Chapter 6
"This rotten Duke Nukem. Now we will finally stop him", said Gi and landed the Cruiser near by at the nuclear power station.
Kwame gave them the overalls and they togged it. They went to the power station, but Nukem came out of it, before they can achieved the building, and he attacked them. They had no choice as search for cover and to call Captain Planet, to let him do the work. But Nukem tried to shoot him down and one of his beams hit him and the Captain fell to the ground. Nukem beamed again at him and threw him at a wall.
"We have to help him", said Gi.
"How? The atomic energy in his body is too strong", said Ma-Ti.
"Then we have to get the power from the nature."
"How Wheeler? We have not our powers", said Kwame.
"But we have sunlight and the lake. If we two can Nukem divert, the others can bring him to the lake."
"Good idea, do you mean you can do that?" said Kwame to the other three and they nodded.
"Let us go", said Wheeler and he and Kwame ran in different directions, dodged Nukems beams skillful and disappeared behind the corners of the building.
"You going at the right side, I'll follow the Firefreak", said Nukem to his companion and they do what he has said. At the same time the girls and Ma-Ti fetched the Captain and pulled him to the lake.
For Kwame it was easy to depends Nukems companion, but for Wheeler it was not so easy. He ran into the building and inhibited the door behind him. One moment he leaned himself at the wall to relax, but ran away as Nukem burst the door.
"Stay boy, I will catch you yet!"
"Don't overrate yourself Nukem. Who flies high, will fall deep." Nukem shot one hole by one in the walls, during he followed Wheeler, but he can't catch him. Wheeler can't hold his tongue and irritated Nukem anymore, to give the others enough time to save the Cap.
As he thought he had lost his way he found the exit, but Nukem burst the girder of the gate and the explosion grasped Wheeler and slung him a few metres outward.
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"Wheeler!" cried Linka anxious as she heard the explosion and saw how Wheeler flew through the air, and she ran to him.
"Linka, be cautious", cried Ma-Ti and stayed with Gi at the Captain. He lay still in the lake and filled up the power of water and the sun. The atomic energy was too hard and the nature could heal it only slowly.
"Hey Fireboy, where are your stupid dictums now?" asked Nukem laughingly."Whom have we there?! Now I will kill you all, one by one." Nukem raised his hand as Wheeler searched his aim.
"No!" he cried frightened as he saw Linka standing just a few metres by them and he jumped up and wrenched Nukem to the ground."Run Lin, run away", he cried and wanted to follow her, but Nukem grasped him and raised him to the air.
"You have the life of your girlfriend just a little extended. Gaya should search for an successor for you." He laughed and shot an atomic beam at him. It didn't penetrated his suit, but it hit him with such a strength, that he squalled loud and flew through the air. All what he still records, was that he slammed at a wall, before he collapsed unconscious.
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Linka holed up behind a corner of the power station as Kwame came to her.
"Linka, where is Wheeler?"
"Nukem has grabbed him. It's my fault. What schould we do?"
"We can only hope, that the Captain feels better." She saw to the corner and how Nukem raised his hand. She cried loud as Wheeler did the same and flew back through the gate. Kwame needed all his strenght to hold her in place."Linka you have to stay. He want to kill us all."
"We have to do something Kwame. He may not kill Wheeler."
"If he is still not dead, he will be in few seconds. Thanks to me the power station have more holes as a swiss cheese", said Nukem laughingly, as they had the two isolated, and now they saw, that the whole building cracked and creaked and stones fell of the walls."And now I will kill you." But Nukem can't do that, because the Captain saved the two in the last minute.
Nukem squalled furiously and beamed suddenly so brightly, that they can't look at him.
"Captain. Wheeler ist still inside the power station."
"I know Linka. I will fly back, if you are safe", he said and brought the two to the lake, before he flew back. He was not yet at the power station arrived, as one of Nukems beams hit him and in the same moment the building dropped.
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"No, this can't be true, it may not be true", whispered Linka and her legs indulged. She felt herself at once unbelievably weak and as had someone her heart wrenched out of her chest. She didn't noticed that Gi crouched next to her, nor the tears which ran over her cheeks.
Kwame and Ma-Ti ran to Captain Planet and pulled him out from the debris at the side, where he was landed. He headed back to the earth, because he was too weak and the others looked bewildered at their rings, especially Linka – how should they now find Wheeler?
"Come with me Linka. Let us see, if Ma-Ti can find Wheeler", said Gi and Linka got new hopes, as she followed Gi.
"Ma-Ti, can you find Wheeler?"
"No Linka. It is as it were a wall between us."
"There are hardly more many walls, at least its debris. Earth!" said Kwame and began to clear.
Hour at hour they cleared with their hands and their rings, together with the local fire departments, but they found nothing from Wheeler. They worked unless their complete exhaustion and Ma-Ti used continually his ring, but nothing.
"Planeteers, you have to rest. A new emergency waits of you", they heard Gayas voice and they looked up at her hologram.
"But Gaya, what is with Wheeler?" asked Gi.
"The people here will search further for him and more help is on the way. They will have found him soon."
"Can you tell us, if he is alive Gaya?" asked Linka, but have to despairingly to try, that her voice not broke.
"I'm afraid not. In the walls were smidgens of radioactivity, not dangerous for you, but it blocked me."
"I will stay and search for him", said Linka determined.
"Linka, we can nothing do here and we are needed somwhere else. This people search further."
"No Gi, I can't give up on him."
"No one of us do that. But Wheeler would want that we give an emergency priority. Animals and peoples could be in danger, during we search here maybe vainly", said Kwame and realised what he had said as Linka once again sprung tears in the eyes.
"He is not dead Kwame", she cried desperately."He may not be dead."
"That was so stupid of you", hissed Gi to him.
"But it is the truth. Even if he has survived Nukems beam, this were many tons, that dropped above him. It would be a wonder, if…" he murmured badly.
"Kwame!" interrupted Gi him furiously and went to the slightly bitter weeper Linka."They will find him Linka. Come, we should really rest", said Gi and get her going, to lead her to the cruiser."Here, you need it", then said Gi and gave a bottle with water to her and a pill, that she had fetched from the first aid kit."It's only a pill to calm down."
Linka took it thankfully. She knew that she not can to calm down without the help from it. They had only one evening, one night together and now her lover was buried under debris with the weight of tons. What have they both just done, that the fate punished them so hard?
She saw once again to the power station; at his debris still searched men, and now dogs too, for Wheeler. They would find him and he would be with her soon, she said to herself. Maybe he would be a little groggy, but he lived, for sure!
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The End…No, only a joke. Please, don't be bad at me, that I do this to the young couple. To be continued...
I don't know how the companion of Nukem is named in the english version, so I named him only 'Nukems companion'…I hope it's okay for you?! Maybe one of you can tell me how is his name, that I know it, if I need it for another story?