Enter the Hound: The Origin of Inu

Chapter 14: Christmas Time in Skiffytown

 

            The room was dark save for the flickering glow of the monitor.  Dr. Moreau stared blankly at the screen as the security footage from the night of the break-out played over and over again.  He watched as that damned little dog-girl and her clones herded first the test subjects down to the sub-basement , and then his own employees out of the building.  Worse, he saw that her presence had gone completely unnoticed by his own security personnel.

            “Who are you?” he asked the screen as the footage replayed, skipping over anything and everything that he didn’t consider immediately relevant to the dog-girl.  This, incidently, was quite a lot.

            For three weeks, Moreau had done nothing but think and half-heartedly watch the security footage in the relatively safety of one of the abandoned houses in the deserted neighborhood.  He showered obsessively.  Between the constant bathing and the lack of light, Moreau’s skin had acquired an eerily pale glow that frightened even the mice who had taken up residence in the house.  He ate only when necessary, and only whatever he could acquire without leaving the house.  Some of what he ate was of questionable freshness.  Mostly, though, he stuck to peanut butter and crackers.  Peanut butter was his comfort food, and he always--ALWAYS--had it in bulk.  The crackers were a bonus.

            He picked up a jar of peanut butter that was sitting on the table next to the computer screen.  It was empty.  Tossing it over his shoulder, he reached down beside his chair and retrieved a new jar from the case at his feet.  He opened the jar, peeled back the paper seal, and deeply inhaled the fresh, nutty aroma.  Plunging a long, pale finger into the jar, Moreau scooped up a mount of peanut butter and shoved it into his mouth.  He closed his eyes, sucking and licking the finger clean and ignoring the computer screen completely.  So lost was he in sweet peanut buttery bliss that he failed to notice Dr. Pembroke’s participation in the mass exodus from the facility.

 

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            Upon entering her parents’ hotel room, Inu was attacked by an octopus.  Further investigation revealed that the octopus was in fact two entities instead of one, and that these entities were her mom and sister, but the effect was the same.

            “Can’t breathe,” Inu gasped.  “Let go!”

            Frostfire was also accosted, but in the same manner.  As soon as he walked into the room, a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder.  Looking up, Frostfire came face to face with Inu’s dad.

            “So tell me, what are your intentions with my daughter?” Joe asked in a low, rumbling voice.

            Feeling a tug at his jacket, Frostfire looked down and found Inu’s nephew glaring up at him.

            “Yeah,” Dominik said, trying to sound intimidating.  “What are your ‘tentions with Aunt Ashley?”

            “We’re so happy for you,” Tawnie said as she and Kelly continued to squeeze Inu.

            “Gotta admit, Ash, you found a hot one,” said Kelly.

            “Need...air....”

            It took a few minutes, but Inu finally managed to disentangle herself from Tawnie and Kelly’s arms and introduced them to Frostfire.  From there, Frostfire took over and answered any and all questions put to him.

            In other words, Frostfire was forced into a chair and interrogated.

            His full name was Coriander O’Malley.  He was majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice.  He lived on campus.  He was single, straight, and was indeed interested in a relationship with Ashley (who blushed deeply upon hearing that little forced confession).  He did not hunt, but he did like to go camping and fishing.  He was a Steelers fan (much to Joe’s approval).  He did not smoke, and he seldom drank.  He knew who Lane Frost was (much to Tawnie’s approval).  He understood the significance of the number 3.  He loved Jeff Dunham and Bill Engvall.  He knew how to cook and was capable of doing his own laundry.  He could perform basic repairs on his car.

            As far as Joe and Tawnie were concerned, he was perfect.  They immediately approved.

            Kelly was jealous.

            The Boyce family had no idea where they were going for dinner, and it was still early in the afternoon.  Being open to suggestions, they asked Inu and Frostfire if there was any place they preferred to eat.

            Inu and Frostfire exchanged glances.

            “Well,” Inu said after a pause, “there is this one place, but it’s about an hour away, so...”

            “Where is it?” Tawnie asked.

            “It’s a diner in Skiffytown,” Inu answered.  “But like I said, it’s an hour away and you guys probably don’t want to drive that far.”

            “Why not?” Joe said.  “It’s a special occasion.  The roads are good, and the forecast isn’t calling for snow.”

            Frostfire pulled a flyer out of his jacket.  Inu gave him a wary look, remembering what happened the last time they had taken advice from a flyer.

            “Don’t worry,” he chuckled, seeing Inu’s expression.  “I got this one from Jack’s shop the other day.  There’s a festival going on in Skiffytown later this evening.  They’re gonna have lots of activities for kids and adults alike, and the diner is right there in the thick of it.  Could be fun.”

            “What is Skiffytown?” Tawnie asked.  “Is it an amusement park or something?  Do you have to pay to get in?

            “No, mom,” Inu replied, scratching behind her right ear as she prepared herself for the onslaught of questions that was bound to come.  “Skiffytown is a real city...where superheroes live.”

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            An hour later, Inu and Frostfire were walking through Skiffytown with her family.  Preparations for the evenings main events were still underway, but there were street vendors and booths set up with fun activities for the masses of swarming children running around town.  Some of the local heroes were entertaining a group of children with demonstrations of their powers.  One in particular caught Dominik’s eye: a hero clad all in dark blue with lighter blue lightning bolts on his chest and leg, and incredibly spiky blonde hair.

            “Whoa, cool!” he said as he watched the blue-clad hero skated around the street as if it were ice, picking up speed until he was dark blue blur.  Kelly stopped and watched with Dominik for a few minutes while Inu and Frostfire headed up the street with Joe and Tawnie.

            “So these are all real superheroes,” Tawnie said.

            Inu nodded.  “Yeah, I know it’s kinda hard to believe, but it’s true.”

            “Not so hard to believe,” Frostfire said, opening his hand and forming a small fireball in his palm.  “We have seen stranger things, after all.”

            The fireball swelled and twisted, moving more like a liquid than a flame.  It morphed until it settled into the shape of a heart and the instantly frozen into a block of ice.  This he gave to Tawnie, whose eyes had gone wide at the unexpected display.

            Joe blinked a few times in amazement and started to ask if that display had anything to do with the Genome incident when his grandson came running toward him at top speed.

            “Grandpa!  Look what I got!”  The little boy skidded to a stop and held up a signed photograph for Joe to see.  Joe smiled and nodded as he took the photograph and looked it over.

            “Hey, that’s the guy you were watching,” he said, handing the picture to Tawnie.

            “His name is Blue Bolt,” Dominik said excitedly.  “He’s really fast, and he has spiky hair!”

            “Oh, don’t get him stared about the hair,” Kelly panted as she finally caught up to her son.  “I think those two talked more about hair than anyone I’ve ever known.”

            “But you were only over there a few minutes,” Frostfire said.

            “What can I say?  My kid’s a motor-mouth,” Kelly replied.

            “He also has Anti-Grabbity powers!” Dominik continued.  Tawnie started to correct him and ask if he meant “anti-gravity,” but Kelly stopped her and assured her that Dominik had used the correct term.  The boy continued to gush about his new favorite hero all the way to the diner, where he met other heroes and saw other cool displays of superpowers.

            Every time he met a new hero, he asked them if they had powers like Blue Bolt.

            And every time he asked that question, Kelly was right there, apologizing and looking embarrassed while Dominik told everyone about Blue Bolt’s hair.

            “This better not be a preview of things to come,” she said to Inu when they all finally settled down in a booth.  “If I have to hear about this Blue Bolt guy for the next three months, I’m holding you responsible.”

            “Can’t be worse than the ‘ninjun turtles’,” Inu said as she scanned the menu.

            Kelly rolled her eyes, but refrained from commenting