"Well, anybody got any bright ideas?" Reggie asked.
"Yeah," Mike said, walking over to the wreckage and digging out his trusty toolbox. Being a former boy scout, Mike strived for being prepared at all times.
"Help me gather up the pieces and we'll try to put the Impossi-Mobile back together," he said.
"Then I suggest we head back to HQ," Big D said. "This is a tough assignment and it requires a lot of hard thinking."
"But what about Fluey, chief?" Coiley asked.
"I don't know," Big D said. "But don't you two go and get any crazy ideas like he did! That'll be all I need."
"Gotcha, chief," Multi replied.
"Now go help Rogers and Johnson gather up what's left the robot," Big D continued.
"Right, Big D," Multi and Coiley said in unison, and they went to help Mike and Reggie gather the parts and rebuild their car. While they were doing that, Big D turned to Phyllis.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
"Fine," Phyllis said, scratching Skittles behind the ears. "You don't have to worry about me. I didn't let him touch me."
"I can't help it. You know that."
"I know. Believe me, I know! Ever since high school, whenever I had a date, you'd grill him like a swordfish, and then you'd want to practically kill him if you suspected any fooling around up at Make Out Point. Matter of fact, you still do it every time I have a date! Sometimes I think you worry too much, Dad."
Big D didn't respond to that.
It took quite a few hours, but Coiley, Multi, Mike, and Reggie managed to completely restore the Impossi-Mobile to it's former self once again. That mostly came from Multi's duplicates. If he hadn't used them to help gather the parts and put the car back together, they'd never have gotten it done.
"I gotta start chargin' you guys for repairs on this thing," Mike sighed.
"Never mind, Rogers," Big D said. "Let's just get back to headquarters and plan our next move."
And with that, the group boarded the Impossi-Mobile. Coiley converted it to Impossi-Jet, and blasted off toward the SSHQ building.
The Maniacal Mechanic, in the meantime, was turning his monster around, and heading back for Megatropolis.
"I'll show them," he said. "I'll reduce that city of theirs to rubble!"
The Mechanic then turned on his surveillance monitor, and tuned in to his refrigeration unit.
"I hope you liked Megatropolis, kid!" he shouted. "'Cause I'm going back and smashing it!"
"You wouldn't!" Fluey shouted.
"Oh yes I would! And there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Ooooh . . . . you just wait until I get outta here! Then you'll be sorry! I'll get out of here somehow!"
"Oh no you won't! I'll make sure of that!"
And with a maniacal cackle, the Maniacal Mechanic turned the temperature down in his unit as far as it would possibly go. Fluey gasped as he saw a thin layer of ice start to spread over the room. It would reach him in no time flat.
"H-h-h-holy ice c-c-c-c-cubes!" he shivered.
Fluey could hear the Maniacal Mechanic's laughter echoing in the freezer. The trouble was there wasn't anything he could do. He was so cold, he couldn't even move anymore. He couldn't even think straight!
"I c-c-c-can't f-f-f-f-fight it," he said, as the ice began spreading over his feet. "I j-j-j-just c-c-c-c-can't!"
Fluey closed his eyes, and slowly let himself lapse into unconsciousness as the ice completely covered him, freezing him solid. The Maniacal Mechanic laughed hysterically at the turn of events.
"Awwww, poor baby," he said, in a patronizing sort of way. "I guess his mommy never told him to bundle up when going out in the cold! Now, on to Megatropolis!"
The Maniacal Mechanic put his beast into gear, and flew straight for the city.
Coiley, Multi, and the others were all gathered in Mike's garage, watching his television while Mike was taking inventory of the car parts they managed to bring back.
"It's been nearly twenty-four hours since the attack on Megatropolis," the news anchor said. "Luckily, we haven't seen any signs of that large, destructive machine since it left the city. We are hoping that . . . . . wait a minute, folks. Something's going on. It appears that a giant . . . . . . errrrr, thing is heading for . . . . . oh my heavens, it's back!"
"It's back?" Coiley repeated. "What's he doing back here?"
"I don't know, but we've got to come up with a way to stop it," Multi said.
"Don't look at me," Mike said. "By the time we rebuild that robot, he'll already have the city flattened!"
"Besides, there's no telling what he'll do to Fluey if he sees us coming," Phyllis said.
"What are we gonna do, Big D?" Coiley asked.
"I don't know," Big D sighed. "I just don't know."
Coiley and Multi looked at the TV mounted on Mike's wall, and watched as the Maniacal Mechanic's beast hovered over the center of town, and lowered it's legs. Then it began lumbering around, stepping on buildings, crushing them flat. The mouth of the beast opened, and lasers began firing. People were panicking all over the streets. Coiley, Multi, and Skittles couldn't stand it!
"This must be what they mean by it's always darkest before the dawn," Multi said. "What are we going to do?"
"As much as I hate to say it," Big D said, dejectedly. "We may have no alternative. We're going to have to surrender."
"What?!" Coiley shouted. "We can't do that! There's got to be a way to stop him!"
"But how?" Mike asked. "I'll never put somethin' together in time, and all we were able to do was just dent that stupid thing!"
"We can't give up," Multi said.
"We've done everything we possibly could," Big D said. "There's nothing left to do."
"Wait a minute!" Coiley shouted, suddenly. "Look at that! He's heading right for the TV station."
The group looked at the television and noticed the mechanical monster was behaving a little oddly. It was moving a bit erratically, and it's legs were shaking a little, as if it were tired and groggy. It tried to smash the building flat, but all it succeeded in doing was making hole in the roof, and knocking the antennae off, which caused the picture on Mike's TV to black out.
"Great, we just lost the network," Mike groaned.
"Turn on the radio," Phyllis said. "They should have coverage of this thing."
"That's it!" Multi shouted suddenly. "I've got it! Come on, Coiley! We've got to get to KBLM Radio! They've got the tallest antennae in the entire city, and the most popular show on at this time of day!"
"You mean that Jerry Blabbermouth guy?" Reggie asked. "The disc jockey who's always going a mile a minute?"
"Yeah, the one they call the Alligator," Coiley said. "Great idea, Multi! Let's go!"
"Hold it a minute!" Mike shouted. "The Gator ain't on now. Everythin's bein' pre-empted with the news because of the Megatropolis Massacre."
"We know," Multi said. "But I'm positive if we can get the Gator on the air, we can stop this thing! Let's go, Coiley!"
"Rally ho!" the two Impossibles shouted, and ran out to the Impossi-Mobile in order to get to KBLM. The others watched them go.
"I hope they know what they're doing," Reggie said. "I don't see how getting Jerry Blabbermouth on the air is going to stop that maniac and his monster."
The others weren't sure what the two Impossibles had in mind, either, but the only thing they could do about it was wait and see.
Multi, Coiley, and Skittles (who had transformed into Impossi-Pup on the way) arrived at the KBLM radio station, and ran inside.
"We need to see the Gator," Coiley said to the secretary.
"He isn't on the air," the secretary replied. "His show's being pre-empted because of that metal monster downtown."
"But we really need to see him!" Multi shouted. "It's an emergency. Even if he's not in the air, is he here?"
"All right, all right," the secretary said. She got up and went down the hallway. She returned a few minutes later with a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes.
"You didn't tell me it was the Impossibles," he said.
"You didn't ask," the secretary shrugged.
"Oh brother," the young man said.
"Are you Jerry Blabbermouth?" Multi asked.
"Yep, that's me," Jerry said. "What can I do for you?"
"You've got to get on the air, Mr. Blabbermouth!" Coiley shouted. "It's the only way we can stop that mechanical monster!"
"How?" Jerry asked, giving Coiley a weird look.
"We saw it by KPUT-TV on TV," Multi explained. "It began acting odd when it was near it, right before it smashed it's antennae."
"Odd how?" Jerry asked.
"Like it's signals were being messed up," Coiley said. "When we saw that, we figured the signal coming from KPUT's antennae were causing interference with the Maniacal Mechanic's machine."
"You mean like electronic devices on an airplane?" Jerry asked.
"Exactly," Multi said. "If we can get enough of a signal here, maybe it'll be strong enough to put that metal monster out of commission."
"Not a bad idea," Jerry said. "But tell me something, why do you need me to get on the air?"
"KBLM has the tallest antennae in the city," Multi said.
"We figured, since you know teenagers better than most adults do, you'd be willing to give it a go," Coiley said.
"Yeah, you're right about that," Jerry said. "If you had gone to the station manager first, he'd never buy it. Okay, let's hit it!"
And with that, Jerry led Coiley, Multi, and Skittles down the hall to the broadcasting booth.
"We may not necessarily have to get on the air, guys," Jerry said. "I think all we have to do is turn up the power on the antenna. I've never done this before, so I'm not exactly sure if this is gonna work."
"At this point, Mr. Blabbermouth we'll try anything," Multi said.
"Do me a favor," Jerry said. "Call me Gator. Everybody does."
"Okay, Gator," Coiley said. "Are you sure this is okay? We don't want to get you into trouble."
"Don't worry about it," Jerry said, pushing a switch forward. "The boss can't get too mad. After all, if we don't stop that thing, there's no radio station, right?"
"Right," Multi said. Impossi-Pup barked, and raced over to the window, doing her pointer thing.
POING!
"What is it, girl?" Multi asked, walking over to the window. He got a good look at what Skittles was pointing at.
"Menacing mechanisms!" he shouted. "Here it comes!"
"Crank up the juice, Gator!" Coiley shouted.
"Gotcha!" Jerry shouted, and turned the power up. "We're giving it about thirty megawatts right now."
Coiley and Multi looked out the window, and watched as the Maniacal Mechanic's beast began wobbling around, bumping into buildings.
"What the heck?" he asked, as he pushed several buttons, but that didn't do him any good.
"It's working!" Coiley shouted.
"But he could still maintain control over it," Multi said. "Think you can turn up the power a little more, Gator?"
"Do fish swim?" Jerry asked, turning up the juice again.
Now, the metal monster was really beginning to stagger. The radio station antenna was causing so much interference, the Maniacal Mechanic had a hard time controlling that thing.
"Great, I'm near the radio station," he grumbled. "Better take out that antenna like I took out the one at the TV station."
Impossi-Pup growled and backed up into the hallway. But she didn't stop there. She backed all the way out to the lobby! Multi knew what was coming.
"Quick, open the window, Coiley!" he shouted.
"Gotcha!" Coiley shouted, opening the window as far as possible.
"What are you doing that for?" Jerry asked. Before either Impossible could answer, a streak of lightning blasted past, causing such a breeze, papers and music cartridges were knocked off the desk. Jerry certainly didn't see that one coming! The next thing he heard was a loud CLANG! Like something denting a piece of metal.
"What the heck was that?!" he shouted.
"That was Impossi-Pup," Multi said. "The fastest dog in the world."
Jerry got up from the desk and looked out the window. Impossi-Pup had charged out of the radio station, and, going at super-super-super speed (she needed plenty of room to build that up), smashed head-on with the Maniacal Mechanic's mechanized monstrosity. Combined with the interference from the antenna, that was the one that did the trick. Thanks to the dents from the previous fight, the mechanical monster fell. Most of the controls inside were jammed, and the Maniacal Mechanic couldn't get his machine to operate.
"Rats, rats, rats, rats, rats!" he shouted. "I guess there's only one thing left to do."
The Maniacal Mechanic opened up a small door on the wall. There was a red button, and a notice over the button that said "In Case of an Emergency, Push Button."
"This oughta keep 'em busy while I make my getaway," the Maniacal Mechanic said, pushing the button. A door opened in the floor, and the Mechanic jumped through it. He ran off just as Coiley, Multi, and Jerry raced out of the radio station. They didn't notice the crook getting away.
"T minus ten seconds to self destruction," a computerized voice said from the machine. "Ten. Nine."
"Did it say what I think it said?" Multi asked.
"It did . . . . ." Coiley said, a little nervously.
"Three. Two. One," the computerized voice said. Once it reached that last number, the machine began rumbling.
"Let's get outta here!" Multi yelled, and he and the others started running for the radio station, but they didn't make it before the machine exploded to pieces.
"Hit the deck!" Jerry shouted, and the others dove to the ground, trying to avoid getting hit with debris flying all over the place due to the explosion.
And what an explosion it was! It left the machine completely damaged beyond all repair. Parts of it were on fire. A couple of windows on the radio station and some from the surrounding buildings had been blown out. Miraculously, no one was hurt!
"Holy explosions!" Multi shouted.
"What a bang," Jerry commented, looking at the mess of smoldering metal, and crackling electrical wires that was once the Maniacal Mechanic's machine.
"Boy, that sure was a blast!" Coiley shouted.
"This is no time for bad puns, Coiley," Multi said. "Better call Big D. We're gonna need some back up to clear this."
"Hey, fellas, I wanted to ask you something," Jerry said. "I noticed there were only two of you when you walked into the radio station. Aren't there supposed to be three of you?"
"Hollerin' hi-fi's!" both Multi and Coiley yelled in perfect unison.
"We almost forgot about Fluey!" Coiley shouted.
"He could be anywhere in this wreck," Multi said. He immediately duplicated and began digging through the wreckage while Coiley bounced to the Impossi-Mobile to notify the chief.
Big D, Phyllis, Reggie, and Mike, along with several other SSHQ agents, as well as a news crew from KPUT-TV, arrived on the scene shortly after Coiley made the call. Immediately, the agents began going through the debris and the wreckage.
"This is almost like looking for a needle in a haystack," one of the agents said.
"And we can't find a trace of the Maniacal Mechanic, either, Big D!" another called out.
"I hope he didn't escape," Phyllis said.
"I'm not concerned over the whereabouts of that maniac," Big D said. "Locating Agent Fluid in this mess is the first priority."
Phyllis had to agree on that one. Suddenly, Impossi-Pup sniffed around, and growled. Then, she revved up, and took off like a shot. Big D and Phyllis watched her go, wondering what on earth she was doing. The two of them suddenly heard a crash, and what sounded like a chomp.
"YEOWCH!" a voice screamed.
Big D and Phyllis ran to the source of the scream and found Impossi-Pup sitting on the Maniacal Mechanic's back, with a piece of black material in her mouth. Phyllis began laughing, as she could only imagine what just happened. Big D walked over, slapped a pair of handcuffs on the Maniacal Mechanic, and gave Impossi-Pup a pat on the head.
"Excellent work, Agent Impossi-Pup," he said.
"Good girl!" Phyllis praised, as Impossi-Pup jumped into her arms for a well-deserved cuddle.
"Darn mutt," the Maniacal Mechanic grumbled as Big D pulled him to his feet. Once he was standing, Phyllis walked over to him.
"Before you turn him over to the authorities, Big D, I have something to give him," she said. "Something he richly deserves. Close your eyes."
"Oh yeah, score time!" the Maniacal Mechanic shouted, thinking he was going to enjoy this.
The minute the Maniacal Mechanic closed his eyes (and puckered up, for that matter), Phyllis gave him a good, hard punch in the face, a sock in the jaw, and a karate kick below the belt as hard as she possibly could.
"Oooohhhh!" the Maniacal Mechanic moaned. That last one hurt!
"Creep!" Phyllis yelled, slapping him across the chops for good measure.
Once the Mechanic was handed over to the authorities, Big D, Phyllis, and Impossi-Pup went back over to the wreckage.
"Chief, we've found him!" Multi shouted.
"Oh thank heavens!" Phyllis shouted.
"Hold that sigh of relief, Phyllis," Coiley said, as he and Multi pulled their frozen friend out of the wreckage.
Fluey was practically stuck in the position he had been in since being locked in that freezer. Frost covered the lenses of his goggles, and icicles were hanging from them, as well as his hair. The ice was beginning to melt as soon as he was pulled out, but he was unconscious.
"Is he still alive?" Mike asked. Reggie put two fingers against Fluey's neck, and waited.
"Yes, but his pulse is very weak," Reggie said.
"Contact Dr. Phelps at once," Big D ordered. Then he turned to some of the SSHQ medical staff that had arrived when the boys called for back up. "Get him to the infirmary at headquarters immediately! And use extreme caution when transporting him back to HQ!"
"Yes sir!" the medical team shouted, saluting.
Once the medical team stabilized Fluey for transport, they took off. Big D went with the medical team while Coiley, Multi, Impossi-Pup, Mike, Reggie, and Phyllis followed in the Impossi-Mobile. It wasn't a long drive back to HQ, but to Multi and Coiley, it seemed to take forever. They were completely beyond nervous. They knew what subzero temperatures could do to Fluey. They only hoped he would be okay.
