I walked briskly towards my cousin's high school. It's a beautiful day outside, and the birds sing cheerily. I'm on my way to surprise Mikaela after school and ask for her help. I'm almost to the door when a guy about my age rushes out the door, nearly running me over in his haste. I stare after him as he sprints away, waving a paper in the air and yelling unintelligibly. Huh. Must have gotten a good grade I guess. I shake my head and continue on my way. I open the door, shivering as I'm blasted with a gust of frigid air. I wander the hallways slowly, and I'm turning another corner as I hear a snobby voice reach me.
"So what? It doesn't matter." The annoying voice sneered.
I hear my cousins voice now, cracking with hurt.
"So what? SO WHAT?! You CHEATED on me!"
I stare at the seen in front of me, my cousin and a snobby douche in front of a row of lockers.
"It's not like it's the first time."
I saw red. I stride up beside my cousin and glare at the douche. He sees me, grin widening, and opens his mouth. Before he can get out a single sleazy comment, I reach up rearing back my hand and slap him with all my might. The douches face it turned away, and red is already blossoming on his cheek. My cousin turns to me in shock, not expecting me to be here.
"Get out of here Trent. We'll talk about this later. " Mikaela dismissed him angrily. She doesn't bother to glance back at the douche as she grabs my arm, dragging me away.
"What are you doing here?!" my cousin hisses at me. I raise a single eyebrow. Wow, Mikaela. I'm really feeling the love...
"Not- Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything! I just wasn't expecting you..." Mikaela rushes to elaborate before I can even open my mouth. I grinned at her, before answering her question.
"I need your help, but we can talk about it later. I can give you a ride home if you'd like?" I lower my voice, as people glance our way whispering.
My cousins just nods, sighing slightly from exhaustion. We make our way out of the school building, and I lead her to where I parked my car. It's only three years old, but it was bought used from another cousin for only $1,500. Mikaela examines the dusty outside of my car, before getting in on the passenger side. She opens her mouth to ask about the boxes and baggage in my backseat but I shake my head before she can voice her questions.
"Later." I promise.
The drive to Mikaela's house was long and boring, so it was a relief to pull up to her home. She got out after I parked, and I followed her into her house. It was a small building, with one bedroom, a bathroom, a small kitchen, a basement, and a small porch over a single car driveway. The house smelled faintly of aged wood, car grease, and sawdust. The windows let the afternoon light in, adding a golden glow to the already inviting home. Mikaela turned to me expectantly.
"What do you need?" She questioned gently. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but... my parents kicked me out... and I don't know where else to go..." I choked a little, tears springing to my eyes. "Can- can I stay with you? I'll help with bills! And- and I'll get a job and everything!"
"Of course! Always! I'm here for you. Can you tell me what happened?" Mikaela hugged me close, letting my tears soak into her shirt as I sobbed.
A few days later, I sat with Mikaela and her friends, watching them laugh about the so-called 'men' in their school. Yesterday Mikaela had gone to a party while I settled in. She told me when she got home how she broke up with The Douche and got a ride home from some dude named Sam. Drawing my mind back to the present I continue to listen to the conversations going on around me.
At the frantic ringing of a bicycle bell, I glanced up in time to see a guy, the same one who almost bowled me over at Mikaela's school, hit the rough concrete on a pink bike, and flip over the handlebars, landing hard on his back.
"Sam?" Mikaela asked in shock. Sam!? As in the nice guy who gave Mikaela a ride home, Sam!?
Sam groaned, shifting on the cracked sidewalk, and tried to catch his breath.
"Hi," he bit out, obviously hurting from the epic crash.
"That was..." Mikaela started, looking at the sidewalk and back at the bike again. "That was really... awesome."
"Well, it felt awesome. " he groaned, getting up.
"Are you okay?" I asked in concern. That really looked like it hurt.
"I'm not okay, alright? I'm losing my mind a little bit. I'm getting chased by my car right now. I gotta go." He babbled, getting the pink bike upright again and taking off down the sidewalk. Not a minute later, a yellow Camero raced after him, tinted windows rolled up.
"You know what?" Mikaela said, "I'm gonna catch up with you guys later."
I jogged with her to her scooter and hopped on to the backseat. A cop pulled out in front of us, cutting us off for a moment. My heart raced as I read the words on its side, which seemed to say "to punish and enslave" instead of "to serve and protect". Before I could point it out to my cousin, the cop car sped off.
Mikaela drove more slowly now, scanning the area around us. We were in on a road, and Mikaela and I saw Sam running out from under a highway. Mikaela turned the scooter toward him, only to be tackled. The force of the impact knocked the both of us off. She struggled to stand, but Sam clung to her.
"What's your problem, Sam?" She demanded incredulously.
"Yeah, you useless paper clip!" I snarled. I love Mikaela dearly, but she has half a foot and at least 50 pounds on me, and Sam was even heavier. I had been squashed under both of them.
"Okay, there's a monster right there! It just attacked me!" he shrieked, gesturing behind himself wildly.
I was about to open my mouth to ask if he was on drugs when I looked where he was pointing and my heart stopped. It was horrifying. A massive metal bipedal was charging towards us. It was sent tumbling away as the yellow Camaro from before came charging out of nowhere. The car pulled up in front of us and popped open its door. There was no driver. Sam was babbling again but I couldn't hear him clearly, black spots dancing in my vision. I shake my head in a poor attempt to clear it. It works, but now I'm dizzy.
"Sam what is that thing?" Mikaela cried out.
"You have to get in the car," Sam stated seriously. "Get in."
"I don't..." Mikaela started.
"Get in the car. Trust me. Trust me!" Sam declared.
"Sam!" Mikaela shouted as he dragged us to the Camaro. I glanced up, the robot was getting to its feet. Sam shoved me in the back seat, and then scrambled in, Mikaela not soon after. The door closed behind her, and the car sped away from the metallic monster behind us. I bit my lip until I tasted blood as the cop car chased after us.
"Go go go go go go go!" Sam was shrieking again, and I had to wince at the shrill noise.
We crashed through the window of a warehouse and continued the wild chase. Street lights sped by, the world outside of the car windows became a blur. We finally came to an isolated area that the car apparently deemed 'safe' as it backed itself into a corner. The doors locked ominously, and Sam began to panic.
"We're locked in," Sam panicked. "The car won't start. At least we ditched that
monster, right?"
I shushed him angrily, so we all sat in an tense silence as the monster drove past us slowly. I held my breath, my heart in my throat as the cop car seemed to slow down as it passed our hiding place. The cop car stopped and the Camaro took that as it's cue.
The key turned in the ignition with a barely audible click.
Sam murmured something under his breath.
Then, with a hearty rev, the engine roared to life, and we raced past the monstrous cop car.
The Camaro sped into a sharp turn, opening the doors and dumping us onto the loose gravel. In the corner of my eye I could see Sam atop Mikaela, the two struggling to untangle themselves and get up at the same time. I could only lay where I had been dumped, staring at the scene before me.
The yellow Camaro drove a few feet in front of us and seemed to fracture into millions of pieces, each moving and changing to accommodate the car's new shape. The being that had once been a yellow Camaro stood up, taking a simple defensive stance in front of us. I scrambled backward as Mikaela grabbed at Sam, trying to run as the cop car roared around the corner. It, too, seemed to morph or transform into a more humanoid shape before it tackled the yellow robot. The yellow robot knocked away the cop car, getting back to its, for lack of better term, feet. The cop car pulled out what looked to be a spiky mace as it expelled a small bundle of metal. The bundle hit the ground near Sam and Mikaela, revealing itself to be a much smaller version of the robots battling above us. Not taking any chances, we began running, the smaller bot giving chase.
I could hear it chittering behind us as I struggled to keep up with the others. Suddenly, I felt something heavily latch onto my back with sharp claws. I shrieked as it dug in and then leaped, using me as a springboard. The silver thing sped past me and latched onto Sam.
"OOOAHHHH! He's got me! HE'S GOT ME! Oh god!" Sam bellowed.
It scrabbled at his legs, somehow tearing Sam's pants off in the process. The pants ended up a few feet away from them and I got to my feet. Disregarding my fear, I dove forward, full body tackling the little monster. I could barely see Mikaela running off somewhere through the dust kicked up in the scuffle. The little robot squirmed out from under me, the sharp points drawing blood, and continued the chase. Sam was running for his life, just as the thing jumped on him again. This time, Sam managed to dislodge it himself, yelling incoherently. It chittered and the two faced off for a moment before the little monster lunged. I kicked out, barely stalling the robot as it clambered up Sam, pinning him to the chain link fence nearby. They were locked in a struggle, Sam barely keeping it away from his face and neck as I forcefully pulled on its legs. Mikaela came out of nowhere, wielding a sawsall like a pro. She hacked off the little robots head, before sighing in relief and resting her weapon on her shoulder.
"Not so tough without a head are you?" Sam taunted, kicking the head far away from us.
After a second, we began walking, carefully edging towards the area where the robots had fought. The silence could only mean that one of them had emerged victorious. The quiet was broken by the sound of heavy footfalls and a tall shadow standing over us.
"What is it?" Mikaela asked softly, staring up at the shadow.
"It's a robot," Sam replied distractedly, "But like a... like a different... you know, like a super-advanced robot. It's probably Japanese."
Oh hell no. No way. There is no conceivable way that this robot is "Japanese". They're still bragging about their latest bot, one that can't even walk, for crying out loud. Idiot.
"Yep, it's definitely Japanese." Sam confirmed to himself. I rolled my eyes. Again, idiot.
"What are you doing?" Mikaela asked worriedly as Sam began walking toward the robot.
"I don't think it wants to hurt us. It would have done that already." Sam stated quietly, stumbling towards the giant. I took a deep breath, trying not to cry. That, at least, made sense.
"Really?" Mikaela asked sarcastically. "Well, do you speak robot? Because they just had, like, a giant droid death match."
"Mikaela, tone down the sass." I hissed at her.
"I think it wants something from me."
"What?" Mikaela questioned quietly.
"Well, 'cause the other one was talking about my eBay page," Sam explained.
And I thought my life was weird. This is beyond crazy.
"You are the strangest boy, I have ever met," Mikaela stated flatly, eyebrows raised.
"Remember 'Sunshine'?" I joked elbowing her softly. She smiled at me and nodded slightly.
"Can you talk?" Sam called out, hesitantly.
"XM Satellite Radio\Digital Cable brings you\Colombia Broadcasting System." the yellow robot played the soundbytes, gazing down at Sam and miming.
"So you... you talk through the radio?" Sam guessed.
"Thank you, you're beautiful. You're wonderful, you're wonderful." the robot clapped it's 'hands' and pointed directly at Sam. It looked happy that Sam had guessed correctly.
"So, what was that last night? What was that?"
"Message from Starfleet, Captain/Throughout the inanimate vastness of space/Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven! Hallelujah!"
"Visitors from heaven? What- what are you, like an alien or something?" Mikaela asked as calmly as she could, looking up at the robot and swallowing her fear. It pointed to her and turned. It knelt down as it folded in on itself, transforming. The hood slammed down with a note of finality.
"Any more questions you wanna ask?" the radio drawled.