Copywrite 1999 - Robert Baer Jr. 

PROLOGUE
>
>
>This is the story of a superhero, The Computer Renegade, as told through
>the eyes of his faithful bionic German Shepard Otto.  Disguised as
>Accountant Nathan Lovejoy, the Renegade and his friends fight a never
>ending battle against crime, injustice and danger.   This is yet another
>entry from Otto's 'personal' log.
>
The Renegade Files - "Disorder in the Court"

It was a little after noon on a Monday, Wanna Lovejoy and Prairie Rose are
working in the law office of Prairie Mason.   They sit at their desks,
watching the big clock on the wall.  

"I wonder what is taking dad so long!"  Wanna said in frustration,"he told
us he'd meet us for lunch here at 11:30."

"Maybe they held court over,"  Prairie Rose lamented,"I'll call the
courthouse!"

As Prairie Rose was dialing, Wanna turned up the radio sitting on her
desktop, hoping to hear some music."

"We interrupt this program for a special report!" the voice on the radio
blarred,"we are live outside the courthouse in Yuma, Arizona, where the
trial of alleged drug kingpin Billy 'the Kid" Wilunski was scheduled to
start this morning.   Our sources tell us that Billy and a few of his
henchman have seized the courtroom and has taken everyone inside hostage. 
 The police have surrounded the building and are attempting to negotiate
with Billy....."

Upon hearing this, Prairie Rose drops the phone receiver and nearly
faints.   Wanna reaches in her desk for her costume and black boxes.

"Wanna, dear," Prairie Rose said,"you're not thinking of going in there
alone, are you?"

"I have to save dad!" Wanna exclaimed as she went into the restroom to
change.   She emerged in her Masked Melitta costume.

"Wanna, please call the others!" Prairie Rose begged,"I know you're upset
and I know your ....."

Wanna wouldn't listen to her "mom,"  she quickly took out one of her black
boxes and disappeared.   Instantly, she reappeared in the middle of the
courtroom.  Billy and his henchmen immediately turned and pointed their
guns at her.   She lifted both hands in the air, and sadly lowered her
head.  

"What have we here?" Billy muttered with a smile on her face,"it's a babe
in a sexy white outfit!"

"Hey," one of his henchmen said,"it's the Masked Mellita!   I bet she came
to rescue the hostages!"

"Well, baby!" Billy said as he walked around her,"Looks like you screwed
up, pretty lady!   I think you'll make a great hostage!"

Prairie Mason, who was tied to the witness stand, began growling loudly. 
The judge was tied to her chair, the court officers lie unconscience on
the floor.  The other two henchmen turned to the gallery of specators, who
were all sitting and very scared.  A third man, posing as his defense
attorney, was on the phone trying to negotiate with the police.

"She has nothing to do with this!" Prairie Mason barked,"let her go!"

"No, no, you talking mutt!" Billy answered,"she came to be a part of the
show, so she soon will be!   Hey, Johnny, tell the cops we have the Masked
Mellita up here, and we'll blow them all away if they don't meet all of
our demands!"

"Bruno, take her and tie her up in the witness chair!"  Billy shouted as
he pointed his gun into the gallery,"ladies and gentlemen, you are about
to witness my complete revenge, so SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!"

Billy turns to Prairie Mason and said,"you remember me, don't you,
dogface!"

"I certainly do!"  Prairie Mason answered,"it was a pleasure to help put
you away six months ago, but obviously you escaped."

"Escaped and was recaptured!" Billy screamed,"and now I have the good
fortune to have you here in front of me today!   I'll use the good judge
and this sexy superlady as my ticket to freedom, leaving me free to blow
you away!    C'mon, mutt, beg for your life!   That's what dogs do best,
right?  Beg!   BEG!!!!"

"You deserved to be imprisoned, slimeball!" Prairie barked,"you sold drugs
to teenagers, you had your men brutally beat a schoolteacher and a
principal who tried to stop you!   It's a good thing you have me tied to a
post, otherwise I'd attack you!"

Hearing that, one of Billy's henchmen swung a billyclub at Prairie's head,
he ducked just in time as the club hit the side of the witness stand,
making the Masked Mellita scream.

"ENOUGH!"  Billy shouted,"I want to be the one who kills this poor excuse
for a dog, BACK OFF!   He's all mine!"

"Wait!" Johnny shouted,"the police said they're going to meet all of our
demands, if we don't harm any of the hostages!"

Billy put his gun back in his belt,"lucky for you, mutt!" he said as he
walked over to the table where Johnny was sitting.

"They said they'll bring the money up to the courtroom, as a gesture of
good faith!" Johnny continued.

"Alright!"  Billy said with a grin,"but what about the car downstairs and
the plane at the airport?"

"They said they'll have that ready in thirty minutes!"  Johnny
answered,"they're setting the money outside the door now!"

"Ok, Hank, open the door and grab the bag!" Billy instructed,"we'll cover
you!"

Hank opened the door open halfway and retrieved the bag, a swift breeze
blew as he slammed the door shut.

"I want the see the money!" Billy shouted as he took the sack from Hank's
hands, as he looked inside of it, it vanished.

"Hey, what's up here?" Billy shouted as he watched his henchmen being
lifted off the ground as if by magic.

"SHOOT EVERYBODY!!!'  Billy screamed as he reached for his gun, as that
instant, Otto made himself visible and fired his eye lasers at Billy's
gun, instantly melting it in his hands.   Starlight made herself visible
and shot a green ray at Billy, making him rise in the air also.

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Billy yelled,"WHO ARE YOU STUPID CREATURES?"

"Well, the German Shepard is Otto and the white horse is Starlight!" 
Johnny explained,"I've seen them in the newspaper."

I uses my paw knife blade to free the Masked Melitta, Prairie Mason and
the judge, then I zapped a parametic team into the room to help the
injured court officers.   Starlight kicked open the locked main doors so
that the police could come in and arrest the floating criminals.  Prairie
Rose ran into the room and up to her husband and "daughter."  She hugged
her husband and wept.

"I was SO SCARED for both of you!"  Prairie Rose muttered through her
tears.

"It's a good thing you called me!"  I barked,"otherwise I wouldn't have
known what was happening here!"

"Yes, Melitta!" Starlight added,"why didn't you call us first?"

"I was angry and I wasn't thinking," the Masked Melitta admitted.

"We'll talk about this later,"  I whispered,"when we get home."

The police cuffed Billy, Johnny and the other two henchmen and led them
out of the courtroom.   The judge walked over to where me and the others
were standing.

"Thank you for saving us!" the judge shouted as she hugged Starlight,"you
are all truly superheroes!"   As the Judge hugged me, she turned to
Prairie Mason and said,"Prairie, are these all friends of yours?"

"They've been know to help me on occasion!" Prairie Mason said with a
smile.

"We better be going now!"  Starlight said hastily,"I detect a mob of
reporters heading for this room!"

"Sorry, we must leave!' Melitta added.

Melitta, Otto and Starlight vanish and are instantly back at their home in
the country.

"Wanna!" I barked,"how could you just 'rush into' a situation like that
without contacting us?"

"I couldn't bear the thought of losing my dad!"  Wanna cried,"like I lost
my real parents when I was a child!"

Wanna cried uncontrolably, Starlight stared at me and whispered,"way to
go, furball!"

I walked over to her and put my paw on her hand and said softly,"I'm so
sorry, Wanna, I didn't mean to upset you like this."

Wanna wiped away her tears and looked down at me and said,"it's alright,
Otto, you didn't know."

"Sometimes emotions DO get the best of us," Starlight sadly
admitted,"remember, Otto?"

"Yes, I do,"  I answered,"I will never forget that day in Kentucky.   I
think we better zap the Computer Counsellor here to help Wanna."

"Good idea," Starlight added,"I'll contact her now!"

The Counsellor arrived and took Wanna into the living room to talk,
Starlight and I walked out of the house and back to her stable.

"Are we going to tell Nathan what happened?" Starlight asked,"he'd be very
angry, poor Wanna is frightened as it is!"

"You have a point there, Starlight," I answered,"maybe we better keep this
one to ourselves."

The Counsellor came walking out of the house and towards the stable.

"How is she?" Starlight asked.

"Well, she's very shook up!" the Counsellor answered,"I zapped the Masons
to the house so they could be with her for a while.   It's very rough to
lose your parents once, she was so scared she'd lose her dad again."

"Counsellor, will she be alright?"  I asked.

"In time, my friend!" the Counsellor answered,"this incident reopened some
old emotional wounds.  The best thing we can to is be supportive and give
her time to heal.   I'm going over to Nathan's office to talk to him about
what happened so he doesn't upset her like you did earlier, Otto."

"I'm so sorry....." I said with tears in my eyes.

"You were just scared that Wanna was going to get herself hurt," the
Counsellor said as she petted me,"that's only a natural concern.  Like I
said, the best thing we all can do for her now is let her heal, she needs
all of us including her husband to help her through this."

Saying this, the Counsellor took out her black box and disappeared.  
Prairie Mason and Prairie Rose stayed with Wanna the rest of the day, I
went to the Computer Dinosaur's cave and brought thier 'children' to the
house.  It will take time, but I think my master's wife will make a full
recovery from 'her day in court'.

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