| The Adventures of Robo and Bo: Hanging by a Thread |
|
|
| Written by M.C. Abernathy | |
|
“Down. Set. Hut, hut. Hike!” Robo said as the center snapped the ball to him. Robo ran backwards, scanning the field for open players. The defense was tough and soon the blitz had broken through the front line. A huge bulk of a defensive lineman crashed into his gut, sending Robo reeling backwards. The football went into the air. Lying on the ground and looking up, the bulk became more metallic. Then the metallic blur kicked him in the face. The open sky and field changed into confining metal walls and floor. His mind returned to the present and he found himself still bound with wire and lying on the floor, the menacing Turbine standing above him and preparing for another hit.
“Enough!” the Mad Bomber commanded Turbine. The robot stopped as the Mad Bomber bent down on his haunches and looked at the beaten Robo. “I have an offer for you,” the Mad Bomber said. “There is no way to return you back to your human state, but I have unfortunately lost one of my new generals, Turbo, because of your pathetic friend of yours. So I am giving you a chance to rule in his stead or be cast into the force shield, which will melt you away into nothing. So I am offering you life or death. If you choose to serve me as a general you will live and rule with me in my new robotic kingdom, but if you don’t, then you will die. So what will it be?” Robo lay silently on the floor. He had lost two close friends of his to this mechanical tyrant. He now knew there was no way to return back to his human self. He would have to stay a robot forever. For a moment he began to feel sorry for himself, but then he remembered the last time he had made a deal with the Mad Bomber. On that occasion, Karen had sacrificed herself to save him despite his selfish actions. And now, Bo had been taken through the bay doors of the ship by Turbo and was probably fried to pieces by the energy shield. Too many people had died already and he would not stand to have others suffer as he had. He may never be human again, but at least he could fight to his end to stop the rest of the citizens of Sky City from being robotized, so that they may have a chance at a life he will never have again. He thought of Melissa and his father and mother and Bo’s family and his classmates and all those who had brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers. He slowly got up and stood, straight and tall. “No,” he said in a loud voice. “I will not allow you to ruin these peoples’ lives. I will do what I can to defeat you, even if that means destroying myself in the process!” “Then you have sealed your fate,” the Mad Bomber answered motioning to Turbine. Little did Robo know that Bo was still alive. Bo ran with the protective goggles to the large machine. After climbing up the supports of the sphere that was getting brighter and spinning faster, he finally reached where the laser was beaming down from above into the receptor. Turning away from the blinding light, Bo snapped the goggles in two and then crossed the lenses perpendicularly. “Polarized,” Bo said to himself. “Perfect!” Very carefully, he set the lenses on top of the receptor. The crossed lenses blocked out the laser light and immediately the sphere dimmed and began to slow its spinning. Looking up he saw the cooling units above, giving off a small vapor as they cooled the laser. When he tried to shoot them with his arm blasters, only sparks flew from his arm. Recoiling from the pain, he lost his balance and slid down the steel support, collapsing on the floor. In the bridge, Turbine walked towards Robo, his fist ready to deliver a punch. Robo’s arm blasters flipped open and he shot the wire that bound him. As Turbine’s fist came round for a punch, Robo blocked it and returned a side kick, sending Turbine sliding across the room. Then Robo shot the controls. “No! You fool!” the Mad Bomber wailed. Turbine spun and delivered a high kick that sent Robo twirling against a wall near a door. He hit the controls and the door opened with a hiss. Turbine threw him out onto the walkway. The bridge was located under the front part of the hover-ship and the walkway led from the bridge to another doorway into the main part of the ship. Looking down Robo saw the pink glow of the energy shield below. He fired his blasters at the oncoming Turbine, causing the robot general to duck back into the bridge. Then Turbine pulled out his arm cannon and returned fire. At first Robo thought the robot was just a terrible shot. Then he realized that Turbine was shooting the support cables to the walkway. Soon the walkway hung at an angle. Robo dodged another laser blast only to slip down the walkway. Grabbing the handrail, he now hung from it as Turbine continued to snap the support wires with his arm cannon. Turbine was about to shoot the last support cable when the Mad Bomber ordered him to go to the bay, because something was wrong with the robotizer. Robo was swinging with the walkway which was orthogonal to its original position. Fibers from the last support cable began to unravel and Robo knew there wasn’t much time left. He was about to use his grappling hook when he saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look, but the cable snapped and he and the walkway fell towards the energy shield, surely to be destroyed by the intense heat. As he fell, Robo saw the thing that had caught his eye before he fell. Pushing off of the walkway, he shot out his grappling hook, hoping that it would reach the hoverbot that was returning to the ship to recharge. In the bay, Bo heard the hiss of the door as it slid open. He pushed himself up long enough to see Turbine give him a kick in the side. Bo flew a few feet, rolling to a stop. “What have you done to the machine?” the robot asked. Bo gave no reply. Turbine picked him up by the shoulders and threw him into a nearby crate. The corner of the crate shattered as Bo fell through it. He lifted Bo up again and was about to punch him, when they both heard a whistling noise. The crate beside them exploded, sending them flying in opposite directions. Turbine got up, but the hoverbot flew into him, knocking him into a large stack of crates. It flew over to Bo. The back opened and Robo hopped out. “Care for a ride?” Robo asked glad to see his friend was alive. Bo pointed to the laser. It had just managed to melt through the protective goggles and was once again powering up the sphere. “Blast the cooling units in the ceiling,” Bo croaked. Robo aimed his arm blasters and fired numerous shots into the liquid nitrogen cooling units. Nitrogen gas plumed out of the cooling units. Robo helped Bo get into the hoverbot and then jumped in. Turbine pulled himself out of the splintered pieces of the crates and ran after them. He fired his arm cannon at them, but the shields of the hoverbot repelled the attack. Another missile flew from the hoverbot with a whistle and one of the steel pieces supporting the sphere gave way. The entire apparatus shifted, causing the laser to bore a hole directly into the sphere, rather than beam into the receptor. Robo and Bo, inside their hoverbot, dropped down through the open bay doors. Turbine followed them, sending a grappling line onto one of the other sphere supports. Hanging below the opening, he continued to fire at the hoverbot, but it was no use. The laser above overheated and an explosion erupted from the laser’s base in the ceiling. It fell down, crashing through the sphere. Turbine looked up just in time to see the mangled metal fall onto him and take him along on its burning journey through the energy shield. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|