| The Adventures of Robo and Bo: The Mad Bomber's Doom |
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| Written by M.C. Abernathy | |
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Robo and Bo had had quite an adventure. After facing their two robotic copies, Turbo and Turbine, and destroying the robotizing machine that could have turned the entire population of Sky City to robots, they used the hoverbot they were piloting to destroy the remaining hoverbots and free the people who were gathered in the center of the city. As they hovered above the streets, all the people cheered as they went by. “We did it,” Bo said with a weary smile. He was severely damaged, but happy to know that they had succeeded at their mission in destroying the robotizer.
“I’m afraid we’re not out of the deep end yet,” Robo said, looking in the rear-view monitor on the hoverbot’s control board. Behind them, the giant hover-ship loomed, so unnatural as if gravity had been eliminated and a sky scraper floated on its side. Wires and cables ran diagonally down its sides to nearby buildings, the Mad Bomber’s attempt at using the city’s electricity to power his machine. That hunk of floating metal was rotating and snapping the power cables. The front of the ship, with the small bump of a control bridge underneath, came into view. Robo caught a gleam of gold as the afternoon sun reflected against the pilot of the huge metallic monster. Infuriated beyond the point of madness, the Mad Bomber in his metal bear of a ship gave pursuit. “We won’t be able to out-run him!” Robo exclaimed. “This thing doesn’t have enough power!” “Re-route all the power from the shields to the propulsion unit,” Bo said, showing Robo how this was done. “That might give us a little more time.” They zipped across streets and turned sharp corners. The people continued to cheer until the shadow of the hover-ship fell over them. “We’ve got to get out of the city!” Bo said. “That’s what I’m trying to do!” Robo said. “Do we have any missiles left to shoot him down?” Bo asked. “I’ve used most of our missiles on the other hoverbots,” Robo explained. “We’ve only got one left!” Robo piloted the hoverbot onto the freeway, floating above all the parked vehicles that had been left by people when the hoverbots attacked the city. The shadow of the ship above the city crept along the last few buildings and covered the exit to the freeway. The Mad Bomber was not far behind. Whirl, whirl… clink, clink. “What was that?” Robo asked. “I don’t have control of it anymore!” “That was the engines,” Bo said. “We’re out of power. Brace yourself!” The hoverbot keeled down like a baseball after its highest point in a throw. It bounced once on the inside shoulder of the interstate highway and slid along the asphalt, turning around, finally coming to rest with its window facing the oncoming hover-ship. Whirl, Whirl, Whirl. “It won’t start back up!” Robo shouted. “And the missile chamber isn’t even in line with the hover-ship. We’re doomed!” He pressed a button and the back opened. He and Bo crawled out of the hoverbot. Robo walked to the front and saw the missile launchers on the hover-ship lower from underneath and protrude from its side. He looked around him, noticing that most of the clouds had gone away and the blue sky was beginning to gain an orange and pink tint of sunset behind him in the west. What a beautiful day to die, he thought to himself. He flicked out his two arm blasters to prepare for a hopeless battle. “We’re just going to have to go down fighting,” he said. “I never ended a game without giving my all.” Then he heard a creaking sound behind him. “What are you doing?” Robo asked turning around to Bo. Bo had used what strength he had left to open the missile containment in the hoverbot. “Laser blasts are useless against his shield,” Bo said pulling out the last missile. “However, these missiles were designed to travel through such energy shields, since the hoverbots had the same type of shielding.” He hobbled over to Robo and carefully laid the missile in his hands. “This job cannot be done with high tech weapons, but is probably best handled by one of the best quarterbacks to ever live.” Bo collapsed to the ground. Robo bent down to help him. “No!” Bo shouted. “Leave me be! You know what you must do!” The wind picked up as the hover-ship came closer and Robo turned to face it. The furthest he had ever thrown when he was a human was about 70 yards. The ship was 200 yards away and closing. He could not wait for the Mad Bomber to make the first move. Placing the missile in his right hand and supporting it with his left, he re-enacted what he had done for so many years as an all-star quarterback. He ran backwards a few steps and took aim. He put his left arm out in front to steady himself as he pulled back his right hand that held the missile. With all his might, he shoved the missile up and forward in a perfect spiral. He hit the ground hard from the momentum he had produced. The missile spun in the air. Inside the control bridge, the Mad Bomber saw Robo throw something. “Are they thinking of taking me down with mere rocks and rubble?” he asked arrogantly. “Well if they are into throwing things, then I might as well give them something back to… finally… destroy…” he trailed off as he realized what Robo had thrown was headed right for him. Robo pushed himself out of the dirt and grass and looked up in time to see the explosion. The unfortunate thing for the Mad Bomber was his love for bombs. The first explosion reached the golden robot’s beloved pack of bombs that he used to carry on his back wherever he went. He had thrown them in the corner, but that was not far enough away from the instant blaze that ensued after the missile crashed through the window. Another explosion rocked the hover-ship and another. Soon the explosions reached the missile storage compartments and more explosions occurred. Fire soon reached the engine and fuel rooms and more eruptions of flame and scorched metal flew from the hover-ship. Robo and Bo watched in awe as the ship overshadowed them and then began to descend. It was like watching a thunderstorm with the bright flashes and quaking thunder. It flew just above the last overpass inside the city limits and sank down behind it. The two boys felt the earth shake as the mighty ship hit the ground. Another large explosion shook air and earth. Then there was silence. The wind blew softly over the green grass, but the smell of burnt metal hung in the air. Robo ran over to Bo, who was on the ground motionless and picked him up. Bo opened his eyes weakly. “Did we beat him?” “Yeah Bo, I think we did,” Robo said with an uneasy smile. “But you better hang on a little longer. I think I hear someone coming.” Sure enough, a man in a jeep was cruising down the grassy median near the inside shoulder. Seeing Robo and Bo, he pulled the jeep near them. “It was you two, wasn’t it?” the man said. Robo nodded. “Is he hurt?” the man asked rhetorically. “Let’s get him in the back of my jeep. We’ll find a doctor.” “I don’t think a mere doctor will do,” Robo said looking down at his friend who was now in the back of the jeep. “He will probably need a mechanic, too.” “Well get in the passenger seat!” the man said to Robo. “You guys are heroes and I’m going to make sure you and your buddy here get fixed up quick. Now let’s go!” The man turned the jeep around and drove back into Sky City. The doctor and the mechanic were able to get Bo patched up. Interestingly enough, he would somehow heal from his wounds, one of those magnificent residual biological functions that was still in effect from when he was a normal human being. Both he and Robo were given metals of honor and bravery at a special ceremony a week later. Melissa was there, as well as their parents and, boy, did they have a lot of explaining to do. But, with all the hubaloo, they no longer had to hide their robotic identities. They were allowed to continue their schooling at the university and from time to time they would be called upon to protect Sky City against the many evils it faced. Eventually, they discovered that the Mad Bomber had lied. There really was a cure for their robotization and they were finally able to return to their full human selves. But that is another story entirely… |
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