(Solmonath 28, 56 / 10:59AM)
How far would a mother go to save her child?
(Mary) Joseph! Joseph pick up!
It’s only natural for a mother to go to dangerous lengths for her kid, especially when the kid is the only child in the family…
(Mary) Come on, pick up! Please for the love of all holy—
(Joseph on the phone) H-hello? Mary is that you?
(Mary) Joseph, it’s Luke! Luke escaped from the penthouse!
(Joseph on the phone) W-WHAT!?
Mary starts to quiver, her hands shaking the phone the more she is on call with her husband.
(Joseph on the phone) Damn it, Mary! How did you let him go?!
(Mary) He must have escaped when I was in the bathroom! I’m sorry. Please help me find him!
(Joseph on the phone) Mary, go look for Luke! Please have your phone with you, I may have to call you back in a bit…
(Mary) But will you help me find him—
(Joseph) Sorry Mary, but I have to go. Please look for him!
Even though their child was smiling and living, were they trying to prevent that?
Was it for their child’s safety?
As soon as both Mary and Joseph hung up their big block cellphones, Joseph let out a stressful sigh.
(Joseph) sigh … I hope he didn’t go to the downtown district…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Solmonath 28, 56 / 11:52AM)
(Luke’s thoughts) Oh no…
Now having a bunch of eyes on him, Luke was now the perfect center of attention for the group of geeks and nerds..
Mostly because everyone in the building was in their te teens, and Luke was barely considered a teenager by most standards. As usual, Luke was merely just a background character.
(Geek #1) Who invited him here?
(Geek #2) Don’t know, let’s just continue pnning this thing.
Everyone just went along with what they were doing, ignoring Luke since they didn’t think much of him. Everyone except…
(???) Hey Luke! You made it!
(Luke) Hey Fred!
After an embarrassing introduction upon entering, he was finally greeted by his best friend Fred, finally reaching the destination that he wanted to go from the start.
Fred was only a couple of inches taller than Luke, but both he and Luke were mostly skinny. Described as having normal ears and nose, the key difference that made him different was that Fred had silver hair. Not only that, but Fred had blue eyes, not a common eye color in terms of genetics. He usually wore a bck miner helmet with goggles on top, as well as wears yellow shirts and blue pnts since he mostly works with engines and mechanics of that sort.
Fred gave Luke a fistbump, a way to greet one another as they did in school.
(Luke) Where were you? I thought you weren’t here.
(Fred) Sorry, I was constipated. Accidentally ate bad food…
(Luke) Heh, that’s definitely you…
(Fred) So what happened? How did you get here?
(Luke) I just followed the address, that's all.
(Fred) Really? It usually takes me 25 to 30 minutes to walk to your penthouse. It took you an hour.
(Luke) I just happened to walk into this crazy scene with a crazy man. Nothing particur about it though…
(Luke’s thoughts) What was that man’s goal anyway? Maybe he was just a conspiracy weirdo…
(Luke) But I got held up by some red-haired yo-yo master. He knows my dad well and we talked for quite a bit.
(Fred) Ah, so that’s why you’re carrying that broken-down yo-yo. Can I see it?
(Luke) Sure.
Luke gave the old yo-yo to Fred. Another thing about Fred is that…
(Luke) I don’t care if you keep it, I can’t seem to find anything valuable with that thing.
(Fred) I-I’m not going to—
(???) Fred, you’re probably going to keep it to yourself, so give it back to him.
Another boy, who looked to be 16, came over to check up on Fred. The boy looked to have brownish ginger hair, followed by a bunch of freckles that id waste upon his cheeks. He had a big nose, normal lips, and squinted monolid eyes. His hair was styled short to moderate, with a cowlick on the back of his head. The color of his eyes was brown, and there were some spots of facial hair starting to pop out.
But this boy wasn’t a normal human, he was—
(Luke) An elf!
(???) Uh yeah I’m an elf. What of it?
As the elf was taken aback by the increase of Luke’s voice, the elf took a couple steps back of fear since the elf never experienced this type of reaction.
(Fred) Don’t worry, this is Luke’s first time seeing an elf close up.
(???) Oh, good to know… anyway Fred, like I said, return the yo-yo.
(Fred) Come on, when did I keep things to myself that I shouldn’t have?
(Luke) Come to think of it, you still haven’t returned the movie CDs that I let you borrow.
(Fred) I’m … still not finished watching them…
(???) Didn't you already finish watching them a year ago?
The ginger brownish-haired teen then looked at Luke and decided to introduce himself to Luke to better make himself more merciful.
(???) My name is Stanley, or just call me Stan for short. Don’t care.
The teen named Stan finished introducing himself, and Luke was about to introduce himself back but Stan stopped him.
(Stan) Don’t worry about it, Fred told me all about you.
(Luke) Wait. Fred told you all about me?
(Stan) Yeah, man, he kept on telling me crazy stories about how you and he would mostly cause a lot of trouble in school. Mostly about how you and him would scare people away when both you and him were in chemistry.
(Fred) That’s mostly Luke, he’s the one who starts most of the fires…
(Luke) I just like exploring chemical bonds, that's all.
As the three boys continued talking in the doorway, a speaker, standing on top of the podium in the center of the building, made his presence. Turning on his megaphone, the booming noise of the megaphone’s switch roars through the building, putting all pnning to a halt.
(Speaker) Attention everybody! The Robotics competition will commence at 4 PM, so make sure your robot is already built by at least 3:30.
The speaker then put the mic down a little to see that everyone was listening to him. Upon noticing that a few people were alone, as well as seeing Stan, Fred, and a newcomer joining in, he had to acknowledge the presence of teams and solos.
(Speaker) And another thing. Teams can only choose one robot for the competition! Solos can receive help from other people as well! If you're a solo who wants to be part of a team, come to the east side of the building!
Then the speaker put down the megaphone, the speaker petting his pet baby wolf on top of his head.
Luke, Fred, and Stan heard of the announcement and the three of them sort of agreed without speaking that they want to work on the robot together. As the clock started to strike at 12, the three boys head to their workstation, to come up with the best robot that the world has ever seen, but—
(Luke) I’ve never built a robot before…
(Fred) Don’t worry, me and Stan will help you out with it. Careful though, Stan can be a little competitive in robot building, so he can be a little … What do you call it?
(Luke) Passionate?
(Fred) Yeah … really passionate…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Solmonath 28, 52 / 1:00PM)
The clock struck 1, an hour into constructing the robot.
Things were going quite well for the other teams and singles, most of them already knew what they were doing, as if they already had a pn on what type of defense their robot had, and how their offense would look like.
As well as the fear factor that it will cause.
But for Luke, Fred, and Stan though… well…
(Stan) Why the hell would you put yo-yos as freaking arms?
(Fred) But yo-yos are cool.
(Stan) For a freaking elementary schooler—well, you’re barely a middle schooler so it makes sense!
Stan and Fred butted heads, face to face, mostly because Fred decided to wing the idea that the robot should have yo-yos as arms.
And Stan hated the idea…
(Stan) You’re going to ruin the robot!
(Fred) As if the size was already going to ruin the robot!
(Stan) Size does and will matter! It builds into the fear factor!
Meanwhile, Stan built the robot to be the biggest robot out of the, trying to make it seem like a big shot compared to other robots.
And Fred hated the idea…
(Fred) The robot is going to be bodied!
(Stan) You see the metal we're using? The robot could tank it!
(Fred) Hey Luke, what do you think?
Both boys then looked towards Luke, their eyes gring at him waiting for Luke’s opinion on the given result coming to hand.
But Luke was too busy making the legs of the robot, and he was way too focused on his good.
(Fred) Hey Luke. Luke. Luke—hey!
Fred tugged Luke’s shoulder, moving it slightly aggressively as he wanted a straight answer from Luke. Being pulled away from the zone, Luke inhaled slowly as he was brought into a minor inconvenience…
(Luke) I was doing the legs…
(Fred) This is important. Do you think yo-yos as arms would be a good idea?
(Stan) More importantly, do you think size does matter for fear factor?
Both boy's hands and faces were a little sweaty and red from the hard work and frustration that they were putting into the robot, and each boy started to sweat a drop since neither one of them wanted to take down their own interest—
(Luke) How about you guys do both?
(Fred) Really?
(Stan) That’s your answer?
(Luke) Or you guys could do neither … I’m just trying to be moderate with your guys' interests…
Luke began putting his right hand on the right side of his hace, his eye bang touching the tips of his knuckles. He started to inhale and exhale slowly yet again, but this time less noticeable and more kept in. Luke didn’t care if he won, he just wanted to hang out with Fred and others, that’s all he came here for.
(Fred) Alright … alright … hey, Luke, I’m curious, what have you been working on?
(Luke) Well, I’ve been working on the legs, and I think I have an interesting idea.
(Stan) I mean, it can’t be worse than yo-yo arms.
(Luke) I’ve decided to make the legs have an explosive kick when hitting a robot with its legs. By combining fulminated mercury inside its legs, and with a little switch, the fulminated mercury would come out and the robot would kick the mercury, causing it to explode. If the metal is hard and resilient, then I think it will put offense and fear points as well as defense points in terms of fighting … What do you guys think?
(Fred and Stan) Never cook again…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Solmonath 28, 56 / 2:00PM)
(Stan) Stop trying to put the explosive kicks in! It’s completely unnecessary!
(Luke) But I did the math and it will work!
(Stan) This explosive kick is completely unrealistic and even dangerous. What happens if shrapnel or sharp metal sptters and hits someone in the eye?
The trio’s robot was 40% done, with Stan bringing in many stacks of metal that could support its rge frame. Combined with the arms being mostly rubber metal, its rubber was being tested upon by Fred, by moving up and down a rapid throwing yo-yo that thrusts out a heavy metal ball and back.
As the clock reached the halfway point, they had another hour and a half to finish their robot, but there were still some discussions about the basis of their work.
For one, every team or single was starting to wrap up the invention, and most of them were starting to work on decorations or little test runs for it to work properly in the fight.
As for our main group…
(Fred) The stupid size is making the controls much harder than they should be.
(Stan) I could say the same for the yo-yo arms, it’s way too clunky.
Even though Fred and Stan managed to finally agree to do both their interests in the robot, it seemed as if their ideas were too advanced given the scraps and technology that they have…
For Fred, the yo-yo arms didn’t move fast enough, and as for Stan, he couldn’t get the robot to move fast enough, making the robot move as if it was a drunken dinosaur…
(Luke) I think we should put in something different for the legs.
(Stan) It better not be the explosive kick idea…
(Luke) Explosive kicks are cool though…
(Stan) And dangerous.
(Fred) And risky…
(Luke) How about rocket legs?
(Stan and Fred) … what?
(Fred) How will rocket legs work in a fighting arena like this?
(Stan) Yeah, I think you should just assemble the parts and not speak for a while…
(Fred) Sorry Luke, but Stan’s right…
Luke began to pout hard as he is being treated like a golden boy again. He was being treated special by the red haired yo-yo man and now he’s being treated like some sort of little kid. The more he thought about it, the more he started narrowing his eyes to both boys.
To him, he got whatever he wanted, but he never put any effort into it. And for the first time that he wanted to put some sweat and skill into an area, his ideals were just too advanced for a robot competition.
(Luke’s thoughts) They’ll see … they’ll soon realize that rocket boots aren’t a dream! I could put more effort into it if they would let me…
Since he just wanted to have fun, he started to loosen up again quickly, subduing his feelings into his heart.
But that was going to be easier said than done…
As it was mentioned, the robot was not even moving that much, to begin with, clearly meaning that—
(Stan) Damn it. Uhm … Luke, can you assemble as much as the robot you can? Fred, can you improve the controls of the robot?
(Fred) What about you? I hope you don’t spend the time just going to the snack tray and eating all the potato chips…
(Stan) What do you take me for, some kind of fatass?
As Fred and Luke were assembling the robot, sure enough, Stan went to a nearby snack table, completely devouring half of the food in one go…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Solmonath 28, 56 / 3:00PM)
(Luke’s thoughts) Almost there…
Fortunately for Luke, the three of them managed to barely keep up with the others. The robot looked solid in design and was sturdy enough to probably tank some damage.
But the controls though…
(Fred) Still needs a bit more fixing Stan. Do you want me to connect some of the red wires to the yellow ones?
(Stan) The yellow wires are the ones that conduct AC through the controller.
(Fred) But I’m not good with AC…
(Stan) sigh … wanna experiment with DC?
(Fred) Definitely!
(Fred’s thoughts) DC~DC~It makes it easy~
Humming a little song that Fred does when doing anything reted to DC power, it made Stan’s ears perk up, clearly a little frustrated…
(Stan’s thoughts) For god’s sake!
(Stan) Stop humming that stupid song!
(Fred) sigh … fine …
Fred continued to work on the electrical current and wires that connect the power to the controller.
(Fred) Just a bit of this, and a bit of that … and DC should be running through the controller.
Luke decided to be the one to test whether or not Fred’s attempt with different electrical current regutions worked. As Luke moved the robot around, a sign of fresh relief washed over the three boys.
(Stan) Oh fu—finally it worked!
The robot finally started to move as it should’ve been moving in the boys' minds. It moved its legs much more steadily and faster and its arms more agile and rapid.
(Fred) Our robot is finally ready for battle!
(Stan) About time! And Luke said he wanted to put on rocket boots for agility. This is enough agility for one robot…
Luke decided to ignore Stan’s comments about his previous ideas on the robot, but he was more happy that at least the robot was working normally.
(Stan) If only Diego was here, the dude could win against a bear controlling a mouse.
(Fred) Where was he exactly? Didn’t he have to attend a family gathering at Haxouburg?
(Stan) Yeah, just our luck huh… anyway, we should now start decorating it. I think everyone is pretty much done with their robots except us…
Looking around the building, Stan’s observation was mostly true. Well, everyone was completed with the design and decorations of their robots, but obviously, some teams wanted to double-check things that would ensure greatness and success for their robot.
With the pile of metal scraps and wires at the south side of the building, most of the teams wanted to use most of these scraps for better or for worse, and what better way to better their chances of victory if…
It meant looking around at what other teams did…
(Stan) I hope no one decides to build another mecha-sized robot…
(Fred) I hope no one stole my yo-yo idea too…
(Stan) I think no one would find the yo-yo idea brilliant.
(Fred) You never know!
Luckily for the group, no one was daring enough to copy the three of them, which guaranteed the fact that at most, they had a good chance for originality. But it would be funny if other groups thought the robot they built was too clunky…
As for Luke…
(Luke) There! I made some st-minute changes to the robot!
(Stan) … What did you put?
(Luke) Oh, you’ll see…
(Fred) sigh … if we lose this competition because of your stubbornness of rocket boots, I’m permanently keeping all the DVDs that I borrowed from you.
(Stan) If we lose…
Stan then gets close to Luke, overlooking him with a towering complexity.
(Stan) … you’re going to make me lunch every day for a month…
(Luke) … ok.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Solmonath 28, 56 / 3:30PM)
(Speaker) Time’s up! Everyone, bring your robots to the bench room near the arena. Make sure to sign in your robot, and I think we all have the names of our groups in the roster! The arena competition starts in 30 minutes!
Speaking on the megaphone, the speaker timed up the building and decorating part of the competition, but at the cost of the speaker’s pet baby wolf from howling on top of his head.
Most of the teams and solos were bringing their robot to the waiting room, with groups filled with normal humans to some beast humans that worked on their little killing machines…
As for the main group, how did the haul of the robot go per se?
(Fred) This thing is too heavy.
(Stan) Here, let me handle it.
Stan decided to carry the big robot, its metallic structure cold and dark as his body was hot and sweaty.
Other people brought with them their robots and such, with many different variants taking form.
One group built a robot that resembled a spider, with its metal legs being used as weapons since the legs are attached with obsidian bdes that could cut anything.
Another group built a robot that could fly, its bdes on top sturdy enough to levitate it off the ground, and it contained a homemade fmethrower to overheat the robot's motor controls.
Another group built … or copied a popur type of robot…
(Random Geek #1) Hey, you copied Gary’s robot!
The robot was retively normal, but what was different compared to others was that it was attached with a taser in the middle, like it was the robot's stomach, capable of frying any metal parts within seconds.
(Group builder of copied robot) Hey, you don’t see Gary anywhere, don’t you?
Anyway, Fred and Luke were with Stan, trying to give whatever support since Stan is known to be strong.
(Stan) You got to work out those arms man.
(Fred) I know, but I don’t have the time though.
(Stan) You just got to do pushups and situps, and you’ll be good. I mostly just do light exercises and yet I got this body by doing it.
(Fred) That’s bull. I see you doing weights and heavy squats sometimes in the building.
(Stan) Why were you spying? Fascinated?
(Fred) No, I like girls.
(Stan) Don’t we all?
As Stan and Fred talked for what seemed like quite a while, Luke just eavesdropped on the conversation that they had. Both of them seemed close, almost too close.
(Luke) Hey, I got to ask, but when did you guys first meet?
As Luke began to question the basis of Fred and Stans's close bond with one another, it made Luke curious, since Fred was Luke’s best friend and all.
(Fred) Hmm … Stan should we tell him?
(Stan) Are you sure? You know you don’t like talking about it…
(Fred) Yeah, but I feel more comfortable when you expin it though.
(Stan) Sure … Luke, Fred didn’t tell you this, but he’s an orphan…
(Luke) Wait, what?!
Luke then felt a sudden whipsh of surprise and shock. Luke never met Fred’s parents, but it still was an eye opener.
(Luke) How are you able to afford to go to the Zirardge Technical Institute if you’re an orphan with no parents?
(Fred) Honestly, I don’t know … but if I have to guess, I say they did an IQ test on me, and I think they just accepted me with open arms.
(Luke’s thoughts) Just how smart is Fred anyway? I always beat him in most of the tests and exams, so what made him stand out?
(Fred) I don’t know my parents, and honestly, I don’t care, cause Stan and his family took me in.
(Stan) When I and my family first saw him, he was … malnourished … for a 6-year-old.
(Luke’s thoughts) Malnourished? In the country of Ticia and—no, in Cstine?
(Stan) He was I think with another boy, too, and both were not good in terms of health. I don’t know where they were living but, they looked too clean to be homeless at the time, so … me and my family didn’t want to investigate down that hole you know.
(Luke) Who was that other boy, if it’s alright with you?
(Stan) His name was Gary. And he’s—
Just then, the main door to the main building opened up violently. What came out of the door was a boy who appeared to be 14.
(Speaker) Gary! About time—wait, what happened to your face?
This time, the speaker didn’t speak with a megaphone, indicating that the speaker knew the boy Gary enough to communicate through voice rather than machine.
Gary’s face flushed with rage. As his hands squeezed so much as if his knuckles might break, he yelled back at the speaker.
(Gary) Some dude just dropped a lighter on my face from the Fenix Tower, I think from the tallest balcony!
______________________________________________________________________________
(Speaker) From the infamous Fenix tower? The mayor Joseph Fenix?
As the room filled with geeks and nerds started to cause more noise than the construction from their robots about ten minutes ago, rumors and gossip started to spread in the room.
(Random Geek #2) Who would do something like this?
(Random Geek #3) To Gary of all people!
(Random Geek #4) He’s like the best robot mechanic in the shop!
Gossip turns from frustration, as many people want to find out who did this to their precious and most popur robot builder…
(Luke’s thoughts) Oh no…
Fred and Stan notice that Luke started to blush red hard, nervousness and guilt filled Luke as he knew how this happened…
(Luke’s thoughts) That masked man… why did he have to do that…
Fred stood next to Luke, near his ear enough to whisper.
(Fred whispering) Hey Luke, it was you wasn’t it…
(Luke) Please don’t tell…
(Fred whispering) I’ll try to help you get out of here…
(Stan) Don’t tell me…
Stan glued together the puzzle to see that Luke was the one that dropped the—no, Luke didn’t drop but obviously, Stan didn’t know about the masked man, so it was safe to say…
(Stan) Damn it Luke, why did you drop a freaking lighter from the tower?
(Luke) It was … an accident…
(Stan) Fred, get him out of here before things get ugly.
Stan decided to block Fred and Luke so that Luke won’t be seen. Both boys quietly sneaking off so that harm won’t be bestowed upon Luke.
(Fred) I know of a secret entrance you could escape from.
Walking to the right side of the building, and quietly climbing a stack of wood, both Fred and Luke got on top that led to a metal opening. Upon seeing the exit, it made Luke…
(Luke) This is a garbage chute…
(Fred) If we take the main door, everyone will know.
Unfortunately, geeks and nerds have ways to solve a problem, and the speaker managed to recall one name in the list of builders…
(Speaker) Wait a minute, let me check the list of builders, I think I saw a kid with a st name Fenix…
(Gary) It’s a rare st name, so it must be him!
The speaker checked the paper and sure enough, the speaker saw the group that built the giant robot with yo-yo arms and weird legs, the group that held Stanley King, Fred Cudrick, and most importantly…
(Speaker) Aha, his name is Luke Fenix! Is there a Luke Fenix here?
Everyone in the building was searching for a boy by the name of Luke Fenix, but fortunately, most nerds and geeks don’t remember faces or names of people that they don’t want to pointlessly remember. This might have gained Luke an advantage in terms of escaping, but the way Luke and Fred were positioned…
(Random Geek#1) Why are those two boys on top of some wood?
(Fred) Shit!
(Luke’s thoughts) Come on…
Now all the nerds and geeks had their eyes on both Fred and Luke, while Stan…
(Stan’s thoughts) Damn it Fred, you should’ve taken the lower garbage chute, not the top one!
Stan's blockage of view wasn’t helpful at all, mostly because he thought that Fred and Luke would take a different chute.
But there maybe be still be a chance—
Nope, geeks are too smart for their own good…
(Gary) Fred! Fred! Is that you!? Why are you up there!?
(Fred) Uh …
(Gary) Wait a minute, is that the boy that you hang out with? Can it be him!?
(Stan) Hold up, think about it. Why do you jump to the conclusion that it is Luke? Why would a 12 year old kid throw a lighter off the top balcony?
(Gary) That’s what I wanna know—wait a minute, before I id on the bench looking on top of the Fenix tower, I saw a little head peeking out of the top floor…
Luke started to sweat even more as Gary piece together the wrong puzzle.
(Gary) And the kid probably looked at me chilling and ying down, and probably for some sick prank, he … threw the goddamn lighter!
Returning to his anger, he didn’t let this chance of revenge slide.
Being backed by the group of angry nerds, they were not walking like a mob, but like some sort of mafia group, wanting to look intimidating, but it was just … not intimidating at all …
Anyway, Gary and the speaker were the ones in front of the group, and Gary knew that Fred wasn’t the one who did this, but the boy with light brown hair was shorter than Fred.
(Gary) Get down here now!
(Random Geek #3) How about forcing him down?
(Random Geek #4) Drag his butt off that wood!
Gary then ran towards Fred and Luke, trying to ignore Fred’s and Stan’s attempts to calm him down. As Gary ran towards the two of them, only focusing on exacting revenge on Luke, Stan also had to prevent the situation from getting any worse.
As far as Luke could see, Gary’s face was covered in blood, mostly from his nose, and it seemed as if his nose was beyond repair…
(Gary) As payback for my broken nose, how about I smash your face huh?
(Fred) Stop Gary! It’s an accident!
(Stan) Gary! Control yourself!
Gary managed to climb the wood and managed to reach the top where Luke and Fred were. Ignoring Fred completely, Gary saw a tearful and fearful face on Luke’s face.
But as soon as Gary came any closer, Stan was able to reach the wood onto the top, and he put himself between Luke and Gary.
(Stan) Calm down…
(Gary) Out of my way Stan!
Gary tried to move Stan, but Gary was more overweight than sturdy, so his pushes weren’t strong compared to the immovable Stan.
(Gary) I don’t care if you’re the best fighter in this club, I won’t back down fighting—
Then came light…
In an inexplicable turn of events, a fsh of light came from the outside roof windows of the building, causing everyone to turn and look towards the roof. Their eyes were in confusion and fear as to why there was a sudden cause of bright light in the middle of the afternoon. The light is probably brighter—
Then the sound came…
A shockwave, from hell itself, burst its way into the building, causing the building to colpse upon itself…
It was so quick … Everything happened so quickly, because of Luke—
Then came the rain of colpsing debris—
