Dumpster Chickens ATTACK!!

The next day, when Captain Dither arrived at the studio he was surprised to find the studio clean. No mess. No disaster. Captain Dither smiled. 'Maybe Uncle Bob and Mama Witt had given up on pranking and messing everything up.

Captain Dither had a little extra bounce in his step when he went off to find Nick. He was excited to find out if and what they were going to do that day.

It had been awhile since they produced anything on film. He wasn't sure if not filming movies and stuff was a good idea. He was a little concerned that the fanbase might get bored and move on to other things. Nick didn't seem all that worried. Captain Dither shrugged, what did he know about the movie making business after all?

Captain Dither thought he might try hanging out by Nick's office. If Nick came out of his office and saw Captain Dither, he might have an assignment for him. Captain Dither hated down time. However, he didn't want to knock and bother Nick, if he was busy.

Captain Dither approached the door. He heard Robert's voice talking loud and excited about something Dither couldn't quite make out. Nick's voice could be heard as well.

The voices inside the room stopped. Captain Dither backed away from the door incase it suddenly opened. He didn't want whoever was inside to crash into him. Captain Dither leaned against the wall opposite the office. He pulled out his phone and pretended to be busy himself.

Suddenly, the door flew open. Uncle Bob was there with a big grin on his face. He saw Captain Dither and his energy, which was already a 10 shot up to a 20. "Captain Dither," he boomed out. "You are just the man I was looking for! How would you like to be the star of the next film?"

Captain Dither smelled a rat. "Okay... what's the film?"

"It's a spoof on Hitchcock films." Robert responded.

"I think that's been done already." Captain Dither was skeptical. "Have you heard of Mel Brooks by any chance?"

"This will be different, Captain Dither." Uncle Bob beamed. "I promise."

Captain Dither clearly wasn't buying whatever Robert was shoveling, but he thought the studio needed to film something. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"Nick's on the phone with some animal trainers, right now." Uncle Bob explained.

"Animal trainers?" Captain Dither asked. "What kind of animals?"

Uncle Bob's smile never wavered. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to say any lines. Just stand and do what comes natural."

"Okay." It all sounded like from his first day on the job. Captain Dither went along with the idea, despite still being skeptical. "Just put me wherever you want me."

Uncle Bot put his arm around Captain Dither. He guided him to the staging area.

The stage was made to look like the edge of a cliff. It was designed to look like there was a 500 foot drop. In reality, the drop was 2 inches. There was a glass bus shelter with a door that opened and closed overlooking the cliff. Uncle Bob steered Captain Dither over by the bus shelter.

Captain Dither recognized the scene. He had a pit in the bottom of his stomach. Captain Dither held his tongue.

Nick arrived on set. He stood off to the side. He didn't want to interrupt. Secretly, Nick was happy to be filming something. He loved the old Hitchcock movie, The Birds. He was looking forward to recreating the famous phonebooth scene. Nick also liked the idea of replacing the phonebooth with a bus shelter to update the scene a little. Nowadays, everyone had cell phones. There was no need for phone phonebooths, anymore.

"So, I am sure you know what we're doing, now." Robert's grin never left his face. His eyes were dancing.

"Yes." A dark energy added itself to the pit in Captain Dither's stomach. The spicy mixture simmered over a low flame. "You want me to get into the bus shelter." Captain Dither's tone was flat compared to the storm that was brewing within.

"Exactly!" Uncle Bob's enthusiasm kept rising. He patted Captain Dither on the head like a dog. "It's a famous scene-"

"I know the scene! And the movie!" Captain Dither snapped.

The sudden emotion out of Captain Dither startled everyone in the room. Usually, Captain Dither was chill, relaxed, and easy going. Nick was having second thoughts about filming. "Let's do a rehearsal. WITHOUT cameras, just to see how it goes."

Robert nodded so vigorous as to make his own head fall off. He was undeterred by Captain Dither's anger. The mark of a good prank is to create a huge reaction. Dither's rage played into Robert's plans. "Go on, Dither. Get into the bus shelter and close the door."

Captain Dither did as he was told. He had figured out what was about to happen. He didn't like it. He didn't want to lose his cool, but if what was about to happen happened. He would not be responsible for his actions.

Inside the shelter, Captain Dither took a deep breath. He let it out slow. He kept his eyes locked on Uncle Bob. "Do it." Captain Dither commanded.

Uncle Bob stepped back, away from the shelter and Captain Dither. With a swift motion, Robert gestured to the side. A wave machine hidden behind the bus shelter started pelting it with water and spray. Robert moved over to the big fans week and turned them on. He started feeding leaves into the fans. The leaves hit the sides of the shelter with a splat as they drifted off into the backdrop behind.

Luscious appeared next to Uncle Bob. She threw a few feathers to mix into the leaves. She added a few other things. Things that weren't light like feathers. They had wings. They had feathers. They were seagulls. They weren't live ones... yet.

Inside the shelter, Captain maintained his lock on Uncle Bob with cold indifference. Wind, leaves, spray. They were nothing he couldn't handle. A thud from the first bird strike made him jump, but he regained his composure with another cleansing breath. Captain forced steel into his veins and stared down the wind machine. He dared it to bring more wrath.

The wind machines had no more for Captain Dither. However, Robert did. He nodded to Nick, who summoned the animal trainer. The trainer had cages. He positioned the cages facing Captain Dither. The cages full of live birds. More seagulls, of course. The cages were opened.

A column of wings, feathers, beaks, and talons spewed at the shelter. Captain Dither saw the beasts of his worst nightmares headed straight for him. He ducked. He bobbed. He weaved. The birds hit the enclosure and bounced to the side. One cracked the glass in exactly the same spot as it had in the movie. Captain Dither tried to back away from the flying terror and tripped. Captain Dither attempted to cram himself under the bus bench to give himself some additional cover against the relentless onslaught. He had started screaming . It was as if he were being murdered. His voice carried out of the shelter, filled the studio, went outside, and beyond.

Outside, in the parking lot, a very large, very nice truck pulled in. An older man exited the vehicle. He entered the building and made his way along the maze. He followed his ears to the staging area, remaining quiet the entire time.

Onstage, the caged birds had been spent. Mama Witt and Dostoyevsky, dressed as giant seagull/human hybrids entered the stage. They flapped their arm-wings. Mama Witt opened the shelter. Dostoyevsky tried to pull Captain Dither out from his berth under the bus bench. Captain Dither wasn't coming without a fight. He kicked and screamed. He punched wildly at the air. Dostoyevsky backed up. This wasn't how the scene was supposed to go. He looked at Uncle Bob and Nick for help.

Nick had seen enough. "Cut!" He called ending the scene. "Captain Dither you can come out now. We're done. It's over." Except, Captain Dither didn't stop.

"What's the trouble?" The Elderly man asked.

"Hi, dad." Nick said as calmly as he could over Captain Dither's screaming. "We were just practicing a scene."

"I see." The man responded. "I wasn't sure what you were doing. I let myself in. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"We're fine, but Captain Dither..." Nick tried to explain. Nick went over to Dither to try to wake him up. In a blind panic, Captain Dither punched Nick, knocking him out.

The rest of the crew stood in shocked silence. Uncle Bob brought a bucket of cold water and dumped it on Captain Dither.

The cold water woke Dither up. He saw that the danger had passed. He sat up banging his head on the bus bench. "What happened?" He held his head. Captain Dither saw Nick on the ground. "Oooh.... I didn't mean that. Sorry."