Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 41

Better Late Than Never

The doorbell rang.

Straw Daq looked at Thunderfunk the Superchicken who stared blankly at his pilot.

The doorbell rang again.

Both man and chicken looked around, gazing at the walls and ceiling.

Once more, the doorbell rang.

Finally Straw ventured to speak. “Did...did you have a doorbell installed down here?”

“No...” said Thunder slowly, drawing out the word.

“Hey Thunder?”

“Yes?”

“The sock puppet is gone.”

“I know.”

They cowered in fear again.

This time, the doorbell tolled.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” snapped Thunder, suddenly angry. “I’m going to answer the door.” He rose to his feet and glancing fearfully at the last place they had seen the sock puppet, he strode towards the door.

“Which door?” came Straw’s quavering voice.

Thunderfunk stopped, considering. As a safety precaution against attack, he had installed a large number of doors, giving him many options for a hasty retreat. With a muttered curse, he turned towards Straw. “I’ll take this half,” he said, pointing to his right, “and you take the other half.” He stalked away, muttering under his breath.

Thirty minutes later they were down to four doors. The doorbell had continued to ring incessantly during the entire time. Every time it sounded, Straw let out a frustrated whimper. He opened a door cleverly hidden behind a large picture of a gate, but there was no one there.

Ding-dong. Whimper.

Thunder grabbed a door handle and flung it open. “What?!” he bellowed.

The figure at the door jumped back, startled. Thunder also jumped back, surprised to see someone standing there. Both took a moment to compose themselves as Straw wandered over.

“Here you go,” said the shadowy figure, thrusting a briefcase towards Thunder.

Nodding at his protege, Thunder watched as Straw grabbed the case and set it on a table before opening it. Even from a distance, Thunder could see that it was full of money. “What is this?” he growled.

“Ransom.”

“Ransom?”

“Yes, ransom.”

Thunder looked at the man, then at Straw, then back at the man. “Ah,” he said. And with that, he swung the door shut.

“Can we have our mayor back?” said the man, his voice muffled by the closed door. Thunder opened it, annoyed that the man was still there.

“Go away,” he said crabbily.

“I want to, but I need to take the mayor with me. You said we could have him back if we paid.”

“You did say that,” said Straw as he finished counting the money. Shutting the case, he picked it up again. “It’s all here, and there is even some extra.”

“Yeah, we want our bus drivers back too.” The man seemed almost sheepish, as though embarrassed to be asking for them as well.

Thunder’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he briefly considered killing the man where he stood, but all of the energy went out of him. “Very well,” he said, a pained look on his face. “But I’m keeping their pants.” He shut the door again.

Twenty minutes later the mayor marched through the door at the head of a long line of pantless men and women. When the last straggler had made his way out, the door was slammed shut again. Thunder and Straw left the secret lair and made their way to the sitting room.

“What just happened?” asked Thunder once they were settled in.

Straw merely shrugged. He opened the case again and looked inside. “Huh,” he said, closing it again, looking over at Thunder, resigned dismay written all over his face.

“Let me guess,” said Thunder, rubbing his temples as though that action was a miracle cure for headaches. “The sock puppet is in the case.”

“Yup.”

“And it wasn’t there before?”

“Nope.”

“And the case has not been opened or out of your hand since you counted it?”

“Not even for a second.”

“I think,” said Thunderfunk slowly. “That I,” he continued angrily. “That I may cry,” he finished weakly.

And he did.