Wild About Words

Disclaimer: All characters are copyright their respective owners & PBS.

This is something I've wanted to do for a while, a crossover of two of PBS's best cartoons. And although one of these exists already, I think you'll find this one to be much different from it.

It was a normal day for the crew of the Tortuga, now positioned in the Amazon rain forest. Little did any of them know that, in mere moments, things would be turned upside-down.

"Martin & Chris are getting lots of info on those macaws," Koki said, as she observed the brothers from her large computer screen "how are those discs coming?"

From her work table, Aviva looked up from the parts she'd been tinkering with. "Just tell Chris & Martin to hold their horses," she told Koki, "I'll be done with these as soon as I can. Provided of course, that nothing interrupts me."

BOOM!

"What the heck?" Aviva asked, after hearing the explosion.

"Something breached the side wall," Koki told her.

"What could be powerful enough to do that?" Aviva asked her.

The woman was about to get her answer when the smoke from the breach cleared, revealing a sextet of oddly dressed individuals.

"Okay, that's weird," she commented "Jimmy, are these friends of yours?"

"Me? No way!" Jimmy Z told her "I don't know these guys."

"Look, I don't know who you guys are, or what you're doing here, but you'd better have a good explanation for smashing down our wall and…" Aviva began, before she was cut off when one of them threw a lasso at her, pinning her arms to her sides "hey, what is this?"

"Hang on, I'll call for help," Koki said, reaching for her control panel. Before she could, however, one of the intruders, a woman with skin slightly-lighter than Koki's interrupted and fired what appeared to be a beam from her chest.

"Oooh, where I am?" asked a dazed Koki "who am I? And why is my hair so large?" she added, feeling her afro.

"Okay you guys, you'd better back off, I know kung fu," Jimmy lied, hoping to scare them. Instead, the woman blasted him with the same beam.

"Whoa, what's up with this controller?" he asked, "do I play video games for a living?"

"What did you do to them?" Aviva asked the intruders.

"You should be more concerned about what we're going to do to you missy," said one who resembled a pirate with a fake beard.

Aviva was then pushed to the ground and held down, where her hands were tied behind her with more rope, as the lasso that had been thrown around her was wrapped around her slim torso. Although she kicked and fought as much as she could, she couldn't stop them from wrapping rope around her legs & ankles, and tightly securing it.

"I don't know what you're planning, but you won't get away with…mmph!" she shouted, before a white cloth was tied around her mouth. She craned her head up as much as she could, and noticed a burlap sack seemingly floating in mid-air above her. Before she could figure out how this was possible, the sack was placed over her, & cinched tight over her ankles.

Aviva squirmed and yelled muffled threats, but was unable to prevent one of the intruders from picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

"We did it!" one of them exclaimed in a high-pitched voice "and to think, it wouldn't have been possible without my rope. Finally, I'm useful!"

"Yarr, there still be the matter of destroying the transporter," she heard the pirate man say.

"Ooh, let me do it! I'm gonna wham that thing into pieces, yeah!" she heard another one reply. Then she heard a weird noise, followed by an explosion identical to the one that ruptured the Tortuga's hull. She assumed that was the transporter being destroyed.

"All right, let's get back with our booty," she heard the pirate one say, and she could feel her abductor running, leaving the Tortuga and heading out into the Amazon rainforest, to an unknown fate.

Meanwhile, as all this was going on, Aviva's friends Chris Kratt & his brother Martin where hanging out with a flock of macaws.

"Macaws sure are interesting birds," Chris said "in fact, the Hyacinth macaw is the largest known parrot in existence, in terms of size & wingspan. Macaws also have a varied diet, including seeds, leaves, flowers, fruit & even clay from river beds."

"You said it Chris," Martin replied "macaws are the best, especially Scarlet here" he added, noting the red colored bird on his arm.

"I wonder if Aviva has those macaw creature power discs ready yet," Chris said "I'll check in."

He activated his wrist communicator; "come in Tortuga; Martin and I are ready to swing with the world of monkeys; you got the power discs ready?" There was no response "Tortuga? Come in Tortuga."

"Nobody's answering? That's odd" Martin replied.

"I don't like it, something could be wrong," Chris said.

"Maybe Koki just left her station, like she did that time with the T-devils," Martin suggested.

"That's unlikely, seeing as we were just in contact with her about 10 minutes ago," Chris said "c'mon, let's go back and make sure everything's okay."

Martin agreed and turned to the macaw. "You be good, okay Scarlet?" he told him "Chris and I will be right back. After all, I'm sure the problem can't be that bad."

"Whoa, what could've done this?" Chris asked.

He and Martin had just arrived back at the Tortuga and noticed the damaged wall.

"A rhino?" Martin asked.

"There are no rhinos in the Amazon, remember?" Chris told him "besides, whatever it was had to be a lot stronger than that. Maybe the others can tell us what happened."

He stepped through the hole, and was quickly embraced by Koki.

"Chris, Martin, thank goodness you guys are back!" she exclaimed "Aviva's been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?" a shocked Chris asked "Koki, start from the beginning."

"Well, there was this explosion, and then these weird comic book villain-type guys came in," the young African woman explained "they lassoed Aviva, and I tried to stop them, but they dazed me or something, because I don't remember anything else after that. I came back to my senses a few minutes ago, but they disappeared."

"So, Aviva's been kidnapped by comic book bad guys?" Martin asked "what are the odds of that?"

"I don't know, but that appears to be what happened," Chris replied "Koki, can you describe these guys?"

"Uh huh. I may not remember much else about what happened, but I can tell you what they looked like."

"Good, because we'll need that info," Chris told her "we have to find Aviva and figure out who kidnapped her before it's too late."

While her friends were deciding how to search for her, Aviva was dealing with all the bouncing up and down she was doing on her captor's shoulder as he ran through the rainforest. Unable to see or speak, the young Latina could only ponder what fate awaited her when she reached her destination.

Okay Aviva, calm down she thought to herself yes, you've been kidnapped by a bunch of rejects from a comic book convention, but you're a genius; you can figure a way out of this. Let them get to their hideout first, then concentrate on getting free or contacting Chris & Martin.

Eventually, she felt her captors slow down, then walk up something, although she couldn't tell what it was.

"Here she is, just as you asked," one of them said.

Aviva felt herself being lifted off the shoulder and the sack she was in was shaken until she fell to the ground. She gave a muffled grunt as she hit the ground, then craned her head up to see where she was. It was the deck of a yacht, one she recognized oh too well, which could only mean one thing…

"Zach Varmitech," she said, after her gag was pulled down "I should've known you were behind this. What, you have so much trouble getting dates you need to kidnap them now?"

"Please, I could get a date with whoever I want," the pale-skinned villain replied "after all, I'm a very wealthy inventor. Of course, if you wanted to go out with me, I wouldn't say no."

"I'd rather lick a Zach Bot."

"Fine, be that way," Zach replied "anyway, I'm sure you're wondering why I went through all this trouble."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"I realized that the reason the Wild Ratts always foil my plans is because of you and your creature power suits," Zach explained "but if I have you as my prisoner, that means no creature powers, which means those Wild Ratts won't be able to stop my newest plan."

"You're underestimating the Kratt bros," Aviva replied defiantly, as she struggled against her bonds "they'll stop you like they always do, suits or no suits!"

"I beg to differ," Zach told her "Zack Bots! Take her below, and make sure she's nice and secure."

Before Aviva could reply, the gag was replaced around her mouth, and two of Zach's robots grabbed her by the arms and dragged her towards the lower depths of the yacht, as she struggled and mumbled all the way.

Confident she was going nowhere, Zach turned to the assorted villains.

"Who would've thought that random searches on the internet would lead me to the guys who would help me deal a blow to those nature loving do-gooders? Best money I ever spent."

"Speaking of which, there still be the case of the doubloons you promised us," Capt. Tangent reminded him.

"Doub-what?"

"Doubloons, a gold coin produced in Spain back in the 1800's," the captain explained "speaking of Spain, did you know that they were once led by a dictator named Francisco Franco? Apparently, when he was in ill health, he was announced as dead when he wasn't really, which lead to a recurring joke…"

"All right, all right, I'll pay you, just stop talking!" Zach replied. He snapped his fingers and a Zach Bot appeared with a suitcase, which he opened to display several stacks of money.

"One two…" Capt. Tangent counted "hang on, this be only half the money you promised us, ya bilge rat!"

"That's because I've decided to keep you guys on retainer," Zach explained "the Wild Ratts are definitely gonna show up and try to ruin my plans & save Aviva, so I'll need you take care of them. You do that, and you'll get the rest of the money."

"Yarr, that sounds like a fair deal," Capt. Tangent replied "we'll be ready to help you keel haul these Kratt brothers."

"Who named you leader?" Ms. Question queried.

In the next chapter, the Botsford family trip to the Amazon is ruined by the appearance of the Kratt brothers, forcing WordGirl to come to the rescue.