Stuff I wrote when I was a kid -- The Nummiest Thanksgiving Ever

At one point, I started writing Supernum stories that took place around major holidays and were overall at least loosely themed around that holiday (usually with a "Killer Kirby tries to mess up that holiday for everyone and sics a set of holiday-themed monsters on Supernum" pattern to them.)  This was, as far as I can remember, the first one of these stories that I wrote.  As you can probably guess from the title, it's the Thanksgiving-themed one.

Killer Kirby was sitting in his castle one day, not doing anything but laying around. Then he got an idea! He could use Thanksgiving-type badguys to roast Supernum like a Thanksgiving turkey. The first one he made was the ThanksDumming Turkey. He was completely impossible to beat unless Freeze was used on him. He also made three others: Stuffing Stinko, Gravy Ghost, and (his favorite bad guy) Mashed Potato Monster. He sent the bad guys to the backyard of Eddie's house. He sent them the night before Thanksgiving so they could ruin Eddie's Thanksgiving dinner. Then Killer Kirby made 3 extra bad guys in case the other 4 got killed.

Oddly enough, it seems that this one actually features a bit of a change in the status quo from my oldest stories -- whereas Killer Kirby was "trying to figure out who Supernum was" as of How Julia Saved Fat Free Willy, now he's fully aware that Eddie is the one who can transform into Supernum and sends batches of monsters directly to Eddie's house.

A lot like Supernum Meets Commander Keen, this one randomly capitalizes a chunk of one of the villains' names -- in this case, the D in Thanksdumming Turkey.  Also, apparently the monsters are sent out "the nigh before Thanksgiving" rather than on Thanksgiving night... so did they wait around overnight and only attack on Thankgiving day, or what?

ThanksDumming Turkey immediately attacked the house. Eddie heard him attacking and rushed outside. "It's Time For Nums!" Eddie said. Just as soon as he said that, he began changing into Supernum. Supernum easily knocked off ThanksDumming Turkey's attacks, but nothing even scratched ThanksDumming Turkey. Then Gravy Ghost came. Supernum was overpowered by the two bad guys and ran. While he was running, He put some Numnum Land Mines on the ground. Both of the bad guys stepped on them, but only Gravy Ghost was hurt. Gravy Ghost stopped chasing Supernum. ThanksDumming Turkey slowed down, but  he didn't stop.

...apparently not, because "Thanksdumming Turkey immediately attacked the house."  I guess I just got things a little mixed up as to exactly what day Thanksgiving dinner took place on when I was writing this -- I must have gotten it mixed up with Christmas, since there's both Christmas Eve (where my family usually had Christmas dinner) and Christmas Day (presents.)

Also, it seems like Killer Kirby's minions are getting stronger and stronger over time -- in previous stories Supernum didn't have any trouble fighting multiple opponents at once, but here just two of the Thanksgiving-themed monsters would be a bit too much for him to fight at once.  This is also the first (and only) appearance of "Numnum Land Mines," and they're not the last odd random gadget that Supernum will end up using in this story...

When Supernum was far away enough from the bad guys, he stopped running and threw out all of the mines. He turned on his Numnum Scanner and scanned the bad guys as they came near him. He discovered that ThanksDumming Turkey's weak spot was Freeze and Gravy Ghost couldn't stand Zzzters. Supernum programmed his Num Gun for Freeze/Zzzt and aimed at the bad guys. ZZZZzzzzz! A few minutes later, ThanksDumming Turkey was a pile of turkey cold-cuts and Gravy Ghost was a bowl of gravy. Suddenly Stuffing Stinko appeared. Supernum scanned him and said "Numnum Smash!" A few seconds later, Stuffing Stinko was a pile of stuffing. Turning back into Eddie, Supernum picked up the gravy, turkey, and stuffing, put it on a plate, and said "My mom will love this!"

...such as the "Numnum Scanner" which reveals the bad guys' weaknesses, for example.  Also, I'm pretty sure Thanksdumming Turkey's weakness to ice-based attacks is based on the way that turkey starts to smell absolutely disgusting after it's gone in the fridge for a little while.

I'm not sure exactly when this story was written, but I think it might be one of the only stories to feature both the "random gadgets" style of Supernum fighting and the "Num Power energy attacks" style in the same fight.  The Num Gun and its various settings (which in this story are elemental-based rather than anti-Barney, anti-dragon, etc. like in their previous appearance), land mines, scanners, and Numnum Smashes.  Also, the Numnum Smash actually has an appropriate level of destructive power in this one rather than just... knocking things backward... like in Supernum Meets Commander Keen.

When he got home, he put the food on the table and everyone ate. Eddie ate turkey, Julia ate turkey, Mom ate turkey and stuffing, and Dad ate turkey, stuffing, and gravy. Just as they were about to leave the table, Killer Kirby's back-up bad guys and Mashed Potato Monster came crashing through the window. "What.. are those.. things?" said Mom. Eddie didn't have time to explain. He turned into Supernum and calmed down Mom. Mom couldn't beleive it! Her son Eddie was the only person who could stop Killer Kirby and his bad guys! The back-up bad guys were: Cranberry Creature, Dressing Dragon, and Lima Bean Leprauchan. Eddie gave the Sign Of The Numnum to Julia and soon they both were turning into Supernum and Julia Dragon. Supernum went after Cranberry Creature while Julia Dragon chased Lima Bean Leprauchan.

And here's probably the first appearance of Eddie's entire family in any of these stories.  And of course, right when Thanksgiving dinner is about over, Killer Kirby's minions crash the party (by literally crashing through the window.)

This is also the first appearance of the Julia Dragon as a Supernum-esque transformation for Julia rather than just a random monster.  I think this might actually be the only story where the Julia Dragon makes an appearance, oddly enough, though she was going to be involved in a battle against Killer Kirby at some point (this was mentioned in a comic I started but never finished when I was in the later elementary school years, but never actually written down or anything.)  I'm not entirely sure what the "sign of the Numnum" was supposed to be, but my first guess would be a hand motion that resembles a Numnum opening and closing its mouth.  Also, I consistently misspelled the word "leprechaun" throughout this entire story. >_<

Another odd detail present in this story: Eddie's mom apparently knows about Supernum and Killer Kirby, but not that her son is Supernum.  No reaction from Dad though, oddly enough -- did he already know somehow?  But yeah... between this one and the Christmas-themed story I wrote later, it appears that Killer Kirby is a known figure on Earth in the later Supernum stories -- these two actually make it sound like he has a castle located on Earth now, rather than just the one on Nummorro where he was originally based.  Apparently at some point -- probably after the whole "sealed away at Camp Shenandoah" thing? -- he decided to target Earth rather than Nummorro.

Dressing Dragon, having a chance to grab some lunch for Killer Kirby, grabbed Mom and flew toward Killa Castle. Dad chased after the dragon in his stinky car. Mashed Potato Monster decided to help Cranberry Creature. Just as Supernum was about to beat Cranberry Creature, Mashed Potato Monster showed up. Mashed Potato Monster was one of the toughest bad guys Killer Kirby had ever made. Every time Supernum hit him, a piece would break off and grow into a full-sized Mashed Potato Monster. And Cranberry Creature was helping him!

Apparently Cranberry Creature isn't anything special, as Supernum only seems to be having trouble with the Cranberry Creature/Mashed Potato Monster combination due to Mashed Potato Monster's ability to regenerate whole new Monsters from random chunks of potatoes that got knocked off by attacks.  Also, Eddie's dad is driving to Kihlah Castle.  Yep, these stories definitely seem to have Killer Kirby having a castle somewhere on Earth rather than just on Nummorro.

Supernum called for Julia Dragon, who had stopped chasing Lima Bean Leprauchan when she saw that Mashed Potato Monster was going to help Cranberry Creature. Julia Dragon roared as she charged at Mashed Potato Monster. Supernum could fight Cranberry Creature while Julia Dragon distracted Mashed Potato Monster. Soon Cranberry Creature was a pile of smushed cranberries. Then Supernum went back to Mashed Potato Monster only to discover that Julia Dragon was eating him! "Yum yum, try these mashed potatoes." said Julia Dragon, her mouth stuffed with potatoes. "Uhhh.. no thanks." said Supernum, nearly throwing up.

Yep, Cranberry Creature didn't last long -- he must have been the weakest of this group, as the story doesn't even feel the need to mention Supernum using some special technique or Num Gun setting to finish him off.  Also, the Julia Dragon has the unusual ability to eat yucky food despite not being one of the bad guys -- pretty much everyone else in these old stories was unable to eat yuckfood without getting sick, hence Supernum's reaction here.

Lima Bean Leprauchan and Dressing Dragon were the only bad guys left. But where were they? Supernum turned on his BadguyMapper and looked for them on the map. He found Dressing Dragon. He was flying away from Dad's car, which was so far past the speed limit that if the police weren't so scared of Dressing Dragon, they would've arrested Dad.

And here's another odd random gadget, the "BadguyMapper," which seems to be somewhat redundant with the Numnum Scanner mentioned earlier (unless the scanner just can't scan beyond a certain range or something, I guess.)

I think this might actually be the first of my stories to do the "one thing going in one place, meanwhile something else is going on somewhere else" thing, albeit very briefly.

Back at Eddie's house, the good guys couldn't find Lima Bean Leprauchan anywhere. Julia Dragon's well-developed dragon sense of smell picked up the smell of lima beans. She knew immediately that it was Lima Bean Leprauchan. Supernum jumped on her back and told her to follow the smell. They were soon deep in the woods behind Eddie's house, where Lima Bean Leprauchan's trap waited for two good guys. Click! Something had wrapped around Julia Dragon's front legs. "I'm in a trap!" roared Julia Dragon. Supernum got out and saw that it was not just one trap. Two tentacle traps had wrapped around Julia Dragon's front legs! Getting out his Num Army Knife,  he cut the tentacles, releasing Julia Dragon.

They couldn't find Lima Bean Leprechaun anywhere... even though they have a device that shows you exactly where the bad guys are?? Weird.

Anyway... apparently the Julia Dragon's sense of smell can pick up on the smell of lima beans from a looong way away even though Supernum's mapper for some reason wasn't able to find him anywhere.  And here's the appearance of another random gadget, which I'm pretty sure Nummy was mentioned as using in another story -- the "Num Army Knife," which is basically just a Numnum-themed version of a Swiss army knife.  Why he couldn't just use the regular ol' Numnum Sword to cut some tentacles, I'm not sure, but there it is.

Lima Bean Leprauchan jumped out from behind a tree. "Ha Ha Hee Hee! You slow wimps will never catch me!" he said. There was no way that they could. Everyone knows that dragons can spit fireballs, so Eddie gave the Sign Of The Numnum to Julia Dragon, who understood and spit three fireballs at Lima Bean Leprauchan. The Leprauchan dodged the first one, but he was fried to death by the other two. Now only Dressing Dragon remained, so Supernum got out a Num Warp and warped to Killa Castle, where they would wait for Dressing Dragon.

Apparently the Lima Bean Leprechaun is really fast, or something.  But not fast enough to dodge three fireballs in a row.  Also, Num Warps seem to be described as an object here ("Supernum got out a Num Warp...") rather than just portals that can send you to pretty much anywhere else instantly.  I'm not sure exactly how they were intended to work back then.

Soon Dressing Dragon came flying by with Dad's speeding car behind him. Dad threw a spare tire at Dressing Dragon, who dropped Mom. The car's brakes screeched as Dad tried to stop. Finally Dad stopped the car. But Mom was falling out of the air and away from Dressing Dragon. Supernum caught Mom just before she hit the ground and put her in the back seat of Dad's car. Then he went after Dressing Dragon while Julia Dragon guarded the car. Dressing Dragon suddenly noticed that his lunch was no longer between his claws. He flew toward Dad, ready to eat him, but Supernum grabbed Dressing Dragon's tail and pulled hard. "YOW!" roared Dressing Dragon as he knocked off Supernum.

Eddie's dad is apparently capable of driving at high speeds and flinging a spare tire out the window (high enough to clobber a flying dragon, and with enough force that it'd make said dragon drop the one he was carrying!) at the same time.  Though apparently he's not strong enough to actually fight Dressing Dragon, that's still pretty impressive considering that most regular ol' humans wouldn't be able to do anything against any of these monsters.

Just when Dad was only inches from being Dressing Dragon's dinner, Julia Dragon bit into Dressing Dragon's leg. "Mmmmm! You taste good, Dressing Dragon!" she said. Dad ran for the car, got in, and slammed the door. Dressing Dragon was really mad at Julia Dragon for messing up his meal. But since Julia Dragon was equal in size to Dressing Dragon, eating Julia Dragon would be impossible. Several tail whacks later, Dressing Dragon was nearly dead. Then Killer Kirby showed up, towering over Supernum, Julia Dragon, Dressing Dragon, and Dad's car.

Apparently eating food-based monsters was a defining feature of the Julia Dragon in these old stories -- first eating Mashed Potato Monster and now chomping on the Dressing Dragon's leg.  She's also apparently a good bit stronger than said food-based dragon, as all it took to nearly kill him was a few tail thwacks.

 "Dressing Dragon!" he said, "Why does it look like you need HELP? You are supposed to be a bad guy! You were supposed to EAT THOSE GOOD GUYS!" Then Killer Kirby yelled "KILLA!" and a zzzt shot out of his Shicker. Dressing Dragon began to grow. Soon he was the same size as Killer Kirby. "Ha Ha! Try to beat my Dressing Dragon now!" said Killer Kirby "EAT GOOD GUY!" roared the Dressing Dragon as he stomped toward Supernum. "Uh oh.." said Julia Dragon. "Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." said Supernum, getting out his Numnum Sword. He tied a rope to the sword and tied the other end to Killer Kirby. Then he threw the sword at Dressing Dragon and used the rope to climb up toward the Dragon's head.

And of course, since I watched a lot of Power Rangers back when I was writing these stories, Killer Kirby now has the ability to enlarge his monsters to humongous sizes.  And finally the Numnum Sword makes an appearance... even if it is just as a makeshift grappling hook to climb up onto a giant food-dragon's back.  On the topic of size-changing, Killer Kirby himself seems pretty inconsistent in these old stories -- I usually described him as being twenty feet tall even back then, but when writing it seems like I wasn't entirely sure how big that was... so sometimes he seems to be much bigger than that.

And speaking of Killer Kirby, his lines here are... really dumb, looking back.  Not sure what the heck I was thinking when I wrote this.

Then he got out his Num Gun and programmed it for "Dragon Destruction", the anti-dragon setting. Julia Dragon bit Dressing Dragon on the toe to distract him and Supernum blasted the Dragon with his gun. At first, the Dragon shrank. Then Dressing Dragon melted into a mushy blob and exploded. "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGG!" said Killer Kirby. "MY BAD GUY!" he yelled as he went back into the castle. He tripped when the sword-rope stuck into a wall. The castle came crumbling down as Dad's car drove home with a Dragon, a Num, and a lot of dressing.

And now the anti-(critter type) settings on the Num Gun, as previously mentioned in The Numnum Club, finally make a return appearance! Apparently they're pretty effective, as one shot from the "Dragon Destruction" setting not only reverts Dressing Dragon to his usual size but causes him to melt and explode into a giant pile of dressing.

Which is the same thing as stuffing, which had its own monster earlier (Stuffing Stinko)... so apparently that must've been Killer Kirby's favorite Thanksgiving-y food. XD

And here's Killer Kirby accidentally destroying his own castle by tripping.  Yep.  It's no wonder nobody ever wanted to get in a fight with this guy considering how much destruction he can cause entirely by accident.  I'm not sure why he always just went right back into his castle at the end of these stories rather than attacking (though in most stories other than this one, the good guys don't actually end up at the castle where he is so the question doesn't come up), but I guess in this one at least he could've been heading back in to prepare for a fight, then the tripping and castle-destroying happened so Supernum and company were able to escape while he was distracted.