Week 39.3 – The Last Time, Probably

Previously: Digger, in danger of being disintegrated by the Cobalt Czar, used the Cup of Regret to escape back in time. Meanwhile, in the present…

“No!” Twain shouted at the sight of the broken shards of quartz lying among the scattered blue crystals. Rage and desperation pulsed in his head to the sound of the River’s rush.

The Czar turned and noticed him standing there. He lifted a hand toward Twain. “Your turn,” he said.

“No, it’s yours!” Twain said. He thrust out his own hands and let the River’s power flow. A bolt of blue–like the Czar’s, but paler–struck the tyrant.

The Czar staggered back a step and scowled at Twain. “I knew it was just a matter of time before someone else tried to claim this power for himself. The world is full of assholes who take things from you just because they can.”

“Said the dictator!” Twain said and released the power again.

This time, the Czar was braced for it and did not stumble. “If that’s the best you can do, you are about to die a very disappointed man,” he said as he stretched forth his hand.

Which fell off.

***

A couple of minutes earlier, Cole swooped down to the cavern outpost. The top of the ridge had disappeared, and the cave entrance was now an oblong scar in the ground, leading down into blackness. Digger and the others needed the mask right now.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]The top of the ridge had disappeared, and the cave entrance was now an oblong scar in the ground, leading down into blackness. Digger and the others needed the mask right now…[/blockquote]But Cole paused before entering the passage down. If the fight was going badly, they might need more of an edge. He felt around with his magnetic sense and found his project buried under a pile of rock. He gave it a mental tug and several rocks spontaneously split in two.

Cole flew down to save his friends.

***

The Czar looked at his stump of an arm, cut off just above the elbow. Blue blood gushed out, but he clamped his hand over the wound and groaned. The blood on his hand smoked and sizzled, and when he pulled his hand away, the bleeding had stopped. “What…?” he started to ask.

“Hey,” said Cole. “Sorry about the arm, but I can’t have you killing people.”

The Czar looked at Cole in disbelief. “You did this?”

Cole nodded. “Steel wire extruded into a filament about a molecule thick. Cuts through just about anything. Tensile strength is ass, but my powers make up for that.”

“You… you…” the Czar sputtered. He waved his stump at Cole. “I just grew this back!”

“Sorry,” Cole said. “But on the bright side, that’s really hard to make, so obviously my powers are pretty well restored.”

The Czar snarled and extended his other hand. Cole grabbed Twain and flew to the side as he used his other hand to grab the golden mask from the case hanging at his side. The mask flew from his hand and fixed itself to the Czar’s face. He gave a muffled grunt and his blue beam flew wide of its mark, carving a new tunnel into the rock. The stone ceiling above them groaned as it adjusted to the loss of support.

Sounds ominous. Be here for the next episode to find out what happens next!

To read from the beginning, click here…