Week 14.4 – Bare Handed

Previously: Digger figured out that Twain was behind the bank robbery. Which is when Twain pulled a gun. And now…

Digger smirked at the gun. “You think that’ll stop me?”

“Yeah,” Twain said. “Your powers are gone. This’ll stop you dead.”

Twain was right, Digger realized. He’d been practically bulletproof for so long, he had forgotten what it was like to be normal. “Okay, you got me. But I still don’t get it. I mean, what was the point of all this? Was there ever even a hostage?”

“No,” Twain said. “Just a prerecorded tape of me in a pretty good make-up job.”

“But the Cobalt Czar… He was hiding in the background.”

“Dummy,” Twain said. “Strategically revealed by reflections from the bomb collar. Staged very carefully so you’d notice what you figured they didn’t want you to notice.”

“But why?”

“Challenge,” Twain said. “I needed a diversion to draw the police away while I stole the juice. Having you rob the bank was just bonus points. And having you ‘catch’ me after I was ‘betrayed’ by my boss? Just a way for me to keep you working for me while thinking you were in control. Admit it. You were really psyched when you thought you’d beaten me, weren’t you?”

“Damn it,” Digger muttered. “All this just so you could steal some cup that doesn’t even work?”

“It works,” Twain said. “We just haven’t figured out what it’s good for. But the cup doesn’t matter now. I have bigger fish to fry.”

“Like what?”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]”It’s like all the energy that should be used by all those missing supers is being redirected, reflected from their source onto another subject. The way the moon does with the light of the sun…”[/blockquote]“The Cobalt Czar,” Twain said. “I wasn’t lying when I talked about going there and being captured. Imagine how frustrated I was when I found out the cup I had traveled halfway aroud the world to get was actually back in New York the whole time. Originally, the plan was to goad you into fighting him somehow. But with your powers gone, well, how can I pass that up? Besides, the old plan’s obsolete now.”

“Why?”

“The inscription on the crystal,” Twain said. “Have you ever looked at the demographic statistics for Mongolia? Of course you haven’t. Well, if you had, you’d realize there’s something really weird going on.”

“Like what?” Digger asked.

“The statistics don’t add up,” Twain said. “You’ve got a 500 mile radius with no native supers at all, and then smack in the center, you’ve got the most powerful super in the world.”

“Maybe they just kill off the others,” Digger said.

“No,” Twain said. “It’s something else. It’s like all the energy that should be used by all those missing supers is being redirected, reflected from their source onto another subject. The way the moon does with the light of the sun.”

“You think that’s the secret of the City of the Moon?”

“Yeah,” Twain said. He opened the door to the room. “And I’m going to go break myself off a piece. But first…”

He reached outside the door and brought in the Cup of Regret. “I can’t have you following me.”

“No,” Digger shouted and dove forward too late. The juice splashed in his face and he was gone.

Where will Digger end up this time? Join us tomorrow (hopefully before midnight) for the next exciting episode!

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