Forward
This series was originally written over the course of hundreds of twitter messages. I have decided at this time to not rewrite the story. The only changes I have made are formatting to the chapter format, and correcting any spelling / punctuation errors.
Chapter 1
It was the day after New Year’s Day, and as Pudgy scampered through the snowy woods back to his home, he shivered and knew getting the wood stove fired up was the first order of business. The little hedgehog was finally relaxed and recovering from his trip to the snowy north. He was looking forward to calm days, playing in the snow, and many trips to Cobalt’s house for goodies and fun. The trees had lost most of their leaves, except a couple of the oak trees. The pines gently swayed, casting their fragrance throughout the woods. Pudgy made it to his cabin, and noticed the stream had run low, so the water wheel stopped turning. He made a note, he would need to check that later. He opened his door and scooted inside. Opening the hatch, he put in wood pellets and kindling, and started using the stove’s striker knob. Cobalt was worried about matches, so he had installed an igniter like a gas grill. Sparks dropped onto the wood, and soon a small member formed. Pudgy blew into the stove, and soon had a little fire going. His cabin was small, so it warmed quickly.
Sitting down at his table, the little hedgehog peeked outside and watched it start to rain. The woods were quiet, which gave him time to think. He wondered if Xylenia was ok, and what Lord Doomcock was up to? He could ask via his crystal, but something told him he shouldn’t. As the day progressed, Pudgy continued to do chores in and around his home. The skies darkened, and the little hedgehog made supper. As he was doing his dishes, he heard a tap on his door. Pudgy scooted over and opened the door. There was a large snout sniffing. Had stopped by for a visit. Pudgy waved, “Hello Mister Dino!” The dinosaur backed up, and waved with one of his little arms, “hello Pudgy! Thank you for the goodie package you dropped off the other day!” Pudgy bounced, “you’re welcome. Pudgy glad you like pepperoni bread.” The hedgehog scooted inside and brought back some sweet bread. He tossed it high, and the dinosaur snatched it in his mouth, munching. “Mmfrmmm…” the dinosaur said. Pudgy sat outside of his cabin door and chatted with his friend. He filled in where Xylenia had wandered
Off to, and his activities as of late. The dinosaur listened, as the hedgehog acted out scenes from his journey. The parts where Pudgy was blown up, drew a look of concern. “Pudgy, you have to be more careful.” The dinosaur admonished his furry friend. Pudgy nodded, “Pudgy knows, and very glad to be home.” His large scaled friend nodded, and the two watched the moon rise through the sky. The dinosaur sighed, “I need to go Pudgy. Thank you for the sweet treat.” Pudgy waved, and watched his large friend walk away, tail wiggling. A couple days passed, and far below in Xanadoom, the future ruler of the world too was recovering from the events that transpired in the frozen north. The giant robot was stored away in its berth, the reactors being refueled, and weapon systems resupplied. As he sat in his large media room, he sat in an overstuffed green chair, and sipped a scotch. His life had been very busy as of late, which was unexpected. He had made grand plans and were all delayed or sped up by the inclusion of a small brown furred hedgehog. His subterranean fortress was secure, and the Vril threat was now dealt with, which left him time to pursue other pursuits. Doomcock got out of his chair and strode towards the elevator which led to the lower levels. The doors swung open, and he entered.
Pressing the button to descend, he would check in on his Eldritch friend. As the lord mentioned many times in his videos and live streams, Harvey Cthulhu was safely contained. He had made many preparations, and safeguards were in place. But something kept reappearing in his mind, how exactly did Harvey get supplies to Pudgy on the surface? He had been secretly working on that question, and he needed an answer or two. Whether Harvey would provide the answers he sought, that was a question that could not be answered at the time. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The stone hallway was smooth basalt, and dimly lit by the errant security light. Reactor room was painted in a block font with reflective white paint. Doomcock walked at a fair pace and maneuvered the halls out of memory.
In a short time, he had reached the chamber with the reactor cores. His platform where he recorded his videos was set up with a variety of equipment, but that was not where he would go today. Descending a long set of metal stairs, he headed lower. As he descended around the cores, which if measured would be over 200 feet in height by 25 feet in diameter, were grouped close together in a tri core design. Core number one was designed by and built by his grandfather. It had been over a hundred years, and the core was still functional. Core 2 was designed by his father and supplied the bulk of his power needs. Core number 3 was still being built, and Doomcock watched as his automated robots were assembling the various parts of the power plant. He couldn’t help but smile, because when the time would come, Xanadoom power would be unparalleled. There would be no question who was in command of the earth. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the lord turned towards a steel security door. Removing his glove from his right hand, he placed it upon a scanner. “Recognize, Lord Doomcock,” the metallic voice stated as the door began to open. The door for safety purposes did not open fully. Instead opening only enough for him to enter. Entering the room, he reached what he had sought. There was a triple walled containment chamber, which glowed a faint green hue. Inside Harvey Cthulhu floated. The eldritch God turned and blinked. “Oh, you came in person?” To save time, Doomcock had made it so monitors could project Harvey in the floating chamber above for the videos. He also had an intercom to communicate with. The lord nodded, “yes, I have a question, Harvey.” The god looked annoyed, “come back tomorrow. I’m busy.”
Doomcock looked around the chamber, “Yes I can see that. Harvey, how did you get the supplies to Pudgy?” The God blinked, “I know not of what you speak of. How can I do anything? I’m trapped in this darned fishbowl.” The chamber was indeed like a fishbowl, which was then enclosed within an outer containment vessel with arsenic gas, then within another chamber with an Ozone gas. Each seal had explosive fail safes, so there was no way for Harvey to escape without much damage to himself or the chamber. The doors were rigged to seal shut, and weld automatically, with a vacuum seal to suck the air out of the room. The lord really had thought of everything. The lord snapped at him, “You gosh darn well know what I am talking about. I know you hacked the robots. While everything worked out in the end you have interfered in my plans for the last time, Harvey.” The god sneered, “what are you going to do you impotent jerk.” The two laughed, and Doomcock forgot to turn off the profanity filter he had installed in Xanadoom. Then as the lord reached the intercom panel, he started to unhook some wires from the intercom. Harvey stammered “what … what are you doing?” The intercom would still work, but certain other abilities the god had, were being removed one by one. “I am taking measures to ensure you cannot work behind my back again.” Doomcock stood up and watched Harvey’s eyes glow red and started thrashing inside the containment chamber. The intercom was turned off for now, but where the tentacles were on his face, they were moving violently. The lord turned his back, and exited the chamber, letting the doors seal shut once more.
As the god started to calm down, he floated and stewed in his anger. It was his arrogance that caused him to be caught so many years prior. But when you are immortal, time is not an enemy, but an opportunity. He had a plan, though the removal of the intercom would not stop his evil plans, just merely delay them. He had managed to get a couple communiques to the surface, and whether the supposed future ruler knew it or not, plans were in place. Events were in motion, and while his attention had been shifted elsewhere, measures were initiated. His freedom was close at hand, and his wrath would be swift upon Xanadoom and its ruler. Harvey grinned as only he could, and started to study what Doomcock had done, trying to find a work around solution. A female voice called out, “It’s not going to work, Eldritch one.” Harvey turned and noticed a tall pale skinned woman with a white fluffy coat adorned with feathers. Her piercing blue eyes glowed. The god grinned, ” Hecate’s, I see you are making the rounds. Worry not my dear, I have plans in place. I will free myself, and reign over this universe once more. I knew your mother when she was young, and her mother before that.” Hecates smiled, and adjusted her feathers, “Harvey Cthulhu. If you are planning what I think you are, your actions will have consequences. Are you prepared?” The god grinned, “I will make Doomcock rue the day that he imprisoned me.” The magical woman nodded and disappeared within a cloud of fog.
As the fog parted, she was upon the surface world once more. Leaning on her staff of white Birchwood, she frowned. “I hope not what he plans comes to pass.” The mysterious woman turned to face the west, knowing she needed to visit a small cabin with a water wheel and furry occupant. Measurements of temperament were needed, and intention. If he would be called again to act, could he sacrifice what would be necessary? She did not know, and that concerned her. Time quickly passed and soon it was the next day. It was a brilliant blue sky with wispy clouds floating around long. Pudgy’s cabin chimney was puffing out white smoke. A cloud of mist appeared, and Hecate appeared beside the cabin. Height wise, the top of the cabin came to her waist. The water wheel was turning at a fair pace, and the grinding gears of the alternator were quiet but noticeable. She saw stacks of firewood, piled in neat rows. The woods were brown, with a heavy cover of leaves, so if her target was hiding, it would be difficult to find him. The tall woman walked around and knocked on his little door. The door opened, and the hedgehog peeked out. “Pudgy, dost thou remberst us from the north?” The hedgehog rubbed his chin, and nodded, “Hecate, Pudgy remember.” The woman’s blue stained lips curled into a smile, and she motioned, “I need to ask questions, is now a good time to call?” The hedgehog nodded, then quickly scooted past her to clean off a nearby wooden bench. Then he scampered back inside the cabin. The curious woman walked to the prepared spot and watched as her host scampered out with a tea pot and cups.
Pudgy also made a trip back and forth for a little jar in a bear shape. As Pudgy climbed up on the bench beside her, he started to pour her tea. Hecate giggled, “my word … tea and biscuits. A proper meeting. How are thou feeling?” Pudgy bounced happily, “Pudgy good. How Hecate?” The woman smiled, “I am well.” Pudgy handed her a cup of tea in a simple white porcelain cup. The hedgehog had to use both paws, which she took. Raising the cup, she sniffed, and it did smell like tea. She watched him pour a much smaller cup and sipped. Graciously she took a sip, and the drink was proper. “This taste of London Variety.” Pudgy nodded, “cobalt got it for Pudgy. Come in red can, twinny I think.” He opened the bear jar and offered a cookie. Reaching her fingers into the jar, she withdrew one. The two sat quietly, as the cool wind ruffled the tree branches above. “This is a nice place, Pudgy.” The hedgehog nodded, “Cobalt lives over there. And Mister dinosaur lives back there.” The hedgehog narrated as he pointed. Hecate looked at her furry host, “My dear hedgehog, dost thou know what is occurring far below in Xanadoom?” The hedgehog shook his head no. The woman started to lose her smile, “I fear Lord Doomcock may overlook the danger within his realm.” Pudgy looked worried, “is he gonna be ok?” She adjusted her feathered headdress and looked towards the distant skies. “His dark secret endangers us all. I fear the wrath of his charge is soon upon us all. If the eldritch one was to hurt Cobalt, what would thou do?” Pudgy frowned, “why would Harvey hurt us? He just grumpy.” Hecate snapped at him, “answer me!” Her eyes started to glow silver, and Pudgy started to back away. She was scaring him, “please, Pudgy … don’t want anyone hurt. Pudgy help.” The woman’s eyes pierced him, like Santa did during his last adventure. Pudgy slid off the bench and started to back away.
The woman’s eyes softened, but the scared hedgehog scampered into his cabin and shut the door. She could hear the lock snap shut. An uncomfortable silence snapped the environment, and she was alone in the woods. Setting the cup down on the bench, she stood up. She had her answer, though the method to obtain it, could have used a bit more rehearsing. She looked around, and then disappeared in a cloud of mist. Pudgy had locked himself in the cabin and was hiding under his table. He hoped the woman would not rip his roof off or do something else. Her eyes burned in his mind, and the words ran over and over. Pudgy started to whimper, ears folded down. Why would Harvey want to hurt Cobalt, or anyone else for that matter? As the day progressed, the light faded until it was dark outside. He did not dare light his lanterns, what if she was still outside? Luckily the woodstove still was burning, and the cabin was warm. He fell asleep under the table and woke up the next day with a sore back. As the little hedgehog crawled out from under the table, he peeked out the windows. The forest was empty, and a heavy frost covered the leaves. Pudgy needed to check outside and get his teapot and cookie jar back. So slowly he unlocked the door and scampered out to the bench. Picking up the cookie jar, the hedgehog turned, and found the woman had returned and was standing in front of his door. “Pudgy, I…” she started to speak. The hedgehog froze, she never left. Pudgy would never see Cobalt again. She tapped her white staff, “wish to apologize for yesterday. It is of utmost importance …” He was letting her talk, waiting for the chance to get back into his cabin. “I determine your willingness to.” As the woman adjusted her stance, boom he started to run. Before Hecate knew it, he had shot between her ankles, and back into the cabin.
As the door was starting to slam shut, she stuck her staff inside, barring it from fully closing. Kneeling, she looked inside the little cabin. The hedgehog was peeking from behind the door, trying to push the door shut. Frowning, “Pudgy, art thou frightened?” He nodded, and she sighed, “I did not mean to. I am sorry.” He stopped trying to push the door shut. “Why is Harvey going to hurt Cobalt? Why scare Pudgy, Hecate?” The woman nodded, “the truth then. Lord Doomcock has missed something. Plans are in motion, occurrences hath been wrought. The time of the conjunction is soon upon us, by the time of the equinox, he will be free. On Luna you will find the gate.” The woman reached inside and tapped his head gently, then pulled him outside for a gentle hug. The Hedgehog was not afraid but was still leery of her. He wasn’t fully understanding what she spoke of. The embrace ended, and she placed him back inside. Pudgy watched as she faded away, going translucent, “Goodbye my furry friend.” The confused critter sat in an uncomfortable silence. He then slammed the door shut, and barricaded himself inside. He started to board up his windows. Pudgy did not know what or who he was dealing with, so he had to be careful. He opened his floorboards and squeezed through to the basement he had. It was a crawlspace, where he stored extra supplies, and the battery Cobalt installed. He pulled the boards back and hid. There were gaps in the field stone, so he could see out and around. His eyes grew heavy, and the critter fell asleep. It was after many hours that Cobalt had appeared to check on his friend. There had been no texts, nor hedgehog visits for a couple days. So, when he found a spilled teapot, and broken cookie jar outside a barricaded cabin, he grew worried.
“PUDGY!” the worried man called out. The forest was silent, and he started to try to get into the cabin, but the door was tight. There was a crack in the boxes in front of a window, and he peeked inside. “Pudgy, are you ok?” After a few tense worried moments passed, cobalt heard whimpering, and saw the floorboards move. Pudgy climbed up and raced to open the door. The door swung wide, and Pudgy jumped up to start hugging Cobalt. The little critter was a wreck. His human friend hugged back, letting him cry, and recover. Many minutes passed with no words, just the sounds of a wailing hedgehog. Cobalt was looking around, noticing footprints around the cabin. “Pudgy, who visited you?” The hedgehog sniffed and started to cry again. The concerned man carried him over to the bench and sat down with the upset hedgehog. He tried to console him, but nothing worked. Cobalt reached down and pick up the bear shaped cookie jar. The lid had broken, though the rest was ok. There were no cookies inside. “No cookies, your visitor must have eaten them.” Pudgy looked up, and he started quickly telling his friend what happened. The man listened and kept an eye on the forest. Time passed, and the two sat thinking. Cobalt nodded, “Hecate seems like she was trying to warn you about Harvey for some reason. We should tell Doomcock.” Pudgy nodded and tapped the Xanadoom crystal in his vest. “Lord Doomcock, are you there?” Pudgy looked around and watched as Cobalt warily scanned the forest. The strange woman was not around. The crystal remained silent. “Perhaps he is sleeping, ” Cobalt muttered, and stood up, with Pudgy hopping down. The two friends helped get the cabin back in order, with Pudgy trying the crystal every couple of moments with still no communication from Xanadoom.
As this was occurring above, far below in Xanadoom, things were occurring. The alarms were sounding, and the underground lair was in full lock down. Diktor had put on his helmet, and regal looking riot armor. The robot guards were standing in combat mode, weapons drawn and pointed towards the reactor core. The power plant was shaking, and tremors rippled through the fortress. Doomcock slowly crawled on his hands and knees, to try to see what was occurring. The red hazard lights were flashing. Poking his head slowly over the short wall, he saw the cores of the reactor. The pressure doors to Harvey’s containment chamber were blown off their hinges, but not in an outward manner. They had been forced inwards, and deep gashes ripped along the walls. What appeared outside of the doors was something Diktor had never seen.
Tall, pale, almost translucent, beings with gray skin and large black eyes were standing guard. The alarms continued, and realizing just exactly what was going on, he reached into his belt. Pulling out a hyper flash grenade, he primed the charge, pulled the pin, and tossed it towards the stairs. The small object quickly bounced down the metal stairs and exploded into a strobe of intense bright light. “Attack my robot forces!” Doomcock called out, as the robots started to swarm the reactor room. The tall beings rubbed their eyes, and with a motion of their three fingered hands, caused the robots to explode one by one. “Open fire, be careful not to hit the cores!” The robots one by one started to fire laser beams of red or green color at the tall beings, who were struck down. As the forces of Xanadoom pressed forward, an ear-piercing sound echoed through the room, causing Diktor to drop to his knees, and watch as a miasma of green mist started to ooze out of the room.
A loud booming voice rang out, “FINALLY!” the eldritch God floated out to where the translucent figures were standing barely. Harvey waved his tentacles, and the robots exploded into a shower of dust. His eyes burned red, and examined the reactor room, spotting Doomcock kneeling, clutching his helmet. Harvey smirked, “enjoy my new allies present Diktor. Your brain will hemorrhage before you can make it down the steps. You really should have pressed the button last year. But now, I must be off.” The translucent beings bowed slightly, and one by one, white light shafts covered each, before shooting upwards at a high rate of speed. Harvey floated over to core 2 and lashed out. Thrashing against the shielding, he punctured the coolant systems. A robotic voice exclaimed, “REACTOR FAILURE IMMINENT.” The eldritch god smiled, and soon too was covered in the white light, quickly disappearing.
The noise started to dissipate, and Diktor could move once more. He struggled to his feet and ripped off his helmet. Blood was pouring out of his nose, and as he moved towards the control panels, he started an emergency core shut down. Holding his nose shut, trying to stop the bleeding. His eyes pulsed, with the room starting to spin. The panels flashing red indicated 60 seconds to core failure, Doomcock worked the keyboard frantically. The lights started to turn off one by one, and a huge metal tube started to descend from the ceiling and rise from the floor around core 2. A loud clang rang forth when the two parts met, and the containment seals hissed as lockdown occurred. The boards turned green one by one, until the shutdown measures were completed. Doomcock dropped down and passed out. He lay on the steel grates floors beneath the computer terminals. “Leopold core shut down completely. Xanadoom operational status 25%.”
Doomcock’s wrist started to light up, ” Lord Doomcock, are you there.” The little hedgehog’s voice was coming through the speaker in the watch band communicator, that resembled the kind of device Dick Tracy would wear. Every couple of minutes Pudgy’s voice would call out, and as the future ruler came to, he raised his arm, and moved the communicator towards his mouth. “Pudgy … now is …. not a good time to play.” The hedgehog spoke again, “Hecate visited Pudgy, scared really badly, but had a message don’t understand.” Diktor blinked, watching the room stop spinning he blurted out wearily, “what was the message?” Pudgy cleared his throat, “Lord Doomcock has missed something. Plans are in motion, occurrences hath been wrought. The time of the conjunction is soon upon us, by the time of the equinox, he will be free. On Luna the gate you find.” Doomcock coughed hard, clearing his chest, and spat out a bit of blood he had swallowed. “That would have been useful information 2 hours ago. Pudgy, Harvey has broken free. He had help from the grays.” Cobalt spoke, “are you ok Lord Doomcock?” As the lord sat up, “I will recover, I can repair the damage to Xanadoom. But Harvey free is a bigger problem than anyone could ever imagine. Cobalt … help Pudgy defend his cabin, you will most likely be the next target of his wrath. I will send robots to help, when I get the teleportation grid functional. Doomcock out.” Pulling himself off the steel floor, the future ruler set forth to start repairs to the power plant. He knew a secret, and that would buy everyone time. Time to plan and take measures to stop the eldritch god from destroying the planet. Far above on the surface, Cobalt turned to face Pudgy. The skies had darkened as sunset approached. The little hedgehog watched in horror as his human friend’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed on the ground. Pudgy scampered over shaking his friend desperately, “Cobalt no, please be ok.”
Pudgy got the feeling he was being watched and looked above. A huge disc shaped object was floating silently above his cabin. A soft purplish light cascaded over the woodland forest. “You go away now! You hurt Cobalt!” The little hedgehog exclaimed, shaking his paws in the air. Pudgy turned, and noticed thin figures about four feet high, gray skin, bulbous heads with black eyes had surrounded his cabin. They stood motionless, watching. The hedgehog stood up and looked around. “Go away, Pudgy no want you here “a familiar voice starting to descend from the ship. “Pudgy hedgehog…. I will go where I darn well please.” Pudgy looked up and Harvey was descending towards him. The eldritch God’s eyes were burning red, his body starting to grow, regaining definition. Pudgy looked up, and then back at Cobalt’s motionless body. “What did you do to Cobalt?” The god smirked, “the same thing I did to Doomcock earlier. You had your chance to free me, and yet you didn’t. You chose to side with Diktor. But I have to thank you, hedgehog. You did the very thing I needed to escape. Your actions opened the door for me to communicate with my allies. The grays as your human friends call them, reside in my dimension. We will take control here soon enough.” A tentacle wrapped around Pudgy and started to squeeze tight “No more adventures for you, Pudgy.” Pudgy started to black out, he couldn’t breathe. Pudgy tried to break free, while the eldritch god cackled with an evil laugh.
ROOOAAARRRR! a huge roar boomed throughout the forest, as Grumpasaurus charged forward over the hill. Thrashing his tail, he flung the gray aliens into the trees. Tyrannosaur eyes full of rage, almost glowing, locked onto Harvey. “You put the hedgehog down NOW!” Grumpasaurus boomed and rammed his head into the spacecraft. The purple light faded, and the ship began to rise. Harvey dropped Pudgy’s motionless body onto the ground, as the grays disappeared one by one in shimmers of light. The eldritch God boomed, “dinosaur, you will rue the day you crossed me.” And soon Harvey too disappeared. The dinosaur roared in anger, causing the trees to shake. As the spacecraft ascended into the skies above, the shimmering started. It disappeared slowly out of view. The dinosaur looked down, and saw Cobalt’s nose bleeding, and Pudgy laying on the ground beside him. Pushing his snout into the human, he groaned. “Cobalt, you ok?”
The man patted the dinosaur’s nose and sat up blinking his eyes. “What was that? I heard a loud pitch, and then the world disappeared?” He looked over and saw Pudgy laying on the ground. Picking up his furry friend, “pudgy, you ok?” He touched his belly and pushed gently. The hedgehog’s eyes opened, and he wiggled. The dinosaur’s concerned eyes were looking at him, and the hedgehog waved back. “Harvey did attack us like Doomcock said. Thank you, mister Dino.” The dinosaur grinned as only he could. Cobalt stood up weakly and staggered over to the nearby bench. Pudgy scampered into his cabin and brought out a large meaty treat for mister dinosaur. He tossed it into the large mouth. Then the critter went back inside his cabin. He came out with cups of water. Cobalt gratefully accepted it and sipped. He looked up above into the skies above, then to the dinosaur. “We’re lucky you were in the area.” The dinosaur nodded, “I saw the strange craft in the sky, and came to explore. When I saw you fall, then Pudgy get attacked, I charged.”
The hedgehog sipped from a tiny Doomcock helmet mug, “Pudgy glad you did. Mister dinosaur saved us, thank you.” The crystal that Pudgy wore glowed, “pudgy, this is Diktor Von Doomcock, are you all right?” Pudgy looked at his friends, “Pudgy and Cobalt attacked by Harvey. Mister Dino came to save us.” The lord laughed heartily, “I am glad you have a dinosaur living nearby. My friends, you now see what we are up against?” Cobalt walked over and sat beside the cabin, “it looked like Harvey is with the gray aliens.” The lord cleared his throat. “Yes, Harvey’s home dimension is where they are from. Until today, I did not know they were in league with him. Friends, we must stop Harvey.” Cobalt rubbed his chin, “that sounds fine, but how do we stop a god working with aliens?” The dinosaur nodded and started to lay down beside the cabin. Doomcock continued, “long ago when I captured Harvey, I was able to trick him. I made a wager that I won, which resulted in the eldritch god splitting his body. What you have seen is essentially his brain. His body is imprisoned in a safe spot, far away from prying eyes.”
Cobalt looked up as the moon started to rise over the horizon, “the moon…” Pudgy and Grumpasaurus looked up as well. Diktor coughed, “yes my friends. Specifically, a deep crater on the far side of the moon.” Cobalt covered his eyes, knowing full well what this meant. Pudgy bounced and pointed, “PUDGY GOING TO MOON!” Cobalt shook his head, “Pudgy, this is serious. There are a thousand things that can go wrong with this plan. NASA doesn’t go to space anymore, and last time I checked, I don’t have a couple million dollars to buy a rocket flight. Doomcock sighed, “this will be our most dangerous and difficult adventure yet. I have some things, but I never planned an orbital campaign. For now, we must begin to plan. Cobalt, I need you to take point on this. Do not let Pudgy’s enthusiasm cloud his judgement. I will contact you shortly, Doomcock out.” Cobalt nodded, “Cobalt, Pudgy, Dino out.”
The three friends sat there in the quiet forest. The man took out a handkerchief and blew his nose. More blood came out. Pudgy crawled up on his lap and hugged his friend. Cobalt rubbed the dinosaur snout, sighing. After securing the cabin, and building some barricades, Cobalt left his hedgehog friend in the accompaniment of his Dinosaur friend. The dinosaur, after ensuring no return of aliens, also left, leaving Pudgy alone with his thoughts. He fell asleep, though restless, checking the windows for any sign of alien life, or scary lady returns. Night turned into day, and Pudgy awoke in his bed. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with a paw. Then scooted out of bed to make a late breakfast. He peeked out of his barricaded windows. Cobalt said he would be over later. As Pudgy sat down at his table, he munched on polenta. Worrying about Harvey and his allies but trying to focus. The moon was far away. Much farther than Xanadoom, and dangerous to get to according to Cobalt. How would he get there? The hedgehog didn’t know. Cobalt did come over to check on his hedgehog friend. He brought donuts, and unsweetened teas. As Pudgy was sitting on his friend’s lap munching a donut hole, the man pointed up.” The moon is 239,000 miles that way. If I drove 65 miles an hour, it would take 155 days to drive 24 hours a day, nonstop, no gas or food breaks. Pudgy, this is a monumental task. There is no way we can get to the moon without help of some sort.” The hedgehog nodded, and continued munching. Cobalt always brought donut holes, which lent themselves to hedgehogs better. Cobalt hugged him gently, “Pudgy, we’re going to build a rocket. Money is tight, but I will get you up there somehow. It’s the trip back I’m worried about.” Cobalt chuckled, he had wanted to go into space his whole life. Turned out, he would help Pudgy do it.
Cobalt and Pudgy sat quietly munching donuts while the skies darkened, and the moon rose. “Hecate was right, Pudgy, the conjunction refers to the closest point between the earth and moon, and it is around the spring solstice. We have a month and half till spring, and it will be wintertime in Pennsylvania.” Pudgy nodded. After another hug, his friend headed home, leaving an excited hedgehog souped up on sugar, to start planning his trip. Cobalt had given him a smartphone, with lots of data, so the hedgehog started researching. Hours passed, the sun rose, and Pudgy kept to work. Papers were everywhere, space temperatures, moon distance, rocket types. Another yummy lunch of polenta, and donut holes, kept the hedgehog wired and working diligently. Cobalt would be over again later after work. But the clock was ticking, quickly.
However, while Pudgy was busy at his house, Cobalt was trying hard to focus at work. This was the first time that Pudgy’s little adventurers directly impacted him. This plan to send Pudgy to the moon had so many moving parts, he needed help. Doomcock was still offline, as repairs to Xanadoom were still in progress. Pudgy was sending him a flurry of texts and emails with space related information. It was then as the man was reviewing posts, and related material, he noticed that Comix Villain was liking many of his space related questions. He sent a private message, “Hello Comix, Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be able to help with a space project?” Some time passed, and a return message came back, “Oh, what were you thinking Cobalt?” Cobalt rubbed his chin; would it be a good idea to reveal everything now? He shook his head, and typed, “Pudgy and I are interested in space, and was wondering if you or one of your fellow villain consorts knew of a good place to browse aeronautical salvage around Pennsylvania?” The message typing dots started to animate, “Why yes I do, ole Snickle lives somewhere around your neck of the woods, let me ask him. I hope you are not planning to send Pudgy into orbit. I don’t think the darlings would be too keen on a hedgehog in space.” Cobalt chuckled and logged off for the day. Moving quickly, he headed to his car.
He stopped by the hardware store for a variety of supplies and got the big cart. The cashier laughed, as he had a load of fence poles, post hole digger, ropes, and a variety of hardware both wood and metal. He stuffed his vehicle, and gingerly got inside, shutting the door. Driving as quick but safe to Pudgy’s house, he reached the path where he would normally walk. But throwing the vehicle into 4wd low, , he started to drive into the forest. He found a confused hedgehog standing in his doorway. Cobalt waved and started to unload. Pudgy scampered up, “What all this?” Cobalt narrated, “Pudgy, we need to prep your home for construction. If we use that Saturn 1 rocket design, we need a way to disguise a 55-foot-long rocket. I’m going to the hunting store tomorrow, to get winter / fall camouflage. We’re going to build a huge tent, and once that is in place, we can start the actual construction. I have a possible contact working on parts for the rocket. Hopefully Doomcock gets back online, so we can see what Xanadoom has to offer in terms of logistics.
It was in the 50’s, which was unusually warm for PA. So he took off a couple of his shirts. Cobalt had an office job, but had thrown in the car work clothes, which was good foresight, as he was a muddy mess. Driving the fence poles in, he had run a line beside and around the little cabin. Pudgy was busy too, moving supplies around, and making tea and refreshments. Cobalt was working hard, and the night started to fall. Turning on the vehicle’s headlights, he illuminated the area. “Pudgy, if we work at night, we will need a better light source than the car.” Pudgy nodded, “we could build fires?” Cobalt shook his head, “yeah, but that has dangers of setting the forest on fire. I do believe I need to build a forge, and perhaps a tool shed out here too. Plus, we will need to get some more batteries, to boost your power storage.” The two friends worked hard through the night, till both could not move any more, and dropped by Pudgy’s house. Sipping tea from a small mug, Cobalt laughed when the hedgehog laid on his lap going, “ow ow ow.” Cobalt’s phone buzzed; it was Comix.
“Hi Cobalt, the villains are all curious, and want to do a skype call. Are you available?” Comix saw on his phone a box appear with a middle-aged man covered in mud, with a Hedgehog sitting on his shoulder waving. Comix started to choke on his water, holy crap, Pudgy really was real! Cobalt said, “Hello Comix. Were you able to find out anything?” The man appeared as well, wearing a dashing outfit, and a partial mask. “Yes, Snickle was able to locate an air force supply collector nearby, it is around somewhere called Erie, Pennsylvania.” Cobalt nodded, “about 4 hours north of here. What do they have?” Another voice joined, this time with a duck in a fedora picture, “They have aircraft parts, and radios. Cobalt, and umm .. Pudgy, what are you planning?” Other images started to appear, and Cobalt nodded, “Ok, you guys know about Harvey Cthulhu from Doomcock’s channel?” Comix nodded, “He’s real. So is Doomcock, and we were both attacked a couple days ago. I need to build a rocket, to get Pudgy into space.”
Pudgy's Adventures 