The Origins of Fendy: Nub at Heart

Sorry this is so late... honestly, I got busy when I said I would write it, and then I forgot. >_> Hopefully more to come soon!

The Origins of Fendy: Nub at Heart

Chapter 2: A Son Once More

"Peng, that had better not be what I think it is!" Captain Caden Mann growled, jabbing a lettuce leaf menacingly in the general direction of fireman DJ Peng's arms.
"Well, cap'n, if you think it's a loaf of bread, it certainly isn't. I know how you feel about the whole gluten-free thing. Anyway, I'll be heading up to my room now." DJ made it halfway to the stairs before the captain intercepted him.
"What in the name of the president's pants do you think you're doing with a baby, Peng?" Captain Mann yelped incredulously. "You're a New York firefighter, not some sort of day care mommy!"
"He doesn't have a home, Captain. His mother couldn't raise him right on account of his severe nub levels. Look, his name is Fendy." DJ smiled, pulling the blankie away from the baby's face so that the captain could look into Fendy's wide, nervous eyes. "C'mon... you can't say no to that, Captain."
Captain Mann sighed. "Aw, heck, my own kid has a touch of nubbiness." Mann glanced up at a hopeful DJ. "He can stay, but he's not to set foot out of the first floor lounge, got it?" He smiled. "It'll be nice to have a baby around, but it's a big responsibility, keeping him at the station. I hope you're ready."
DJ nodded. "I've held hoses strong enough to knock over an elephant, run through fires hot enough to turn a car into a marshmallow. I'm ready for any troubles this little nub-muffin throws my way."

_-o O o-_

Fendy laughed, batting at the shiny, rubbery nose of his mother, who wagged her tail and gently pushed him in the chest with her muzzle. One year ago, the nice men with the shiny red trucks had laid him next to something soft and white, with dainty black splotches dotting the snowy expanse like drops of oil. Fendy was young, but he remembered his mother wearing something like that. It felt different, somehow, but it was the same color, the same warmth, and so Fendy knew that he had found her again.

His mother--What was she called? Spots?--reared up playfully on her back legs, wagging her tail with excitement and affection. Fendy copied her, wriggling his little bum until he thought the entire fire station was shaking. He loved his mother. She was smart and kind, just like him. Over the past year, she had taught him how to find scraps of food in the firehouse, how to keep himself warm in the winter. They communicated with effortless ease, the bond of a mother and son.

"See, humans stupid," Spots had remarked to him soon after she had begun taking over as the mother in his life. "Use extra words, bad. Speak simple, speak good. The body talks, not mouth." And Fendy understood. Perhaps it was that part of him that was so full of the essence of nub that allowed him to adapt to the language of his new mother, the regal firehouse dalmatian, so well, or maybe he was just crazy. Either are always possible with Fendy.

The door flew open, sending the rubber ball that they had been playing with earlier skidding across the floor. DJ, the nice man who always drove in the shiny red truck, smiled down at them. "Fendy," he said, "Come with me. It's time that you rode on your first firetruck." Fendy barked with excitement, wagging his imaginary tail as fast as his rump would allow. His mother trotted up and nosed him in the side, whimpering. DJ smiled. "Don't worry, Spot, you can come with to protect your friend." Spot woofed with pleasure. "Now, let's hurry. Those flames won't put themselves out, eh?"

And so fireman, Fendy, and surrogate mother raced out of the building, preparing to go conquer the most primal of nature's forces: fire.

Yeah, he dies in a massive- Er, let's talk about cake. Do you like cake? I like cake. Let's go eat cake! Or fruit! Or tires! Anything, really, to distract from whatever it is that we are but shouldn't be talking about!

Just for that incredibly odd comment, I'm going to make you survive for a few extra chapters. >_> Enjoy life.

Fixed, that was a typo. Thanks!

Well, let's not forget, Fendy just thinks Spots is his mother. His real mother is still out there somewhere...

The Origins of Fendy: Nub at Heart

Chapter 3: Marshmallow Cheese Sandwiches from the Depths of Nub

Fendy stared wide-eyed in shock at the towering wall of... well, what was it, exactly? It was hot; he could feel the heat from where he stood, arms wrapped tight around his barking mother. And it was very orange. And its shape? Did it have a shape? It seemed to flow and shift, never quite in one place.
It also gave DJ the shiny red truck guy bad gas.
Fendy thought for a moment, using all the powers of his nubby little brain and few teachings of the firehouse to figure out what this new substance was. Hot, orange, shapeless, bad gas...
Oh. Duh.
Somebody had coated the building in nacho cheese.

Spots barked, shaking Fendy out of his reverie. Right. They were supposed to be doing something. Fendy watched as the firemen took long hoses and aimed them squarely at the cheese monster. Gushes of shining water shot out, a blast of pure, cool salvation, greedily consuming the cheese.

As the last of the cheese disappeared, all the firemen let out a great cheer. Fendy personally thought the gray, crumbling building now looked as ugly as a rat's rear end, but maybe driving around in shiny red trucks all the time distorts your sense of style. However, he was happy to see his keepers so cheery, as opposed to the grim, dissolute state of business and silent fear that they had been in on the way there.

Unfortunately, the festive atmosphere last for hardly a moment.

_-o O o-_

The explosion seemed to rock the earth.

"What in the name of the captain's left hamstring was that!?" shouted Officer Amy Usedstew, a young cop on the scene.

DJ Peng chuckled solemnly. "That, my dear officer, was a backdraft: when a fire has no oxygen and suddenly has a bunch of oxygen introduced, there's a big ol' explosion-y type thing called a backdraft."
"You some sort of scientist or somethin'?"
"No, ma'am," DJ said, "but I have seen the movie Backdraft, so I know all about that stuff. See, Captain Mann didn't feel like giving us an actual training speech, so he just had us watch that movie a few times instea-"
"Shut your trap and get to work!" Captain Mann said hurriedly. "If there really was a backdraft, that means there's a new fire. Head toward that plume of smoke on the horizon... if we can't stop it, New York City could be in serious danger."
DJ nodded. "Right-o, Cap'n! Er, where's Fendy?""
Officer Usedstew snorted. "If Fendy's the little tyke who keeps barking like a dalmatian, he's over roasting marshmallows in the fire."
The firefighters stared at her.
She shrugged. "He looked hungry, so sue me."

By the time DJ Peng reached Fendy, his marshmallow had reached a perfect, golden brown color, a soft puff of heaven. Spots sniffed at it and then wagged her tail approvingly.
"Fendy, you could've been killed!" DJ shouted. "In fact, you still could be! We're way too close to the flames-" He grabbed at Fendy's little arm, but Fendy leaned away. The flames licked hungrily at his marshmallow, setting it on fire.
Fendy looked at it. He liked cheese. He liked marshmallows. This thing looked delicious.
"Don't you dare," DJ warned, voice deadly soft. "That could burn your mouth to no end..."
Fendy glared defiantly at DJ and pulled two slices of bread from his pocket.
DJ glared back.
Fendy slipped the flaming marshmallow in between the pieces of bread, which instantly began to brown.
DJ was still glaring, though at this point he was stepping slowly toward Fendy.
Fendy took a bite of the sandwichl.
DJ screamed.
For a moment, Fendy's brain wasn't quite sure why the sandwich didn't taste at all like cheese and instead tasted a whole lot like the ash at the bottom of the chimney. Then, just for the sake of nubbiness, Fendy's brain shrugged and ignored it.

Fire coursed through his veins; molten marshmallow swirled in his stomach. Fendy's eyes glowed as red as the embers of the fire, thin wisps of smoke twirling from his mouth and ears.

Captain Mann trotted up to DJ, took one look at Fendy, and sprinted the other way. Spots and DJ exchanged a glance, for one rare moment understanding each other just as Spots and Fendy could.

Fendy's nubbiness had finally gotten the better of him, and now he was in danger of death.