HB House: By Cullen Pittman Episode 2: Return of the Spud As we check in on HB House, we see Yogi, Dynomutt, and Howler in the living room sitting on a couch in front of the TV set eating snacks. "There's nothing like chips along with a family of dips. Hey Hey Hey!" smiled Yogi as he was grabbing a whole handful of potato chips from his bag and dipping them in a bunch of dips spread out on the table. "You guys want some chips?" asked Yogi. "No thanks Yogi", said Dynomutt. "I've got enough chips inside of me, see." And he opened up his chest and showed Yogi all the different computer chips inside him. "And we carnivores prefer pork rinds", said Howler. "Along with some couch stuffing on the side", and he started pinching some stuffing off the couch while mixing it with his pork rinds. "And I prefer my can of assorted nuts", said Dynomutt holding a small cylinder shaped can. "Assorted nuts?!" said Yogi. "That's one of my favorites. Do you mind sharing Dyno?" "Be my guest", smiled Dynomutt as he opened his can and let Yogi take and bite into a nut. "OOCH!" wailed Yogi as he took the nut out of his mouth and rubbed his jaw. "What kind of nut is this?" asked Yogi as he studied it and found out it was a metal screwing nut. "It's pure silver", smiled Dynomutt showing Yogi the can of different colored metal nuts. "If you'd like, I can give you the copper nuts. They taste yucky and make my teeth yellow." "No thanks", said Yogi. "I'm sticking with my potato chips!" and he reached into the bag and scooped out a handful of chips and continued watching the TV. "Cool, it's time for the Couch Potato Hour!" smiled Dynomutt as a remote control popped out of his nose and changed the channel. "I love that show!" said Howler. "I wonder what poor lazy slobs are gonna be on the couch today." "And I wonder what snacks they're gonna be eating too", said Yogi. The bear, dog, and werewolf tuned in and saw a couch facing the screen and on the screen were another bear, dog, and werewolf sitting on the couch eating potato chips, assorted metal nuts, and pork rinds with couch stuffing. "Now that's new", said Dynomutt. "I don't think anyone's ever seen a bear, dog, and werewolf vegge out on a couch eating unhealthy snacks", said Howler as he stuffed a pork rind in his mouth while the TV werewolf did the same thing. "Just what are you three doing?" said Wendy as she entered the room. "Just watching some TV and eating snacks", said Yogi. "It looks you're watching yourselves in a mirror", said Wendy as she saw the spitting images of the couch dwellers. Then it showed a girl appear on the screen nagging at the TV characters. "Now it's like a mirror", sighed Wendy. "There's room for one more if you know what I mean", smiled Howler patting the couch seat while winking. "Yeah, I know what you mean!" said Wendy annoyed. "And I'll do what that girl's doing to that werewolf if you don't watch yourself!" Howler looked at the TV and saw the girl bonking the wolf on the head for doing something fresh to her. "YIKES!" cried both Yogi and the bear on TV. "What is it Yogi?" asked Dynomutt. "Is there any superheroing you need?" "No, not really", said Yogi shaking his empty potato chip bag while the TV bear did the same. "It's just that I'm all out of chips!" "Oh, that!" sighed Dynomutt while the TV dog sighed as well. "No matter", said Yogi getting up from the couch, which was hard for him since he was full of snacks. "I'll just go into the kitchen and get me another ration of chips!" "Oh no you don't!" said Wendy pushing him back down. "I'll be starting dinner soon and I don't want you spoiling your appetite with more snacks!" "What's for dinner tonight?" asked Howler. "We're having pot roast, carrots, salad, and black eyed peas", said Wendy. "What about French fries?" asked Yogi. "No French fries!" said Wendy. "You've spent the entire day eating potato chips!" "What do French fries have to do with potato chips?" asked Yogi. "French fries are made from potatoes!" said Wendy. "And you don't need any more of that starchy stuff today!" "Surely you don't want to deprive this cute cuddly bear his love of potatoes?" pleaded Yogi while trying to make a cute face but failed. "No more potatoes!" scolded Wendy. "And don't even think about sneaking some out of the kitchen! I'll be watching it like a hawk!" And she left the living room and entered the kitchen staring at it while two vicious looking hawks in army suits appeared in her eyes. "I guess this means no more potato chips for you Yogi", said Dynomutt. "How can Wendy be so heartless?!" wailed Yogi. "All these poor dips surrounding me without a chip to massage!" "You want some of my pork rinds?" asked Howler. "They're just as crunchy and deadly as potato chips." "No, thanks Howler", said Yogi. "The only thing right now that'll make my soul trip, is a nice salty, crispy potato chip! Wait a minute!" He thought to himself. "I think Huck has a whole supply of snacks in his room. I'll just ask if I can borrow some." And he got off the couch. "Where are you going Yogi?" asked Dynomutt. "To do a little business upstairs", said Yogi innocently as he left the living room. "I hope he remembers to flush his business when he's done", said Howler. * * * * * * Yogi was now knocking on Huckleberry Hound's door. "Hey Huck, are you in there?" asked Yogi. "I want to know if I can borrow some extra potato chips, if you got any." But no one answered. "Oh yeah, now I remember", said Yogi. "Huck's out of town visiting his sick mother. I guess he won't mind if I just go in and take a small bag. Huck never minds at all!" Yogi stepped into Huck's room and started searching for his snacks until he finally found them. In a black box marked, HUCK'S SECRET SNACK BOX. "I hit the jackpot!" smiled Yogi. "Which will hit my spot! Hey hey hey!" Yogi opened the box, but instead of snacks, he found a tape recorder. Yogi curiously clicked it on. "Hey there Yogi", said Huck's voice. "I've known you for years and I figured that about this time, Wendy's keeping you from eating any more snacks before dinner. So I hope you don't mind that I'm taking my entire potato chip supply to my sick mother to help her get better." "How are potato chips supposed to make a sick mother get better?" wondered Yogi. "Actually, they're to keep you from getting sick!" continued Huck's message. "Sorry I had to lie like that." "Even in his messages, Huck has to stay honest", sighed Yogi. "Now how am I gonna get more chips?!" and he banged the wall with his head causing Huck's framed picture of Elvis to fall down. "Hello, what's this?" gasped Yogi as he saw a safe on Huck's wall and below it was some kind of small piano keyboard. "This must be one of those music type vaults like the one from that chocolate movie", said Yogi. "And knowing Huck, I bet this is the song that opens it." And Yogi played, Oh My Darling Clementine, on the keyboard and the safe popped open. "Maybe Huck's keeping some spare snacks he's hiding from this bear", smiled Yogi. "Oh yeah, one more thing Yogi", continued Huck's message after a long pause. "Knowing you also, you've probably banged your head on my wall out of lack of snack frustration. I just hope you haven't knocked down my Elvis picture and found my hidden musical safe and played, Oh My Darling Clementine, on the keyboard. Because what I got in that safe is really im.... END OF TAPE. REWINDING NOW." Said a different voice as the tape in the recorder started rewinding. "I guess Huck didn't realize that he was out of room when taping that warning message", said Yogi. "Now I can't help wonder what's inside this safe." And he slowly reached his hand into the darkness of the safe while scary music started playing in the background. "What the...?" said Yogi nervously as he looked around and found that it was just the tape recorder all rewound and replaying. "Why would Huck want to hear that scary sounding music on tape?" wondered Yogi. "To give you a scary type warning about reaching your hand in that safe", said Huck's recording. "Let's see. Where should I begin? Oh yes! Hey there Yogi. I've known you for years and I've figured that about this time, Wendy's keeping you from...." Then Yogi quickly turned the recorder off. "Sheesh!" he groaned. "All of this recording confusion's working up my appetite! Now I'll do what I planned and stick in my hand!" And he jammed his hand into the dark safe and pulled out something. "A potato chip!" smiled Yogi delighted as he saw the single chip that was glowing green like it was radioactive. "And it has a keen shade of green! Hey, hey, hey!" And he left Huck's room and rushed downstairs. * * * * * * Yogi had rejoined Dynomutt and Howler who were still on the couch. "Hey Yogi, did you find any more snacks in Huck's room?" asked Dynomutt. "Just this one little potato chip", said Yogi showing them the green glowing chip. "It may be only one chip, but at least I'll satisfy my tastebuds with one last potato treat for the day. Hey, hey, hey!" "Why is that chip green?" asked Howler. "Yeah", said Dynomutt as some little telescopes popped out of his eye sockets. "You'd better not eat that Yogi. It could be toxic." "Nyaah! I don't believe that", smiled Yogi. "This is just one of those funky colored green chips you find in every box of potato chips. You guys have seen them, haven't you?" "I can't say that I have", said Howler, "I'm mostly a pork rind kind of guy and I've hardly seen a green pork rind before. Except when I found that whole bag of green and fuzzy pork rinds with a 200 BC expiration date." "Well, neither rain, slow, sleet, or green skin will prevent this bear from eating any kind of potato chip", said Yogi opening his mouth and slowly putting the glowing green chip in. "Maybe you should dip it in something first", said Dynomutt. "To drown any parasites that might be crawling all over it." "Good idea Dyno", said Yogi looking at all his dips. "But what shall I dip it in?" "How about all of them?" said Dynomutt. "That way you can kill whatever toxic flavor that is." "You worry too much", said Yogi. "But I like the thought of a chip covered with every single dip in the world. It'd be like a rainbow in my mouth." "A rainbow in your mouth?" asked Howler. "I wonder what that'll be like?" And Howler imagined a violent thunderstorm crackling painfully in his mouth and when he opened it up, a rainbow belched out along with some lightning struck charred teeth. "Cool!" he thought. "There we go!" said Yogi now holding a clump of guacamole, salsa, ranch dressing, ketchup and other assorted dips. "The chip has now been dipped and is ready for its digestive trip. Hey, hey, hey!" But before he could put it in his mouth, the dip ball suddenly exploded like a huge bomb causing the three friends to get covered with splattered dip. "What's going on here?" asked Wendy rushing into the room and saw her friends covered with disgusting looking goo. "Did Sneezly have one of his sneezing fits in here?" "Nope. Nothing like that", said Dynomutt injecting a vacuum cleaner from his nose and sucking up the mess. "Just one little dip problem." "It looks like three big dip problems to me", said Wendy sternly looking at Yogi, Dynomutt, and Howler while trying to look innocent. Then Wendy saw the green potato chip in Yogi's hand. "And where did you get that Mr. Bear?!" she demanded. "I thought I said no more snacks before dinner?!" "Uh, it's just an appetizer before dinner", said Yogi sweating. "I promise that this'll be my last chip for today." But then the chip suddenly fell out of Yogi's hand and onto the floor cracking to pieces. "Uh, make that my last 7 chips for today", said Yogi counting all the pieces. But suddenly, the pieces started reforming themselves back into the chip. "Hey, that's cool!" said Howler. "How did you do that Yogi?" "It wasn't me", said Yogi surprised. And then the chip started to grow brown potato skin. "Hey, that potato is unpeeling itself", gasped Dynomutt. "That's sure to make a lot of army privates cry!" And then the skin covered chip started to get fat and grow. And to everyone's surprise, it became a full grown uncooked potato. "Jeepers!" gasped Wendy. "That potato chip has changed back into a plain potato!" "What kind of spud is this?!" gasped Yogi as he picked it up and studied it. "Where did you find that chip?" asked Wendy. "I found it in a safe in Huck's room", said Yogi. "Well then why did you take it out?" demanded Wendy. "I thought safes were supposed to be private things?! Huck must have had a reason to lock it away!" "I didn't think an ordinary innocent thing like a green potato chip could do such a stunt", said Yogi. "I'd hate to think if a pork rind could do the same thing!" said Howler imagining a plastic bag filled with squealing piglets. "Well I'd say this is a blessing in disguise!" smiled Yogi. "Because now instead of one measly chip, I got a whole potato to scarf down. Hey, hey, hey!" And he was about to bite down on it until Dynomutt snatched it from him with tongs that popped out of his glove. "Oh, no you don't!" said Dynomutt. "I don't want you eating something that might give you injustice to your stomach! This potato could be part of some evil scientist's plan to rule the world! And I think I see some eyes on it!" "Of course", said Yogi. "Potatoes are supposed to have eyes. A whole bunch of them to be exact!" "How about eyes with pretty lashes that blink?!" said Dynomutt. "What?!" gasped Yogi, Howler, and Wendy. "See for yourselves", said Dynomutt giving them a closer look at the potato. Sure enough, there were two huge eyes with pupils and eyelashes winking at everyone. "You mean potatoes were actually watching us all these years?!" gasped Howler. "You mean I was gonna eat some eyeballs?!" cried Yogi. "YEECK!" "I think I see a mouth growing on that thing!" gasped Wendy. Sure enough, a cute smiling mouth also appeared on the potato, along with some tiny arms and legs. "What's going on here?" demanded Dynomutt. Then the annoyed potato managed to pry itself free with its new arms and fall down on the couch. "Quick, everyone off the couch!" shouted Dynomutt as he used his stretchable steel arms to grab Yogi and Howler off the couch and put them down on the other side of the room next to Wendy. "You don't want us crushing that little guy?" asked Howler. "No, I don't want him infecting all of us!" said Dynomutt. "This definitely must be the creation of an evil scientist. Maybe even Huck!" "Now let's not start pointing fingers", said Wendy. "I'm sure Huck has an important reason for this odd potato. Maybe that's why he had it locked away." "Too bad the Professor's attending that scientists' type convention in Germany", said Yogi. "He could take one look at this little spud and give us some explanations with his brilliant brainations!" "Not one of your best rhymes Yogi", said Howler. The little potato stared at the group with a funny face and then jumped off the couch and slowly approached the nervous group. But then the potato smiled, took out a top hat and cane and started doing a neat Broadway dance. "Is that potato dancing?" gasped Wendy. "A potato that's edible and entertaining!" said Yogi with a smile. "You don't think Huck and this dancing potato had a Broadway career together once?" wondered Howler. "I still don't trust this potato", said Dynomutt. "This showbiz thing must be an act." "But isn't all showbiz an act?" asked Yogi. Then the potato approached Wendy and motioned his hand for her to bend down. She did and the potato took her hand and kissed it. "My, you're as romantic as a French gentlemen", smiled Wendy picking up the smiling potato and putting him on her shoulder. "If he does that to you again, I'll make him a French fry!" grumbled a jealous Howler. "Hey guys, is dinner ready yet?" asked Sneezly who had just waddled into the room. "Oh, that's right. I have to get dinner finished", said Wendy. "Oh, by the way Sneezly. Meet our dinner guest", she smiled as she showed Sneezly her new potato friend while the potato tipped his hat to the seal. "I didn't know dinner and guests can be one thing", said Sneezly looking puzzled at the living potato. * * * * * * Soon, everyone was at the table eating dinner. Wendy prepared a place at the table for their potato guest. He was sitting on a little doll house chair with a doll house table on top of the real table. "I don't really know what living potatoes eat, but I hope you'll like this thimble of fertilizer I prepared for you", said Wendy as she placed the thimble onto the potato's table. "And how about some plant juice to wash it down?" said Wendy taking an eye dropper and squirting some plant food into another thimble and giving it to the smiling potato who started drinking it happily. "Wendy never served me plant food like that", groaned Howler. "But you're not a plant", said Sneezly. "Maybe Wendy would serve me if I roll around in fertilizer", thought Howler while Wendy was watching the little potato chowing down on his fertilizer dinner. "A potato at the table eating dinner instead of being dinner?" said Yogi. "There is definitely something wrong with this picture!" "I agree", said Dynomutt keeping his suspicious metal eye on the potato while chewing on a metal knife thinking it was a carrot. As they ate, the potato was watching his new friends eating and noticed something that seemed to bother him. He saw Yogi eating a carrot, Sneezly eating some parsley, and Wendy eating a salad filled with lettuce, tomatoes, and all sorts of assorted vegetables. All this vegetable chomping made the potato very uncomfortable for some reason. He then turned to Howler who was just eating his roast beef and that seemed to calm the potato down a little. "Howler, you haven't eaten your black eyed peas yet", said Wendy. "Oh, all right", sighed Howler. "I'll eat them for you my sweet potato." And he picked up his plate and let the black eyed peas drop down his werewolf throat. Not wanting to experience the taste of vegetables at all. The potato became suddenly queasy for those black eyes Howler was eating made the potato think of potato eyes. "Are you all right little potato?" asked Wendy as she saw the poor potato looking green. The potato said nothing and just sat there in his little chair. He started to have some strange flashbacks about a living potato like him telling a bunch of lifeless potatoes to stand up and take over the world. But when they refused to stand, the living potato started to grow into a huge hulking giant and started terrorizing a city. "Hey look!" smiled Yogi as he bent down and found something on the floor. "One last potato chip! This is my lucky day. Hey, hey, hey!" And he bit into the chip while the frustrated potato watched. "Yogi!" complained Wendy. "You can't eat that! That chip's been on the floor!" "And should you really be eating that chip in front of our guest?" asked Sneezly. "That could be his relative." "You mean this could be a chip off the old block?" said Yogi giggling at the joke he just made while everyone groaned. That really steamed the potato. In an act of violent rage, he jumped onto the jello and bounced off of it grabbing Yogi's tie and started strangling him to death. "GAWWK! HAAAUGG! What are you doing?!" gasped Yogi turning blue in the face. "Hey, stop that you crazy spud!" shouted Howler as he grabbed onto the potato who was still clutching onto Yogi's tie causing poor Yogi to become bluer than ever. "Oh dear!" gasped Wendy. "I just knew that tater tot was a troublemaker!" shouted Dynomutt as he ejected some scissors from his hand and snipped Yogi's tie making Yogi get his breath back and Howler to get tossed over in his chair. "Aw! What a relief!" said Yogi panting really hard. "Yogi, are you all right?" asked Wendy. "Yeah, I think this bear will survive", gasped Yogi. "But I can't say the same for my new tie." "New tie?" asked Howler getting back up. "It looks like the same green tie you always wear!" "Where is that potato?!" growled Dynomutt ejecting a bunch of weapons from his body. "I'll make him pay for hurting Yogi!" "If I tell you, will you put the weapons away?" called out Sneezly. "But why?" asked Dynomutt. "Because I don't want you firing all that hurtful stuff at me", said Sneezly pointing to his nose. And there was the little potato stuck in Sneezly's left nostril kicking its feet while mumbling in a cute angry voice. "That's sure to give someone nightmares", said Yogi. "I wonder if there's a shampoo strong enough to get out snot stains?" asked Howler. "Don't worry Sneezly", said Wendy taking some pepper. "I know how to get him out of your nose. With one of your special supersonic sneezes." "Hold it just a minute!" said Dynomutt as he got in front of Sneezly, crouched down, and ejected an iron baseball glove from his hand. "Now pepper him!" said Dynomutt. "I really hate to do this to you Sneezly and to all of us", said Wendy as she sprinkled the pepper shaker over Sneezly's plugged nose. "I understa... sta... STAH AH AH!" said Sneezly. "CHOOOO!" And he blasted the little potato out of his nostril into Dynomutt's glove. "Did you get him?" asked Howler. "I don't think so", said Dynomutt as he sadly saw the hole that suddenly appeared in his favorite baseball glove. "And it was autographed by Babe Ruth too." Said Dynomutt as he saw the hole where the autograph used to be. "Well, where'd he go?" asked Wendy. "Right there!" said Yogi pointing to a nearby wall socket where the potato was now stuck in. "And it looks like he's sucking on that socket!" Sure enough, it looked like the potato was absorbing large amounts of static electricity. "Is that potato absorbing electricity?" asked Sneezly. "I believe so", said Wendy shocked. "It's been said that potatoes can produce electric power." Then all the power in the house started to go off. "I think that potato's about to go on one major power trip!" gasped Howler as he turned on a flashlight. "And I don't think to Hawaii!" Everyone looked in fear as they saw the potato grow to the size of a human. It started to growl and beat its chest like a wild animal. "And I was almost about to eat him!" gasped Yogi as he felt his stomach shrinking in fear. Then the potato monster smashed through the wall and started rushing outside into the street. "Follow that potato punk!" shouted Dynomutt as he and the others ran through the hole in the wall the potato had made. Soon they saw the potato run into a busy street. The cars quickly slammed their brakes at the strange sight of this potato fiend, but instead of running over the potato and making it mashed, the cars just got smashed. All the passengers ran out of their cars in fear as the angry potato picked up the cars and tossed them all over the place. "It's like a child having a tantrum with defective Hot Wheels!" cried Wendy as she saw a car fly over them. "Hold it right there punk!" called out an angry voice. The potato turned around and saw Police Chief Dibble approaching it with an angry frown. "I don't know why you're wearing that potato costume, but it's not Halloween!" shouted Dibble. "And even if it is, you're still not allowed to do things like egg houses, TP trick or treaters, or throw cars around like they were toys! I'm gonna have to arrest you and call your parents!" and he took out his handcuffs and cuffed the potato's wrists. But the potato, who happened to be really greasy, managed to slip out of the cuffs and clip them on Dibble's nose like a nose ring. "OW!" whined Dibble. "By dose! All reet! I'm trowin da book at tu!" But the potato just smiled an evil smile and started swinging the cuffed Dibble around like a yo-yo. Then tossed him way up in the air causing Dibble to hit a skyscraper and causing the other end of the cuff to clamp onto a pole sticking out of the wall. "Dis is nut punny!" wailed Dibble wiggling around with his nose still cuffed while looking down nervously at the 10 foot drop to the street below. * * * * * * Then the satisfied potato dusted his hands and headed for downtown Yabbadabbaville. "Where's he going?" asked Sneezly. "Hopefully to find a Mrs. Potato Head doll", hoped Yogi. "I don't think so", said Wendy. "I think that potato's planning on destroying our town!" "Not if Dynomutt Dog Wonder has anything to say about it!" shouted Dynomutt as he used his spring legs to jump up in the air and land in front of the potato. "Hold it right there protein puss!" said Dynomutt as he coiled his steel arms around the potato capturing it. "I just knew you were trouble the minute I saw you as a mutant green chip! I'm taking you to jail where you'll probably spend the rest of your days peeling your own kind!" The potato just snickered and started glowing green. "Resistance is, YAWN, futile!" said Dynomutt suddenly getting sleepy. "Are you going to come along, YAWN, quietly? Yes, YAWN, quiet is nice. Makes we wanna go to sleep! ZZZZZZ!" said Dynomutt as he plopped down on the sidewalk loosening his grip on the potato. The potato just laughed wildly while static sparked from the eyes on its skin then started to walk off. "Dyno! What's happened to you!" cried Sneezly as the others rushed to their fallen friend. "Did that potato hypnotize you or something?" asked Howler. "Look guys", said Yogi opening up a hatch in Dynomutt's right arm and showing a meter. "Dyno's just been drained!" "I was afraid of this", said Wendy. "What's wrong Wendy?" asked Howler. "I think that potato just absorbed all of Dyno's electricity." Said Wendy. "Just like how it got a charge from that wall socket earlier." "But that potato was really teeny when it absorbed the socket's power", said Sneezly. "Won't it grow even bigger from absorbing a superhero like Dynomutt?" "He looks the same human-type sized potato to me", said Yogi watching the potato walk away. But then, the potato started to grow! "You spoke too soon Yogi", said Howler as they all watched in fear as the human sized potato started to grow and grow and grow into a huge 40 foot monster. "Jeepers!" cried Wendy seeing the now giant potato beat its chest while growling a loud growl shaking up the entire town. "Talk about super sizing your fries!" gasped Yogi. "Now that's one potato that'll dominate the meat!" gasped Howler. "It's like something from a bad killer vegetable movie!" cried Sneezly as they watched the giant potato stomp into downtown knocking down buildings while the citizens were scattering around in fear. * * * * * * On the other side of town, Huckleberry Hound had come back from visiting his mother and was riding home on his motor scooter. "I'm so glad my Mom's all better", smiled Huck. "I sure do love my Mom. And he took out a photo of his Mom who looked exactly like him. Only she was wrinkled and had a gray beehive hairdo on top. "I hope that Queen Bee and her swarm will leave her hair someday" said Huck. But he wasn't looking where he was going and crashed into a dented lamppost. "Let this be a lesson to all your readers", said Huck while seeing stars. "Always keep your eyes on the road when driving. And your ears too! Put down those cell phones whenever you're driving! I mean it!" He said in a polite, but annoyed voice. Just then, he noticed a bunch of people running around screaming in fear. "Hey, what's going on?" Huck asked a screaming Japanese guy. "A giant monster potato is destroying Yabbadabbaville!" said the man in a badly dubbed Japanese accented voice. "Run, or you will be dead!" And he quickly ran off. "A monster potato?!" asked Huck. "Uh oh! I guess Yogi decided not to heed my warning tape", he said calmly and was about to rush home. Until he bumped into the eye covered foot of a huge potato monster. "Howdy Mr. Spud", said Huck. "Long time no see. Especially with all those eyes you got." The potato picked up the blue dog and studied him. It then had flashbacks about the same dog luring it into a rocket ship blasting it into outer space. The potato let out a loud growl into Huck's face. "I'm glad to see you haven't changed", said Huck rubbing his sore ears. Then the potato tossed Huck high into the air causing him to fly into outer space. "I guess he wanted to do that to me for a long while", said Huck. "I hope I don't land on the sun. I burn easily." But luckily, he bounced off a traveling alien spaceship causing him to fall back down to Earth. "Watch where you're flying dum dum!" called out the Great Gazoo from his spaceship. "Hey, I'm coming home", smiled Huck seeing the Earth coming closer and closer. "And I'm landing back in my town! What are the odds I'd be landing on the exact same place? I guess it's a small world after all." But he then felt himself catching on fire. "Uh oh!" said Huck looking at his flaming paws. "I forgot about burning up whenever you enter the Earth's atmosphere!" And he started to fall down like a flaming meteor. "Hey, look up in the sky!" said Wendy. "It's looks like a meteor." "Did someone say meatier?!" said both Yogi and Howler holding knives and forks while salivating. "No, not meat!" said Wendy. "Meteor! That fiery thing up in the sky that's going to land right on us!" "It looks more like a hot dog to me", said Sneezly. "Didn't I just say that wasn't meat?!" scolded Wendy. "But it is a hot dog!" cried Sneezly. "Actually a hot hound!" Wendy looked closer and saw who the falling burning dog was. "HUCK?!" cried Wendy. "He's on fire and he's falling! We gotta get some water so he can land in!" "I'm here to serve!" said Howler as he grabbed a nearby hose and started watering the sidewalk. "Howler, what are you doing?!" asked Wendy puzzled. "Just giving Huck the water to land in like you requested", said Howler. "But on the sidewalk?!" asked Wendy. "What about putting it in a tub or a barrel?" "Yeah, Huck could break his collarbone if he lands on a wet sidewalk", said Yogi. "Not to mention his flea collar!" "Uh oh!" said Howler. "Maybe if Huck falls slower, I can water the sidewalk enough to make it..." "Oh, never mind!" groaned Wendy. "Give me that hose!" And she took the hose and grabbed onto the neck of it causing the water to stop and the hose to expand. "What are you doing?" asked Sneezly. "Do you know what it's like when you try to plug up one of your really powerful sneezes?" asked Wendy. "Oh, I see", said Sneezly getting the big picture. Then Wendy aimed the hose in the air and released the water causing a huge gusher to shoot out. And Huck landed safely on the gusher as well as putting out the fire surrounding him. "Much obliged Wendy", called out Huck who was still getting bounced around the gushing water. "You would've made a great Superfriend." Wendy just turned sour and plugged up the hose causing Huck to land on the hard sidewalk. "Oops, sorry Wendy", said Huck. "I forgot how you feel about that word." "No problem", said Wendy as she squirted a tiny bit of water putting out the last bits of flames on Huck's fur. Then Huck looked at Yogi with a stern doggy face. "You opened that safe, didn't you Yogi?", said Huck politely. "Hee Hee", said Yogi sweating. "So, how's your Mom doing now?" "Much better than the poor citizens of this town", said Huck pointing to the giant potato still rampaging the town. * * * * * * Everyone was back inside the house with lit candles all over the place so they wouldn't be in the dark. "That potato sure drained all the power in my cozy little house", said Huck. "I never knew Mr. Spud was capable of doing such a thing." "Mr. Spud?" gasped Wendy. "You mean you know that monster potato?!" "Yep", said Huck sadly. "Me and my bud Spud had a not too pleasant history together. It happened back in the early 60s." And Huck started telling them the story on how one day a small potato suddenly grew a brain along with a body and got fed up with people always feasting on helpless innocent potatoes. So he grew into a giant 40 foot monster and started a rampage on all non-vegetable life. "I think I remember reading about that in an old newspaper back in Jellystone", said Yogi. "I always thought it was just one of those phoney tabloids." "Nope, it was true", said Huck. "And I had the fortunate luck to be the famous Spud's arch enemy." "How did you get rid of him?" asked Wendy. "I lured him into a rocketship and blasted him into space", said Huck. "But why is he back here?" asked Wendy. "Did he find some way to turn that rocket around?" "Yeah, but that happened a long time ago", said Huck. "But luckily, the rocket blew up and turned the sinister Mr. Spud into a storm of harmless potato chips. I put all those chips in little bags and had them shipped off to poor starving people in foreign countries." "That's so sweet of you Huck", smiled Wendy. "A little sick that you'd send the remains of a monster to feed starving people. But still sweet." "Was that one green potato chip I stole, I mean, found part of the Spud?" asked Yogi. "Unfortunately, yes", said Huck. "Once I had gathered every last chip, I've noticed one green glowing chip. I did some scientific research on it and discovered this chip was the actual brain of Mr. Spud." "You mean I was gonna eat someone's brain?" gasped Yogi. "YECH!" "Haven't you ever heard of brain food?" giggled Howler. Everyone just groaned at that bad pun. "Anyway", said Huck. "I realized that if you exposed this chip to every possible kind of dip there is. It might reform into a Spud Jr. So I had to keep it locked away forever. These days I've been keeping it locked up in a hidden safe in my room for many years. Who would've thought a dear bear friend of mine would end up finding that not so nice chip and causing the chain reactions that would bring my old nemesis back to life, plus a possible destruction to all life on Earth?" "Heh heh!" said Yogi twiddling his snipped tie trying to look innocent. "I just wish we knew what that evil Spud is doing right now!" moaned Wendy. "Why don't we turn on the TV?" asked Howler. "I'll bet every channel is pre- emptying people's favorite shows to bring them a news bulletin about a giant monster potato!" "Have you forgotten?" asked Wendy. "The entire house has been drained of our electricity. There's no power to turn on the TV. There's not even any to recharge poor Dynomutt's battery!" And she pointed to the motionless Dynomutt sitting in the corner with a lampshade on his head. "And why is he wearing a lampshade?!" demanded Wendy. "Sorry", said Huck giggling as he took the shade off of Dynomutt's head. "I just couldn't resist." "Don't worry guys", called out Sneezly bringing in a smaller TV. "We can use my portable TV. It runs on battery power." "Good Sneezly", said Wendy taking the TV from the smiling seal. "Now we can see what's happening with that potato on the news." And she put it on the table and clicked it on. "This is top news reporter Top Cat speaking from downtown Yabbadabbaville", said Top Cat who appeared on the screen while a bunch of familiar Hanna- Barbera characters were running around in the background in a panic with the huge potato smashing down buildings. "We're here at hour two of what I like to call The Great Potato Mash." "This is really bad!" gasped Howler. "Somehow that Spud has drained all the color out of our town!" "It's a black and white TV, Howler", said Wendy shaking her head in grief. "No it isn't", said Howler. "It's a blue and yellow plastic coated TV." "ARRGH!" groaned everyone fainting. Even Top Cat on the screen. "As I was saying before I was interrupted by stupidity", said Top Cat getting back up. "So far this 40 foot potato man is destroying everything he can get his eye covered hands on. Cars, trucks, buildings, and schools!" "YAAAAY!" cried all the kids dancing around the destroyed school. "It looks like these poor unfortunate tykes will have to make up for the lost school days on their summer vacation", said Top Cat. "AWWWW!" moaned all the kids who stopped their dancing. "You kids at home think about that whenever you see a school destroyed on TV", said Top Cat. "Anyway, it looks like this monster potato is now climbing on top of the huge satellite tower that allows all us townspeople to watch good quality TV shows, like yours truly. And now he's tearing off the big dish! And I don't mean Jennifer Lopez!" Just as our heroes were watching the Spud tear off the huge satellite dish from the tower, the screen suddenly went fuzzy. "Now it's starting to snow", said Howler. "Hey, maybe all that cold snow will kill off that overgrown plant!" "I was wrong", sighed Wendy. "You definitely need to watch more and more TV." "Hey look, the picture's coming back on", said Sneezly as they saw the potato appear back on the screen, with a sinister looking face and a huge satellite dish sticking out of his head. "I didn't know potatoes go for body piercing", said Yogi. "Attention all you lowly members of the animal kingdom", said the Spud. "He can talk?" Wendy asked Huck. "Only when he feels like it", said Huck. "Do not bother changing the channel", said the Spud. "I'm using my potato power to broadcast this message on every channel on every TV on Earth." "He's right!" gasped Sneezly as he started turning the knob and the same potato picture was on the same channel. "Hey, stop that!" shouted the Spud causing Sneezly to jump back. "I can tell that every Earthling on TV is switching channels! And I won't stand for it anymore! "Okay, I'll be good", said Sneezly nervously. "Good little seal", said the Spud while the HB gang looked in surprise. "As I was saying", said the Spud. "For many centuries, you people and animals have picked, peeled, boiled, baked, and deep fried us motionless, innocent vegetables for a long time. And as the only vegetable on this planet that can now speak, I'm gonna fight for the rights of my vegetable race!" "Was he like this before?" Wendy asked Huck. "Oh yeah", sighed Huck. "But first, I want all of Earth to know which is the more superior kingdom", continued the Spud. "Either the vegetable or animal kingdom. So I'm challenging all the greatest non-vegetable warriors to come and try to defeat me. If you win, I'll surrender and leave Earth forever. But if I win, I want every creature of the animal kingdom, which includes humans too, to surrender Earth to the vegetables and leave this planet forever. And just to be generous, I built you all a little rocket so you can all leave Earth in style!" And he held up a tiny model rocket that was no bigger than a person's leg. "He expects the entire world to fit in that tiny rocket?" gasped Wendy. "I guess this means I'll have to leave my new camera behind to make room", sighed Huck. "This great battle will last 12 hours", said the Spud. "So I'll be waiting here by this satellite tower here in Yabbadabbaville, USA. So come forth and protect your pathetic race you non-veggies!" And the Spud started to lean against the tower while twiddling his eye covered thumbs. "It looks like we only got 12 hours to say goodbye to our beloved Earth", said Sneezly. "I'm gonna miss it terribly!" "Don't give up hope yet Sneezly", said Wendy. "Earth does have some mighty strong heroes. I'm sure one of them will be able to stop that Spud." "You mean like your old team, the Superfriends?" asked Huck. Wendy just looked mean eyed at Huck for saying that dreaded word of her past. "Oops, sorry Wendy", said Huck. "I keep forgetting you don't like remembering the S word." "Besides", said Wendy. "Those superegoed snobs probably don't want to mess with a silly thing like a talking potato. They'd want to deal with a more serious evil." * * * * * * Meanwhile in the Hall of Justice, the Superfriends were watching the news on their viewscreen while relaxing in a hot tub. "Holy hash browns!" said Robin. "That's one big potato." "Should we go and try to stop this menace before the world is doomed?" asked Wonder Woman. "Nyahhh!" said Batman. "That potato man is not in our league. Let some other hero with a low status get the experience." "Yeah!" said Aquaman relaxing in the tub, then noticed that the bubbles were ceasing. "Hey, Supie", said Aquaman. "We're running low on bubbles here." "No problem", smiled Superman. "Super gas power away!" and he crouched down in the tub and made a loud honking sound causing more bubbles to flood the pool. "I love Superfriend Burritos", smiled Superman as he held up a burrito wrapped in paper with the Superfriends' pictures on them. * * * * * * "Superfriend Burritos?" gasped Wendy holding an exact copy of the burrito. "I'm glad I got out of that group in time. I don't want to think of my face plastered on this gasbag." And she threw it away. Just then, the house started to shake and the HB gang started to rattle. "What's that?!" asked Howler. "That potato's not coming back here!" cried Sneezly. "Nope", smiled Huck looking at the TV. "I think we might have our first hero." They all looked at the screen and saw a huge 40 foot gorilla walking down the street shaking up the buildings. "Grape Ape. Grape Ape!" said the ape. "Hey Huck, it's one of our old teammates from our Laff-A-Lympics days", smiled Yogi. "If anyone can beat that Spud, good old Grape Ape can!" "Why do they call him Grape Ape?" asked Howler. "He looks gray to me." "Black and white TV, remember?" sighed Wendy. "Oh yeah", said Howler. "You know, they should call these things a black and white and gray TV. The poor gray seems to keep getting left out." * * * * * * Grape Ape was finally face to face with the Spud. "So, it looks like I got my first challenge", said the Spud. "Have you come to defeat me oh big and furry primate?" "Nope", said Grape Ape. "Just passing through. Grape Ape. Grape Ape!" "How dare a filthy animal like you give yourself the name of a noble fruit!" shouted the Spud. "Prepare to defend yourself!" And the Spud started to make some fists and tried to scare the big ape with some shadow boxing. "You're funny!" giggled Grape Ape as he took out a huge banana and started eating it. "How dare you eat one of my vegetation brothers right in front of my many eyes!" growled the potato while steam came out of his eyes. "Let's see how much you laugh with your mouth filled with sour cream!" and he opened up his mouth and belched out a tidal wave of sour cream all over Grape Ape causing him to harden into a motionless statue. * * * * * * "You mean that Spud can shoot sour cream too?!" Wendy asked Huck. "I never seen him do that before", said Huck. "He must've learned something new." "At least I don't see any chives in that sour cream", said Yogi. "Those things can sting." * * * * * * Then the Spud managed to free the half eaten banana from Grape Ape's grip. "Don't worry my banana brother", said the Spud as he tried to peel it back up with some tape. "Just keep your skin covered and you should heal quickly." But then the Spud tried to listen for a heartbeat in the banana, but found it was quiet. "NOOOOO!" cried the Spud as he started digging a hole, putting the unfinished banana in and burying it. Then the Spud looked in rage at the sour cream covered Grape Ape. "This is for all the innocent vegetable lives you animal fiends have taken!" growled the Spud as he punched Grape Ape causing him to fly all the way to the other side of the country. * * * * * * "Poor Grape Ape", cried Wendy. "I hope he'll be all right." "And I hope the town he might land on will be all right too!" said Howler. "Say Howler", said Yogi, "You used to belong to a superhero team. Why don't you use some of that werewolf magic to rip that potato to shoestrings?" "You see, it's like this", said Howler blushing. "We werewolves are carnivores and we're great at sinking our teeth into something meaty. But we normally shy away from vegetables." "I hate to think what a werewolf's colon looks like", said Huck. "Hey look!" cried Sneezly. "Here comes another hero." "Where?" asked Wendy. "I don't see anyone on the TV. Just sky and some tiny little speck." "Look more closely", said Sneezly as he took a magnifying glass and showed them the enlarged speck. It was a little ant dressed like a superhero. "Hey, it's Atom Ant!" smiled Huck. "The world's tiniest superhero." "How's that little mite gonna stop that huge 40 foot potato?" asked Howler. "Hey, never underestimate the little guy", said Yogi. "That little ant has saved the world countless of times. Even before you were housebroken." * * * * * * "I wonder who'll be my next unworthy opponent?" said the Spud. "UP AND AT 'EM, ATOM ANT!" called out a voice from the sky. "Who said that?!" shouted the Spud with his eyes looking in all directions. "Show yourself and face me!" "Right here Curly Q!" said the voice. The eye on the Spud's groin saw the little superhero ant looking bravely at him. "I'll defend the Earth for all human kind, animal kind, and especially ant kind!" "You, a mere ant?!" laughed the Spud. "What can you do to stop a big spud like me?!" "My ancestors happen to be potato bugs", answered the ant as he started chattering his teeth and started chomping his way through the Spud's skin. "OUCH, OWIE!" cried the Spud as he started dancing around trying to scratch himself but couldn't because the sensation was coming from the inside. "I hate when this happens to us potatoes!" "Are you ready to surrender or do I have to make you really antsy?!" called Atom Ant who was getting close to the Spud's brain. The Spud just said nothing and smiled a wicked smile. He then took a deep breath and started puffing himself up. Suddenly hot steam started to blow out of his eyes and out popped Atom Ant who looked like a flaming firebug. "YIKES!" cried the flaming ant as he flew around trying to put the fire out while spelling the letters S.O.S. * * * * * * "I've heard of fire ants, but this is ridiculous", gasped Yogi. "That potato can shoot out steam too?" asked Wendy. "It appears so", said Huck. "I think I'll avoid saunas for a while." * * * * * * Atom Ant was still flying around trying to put out the fire until he finally dove into the Pacific Ocean. But he was so hot that the world's largest ocean started to turn into steam leaving nothing but a huge pit of mud and millions of fish out of water. "Heh heh! Sorry fellas", said Atom Ant looking at the angry flopping fish he was near. * * * * * * "That sure was one hot potato!" said Yogi as he and the others were watching the horror and destruction this Spud was causing to the Earth. Wendy was just looking at Dynomutt who was still drained of his energy. "Poor Dynomutt", said Wendy. "If only he was fully charged. He'd be just itching to fly on out there and be a superhero!" "Hey, maybe the batteries from my portable TV will help", said Sneezly turning off the TV and taking out 2 skinny batteries. "Gee, I don't know", said Huck studying the batteries. "These are double-A batteries. They may not be able to keep Dynomutt juiced up for very long. I estimate 15 minutes." "What else have we got to lose?" asked Yogi. "Except our lives that is!" And he took the batteries and inserted them in Dyno's nostrils. Suddenly, Dynomutt woke up and made his superhero pose. "Dynomutt. Dog Wonder, slayer of naughty potatoes, Away!" he shouted as a rocket popped out of his back and blasted off leaving a hole in the roof. "Wait Dynomutt!" cried Wendy. "We haven't told you that your power might run out during battle!" "It looks like he's long gone to know about that", said Howler looking at the hole in the roof. "He'll find out sooner or later", said Huck. "And he'll also find out that his rent's gonna increase this month for blowing a hole in my roof." "If a month ever does come for us", cried Sneezly looking out the window and seeing the Spud battling his next opponent. * * * * * * It was the world's first superhero, Captain Caveman. He was on top of the Spud's forehead trying to bang it hard with his club while the Spud looked at him unimpressed. He reached out and grabbed Captain Caveman by the spotted cape and looked at him. "Just what do you think you're doing?" the Spud asked the caveman politely. "Unga-Bunga", said Captain Caveman. "You a bad potato so me have to turn you into mashed potatoes", and he tried to whack the Spud right between the eyes countless times like a woodpecker. "Obviously some species of the animal kingdom haven't evolved at all", sighed the Spud as he tugged the Captain by the cape and let go causing him to fly off like a rubber band. "UNGA BUNGAAAAA!" cried Captain Caveman as he zipped past the speeding Dynomutt who was on his way to battle the Spud. "Don't worry Cavey!" called out Dynomutt. "I'll take it from here!" And he increased his rocket pack to full speed until he arrived just inches in front of the face of the Spud. "All right you French fried fiend!" said Dynomutt. "You may have stopped me once, but now I'm fully charged and at large!" "Large?!" laughed the Spud. "Compared to me, you're just a little microchip puppy!" "Microchip Puppy?!" growled Dynomutt. "I'll show you what this microchip puppy can do!" And he injected some kind of giant spinning kitchen utensil out from his chest. "Oh no! That's...." gasped the Spud who finally now had a frightened face. "Yep", smiled Dynomutt with wicked hero eyes. "It's the all purpose Vortex Slicer, like you see in those infomercials! It can slice, dice, and make Julian Fries along with beautiful garnishes for the dinner table. I bet Wendy would love to have a whole year supply of curly garnishes. And estimating your size Mr. Spud, I'd say I can stock her up for about a millenium!" "NOOOO!" cried the Spud as he started running around in circles for his dear life as Dynomutt rocketed after him while spinning his kitchen tool. "HA HA!" laughed Dynomutt. "It looks like the big potato dumpling is actually a chicken dumpling!" * * * * * * "Hey, I think Dyno might actually pull it off!" said Huck as he and the others were on top of the roof of their home while Huck was watching the fight with his binoculars. "Let's hope he can do it before his 15 minutes are up", said Wendy. "He probably will", said Yogi looking at his Jerry Mouse watch. "He still has 5 more minutes left." * * * * * * As the Spud was running, he caught his toe in an open manhole causing him to fall down. "HA HA!" laughed Dynomutt bringing that spinning blade closer and closer. "Your days of threatening animal and human kind are over!" The Spud was on the street looking terrified at the blades while sweating grease. * * * * * * "I just remembered", said Yogi. "My watch has been running 5 minutes slow since this morning. So I'm guessing Dynomutt's power will end right about now." "WHAT?!" cried the gang. * * * * * * Just then, the blades on Dynomutt's slicer stopped spinning and Dynomutt suddenly found himself falling. "Oh phooey!" said Dynomutt. "And I don't mean Hong Kong!" And he landed on the street with no power once again. * * * * * * "Hey guys", said Huck looking through his binoculars. "I think I see Mr. Spud about to throw something this way." "I hope it's not a tantrum", said Howler. "Nope, it looks like a dog with a goofy embarrassed face", said Huck. "DUCK!" "I thought you said it was a dog", said Sneezly. "He means DUCK!" shouted Wendy ducking down while pushing Sneezly down with her. Everyone else ducked down too. Then they heard a loud thud on the roof. They all got back up and found poor Dynomutt all drained of his power again. "Poor Dyno", said Wendy checking the fallen dog's pulse. "I guess it wasn't enough power for him", said Huck. "Now how are we gonna stop that mad potato?" asked Howler. "Hey, look up in the sky!" shouted Yogi. "Is it a bird?" asked Huck. "Is it a plane?" asked Sneezly. "Is it Su...", but Howler stopped his sentence when Wendy looked mean-eyed at him. "Is it a soup can?" said Howler quickly trying to think up something that didn't have to do with Wendy's Superfriends past. "No, it's just the Professor", said Yogi as they saw Prof. Pat Pending in his helicopter converted Convert-A-Car landing on the roof. "Howdy Professor", said Huck. "You're back from your professors' convention in Germany early, aren't you?" "I had to leave it", said the Prof. "We were watching a Mr. Wizard's World marathon until it suddenly got interrupted by that awful potato's live threat." "That broadcast really was world wide to reach Germany", said an amazed Sneezly. "And what was really odd was that the broadcast interrupted a video tape playing", said the Prof. "All the professors in the convention were totally stumped about that and they were all discussing it non-stop instead of trying to figure out how to defeat that potato. Which is why I rushed home right away." * * * * * * Meanwhile, the Spud was battling his next opponents. The superhero team known as the Impossibles. "RALLY HO!" they all shouted as they charged at the Spud. Fluid Man tried to stop the Spud by transforming into a tidal wave. But the huge potato being a plant just absorbed all the water making him stronger. Then he picked up the drained Fluid Man and tossed him to where the Pacific Ocean once stood. But thankfully, Fluid Man's contact with the dried up ocean caused it to reform itself restoring the Pacific Ocean back to normal. Next, Coil Man extended his steel coil arms hoping to snare the Spud. But the potato just laughed and belched out some curly fries causing Coil Man to get tangled up in them and roll down the road. Finally, Multi Man duplicated himself a hundred times trying to outnumber the Spud. But the potato just sneered and burped out a bunch of tater tots with little legs and huge fangs. They started chomping up the Multi Man clones until the original, but shocked, Multi Man was left standing. "RALLY YIKES!" he gasped as he zipped away. * * * * * * "I've heard of ankle biters, but these tots are life biters!" said Huck looking through his binoculars. "Is Dynomutt fully charged yet?" asked Wendy. "Just a few more seconds", said the Prof. who had dragged his battery recharger from his car and was recharing Dynomutt while checking the dog's power meter. "Hey, where am I?" shouted Dynomutt jumping up unexpectedly. "Where's that Spud?! So he ran off like the yellow bellied coward he is! I'll get him!" And he ejected his rocket pack once again and was about to blast off. "Not again!" groaned Wendy. But then Dynomutt got yanked back down thanks to the Professor's magnet gun. "Hey, what gives?!" shouted Dynomutt. "I was about to save the world!" "Sorry Dynomutt", said the Prof. "But I feel that just rushing into battle without a well developed strategy can lead to utter failure." "Hey, that sounds like what my old partner B.F. would say", said Dynomutt. "Okay guys, let's strategize!" "All right Huck", said the Professor. "Since you were the first to deal with the Spud. Do you remember if he had any weaknesses?" "Gee", said Huck. "It's been so many years since that happened, I don't remember much about it. It's like that memory only appears on some kind of network that certain cable companies don't think it's important enough to carry." "Well, then let's ponder this", said the Professor. "What do you suppose a potato would hate?" "Potato bugs?" asked Sneezly. "Gophers?" asked Dynomutt. "Acid rain?" asked Howler. "Hungry-type bears like me?" asked Yogi. "Maybe we should try to figure out what potatoes like and use that to distract the Spud", said Wendy. "Hmm", said Yogi. "Of all the potato and potato-type forms I've eaten, I've never really stopped to ask them what they like." "I think I might know", smiled Wendy as she took out a cell-phone and started calling someone. * * * * * * Meanwhile, the Spud was battling the Powerpuff Girls. They were shooting their heat beams at the Spud. But his tough skin prevented him from getting burned. Then the Spud started belching out gobs of mashed potato balls hitting the girls and causing them to fall right next to the other fallen heroes like Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr, Godzilla and Godzooky, and countless others who had appeared in short live superhero cartoon series. "I guess that takes care of all the so-called heroes of the animal kingdom", said the Spud as he dusted his hands. "And now..." But before he could finish saying his evil idea, a huge truck drove in front of him dumping a huge thing in the middle of the street then driving off. "A giant couch?!" gasped the Spud eyeing the huge comfy BIG couch with soft cushions and pretty flower designs. "No, I must resist!" cried the Spud clutching onto the satellite tower. But the eyes on his butt saw the couch and his feet tried to charge at the huge trap of comfort while the Spud was still clutching onto the tower. "You were right Wendy", said Huck as he and the gang were hiding in an alley. "Yep", smiled Wendy. "I figured that a spud would be a big couch potato at heart. I got the idea from watching certain members of our house." "A giant couch as big as a town!" gasped Howler drooling while stamping his foot. "I calculate 1000 years of chewing paradise!" And he was about to charge at it until Wendy grabbed him by the tail stopping him. "No you don't!" said Wendy. "That couch is a rental and I promised my good friend from the upholstery factory that it wouldn't get wrecked. Especially from wild minded werewolves!" "Okay, my sweet", sighed Howler. "I'll be a good boy for you." And he sat down like a dog, panted, and wagged his tail. "It looks like that potato has two brains that disagree", said Sneezly watching the Spud now battling himself with his hands still clutching onto the tower and his feet still wanting to get on the couch. "Maybe I'd better sweeten the deal", said Dynomutt as he jumped in front of the couch and transformed himself into a huge widescreen TV. That was a total final temptation for the Spud as he let go of the tower and plopped his protein covered skin on the couch. "Hey, where's the remote?" asked the Spud as he was about to get up while the others watched worried. Luckily, Dynomutt ejected a remote control from his mouth and the Spud caught it happily and clicked onto the TV. "Let's see how my vegetable comrades are doing on the farm report channel", said the Spud as he watched a whole bunch of healthy growing vegetables. "Ooooh! I'd love to take those carrot tops out on a night on the town", said the Spud drooling gravy. * * * * * * "Hey, that Spud's finally been planted!" smiled Yogi. "Now the next thing we have to figure out is how to get rid of him", said Wendy. "I have just the plan", smiled the Prof. "And Howler's going to be the one who'll do it." "But I told everyone earlier", said Howler. "We werewolves won't attack vegetables." "Not even one covered with bacon bits?" smiled the Prof. "Bacon bits I can handle", said Howler drooling. "Then say hello to my latest invention", said the Prof. taking out a huge gun with a shaker attached. "The Bacon Bit Blaster!" And he blasted tons of little bacon bit particles from the alley causing them to cover the entire couch captured potato. "Oh, great", moaned the Spud looking at all the bacon bits covering his body. "This couch must have lice in it. I should get myself disinfected. But right after this show", He said for he refused to get off the couch. "Wendy was right", said the Dynomutt TV. "You are a couch potato!" * * * * * * "I must say Professor", said Yogi. "That bacon bit blaster has to be the greatest invention since the wheel! And may I ask that you give me a blast? Hey hey hey!" "Sorry Yogi", said the Prof. "But I used up all the juice from this blaster." "Aw rats!" sighed Yogi. "And I was hoping for some juice to go with my bacon too!" "Look at all that porky goodness on that evil Spud!" gasped Howler as his drool started gushing out of his mouth and into the sewer. "Then Bon Appetit my hungry friend", smiled the Prof. "And don't even think about chewing up that couch!" called out Wendy as they watched Howler run off on all fours. Suddenly, the Spud felt something nibble on his side. He looked down and saw Howler chomping away on his bacon covered skin. "First lice, now a furry tick!" sighed the Spud. "If only this couch didn't have its control over me, I'd show all these pests!" "You know, these potato things aren't bad at all", smiled Howler as he managed to rip off some of the Spud's skin, but the Spud still did nothing to stop him. * * * * * * "I sure hope Howler has a big enough appetite to finish off that huge potato", said Wendy. "Don't worry", said the Prof. "It is said that werewolves have very high metabolisms." "Go Howler go!" shouted Sneezly cheering him on. "Go Howler go.. Ah, Ah, AHHHHHH!" "Uh oh!" said Yogi and Huck realizing what might happen. "CHOOOOOOO!" shouted Sneezly letting loose one of his destructive sneezes blowing the Spud and Howler off the couch and all the bacon bits off of the Spud's body. "Hey, I'm free!" smiled the Spud getting up while stretching his limbs. But then noticed the tiny werewolf chewing on his leg. "Wait a minute", gasped Howler realizing he was now chewing on a meatless potato. "My meat sensation is gone! I'm now scared of this potato once again! AHHHH!" And he was about to run away until the Spud grabbed him. "So, try to poke a few more eyeholes on me, will ya'?" said the Spud in an angry voice. "I wonder if werewolves will taste like chicken?!" And he opened up his huge mouth and was about to throw Howler in. "You can be sure that this wolf is now chicken on the inside!" said Howler nervously as the others watched in horror as their friend was about to get eaten. "I gotta do something before Howler's potato chow!" gasped Dynomutt who was still a TV. "But first, I gotta change back into my superdog form. Now which button is it?!" and he used his extendable arm to reach for the remote control and started pushing some buttons. But the results were things popping up on his screen like, Menu, English or Spanish, TV or Cable, Color Adjustment, Timer Programming, SP, LP, or SLP. "Darn zillions of controls!" grumbled Dynomutt still fiddling around with the remote, until he pushed a last button and a TV show appeared on his screen. "Today on the Nature Channel, we're gonna be learning about the marvelous thing called The Food Chain", said a narrator. The Spud suddenly ceased from eating Howler and stared at the screen with curiosity. "As you know, plants are the main food source for animals like rabbits, horses, antelopes, giraffes, and hippos. We call these plant eaters herbivores", said the narrator. The Spud watched angrily as he saw those herbivores chewing up leaves, grass, and fresh vegetables. "So you're a rotten herbivore, eh?" growled the Spud looking at Howler. "Are you kidding?!" gasped Howler. "We werewolves hate being called that word!" "And once the herbivores are fattened up with vegetable goodness", continued the narrator. "They become meals for the lions, tigers, panthers, jackals, and hyenas. These meat eaters are called carnivores!" "Now that's what I am", said Howler. "An all American carnivore!" "And when these amazing animals die", continued the narrator. "Their bodies decompose into the ground which gives the plants their food." The Spud watched amazed as he saw a computer generated image of a dead wolf decompose into the ground and giving nourishment to a bunch of plants including a little potato. "So you see", said the narrator. "The plants feed the herbivores, the herbivores feed the carnivores, and they decompose feeding the plants. It's all part of the great food chain." "Amazing", said the Spud and then looked at Howler. "So are you saying that when you die, you'll decompose and feed the next generation of plants?" "Yeah, you might say that", said Howler still trying to free himself from the Spud's grip. "But I sure hope that won't happen to me anytime soon. Like right now!" "Then that means if I make all animal life leave the world, we vegetable life won't survive?" gasped the Spud causing him to drop the werewolf on the pavement. "That's right my potato pal", said Yogi running up to him. "Take it from this nature-born-type bear. I know all about the Circle of Life. And I have a song about it!" and he took out a guitar and was about to sing his first note, until a lawyer suddenly appeared. "Mr. Bear", said the lawyer holding up a document. "The Circle of Life is a copyrighted song from another animation studio. If you even think about singing it in this story, my clients will chew you to shreds!" And the lawyer pointed to a direction and Yogi nervously looked into a dark alley and saw shadows of lions with angry snarls. "Well, I think you got the idea from that education-type program Mr. Spud", said Yogi. "So if you make the entire animal kingdom leave, you can say goodbye to all plant life on this planet." "I think I understand", said the Spud. "At first I thought you animal forms were all barbaric monsters devouring our leafy and starchy fleshes. But after seeing how some of you animals attack each other, and how you sacrifice yourselves to keep our little seedlings fed. I'm starting to see the animal kingdom in a new light!" "Yes", said Wendy as she and the others stepped in. "And we appreciate all you vegetables for providing us with all our basic nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and proteins for millions of years." "Speak for yourself", groaned Howler who was still on the pavement trying to wipe the vegetable taste from his tongue. "We vegetables really provide you with those life giving nutrients?" asked the Spud blushing with pride while the others smiled and nodded. "All right then!" said the Spud as he jumped up and down happily causing the whole town to shake. "I declare that the animal kingdom can remain on Earth with the vegetable kingdom!" "HOORAY!" shouted everyone. "Yay. Groan!" mumbled all the beaten up heroes who were still in that huge pile up of injuries. "And now I myself will go into my rocket and leave the Earth forever", said the Spud in a sad voice. "But why are you leaving?" asked Sneezly. "Because there's no place on this planet for a 40 foot Spud that's now hated by the world", said the Spud who was now crying all his 86 eyes out. "Farewell my friends" and he tried to put his first toe into the tiny model rocket he made but just ended up breaking it. "Wait, Mr. Spud", called out Huck. "I think I have a solution to your problem." * * * * * * A few weeks later, everything was back to normal for Yabbadabbaville and the residents of HB House. They were as usual, sprawled out on the couch eating snacks and watching the TV. Wendy had just entered the room and noticed they were watching something different than their usual mindless entertainment. "Veggie-Pals?" asked Wendy as she saw the popular kids' show with a bunch of living vegetables singing and dancing. Then she noticed a vegetable that was very huge and very familiar. "The Spud?!" gasped Wendy. "What's he doing on that show?!" "I called in some favors and got Mr. Spud a job on that show", smiled Huck. "He was really eager to give up his destructive ways and start teaching morals and virtues from now on." "I'm so glad he's now turned into a sweet potato", smiled Wendy. "What's he supposed to do in this episode?" "They're all acting out a famous story from the bible", said Yogi. "Let me guess", said Wendy. "Mr. Spud's playing the part of Goliath, right?" "Not exactly", said Huck. "He's playing King Solomon." And they all watched as they saw the Spud sitting on a tiny throne with a tiny crown on his head. A carrot lacky came up to him along with a lady pea and a lady walnut each holding onto a little peanut. "Oh, great King Solomon", said the carrot. "These two ladies are having a disagreement. They claim this little peanut child is their son." "That boy is mine!" said the pea. "Pea is at the beginning of peanut!" "But he's a nut like me!" said the walnut. "Can you help them decide who is the rightful owner?" asked the carrot. "Well, technically. A peanut is neither a pea nor a nut", said the Spud. "But I know how to settle this", and he took out a huge nutcracker and snapped the peanut in two. "There", smiled the Spud. "I divided the baby in half so each of you can share him." The pea and the walnut saw their shell halves cracking and found themselves each holding a little baby shell-less peanut. "Thank you, oh great king!" said the two lady vegetables. "You're both lucky that one peanut shell always come in twins", smiled the Spud. "You truly are a wise king", said the carrot. "Well, my relatives are Wise potato chips", smiled the Spud. And the TV screen said, THE END. "That was a cool story", smiled Howler. "For vegetables." "And it was exactly like the bible too!" said Dynomutt. "No, not exactly", said Wendy. "Well, I'm just glad that our potato friend is happy and we don't have to worry about any more animal and vegetable kingdom conflicts", said the Professor. "And I'm happy too", smiled Sneezly as he took out a round gray rock. "I found this neat little rock for my collection." "HA HA HA HA!" said an evil laughing voice. They all looked at Sneezly's rock and saw that it grew eyes and a creepy mouth. "All you feeble members of animal and vegetable kingdoms will soon feel the wrath of the mineral kingdom! HA HA HA HA!" "Here we go again!" said all the HB House residents. THE END. "Ha ha! Fooled you all!" laughed Sneezly showing that evil rock was just a foam puppet he was controlling while the HB gang started beating him with couch pillows. NOW IT'S THE END.