| Zumo: Um, sorry to butt in, but you knowww...Forrester's right. |
| Deuce: Right about what? |
| Zumo: Honen ain't gonna give up being a villain for you. |
| Deuce: Maybe I'm missing something, but it sure looks like he gave it up long before I ever said anything to him. |
| Zumo: Hah! Is that what you think? Honen's just waiting for the right time to leave. |
| Deuce: If that's the case, then why bother going on that trip with Nucleo? |
| Zumo: Why not? It's the perfect opportunity for him to get rid of his worst enemy. He'll wait until they're too far away from home to receive any kind of help, and then... |
| Deuce: I don't believe that. If you really think Honen would murder Professor McRaven and his wife in cold blood, then you must not have a very high opinion of your own best friend. |
| Zumo: Trust me, he'll come back here spilling some story about how Prof. McRaven and Dr. Arcane were lost in a terrible accident and he could do nothing to save their poor souls. With them out of the way, Honen will be free to leave this place and there will be nobody to stop his plans of world domination. |
| Deuce: That is the absolute stupidest thing I have ever heard! Honen has always been free to leave this place. |
| Zumo: Then YOU explain why he went on a boring ol' archaeological dig. Hmm...Unless he's expecting to find some ancient powerful artifact that will aid in his plans to take over the world... |
| Deuce: Here's an idea. I think he went on the trip...because he really wanted to. Imagine that! He respects Dr. McRaven and he wanted to get away from this place for awhile. Can't blame him for that, especially since his vacation didn't go so well. Honen always likes feeling appreciated, so maybe he believes his skills would be useful on such an expedition. |
| Zumo: Okay. Whatever you say. But I've known Honen far longer and better than you. Ta-ta. |
| Tomi: He could be right, you know... |
| Deuce: *sigh* Sorry, but I don't believe that for an instant. Besides, I think Honen would be at a severe disadvantage if he attempted to take on both Nucleo and Image at once. He may be a blackbelt, but so are they, and they have magic, too. |
| Tomi: But what if he got them in their sleep? They wouldn't be expecting it... |
| Deuce: Look, I'm not going to argue this anymore. Here, I've finished with the Beta remote control program for the moonbuggy. I have to go work on Bubu's brake system, so I'll be in the garage for awhile. |
| Tomi: Hmph. Ok. Thanks. |
| Cory: ....... |
| Talon: Cory? What's wrong, you look kind of upset. |
| Cory: Talon...I was working in the back of the computer lab and I overheard a conversation between Deuce and Zumo. Zumo said that Honen is planning to kill my parents. Deuce thinks Zumo is lying, but I don't know what to think...I'm not real sure I trust Honen... |
| Talon: Well, Cor, he did save me, Robin, and Dr. Abirok in the middle of that battle with ErniePants. He acts funny sometimes, but I really don't think he'll hurt anyone. |
| Cory: I can't take that chance... |
| Talon: You guys took a chance when you allowed me to stay here. Honen deserves the same treatment. |
| Cory: That's different, Talon. Your father was evil, but you never were. Honen actually was a bitter, contemptuous villain who seethed with hatred for magical-blooded people and fought with just about everyone he ever crossed paths with. |
| Talon: Then...I don't know what else to say, Cor. |
| Cory: I'm gonna call Amadeus. I just hope he's not too far away to receive... |
Deleted Scene #2: Nucleo Explains to Image Why He Cares About Honen.
This was supposed to take place just after Honen and Deuce are attacked by the Megallon for the first time, and just before Cory tells Talon, "I don't like this at all..." It was removed because I felt the dialogue was too heavy-handed and it upset the story's pacing. I also believe that nothing is really said here that a reader who's been following this series long enough couldn't figure out for themselves. Nucleo already clearly explained why he cares about Honen in "For the Love of an Oni". There's no real benefit to having him explain it again to his wife.
 | Image: Nuclee, why do you care so much about him? |
 | Nucleo: Hm? What kind of a question is that, dove? |
| Image: He was our enemy, Nuclee. And I'm not real sure he's truly over it. |
| Nucleo: Im, he reminds me a lot of myself. |
| Image: Are you nuts? You're nothing alike. |
| Nucleo: He's misguided, Im, but he's not a bad person. If I hadn't had such strong parental figures as Aurora and Preston, I may have gone cynical and turned out just like him. I know he's in his 30's, but he's still so childlike... |
| Image: Well, that's one thing we agree on. |
| Nucleo: I don't mean it like that. I don't mean it in a bad way at all. He's intelligent and capable of taking care of himself, yes, but he's vulnerable, too. To me, it seems his desire to be accepted and appreciated comes directly from having been abandoned by his parents. When you're abandoned like that, you spend your whole life trying to "prove" yourself. You want to believe, in your mind, that you're now good enough, even though no matter what happens, you'll never gain that acceptance. The worst part is that deep in your heart you know you never will, but that doesn't stop you. |
| Image: You've been hanging around Preston too long. |
| Nucleo: You don't have to be a psychiatrist to know this, Im. You just... have to have lived through it. |
| Image: *sigh* Nuclee, you're 40 years old. It's time to get over that. You disowned them. You tell everyone that they don't even exist anymore. You accepted Aurora as your mother. |
| Nucleo: But sometimes the pain is still there, Im. You can keep telling yourself "I don't care anymore" as much as you want, but that doesn't make it go away. |
| Image: My father was a royal twit who sacrificed me to a god. Or did you forget that? Doesn't make me go around trying to wipe out entire races with giant robots. |
| Nucleo: No, Im, you didn't do that, but you were just as racially-insensitive (to put it lightly) as Honen when I first met you. I don't blame you for it because I know that's just how you were taught by your father. You didn't know any better. But neither did Honen. He had no one to show him differently until now. |
| Image: *sigh*. Allright. Why don't we just keep looking for him? |
| Nucleo: Agreed. It shouldn't take much longer. It's a small drive. |
| Image: I love you, Nucleo. |
| Nucleo: I love you, too, my dear. Let's go now. |
Deleted Scene #3: This is an alternate ending to the chase scene from the last chapter of the AT storyline in which Image Arcane uses the Back Button on the Netscape Navigator to foil '95 Honen's attempt to capture them. This was based on an old in-joke about how Netscape was preferable to Internet Explorer in the very early internet days (circa 1995-2000) because the Back Button always stopped working on IE after awhile. However, I realized that this was too much of an in-joke to resolve this situation, and had I actually been able to get the drawings done, it would've been too hard to draw a scene of the Navigator backing into the Clipperwing and Kiini and make it look coherent enough that readers would be able to tell that's what was happening.
Because this change required almost the entire chase sequence to be rewritten, I no longer have it in its complete form. The excerpts here will just give a general idea of what it was going to be like. Also of note is that I removed the line "You poor thing" from Im's dialogue because I thought it was problematic if not read in the right tone.
| Image: Honen, step aside! Honen? Honen!! |
(Image approaches Honen. He is still piloting the Navigator, but looks very tired and weary.) | |
 | Honen: ...you can't...I must... |
| Image: *sigh* Easy there, kiddo. You poor thing. You're working way too hard. C'mon, I want to slow the ship down so Nucleo and Loro can get inside. |
(As Image attempts to help Honen out of the chair, he appears to have fallen unconscious.) | |
| Honen: .... |
| Image: Hey! Are you allright? C'mon, I need you to get out of this chair...Honen!  |
(The video screen in front of Image and Honen suddenly turns on with lines of static.) | |
 | Deuce: ***bzzzzz*** Nucleo! Image! Honen! Can any of you hear me? ***bzzzzz*** |
| Image: Deuce!! Is that you?! From the future?! |
| Deuce: ***bzzzzz*** What?? Im? Future? ***bzzzzz*** Can you repeat that last transmission?? ***psshhhhh*** |
| Image: Deuce, we're onboard an ancient web browser from 1995 called Netscape Navigator. We're traveling along Port 22 attempting to gain access to the internet. We know how to get home, but there's another ship from this time period trailing us and we need to lose it. But Honen's unconscious, Nucleo's attempt to stop it has failed and left him clinging to the outside of the ship, and I have no clue what to do! |
| Deuce: ***bzzzzz*** Okay, listen up! I think I've got that covered. There should be a back button on your browser. ***pssshhhhhh*** Try pressing it. |
| Image: Back Button... Back Button... Oh, wait, there it is! But...what good will that do? |
| Deuce: ***bzzzzz*** Just trust me on this one.***pssshhhhhh*** |
| Image: Okay, here goes... |
(Image presses the Back Button. Outside the Navigator's thrusters shut off, then move into a reverse position.) | |
 | Honen (95): What ze...hell...? |
(The Navigator suddenly rockets backwards and strikes both the Clipperwing and the Kiini on its reverse run, causing both ships to tumble out of control in the confined space of Port 22's tunnel.) | |
 | Deuce (95): Uh-oh. Better eject. |
 | Nucleo (95): Equilateral triangles!  |
| Honen (95): Verdammen...Sie es aller...zur Hölle...
Abandon... ship. |
('95 Deuce and '95 Nucleo are seen parachuting out of the Kiini. As present-day Nucleo looks on, he sees '95 Honen also parachuting out of the Clipperwing. '95 Honen is fuming, angrily shaking a fist back at Nucleo.) | |
| Honen (95): I'll get you for zis, Professor McRaven!! You have not heard ze last of ze great Dr. Honen Calzouuuuuuuuuun!! |
| Image: I think that got them, but now what do I do? We're going the wrong way! |
| Deuce: ***bzzzzz*** It's okay! I'm gonna use the LAN to take control of your browser and guide you in manually. ***bzzzzz*** Just stay calm, I'll take it from here. Deuce, over and out! ***psshhhhh*** |
| Image: Well, that's a relief. ... Honen, c'mon. Wake up. |
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