The New Romford Free Press

Tag: Dino-Day

  • The Amazings Play With Kids Affected by DDD

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    By Buffy Bolivar

    With much of the city in ruins from the Dino-Day Disaster, families have been displaced from their homes and neighborhoods.  To help keep up the spirits of their fellow New Romforders, the Amazings stopped by Griffin Park in Frankton today, using their superpowers to play with local children.

    “It was really, really fun to jump on Dr. Amazing’s tummy,” said five-year-old Stacy.  “I jumped really high, like a million times!”

    Dr. Amazing stretched his torso out like a trampoline and let children jump on him one-by-one.  Once their turn was up, he caught them in the air and morphed his arm into a slide.  Meanwhile, Snow Woman created a winter wonderland inside a patented, invisible Amazing Dome, which kept the area at a cool 30° F.  After all, she had to keep the snowball fight going.  And Mr. Bigg flew children, four at a time, in a decommissioned AmazoPlane, 100 feet in the sky.

    “The snowball fight was so much fun!” said nine-year-old Jacob.  “Snow Woman just created this amazing snow fort that literally looked like a snow fort, and it was so awesome!”  The realistic-looking snow fort didn’t look like one after a few minutes of the snowball fight.

    “I’ve never flown before,” said twelve-year-old Dierdre.  “I mean, not like a superhero would.  But Mr. Bigg gave me the ride of my life, and now, I want to get superpowers of my own someday.  I want to fly on my own!”

    Notably missing from the original Amazings was Joan Upshaw, a.k.a. Miss Terror.  Understandably, her powers would be less conducive to playing with children, but she stayed behind at Grainger Tower to monitor the current Amazings team as they assisted with the search and rescue effort.  “Joan wishes she could’ve made it here,” said Dr. Amazing.  “But she preferred to stay at the tower and help out in her own way.  You know how Joan is.”

    Regardless, the parents were grateful for the break from the last few weeks.  “We’ve just been dealing with so much,” said Paula Moreno.  “I haven’t seen my children laugh and play in so long.  This really helps out.  It really does.”

    “This is what superheroes do.”

  • Dozens Still Missing from DDD

    Dozens Still Missing from DDD

    By Buffy Bolivar

    It’s been weeks since the Dino-Day Disaster, and though the majority of New Romford has been accounted for, dozens of residents are still missing.

    The NRPD has put the number at 79 missing residents, mostly located in the Downtown region and any parts of other boroughs with tall buildings.  These residents likely were trapped after a building collapsed either during the dinosaur transformation or after reverting back to human.  Rescue crews and the Peace Force are doing everything they can to find people trapped under debris.  “But it’s going slowly,” said one rescue worker.  “We have to take it easy so we don’t cause even more damage that could bury people even more.”

    There’s also the possibility that the Dinosaur Queen had transported residents to another unknown location.  As was reported by the New Romford Free Press during the DDD, several residents were captured by the Dino Army.  Their whereabouts have not been determined.

    For now, the NRPD is asking residents to be on the lookout for missing persons.  “Some people may’ve become disoriented while they were dinosaurs,” said a NRPD statement.  “They may’ve wandered off to places they’ve never been before and may be lost.  Their mental state may be damaged.  If you find someone who looks disoriented, please call the police.”  A full list of names and pictures are available on the NRPD and city website.

  • Lightning Bug Trial Begins; Dinosaur Queen Sent to Federal Court

    Lightning Bug Trial Begins; Dinosaur Queen Sent to Federal Court

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    By Chase Chapley

    Today’s supervillain legal roundup sees two of New Romford’s most recent criminals in court.  Lightning Bug, a.k.a. Horace Wagner, was in New Romford City Court, which had been deemed functional by engineers after the Dino-Day Disaster, for the start of his trial.  Last month, Wagner is accused of causing an explosion in the Verzatt Estates.  He was later apprehended by Speedster on I-188.

    Wagner is being tried on eight counts of destruction of property, three counts of illegal possession of advanced weaponry, and one count of vandalism, battery, and unlawful possession of mutated organisms.  While many legal experts expected a plea deal for this case, Wagner pled not guilty to all charges.  “It’s probably not the smart move,” said legal expert, Burt Montana.  “There is security camera footage of him exiting the exploded building, he was wearing his illegal armor, and who else uses giant bugs as a motif?  It’s a pretty open-and-shut case.”

    Meanwhile, Dinosaur Queen, whose attack killed at least 79 people and caused billions in property damage, is being sent to federal court and probably out of state.  The Dino-Day Disaster is being considered a terrorist attack and if convicted would incur a much harsher punishment.  Some politicians are even suggesting sending her to Guantanamo Bay, although that seems unlikely.  For the time being, she’s being kept in an undisclosed location, and her pet dinosaur, Rawrasaur, is being kept in a separate undisclosed location.

  • Ask Julia: What About ‘The Gator’?

    Ask Julia: What About ‘The Gator’?

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    By Julia Crumpleman

    profgatorWith New Romford still recuperating from the Dino-Day Disaster, I debated when I’d return to doing this column.  After all, there are much more pressing things to do, but that hasn’t stopped readers from sending me questions.  For any questions regarding the clean-up and recovery effort, please contact your local authorities and crisis management office.  They will be able to help you.

    Then it occurred to me that if I could provide some light distraction from our recent plight, why not do it?  So I picked one of the lighter questions and got a surprisingly pleasant response.  This question comes from Aaron in Carterson:

    Hey Julia, I was wondering what happened to Professor Gator at NRU?  Did he change into a dinosaur too?

    Aaron, I’m glad you asked because I hadn’t thought of it until now!  Furthermore, I wonder what happened to our extraterrestrial citizens.  They aren’t from Earth and would have no connection to dinosaurs.  Perhaps we’ll find out in time, but for now, I got the pleasure to speak with Professor Alan Guinness, a.k.a. “The Gator” or “Professor Gator”, about his experience.  Here’s what he had to say:

    Oh, ho ho, no I didn’t turn into a dinosaur, at least not what most people would think of when you say dinosaur.  I actually turned into an ancient version of an alligator.  From the best I could tell, I turned into a Deinosuchus riograndensis, basically a giant old alligator from the Cretaceous period.  I tripled in size, so I was about 30-35 feet long, and I wasn’t able to walk on two legs.

    It was a unique experience to say the least.  I was in my lab, which, thankfully, can hold a 30-foot long creature without much damage.  I was able to crawl out the door to see what was happening, but I really wasn’t able to do much other than destroy things with my tail by accident.  It was such a cumbersome thing.

    Thankfully, not much happened at my part of the campus.  The Dino Army wasn’t interested in us, apparently, so some of the professors and I kept the students together and took time studying ourselves.  I mean, how often do you get to study living, breathing dinosaurs up close and literally in person?  Once we got some food in us, we had a grand old time.  We gathered so much information on how dinosaurs walk, eat, and live.  I only wish we had hands so we could’ve written it all down, but we did the best we could.

    There you have it, Aaron!  I’m glad that someone was able to find something positive about the DDD, and Professor Guinness is just the alligator to do it.

  • New Romford Mourns, Rebuilds

    New Romford Mourns, Rebuilds

    By Buffy Bolivar

    With the Dino-Day Disaster in the past, it’s time for New Romford to rebuild and mourn.

    As with most major superhuman events, the city has come to a standstill in the wake of the attack.  Most businesses are closed and will remain so for several weeks or months to come.  The city, National Guard, and Peace Force are helping with the clean-up and rescue effort.  At least 12,000 buildings and 8,000 roads are estimated to have been damaged in some way.  Power, water, sewers, and communications have also been damaged, and it may take weeks before they are fully restored.

    This all pales in comparison to the human toll.  City officials put the death toll from the Dino-Day Disaster at 79, and there are still hundreds missing.  Some died at the claws and tail spikes of the Dino Army, but most died simply by being in a structure that wasn’t meant to hold dinosaurs.  One subway worker got stuck in a tunnel and suffocated when he couldn’t escape.  A crew of eight sailors were in Windsor Bay when they all changed, sinking with their boat.  Others died by changing into a large dinosaur while inside a building, damaging its structural integrity.  When they changed back into humans, the building collapsed and crushed them inside.

    That said, this is nothing New Romford hasn’t seen or experienced before, and the city has come back from worse disasters.  The New Day attack of 2006 claimed 304 lives, and the Chymeran Incursion of 1976 claimed 543 lives.  New Romford survived and prospered after those disasters, and it will survive and prosper after the Dinosaur Queen’s attack.

  • Home

    Home

    By Chase Chapley

    Well, gang, thank you for reading my blog during this crisis.  I’m going home to find my wife, Charlene.  I was able to get a hold of her via a land line, and she’s safe.  This has been quite the ordeal, a weird one even by our standards.

    I hope everyone is safe and with loved ones.  We are New Romford, and we know how to survive.  Any breaking news will come from one of my colleagues.  Find someplace safe to sleep tonight.  Tomorrow, we rebuild.

    Good night.

  • PHOTO: 4th Avenue Bridge Collapsed

    By Chase Chapley

    We just got this photo of the 4th Avenue Bridge from the Channel 8 News Copter.  It collapsed yesterday.  Click for the full size photo.

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