"Hey fish girl!" Cordula froze in her steps as she turned around to look back to see her number one bitch bully, namely Clarissa Wilmington. Cordula groaned as she turned away and continues on her fast paced walk to the path that would take her to H.E.A.T headquarters.
Unfortunately, Clarissa and her group of snob people wouldn't let her get away that easily "So..where are you going off when no one is around" Cordula stopped in her tracks and looked at Clarissa in puzzlement.
"Where else?"
"Oh please, as if I would believe you would immediately head straight to home when there had been rumors going on about a girl about your age accompanying some team to go off fending monsters and it kinda makes me wonder on you" Cordula scoffed, not wanting to stay anymore longer than absolutely necessary with them.
"Trust me Clarissa, there are thousands of girls across the country and only a few of you" Cordula stated "Besides it's just a rumor. I didn't think you would stoop that low to gossip" Clarissa gave an indignant noise when they heard a loud honk and they turned their attention to Joe Davis.
"Hey kiddo, need a lift?" Cordula could have thanked the heavens for the rescue as she immediately clambered onto the truck. Before Clarissa or her goons could say anything, Joe immediately sped away "You could handle almost every monster there is in the world and yet there I found you cornered by a bunch of college kids" Cordula pouted and crossed her arms.
"First of all, college kids are as energetic as those adolescent animals. Second, gossips flies over them"
Joe laughed as he ruffled her hair "So, heading off to Headquarters?" Cordula nodded and Joe made a sharp turn and headed towards H.E.A.T Headquarters "Be sure to be home before dinner" Cordula nodded and watched as Joe drove off.
She sighed before she entered the room to see Randy and Monique shaking hands "So...what did I miss this time?" Cordula asked "Oh just a report on Godzilla about his appetite and Randy commenting about Godzilla eating almost everything in sight" Cordula raised a brow towards Randy "Sounds like someone I know" Randy groaned.
"Not you too" Cordula shrugged her shoulders "I'm just stating a fact that I know" Randy narrowed his eyes at her which she gave him an innocent look "By the way, what did she say?"Randy asked Elsie who merely winked at him.
"Any theories regarding the missing researchers?"
Audrey's voice echoed in the TV screen and she was accompanied by a man, a good looking one anyways. Cordula glanced back at Nick to see the man now had his eyes narrowed down to the man Audrey was interviewing.
"Our investigation is just beginning but COM oil believes that the cause may be environmental. Possibly a shift in glacial movements"
"Do you believe there's a chance that these men are still alive?"
"Absolutely, in fact an expedition is headed to the area tomorrow. At COM oil, people come before profit"
Nick quickly shut the television off "Gee they make a cute couple, don't you think?" Nick glared at her "Funny" He said flatly.
"I wouldn't worry Nick" Mendel said in assurance "Where's Audrey gonna find another man who can give her all of this?" He said, gesturing to the clutter.
"I think that's your girl choices Mendel" Cordula said to Mendel before mouthing "Not Helping" with a glare.
Nick crossed his arms and huffed before he stood up and walked inside a separate room "I bet he's going to call Audrey" Elsie said smugly.
"I wouldn't be surprised by that. He's obviously jealous" Cordula said "Do you even get jealous over somebody Cordula?" Mendel asked and Cordula shrugged.
"Not really...Unless it involves a certain amphibious lizard" Cordula added that last thought mentally.
The door to where Nick was burst open as Nick entered with determined steps "Pack your bags and grab your thermals people" He said it so suddenly that the team let out surprised noises.
"Huh?"
"What?!"
"We're heading to the South Pole" Nick said, not the least bit unnerved by the team's stunned gazes "Now hold on, I'm just getting over a cold" Mendel said weakly, blowing his nose in the process.
"When are you not?" Randy asked, Mendel glared at him for that "Something's not right with COM oil's environmental disaster theory. Could be a new mutation" Nick said seriously.
"Yeah, yeah right. It could be a mutant and then again it could be that the COM oil hunk asked Audrey to the Winter Prom and we'll be chaperonning" Nick had given Elsie an odd look at that point.
Elsie merely gave him a smug look as of daring him to change her perception of this sudden flight to the South Pole.
~oOo~
The team headed to the airport by early dawn and were helping out in the preparations when Audrey and the COM oil hunk, A.K.A Chad Gordon, came in with Audrey.
"Morning" Nick greeted, Elsie giggled behind her sleeve while Cordula simply raised a brow at Nick's obvious jealousy.
"Nick?!" Seems like Audrey was just as surprised as they are into heading off to the South Pole.
"Who are you? And what are you doing?" Chad asked smoothly. Nick handed his crate to Randy and turned around to hold out his hand "Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team" Nick said, gesturing to his team behind him.
"We'll be...joining you"
Audrey had her face bunched to what Cordula could assume is anger and something akin to suspicion as to why they really were here.
"I'm sorry but that's not possible. This is a private expedition"
"I'm aware of that Mr. Gordon but I made a call to your CEO last night and he thought it would be best if we...um...supervised" Cordula wanted to slap her forehead at Nick's antics and at the same time, admire the guy for wanting to go through this to be with Audrey.
Because he did NOT make a call to the CEO last night.
"Assuming that's true then welcome aboard if I can be of assistance don't hesitate to ask" Chad said, politely shaking hands with Nick.
"Audrey would you like to go to the itinerary?" Chad asked smoothly "Absolutely" Audrey agreed smoothly but hastily.
"Uh Mr. Gordon, my people here seem to have everything under control. Maybe I'll join you" Chad let out an annoyed sigh "Certainly doctor" Nick gave him a smile despite how very fake it was.
This is going to be a long trip.
~oOo~
When they finally reached the designated area, Cordula couldn't help but thank the spirits. She doubt that she could handle anymore of Nick's love triangle with Audrey and Chad.
They all stepped out and Cordula had to hold onto her cap or it would have been blown away by the wind. Mendel sneezed the minute he breathed cold air.
"For once you have an excuse"
~oOo~
They arrived at the sight where the previous team had disappeared and Cordula gasped at the destruction it left.
"I've never seen anything like this" Nick commented "Our data suggests that glacial movement caused a foundational shift creating sinkholes throughout the area" Cordula and Elsie went to take a closer look and they both found something similar to each and every piece of metal parts.
"Looks like your sinkhole needs a manicure" Elsie commented as she held up a piece with what appeared to be claw marks to show them to the group.
"Okay, N.I.G.E.L should be able to give us a detailed assessment of the region's geological intrgrity" Mendel said as he activated N.I.G.E.L who began digging a small hole.
"We'll set up camp on top of that ice formation" Chad said, pointing at the ice formation a few feet away from them.
"Our geologists informed me it's the most stable land mass in the area" Chad explained further on why he wanted them to set up camp there.
"Ugh...maybe the only stable mass" Mendel said and Nick gave him a look.
~oOo~
While the rest of the team were busy unpacking, Nick was busy dealing with Chad and Audrey. Cordula shook her head when Mendel managed to grab the bag that was filled with Randy's stash of junk food.
"Hey, these are all for later, okay. Uh...after I win the bet" Randy explained and Mendel shamelessly grabbed a chocolate bar to taunt him further.
"Oh right, good luck with that" Mendel said, taking a huge bite out of the bar. Randy glared at him for that. Cordula looked down on Mendel's small computer and noticed the increase of the temperature.
"Uh...Mendel, is there something wrong with this?" Cordula asked, making Mendel turn to her "No, why do you ask?" Cordula wordlessly handed the computer to him.
"This can't be right" Mendel mumbled as Nick walked up to them with a depressed look on his face. Cordula could only guess what had happened.
"External Temperature Increasing to 94C"
"Impossible, it's getting hot" Mendel commented. Cordula turned around just in time to see N.I.G.E.L beginning to sink underneath the ice.
"Glacial Integrity Failing
"Nick!" She cried out, causing Nick and Mendel to turn and look at N.I.G.E.L in shock and horror, the horror was mostly on Mendel's part.
"N.I.G.E.L!" Mendel screamed in horror at what had happened. Cordula quickly hopped right behind Randy as Nick shouted.
"Head for the plateau! Go! Go! Go!" Everyone revved up their snowmobiles and headed out to the plateau as quick as they can.
Okay...maybe Nick was right all along about this.
Cordula thought as she looked back to see something moving underneath the snow "Something's following us!" Nick said in frustration.
"I count three!" Cordula shouted "Split up then cross back!" Monique said and they quickly headed into different directions.
They managed to get to safety until Cordula and Randy's snowmobile got stuck and Randy desperately accelerated the speed in an effort to set the snowmobile free which only led to the two tumbling out of the snowmobile once it was free with a jerk.
Cordula managed to land a little bit higher than where Randy was and slowly stood up only to stop when she heard Randy's terrified shouts. She turned to see Randy being pulled back and made a dive for his hand.
"Got you!" Cordula grunted when she realized that she too was being dragged off "Randy! Cordula!" Monique shouted out as Cordula tried to pull both of them out which was a struggle.
How big is thing?!
Nick managed to grab the other hand of Randy and they both pulled him out of the show to reveal what appeared to be a mole, a mutated one in fact.
"Get it off me!" Randy screamed "That's what was chasing us back there?!" Elsie asked incredulously "Couldn't be, I could barely pull Randy out!" Cordula answered back. Randy kicked his leg high and the mutated mole went soaring before it landed right beside Mendel.
The mutated mole let out a whine as it wiggled around and the snow surrounding it started to evaporate "Craven the crate!" Mendel grabbed the nearest crate he could find and managed to trap the mutated mole.
"Looks like Nick was telling the truth after all about this"
~oOo~
While the others were out of the tent dealing with Randy's injury, Cordula decided to check the little guy to see if it was alright with Elsie.
Cordula watched in fascination as the little critter scuttled around its cage "Who would have thought I would come across something so cute..." Cordula coed as she handed the little guy a candy bar.
"Where did you get that?" Elsie asked with one eyebrow raised "Where do you think?" Cordula snorted, gesturing outside.
The girls frowned when they heard Nick, Chad and Audrey outside their tent and it wasn't like they wanted to eavesdrop on purpose.
"The more Nick keeps up with this, the more he will be driving her away" Elsie mumbled before she walked out to talk to Nick once she assumed Chad and Audrey were gone.
A sudden flare of heat made Cordula shudder and look at the little critter. It let out another whine as it stared at her.
"Wow, you feel really hot" Cordula muttered as she felt the heat coming off from the little critter like a wave.
~oOo~
Mendel groaned in frustration "No good, I can't access any of N.I.G.E.L's data. His circuits must be frozen solid" Mendel said to Nick just before Elsie, Randy and Cordula came out of the tent.
"Well our furry little friend is an Ice Borer"
"I named him Cuddles" Randy said "Still wonder why yoy even named him such a ridiculous name. Why couldn't it be Frost or Blaze?" Cordula asked "For one thing, the little guy is just too cute and the other thing is that you almost burned your hands when it tried to cuddle with you" Cprdula grunted as she rubbed her hands together.
"A hybrid species related to the Scallopus Hyperboreus, a type of artic mole" Elsie continued to explain but this one has an incredibly high metabolic rate" Nick pondered over Elsie's words.
"Meaning high body temperature that explains how it tunnels through the ice"
"But the slush trails it left in its wake were huge" Randy stated with slight worry "Its possible the Ice Borers travel in packs, converging under the ice to to create a Slush Bed, pulling their prey below the surface" Nick explained.
"You know aside from the Ice Borers, I haven't seen another living thing since we got here" Elsie commented and Cordula couldn't help but agree.
"These creatures must have enormous appetites to keep up that metabolic rate" Nick said "So after they depleted all natural resources, it went to the nearest living thing there is...The COM oil team" Randy gulped at Cordula's ominous words.
"Meaning...we're next on the menu?" Cordula crossed her arms "You still think Cuddles is an adequate name for the guy?" She asked but before Randy could say anything, Elsie spoke up.
"There's something else you gotta see. The radioactivity level of these cell samples is off the chart"
Elsie went back to the tent where Cuddles was kept only to see an empty cage "Not good" She said as Nick opened the flaps for him to see the missing Cuddles.
"Now I am really wanting to mess up a certain pretty boy's face"
~oOo~
Cordula, Monique and Randy waited outside the tent while Nick and Elsie interrogate Chad.
"Someone explain to me why I am not allowed to go there?" Cordula asked after waiting for nearly a minute "Knowing you, you'd probably act first before talking" Randy commented just as Elsie and Nick exited the tent.
"So it wasn't Chaddy boy" Elsie said and Cordula grunted in annoyance "Maybe not directly" Nick explained "But Gordon knows something, I can feel it" Nick said ominously.
"Well without a live specimen those samples are all I've got to work with. I need liquid nitrogen to preserve them" Elsie said.
"We have to go back to the plane" Nick said "Send me in coach" Randy said "Sorry, you're on injured reserve. Monique, Cordula and I will go. You two keep an eye on Gordon" Cordula nodded as she and Monique walked to the snowmobiles.
"Uh Nick, as long as you gotta be out there, could you maybe grab that box of creamy cakes I stashed behind the landing gear, you know just in case" Nick gave him a weird look at that and Cordula huffed as she smiled.
~oOo~
They quickly headed to the plane with no trouble and while Nick was busy digging N.I.G.E.L out of the snow, a miracle he was still even alright, while Cordula and Monique dealt with carrying the liquid nitrogen.
"Are you ready?" Monique asked just as Nick walked up to the landing gear "Just one more thing" Nick said, pulling out the box of creamy cakes.
"Why even bother?" Cordula asked "To strengthen his agony further" Monique said with a smirk and Cordula shuddered.
~oOo~
They sped off to the plateau but were suddenly blocked "Incoming!" Cordula screamed as they stopped just in time.
"They're attempting to cut off our escape" Monique said "Doing a pretty good job about it!" Nick said in frustration. Cordula desperately looked around for any escape routes they could use until she came face to face with Cuddles.
Ehem...I mean she came face to face with an adult size Cuddles.
Please do not tell me that thing we just caught was just a baby.
The two gigantic moles let out a rumbling roar that was similar to a mammoth trumpeting out an attack. Monique and Nick began shooting which did nothing to them.
In fact, it only seems to make them stronger.
Cordula slapped herself in the head at the sudden realization "Nick! Monique! Those things won't work on them. They produce heat, only natural heat is their strength" Monique and looked at each other helplessly.
The ice in front them broke off and out came Godzilla as he roared out his presence and jumped into the fray to ram himself to an Ice Borer that had gone too close to his female.
The Ice Borers immediately retreated to the safety of the ice cold water below "Go! Go! Go!" Nick shouted as they revved up their snowmobiles and made a leap to the other side and headed to safety.
Once they made it to safe distance, they all watched in horror to see an Ive Borer that managed to pounce on Godzilla which surprised him long enough for the others to grab him from every direction.
"No!" Nick and Cordula shouted. Cordula felt the rope land on her head and she quickly tied up the things that were. She snuck a glance back and saw an Ice Borer heading straight to them.
Nick grabbed Cordula by the arm and the two quickly clambered up with the Ice Borer hot on their heels. Cordula managed to climb up before it made a leap to at least try and catch one of them to no avail.
"No!" Nick screamed when Godzilla fell down when an Ice Borer managed to loosen his footing "Come on G-man! Dog paddle or something!" Randy shouted.
Unfortunately, Godzilla disappeared underneath the ice and the Ice Borers came up unharmed "Those Ice Borers have us trapped here. They'll attack the second we step foot on that ice" Nick said in frustration.
"Maybe we should call in Major Hicks!" Elsie suggested "Our radio went down out there" Nick said to her just as Chad walked up to them "My radio operator could make a call. I'll take care of it" He said shortly.
"Let's see if we can signal Godzilla. Maybe he uh-" He glanced back at Cordula who shook her head at him with a frown on her face.
"Don't give me that look Nick"
~oOo~
"Well according to the samples I took from Cuddles. Turns out the creatures' extreme body temperature isn't just the result of a high metabolism. These things generate heat on a molecular level"
Elsie explained "So...their cells have to maintain a certain thermal energy rate to survive" Nick concluded and Elsie nodded "And I think I know just how to cool them off" She said, showing them a can of liquid nitrogen.
"We're gonna freeze a bunch of creatures that thrive at a sub-zero tenperatures?" Randy asked incredulously "The Ice Borers could survive because their bodies are like little furnaces" Elsie explained.
"Then we just need to turn off the heat" Cordula said with a smirk "Man, all that highschool science I took has proven pretty useless these days" Randy said a little bit sheepishly.
"Nothing beats learning in the field" Cordula replied.
~oOo~
Cordula watched warily as the slush bins moved ever closer to their island as Randy and Mendel made up the Liquid Nitrogen Weapon.
"We rigged the canisters to fire a highly concentrated stream of Nitrogen Vapor" Mendel said as the team gathered around "They shoot a short blast after that the firing mechanisms will probably freeze up and they're history" Randy finished the explanation.
"Five weapons, one for each creature" Elsie said "That is all we've seen, there could even be more" Monique said to Elsie as Nick grabbed one Nitrogen Gun.
"Then we don't waste a shot" Chad came up to them with his face full of worry but Cordula spotted a hidden meaning underneath the facade.
"There's something wrong with our radio. It's not receiving and my technician can't fix it. Looks like we're on our own" Chad said before he walked away. Nick narrowed his eyes on him and turned to Monique.
"Keep an eye on him"
~oOo~
"The trick is to lure these things out into the open. They're attracted to body heat but we can't risk anyone going out into that ice"
Cordula peered down at Randy's crouched form and saw him holding up a heating pad "Maybe we don't have too" She said as all eyes stared down at Randy.
"What? I wasn't gonna eat this now. I was just-uh- I was just defrosting it for later"
"No one wants your stash junk boy just forego with the hot pack and nobody gets hurt" Elsie said with a grin.
The ice suddenly shook and they all looked down to see the Ice Borers now digging underneath their island "We don't take care of those creatures soon, there's not gonna be anything left of our little island" Elsie said.
Mendel came forward with N.I.G.E.L holding out the hot packs. They stood in position as one of the Ice Borers came up. Mendel let out a scream which prompted Randy to shoot at the Ice Borer only one side and not enough to put the Ice Borer down.
But it was enough for it to tumble down at the sudden cold and everyone quickly scrambled away to avoid falling. The same could not be said for-
"N.I.G.E.L!" Mendel screamed out loud as the robot fell. Cordula groaned "And after we just saved him from the ice!" They all looked down where the Ice Borer fell.
"Look what you made me do!" Randy said angrily "I did not!" Mendel retorted and Nick quickly went in between the two to avoid another fight.
"Stop it both of you! Monique, Elsie let's see if COM oil has any of their heat packs we could use" Nick said and the girls nodded.
"You two behave" Cordula scolded. Fortunately they stopped fighting but they did bicker.
~oOo~
Finding no heat packs here, Cordula got out of the tent just in time to see Monique take down a bewildered Chad "You sabotaged the radio, why?!" Monique asked angrily.
"W-what?!"
"Is she insane?!" Audrey asked out loud as Nick came up to her "Yeah but I think I wanna hear this" Nick said. Chad squirmed against her "I don't know what you're talking about" Chad said in denial.
"No?" Monique quickly brought him to where a circle of Ice Borers rumbled out as they stared up at them with intent. Chad yelped as Monique slowly lowered him down.
"My arms are getting tired" Monique warned as she lowered him some more "You know she's gonna drop you one way or another" Cordula commented.
"Okay but I was only following orders!" Chad finally gave in as Monique brought him back up and threw him to the ground "Explain..." Nick said lowly.
"COM oil's losing its access to resources to the Middle East. We needed this site, if it was made public that this site was too dangerous for drilling -" Chad was cut off by Audrey.
"COM oil stock plummets and the company goes under" Cordula snorted "No wonder you were always so skittish around us. Never even staying even for a solid minute"
"I was told to fix anything that could damage the operation" Chad explained as he stood up "And in the process sacrifice lives, including your own" Nick stated.
"It's a price I'm willing to pay" Chad said solemnly "Okay then, all those in favor of using Chad as Ice Borer Bait, raise their hand" Randy said with his hands raised.
"Make that two for me" Cordula said with her arms crossed. A loud rumble came and Cordula gasped as she felt the ground she was standing on turn to liquid.
"It tunneled through the ridge. Grab the weapon!" Nick shouted as they ran away from where they stood. Chad on the other hand was stuck knee deep.
Randy and Cordula each grabbed an arm and began hauling him up and out of the ice. Two of the Ice Borers came up in between Nick and Monique who made a mad dash away from them.
One of the Ice Borers went underground while the other one continued its pursuit. Before Nick or anyone could act, a familiar monster lizard sprang up from the icy ground with a roar.
"He's alive!" Nick cheered as he fist pumped the air before the ground shook and crack that led up to where Randy and Cordula were standing.
Cordula yelped when her feet landed on something furry which was actually the side of the Ice Borer "Randy! Cordula!" Elsie screamed with fear. Randy quickly fired in it's fur-less face and jumped out of the way as the Ice Borer immediately fell down to sleep.
Cordula scrambled to stand up and heaved a sigh of relief before walking up to Randy who gave Elsie and Monique thumbs up.
Shouts of fear made the team turn their attention to two COM oil employees run to them as two more Ice Borers appeared. Monique quickly blasted the two of them before her Nitrogen Gun gave out.
Godzilla moved his head from side to side as the Ice Borer clung onto his face. Godzilla let lose his Atomic Breath making the Ive Borer lose its grip and fall.
Nick quickly shot it with Liquid Nitrogen as it fell while the others moved away "Is that every last one of them?" Cordula asked before the ground shook and the Ice Borer with half of Liquid Nitrogen on its face appeared.
The universe just loves to mess with me right now. What did I ever do to them?
Nick aimed at it to fire only for his gun to give way. Everyone quickly moved out of the way as the Ice Borer charged at them.
Randy looked down at his half frozen gun before aiming at it to the Ice Borer "Come on, one more teeny-weenie blast" Randy gasped as his gun gave way but not before he sent a stream of Liquid Nitrogen straight to the Ice Borer as it immediately fell down, asleep.
Randy sighed at the adrenaline rush he just had as he took out a chocolate bar "Oh yeah, I deserve this" Randy sighed as he immediately began gobbling down the choco bar.
Godzilla let out a roar of victory once he knew the threat was over and his pack was safe before he walked away, possibly somewhere warm.
"You tell him big guy!" Randy called out as he continued eating. Elsie looked at him with her arms crossed as she made a few noises of clear smugness "Did my watch stopped working? I don't think your 24 hours are up" Elsie said as she checked her watch.
"Yeah they are, they-they-they gotta be. Oh come on the sun never goes down around here. How's a guy suppose to know"
Randy said sheepishly "The missing men we found'em, the dog too, buried in the ice on the other side of the ridge. All of'em got bad cases of hypothermia but they're alive" An employee said before he walked off.
"This isn't over Gordon. When we get back, we're going to do some talking" Nick said with a hidden threat on his tone. Audrey looked at him sharply "What do you mean 'we'? This is my exclusive" Before Chad could say anything, Monique had him by the shoulder.
"I will watch him" She said with a smirk "And as for you...I know you were just trying to protect me" Audrey said as Nick bowed "Audrey I'm sorry...I uh..." Nick tried to fond a reasonable explanation for his actions but Audrey beat him to it.
"You were jealous"
"I was...uh...jealous" Nick said with a small smile "You should be, I'm worth it" Audrey said smugly as she walked away with Nick watching her with a smile.
Cordula walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and Nick turned his attention to her "What?" Cordula shook her head.
"You have a weird taste in women"