A Kenworth truck, with a flatbed trailer, appeared right out front, and Jeremy went out front for his turn. The Kenworth was labeled "Karnage Transport." And there was a forklift, operated by Darkwing Duck, loading huge pallets of fireworks on board. "Make sure all these fireworks are tied down safely," said Darkwing and continued loading them up.
Jeremy strapped the first four pallets down tightly, just knowing that he didn't want any of that cargo ending up on the road. But he had never driven a big rig before, much less, hauled hazardous material. So despite his success on his first turn, he couldn't help but worry. Once he had everything strapped down tightly, he nervously got in the truck, buckled up, and started up the biggest engine he had ever taken control of in his life. The truck's GPS came on automatically with the route highlighted. He could barely shake his nervousness, but he gingerly put the truck's automatic transmission in gear. And the truck crept forward. "Mt. Tri State, here I come," he said out loud and still unnerved, pulled onto the road. Once he was moving, he got the hang of the vehicle. But part of him still felt like there was a blatantly ticking time bomb under his seat. He had never been this nervous behind the wheel before. But he also had the creepiest feeling that the fireworks would detonate on the very rig if he didn't get them to the summit before dark. So he made a break for it. Just to make up time, he tried going about six miles an hour over the speed limit. But no member of law enforcement bothered to stop him to find out the real circumstance. He ran the next red light, and other vehicles screeched to a stop to avoid hitting him. He put the hammer down to make the next green light, and his front wheels were only about 35% of the way through when the light turned from yellow to red. To check what was up ahead, he used his CB radio. "How's the flow looking for us up ahead?"
Seconds later, another driver came through, sounding like Honker Muddlefoot. "Clean shot ahead. Let's do it to it."
Jeremy took aim at the most wide open lane of traffic and really put his foot down. The truck's extra large engine fired on all cylinders, pulling further and further ahead. But the winding roads were both a challenge and a fear. It was like an uphill roller coaster, only Jeremy knew he was on pavement and not on rails. Oncoming traffic came his way, and he was more nervous around them than they probably were around him, because the last thing he wanted to do was set off the fireworks before they were even unloaded. He knew they were all already on a timer, but he had a fearful, dreadful feeling that a collision could set them off even sooner. To make matters worse, he didn't even have a panic button. And he was adamant that such a lifeline was vital in some lines of work, including bartending, because in such a position, he'd never know when he'd have an angry drunk on his hands. Speaking of drunks, he feared that the worst could happen if he came face to face with a drunk driver, whether such a knucklehead was in a large pickup truck or on a motorcycle.
Eventually, he made his way to the top of the hill, where the checkered flag was waved for him. And he received further instructions from Mayor Roger Doofenshmirtz. "This is it, Jeremy. Just uncouple the trailer, leave it here, and the rest is my job."
"You got it, Mr. Mayor," said Jeremy, so he wasted no time, getting out, dropping the trailer's feet, unhitching it, and driving away. In the truck's rear view mirror, he saw Vanessa Doofenshmirtz undoing the trailer's straps and throwing them aside. And just when he realized he didn't know the way down the mountain, a portal opened up wide in front of him. He drove through it and found himself right back home again. He parked the truck right behind Don Karnage's Chinook helicopter, and moments after he got out of the truck, it disappeared. He quickly made his way out back to see the animated scoreboard, and it showed that he had 22 points. "Yes. Oh, yes! I'm winning!"
"You never know," Megavolt told him. "We still have a good ways to go through this game."
"That's true, Megavolt," added Candace. "Mentors say it's not where you start that counts, but where you finish."
"That's quite a point," encouraged Don Karnage. "I was the leader of a crazed pirate gang for 16 long years until we discovered it was much more rewarding to be airborne acrobats and be exceptional friends with Megavolt."
"Not to mention making Darkwing, Baloo, and Rebecca Cunningham totally jealous," Megavolt confided.
Candace got a little bit emotional. "It's just too bad Rebecca can't win over an exceptional boyfriend like Jeremy. Mr. Karnage, I believe it's your turn again."
"Gladly so, Candace," replied Don Karnage with a smile and rolled the dice. It landed on five. His piece moved five spaces forward. There appeared a message on the board for him. And he read it out loud. "25 hunters are trophy hinting for red wolves. Save your species."
"Sounds right up your alley," remarked Megavolt.
"Don't worry, Megavolt," comforted Don Karnage. "Whoever is doing that hunting is gonna be in huge trouble!" And with that, he ran through a quick pre flight maintenance check on his Chinook helicopter and fired it right up. As soon as he was airborne, his GPS came on and showed 25 red marks on the map, indication the heat sought locations of the 25 different targets. He headed straight for the nearest one first and felt just a bloodthirsty. In mere minutes, he got close and made use of his well trained nose, smelling that the first target was not a human being, but a panther, complete with a shotgun. He briefly put the chopper on auto pilot and attached his small grappling hook to the end of his winch. Then, he took the controls again and lowered the hook on his winch, using his nose as much as his eyes. He snagged the panther under his jacket and airlifted him beyond his worst nightmare. And as he continued ascending, he used his chopper's special loudspeaker. "Attention! Attention, you careless game hunter. This is Don Karnage, speaking to you with my marvelous voice. I am here to save 8,000 red wolves from terrible guys, like you, the desperate population, including my marvelous self. If you put one scratch on a red wolf, you will meet your well deserved end." The panther attempted to use his shotgun, but Karnage flew erratically, causing the panther to swing savagely back and fourth, whaling. Don Karnage unhooked the panther in a tall tree and left him helpless while moving on to his next target. Once again, he could not only see his targets on his GPS screen, but also smell them. And 22 of them actually were humans. Along the way, he found a small, off grid hunting cabin and knew just how to utilize it. He used his winch to pick it up right off the lot and physically let it down on his next target five times. Then, once again, he addressed the target over his loudspeaker. "Run! Run away and never return. It is I, the humanoid red wolf, Don Karnage, so don't even think of hunting down my species any further. We're critically endangered. So if you take the hunting any further, you're busted big time." And he took the cabin with him with an ethical threat. "Attention! Attention all trophy hunters out here. This is the feared red wolf and aerobatic pilot, Don Karnage, speaking to you with my voice. If any of you put one scratch on a red wolf, like me, this hunting cabin becomes a big, heavy wrecking ball and not on any of those gorgeous trees." He took his gunman hunting further and knocked down two more of them just to show that he really meant business. Once the hunters had all run away, he threw the lodge in the lake and returned to his Thrill Factory game. The animated score board appeared on the game board, showing twelve points under his name.
Jeremy got curious further. "Mr. Karnage, who was your flight instructor?"
"I was totally self taught," Don Karnage answered. "I ran away in my father's crop duster as young as 13."
Candace was shocked. "If I had done the same at such an age, I would have either gotten so lost or so busted."
"And I never would have met her," added Jeremy.
"That's right," said Candace. "and Jeremy's been an awesome boyfriend to me. I could so not ask for a better one."
"This game just keeps getting more exciting!" exclaimed Megavolt and rolled the dice. It landed on two this time. His piece moved ahead two spaces. There was an animated message on the board for him. And he read it out loud. "Shooting star. Make a wish as it passes."
