Book of Glitch - Chapter 15

Professor Reginald began to perspire as the distance separating them lessened from yards to feet. He stared down at Joshua’s clammy brow and considered trying to levitate the boy somewhere into the distance on a bed of some of the scraps surrounding them, until he realized the Elder would be in far greater danger of being found abandoned and unconscious in some remote avenue by the huntresses and their concealed commander.

The heat had risen at such an extreme rate that the Cerebra professor’s gargantuan cranium began to pulsate, and his vision began to blur with the onset of heat stroke. The hooded leader of the rogue Bolts and Dragoons withdrew its claw a second time, except on this occasion the creature unsheathed its lecherous paw from the plum-colored glove it wore revealing a slender, honey-brown hand. It reached toward Joshua and laid its grip on his chest.

The Elder lay still for a brief moment before howling with all the breath in his aged lungs as best he could. Upon hearing the man’s raspy death throws, Phit fell to the ground and began to roll from side to side cracking the ribs and crushing the bones of the Dragoons clinging to him. The two males’ loosened their grip from the young Stonie as their boiling blood erupted from every orifice in their radiating bodies—congealing as it seeped onto the cool pavement. Having gained his freedom, Phit barreled into the female Bolt with such tremendous force that her entire body sailed about eight feet away from where she knelt.

As she came crashing down to the Earth, her skull collided with the concrete and issued an echoing clap of thunder as upon impact. Regaining the full use of his limbs, Gray charged into the ring of remaining Dragoons. The hooded figure recovered its limb just as the Cerebra had recovered his faculties enough to send a thin sheet of steel slicing through the chilly air at the sight just above where it had gripped Joshua’s chest.

Without a second’s delay, the Stonie brothers scooped the gasping Elder and the still faint Cerebra into their arms and raced away without looking back at the battle scene. After they had run as far as the great river, Elder Joshua felt that he had recuperated enough to walk on his own.

“I cannot express to you…” he spoke.

“Save it, Elder,” said Phit. “We’ve got enough to worry about without adding a weepy man to the list.”

“Professor, my brother and I are not familiar with these streets,” said Gray. “Do you know of anywhere the four of us can hide out?”

“Yes, of course,” answered the woozy Cerebra. “We must be quick, this way.”

Phit reengaged Joshua, despite his protest over being seen riding on the back of an almost naked male, before Professor Reginald directed the brothers back to his quarters at the Aero Needle. The Needle was only constructed a short two centuries ago in the midst of the remains of London’s infamous tower. As the foursome drew nearer they beheld the dazzling shine of the building, as it soared for what appeared to be miles and miles into the black air. At the last turn they could see that a section of the structure was indeed cloaked by a passing cloud. Gray and Phit finally set the professor and Joshua down as they approached the exterior stone walls surrounding the Needle’s base.

A male Aero floated toward the group with his small child resting on his back. He greeted Professor Reginald with a nod, while unsuccessfully averting his gaze from staring at his dusty neighbor. As the Stonie brothers walked through the main gate past him, the Aero flew back clinging to his young Aero while trying to also shield the Cerebra. In seeing that the professor was in fact waiting for the two, the Aero stared on as they proceeded through the gate followed by Joshua, to whom he offered a sweeping bow.

Once inside, the four made their way to the Cerebra’s loft as stealthily as the Stonies’ lumbering feet could manage. Gray and Phit carried the professor and Joshua, who did not complain this time as the two ran up twenty-seven stories worth of stairs to reach the Cerebra’s door. As they crept into the professor’s residence an Aero female with an almond-shaped face and a regal-pointed nose glided towards them with damp/dampened cheeks.

“Reginald, is that you?”

 “Yes, hello Hershol, he answered. “I’ve returned with a few friends, one of will need to borrow some clothes from Maximus.”

“Oh Reginald, it’s on all the broadcasts. Please, you must see what is happening,” she pled as she dragged the professor toward his telecaster.

After the professor pointed out his gorilla companion’s room to Phit, so that the still naked Stonie could clothe himself, Joshua and the twins followed the Cerebra and his Aero friend into the expansive sitting area in the center of his residence. The telecast was projected off of the immaculate, ceiling-high windows which gave the Aero Needle its shimmering appearance. As the males focused more closely on the actual announcement, each glared at the screen as they saw the report of Elders gone missing throughout all of the sovereign state while attacks on Stonies could be seen in the background.

He fell to his knees still gawking at the telescreen, shaking his head in disbelief. Most of the Elders the report had shown were friends of the young man, some of whom he knew had partnered themselves with a Sham. The professor placed his hand on Joshua’s shoulder as he turned back to Hershol.

“How long?” he choked. “How long have these attacks been underway?”

“For at least half an hour,” she sobbed as she sank onto the floor. “Do you have any idea what is going on, Reg? Surely this cannot be about His Majesty.”

“No, sweet Hershol,” the professor began. “It has nothing-”

“Of course it does,” Joshua interrupted. “You can’t possibly think that such a blatant affront could be coincidental. Those ruthless would-be murderers we just escaped from, you honestly think they would dare lay their hands on me had we not been in this political deadlock?”

“I suppose not,” Reginald frowned as he patted Joshua’s shoulder. “Speaking of which, I’ll need to look you over young Sir. Who knows what that cloaked devil did to you.”

“I’m all right,” the young Elder growled. “Between him cradling me half the night and you coddling me now, it’s a wonder I don’t go mental. We should be out there doing something.”

“Easy now, Elder—let us try and keep our wits about us, otherwise all will truly be lost,” the Cerebra cooed. “Now Hershol, where are Maximus and Argos? Time is everything, and it will take all of us to get the young Elder to safety.”

The Aero burst into the air as she wiped her face.

“Oh my, I had sent them out to look for you upon seeing the first report,” she answered. “I will let him know you have returned safely and that they should return immediately.”

Hershol hovered above them with her eyes shut as she began the search for Argos through the countless Aero minds that happened to be in the meta-ethereal domain at that moment. Joshua continued to watch the telecaster, gritting his teeth as he recognized more and more of the faces on the screen.

“I cannot,” he murmured. “I cannot just sit here and wait for those monsters to find us.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re the only one in trouble here friend,” Phit rebuffed. “Your lot’s only gone missing, they’re sending hordes of Incantare after the Stonies.”

“And just what do you think ‘missing’ means?” Joshua hollered.

Phit frowned and began to advance on Joshua, but Gray placed his arm in front of his twin.

 “Brother, now is not the time to compete,” said Gray. “But Phit does have a point. We came to the tower to find Syena, and instead we found you.”

“More like rescued,” spat his twin. “Only to get attacked by this old egghead, and then have to fight off all those blistering Dragoons and their freaky leader. Why are we even wasting time, Gray? I know you saw the street heading back toward the villa on our way here. The softies are safe, so let’s head back and make sure Syena’s all right.”

“Be patient,” Gray whispered. “For all we know she wasn’t even at the lab, there’s no point in leading any of these rogue Incantare toward our family when things are still quiet this far down the river.”

“I’m afraid,” Joshua choked. “Syena was with me at the lab. But I’m almost certain that she’s all right. And your brother’s right, I wouldn’t want to risk trying to go find my uncle if there is a chance I might lead the culprits to him.”

Phit rolled his eyes at the others’ cool demeanors when their loved ones could be in serious danger.

Gray continued. “Besides you know better than anyone that attacking a Stonie is about as easy as trying to wrestle a moving mountain, and I for one would hate to be the one who crossed Syena. By the time they could’ve taken her down, they would have lost at least thirty of their own.”

“Damn right,” he beamed. “It’s too bad for you Elders, Joshua. If you all were at least a little more Stonie-like, you could stand up for yourselves.”