Lost Worlds Page 17
* * *
Jimmy returned to the dorm later that evening, quietly landing on the roof to meet with Janie. He removed his helm.
"I found almost everything on the list," Jimmy said. "I couldn't get any pure sodium though."
"There's some at the lab," Janie replied, "but‚oh, you didn't hear?"
"Hear what?" Jimmy asked.
"There was a monster attack at the Learning Center," she replied. "The entire chemistry lab was completely obliterated. I thought you would have heard." Jimmy reached for his TD.
"Chrissy," he said, but he heard only static. "Have you seen Lauren?"
"Not all day," she replied. "Why?"
"Something odd is going on," he said. Jimmy paused for a moment. "Don't worry, Janie, I'll find out what's going on." Jimmy replaced his helm and took off for the Learning Center. Janie looked as he flew away.
"Be careful," she said softly.
Jimmy arrived at the Learning Center and observed the damage. As he walked through the wreckage, he came across Lauren, sitting in the rubble to the side, out of view of the crowd and emergency personnel working on the site. Jimmy removed his helm and approached her.
"What happened?" he asked.
"She's gone," Lauren said softly, her head down sobbing.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Jimmy asked. Lauren slowly looked up at him.
"I accidentally created a monster," she replied. "It destroyed Chrissy, and it's about to do the same thing to the city." She suddenly got up and smacked Jimmy hard in the face, tears streaming down her own face. "Where were you? I thought he had destroyed you too! Fine time to run around and not answer your TD, getting me worried!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jimmy replied. "I never got a call. Something's not right." Lauren grabbed Jimmy and hysterically shook him.
"We have to do something!" she yelled. Jimmy smacked her back.
"Listen!" he said. "There's no time for this! We gotta find this guy and put him out of our misery!"
"But what if he does to us what he does to Chrissy?" she said. Jimmy paused for a moment.
"We'll just have to be extra careful," he replied. She looked at him with a scowl. Suddenly they saw a bright flash in the distance. "It's the east end of town. And by the size of that blast, it doesn't look pretty." They replaced their helms and took off for the other end of Bane-Barre.
* * *
"This place shall meet its end like all I see, in destruction!" it said. "I will find more of my life force here!" He began trashing the local Wal-Mart, crashing through the front wall and destroying the shelves and gondolas in front of him. The night manager escorted customers out of the store, but there was widespread panic. The store burst into flames as they all ran out. Jimmy and Lauren rushed into the building to get everyone out and confront the monster. They arrived to see Adam, one of the workers, fighting hand to hand with the monster, and doing a good job of it. It knocked him back at one point, and went to fire an energy blast at him. Jimmy ran at light speed and pulled Adam out of the blast's path.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Jimmy asked him.
"It's a long story," he replied.
"I need you to get everyone out of the building," Jimmy said. "We'll take care of the monster." Adam nodded and turned. He pulled something from his pocket...a golden coin with the picture of a mastodon on it, with a huge gash in it. He put it back in his pocket and ran, helping everyone out of the building. Jimmy began hitting the monster with sword blasts, but they had no effect on him.
"Time to join your friend, Hel Flame!" he yelled as he charged that energy blast again.
"No!" Lauren screamed. Jimmy dodged the blast, and the explosion caused the sprinkler system to activate. The water hit the monster, and he began to fizzle. He fled from the store, firing back at it. The building began to collapse, and Jimmy and Lauren blasted through the roof to escape. When they landed, Lauren went hysterical again.
"It's all my fault," she screamed. "All of this is my fault!"
"Come on!" Jimmy said, looking her in the eye. "If Chrissy were here, what would she want us to do?" Lauren paused for a moment and thought.
"Come up with a plan," she replied.
"OK," Jimmy said, "the monster seems to hate water. It fizzles and weakens as..."
"That's it!" Lauren yelled. "The creature absorbed the chunk of pure sodium last! Before that, it was nothing but a fizzing puddle of goo to be diluted! If we could get him to the water, the sodium would explode, destroying him, converting the sodium into sodium hydroxide! He'd lose all his power and melt into nothingness!"
"Let's get him to the river," Jimmy replied.
"Leave that to me," Lauren said, as her eyes focused. The reddish glow could be seen as the fires in her eyes burned. She broke into a full sprint at the monster, but as she did, something happened. All at once, in a flash, the rage in her heart mixed with the knowledge of what needed to be done and the tears of hope streaming down her cheeks. The bronze armor transformed into fiery red, and she pulled her hands apart as her sword split in two, transforming into the Dragon Warrior. She swung the Ice Brand, and a wave of ice hit the monster, sending it flying into the distance. Lauren took off like lightning in pursuit. Jimmy took off after her, trying to keep up.
People at a local fast food restaurant saw the sky darken, then they ran out of there as the monster crashed through the roof. The entire building fizzled and disintegrated. Lauren came flying right at the monster and began swinging her blades wildly. The monster tried to block the shots, but the fury of the Dragon Warrior caused him to be continually knocked back. Jimmy caught up and fired shots as well, helping to drive him towards the river. Jimmy got close into hand to hand, and Lauren joined him. They hit him with one combined punch, sending him over the dike and into the river. He screamed in pain, fizzing violently. They crossed swords, and the combined blast hit the monster, and the explosion flung them backwards off the dike. The wave of energy flowed through everything, repairing the buildings and scarred grounds. Jimmy's armor vanished as he hit the ground. He looked up as Lauren landed on her feet. She twirled her swords, then combined them over her head and resheathing it in one motion. The power left her, the armor faded, and she fell to her knees.
"I think we did it," Lauren said, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, we did it," Jimmy replied. "Wisdom and good triumphs again."
"But Wisdom didn't survive this one, Joey," Lauren said sadly. "She's gone forever. It's still my fault." Just then, a bolt of lightning shot out of the ground, and a portal appeared six feet above the ground. Someone dropped out of it covered in goo, falling to the ground. The portal then closed behind them. Jimmy and Lauren approached as the goo covered silver armor melted away to reveal Chrissy.
"Next time I'm taking the bus," Chrissy said as she got up. She faced Lauren, and Lauren cried...then slapped her.
"Where were you?" she yelled. "You had us worried!" Chrissy wiped the ooze from her eyes.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"She's been edgy lately," Jimmy replied. "Forgive her, or slap her back."
"No," Chrissy said, "but thanks for the suggestion. Actually, that beam the monster fired at me created a six-dimensional portal. I think you are familiar with this concept, Jimmy." Jimmy nodded. "I was suspended in a parallel universe...but it was exact and opposite. Time flowed opposite to what we normally perceive. I don't even know how I was able to survive there as long as I did. When you destroyed the monster, the portal reopened, and I was able to escape. It's as if something ripped open the fabric of the space-time continuum, causing a rift between time and anti-time."
"The cycle," Jimmy said quietly. Chrissy heard him...and understood.
Wisdom shall be swallowed up
By Power's will to be
But Wisdom and Power must coexist
For the Ultimate Power to endure.
The next day in class, Janie and Jimmy were scheduled to do their presentation. To the s
urprise of the professor, Lauren helped them in order to get credit as well.
"Good morning, class," said Janie. "We are going to study electricity and conduction!" She looked at Lauren. "Say 'Good morning' Lauren."
"Good morning, Lauren," Lauren replied, staring off at the class in a hypnotic state.
"Now," Janie continued, "let's see what happens when a small electrical charge is applied to the victim...er...I mean, 'test subject'. Jimmy, would you do the honors?" With a grin on his face, and the memory of Lauren slapping him fresh in his mind, he threw the switch. It would be something Lauren would remember for a long time.
Chapter 22 - Wisdom is the Key
* * *
22
"Wisdom Is The Key"
In the early hours of the day, Jimmy laid awake and pondered the things Chrissy had said to him days earlier. He understood the cycle of life, and in turn love, but he was nowhere near understanding his own place in the grand scheme of things. In his journey though, one of the things he has realized is how important Chrissy was to him as a friend, but also as the cornerstone of their team.
When the time came to wake up, Jimmy packed his things for class and headed out. Once again, however, he was greeted by Ron on the stairs.
"Jimmy," said Ron, "they are having a 'Save The Sperm Whale Convention' in the cafeteria. Looks like we're gonna have to eat out‚."
"Again," Jimmy said.
"You know," he said, "you could always just grab a bag of chips and some soda and come join us by the clock tower." Jimmy thought for a moment.
"You know what," Jimmy said, "I think I will."
"Great!" Ron said, handing Jimmy a bag of chips and a can of soda. "Let's roll." They began walking out to the clock tower.
* * *
As Jimmy and Ron approached the clock tower, Jimmy noticed among the crowd gathered there was Janie. He needed to talk to her anyway, so he walked up to her and sat down.
"So," he said to her, "what have you decided we should do for our presentation? I want to help as much as I can."
"Well," she said, "I've decided we should study the effects of electricity. Conductors, semi-conductors‚."
"No," Jimmy said. "I know what you want to say, and the answer is no. If you want a guinea pig, look to yourself, not me. I've had enough electrical charges through my body, thank you very much."
"Well at least help me find some items for the project," she said. "I need some aluminum, pure sodium, copper, nickel, sulfuric acid, a lemon perhaps, and any other things you think would be a good conductor of electricity. I will work on non-conductors. OK?"
"Alright," Jimmy said, getting up to leave for class. "After class, I'll kinda fly around the world and look for what we need." Janie got up, and they both headed for class.
* * *
Lauren was having issues of her own. Her presentation for Physics wasn't going so well. She sat in the chemistry class room staring at the blackboard at the formulas.
"This is crazy," she said to herself. "I need to come up with something for this project. Damn Jimmy for not helping me with this." She looked at the table of chemicals and began to randomly pour them together in a beaker. Behind her, a small purple dot appeared‚which slowly grew into a small portal. A purple haze emitted from the portal, but Lauren paid no mind as she franticly poured the chemicals. Suddenly, the concoction began to fizzle and boil over. She stepped back, and the substance began to foam over the table and onto the floor. The portal vanished, but the haze made its way to the table and combined with the concoction. It instantly became violent, and disintegrated the table, and began to eat its way through the floor. It began to grow, and Lauren ran out of the room.
Lauren ran into a crowd of people as she ran into the hallway. The crowd saw the door being eaten away and began to panic and run. Lauren reached for her sword, her hand resting on the hilt, breaking the cloaking field briefly, but with the crowd present, she couldn't transform.
"Dammit," she said as she continued to run down the hall. When she came to the stairwell, she had an idea. "If I can get to the chemistry lab, I know something that might blow whatever it is back to the stone age. Maybe then people will be distracted enough for me to transform." She ran up the stairs as quickly as possible as alarms began to sound, and people fled the building. She burst into the chemistry lab just as the blob began enveloping the stairwell, trapping Lauren on the floor above. She quickly looked around and saw the jar with pure sodium. She hid behind the door and raised her sword.
"Power, be my strength!" The sword burst into flames, and it crept down the length of her entire body, setting her ablaze. The flames bonded to her skin, forming the bronze armor of the Avatar of Power, transforming her into the Dragon Lady.
"Better than a radiation suit," she commented to herself as she grabbed the chunk of pure sodium with her now armored hand. When the blob reached the lab, she wound up and threw it at the blob. She noticed the sodium fizzle, so she lifted off through the ceiling and through the roof just as it exploded. People below pointed as she flew to the other side of the building. Out of the explosion came the blob‚only now looking more humanoid in appearance.
"I live again!" he yelled. "The Red Witch trapped me in oblivion with my components scattered across the planet, waiting for the day my soul would return to this reality and become one once again! Now the will of the Master will come to pass!"
"I don't think so," Lauren yelled, twirling her sword, then pointing it charged at the monster. The monster leaped from the building to the ground and marched towards Lauren. Her sword blasts slowed him, but didn't stop him. She reached for her TD.
"Chrissy," she yelled, "there's another monster on the loose! Please hurry!" She hit it again. "Jimmy." There was only static. "Where the hell is he?" The monster wound back and hit Lauren so hard she flew up and backwards into the side of the building, then fell to the ground. Chrissy appeared as the Dark Woman.
"I see inside of you," Chrissy yelled. The monster turned. "Your weakness is my strength!" Chrissy pulled her coin out and placed it on the hilt of her sword. Storms began to roll in as she raised her sword into the air. The rain poured violently, and the monster began to fizzle.
"I will not be defeated so easily, Wisdom!" he said. He fired a blast of energy at Chrissy, and she was unable to avoid it. When it hit her, she was enveloped in a purple haze, which shrank to nothing as she vanished.
"I will return stronger than ever, Power!" he yelled, "and Wisdom won't interfere again!" At that, he too vanished in a purple haze, disappearing from view. The clouds parted, and Lauren was alone. She desperately reached for her TD.
"Jimmy!" she yelled. "Jimmy, where the hell are you?" But there was still no response. She became distraught at the thought one of her best friends was suddenly gone.
* * *
Jimmy returned to the dorm later that evening, quietly landing on the roof to meet with Janie. He removed his helm.
"I found almost everything on the list," Jimmy said. "I couldn't get any pure sodium though."
"There's some at the lab," Janie replied, "but‚oh, you didn't hear?"
"Hear what?" Jimmy asked.
"There was a monster attack at the Learning Center," she replied. "The entire chemistry lab was completely obliterated. I thought you would have heard." Jimmy reached for his TD.
"Chrissy," he said, but he heard only static. "Have you seen Lauren?"
"Not all day," she replied. "Why?"
"Something odd is going on," he said. Jimmy paused for a moment. "Don't worry, Janie, I'll find out what's going on." Jimmy replaced his helm and took off for the Learning Center. Janie looked as he flew away.
"Be careful," she said softly.
Jimmy arrived at the Learning Center and observed the damage. As he walked through the wreckage, he came across Lauren, sitting in the rubble to the side, out of view of the crowd and emergency personnel working on the site. Jimmy removed his helm and approached her.
"What happened?" he
asked.
"She's gone," Lauren said softly, her head down sobbing.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Jimmy asked. Lauren slowly looked up at him.
"I accidentally created a monster," she replied. "It destroyed Chrissy, and it's about to do the same thing to the city." She suddenly got up and smacked Jimmy hard in the face, tears streaming down her own face. "Where were you? I thought he had destroyed you too! Fine time to run around and not answer your TD, getting me worried!"