Week 25.1 – We All Scream

Previously: Twain was knocked out by a mysterious assailant, and in China, Metalord was about to encounter his first Chinese supers. And now…

Starting the car had been surprisingly easy for Digger. He had never hotwired a car before, but on television, it always involved stripping wires and splicing them together. Digger had merely held the two wires and the car started right up, as if it knew what he wanted it to do and was eager to please.

As the car neared the exit from the airfield, the steering wheel in Digger’s hand began to shimmy, and a rumble grew in volume that sounded like the clatter of an endless line of giant dominoes.

Digger saw a man gliding along the street like he was riding a Segway, but as he entered the gate, Digger saw he was surfing a small swell of earth that continuously burst up from under the tarmac like a narrow wave that never grew high enough to break. No, not surfing; just standing straight, with his arms crossed as if he were waiting impatiently for the world to deliver him whatever he desired. The man tossed a small nod to the smoked windows of the car as he passed.

“Do you think Cole will be okay?” Digger asked.

“Of course he will,” Amanda said. “He’s crazy powerful, you know.”

“I guess,” Digger said as he turned out onto the street. “Still, maybe I should leave you guys the car and go back and help him.”

“What would you do?” Tiffany asked. “Hotwire that guy?”

***

Metalord looked up from the glowing dodecahedrons and saw a man in a green uniform–trousers bloused over shiny black boots, jacket buttoned all the way up to the neck–descend from the sky. And just like you could often identify people by their walk, Cole had noticed that people flew according to their personalities. BB propelled herself through the air with the force of an endless chain of small explosions, while Metalord shoved himself through the air at his target in slashing straight lines.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]And just like you could often identify people by their walk, Cole had noticed that people flew according to their personalities…[/blockquote]This guy drifted down, like a balloon that was leaking helium, and stopped inches above the ground, hovering gently with a small smile on his face. He was chubby like a balloon, too, the seams of his uniform straining to hold him in. The man opened his mouth to say something, but it was drowned out by the rumble of the second arrival, a man riding a swell of earth like he was on a moving walkway at an airport.The second man wore the same uniform, but instead of being shiny, his boots and the bottoms of his pants were covered with a thick coat of dust. His face was grim and his skin was grey. The rumbling subsided as he came to a stop beside his partner.

“Greetings, comrade,” said the floating man.

“Have you come to arrest me?” Cole asked.

“Of course not,” the man said. “Why should we fight our own kind because of politics?”

“Exactly,” Cole said.

“Then again,” the man said, and suddenly Cole was enclosed in a glowing shell. “Why not?”

Will Metalord become a prisoner of the Chinese? And if so, how will Digger get to Mongolia? Join us tomorrow for our next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…