8. The Wombles
Decades ago, a typically morally bankrupt Evil Corporation(tm) experimenting with biotech and human/animal hybrids for the British military created a new species of highly intelligent, acquisitive creatures. Akin to furry meerkats with opposable thumbs, these mutants proved too intelligent and independent for their intended task. Slated to be euthanized, they escaped from the nightmarish secret laboratory of their creation and found a new home in a secret cold war era nuclear bunker beneath Wimbledon Common. Led by the original prototype mutant and mastermind of their exodus to freedom, the ageing but wise and fiercely intelligent Great Uncle Bulgaria, they call themselves the Wombles. Under his guidance they have become a tribe of renegade eco-warriors and techno scavengers, scouring the surface world for useful gear and waging war upon the planet crushing organisation which spawned them. Since the 1980s the Wombles have evaded government and corporate agents who are constantly attempting to track them down and erase all evidence of their rogue black budget genetic engineering experiments. Then, one night out salvaging equipment for their lair, Uncle Bulgaria insists on emerging from the shadows to give aid to a homeless man being beaten by the authorities. In rescuing the victim, he is exposed and one of the corrupt police present alert Special Branch. The elderly Womble, separated from the others and unable to run away fast enough due to a crippled leg, is bundled into the back of an unmarked van. Will the Wombles of Wimbledon common be able to track down Great Uncle Bulgaria before he meets his doom at the hands of a sinister corporate/military/government complex? What will become of them now that the location of their base may no longer be secure? The capture of Bulgaria was all just a little bit too convenient and his students must work against the clock to save not only their mentor but their whole way of life as suspicions, petty rivalries and paranoia threatens to tear them apart. The hot headed and emotionally unstable Orinoco sets off by himself to rescue Great Uncle Bulgaria, or if it comes down to it, avenge his death. He could save them all, or spell their doom...