Week 18.4 – Defcon 5

Previously: Metalord destroyed Professor Exotherm’s laser cannon as Digger was being rescued from the Professor’s headquarters. And now…

As the laser cannon crashed to the ground behind them, the girl flung Digger through the door. He shot toward the white-haired man in the jumpsuit, who dodged out of the way. Digger hit the ground and tumbled across the concrete into the street. Something snapped in his shoulder, and he screamed in pain.

He dimly heard the sound of the lightning renewing its assault.The agonizing pain in his shoulder threatened to blot out everything else, but then Digger was bathed in that blue-white glow again, and the pain receded.

“Why do you insist on hitting me with your lightning when you know it’s futile?” Digger heard Professor Exotherm’s amplified voice ask.

“You know your armor’s Curie Point, Professor,” Metalord shouted over the rush of superheated air and the crackle of electricity, “but do you know its melting point?”

Digger’s arm was grasped between strong hands. With a yank, something snapped into place in his shoulder. Digger registered pain, but within the comforting blue-white glow, it felt not quite real, like watching a movie instead of witnessing an actual event.

“I barely even felt that,” he said to no one in particular.

“You will tomorrow,” a woman’s voice said in an accent he couldn’t place.

An amplified scream was blotted out by a crash and an explosion. “Jeez, overkill much?” asked a younger female voice.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]“You know your armor’s Curie Point, Professor,” Metalord shouted over the rush of superheated air and the crackle of electricity, “but do you know its melting point?”[/blockquote]“It’s Cole,” answered a man’s voice. “That’s what he does.”

As the glow faded and Digger became more aware of the world around him, he saw that the warehouse headquarters of Professor Exotherm had collapsed into a pile of stone and twisted steel. Flames spat up from the wreckage.

Metalord made a wobbly descent and crashed to the ground near Digger and the others. His armor fell off. Underneath, Cole Chen’s face was flushed, and he was soaked with sweat. The sleeveless T-shirt and gym shorts he wore under the armor were also soaked. “Damn, that was close,” he said. “It was getting pretty hot in there.”

Digger struggled to his feet. Still coasting on the rush of the faded glow, he ignored the twinges that promised major pain tomorrow. “Are you crazy?” he shouted. “You almost killed me in there!”

“Oh, come on,” Cole said. “You’ve survived worse than that.”

“When I had my powers,” Digger clarified. “I’ve lost them all.”

“Who’s this guy?” asked one of the Asian twins. Their uniforms were not identical, Digger realized, but mirror images of each other.

“Says he’s Digger,” Cole said.

“Shouldn’t he have things on his arms?” asked the other twin.

“What part of ‘lost my powers’ slipped by you there?” Digger asked. “Are you all morons?”

“Just calm down, son,” said the white-haired man, putting a hand on Digger’s shoulder..

“The hell I will,” Digger said. “I need help with the Cobalt Czar and…”

And suddenly he saw exactly how Twain and the Czar could be beaten. It was all so simple and so beautiful. All he had to…

Digger fell to the ground, unconscious.

What has happened to Digger? And just how did Cole manage to defeat the Professor? Join us tomorrow for our next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…