“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!
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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.