The device was tall, wide at the base and thinning out towards the top. Lights flashed on and off at various intervals all reflecting off its burnished metal finish. It was operated by a big simple 1950’s looking control panel that Zara was currently poking and tweaking. They had set up on the edge of the now ruined park near some still tidy flower beds. Myles was tempted to go have a go on the swings but decided he needed to be on good behaviour in front of Zara.
“And this will let Rusty get us out?” asked Myles.
“Be patient and be quiet Endeavour.” Replied Zara concentrating on getting some manner of dial just right.
“you know we will get attacked any second now right” Said Myles.
“I fucking swear Endeavour. Stop talking!” grumped Zara twisting the dial more before giving it a bit of percussive maintenance.
Electric jolts sparked about and it began to hum as the device became active.
“Now, Rusty can get a lock on and hopefully get this clown show back to normal.”
“So now we wait?’ said Myles.
“We wait,” said Zara.
Myles stood about quietly, he observed some litter fly past in the breeze. He watched some birds fly around in a circle that could not possibly be natural behaviour. He watched the purple sky that everyone in town had been ignoring for fae reasons, reasons that Myles noticed were often summed up as ‘don’t think about it too hard’ which was better advice than it initially seemed as thinking too hard about an unknowable alien reality would give anyone a headache. In the end, he broke.
“So what have you been up to these last few weeks” He asked.
“You are bad at flirting. Stop,” replied Zara.
The fae attack occurred just as Myles predicted. Several times. This resulted in several additions of the sea-urchin things, a bogglebear and something new Myles didn’t recognise to his inventory. Myles experience may have been condensed but it was enough that a one-on-one fight against some of the lower fae was little issue anymore. Groups were a little harder but cheating was a marvellous solution for those situations. Not that he was in any hurry to repeat yesterday's escapades.
“So how do sentinel powers work exactly?” Said Myles, changing the topic with grace and subtlety “John mentioned something about being powered by love and friendship.”
“The troublemaker isn’t far wrong but massively oversimplifying things.” said Zara “
Myles waited for Zara to continue. Then waited a bit more.
“Are you going to elaborate on that?”
Zara gave a huff. The communication device blipped away quietly in the background.
“I’m bored waiting, so what the hell. The Sentinel powers are gifted by a sentient universe, at least we think it is sentient. It tends to give only as much as we need, maybe a bit extra for any late members to make up for any differences. My powers or rather my Mothers's and Rusty’s powers are stronger than average due to being later editions to the team.” Said Zara. “But it tends towards a flat boost, maybe a power-up if desperately needed…”
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Myles sensed a but coming,
“But…” said Myles, trying to encourage the exposition along.
“But, working together as a team… The stronger the bond is the stronger we get, not just old-fashioned teamwork, though that is powerful in its own right, I mean we get stronger when we work together in a very literal sense.”
“So you are stronger if you fight alongside Rusty?”
“Yes, and stronger again the more Animalbion members we have.” Said Zara “Though Animalbion isn’t what it was, it is an old team, people have drifted, people have passed their powers down, like mine. The bonds are too fragmented these days, It isn’t just proximity, trust and friendship play a big part.”
“Doesn’t that make you sad?”
“It’s fine. Animalbion won the day against the threat it was called to eliminate. Intergalactic big game hunters if I recall. But that was all before I was born. These days we pitch in when needed and help out where we can. Red Fox teaches at the community academy, Black Badger passed away and his son has the mantle now. Blue Frog and Purple Deer run a pub together in London. Green Hedgehog lives happily with his husband and paints landscapes.” explained Zara who looked thoughtful “I knew from the start I was not a chosen one, I don’t get that adventure. What I can do though is put that power to a new, good purpose.”
“So a sentient universe… really?” asked Myles who felt he was in danger of losing the ability to be surprised.
“We think… no one has exactly had a conversation with it. I’m certain it’s a boy universe though.” Said Zara
“Really? What makes you say that?”
“It supplies us with giant robots to pilot and we explode when we power up. Hence the motif. It insulates us from being ripped apart by the energy of another universe when we transform.” Explained Zara. “Silver Bat transforms in a big flash and looks awesome. Generic Bland Strongwoman would go up like a Guy on bonfire night after the resident dick head adds too much petrol… but with more mess”
“Giant robots are cool though.” Said Myles, going someway to proving Zara’s hypothesis.
“I’m also not keen on how tight the suits are, they can be… unflattering” grumped Zara
“What does Rusty’s robot look like? inquiring minds wish to know” Said the inquiring mind in question.
“We use the name Automajacks, after automaton and Jack, because we use them to kill giants. Rusty’s Automajack is as you might expect a giant golden snake.”
“That is awesome! Does it turn into a big robot fighter like yours does? Asked Myles’ inner child who had taken over the driving seat as soon as the conversation turned to giant robots.
“This is where things get a bit salty for Uncle Rusty. The Golden Snake Automajack does indeed turn into something. But what it turns into is weapons and armour for my Queen Battara. The head becomes a gauntlet, the tail becomes a lance and the rest of the body becomes various strike plates.” Said Zara with a chuckle, “Rusty is a big kid at heart and would love nothing more than piloting a big mecha. What he got was a giant robot reptile that causes him motion sickness with its locomotion”
“Ouch,” said Myles in sympathy with the man.
“Don’t feel too sorry for him, he has time powers.” Said Zara in a way that showed she most definitely was not salty about that in the least.
The pain stopped conversing to deal with other fae attacking. As predicted it outright ignored Zara and went right after Myles. It was a pair of new fae. The first was some kind of giant purple cat, the second a large green dog. They were probably the two most jittery fae creatures he had seen yet. Their creepy movements were stopped upon getting their heads turned to paste by a Knuckle Buster.
“I heard you were planning to impress me by shooting a pig into space.” Said Zara
Myles quickly repressed the murder thoughts that flashed across his brain regarding the two Johns.
“Would it help?” Myles asked
“Probably not.” Said Zara “But I would like to see it, it sounds like it would be quite the sight”
The device beeped loudly and started flashing at a greatly increased tempo. Myles thought he could make out a blue sky if he looked past the device at just the right angle.
“Amazing!” Said Myles enthusiastically “Though this means I’ll have to explain why I have not gone to work in three months.” said Myles now with much less enthusiasm.
The sky rippled and this time so did the ground.
“Why are you such an albatross around my neck Endeavour.” Asked Zara
The device fizzed and popped blowing off sparks. Reality rippled around its proximity. Slivers of blue sky were once more swallowed by purple as a very familiar green-scaled hand burst through the ground. It did not have the size and heft of the last time it broke through but it was so much closer than before. The giant scaled appendage extended more fully into the world and attempted to grab Myles… The hand missed by a wide margin, but what it ended up grabbing was the device meant to help Rusty find them and end the turn. It crunched under the weight of the hand. The proximity to Mother caused red sparks to jolt over Myles.
“HARMLESS LITTLE BUNNY LEAPS FOR THE STARS, THAT'S NO ORDINARY RABBIT!”
Crushed under the weight of the massive hand the device ceased its function. No longer working the device was no longer thinning reality enough for Mother to find ingress and she was pushed back to the other side leaving several afternoons worth of landscaping repair in her wake.
“I should have just left you in here,” said Zara.
“Round for tea twice already. Are you sure you don’t secretly like me?” Asked Myles.
“Stuff it up your bum Endeavour,” said Zara. “We might be in here months before it fixes itself naturally… At least it can’t get any worse”
Myles facepalmed hard enough to make a ding sound on his helmet.
“And you think I’m the idiot.” He said.
From all sides of the park, whistlers appeared. not in the numbers of the previous day. But enough that it would not be an easy fight. It was a lot harder to win by cheating in the middle of an open muddy pit.
“It says a lot that I’d still rather be doing this than dealing with Waterman and Babbage from HR” Said Myles as red sparks started to shoot about.
“Babbage? like Laurence Cuthbert Babbage? Asked Zara
“Great-something-granddaughter. She usually drops it in conversation within the first sixty seconds.” Said Myles
“Huh,” said Zara.
Though Myles would later swear he heard her mutter ‘absolute scam’ under her breath.