by Adam Oster
“Dad?” Alexa asked quietly.
“Oh, don't worry dear. You know how this room freefalls down each floor? Same thing with the exit room. Only he’s falling all the way to the bottom.” Oscar had a sly smirk on his face. Alexa shot him a concerned look. “What? I’m pretty sure there are brakes to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”
“Serves him right,” Ryan laughed. “That dude was useless.”
“We are, perhaps, better off without him,” Murphy agreed
“We'd be better off without you, too,” Zero muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Murphy asked.
“I was merely stating,” Zero answered, “that I had somewhat hoped you would accompany him on his journey to capture.”
“I had assumed as much,” Murphy responded. Then, as if ignoring the comment completely, “Mr. Jones, which direction shall lead us onto the next part of our adventure?”
Talmadge closed his eyes and turned around slowly, reaching toward the door knob of the door they had just entered.
“Hey there, kid,” Alexa said as she placed her hand on his arm. “Are you sure you know what you're doing? Last time we picked the door we had just left, I found the tenderizer.”
“Remember Alexa,” Oscar replied. “The doors change each time. Talmadge seems to have some sort of connection with this building. It may be the best chance we've got.”
“Okay,” Alexa said, releasing her hand. “But why don't you let me do the honors? If something happens, at least I can get out of there quickly.”
Talmadge nodded quietly and stepped out of the way. Alexa took position in front of the door and placed her hand on the knob, cringing as she turned it. It opened to reveal another dark room. She disappeared and reappeared on the floor next to Buddy's feet, covering her head as the lights in the room turned on.
“Am I dead?” she asked.
“Doesn't appear to be so,” Zero answered, pushing through the group to enter the newly illuminated room. The room shone a bright orange color, causing Zero to squint as his eyes adjusted to the light. The rest of the group entered just as he was able to make out the area surrounding him.
They found themselves in the middle of a desert stretching out as far as the eye could see. It had an other-worldly feel to it.
“Congratulations and welcome,” said D.A.W.N.'s voice. “You have managed to choose correctly once again, heroes. You have now entered the domain of the X-tra Terrestrial.”
“The what now?” Ryan asked.
“The X-tra Terrestrial,” Zero answered. “The most perplexing of The Defenders of America. Petru Ivanovic.”
“You mean?” Talmadge asked.
“Yes,” Oscar answered, “this is the room designed after your father. The mysterious X-tra Terrestrial.”
“Jeez,” Buddy laughed, “and I thought my super-hero name was lame.”
“I had always questioned Petru's chosen moniker as well, chum,” Zero responded. “However, there is no other team member, outside of yourself, that I would have entrusted with my life than my old pal, X. Speaking of which, whatever happened to trustworthy Petru?”
“Ah,” Oscar answered. “That's a very good question. Petru was something of an oddity in the world of meta-humans. Even he never fully understood his powers, deciding they must have meant that he had come from another planet. Hence his self-appointed title. One such ability was that he was unable to be tracked by any known mechanism on Earth. As such, I lost track of him shortly after The Great Redaction, only finding glimpses of his existence since.”
“I can tell you what happened. He left. Well, I mean, he stayed around long enough to find me a foster family, but then he all but completely disappeared. He pops around randomly just to let me know he’s still alive, but those times are few and far between.”
“I've known Petru for quite some time,” Zero replied. “If he disappeared from your life, I can assure you there was good reason.”
“Yeah, the reason being that he didn't want to deal with a young kid,” Talmadge frowned.
“Your father was one of the best me--” Zero was cut off.
“Look kids, I get that we're having a moment here and everything,” Buddy interrupted. “But we've got more pressing matters than daddy issues to deal with at the moment. The big one being that we're sitting here in a sauna. Anyone else notice how unbearably hot it is in here?”
“Thank you for the change in subject Buddy,” Oscar agreed. “And I'm happy to see that the heating mechanisms I created for this room were able to stand up to the test of time. Granted, they're mostly bio-thermal based. However, I didn’t really think they would be able to withstand the pressures coming from the Earth's core.”
“You've got this thing pulling heat from the core?” Ryan asked.
“In a sense, you see, I utilized the tele--”
“Gentlemen,” Murphy interrupted, “although I too am quite interested in the science involved in the development of many of these rooms, I believe we should stick to Mr. Jackson's initial statement that there are more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, the third trial.”
“Ah, okay,” Oscar said, dejectedly. “D.A.W.N., you got our clue for us?”
“The man from Mars is how he was known, but the X-tra Terrestrial had more than that grown. A hard one to track, this being long suffered. The needle in the haystack, was what many proffered. So now you must show your similar skills, in finding the gemstone within these sand hills. Yet, this is not one where you simply must search; the heat in this desert will create great thirst. You must move quite quickly or soon you will find, your death, instead of the treasure once mined.”
“Really, Dad?” Alexa whined. “Another treasure hunt mission?”
“Hey now,” Oscar grimaced. “Just because they're similar doesn't mean there isn't some major difference.”
“So, we just follow Talmadge and see where things lead us again?” Buddy asked.
“Well,” Talmadge spoke, “umm. . . I don't know how to say this, but I'm not getting anything.”
“I can't imagine you would,” Oscar grinned. “This room was themed to Petru's special abilities, so, seeing as his ability was to become all-but invisible, it's going to be a tad more difficult to track the jewel down here than in the Fat Mogul room.”
“Anything else we should know about this room?” Alexa asked. “Since you seem to be smiling so strongly about the whole thing, I'm guessing you remember what you did in here.”
“Oh yes, I do remember, sweetheart. You see, I had rather intentionally designed this room to be similar to the Fat Mogul one in order to instil a false sense of confidence in those who would make it this far. However, I programmed this room with a randomizer. Even if I had designed it yesterday, there’s no chance I would know precisely what we are up against.”
“Okay,” Buddy shrugged. “So, what were Petru's other powers then? Maybe that will give us a clue.”
The ground shook beneath them.
“And, perhaps it would be best if you were to give that information quickly, Mr. Reed,” Murphy said, looking concerned. The ground trembled again as a growl filled the air around them. “Perhaps incredibly quickly.”
“Run!” Oscar yelled, bolting away from the door. The group followed immediately on his heels as the sand burst into the air revealing a creature erupting from below. The head of the beast that appeared raised high into the air before finally landing on the ground at their feet as they continued their escape. As the beast landed, the ground sizzled with the liquid escaping the large tooth-filled hole one would consider its mouth.
“What the heck is that?” Ryan asked, straining under the weight of his suit. “And did I just see that it has acid breath?”
Chasing behind them raced an ugly beast, stretching out almost half a football field. A worm-like creature with one great twist, the gaping mouth currently aimed in their direction. Three rows of teeth spun like a food processor, making a horrible whining noise as the grotesque
monstrosity made its way toward the heroes. Oozing from the center of this razor-sharp maw was the green liquid Ryan had identified as acid.
“That,” Oscar screamed, “is my little re-creation of one of Petru's pets. He had a whole host of cryptozoological creatures at his command, such as the more well-known creatures of the Yeti and the Jersey Devil. This little guy is known as The Mongolian Death Worm. And yes, its saliva is quite acidic.”
“Little!?” Buddy screamed in return. “That thing’s gotta be at least 30 feet long.”
“I'd say a good forty, old chum.” Zero had a great grin on his face. “Maybe longer.”
“They’re not supposed to get any longer than five feet. Something must have happened within the random settings of the program.” The sand burgeoned before them, giving the group just enough warning to change directions before a second such beast escaped the dune.
“Jeez, Oscar,” Buddy heaved. “I wish you had warned me there would be running involved down here. I'm not exactly in shape, you know. And this sand is a real pain in the ass to run on.”
“Sorry, old pal. Guess it's about time we all got back into prime condition. Hold on a click and I'll deal with this.” Oscar pressed a button on his wrist and rose into the air above the beasts, as his allies ran ahead of him. He turned toward the approaching worms and raised his arms in their direction. A rocket rose out of a panel on each forearm, lit up, and sped away from him at their targets.
In a ball of flame, the rockets reached their quarry, and the ground was silenced. The rest of the heroes were still running, oblivious to the end of the chase.
“Okay, kids,” Oscar smiled. “It's safe,” he said as he lowered to the ground. “For now at least.”
The group rejoined their friend, puffing and wheezing as they attempted to regain a regular rate of oxygen consumption.
“You defeated the monsters without me, Red?” Zero whined as he collapsed onto the sand. “I had been hoping for some form of action here.”
“Hey, Zero, old pal, I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen enough action for one day.”
“I’ve been in way worse shape than this in the past and battled much fiercer enemies..”
“Sorry, bud. I'll remember that next time, alright?”
“Does that mean there will be a next time?”
“With you, Zero,” Oscar grinned, “there's always a next time.”
“I hate to be the one who brings things down to accounting,” Murphy cut in, “but should we be concerned that there are more of these monsters about?”
“I can pretty much guarantee it,” Oscar answered. “One of the main settings on the randomizer was to ensure that there were always more.”
“Perfect,” Buddy groaned. “So, there could be any number of those giant worms around ready to ground us into mincemeat, or melt us with their acid spit, or whatever, and we still have no clue on how to find the gem?”
“Sounds about right,” Oscar agreed.
“Well, I guess the thing we need to work on is finding this damned gem, and fast,” Murphy yelled, the strain of the current trial visibly getting to him.
“I believe you've gotten down to the crux of the matter, Agent Murphy.”
The ground crackled nearby, causing the group to turn quickly to see the area where the death worms had just recently been destroyed. A hole was being burned into the sand from the green liquid oozing out of their remains.
“I would suggest, however, folks,” Oscar continued. “That we continue our discussion about next steps elsewhere. Things could get a little shaky so close to those MDWs.”
“I don't know, Red, they appear pretty darn dead to me,” Zero disagreed.
“They may be dead,” Oscar agreed as the ground continued shaking beneath them, “but they're tearing out the ground below us. Run!” Oscar lifted into the air and sped away, the rest of the group following right behind him. Oscar landed a hundred yards away, quickly joined by Alexa, and followed shortly thereafter by the rest.
Buddy, out of breath, said, “Oscar, seriously, can we take a break already? I'm covered in sweat and would kill for something to drink.”
“Yeah, pops. I could really go for some refreshment as well. Got any hidden water fountains around here?”
“Sorry, kiddo. It's all part of the trial. Withstanding the terrain goes hand in hand with fighting the cryptids and everything else I've got hidden in here.”
“Okay then,” Alexa urged. “So, what's the plan? This place seems to go on for forever, I've already lost view of the doorway, and we're quickly running out of time before we all dehydrate. Where the heck are we supposed to find this jewel?”
A faint hooting noise could be heard in the distance.
“Yeah, let's find this thing already and get out of here,” Ryan added. “Anyone got any ideas? D.A.W.N. said something about a needle in a haystack, right? Could that mean that the rock's hiding in the sand? Don't tell me it's orange too.”
“Unfortunately, yes, the gem would be orange, due to that being the chosen color of Petru's,” Oscar responded. “And I believe it's very possible that the gem is hiding within the dunes. I hadn't given it a particular resting spot within this trial; that was all to be defined by protocols set within the program itself. It could honestly be anywhere.”
“Okay,” Buddy said, taking charge, “let's just assume for a moment that the needle in the haystack thing means something and that it truly is hiding under the sand. First, that means that we're digging in the exact spot that those worm things are going to be coming out at us from. Second, it's not like we're going to be just using a shovel and sifter to find it, right? So, do we have any abilities we can use to try to make this all work a little easier?”
“Well,” Alexa offered, “I could utilize my tornado technique to pull the sand up and attempt to filter through. It won't be quick, but it's something, right?”
“It is something,” Murphy agreed, “but also seems like it would be incredibly similar to the creation of a sandstorm. I can't imagine you would fare so well as the center of that storm, Ms. Reed. Not to mention the rest of us.”
“I hate to admit it,” Oscar agreed, “but Murphy's right. Sandstorm is not a good idea. My suit's already struggling with all the sand getting in everywhere. I'd hate to see how it would work with a full-fledged storm attacking it.”
“Well,” Ryan replied, “we could do some minor modifications to--”
“We don't have time for modding our suits, Ryan,” Oscar cut him off. “We need something better, and something we can use right now.”
“Anyone else notice how quiet it's gotten around here?” Buddy asked.
“I was just about to state the same revelation, old chum. Weren't there a whole lot of hoots going on just over the hills there? Seems like we should be concerned about that, shouldn't we?”
As soon as it was said, the air filled with the noise of loud hoots all around the group and their entire perimeter filled with dark shapes jumping up and down in excitement.
“What the hell?” Murphy screamed.
“I had hoped the system wouldn’t pick these guys,” Oscar grimaced.
“Are those--” Alexa cut herself off.
“Those are velociraptors!” Ryan exclaimed.
“Well, not exactly,” Oscar disagreed. “I mean, by all means they really kind of are, but to be more specific, these are the Arica monsters. The name difference shouldn't serve as any comfort, however, since they are every bit as vicious as their prehistoric cousins.”
“They're beautiful,” Ryan said in awe. “I mean, it's like every one of my boyhood dreams are coming true. I'm a superhero and I found dinosaurs.”
“I hope your boyhood dreams didn't involve being eviscerated,” Murphy cried out. “Because they are most definitely advancing on us.”
“They've got us surrounded, chums,” Zero cheered. “Does that mean--”
“Yes, Zero,” Buddy yelled. “It's hero time!”
The group assu
med a circle with their backs to each other, placing Murphy and Talmadge in the center. Visors came down on the helmets of both Oscar and Ryan to cover their faces, just as the dinosaurs leapt into the air at the group. The first to arrive landed directly on top of Oscar. He pressed a button on his wrist device and the five foot tall monster fell to the ground in convulsions from being electrocuted.
At that moment, the rest of the herd pounced on them, over thirty lizards ripping into the heroes with enormous claws. Buddy had four on top of him, one standing on his head, each nipping at him as he ineffectually swatted at them. He made contact with one of the beasts and sent it soaring away. In response, another three of them jumped on Buddy, bringing him to the ground. They were too fast for Buddy to respond with strength.
The defense formation broke quickly as Alexa found herself needing to continue moving as fast as possible to avoid injury, bringing up great clouds of sand in her wake. Oscar's suit managed to bring several down with its electrical charge, but he was quickly overwhelmed by nine of the dinos as his suit powered down inexplicably.
Ryan was making short work of them at first as well, as he utilized his net-shooters to capture several of the cryptids before he ran out of netting and was pounced on by one that had somehow managed to free itself.
Zero, however, was managing to keep them at bay best, utilizing his telekinetically produced bubbles to contain them and remove them from the area. Yet, even Zero's quick dispatching of the beasts was proving to be less than enough as more and more of the monsters filled the sand valley they were in.
Murphy fled the group, being chased by five Arica monsters as he stumbled up the side of the dunes.
Talmadge, however, was sitting in the middle of all of this action, eyes closed, with a very serene look on his face.
“Zero,” Buddy yelled, swatting the lizard off his head as he held another one by its neck while it strained to nip at his face. “Can you put up a field around us or something? We're being overrun.”
“Trying to, chum,” Zero shouted back as he fired a purple blast as three approached him. “But we aren't able to clear enough of a perimeter to keep them out.”