Book of Glitch - Chapter 14

Part V

I suppose you’re wondering what became of young Elder Joshua. You’ll have to forgive this old man for rambling on at times, but even now I am still struggling with the details. Where was he last? Ah yes, at Professor Reginald’s lab in the north Cerebran research tower. I’m sure you’ll agree that being jettisoned through a wall of steel and concrete thirty stories from the ground is to say the least an unfortunate affair.

And even with as strong a heart as he has, Elder Joshua is just as susceptible to heart failure just the same as any other Elder in such circumstances would have been. Thus as the young man cut through the cold night air with the unforgiving gust whistling in his ears, he slipped into unconsciousness.

But even still I fear I am getting ahead of myself. I should first inform you that just moments before the stroke of the Great Bell Big Ben’s signaling of the new day, the Stonie twins Gray and Phit were hastily making their way to the towers to find their sister. The boys reached the base of the towers and had spent several minutes debating whether the professor’s lab was in the north or the south tower.

Just as they had finally resolved to split up and search through each monolith, a commotion sounded from above their heads. The boys stared up into the dark sky in time to see slabs of concrete, scraps of metal, shattered glass and some whole object that appeared to be wrapped in cloth.

“What is that?” shouted Phit.

“Not what,” said Gray, “Who.”

As the object continued to hurtle toward where they stood on the pavement, it became more apparent to Phit that it was a body. The question remained whether or not it was someone they knew, or more importantly someone they cared deeply for, who was falling to their potential death.

“Gray quick, hoist me up. If I can catch her a few stories up that should cushion the blow, come on,” he yelled.

Gray partially knelt down while propping up one of his knees. He placed both hands on his forward knee, interlacing his fingers so that his palms faced upward. Phit hopped one foot onto his brother’s upturned palms, while simultaneously using his brother’s shoulders to pull himself higher up. Once it appeared that the body was nearing a height at which he could intercept it, his twin catapulted him into the sky with all his strength.

Phit soared a full two stories up before his momentum decreased, but he had met the body at just the right height to reduce the impact his own opposing force might have caused. The Stonie gently cradled the missile and braced himself for the fall back to the pavement. He met the concrete walkway with a reverberating crash and left a crater that his grandfather would have been proud to see.

Upon landing, Phit looked up to see that a heavy load of debris and sunder had come along with the victim in his arms. He hunched over to cover the body, but with one arm already supporting it his size would still fall short. To his gratitude Gray had been watching as the scraps had chased down his brother, and ran over just in time to further shield his twin and his catch.

“Is she all right?” Gray asked after the last iron beam collided with his back.

“I don’t know,” answered Phit, “But I think he’s asleep.”

Gray pushed his brother back and stared closely at Joshua’s sooty face. The Elder was still and unresponsive to their meek pokes and prods, but Phit noted that the young man was in fact breathing so the two exhaled in relief.

“Do you think he’s hurt?” asked Gray.

“How would I know, you’re the one who’s always reading Syena’s anatomy books,” Phit retorted. “Here, you take him and have a look.”

“Don’t toss him around like that,” Gray said almost whispering. “All Elders are soft and can easily break—Abraham doesn’t just say that because he’s old you know.”

I’ll say now that I didn’t very much appreciate hearing that comment about myself, but I respect the art of storytelling and will therefore spare you no details. The boys went back and forth like that for a short while before anyone came upon them. They’re attention was only called back to them when one of the iron beams on the ground began to wallop Gray where he stood.

“What’s this? Phit, are you the one?” he scolded.

But his twin was too busy chuckling at the sight of a seemingly possessed object attacking his brother while the elder twin danced about trying to get away from it. However, his delight was soon silenced as a boulder made of innumerable coiled steel rods proceeded to crash on top of his head repeatedly.

The young Stonies spent several minutes swatting at countless pieces of debris that had apparently come to life purely for the sake of abusing them. They placed Joshua in between their huddled bodies in fear that the objects might soon tire of beating into their dense bodies and turn on the flesh and bone creature in their midst.

While the two were distracted, a shadowy figure had slunk out from a dark corner and advanced toward Joshua.

“Now see here,” hollered the unknown. “I’m bearing witness to your flagrant attack on an Elder. Do the wise thing and release him to me safely, and I shall not report you to the Stonie Guard.”

“And just who in the magma are you?” barked Phit.

“Never mind who I am young sir, release the Elder or I will have no choice but to summon reinforcements to my side.”

“If you are the one in control of these remnants that it is obvious that you are a Cerebran Incantare,” Gray shouted. “If you would please stop attacking us, we will happily place this Elder in your care.”

“Like hell we will,” spat Phit. “We still have no idea why this guy came flying through the tower wall like one of those old cannon balls we’ve seen on the telescreen. What if the Cerebra has something to do with him?”

The Cerebra had ceased his attack on the Stonie boys upon hearing Gray’s plea. Once the last smack sounded against Phit’s shin/scrap of metal fell to the floor, the older twin peered around in search of their aggressor. Not seeing anyone, he looked down at Joshua and tried to find any fresh wounds on the Elder’s limp body.

“You’re right,” Gray answered. “Plus, we still don’t know what happened to Syena.”

On hearing the girl’s, Professor Reginald stepped forward and stood under one of the illuminators hanging over the street in front of the tower.

“My word boys, did I hear you correctly? Has something happened to that darling sister of yours?” he inquired.

But before either brother could answer a boltine transporter lowered down from the black sky, almost landing on top of them while its propellers swirled ashes and stones into the boys’ and the professor’s faces. Six seething, bare-chested Dragoons emerged from the craft followed by the two Bolt pilots whose transparent skulls cast light on the entire menacing bunch.

A figure draped in a steel-gray cloak stepped off of the carrier and skulked forward to stand before the other Incantare who had preceded it. The figure withdrew a gloved hand from underneath its coverings and pointed toward the limp body of Elder Joshua as though he were some toy for them to fetch.

The Dragoons were the first to act on the order. Three of the females in their ranks advanced on the Stonie brothers still guarding the Elder. They joined hands as they crept towards them and with each bare footstep, they took the pavement sizzled. Phit pushed Joshua into Professor Reginald’s arms before planting himself in front of the two soft-skinned variants.

Gray took the lead in front of his younger twin, preparing to throw back the encroaching female fire starters, but failing to see that on either side of him stood the two Bolt pilots. They had slunk around the first assailers to kneel down and electrify the puddle at Gray’s feet. The shock did not injure the boy but only acted to stagger his movements for the duration of the charge, as is the case with a pebble that meets a live wire.

In seeing that his brother’s was under attack, Phit rushed toward the male Bolt pilot and swiftly punched through the electrocuter’s left arm. The splintering of the Bolt’s bone could be seen through his translucent flesh. The male rolled over and wept in bitter agony, while his female companion continued to charge the remaining precipitation that the older twin was standing in. At that moment, two of the remaining Dragoons threw themselves onto his mountainous form. The young Stonie wiled and bucked ferociously as the males who had locked him in between them continued to rise their body temperatures higher and higher until Phit’s clothes caught fire.

While both Stonie brothers were preoccupied, the trio of Dragoon females had tip-toed their way toward where the professor sat clutching to young Joshua. The Cerebra began to panic as the lead pipes and steel rods he had been launching at the slinking igniters had only burst into flames just inches from their sweltering bodies. The cloaked figure had trailed behind the band, while the remaining Dragoon female flanked the rear of the malignant group.