Hi. My name is Catherine Dred. Yes, that's right, Dred. Dr. Dred is my dad, unfortunately. Because of him, my childhood had a lot of ups and downs. More downs than ups actually.
You see, daddy dearest and I don't really get along all that well. From the moment I started showing an aptitude for science and technology, at about age 3, he's been trying to groom me for life as a Dred and as the future leader of O.G.R.E. We Dreds have always been rather loathsome, despicable, greedy, power hungry, cowardly, inconsiderate, and downright nasty, but its just not me. Besides, I don't like being used.
Mom left when I was 4. I tried to track her down once, but I was told by friends of hers that she didn't want to be found, EVER. I wonder why? Oh yeah! Now I remember!
Dad once tried to boost my brain power so that he could say that he was the father of the smartest child in the universe. At age 4 I was already reading at a college level, knew the periodic table of elements, and built a small computer from scratch. Unfortunately, some kid in Japan had done all that by 3 1/2, so daddy, not wanting to be outdone,decided to do something about it. He had me all wired up to gizmo and was going to turn it on when mom walked in. She screamed, grabbed me, ripped all the electrodes off, carried me to my room, threw some of my things in a suitcase, and proceeded to her room to get her things. All dad could do was follow her around and try to "reason" with her.
"But dearest, I thought you wanted our daughter to be smart."
"She is smart you imbecile!" she screamed."We're leaving and I'm filing for divorce!"
Well we did, and she did, and everything seemed to be going okay for a while until she found me building weird electronic things in my room. I guess that scared her because she got this strange look in her eyes and, without a word, she packed my things, drove me back to dad's, and dropped me off at the front door. I haven't seen or heard from her since. Rumor has it that she went straight to a mental hospital and checked herself in.
I hear people speculate on the odd blue color of dad's skin. Some people wonder if he's even really human. Well,he's definitely human. The blue skin is from an accident with my first chemistry set when I was 5.
For two whole months I had been asking my dad for a chemistry set for my birthday. He would always reply, "We'll see." in the sort of tone fathers use when they know they're going to get you exactly what you want.
There were tons of presents at my birthday party, but I only really wanted one. It was wrapped in bright colored paper with a big bow on top and a tag reading,"To:Kittie, From:Daddy". I ripped it open to find the most complete chemistry set you could find available for a 5-year-old. Without opening any more gifts, I grabbed it, kissed dad on the cheek and said,"Thank you, daddy!" and ran off to my room with it. Dad just sat there and beamed with joy.
All afternoon I studied the set and its contents. The suggested experiments that the set came with were much too boring for someone with my IQ of 180, so I concocted something of my own using some of the chemicals in the setand others from around the house that weren't included. The combination of chemicals had been volitile but I calculated that if the mixture were treated with ultra-violet light forexactly 24 hours, it would produce a harmless yet super powerful fertilizer that I was going to test on a plant of mine. It was late at night when I finished so I left it under a lamp, set a timer and went to bed.
I was fast asleep when dad came in to see how I was and must have been curious as to what his little junior scientist had been up to. I heard a "Fizzzzzzzz-POW" and woke up to find that he had taken the beaker out from under the lamp to look at it long before it was ready. It blew up all over him and the chemicals turned his skin permanently blue. Oops. He didn't punish me though. He was so excited that I had created something explosive and felt sure I was following in his footsteps. Wrong.
You might also wonder about the other members of O.G.R.E. Where did they come from? Who, or what, are they? Here is what I know.
Many people have seen the movie "The Fly". What they don't know is that it is based on an incident resulting in the fly creature who is now a member of O.G.R.E.
Dr. Jack Brindle was my father's lab partner. They invented the transportation machine together and, well, you've seen the movie, you know what happened.
They'd still have the machine except Dr. Brindle's fiancee got a wee bit upset to learn that her betrothed had been turned into a giant fly and hacked up the machine with an axe. Then she burned all of the plans and notes on the experiment in a wastepaper basket. She too apparently found her way to a mental hospital for therapy. What is it about O.G.R.E. that does that to women?
Well, not all women. Of course there's me being born into it, and then there's Vampira. She's been hiding out in America like Drak Pack has but for a lot longer. Her clan has all been wiped out in Europe, so she's all alone.
A word of warning to Drak Jr. She has a huge crush on you. (She seems to like younger men. Then again, who else is there?) She has a pinup photo of you in her room and, unbeknownst to dad, she has been trying to use her feminine charms to lure you into joining O.G.R.E. so you two can be together. Just keep your guard up and don't sign anything without reading it first.
Then there's Mummy Man. In life, almost 4000 years ago, he was the head security guard for King Ramenkamenamen of Egypt. When he died, he was mummefied and buried in a place of honor alongside the king due to a number of heroic acts he performed including foiling an assasination plot by the king's own brother who was jealous that he wasn't the first born. He was highly decorated by the king and was respectedby all who served during Ramenkamenamen's reign. Now, he's been reanimated and is a strong arm for my father. I ask you, where's the justice in this world?
Last, and possibly least, is Toad. Actually, I really do owe my thanks to the poor little beast. Remember the gadget my dad was going to use to boost my brain power? Mom had screamed at dad that he could have fried my brain or who knows what else rather than improved it. Dad was convinced that it would work, however, and after mom left with me, dad decided to prove it. The first thing he found outside as he watched mom drive away was, you guessed it, a toad. It apparently just sat there on the ground croaking and not much else. Kind of the way that frog on "Loony Toons" does when there's more than one person watching him. Dad thought it was the stupidest looking thing on the planet so he scooped him up, took him inside, hooked him up to the device and turned it on. Well, he's still the stupidest thing on the planet. He's just bigger and can talk. Dad put the brain booster on the scrap heap and hasn't tried doing anything like that to me since. Until now.
You see, I've been seeing Howler in secret. He's cute and sweet and funny and doesn't seem to care who my father is.
Things started getting serious when dad found out. Dad knocked me out with some sort of gas and when I awoke, He had turned me into a giant cat so that Howler and I would be incompatable. He told me it was for my "own good". Isn't that just like a father. Ruining a budding romance for some stupid reason like "I'm sorry, but I'm engaged in a battle between good and evil and your boyfriend's on the wrong side." Then he made threats against Howler if I still insisted on seeing him, so I ran off and am now in hiding and trying to get used to this "cat" thing.
I'm going by my nickname "Kittie". Dad always used to call me that which seems a little ironic now that he's turned me into one.
Now, I hear that Howler has a new girlfriend, so dad has apparently ruined a chance at happiness for me. So, if anybody wants any information that can help defeat my father and O.G.R.E., I'm on the web at [email protected].
See ya later.