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As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this...: R&R! Love... hate... review.
Chapter 6
High Stakes
Doc, with Drew looking over his shoulder, tracked the movements of the invisible monster. It was currently thirty miles away of them. Doc kept the airship a healthy distance from the energy consuming monster. It was in their best interest that they tracked it. The resulting information from their chase told a lot about this monster.
"This monster is heading toward a penguin colony." Doc spoke to his wife. He knew that she was reading the stats from behind him, but he just had to say something. "At its current speed… it will be on the colony and animals before nightfall."
Drew shook her head, mourning the penguins before they were even consumed. But she soon saw the silver-lining.
"It's a good thing that Miranda's lab was way out here." She managed a snorting chuckle. "I mean if this thing got loose where we live the damage would be on a catastrophic scale. All that's out here is the wind, snow and cold."
Doc grinned when Drew set her hand on his neck.
"And we have to use that to our advantage." The super-genius responded looking up at his wife. "Because Antarctica is so barren, the energy monster is moving to where the energy is: in the penguins. It goes where the energy is."
Drew quirked a brow.
"Is that how you going to trap it?" The woman questioned. Doc nodded.
"I plan on using the Airship as bait. It's solar-powered battery can sustain a small town for a day. It should be irresistible to the creature." The man returned. Drew looked surprised.
"The Airship? But what if the creature does consume the power in the battery? We'll be stuck in barren Antarctica with an energy monster!" She spoke. By the look on Doc's face, he knew that baiting with the Airship was more than risky.
"There are not many options at this point, Drew." The tall black man responded. "I-"
And suddenly the door opened with a swish and Fisk came running in. He had clear, plastic bags full of pink and blue pain.
"Paintisursur!" The tall, lanky cryptid cheered. Drew smiled.
"Good work, Fisk. Where are Zak and Annabelle?" The curvy, white-haired woman questioned. The Fiskerton Phantom glanced over his shoulder.
"Cominurlurs." He pointed at the door. And then the lanky cryptid handed Doc his bags of paint.
The black man inspected the color.
"Very good, Fisk. This will light up the Invisible Monster like a Christmas tree." Doc gave a grateful nod. Fisk smiled.
Then the door opened. Zak was side by side with Annabelle, holding her hand and walking slow with her. It was a tender, heartwarming moment; for Doc and Drew at least. Their son, who had his fair share of pressure and responsibilities, was helping Annabelle through her tough time.
"Good work guys." Doc called down to the boy and girl. "Now we have something to see the monster with."
Zak looked up and nodded as he helped Annabelle to the control panel.
"Do we have a baring on it now?" The preteen inquired. His father hit a button and revealed the monster's path.
"It should get to the coast before nightfall." Doc responded. Zak shook his head at the path the energy monster cut through layers and layers of ancient ice.
"It sure makes a mess of things, doesn't dad?" The preteen made a face.
"You can say that again." The tall black man returned, using the camera mounted on the Airship's hull to zoom in on the monster's location. "I don't want to see what it will do to that penguin colony."
Annabelle suddenly gasped.
"The Guptill penguin colony?" The girl blurted out. "At this time of year there are researchers observing the Guptill colony!"
"We don't intend on letting the monster consume neither animal nor human." Drew answered.
"That's why we've got to destroy it." Doc felt a frown curl onto his face. Then he turned to his family and guest. "My plan is simple; we are going to use the Airship as bait; gun the engines to a point where the monster can't resist us."
Zak gave his father a weird look.
"And what will that accomplish? We'll be stranded here with an energy-sucking monster!" The black and white-haired preteen gestured.
"I don't intend on letting it consume us. I want to lead the monster back to Dr. Grey's laboratory." The tall black man answered. "There I can make a trap with some equipment I can try to throw together with supplies here and at our destination."
Then he gave everyone a solemn look.
"But first we have to paint it." He added. "I'm not fighting something that I can't see."
Drew swallowed hard. Zak shrugged.
"What's wrong with that? I can do it. I can use one of the rocket belts in the back and-" The preteen began but his mother cut him off.
"Okay, one, there is no way a rocket belt can fly in the fierce Antarctic winds and two, NO!" Drew counted on her fingers. The boy made a face.
"Well, how can we paint it? Zon can't fly in the cold and we can't pull the Airship close enough without losing power." Zak gestured at the female Ornithocheirous and at the control room. Doc held up his hand.
"Your mother does have a point, Zak. The weather's too strong for a rocket belt." The man responded and then he looked at his wife. "But what other option do we have? It's too dangerous for the Airship to come in too close."
Drew gave her husband a glare.
"NO! I will not allow ANY of my family to risk their lives!" She snapped.
Again Zak cursed his mother's… stubbornness to keep him safe. HE didn't even think about his safety, so why should his mother? It was at times like this that he wished Drew Monday was his mother; that evil doppelganger didn't care if he died.
"I'll do it." Came a quiet voice from Annabelle. The Saturdays looked at the young girl with thick red hair. "I'll paint it."
Doc softened while Drew gave a groan.
"We don't want you in the line of danger either, Annabelle." The woman put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's too dangerous for anyone right now."
Annabelle cocked her head.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Her response was more of a rhetorical question. "Let me paint it."
Zak gave her a wide-eyed stare.
"No! You can't do it!" He blurted out. "You won't make it five seconds with that thing!"
The girl gave him a deep stare before her brow furrowed in irritation.
"I survived nearly five hours in temperatures that would freeze a normal person." And that's where the Saturdays could see Miranda's willful stubbornness in the skittish girl. "It nearly killed Miranda. I want to make sure it won't exist long enough to do that again."
Zak swallowed.
"It won't risk another human life." Doc stood from his chair. "Because we are going to destroy it. We can use a projectile launcher in the weapons cache. And we have two snowmobiles left; they can get us close enough to paint the energy creature."
Drew gave her husband a cross look.
"Darling-" But Doc wouldn't have it.
"There's no other alternative. With the snowmobiles, we have a less risk of falling victim to the monster than if we used the rocket belts in this weather." The tall black man returned. "I'll go alone."
"No because if something happens to you, who will rig the equipment needed to destroy the monster? I'll go." Drew voiced. A frown curled onto Doc's face.
"And who will help me raise Zak if you get consumed?" He grunted. The woman gave him a glare.
"I'm going. End of this discussion." Drew growled. Doc rolled his good eye but relented.
"Come to the hangar. We need to put together the equipment." The man said with a sour look on his face. Then he turned to Zak and Annabelle. "Give us fifteen minutes and then bring us within twenty miles to the monster. No closer Zak; any nearer to the monster and I believe it can start to siphon the Airship's energy cells."
With that gruff command, Doc and Drew walked out the door. Zak knew that as soon as they were out of earshot, they'd start arguing. The preteen gave a quiet sigh and stepped up to the Airship's controls. He glanced only part of Dr. Grey's notebook when he caught Annabelle glaring at him through the corner of his eye. Bringing his eyes to the girl, he saw annoyance on her pretty face.
"What?" Zak asked stupidly. Annabelle's lips curled downward.
"Why did you say that?" She questioned. "Why do you think I'll only last a few seconds with the monster?"
He'd offended her. Great. His mouth moved quicker than his brain.
"I forgot about the time you spent on the ice, Decibel." The boy offered. "It just seems like you-…"
Zak trailed off. So far, what he'd seen of her anyway, Annabelle was an easily frightened, easily upset girl. She just didn't seem like the kind to stare a monster in the face without running away. Annabelle lifted her eyebrows, indicating she wanted him to finish his answer.
"I mean…- I just-…" Zak's breath hitched before his brain found him again. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
The girl's face lightened.
"Oh." Annabelle returned. "I just want that thing to be stopped."
Zak nodded.
"We all do, Decibel. It's just hard to let someone risk their life since you care so much for them. You know what I mean?" He returned. Annabelle gave a small nod.
"I understand. Mom wouldn't let me help with her experiment because she thought I'd get hurt. Now she's hurt." Then a silence fell over her as she stared at Zak. "Does this type of thing happen to your family all the time?"
A smile came to his face.
"Oh yeah." Zak returned. "But there's usually more yelling. Since you're here, I think my mom and dad are toning it down a bit."
Annabelle grinned.
"How much of the world have you seen, Zak?" She asked.
"Lots of it!" Zak cheered. "From Malaysia to Canada, we've been everywhere."
The girl looked at her shoes again.
"And you said you have an uncle?" She added. The boy nodded.
"Yup. Uncle D's practically adores me. He taught me how to knock out a bad guy and then bill mom and dad for it." Zak's grin couldn't be contained. Annabelle listened to Zak's stories as the fifteen minuets gradually passed.
The Airship began its approach to the energy monster. Time was growing near to the dangerous maneuver.
Exactly twenty minuets later and the Airship descended to the frosty, windy Antarctic surface. Inside the large floating zeppelin, two kids, three cryptids and robotic cat watched Drew and Doc Saturday suit up for the inhospitable climate outside. Apparently, after a few minuets of fighting, both spouses agreed to go together and leave the kids in the Airship.
Zak felt a twinge of fear as he watched his parents slip into their cold climate suits and haul gear onto their snowmobiles.
"Don't forget the paint." The preteen chuckled uneasily, trying to alleviate the tension in the room. Doc looked up at his boy, a steely, serious look on his chiseled features.
"You are to keep this Airship immobile until we return, Zak." The tall black man barked. "If anything goes wrong, I want you to leave the area and place a call to Dr. Beeman. Is that clear?"
Zak swallowed.
"What do you mean, "if anything goes wrong"?" He questioned. Doc looked away as he strapped the projectile launcher to the back of his snowmobile.
"You know exactly what I mean, Zak." He gruffly returned. "If your mother and I fail, you are to flee the area and get clear of the energy monster. Contact Dr. Beeman and the other Secret Scientists."
The preteen narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not going to leave you and mom here on this rock!" Zak threw his hands in the air. Suddenly, his father shot him the most resolute glare he'd ever seen.
"If the energy monster gets a hold of us… there will be nothing left to salvage." Doc growled. "Now, for once obey me and swear that you will leave if we fail."
The tall man stood, not liking the fearful and hesitant look in his son's eyes.
"Answer me Zak!" He exclaimed. Zak jumped, snapped out of thought.
"I-… I swear…" The boy peeped, his usually bright face marred with fear. Doc simply turned and finished securing the gear.
Drew was within earshot of everything said. Fiddling with her projectile launcher and her paint bombs, she kept her back to her family. It was the only thing she could do to hide the fear on her face. This was suicide… but necessary. The energy creature had to be stopped.
"Weapons primed and ready." Drew voiced as she turned on her heel to her husband. Doc simply nodded and swung a leg over his snowmobile.
Drew followed her husbands cue and sat on her machine. Both husband and wife flicked up their hoods.
"Open outer doors." Doc barked. Fisk… who was nearest to the controls pressed the button with his toe. The large hydraulic doors opened and instantly a gust of icy, Antarctic wind blew through the hanger. "Lower lift."
The man's command was answered when the lift he, his wife and the gear were on slowly lowered to the ground. Zak watched his parents descend with fear crawling up his spine. Why did he feel like he was never going to see them again? Running to the edge of the doors and looking down on his parents, he caught them fire up their snowmobiles. They hesitated before Doc motioned for Drew to follow him. Both mother and father roared off into the sharp and icy wind. The lift raised as Zak came to a decision.
The eleven-year-old glanced at the spare gallons of paint and projectile launcher.
"Fisk." Zak spoke. Instantly his best friend was at his side. "Do me a favor… can you strap Zon in her harness?"
Immediately Fisk wailed in response.
"NOmisrk!" The Fiskerton Phantom exclaimed, picking his best friend off of the ground and holding him at his eye-level. But Zak had that infamous look on his face.
"Am I crazy to worry about mom and dad? If we let them go now, they'll never come back. I've got the feeling that they won't survive." The eleven-year-old stated resolutely.
Annabelle ran over to Fisk and Zak, overhearing what the boy had just said.
"Zak! You're not serious!" Her breath was caught in her throat. "How-…? What-…?"
She trailed off.
"My parents are good… but they're not that good." Zak voiced, glancing between Annabelle and Fisk. "Don't tell me I'm the only one that knows a ground assault is suicide."
Both gorilla-cat and fifteen-year-old girl were silent.
"But… what can you do?" The redheaded girl questioned, twiddling her thumbs. Fisk put Zak back onto the floor and nodded his agreement.
"An aerial attack is the only way to paint that thing successfully." The preteen pounded his fist into his hand. "It's the only halfway safe way to get the job done."
"I've lived in Antarctica since I can remember, Zak. And I can tell you now that at the rate of the weather, you'll be nothing but a feather in the wind." Annabelle reasoned, hands laced together tightly.
"Not if I have enough torque or an expert flier." The boy motioned to the teal Ornithocheirous quietly watching them. "All Zon has to do is hold her wings steady as I let a rocket pack do all the work."
"She's cold blood-!" Annabelle's voice was rising in objection before Zak cut her off.
"Annabelle… if that was your mom down there… racing off to her certain doom… wouldn't you do something?" The eleven-year-old asked. The answer was obvious. "All I need is one, maybe two direct hits on that walking invisible wrecking ball. Trust me, Decibel… I've done this sort of thing before."
Zak managed a smile half-way full of swagger. Annabelle, however, looked scared stiff. She looked down to the floor and swallowed.
"I guess what my mom tell me about the Saturdays is true." The fifteen-year-old girl looked up with a tiny smile. "That your family thinks on your feet and with your heart and never hesitates to lend a hand where it's needed."
Fisk, Zon, Zak and even Komodo gave smirks.
"And that, my dear Decibel, is why she had you call us first." The eleven-year-old winked at her while he spun the Hand of Tsul'Kalu. Annabelle promptly blushed and giggled into her fist.
"Then what can I do?" The girl asked, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear. Zak was over at a nearby supplies closet, getting into his cold weather gear.
"Just do what my dad said; keep the Airship here and if anything goes wrong, get in touch with Dr. Beeman." The ebony-headed boy called back to her, shoving his foot into a boot.
Nodding, Annabelle glanced down at Cniks. The robotic cat gave her a shrug, looking like he didn't care if the jumpy Saturday boy made it or not. Fisk, meanwhile was putting Zon into her harness as Komodo circled, hissing at the female Ornithocheirous.
"Fisk!" Zak called from the closet. "Make sure that harness is good and tight! I don't wanna fall out of it when we hit the wind!"
"Yescisorss!" The Fiskerton Phantom saluted.
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