Thank you so much for being patient with me while I needed time to do the homework I needed to do before Thanksgiving break (I still do, but I have no deadlines right now). Also, thank you to all who read "My Angel!" That helped me boost my writing up a little bit. So without further ado, here's chapter 6! *I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons"*
"Okay Carl, I'm back," I said into the comlink just as I got out of the time machine. The sky looked darker than usual inside of the sun shining. "What's up with all the girly yelling?"
All of a sudden, I heard a thud, and I screamed before somersaulting out of the way. Right before my eyes was a giant ant! And he was taking the time machine! I looked around for more ants, but inside, I found the landscape no longer the Utopian city, but a lava-like city instead. What happened? How did we get into this mess?
"CARL!" I yelled as I ran into the house, through the living room, and into my room to grab bandages for my burnt arm. I ran out of my room and into the lab and up to Carl.
"Carl, what did you do?"
"Don't even start, Wilbur!" Carl replied with a pointed finger.
"Everything was fine when I left," I said, blaming him for this landscape.
"This is even worse than the invisible cow incident!"
FLASHBACK-July 5th, 2035
I can't take it anymore! I had to see what my dad was working on, and I sneaked out of my room into the lab. I had found his project, and I found the serum he was working on. There was a folder right next to the serum, and it said to not test the serum on animals.
To the time machine!
I went to the garage, approached the only time machine that my dad had invented, and I activated it, punching in a random timeline since animals existed since the beginning of time. I flew the machine out of the sky and here I was in the year 1962 in the middle of nowhere.
I approached a random cow on a barn, and I put one drop of serum on the animal. It did nothing after a few minutes, and so I placed another drop. Eventually after five drops, something started to happen to the cow, and within a matter of minutes, the cow disappeared!
Oooh crap...Dad's gonna kill me.
I ran back to the time machine as fast as I could so that I couldn't be seen by the farmer, and I went back home.
END OF FLASHBACK
I was grounded for one month after that incident. I thought that punishment was pointless; after I told my dad what happened, he discarded the plans. He said that the serum was supposed to help people with treatments for cancer. I reverted my attention back to Carl as he pressed a button on the machine of possibilities.
"There's a volcano in the middle of town, your dad is working for some guy named Emperor Stanley, and we've got giant, mechanical ants running around. OKAY?!" Wait a minute, what?
"Whoa, hold up!" I interrupted Carl's rant with a straight face as I continued to bandage my arm and hold in my laughter. "The emperor's name is Stanley?"
"This isn't funny," Carl replied.
"You're right!" I went up to Carl and pointed a finger at him, being serious. "And you wanna know what else isn't funny? Giant ant stole the time machine."
"That's two in one day!" Carl exclaimed. "When your dad finds out about this-"
"Carl, you're all wound up. Now let's calm down, take a breather, and enjoy the sunset!" I placed an arm around Carl's neck as we stared at the 'sunset'-burning clouds in reality. I really wanted him to stay positive that this future will be back to normal in no time.
"The clouds are burning," Carl commented.
"Try squinting." Carl started to cry, and I gave up trying to make him happy. "Okay, look. There's gotta be a way to find the time machine."
"Well, I guess we could build a transponder remote," the robot suggested. "There's a junk shop downtown that should have all the parts."
"I'm on it!" I walked back down the stairs and I examined my bandaged arm. I smirked, giving me an idea.
"Wait, Wilbur!" I turned around to see Carl with the backpack...and the fixed scanner! He tossed it to me, and I caught it with ease. "You might need this."
"Thanks, Carl," I said with a smile. I placed the backpack on my back and walked back to my room. With the city with lava everywhere, it was going to get really hot, so my Captain Time Travel shirt wouldn't be wearable; I would get even hotter. I opened my closet, and I took out the white tunic that my mom gave me while she taught me karate. Since I was a black belt, and I already had a lot of tunics, I decided to wear this one. But long sleeves wouldn't do; I would still get hot easily.
I checked the other side of the closet, where I found a katana sword. I went back in time once and I helped a sensei in Japan finish off the invaders to save his dojo. This sensei wouldn't be found in a library if anyone wanted to look him up. He gave me his sword as a token of thanks. This actually didn't pollute the time stream that much, since the sensei didn't have any descendants. Before I went back in time to help him, the sword was burned.
I cut off the sleeves with the blade, and I took off my black shirt. Then I looked at my pants. They were the skinny type...too skinny for a temperature like this. Since this pair was my favorite pair, I looked in my drawers for another pair of skinny jeans that were old. To my luck, I found a pair, and I used the scissors in my backpack to trim my pants up to the knee. I let my katana blade do the rest.
I changed my clothes and placed on the tunic with no sleeves and the cut-up jeans. I tied the black belt that went with the tunic, and then I started to place the bandages on my legs and the heels of my feet, even though my legs didn't have any injuries. I also bandaged my right hand, but I would have to be careful as that is the hand I place my chargeball glove on.
I also grabbed a pair of flip-flops just in case the rules were picky about shoe-wear. Luckily, my dad invented the bandages so that they would not only help heal your body, but also protect your body from water or glass or anything.
I placed my katana in the sheath and placed that on my back. I got my disassembler out of the closet and put it in my backpack, and I put the backpack on my back on top of my sword. I walked over to the trophy case, got my chargeball glove, and placed it on my hand. I was all ready to go.
I walked out of my room and toward the living room. However, instead of Aunt Billie's toy train, I found a monorail. I started to wonder about what happened to the train when the woman engineer walked in.
"Emperor Stanley gets all the fun," Aunt Billie complained. "I wanted bigger toy trains, I said. But no! If you want a job, you have to keep track of the monorail system." She sighed, and then she turned to look at me. "Where are you heading, Wilbur?"
"What are my choices?" I asked, and then I remembered there was a certain place I needed to go to. "Oh wait. Is there like an old part of town somewhere?"
"That area's closed," Billie explained. "The only area open is the transit station."
"Well, take me there then," I said with a sigh.
"And Wilbur-HOLY CATFISH!" I turned around to see my mother walking toward me with a surprised expression on her face. "That is an interesting look on you."
"Thanks...I think. You were saying?"
"Be home before curfew," Mom instructed me. "Those Magma robots will drag you in if they find you in the streets after dark." I figured it was one of the new rules here. Time to get adjusted for now.
"Yeah, Mom." I hoped in the monorail, and Billie pressed the control that would take me out of the house and to the transit station. It was a ten minute ride to the station in Magma City...or so I was told the city was named. As I traveled, the more I got to see of the volcanic city. The city was actually pretty nice to see, but it was not a place I would want to spend my life in.
I finally approached the transit station in Magma City, and I walked out of the monorail. But, just after I got out, the monorail transported away underground. I approached Evelyn, who was now the receptionist for the emperor, and I asked her what was going on.
"The volcano tram system is currently closed due to dangerous robo-ant activity," Evelyn explained. "Emperor Stanley apologizes for any inconvenience." What?! No wonder the other locations are closed!
"But I have to get to the Industrial District!" I whined.
"The tram will re-open once the robo-ants are eliminated. Thank you." I cleared my throat after she finished talking, remembering what I was wearing and what I was supposed to do.
"Uh, yeah. I'm the robo-ant exterminator...guy," I explained, stuttering a few words. "I heard you have a situation?"
"Yes," Evelyn answered. "Please inform me once you have eliminated all ant bots."
"No problem! Been doing this for years! Family business-" I paused as I tried to explain my 'job.' "Ninth generation...total professional. I, uh, gotta go."
Just as I turned around, there were a few silver, robotic ants reading my way! After fighting the robot sentries back in the basement, I figured out that any robot would be damaged with lots of electricity. I fired a charge from my glove at the three ants, but it didn't do any good. After a few more shots, the ants were eventually destroyed.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," I remarked too soon, as I heard a thud in my direction. I turned around to see not a small, silver ant, but a big, blue one!
"Holy strawberries!"
I tried firing a charge, but it didn't have much effect on it. It got worse after I fired two more; the ant was moving too fast toward me! I tried to move out of the way when the ant bot 'clawed' me. Luckily for me, it was a small cut in the upper arm. I remembered my fight with an armored robot sentry and that it needed to be disassembled. I figured that the ant was the same way, and I tried using the disassembler. But, the attack bounced off the armor. The ant continued to charge at me.
"Alright, it's time to end this." I unsheathed my katana blade, and I charged at the ant. What I didn't know was I concentrated so hard that the chargeball glove released a charge in the sword. Before the ant could claw me, I stabbed it in the belly, and it screamed in pain. It was then that I saw the electricity on the sword and realized that this would be the only way to destroy this type of ant. I stabbed it two more times before it was officially shut down.
I found the doors to my left already open. I ran out, but I tripped while doing so. The top of my left foot was already starting to hurt as a couple more silver ants showed up...and a blue one also showed up. I ended up having to concentrate really hard on where to fire my chargeballs at the whole battle. The silver ants were easy to destroy; as for the blue one, I did unsheathe my sword to cut off the armor and then fire chargeballs at it-twelve total.
The exact same thing happened as I went up the 'platform.' Only this time, I only used my katana blade. This method was a lot easier than using the chargeball glove, despite me tripping over and over again. I decided that I had had it and took off my flip-flops. I fought much easier since. It only took me two minutes to finish off the ant-bots instead of five using the glove. After I sliced the blue ant-bot open, the force shield surrounding the protectosphere was shut down, and I was able to get across the city in style. Again, I really needed the concentration since there were no railings, unlike the course back home. Along with that disadvantage, there were also fans and some moving sidewalks that I really needed to be careful on. Other than that, the course wasn't too difficult. I did slip a couple times, due to me being barefoot, but I made to the chargeball courts in under three minutes.
Just as I got out of the bubble, I saw a soldier ant-the blue one, and I drew my katana. I gasped as four more showed up! I prepared to die in the hands of the ant-bots, but I heard a 'ZAP!' noise. I looked up, and one of the ants was down! I looked around to see who my savior was, and I couldn't believe my eyes: it was the chargeball champion, Michael Kent! I watched with disbelief as he took out the other four ants using a more powerful chargeball glove, and he stood in front of the courts with a proud smile.
"Hey, you're-"
"I know," Michael said, interrupting me.
"I'm-"
"My biggest fan?" he asked, smirking with a pointed finger at me. My attention then turned to his chargeball glove, which was red, the color of the varsity squad.
"Look, I could really use one of those," I said, pointing at the glove.
"Oh, you're not ready for this glove," Michael replied, and I was shocked.
"What do you mean, I'm not ready?"
"Sorry, kid. I've seen your kind before." The champion paused as he started to explain his reasoning. "Chargeball isn't about fancy equipment; it's about skills."
"I have skills!" I shot back. "I am skills." Michael paused in his spot as he had a pondering look on his face. He turned and pointed at me, once again.
"Then prove it!"
We walked into the door that would lead us to the chargeball courts. There was a pee-wee court for beginners, a varsity court, and a championship court. The challenge, or goal as I would put it, was to defeat Michael in all three courts. If I do that, then I would earn the varsity chargeball glove.
There were only twenty blocks, shaped like a triangle, to be destroyed in the pee-wee court, and believe me: for a 52-year-old, he was still very flexible and very talented as a chargeball player. We both kept flipping in front of each block, trying to defend it. Each time I would release a charge, Michael would block it, and vice-versa. I was falling behind with three blocks remaining while my opponent had one left. I fired, I missed, Michael fired, and he destroyed the block. I tried to defend my goal, but the whole auditorium buzzed, signifying that Michael had scored.
"Now that's how it's done," the chargeball champion said with a smile.
"Hardy-har-har," I smirked. "Let's just play the next round."
We continued to play the same way for the rest of the match. Slowly, I got in balance, and I won the next two rounds, which were really close.
The next court consisted of two rows of blocks, sort of like the front two rows of a theater, and this was the varsity court. This one was a little harder, but it was doable. Michael commented on my impressive skills as I won the match again, and we moved on to the championship court. It looked simple with fourteen blocks shaped like the edge of a dome, but we had to hit each block twice. Once more, I won the match, though Michael was close in one of the rounds; we had both of our blocks cleared out.
We approached each other and we shook hands in the middle of the court. Michael smiled as he took off his glove.
"I guess I was wrong about you," he complimented me. "Those were some real nice moves, Wilbur. Here, the varsity chargeball glove is yours." I smiled gratefully as I took the glove from him.
"Thank you, sir."
"This glove has a much stronger amplifier than your...pee-wee glove. It'll make some sword-work with those ants." The champion paused. "Speaking of which, where did you get that sword from?"
"It was my mother's," I lied, trying to yell out that I was a time-traveler. "I'm just dressed like this because of the climate and the structure of things here in Magma City."
"I see your point," Michael replied. "Both Emperor Stanley and the Ant Queen have caused a drag."
"The Ant Queen?"
"She forced your father to make her robotic ants while he was held in her throne room a few years ago." Great, so my dad got captured one time in his new life. "He escaped before he could finish them, but it was enough for the queen to activate them."
"What exactly is the point of the robotic ants?"
"I really don't know, Wilbur," Michael sighed. "You'd have to take the march to her to get answers."
"That's my intention; her ants stole my dad's flying car."
"Be careful, you never know what could happen if you rebel against Stanley or the Queen."
"Don't worry about me," I replied with a smirk. "I'm a rebel all the time." I paused, now thinking about how to get back to the transit station. "Do you know the way back to the station?"
"Just take the travel tube," Michael answered.
"Thanks, and thanks for the help. I appreciate it a lot." I walked toward the travel tube, and I was back at the station. I approached Evelyn with the news, but she interrupted me.
"All the robo-ants are not terminated. Please inform me once you have eliminated all ant-bots."
"Great, where else am I supposed to find big ant robots in this city?" Just as I spoke, the doors on the other side opened, and I found myself facing two more blue ants. I started firing charges at them, and they both went away after only four shots instead of twelve. I smirked, satisfied at my results, and I went through the doors to land on the platform, which took me down to the ground level. I was relieved to not find any ants to destroy and went on over the bridge where I found two grunt ants attacking a Magma Industries robot. I fired a charge to each ant, and they were destroyed in one shot instead of three. I walked over to the robot, and I asked if he was alright...that is after I scanned him.
"There's a huge wave of ants heading this way!" the maintenance robot called Barry exclaimed. I looked to my left and saw a whole crew of ants in the hallway.
"Yeah, I see that."
"These turrets are our only means of defense," Barry explained. "They must be protected at all costs."
"Say no more," I answered. "I'll take care of it."
I started walking toward the hallway, and I saw a whole bunch of ants heading toward me: a total of four soldier ants and twelve grunt ants. I unsheathed my katana blade, and I sprinted toward the group. Using what my mom trained me, I did a handful of moves against the ants, slicing them one by one. I twirled my body, twirled my sword, and twirled my mind as I took them out single-handedly as I blocked every move by the soldier ants. I had reached the end of the hallway as I heard a noise from one of the soldier ants...right after I had sheathed my katana. I spun around and fired a charge at the ant, and it went down in 'pain.' I blew a sigh of relief and I walked on to where the turrets were at.
When I approached the turrets, I found that a whole group of grunt ants were destroying the turrets, and I fired one charge at each of them. All four ants were destroyed, and I felt a charge strike my arm. I looked up to see a flying robo-ant above me, and I scanned it; it was a sniper ant, in which its fire was very accurate. It fired again, and I was forced to unsheathe my katana and deflect the shot. I tried to fire a charge and I tried to slice the jet pack off, but neither tactic worked. Then I remembered that I had the backpack, and took it off while continuing to use my katana as a deflector. I found my disassembler, aimed at the ant, and fired a shot. It stopped firing at me and fell to the ground. It approached me, but before it could attack, I sliced it open. There were four more of these ants, and I used the same strategy over and over again after I placed the backpack on my back. Some more grunt ants and soldier ants appeared after I defeated the last sniper ant, and I continued to use my sword to slice all of them open.
Soon, all of the robo-ants were destroyed, and the turrets stayed intact. Barry rushed over, thanked me for helping him, and got to work on repairing the turrets. I started to approach the hallway when I stepped on a platform that took me to a higher floor. I looked around, finding no ant in sight. I walked over to what looked like a monorail track, and a monorail showed up. I hopped in the monorail, which took me back to the transit station. Maybe this time, she'll give me the pass.
"Got 'em all!"
"Thank you," Evelyn replied. "Here is your transit pass. Enjoy your ride on the volcano-tram."
"Yeah, that's great," I answered. "But can we settle the bill now? I deal only on a cash-basis."
"The check is in the mail," Evelyn answered flatly.
"Rats!" Ah well. This is just an alternate future. I'll be on my way to get the time machine, and I'll fix this in no time. No payment for me!
I immediately got back on the monorail, and I started riding toward the industrial district...