All night Flint Lockwood had these weird nightmares. When he awoke in the morning he felt relieved. Sleepily, he reached for his lab coat on his chair. Then he got up and made his way over to his coffee machine. As he made his coffee, Steve woke up and was now pulling the bottom of his lab coat nervously.
"What is it, Steve?" Flint looked down at his monkey.
"Gone!" Steve widened his eyes and stopped tugging at Flint's lab coat.
"What's gone?" Flint followed his monkey over to the table where the FLDSMDFR sat. Except the FLDSMDFR wasn't there. The cloth was on the floor and the invention was gone. Does the cigarette have anything to do with this? Flint thought. Afraid, he walked around the table. There was no evidence of who could have taken it. He couldn't even understand who would want it. At this point everyone hated the FLDSMDFR, just as much as he did. Then why did I fix it up? Why did I take it home then? He thought angrily to himself.
"We should tell someone. Dad? No. Earl? No. Sam? Defiantly not. There is really no one we could tell." Flint scratched the back of his head.
He sat down on his bed and thought. Usually he had ideas pouring into his mind by now, but there was nothing. He closed his eyes and thought harder. How will he find the FLDSMDFR? How? Think! Think! He was telling himself.
"THAT'S IT!" He jumped up and made Steve flinch; who was sitting atop the table.
"Steve! Remember how my computer was flashing that day and we knew that the FLDSMDFR was in the water? The tracking system, Steve! We can use the tracking system that I had built into the machine, when I first built it!" Flint grinned excitedly.
But all Steve did was cock his head like a confused puppy and watch Flint run to the computer.
Steve crawled over to the computer and climbed up onto Flint's swivel chair. Flint's fingers were flying over the keyboard at a great speed. All Steve could see was a blur on the keyboard. Then the screen flashed again, and a map appeared. Then came a moving orange dot.
"Someone is either driving away with it or walking away with it." Flint watched the screen. Suddenly the dot stopped and didn't move anymore. Flint zoomed out on the map and looked at the street names.
"That's New York City!" Flint gasped and got up in his chair and continued to watch the screen. The orange dot stayed put. But why was the FLDSMDFR in New York City? He had to know. Could Sam have taken it? Are you stupid or something? She would NEVER do that! Flint gritted his teeth.
"Steve, I going off to New York to find it. You'll stay here. I'll tell dad to feed you." Flint told the monkey. Steve watched Flint exit the lab. He had understood every word. Scratching his head, Steve still didn't understand where Flint was going…
"DAD!" Flint called out as he entered the house.
"Here, skipper." His father came out of the kitchen.
"Dad, can you take care of Steve while I'm gone? I need to go to New York City for a few days." Flint told his dad quickly. His father raised his eyebrow and his eyes widened.
"New York City?" he exclaimed, but it sounded more like a question. Flint nodded. Sighing his dad said one word, "Sure." and left back into the kitchen. He didn't sound if he cared. He knew Flint constantly had crazy ideas, so he didn't even want to ask why was Flint going there.
Meanwhile, Flint hurried to the docks. The morning boat to the city left at 8 in the morning and was already 7:55. On the way there, he saw Brent walking to the docks too. They walked to the docks in silence and Flint wondered why Brent was going there too.
"Why are you going to New York?" Flint asked.
"'Cause you are. I'm bored," Brent sighed, "and the mayor is driving me crazy." He rolled his eyes and Flint narrowed his eyes at him. No offense, but he didn't really want anyone to come with him. Especially Brent. Why couldn't he stay here and mind his own business?
"Fine. I'll explain everything on the boat." Flint mumbled. If he said 'no', Brent would just ask questions and Flint would go insane. Brent smiled his superstar smile and at the same time the 8'oclock boat came to the docks. The boat was small; didn't look like it'll fit too many people, but it was a reasonable size.
xxx
"Do you have it?" the man in the dark blue trench coat snarled as he heard the other man enter the room. He turned and his eyes glowed. The machine was in the other man's arms. The other man slammed onto the table and heaved a sigh of relief. He reminded himself to never carry heavy things again. The machine had been too much!
"Ah! Now it's in my hands!" the man in the blue trench coat cackled and walked around the table to admire it. The other man watched the man in the dark blue coat and could almost see the dollar signs glowing in his eyes.
"Do I get paid for this?" the other man asked with uncertainty.
"I'll think about it." The man in the blue trench coat snapped and studied the FLDSMDFR. A look of puzzlement spread on his face.
"What's it called?" the man in the dark blue trench coat asked the other.
"How am I supposed to know?" the other man furrowed his eyebrows and sat on the floor. He wished he had chosen to run away. And for sure he knew he wouldn't get paid. It was obvious. Maybe he could run away now. He still had the chance. Slowly, he got up. But the man in the dark blue trench coat ordered him to sit back down. Fearfully, the man sat down.
"I have another job for you." The man in the blue trench coat turned around and looked at the man sitting on the floor.
"Find Lockwood and bring him here. He's probably out there to find his precious invention." The man in the dark blue trench coat grinned an evil smile and turned back to the FLDSMDFR.
Biting his lip, the man sitting on the floor got up and ran out the door. He had to warn Flint Lockwood. He didn't want the world to be covered in food again. He just couldn't get caught. If he did, the trigger will be pulled.
xxx
The streets of New York City were jammed packed with people on the sidewalk and taxis on the roads. Flint and Brent walked through the crowd and people turned to look at them. Not every day you saw two men in their early twenties walking down the street; one wearing a lab coat and the other a light blue track suit. But as they ran down the sidewalks, people made room for them.
"Where are we running to?" Brent huffed as he tried to catch up with Flint.
"You'll see!" Flint made a left turn and Brent followed, "NO!"
Flint stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Brent braked beside him. A look of puzzlement crossed Brent's face and he glanced at Flint. A look of worry was on the inventor's face. He was glancing down at his phone.
"The FLDSMDFR's tracking system was knocked out. Whoever has it must have done so on purpose!" Flint now stared ahead into space.
"How do you know the system was knocked out?" Brent demanded.
"My computer is connected to my phone, so I had the map showing the FLDSMDFR, and where it is. The map disappeared and the program keeps on saying 'error'" Flint glanced at Brent.
They stood in the middle of the sidewalk not knowing where to go and what to do. The FLDSMDFR could be anywhere. Flint hated himself for not remembering the street address. Brent hated himself for not asking Flint for the address. They had to think of a plan, before food rained out of the sky.