PART II
By:
Fright Knight
landed in an area outside of Glenwood Acres.
The lawns were perfectly clipped and houses neatly cleaned, an air of
sophistication and goodness flowing throughout the neighborhood. Fright Knight wanted to puke and he spit on
the ground in disgust.
Holding up his
saber, he started to spin it over his head.
As it gathered speed, dark tendrils of power etched the sky, splitting
the clouds in half and shattering the aqua-blue hue of the heavens. A blackened ball of energy shot into the air,
exploded and trickled down, casting the neighborhood into a dark pallor. Early morning joggers screamed and dashed
away, watching as their morning was suddenly cast into full night.
“Run!” Fright Knight spat. “Run and hide! Your worst nightmare is here!”
The klaxons went
off, immediately dimming the lights and placing every computer station of red
alert. Z.O.R.D.-1 appeared on his
fascia. Angela Fairweather, wearing dark
green overalls, came through the hyperportal at a
run, face smudged with grease and grime.
She adjusted her glasses as she sat down at a control board.
“Nature of
disturbance, Z,” she ordered.
“Yes, madam. Sensors are registering monster activity in
the vicinity of Glenwood Acres. It would
appear that the monster in question possesses some form of shadow-inducing
power as that area is slowly being shut off from outside light sources. Is that a satisfactory report, madam? I could
elaborate further if….”
“That’s okay,
Z.” Angela turned to the Viewing Globe
and watched the monster march through the middle-class neighborhood of
Glenwood, tossing shadowy globules at everything. A terse line formed on her mouth and she
slammed her palm into a large red button marked “eXtreme Emergency”.
Ashley Hammond held
the bikini up to her clothed form, admiring the various shades of purple it
held. She smiled and nodded. Over her shoulder, she shouted, “How’s that
fit, Maya?”
Maya of Mirinoi stepped out of the fitting room, clad in a stunning
white two-piece, the top held together by a large gold hoop and the bottoms
held with gold hoops at the hips. “It’s
nice, I suppose.”
Ashley turned and
gave an “OK” sign. “You’ll knock ‘em dead at the beach!”
*DEET-DEET-DEEDEE-DEET-DEET*
The six-tone chirp from Maya’s wrist
stopped her posing in front of the mirror.
She looked down at her communicator, watching as the face flashed with
each chirp. Ashley set her bikini down
and motioned for Maya.
“Let’s go,” she said, pressing her TELEPORT button on the wristcom and dissolved in a purple beam. Maya looked around, deeply regretting that
she was going to teleport away with someone else’s property. She almost took it off when the chirp came
again.
Stricken with a sense of guilt but
overcome with a sense of duty, Maya pressed her TELEPORT button, too, and disappeared in a white teleport wash.
“Ready?” he asked his partner.
“Ready as I’ll ever
be,” his partner returned.
The jungle loomed
out before them, the chirping of the various denizens echoed loudly in their
ears. Buzzing insects flew close to them
– small, stinging insects, but they neither cared for them or for what pain they
were bringing. The only concentrated on
their surroundings and listening to the sounds the jungle brought to them.
William “Bill”
Cranston and Sabrina Yu walked slowly over the foliage-ridden path, each of
them carrying with them a bo staff. They kept them in a “ready” stance, under
their arms with their right hands clasped loosely to it.
Sabrina sniffed the
air and stopped. “They’re close.”
“I can feel them,”
Bill said, turning his head slowly from side to side, taking in his
surroundings.
A rustle of leaves,
slight and silent to only the untrained ears…
Suddenly…
A creature, with
pale, rubbery skin and large bulging eye of red, leapt out from the
bushes. It brandished an axe that
glistened in the light of the blazing sun above. All over its body, leather and spikes
decorated him. He made a growl and his
partner – actually, a twin – jumped out to join him.
Bill and Sabrina
nodded to one another and vaulted over to their opponents, using their staves
for extra power. Bill, the Beta Ranger,
brought the staff down, intent on cracking the creature’s skull, when the
monster suddenly disappeared. Sabrina,
who had managed to disarm the other one in that short amount of time, noticed
that hers disappeared to. The jungle
around them vanished, too, leaving only the bright blue hexagonal grid pattern
of the Holocube.
“What the…?” Sabrina began but was
interrupted by an alert from her wristcom.
Bill nodded to his partner and they ran
towards the hyperportal. Bill pressed “01”, the “Enter” key and watched as the great double
doors opened directly into Command Chamber.
Jason was just about to catch up with
his old schoolmate when two distinct alarms went off: his wristcom
and Skull’s walkie-talkie. Skull picked
his up and spoke into it. “Go for Skullovitch.”
“Commander,
there is a disturbance in the Glenwood Acres area,” a voice
reported back.
“That’s only a mile away from here,”
Skull said to himself, gesturing with his chin to the other two Defenders. “Get the car started! MOVE!”
They took off down the hallway and Skull
turned to Jason. “Stay here, Jason! I’ll see you later!” And he, too, took off.
Jason closed the door after Skull left and set his new cards down
on the small table nearest the door. “Sorry, Skull. I’ve
got a job to do.” He pressed his TELEPORT button and disappeared in the
teleport stream.