The Shadows Chapter 14
Shattering a Broken Dream (and then atomizing it for good measure)
By Keith Adams
Robo was not doing well. He was standing on a small ledge, with a horde of bloodthirsty orange humanoids, who were not in paticulairly good shape, charging at him with axes, hammers, and other implements of destruction chanting Kill ... Kill ..... Kill.
Robo would rather not be here, actually, but he had no choice. He was being used as a distraction wihle Magus swam in the sewers, which were actually fairly clean. He wondered why Magus wasn't here fighting these things off.
These thoughts were running through Robo's head as he engaged his lasers, which quickly cut the orange humanoids, Hench, they were called, to shreds. Robo wouldn't run out of power before whoever was running this ran out of expendable soldiers.
The ranks of the Hench were definately thinning out. There could only be, at most, a few dozen more. The greenish lasers coming form his body were making short work of the Hench who remained. Robo estimated he would be done in 41.4245 standard seconds.
From the backs of the horde arose a black figure. It's proportions were hugely expanded - the figure was a human in a cloak, but twice as large in every aspect. The figure was clad in a robe that was solid black, and wore a black mask to conceal his face. He had long, stringy hair which was combed back. The figure opened his mouth, and flashes of light lit the shadowed hallways of the sewers.
Robo knew that figure was the most dangerous, to himself at least. The figure raised his right hand back, and a white glow surrounded the hand. The figure made an offhand, dismissing gesture with the hand, and lightning flowed in a solid line from his hands. Robo jumped out of it's way, and the lightning hit one of the Hench and exploded in a green light which lasted onlt a second, yet left every Hench around the point of impact lacking his life. Robo responded, firing his lasers at the figure, but a green field popped into existence in front of the figure, and the blast was stopped - the field looked similair to something he saw Magus do once.
Robo quickly fired off a laser at the ceiling directly above the figure; the ceiling promptly fell through the green field around the figure. The figure was run through the head with a loose rock, and the figure shrieked as black smoke enveloped him, running into his mouth, creating the faint sound of paper burning until, suddenly, the figure exploded in a small pillar of white light which bored a whole in the sewers ceiling, which promptly began to collaspse and fill the sewer with water. Robo sealed off all his vital systems before a huge wave disabled his CPU.
Robo came back on. His neural processor was working. And the sounds of guns spewing superheated cylinders of flame were all around him. He was in a makeshift barricade in what appeared to be a pile of junk. Humans with rifles shot out form the barricade, and heavy cannons shot balls of lfire into the air, which fell, exploding in a spherical fashion. Pillars of light shot up into the sky.
A scruffy looking fellow holding a rifle shot into a line of black robed figures on the other side of the barricade. Robo was slightly confused.
"What happened?" asked Robo of the scruffy looking fellow.
"Some kids found you and saw these guys raising the remains of the sewer from the water and walking over it," the man answered, all the while calmly firing his rifle at the figures "The people in Trann have a way to save humankind, but they need time, which is what we're providing. Time for the rest of them to save humankind - some old fellow gave them the idea apparently."
Robo was buying time for humankind. He looked around, seeing dead bodies of both men and robots lying on the ground, their entire bodies charred by something. He saw Johnny, the Cyborg with a motorcycle bottom, firing an automatic into the lines of Shadows. Robo fired off a laser into one of the black figures, who promptly exploded into the pillar of white light as Robo's laser overpowered his shield. Suddenly, a Shadow was right in front of him. A surge of electricity went through him, of such intensity it could very likely wipe out his entire system for good. Robo didn't get the chance to find out - the surge overpowered the sentient part of his brain.
"This is excellent," sneered the figure in the black robe.
.