeyfish had cleverly already closed the pressure valves and launched the submarine. The only thing that John could do now is was to threaten his animals with his utmost rage.

"Auto pilot, on, Destination, Los Angeles," said monkeyfish as he programmed the machine to proceed towards the open waters. Our mutant friends could finally use some well deserved rest as the ship makes made its way towards the destination at 60 miles per hour.

Chapter 2

BOOM.

As sudden as they had fallen asleep, monkeyfish and spidercat woke up with a start. It didn't take them long to pick up the scent of burnt rubber.

"What was that?" asked spidercat. But he knew all but too well of what had just happened.

In the split of a second, a flash of spark had ignited the engine. Wisps of smoke clogged the atmosphere as the engine house bursts into flames. The submarine had just turned into a deathtrap! Desperate to put out the fire, monkeyfish and spidercat flushed the engine with the fire extinguishing system. But their efforts were in vain. The fire had spread to the cockpit, devouring everything in its pass. The only sensible thing that they could do was to abandon ship.

"We must get out! This will be the end if we do not escape!" said monkeyfish, "I'll get the life boat ready."

While working with the inflatable, our mutant friends were almost overwhelmed by the fire's deathly fumes. Shackling themselves to the lifeboat, monkeyfish and spidercat were only seconds from launching the lifeboat…

But the fire had ignited the fuel tank (it was filled with hydrogen), setting off an explosion. The submarine was torn apart by the blast and pieces of it were scattered in every directions. Still shackled to the inflatable, our mutant friends lost their consciousness. What was left of the lifeboat stayed afloat with monkeyfish an spidercat, slowly and dangerously drifting towards Los Angeles.

Chapter 3

After lying on his side for three hours, monkeyfish had finally regained his consciousness. His mind was buzzing with excitement-he survived the explosion! Shortly after untying his seatbelts, monkeyfish quickly scooted over to spidercat and wailed triumphantly.

"Spidercat, wake up! Let's go!"

"Please, help me," spidercat answered weakly.

Freeing his companion from the tight seatbelts, monkeyfish examined spidercat up close. His fur was wet and his paws were in a frightful state. A bag was held to his chest with his right paw- their luggage.

"You saved the luggage, my friend," monkeyfish exclaimed. "I thought that we lost it when the sub blew up! But are you all right?"

"I think I'm fine," replied spidercat, "but I can't move my left hind paw."

Monkeyfish had suddenly noticed the wound on spidercat's hind leg. A trail of blood led to a pool of mingled fur and flesh.

"You must rest, my friend," insisted monkeyfish, "lie down and relax. Let me find something to dress your wound and then we'll get some food from the luggage."

Spidercat obeyed his orders and laid down on the inflatable. Meanwhile, monkeyfish was busy finding cloths. Shredding the seatbelt in two, he carefully wiped off the blood with the first half and dressed the wound with the second. He then took out a banana and a handful of cat chows from the luggage. Despite the fact that the foods were putrid and thick with brine, he gobbled them down with out hesitation.

After satisfying his hunger, monkeyfish grew curious about his surroundings. But before he went overboard, he asked for spidercat's permission.

"Spidercat, I wonder where we are right now? Should I go and see if we are in L.A.?"

"Sure," replied spidercat with a smirk. "I hope that we are not back in the lab!"

"Okay," said monkeyfish, "but lie down and relax while I'm gone. You're still in pretty bad shape. Promise me that you will stay here?"

Monkeyfish leapt out of the vessel with a graceful somersault. Landing in a soft cushion of sand, monkeyfish saw what he thought was a beach. Except this one is much bigger than the puny puddle of sand that he imagined. Miles after miles of golden grains stretched as far as one could see. A wall of cliffs stood between the beach and the horizon, shading the sand from the rising sun. Rearing the beach was the morning tide, providing the beach with a layer of sea stars and mollusks. Impressed by what he saw, monkeyfish wandered away from the skiff, indulging himself with the beauty of nature.

"Hey, get away, you filthy bird!" Bawled a voice from the boat.

Monkeyfish became alert and stared back at the lifeboat. Spidercat was besieged by what appeared to be pale, aggressive birds. These must be seagulls, thought monkeyfish, and they must have been after the food in the luggage! Despite the fact that the gulls were almost his size, monkeyfish hurried toward the skiff to drive the seabirds away. Aiming his laser blaster at the seabirds, monkeyfish singled out a seagull pouncing at spidercat. The creature tumbled towards the earth as it was brought down by a beam of laser. Still running towards the life boat, monkeyfish knocked down another gull with his deadly aim. But the stubborn seagulls refused to give up.

Monkeyfish had resorted to his last defense. Unsheathing his coconut shell sword, he engaged the gulls in hand to hand combat. Jumping twenty feet into the air, he dashed and slashed his way across the flock of seabirds. The gulls, which were caught off guard, panicked. The frenzy came to an end as the feathery mass desperately fled from their foe.

While the gulls got airborne, Monkeyfish returned to the skiff. Amidst the heaps of feathers, spidercat appeared with the luggage in his hand.

"That was quite scary," confessed spidercat. "I thought the birds were going to peck my eyes out! By the way, do you know where we are?"

"I'm not sure," replied monkeyfish. "But the surrounding suggests that we are in California. I'm not sure if we are any where near L.A."

Our mutant friends sat motionlessly in the skiff. But they were uncertain of their future in this strange, new land.