Author's Note: Please note that this chapter has been partially re-written as of October 8th, 2014.
You've got to be effin' kidding me, dude…
Nate couldn't believe at the hell of a predicament that he was now trapped inside of. Just moments earlier, he was just skateboarding home, minding his own damn business until some old geezer nearly ran over the brunette, along with his skateboard going into some dark and creepy alley. Thinking things just couldn't get any worse, an abandoned yet crazed robot gripped the board tightly into its hand, growling at the trespasser of his personal space. In response, Nate ran for his life while the droid followed for numerous blocks. Hiding behind a car and letting the robot pass him by, Nate finally was safe to go home, a sanctuary from the cruel outside world. Just wanting to catch some z's after a really long ass day, he horridly finds the robot on his bed.
Now being roughly held up against the wall in his own room with red metallic hands firmly pressed on his mouth, Nate was indeed in a world of unpleasantness. A fearful pair of hazelnut eyes gawked upon the intimidating facial expression of the robot that called himself Quick Man.
How the hell am I supposed to get out of his death grip? Jesus, this Quick Man is strong as hell!
Desperately wanting to be released from the droid's clutches, the Figueroa tried to fight his way out of Quick Man's hold. However, it was futile as the metallic grip became tighter, lifting the teenager up off the floor, causing Nate to cringe and scream out in pain.
"Ugh, what the hell do you want from me Quick Man?!" Nate muffled through the android's red hands.
Quick Man's evil smirk just only became a lot more pronounced as the posed question processed through his ears. "Hmmm, you know what… I actually don't know what I want from you, yet…"
The response caused Nate's facial expression to go from pain to just plain clueless-ness.
"The hell? What do you mean— AHHH!" the brunette's own reply came to an abrupt halt as Quick Man's hand rapidly moved from covering the human's mouth to the neck, causing Nate to unpleasantly gag with his air passage now cut off.
"Shut up!" Quick Man tightened his grip onto the brunette's neck with much more gusto. The strangling became so severe that a small amount of tears were starting to stream out from Nate's eyes, along with a nice shade of blue coloring his face.
Dude… I've got… to get… out of this… grip… before I… pass out... Nate tried to get it together with himself, still being throttled to death by Quick Man below. But how… can I… when he's… too fast… and nothing… of use… is nearby?
But before the Figueroa was able to complete his thoughts any further, the distinctive noise of metal being sharpened crept into his ears. He gazed below, only to see a shiny yellow boomerang-shaped object in the left hand of Quick Man.
"Dude… what… the hell… is that?" Nate managed to croak out in a raspy tone, despite the strangulation that was still continuing.
Quick Man looked at the object in his left hand for a bit before facing back to the brunet above him, the smirk at the corner of his m. "This is my Quick Boomerang, of course. Allow me to demonstrate…"
The red and yellow cladded robot threw the boomerang towards the opposite side of the room. A peculiar swishing sound emitted from the tossed object as it hurled towards the stainless steel floor lamp fixture in the corner of the room. In what seemed like a millisecond, the lamp instantly sliced in half onto the hardwood floor below. Nate widened his eyes in amazement and terror at what he just witnessed. The boomerang effortless returned to Quick Man's hand, adding to the astonishing demo.
Wow… that boomerang must be freakin' sharp, brah!
"Now then… dude…" Quick Man started to direct the boomerang in his hand towards the brunette's throat, causing a whimper to escape from Nate's mouth. "I'm afraid I in fact do remember what I want from you…" the robot drawled as his eyes began to squint with an evil smile beginning to glare from his face. For Nate, this could only smell one thing for him… trouble.
"For you… TO D—"
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
"Nate? Son, is everything okay in there?" Francesca knocked from the other side of the door, interrupting the near-death moment that was occurring inside the room. The inhibition from his mother definitely saved Nate as he was finally released from the extensive throttling he had been forcefully subjected to. The brunette unrelentingly coughed and gagged for several moments as his saliva sprayed onto the hardwood floor. Finishing up, he desperately inhaled the fresh air that was deprived from him, causing his face to finally return to his normal skin tone color.
When he finally was able to stand back up, Nate looked around his room to look for the insane robot that tried to literally kill him. Unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen.
"Dude, where did he—"
"You are one lucky kid, Nate…" Quick Man stood at the window's ledge while droning, especially at the brunet's name. "But don't forget… I know where you live… and I know all about you…" the red and yellow cladded robot began to chuckle. "Remember, I'll be following you at all times… even when you don't notice… Until then, adieu…"
And just like that, the android disappeared in a flash. Nate ran over to the window and looked all over the backyard to see where the robot ran off. Aside from the shimmering waters in the swimming pool and water fountain fixture, not a single trace of the droid was to be seen.
"Nate!" Francesca knocked on the door more vigorously. "Son, are you okay? Open the door!"
Said boy walked over to the door and opened it, sporting on a tired look to make it seem as if he had just woken up from his nap.
"Son, is everything alright?" Nate's mom had a very motherly concerned facial expression. "I heard a loud noise and I thought I heard another voice in the room."
Crap… she might've heard Quick Man…
"Oh no, it's okay mom, really. I accidentally stumbled onto the lamp and it broke in half and… that was just me getting mad at myself about it…" Nate did his best to sound very convincing, obviously not wanting to tell his mom about his near-death experience with a crazed and faster-than-life robot. However, the imprints of Quick Man's hands on his neck and the amount of perspiration on his face could've told the entire story for him.
"Are you sure about that?" Francesca raised an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, it's alright now…" Nate assured his mom. Picking up his backpack, he walked out of his room and past his mom, whom still sported a quizzical look on her face. "I'll just start on my homework now in the family room."
As he sauntered his way towards the family room, Nate wiped the excessive sweat off of his forehead, taking in a deep breath and exasperatedly sighed in the process.
Oh God… what the hell am I supposed to do know with Quick Man on my back now? I really, really hope he was just kidding about following me at all times…
Nate was quietly trying to finish up his homework on the leather sofa in the comfort of the open and spacious family room. Despite being the entertainment center of the household for the family and guests, the room had several soft touches of color on the walls (in addition to the awkward family portrait affixed near the fireplace mantel), furniture, and décor that made it to be a pleasant place to relax after a long day of hard work… or being chased by a quick-ass robot as well.
Struggling to get through his Honors Trigonometry homework, Nate tapped the mechanical pencil in his hand incessantly against the piece of paper in front of him.
"For what values of x is the identity cot(x) = cos(x) / sin(x) NOT valid?" Nate read the problem from his textbook aloud. "Hmmm… what values are not valid for—"
"Sup loser!"
Nate briskly jumped at the sudden voice that tiptoed into his ears. He turned around and saw a brunette-haired woman in her early twenties, whom was slightly taller than Nate, dressed up in nurses scrubs.
"Whatever, sis…" Nate greeted his elder sibling, Claire, with a grumble as he tried to get his train of thought onto Trig, which was something that's been very difficult for him. It became nearly impossible as Claire turned on the TV with the volume on full blast as she crashed into the loveseat adjacent to where Nate was. "Dude, do you mind?"
"Man, shut up lil' bro…" Claire scoffed as she continued to channel surf on the flat screen LED TV that hung over the fireplace mantle.
"Ugh… whatever," the younger Figueroa flatly remarked as he continued to jot down calculations. Further interrupting his homework was the sound of the front door being opened and slammed shut.
"I'm home everyone!"
"Hey dad," the Figueroa children flatly said in unison.
"Hi honey!" Francesca came to the foyer and gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek. "How's the big project going?"
"Stressful as always…" Alexander "Alex" Figueroa replied. He took a waft of the air that originated from the kitchen. "Wow, it smells good! What did you make?"
"Lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, fried calamari, and breadsticks."
"Really?" Nate had a smile on his face as he raced towards the dining room. "Dude, I'm ready to eat right now!"
"You read my mind, lil' bro!" Claire followed her brother promptly.
The two parents watched as their children quickly rushed to the dining room table and began to attack the freshly made meal.
"Our kids these days…" Francesca sighed as she watched her meal being devoured in a hurry.
"Oh, come on honey," Alex hugged his wife on the side. "It's because your cooking is wonderful. After all, you do work a lot and it's not the same when the food has been in the fridge for a few days…"
"I guess you're right, Alex…" Francesca replied before the parents joined their kids at the dinner table.
After scarfing down a wonderfully cooked meal, which had been for quite some time, Nate was finishing up the last of his horrendous trig homework that's been drilling a hole in his skull for the entire evening.
"And because of cos 65, x should be 0.44… I hope…" Nate wrote down before slamming his book shut. "Finally… Jesus Christ…" He would've thrown the book across the room, but then the beautiful vase that Francesca bought from Chinatown might've shattered, just like when Quick M—
"Dude! I almost forgot about him…" Nate pondered as he began to channel surf. The encounter with Quick Man he had earlier was still fresh in his mind.
"Remember, I'll be following you at all times… even when you don't notice…"
"Yeah right…" Nate replied to his own musing, deciding to quote Sweet Brown on top of that. "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
"Live from ABC7: Marc Brown, Michelle Tuzee, Dallas Raines with weather, and Rob Fukuzaki with sports. Now, Southern California's only High Definition News: Eyewitness News at 11."
"Meh, I guess I'll watch the news then… it's been awhile anyways."
"More robot-connected crimes springing up in the Eastern San Fernando Valley. Is there a possible link behind these crimes? Good evening, I'm Marc Brown."
"And I'm Michelle Tuzee. Here's the latest at 11…"
Nate immediately sat up from his slouching position on the couch and turned up the volume, apparently wanting to pay attention, which was quite a rarity at times.
"The Los Angeles Police Department has just announced today of several new and possibly robot-related crimes taking place around the neighborhoods of Pacoima, Sylmar, and Sun Valley in the Eastern San Fernando Valley."
"Well, that is the ghetto of the Valley," Nate scoffed.
"Police have stated that many of the industrial buildings being broken in to are computer motherboards and parts manufacturing plants along the San Fernando Road and Laurel Canyon Boulevard corridors. There has been speculation that a single person is perhaps responsible for these events, but with no tangible evidence, such can't be officially made, according to the Chief of Police."
The thought of Quick Man immediately crossed into Nate's mind. However, he persistently doubted to himself that his encounter has nothing to do with the events mentioned on TV.
"But I live in the Western part of the Valley… So no way, what happened earlier cannot be possibly related."
"In other news, Doctor Thomas Light, a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today for his creation of human-like androids dating several years ago. The UCLA professor, seen here with two of his created robots, Rock and Roll, says that he hopes robots will become more advanced and a valuable asset in our future world."
"Hmmm… Doctor Thomas Light of UCLA, eh?" Nate pondered as he looked at the scientifically dressed man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, complete with white-toned hair and a white beard."
As he finished his oral musing, the brunette let out a tiresome yawn as he stretched out his body.
"I guess I'll just knock out now," and with that, Nate reached for the remote on the table.
TAP
TAP
TAP
Nate immediately jumped at the unexpected intrusion of noise coming from the glass window facing the front yard, causing the remote in his hand to drop onto the floor.
"What the hell was that?" he gawked at the window, looking a possible sighting of a person… or perhaps a thing. Of course, the first deduction that came up to mind was none other than the robot that he had a rough meeting with earlier.
"Quick Man…" Nate whispered, now approaching the window cautiously as he tiptoed. His heart began to race uncontrollably as sweat started to escape from his skin.
"Please, please, please, please let it be my imagination… my imagination… my imagination… that's all it is…" as he reached the window, he slowly gazed outside the window, glancing left and right out onto Corinthian Drive. Aside from the neighbors across the street getting out of their car after an apparently elegant night out, to whom he waved hello to, not a single thing was seen within the immediate vicinity. "Oh, thank G—"
"Remember me?" the familiar red and yellow cladded robot immediately popped out of the bushes in front of the window.
"AHHH!" Nate panicked and immediately ran out of the family room. Fear was all now that he could think of. His heart pounded even faster than before as he huffed and puffed down the hall towards his room. However, before he turned the doorknob to enter, Nate froze into place as he just had a horrible thought in his mind.
"Oh, crap! I forgot to lock the window in my room from earlier!" Nate shook his head for his stupidity. "He's probably waiting for me in there…" hysteria began to grow exponentially in his head, not having a single idea on what to do. Looking around desperately, Nate ran to the nearest door in the hallway and began to knock frantically.
"Claire! Hey sis! Open up!"
A few long and agonizing moments later, Claire finally opened the door, irritability clearly being displayed on her face. "What do you want, loser?"
How the hell am I supposed to explain this to her? Ugh, can't believe I'm gonna say this, but…
"Uh… can I sleep in your room tonight, on your futon?" Nate felt extremely awkward and embarrassed for letting such a phrase escape from his mouth. However, the situation was dire and he had no choice but to be desperate.
"Uh yeah, the hell with that…" Claire began to close the door, but Nate resisted.
"Please sis? Come on! There's um… there's um… an extremely nasty-ass spider in my room, I saw…" Nate cringed as he mentally shook his head for that hastily thought excuse.
"Um… lemme think about that…" Claire began to put her hand under her chin in a pondering motion. "Uh… no…"
"Ugh, c'mon sis!" Nate pleaded once again.
"Okay, okay! Fine then!" Claire moved out of the way to let her little brother inside her sizable room. "Just don't be bugging me, I'm uber tired from work today."
"Yeah, yeah…" Nate began to lie down on the futon that was next to his sister's desk as Claire tossed him a blanket and pillows.
"Night, fool…" Claire turned off the lamp as she immediately fell back asleep.
"Night sis…" Nate softly replied as he got himself comfortable onto the hard-as-hell futon. Feeling surprisingly safe now in his sister's room (out of all places), the brunette was able to finally drift comfortably off to sleep after having a long and tiring day.
"Hehehe…"
Nate immediately sat up as he heard a very familiar voice. Looking at the direction of his sister's window, he saw a silhouetted figure off in the distance on the roof, complete with a striking boomerang shaped crescent shining on its head.
"Dude… it's gonna be a long ass night…" Nate began to slowly sink into the blankets.
Claire grabbed a pillow and threw it towards the teen on the futon. "Shut… up…"
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