Chapter 18: The Mob Stirs.
Crossover Town, Colorado, October 9th, 2012, Post Office on Fifth Avenue.
Megan hurried over to the post office and found Nick there, waiting for her with Wendy.
"Oh good, You're here." Nick said.
"So you said you saw Courtney?" Asked Megan.
"Yeah, As I told you, she's looking for Mabel." Nick said. "I don't know why, but it can't be good."
"But why?" Asked Megan. "She's already shut Kyle up?"
"I don't know either." Wendy said. "Mabel never told me or my Parents anything before she disappeared…"
"...I think she's trying to clear Kyle's name." Megan finally said.
"What? How?" Asked Nick. "But running off somewhere?!"
"Come to think of it." Wendy noticed. "That Dog and Baby on our street haven't been seen around either."
"You mean the Griffins?" Asked Megan. "What would they have to do with this?"
"I don't know." Wendy shrugged.
Just then, The three kids looked to see a group of people coming past them down the street.
"What's that?" Wondered Nick.
As the supposed mob walked past, Megan, Nick and Wendy decided to follow, soon they came upon a large crowd, gathered around a small platform, erected by a group of Hulkbusters, with a woman at the head, Major Kathleen Sparr, making a statement.
"People.." She announced. "As you may or may not know, three individuals have gone into the east forest. We currently have no confirmation on their whereabouts, But General Ross assures you, we will do everything in our power to ensure their recovery and safety."
There were murmurs among the crowd.
"Now, In the meantime." The Major announced. "Because these three have violated regulations and entered a restricted area… We must now crack down harder to ensure this does not happen again."
She paused, as the crowd grew apprehensive.
"Therefore, Until the creature known as the Hulk is found." Sparr finished. "We will be moving your curfew from 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM… to 6:00 PM to 10:00 AM, Everyone is in their homes at these times!"
There was a chorus of angry protests from the crowd!
"But I have to work at 9:00 AM!"
"Our Children should be in school by then!"
"Is this even legal?!"
"Anyone who violates this will be detained." The Lieutenant finished. "Thank you all."
And with that, she left the podium, with the crowd shouting angrily after her, only to be pushed back by the Hulkbuster Soldiers, Megan, Nick and Wendy looked worriedly between themselves, as they slowly backed out of the crowds.
The Next Day.
Crossover Town, Colorado, October 10th, 2012, Skeeters Bar.
At 12:30 AM, the next morning, a large congregation assembled at the bar.
"It's outrageous!" Exclaimed Rabbit. "They should be finding this girl, not locking us in our homes!"
"It's not any better than the fact that they've already established guards at our homes." Added Nicole Watterson. "But to completely try and disrupt our daily routines like this?!"
"I'm surprised we managed to set this meeting up at all." Commented Moley.
"That's not the point!" Said Harold finally, everyone stopped and listened.
"My niece is up in those woods." He said with a heavy tone. "And the last thing I should be worried about is her being alone in those wods with some… Beast in the wild, not this god damn curfew, imposed by some military douchebags, that should be hunting this "Monster!"
"We understand Harold…" Said Stuart McCormick. "W-We'd help you find her if we could-"
"But not with all this Hulkbuster nonsense!" Rabbit insisted. "Something must be done about them!"
"But what?" Asked Piglet. "They're obviously much too big for such… very small creatures like us."
"Sad to say but he's right." Said Ratty. "What could we possibly do against a fully armed US military regiment?"
"...Uh, Make them leave?" Richard Watterson asked awkwardly.
Everyone looked at the pink Rabbit with complete unamusement.
"Wait… I think you're onto something." Said Rabbit.
"What do you mean?" Asked Harold.
Rabbit then got into the booth of the bar. "Isn't it obvious? They're here because of the Hulk. If we find the Hulk first and drive him out of town… then the Hulkbusters will leave too!"
Everyone murmured in agreement.
"Why yes." Said Pooh. "It could work!"
"But how do we make this so?" Asked Toad.
As the patrons of the bar conversed, they didn't notice a skycam watching them.
Elsewhere,
Courtney and Ross looked on and listened as the town folks consulted their plan.
"So we're just letting civilians do the work now?" Asked Ross, in an unimpressed tone of voice.
"Provided we rile them up enough, yes." Courntey answered. "But once they are, we must let them have their manhunt, and with any luck, they'll lead us right to the Hulk."
Meanwhile,
Brian and Stewie were haggard, bruised and weary as they trudged aimlessly through the woods.
"God…" Stewie Groaned. "How do you end up lost in these woods?!"
"I thought you knew how to navigate these woods?" Brian snorted.
"Hey! My tracker was broken!" Stewie protested. "And I don't see you using that little "Sniff out locations trick of your's!"
"I can at least sniff out where that thing took Mabel." Brian replied.
"Oh finally, a more realistic thing for dogs to…" Stewie trailed off upon realization. "Hey wait a minute, why haven't you done that before?! We've been aimlessly wandering these woods for the last two days and you decide now to-?!"
"Shh." Brian then put his nose to the ground and began sniffing around, he then sprung up on his two back legs as a strong smell came into the nose.
"What is it?" Stewie asked.
Brian gasped. "I don't know… I thought I was sniffing Mabel's tracks but then… there was something else… something…" Brian then sneezed, and Stewie then took notice of a few small traces of… something unnatural… He knelt down and picked it up with the tip of his finger, holding it close to his face, he examined it.
"What is it?" Brian asked.
"I don't know…" Stewie pondered. "I don't have the equipment necessary to examine it."
"Could it lead us to Mabel?" Brian wondered.
"Perhaps." Stewie said. "Can you still pick up her trail?"
Brian sniffed the Earth again. "Yeah, somewhere uphill I think."
"Then that's where we're going." Stewie said.
And so off they went.
To Be Continued.
Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing okay, So there's a lot to catch up on.
"Um First off, I never talked about the Recent South Park Special last time, The End of Obesity, I thought it was great, one of the best South Park Specials since Post COVID. Apparently Wendy's mom is named Alexis Testaburger? I'm just going to keep calling her Valorie in this series, Just like I'm keeping Jimbo as Randy's brother, or Red's surname being Tucker, So no big deal.
Also, If anyone's seen the new Star Wars show, The Acolyte, You probably don't like it or do like it, I honestly don't care, I don't pay attention to anything related to the High Republic, so do whatever you want.
In other news, now with this new chapter out of the way, I can get to work on the Final Chapter of Go God Go (Retelling.), another chapter for Watership Down (Combined Edition.) will also be in the works, and maybe even a new story. I haven't decided what it will be, But I have a few Ideas.
Stay Tuned for Now. :)