Now Pleasure Island has been around for some time,and though the tourists such as the Shietaboer's are only aware of the world above the surface,employees such as Stella,Mr & Mrs Wifflepaffer get around through the maze of tunnels,walkways,conduits and Metro tubes which criss cross the Island underneath the ground.Once the tourists are returned back to their original forms at the end of their stay and shipped back to their old lives,the employees walk through those "Employees Only " doors down the stairwell back into the subway system.
Mr Wifflepaffer was glad that the Shietaboer's had finally gone.Now he could chuck this western garb and he and the Missus could attend one of Mr Shawn O' Roarkes wild parties in the Mountain of Solitude,or as the Goddess Bast liked to put it "where we let it all hang out"
Now about 50 miles from the Laredo complex was a volcano which hadn't blow in centuries.They were using the thing to provide geothermal energy to power the Reincarno Series 3000 Tf machine used in the Chinese Pavillion.The volcano had been showing signs of life,so when the Klaxxons started blaring all over Laredo,all the employees knew what was about to happen and what to do.
Mr Wifflepaffer and his wife started rounding up the customers and led them to a watertrough,which when he lifted it up revealed a hatch leading to the inner depths of the island.All about Laredo and in the other areas customers,herds of goats and employees went through a similar fire drill.
He took one last look around the deserted town,couldn't see the Shietaboer's or anyone else and crawled down the escape hole,dogged the hatch shut and led his wife,Mr Flycatcher the donkey and the volunteer through the inner cargo and safety door and dogged that one shut.There were about 30,000 people and animals under the Laredo complex alone.
The Goddess Bast and Thor,son of Odin were going to be entertaining a lot of guests tonight.
Now somehow the Shietaboers had managed to get lost in all the confusion and they walked down the deserted streets of Laredo,with only the odd earth tremor and blaring klaxxons to tell them that this wasn't part of their vacation package.
Meanwhile Billy Wifflepaffer was winging his way high overhead with another daemar dragon(http://www.dreslough.com) ferrying two she wolfs to the Wolf Lake site before the two furred dragons flew over Forbidden Mountain where Billy was being retrained as a dragon.You see Billy was really on sick leave and was spending this this summer getting over the shock of being killed last summer.
Last year Pleasure Island had offerred him a summer job as one of the "reenactors" and when he showed up for work they turned him into a big flame breathing dragon and told him to entertain the customers,not eat them.
It had been fun for the first two months but then some nerdy IBM accountant in a Conan body took his role too seriously.While his girlfriend looked on,the Conan wannabee said"look,dear Isabella,while i save you from this fiercesome foul beast."The guy then plunged a spear into Billy's chest and while Billy stood there,too stunned to do anything,swung his sword and lopped Billy's head off.
So much for work experience!
When Billy regained awareness he found himself in the body of one of Bast's cats.His dragon carcass had been quietly disposed off and the accountant and his wife were encouraged to move to another part of the Island.
Thats how Billy learned about the Islands Employee Benefits Plan.Bast was in charge of that department,and while forms were filled and submitted to get Billy and new human body or repai his old dragonic one,Billy ran with the cats.
This year Billy was just bumming around on the Island while his body healed.He still had heartburn and the sight of knives usuallly made that pain in his neck act up.Thus he'd been doing the rounds,learning tf spells from Thor,mixing potions with Dr Henry Jeckyll and flirting with Stella Flycatcher and necking and kissing in the underground cinemas.
Thus ,since his mom and dad and his girlfriend worked at Laredo,he always managed to flyoverhead .
This time the Klaxxons were blaring and the town looked dereted.The mountain was about to blow.He had to make certain that his mom and dad were alright.As an employee he knew where the escape routes lay.
As the two dragons and the two grumbling she wolves confirmed that Mr Wifflepaffer and the missus were indeed gone,the mountain blew with a force of Mt Vesuvius,Krakatoa and Mt St Helens combined.The ground shook and the 4 watched in out as a huge cloud of superheated gas billowed out and rolled down the mountainside at a terrific rate of speed.
Getting underground became a very attractive option.
Then they saw the Shietaboers stumbling around in a daze on the empty street.The foursome became a blaze of activity,While one shewolf typed in the emergency bypass code into the nearest escape hatch,Billy and the other two employees rounded up the Shietaboers none too gently.Everyone squeezed into the underground chamber just as the first blast of wind entered town.
They huddled in the outer chamber ,closed the wait and waited.
The ground shook.The smell of sulphur in the air increased.They could hear the roar and the sounds of Laredo being swept away .
Then the noise died down.There was silence.The four employees looked at the three tourists and could hear voices further down into the tunnels.
Well,that was the end of Laredo.
Mr Schietaboer stared up in terror as a furred dragon tried to give him a toothy smile.The dragon offered a taloned paw and said
"hi,I'm Billy Wifflepaffer,wanna go to the party tonight'