Not The Device
Thunderfunk stood on the metal grating that comprised the walkway around the device. He stood quietly examining the five heroes before him, waiting for them to regain consciousness. As he waited, he looked around the room to ensure that everything was in place. The room was roughly two stories high with skylights on the north side of the slightly sloped ceiling. The walls were bare, hewn out of stone on one side, built out of steel beams and concrete on the other, giving the whole area the air of an industrial warehouse. The device was located near the back corner of the room, surrounded by a walkway. Situated five feet above the floor, the narrow grating expanded into a platform at the edge which held the controls for the device. Straw was standing there already, monitoring the wayward heroes. He looked up at his boss and gave the thumbs up; the Reptile-5 were beginning to stir.
Striking a pose of authority and confidence, Thunderfunk looked down at the five, waiting for them to regain their wits. Frog awoke fully first, going from asleep to shouting furiously in less than a second. His loud yells helped to rouse the others, only stopping once Gecko, their leader, calmed him down.
Newt was the first to notice him. "Let us go you megalomaniacal turkey!" His voice was small in the cavernous room.
Thunder laughed. "I suppose you are wondering about your fate," he began expansively. "Let it never be said that I keep my guests waiting in suspense. You are currently strapped to the device..."
His discourse was interrupted by four horrified gasps. "Not...the device?"
Frog looked at his companions. "What’s the device. Didn’t he just say that we were strapped to the device?"
"Not the device," hissed Chameleon, "the device."
"Ah." Frog looked at his friends, and then at Thunderfunk. "Nope, still don’t get it."
Thunder ignored this as best he could and carried on. "Fear not, mine enemies. Your fate is not so horrible as that. This is merely the device of your doom–" ("still don’t get it," came Frog’s voice) "–which I will explain to you as a final courtesy. Listen well, for it will be the last words you ever hear."
Newt strained against his ropes, trying to free an arm, or leg, or anything, but it was hard to move, as though he were being held down by an electromagnetic field. "What can we do," he whispered to Lizard, his voice full of panic.
"Don’t worry dude," replied Lizard. "We’ve gotten out of worse jams than this. Just keep him talking and we’ll figure something out." He turned his attention to his own ropes, only barely listening to the villain speaking in the background.
"And once the spinning has finished, it disposes of your useless corpses automatically." Thunder finished with a flourish, his arms raised in triumph.
"You’re mad," said Gecko venomously.
"Deliciously so," replied Thunder, a grin on his face. Turning to his assistant, he said, "Straw..." only to be cut off by the young man.
"I think we have a situation here," said Straw Daq, his brow furrowed in concern. "You should come take a look at this."
Irritated, Thunder stalked over to the controls to look where Straw was indicating. He watched in silence for a moment, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "I see," he said. Looking at his captives, he pondered for a moment. "I’m sorry to leave you, well, alive, but I am afraid that I have other business that requires my attention." He strode towards the stairs. "Kill them," he said over his shoulder.
"Okay," replied Straw as he casually pressed the button that activated the device, listening with a critical ear as it powered up. Last time they had used it there had been some mechanical issues. This time he wanted it to work perfectly.
No comments:
Post a Comment