3.25

“I know you.” Inventor Pete looked at the newly arrived group and narrowed his eyes at Hunter.

“And I know you. You hurt a friend of mine.”

“Oh you must mean Hummingbird. Yes, well. She made fun of me. Ridiculed me. Didn’t take me seriously. Just like you. That’s why I was coming after you, but it looks like you’ve made it easier for me.”

The fan robot pulled itself free from Stick’s weapon and flew straight toward the team.

“Watch out, that thing’s dangerous,” called Stick.

Silas kicked himself out of the way, Gauzelle unravelled and snaked away on the ground. Jimena turned to ooze, and Hunter dropped to the ground. The fan brushed past Hunter’s head, slicing a single strand of hair.

“Maybe this guy is a little beyond us?” said Silas. Flashbacks of the giant chicken and the sharp beak collided through his mind and fear started to grip at his heart.

“No, we’ve got this,” said Gauzelle. The battery robot was charging at Hunter and Jimena, tendrils of electricity arcing ahead of its clunky design.

“How? Look at Stick?”

“Silas, focus,” said Hunter. He could understand where Silas was coming from, but he wasn’t going to let that stop the team.

“Your teammate has a right to be frightened. I almost killed this one here, and I fail to see how your powers will help you stop my inventions.” Inventor Pete took aim with his gun and fired.

A small pellet launched out and cracked into Hunter’s body. The pain was immense. The capsule fell to the ground, it was cracked. A green gas slowly rose and twirled out of the projectile.

Jimena shot the pellet with one of her slime balls. She was back in her solid form, only able to remain in her slime form for a short while. The gas stopped rising from the pellet, but the damage had already been done. Hunter felt disoriented and his vision had blurred.

Stick landed a powerful blow against Pete’s head. He staggered under the hit, his knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.

“I’ll deal with you in a minute,” said Stick. She leapt into action upon seeing Hunter begin to stagger.

The battery shocked Jimena. Red hot pain seared through her body. She flashed into her slime form and the electricity shorted. The battery looked at her, wearing an almost discernible confused look on its unmoving face.

Gauzelle snaked along and wrapped herself around the battery. She pushed it down and dragged it across the concrete.

The fan flew wide and came in toward Hunter. Hunter was furiously rubbing his watery eyes.

Just as the blades were about to slice into Hunter, Stick’s weapon collided with the robot. It was knocked to the ground and the noise made Hunter turn around.

With the weapon now out of her hands, the pain from the dislocated elbow sliced through Stick’s brain. She cried out in pain but kept running forward, her arm now helpless without the magic surging through her body.

The battery released shock after shock against Gauzelle. It hurt but it was manageable. She continued to drag it behind her across the ground and sparks began to explode out.

Inventor Pete got up and ran over to his mattress. He went to work on the wires with almost inhuman speed and precision. Its eyes flickered back on, and it pulled itself up.

“Go, stop them!” Pete started to laugh at the chaos. He pressed a button on his wrist and a blade flicked out. He ran for Hunter, his eyes wide and spittle flew from his mouth like a madman.

The fan flew in at Silas. Silas ran and jumped out of the way, but the fan swirled and continued after him. Silas looked over his shoulder at the incoming weapon and panic reared its ugly head.

“Help!” Silas called out. He zoomed toward Inventor Pete and sent him flying. Pete’s head smacked into the ground, and he lay there, unmoving.

Gauzelle let go of the battery robot and watched as Silas flew by her. The fan was close behind. Gauzelle snaked her way up and wrapped herself around Stick’s weapon.

Reforming herself, standing on the middle of the fan, Gauzelle pried Stick’s branch free from the blade. She drove it down into the fan and the two of them crashed into the ground. The fan was broken into pieces.

The battery was closing in on Hunter now, who had just righted himself. The battery let loose its attack and Hunter rolled out of the way. Before he could right himself, the mattress scooped him up off the ground and did a piledrive on Hunter.

Hunter bit his tongue with the impact, the metallic taste of fresh blood oozed through his mouth. His vision went black for a moment but surprisingly, he was still conscious.

Jimena pelted the battery with her slime balls. Her shots were so fast that the little robot was soon encased in the slime, unable to move.

Silas came flying back and slammed his butt into the mattress. It let go of Hunter, who was about to be crushed into the ground again. The mattress flew back, and Silas ran into it a few more times. Silas eventually broke through the body, circuitry pulled through after him.

“Is everyone all right?” Hunter asked. His body ached all over.

“Sore,” replied Jimena.

“In pain,” said Gauzelle.

“I think I’m okay,” said Silas.

“Hey Gauzelle, can I have my branch back?” Stick made her way over to Gauzelle. Gauzelle handed it back to her and the pain in Stick’s body subsided slightly.

The five of them approached Inventor Pete, who was still laying on the ground.

“You just got punched,” said Silas.

“No.”

“Nope.”

“Please don’t.”

“No way.”

“But a good catchphrase is something we need,” Silas looked at his team. They were all shaking their heads.

Stick crouched down and lifted Inventor Pete’s head off the ground.

“He’s out cold. You want to make the call?” Stick looked at Hunter. He flicked on his communicator and got in touch with Michael.