I don't like this chapter much at all, but if I don't publish something, I'm not going to continue at all. So here we are! I have to work through the rough patches. Probably going to edit it later.
Chapter 2:
They say that the heat brings out the worst in people.
Jackie stood next to the squad, sweat beading on her forehead and under her bottom lip. She wiped it off for the third time in five minutes. How much longer was the king of Happily-Ever-Afterville going to keep them here?
"As always, the citizens of Happily-Ever-Afterville offer their greatest thanks," the king went on, seemingly unbothered by the hot, stuffy evening air. "You four have never failed to protect us, whether it be against The Hacker, a natural disaster, or even our own citizens." The king shot a disappointed look at the two fellows - twins - who had their hands cuffed and heads bowed.
Matt squirmed, rolling his sleeves up. "Thanks, Your Majesty, but we've really got to go-"
"I also personally assure you that they will be dealt with," the king continued, bowing.
Jackie wondered how if the king was just dense or was forced by his position to relay all this political stuff.
Digit finally broke free of the sweaty line of heroes, waltzing up to the head of the site. "Hey, uh, Kingy, we've actually got another important mission to go to!" He threw a wing over the short borg's shoulder and the king regarded the cyboid with surprise. "So…how's about we cut this a little short for today?"
Inez caught Jackie's eye, grinning. They had no such mission but it wouldn't be unbelievable to say that, since today had been particularly busy. Overwhelming, almost.
The king stuttered slightly. "W-well if you have to go I certainly won't hold you back."
"Thanks!" Digit said, a little too quickly, "hero stuff, y'know."
"Yeah, we've been packed today!" Matt commented, his sneakers making harsh scuffling sounds against the pavement as he backed away. Jackie and Inez followed his lead, shooting tense smiles at the king.
"Well, okay, good luck!" The king said, either blissfully unaware of the group's deception or pleased to be relieved of his own diplomatic duties.
"Will do!" Digit yelled backwards, joining the rest in a sprint for the cybercoop a few hundred feet away.
Matt, as always, had taken the lead, reaching the vehicle first. He threw his arms in the air, cheering, "Yes! Air conditioning!" He yanked on the door as the Jackie and the rest caught up to him. "Didge! Why'd you lock it?!" He yelled, the door unbudging in his grip.
"Safety first." The keys twirled in Digit's feathers, and there was a beep. Matt slung the door open and vaulted inside.
"On Happily-Ever-After?" Inez said, a disapproving eyebrow raised, "since when has anyone wanted our cybercoop? It's all rusty and beat-up!"
Jackie hopped in afterwards. The heat trapped in the coop was at least five times worse than outside.
"Hey! It's not that bad!" Digit fired back, sounding personally offended. He climbed over Matt's lap and into the driver's seat, glaring over his shoulder at Inez all the while. "This baby's kept up right nice over the years!"
"Start the coop!" Jackie shrieked, "I'm dying!"
Matt laughed.
"Okay!" Digit yelled.
Inez joined her on her right. The coop's engine ticked, then rumbled to life.
"Why didn't we take the old four-seater?" Inez said, grumbling more than asking a real question. She was arguably the most grumpy of the four in the heat today - she'd confessed to Jackie once that heat made her dizzy sometimes.
The coop - a cheaply upgraded version of the two-seater coop - lifted off the ground slowly, steadily clearing the towers of Happily-Ever-Afterville's capital. "I didn't know that we were going on four different missions today," Digit growled, sounding tired of defending himself. "Why was every bad guy out today, of all days?"
There was a spread of silence as the squad thought over the day, each in their own thoughts.
"There were a lot," Matt said, as if this was the first time that he'd realized it.
First there was a fight on Radopolis - Jackie had expected Hacker and somebody else to be battling it out, but there were only two gangs, making enough of a mess that King Dudicus had called for help.
Jackie frowned in thought. As they'd gotten older, Motherboard had entrusted them to more and more dangerous missions. In doing so, she'd grown slightly more familiar with the lesser evils in cyberspace. But these guys, she didn't know. Apparently they were a big deal on Radopolis - they marked their crimes with a plain circle.
She'd thought then that they'd hang out with Sly and Coop for a while, then go about their day, but Motherboard surprised them with a portal, telling them mid-portalling-session that the Wicked Witch was on Sensible Flats and up to no good.
Now that Jackie thought about it, she'd never actually seen the witch. Only a borg that lay in the rubble in her wake. She'd heard Wicked, when she'd fallen out of the portal. The witch had cackled about 'moving up in the tier' and was gone before Jackie could even lift her head. The borg that she'd fought was identified by Sheriff Trudy as Billie the Borg, or Billie Kidricks.
Jackie let her gaze drift to the window, watching spots of light and pale streams of code zip by. The next two missions were similar - they got there, the villains dispersed and they would catch one of them.
"Is it just me, or was everybody kind of… showing off, today?" Digit said, finally breaking the silence.
"Jewel the Driller sure was," Matt said, "I thought he was going to break into that safe. I guess the other little guy made him too mad to think." Matt kicked his feet onto the dash and pushed his seat back as far as it would go, which happened to be right into Inez's knees.
Inez tapped the shoulder of the chair. "Matt, do you mind."
"No, I don't mind, thanks, Nezzie."
Instead of the usual chastisement, Inez simply sighed. Jackie tried to catch her eyes, raising her eyebrows questioningly. "Are you okay?"
Matt caught on and lifted his chair back up. Inez kept her gaze locked to the back of the seat.
She was thinking. Whenever she set her jaw like that, she was thinking, Jackie knew. The hispanic moved a lock of hair out of her face and removed her glasses.
Jackie waited, watching her rub circles on the bridge of her nose. It was crazy how youthful she looked without the mature, square lenses. Almost a smitten image of when they'd first come here, seven years ago.
Matt promptly turned around in his seat. "What's wrong?" He asked, worry pushing his eyebrows together. He'd grown a lot too - he resided in a lanky, almost-a-man figure with a face still riddled with boyish charm. His wider shoulders promised a strong man soon.
We've grown too soon.
When they'd first started, Jackie had loved every second of it. The four of them, taking down Hacker. But as time went on, everything gradually became more serious. Her blossoming mind could fully comprehend the danger they faced on a near monthly basis, and it became a strain on her life. She wanted to shudder remembering that part of her life, when she was so…lost.
"Are we coming up with an idea as to today being Every-Other-Villain-Besides-Hacker day?" Digit asked. Jackie looked to the rearview mirror where Digit glanced at the girls.
Digit had caught on, remarkably perceptive of the kids' emotions. He understood, having gone through a part of his life like that already with Hacker. He had understood the impact of realizing life wasn't like you thought.
Finally, Inez spoke. "I don't like it. They were all showing off, and boasting to us as well. It's like they had no real plan." She slid her glasses back on her face. "It can't be some kind of coincidence that they're all out here, keeping us busy."
Jackie's mouth dropped open - why hadn't they thought of that before? Were they…stalling them?
Matt's eyes widened. "Do you think that they're distracting us so they can attack Motherboard?" he demanded, then whirled around in his chair again without waiting for an answer. "Step on it, Didge!"
"Got it!"
Just as the engine revved and the coop accelerated, Digit's skwak buzzed.
"It's Dr. Marbles!" Matt said. He picked it up for the boid and held it to his ear.
"Are you okay Doc?!" Digit yelped, the group's panic getting the better of him. Jumbled noise was all Jackie could hear in response and Digit wiped his forehead. "Whoo, I'm glad. We've had enough for today…What?"
The coop decelerated and Inez leaned in to Jackie, whispering, "Good, at least nothing's happened at Control Central. That would have been some fortuitous timing, all right." Jackie nodded, only half-listening as she watched the boid's eyes intently in the rearview mirror.
Digit's brow wrinkled. "Really?" Garbled noise answered him. Digit listened for a minute, nodding and muttering 'uh-huh's.
The cyber coop slowed more, then turned. Jackie groaned inwardly. They were making a slow U-turn, away from CC. What did they need to do now?
"Maybe he needs some parts?" Matt offered quietly.
"All right, Doc. Talk to you later," Digit said, ending the conversation. He took the skwak from Matt's hand and pressed the 'end call' button.
"Well?" Matt demanded as soon as the skwak shut off.
Digit set the device down in one of the twin cupholders. He shook his head, sighing. "Another fight…on Gollywood."
"What?" Inez and Matt asked at the same time.
"Yeah. Communication's been cut off and everything," Digit explained, "Looks like we have a real couple of sneaky stinkers this time."
"But it's halfway across cyberspace! Will we even get there in time?" Jackie protested, surprising herself with her own rebellion. Was just a couple of back-to-back missions enough to tire her out?
Digit shook his head again. "The Doc's getting a portal ready."
Inez opened her mouth but the boid raised a wing, already prepared with the answer. "The CPU's cooled dow just enough."
Quiet frustration settled on the four riders as the coop hovered in midair, waiting for the portal.
"All right guys, we can make this quick. Unless it's Hacker finally, then it'll be fine," Inez said, her voice light but determined. Digit grunted his agreement, busily typing out their location to Dr. Marbles.
Jackie immediately felt ashamed of her selfishness. "Yeah, we got this. With Hacker too."
"Okay, so we get in there, kick somebody's ass, get out, and go home," Matt growled. "I still haven't had breakfast at my house. I was going to make flapjacks." He crossed his arms, glaring at the empty space in front of the coop.
In another minute, pink light sparked and swirled to life. The circle expanded thirty feet in front of the coop, wide enough to let them pass through. All eyes watched as Digit pushed the coop forward and the portal engulfed them.
Flying through a portal in a vehicle was different. If the vehicle was too small, you hung onto that bike like your life depended on it. Matt had clocked himself in the head more than once; he even had a scar right above his lip. If the vehicle was big enough, then it was less dizzying and more like you rode over a hill too fast, and you're suspended in that second, in midair, heart in your throat.
The coop was thrown into mostly darkness with codes of numbers, symbols, and letters spiraling by. The moment passed quickly as they and the coop erupted back into normal time and space. Jackie was reminded of when the kids had been trapped in a portal, unaware of a problem until some minutes passed. You could never see the opening of a portal until you were through, so it hadn't struck her funny until it had just been too long to be normal.
"Holy shit!" Matt cursed, gaping out his window.
Jackie looked out her own and gasped. They'd been taken just outside of Gollywood, at the power plant. Gollywood leaders had bragged about this plant - it gave the cybersite a certain quality of life that was hard to get. It was expensive to make and even more expensive to maintain. This power plant supplied the endless amount of celebrities, tv shows, lights, and nonstop night life activity.
Flames climbed the skeleton of the plant, lapping at the sky. It was so loud that Jackie could hear the roar from inside the coop. Black smoke choked the air.
The coop hovered in the air, Digit momentarily frozen at the controls as he stared, beak agape. No one bothered to correct him.
Jackie's gut bubbled with anxiety that made her break into a cold sweat. Her heart pounded in her chest. How were they supposed to fix this?
"Do you guys see anyone? Hacker? Some other asshole?" Matt asked, jostling the group out of their shock.
Jackie's eyes darted over the plant and city in the distance. This area of Gollywood was less well to-do, with older buildings in desperate need for maintenance or repairs, nastier coops and vehicles, and more trash. But nothing necessarily unexpected; no ship, no villain, no dastardly device, no Hacker. "Port side view, all clear!"
"Nothing on the right!" Matt said.
"Nada by the bow!"
"All clear back here too," Inez said. She turned back around in her seat, sliding her back against it. "There are a lot of firetrucks down there."
"There's a lot of everybody down there," Matt commented.
"Let's get down there and ask them. Maybe we can get some pointers as to where the baddie is," Digit said.
As The coop swooped down in an arc Jackie could see the cluster of firetrucks, police cars, first responders, mechanics, and even several cars for the press. What a mess.
The coop touched down on the ground, somehow a gentle landing despite their rush. Jackie felt a surge of adrenaline.
As soon as the keys left the ignition the squad charged out and raced to the very front group of police officers, who, Jackie noted, looked surprisingly…calm.
"What's going on?! Where's Hacker?! Or whoever?" Digit yelled, adding on that last bit as a precaution.
"Is everybody okay?" Inez asked.
"Is somebody inside the plant?" Jackie threw in.
"And was there a fight?" Matt added.
One officer separated himself from the rest, lifting himself off the hood of the police car and ambling toward them. "You're too late."
The kids skidded to a halt almost in sync. Digit fell on his face. Jackie stared at the sizable borg, mouth opening in words unspoken. That hadn't been the answer they were expecting.
"What do you mean?" Matt finally dared.
The borg - she assumed from the medals decorating the dark green uniform and is different cap that he was chief of police - lifted a hand to lazily gesture at the fire. The light from the distant flames made tiny little reflections on the shiny metal bolts jutting out of his skin. "Meaning, some mite-infested air filter had the time to blow up our power plant, before you kids got her to 'save the day'." An air of bitterness laced the last few words.
The kids exchanged glances and Jackie saw that Inez and Matt were both just as confused as she was. They'd only gotten the call a few minutes ago.
Digit was quick to defend them. "Well, look here, fella, we took Dr. Marbles' call right before we got here, and he got the call right before that. So sorry we couldn't get here in time but we can't time travel." He glared up at the chief, seemingly forgetting that he was four feet shorter. The chief glared back, chest puffing out like a bird ruffling its feathers.
"Can you please just tell us what happened?" Jackie begged, frustrated. If they'd missed whoever did this then surely there'd be another long goose chase.
"Just what I said," the chief said shortly, "Lava Starr - actually, he calls himself Magma-somethin' or other now - came blowing through here. Puts on a big show about how he's gonna be The hacker's successor and sets fire to the plant."
Lava Starr, that was new.
"How'd he get past security?" Inez prodded, rubbing a thumb on her chin thoughtfully.
The chief turned his tired glare to the young earthling. "He didn't need to. He had his men pump some gas all over the place while he went on about his goals. All you have to do then is throw a blown-out match at it and the whole thing'll blow. It was already flammable enough as it was."
"How come you guys didn't do anything?" Matt demanded, throwing his hands in a circle around him to emphasize. "There's a ton of you here! You couldn't have stopped him? Don't you guys have some kind of gun?"
"Supervillains are outside of police jurisdiction."
"That guy's not a supervillain! He hardly did anything! Hacker's a supervillain!" Matt argued.
The chief shrugged. "Right now, anybody could be a supervillain, with that sick cyborg gone. He sure was like a piece of gum stuck to our shoe - just couldn't get rid of him." He stared down at his boots thoughtfully.
"What're you talking about?" Jackie snapped, getting tired of dealing with such a deadbeat attitude.
The chief looked up, eyes set in a discerning stare. He shifted his view to each cybersquader before finally grunting. "Huh…I thought you guys would've heard by now. It's all over the news." He gave a sympathetic toss of his head. "The Hacker's retired."
The squad was speechless.
"What?" Digit squawked.