𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗼 Shorts

♔ RtD x OC - 2

I didn't have long to wait. I was watching the Beano News 24 while I ate breakfast the next morning, as per usual. Winston the cat had rescued daft Smiffy from a tree, and the Mayor had awarded Cuthbert the Inventor's Contest award for dedication to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths).

"Now it's over to Maxie with the weather."

The blonde weather-woman nodded. "Thank you, Nick. As you can see, today will be sunny all day, with-"

"Rubbish!" Someone hissed from behind the scenes.

Was that..?

Maxie continued, although she seemed slightly disgruntled. "Erm, with a few light clouds in the afternoon-"

"Piffle!"

"- and temperatures of twenty to twenty-five-"

"Balderdash!"

What does he think he's doing? Or, more importantly... What is he doing?

"And a pleasant outlook for-"

Roger popped his head onscreen and shouted, "Poppycock!"

Maxie practically growled at him. "What is your problem?"

Roger sidestepped into full view, his hands moving expressively as he spoke. "Viewers, this woman is a charlatan! She knows nothing about weather predicting!"

"Now that's poppycock!" Maxie stamped her foot. "Security!"

Roger shook his head. "I can prove it."

He beckoned to the camera and it followed him as he walked to the right, off of the set. He stopped in front of none other than WALTER: Mark 1.

I put my spoon back into my cereal bowl and watched the TV intently.

"This is the Weather And Local Temperature Electronic Locator - WALTER for short - and it predicts that today..."

He pulled the lever and read the piece of paper. "Today there'll be storms!"

"What rubbish!" Maxie cried. I must say, I was inclined to agree with her.

What is he up to?

"Yup, hurricanes, in fact. Tree-toppling, roof-rattling, high-sided-vehicle-knocking-over whirlwinds!"

Maxie looked directly at the camera. "He's wrong, you know! I studied meteorology and everything! Oh, come on, folks. You can't believe a schoolboy over me?"

The camera slid over to Roger. There was an evil-looking glint in his eye that made me highly uncomfortable. "Let's just have a look outside then, shall we?"

The footage switched to that of a local reporter on the street. As I watched, his hat was snatched from his hand, and he seemed to be struggling to stay on his feet.

My mouth fell open. What in the world..? WALTER was a dud last time I saw it! What did he do to it?

I could barely hear the reporter introduce himself over the howling wind, and when the camera turned I could see why. Three twisters were snaking towards him, ripping off tiles and hurling them at those who were caught out. People were running into buildings and others were barring their windows. Leaves were whipping through the air and being sucked up into the whirlwinds, and the rain was slowly making the image blurry.

Switching back to the studio, an argument was ending between Nick and Maxie.

"You said there'd be no storms! You said you'd studied meteorology!"

"It's impossible!" Maxie babbled. "It should be sunny! It's a freak storm hitting Beanotown and nowhere else!"

Nick threw his hands in the air. "Oh, well, that's alright then! We need a proper expert. Call Roger the Dodger!"

Security lugged Roger back on set and set him back on his feet. He wrinkled his nose and dusted off his red and black chequered shirt.

"So, Roger, what does WALTER say, you clever young chap?"

Roger glanced at the paper. "It says the storms will be over by tonight," he announced.

Nick mopped his brow. "Phew. That's a relief."

"But tomorrow there will be a plague of mosquitos!"

"No way! You got lucky with the storms, but there's no way we can have mosquitoes!" Maxie turned to the screen. "I promise you! Mosquitos live in particular climates, and June is just not mosquito season!"

I turned the TV off and grabbed my schoolbag. I was going to find out what he was up to, if I was the last thing I ever did!