David’s heart throbbed as sweat poured down his face. Sue lay on the ground near him, out cold. He wasn’t sure of the extent of her injury. But that mattered little if this robot got to them. It was just a few feet away. Only this strange sphere from Ren Tech stood between them. Yet, something was off. There were no more heavy footsteps, and the blasting beams coming from the robot were gone.
“Okay, I have to check.” He carefully bent down and looked under the sphere. To his shock, he saw the feet of the robot standing on the other side. It was facing them, or really it was facing the sphere. But it was completely still. “What the hell is that thing doing?” Hoping it was out of power and had simply stopped moving, David leaned around the side and see if its glowing eyes were dark.
The moment he stepped to the side, the robot turned its head, and those eyes lit up. Before he could move, or it could fire, a giant wave of water crashed into it and sent the robot sprawling across the park. The moment it stopped rolling in the water, its eyes emitted the beams and sent two red lasers harmlessly into the sky.
Captain Aqua landed near them, having ridden a wave across the ground. “Are you okay?”
“Sue is hurt.”
Jolt ran over to them. “No time for conversation. It’s getting up!” He ran to the side and thrust his hands up. An electro-static barrier formed in the air that met the lasers from the eyes. The shield exploded, but stopped the lasers.
Aqua yelled, “Get her outta here! We’ll take care of this!”
“On it.” David scooped Sue up into his arms and ran.
An enormous wolf ran by with a man riding its back. Kal, a metamorph, carried Brevis, who held out two sabers made of pure energy. “CRY HAVOC! AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!” Brevis bellowed as he jumped off the giant wolf and flipped over the Robot, slicing at its left arm with his blades. Brevis cut the arm of the robot clean from the shoulder and it crashed to the ground.
Undeterred by the loss of a limb, the robot spun around, swinging its remaining arm. It nailed Brevis before he could reach the ground and he flew across the park and crashed into a pond. The wolf got to the robot, only to be kneed in the chin and then slammed in the head with the left arm.
“TAKE THIS!” Jolt sent out a bolt of electricity that ripped a metal lamp post from the nearby street and flung it at the robot. The pole made contact with the face of the robot and it staggered backward, falling down a hill toward the ocean.
David paused in his retreat, hoping the battle was finally over. Aqua ran to help Brevis while Kal and Jolt waited to see as well. Then the robot’s head appeared as it walked back up the hill. Jolt and Kal were both about to attack when the robot released a bright green beam of energy from its face. It didn’t target any one person. It sprayed the surrounding ground with unrelenting power. Sod, dirt, trees, rocks, and heroes went flying every which way. Fires exploded up from areas and smoke mixed with dust clouded the park.
“Sweet Jesus! That thing is going to destroy everyone,” David whispered.
A weak voice in his arms said, “You have to stop it. The city is in danger.”
David looked down at Sue and said, “But I’m not a hero.”
“You can be, just this once. Please.”
The ominous stomping of that monster roared around him as the park turned to ruin. He was the last hero standing. He gently put Sue down and bolstered himself with a primal scream as he rushed toward his enemy. More bright green beams hit the park in other areas as it went to level every inch of goodness nearby.
Grabbing the lamppost on the ground, David muscled up his morphonic strength and got right up to the robot. “HEY, YOU RUST BUCKET. LET’S PLAY SOME BASEBALL!” He swung and hit it in the side. It staggered and then turned to fight. Before it could respond, he swung again, and again, and again. He slammed it left and right. Crunching through ancient metal and breaking free its armor.
The robot leaned forward and blasted a laser beam at him. He jumped out of the way, but the explosion rolled both him and his improvised weapon across the ground.
“Challengers defeated. Annihilating unworthy opponents.” The robot said as it turned to finish him.
“Not yet!” David grabbed the post and thrust it straight forward with every ounce of effort possible. The post pierced the robot in the chest and sent it crashing backward. On the other side of the post, now free of the robot’s body, was a green glowing energy generator. The robot was now completely off line.
“Challenger defeated!” David yelled at it.
Five BADGE shuttles surrounded the battle zone in King’s Park. Medics helped the injured while investigative teams checked the robots’ remains and the damage done. One group walked around, registering the radiation levels. Torrik and Krystal Fae were already working to restore the park where they could.
Director Nova walked up to David, who sat on a park bench with Dr. Henderson looking him over.
“Captain Aqua tells me you stepped up willingly.”
“I saw a need and did what I could.”
Nova smiled, “Like a genuine hero.”
Dr. Henderson closed her sensor device and said, “I understand the mayor of Perth wants to award you a medal?”
“Yes. But, I turned it down. I don’t want to be on the news and get big awards. I just want to go home.”
“So, you still want to turn down our offer to help train you to be a hero?” Nova said.
“Look, I wish I could be a hero. And I rather enjoyed using my new powers. But, to be honest, I was absolutely terrified.
Nova said, “You have the right to your choice and I won’t stand in your way. But, understand something. Heroes don’t lack fear, they simply choose courage over fear. You chose courage today and saved a lot of lives, including all the heroes around you.”
David said, “I’ll think about what you’ve said. But I still want to head home.”
“You have our number. Contact us if you change your mind. Now, head for shuttle Five. It’ll take you home and set you up with the morphonic suppression system.”
“Got it.” David stood, shook Nova’s hand, and left.
Dr. Henderson said, “That boy has the makings of a great hero.”
“I know. And I wager he’ll figure that out soon enough. Now, onto other matters. What happened here?”
Dr. Henderson walked with him toward the center of the area, which was where the Ren Tech Sphere hovered. “We have reports from David, Aqua, and Jolt. They all saw this robot stomp its way into this park and then simply stop and stare at this sphere.”
“Any idea why?”
“You got me. These spheres still defy our ability to scan them. My sensors all say it is a giant, floating lump of metal. That’s all.”
“I don’t like this. I want these things studied.”
Dr. Henderson said, “The moment we touch them, BADGE will be in court.”
“And we wouldn’t have much of a case since there seems to be nothing wrong with them.”
“We would lose international support and, once again, our PR would be tanking.”
“I hate social politics,” Nova grumbled.
“I know. However, we occasionally require them to maintain our work.”
Nova pointed at the sphere. “Use everything you can within the law. I want information about these things.”
“I’ll try.”
David returned to his apartment in Detroit. Life seemed so much simpler now. Detroit was never a quiet place, but tonight, it feel utterly silent. It wasn’t. In fact, it was normal. But, life has been so chaotic recently, it put this into a whole new perspective.
“Where are you?” His cat had gotten out the moment he returned. She was running around in the park by his house.
Walking up to it, he could see his warped reflection on the curved surface. It was so smooth, shiny, and silent. It hovered effortlessly above the ground. He paused as he looked at the small patch stuck to the side of his neck. It was the one item he had to wear that made the morphon suppressor work. He touched it with his finger, looking at it through the reflection.
“I guess this will be a part of my life from now on,” He said.
A beeping noise came from inside the sphere. That turned to a humming.
“Weird.” He leaned in closer. Dr. Henderson had told him that the spheres were oddly silent, giving off nothing to study. “Maybe I should call them and let them know.” He turned to go back to his apartment.
A bright light appeared behind him and his body lurched under some invisible force. His feet left the ground and his body flew backwards. For a moment, he was in nothing but darkness. Piercing pain flooded his body and oozy liquid filled the surrounding space. He screamed, he flailed his arms and legs, but to no avail. Soon, he succumb to the darkness and the world fell away.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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