“HEY, DWEEB, WAKE UP!” Chromatic rattled Chaz by shaking him against the floor in the lab.
Dr. Hostetter calmly said, “We might take him to the infirmary. I don’t think this is helping.”
The lights in the room flickered off and then on again, then all the computer screens turned to fuzz.
Chromatic sneered, “Naw, he’s com’n around.”
Chaz smiled, “What...kinda soup did you use to defeat...skeleton?”
Chromatic frowned, “What the hell are you talk’n about?”
“Director, I jus wanna say, it is an honor to interview you. Now that I know you wanted to give me a medal and make it a big surprise, I forgive you for blacklisting me.”
Chromatic scoffed, “This doofus is in la la land.” He reared back and slapped Chaz, “Wake up!”
Chaz opened his eyes and frowned, “Director Nova?”
“I’ve got both my eyes, buddy. I ain’t the director.”
Chaz came around and then stretched his jaw. “Who hit me?”
“I did.” Chromatic stated without apology in his tone.
Chaz pulled himself up. “How did I get in here? Where’s Director Nova?”
Dr. Hostetter said, “Director Nova and Krystal Fae are both at the stadium for the League Wars.”
“Dangit! I was supposed to interview him.”
Suddenly the room went pitch black, not a single light came on, not even the emergency lights.
“Welp, that sucks,” Chromatic said.
The monitors all came on, still fuzzy. The sound coming from them grew higher and higher, other sounds joined in, each one growing in intensity by the second. The sound grew so much that even
Chromatic held his ears. One monitor shook and the screen cracked. Another rattled right off a counter.
“LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” Chromatic screamed over the sound. He yanked Chaz to his feet and shoved him out the door.
All three lunged out the door just as the remaining monitors erupted, spraying sparks all over the lab.
Dr. Hostetter popped his ears and then said, “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, doc. But, the fact that I can’t remember anything, this doofus was in la la land, and that room when haywire cannot be coincidence.”
Chaz asked, “How did I get in that room in the first place? I was supposed to be meeting with the director.”
“Look, dweeb, by now you gotta realize, none of us got answers. We just...” The lights in the hall flickered, screens along the corridor turned to fuzz. “Aw, crap. Not out here.”
Dr. Hostetter said, “I think we should get to the infirmary. It might be safer...what?”
Chaz had a hand up, “Do you hear that?”
“Hear...what?”
Chaz waited with his hand up. At first he frowned, and then his eyes grew wide. A deep, terrible, cackling laughter came from inside the lab they had just been in. Then, it changed, and came from down the hall.
“This ain’t good. We’re heading for the Operations, NOW!” Chromatic grabbed Dr. Hostetter by the arm and dragged him.
“Wait for me!” Chaz followed.
Nova sat in his highly protected, plush observation box at the stadium. He held a glass of excellent vintage in one hand, and a computer tablet with the running scores in the other.
The massive field below was vacant for the moment. On the monitors, millions of people watched from hundreds of stadiums and theaters across the planet. An announcer called out. “Wasn’t that an exciting round! Overtime! Can you believe the action folks, it doesn't get any better than this! Next we have Furious Squirrel and Starmaster. Furious Squirrel lost his first round, so he got the choice of arena for the second match. He chose, cityscape. Good luck!”
The field lowered and holograms appeared, creating a city with wide streets, tall buildings, cars, buses, and other random objects found in a normal metropolitan area. A hovering platform flew down with Furious Squirrel waving at the crowds. He had a large following from the Steampunk enthusiast since that was the theme of his normal costume. The roar from the viewership grew even greater when his opponent appeared, flying under his own power. Starmaster descended to the city streets. They each took their positions and waited while a giant holographic number three began the countdown. Millions of people, using hundreds of languages, counted down. When the buzzer sounded, both heroes took off after the other.
Nova set his tablet down and sipped the wine. A bright orange blast lit up his face and a steampunk hero crashed into the forcefield near him. Furious Squirrel clicked his boots, and they took off with rocket jets. He pulled out two laser pistols and shot back at Starmaster.
The Wizard approached from behind. “Sir!”
“Great match, Wizard. Very well executed.” Director Nova said.
The Wizard smiled, “Thanks, but I’m here on other business. I have a strange feeling something is happening at the station.”
“What?” Nova sat up.
Just then Krystal Fae appeared in a flash, “Sir! Oh, Wizard...I suppose you felt it too?”
The Wizard nodded with worried eyes.
Nova stood up. “What’s going on?”
The Wizard said, “I began feeling strange arcane energies coming from the station a few moments ago.”
Krystal Fae added, “I just tried to transport myself back there, and I couldn’t get through.”
Nova let out a hard huff, “Damn. Get to the shuttle, both of you. If there is arcane mischief, I’ll need your help.”
Gar watched the giant monitor as they focused their scans on the islands near Venice. He kept finding new ideas to help them re-calculate their sensors. Data flew by as the computer analyzed it.
“Where is she?” He whispered.
Suddenly a red light blinked and a buzzer yelled. The computer announced, “Power outage in laboratory section!” Then the light went back to normal.
Gar turned around, “What happened?”
“Please restate question.” A robot asked.
Gar huffed, “What happened to the power in the laboratories?”
The robot plainly stated, “All systems are operating within normal parameters.”
“But it just said...”
The computer buzzed again, this time with yellow alerts on the main screen. Gar quickly turned around and watched as the drone’s cameras all focused on an old island.
A robot announced, “Scans are indicating a positive reading at this location. Probability this is location of Operative Chase is ninety-nine point…” The robot flopped over.
“DON’T STOP!” Gar yelled.
Suddenly the screen flickered, and the lights flashed sporadically. The robots working their stations flailed around with sparks flying out of their joints.
“What is going on?” Gar grabbed a flopping robot.
“Please...please...please...restate...bacon and eggs…unicorns are mythical…”
He dropped the malfunctioning robot and picked up a standard comm device. “Director! Come in!” A loud white noise came through and then a screeching whistle.
The robots began to all speak, randomly spouting facts and idiotic statements. They were bolted down, which was the only reason they didn’t fly out of their seats with the way they jerked around.
“I need help.” Gar rushed to the elevator and jumped in.
“WHAT IS GOING ON! HEY! I’M HUNGRY!” Skelanimal yelled from his cell.
The lights down the corridor strobed and the robots guarding this place had all dropped to the ground. The robots rambled out strange words at various volumes. Suddenly, the lights all went off, not even the emergency lights were active. The robots stopped talking, and all was deathly silent.
“THIS ISN’T FUNNY, NOVA! NOT GONNA MAKE ME TALK!”
An odd, orange glow appeared down the corridor.
“What the hell?”
A wicked laughter echoed throughout the detention section. “Skelanimal!”
“Who is there? If this is another trick by Nova...”
“TRICK! HAHAHAHAHAHA! This is most certainly a trick, from the best trickster.”
“You...you can’t scare me.” His tone betrayed his words.
“Oh, yes, I can. But I’m more interested in the others. No, I have a promise to fulfill. I have a message for you from your friend, Krampus.”
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