Hello again! Sorry the issue's a little late - the last scene
took longer than I thought it would to write. And, the way things are
going, I think I'm going to end up having to give the man in the black
trenchcoat and Co. their own miniseries, if only because they're hogging
so much space in here.
And I just realized I've been miscalling Explosion Boy all these
issues. His original codname was Explosive Lad. Yoiks. I'll probably
stick a mini-story at the end of one of my next issues to explain the
change. Or something. And as a parting thought: You never really realize
how hard it is to spell eighth until you actually have to do it off the
top of your head. Too many bloody constonants on the end, that's the
problem.
Thanks again for the reviews guys:
Ian Porell
Carolyn Vaughan
Jamas Enright
H. Jameel al Khafiz
Pam VanMuijen
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DERELICT Press Presents
The eighth issue of
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" Flight School "
A psuedo-Acraphobe title
._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.
Two flight.thingees and a helicopter are flying high over the
ground. Bullets and sparks fly everywhere.
)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
" Do you see them yet? Are we picking anything up?" asked Paytan
from the pilot's chair, her eyes glued to the readouts, multiple blinking
lights, and pinging screens across the flight.thingee's console. She
occasionally glanced up to see where they were going. Savannah was in
the co-pilot's chair, staring steadily at the radar and it's sister
scanning systems. Brittany had found an oldies station on the radio and
waltzing around the back of the flight.thingee with her cosmic power.
Binky didn't seem to appreciate it much.
" Huh?"
" Do you see them, Savannah?"
" No. There's a big flock of seagulls back a mile or two - "
" Seagulls! Where? I love seagulls!" exclaimed Brit, charging to
the front of the flight.thingee and peering out the front window. Paytan
sighed and tried to concentrate on piloting something she had skimmed
a few pages of instructions on. Days ago. Once.
" - and a helicopter a ways ahead of us. It's heading in the same
direction we are, so we should catch up to it soon."
" Great. No sign of them. The LNH is gonna kill us. `What
flight.thingee? We didn't lose a - Oh _that_ flight.thingee. Heh. Well
you see...' We're gonna get fried. Anybody know how to work the jets on
this thing? Frick," Paytan tried to coax more speed from the engine.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
" Look, man I don't like this anymore! We were just gonna knock
off those sidekicks! Quick, easy, and then we're outta there! We don't
have authorization to go chasin' after them everywhere!! And you just
_killed_ that guy outside the helicopter - do you think we're gonna get
away with this?! We don't do helicopter chases! We're quiet and subtle
amd they're gonna crucify us, we'll - "
" Shut up. We were assigned to terminate those three sidekicks.
One down, two to go. And a bonus if we can take out the other kids, too.
Do you think headqurters would accept our apologies? `Oh sorry, so sorry,
we only got one'? You're just lucky I know how to fly one of these
things. We're taking this helicopter out and shooting them down before
anything else happens. We can explain the accidental deaths later. Here,
take this gun."
-=ð=- -=ð=-
" WHERE ARE THEY?!" screamed Fuzzy. California Kid cringed and
cautiously patted her shoulder.
" Whoa, dudette, calm down! It'll be cool! Just let Ent here
explain, he's cool, he knows what's goin' down, okay?"
Entropy Kid smiled cautiously at Fuzzy. The elder net.heroine's
Ambiguity Field was flaring in and out at irregular intervals, sometimes
reaching clear across the entire hallway. She was not in a good mood. Of
course coming back to the HQ to find that one's three charges hadn't been
seen since they came in two or three hours ago, and that they were no
longer on HQ premises, would do that to a person. Especially since those
particular three were Brittany, Paytan, and Savannah, and net.heroes to
boot, which didn't make for a particularly safe or normal comination.
" Unfortunately Entropy Kid's already said _something_ to
_somebody_ today! What are we supposed to do, wait twenty-four hours
until he can speak again?!" shouted Fuzzy. She was echoing down most of
the first floor of the HQ.
" Why don't we go find Faq Boy?" suggested California Kid.
" He'd better know where they are..." growled Fuzzy and set off
towards the cafeteria. Entropy Kid sighed in relief and started to head
off in the opposite direction, at least until Fuzzy snagged him by the
collar. "Oh no you don't! You're coming with me, and if we don't find
them in twenty-four hours, then _you're_ going to tell me where they
are!" Entropy Kid frantically shook his head and shrugged, but was still
dragged unwillingly behind the angry net.heroine.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
The Model 23-50 Lightning flight.thingee sailed across the sky,
flying steadily towards the Brotherhood of Net.Villain's far away secret
base. Inside, the man in the black trenchcoat was piloting, with
Explosion Boy in charge of the various weapons systems and such. Of
course he had no idea how to use them, but it's the thought that counts.
In the back, the others were doing their best to entertain
themselves. Kid Camouflage was keeping an eye on the various dials and
switches on the wall while paging slowly through the instruction manual.
If they were going to have this flight.thingee for a while it would be a
good idea to know what all the colored lights _meant_. Rebecca was asleep
in one of the passenger seats, snoring slightly. The other three were
watching clouds pass by out the windows. Suddenly the radar pinged.
" Hey, everybody!" yelled Kid Camouflage," We're being followed!
There's another aircraft on the radar.thingee, and it's catching up
fast!" The man in the black trenchcoat turned to Explosive Boy.
" Arm the weapons systems."
" Okay. Ummmm, how would one do that?"
The man in the black trenchcoat sighed and leaned over, tapping a
few buttons here and there. A whole panel of lights blinked on, and a
cold little pinging sound echoed through the speakers.
Explosion Boy leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes as
those behind him scrambled to various radar stations and/or windows. He
didn't want to be doing this, didn't want to be here at all in fact. He
was a _sidekick_ for God's sake, a _good guy_. But he had to stay, if he
wanted to find out who killed Floatation Girl. The man in the black
trenchcoat was his only lead. His _only_ lead. After he knew who her
killers were he could go to the LNH and get their help, or do it himself.
Kid Camouflage could stay here with the rest of them if she wanted, but
he intended on staying a good guy. Someone tapped his shoulder and he
opened his eyes and looked into Rebecca's. She was crouched next to the
chair, watching him worridly.
" Are you okay?"
" No, I'm fine. Just thinking," he smiled at her and she smiled
back, then stood and wandered into the back. Out of all them Rebecca
seemed the least likely to be well, villanous. He supposed she had
reasons of some sort or another. He'd have time enough to ask her once
they got to the far away secret base. Out of all the man in the black
trenchcoat's new recruits, she still hadn't chosen a code name. KC and he
already had one, and the man in the black trenchcoat was simply himself.
The only other male in the group had chosen the codename Mr. Exposition,
and the lithe oriental girl who could telikinetically move small
particles about at will was Dust. The youngest of them all, Janey, hadn't
picked a name, so the man in the black trenchcoat had dubbed her Hooded
Ho'od Win Jr. He'd muttered something about trouble coming in threes,
then snickered to himself. EB didn't even try to ask.
" Incoming. They're off to the left! Looks like a helicopter, two
men inside. Whatever it is it isn't LNH!" shouted KC from her position at
the radar.thingee and a handy window. Inside the flight.thingee they
watched nervously, wondering who it was that followed, while in the
helicopter a machine gun was being carefully aimed...
-=ð=- -=ð=-
" Yeeeeha! We've got the stolen flight.thingee on radar!"
shouted Brit. Savannah grinned from her seat near the radar, then stood
and slowly made her way to the copilot's seat.
" We should be able to see them," she said, peering out the
window. Paytan grunted in reply, half of her attention on the console and
half of it on the little instruction booklet they'd found in the glove
compartment. She was slowly but surely getting better at driving this
thing. Beside her Savannah blinked, then squinted.
" There's something wrong. That helicopter we saw on the radar,
it's following them. There's two men in it... one of them's got a gun! It
looks like he's aiming at the flight.thingee!"
" Crap! If we bring it back with bullet holes in it... I mean we
already half wasted one of these thing when _you_ drove," Paytan stabbed
a finger towards Brittany," We've gotta catch them! How the bloody hell
do you speed this thing up?!" Brit looked indignant.
" Well, if they'd simply put the brakes where you could see them
then - ," Paytan found the button," WEHOAAAAAAAAAAAAA - urk."
" Umm, seatbelts?" asked their pilot, belatedly. Brit mumbled
something nasty from the back of the flight.thingee. Meanwhile they were
rocketing forwards, wind screaming across the aircraft's wings, the jets
forcing the ship forward towards the helicopter and other flight.thingee
at an almost suicidical pace. "We're going to hit the helicopter! Pull up
you stupid machine! PULL UP!" Paytan wrenched the throttle back, and the
.thingee tried to turn upwards at a ninety degree angle. Metal groaned
and screamed, and a few bolts here and there popped out, dropping
downward towards the earth far beneath them. The men in the helicopter
saw it coming and wrenched their aircraft down and to the left, both of
the flying machines rocketing off course as fast at they could go to
avoid each other. The young man in the helicopter sprayed some bullets
and the radar flight.thingee before it veered out of range.
" Ummmm, Paytan? They're shooting at us," said Brit, peering out
the window.
" Of course they're shooting at us! They've got a gun and we just
narrowly missed crashing into their helicopter! They're probably just
some army types that got dragged into this!" screamed Paytan, trying to
wrench the flight.thingee back on course.
Back inside the BoNV flight.thingee, the man in the black
trenchcoat had taken control.
" Explosion, try to keep the guns focused on the helicopter.
That's where the true danger lies. Kid Camouflage, can you extend your
power to cover the whole ship?"
" Not very well. We'll be harder to spot, but..."
" Do so. Hood Jr., get the medkit out of the back. I want you to
hold onto that like it's your soul, okay? If we go down now, we may need
it. Dust, as soon as we get low to the ground I want you to pick up as
much dirt as you can and send it towards the helicopter. Try to blind
them, or foul up their blades and engines -
" We might have to get pretty low, I don't know my range yet - "
" Then we'll find out today, won't we? Mr.Exposition, get out any
rifles or guns in the back storage compartments and hand them out. Keep
and eye on the LNHers too, they may turn out to be dangerous. Rebecca, is
there anything you can do to foul up the helicopter?"
" I don't know, I could try..."
" Do so. In the meantime..." he sent the flight.thingee soaring
downards towards the ground, the helicopter veering and wop-wop-wopping
directly after them. Paytan growled and shoved the joysick forward,
sending the flight.thingee pitching downwards and Brit into the side of
the wall.
" Paytan there's such a thing as gradual turns you know!" she
yelled back into the cockpit. "I need a seatbelt! Seatbelt, seatbelt,
who's got a - whoooAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" The .thingee veered down and to
the right again, throwing Brit to the ground next to a seat. "I'm gonna
be bruised, you bet," she muttered and threw herslf into the chair before
Paytan could do anything else. She seatbelted herself in with a sigh of
relief.
Down below, the man in the black trenchcoat sent the stolen
flight.thingee skipping about ten feet off the ground, still rocketing
forwards at breakneck speed. The helicopter followed close behind and a
spray of bullets thudded into the ground just off to the flight.thingee's
side. The man in the helicopter's passenger seat cursed and carefully
took better aim, oblivious to the bits of dust and dirt rising up behind
the helicopter like a giant wraith.
Inside the stolen flight.thingee, Dust's hands were wrapped
around the arms of one of the seat, her eyes slammed shut in
contentration. She brought the dirt forwards towards the back of their
flight.thingee, and the two gunmen winced in horror as bits of leaves and
pebbles rattled against the windows. The helicopter veered and shot
spasmically back upwards, out of Dust's range, the driver shivering and
glancing at the receding dustcloud in terror.
The man in the black trenchcoat watched the helicopter shudder
upwards, and a tiny smile flickered at the edges of his mouth.
" Rebecca," he said," nevermind about crippling the helicopter,
just make it glow, like you made your hands glow that night I saved you."
Rebecca looked questioningly at him a moment, then shrugged and began to
mutter quietly to herself. Mr.Exposition walked forwards and carefully
set a rifle near the pilot's seat.
" They're afraid of us. They fear our powers! This is so cool,"
he said. Then a red glow flashed into being around the helicopter,
causing Paytan and the LNH flight.thingee to veer off again, just in case
the helicopter decided to more than glow. Explode, for example. It didn't
though, to everyone's relief.
Except perhaps for the two men inside it. The pilot sent the
helicopter into frantic swerves and dodges, surging upwards into the sky
as if they could outrun the blood red glow that coated everything on the
aircraft.
" They've got us, oh my God they've got us whatareWEGOINGTODO?!!
MakethemSTOPmakethemSTOP!!!"
" Shut up!! Shoot them down, dammit, they're the ones causing it.
Kill them and they'll stop!!"
" NO!! Ican'tIcan't, they'll hurt us!!"
The man in the black trenchcoat brought the stolen .thingee
roaring around, until it was just a little above the helicopter and off
to it's side. Something bleeped on the weapons panel and a whole row of
little lights went green. The man in the black trenchcoat reached out and
put his hand firmly on Explosion Boy's shoulder.
" Fire," he said. EB looked at him coldly.
" That's a dead on shot. They'd die."
" Exactly."
" Who are they?"
" Just fire on them dammit! This isn't a game!"
" Who are they?!"
" Fire the weapons!!"
" WHO ARE THEY?!"
" The Reality, dammit! Now fire!!"
" No."
" Incoming!" screamed KC from the back. The entire flight.thingee
shuddered and screamed, pitching to the left. The right side of it warped
inwards slightly, and the man in the black trenchcoat fought for control.
Outside, the helicopter swerved away from the flight.thingee.
" Hey! Crap! What do they think they're doing?!" yelled Paytan. "
Hey! You! Get away from that flight.thingee!!"
" Vandals!" yelled Brittany, and shook her fist at the
helicopter as it veered into the flight.thingee again. This time a wing
buckled in two, one of the engines igniting in a cloud of red and grey.
Some of the shrapnel shattered the helicopter's front windshield, and
sent it dodging shakily away, while the flight.thingee continued to lose
altitude. The red glow melted from the helicopter and took up residence
around the flight.thingee, seeming to buoy it up. But not enough to keep
it from crashing, as the impact tore metal like tin foil and sent a
great rending sound echoing through the air. It's hatch creaked open, and
a lone figure appeared outside, then turned to help someone else out.
But the helicopter had come around, swooping dowwards, bullets
thudding into the dirt in a dot to dot line heading directly for the ship
and the two figures. Another ten seconds, and those around the downed
flight.thingee were dead meat.
" Oh no you don't," muttered Paytan. Her eyes narrowed and she
sent the LNH flight.thingee swooping towards the wounded helicopter.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
" So you're saying you have no idea where they are? Not even the
VAGUEST LITTLE CLUE?! What are you, some kind of idiot?!" screamed Fuzzy.
Entropy Kid and California Kid were wisely lurking in the backround,
hoping that the elder net.heroine wouldn't notice them. In front of her,
Faq Boy winced.
" Look," he said," I'm sorry, okay? I was just supposed to take
them home, not babysit them! That's your job!" Anger flared, and he
stopped for a moment. Count to ten, slowly. That's good. No need to hurt
her just yet, that'd blow everything. But he'd remember this. "Here, I
was just going to Fan.Boy's room to ask him something, he'd probably know
where they went."
" Then let's go!" said Fuzzy, motioning Faq Boy to get going then
following behind him. CK and EK took that opportunity to run for their
lives.
_________________________________________________________________________
Binky, Dirmarw, Dust, Hooded Ho-od Win Jr., Mr.Exposition, Out-of-It
Lass, Perdition, Rebecca, The man in the black trenchcoat/Mr.Fossavellus,
Weirdness Girl, copyright Jennifer Whitson, 1995. Kid Camouflage, and
Explosion boy are pretty much mine, originally Mike Escutia's.
California Kid is Public Domain. Entropy Kid is Public Domain, poor guy.
Fuzzy is Public Domain. Faq Boy is Jamas Enright's, and used with
permission.
NEXT ISSUE:
Is either going to be the end of the story arc, or the second to
last bit. Who me, plan ahead? Naw. =)
Picks up from our kinda cliffhanger ending! Will everyone survive?
What or who is the Reality? Has the writer forgotten Binky?
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.sig is living in jungle with pack of wolves and refuses to come back.
