Chapter 12
Sparky had landed atop a plateau. Exhausted he had laid down panting. A day of mayhem and destruction really takes the energy out of you. But how could he do that to his family!? Surely he couldn't go back now. Disgraced and outcast. Pretty good for a day work. Now he had expended all the electrical energy stored in his body. He needed to recharge. He was built with hyper efficient solar energy cells. Essentially a day in the sun would recharge him. He also had sapping capabilities. He had been lying there for about an hour. Thinking of all the trouble he had caused, what if the towns people decided to blame his cousins as well. He felt it would be better if he stayed away. Picking himself up, he noticed he had landed on a plateau, rocky, with sparse patches of grass a small house was perched on the side, looking down into the valley. He slowly felt his fur bristle in the sun soaking up the solar energy. Soon he had enough clean energy to stand and walk. He only possessed about 8% of his total energy storage. His body would instinctively, 'switch off' if he fell below 4%. Suddenly he heard a loud clang. Metal plates, bricks and dust started rolling down the mountainside. A big mountainside building perched precariously on the side of the mountain, just above him. A large piece landed here him, he recognized the scratched red paint and mangled controls. Lilo and Stitch's hovercraft! He thought. Looking up the mountain he saw smoke pour from the building. They could be in danger he thought. He brushed himself off, he ran to the house. He needed to get up there and to do that he needed energy. Finding the door was locked he used a little energy to allow himself to pass through the conductive metal lock. On the other side, the house was empty. It was small two rooms. A light swayed in the dark. No windows provided light, but Sparky's built in night vision kicked in. He searched the house, opening cupboards and doors. In one of the larger wall cupboards stood a small engine of some- sort. A generator he thought. Not very powerful, but he needed every scrap of energy. Sparking the engine it whirred and spluttered. Old, fragile he thought. Opening the workings he snapped a wire. Connecting it to his antenna, he felt the electricity course through him. He lay down allowing the electrical energy to store in the his fur and being. Then he waited… Half an hour had passed, when a large object fell through the roof of the house. The object shattered on impact, leaving behind a small red figure. Sparky didn't recognize him. Standing he walked close making sure the wires didn't detach. The figure seemed unconscious. Sparky saw the figure's face. He had the makeup of an experiment. But one he had never seen before.
"Cousin?" he asked experimentally,
He stirred lifting his head, he saw Sparky above him,
"Um… Hello, the names Trilby,"
"Trilby, huh my name is Sparky. Are you a cousin?" But at that moment a sound emanated round the house, a clashy sound like broken cymbals, falling on the floor. They both covered their ears. Tortured by the sound they closed their eyes. It resonated inside them, calling to their very being. A primal, indomitable purpose. The former utter dominating power of the experiments. The sound disappeared in the real world. But inside the head of the experiments it rang true. The sound of there being manifested in sound. Slowly they opened their eyes. But they were different than before. They were base, emotionless eyes. They stared at each other trying to fathom the power of the noise. Trilby stood,
"You are an experiment, yes?" He pointed at Sparky, "They called me useless. I will show them. My strength stems from intelligence. I shall prove I don't need a power to be the strongest. I shall start with you,"
Sparky looked back the malicious grin reappearing, the jubilance returning. Reaching up he grabbed the wires throwing them to the ground. His antenna sparked again the electrical flow pulsing through him. He looked him in the eye saying:
" You can try!" Loosing a bolt of lightning. Trilby had already grabbed a sheet of metal throwing it to the side. The lightning changed path hitting the metal. Sparky growled- there was too much metal around to attract the lightning. Trilby growled likewise. Sparky jumped up- flying to the ceiling he punched into the wall. Ripping out copper wire. Trilby looked around. Seeing the tap he leapt toward it loosening the water pipes that led into it- grabbing a bin emptying it and leaving under the leaking pipe. Sparky up in the roof, lassoed the wire, it sparked accepting the flow of electricity from Sparky. Throwing it down, Trilby dodged. Annoyed Sparky started whipping the ground from his vantage in the rafters. Trilby predicted each stroke diving between the furniture in the run down house. Each stroke crackled with electrical power, braking each piece he decided to hide behind. Grabbing a piece of rope he Rolling back to the bin- bucket he grabbed it lobbing it at Sparky. Sparky dropped his lasso, it landed on the floor below him. He growled as water drenched him. He shorted out falling to the ground. Trilby laughed walking up to Sparky who was paralyzed temporarily on the floor. He needed electricity to move, and the water short circuited his electrical flow. He was stuck on the floor till he dried off. He growled, annoyance showing on his face. Trilby was happy with himself. He was strong enough without any special power. He started to walk toward Sparky's immobile body. He was the smartest experiment around. No one could stop him. But then he stepped on a metal plate. The plate, that had a mass of electrified wire on it. Sparky stopped faking and smiled. The shock sent Trilby flying. As he impacted on the weakened wall it collapsed. Sparky stood shaking the water out of his arm. He had let his arm get wet. If his arm was wet he could bypass it so not to short circuit his body. He had tricked Trilby, flying up to the confused Trilby he summoned his other arms preparing for his ultimate Jigawatt jolt. Trilby was too confused after the shock to react fast enough. The jolt sparked through his system. But then an unexpected thing happened. Instead of being blown back by the force of the blast he stood still. He absorbed every bolt and spark. It filled him with energy. Slowly the ovals on his arms turned yellow like Sparky's fur. the yellow grew brighter and brighter glowing like the sun. Sparky stood in shock as he absorbed the shock. He now had roughly 5% energy left. Barely enough to fly away. Trilby felt the immense shock condense in his system filling him with unknown power. Suddenly the ovals. Sparked, he felt his fur immediately adapt to the electrical power. The adaptation turned his fur yellow. Out of the oval sprouted a long pair of antenna. Then the light subsided. Sparky stared at the apparent copy of himself. Like a mirror. The surprise was mirrored in their eyes. They looked each other in the eye sharing the confusion. Trilby looked at himself, he felt the antenna, that had sprouted. He felt invigorated, this was his power.
"To absorb and adapt to become a copy of another experiment!" He exclaimed out loud.