

### THE ADVENTURES OF THE FANCYCRAZYHYDRANTS™

### THE MISSION™

BALTAZAR RAY

#

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2003 Baltazar Ray

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

Published by

FancyCrazy Publishing

E-mail: fancycrazyhydrants@gmail.com

Blog: www.FancyCrazyHydrants.tv

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fancycrazyhydrants

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/baltazarray/

Twitter: #fancycrazyhy

Conceptualized, designed, written, and illustrated by:

Baltazar Ray

ISBN: 0-9745386-9-8 (paperback)

ISBN: 0-9745386-3-9 (ebook)

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

# Acknowledgments

Many thanks to all contributors—big or small, direct or indirect—to the editors, the designers, and the printers—Dana and Jonathan, my friends—Bill (my original hydrant buddy!), inspirations like Rosanne, Stan, Tanya, Jessel, Viviana, Madmo, Norman for his fervent love of art and hydrant sketches, Jan for her unfailing support, Trina and the Nutley Public Library for my debut FCH digital art exhibit.

My sincerest thanks to James Lyons IV, a gentleman who came out of the blue and offered his help to proofread and edit this book. That was noble. He "saw" and believed in this project and I appreciate that.

And thanks to all the pessimists and the doubters, the visionaries and the inspirers, the phenomenal Beatles and their music that kept me inspired all my life, my ubiquitous Queen and all the Queens of the World, my wonderful daughter Paulina (my audience and adviser), Sab and Fyor (my other children), and to my brightest light across the continent, FLOR, and most of all—the optimists and their incessant prodding and good vibes in helping me transform this idea into reality. You are all part of this chemistry. May the Voice be with you ALL.

# Book Reviews:

Fun names, lots of adventure, fast pace, "FancyCrazyHydrants" is a merry read, recommended, five stars!— _Molly Martin, book author_

A sweet and enjoyable children's tale. FancyCrazyHydrants would be a welcomed addition to any school or child's personal library.— _by Jill Eisnaugle, Author of Coastal Whispers_

The newest superhero on the block may be as close as your curb! Young readers will find this unique story amusing and interesting. The concept of hero hydrants is tangible, because of the presence of fire plugs throughout everyone's neighborhoods. Since fire hydrants are already accepted as necessary to put out fires, the idea of them expanding their rescuer roles is somehow fitting. FancyCrazyHydrants: The Mission is a fun read with a new kind of hero.— _Joyce Handso, Book Reviewer_

Baltazar Ray renders a fresh and unique perspective and takes his readers to the limitless confines of his imagination. His playful superhumanization of the otherwise nondescript yet ubiquitous hydrants is sure to generate curiosity and interest to these unseen and unsung heroes. Definitely a good read for target age brackets, likewise interesting for more mature readers.— _Albert "Abetsky" Martinez, reader_

The book is full of vivid imagination. I believe it really does speak to children ages 9 to 12. It takes time, imagination and the thinking of a child to write children's books and I believe Baltazar Ray was successful in his endeavor. I recommend you to try this book, it is quite entertaining even for us adults!— _Alina, reader_

As an adult reading this book, I found it to be quirky, lively, and entertaining. The book moves at breakneck speed through a fictional Guerlin City in the year 3000, following the adventures of two heroic fire hydrants. As a New Yorker, I enjoyed the subtext of dealing with the perils of city-living as much as the story itself.— _CR "Cat", reader_

FancyCrazyHydrants is a story about the importance of friendship and understanding and patience. Readers will enjoy the suspense and action during each chapter.— _David Villanueva, children's book author_

"NEVER MIND WHO I AM, I AM WHAT YOU SEE UP HERE... " -The Voice. This text found in the introductory page of the book grabbed my attention and inspired me to read FancyCrazy Hydrants. There is more in this book than Baltazar Ray's creativity and playful imagination. This book contains inner wisdom and depth that will make you think about believing in Higher Power and your true self. Geared for young adults, it is also an enjoyable read for adults to discover their "child within."— _Lady Lavender, reader Southern California_

Heroes on a MISSION!

Heroes tuning into an Intelligent Higher POWER!

Heroes journeying the path of Self-DISCOVERY!

These Heroes relate to kids and adults of all ages. The FancyCrazyHydrants inspire a deeper message, planting the seeds of greatness within each whom read this work of art— developing the relationships with others, but most importantly with oneself.

As Pluggo, Hydra, and cohorts have accomplished this amazing mission, this is only the beginning. This marks a new creation of superheroes. This book delivers CREATIVITY, POTENTIAL, and SUPERHERO FUN!— _Reverend Chamuel Bachiller, reader, CA_

#

To my beloved parents, Angel and Josefina,

and to my beloved daughter, Paulina.

I am honored to have known you in this life.

#

Never mind who I am.

I am what you see up here . . .

—The Voice

# TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Reviews

Chapter 1 The Contact

Chapter 2 The Voice

Chapter 3 The Power

Chapter 4 Grunt

Chapter 5 Crooton

Chapter 6 Beatree

Chapter 7 The Mission

Chapter 8 Splatter

Chapter 9 Meet Five Feet

Chapter 10 Mohegan River

Chapter 11 Veeda

Chapter 12 Hydra's Trip

Chapter 13 The Dream

Chapter 14 Elvira

Chapter 15 Hydra's Back

Chapter 16 Déjà vu, Genoa, Déjà vu

Chapter 17 Big Tur

Chapter 18 Captain Hydra

Chapter 19 Fireeba, Billow and the Fyros

Chapter 20 Year 3000

Other books in the works

# CHAPTER 1

### The Contact

**THE BRIGHT YELLOW TAXI** sped down the lane and roared past an old couple waiting in vain. At five in the morning, the driver was weary from working all night. He had just dropped off his last fare and he was headed for the garage. Sixteen hours straight he's been driving— _a record for fools_ , he thought.

His eyes were half-closed and he was barely awake. All he could think of, as he pressed harder on the gas, was his soft, warm bed with its clean sheets and fresh smell. As he careened down the road, the taxi started to wobble. The driver had begun to fall asleep!

He ran two yellow lights and slammed on his brakes just as a man darted in front of him. He swerved, missing the man by mere inches, but not before the taxi climbed the curb. The driver, confused and desperate, scrambled for control...

"SCREEEEEEECCH! KA-BLAMMM!"

"SPLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHH!"

Water, water everywhere and there was plenty to drink, too! A fountain of water gushed out of the sidewalk as high as the lamppost and started flooding the street. The taxi had come down like a hammer and severed a fire hydrant from its main pipe. Its main connection underground, cut and exposed to the sidewalk.

The thundering crash woke up the whole neighborhood. Lights could be seen coming on in sequence in all the buildings. People peered from their windows and others began pouring out into the street. Soon there was a crowd, all curious about the commotion. It was near daylight and everyone wanted to see what was going on—like a block party where new and old neighbors could see each other again and look at all the new and old faces.

"Nelly, how are you?"

"Virginia, I didn't know you're back!"

"Bill! What happened?"

It was bizarre—a block party at five in the morning! People even brought out their dogs to mingle with the other dogs. Now, no one seemed to mind about the accident.

No, this was better. People were more curious about the melee, the gathering, the mingling, and the camaraderie.

"TOOOOOOTEEEEE! TOOOOOOTEEEEE!"

The incoming ambulances and the Water Department (WD) emergency crews with their loud and wailing sirens added to the festivity.

The medics carted out the injured driver as fast as they could, while the crew from the Water Department shut off the main valve, reducing the water torrent to a slow dribble.

Dogs were looking curiously at the hydrant, as if they had never seen a 'downed' hydrant before. It must have been some dog's territory. Where do they go now to pee? You can almost hear them whimpering like they were worried or something.

* *

The day drifted by so fast, it was almost dusk and the hydrant remained undisturbed, still lying on the damp pavement. Some people, back from work, were out walking their dogs, and passed by the hydrant. The dogs were curious but were hesitant to relieve themselves. One dog raised his leg against the downed hydrant, but then changed his mind. _Yaikks! A severed hydrant! I can't stand this—it's such a mess!_ thought the dog. _I've got to pee somewhere else! Yuk!_ The dog was clearly whimpering.

The hydrant resembled a dead, wooden log covered with skin-like green moss. It was an old-style hydrant with several thick nozzles sticking out. The WD had declared these models obsolete and retired them years ago.

"Years ago?" one of the crewmen said. "Then why not take them out?"

The WD crew was gathered around the horizontal victim, and one of them said, "Well, it is a way for the city to make money. This particular hydrant represents several hundred, or maybe even thousands of dollars in potential parking ticket fees. And besides, they look great on the sidewalk."

* *

The following morning as traffic was building up, a truck with its blaring music, whizzed right by the downed hydrant and proceeded for a few more blocks. The truck was lost. It made an abrupt stop and started backing up recklessly through the lines of cars behind it, weaving, with its red lights flashing. The truck driver was dumb enough to back up three blocks, snarling traffic all the way to the hydrant.

"BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! HOOOOOOOONK!"

The impatient and irate drivers leaned on their horns.

"It's early in the morning! Wha'd 'ya want from me?" the driver yelled, gesturing with raised hands.

After a couple of crazy maneuvers, the truck screeched to a stop. Its doors yanked open and two burly and scruffy men jumped down and walked toward the hydrant.

"Hmm... this is a big one," the driver groaned, scratching his chin. "Just what I need this morning. Ready for this one, Guido?"

Guido, shorter of the two, mumbled something. He was still half asleep. He bent down and sized up the hydrant too. "Alright, let's take this one, Ben," Guido continued mumbling.

The two men bent down in unison to pick up the hydrant, "Oomph! Hah!"

For a moment, they seemed to be playing 'tug of war' and looked like they didn't know where to go.

"Stop Guido, stop!" Ben yelled in disgust. "Okay, now, follow my direction and stop pulling the other way. You're going to drop this one like the others. I don't have any more feet to spare!" Ben yelled at Guido.

They carried the massive hydrant, puffing heavily—-their veins bulging in their necks as they took small deliberate steps to the back of the truck.

"Easy now... " Ben blurted out to remind the half-asleep Guido.

On the count of three, they tossed the load right on top of the other hydrants.

"KA-BLAAANNNNGK!" came the crashing noise of heavy metal.

_It's a fairly routine job. Just make sure you don't drop this baby_ , Ben thought.

* *

The truck was filled with all sorts of hydrants; hydrants of different size, shape, and color. All were severed at the base, having been run over by reckless drivers around the city. Most of the load was from the day before and should have been unloaded that same day. They looked animated, piled on top of each other—almost cartoon-like.

As the truck sped down the road and turned the corner, the hydrants would roll from right to left; loudly crashing together—"Blank! Bang! Boing!"

The truck then picked up speed and headed for the highway.

* *

Ben and Guido had a long day to go and still had to unload the overstuffed truck. Come to think of it, there must have been a lot of downed fire hydrants all over the city. The population was growing and there were more cars on the road. Ben, thinking about the day's work ahead was unconsciously speeding up.

He had just exited the highway and was now driving on a local road—but he was still going way too fast. All of a sudden, a small animal darted across the road.

"Oh no! Not a squirrel!" Ben hollered as he swerved the truck.

Burly man or not, he was not about to run over such a delicate animal. And besides, his wife strictly reminded him not to run over _any_ animals. He sure didn't want to hear what she would have to say about this.

"Knock it off, Ben! That's only a glorified rat!" Guido screamed, holding on tight as he swayed inside the truck. Ben turned the wheel from left to right and left again; he was zigzagging all over the road. His cargo flew from side to side like chocolate chips in a mixer. Before he could get the vehicle under control, two hydrants flew out spinning from the back of the truck.

"Ka-blang! Plunk! Thud!"

The two hydrants hit and rolled on the side of the road and the two men didn't noticed what happened.

"Whew! That was close," Ben cried, peering at the broken side mirror to check on the squirrel. "My wife wouldn't have forgiven me if I squashed that poor squirrel," Ben continued.

Guido, on the other hand couldn't care less.

"Slow down Ben!" Guido grumbled. "You're not only disrupting my sleep, you're also trying to get me killed. Never mind the squirrel!"

Ben, still shaken, tried to compose himself and took a deep breath. "Alright, it's time for coffee break. I can't go on like this. Watch out for a diner."

Guido gave him a wry smile, "Good idea, Ben. Good idea!"

# CHAPTER 2

### The Voice

**THE TWO HYDRANTS** lay motionless next to each other on the side of the road. They appeared to be more animated than two lifeless broken apparatus—two fire hydrants in the middle of nowhere, like they overslept from a night of revelry and enjoying the cool light breeze.

Can you guess who was the lucky one to be thrown free from the back of the truck? If you guessed the big green hydrant with lots of arms, you'd be right. That truck must have taken a wild turn to be able to expel that heavy baby. There's no way that big unit could have flown out of the truck without some kind of help. And the other hydrant was so small; that it didn't take much effort to be thrown out of that truck. This hydrant was a lot smaller, with its red head and white body; it looked like a colorful minor leaguer. The two hydrants, together, looked like a couple of cartoon characters. They lay there motionless as the day drifted by.

* *

The sun went down that evening as slowly as it had risen. Stars began creeping out of the darkness and covered the sky like sparklers in slow rhythmic motion. Shooting stars streaked across the sky, adding to the unique view. In this area, there was rarely such a sight as was being displayed tonight. Stars were able to dominate the evening sky without a throng of buildings and artificial lights to disrupt them. Looking up, there was a feeling of vastness, of belonging, of being part of the space, the stars, and the galaxies—there was a feeling of— **MAGIC**.

The place was quiet and cool with a slight breeze. Crickets and frogs exchanged their usual chatter. It was a perfect evening. And as this magic feeling lingered, there was a noise; something moved.

"SHHH, WISHH, SHHH, WISHH."

The large green hydrant slowly rolled from side to side. Suddenly, the hydrant sat up, as if awakened from a bad dream.

"Whoaa! Hahh!" Yawning? Yes, the hydrant was alive and yawning! The magic of the evening had given life to him. The big green hydrant simply sat there, bewildered, it had just been awakened from a long sleep.

"Hmm... where am I?" the hydrant mused. His memory of his life in the city was recurring to him. He remembered the accident to some degree and felt happy that he survived. He glanced over at the small hydrant that had also started to move.

"Hey wake up, little one! Wake up! Check out the stars! Aren't they lovely?"

The small hydrant was still groggy from the fall as it rolled from side to side like having a bad dream.

"Huh?" What the... " the small hydrant said, looking around, its eyes peering at the star-lit sky.

"We're alive! Can you believe it? We're alive!" the big green hydrant cried. It stood up and ran around the field.

With a bewildered look, the small hydrant sat up too. "What's going on? Who are you? And what are we doing here?"

"For some reason, we're alive and I'm enjoying every moment of it! Wheeeeeeee!" The big green hydrant was so ecstatic that he couldn't help running, jumping, and rolling with joy. "Whoopeeeeee!"

The small hydrant just sat there motionless, staring into space as if daydreaming. "You are right, it is a magical evening. But who am I then? And what are we doing here?" Pluggo said.

Suddenly, there was this howling wind.

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

"HELLO THERE, YOUNG FELLOWS!" A voice thundered out of nowhere. Startled, the big green hydrant ran back to the little one and sought cover.

"HELLO!" said the voice again. "DON'T BE AFRAID!"

The voice was loud and powerful but it was also gentle. The voice was coming from the sky in this magical evening.

"I WANT YOU TO ENJOY AND EXPERIENCE LIFE," the voice said. The two hydrants sat motionless, attentive, but fearful, their eyes peering from side to side.

"Err... who are you?" asked the big green hydrant.

"NEVER MIND WHO I AM! I AM WHAT YOU SEE UP HERE!" the voice thundered.

The two hydrants stood staring at the sky, wide-eyed.

"YOU, BIG ONE, I SHALL NAME YOU _HYDRA,_ AND YOU LITTLE ONE, I SHALL NAME YOU _PLUGGO._ YOU TWO SHALL HAVE A LIFE OF YOUR OWN AND YOU WILL HAVE POWER BESTOWED UPON YOU. GO OUT AND MINGLE WITH THE OTHERS. I WILL BE WATCHING YOU FROM TIME TO TIME..."

The voice started to fade when suddenly another gust of wind whizzed by . . .

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

The place became eerily quiet. The two hydrants didn't know what to do. Hydra and Pluggo wondered if the voice was still around, but they heard nothing. The voice had been powerful, and now, without it, Hydra and Pluggo felt alone and abandoned. Although, the voice was only there for a short time, it made them feel good. And remembering what the voice said, "I WILL BE WATCHING YOU FROM TIME TO TIME," made them feel more secure. _And power? Did the voice mention power? Being alive is power enough,_ Hydra thought.

"Are you okay... err, Pluggo?" Hydra asked.

Pluggo stood up, looking bewildered and said, "C'mon, let's go."

Hydra fell in step with Pluggo as the two of them walked along the grassy field.

"Hey, check that out—the Big Dipper!" Hydra yelled, excited.

"Wow! That's the Big Dipper? It's huge!"

"Let's find the Little Dipper!"

It dawned on Hydra that their intelligence was growing. And power? What power?

# CHAPTER 3

### The Power

**HYDRA AND PLUGGO** were on their way to nowhere land. They had just been given life and enjoying everything around them. The night was still young and the moon and stars were as bright as could be. Their newfound intelligence was still emerging as they noticed and talked about the things around them.

"Hey, Hydra, how do you feel?" Pluggo asked.

"I'm fine, I guess. If only I could be a little slimmer than I am right now."

"You look fine. What's wrong?"

"Well, I'm big and burly and I can't walk fast enough."

"Remember what the voice said?—that we have power?"

"Yeah! You're right. I wonder what that power could be?"

This gave Hydra a renewed awareness. He moved swiftly ahead of Pluggo and, for some reason, began to glide.

"Whoa! Did you see that? I can glide like I'm on a roller skate!" Hydra said, looking down at his 'feet.' He found out that he had retractable wheels like in-line skates that come out by sheer will. He could walk or glide whenever he wants to.

* *

"Do that again!" Pluggo screamed, "I saw it but I'm not sure that I believe it."

This time, Hydra held his breath and forged towards Pluggo at full speed—like he was going to tackle him. Pluggo, scared of the collision, unexpectedly flew up to the sky as a burst of water shot out from his base.

"KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

"Whoa! What's happening here?" Pluggo screamed, flailing about. As he started coming down, he forced a burst of water from his base, which cushioned his fall like a rocket would for a small spaceship.

"Wow! Did you see that? Talking about power! We can glide and jump and practically fly! What else can we do?" Pluggo exclaimed.

"Sorry, I almost hit you. Did you really fly?" Hydra asked.

As Pluggo was approaching, Hydra playfully pointed his nozzle at him and let out a gush of water, forcing Pluggo to roll down the field.

"KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

"Hey, stop that!" Pluggo stood up and brought his nozzles out and tried to do the same—but nothing came out. He tried again, his eyes and teeth clenched...

"UMMMMMMMMMPHH!"

But still, nothing came out.

Hydra couldn't help but laugh; Pluggo's face had turned to beet red.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Hydra was hysterical.

"UMMMMMPHH!" Pluggo took a deep breath again and held it, turning even redder. And suddenly...

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

A gush of water burst out of his base again, hurling him into the night sky, twice as high as before. Pluggo spun out of control, his vision marred by the speed of the spin. But soon, he regained his balance and cushioned his fall.

"Whew! That was scary," Pluggo said in a shaky voice.

Hydra had been worried that Pluggo might have gotten hurt. _This power could help or hurt us if we are not careful._

To some extent Hydra already understood the power bestowed upon them. He and Pluggo could glide perfectly but only Hydra could gush out water from the nozzle and Pluggo could not. Pluggo could fly upward with a burst of water from his base, while Hydra couldn't. And that's what Hydra thought.

"I wonder what other power is in store for us," Hydra said. Then he felt the Voice telling him—

"THAT'S FOR YOU TO DISCOVER."

Hydra looked around waiting for the voice. He was convinced he heard it.

"C'mon Pluggo, let's go," Hydra said walking down the field. Pluggo followed.

* *

# CHAPTER 4

### Grunt

* *

**DAYBREAK FOUND THE TWO** hydrants standing in the middle of a field—tired from the night's events. Hydra and Pluggo preferred that they stand there, rather than lie down and be picked up by the WD men again.

A rooster started to crow.

"COCK-KA-DOODLE-DOOO!"

And machinery started to hum.

"Hmm-CHUG-CHUG-CHUG-CHUG!"

Slowly, the ritual noise of a farming community began to emerge.

It was the beginning of a new day. Hydra opened his eyes and looked up, again, bewildered because the sky was now different. The sky was deep blue with sprawls of white cotton clouds all around. It was so bright that it was blinding and hurtful that Hydra squinted his eyes.

"WOW!" Hydra exclaimed. "Look Pluggo! It's daytime!" Hydra still squinting his eyes and could barely see, started walking. "C'mon, let's get going," he said as he nudged Pluggo.

Pluggo, still half-asleep dragged himself and followed Hydra.

"Wait for me," Pluggo groaned, barely awake.

The two fire hydrants approached the end of the field when they heard a faint barking.

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

"Quick, let's hide in there!" said Hydra, running towards an abandoned rusted-out car. The dog's barking was becoming louder. "Quick!" Hydra yelled, as the two hydrants dropped to the ground and rolled under the car. Hydra, with his robust size, struggled to fit underneath. The car made a loud squeaking noise as he pushed it up to get underneath. He was stuck. But the quick thinking Pluggo helped push the car upward and let Hydra in. The dog's annoying barking was getting closer.

"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! GRRRRRR! WOOF! WOOF!"

The two hydrants were worried as they hid quietly under the car.

"What do we do now?" Pluggo asked.

"Don't worry, let me do the talking."

"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! GRRRRRR!" the dog barked, pushing his nose under the car.

"Hey doggie!" Hydra yelled.

"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! GRRRRRR!"

"Hey, doggie, can we talk?" Hydra yelled again.

The dog shut up, a bit puzzled. "WOOF! Who are you?"

"Stop barking, please, you're embarrassing us," Hydra said.

"Yeah, we're friends not foes," Pluggo added.

"Well, I don't know you. And since this is my boss's field, you are trespassing." The dog's voice was harsh and firm; showing the two hydrants that he runs the place.

"Sorry, we were just passing by," Hydra said. He noticed the dog's tail wagging wildly.

"Well, come out here and let me get a better look at you two. I promise I won't bark anymore. And besides, you know how we dogs love to bark, WOOF! WOOF! Oops!"

Hydra and Pluggo were relieved as they rolled out from under the car. The dog, seeing the two hydrants jumped out of excitement and immediately began shaking and wagging his tail. He ran up to Hydra, sniffed him, and then raised his rear leg.

"HEY, STOP THAT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hydra screamed, horrified.

"Oops! What am I doing? Goodness, gracious! Aren't I supposed to do this every time I see you?" the dog asked.

"NO, YOU AREN'T!" Hydra yelled in disgust.

Pluggo started laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! So that's why you smell so bad! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Pluggo said, rolling on the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Well, that's the point. Now that we're talking, you can't do this any more. I'm not your toilet and this has to stop!" Hydra cried.

"I'm sorry. I thought we had a sort of mutual agreement. I mean, we _have_ been doing this for a long time, perhaps since fire hydrants were invented," said the dog.

"Well, I guess I cannot stop you dogs from doing what you do. But now that I'm talking and looking at you, have the decency to stop. Control yourself!" Hydra said.

"Okay! Okay! Relax! I'm just being a dog. By the way, my name is Grunt. My name used to be Skip, then Hop, now I'm Grunt. I hate the name. My boss's kids couldn't decide what name to give me, but I think they all went for Grunt."

"Hmm... I see you're a mutt," Pluggo said, snickering.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm a full-blooded Labrador! Can't you see? Please don't call me a mutt. Don't you like my velvety chocolate fur?"

"That's chocolate?" Pluggo asked. "Uh, okay, sorry about that. So you're a farm dog? How is it living in a farm?"

"This place is great! At night, the sky is adorned with bright sparkling stars, and in the daytime I have an entire field to run and romp around—and it's all mine. You can even smell the freshness in the air." Grunt closed his eyes, took a deep breath, apparently very proud of his boss's farm.

"Hmm... I can only smell Hydra!" Pluggo said, snickering mischievously—Hydra just glared at him.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Grunt. We're on our way to the city. Could you tell us the shortest way to get there?" Hydra asked, still glaring at Pluggo, daring him to make more wisecracks.

The friendly dog instinctively arched his back, turned his nose in one direction and froze.

"Oookey! I didn't know that you're also a Pointer? Hmm, I see... just show us the way, okay?" Hydra said, sarcastically.

"Going so soon? You just got here! Don't you want to meet the other guys, Brooto the Rooster and his hens, as well as the rabbits and the goats?"

"Nope, not this time, Grunt. We're on our way to a mission. We're off to the city and we have to hurry up so we won't be late. Let's go," Hydra insisted while Pluggo stared with a puzzled look.

"Don't worry, we'll come and visit you some day. What do you call this place?" Hydra asked.

"I don't know. It starts with 'M' but I couldn't figure out how to say it. MMMMM-WOOF! Hmm... never mind!" Grunt said.

"Oh, okay. We'll just call it Grunt's Farm for now," Pluggo added.

"The city is not far from here. We drive there once in a while. Well... only when my boss takes me along. He drives his pickup truck and rolls down the window so I can put out my head. It's really fun! I really like the wind blowing on my face, and I get a real thrill seeing all the surprised look from the people when they see me sitting in the front seat. I wish I could drive some day and really surprise them."

It was obvious that Grunt was enjoying his new company and didn't want to see them go.

"Do you see that road? That road will lead you to Guerlin City. Just be careful as the traffic gets heavy as you get closer to the city," Grunt said.

"Take care, Grunt!" Hydra yelled as he half-glided past Pluggo. Later, Grunt would express to the other animals his embarrassment about how he tried to pee on Hydra. He had never seen such _fancy_ and _crazy_ hydrants before. He would remark to them that after all, he was just being a dog.

"Lucky dog, he's got his own field, the stars—the works! We'll visit him again, huh, Hydra?" Pluggo asked. "Where are we going anyway? And what mission are you talking about?"

"I don't know, Pluggo. It just came out of my mouth," Hydra replied.

# CHAPTER 5

### Crooton

" **HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"**

"HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"

Hydra and Pluggo found themselves surrounded by large trucks and trailers, like gigantic monsters, all making frightful noises. There were all kinds of different noises—train whistles, car horns, blaring radios, wailing sirens, humming machines—you name it, all mixed together. This was a deafening place, so different from the tranquil world of Grunt's Farm where peace and quiet rule. You can feel the pulsating energy around, like everyone was alive and roaring to go.

Hydra and Pluggo kept walking along the side of the road.

"Hey, Hydra, you want to see something?"

"Yeah, what?"

Pluggo flopped down on the grass, sucked in his protru-ding nozzles and rolled down the field at great speed.

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

"Huh! I think I can do that, too!" Hydra exclaimed. He lay down like Pluggo and started to roll. But he went tumbling and bouncing off the ground as he rolled. He had way too big nozzles to roll smoothly.

"KA-BOG! KA-BOG! KA-BOG!"

Disgusted, he got up and took off in a gliding position trying to catch Pluggo.

The hydrants walked and glided and then walked some more. Pluggo got bored and started tinkering inside his body.

"UUMMPHH!" Pluggo struggled inside of him.

"What's the matter, Pluggo?" Hydra asked with a puzzled look.

"I don't know, there is something inside of me," Pluggo said, motioning his head towards one of his nozzles.

"BLONK! BLONK!"

A pair of arms and claws came out through his nozzles.

"Whoa! What do you know? Surprise, surprise! Check this out, Hydra!" Pluggo waved his newfound arms and claws.

"Wow! You've got arms and claws. It's a weird looking claw, too. It's like... a lobster's claw!" Hydra said. "Hmm... let me try mine."

"UUMMPHH! BLONK! BLONK! BLONK!" Several arms and claws came out of Hydra's nozzles.

"Oh my! I'm like those gods with several arms and hands! Let me pull them back in.

"BLONK! BLONK! BLONK!"

"Next time I'll just put out a single pair," Hydra said, embarrassed. Pluggo stood watching, obviously amused.

* *

They continued on their way when out of nowhere, they heard a strange sound—

"PSSST! PSSST!"

"Huh? What is that?" Hydra asked.

"It sounds like a frog in distress. I don't even remember it raining last night," Pluggo replied.

"Well, I know a frog when I hear one.

"PSSST! PSSST!"

"There it goes again."

The hydrants continued to look for the source of the sound. They noticed a movement behind a lamppost—something that was wrapped in white cloth and black plastic sheet. They approached the figure cautiously.

"Hey, man!"

Hydra and Pluggo stepped back, their eyes wide.

"Who are you?" Pluggo asked.

"My name is Crooton. Boy! Am I glad to see you guys. You see, I'm kinda stuck here. The WDs are currently fixing me. A truck almost hit me but it missed me by a few inches, so I was spared. I thought maybe I could get my freedom like you two. But hey, why do want our freedom, right? We're supposed to stay put and help firemen put out fires, remember?" Crooton said, excited to have company.

Hydra and Pluggo stared at the talking marvel.

"You can talk! I thought we were the only kind who could talk," Hydra said.

"Oh yes, most hydrants can talk. We hydrants can talk to each other, if we we're only clustered together, we'd be talking all the time. It just gets lonely sometimes to be standing alone in a corner with no one to talk to. But now and then, you see people opening our nozzles to relieve pressure from the main pipes during a downpour or simply to give the kids something to play with during the sizzling summer," Crooton babbled excitedly. He must have been standing there for a long time with no one to talk to.

Hydra perked up when he heard 'fire' and 'firemen.' Some action, he thought. He imagined kids playing around him, dancing, jumping, and enjoying the spraying water and relieving themselves from the hot scorching sun. You could see the gleam in his eyes. Pluggo seemed to be listening in awe.

"We'll, we're on our way to the city. Is there anything we can do for you?" Hydra asked.

"Leaving so soon? You just got here," Crooton whined.

"We're on our way to accomplish a mission and we can't be delayed," Hydra replied. Pluggo, looked at Hydra again with a puzzled look.

"When will I see you again, guys? I hope it will be soon. Be careful when you get to the city. There are so many things happening out there," Crooton said, looking sullen. With his rags and plastic wrap, he looked like an old Ninja warrior. Hydra wouldn't mind taking him along to the city but he knew that he and Pluggo did not have anywhere near their combined power to uproot him from where he was.

"Be careful of Pete and Roth. They're two notorious dogs that roam the streets of the city. I know they can't do anything to you physically but they're notoriously intimidating and they have seriously bitten some people. I still don't know why people keep them as pets and then neglect them—turning them into monsters," Crooton lamented.

"We will watch out for them. Thanks for the warning but now we have to go. What are their names again? Pete and Roth?" Hydra asked, as he glided backwards away from Crooton. Pluggo stood there in front of Crooton with a blank face.

"Err... " Pluggo murmured. He turned his back, with his head bowed embarrassed that he didn't know what to say.

All of a sudden, he perked up and turned back, looked at Crooton and said, "Do you know that if you try hard, you can pop out your arms and claws?"

"Okay kid, I'll try that!" Crooton replied with a smile.

Pluggo ran to catch up with Hydra who was already three blocks away headed for the highway. "Boy, you're fast! And what mission are you talking about?"

Hydra didn't answer. He knew that Pluggo was still wondering what their mission was all about. And Hydra doesn't know how to explain to Pluggo the details of their mission.

"How do you feel Hydra?" Pluggo asked, panting and gasping for air.

"Great! I'm glad to be meeting new friends like Grunt and Crooton. I wish we had more time to meet Rooto the Rooster and his hens, the rabbits, and the goats, you know? It would be fun going back and meeting them all," Hydra said.

Pluggo just gave him a blank stare. He couldn't tell Hydra how much he would like to stay behind, how much he liked the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, and how he didn't want to leave because of them. _They were the most fascinating group of stars in the sky—like a puzzle. First, you find the Big Dipper—so big you can't miss it_. _Then you follow the tail, I don't know, pointing south maybe, and_ _there you go... the Little Dipper! MAGIC!_ Pluggo was still in reverie when the noise made him jump.

"WHOOOOOOOHRMHHH!"

"HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"

"WHOOOOOOOHRMHHH!"

"HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"

"Whoa! Look at those trucks! It's like they're racing for the finish line. And the cars too—they look like a bunch of sharks racing each other. This is exciting!" Hydra exclaimed, his eyes wide as the traffic zoomed past them.

Hydra and Pluggo stood on the side of the road for a while and just watch the cars and trucks whizzed by.

"WHOOOOOOOHRMHHH!"

* *

They kept walking and gliding on the side of the road until they noticed the change in scenery. There were more houses and people around as compared to Grunt's Farm.

Suddenly, Hydra saw red all over—there was a flood of blinding brake lights as the cars and trucks began to slow down to a stop. He thought that he and Pluggo must be approaching the city.

# CHAPTER 6

### Beatree

* *

**HYDRA AND PLUGGO WERE IN AWE** as they strolled the streets of Guerlin City—the throng of people seemed oblivious to their presence. They noticed that people kept walking around like spellbound robots on their way to their various destinations, minding their own business.

"Wow, I've never seen so many people!" Pluggo screamed looking giddy and anxious.

"They all seem to be in a rush," Hydra added.

Hydra just stood there, quiet but confident. He was a bit nervous too but he never showed it, he just exuded confidence with his sheer size.

"Is everything cool, Pluggo?" Hydra asked, concerned.

"Cool? Of course! How's your side?"

"Great! Although I'm feeling a little bit tired," Hydra replied. He thought that statement would seem like a good way to hide his excitement.

"Frankly, I miss Grunt's Farm already. Besides, there's no Big Dipper here—just huge buildings blocking the sky. And look at these people—there are so many of them— they're like ants. What's going on here? What are all these people doing here? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?" Pluggo asked, musing.

"C'mon Pluggo! Things are starting to look familiar. I know where we are now," Hydra said reassuringly, as he waded amongst the crowd.

Pluggo could barely hear Hydra. The noise was becoming so intense, that soon both hydrants were screaming at each other to be heard. There were incoming sirens from different directions.

"TOOOOOOOOOTEEEE!"

"TOOOOOOOOOTEEEE!"

"TOOOOOOOOOTEEEE!"

"TOOOOOOOOOTEEEE!"

It may sound like an exaggeration, but the sirens really kept coming and new ones would come up almost every other minute. For two Big Dipper gazers, starry-eyed hydrants, this was a revelation. But the noise did not faze the two hydrants. Hydra led the way while Pluggo struggled to keep up.

Farther along the road they hit a junction full of installed hydrants, all gleaming with new paint. They didn't seem to notice Hydra and Pluggo. In fact, the all-friendly Pluggo uttered a greeting to one of them, and got no response—just a cold stare with no regard for courtesy. Pluggo tried again, "Good morning!"

Nothing.

"How rude!" Pluggo exclaimed.

"Stop trying Pluggo. We are in the city and no one here has the time to say hello. Although, there are some who will go out of their way, but most of them will not," said the ever-knowing Hydra.

"Why is that?" Pluggo asked, discouraged and forlorn.

"They all think they're busy. They come here, they work, and then they go home. They do this every day until they die. Isn't that sad? They really forget the qualities of... you know... " Hydra paused, as if lost in his thoughts... "the qualities of LIFE! That's it! That's what I mean! You know how the saying goes, 'stop and smell the roses?' This is where all that applies. People are so busy working, literally 'choking' each other that they have no more time to 'smell the roses,' or sincerely say 'hello' or 'good morning,' you know? _Capish?_ But imagine greeting all the people you meet. You'd always be late for work, (chuckle). Ironic, isn't it?" Hydra babbled on.

Pluggo listened intently. He was trying to absorb everything.

"The worst kinds are the stuck-ups. These are the people with all the traits I mentioned earlier, but worse. They're insecure and full of themselves. Ignore them. They're simply... hmm... people," Hydra continued.

* *

Things were slowly becoming clear to Hydra. The place, the noise, and everything else were becoming familiar. Pluggo, on the other hand, gave no other indication except that he was just riding along, enjoying the view, and learning from his pal, Hydra.

They were walking behind a group of slow moving people, taking a few steps at a time. They would walk, then stop, then walk a few steps again, holding up the pedestrian traffic. And then, there were all these camera flashes.

"Excuse me!" Hydra screamed. "Excuse me!" he screamed again, his voice getting louder. "Watch your back! Coming through!"

"Hydra, be nice!" Pluggo yelled.

"Tourists! Definitely tourists!" Hydra exclaimed.

"But Hydra, we are tourists too!"

Hydra just gave him the look.

* *

The two hydrants continued heading north. They talked about how the traffic was dispersing, and how the fire hydrants were getting more interesting. Pluggo said that he hoped these guys were at least friendly.

When the pair approached a corner, they met up with an unusual hydrant covered with leaves. A small tree with loosely scattered leaves almost concealed the hydrant—like a prop, with its main branch growing from the side of the hydrant's base. Dust and soot just about covered the entire collection of the once green leaves of the tree. Hydra thought that it might actually be a weed disguised as a small tree. Peering through its leaves, the hydrant nodded as if summoning them to come over. Pluggo dashed towards the leafy hydrant with Hydra tagging along.

"Hello! How are you?" Pluggo asked.

The hydrant parted the leaves with her head. She was all black and sooty.

"I'm fine, thanks!" the hydrant replied, a bit shy because of her strange look.

"Hi, my name is Pluggo. And this here—is my friend Hydra." Hydra stood there looking 'stuck-up' himself.

"Hydra, say hello to our friend," Pluggo said as he nudged Hydra. Hydra never uttered a word. He was acting like a city slicker and checking out what else might be lurking around.

"My name is Beatree. Sorry about my sooty look. The WDs have neglected me for some time. I usually get a coat of paint every now and then but for some reason, I have not seen the WDs around," she said, excited to meet Hydra and Pluggo.

"Oh, you look great, Beatree! Don't worry about it. This is the city. Anything goes, right? And besides, your tree looks cool." Pluggo said reassuringly.

"Oh thanks, Pluggo, that's very nice of you. I've never met such a well-mannered hydrant. What about you Hydra? What's up with you?" Beatree asked, looking more confident after hearing Pluggo's kind words.

"Err... we'll... hmm... where are we?" Hydra was talking to himself, unmindful of Beatree.

"You are in Uptown Guerlin, City of Guerlin. And farther up the block you'll hit the Mohegan Bridge, which will take you to the next town," Beatree happily answered Hydra's question.

"Oh, okay," Hydra said, feeling more relaxed since Beatree was so helpful.

"I know where we are now, Pluggo. We better run," Hydra said.

"So soon? You just got here!" Beatree said. "And besides, I've never met anyone like you before. You guys look cool."

"Oh, you look great yourself too, Beatree. I wish I had the same tree to cover me. It's like a Halloween costume! I'm sure you have some kind of power."

When Pluggo said this, Hydra glared at him as if saying, "KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND LET'S MOVE ON!"

But Pluggo continued to be friendly. His innocence radiated around him. He could not tell a lie.

"What power?" Beatree asked.

"Ha-ha-ha! Believe it or not, we were asking that ourselves too!" Hydra said, abruptly cutting off Beatree.

Hydra walked away without saying goodbye. Pluggo glowered and followed him hesitantly.

"Err... Hydra! Wait!" Pluggo yelled.

"We'll see you around, Beatree! Nice meeting you. Have a nice day. Take care." Pluggo gushed, as he continued to be overly nice to Beatree. "I'd like to stay and chat with you some more but Hydra thinks he's out on a mission, and I have to help out," Pluggo continued yelling from down the street.

* *

Hydra was sprinting, trying to find out the best way to reach the place of his mission—-right away, before it's too late. Pluggo struggled to catch up.

"Hurry up, Pluggo!" Hydra yelled without looking.

The traffic was getting heavy again, and the noise was getting louder.

"HOOOOOOOOOONK! %$#@ "HOOOOOOOOOONK! %$#@"

"TOOOOOTEEEE! TOOOOOTEEEE! TOOOOOTEEEE!"

The sirens were much louder this time. Something was going on.

# CHAPTER 7

### Sabrina

**HYDRA AND PLUGGO WEAVED** through the traffic, sidestepping and bumping into people along the way. Hydra sensed that something terrible was going on. The traffic was at a standstill and sirens kept coming from all directions.

The sirens sounded more like fire trucks than ambulances. It's easy to distinguish the sound if you listen closely. The ambulance's sirens although loud and wailing could not match with the fire truck's intensified and obnoxious horn. The fire trucks can slice into traffic with little effort and have the cars scrambling to give way because of its ultra loud horn.

"BAAAAAAAAHHNNKKK! BAAAAAAAAHHNNKKK!"

More fire trucks arrived and converged in the area. Anxious bystanders were milling around, apparently baffled by the bright and noisy event. Obviously, there was a fire in one of the tall buildings as Hydra saw a bright pulsating light above emitting dark smoke. Hydra and Pluggo weaved through the wave of people to reach the site.

"C'mon Pluggo, it should be around here somewhere." Hydra pushed his way through the crowd.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Pluggo yelled.

Nothing is more exciting than watching a fire scene. Unfortunately, it is exciting but sad—usually depressing. On one side you see the hapless people clinging for their lives, on the other side are the helpless people just watching, like they're witnessing a movie or a drama unfold.

Hydra and Pluggo huddled with the crowd. Hydra was nervous but gleaming with excitement. _This is it_ , Hydra thought. This is their gig—their mission. It's the moment they've been waiting for—like the Voice was telling them.

Hydra paced nervously about, almost frantic, wondering what to do. He didn't want to screw things up. At first, there were only a few fire trucks parked in the middle of the street. Then the policemen blocked off the street to allow more fire trucks closer to the burning building. But the traffic was so heavy it was difficult to get the other fire trucks into place.

* *

Meanwhile, thick swelling black smoke with streaks of reddish flame started creeping across one side of the multi-story building. A faint voice could be heard, "Help!" Hydra and Pluggo looked up and saw a little girl high up in the building. She was about four or five years old, and was desperately yelling for help as the fire inched closer to her. She looked helpless and desperate in the unbearable heat.

"HEEEELP!" cried the little girl.

The firemen scrambled to get their hoses ready. But there was another problem—the tall ladder truck couldn't get through the snarled traffic. The firemen ran around and didn't know what to do. One of them dragged a thick fire hose and searched for a hydrant. There was no hydrant—only a gaping hole where a hydrant used to be—a huge main pipe protruding from it.

Hydra looked at Pluggo. Now it all came back to him. This was the place where he had been knocked over by the taxicab. Pluggo broke away from Hydra and moved through the crowd. He hurled himself on top of the pipe hole—but he didn't fit.

"THUD!"

Pluggo jumped up and down on the hole—but still he didn't fit.

"HEEELLPP!" The desperate girl screamed again, her voice slowly fading and close to being suffocated. The heat and smoke were closing in fast.

Pluggo continued his vain attempts to couple with the pipe hole, when Hydra pulled him off and moved him to one side—there was no more time.

Hydra saw the already unconscious child; her arms limp as they dangled out the window. He jumped on top the pipe hole—and fit perfectly. All he needed was the fireman's help and everything would be fine. At the same time, the tall ladder truck arrived and raised its ladder against the building. The other firemen ran to Hydra and tried to attach their hoses to his nozzles.

"THEY DON'T FIT! THIS HYDRANT IS OBSOLETE!" yelled one of the firemen. In the confusion, none of them had noticed how old Hydra was. That was why the WDs didn't repair his kind anymore. Hydra was definitely obsolete and only good for causing people to get parking tickets.

* *

Hydra was thinking. He was running out of options. He looked at Pluggo as if pleading.

"THIS IS A JOB FOR YOU PLUGGO!" Hydra exclaimed. He knew that only Pluggo could fly that high and stop the fire. Although, it looked like Pluggo could only blow water from his base, there wasn't any more time to worry about that—he would have to try it anyway.

Pluggo pushed his way through the crowd. They parted for this unusual creature. Hydra yelled, "Pluggo, go for it! Remember the Voice!" Pluggo clenched his eyes and focused. He stood there for a moment as the crowd encircled him and watched quietly. Suddenly, his face and body changed, heaving, and throbbing, and ready to explode. His body continued to balloon until he was visibly shaking. Soon there was a thunderous noise, as tons of water hurled him upwards from his base.

"SPLASSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

Pluggo flew straight up—fifteen feet, twenty-five feet, thirty-five feet, to fifty feet! He was almost up there. The girl was barely moving as the fire inched closer, ready to engulf her. Pluggo started to turn slowly and was ready to blast a torrent of water through his nozzles; he wasn't even sure if it would work. He closed his eyes again and concentrated. Suddenly, his arms started to grow and heaved—there was a second explosion of water though his nozzles...

"KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"

The explosion twirled him around like a craze garden sprinkler...

"WIISSHH-WIISSHH-WIISSHH-WIISSHH-WIISSHH-WIISSHH!"

The repeated swirling noise sounded like a flying helicopter. Pluggo showered water all around and put out the fire in no time. The whole building was awash as water poured out of the building's windows.

The little girl was revived— she was almost drowning and was gasping for air—soaked from the drench but was glad with the relief from the heat.

Pluggo started to fall slowly back to the ground, safely as he cushioned his fall with water.

What a scene! Everyone was drenched with water. The firemen quickly climbed their ladders and rescued the girl and all the other people trapped in the building. Although the damage to the building was extensive, amazingly, no one was seriously injured by the fire. The firemen had no one else to thank but Pluggo—he had single-handedly put out the fire.

The crowd cheered and chanted, "PLU-GGO! PLU-GGO! PLU-GGO!"

The crowd erupted in high-fives and backslappings. Even though everyone had gotten their office clothes soaking wet, they have become ecstatic to see such a potential tragedy have a happy ending.

"PLU-GGO! PLU-GGO! PLU-GGO!" The chanting continued and threatened to keep going without stop.

The little girl was all smiles as the fireman brought her down by the ladder. Ironically, she was shivering from all the water that had put out the fire. With her eyes full of tears, she asked the fireman for the hydrant that had saved her life. She said that she only caught a glimpse of it but remembered the prominent red head and the small white body. Just then her parents scooped her up and they all hugged and cried at the same time.

"Thank God you're saved!" said the father as he held her tight.

"It's the hydrant Daddy. The hydrant saved my life," said the little girl proudly. The mother hugged her and sobbed uncontrollably.

* *

Meanwhile, Hydra and Pluggo snuck out before the crowd got out of control.

* *

"Good work Pluggo! I'm proud of you!" Hydra's eyes turned misty. "I know that little girl. Her name is Sabrina and she is a very special kid. She grew up in my neighborhood where I was based, and I witnessed her growing up as the years went by. I remember her hugging me while her father took a picture of her. She was only two years old then. She was a good and happy child."

"It was my pleasure, Hydra. I may not know her but I already feel close to her," Pluggo replied, looking tired but happy.

"Where are we heading now?"

"I don't know, Pluggo."

Silence.

"We're on a mission, remember?" Hydra said, smiling wryly.

# CHAPTER 8

### Splatter

" **HURRY UP, PLUGGO!"** Hydra yelled. Pluggo ran to catch up, panting—he said, "Wait up Hydra! You're gliding way too fast. You might have forgotten that I'm smaller than you."

"Yes, but smaller doesn't mean slower—just hurry up!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't we just finish our mission?" Pluggo asked, annoyed.

Hydra stopped in his tracks and glared at Pluggo.

Pluggo approached Hydra cautiously.

"You okay Hydra?" Pluggo asked.

"Look, I hope I'm not being too hard on you. I'm proud of what you did for that little girl. But that doesn't mean we're done. OUR MISSION IS NOT OVER!" Hydra stressed.

"But... but... " Pluggo said, stumbling over his words. Now he feels that he's turned out to be the bad guy. _But that's not the point_ , Pluggo thought.

"What about 'stopping and smelling the roses', huh, Hydra?"

Hydra didn't know what to say. Those were his own words coming back at him. He mellowed down and said, "I understand Pluggo... just be patient and we will make time to 'smell the roses'."

"Well, slow down a bit! You're stressing me out. I still say I'm smaller than you! Where are we headed anyway?"

"Beatree said to follow this road," Hydra said, not really sure where they were going.

The traffic was still heavy even though it was way past rush hour. The sidewalks were still full of people and there was no letup. There were tourists, workers, vendors, shoppers, people from all walks of life—young and old—an array of human profile, it was like a circus.

"Talking about 'smelling the roses'—you rarely see flowers around this city—if you do see one," Pluggo said to himself, "it will be covered in soot in no time. This place is congested. CON-GES-TED."

As he worked his way through the crowd, Pluggo wondered how these people lived. He watched them even stepping on each other's toes.

"Ouch! Hey watch it!" someone yelled.

"Watch your back! Watch your back!" A pizza deliveryman yelled.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" another one yelled.

Bike messengers and Chinese-food delivery boys, notorious for riding on the sidewalk and running into people, were numerous at every turn. You really have to stay alert when you walk the streets of Guerlin City. It's one of the most populous cities in the world.

Pluggo scrambled to keep up with Hydra. But Hydra was out of sight. He quickly stepped out to the street and yelled, "Hydra! Hydra!" People were unmindful of him as they plugged along on their daily business.

"Hydra! Hydra!" he yelled again but much louder this time.

"HEY YOU! YOU'RE JAYWALKING! GO BACK TO THE SIDEWALK OR I'LL GIVE YOU A TICKET!" someone yelled.

Pluggo blushed and scurried back to the sidewalk but couldn't get on because it was jam-packed. "Hydra, where are you? And who was that voice I heard? It can't be the voice from the field—it sounds too mean," Pluggo said, frantic.

Pluggo looked funny as he balanced himself by the curb waiting for his chance to jump back on the sidewalk. Then suddenly, there was a sound of laughter—Hydra stood by a phone booth laughing his heart out.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! He-he-he-he-he!" Hydra couldn't stop laughing.

"Hydra! Hydra!" Pluggo said excitedly, "Where were you?"

"Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!" Hydra giggled some more. "You almost got a ticket for jaywalking. Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!"

"HEY YOU! YOU'RE JAYWALKING! GO BACK TO THE SIDEWALK OR I'LL GIVE YOU A TICKET!" Hydra repeated the prank and kept on laughing. That was me! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Hydra continued, laughing through his tears.

Pluggo looked puzzled.

"Boy! You really did scare me there, Hydra," Pluggo said. "Honestly, I think I was more scared of not seeing you than I was of getting a ticket. From now on, I'm going to stick with our mission, no matter what."

"C'mon Pluggo, I was only kidding," Hydra said with a naughty grin on his face.

* *

Pluggo gladly followed Hydra on the way to the bridge. They kept walking but the bridge was still nowhere to be found. Hydra was not even sure if they were going in the right direction. Pluggo couldn't care less and depended on Hydra who led the way. They both stopped short when they came to a fork in the road.

_Hmm, where do we go now_? thought Hydra, scratching his head. He didn't want to look like a fool to Pluggo, so he abruptly turned the corner. This maneuver led them into a maze. They turned left, then right, and then left again—until they ended up on a deserted street. Hydra couldn't believe that they had actually found a deserted street in Guerlin City. It seemed like only a short time earlier the streets were full of people—now they were empty.

"Hydra, do you know where we're going?" Pluggo asked, worried.

"Of course, we can turn that next corner and we will be back where we came from," Hydra said, confidently.

Instead of that, when they turned the corner, they came to a dead end street. The place was dark and menacing, with old buildings crowding and leaning on each other. Rusted steel fire escapes crisscrossed their facades. The buildings had peeling paint all over with damp windowpanes as steam blew past them.

Hydra and Pluggo huddled back to back as they walked and groped in the dark. It was pitch black and they couldn't see anything. They thought of the notorious dogs, Pete and Roth that Crooton had warned them about. And to their dismay, they heard a faint growl coming from the dark shadows of the street.

But Hydra unexpectedly moved in the direction of the menacing noise.

"What are you doing? Let's get out of here while we can," Pluggo whispered.

"For one thing, I don't think Pete and Roth can hurt us. And besides, we're already here and I'm curious about these notorious dogs."

"GRRRRRR! GRRRRRR!"

The hydrants jumped and dashed behind a garbage container.

"Pete? Roth? Is that you guys? Hello? Pete?" Hydra asked, feeling foolish.

Silence.

Hydra and Pluggo slowly peeked around the side of the garbage container but it was too dark to see.

"Pete?" Hydra called again.

"I'm not Pete, you fool! My name is Splatter!"

Hydra was relieved but puzzled.

"We can't see you," Hydra said.

"Turn on your headlamps. Tap your head twice. Just do what I say," the voice said.

The ever-vulnerable Pluggo did just that.

"TAP! TAP!"

Voila! A beam of light came out of his head like a miner's hat.

"Wow! D'ya see that Hydra?" Pluggo said, aiming his headlamp into Hydra's squinting eyes.

Hydra quickly tapped his head too.

"TAP! TAP!"

Nothing.

"TAP! TAP! TAP!" stronger this time.

"Whoa!" Hydra excliamed, as a light beamed out of his head.

The dark street was now lit up with the dazzling array of lights from the hydrant's headlamps. Hydra and Pluggo suddenly stopped—marveling in their newfound power and aimed their light beams at the figure that had been talking to them.

"Whoa!" They howled, both taking a good look and not batting an eye. Right in front of them was a very peculiar hydrant. It was white, with random black spots all over it, like a Dalmatian or a cow. They couldn't figure out what it was.

"And who are you?" Hydra asked.

"Err... my name is Splatter. I'm sorry that I got you scared. I have to protect myself, you know. You wouldn't believe this but I'm really a dog and a spell turned me into a hydrant," said the disgraced Splatter.

Hydra looked in amazement. He couldn't believe what was happening. It was all too fast. This marvel, the discovered headlamp and all these undiscovered powers—Hydra wondered what was next.

"How can someone put a spell on you?" Pluggo asked, feeling sorry for Splatter.

"You see, we dogs love to pee on you hydrants. But I didn't know this one here is off-limits to dogs."

"And—" Splatter was about to continue when the skeptical Hydra cut him off.

"Well, we don't want to know the details right now. Can you tell us how to get to the bridge?"

"Which one? There are several bridges in Guerlin City," Splatter replied.

"We forgot the name. But I'm sure we're close by. A friend pointed us in this direction and said that we couldn't miss it."

"Hmm... let me see... oh, okay, follow this street then make a right, then turn left, walk straight up for another twenty blocks and you're there. You won't miss it. I think that's the bridge you're looking for."

"Are you going to be alright?" Pluggo asked, concerned.

"Well, I've been stuck here for sometime now and I miss my home. I'm a housedog for Fire Engine 107—right around the corner. My caretaker surely misses me. His name is Tommy. He's been posting my picture around as you can see," Splatter said, motioning to a missing-dog poster tacked to a post.

"Are you sure you're telling the truth?" Hydra asked.

"Hydra! Be nice!" Pluggo exclaimed.

"I can prove it. Do you want to see something?"

"Yeaaaah?" The two hydrants said in unison.

"Come closer," Splatter said. He whispered something to them causing their eyes to widen. Hydra and Pluggo looked in the back of the spotted hydrant and saw something coming out, near its base. It was long, white, and spotted, and was jerking from side to side.

"Whisssk! Whisssk! Whisssk! Whisssk!"

"IT'S A TAIL!" exclaimed Hydra and Pluggo.

"Whisssk! Whisssk! Whisssk! Whisssk!"

The tail continued to sweep the pavement, and the three hydrants burst into laughter.

"This is incredible! I've never seen anything like it!" Hydra said.

"Oh, Splatter, this is wonderful! You turned out to be a nice hydrant after all. Although, I really feel sorry for what happened to you," Pluggo said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the Voice will give you _power_ too!" Pluggo continued.

Hydra glared at Pluggo again. He didn't want him telling everyone about this 'power' thing.

"What power?" Splatter asked.

"We'll we have to go on our way now," Hydra cut in. He walked past Splatter and Pluggo as he headed out for the bridge. "It was fun meeting you Splatter," Hydra said, his tone became serious.

"Well, we better go," Pluggo said in a friendly tone. He were overly concerned about Splatter's dilemma. "We'll come back and get you out of here—I promise."

"Goodbye Pluggo!" Goodbye Hydra!" Splatter said as he looked after the two departing hydrants. He looked solemn, his tail wagging lazily.

"Whisssk! Whisssk! Whisssk!"

# CHAPTER 9

### Meet Five Feet

**MOHEGAN BRIDGE** was a gigantic structure with six car lanes going in both directions, to and from Guerlin City. It was so huge that it dwarfed everything around it. In the middle of the span were two soaring 'towers' that were supported by oversized cables as thick as Redwood trees. The suspended cables were adorned with dazzling lights that followed the winding shape of the bridge. This awe-inspiring structure was a masterpiece of engineering and a perfect match for the metropolis's skyscrapers. It was the gateway to Guerlin City.

Ironically, as wide as the roads were on the bridge, it didn't improve the traffic situation. Rush hour was still the pits. The cars and trucks packed the bridge, as was every road connected to it. All the drivers seemed to have one goal in mind—to get away from it all and be home as soon as they could. It was a daily occurrence, a vicious cycle that would start again the next day and the day after that, and so forth.

The two hydrants struggled to reach the foot of the bridge. But they stopped to simply stand there in awe, admiring the masterpiece. _How could we miss such a colossal structure?_ Hydra thought. He didn't know that another problem was looming.

Hydra noticed it first—he had been chiding Pluggo for being slow but now he realized that he too was getting slow and weak. It was taking a lot more effort just to turn his head and talk to Pluggo.

They both stood there, tired and forlorn. Hydra could not utter a word—and neither could Pluggo. He could barely take another step.

"This doesn't look like the bridge Beatree described to us," Hydra whispered, panting. "Let me see..."

"Are we lost again?" uttered Pluggo in a barely audible voice.

"I think I know... " Hydra suddenly stopped.

"Hydra, I'm thirsty and feeling weak. What is happening?"

The two hydrants stood there like stones. They looked like they were attached to the sidewalk like normal fire hydrants. Hydra knew that the remaining energy in their bodies was reserved for emergency use. He realized that being alive has its ups and downs and that things didn't stay constant for long.

* *

The snarl of traffic continued—bumper-to-bumper. The bridge was literally eating up the cars and trucks as they entered its mouth and spewing them across on the other side of the bridge. Not far beyond, the cars and trucks were fighting over lanes.

"KLINK! KLANK! KLINK! KLANK!" No one wanted to give in, and everyone was playing hardball.

"KLINK! KLANK! KLINK! KLANK!" One truck squeezed in and cut off another one.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"

Hydra noticed the familiar blaring music coming from afar.

"I'M STILL SHAKIN'! AND I'M BRAKIN'! SO BABEE PLEASE DON'T LET ME GOHUWOW! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"

"I REALIZE YOUR GAZIN' EYES, ARE ON ME! I CAN SEE! SO PLEASE, COME AND STAY WITH MEHEEEHEEHEE! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! I'M IN LOWVE!" the melodic explosion continued. The occupants were screaming their lungs out as they sang along with the radio.

Hydra tried to sneak a peek at them but hesitated. _I've got to conserve, got_ _to conserve_. _But that noise_ , he thought. _That could only be... hmm..._

Ben and Guido?

Hydra's eyes widened. Pluggo didn't seem to notice. There wasn't much they could do except wait for the truck to pass.

"COME BACK TO ME! AND DAHLENG CAN'T YOU SEEE..."

"I'm glad they found these lost Beeples songs Guido!" Ben said.

"Yes! They're the coolest band... Heyy! What do you know? Check it out Ben—on the side of the street!" Guido yelled.

"Oh no—not now Guido! Not now!" Ben said, sounding annoyed.

"But Ben, aren't those hydrants familiar to you?"

"This better be good, Guido." Ben said as he looked Guido's way.

"Oh yeaaah! You're right! How did those two get there? No wonder we were short the other day!" Ben exclaimed.

"Pull over! Pull over!" ordered the excited Guido.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Irate drivers swerved to avoid the truck's sudden lane change.

Hydra noticed the rapidly approaching truck. _Oh no!_ _What do we do now?_

The truck came to a screeching stop and the two scruffy men jumped out. They both eyed the prized hydrant they had lost the previous day. They talked about how different the hydrants looked—-more alive than regular hydrants.

"Guido, pick up the small one and throw him by the front side of the pile. There's a small space there for that size, then help me with this big one," Ben ordered Guido.

Guido picked up Pluggo and quickly threw him in the truck.

"KA-BLANNNNNK! CRASSSSSHH!"

"Ouch!"

"Huh? Did you say something Ben?"

"No, why?"

"I thought I heard something," Guido said, looking around.

"Never mind, I swear I heard something," Guido said again.

"Having 'flashbacks' again? Huh, Guido?" Ben was smiling.

As the two men bent down to pick up Hydra, Guido said, "speaking of flashbacks, didn't we just do this before? We have to make small steps to the rear of the truck, swing the load to gain momentum, and throw this big chunk to the pile."

"KA-BLANNNNNK! CRASSSSSHH!

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" There were more cries from the other hydrants that Hydra landed on.

Guido didn't even mention anything this time as he warily glanced at Ben.

The two men boarded the truck and started to merge back into the relentless rush-hour traffic. Meanwhile, Hydra lay on top of the pile and cried out, "Pluggo! Pluggo! Where are you?"

"KA-PLANNNNNK! PLANNNNK!" The hydrants began rolling and shifting around as the truck moved back into traffic.

"Pluggo! Pluggo!" Hydra tried again.

"Hydra! I'm right here in front," Pluggo replied. What are we going to do?"

Hydra looked around the pile of hydrants and noticed several eyes staring back at him. "You guys are alive too?"

"Yes, we're just too weak to move and escape from here," murmured one of them. Hydra looked powerless. There was nothing he could do to help them. His goal was to save himself and Pluggo first.

_Where's Pluggo?_ Hydra thought, as he scrambled to get to the front of the truck.

"KA-PLANNNNNK! PLANNNNK! Excuse me! Excuse me!" Hydra said as he crawled over the other hydrants on his way to the front of the truck. He continued to call Pluggo's name.

"Ouch! Ouch! Hey, watch it fella," some of the hydrants cried out.

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Hydra said, as he struggled to get to the other side. At last, he reached the front but he still couldn't see Pluggo. It was dark at the bottom of the pile but streaks of light lit up the space as the truck moved down the bridge. There were a lot of other small hydrants making it doubly difficult to locate Pluggo.

"Pluggo! Pluggo!" Hydra whispered, knowing that they were running out of time. The truck was almost halfway over the bridge and Hydra had a plan. He had to find Pluggo right away.

Hydra tried to concentrate on the area where he had heard Pluggo's voice. Just then a beam of light lit up the space inside the truck and Hydra spotted Pluggo's red head. He was laying there and not moving at all. He must have used up all his energy, Hydra thought.

"Pluggo! Listen to me. We have to move fast," Hydra whispered.

"Is that you, Hydra?" Pluggo asked. He was disoriented from his weakness.

Hydra connected one of his nozzles to Pluggo and revived him with a little dose of water. The transfer of energy was obvious as Hydra felt weaker and Pluggo's body ballooned, his eyes widened and lit up. Hydra relieved, leaned over and whispered something to Pluggo. The other hydrants quickly gathered around them to listen to what Hydra had to say.

"Can we have a little bit of privacy here?" Hydra snapped.

The nosy hydrants flushed red, stepped back.

"Hey guys, I know you want to get out of here too, but I think it would be impossible to get you all out of here—at least, not this time. But as soon as we get our strength back, we'll come back and get you," Hydra said, feeling sorry for the other hydrants.

Hydra and Pluggo slowly stood up and walked to the side of the truck to evaluate the situation. Although the top of the truck was open, the railing was a little high for them. They could use a little help. Their energy was almost used up that even their reserves were already depleted. They turned and looked around. _No, not these small hydrants_ , Hydra thought as he looked at the pile of hydrants on the floor. The truck was littered with old and new hydrant parts, tools, and newly assembled hydrants lined up on the other side of the truck, gleaming as the light reflected on them.

_Think fast Hydra, think fast_. He looked around and looked some more. His eyes lit up. He noticed a blazing red hydrant in the corner of the truck with a long torso. The shape of the body was thinner—thinner than Pluggo but much longer. It was an unusual form for a fire hydrant. Hydra quickly approached the hydrant.

"Hey, tall one!" Hydra whispered.

"Hey, tall one!" Hydra was afraid that the tall hydrant might also be out of energy.

The tall one opened his eyes, seemingly unaware of what was happening around him.

"You, talking to me?"

"Yes, you. Listen, we have no more time. We need your help and we need it fast. We're about to pass the middle of the bridge and we want to jump out of here but we can only do it with your help. Can you give us a hand?" Hydra asked.

The tall one was thinking, scratching his chin.

"Sounds like I don't have a choice," replied the tall one. "Let's go do it."

Hydra leaned closer to him and told him his plan in detail. The tall one nodded and approached the other hydrants and shared the plan with them.

* *

"I'M STILL SHAKIN'! AND I'M BRAKIN'! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!" Guido and Ben were singing along with the radio and didn't appear to know what was happening at the back of the truck.

* *

The tall one and Hydra joined Pluggo.

"Pluggo meet... err," Hydra said trying to introduce the two.

"Meet!" replied the tall hydrant.

"Meet who?" Pluggo asked.

"Meet! That's my name! Meet Five Feet, as they call me." Meet said proudly.

"Err... hi Meet! Nice to meet you!" Pluggo said, smiling nervously.

"Let's get going guys!" Hydra cried.

* *

Meanwhile, inside the truck... "Hey Ben! Nice sound!" Guido yelled.

"Yeah, I just installed this radio. The old one sucked. With this kind of job, you can't afford not to have a good radio," Ben said. Guido kept singing along, not acknowledging Ben's comments.

"Do you want more bass?" Ben asked proudly, as he cranked it up.

"BOG! BOG! BOG! BOG!"

"Is that loud enough?"

"Yeah, that's cool, Ben," Guido said as he swayed in time with the music.

"You want more treble?"

"Sure!"

"SSH! SSH! SSH! SSH!"

"Loud enough?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, that's cool, Ben."

"BOG! BOG! BOG! BOG!"

"SSHHH! SSHHH! SSHHH!

"SSSSHHHH! SSSSSSSSHHHHHH!" The hissing sound was getting louder.

"Hey, way'da minute! That hissing sound is not from the radio! I think we have a flat! Guido, check the tires!" Ben yelled.

Guido stuck his head out of the window.

"I can't see from here, Ben. It could be the rear tire!" Guido yelled. "You have to pull over."

"Ben tried to stop but kept going when the irate drivers behind him began blowing their horns.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

"Ohh, give me a break!" said the arrogant Ben.

So, he forced his truck out of the middle lane to get to the side of the bridge. The hissing sound continued—

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!"

* *

Meanwhile, at the back of the truck, the hydrants were getting out of breath from hissing, some of them were close to laughing. They hadn't had this much fun in a long time. The two men were being fooled into thinking that they were getting a flat.

Finally, Ben pulled the truck to the curb. Ben turned down the radio while Guido jumped out to check the tires.

Guido couldn't hear any hissing sound. He bent down and placed his head close to the hot tires—there was still no hissing sound.

"Nothing here Ben! Your tires seem to be okay," Guido said as he happily climbed back in the cab. He hates changing flats. Not in this traffic.

Ben grinned at him and cranked up the radio again.

"LOWVE! YEAH, YEAH, YEAH! I'M IN LOWVE!"

"OH I MISS YOU SAWHOOHAW!"

The speakers blasted out the tune again and Ben and Guido began to scream along with the Beeples music. Ben was waiting for his chance to move back into the middle lane.

* *

"LET'S GO! NOW!" Hydra yelled. Meet picked up Pluggo and hurled him out of the truck.

"PLANNNNNNNK!"

Pluggo hit the pavement. He continued to roll with such force that when he hit the curb he was flung high up in the air and over the bridge railing. After a few seconds, they heard a faint...

"SPLASSSSSSHHHH!"—as Pluggo hit the river below.

The other hydrants watched, with their eyes wide and their mouths open.

* *

Meet struggled to carry Hydra.

"UUMMMMMMMPPHHH! AAARRRRRRRGGGHH! You're so heavy! AAARRRRRRRGGGHH!" Meet was getting all flushed from his struggle with Hydra. "HAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Stop holding the railing, you foo..."

"PLANNNNNNNK!"

Hydra hit the pavement and did exactly what he had seen Pluggo do. He rolled himself towards the railing—but his body bounced up and down due to his protruding nozzles, which slowed him down.

"KA-PLANNNNK! KA-PLANNNNK! KA-PLANNNNK!"

He paused for a while, clenched his face in, and with great force, jumped over the railing.

"SPLASSSSSSHHHH!"

* *

"I'M WAITING WITH MY ARMS! STRETCHED OUT WAITING FOR YOUHOOHOOO!" The two men howling with the radio were oblivious to what was happening.

Meet was getting ready to jump. He turned back and looked at the other hydrants. They all stared at him.

"Goodbye Meet! It's okay!" one of them said.

"Goodbye guys! Don't worry. We'll be back to get you," Meet said as he scrambled to jump over the truck's railing.

"PLANNNNNNNK!"

He hit the pavement and rolled towards the bridge's railing as Hydra and Pluggo had done. A little while later there was another sound in the river below.

"SPLASSSSSSHHHH!"

They had all made it.

# CHAPTER 10

### The Mohegan River

**THERE'S NOTHING MORE** exhilarating than jumping from the Mohegan Bridge to the depths of its river—it's just that you can't see what is underneath. By the time you hit the water, if you survive the fall, you are instantly lost in the midst of the pitch-black setting. You can't be sure if it is polluted water or simply the churning water from your dive, making it impossible to see. But not to fret, a few seconds after you hit the bottom, the space gradually brightens up. Silhouettes, shapes, and shadows take their form. Ghostly images and the formation of accumulated junk appear on the horizon at the bottom of the river.

Mohegan River is the extension of Guerlin City—a city of excess. One can easily make out an inventory of junks—refrigerators, several bikes, an array of tires—piled like black Lifesavers, half-buried grocery carts, car batteries, computers, and protruding beer cans that almost cover the entire riverbed. Some of them are newly thrown away but most of them are old and rotten, creating a peculiar hazardous environment—-an underwater junkyard. The fish and other water creatures blended with the setting, even using some of the junk to live in or set traps to dine on other water creatures. This place, with its junk, seemed somehow, natural in its own world—-like the settings of the coral reefs of the Bahamas.

* *

A curious crab cautiously approached the unconscious Hydra as he lay at the muddy bed of the river—he was still dazed by his fall. When Hydra opened his eyes, the crab quickly scurried away leaving a cloud of sea dust along its path. Hydra sat up and noticed the commotion— he stood up, walked around, scanning the riverbed in a curious fashion. _Man, this place is a dump_.

Prying eyes surrounded him, as tiny bubbles spewed out of crevices and holes, most likely from river creatures—revealing their hideaway. _More crabs_ , thought Hydra. _They are such strange creatures_.

He glided among the junk looking for anything familiar. A school of fish followed his every move. Suddenly, he heard an approaching noise from above. It sounded like a ship or a boat and it was getting louder.

"SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!"

_What the... ?_ Hydra froze with his mouth agape. He saw a torpedo-like object heading towards him.

"SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!"

He barely had time to duck before the object narrowly missed him. Hydra scrambled to defend himself in this unfamiliar territory. But the thing disappeared as fast as it had come.

Then Hydra heard someone laughing. It was a peculiar feeling, inasmuch as he couldn't really _hear_ it but more like _think_ it—like reading somebody's mind. Hydra felt that somebody was laughing at him. Just then, two torpedo-like objects emerged and were coming fast towards him. Hydra braced himself for a collision.

"SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!"

"SWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!"

Hydra closed his eyes, grimaced, and waited for the impact.

The noise stopped.

He opened his eyes.

And right there in front of him—were Pluggo and Meet!

Pluggo and Meet just floated there, smiling. Hydra could read their minds, just like they were talking.

_("Hi Hydra! That was us who buzzed you a minute ago— ha-ha-ha! I hope we_ _didn't scare you!")_ Pluggo said with a chuckle.

_("Yes you did guys, yes you did!")_ Hydra replied. _("Glad to see you Pluggo—and Meet, welcome aboard. I wasn't expecting you to follow.")_

_("Thanks for welcoming me, Hydra. I appreciate your_ _kindness,")_ Meet said humbly.

_("Well Meet, without you, we wouldn't have made the jump and we wouldn't be here,")_ Hydra said.

_("C'mon guys! Let's enjoy our newfound power. The power of_ _being a fish!")_ Pluggo said as he took off ahead of the two.

Hydra gingerly jumped at the chance and followed the other guys as they swam and explored the river. He started slowly, but became more proficient as the other hydrants encouraged him. Pluggo's enthusiasm and fast-learning capability was _contagious_.

The hydrants had never been as energized and strong before. They had fully regained their strength _._ The river water must have had something to do with it.

Pluggo, because of his eagerness was leading the way. Hydra understood and just let him be. He felt like a big brother to him. Meet, new to the group, was a warm and personable hydrant, too. There was good chemistry among them and Hydra felt like they were becoming a real team.

They cruised in a jet-fighter formation. Pluggo was in front and the other two were on his sides in a triangle form, all of them spewed clouds of bubbles behind. The fish stared in obvious admiration at these new water creatures.

"SWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH!"

"SWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH!"

"SWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH!"

The three headed south, unaware that they were approaching the mouth of the river, towards the open sea.

They broke their jet-fighter formation and went their separate ways. They knew they could easily communicate by thought and not lose each other. It was a vast new world to explore, from Grunt's Farm to Guerlin City, and now, the Mohegan River.

The bottom was much brighter at the mouth of the river. There was less junk and more room to move. But the water current was stronger and the fire hydrants struggled to keep their balance.

Hydra, for one was struggling to maneuver. But he was momentarily distracted by the many new varieties of fish circling around him, curious. They were bigger and were swifter than the fish he saw by the bridge. He thought of out-swimming them just to see if he could. The fish got the clue and swam after him after Hydra started speeding up. He clenched his eyes and forged ahead of them with great speed. After a while, he looked back and was surprise that he was alone. Elated, he sent signals to the two hydrants about his prowess that despite his massive body size he proved he could out-swim those fish.

Worried that they might have already gone too far, Hydra rose to the surface to see exactly where they were.

"SPLASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!"

Hydra was relieved that they were not that far from the city. They were still at the mouth of the river, close to the open sea, exactly as he had imagined. He took a break and floated on his back, enjoying the breeze and the view. The sparkling lights that adorn the skyscrapers illuminated the whole river.

_No wonder people from all over the world come here to visit,_ thought Hydra as he drifted around rotating slowly with the waves. He then saw a gigantic green statue illuminated with lights on the other side of the river. He tried to figure out what it was. Hydra thought that most structures in the city were phenomenally huge.

* *

There was a boat docked at the foot of the statue that distracted his attention. He felt something was wrong. There were men and children milling around the dock, and he sensed stress in their voices.

Hydra submerged and signaled Pluggo and Meet to follow him to take a closer look. He rose up again, this time closer to the boat. There were children crying and men yelling—giving out orders as they all started to board the boat. _This must be some kind of_ _school trip that has gone_ _haywire,_ thought Hydra as he cautiously peeked from the water making sure not to expose himself.

"C'mon! Hurry up!" yelled the man, a tall, lanky and scruffy man dressed up like a boat captain. But the uniform hardly fits him as if he had borrowed a costume for a late Halloween party. His dark blue cap with a white color bream fits his head though.

"Hu-hu-hu-hu! I want my mommy!" cried one of the kids.

"I want to go home!" cried another.

"Shut up or I'll take your Teddy bear!" yelled the man.

"Whaaaaaa!" wailed the kid.

"Please, don't hurt the kids," pleaded the teacher, a second grade teacher named Ms. Hannah. "You should really consider letting us go—these are innocent children. Don't you have any conscience at all?"

"Listen lady, the faster you can get your kids on board, the easier it will be for all of us," the captain said.

Miss Hannah was in shock and was totally helpless beyond means. It was her worst nightmare. She was responsible for the safety of these kids, and now it looked like there was nothing she could do.

She and the children had gotten separated from another group and had been in this situation for sometime, with no contact with them at all. They volunteered to stay behind to study the surroundings of the huge statue. But they forgot to keep track of the time until they met these three lowly men who was pretending to be lost and was asking for directions. And now they're in this mess.

The captain announced that they were all going with them in their boat and to follow their orders so there will be no trouble.

The teacher bowed her head and followed the last kid in line as they walked toward the boat. Just then, Pluggo raised his red head out of the water, caught the teacher's eye, and motioned for her to be quiet. She was encouraged by the encounter and hoped that some kind of help was on the way.

One of the man shoved the teacher and yelled at her to hurry up. She slipped and hit the ground.

"Get up and move!" the man yelled.

Miss Hannah struggled to get up and joined the line.

* *

Hydra counted the men as his head bobbed in and out of the water. There were three of them. The "captain" was inside the boat scolding the children and the other two who wore ill-fitting black suits were outside minding the boat and getting ready to leave.

Some of the children began crying. But most of them not knowing the danger they were in became excited like riding the boat would be a wonderful adventure.

The captain couldn't contain the kids. And in a short time, they started making noises, pushing, teasing and playing, and ignoring the dilemma they were in.

_("I'm just waiting until all the children are safely inside"),_ Hydra said to Meet and Pluggo. (" _I'll tell you when")._ It would be Hydra's call.

* *

The two men hurried to get on board. One of them lifted the plank and threw it overboard; but he fumbled and tripped. He regained his balance before he could fall into the water. Sensing the commotion, the captain rushed out to help the two men.

_("This is it, guys!")_ Hydra said.

"WEEEEEEEHOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEP!" Hydra whistled as a signal to attack.

The men heard the whistle but didn't know where it was coming from. They were confused, as there were no other people or boats in the area. Then they heard a loud hissing sound getting closer and closer...

"HHHHSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

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 one'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.

"KKRUNKKKKKKKK!"

Hydra saw the dogs look up while the steel claw lifted the junk car with him on top. It rose slowly higher and higher—he was getting dizzy by the motion and he wondered if the crane operator even knew that he was on top of the junk car.

The dogs knew what was going on as Hydra struggled to keep his balance. They scrambled in position and howled in anticipation of Hydra's freefall. Hydra was toast.

The crane operator was loading the trucks with junk cars. He raised the load higher but stopped it in mid-air, which caused the load to swing, doubling Hydra's effort to hold on. The operator jumped off the cab to chat with the truck drivers.

Hydra held on tight and didn't know what to do. He was leaving everything to fate. The junk car veered with his weight and made a loud screeching noise—Hydra was very close to falling. He became more and more exposed and the dogs got more and more excited and continued howling like hyenas.

The men, oblivious of the impending disaster, swung around to see what the commotion was all about. The crane operator laughed with the other drivers as he jumped back in his cab and raised the load higher and began swinging the load like a pendulum, apparently to tease the dogs. The dogs went crazy and chased the load relentlessly.

"Go for it, boys! Go for it!" the operator yelled as he played with the lever. The junk car swung wildly from left to right while the dogs ran back and forth trailing the suspended trophy.

"This will teach you not to make so much noise," exclaimed the operator.

Hydra was being held in place by a thin metal strap. He was only seconds away from falling to the anguish of the dogs. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

"PLANK!"

The metal strap snapped but Hydra clambered to grab another one, although this too, could also snap at any time. His body was dangling in the air like bait on a fishing hook. The dogs were now on their hind legs with their paws extended in Hydra's direction, ready to bite the 'fish.' All of them drooling in fervent anticipation.

Hydra closed his eyes. _Please Voice wherever you are,_ _help me. I'm sorry Pluggo—I should have listened to you_. He kept his concentration and held on.

"PLANK!"

The metal strap snapped and Hydra began to fall. He knew the dogs would eat him alive when he hit the ground and break into pieces. One dog will chew his arms, another dog will run with his head, and the other dog will run with his nozzles. Hydra was imagining how the dogs would feast on his body and make him look like Mr. Potato Head. He was falling as if in slow motion, still conscious but focused on the whole event. If he could only sum up enough power to save himself—because once he hit the pavement—he's gone. Forget about the mission.

* *

But something was happening. Midway to his fall he felt his body heaving and expanding. He opened his eyes to see that his body had expanded like a large balloon, ready to explode...

"KA-BOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHH!"

"What the... ?" the crane operator said, as Hydra swooshed by—the operator saw the flying object and the mess it left behind.

Hydra took off. He dropped a ton of water on the stunned dogs—the burst of water was so intense that it turned into gas and created a blinding fog on the ground.

He soared a hundred feet in the air, high above the houses and the streets. He had wished that he could fly all along and not waste time walking and gliding—and now he was actually doing it! He figured that some power must simply come out of necessity—you just have to trust yourself _._

_Thank you_ _Voice,_ thought Hydra. He was so excited that he couldn't wait to tell Pluggo. That's all he wanted to do now—to see Pluggo.

He smiled at the snarling dogs below that were whimpering and howling. They just missed the big 'fish.' He knew how close he had come to becoming 'dog food' — he could still hear their frustrated barking.

The streets looked familiar from above, and Hydra was confident that he was headed in the right direction. Hydra felt like a giant as he flew overlooking the cars, the people, and the houses—that looked like miniature toys. Hydra was enjoying the view.

Suddenly, he shuddered—he was losing momentum. Hydra quickly looked for a soft landing site and saw a body of water just ahead. But he started to spin wildly and couldn't control his flight. He rolled like a ball—he hoped to hit the water...

_Oh no,_ _I can't control_ _my_... Hydra lost consciousness.

"SPLASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!"

# CHAPTER 13

### The Dream

" **HYDRA!"**

" **HYDRA!"**

"Hydra! It's me Pluggo! Can you hear me?"

Hydra, barely awake from his fall, thought he was dreaming. He heard a faint voice but couldn't figure out who it was. The voice sounded like Pluggo.

"HYDRA!"

He abruptly sat up.

"Huh? Pluggo? Is that you? Where's Pluggo?" he asked, looking around, bewildered.

"Pluggo is not around anymore!" somebody blurted out.

Hydra could hardly see. There was a single light in the room. Its yellowish glare was swirling around above his head like a light on hula-hoop and was blurring out everything around him—causing him to become woozy.

"What do you mean? I just heard his voice! Where am I?" Hydra asked.

Everything was becoming clear to him. He was sitting on a chair in a semi-dark room with a light hanging above his head. It looked like an interrogation scene from a movie.

"Can anyone stop this light from moving?"

He heard somebody snickering.

He wasn't tied up and could move freely but he was afraid to move. He felt threatened as a tall figure came out of the shadows. He still couldn't see clearly because of the merciless glare from the light overhead.

"We found Pluggo faced down, deep under a stream. Where were you when this happened?"

"Err... I don't know. What are you talking about?" asked Hydra. _Maybe Pluggo got into an accident or_ _something. But that's impossible. Pluggo swims like a fish. I don't know. But that voice, it sounds familiar. I know that voice..._

"Err... May I have a glass of water?" Hydra asked, deciding to play along.

"Give him a glass of water!" the figure commanded.

_That voice, it sounds mean, but I'm getting close to finding out_ _who he is._

"SPLASSSSSSHHHHHHH!"

Somebody splashed a glass of water on his face.

"Wahhhh! What was that for? Have you guys been watching too many movies?" Hydra had been surprised by the splash of water but he did feel a bit more awake.

"Now, I'm asking you again. Don't make me lose my patience. Answer the question. Where were you..."

"MEET! It's you! Don't you remember me?" Hydra cried, elated that he had found Meet at last.

A tall hydrant came out of the shadows wearing some kind of a cowboy outfit. He was tall and skinny and he looked stupefying silly. And the other fire hydrants that had encircled him—he was sure that these were the same fire hydrants at the back of Ben and Guido's truck when they made their great escape.

"Meet! What happened to you, after you saved those children?"

"Listen punk, don't change the story. A crime has been committed here and someone's gonna have to answer for it."

"But Meet, you don't understand," Hydra replied, as he noticed Meet's thick mustache and shiny badge. He wondered if he had made a mistake— _maybe this guy just looked like Meet._

"I don't know any meat. I don't know any cow meat, any pork meat, nor any chicken meat. I'm a true vegetarian. I'm getting very annoyed here. Everyone here calls me Sheriff, not meat. I don't want to hear that stupid name again, is that clear?"

Hydra couldn't believe what was happening. He was getting very frustrated—but the real wake up call was about to come.

"SPLAAAAAAAAAANNK!"

Somebody slapped Hydra out of the chair. He hit the floor. Gingerly, he struggled back to his seat.

"Whoa! Wait a minute now. You guys are getting violent!" More shadows moved forward as he protested. He sat back in his chair breathing heavily and smoldering with anger.

"I'll give you some time to think! I want an answer by the time I come back. Bring out the SyDogs!" yelled the Sheriff as he and his cohorts, rushed out through the back door.

The backdoor stands at the end of a hallway that was only a few paces from the kitchen. A square table and four chairs were positioned in the center where Hydra sits with the dangling light. Hydra heard the approaching dogs as they slipped and scratched the shiny kitchen floor, rushing towards Hydra.

"GRRRRRRR! RAF! RAF! RAF! GRRRRRRR!"

_That barking? Sydogs? That can't be the same dogs from the junkyard?_ Hydra braced himself. _Oh no,_ _not again!_

He froze. Three vicious-looking dogs were led into the room. This time Hydra saw them up-close. His eyes wandered around the room and he was wondering how to make his escape. These dogs could terrorize anyone with their dirty silver fangs. Their silver eyes looked like they could see inside you. The three dogs took their positions next to each other and acted like trained soldiers. A dog blocked the hallway leading to the door where the sheriff and his cohorts had exited.

They growled and exposed their sharp teeth to intimidate Hydra. He was scared but he was also angry. He wondered if a conspiracy was going on, or if he was just going plain _crazy_.

The light above Hydra's head was still dangling and lazily swirling around. _Why is that?_ he thought _._ He glanced around the room as one of the dogs inaudibly snarled at him. The rest of the dogs were resting, and getting ready to sleep. Hydra noticed a window to his left.

_Hmm... There's a window ajar. The breeze coming through the window is causing the light to move. The breeze and the swinging light seem to have a hypnotic effect on the_ _dogs. Great!_

Soon _,_ two of the dogs were snoring while the third one was trying to stay awake, his eyelids, now heavy. Hydra knew that the animal would soon succumb to the tranquil setting, anytime soon. He himself would have fallen asleep had he not intended on escaping.

Silence.

The three dogs were asleep.

Hydra cautiously stood up, wary that this could be a trap. At least, if the dogs wake up, he could pretend that he was simply stretching. But he didn't have to worry—the dogs were fast asleep—their loud snoring reassured him of that. Hydra tiptoed towards the door. He was worried that the breeze coming through the window would carry his hydrant scent and wake up the dogs. _Nah, I've got to chance it._

Hydra was thankful that the floors were made of concrete and didn't creak under his weight. A few feet from the door, he was about to step over the dog that was blocking the exit. _This is no problem—as long as the breeze and the moving light don't stop_.

Hydra lifted his foot to step over the dog when suddenly, the dog shifted position. The dog made a wide yawn and snuggled comfortably on his paws. Hydra froze with his foot in mid-air, balancing like a ballerina. He almost stepped on the dog before he got a grip on the wall. He can't make any noise. He finally managed to clear the dog and continued to tiptoe until he reached the door. _Whew!_ He slowly turned the knob, making sure it didn't squeak and rouse the dogs. Looking back he saw that the dogs were still asleep and he continued to open the door fully and was ready to step out when...

"SURPRISE!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HYDRA!" a crowd started chanting.

Hydra jumped in surprise and fell on the floor. He was flabbergasted and didn't know what to do. He quickly glanced back to see if the noise had awakened the SyDogs—they were still there and still dozing off. But there was a crowd in front of him, all-smiling and waiting for him to respond.

They were all there—Crooton, Splatter, Grunt, Veeda, Ben and Guido, the crane operator, and the truck drivers—almost everyone he met along the way. They were all applauding and cheering and just happy to see Hydra. There were also small fire hydrants running around like little brats. The backyard seemed to be full of friends he had met along his journey—but he couldn't see Pluggo or Meet. _They should be around here somewhere_.

Hydra stood up, composed himself and forced a smile. He kept looking back, in case the SyDogs woke up and tried to devour him, but the presence of the crowd made him feel secure. _No SyDogs would_ _attack with all these friends around me_. _But where could Pluggo be?_

As a courtesy, he walked around greeting everyone and thanking them for coming. He had no choice but to play along. At the same time, he kept a wary eye for Pluggo—the only one he could trust.

"Thank you. Thanks for coming," Hydra said as he walked among the crowd—shaking hands and playing along. _This can't be happening_. The crowd dispersed and continued their conversation within their own groups. As usual, the men were grouped together, mostly talking about sports. Every now and then a roar of laughter could be heard.

Hydra watched the 'baby' hydrants chasing each other. Some of them were playing 'rocket ship' and trying to fly like him and Pluggo. _Cute_ , thought Hydra. They were flying up and down, squirting water from their base.

The backyard was spacious enough to hold everyone, with colorful flowerbeds that hugged a nifty white picket fence bordering the house. It was an unusually warm and sunny afternoon with lots of bustling shade from the trees that were swaying in the early winter breeze. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Hydra thought of the SyDogs inside the house and decided to check them out.

He excused himself from the guests and walked slowly towards the back door. He held the doorknob but hesitated for a second before turning it. The door made a long eerie squeak as he swung it open. _No dog blocking the hallway!_ _They're gone!_ He peered inside, making sure he was safe—took two small steps and tried to close the door behind—he left it slightly ajar, just in case.

It was eerily quiet inside the house—the same nap-inducing breeze was coming through the window. _But that's the view from the hallway. I have to_ _have a closer look_. Hydra was hesitant as he looked back at the door—he was ready to run. But he forged ahead and tiptoed, slowly peeking into the room, when...

"Hi, Hydra! What brings you?"

It was Frank the Baker decorating a cake, the same white apron hugging his belly, and his prominent, slicked- back white hair. He glanced at Hydra through his lowered thick-rimmed glasses. They were both stunned to see each other, waiting who's going to talk next.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost," Frank chuckled as he continued what he was doing.

Hydra couldn't say a thing. He must have looked all white when Frank saw him. He kept an eye on Frank but continued to look around for the SyDogs, trying desperately to convince himself that he was not going crazy.

"Did you see a dog here, Frank?" Hydra asked.

"Nope."

Frank had placed a cake on the table, directly under the dangling light. He was just finishing up the letters, "Happy Birthday Hydra!"

"Wow! Thanks, Frank! That's very thoughtful of you." Hydra came to his senses.

"It won't take long Hydra, it won't take long," Frank said, as his hand shakily finished the inscription on the cake.

"Oh, uhh... have you seen Pluggo around?"

"Nope, I haven't but would you call somebody out there to help me carry this cake?"

"Err... okay," Hydra said, disappointed that Frank cut him off. He decided to ask him again later.

Hydra walked back towards the hallway and slowly opened the door in anticipation for another surprise. The door made a squeaking sound again. The crowd was the same as he had left them. _Whew!_ He smiled nervously as some of the guest looked his way. He was about to call someone to help Frank when suddenly the noise and the chattering stopped. There was a flurry towards the backyard gate. Someone seemed to have arrived and Hydra tried to see who. He wondered if it could be Pluggo and Meet and hurriedly made his way through the crowd, towards the gate.

"Excuse me—let me pass please, excuse me!"

Hydra stopped in his tracks when he saw the sheriff. Hydra had almost forgotten about the interrogation that he had recently suffered—he had become very comfortable with the crowd but he was all mixed up now. He was also very disappointed that the new visitor was not Pluggo.

The sheriff summoned his cohorts and the Sydogs that were partly hidden by the crowd.

"GIT 'IM!" The sheriff commanded.

Hydra reacted and ran into several guests, spilling food and drinks all over.

"Oops! Sorry! Excuse me," he said as he scrambled for safety.

Hydra rushed towards the other side of the backyard, followed by the sheriff's cohorts. The sheriff looked menacing with his bright-red metal skin, his thick curly mustache, and his cowboy outfit. But Hydra was most frightened by the SyDogs. _Run, Hydra, run. There is no_ _more time to think now!_

Hydra saw a patch of shrubs on the farther side of the yard—there was a stream behind it. The sheriff's cohorts were closing in on him so he jumped and submerged into the water.

"SPLASSSSSSSSSSSHH!"

The cohorts didn't seem to know what to do as they paced along the bank—until the sheriff and the SyDogs arrived.

"Jump into the water, all of you and 'git 'im!" the sheriff exhorted his cohorts. One after another, the hydrants jumped into the water.

"SPLASSSSSH! SPLASSSSSH! SPLASSSSSH!"

The dogs walked around the bank giving directions where to track Hydra. Fortunately for Hydra, the SyDogs, which were highly robotic and electronic, could not jump into the water. They had too much electricity in their bodies that they could not fully submerge into the water and not get their system messed up. But that didn't bother the sheriff as he made his cohorts—the hydrants jump instead and find Hydra.

Hydra hid behind a large boulder at the bottom of the stream. With the thick brush surrounding the boulder, it concealed him completely from his pursuers. He slipped down into the mud and covered his body. _I am safe here for now,_ he thought _._ Hydra sat and waited quietly, being careful not to spew any bubbles and expose his hideaway. The hydrants were all around him and were poking at all corners. One hydrant went past over his head, the boulder's shadow concealed his hideaway.

He peeked through the brush every now and then to check if it was clear. He feared that the hydrants could be closing in on him.

* *

But after a while, he got tired. He tried to move but couldn't free himself from the mud. He was stuck and was slowly sinking. He tried not to panic and give himself away. But he began to sink, and continued to sink down in some kind of a hole, until he was completely gone.

# CHAPTER 14

### Elvira

**HYDRA SUNK FAST—** his body was completely covered with mud when he spiraled down the hole. He struggled and wriggled until he finally freed himself and found himself floating in another body of water. A lagoon.

Bewildered, he looked around and found that he was in the clearest water that he had ever seen. He shook himself like a dog, expelling the remaining mud from his body. _An oasis under the stream—I must have wandered into some exotic place._

Unlike the Mohegan River, this place was clean and didn't have any manmade trash around. The habitat was full of different vegetations, rock formations, and several varieties of fish and other organisms. The place was full of vibrant colors— _it's picture perfect!_

Hydra swam around, exploring the area and enjoying the newfound place—the gooey mud now gone from his body. The fish and other water creatures milled around him in a curious fashion as if they had never seen this species before. Some of the fish nipped his body like he might be a meal. Suddenly, a school of fish swarmed in to nibble on Hydra...

("Stop it! Hi-hi-hi! Stop it! Ha-ha-ha!")

Hydra quickly swam to the other side of the lagoon, giggling all the way. He was laughing but was annoyed at the same time. The school of fish seemed like they wanted to continue following him right out of the water.

("Stop!")

Hydra stopped and cocked his head when he heard a voice.

("This is not the way to treat a guest!")

Hydra couldn't figure it out but the fish certainly reacted to the voice. They immediately stopped chasing him—they retreated and swam away in a tight formation—all except one, who seemed very keen on checking out Hydra.

The sparkling silver-colored fish was about fourteen inches long, had an amicable charm and was staring right at him.

("Hi there!") said the fish. ("Are you alright?")

("Hi!") Hydra replied with his own thought. He was still wary of talking to strangers. So much had been happening that it was hard for him to trust anyone. It would help if Pluggo were around, but he wasn't, and that made Hydra feel vulnerable.

("A talking fish. So what's your story, friend fish?") Hydra asked, a bit sarcastically.

("My name is SF1. Don't be afraid. We're the guardians of this place. I see that you got in here by accident.")

("Err... yes. I was chasing this butterfly and I fell and sank into a hole.") Hydra fibbed.

("We'll, that happens. Would you like a tour? Or do you want to go back where you came from?")

("Err... I think I'd rather see the place. Which way do we go?") Hydra answered quickly. He certainly didn't want to see those SyDogs again.

("Don't worry buddy. You're in good hands. Reading your thoughts tell me that you're a good fellow with good intentions. Follow me.") SF1 summoned Hydra.

("By the way, SF stands for Silver Fish. As I told you, there are ten of us here. We may look ordinary but we have special powers to defend this place.")

Hydra nodded but was overwhelmed by all the frenzy going on around him.

("And what kind of power do you guys possess?")

("I refuse to answer such question as I will leave ourselves and this place vulnerable if I tell you. Let's just say the power is enough to protect this place.") continued SF1.

Hydra was impressed by SF1's honesty and frankness. He was so polite and refined that Hydra did not want to inquire any more about private matters.

SF1 showed Hydra all the attractions of the lagoon, particularly the huge rock formations and the giant and colorful corrals. Its beauty and natural settings and unspoiled scenery captivated Hydra. The varieties of fish, more subdued and well behaved this time, also added to the scenic setting. Their scales reflected a rainbow of colors as they swam around the lagoon. Hydra was impressed and was grateful to be escorted by a cordial host like SF1.

("This is such a beautiful place, SF1. What else can you show me?") Hydra asked.

Suddenly, SF1 darted upwards, towards the surface—Hydra followed him.

"SPLASSSSSSSSHHHHH!"

Hydra broke the surface and flopped over on his back and floated, waiting for SF1 to do the same. His eyes squinted at the strange looking sky. It was bright blue, with wisps of clouds. But it looked unreal, like a theatrical prop—a dreamy manmade world. It was beautiful but it was fake. He was so mesmerized by these new surroundings that he momentarily forgot about SF1.

("What a weird place SF1. What do you call this place? SF1?")

Hydra looked around for SF1 but realized that he was gone. He submerged and looked frantically for his new friend but he couldn't find him. He resurfaced again, his mind racing.

He swam to the shoal and climbed out, shook the excess water from himself and started to explore his surroundings. The place looked like a perfect little world, with everything carefully drawn into place. It looked like an abandoned movie studio with trees and rock formations around—every sound echoing as you move about.

Sure, Hydra was looking around but he was also keeping a wary eye for the Sydogs—who could be anywhere—lurking and ready to attack.

He walked and glided a few more paces, halfway expecting to see fake birds flying around the fake sky. He walked towards a cave that was in the distance. As he got closer, he heard a faint noise.

"PLUNK! PLUNK! PLUNK!"

It sounded like somebody was mixing something in a big hollow pot. For a moment, he thought it might be a witch but continued approaching the cave anyway. It was dark inside the cave, except for a flicker of light coming from a corner. Hydra stopped to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, but he quickly dropped to the ground as a large group of noisy bats flew above his head on their way out of the cave. Now he wasn't sure if that was real or fake.

Hydra picked himself up from the ground and proceeded towards the light. The light was flickering as he stepped closer to the room. The light was actually coming through a door that was propped open—it was coming from a computer monitor.

Inside was a dimly lighted room illuminated only by the flickering lights of old computer monitors salvaged from Dellarama, an island south of Guerlin City, purely made up of old computer junks from the past decades.

Several monitors of different sizes, sits on top of a huge desk, it's light coming on and off from static. A figure sat in front of the desk, cast only by its silhouette and seemed to be waiting for somebody.

"Come in, Hydra," the voice said.

Hydra stepped back.

"It'z okay. SF1 told me that you were coming. He didn't bother to zhow you around anymore zince he'z got other things to do. In any case, we know you are able to find your way around. That's pretty clear," she said, turning around to face him.

Hydra was taken aback by such a lovely creature.

"Hi. My name iz Elvira. Welcome to Genoa." Elvira said. Elvira was tall, youthful, and stunning, and surrounded by a special aura. Clearly, she was very smart. She had this cute exotic accent that charmed anyone she talked to. She substitutes the letter 'z' for 's' when she talks.

"Genoa? What kind of a name is that?" Hydra replied.

"Genoa is a name given to thiz place by my great, great grandfather, Dr. Stanizlaw Woolf. He waz a gifted scientist who invented lotz of gadgetz, different kindz of machineriez, and stuffz like Zuper Fire Hydrantz—like you." Elvira smiled and pointed to Hydra proudly like they've known each other before.

"Come again?" Hydra asked. At first, he couldn't understand what Elvira said. But he followed through.

Hydra didn't know what to say. _How could that be? When that_ _Voice gave us life?_ He was also smitten by Elvira's endearing smile.

"The year waz 2788 and World War V or the Great War had just ended. The world waz so much different than it iz today. With the proliferation of zuper computerz, Man had become very advanced. Zoon, computers actually made other computers. It came to a point where everything went out of control. This iz a long story but I'll try to give you the short version," Elvira said as she continued her narration.

Hydra realized that there were many things he didn't know, and the gravity of the story shocked him. He was determined to hear it all but Elvira interrupted the story to get a cup of soup from the pot on the stove situated in one corner of the room. That was the noise Hydra had heard outside—Elvira was mixing a pot of soup— _no witches here. Me and my imagination_ , Hydra thought.

She came back with a cup of soup in her hand, slowly blowing across the top of the liquid. Hydra noticed the computer monitors on top of the desk. They were security monitors that act as a lookout for each corner of Genoa. It was obvious that Elvira had seen Hydra approaching the cave.

"Sorry, I didn't offer you any zoup but I know you're not the zoup kind."

"Try me," Hydra said smiling.

"Hmm... believe me, I know. Let's get down to businezz..."

Elvira sat down opposite Hydra, seemingly more serious this time. She continued.

"There has been a lot of advancement in the decadez since the year 2000—the year of the Internet 'bust,' az zome people have called it. But it waz also the start of a revolution that produced such things az cloning, modified DNAs, customized babies, and advance robotics. There were many other innovations, all revolving around new technologiez and new energy sourcez. But az uzual, Man creates and, unknowingly, destroyz hiz own creation and destiny. The uzual issuez like religion, politics, egos, and many other trivial things contributed to the society's demise. I don't think we will ever learn how to live together until we perzistently rezolve our differences. After World War V, there waz an international law proclaiming that the Old World Order—the way the world was before 2000—waz to be reeztablished. The new law stated that all inventionz after 2000 were to be deztroyed. This was due to Man's tendency to create unparalleled weapons of deztruction. However, zome good scientists, my great grandfather among them, were against thiz new law. They thought it was being fostered by an left-wing underground group."

Hydra listened intently but kept his eyes on the monitors. He couldn't help his feelings of anticipation.

"Relative to you," Elvira continued, "waz the invention of Zuper Fire Hydrantz. These were highly intelligent hydrantz with robotic and zuper powerz. They were installed in various ztreet cornerz and looked like ordinary fire hydrantz. But they were designed to do more than help put out firez. These hydrantz didn't need firemen to operate them. They could fly, and put out firez by themselves, depending on how they were programmed. Unfortunately, they were also zupposed to be destroyed under the new law. The idea of the law waz to return everything back to basics—when life waz much zimpler. Dr. Woolf then decided to design fire hydrantz using antique bodiez, such as yourz. It became hiz pet project and he called it 'FancyCrazyHydrantz' or FCH, mocking hiz original Super Fire Hydrants. He made hundreds of FCH but hid them from the authoritiez. Although, he has been dead for a long time, he waz able to devize a way with the help of super computerz to keep communicating with hiz creations."

Hydra jumped up, shaking all over. "He is the Voice?"

"Yez, he iz the Voice. Zit down. There'z more."

Hydra sank back to his seat.

"During thiz time, there was a prophecy that a 'figure' will be born and will create more trouble for mankind. That'z why I am here. I am rezuming my great grandfather'z work. There had been a zmear campaign to discredit him, and a lot of his scientific documents were lost. However, a few followerz were able to save some of his writings. And that's what I'm doing now—I'm rummaging through all of hiz old CDs and looking for cluez about thiz figure. I waz lucky to find an old computer in Dellrama—these are the only computerz that can read theze CDs," Elvira continued.

Hydra looked at the computer screen with Dr. Woolf's writings.

"If my hunch iz right, the figure could be already in proximity and getting ready to mount a campaign to attack a city. Her first initial target will be Guerlin City a.k.a. New York Zity from the year 2000. From my last research, I learned that her main power would be derived from fire. She iz able to manipulate and control fire through sheer will. Dr. Woolf found out about thiz ahead of time with the use of zuper computerz that studied the probabilities of the future. He quickly revived the FancyCrazyHydrantz project. And az planned, they would be ztealth fire hydrantz, unnoticed by the authoritiez. Hydra, your opportunity to help iz now. You must help me destroy this figure before it'z too late. We have to determine the identity and the exact location of thiz villain. I already found the correct disk, but zome forces have jumbled the password, and zo far, I haven't been able to crack it."

"Show me, maybe I can help," Hydra replied.

Elvira inserted the disk, and the computer asked for a password.

There were spaces for ten characters in the first row and an additional ten in the second row as was being shown in the monitor.

"Have you tried cracking it?" Hydra asked.

"I've tried everything but no luck. I need a fresh approach to tackle this. I could connect thiz to my new computer and put a tracer on it but this computer is zo old it's not even compatible with the new onez."

"For all you know, the answer could be just under our noses," exclaimed Hydra. "Hmm... why don't you type that—NOSE," said Hydra.

Elvira typed N-O-S-E.

It didn't work.

"Try it with small letters."

Elvira typed it again.

"It worked, Hydra! You're brilliant!"

The second row of spaces spelled 'FIRE.'

"Now what's relative to NOSE?" asked Hydra.

"Hmm... EYES?"

"No. It's got to be closer. Try SMELL. Don't forget—small letters."

Elvira quickly typed the letters, s-m-e-l-l.

"Bingo! We got it."

The second line spelled, 'fireeba.'

"Fireeba! That'z it! That'z the name of the figure." Elvira said. The monitor showed 'Congratulations. Welcome to Dr. Woolf's Domain.' There was also a word 'SEARCH,' with a box besides it and Elvira typed in the name 'fireeba.'

"Bingo!" Elvira exclaimed as she exchanged a high-five with Hydra.

The monitor displayed pages after pages of information about Fireeba. Now all they needed to do was to pinpoint her location. Elvira typed, 'fireeba home,' and the computer began to hum and search.

Hydra glanced at the security monitors above the counter. Something was moving their way.

"Hey Elvira, are you expecting somebody?"

"No."

Right then, the door swung open, and Sheriff Meet, his cohorts, and the SyDogs entered the room.

"GIT 'IM!" yelled the sherrif.

Elvira quickly grabbed a pouch of the disks and threw them to Hydra.

"Catch Hydra!" Elvira yelled. She pushed a button under the desk and like a spontaneous earthquake, the floor split and separated, creating a wide chasm between her and Hydra and the intruders. The quake-like tremor sent Sheriff Meet and his cohorts to the floor. Elvira was reaching for another button when Hydra stopped her.

"Wait!" Hydra said—his eyes glued to the search results on the monitor. The SyDogs were ready to jump over the chasm so Elvira pushed the button anyway.

"I'll zee you on the Metro!" Elvira yelled, while she pushed another button, locking the computer.

Hydra just shot her a puzzled look.

"SWOOOOOOOMMPPPP! SWOOOOOOOMMPPPP!"

Hydra and Elvira sank were out of sight.

# CHAPTER 15

### Hydra's Back

" **HYDRA!"**

" **HYDRA!"**

"Hydra! It's me Pluggo! Can you hear me?"

"Huh? What happened? Elvira? Where's Elvira?

"Hydra, listen to me. Who's Elvira? You fell out of the sky minutes ago. Luckily we found you, as we happened to be exploring this side of the stream with Veeda and some friends. What happened?"

Hydra lay with his eyes half-closed. But he sat suddenly, still dazed from his fall.

"Elvira!" he exclaimed. But all he saw were all those eyes staring at him—Pluggo, Veeda, the ducks, the sparrows, and other birds.

"Get some rest Hydra. Maybe it will come back to you. We'll talk again later when you're feeling better," Pluggo said.

Alright guys! Leave him alone," Veeda ordered, shooing off the birds.

They left Hydra alone to give him some rest.

* *

After a while, Pluggo approached Hydra again.

"We'll, I guess you can talk now. There's no one else around. So tell me what happened," Pluggo said.

Hydra sat up. He was still feeling bewildered and subdued. He didn't say another word until he grabbed Pluggo by the nozzle and held him, making sure that he was real. Finally, certain that this was reality; he started to blurt out the entire story about everything that happened to him since he left Pluggo with Veeda and the birds.

Pluggo listened, wide-eyed, as Hydra recounted his story in detail.

"You flew? That must have been a dream. What makes you so sure it is real?"

"Pluggo, there were things I learned from Elvira that will prove it," Hydra said. "Turn around."

Pluggo turned his back to Hydra.

Hydra was right.

"Right there, at the back of your head is a slit discreetly positioned so no one would notice it. This is where those special disks are inserted to program Super Fire Hydrants."

"Let me see yours," Pluggo said.

Hydra turned around, and Pluggo said, "You've got one too!"

"There's another thing that I have to show you," Hydra said as he pulled out a pouch. It contained all the disks that Elvira passed on to him before he escaped through the hole.

"This is real Hydra—so real," said the awe-struck Pluggo.

"We have to go back to Genoa and retrieve the rest of the disks. The right one will lead us to Fireeba. We also have to find Elvira. She mentioned a place called 'Metro' before we escaped."

Pluggo immediately summoned Veeda and her entourage and told them what he had learned from Hydra. There was a lot of excitement among the team, with a lot of quacking, chirping and flapping of wings.

"Listen fellows. Now that you are all aware of our mission, we have to find that house where it all started. I remember that it was a green-colored house, and there was a blossoming cherry tree in a spacious backyard surrounded by a white picket fence. To save time, we are going to send our friendly sparrows, starlings, and seagulls to follow the stream and search for the house," said Hydra.

After getting their instructions from Hydra, the birds burst off in all directions like exploding fireworks. Hydra, Pluggo, and Veeda stayed behind and waited.

"Whatever happened to Meet?" Hydra asked, still thinking about his experience with the sheriff.

"I haven't heard anything. I guess, he'll just be a part of this mystery and we'll soon find out, huh, Veeda?" Pluggo asked.

"Quank! I'm sure Meet is around somewhere, whoever he is," Veeda replied.

Suddenly, a sparrow whisked by and said, "I found it! I found it!"

The three of them faced the animated sparrow and Pluggo asked her to identify herself and what she had found.

"Sir, my name is Maya. I found the green-colored house with a blossoming white cherry tree in the backyard. I found it myself!"

Hydra noticed how different she was from the other sparrows with her distinctive gleaming brown and green feathers. Hydra couldn't help but think that she could be a SyBird.

Following the sparrow, Hydra, Pluggo, and Veeda went to see the house. Hydra thought that it might be the right one but he wasn't sure. The door seemed different. He surveyed the stream next to the house and tried to recall what he saw when he was being chased by Sheriff Meet and his cohorts. He followed the length of the stream, carefully trying to recollect any landmark. He noticed where the stream curved and walked along the bank, followed by all his friends. But upon looking beyond...

"Oh no!" Hydra said.

No one had noticed it, but there they were—ten of them on the horizon, and they all looked the same. There were ten green houses with blossoming cherry trees, each with a spacious backyard surrounded by gleaming white picket fences.

"What do we do now?" Veeda asked.

"Well, I guess we have to do it the hard way. We have to check each house for clues. I don't care if there are ten of these houses, we have to find that house!" Hydra exclaimed.

The trio set off to inspect each house but they all looked the same, with a few minor differences. The houses followed the stream. There was a crowd of people in one of the house.

"It looks like a party for children and dogs," Pluggo said, clearly excited.

Hydra thought of his own surprise birthday party, and he brightened up. _This could be the house,_ he thought. He asked the other birds to stay behind by the stream. He didn't want to attract too much attention.

Hydra and Pluggo peered through the pickets while Veeda volunteered to stay by the stream and watch.

There was a group of children playing with their party clothes on. They were running around with brightly colored balloons tied to their wrists. Even the dogs were all dressed up. There were all kinds of dogs—poodles, dachshunds, cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, bulldogs, terriers and labradors. Pluggo, watched with gleaming eyes.

"Labradors—hey, could one of them be Grunt?" Pluggo asked, as he and Hydra rushed to take a closer look.

There were two Labradors and Hydra couldn't tell exactly what color they were.

The party noise caused Hydra to remember the real reason that they were there. He nudged Pluggo to walk back towards the stream. He was fairly certain that this was the house they were looking for.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Pluggo turned around and exclaimed, "It's Grunt! Hey Hydra, it's Grunt!"

"Grunt! Grunt!" Hydra and Pluggo yelled in unison.

"Woof! Woof! How are you guys?" Grunt said, wagging his tail— uncontrollably. He was drooling all over the place and licking Hydra and Pluggo from head to foot, clearly excited.

"Stop it Grunt! Stop it. You're drooling all over me!" Hydra yelled.

Grunt stepped back but kept his tail wagging at ninety miles an hour.

"Oh, Grunt! What a small world! You look great in your bandana," Pluggo said.

"Oh yes, but this is no ordinary bandana. I can change its color any time I want," Grunt said as he proudly changed the color of the bandana from white to red.

"That's a cool trick Grunt. Cool trick!" Pluggo said excitedly. "How did you do that?"

"What are you guys up to?" Are you still on a mission? Would you like to come to the party and play with the kids?"

"I'm sorry Grunt. It's a long story. We're on our way to look for something," Hydra said.

"Your mission, huh? Can I help?"

"What about your party?" Hydra said, impressed with Grunt's offer.

"Don't worry about the party. I go to parties all the time. And besides, I know they won't even miss me—there are a lot of dogs there already. And my boss is used to me disappearing for days! C'mon! Let's go!" Grunt yelled as he headed for the stream—his tail wagging wildly, like it was brushing the sky. Hydra and Pluggo couldn't help but laugh and just stared at each other in disbelief. They also noticed the 'slit' at the back of Grunt's head.

The three of them headed down stream and met up with Veeda and their other friends. Hydra gathered everyone around and introduced Grunt. He then gave them new instructions concerning their mission.

"I have a strong feeling that this is the place where it all happened. Let's scour the stream and look for that special boulder. There is a hole behind that boulder that will lead us to Genoa," Hydra said.

Grunt was the first to jump into the water. The rest of them quickly joined him.

The water was a bit murky, and they bumped into each other as they began poking around in every corner, looking for the lone boulder that could lead them to Genoa. After searching for an hour, they came up empty handed. They already checked all of the houses on each side of the stream. Hydra was convinced that the house where they had met Grunt was the house in his dream.

After a few hours they gave up and lay wet and exhausted on the bank. Grunt looked sullen with his wet bandana dangling by his neck. It was now colored green.

"Hydra, you have to think harder. We might be at the wrong place," Pluggo said.

"Yeah, why don't you just fly out again and crash into this stream? Maybe it will come back to you," Veeda said, jokingly.

Hydra stood up.

"I know you were joking but that really is a smart idea!"

"Oh, yeah? But I was only kidding!" Veeda exclaimed.

"The craziest idea might be the best idea," Pluggo chided Veeda and gave her a wink.

Hydra was desperate enough to take any suggestion, no matter how foolish it was. He began pacing with his head bowed as if he expected the answer to come from the ground.

"Go for it, Hydra!" Pluggo cheered.

"Yeah, go for it," Grunt said, his tail wagging.

"Err... you have nothing to lose," Veeda said, clearly proud of her suggestion.

"Go for it! We'll be here for you," Maya added, reassuringly.

Hydra looked at all of them and bowed his head once again and continued pacing.

After much thought he paused and clenched his eyes shut and concentrated.

There was a long silence.

They noticed Hydra's skin morphed like it was starting to boil. They were all wide-eyed watching Hydra's transformation.

Hydra's body started to plump up and steam began escaping from his seams. Everyone watched closely and began to back-step as Hydra expanded. The ground started to tremble from the impending explosion...

"KA-BLOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHH!"

Hydra soared straight up, hundreds of feet in the air. Then he started to spin and spiral downwards. Like a large panorama before him, he saw all of the green houses, the blossoming cherry trees, the white picket fences, the stream, and all his friends below watching him fall. He felt weird being in the limelight, but he was also dizzy from all the spinning. He aimed directly for the stream as he plummeted. It was like falling in slow motion... one hundred feet... fifty feet... twenty-five feet...

"SPLASSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHH!"

Hydra hit the water, and the rest of the gang quickly jumped in to check on him. They pulled him right away to dry land and tried to revive him.

"Hydra!"

"Hydra!"

"Hydra!" pleaded Pluggo.

There was no response. Pluggo felt crushed and saddened. He shouldn't have let Hydra do the stupid stunt. Grunt started to whimper, his ears and tail hung low. Veeda had that guilt look since she suggested the idea.

"I found the boulder! I found the boulder!" Maya came screaming.

The other ducks began pacing and flapping their wings at the surface of the stream. Pluggo and Grunt perked up at the activity. But they turned their attention back to Hydra just as his eyes flickered and he started to spit water. He sat up and coughed violently.

* *

Hydra opened his eyes and saw all his friends looking at him. Pluggo motioned for them to back off and give Hydra some room to breathe. Hydra managed to sit up and smile.

"Let's go check the boulder," Hydra said.

Everyone cheered wildly, "YEAHHHHHHH!" They all applauded and gave each other high-fives.

# CHAPTER 16

### Déjà vu, Genoa, Déjà vu

**THE BOULDER LOOKED EXACTLY** as it was in Hydra's dream. It was so real, he felt a chill when he remembered the sheriff's cohorts running after him.

"Everyone, please listen up! Here's what we're going to do," Hydra yelled as he looked everyone in the eye.

* *

Hydra explained to his friends that they all had a role to play. Hydra and Pluggo would go down and retrieve the disks, Grunt was to stay behind and keep watch by the bank, Veeda and the ducks would guard the entire length of the stream, and Maya and the other birds were to keep watch from the sky. They were to warn each other of any impending danger.

Hydra quickly swam around the boulder, following and recounting his steps. He sat behind it in the same position as he had done before. And as he expected, he sank through the hole in the mud.

Pluggo followed Hydra through the hole as planned. Hydra pulled him the rest of the way but Pluggo resisted and struggled.

"Hey Pluggo, I know I'm covered with mud, but it's okay, it's only me," Hydra said reassuringly.

"Whew! You scared me there for a second, Hydra. I thought you were some kind of a sea monster."

Once they were both free, they swam around, carefully examining their surroundings. Hydra was trying to recall where SF1 had taken him before. If only he could find him it would be a lot easier to find Genoa. It was hard for him to get his bearings with all the distractions and the different scenery—The rock formations, colorful vegetations and the varieties of fish around. Pluggo, on the other hand, was fascinated with the surroundings. You could see the gleam in his eyes.

Soon, a school of curious fish swarmed around Hydra and Pluggo. Hydra knew that the fish would soon be nipping at them so he told Pluggo to swim faster.

Hydra was fully focused, recalling the path to the cave. Sensing he found it, he swam up to the surface, followed closely by Pluggo.

"SPLAASSSSSSSHHHH! SPLAASSSSSSSHHHH!"

"Whoa! Is this it?" asked Pluggo, as he looked around at the fake surroundings.

"This is it Pluggo, we found it. Let's get going. We should hurry up, there's no more time to waste."

Hydra and Pluggo rose from the water and climbed the bank. They shook their bodies to dry themselves. Hydra led the way, walking quietly towards the cave. He told Pluggo to be quiet and communicate through thoughts and signals. He suspected that the sheriff and his cohorts could be around somewhere.

They walked cautiously deeper into the cave. _If Sheriff Meet were here, he would have shown up by now. He could be watching from the monitors above the counter_ , Hydra thought.

Hydra and Pluggo groped around in the dark until Hydra spotted the room with its faint flickering light. He motioned Pluggo to hurry up but not to make any noise. He peeked through the crack of the open door. _Déjà vu, Hydra, déjà vu_ , thought Hydra. No one seemed to be around, not a single shadow, certainly not Elvira.

Hydra quickly scanned the aging computer monitors sitting on the desk to see if anyone might be around as cameras scanned each corner of Genoa. The first monitor showed the bank where they had come out of the water. The second monitor displayed the length of the bank, and the three other monitors showed different parts of the cave. The old computer monitors would frequently flicker and turn hazy and it reminded Hydra that the monitors were really old.

As soon as Hydra was certain that the area was clear, he approached the computer.

"Watch the security monitors while I retrieve the disks," whispered Hydra.

Pluggo was still looking around the room as if he didn't hear Hydra.

Hydra sat down and put in the correct password. He still vividly remembered the words: n-o-s-e... s-m-e-l-l...

Instead of taking the disk, Hydra tried to run it on the computer, thinking that he could find out the exact location of Fireeba right there.

Hydra did a search for Fireeba, and several pages of data came out of the printer. He quickly scanned the pages, trying to absorb everything. But he couldn't find what he was looking for. Finally, he noticed several references to subways and trains and the name of Guerlin City and Mt. Caldera. He read the pages again, concentrating mightily.

... THERE'S GOING TO BE YEARS OF PREPARATION, AND DOOMSDAY WILL BE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE IN GUERLIN CITY... IN CELEBRATION OF THE THIRD MILLENIUM..."

Hydra's eyes widened as Pluggo was reading over his shoulder.

"Watch the security monitors," Hydra reminded Pluggo.

"Wait the minute!" Pluggo whispered.

"Did you see anything?" Hydra stop on his tracks.

"Uhh... never mind. I thought I saw something," Pluggo said. "These monitors are old."

* *

But just as Hydra pushed the button to release the disk, the door swung open and in came the sheriff, his cohorts, and the Sydogs.

"GIT 'IM!" screamed the sheriff, apparently not recognizing Pluggo.

"Oh Pluggo, what did I tell you!" Hydra yelled. Hydra fumbled around and quickly scooped up the backpacks full of disks and other items from underneath the desk. He was frantically searching for the button that would let him and Pluggo escape through the floor. He found it and pushed hard but nothing happened. He pushed the second button and almost immediately he and Pluggo began to sink.

But the hydrants and the dogs were closing in on them, when one huge fire hydrant grabbed Hydra by his nozzle while another hydrant grabbed Pluggo by his head.

Hydra and Pluggo struggled to free themselves but the hydrants had a tight grip on them and would not let go—the hydrants slipped through the holes in the floor.

"SWOOOOOMMMPPPP!"

"SWOOOOOMMMPPPP!"

# CHAPTER 17

### Big Tur

**THE TRANSITION WAS BETTER THIS** time, at least for Hydra. The hydrants fell from the sky and were strewn all over the stream. Hydra quickly pulled Pluggo to safety and signaled his friends that they have arrived. He geared up to fly up again to 'close' his dream—fearing havoc from Sheriff Meet and his cohorts in case they followed them.

"KA-BLOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHH!"

Hydra flew up in the air again and slowly dropped back into the stream. This time he did it with perfect precision and timing—like a flying trapeze. He didn't even feel dizzy, and he was conscious the whole time. Practice makes perfect.

"SPLASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHH!"

"THUDDD!"

Hydra stumbled into some kind of a hard metal object but he ignored it—he had to get to Pluggo first.

"Pluggo! Pluggo! Wake up! We made it! We've got everything we need."

Pluggo slowly opened his eyes. "Hmm... are we back?"

"We're back, but we're in a different part of the stream. The rest of the team will be here soon."

Maya arrived first, then Grunt and Veeda and all the other birds. Hydra asked them to scour the bottom of the stream for whatever metal objects they could find. Hydra felt good about his friends and how they were making his job so much easier.

After a thorough search, Veeda approached Hydra and whispered something to him. His eyes widened, then he cleared his throat. Veeda had told him that there were three hydrants at the bottom of the stream. Two of them were close by while another was about a hundred feet away. Hydra thought that they might be the hydrants that had seized them as they escaped through the hole. Hydra finally called everyone to help him retrieve the hydrants.

It was a struggle pulling the two fire hydrants to dry land. One was tall like Meet, ash-colored and heavy like Hydra, but taller. Hydra knew that this was the one that had held him as he escaped through the hole. The other fire hydrant was silver in color and of medium size— they both lay side-by-side unconscious. Hydra told his friends to keep an eye on them and to be ready in case they did something suspicious. Grunt stood hovering over the two unconscious hydrants, barking ferociously. He got tired eventually and sat down, and began whimpering.

After some time, one of the unconscious hydrants started to move. He shifted from side to side still dazed from the ordeal. Hydra knew exactly how this hydrant felt as he had been through this situation before. The hydrant squinted his eyes as he was blinded by daylight. He had not seen real daylight for a long time.

"Hey fella, are you alright? What's your name?" Hydra asked.

The hydrant finally opened his eyes.

"Huh! Where... where am I?" the big hydrant asked.

They all looked at each other.

"What's your name?" Hydra asked.

"Big—Big Tur," the big hydrant mumbled.

Big Tur glanced to his left at the other hydrant who was still unconscious.

"Silver!" Big Tur said as he fell back to the ground.

"Do you remember chasing us through the hole from Genoa with the sheriff and his cohorts? You were with those cohorts," exclaimed the angry Hydra.

"I honestly don't remember. I can recall being in a truck on a bridge. Hey, I remember you! You jumped over the bridge! There were three of you who jumped. What happened?" Big Tur asked.

Hydra and Pluggo looked at each other. Hydra knew that Big Tur could be telling the truth—no one else knew about the jump from the bridge except for Meet.

They turned to the other hydrant—still out, just lying still like a rock. His skin was still covered with mud and dirt.

"Let's leave them alone for now," Hydra said. He asked some of the seagulls and birds to watch over them. Hydra and Pluggo signaled the others that everything was okay. _Big Tur may be telling the truth_ , Hydra thought. _Maybe it's all part of a dream_. He hoped to have an answer soon to this mystery that had been hanging around in his mind.

"C'mon, the rest of you, we have one more hydrant to bring up," Hydra ordered.

* *

Veeda and the birds led them to the site, a hundred feet from where the two hydrants were found. They dove down to see the hydrant. It was hard to tell how big it was because it was partially buried at an angle with its head sticking out. Hydra and Pluggo gave each other a knowing look—this hydrant looked familiar. They started digging around the hydrant to free it from the mud.

_This one looked exactly like Meet_. Hydra thought it might be the sheriff, although he didn't have a prominent mustache and cowboy outfit like the sheriff. He wondered if this one had slid down the hole with the rest of them. "Hydra, could this be Meet?" Pluggo asked excitedly.

"Alright guys, let's pull him out!" Hydra ordered everyone.

They dragged the hydrant out of the water and laid him beside Big Tur and Silver. Both of them, finally, were wide-awake, albeit weak.

Silver seemed more relaxed and approachable. It was still hard to see his silvery color because of all the mud and grime that still clung to his body. The last hydrant they brought up was still unconscious and not moving.

Hydra noticed the scar on his head, the only proof that this was the real Meet that had stopped the boat at the Mohegan River incident. Upon turning Meet's body for further investigation, Hydra noticed the 'slit' at the back of his head.

Reassured that the hydrant was Meet, Hydra announced the good news to everyone. "He is one of us."

* *

There was not much else that they could do but wait. It was still a few hours before sundown. Hydra jumped up as he remembered the backpacks that he had grabbed before escaping from Genoa. He opened the green metallic bag and found another black metallic backpack inside. Hydra threw the black bag to Pluggo for safekeeping. In the green bag, Hydra found a book and a small wrist-strap television monitor that could be worn like a watch. It was labeled—'Metro.'

"The Metro!" Hydra exclaimed. He recalled Elvira mentioning the name—("I'll see you on the Metro!")

He quickly strapped the monitor around his wrist and pushed one of its buttons.

"BING!"

A face appeared on the monitor.

"Elvira!" Hydra exclaimed.

"Hi, Hydra! Welcome to the Metro. I've been waiting for you and I'm glad you made it. How'z everyone?" Elvira asked.

Hydra felt relieved to see Elvira. He was worried that she might not have escaped from Genoa when he didn't hear from her.

"Everybody is fine. I'm glad to hear from you, Elvira," Hydra said, trying to control the grin on his face. Elvira's image began to blur and Hydra had to constantly adjust the monitor to get better reception.

"It's okay, Hydra, the monitor haz not been uzed for a long time. Dr. Woolf designed those gadgets just for you guys. From now on, thiz will be our main mode of communication, although, there will be other wayz we can connect—we will get to that when necessary. Pluggo, are you there?"

"Yes, I am. Glad to meet you Elvira." Pluggo said smiling.

"I see, you're all there," Elvira continued as Grunt barked a hello.

"I guess by now, you already know your mizsion. I am zpeaking for my great-great-great grandfather, Dr. Woolf. I cannot tell you my whereabouts right now for zecurity reasonz. There'z zo much zpying going around that I have to be careful with what I zay and how I zay it. I also zee that you've met a lot of your friends. Hello to all of you. Can you all hear and zee me?"

"HELLO THERE ELVIRA!" everyone yelled in unison.

The monitor's picture began to get fuzzy and the sound was disrupted by static.

"KKSSSTTTTT! KKSSSTTTTT!"

"Gee, I guesz I'll zign off for now. Do what you have to do. There are other thingz in the backpack that I'd like you to zee—over and out!" Elvira said, signing off.

"KKSSSTTTTTTTT-POOOOP!"

Silence.

They all looked at each other. Hydra quickly opened the backpack. The first thing he pulled out was a dust covered black leather bound book. He blew the dust away and could make out the word 'top secret' in faded red letters on the upper left corner of the cover.

The book was titled, 'FCH by Dr. Stanislaw Woolf.' Hydra explained that FCH stood for FancyCrazyHydrants, the alternative name for Super Fire Hydrants named after the early inventions of Dr. Woolf. He opened the book and leafed through the pages. He found all sorts of illustrations and diagrams depicting most of Dr. Woolf's inventions.

He came across pages showing hydrants like Pluggo, Crooton, and Beatree, as well as many others. He saw pictures and diagrams of the likes of Veeda, Grunt, and some he had never seen before. The last page of the book contained computer disks of different sizes—names were written on all of them.

They all imparted their 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' when they saw the treasure trove book Hydra was handling.

Hydra quickly closed the book and said, "alright guys, this is supposedly 'top secret.' I hope you understand." The others backed off, looking sheepish. Big Tur had a sullen look on his face as he walked away.

Hydra nodded and thanked the guys as he walked towards the corner for some privacy. He was busy reading each page and contemplating his next move. Sometimes he would stop reading and stare off into space, considering what he would have to do to topple his enemies. Then all of a sudden he heard a voice.

"WHOA! Where am I?"

It was Meet. He had finally awakened from his sleep. Hydra, Pluggo, and the rest of the gang quickly came to his side.

"Meet, it's okay. You're in good hands now," Pluggo greeted him excitedly.

Meet slowly opened his eyes.

"Pluggo, Hydra, what happened?"

"Welcome back Meet," Hydra said, a little hesitant since his bad experience with the sheriff.

"What happened to the kids?" asked Meet.

Hydra didn't get it at first but then remembered how Meet got lost trying to save the children.

"Err... " Hydra seemed lost in words.

"Oh, those kids," Pluggo cut in, "They were fine. The police arrived right after you stopped the boat. The impact created a big explosion. We quickly searched for you in the murky water but the only thing we found were the propeller fragments from the collision. After a thorough search we gave up and swam back to the bridge."

"That was heroic of you Meet. When you're well enough there are other things I want to tell you," Hydra said while he looked at Pluggo.

Hydra jumped on top of a boulder so he could address everyone.

"Friends, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you all being here and helping us with our mission. We're all here together, of different species and of different powers. Some have powers that we don't even know about— since reading this book of Dr. Woolf, I've begun to understand our mission.

Dr. Woolf, our creator, has brought us here together. There is danger ahead of us, and some of you will not have the power to protect yourselves. Because of this, I want to give you the chance to stay here or leave. If you decide to leave, we may call on you later."

A few of the birds and ducks tipped their wings to Hydra and took off. Hydra knew that without any power, it would be too dangerous for them to stay and fight.

Hydra counted those who were left behind. _There are now eight of us_ _including pioneers like Grunt, Veeda, and Maya_. Hydra double-checked the book to see if they were all on the list. He nodded his head as soon as he saw them in the pages with pictures and illustrations.

"There will be others coming to join us—some of whom Pluggo and I met along the way. Until we can find out how to get to them, then we can settle here for now. Now I want you all to form a line."

"Ten hut!" Hydra yelled.

The group stood looking at Hydra with puzzled expression on their faces.

"I said 'ten hut'—that means that you should all come to attention. What's the matter with you?" Hydra yelled.

Some of them were snickering.

"Oh man, are we in the military now?"

"Ten hut!" Hydra yelled again—his voice getting hoarse.

This time, they all stood at attention like real soldiers, albeit hesitant. Hydra took this to mean that he had the authority to lead them. Some of them, however, continued to snicker, although quietly.

"Right-face!"

They all turned to their right.

"At-ease!"

They all stood at-ease, but some of them still kept moving around. Even Pluggo finally stopped snickering and was looking serious.

Hydra walked slowly in front of them like a captain reviewing his troops.

Veeda was at the end of the line and looked jittery about this army exercise. She was pacing, her knees buckling, shaking uncontrollably and was marching in place.

"Veeda!" Hydra yelled.

"Yes, ahh... what should I call you, sir, officer, sergeant?"

"From now on, everyone can call me Captain Hydra. Everyone else will be called by his or her own name."

"What a big ego," Big Tur mumbled to himself. "I'm not playing your little game."

"Step forward Veeda."

Veeda stepped forward obligingly, her knees still shaking.

Hydra walked behind Veeda, opened the black book and took out a disk labeled "Veeda." He was about to insert a disk in a slot at the back of her head when Veeda backed off a bit, "What the..."

"Stop moving!" Hydra screamed.

"And may I ask what you are you up to... err, Captain?"

"Trust me."

As soon as he inserted the disk, Veeda went to attention and she grew taller and bigger. The colors of her feathers brightened up. They turned into deep shiny black with a few of strip of gleaming white stripes. The rest of the 'troop' seemed to gasp in unison at Veeda's transformation. Her 'rooster' crown was glowing in different hues of red. She was sparkling, clean, and sharp—her appearance had greatly changed.

"Thanks Captain Hydra!" Veeda said proudly as she saluted Hydra.

"You're welcome Veeda. You're welcome. Wait. There's more." Hydra dug deep in his bag again and pulled out a bright red bandana. It had a logo of a hydrant with 'FCH' written across it in bold letters. It also said 'MEMBER,' the official mark of their team. Hydra tied the bandana around Veeda's neck.

"Remember—and I want you all to listen closely. The disk that I inserted in Veeda, and this red official bandana, makes her an official member of this team—even if she's not a hydrant."

Veeda stepped back to her position as Hydra finished with her. Grunt was next.

"Grunt!" growled Hydra.

"Yes, Captain Hydra," Grunt answered as he dashed forward and slobbered all over Hydra.

"Stop it!" Hydra yelled, scrambling to compose himself.

"Oops. I'm sorry Captain Hydra. I can't help myself. Woof, Woof."

Everyone was snickering quietly.

"Alright! Alright! Let's get back to business!" Hydra screamed as he wiped the wetness off his face.

Hydra picked out another disk from the book and inserted it at the back of Grunt's head. It had the same effect as it had on Veeda. Grunt's chocolate velvety fur became even shinier than before. He grew an inch taller as he stood there at attention, his tail wagging wildly.

Hydra took off Grunt's color-changing bandana and replaced it with the official red one. Grunt immediately looked sharper—a handsome dog indeed. Hydra noticed that the bandana seemed to be glowing like it was about to change its color again.

"Maya!"

Maya hopped towards Hydra.

"Yes, Captain Hydra!"

Hydra was amazed to hear that full resonant voice come out of such a small creature.

"Maya, you may be small but you have really proven your worth. You have been a big help to this team and have showed your dedication to us. We all appreciate your effort and we welcome you to the FCH camp."

Again, Hydra inserted a tiny disk—there was a phenomenal transformation of Maya. There was a chorus of 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' from the team. Not only did she grow into a bigger bird, her natural brown feathers changed to a bluish color, while her tail grew several inches longer. No longer a regular sparrow—she had changed into an Alarkin, a majestic bluish colored bird with a magnificent foot long tail. Everyone was bedazzled with their mouth agape. Hydra continued his ritual and placed an official red bandana around Maya's neck. She hopped back proudly to her position.

"Meet!"

Meet stumbled as he stepped forward—the others began to laugh. He still seemed weak from his ordeal as he struggled to stand at attention.

"Meet, there are no words to describe your courageous act in saving those children. On behalf of the team, I thank you," Hydra declared.

Hydra then selected the appropriate disk and inserted it in the slot behind Meet's head. Meet straightened up, becoming taller and stiff. He turned and faced the group and there was an audible gasp from them.

"Wow, Meet! There are little muscles coming out of you," one of them said.

"You're redder than red, Meet!" another one exclaimed.

Meet seemed embarrassed by all the attention as he stepped back in formation.

"Silver!"

"Silver!"

There was no answer. Hydra looked up and saw that the group was not paying attention—they were all distracted by somebody's arrival.

Hydra noticed that Pluggo was pacing nervously. Hydra gazed in the same direction and saw three figures approaching the camp. His face lit up with a huge smile as he realized who they were.

"Err... Hydra. I found out about a certain button in my monitor and pushed it. It was supposed to send a message to some of the hydrants and even free them up from their spot. Once they got the message, they were able to follow it here. Cool isn't it?" Pluggo confessed.

"Great job Pluggo, great job." Hydra said proudly.

"Crooton, Beatree, and Splatter, boy, am I glad to see you guys! You sure are welcome here," Hydra said as he gave each of them a bear hug, almost breaking off some of Beatree's branches.

Pluggo followed suit and welcomed them aboard. Hydra felt unusually close to these hydrants even if they had not spent a lot of time together.

Everyone was introduced. Grunt seemed to be especially interested with Splatter. They circled each other—their tails wagging wildly. Hydra was really happy to have Crooton with them. He seemed to be the oldest and maybe the wisest of them all. He even carried a walking stick, like a wise man.

Everyone was getting excited as the introductions continued. The camaraderie among them was evident as Hydra called for their attention.

"Everyone! Everyone! May I have your attention please? You may have already met our new friends—Crooton, Beatree, and Splatter. Now, let's officially welcome them to our team!" Hydra exclaimed. There was a round of applause for the new arrivals.

"You three came just in time," Hydra continued. "We were officially distributing these wonderful gifts from Dr. Woolf, our sole creator." The three hydrants looked at each other while Pluggo gave them a raised thumb.

"Please—everyone get back to your position. I want to call on Silver. Where's Silver?"

* *

The ceremony continued until the wee hours of the morning. They lit a small bonfire to fend off the evening chill. They had all received their disks. The non-hydrants received a red bandana and the fire hydrants, a sticker with "FCH" written on it. They may have looked like ordinary items but there was really more to them.

The ceremony ended with a lot of positive vibes among the group—some of them tried their newfound powers. They were flying, chasing each other, and were having fun—until they all got tired and just lay by the fire and rested. They all fell asleep, eventually.

At last, there was peace and quiet in the camp. The only noise left was the crisp crackling burning wood of the bonfire, complemented by the cascading chirping of the crickets. The snorings also added to the symphony.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a movement in the flickering bonfire. Sparks started to fly but no one seemed to have noticed as they were all sleeping. Only Grunt perked up and stared at the fire before closing his eyes again and covering his head with his paws. The flicker continued until it formed into a small fireball. It rolled over the ground, burning its path only to stop when Grunt, startled by the noise, started barking.

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Grrrrr!"

The fireball morphed into a shape of a small person—about a foot tall. It had a fiery pointy-head and a body and arms wrapped in glowing fire. The fiery figure stood there and watched. Without hesitation, Grunt leaped at the glowing figure, which took the shape of a fireball once again and shot up into the sky, leaving a trail of sparks and smokes.

"What happened Grunt?" Pluggo asked awakened by the noise, his eyes were still half closed.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

# CHAPTER 18

### Captain Hydra

" **COCKA DOO DEL DOOO! COCKA DOO DEL DOOO!"**

"Whoa!" said one of the hydrants.

"Ahhh!" said another.

The noise awakened everyone.

"What the... is that a rooster?"

"Relax, that's just Veeda acting like a rooster, go back to sleep," Pluggo said.

"Oh my... what time is it?" Beatree asked.

"Cocka doo del dooo! Cocka doo del dooo!"

"Hey c'mon—stop that! It's Saturday!" Splatter yelled.

Beatree's eyes got wider and wider as she observed this huge duck crowing like a rooster. She got up, stretched her arms and shook her tree as the leaves fall off the ground—landing on the burnt and blackened ground from last night. She was stunned and rushed to wake the others.

"What happened," Pluggo asked, wide eyed.

"Something came out of there last night. I tried to approach it but it flew away and disappeared," Grunt said.

By this time, Hydra was already awakened and was also surprised by the mess.

"Did you see everything, Grunt?" Hydra asked.

Grunt explained everything. Hydra kept nodding his head, listening to Grunt's every word. He excused himself and went to see the black book. "Just as I thought," he said to himself. "A Fyro spied on us."

Hydra summoned everyone and said, "A Fyro has spied on us. It was my fault. I should have checked out the bonfire last night."

"How do you check a fire?" Grunt asked, puzzled.

"According to the black book, I was supposed to spit on the fire or put some water on it. If it didn't fizzle, then it could be a potential Fyro. Fyros work with Fireeba, the Queen of Fire, and Billow the blackened smoke man. They are tough and cunning, but with our combined powers, we can stop them."

Hydra closed the black book and continued, "Do not ask me what kind of power you have. Use your instinct, and your powers will come out naturally. For us to be more potent, we will work as a team and watch each other's back. Is that understood?"

"YES, CAPTAIN!" everyone except Big Tur replied.

Hydra noticed Big Tur's aloofness. He had been watching his strange behavior lately. Big Tur would be staring off into space, like he was in deep thoughts. Hydra wondered what could be lurking inside Big Tur's mind.

* *

Suddenly, Maya came rushing overhead with a piece of paper—-flapping her wings ceaselessly as she landed in front of Hydra.

"What is it Maya?"

"It's the front page of today's paper!" Maya said excitedly.

The headline stated, "ONE MORE DAY TILL NEW YEAR!"

"You're right. We only have one day left to prepare ourselves to find Fireeba. Hmm... Maya, tell me where north is," Hydra asked.

"Well, if the sun comes out from that direction... let me see..."

"Right there!" Maya screamed, pointing to her right with her wing.

Hydra gazed at Maya's direction. In the far distance, he could see a cluster of blue mountains with white-capped peaks—the North East Mountains. But right behind these mountains was another mountain, taller than the rest—Mt. Calderra.

It's as if the North East Mountains were its façade. It was so tall that clouds constantly obscure its peak, inconspicuous and low profile. Unbeknown to everyone, there was a smoldering crater in the center of Mt. Caldera, with billowing smoke streaming and melding with the clouds _. The black book is right,_ Hydra thought. But there were still unanswered questions—ones that only Elvira could answer.

"BLING! BLING!"

"BLING! BLING!"

"Hydra, are you there?"

Hydra quickly dropped his backpack and took out his Metro.

"Yes, Elvira. Where are you?"

"Listen, it's very important that we meet. I have something to tell you in person. It's some information that I can't divulge over the Metro."

"Where are you? And where do you want to meet?" Hydra asked.

"If you look around, you'll see a cluster of mountains—and if you observe closely, you'll see another mountain behind it."

"My gosh, I was just observing that mountain a few seconds ago," Hydra said.

"Walk towards those mountains. Within six or seven miles, you'll hit a railroad track. Follow the track for another two miles until you see a fork in the road. There is a manhole in the middle of the fork. Go inside the manhole and climb down the ladder to the bottom and I'll meet you there."

"What about the other guys?"

"Tell them to wait for our call."

"Okay Elvira, I will see you later."

Hydra heard a strange noise through the monitor. He could not see Elvira clearly as the monitor kept flickering with static. There was something fishy with her unusual smile—-something he had never seen before.

He rushed back to the other guys to tell them the news. He had them gather around as he climbed up on the boulder to speak. He stood there quietly for a moment gathering his thoughts. The others were looking from below with worried anticipation on their faces.

Pluggo climbed up next to Hydra. Everyone was there except for Maya and Veeda who were still frolicking by the stream. As usual, Hydra placed his claw in his mouth and blew a loud...

"WHEEEEEHOOOOOOOWHEEEEEP!"

It always worked. The group quieted down. Veeda and Maya scrambled out of the water to hear what Hydra had to say.

"This is going to be short."

"Ahem, excuse me?" Pluggo said.

"I didn't mean you Pluggo," Hydra said, sarcastically, enjoying the laughs from the crowd.

"I'm going on an unexpected trip and I'll probably be gone for a few hours."

"What? But we're already out of time!" Maya exclaimed.

"Don't worry. I will make this trip short. I'll go and meet Elvira, retrieve the message and come back. This message may be vital to our mission, and I'll tell you all about it when I return. Meanwhile, I'm leaving Pluggo in charge. I'll be in touch with him the entire time that I am gone. Are there any questions?"

"Does that mean Pluggo will be our leader while you're gone?" Big Tur asked.

"I wouldn't exactly say, leader," Hydra said. He knew that Big Tur had been acting strange, and this strange question of his added to Hydra's concern.

"Woof! Can I come with you?" Grunt asked.

"I'd love to take you all with me but Elvira gave strict instructions to come alone."

Silence.

"I guess that means there are no further questions?" Hydra inquired.

"Good luck Hydra. We'll see you when you get back," Pluggo said.

"Thanks to you all."

Everyone patted Hydra on his back and bid him farewell—everyone except Big Tur. He stood there quietly, acting proud and aloof. Only Hydra seemed to notice though.

# CHAPTER 19

### Fireeba, Billow and the Fyros

**THE GLIDING AND WALKING** was a bit rough for Hydra. He had not traveled this far for quite sometime. Although he could fly to his destination, he chose not to. He would walk and glide to conserve energy. Dr. Woolf had programmed him that way. " _Spare your energy when you can. You never know when you may need it_ ," he felt the Voice telling him.

After swiftly gliding through a maze of streets, he finally reached an open meadow. He was glad to see the meadow instead of some dead end street. He certainly didn't want to run into any more junkyards or SyDogs. Maybe it was just his imagination firing up his brain again, but he couldn't keep those ferocious dogs out of his mind.

"Leader? I can't have Hydra and Pluggo as my leader. Never!" Big Tur said under his breath. His face was fuming with anger and resentment. He was alone by the bank while the others were playing in the stream.

"Hey, look at Big Tur, he look like he's ready to explode," Grunt said jokingly.

"Ha-ha-ha! What's wrong with him? He must have a serious problem," Veeda replied.

Pluggo walked up to Big Tur and asked him if he was okay.

"I'm alright. I'm just feeling a bit dizzy and weak. It must be the weather," Big Tur said cunningly.

"Why don't you join us? Hydra could be out for a while and besides, the water feels great."

"Go ahead. I'll join you later."

"Well, take it easy," Pluggo said as he dropped his backpack and ran towards the stream.

Big Tur looked over at the carelessly tossed backpack with its precious cargo. He snatched the backpack as soon as Pluggo was out of sight. Everyone was having fun to notice what was happening. Hydra could have read Big Tur's intention right away—but he was not there and the guys were too busy playing.

Once out of sight behind the boulder, Big Tur quickly unzipped the bag and found a second copy of the Black Book. He found all the disks and instructions on recruiting other hydrants.

* *

"SPLASSSSH! SPLASSSH! SPLASSSH!"

"Hey, where's Big Tur? Grunt said as he surfaced from the water.

"I don't know, we'll look for him later," Pluggo replied.

Meanwhile, Big Tur cowered behind the boulder and continued ransacking the backpack. He opened the book again and turned to his own page. The page was titled "Big Tur." His eyes widened with excitement. He couldn't believe how much power was in store for him. _I_ _might as well take the whole bag. There's too much_ _power in this bag for me to resist._ He checked the surroundings again to be sure that he was still alone.

* *

"Hey Splatter, did you see my backpack?" Pluggo asked.

"Nope, but I saw you drop it on the ground before you hit the water," Grunt said.

"That's strange, my bag is not there anymore," Pluggo said with a worried look.

"Where's Big Tur? He was just right there," Veeda said.

"Big Tur! Big Tur!" Pluggo yelled. "C'mon guys, let's find him."

As Pluggo swam towards the bank...

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHH!"

"What the... ?"

"Hey! That's Big Tur—and he's got your backpack! Let's go after him!" Meet yelled.

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHH!"

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHH!"

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHH!"

Pluggo, Meet, and Splatter chased after Big Tur but he was way too fast. He flew with amazing speed that the three hydrants broke off the chase.

They landed safely back at the stream. Pluggo was mad and devastated. He knew that the rest of them could be in even more danger. The entire gang surrounded them waiting for Pluggo's instructions.

"You lost him, huh?" Grunt asked.

"He was just too fast, Grunt, way too fast," Pluggo said.

"But what about the bag?" Grunt asked.

"I have no answer for you right now, Grunt. You guys have to help me think," Pluggo replied.

There were momentarily buzzing among the team. Chatting and debating on what to do.

"I say we find Hydra," the wise Crooton suggested.

"We don't even know where he is," Pluggo said. "And he could be coming back anytime soon."

"What if he doesn't? I'm sure we'll meet him along the way if he's on his way back," Crooton said. "We can always signal each other if we have to."

"Pluggo, why don't you hit the water and try to send a message to Hydra. Maybe you'll get to him," Meet said.

"Good idea, I almost forgot about that—the rest of you get ready for our trek to find Hydra," Pluggo said.

* *

After walking for two miles along the railroad tracks, Hydra finally came upon the fork in the road that Elvira had told him about. He noticed the manhole right away in the center of the fork, surrounded by a ring of frozen ice—steam was billowing out of its seam. He started to lift the cover, but not before taking another look at the magnificent mountains.

Mt. Caldera still loomed behind the North East Mountains as expected, still smoldering, as if ready to erupt anytime. It seemed much bigger now that he was closer. It reminded him of Genoa. Although, he knew there was no way that he could compare this scenery with Genoa, which was only a huge diorama. It sure was difficult to tell a dream from reality. He glanced in the opposite direction—and there it was, Guerlin City with its dazzling jewel-like lights setting off with pulsating rhythm. _Hmm... something is not right here,_ Hydra was thinking. He couldn't figure out what it was.

He bent closer to the manhole cover and could feel the hot steam against his face—it was getting stronger as he pried open the cover. As soon as he lifted the cover, he was immediately engulfed in steam—-he couldn't see anything around him.

"PLANNKK!"

He let the cover slam next to the hole. Astonishingly, the steam stopped as he started down the ladder. _Where did that steam go?_ He pulled the manhole cover over him before he descended.

"KA-PLANNKK!"

It was pitch black inside and Hydra couldn't see a thing. He quickly tapped his head twice and out came a light from his headlamp. _Thank you_ _Dr. Woolf, what would I do without you?_

Hydra, careful to keep a tight hold on the ladder, slowly began to climb down—his light was casting ghost-like images on the wet and grimy concrete walls of the silo. He felt a rush of air coming from his right. He froze. The air had come from a cross tunnel that was off of the silo. He aimed his headlamp at the tunnel and looked as far as he could see. He was almost tempted to detour but he remembered Elvira's instructions. He climbed deeper into the silo pass the tunnel, until he heard the rushing water below—he was certain that he'd reached the bottom. He made the jump and—

"SPLASSSHHHH!"

Hydra was immediately blasted by a torrent of water that forced him into a tumble. He grabbed on to the walls to keep his balance.

"HELLO! low, low, low... " He yelled and heard his voice echoing off the walls.

"Elvira? 'rah, 'rah, 'rah..."

Silence.

All he heard was the sound of the rushing water. _Where could Elvira be? She said she'd meet me here._ He got worried but he took some small comfort in hearing his own voice in such a spooky place.

He noticed that the water was rushing towards the mountains, so Hydra walked in that direction—fumbling and groping inside the dark tunnel. He hoped there were no Sydogs around. They had made a lasting impression on him, and he certainly didn't need to meet up with any of them. He shook away that thought and concentrated on his journey. _Fear and self-doubt will not get you anywhere_.

The rushing water was becoming louder—like it might be some kind of a waterfall. He stopped and felt the need to contact Pluggo for moral support. He retrieved his Metro out of his backpack, and called Pluggo.

"Pluggo, Pluggo, can you read me?" he whispered into the Metro. He thought it was strange that Pluggo didn't answer. Perhaps he was off playing by the stream as he often did. He tried Elvira again.

"Elvira! Elvira! Do you read me?"

"KSSST!"

"I read you Hydra. Where are you? KSSST!"

"I'm right here Elvira, just as you told me. Where are you? Your voice seems different."

"Hydra, listen closely. Walk towards the waterfall, and you will find a rope under the water. It will lead you safely down the falls if you hold on tight—KSSST! Once you find the rope, climb down—KSSST! ten feet from the top until you hit another tunnel hidden by the fall and—KSSST!"

"Elvira? Elvira?" Hydra called but the Metro went dead. There was too much static and he had lost her for good. After a few more tries, he gave up and returned the Metro into his backpack.

He walked towards the fall, groping for the rope as Elvira had told him _. It's right here,_ _exactly the way Elvira described it._ But Hydra stopped. _If I_ _can't contact Pluggo, I could at least leave a note in_ _case he came looking for me._ He opened the backpack again and found a big glow-in-the-dark marker pen! _I love this_ _bag!_

He quickly scribbled on the wall, "PLUGGO, I'M DOWN BELOW, FOLLOW ROPE AT BOTTOM OF WATERFALL, SIGNED, HYDRA"

* *

He continued his descent down the waterfall. The moldy surface was slippery and he lost his footing several times, almost sliding into the falls. The only thing that saved him was his death-grip on the rope. He was right at the edge of the falls and all the water crashed against him—he was struggling to keep his balance. He took a moment to look down.

"Whoa!" He was astonished at the height of the falls. It wasn't that he was worried about falling—he knew he could survive that. He was more worried about what might lie underneath the nasty water. He was even tempted to try and fly over the falls but his instinct to conserve energy kicked in again. About ten feet down the ladder, he felt a rush of air over his feet. _This is_ _the tunnel, at last_.

He quickly jumped into the hidden tunnel, which was a huge old concrete pipe. He landed inside with a deafening echo.

"KA-BLANKK! Ank! Ank! Ank! Ank! Ank! Ank!"

He felt like he had landed inside a giant seashell. The sound of the falling water was deafening, as it bounced and echoed off the walls of the tunnel. He groped again in the dark trying to keep his balance.

"ELVIRA? 'rah, 'rah, 'rah," Hydra called again.

Silence.

He noticed that his headlamp was out so he tapped his head again. This time nothing happened. He frantically banged his head, over and over again, like some kind of a loony. Finally, the light came on.

Now that he could see, he felt a whole lot better, as he stepped deeper inside to investigate. The air had a heavy mossy smell, damp and humid. It was not a place that anyone would want to be for very long. The walls were covered by dark green moss and slime. _Eeww!_ Hydra tried to avoid looking at the details as he stepped farther into the tunnel where the floor was becoming dry.

Hydra shook himself in a dog-like fashion to rid himself of the excess water, and soon he was dry as a bone.

He noticed a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel and wondered how far away and how dangerous it would be, but he knew that he had come too far to turn back now. On a positive note, he was glad to be getting away from the thunderous noise of the waterfall.

Guided by his headlamp, he walked deeper into the tunnel, bracing himself for any surprise encounter. But he saw nothing unusual so he forged ahead towards the light.

He began to feel warm as he got closer to the flickering light and now wished he were closer to the coolness of the waterfall. The humid feeling also dissipated—he could feel the heat coming from the space. _Why would Elvira stay in a place like this?_ It was still bearable though as he tapped his head again to turn off the light, he dropped his backpack and retrieved the Metro.

"Elvira? Elvira? Do you read?"

Silence.

"OVER HERE!"

"Elvira?" Hydra yelled. _Elvira's inside!_ _At last I'm going to see_ _Elvira again._

"Elvira, you must be kidding. How could you stay in a scorching place like this?" Hydra said, chuckling.

"Don't worry about it. I'm well protected. Come inside. Maybe if you run, you will not feel a thing."

"Run? He-he-he. Maybe I'll just fly, how's that?"

"Run, fly, whatever you want to do, just get yourself in here, right now!"

"Alright, alright, I'm almost there—take it easy," Hydra said, moving toward the opening.

The tunnel ran straight through but there was a small opening on the side, leading to another area. Once inside, Hydra found the light so bright that he was momentarily blinded. He was in a cave with dry reddish earth walls, and fire was coming out of the cracks. The heat was intense, even for a hydrant. As he stepped inside, he noticed a group of shadows scurrying about. _What did I get myself into?_

He walked deeper into the space and came upon a formation of huge rough and round columns made of earth. Fire was flickering out of every niche in the columns and walls. He cautiously peeked around the columns but there was no one there. He walked slowly and quietly, looking from side to side. As he peeked through the third column—

* *

He found her—a queen-like figure sitting perfectly still on an elevated earthen and royal-like seat. She had a pointy-head with ghostly eyes. Her skin was glowing red covered by crisscrossing purple veins. Her demeanor was frightening although majestic. Hydra stared at her—he was hypnotized like a zombie.

"At last Hydra—we meet."

That voice. It sounds like Elvira's but it seems different.

"You can't be Elvira."

"YOU'RE RIGHT HYDRA! THAT'Z NOT ME, I'M OVER HERE!" THAT'Z FIREEBA! RUN! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

"ELVIRA! WHERE ARE YOU?"

There was no response.

Fireeba was enraged by the sound of Elvira's voice. She became upset and turned fiercer that fire came out of her skin making the space intensely hot. Torrents of fire shot out of her body, turning the place into an inferno. She stood up slowly and gave Hydra a cynical smile.

"Fireeba! I should have known it was you!" Hydra yelled.

"You're a smart hydrant Hydra, a smart hydrant," Fireeba said mockingly.

"I demand to see Elvira, now!"

"No need to be arrogant Hydra. I'll see to it that you two are destroyed together. Ha-ha-ha! Billow! You know what to do!"

A billow of smoke formed and swooped down from above like a tornado and landed in front of Hydra. The dark brownish thick smoke formed into a human shape. Hydra stepped back, unsure if his power was capable to deal with these adversaries. _"A battle is already lost once you_ _lose your faith,"_ he heard the Voice in his mind. Billow glared at Hydra while he tried to disorient him with his thick dark smoke. At the same time, Fyros, those foot-long fire figures, came out of the walls and circled Hydra like dancing lava.

"Follow me!" Billow demanded in a deep resonant voice that sounded synthetic. The Fyros inched toward Hydra, forcing him to follow Billow to a labyrinth of dark earth tunnels with fire seeping out of every crack. _That's the trick, were they fires_ _or Fyros?_ _Only a water test will tell me what I need to know,_ Hydra was thinking.

Walking behind Billow, he figured out his escape route for later. Hydra saw a bright throbbing light coming from a room as they rounded a corner. Billow quickly blew smoke over the room's entrance door. But Hydra was able to steal a quick glance anyway, and saw a giant capsule glowing like a giant firefly.

"You didn't see anything, did you?" Billow bellowed.

Hydra gave him a dumb look. He knew that Billow was afraid of Fireeba and didn't want her to know that he might have seen something.

After a few more turns, they came to a door and Billow shoved Hydra inside.

"Hydra, are you okay?" Elvira asked as she helped Hydra who was sprawled on the floor.

"Elvira, is that really you? What's that on your skin?"

"It's a zpecial zkin that Dr. Woolf invented to shield me from the heat. It protects me from any toxic and nuclear environment. My zkin changes its texture when I push thiz button on my zuit. How are the otherz?—Wait!" Elvira said. But before Hydra could answer, she put a finger over her lips and shushed him. She then signaled for him to put some water on his forehead. As soon as they had both done that, they were able to communicate by using their minds.

("That'z better. I know that she put uz in the zame room zo she could listen to our planz. But zince she can't read our thoughts, we are zafe. Can you read me now?")

(Yes! "I realized I was tricked by Fireeba into coming here and... ")

("That'z too bad. But at least you are here and you can help me ztop these zcoundrelz. I zecretly left a message chip inside the Metro that would turn it on az zoon as it heard your voice. That was me zcreaming for you to run. I was hoping that you would run and get the otherz. But I have another plan.")

* *

"Billow, what do you think those guys are doing? They're not talking at all," Fireeba said as the two watched from their spy camera.

"I don't know, boss. They may be taking a rest."

"Remind me to check them later. Is the capsule ready?"

"Err... I think so," Billow replied hesitantly.

"What do you mean, 'I think so?' There is no room for failure here, Billow. It's our only chance to test this volcanic bomb from Mt. Caldera. Go and check it again. I can't rely on you!" screamed Fireeba.

* *

("What is that glowing capsule that I saw in one of the rooms?") Hydra signaled Elvira.

("That iz the experimental capsule Fireeba will uze to wipe out Guerlin City. If she succeeds, she will launch ten more of thoze in several major cities. She will keep doing it until she conquers the world. Remember I told you about total disarmament and the major return to earlier technology? It did happen—except for the part about weaponz being destroyed. All documents and references were also destroyed relating to weaponsz of humankind destruction. The world haz been living in peace for about zix centuries now. But some fanatics are getting bored again,") Elvira scooped up more water and splashed it on her forehead. She continued with her thoughts, ("Fireeba is going to fire this capsule simultaneously with the dropping of the 'zquare' to mark the coming of the year 3000.")

("The "square, what square?") signaled Hydra.

("It is the object that iz dropped from a tall building on the last ten secondz of midnight, December 31st, 2999—tonight. Many years ago, people used to drop a ball but the tradition changed. Over the yearz, they dropped things of various shapes, like triangles and ovalz. I guess people got tired of the old tradition and kept on changing it,") signaled Elvira.

("Then we're really out of time. I better send a message to Pluggo.") Hydra spread more water on his forehead then he clenched his face trying to send a mental message to Pluggo.

* *

Meanwhile, Fireeba and Billow went to check on the capsule.

"That's good Billow. I knew I could rely on you. The capsule is ready to be launched by midnight, and the old subway track that will carry it seems clear of any obstruction. We will have our own initial countdown, so by the time the New Year countdown ends at zero they won't even know what hit them. Check the monitor at Guerlin City," demanded Fireeba.

Billow turned on the monitors. The crowd had already gathered. Because it was a celebration of a new millennium, the crowd was much larger—almost three times the customary size. New Year's Eve was by far the most celebrated holiday in Guerlin City. People came from all over the world to join this special event. The noisy crowd was waving, screaming, and seemed to be overjoyed by this celebration.

"Good! That's the crowd we want. What's the computer count?" asked Fireeba excitedly.

"There are over a million people there right now. Do you want to know how many men, women, and children?"

"No need to, Billow. They're all going together, anyway. Ha-ha-ha-ha! I'm going to take out the entire population of Guerlin City—ten million people in all. What a lovely experiment this will be," Fireeba said gleefully.

"Boss, you're a genius," Billow said.

"Of course, I am! Don't worry I will not forget the effort that you've contributed to this cause. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Boss, check out Elvira and Hydra, they're just staring at each other. We can't get any information from them about the other backpack. What do you want to do?" Billow asked.

"Separate the two for now. Although, Hydra can't really do any major damage to us since he is useless without his backpack," Fireeba said. "Let's go and prepare the capsule for the final launch."

The Fyros quickly transferred Hydra to his cell, and Hydra tried to send a message to Elvira but there was no response.

Then he heard another signal, ("Hydra!")

("Who is this?") Hydra asked.

("It's me, Elvira! Can you read me?")

("Barely, but let's keep our focus and make our thoughts stronger.")

("Listen, Hydra. Try Pluggo again. We're running out of time.")

("I'm trying. I can't seem to get to him.")

("Keep on trying. There are only a few minutes left. We can't fail. If you can't get Pluggo, let's move now as planned. We'll get to Pluggo later.")

("Alright Elvira, I'll talk to you soon.")

Hydra quickly lay on the bunk, closed his eyes and concentrated, pretending to be sleeping. After a few minutes, he slowly got up. He turned around and looked at an exact replica of himself that he had left on the bunk. He had used the process of Sola, the process of using radio waves to create his own clone. He didn't know that he had that power until Elvira told him about it. Hydra stared for a moment at 'himself' and then pounded on the door.

"Guard! Guard!" Hydra yelled.

"What!" exclaimed the Fyro.

"You've got to see this. Where did this come from?" Hydra asked as he pointed to an exact replica of him lying on the bunk bed.

"What the... " The two Fyros immediately opened the door and stepped in. While they were gawking at the Sola of Hydra lying on the bunk, the real Hydra quickly aimed his nozzle and extinguished the two Fyros with two quick blasts of water.

Elvira had told him that if you hit these Fyros in the right place, it was just like putting out a lighted match, and she was right. But if you missed, you could pay a big price. These Fyros were capable of shooting exploding fireballs. Hydra was lucky and on target.

Hydra dashed out to free Elvira from her cell. Elvira had left her own Sola image lying on the bunk as she joined Hydra in the hall. Hydra was intending to follow his escape plan when Elvira summoned him.

"Thiz way Hydra, there could be a trap there. I saw this niche here before—we'll be zafe here for now. Try to contact Pluggo again."

* *

Pluggo and the rest of the gang had followed the train tracks but, somehow, missed the fork in the road. Pluggo was a few paces ahead of the gang who had lagged behind as they became involved in a snowball fight. Silver was chasing Splatter with a huge snowball. He had just heaved it when Pluggo turned around to see what they were doing. The snowball missed Splatter and hit Pluggo full in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Pluggo are you alright?" Silver asked.

Pluggo tried to compose himself. He was gritting his teeth as he wiped his wet forehead.

"Wait. I'm getting something. Get me more of that snow. I can hear something inside of my head."

("Hydra is that you?")

("Yes, Pluggo. It's about time. Where are you?") signaled Hydra.

Pluggo described his location.

("You missed the fork. Go back a half mile and the fork should be on your right. Hurry up, we're running out of time. Listen, here's what we're going to do... ")

# CHAPTER 20

### Year 3000

" **I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT!"** Maya screamed.

"Yes, Maya found it! Maya found it!" screamed Veeda.

"Oookay! Relax!" Pluggo said as he welcomed the news from his two spotters.

Pluggo and the rest of the gang followed Veeda and Maya to the manhole. Upon reaching the spot, they all gathered around it. Grunt couldn't hold his excitement and kept bar-king restively.

"Okay! According to Hydra's instructions, we need volunteers to stay up here," Pluggo said.

There was a collective—"What?"

"I see there are no volunteers. We kinda expected this. In that case then, let this be an order. Maya, Veeda, Crooton, and Beatree, will stay up here to guard the manhole. We will call you if we need more backup. Just make sure that your foreheads are constantly wet so we can relay messages to you in case we need help. Any questions?" Pluggo asked.

Silence. They just stared at each other.

"Let's go!" Pluggo yelled.

The 'volunteers' watched as Pluggo, Splatter, Silver, and Grunt entered the manhole.

"Take care guys," Beatree said.

Crooton replaced the manhole cover leaving it partially ajar.

* *

Pluggo led the group as he went down the manhole by the ladder—making one step at a time. But midway down to the tunnel, he felt the wind blow from the cross tunnel to his right.

_This was the tunnel Hydra told me about,_ Pluggo thought.

Pluggo had a plan.

* *

When Pluggo's group reached the tunnel hidden by the falls, the Fyros were already there. They were surrounded.

"Welcome friends! Just don't do anything funny or we will blow you away. We've been waiting for you," said the lead Fyro in his high-pitched voice.

The Fyros herded the group to the end of the tunnel. Everyone was unusually quiet—only the crackling sound of the fiery bodies of the Fyros could be heard.

* *

At the lab, Fireeba was testing the mechanisms of the capsule.

"This is great! You've all done a good job. Billow and all of you Fyros deserve all the recognition you could get," Fireeba said.

"Boss! We've got the rest of them!" Billow screamed.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Better! Line them up against the wall and make sure to blast those idiots as soon as we launch the capsule. We have no more time to waste. Billow! Start the engine!"

"EEEEEEINNNNNG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!"

A piercing sound emitted by the capsule shook the earthen walls of the tunnel. Although a bit bulky, the capsule looked very stable sitting snugly on the old subway tracks that was linked directly to the city. It was the perfect vehicle for Fireeba's earth-shattering plan.

The noise was deafening. Fireeba had to scream louder to give out more orders to Billow and the Fyros.

"Billow, go check the prisoners before we launch the capsule! I don't want any more intrusion from anyone. This has to be perfect!" Fireeba yelled.

"Boss, I can still see them on the monitor. It's kind of odd though cause they seem to be sleeping."

"Great! Let them sleep. But have the Fyros check them out, I'll pull the lever now and start the countdown. We have no more time to waste or this capsule will explode here with us."

"NO NEED TO, FIREEBA! STOP THIS NOW OR WE WILL BLAST YOU ALL TO PIECES!" Elvira yelled as she came out of her hiding. She held a modified water cannon leveled at Fireeba's midsection.

"Huh? How could this be?" exclaimed the confused Billow.

"Ha-ha-ha! A water gun! You must be kidding me!" Fireeba screamed.

Elvira aimed the gun and blasted one of the Fyros.

"KA-BOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!"

The gun discharged a ball of silver-colored water and instantly dissolved the Fyro.

"That's right Fireeba, give it up," Hydra said coolly as he turned up from behind an earthen column. He aimed one of his nozzles at Fireeba, ready to fire.

Fireeba looked stunned and in disbelief. But before she could make her move, Billow engulfed the entire place with smoke. There was pandemonium inside. Everyone panicked and made everyone bump into each other as it was so hard to see. For a moment, there was a scramble beneath the smoke and the Fyros seized Elvira and Hydra. Fireeba was furious as she confronted the two.

"You fools! There is no way you can spoil my plan. I've worked all these years for this main event and no one in this world can stop me! Not even wannabe heroes like you!" The mad Fireeba was shaking with anger.

"Tie them up at the front of the capsule and get ready for the countdown! We'll smoke 'em when this thing takes off. Good job, Billow. Good job Fyros. You just saved my day!"

Fireeba quickly release the lever and started the countdown.

"... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... GO!" Fireeba screamed, and the capsule lurched forward. Hydra and Elvira were tightly strapped to the capsule and looked helplessly at each other. Elvira bowed down as Hydra told her not to worry.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! You're doomed and the world is mine, and mine alone. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Execute the other hydrants! Blast them all! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"AHHHHHH! WHAT THE... HEEEEEEEELLLLPP!"

A cable dragged Fireeba down the tracks. When Billow engulfed the place in smoke, Hydra had spread a loop of cable on the floor where Fireeba had been standing. Now, that same cable had ensnared her and she was pulled off her feet as the capsule moved forward.

The capsule whizzed down the tracks at full speed—it dragged Fireeba violently as she struggled to free herself. Soon, she was flying in the air like some kind of fiery kite being pulled by the speeding capsule.

Meanwhile, Hydra was able to free himself despite the violent vibration of the capsule. He quickly untangled Elvira as he held tight on a bar and made sure not to fall. They were almost out of time—about fifteen seconds before they and the city were toast. The capsule came out of the tunnel to an open track. Hydra and Elvira saw the chance and struggled to open the fuse box in a feeble attempt to stop the capsule's plight before it goes back to the tunnel towards the city, when suddenly...

"SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHH!"

"HYDRA! WE'LL TAKE OVER FROM HERE! YOU AND ELVIRA CAN JUMP NOW!"

Hydra and Elvira looked up and saw Pluggo, Silver, Splatter, and Grunt flying like real super-heroes. Without wasting any more time and wondering how dogs could fly, Hydra held Elvira and they both bailed out of the capsule. They jumped to a soft patch close to the track and rolled to safety.

The capsule was still dragging Fireeba, and for a moment Billow was already right behind her and was ready to free Fireeba. But in the next instant, a strange gust of wind sucked him out of the scene and he disappeared completely to the atmosphere.

"SWOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!"

There was a loud clink as the guys ripped up the tracks and plotted a new course for the capsule—directly towards the volcano. Since the tracks would not reach all the way to the volcano, the troop lifted the tracks high up in the air and slug the capsule into the mouth of the volcano, like slinging a rock with a slingshot.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1... KA-BLAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!"

* *

"HAPPY NEW YEAR! Everyone was screaming, cheering, hugging and shaking hands. The year 3000 had arrived and the people of Guerlin City didn't have a clue how close they came to being wiped out. But if they all looked to the east, where Mt. Caldera sits, they would have seen a large explosion and a brightly colored sky. Perhaps they would have thought that the old volcano was getting ready to erupt again. But it was Fireeba's deadly capsule that blew up harmlessly inside the mouth of the volcano.

Hydra was relieved to see that everyone was safe. The whole gang was cheering, shaking hands and exchanging high-fives. It was the happiest time of their lives.

It turned out that Veeda and Maya had followed them to see if they could help. And it was they who had created a super vacuum by flapping their super wings—sucking Billow out of the scene. Hydra heaped a lot of praise on both of them. He knew that Billow could have made things much worse if he had been allowed to free Fireeba.

To make things even better, the only members of the gang that were 'executed' by the Fyros were the Sola copies left in their bunks. In addition, the Fyros failed to execute Pluggo's group since they were just, again, Solas or copies of their real bodies. The real bodies went through the cross tunnel on the way down through the manhole. These were solid instructions from Hydra and Elvira.

* *

Hydra was ecstatic as he walked with his friends back to their camp. He glanced back at the city that his team had just saved, its jewel-like lights still gleaming from the tall buildings.

Hydra and Pluggo were walking ahead of the gang.

"Pluggo, thanks for your help. I couldn't have accomplished this incredible mission without your help. We made it."

"Anytime Hydra, anytime. By the way, I meant to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"About my backpack..."

Hydra stared at him intently.

TO BE CONTINUED...

### Next: The Wrath of Big Tur

# Other books in the works:

FancyCrazyHydrants - Color-Me-Book 1

FancyCrazyHydrants - Color-Me-Book 2

FancyCrazyHydrants - Color-Me-Book 3

(Check for availability at Apple's App Store)

The Wrath of Big Tur

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