Episode XLVII

Every time Luke thought about Kira or Brad, he got angry and upset. So, in order to stay sane until Saturday, he avoided both of them, and poured all his energy into skateboarding. The upcoming competition was to have three events. The first two involved skating a prescribed routine: Everyone did the same tricks in the same order, and points were awarded based on how well each trick was executed. More difficult tricks were worth more points. The third was a “best trick” contest: Each skater did one trick, the best he could land, and the highest scoring trick won.

Luke wasn’t worried about the first two events. None of the tricks were too hard for him, and if he practiced both routines enough times before Saturday, he was confident he could pull them off flawlessly. The hard part was deciding what to do for the third event. It was tempting to try and learn something really hard; if he could land a heelflip McTwist, it would be a guaranteed win. Then again, if he were that good, he would have a decent chance of winning at the next X Games. A compromise, then. He knew he couldn’t learn to do a McTwist before Saturday; he couldn’t get enough height to spin the full 540 degrees. But he had managed to do a backflip and land fakie, so maybe if he worked at it he could learn to do a 180 inverted aerial. Maybe even a kickflip 180 inverted aerial. That would be truly awesome.

Late Thursday morning found Luke practicing on the halfpipe as usual. In order to avoid a confrontation, he had waited to go to the skate park until after Brad left for lunch. After practicing the two preset routines several times, he was once again trying to land a 180. He had managed to make the full twist several times, but had not yet landed on his board without falling. He resisted the urge to become frustrated and kept at it, confident that he would succeed if he kept trying. This was how he had learned all his tricks; not so much innate skill as relentless determination.

The key thing was not to be afraid of getting hurt. Luke’s friends called him the Loon, partly because he skated without any helmet or pads – even without a shirt, more often than not, despite his propensity as a redhead to sunburn – but mostly because he would try any jump for the first time with as much confidence as if he’d been doing it for years. It was as if he didn’t know how much it was going to hurt when he fell. He suffered a lot of scrapes and bruises this way, but he also learned a lot of tricks. Luke’s description of his own technique sounded a lot like the Nike slogan: “I don’t think about it; I just do it.”

Nearly two hours and countless falls later, the Loon’s craziness paid off: He landed three 180’s in a row, to the delight of the local kids who were watching. Not too soon, either; the competition was in just two days. Now at least he had something to show, but it might not be better than whatever Brad was planning. What he needed to do was spice it up a little by adding a kickflip. No problem – just two tricks he knew how to do, both at the same time. Enough thinking; time to do it. He rode back and forth on the halfpipe a couple of times to pick up speed, then launched into the inverted aerial the same as before. To complete the trick, he had to rotate 90 degrees while upside-down, then another 90 after turning right-side up but before landing. But this time, while still in the air, he had to kick his board so that it also spun 360 degrees on an axis running lengthwise. He could do this while ollying over flat ground easily, but doing it while completing a jump he’d barely learned was more complicated.

As was typical for his first time trying a trick, he failed to land it. Not so typical was his failure to get up afterwards. The boys who were watching ran up and asked if he was alright, then started to panic when he didn’t answer. One of them was already running to go call 911 when he opened his eyes and said weakly, “Get…help…my leg…”

Episode XLVI

Darkness cloaked the small settlement built in a small clearing on the outskirts of Daze Springs. It had been a few weeks since Acidity's last encounter with the general public, though this had not excluded him from stealing people away to join his forces. Though his forces had more or less doubled he realized that they could not continue growing indefinitly as he had to give them all injections periodically. He had made some builders build him a home base and was currently working on an acid spa for his feeding periods. Lately he had to resort to only using a tank; he'd had an employee of another lab buy it for him and set it up in the camp. As of yet the camp had not been seen, nor any suspicion thrown on any of his workers.

* * *

The next day near noon he crawled out of his tank with renewed vigor.

Where are my minions?!!

He wondered, about to work up a good fit of rage.
Suddenly a builder emerged out of a newly finish building and rushed over, stumbling in his haste.

"You called, master?"

What's going on? I didn't say a word, Acidity wondered again to himself.

"We finished installing the space heaters in the new barracks, master," the worker blurted out. "That's what you ordered, wasn't it?"

Yes, but..... Acidity still confused as to how the worker had come when he hadn't even spoke.

"Well, that's good. I don't need anything further, thank you. Please continue with your work."

The worker left and Acidity sank amazed and bewildered into his tank again. Breathing the water slowly, he thought to himself about what had just happened. Quieter thoughts this time.

I didn't even speak a word but he came running and answered my thoughts....

I must be getting more powerful.

Well, telepathy is certainly going to help me out. I will be able to plant thoughts in people's minds, if I'm careful.

I'd better watch what I think about to myself

Carefully he opened a mind link to his van driver and summoned him using his thoughts. Then he thought something to himself again at without letting anyone hear it. It was difficult but with practice his skills could be used without the world hearing his every thought.

Episode XLIV

The woman with the red hair sat down at the booth across from him. Dennis might have noticed she was pretty if he was paying attention to his surroundings.

"No, you don't know me," Abby said. "You just looked like you needed an encouraging word. What's wrong?"

"I'm having a finals week like you wouldn't believe."

"Let me guess, your professors are trying to kill you."

Dennis smiled. "Well, not exactly. It's a rather long, complicated story I'm sure you wouldn't care anything about."

"Try me," Abby said.

"No. I've already got one innocent person in danger. The last thing I want to do is have to worry about you as well." And with that, Dennis got up and walked out the door, leaving Abby to eat her meal in peace and wonder what that was all about.

All thoughts of the strange conversation vanished from her mind, however, when her cell phone rang almost as soon as she got back into her apartment. It was Maggie.

"You are all over the news," Maggie said as soon as Abby answered. "Remember that lottery ticket you bought last week? You won!"

"What?!" Abby looked for a place to sit down, but since everything was still in the trailer, she wound up sitting on the floor.

"You are filthy stinking rich!"

Abby laughed. "I hardly consider a million dollars filthy stinking rich," she said. "Especially after the government takes their share for taxes."

"Still, I just had to call and tell you!" And with that, Maggie hung up.

Laughing over her friend's weird phone habits, Abby found the number for the Daze Springs Lotto Office and called and confirmed the information. "The mayor would like to present you a check in front of the cameras day after tomorrow. Will that be a problem?"

"No, I'll be there." Abby may not be able to retire, but she wasn't going to pass up this money, that's for sure.

***

After spending a day unloading and trying to get situated, Abby drove back to Daze Springs. She received her check with much pomp and ceremony on live TV. It would, of course, be rebroadcast on the local news that night as well. It seemed like an awful lot of fuss, but they had just started the lottery, and she was the first big winner.

She was just getting back into the car when her phone rang again. "This is the lab. Dr. Jockner would like to see you before you leave town." Then the line was disconnected.

That was strange, Abby thought to herself. But she dutifully drove her car to the temporary trailers.

"I didn't call you," Dr. Jockner said when she arrived. "I'm sorry you detoured out here for nothing."

After stopping by to say "Hi" to Maggie, Abby headed out to her car again. She'd just reached into her purse to pull out her keys when two men grabbed her arms.

"You will come with us, now," one of them said in a monotone.

"Lord Acidity wishes to see you. He requires more capital," intoned the other.

They started to drag her toward the edge of the clearing. Abby could just make out a monster trying to hide in the shadows. It looked remarkably like the monster that had been rumored to be at the lab right before it burned down in the fire. If half of what she had heard was true, she knew this was bad news.

Never one to go along willingly, Abby struggled against her two captors. Naturally, she didn't get too far, but she was able to put her hand back into her purse. Feeling around, she found the pepper spray she had kept there for years and never needed. Flicking the cap off, she sprayed it at first one and then the other of her assailants. The stuff was still strong enough, and they released her and covered their eyes, screaming in pain.

Abby, turned and ran back to her car, hopped in, and drove out of town as quickly as she could, not even stopping at her bank to deposit the check. As Daze Springs faded behind her, she began to stop trembling. She wasn't exactly sure what had just happened. But she knew next time it happened, she would be ready.