by Baltazar Ray
The men scanned the sky as the noise surrounded them. Pluggo and Meet prepared ahead and flew up to attack the men from above. With lightning speed they came crashing down on the two unsuspecting thugs.
“KA-PLANNNK! CRRASSSHHHH!”
“SPLASSSSSSSSHHHHH!” “SPLASSSSSSSSHHHHH!”
The two men fell on the river and struggled to float.
Hydra pointed his nozzles at the captain who was still standing overboard. He blasted him with a torrent of water, knocking him down with the rest..
“KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOSSSH!”
“SPLASSSSSSSSHHHHH!”
Momentarily quiet as they watched the action, Miss Hannah and the children erupted in wild cheers, and began clapping their hands.
"Yippee! We're saved!"
“Wowww! Fire hydrant super heroes!”
“Who are they?”
"Is that a toy?"
“I’m gonna buy a toy like them!”
“Get them! Get them!” The children were ecstatic.
“SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!” Pluggo buzzed by again, obviously showing off.
“SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!”
The children were yelling, cheering, and clapping their hands as they jumped about. But one of the kids accidentally leaned on the boat’s gear lever and put it on drive, not knowing the danger that would cause—a runaway boat full of children without an operator.
The boat started moving while the cheering was going on. It lurched forward— violently knocking everyone to the floor—they all screamed in panic. Miss Hannah rushed to the controls and pulled every lever she could pull; but it only speeded up the boat. The boat bounced violently as it headed for the open sea. Hydra hadn’t noticed it at first since he had been keeping an eye on the thugs.
By instinct, Pluggo and Meet submerged and chased the boat. Meet, clearly focused, forged ahead of Pluggo. His lean and skinny form made him swim so fast that he was behind the boat in no time. He dove deeper under the boat to check out its propellers—-the spewing bubbles momentarily blinded him.
(What do you see from down there, Meet?)Pluggo asked.
(The propellers! We'll just have to jam the propellers to stop the boat. I’m a hydrant and I’m made of steel so I'm hoping that would take care of that") said Meet to Pluggo.
(“Be careful Meet,”) Pluggo signaled back, as he watched from behind.
“SWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!”
Meet torpedoed towards the boat as fast as he could, his path obscured by bursts of bubbles. A few seconds went by and…
“CRRAASSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!”
The impact blew the boat’s propellers into pieces, scattering them to the bottom of the sea. Miss Hannah and the children experienced a thunderous jolt that threw everyone to the floor. Pluggo went after the boat too, to find out how he could help as the boat was still in the middle of the sea. But help was on its way—the incoming sirens of the Coast Guard could be clearly heard in the distance.
“TOOOOOTEEEE! TOOOOOTEEEE! TOOOOOTEEEE!”
Meanwhile, Hydra kept an eye on the thugs as they struggled to float helplessly by the bank, unable to escape.
(“Meet? Are you okay?”) Pluggo said to Meet.
There was no response.
* *
The Coast Guard secured the boat and saved Miss Hanna and the children. They were all examined by the medics and were finally released and reunited with their group. The police collared the three thugs and exhibit them to the newsmen eager to make the news for the following day. All was well that ends well except for one thing—-Meet.
* *
Hydra and Pluggo made a frantic search for Meet. They scoured the site and sent him continuous message—but there was neither a response nor any sign of him. They retraced Meet’s path and looked among the debris of the broken propellers on the seabed—but found no trace of him.
Giving up, Hydra started swimming back towards the bridge. Perhaps Meet lost consciousness and was towed back to the bridge by the current, thought Hydra.
“Wait up!” Pluggo yelled as he chased after Hydra.
* *
The humongous Mohegan Bridge loomed in front of Hydra and Pluggo as they floated on the surface of the river. Hydra still couldn’t believe they've jumped from that height.
“Anything for freedom, Pluggo, anything for freedom,” Hydra said as they gazed at the bridge.
“Shall we give up on Meet for now?” Pluggo asked, discouraged.
After a thoughtful pause, Hydra said, “I feel bad for him. I hope he’s alright, wherever he is.”
CHAPTER 11
Veeda
THE EXPERIENCE AT THE MOHEGAN River had been invigorating for the two fire hydrants. Hydra and Pluggo had their powers restored and felt that they would need a periodic visit to the river to keep them constantly charged. They needed to be strong and vigilant for their mission.
The farther they walked away from the bridge, the more the traffic improved. The change of scenery was also evident, with more trees and lawns along their path as they walked deeper into town.
Pluggo, still hurt and shocked by the experience was walking slowly behind Hydra. Hydra noticed Pluggo’s sad face. He knew that Pluggo was deeply affected by Meet's disappearance. He dared not aggravate the situation, so he made sure to be kinder and more patient with Pluggo. There was also a nagging feeling of guilt inside of him—that he shouldn’t have let Meet do that stunt. Why did we let Meet do it? We could have made a unified decision, Hydra was thinking.
“Pluggo, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’ll get over it. Just give me a little time.”
“Hey check out the scenery!” Hydra exclaimed, trying to distract Pluggo. “One of these days we’ll have to visit Grunt. How would you like to do that? You know—get to know the other guys, Rooto the Rooster and his hens, the goats and the rabbits. That would be hilarious, wouldn’t it?”
Pluggo didn't say much. Hydra hoped he'd forget about Meet and get on with their mission.
They hadn’t seen much action along the way, but as they turned the corner, they heard the faint frantic sound of—ducks?
Pluggo’s sad face lit up when he heard the commotion while Hydra tried to figure out where the noise was coming from. He saw a man, half a mile away feeding some ducks and other birds. The quacking, chirping, and flapping of wings were getting more frantic as the hydrants approached the man who was throwing pieces of bread. There were all kinds of birds around him—mostly pigeons, sparrows, crows, a few starlings, and a couple of seagulls—scrambling about to get their share.
“No fighting. I have enough for everyone, no fighting,” said the man as a seagull shoved a sparrow out of the way.
“Good morning!” greeted Hydra.
“Good morning to you.” The man said, without glancing at them. He stayed focused on his birds. At six feet tall, he towered above them—a white apron tightly hugging his prominent belly, his head, full of sleeked and curly white hair framed with thick eyeglasses. With his reassuring smile, he looked like a kindly grandfather who was taking a break from work to feed 'his' birds.
Hydra and Pluggo watched in awe. They could tell that they were all having a great time. When the old man finally looked at the two hydrants, he didn’t say anything, but he did seem a bit surprised.
“Oh, and who are you, and what are you two doing here?” asked Frank, the baker. As he paused to talk, a seagull flew by and snatched a piece of bread from his hand.
“Hey watch it, Mac! Don’t you ever do that again!” Frank yelled.
“We were just passing by and we were curious to find out what’s going on. I see that you guys are having some fun time,” Hydra said.
“Yes. I do this every morning. These are my adopted pets,” Frank said, obviously proud of his brood, but irritated by the seagull that had snatched his bread.
“This is my buddy Pluggo," Hydra said proudly. Pluggo didn’t seem to mind Frank as he stared at the birds, enthralled with one of them.
“That big o
ne’s name is Veeda,” Frank said proudly. “Say hello to Pluggo, Veeda!”
“QUANK! QUANK! QUANK! QUANK!” Veeda sang out as she flapped her wings at the same time.
“You can do better than that,” Frank said.
Pluggo jumped at the loud quack of this peculiar-looking duck. She was all black with a few streaks of white feathers—like a cross between a goose and a duck—perhaps a rooster thrown in for good measure. She definitely was not a duck, and her head was adorned with the red color crown of a rooster.
All the other ducks milled around her as if she was the leader. Veeda proudly stood on top of a discarded grocery cart in the middle of the stream and vigorously flapped her wings like a rooster. Pluggo thought that she was definitely the leader of the group.
The other ducks were brown in color with a few wisps of white and green feathers. Some of them had shiny green head but Veeda’s unique features made her stand out among them, as she was the only one with that unique feature.
"Mr. Frank, can we feed the birds too?" Pluggo asked, excited.
“Oh, sure!” Frank was going to give them some breadcrumbs but seemed puzzled by their lack of hands.
Pluggo figured it out right away and nudged Hydra.
“UUUUMMMMPHHH!”
“BLONK! BLONK! BLONK! BLONK!”
Hydra and Pluggo cheerfully extended their arms and "hands."
“That’s better,” Frank said.
The two hydrants then started feeding the birds and ducks as fast as they could.
“Gee, this is fun!” Pluggo said, who in his haste kept missing the big one.
“QUANK! QUANK!” Veeda sounded annoyed—she was not getting her portion. Then she said, “Watch it small one. Over here!”
“These guys are definitely new at this feeding business, that’s for sure,” said another duck.
“Hey, you guys can talk!” Pluggo exclaimed.
“OF COURSE WE CAN TALK!” All the birds and ducks bellowed in chorus. Taken by surprise, Hydra and Pluggo fell to the ground, which made everyone burst out laughing.
“Okay guys—be nice to our new friends. I’ll be on my way now," Frank said. He threw the last batch of crumbs and turned the bag upside down to show the birds that there was no more.
“Hydra, Pluggo—it’s nice to meet both of you. You two are a marvel.”
Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you too sir, err… but we’re on our way too,” Hydra replied, glancing at Pluggo who was looking glum.
“Are you ready Pluggo?” Hydra asked.
“C’mon Hydra! Can’t we just stop and stay here for a while? I’m tired of walking.” Pluggo was pleading and obviously fed up with Hydra’s intent to accomplish his mission.
Hydra looked at Pluggo. He’s never seen him this mad before. No, not this time, not in front of everybody, thought Hydra. He could have just screamed at Pluggo but he didn’t want to embarrass him. Hydra was quiet and didn’t know what to say.
Frank went on his way but not before saying that he hoped the two hydrants worked out their problem. Meanwhile, the ducks pretended not to have heard anything and went about their business.
Pluggo was waiting for an answer, a defiant look on his face.
“Listen Pluggo,” Hydra broke his silence. The ducks cocked their heads and leaned toward Hydra to hear his lament.
“I don’t have time to explain this to you,” Hydra continued. “But I have to go. If you want to stay, then stay, and I’ll just come back for you.”
Hydra started to walk away and didn’t bother to say goodbye. He felt that Pluggo really wanted to stay. He didn't look back again as he left the area—he would come back for Pluggo later as he had promised.
Pluggo, with his head bowed, watched Hydra walk away. The ducks and the birds were quacking and chirping, trying to ease the tension and make Pluggo feel better.
“Okay Pluggo, snap out of it!” Veeda yelled. “You’re welcome to stay here anytime. This stream—although a bit polluted, is home,” Veeda said proudly as she splashed and swam around, showing off with her backstroke. The other ducks jumped in the water and imitated her. Pluggo watched the show with a huge smile on his face. It looked like he was going to be okay with his newfound company.
Veeda stopped swimming and flew back to her 'throne'—the abandoned grocery cart in the middle of the stream. She clambered on top, deftly using her webbed feet to grasp the slippery metal of the cart.
“QUANK! QUANK! QUANK!” Veeda flapped her wings again like a rooster, her constant reminder to everyone that she was in charge.
“So, are you just going to stand there?” Veeda asked.
“Well, what do you want me to do?” Pluggo said, disappointed by the situation.
“Jump in!” Veeda cried. The ducks scrambled to clear a place for him.
“C’mon, don’t be shy!” cried the ducks. The seagulls were impatient and flew down to scoop Pluggo and give him a lift.
“Heyyyy!” cried Pluggo.
“SPLASSSHHHHH! THUDD!’
Pluggo landed headfirst at the bottom of the shallow water.
“Are you alright there, boy?” asked Veeda.
There was no response. Pluggo was face down under the stream and was not moving at all. Sensing this, Veeda called her ducks and whispered something to them. The wide-eyed ducks mingled around her, listening intently.
“Hey guys!” Veeda ordered. “See if our friend is alright!”
A flock of ducks dove in to check on Pluggo. They began poking him with their beaks. Soon more of the ducks joined in and began poking him even harder. With his face under water, Pluggo started to laugh. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore—he straightened up.
“Stop it! Stop it. Ha-ha-ha!! He-he-he! Ha-ha-ha! Stop it!”
Pluggo and the ducks were clearly having a great time as the ducks chased him at the length of the stream. It was a riot. Pluggo swooped pass them and flew in the opposite direction. He was obviously showing off. The ducks scattered around and flew for cover. They continued chasing each other for sometime. The sparrows, the seagulls, and the other birds watched in awe—their beaks dropped open. The ducks were having the time of their lives. Even Veeda was watching with a pleasurable look. She was happy to have Pluggo around.
CHAPTER 12
Hydra’s Trip
HYDRA WALKED AWAY from Pluggo with a hint of sadness. It has been a confusing state for both of them wanting to go in different directions. Hydra had only one thing in mind—and that was to accomplish their mission.
He didn’t even know what the specific of the mission was—he knew it was there and it was his duty to seek and satisfy that mission.
Pluggo on the other hand, was more practical. Though aware of their mission, he only wanted to enjoy what they have now—to live and enjoy life. They agreed in almost everything but they came out to have different priorities. Still, Hydra believed that someday, they would meet again, stronger and more unified than before.
He couldn’t believe that he was alone now with no one to talk to—although, he was also enjoying the freedom to go anywhere without the hassle of forcing someone to go his way. He thought freedom was great to have, but being alone was a tough price to pay for it.
* *
Hydra had been walking for an hour since he last saw Pluggo, and had not seen anything of interest beyond the few houses along his path. The only sounds he heard were cars whizzing by, and the humming of machineries. It was becoming eerily quiet and Hydra found himself wishing for the noisy presence of Pluggo especially in a deserted place like this. He almost felt like turning around and forgetting the mission. But no, that would be shameful. And besides, he was on a mission. How many times would he tell himself that? His head was hard as a rock.
He heard some dogs barking. Grunt? No, that can't be Grunt, Hydra thought. The bark is too loud to be Grunt. It sound too fierce. He felt his body shudder as the barking got louder and louder. He remembered Pete and Roth, the two notorious dogs Crooton warned them about. There�
�s no turning back now. Besides, I’ve got enough power to repel anyone, he reassured himself.
He seemed lost though, and ended up walking towards a dead end road, or at least what used to be a road—now turned into some kind of a compound full of junk. Hydra looked around and realized he was lost.
Disoriented, he walked next to a wall of scrap metal and as he turned around, were all kinds of other waste—like leftover construction materials, tires, old statues, lots of garden stuffs, and other items. Must be a junkyard, he mused. He nervously treaded along, being extra careful as he tried to guess where the dogs might attack him.
The barking was relentless, as if the animals were right around the corner. Judging from the sounds, Hydra figured that there must be at least three of them racing to see who could get to him first.
* *
The dogs sniffed from one junk car to the other, checking out the crevices and making sure that they've covered everything. They were alternating positions and crisscrossing paths to make sure no one missed any scent. They knew that Hydra was just around the corner and it wouldn't be hard to track down a "scented" fire hydrant.
Hydra hurled himself among the scraps and remembered his encounter with Grunt, and how comical it was that Grunt was going to relieve himself on him. Just then he tossed a small piece of metal across the pavement to confuse the dogs.
“SPLANKKK!”
“RAF! RAF! GRRRRRRRR!! RAF! RAF! RAF!”
The noise diverted the dogs away from Hydra. He quickly climbed higher on the stack of junk cars and lay down to hide. The dogs were discouraged but kept sniffing as they continued growling and barking ferociously. Hydra was safely hidden on top of five layers of junk cars and through a crevice, he peered and he could clearly see the dogs for the first time. They were huge, like Dobermans but taller like Great Danes, only more agile. They had a black colored velvety fur with silvery patches on their chests. Their piercing silver eyes, made them even more menacing with the sun reflecting off them. Even their paws and fangs were silver and were made of metal.
What ugly dogs! Hydra even saw one of the dogs chewing on metal, something no normal dog could ever do. The three dogs were sniffing their way to Hydra’s hiding place.
I’ve got to think fast! Where else can I go? He only wished that he could fly, like Pluggo did in their last mission. Hydra was still immersed in his thoughts when he heard a piercing sound of machinery. He looked up and cringed under the gigantic shadow looming above him. It was a huge steel claw suspended from a crane coming down like an open mouth about to swallow him. He scrambled and rolled to one side but not before the claw grabbed the junk car that he was lying on.
