Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 4

Oh So Close

Gecko crawled along the side of the tunnel, his eyes focussed on the terrain around him. The light was quite dim, but his eyes were able to see well in the dark. He glanced down at Frog who was running along cautiously, followed closely by Newt and Lizard. Chameleon was on the opposite wall. He had one eye on the path in front of them and the other was looking at a readout on the lense he had in front of it. Suddenly he stopped. Gecko motioned for the others to stop as well and together they stood in the tunnel, waiting for Chameleon to let them know what was bothering him.

"I’m getting a reading," he said. "I don’t like the looks of this. It seems pretty bad." Suddenly he disappeared. The others stood still, but no sound came from the wall. After a minute of nothing they began looking at each other, questioning looks on their faces.

Gecko leapt to the ground, landing lightly beside the Lizard. "Was he supposed to do that?" he asked.

Lizard shrugged. "You know, I’ve never quite been able to get a fix on his camouflage powers. Does he control them or do they just kick in at random times?"

Newt scampered over. "I think it’s involuntary, changing due to physical and psychological changes in his mind and actually has little to do with his surroundings."

"Ah." Silence fell over the group again as they sat and waited for him to reappear. "Sure comes in handy sometimes, though, doesn’t it?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Newt. "Totally."

Suddenly there was a thud behind them and Chameleon appeared on the ground, looking sheepish. "Sorry guys. I guess I turned invisible for a second there, didn’t I?"

"Yeah. Any particular reason?" Gecko raised his eyebrows.

"Reason? Right. There’s a few security devices up ahead, and they’re kind of scary."

"Oh come on. What could be scary to five men who have been mystically granted reptilian powers?"

"I don’t know," shrugged Chameleon. "That?" He pointed past Frog, down the tunnel.

The others turned to see a group of robots rolling down the tunnel brandishing a variety of sharp objects, as well as their own sources of illumination, making the tunnel as bright as a cloudless summer day. Of course, the light happened to be in the form of fire, so it was not all good news.

"Awright," said Frog brightly. "Finally something I can smash." In an instant he had waded into the oncoming robots, kicking them with his powerful legs and smashing them with his less powerful yet still impressive fists, laughing as he did. "This ain’t so bad." Seconds later Gecko ducked as his companion was hurtled over their heads.

The onslaught came furiously after that. Newt found himself surrounded, but he reached into his pack and pulled out a bottle of water, which he opened and sprayed around liberally, soaking the robots. They were waterproof, of course, but, having been programmed by the evil genius, Thunderfunk the Superchicken, they stopped for a moment to laugh evilly. That gave Newt time to move in close and disassemble their arms and remove their wheels, leaving them immobile and unarmed. He then kicked them all to pieces.

Lizard smiled as a group of robots charged him. Leaping gracefully over them, he then used his razor-sharp claws to cut through their armour on the back, exposing vital components, components he proceeded to rip out gleefully, listening as the robots screamed in what sounded suspiciously like agony.

With a wordless yell, Frog waded back into the fray, swinging and kicking with abandon, sending robot parts flying in every direction.

Gecko ran between groups of robots, causing them to shoot themselves as they tried to target him. Within minutes of the fight beginning, the robots all lay on the ground in pieces, except for one. It looked down at bodies of its comrades and then it looked at the circle of heroes closing in on it. "Ah crud," it said and then it self-destructed, sending its limbs flying.

"Good work people," said Gecko, looking around at the group. Something caught his attention. "Has anyone seen Chameleon?"

Slowly Chameleon became visible again, gripping the wall beside them. "Sorry guys. I turned invisible again. There was nothing I could do." He shrugged.

"No worries old chum," said Gecko. "Now, let’s go take care of some garbage." The others all yelled their agreement and charged down the tunnel.

Ten feet later they found themselves falling into an unnoticed hole. "Well this sucks," said Gecko. He watched as a young man standing at the top of the hole puled out a pin from the grenade he was holding and dropped it (the grenade, not the pin) into the hole. It fell silently, bouncing off of Frog’s head to landing beside him. Before he could react, it cracked itself open in the middle, and with a puffing sound, released a cloud of smoke. "Ah," said Gecko. "Knock out gas." With that, he slept.


Straw looked down in the hole. One, two, three, four...one was missing. Sighing, he reached up and grabbed Chameleon, who was still standing on the wall, having turned invisible again. The hero smiled sheepishly as he regained visibility. "Heh, sorry," he said apologetically. "I suppose you want me in the hole?"

"Yeah, that’d be helpful," replied Straw. "Take this with you." Taking another knock out gas grenade from his belt, he pulled the pin and handed it to Chameleon before dropping him in the hole. Another puff came from the hole and Chameleon was asleep too. "All right boss, they’re in the hole. I’m bringing them in now."

"Excellent. Remember, put them in the device, but not the device."

"Roger that." Straw sighed again. Why did every super hero group have to have a big tough guy in it? Why could they not all be like Newt. And there were no robots left to help him carry anyone. Rolling up his sleeves he leapt lightly into the hole, ready to put them in the device.