Chapter 4 Can't Tell

Larry decided to make use of his connection to the Internet, just to see if there were any bad guys around whom he could fight. Or, better yet, to see if Fiery Tempest had been seen fighting any bad guys. He hoped beyond all measure of hope that she did, hoped so much that it actually caused him some physical strain. Unfortunately, he didn't see any evidence of her presence on the World Wide Web.

What was extra unfortunate was the fact that flying through the Koopa Kingdom didn't reveal her presence either. It was just as quiet and as heroless as it always was, with people minding their own business and going about their day. None of them were in distress or celebrating the fact that a certain hero in red had saved them.

Talk about frustrating.

Sighing, Larry landed on the roof of one of the buildings in Lava Falls. He sat down, putting his head in his hands as he thought about this. It was going to take a while before he ran into Fiery Tempest again, wasn't it? Drat. Drat drat drat. All of his questions would go unaddressed, and all suspicions and curiosities wouldn't be satisfied. Larry frowned, groaning as he fell backwards to lie on the roof. He looked up at the sky, bemoaning the fact that no superhero was currently flying through it.

Of course, it had seemed like Fiery Tempest couldn't fly, but that was beside the point.

Larry groaned and rolled over so that he was lying on his stomach. He decided to do something that he didn't normally do and actually say an out-loud prayer. Closing his eyes and folding his hands, he jumped right into talking to the all-powerful Grambi.

"Hey, Grambi. I know you and I have kind of had a rocky relationship, especially since I made my wish on Fortune's Comet." He paused. "On a side note, do you think you could reverse my wish?" He paused, opening one eye to see if anything was happening to him. When nothing did, he frowned and closed his eyes once again. "Damn, and here I thought gods were supposed to be merciful." He pictured Grambi glaring at him when he said that, a mental image that made him feel a little iffy. "Sorry. Sorry; forget I said that." He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut tighter and gripping his hands together with all his might. "Look, I was just wondering if you could help me meet Fiery Tempest again. She's… I just… I want to know more about her. I mean… I don't see us becoming 'best buds' or anything like that, but at the very least, I want to find out what she's like. And why she wants to help me so much; that would be a nice thing to find out too." He took in a breath. "So… think you can help a bro out, Grambi?"

He waited, straining his ears and studying his surroundings for any sign that Fiery Tempest would be nearby. Surely, he would see her trademark red. Surely, he would see a flame or two flying through the air! It had to happen; he did pray to Grambi, after all. Gods always said yes to these types of requests, right?

Unfortunately, he still didn't see anything. His heart sank, and his frustration reached an all-time high. It took all his self-control to not scream at the top of his voice.

"Damn it, I knew praying to Grambi was stupid." He shook his head. "If he does exist, he really needs to start being more attentive to people's needs…"

"AHH!"

Larry bolted upright. He turned on one of his alternate vision modes, scanning over Lava Falls for the person who screamed and the people who had caused the scream. He saw a woman, strapped over the shoulder of a sledge bro as they bolted through the town. A magikoopa accompanied him, both of them giggling as the woman screamed her lungs out.

"A kidnapping!" Larry said, a smile growing on his face. "My speciality!"

With that, he jumped into the air. He landed on the ground right in front of the two crooks, causing them to stop in their tracks. Larry pulled himself upright as dust flew every which way. He sent the two thugs the smuggest of smirks.

"Well boys, I'm afraid that this kidnapping ends… he stopped, only now realizing how bad the dust was. "Man," he said as he tried to push it out of his line of sight. "Making dramatic entrances by jumping off of buildings is really overrated, lemme tell ya…"

Once the dust cleared. And the two thugs were able to see him, they dropped their jaws. 'No way!" said the magikoopa.

"It's Captain Metal!" said the sledge bro, backing up while he still kept a firm grasp on his victim. "Oh man, we're screwed."

Larry grinned and puffed out his chest. "Yes. You guys are indeed screwed." His grin got bigger. "I'm gonna beat you up good and send you to the nearest jail."

The magikoopa put on a brave face, much to Larry's surprise. "I'd like to see you try, kid." He stepped forward. "You might have all sorts of cool powers, but they're not going to help you." He narrowed his gaze. "We can beat you up within no time at all."

Larry chuckled. "Oh, I'd like to see you try." He got his sonic cannon ready, but just before he fired a blast, the magikoopa raised his wand and shot a blast right into the cannon. Larry shrieked as it exploded, destroying the cannon (as well as his left arm). He gawked, all at once not feeling nearly as certain as before.

"Uh…" he looked over at the magikoopa, chuckling sheepishly. "Um, how about we call a truce, okay?"

"HA!" The magikoopa exclaimed. "Truces are for suckers." He pointed his wand again. "I'm gonna destroy you, kid."

He started firing all sorts of arcane blasts at Larry, causing him to shriek. He bolted out of the way, trying his best to think of a plan. His sonic cannon was his main weapon in superhero fights, so now that it was gone, his options were severely limited. He scanned the area, trying to find something he could use as a projectile or maybe even a shield. He was just about to give up when he saw a trash can lid.

"Ah ha!" He jumped toward it and picked it up, holding it in front of him so that the arcane blasts wouldn't hit him. He felt them being pelted at the lid, sounding like rocks hitting the hood of a car. It was simultaneously satisfying and worrying.

"Okay…" Larry bit his lip and looked down at his ruined arm. He would go to Iggy to get repaired soon, but… well, Iggy wasn't here now, which still meant he was at a severe disadvantage. He pondered over what to do, once again running through all the options. He saw the magikoopa and the sledge brother closing in, getting way too close for comfort. Larry cringed, deciding right then and there that getting hit in the face by an arcane blast was not how he wanted to go out.

He thought about one to do for a few more seconds before finally deciding on a plan. It wasn't a great plan, but… hey, at least it was something. Taking a deep breath, he rushed forward. The closer he got to the thugs, the heavier and louder the arcane blasts landing on his makeshift shield became. To say it was nerve-wracking would be an understatement; he felt like running away with his tail between his legs. Nevertheless, he still pressed forward until…

THWACK!

The trash can lid hit the magikoopa on the head, causing him to shriek and fall back. Larry grinned when he saw this, feeling a sort of satisfaction at the sight of this bad guy being incapacitated. And to think; he did it while unable to use his primary weapon. That was really cool.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. The sledge brother, after recovering fro the sight of his partner lying on the ground like that, grit his teeth. Without any words, they reached into their hammerspace and pulled out some of the biggest sledge hammers Larry had ever seen. They started pelting them at him, causing Larry to shriek. Those were bound to cause more damage than the arcane blasts just by virtue of them being bigger. He scurried away, his breath running out as he did his best to dodge all of these hammers. For a split second, he hoped that the sledge bro would run out. He hoped that they had a limited supply of these weapons and that they would ultimately be left defenseless.

There was no sign that this would be the case though. Every time it looked like the sledge bro ran out of hammers, he just reached into his hammerspace and pulled out even more. As such, the only person who was really defenseless in this scenario was Larry himself. He avoided all of them, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what he could do. Eventually, he decided to reactivate his rocket boosters and rise into the air. This made dodging the hammers much easier, and it caused some visible irritation to the sledge bro.

But even with that small victory, it still wasn't enough. Larry got distracted for one minute, and a hammer hit him in the chest. He fell back to the ground, groaning as he tried to pick himself up. Without his left arm, it proved to be very difficult. Gritting his teeth, he tried his best to rise. He had just gotten into a kneeling position when the sledge brother did the worst thing he could've possibly done.

He ground pounded.

"GGGGGG…" The vibrations from the shock waves made Larry's teeth shake. Even though he was immune to pain as a robot, these sensations were the closest thing to pain he had felt in a while. He couldn't move at all, no matter how much he tried. He couldn't lift himself up, he couldn't move his head… he couldn't even blink. This meant that he was left at the mercy of this sledge brother, who smirked as they stomped up to the frozen Captain Metal.

"Say good night…" the sledge brother said a slur that Larry would never repeat. If he could close his eyes, he would be doing that right now. He braced himself, ready for his opponent to beat him into a pulp.

BOOM!

"AHH!" The sledge brother got pushed back. It took a minute for Larry to realize that it was fire that he had gotten hit by. As the shock from the sledge brother's ground pound, he smiled the biggest smile he had ever smiled.

Oh my God! She's here!

He lifted himself up, seeing Fiery Tempest as she ran toward the sledge brother. She fired more fireballs at him, causing him to shriek. Larry could see burn marks appearing on his skin, burn marks that he would probably have for the rest of his life. Fiery Tempest didn't relent though; she shot more and more fire at him until, thankfully, he blacked out and collapsed. The woman whom he had been holding struggled to get up from underneath him. Both Larry and Fiery Tempest ran over to her. Working together, they pulled the sledge bro's unconscious body off of her.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Fiery Tempest asked as she took hold of the woman's hand. "I didn't burn you, did I?"

The woman, trying to get her breathing under control, put on a smile and patted Fiery's hand. "I'm fine, sweetheart." She put her hand to her chest. "Th… thank you." She looked at both her and Larry. "Thank you both."

"It's not a problem, ma'am," Larry said. "If anybody else tries to kidnap you, we will teach them a lesson." He turned. "Won't we, Fiery Tempest?"

"Of course!" Fiery Tempest giggled. "We're always here. Doesn't matter if it's day or night."

The woman thanked them yet again before turning to leave. Once she was gone, Larry let out a breath and turned to Fiery Tempest with a smile. "I suppose I should thank you, too."

"You're welcome." Fiery Tempest laughed. "You seemed to get yourself into precarious situations a lot, don't you, Captain Metal?"

A wave of embarrassment overcame Larry. "I…" he thought about denying her words but ultimately decided against it. "Yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "But… hey, no one is perfect, you know?"

"Oh, I do." Fiery Tempest laughed and approached him. She patted him on the shoulder, cringing when she saw his ruined arm. "Uh… will you be able to…?"

"I'll be fine," Larry assured her. "I know someone who can patch it up." He lifted what remained of his left arm. "Everything will be alright."

Fiery Tempest let out a breath, putting her hand to her chest as she did. "Okay, good." She stood frozen for a little bit before smiling. "Well… see you later!"

Larry seized up. What? See you later? No, she couldn't leave yet! She just couldn't!

"Hey, wait!" Larry ran after her as she started running off. "You can't go! I… I have some questions for you!"

Much to Larry's relief, Fiery stopped. She seemed to seize up, going stiff as a board as Larry caught up with her. Deciding it would be best if he didn't think twice about it, Larry began asking her questions.

"Who are you?" He didn't relent with any of the words he spoke. "How did you get your powers?"

Fiery Tempest slowly turned to him, wearing a smile that was half sheepish, half taunting. "I can't tell you that."

Larry felt a pang. "Why not?"

"Because!" Fiery turned toward him, giggling as she did. "It wouldn't be proper superhero conduct!"

Larry snorted. "Since when is there such a thing as proper superhero conduct?" He stepped even closer to her. "Seriously, what's your name? Did you get your powers by wishing on Fortune's Comet?"

A brief flash of surprise appeared on Fiery's face before ultimately disappearing. "Again, I can't tell you."

Larry's shoulders slumped, his frustration starting to make itself known again. "Oh, come on!" He stepped closer to her. "Seriously, it's okay if you tell me! I can keep a secret!" He leaned toward her. "Did you wish on Fortune's Comet? Or are you a special?" His curiosity was quadrupling. "Seriously, what's your story?"

Fiery Tempest chuckled. "You ask a lot of good questions, Captain Metal." She took his hand, smiling a smile that ignited annoyance in Larry more than anything else. "And maybe someday, I will be ready to answer them." She pulled away from him. "But that day isn't today." She swished her cape forward in a way similar to cartoon characters when they wanted to convey mystery. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some places I need to be." She began to run away. "Make sure you take extra care of your arm next time you fight, okay!"

Larry gawked. He was about to call out after her but stopped. He realized that would be pointless since she apparently was so deadset on not providing any answers. So, essentially, Larry was stuck in the same position he had been after he first found out about Fiery Tempest.

Trying his best not to growl, Larry rose into the air and flew back to Bowser's Castle.