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Young Strangers


csyphrett

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Jimmy landed in a the shadow of some bushes. He looked around, letting his helmet

evaluate the air for him. It seemed too hot.
 
Why was it too hot? He figured something was letting exhaust in the air. It had to be
something big.
 
Beth dropped down beside him. She returned to normal long enough to drop Lars and
Mark to the ground. Then she became a lizard with a cat-like body and horns.
 
“We have a lot of infrared and ultraviolet.” Beth’s form chirped. “The detectors form
a net around that house. I can’t see anything near the walls.”
 
“I don’t smell any of the local animals coming close.” Mark sniffed the air. “But there
is the fuel smell in the air.”
 
“So this is the bad guy base.” Lars looked around. “The monastery is to the south. We
could retreat there to figure out a way through the net.”
 
“I don’t think we can.” Jimmy pointed. “I think we’re on camera. If we head to the
monastery, we’ll be putting the brothers in danger.”
 
“We better make a decision soon.” Mark looked around. “If they come at us here,
Beth is the only one who can get away before the jet mice chew us up with their laser
guns.”
 
“I can get in and shut the net down.” Beth flicked her tongue out. “Do we go in, or
run away?”
 
“We have to go in.” Jimmy shook his head. “If we don’t, the mice king will come
after us. We have to do something about him. If you can open the way for us, we’ll
go in and see what we can do to put a stop to things.”
 
“All right.” Beth changed shape and vanished into the grass. “I’ll give you some kind
of signal when the net is down.”
 
Jimmy triggered the cell in his helmet. He dialed the school number and routed his
call to the gym. He left a message for the coach to find in case they didn’t make it out
alive. At least the government would be able to act on what they had found.
 
A burst of light blew out a window. Part of the porch caught fire. A shower of sparks
danced from the fire.
 
“I think that’s the signal.” Mark charged forward. He smiled when nothing popped
out of the ground and started shooting at him.
 
Lars bounded across the ground. He covered ten feet with every hop. He passed Mark
easily and reached the porch first.
 
Jimmy triggered his wings and took to the air. He flew by Mark and landed with a
puff of air next to Lars. He folded his wings to keep them from fowling.
 
Lars tried the door. The knob didn’t move. He went to the broken window. He shook
his head.
 
“Something is blocking the room from being entered.” Lars stepped back next to the
wall. “I think the front room has been altered into some kind of engine room.”
 
“We have to get inside to help Beth.” Jimmy peeked inside the hole. “Do you think
you can get inside the narrow space?”
 
“I think I can.” Lars frowned. “I don’t think I can open a way for you and Mark.”
 
“Get in there and see if you can break something.” Jimmy ducked as sparks leaped
out of the window. “We need to shut this down.”
 
The house started shaking. The boys looked at each other. This couldn’t be good.
Mark receded from their point of view.
 
“What’s going on?,” asked Lars. He grabbed the porch railing to keep from falling
from his spot.
 
“I think something is lifting the house.” Jimmy went to the edge of the porch and
looked at the ground. “This thing has legs.”
 
“You’re kidding me.” Lars closed his eyes. “How do we stop it?”
 
Jimmy watched as arms and hands unfolded from the sides of the house. He covered
his face with a hand. They were standing on a porch of a transforming robot. How
were they going to stop that?
 
He doubted they could handle a giant robot.
 
“See if you can get inside and break stuff.” Jimmy took a breath. “I’m going to try to
keep it distracted until you can take things apart.”
 
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” Lars shook his head. “I think we should
get some help from somewhere.”
 
“I don’t think that help is on the way.” Jimmy looked at the hand rising on one side.
Barrels of light gleamed as they pointed at him. “Go!”
 
Jimmy triggered his wings and jet. He spun out of control for a moment as he leaped
from the porch. He didn’t like the way the laser cannons turned to follow his erratic
flight. Violet light flew like lightning as he spun through the air.
 
Lars looked around. He was alone, and the other hand of the house robot was lifting
to take aim at the other two boys. He didn’t see a way to stop it. Maybe he could
block the barrel with something if he was lucky.
 
What did he have to work with on the wooden porch? He wondered what a piece of
wood would do. He stepped to give himself room to kick one of the rails holding the
roof of the porch up. He kicked the wood column at the base, tearing it away from the
nails holding it in place. He jumped up and kicked the top. The square pillar leaned
out of place, held up by being nailed to the rails that formed a picket around the
porch. One shove freed the makeshift staff from its holders.
 
The other hand lifted to shoot at Mark lumbering towards the house. Lars acted on
instinct and jammed the staff he had created into a hole in the end of the closet finger.
He hopped back out of the way.
 
The finger exploded when the weapon fired. Lars wondered if he was still standing
too close as that arm froze in place. He decided he should go.
 
Lars hopped off the porch. He landed lightly on the ground and ran away from the
house on legs. He passed Mark and kept going.
 
Mark slid to a stop. What did his friend know that he didn’t? He decided to ask that
question face to face if he could keep up.
 
The left hand of the robot ejected flames in the air as the arm shook. The arm came
apart in a blast of heat and light. Fire and smoke roiled the air from the open shoulder
socket. The front of the disguise flew through the air on the wings of the blast.
 
Jimmy felt the wind behind him and opened up the throttle of his jet. He didn’t look
back as the wave caught up with him and sent him spinning through the air. He tried
for a turn before crashing into the ground. He didn’t try to climb, or dive, since he
didn’t know which way was up.
 
He wasn’t going to blow himself up by diving headfirst into dirt at high speed.
 
Jimmy twisted and righted himself as he came out of his turn. He hadn’t thought Lars
could wreck anything from the outside, but the green boy had done a job on the robot
with one simple move.
 
He hoped Beth hadn’t been hurt in the backlash. He needed to get her out of the thing.
How did he do it?
 
If she was okay, he knew she could get out of the mess on her own. Her power should
let her do that.
 
He executed another turn to loop around the robot. Maybe he could do something
with the hole in it.
 
The laser hand shot bolts out but it didn’t seem able to aim properly. He didn’t
question the luck. He swept around to get at the burning wound.
 
The body of the robot rotated. He saw the metal hand sweeping down to crush him.
He pulled up. He took a glancing blow that sent him looping into the ground. He laid
there and tried to catch his breath. Critical alerts from his helmet told him he wasn’t
flying out of this mess when he could get to his feet.
 
He wondered why he couldn’t feel anything. He decided that maybe he couldn’t get
to his feet. He spotted the hand pointing its laser fingers at him. He tried to move, but
everything felt distant and disconnected.
 
This is where I die. All I wanted to do is fly. Now I’m going to die because of a house
robot.
 
This is a stupid way to die.
 
A rock the size of a car crashed into the robot. That rocked it back so its shot missed
Jimmy. His helmet filtered out the burning deaths of the various plants around him.
 
“You took a hit, buddy.” Mark appeared in Jimmy’s view. “Let’s see if we can get
you out of here.”
 
Another rock barreled across the sky as Mark picked Jimmy up and slung him over
his shoulder. He ambled away from the staggering robot.
 
Jimmy felt pain shooting up his spine as he bounced along. He gritted his teeth to
avoid yelling at his rescuer for jostling him.
 
Tim Bucket and Lars stood next to a pile of small rocks. Tim wore a costume that
resembled a baseball catcher’s uniform. A T was painted on the front of the chest
protector he wore.
 
“I thought we told you to not do something like this, genius.” Tim put his hand on
another rock. He pitched it at one of the robot’s legs, knocking the support away.
 
“Beth’s inside.” Jimmy smiled as pain shot through him with every word. “Have to
get her out.”
 
“Idiot.” Tim shook his head. He touched a mike button built into his helmet. “Wing
boy says his girlfriend is in the robot.”
 
“She is going to kick your butt if she hears you saying stuff like that.” Mark smiled
at the newcomer.
 
“I have to agree.” Lars shook his head.
 
“Not my girlfriend.” Jimmy managed the words through the pain.
 
A figure in gray swooped down, landing on two feet with a hard thump. He gently
dropped a girl slightly older than the boys on the ground. She wore her dark hair in
braids and army fatigues. She grimaced at the house robot trying to regain its balance.
 
“What do you think, Thia?,” said Coach Reilly. His shape was a silhouette except for
the white E on one side of his chest.
 
“Piece of cake, E.” She raised her hands. A rifle with too many barrels appeared as
she sighted through the screen on top.
 
“One of us is inside.” Mark stepped in the way of the gun. “We don’t want her hurt.”
 
“I got it, big boy.” She looked up from the screen. “Step out of the way so I can do
what I got to do.”
 
Mark reluctantly stepped out of the way. His face said he didn’t like the thought of
munitions being used when they didn’t know where Beth was in the robot. The giant
rocks had been enough of a risk.
 
A crippled Jimmy was bad enough. He shouldn’t have let them keep going when it
became obvious the mice were dangerous. He should have told their parents and let
things fall where they did.
 
Now he might be out of two new friends.
 
Thia pulled the trigger on her rifle. The barrels spun and then buzzed. She raised the
rifle to inspect her work. The robot stood on one leg. Then it fell over.
 
“EMP gun.” Jimmy smiled under his mask. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
 
“We need to get him to a medic.” Reilly grimaced as he watched the robot. It burned
in place from the earlier fire. “And we need to get Beth out of that thing.”
 
“Go ahead.” Thia let the rifle vanish as she dropped her arms. “I think we can handle
the rest from here.”
 
“Thia’s right.” Tim grabbed a baseball from a bag hanging from his hip. “If they can’t
get out of that wreck to escape, we might have to open it up for them.”
 
“Come on, Harmon.” Reilly picked Jimmy up. “I got someone who can fix you right
up.”
 
He floated gently into the air and vanished to the south, toward the lake.
 
The four strangers walked to where the robot laid on the ground. A puff of smoke
revealed a turtle chihuahua holding a mouse in its hooked jaws leaping from the hole
where the left arm used to be.
 
“Put me down, you imbecile,” said the mouse. “Things can’t end this way.”
 
“Man, are you wrong.” Mark took the mouse in a big hand. “It looks like it’s the big
house for you, my friend.”
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Epilogue

Jimmy Harmon flexed his arms, twisting his upper body. He still felt sore. He had

been told that might not go away. There was only so much they could do with their

miracle machine. As long as he could fly, he would put that down to a win.

 

Mr. Dorfman didn’t quite know how the machine worked, but he had it stashed in his

hat. When Coach Reilly had carried him in, they were afraid he might be dying.

 

Three weeks after stopping the mouse king, he was ready to fly again.

 

“Ready to go?,” said Mark Whittaker in his radio.

 

“Sure thing, Mark.” Jimmy spread his wings. “Have you got the search grid yet?”

 

“Not really.” Mark sounded comfortable wherever he was. “I just got something with

the scent. Lars and I are about to start north of where Katy was last seen.”

 

“Right.” Jimmy launched into the air. “I heading north right now. I should be over the

search area in a couple of minutes.”

 

“Just look for the choppers.” Mark cut the line.

 

Jimmy headed toward where they had confronted the mouse king. Medevah National

Park was north of the crater where the disguised house had burst out of the ground

and nearly killed him. It was a good thing he had left Coach Reilly that message, or

he would be dead instead of sore.

 

Jimmy reached the invisible border of the park marked by his mapping app in his

helmet. He noted the helicopters and the way they circled the park in the hopes of

seeing one little girl in the middle of all that green. Search parties on the ground were

also beating the bushes.

 

Jimmy doubted they could do much to add to the effort, but Mark and Beth had

insisted. They had proven they could protect the city, and Beth had basically declared

she would do whatever she needed to do to keep acting. Agent Aylwin and Coach

Reilly had agreed to give them some leeway. Mr. Dorfman had already told Jimmy

to call him before doing anything else stupid.

 

Mrs. Dorfman had given him some cookies to take with him when he went home.

 

“Can you hear me, Jimmy?” Beth’s voice sounded clear over his rig. He wondered if

she had mastered using the radio while wearing one of her forms.

 

“Loud and clear, Beth.” Jimmy circled, eyes peeled. He didn’t see her through the

trees.

 

“You’re flying at my three o’clock.” She still didn’t make herself visible. “See if you

can keep flying north, following the closest stream.”

 

“Sure.” Jimmy lined up with north and flew away. If Beth wanted to keep up on the

ground, there should be something she could turn herself into to do the job.

 

She might be following the scent like Mark would be doing. Their respective powers

made them the group’s best trackers.

 

He didn’t begrudge them that. He was still the fastest flier with his wings.

 

Mark had grinned like a bear trap when Aylwin helped him start his small rescue

company. He had already made plans to move out of his mother’s house and find

somewhere else to live.

 

His mother had tried to get the group to point out how things could go wrong for him.

Jimmy had simply said if things went bad, then they would pull together to make

them right.

 

Beth and Lars had said nothing. Beth had been too mad. Lars had taken the position

that he could only make things worse.

 

The brothers gave Lars permission to help out. He promised the monastery his part

of the money for upkeep and general assistance for the monks.

 

Jimmy followed the stream. He had no clue why the lost girl would follow it

upstream, but if she did, she might have gotten confused which way she should go.

Not everyone knew that you should follow water downstream if you were lost.

 

He hadn’t known before the lecture from Mark on woods survival and being lost.

 

“This is Mark.” The big guy seemed happy enough over the radio. “Lars and I are

starting from where the mother says she lost Katy. The trail looks good heading

north.”

 

“I’m north of that spot and have lost the trail close to a stream.” Beth sounded

unhappy over the radio. “I’m trying to find the trail again.”

 

“Nothing to report.” Jimmy landed at the top of a tree. He grabbed the trunk to steady

himself. He looked around, letting his helmet do the work for him.

 

Various filters kicked in, excluding things while enhancing others. Finally it showed

a fading hot trail on the ground. It didn’t look right for an animal, but it could be right

for a little girl.

 

“I have possible footprints where I am.” Jimmy wondered how he could send his

location to the others. That was something he had never thought of when putting the

wings and helmet together. He checked his map and found he had latitude and

longitude numbers. He smiled. “This is where I am. Is anybody else supposed to be

up this far?”

 

He hoped that the search party hadn’t sent scouts up for him to stumble over. It would

be embarrassing to get excited over a fire fighter, or ranger, ahead of the pack.

 

“That’s a negative for the search party, Jimmy,” said Mark. “It might be a hunter, but

none of the searchers have covered that much area yet.”

 

“I’ll follow these prints as far as I can.” Jimmy stooped to try to get a better look. “If

they don’t check out, I’ll let you know.”

 

“All right.” Mark huffed slightly. “Lars and I are still coming north on foot. I don’t

know how long we’ll take to get to the end of the trail.”

 

“Take your time.” Jimmy launched into the air. He spread his wings as he drifted just

above the treetops. He spotted movement ahead. This might be the end of the search.

 

He spotted the girl and smiled. He landed and folded his wings.

 

“Katy Lenz?” He hoped he wasn’t scaring her. He hadn’t thought about what his suit

and wings would look like to a kid. “Everybody is searching for you.”

 

“Who are you?,” the girl said. She looked at the stream. She edged that way.

 

“I’m the Shrike.” Jimmy felt silly having to give a code name to the little girl. “I’m

working with the rangers to find you.”

 

“I’m heading home.” Katy shook her head at him. “I don’t need you, or rangers.”

 

“You need something.” Jimmy pointed downstream. “That way is the lake, and the

city beyond that. The way you’re going leads to Canada.”

 

“That way leads to the lake?” Katy looked downstream. The water babbled along

beside her. “I must have gotten turned around by the bear.”

 

“Bear?,” said Jimmy. “What bear?”

 

“That bear.” Katy pointed behind him.

 

He turned slowly. A bear stood at the trees. It glared at the two intruders in its

domain. It growled as it stood on its back legs.

 

If it charged, Jimmy didn’t know if he could get in the air fast enough to avoid its

claws. He might be ripped up by those large talons.

 

“All right.” Jimmy started backing away slowly. He opened his arms to spread his

wings out in case he had to fly. “My friends are looking for you downstream. If the

bear charges, jump in the water and float down to them.”

 

“Okay,” said Katy. She backed along the edge of the stream.

 

Jimmy backed away from the bear as slowly as he dared. He had to keep looking over

his shoulder to keep from tripping. If he fell, that might be an incentive for a charge.

 

The bear advanced on the winged boy. It snuffled the air as it came. He prepared to

fire his jet and take to the sky. He doubted his system would work if he had to carry

Katy in his arms. It would force him to spin as he went which might cause a crash.

 

If they went down, the bear could maul the both of them at its leisure. One bite would

kill Katy. He might last a little longer thanks to his suit. He had padded it to help

survive a crash. It might help against bears.

 

He hoped it would help against bears. He didn’t want to go home without body parts.

 

“I think it’s going to charge,” said Katy. “I think it will.”

 

“Just keep going.” Jimmy didn’t want to leave her if he had to take off. The bear

would chase her down in the water. She wouldn’t make a good meal for it.

 

A large figure dropped down from the sky. It grinned at the bear, raising its arms. It

laughed loudly.

 

“Take off,” said Mark. “I can hold Winnie the Pooh off until you two get clear.”

 

“I will be happy to assist.” Lars landed lightly beside the wider boy. “I know some

things that can be used against bears.”

 

“All right,” said Jimmy. “So the four of us are going to get mauled. At least Beth

won’t see this mess.”

 

“Who do you think dropped us off?,” asked Mark. “She flew down and picked us up

and brought us up here to help you with your footprints.”

 

“Only now we are helping you with your bear,” said Lars.

 

A winged horse with a horn growing out of its snout flapped to a landing next to

Katy. It stomped a hoof on touchdown.

 

“Someone put her on my back,” said Beth. “I’ll take her back to the rangers.”

 

The bear stood up and looked confused. The spread of targets made it pause. Which

should it attack first.

 

Jimmy ran over and grabbed the little girl by the waist. He hefted her to a seat on the

alicorn’s back with a heave.

 

“Hold on, Katy.” Beth flapped her wings and took to the air. The little girl clung

to her neck.

 

“I think we can take off now.” Jimmy spread his wings once more. “Our job is done.”

 

He fired his jet and followed Beth into the sky.

 

“Go ahead, Lars.” Mark gestured at the other boy with a hand. “I can handle this if

it goes bad.”

 

Lars dove into the stream. He swam with the current, vanishing from sight.

 

The bear looked at Mark one more time. It turned around and shambled away.

 

Mark smiled. He turned and walked the other way.

 

the end

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Thanks for the comments, guys. 

 

This story has been sitting in a note book for a long time. It was about time it was done. I have a ton of stuff I have to get done. I have some more Stranger stories noted down like a cure for Duster Boy, Tribble: King of the Missouri Underworld, Clonus versus Tribe, and Teflon Billy, the slickest villain ever, and Bolo of Earth saving the day. I also need to load a long story I wrote years ago on my web page at some point.

 

Until I get those started and done, I am going to try to fill up my story thread in the NGD.

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