Week 13.4 – Plan B

Sliding in just under the wire…

Previously: After their failure with the Cup of Regret, Twain and Digger are headed to Chicago to use a different artifact to restore Digger’s Driller Beam Generators to full operation. And now…

In the hours after they passed through New York City headed west on I-80, Digger pondered just how he might use the opportunity Twain was promising. Getting the use of his Drillers back would be a huge boon… maybe.

After all, what would he do with them once he had them? Punch out the Cobalt Czar? Not likely, even given Digger’s history of beating bad odds. After all, he lost almost as many fights as he won, and he hadn’t really fought anyone in the Czar’s league. Camazotz, maybe, but perhaps not even him.

And that was assuming he could even track the Czar down. Doctor Jolt might be able to with his gadgets and hacking skills, but it was far from given. Hound Dog could definitely do it, but he made his living as a bounty hunter. He wouldn’t do it for free, and Digger had less than two hundred dollars cash in his pocket.

Then again, he could just say, “Do me this favor and I’ll give you this magic cup.” Problem solved.

As they passed the I-79 junction to Pittburgh, Digger looked south past Twain. Twain shifted uneasily under Digger’s stare. “What?” he asked.

“Pittsburgh is where we fought Psicho and Bugs to end Hell on Earth,” Digger said. “Much of the city burned. The fires are out now, but it’s like there’s still a haze over the city.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]Hound Dog could definitely do it, but he made his living as a bounty hunter. He wouldn’t do it for free, and Digger had less than two hundred dollars cash in his pocket. Then again, he could just say, “Do me this favor and I’ll give you this magic cup.” Problem solved…[/blockquote]Twain glanced to his left, then shrugged. “I can’t see it. You want to see haze, wait till we pass Detroit. That place is all kinds of messed up. Every time they start to get it cleaned up, the Zombie Death Avengers get into another fight and trash the city to save it.”

“You think we actually do any good?” Digger asked. “Superheroes, I mean. Yeah, I helped save the world from Hell on Earth, but I also kind of helped cause it. Now some guy’s out there with a bomb around his neck because of me. I mean, what’s the point?”

“I don’t worry too much about why,” Twain said. “I prefer to concentrate on how. But I will tell you this: the only reason you guys can operate at all is because people haven’t come up with a weapon that can drop you reliably. You know, it takes a super to stop a super.”

“I know,” Digger said.

“But think about whales,” Twain said. “Whales are the biggest, most powerful creatures on Earth–or they were, before guys like you showed up–and they live in an incredibly dangerous environment for us. And yet, even before modern technology, people not only figured out how to kill whales, but they made it routine.”

“So what are you saying?” Digger asked.

“I’m saying,” Twain said, “that you may be a big, powerful hero now, and you may laugh at my little clothes-changing ability. But when somebody perfects a reliable, routine way to bring down a super, any super, you’ll wish you could pass for normal like I can.”

What will happen when they reach Chicago? Join us tomorrow for our next episode!

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