Post by RaceFanX on Mar 13, 2011 2:00:15 GMT -5
It's on folks. The climax has begun. The blimp is airborne, Kappa switched sides and Prince Charles finally has those beers (the last one makes sense in context). I may do something radical in this chapter, anything could happen and you have been warned.
Also I just caught I had Patch fell off the mooring line in PART 13 but he's with the pups in PART 14 on them. Oops. We'll go with he silently grabbed one at the last second and got back into the fight to explain that away. Apparently I'm the only one who caught that so it wasn't a story breaker and I'm going to run with it.
Anyway here we go...
The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with a chain saw. Epsilon's aerial assault on the stadium was underway and if the pups didn't stop it in the next few minutes 90,000 people including the Dearlys, the Queen, the new PM and the entire English and German World Cup soccer teams were in for a very dog day afternoon. Worse yet Epsilon now knew they were coming as they tried their best to scale the blimp's mooring lines and reach the gondola.
Inside the gondola things were just as panicked. Epsilon had seen this before, in his previous attack he was seconds away from victory when those pesky dalmatians snatched it from him at the last moment. He was determined not to let it happen again. He had now personally taken the controls as Sigma had joined Omega in looking for something on board to slow the dals.
Just then Epsilon thought of something and flipped a switch to briefly put the blimp on autopilot. The stared into the amp and flipped his eyes to green and stared into his weapon but nothing emerged from it. A gauge on the side began to flash and fill up.
"One move ahead," said the border collie. "Always be one move ahead. Good thing this broadcaster is more advanced than my last one."
On the mooring lines the pups, minus frozen in fear Two-Tone but plus Spot, were desperately trying to climb the lines. Doing it with paws and wings wasn't easy but they were making progress.
"Wait a tick," Cadpig said as she climbed. "Spot you can fly, sort of anyway. Just zip up there and pop the blimp."
"That might work Cadpig," Spot said. "Accept to make the helium leak out fast enough we'd need a rip almost the entire length of the balloon and said leak would bring it down so fast we'd all likely die in the crash. It could still work and we're heroes and all that but giving our lives isn't normally on the table for us."
"We'll make that Plan E," said Lucky. "Currently we're only on B though, I think we still have other options."
"We better use them fast," said Doc, he just caught site of the stadium looming in the distant just past the River Thames. "Time is running out."
"Well then it's time to deploy Plan C," said Lucky grabbing another of the mooring lines that no one was one. "Hey Patch remember that episode of the original Thunderbolt with the Cattle Rustlers of Cannonfire Canyon?"
"Yeah," said Patch, he was higher than the others on his line, he was one of the stronger pups and after his earlier fall he was motivated.
"Good then take this," said Lucky as he passed the rope up to Patch.
Patch's eyes lighted up as he realized what Lucky's Plan C was, he didn't however notice that the line Lucky gave him was slightly frayed.
At the stadium the game was winding down. The Dearlys and everyone else were on the edges of their seats. The game was still tied at 1-1 and both teams were now going all out to break the tie. No one wanted to see this one end in a draw and the teams were determined to break it. The clock ticked away, only 10:10 minutes and extra time remained. The fans, including the caped German and his Scandinavian friend, remained stoked as they took part in a stadium-wide Mexican Wave.
Meanwhile one member of the crowd was trying to reach his seat.
"Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me," said Prince Charles as he finally made his way back to the royal box with the beers. "Excuse me, royal privilege, coming though, pardon me."
Finally he reached his seat and handed his mother the Queen a drink.
"Here you are mother," said the Prince. "One standard football-match 10 quid beer."
"Well it took you long enough," said the Queen as she received her royal alcoholic beverage. "Still you were a good boy and got me my drink. Thank you Charles, you're a good son."
"Why thank you mother," said Charles. "And one day I'll make a good King too."
"Don't kid yourself Charlie," responded her royal highness as she opened the aluminum beer can.
"Yeah, you're right," said Charles as he sat down and opened his beer. "But one day my son will make a good King."
"Yeah, you raised him well," said the Queen as she sipped the beverage and got in on the cheering like all her countrymen. "GO ENGLAND!"
On the ground the other pups were trying to stay with the Kanine Krunchies blimp using an older red Ford Transit van that they had, err, "borrowed" from Epsilon's team. Rolly had pointed out they hadn't asked before borrowing it but hey it wasn't like it was Grand Theft Auto...well actually that was exactly what it was but given what Epsilon was doing at the time it seemed justified. The task of keeping up was surprisingly easy, Sparky was on the steering wheel but the van didn't even need to exceed the speed limit to properly keep up.
"You know I was almost expecting this to be a bit more like the smashy-crashy action stuff earlier from the freeway," said Patriot. "Thank goodness that didn't pan out."
"Yeah, who would have thought blimps were so slow," Marlene responded.
"There's a reason the zeppelin never caught on," said Hesso.
Even with the slow speed the
"Stay with him," said Kappa. "I don't know if there's anything we can do from the ground but if we don't try a lot of people are about to run out of luck."
As the red Transit crossed the Thames over the Westminster Bridge in the air the blimp was now getting close to the clock tower often called Big Ben.
On the blimp the Skayninians had run out of options, Omega had only found a small knife and it wasn't likely to cut the rope in time to stop the pups.
"Dare I say we're screwed," said Omega.
"No, don't," said Sigma. "If we can't stop them before the gondola we'll stop them in the gondola. A last stand for the glory of the Skayninians. There's only six of them and one of us is easily as good as two of them."
"Don't get cocky boys," said Iota. "They beat Epsilon once, they aren't pushovers."
Sigma wasn't listening. As the blimp was in the process of crossing over the Thames he moved to get closer to the door, sadly stuck open. He was loved getting the first move in...then suddenly a rope flew into the gondola. He jumped back only to have it wrap around his front paws in the process. He'd been lassoed!
On the lines Patch had a grin on his face.
"Ride'em cow dog," said Patch as he yanked the lasso back. "I got one."
Sigma was yanked out of the gondola into the open air, he dropped like a rock with a yelp.
"That'll take you out of this fight," said Patch as the black lab dropped past.
Patch's seemingly non-lethal solution suddenly took a turn. He hadn't noticed the rope was frayed and when it ran out of slack it ripped in two. All of the jaws on the blimp and off it dropped as Sigma was now in freefall toward the river below. He barely had time for last words
"Oh shi..."
At that exact moment a tug was pushing a garbage barge past the iconic clock tower. Sigma hit the metal edge of it with a CLUNK and his seemingly lifeless body ricocheted off it into the water and sank.
"I, I, I didn't mean to do that," said Patch, seemingly having just taken another canine's life.
"Don't dwell on it Patch," said Lucky. "We've still got a job to do."
The Skayninans were just as stunned as Patch. Sigma was one of their best bets, a strong pup and a good fighter. And now he was gone. Even Epsilon stood shocked, Sigma was more than just a follower he was his friend and he certainly didn't deserve to go out like that at the hand of some primitive no-nothing local yokel mutts who all too badly wanted to remain repressed by humans. Now it was personal. Omega could only stand frozen in shock, suddenly a dalmatian paw landed a good punch right on his muzzle and flung him back a bit toward Iota and Epsilon.
"Beg pardon, forgot to knock," said Lucky as he and his crew climbed aboard. "Thanks for holding the door open. We almost missed the flight."
Both sides were now fully ready for an all-out war...
Below by the river a crowd of tourists who were taking pictures at Big Ben were staring into the river unsure what they had just seen. No one was looking just down river at an access ladder. On the surface the water bubbled a bit before a soaking wet jet black puppy paw burst through the surface and grabbed the lower rung. And then another...
Yup Sigma's out of the fight but there's still so much to come. Will the pups successfully take over the blimp? Will Epsilon's plan come to fruitation? Will the Tower of London be brought out of retirement to lock this American author in it for using the British Royal family for unusually bluntcomic relief regal satire? Find out in London Calling PART 16...unless the last one comes to fruition in which case it's been great writing for you.
Also I just caught I had Patch fell off the mooring line in PART 13 but he's with the pups in PART 14 on them. Oops. We'll go with he silently grabbed one at the last second and got back into the fight to explain that away. Apparently I'm the only one who caught that so it wasn't a story breaker and I'm going to run with it.
Anyway here we go...
The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with a chain saw. Epsilon's aerial assault on the stadium was underway and if the pups didn't stop it in the next few minutes 90,000 people including the Dearlys, the Queen, the new PM and the entire English and German World Cup soccer teams were in for a very dog day afternoon. Worse yet Epsilon now knew they were coming as they tried their best to scale the blimp's mooring lines and reach the gondola.
Inside the gondola things were just as panicked. Epsilon had seen this before, in his previous attack he was seconds away from victory when those pesky dalmatians snatched it from him at the last moment. He was determined not to let it happen again. He had now personally taken the controls as Sigma had joined Omega in looking for something on board to slow the dals.
Just then Epsilon thought of something and flipped a switch to briefly put the blimp on autopilot. The stared into the amp and flipped his eyes to green and stared into his weapon but nothing emerged from it. A gauge on the side began to flash and fill up.
"One move ahead," said the border collie. "Always be one move ahead. Good thing this broadcaster is more advanced than my last one."
On the mooring lines the pups, minus frozen in fear Two-Tone but plus Spot, were desperately trying to climb the lines. Doing it with paws and wings wasn't easy but they were making progress.
"Wait a tick," Cadpig said as she climbed. "Spot you can fly, sort of anyway. Just zip up there and pop the blimp."
"That might work Cadpig," Spot said. "Accept to make the helium leak out fast enough we'd need a rip almost the entire length of the balloon and said leak would bring it down so fast we'd all likely die in the crash. It could still work and we're heroes and all that but giving our lives isn't normally on the table for us."
"We'll make that Plan E," said Lucky. "Currently we're only on B though, I think we still have other options."
"We better use them fast," said Doc, he just caught site of the stadium looming in the distant just past the River Thames. "Time is running out."
"Well then it's time to deploy Plan C," said Lucky grabbing another of the mooring lines that no one was one. "Hey Patch remember that episode of the original Thunderbolt with the Cattle Rustlers of Cannonfire Canyon?"
"Yeah," said Patch, he was higher than the others on his line, he was one of the stronger pups and after his earlier fall he was motivated.
"Good then take this," said Lucky as he passed the rope up to Patch.
Patch's eyes lighted up as he realized what Lucky's Plan C was, he didn't however notice that the line Lucky gave him was slightly frayed.
At the stadium the game was winding down. The Dearlys and everyone else were on the edges of their seats. The game was still tied at 1-1 and both teams were now going all out to break the tie. No one wanted to see this one end in a draw and the teams were determined to break it. The clock ticked away, only 10:10 minutes and extra time remained. The fans, including the caped German and his Scandinavian friend, remained stoked as they took part in a stadium-wide Mexican Wave.
Meanwhile one member of the crowd was trying to reach his seat.
"Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me," said Prince Charles as he finally made his way back to the royal box with the beers. "Excuse me, royal privilege, coming though, pardon me."
Finally he reached his seat and handed his mother the Queen a drink.
"Here you are mother," said the Prince. "One standard football-match 10 quid beer."
"Well it took you long enough," said the Queen as she received her royal alcoholic beverage. "Still you were a good boy and got me my drink. Thank you Charles, you're a good son."
"Why thank you mother," said Charles. "And one day I'll make a good King too."
"Don't kid yourself Charlie," responded her royal highness as she opened the aluminum beer can.
"Yeah, you're right," said Charles as he sat down and opened his beer. "But one day my son will make a good King."
"Yeah, you raised him well," said the Queen as she sipped the beverage and got in on the cheering like all her countrymen. "GO ENGLAND!"
On the ground the other pups were trying to stay with the Kanine Krunchies blimp using an older red Ford Transit van that they had, err, "borrowed" from Epsilon's team. Rolly had pointed out they hadn't asked before borrowing it but hey it wasn't like it was Grand Theft Auto...well actually that was exactly what it was but given what Epsilon was doing at the time it seemed justified. The task of keeping up was surprisingly easy, Sparky was on the steering wheel but the van didn't even need to exceed the speed limit to properly keep up.
"You know I was almost expecting this to be a bit more like the smashy-crashy action stuff earlier from the freeway," said Patriot. "Thank goodness that didn't pan out."
"Yeah, who would have thought blimps were so slow," Marlene responded.
"There's a reason the zeppelin never caught on," said Hesso.
Even with the slow speed the
"Stay with him," said Kappa. "I don't know if there's anything we can do from the ground but if we don't try a lot of people are about to run out of luck."
As the red Transit crossed the Thames over the Westminster Bridge in the air the blimp was now getting close to the clock tower often called Big Ben.
On the blimp the Skayninians had run out of options, Omega had only found a small knife and it wasn't likely to cut the rope in time to stop the pups.
"Dare I say we're screwed," said Omega.
"No, don't," said Sigma. "If we can't stop them before the gondola we'll stop them in the gondola. A last stand for the glory of the Skayninians. There's only six of them and one of us is easily as good as two of them."
"Don't get cocky boys," said Iota. "They beat Epsilon once, they aren't pushovers."
Sigma wasn't listening. As the blimp was in the process of crossing over the Thames he moved to get closer to the door, sadly stuck open. He was loved getting the first move in...then suddenly a rope flew into the gondola. He jumped back only to have it wrap around his front paws in the process. He'd been lassoed!
On the lines Patch had a grin on his face.
"Ride'em cow dog," said Patch as he yanked the lasso back. "I got one."
Sigma was yanked out of the gondola into the open air, he dropped like a rock with a yelp.
"That'll take you out of this fight," said Patch as the black lab dropped past.
Patch's seemingly non-lethal solution suddenly took a turn. He hadn't noticed the rope was frayed and when it ran out of slack it ripped in two. All of the jaws on the blimp and off it dropped as Sigma was now in freefall toward the river below. He barely had time for last words
"Oh shi..."
At that exact moment a tug was pushing a garbage barge past the iconic clock tower. Sigma hit the metal edge of it with a CLUNK and his seemingly lifeless body ricocheted off it into the water and sank.
"I, I, I didn't mean to do that," said Patch, seemingly having just taken another canine's life.
"Don't dwell on it Patch," said Lucky. "We've still got a job to do."
The Skayninans were just as stunned as Patch. Sigma was one of their best bets, a strong pup and a good fighter. And now he was gone. Even Epsilon stood shocked, Sigma was more than just a follower he was his friend and he certainly didn't deserve to go out like that at the hand of some primitive no-nothing local yokel mutts who all too badly wanted to remain repressed by humans. Now it was personal. Omega could only stand frozen in shock, suddenly a dalmatian paw landed a good punch right on his muzzle and flung him back a bit toward Iota and Epsilon.
"Beg pardon, forgot to knock," said Lucky as he and his crew climbed aboard. "Thanks for holding the door open. We almost missed the flight."
Both sides were now fully ready for an all-out war...
Below by the river a crowd of tourists who were taking pictures at Big Ben were staring into the river unsure what they had just seen. No one was looking just down river at an access ladder. On the surface the water bubbled a bit before a soaking wet jet black puppy paw burst through the surface and grabbed the lower rung. And then another...
Yup Sigma's out of the fight but there's still so much to come. Will the pups successfully take over the blimp? Will Epsilon's plan come to fruitation? Will the Tower of London be brought out of retirement to lock this American author in it for using the British Royal family for unusually blunt