“Remind me again why we’re strapped down?” Torrik asked.
Dr. Henderson said. “Standard safety procedure. If we crash, then you’ll have less chance of being hurt.”
“Then why is that one bouncing around?” Torrik pointed at EB.
EB scoffed. “I’m perfectly safe. Besides, unlike you, I can teleport myself with magic. Not too far, and not as well as Quark or others. But, I can.”
Chase finished talking to the Mayor of New Meta City on a tablet and looked up. “Good news. They have several people who can help defend with super powers. So, the city is stable for the moment.”
Torrik asked, “Is this another place where your leagues of magic hero’s work?”
“Not magic, superpowers.” EB corrected him.
Chase said, “No. New Meta City is a place where people who developed powers can go if they don’t want to use them, or can’t use them. Some use simple powers for daily activities, but aren’t really strong enough to fight with them.”
“So, is it a prison for them?” Torrik asked.
“Not at all.” Dr. Henderson stated. “New Meta City is a choice. People can leave if they choose. However, it is designed to adapt to those with morphonic powers. It is safer there for them and can help.”
EB added, “Also, there are bad people who like to get their hands on morphonic people and use them for experiments or to try and turn them all evil and stuff. Lotsa jerks out there who see people as tools and want to harvest these types of people. That’s why New Meta City isn’t exactly on the maps. Few know of it, so keep it secret.”
“Okay, I got it. I do have one other question. You said there are people using their powers to defend it. That woman the mayor mentioned used a power to blast a wyvern away. That is no small task. Surely, she could put her powers to use for the common good?”
Dr. Henderson said, “Some people have incredibly powerful abilities. However, using them is a danger to themselves. I know of this woman. I helped study her powers when she first came to BADGE. Debora has an extremely strong eyebeam power. But, it nearly kills her to use it. I’ll be checking on her right away when we get there.”
“Approaching New Meta City!” The pilot announced.
“Good, get ready...” Chase had to grab the arms of her seat as the shuttle was suddenly veering to the side.
“Incoming fire!” The pilot announced.
They watched as a wyvern swooped past them after unleashing a volley of fire.
“It’s chasing us! I can’t seem to lose it!” The pilot darted their shuttle all over the skies as they continued to take fire from the beast.
“Does this airship not have weapons?” Torrik yelled.
EB, who slammed into the bulkhead over and over, grabbed Torrik’s leg to stop his next crashing. “Nope!”
Dr. Henderson held the medical supplies from flying all over the place. “This is a medical shuttle.”
Chase said, “We do have some weapons!” She was looking directly at EB.
The bunny, still clinging to the goat leg of Torrik, snarled. “Damn.”
City. Hero leagues were organizing and moving toward Antarctica, but none had made it there yet.
“Has Gar reached the surface yet?” He asked.
A robot announced, “Affirmative. Strange Quark has transported Gargoyle to the planet’s surface.”
“Good.”
A different robot announced, “Agents compromised. Security Force seven seven nine has been compromised at Security Post Seven.”
“Do we have any confirmation on if they have been killed?” Justin asked.
“Negative. Signs indicate they have been manipulated. Mental sensor devices are offline.”
Justin let out a hard scoff. Dr. Henderson and EB developed a small device that all agents now wear to alert BADGE to any mental manipulation, especially from Nova or Lady Echidna.
Another robot announced, “Computer system compromised. Unauthorized access to BADGE computer systems detected at Security Post Seven.”
Justin let off a little smile. “So, they’re trying to get into our computers. With Nova and brainwashed agents on the site, blocking them will be impossible. But I suppose we shouldn’t let them just waltz right into our mainframe. Robots activate counter hacking protocols against access via Security Post Seven.”
The robots all went to work, energetically fighting the attempts to access the BADGE main computers. It would be a tit-for-tat battle between them and the ancient, brilliant mind of Nova, and they would lose. But Justin didn’t seem too worried.
Torrik held a leather strap that was attached to the roof of the shuttle as the whole cabin rolled. The pilot masterfully navigated around the attacks of the wyvern.
“Do I have to?” EB moaned.
Chase yelled, “Do it!”
“Fine. Here,” He jumped up and held tight to Torrik’s neck. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
In a flash of sparkles, both vanished from inside the cabin. Instantly they were outside, tumbling down in the sky as the shuttle zoomed away.
“HOLD ON!” Torrik yelled and straightened himself out in their freefall. A giant leaf appeared under him and he stood on it, riding it like a surfboard. It zoomed down and then swooped up, gliding through the air.
“The shuttle!” EB yelled, still clinging to Torrik’s neck.
The wyvern was dangerously close to the shuttle. Torrik leaned forward, and they sped through the cold, thin air toward their target.
EB produced an egg in his paw and said, “GET US CLOSER!”
Torrik made a great swing in the sky, speeding up even faster as he headed directly for the beast. When it blasted the shuttle with a fireball, EB launched his egg. It met the mid-section of the monster and exploded with a great flash of light. The wyvern lurched to the side, and the shuttle had a clear path away.
“Aw crap, it’s pissed.” EB said as he watched the irate wyvern get back on its wings and stare daggers at them.
Torrik laughed, “This is gonna be fun.”
“You and I have completely different ideas of what’s fun,” EB said just as Torrik flew directly for their enemy.
The wyvern unleashed a torrent of flames at them. Torrik made a corkscrew spiral around the flames, getting ever closer to the beast. The moment they got within a few feet, Torrik jumped off the leaf, causing it to evaporate. He landed on its back, running down it a short way before grabbing one of the protruding spikes to keep from falling.
EB lost his grip on Torrik and went sailing away. He quickly grabbed at the tip of the tail, getting a grip on it with all the strength he could muster. “TORRIK!”
The wyvern swooped down in an effort to dislodge its new passengers. Torrik threw one hand toward the front of the beast and a great vine shot out and wrapped around its head, coming into its mouth like a bridle. With that grip holding him in place, Torrik sent another vine back toward EB and caught the bunny before he went sailing into the cold, clear sky.
“DO IT EB!” Torrik yelled.
EB, the vine around his waist, formed a purple egg in his paws and threw it toward Torrik. “Get it to this thing’s face!”
Torrik caught the egg and waited while they went into a spiral toward the ocean. Yanking hard on his bridle vine, he got the wyvern to swoop up before crashing them into the raging Antarctic sea. Once they were back into a climb, he threw the egg directly ahead of them and let it smash into the face of the beast. A purple ooze spread across it and the wyvern writhed around for a moment in rage and then calmed down.
“It’s falling asleep! Get us down!” EB yelled.
Torrik looked ahead and then back at EB, “I... don’t know how.”
“Gah! You shaggy piece of...” A dirigible zoomed up close to them, with a rope ladder hanging down.
A voice piped over the speaker from Furious Squirrel. “Get on!”
Torrik grabbed the ladder. EB was not far behind. They left the descending wyvern just as it crashed into the surface of the ice shelf, creating a long path in the snow.
The dirigible flew toward New Meta City with several hundred heroes arriving all around them, some in vehicles and others flying, a few coming out of portals.
EB shouted, “WOOT! CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!”
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