Dreadful Weather We're Having II
'There's that pesky Pack, falling into my trap!' Dr. Dred turned. 'Quick! The snow-scoop, Mummy.
Mummy-Man ran off to follow Dr. Dred's orders.
The snow-scoop first scooped up a large amount of snow.
And then threw the newly-formed snowball at the Dark Pack.
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Howler's ears twitched. 'What's that rumbling?'
'It's a giant snowball headed this way!' Drak declared, pointed to the snowball in question. It was heading straight for them. 'All right, Pack! Into the act!'
The three of them took up positions. Howler took in a few deep breaths. Then he let all of the air go in a gust strong enough to slow down the snowball. Some days, he really did feel like the Big Bad Wolf. Frankie then ran in and pulled the snow ball up, holding it over his head. It was solid enough to retain its shape.
Drak had been standing back, watching the whole thing thoughtfully. It turned out, that wasn't all he was watching. 'Okay, Frankie. Hold it 'til I check that weirdo cloud…' He transformed into a bat and flew up, '…with my bat radar.'
For a moment, they watched him.
'Just as I suspected, Frankie,' Drak said. 'The Dredgible is in that cloud.'
'Yeah,' Frankie said. 'But, where do I put this?'
'Lay it on that crazy cloud!' Drak told him.
'O-kay!' With that word, Frankie threw the snowball up.
Howler watched it hit the cloud, dead-on. Sure enough, Dr. Dred's Dredgible dropped out of the sky.
'Good shot, Frankie!' Drak turned back into his vampire form and joined them on the ground.
It didn't take very long for the Dredgible to lift up again and fly away.
'Wow-whee!' Howler remarked. 'Look! They're leaving.'
'And so are we,' Drak said. 'Come on!'
The Drak Pack climbed back into the Drakster and Drak quickly turned it to plane mode. Lifting up into the air, they followed after. The advantage was that the Dredgible was…well, a blimp. Unlike the Drakster, it was very easy to see. Howler found himself even wondering if Dr. Dred would even see them.
:[
'Well, that's annoying!' Dr. Dred announced, looking at the screen. 'They must've built that recently.'
Mummy-Man mumbled out a reaction.
'Hmph!' Dr. Dred stuck his nose in the air. 'Impressive feat of engineering or not, I'll soon take care of them.'
'Another trap, Dr. Dred?' Toad asked eagerly as he walked past. 'Oh, good! I like traps! What kind of trap this time? Huh? Huh?' He hopped over to where Dr. Dred was standing at the Weather Machine.
'Keep your shirt on and you'll see!' Dr. Dred turned to his Machine. 'But the Drak Pack won't.'
He pressed a button.
:[
'Don't get too close, Frankie,' Drak said. 'We don't want Dred to see us.'
At that moment, they drove into a fogbank. 'Uh,' Frankie said. 'I don't think we have to worry about that, Drak. He must've seen us already. This fog sure ain't natural. Came on too fast.'
'Ha, I should've known!' Drak smirked. 'Well, I think I can see through that little caper.'
'Well, I can't see anything,' Frankie remarked.
Drak explained what he meant. 'As a bat, I can find my way in the dark. I'll fly ahead and you follow me.' He transformed into a bat and left the Drakster. 'All right, Pack, turn on the bat tracer and stay close.'
:[
'Aha! We lost them in my mixed-up murky mist!' Dr. Dred straightened up from the computer screen. 'Well, that takes care of the Drak Pack!'
'Deliciously diabolical, Dr. Dred,' Toad said.
'Yes. Now to the business at hand.'
'Set a course for Dredquarters!' Vampira ordered from the front of the Dredgible.
'Toad, take a letter,' Dr. Dred ordered him.
'Uh, let's see.' Toad thought about it for a moment. 'How about X? Or, Y maybe?' He was forced to duck down.
Dr. Dred swung at him with the fly swat. 'No, you mini-mind muttonhead! I want to dictate a threatening letter!'
'Oh!' Toad pulled his head back out. 'Goody! Those are the best kind!' He pulled out a pad and pencil. 'Uh, I'm ready, sir. Who is the letter to?'
'To whom!' Dr. Dred corrected him. 'To the world!'
'Oh, my, that's a lot!' Toad looked at the inner pocket of his coat. 'I don't think I have enough stamps for that!'
'Just one letter, you snivelling scribe!' Dr. Dred snapped. Then he calmed down. 'I'm thinking…' Then he began to dictate. 'Announcing the incredible Dr. Dred's Weather Service – which will provide the nastiest, most miserable weather the world has ever seen – unless I am given the respect due me!'
'What a genius!' Fly-Man declared from the front of the Dredgible.
Vampira chimed in from where she was steering. 'Brilliant, beastly, and basically bad!'
'And furthermore—' Dr. Dred was cut off by Mummy-Man calling out a warning. Dr. Dred frowned. 'See what, you clumsy cuckoo?'
'Drak Pack!' Mummy-Man called, pointing out the window. 'There!'
'The Drak Pack?' Dr. Dred demanded incredulously. 'That's impossible!' He quickly crossed over to the window. He could have smacked himself in the head when he saw how they were still following after. 'So that's their game, is it? A seeing-eye bat?'
It was an oversight on Dr. Dred's part. He knew that Drak could turn into a bat. He'd seen him do it a few times before, and it seemed to be a favourite form of his – like Vampire preferred snakes and spiders. Drak was also often foolish, but he wasn't stupid. And bats were known for not needing to see where they were going in order to navigate. They tended to use echolocation instead.
'Uh, what are you going to try now, Dr. Dred?' Toad asked. 'Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?'
Dr. Dred swatted at him again. 'Cease that infernal sputtering! My machine will take care of the Drak Pack.' He strode over to the Weather Machine.
:[
Drak flew through Dred's fog, using what he decoratively called his bat radar to track the Dredgible.
Suddenly, the air around him got heavy…and so did his wings. 'Hey! What's going on?' It was getting harder and harder to move. He looked down and saw frost beginning to form over his bat body. 'Dred is icing my wings!' He quickly turned into smoke and returned to the Drakster. 'Coming aboard!' When he returned to human form, there was still a layer of frost on him. Drak grumbled as he brushed himself off.
'I thought you didn't feel the cold in this form,' Howler remarked as he helped Drak brush the icicles away.
'I don't,' Drak said. 'But enough ice does still make moving difficult.' He let out a breath. 'Whatever Dred is up to, he sure doesn't want us to find out about it.'
The Drakster video phone suddenly began to ring. Curious, Drak answered it. And he was surprised at who he saw in the screen. 'How did you get this number?'
'That's for you to wonder at!' Dr. Dred boasted. 'Dear me, you're looking a little under the weather, young man!'
Drak scowled. 'Frostbite leaves me kinda cold, Dred,' he quipped.
'Tut, tut, don't be so testy,' Dred said. 'You're the first to feel the chilling effects of my Weather Machine.'
A Weather Machine? Well, that explained how he was controlling the weather.
Dred went on, gleefully. 'With it, I'll be the only one who can do anything about the weather! I plan to dust-storm all outdoor gatherings, heatwave ice rings, hurricane every lake and pond, flash-flood the countryside, quick-freeze all the water supply, tornado-toss every field and farm! Even now, I have broken off a giant arctic iceberg, motorised it, and sent it churning towards New York Harbour to deal it a crunching blow!' He picked up what looked like a teapot wired up to a much larger machine. 'All due to my technologically amplified Tempest in a Teapot!'
Not good. Drak's mind raced. 'You're a monster, Dred, but we'll stop you!'
'Well, you'll have to find me first!' Dr. Dred declared. 'Ta-ta!' He cut off the connection.
'We'll find you, Dred!' Drak declared. 'We'll search everywhere! We'll never give up!'
'Uh, Drak?' Howler asked.
But Drak was on a roll. 'We'll search to the ends of the earth! We'll—'
'Drak!'
'What?' Drak looked at Howler.
'Forget the Academy Award performance. Look down there!' Howler pointed to a giant iceberg sitting in the water.
'That's it!' Drak declared. 'That's Dred's iceberg.'
'Are you sure?' Howler asked.
Drak lifted his nose. 'Have I ever been wrong?'
'Well, frankly, I, uh…' Howler fidgeted and Frankie found the dash of immense interest.
Drak pulled a face. 'Never mind! We'll just send that order for ice back. Take her down, Frankie.'
Frankie landed the Drakster.
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Dr. Dred barked out a laugh. 'Zounds! Drak's landing on that decoy iceberg! He fell for my trap! I knew he would!'
:[
The Drak Pack disembarked and looked over the iceberg before reconvening.
'We've looked everywhere!' Frankie declared.
Howler added on, 'And no secret entrance.'
Drak frowned and looked around. 'Keep looking. It's gotta be here somewhere. I'm certain that he's up to some sneaky, underhanded trick.'
'I think you mean…under-footed,' Howler said.
The remark drew his thoughts back to the present. It was only then that Drak noticed the steam rising up from below them. Drak started and looked down. The ice under their feet was melting. And, as the ice melted, all three of them sank deeper and deeper into the still cold water puddles that were forming below them.
'I don't know about you guys,' Frankie said, 'but I've got a sinking feeling!'
Drak looked around. 'There's a tropical island up ahead! Come on! Let's make for it!'
'Eh!' Howler hopped out of the hole in the ice. 'That'll be a breeze!'
Drak grinned. 'Then give us one, Howler! Please.'
'Gotcha!' Howler took deep breaths and then blew with all his strength.
The iceberg travelled across the sea like a sailboat.
:[
Frankie was glad to be back on non-melting land.
He looked around. 'Hey, look!' He wandered over to a tree. 'Just what I need. I'm as thirsty as an alligator in the desert. A coconut.' He reached for it. But the coconut opened up, revealing a screen inside. 'Hey!'
Dr. Dred appeared on the screen.
'It looks more like a Dred-nut,' Drak said as he came up next to Frankie.
'So, you escaped from my decoy iceberg, didn't you?' Dred asked mockingly.
'Yes.' Drak planted his hands on his hips. 'And as soon as we find the real one, we'll stop you cold.'
Dred waved a finger. 'That giant iceberg is just the beginning of my truly stupendous plans for the Weather Machine, Clack!'
'That's Drak!' Drak frowned. 'What plans?'
'Oh, contraire!' Dred flapped a hand. 'I never discuss plans except at secret meetings.'
'…You're kidding, right?'
He wasn't.
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'I knew it'd be dumb,' Drak was sitting cross-legged, 'but I didn't think it'd be this dumb. When he said "I'll meet you at my pad" I didn't think he meant lily pad.'
Drak looked over as Dred brought a motor-propelled lily pad over to him.
Dred then opened with, 'Greetings, Clack!'
'That's Drak!'
'Whatever! Allow me to enlighten you about my latest evil, brilliant scheme!' And so he did.
Drak couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'You mean you intend to blackmail the world? Or you'll fog in airports? Cripple cities with blizzards and…and…?'
Dred was just nodding along. 'And sell farmers rain by the quart! Exactly! In one hour, my monstrous iceberg will destroy New York Harbour! And then, onto bigger and even nastier things!'
'I…' Drak struggled to wrap his mind around the very concept of that much…He just couldn't. 'I don't believe it!'
'Perhaps a little demonstration will convince you!' Dred pulled out a walkie talkie and brought it to his mouth. 'Toad, it's time for a tiny tornado.'
Uh oh. Drak braced himself.
'Oh, yes, Dr. Dred!' Toad responded.
The tornado came down, but it scooped up Dred rather than Drak.
'Toad, you flipped-out frog! Not me, him!'
Relieved that Toad was such a bungler, Drak called up, 'Okay, Dred! I'm convinced! You are a mixed-up monster!'
Drak took the chance to get out of there and regroup with the rest of the Pack.
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'You mean, we only have one hour to find the Weather Machine?' Howler asked.
He and Frankie followed Drak over the surface of the island.
'That's right,' Drak said. 'Otherwise that giant iceberg will hit New York like a glacier and flatten it.'
'Why don't we just call the New York coast guard and warn them it'sa coming?' Frankie asked.
'We're out of range,' Drak said. 'All right, first thing we do is get off this island.'
Well, the Drakster was still parked on the other side of that decoy iceberg.
'Say, uh, Drak,' Frankie said. 'Maybe this island is-a hollow, and the Weather Machine is underground.'
Drak frowned at him. 'Frankie, that is absolutely ridic—' He'd leaned on a palm tree. The tree had moved under his hand. The ground had disappeared from under them '—ulous.'
The Drak Pack plunged.
They landed on a concrete floor.
Slowly, they pushed themselves up.
'Where are we?' Frankie asked.
'Well, Frankie, it's perfectly obvious,' Drak said. 'The island is hollow, and we're in an underground tunnel.'
Howler and Frankie looked at each other and smirked.
So, in other words: Frankie was right, but Drak didn't want to admit it.
They shrugged to each other as he went on.
'And I'll bet the Weather Machine is hidden down there.' Drak pointed down the hallway before getting up and heading in that direction.
Howler and Frankie stood up and followed after him.
However, they soon came to a crossroads, so to speak. There were three different ways they could go.
'All right,' Drak said. 'Let's split up! It'll speed up the search.' He ducked down one corridor.
'Good idea, Drak!' Howler headed down another corridor. 'I'll just go down this…uh…dark and scary tunnel and…uh…' As he went deeper and deeper, it got darker and darker. Howler promptly changed his mind. He dashed back and grabbed Frank. 'Come on, Frankie! Don't be scared! I'm…I'm right behind you!'
'But Drak said…'
Howler didn't care.
He wasn't going through this dark corridor by himself.
