Week 18.2 – Defcon 5

Previously: Metalord and Digger were facing Professor Exotherm as he fired his laser deathray at a disco ball blimp. And now…

A dozen, no, a hundred beams flashed down from the reflectors on the side of the blimp. Digger could hear the distant sounds of dozens of explosions in the city beyond the walls of the waterfront warehouse.

Metalord landed on the roof and put a hand to his ear. “B.B, go for the blimp!” he said, then ducked out of the way of a heat blast from the professor.

“You can’t stop it now!” the professor shouted at the empty hole in the ceiling. Digger heard a series of explosions so quick they almost sounded like a giant piece of cloth ripping. In the sky beyond the hole, he saw that weird explosive tentacle arch up toward the distant blimp as the professor continued to gloat. “The synchronized micropulses allow the cannon to fire while the shield stays up. Your human reflexes can’t possibly keep up!”

Metalord appeared from another direction and held his hands out toward the laser cannon as if he could pick it up from 50 yards away. “Yeah, but there’s no force field protecting the steel flooring, idiot.”

The steel plates under the cannon warped with a groan that shook the walls. The plates lifted a couple of feet in the air, then stopped and trembled in the air as Professor Exotherm laughed even louder. [blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]The heat radiating from the floor plates was so intense that Digger’s hair was starting to flutter in the breeze from the hot air rushing up past him. He had to get out of the building, but the floor was getting so hot that he didn’t dare run across it…[/blockquote]“Those plates don’t just conduct electricity. They’ve absorbed the heat from my battlesuit. As they near their Curie point, your magnetism can’t overcome their mass.”

The plates and the cannon dropped to the floor again with a BOOM that echoed from the walls. The heat radiating from the floor plates was so intense that Digger’s hair was starting to flutter in the breeze from the hot air rushing up past him. He had to get out of the building, but the floor was getting so hot that he didn’t dare run across it.

“You see now how overmatched you are?” Professor Exotherm gloated. “It’s not just my armor. This entire building is a weapon against you. Can you feel that hot air rushing past you, heating up your armor? You’re probably starting to feel dehydrated and weak. And in a few minutes, your armor will get so hot that even your magnetic powers won’t be able to hold you up any longer. You’ll fall onto the hot steel plates, and then you’ll be easy prey. You’ve lost.”

The front doors burst in with a crash. Outside, Digger could see two petite Asian women in matching suits, a white-haired man in a blue jumpsuit, and a dark-skinned woman, Indian or Middle Eastern or something, in a white robe. They all flinched back from the wave of heat that washed out at them. The base of the steps burst into flame and Digger stumbled back and up to escape the fire.

“Ah, your teammates are here just in time to see you fall, Metalord,” Professor Exotherm boomed.

“Enjoy this feeling while it lasts,” Metalord gasped, “cause you’re going down in about three seconds.”

How can Metalord be so confident? And how will Digger survive? Be here tomorrow for the next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…