Savior of Zepther: Chronos

Part One

O’Neil Airport, Illinois- 3:30 PM

The crisp air of O’Neil Airport greatly contrasted the upkeep of the Departure gates. While the floors were unkempt and in need of a good mopping, and the walls needed scrubbing, the man at the terminal thought that the air he breathed was rather clean. As he inhaled the clean oxygen, the man noticed he was sitting alone at Departure gate 29A. Though to the untrained ear it might have been quiet, the man knew differently, which was why he was so fascinated with the cleanliness of the air. The soothing sound of his nostrils inhaling the air and expelling carbon monoxide was very much like a symphony to his ears. And, as if that wasn’t enough, any time he wasn’t breathing his heart was pounding, and he heard its soft pitter-patter within his chest. It was like music.

He had arrived early for his flight. Either that or my flight is late for me. Once again, he adjusted the black glasses upon his face to glance at a nearby clock. I wish these things would stop trying to fall off. He needed them to see properly, and every time he lowered or lifted his head just a bit too quickly they would try to slip from his slight nose. The nearby clock told him that he still had over an hour until his flight left, so he turned his head back to stare into the space in front of him. There was nothing really to look at, other than the magnificent view of a soda machine that was across from the terminal next to a travel advertisement on the wall. The gate itself was varying shades of bright grey and blue, meant to be both cheap looking and alerting.

His flight had been delayed for some time; he had now been waiting for fifty minutes all alone in the gate. Not that I mind. Truth be told, he was enjoying the solitude he found suddenly available to him, a rarity at even the most obscure airport. Of course, only his gate was empty, both 28A and 30A were filled to the brim with people cramming themselves like sardines into airplanes. But he could ignore the occasional baby’s scream or an argument between family relatives. He was in his own personal bubble, one that was not so easily penetrated by outside distractions.

Briefly, he surveyed his attire one final time. He kept obsessing about trying to maintain a low profile, and the clothes he had selected did suit where he was going. His flight would be taking him to Zepther, Michigan, one of the coldest cities in the United States. And, as it was well into winter, he had chosen wisely in bringing along a warm red jacket he had bought from one of the shops in another airport. Casual jeans covered his legs, and a t-shirt colored both green and black was on under the jacket. He tapped the ground once or twice to his breathing rhythm, causing the black military boots to clink against the tiled ground. This disguise will work like a charm. He smiled, and patted his untidy auburn hair with a gloved hand. In the seat next to him was a large duffel bag that housed all his earthly possessions, which he had opted to carry on the plane personally rather than risk trusting it to the airport staff. In addition to this piece of luggage, a guitar case was tucked smoothly between his feet under his seat. He mused over taking out the instrument to play a few notes.

Why not? He lowered his hands and picked up the black case from the ground, undoing the locks on the side. The guitar case opened to display his prized instrument: a black and silver behemoth of beauty. He lifted the sheen black surface to his lap, and traced his gloved fingers along the silver strings. He fine-tuned them, winding the silver strands into a perfect tightness for his style. He plucked a few cords to make sure that it worked all right, as he hadn’t played it for some weeks, and found the sound to be adequate.

Erin’s guitar sprang to life as the man played a few notes of a particular melody that he had been taught. She loved this song. For some reason, when he thought that, his eyebrows contracted around his sunglasses as though he was furious about something. It was probably his music, which always came out dull and lifeless, no matter how much effort he put into the song. I will never be able to breathe life into this music. Despite this discouragement, he continued to strum on the guitar for the remaining time he had left alone. Finally, when the intercom announced that his flight would leave in one hour, the first few passengers began to show up. Better put it away. Wisely, he returned the instrument to its case for later, bolting it shut and hiding it again behind his feet.

“Hey there, mister!” The man looked up, as he had not heard anyone take the seat to his right. He tilted his head to see a small boy sitting next to him, accompanied by others who appeared to be his mother and little sister in the seats beside him. The man smiled politely, and noticed that what he saw was mostly clumps of auburn hair due to his hair cascading over his sunglasses.

He brushed the hair out of his sight. “Hello,” he answered. This kid can’t possibly be older than ten. He wore a little red poof-ball hat, which did well in hiding his mesh of wild black hair. I wonder what that’s like. The boy was very excited to receive the man’s attention, since his mother was preoccupied with the younger child. “How are you doing today?”

The boy could not sit still in his seat. “Fine thanks.” Before he continued, he doubled back to check what his mother was doing. Seeing that she had not noticed that her son was speaking to a stranger, and was too busy keeping the little girl from wandering further than her lap, he turned back and extended his hand to the man. “My name’s Thomas,” he stated. “What’s yours?”

The man looked down at the child’s tiny hand for a moment, before he extended his own giant one to lightly grasp it. “My name is Tobias,” he answered, taking great care not to crush young Thomas’ fingers. “Is that your mother and younger sister?” The man named Tobias released the boy’s hand and pointed to Thomas’ family.

The boy looked back to them, then shook his head. “Nope. That’s Mommy, all right, but Kerry’s not my sis. She’s just my baby cousin,” Thomas explained. “Kerry and I are going to see Daddy this weekend in Zepther. Her mommy and daddy went to Virginia, so she gets to come with me.” The boy, filled with immense self-importance, puffed up his chest and broadened his minute shoulders. “Because I’m bigger, I get to be in charge on the plane, ‘cause Kerry’s never flown alone. I have to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.”

“I see…” Tobias glanced at the girl, who bore a definite familial resemblance to Thomas. Both, for example, had black hair and crystal blue eyes, and there was a roundness around both children’s cheeks. Thomas’ mother had these features too, though her chin was more refined and straight than the kids. I should probably stop talking to him. His mother wouldn’t like it. “Well, Thomas, I am sure that you will do a good job looking after your sister.” With that, he began to return to his own little world, but was stopped because the mother did notice that her son was speaking to a stranger.

Thomas’ mother was much calmer than most would have been if they found their children talking to someone they did not know. “I’m so sorry,” she said apologetically to Tobias for her son’s behavior. Then she turned to Thomas, and wagged her finger sternly at him. “Thomas, how many times to I need to say that you shouldn’t talk to strangers?”

“But he’s not a stranger, Mommy,” Thomas objected, and pointed at Tobias. “We introduced. We shook hands.” His mother, however thought differently on the subject, and opened her mouth to continue the lecture.

Oh boy… I’d better do something about this. Before Thomas’ mother could begin, Tobias held up his hand gently, as he did not wish to appear rude. “It’s perfectly fine Miss. Thomas wasn’t bothering me at all, he just wanted to talk to me.” The giant faked a smile. “Sorry for bothering you.” The mother was surprised at this, and even more so by the hand he offered to her. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“C-certainly,” she answered, a bit taken aback at his politeness. She altered little Kerry in her arms so that she could take Tobias’ broad handshake. “I’m Alex Harper.” She gave Thomas a begrudging glance for breaking her rules. “I’m sure you know my son Thomas, and this is my niece Kerry.” She jiggled the little girl in her other arm, prompting an excited gasp from Kerry.

“Tobias, Ms. Harper,” the big man answered as he firmly shook her hand, taking the same precautions as he had with her son to not break any of her bones. “Thomas here told me that he’s going to Zepther with Kerry.” The little kid nodded eagerly. “Are you traveling with them, Ms. Harper?”

Alex shook her head, replying, “No, I’m afraid I can’t. Thomas’ father works in Zepther, so we arranged it so he could go see his father for the week before winter break ends and he has to go back to school.” At the mention of the word ‘school’, Thomas blew a raspberry in disgust. “And since Kerry’s parents, my sister and her husband, had to go away for a couple of weeks, Thomas decided Kerry would go with him.” Kerry, at the mention of her name, clapped her hands. Alex blew a piece of hair out of her mouth before continuing. “I still have to work, so I can’t come with them. They’ll be looked after by security, and Thomas’ father will pick them up at the terminal.” Then, she leaned close to Tobias, and whispered, “Plus, I could use a week’s break to myself.”

Tobias chuckled appreciatively. “I understand completely, Ms. Harper. Even a moment’s solace from a rough day is good. I always make sure to have a little me time.” Alex giggled, and then smiled. Thomas looked around in confusion, as the big man had used far too many words he did not understand. Tobias was about to continue, but suddenly his jacket began to make a vibrating noise, followed by the telltale ringing of his cell phone’s idiotic ring tone. He paused, then requested, “Would you excuse me for a moment, Ms Harper?”

She nodded. “Of course, Tobias.”

“Thank you.” He then looked to Thomas. “Watch my seat for me, okay?”

“Sure thing, Tobias,” the little boy squeaked. Tobias stood up to his full height, and Thomas stared in amazement at Tobias’ tall figure. Still, he did not forget his mission, and moved to take the giant’s seat into his safekeeping. “Wow, Tobias. How’d you get so big?”

Tobias, because he had never been asked that question, simply shrugged and said, “Drink plenty of milk, and exercise.” Thomas did not reply, so the giant attempted to walk through the group of passengers who were already forming a line outside the gate entry way, even though the attendants had not started taking tickets. “Excuse me.” He bumped into someone with his elbow. “Pardon me.” Someone plowed into him, causing a domino effect that forced several people behind that someone to crash into one another.

“Watch where you’re going, lummox!”

“I said ‘pardon me’,” Tobias offered unapologetically, and exited the crowded area with haste, for if he remained there any longer his gigantic body was going to cause further problems. Tobias took out his cell phone, an aged machine by modern standards. Most people that saw it thought it archaic because it did not even come with now-standard features such as a camera or internet connection, but the giant admired it for its simplicity. He had to open it gently, as he had only bought it a few days ago, and did not feel like breaking it so quickly. It’s probably Ms. Urashima. Sure enough, the name Raziya Urashima was listed as the caller-ID. I think I’ll let the machine get it. As the phone died out, Tobias placed it to his ear to hear his message: “Hello, this is Tobias. I cannot come to the phone right now, so please leave a brief message at the beep.” He opened the voicemail so he could hear the message while it was being recorded.

“…Hello…? Tobias? Are you there? Eh… Okay. Well, I was sort of hoping to be able to actually talk to you before you got here, but whatever.” She sounds a lot like Erin, Tobias thought. “I just wanted to remind you of the address that you need to go to once you arrive. The store is called Comic Central. If you tell that to the cabbie the taxi will know where to go. Your bedroom has been emptied so that you can move in right away once you get here. I hope you don’t have too much stuff because it is just a one bedroom and a closet deal.” She laughed briefly. “We’ll finalize the terms and conditions of your rent and pay when you get here. I can’t wait to meet you. If what Erin told me is true, you’ll fit right in with me. I hope you live up to the hype! Bye!” The message ended after that.

“And…delete.” When prompted by the cell-phone’s generic computer voice, Tobias pressed down on the little red button on the left side of his phone to erase the message. She sounds like a handful. His business finished, he returned to his seat, this time by taking a round trip to bypass the large crowd of people waiting at the ticket counter. Out of the corner of his sunglasses, he noticed no less than five men in black suits, but thought nothing of it. Thomas, sighting the giant before he reached them, moved back over to his own seat and patted Tobias’ until the big man sat back down. “Thank you, Thomas.”

“You’re welcome Tobias,” the little boy answered, before he sneezed.

Tobias’ ears perked up when, as the intercom flared to life, they mentioned his flight. “Ladies and gentlemen, flight 243 to Zepther, Michigan is now boarding. We apologize for the delay.” Upon hearing this, Alex nodded to Thomas and Kerry. Both kids jumped down to the ground, and the boy shouldered his luggage: a small backpack with some sort of cartoon characters drawn on it. Kerry had no carryon.

“We’d better get moving…” Alex noted. The line began to move immediately, so Tobias followed their example by grabbing his duffel bag with his right hand and his guitar case in the left. “Would you like to wait in line with us, Tobias?”

“It would be a pleasure, Ms. Harper.”

The foursome headed to the back of the line, Tobias in front and Alex bringing up the rear, with both children supervised in the center. Kerry waddled next to her cousin, and Alex made sure she took no more than two steps away from her. Thomas stuck to Tobias’ shadow, and kept staring up to the glasses on the giant’s face. Both were quiet, Tobias’ favorite thing for children to be, while they moved towards the departure gate with the rest of the steadily progressing line.

Tobias walked forward when the attendant, a young man with an uninteresting face, announced that he should step up. “Ticket please,” he stated in monotone. Tobias rummaged through one of his coat’s pockets before producing the paper. The attendant glanced over it briefly, then tore off a stub and handed it back. “Here you go. Enjoy your flight.” Tobias thanked him and headed into the terminal. He stopped though, and waited for Alex to check Kerry and Thomas in. There was some confusion with Alex, but she produced a pass that allowed her to at least walk the children to the plane.

“Ready?” Tobias asked. Alex nodded and they led the children towards the plane. Tobias noticed that the terminal smelt very sterile and stale. Like always, another attendant was waiting at the plane door to check their tickets a second time. Before they boarded the plane though, Tobias paused while Alex said goodbye to her son and niece.

She hugged Thomas. “Okay, Thomas, you’re in charge now.” Her son nodded excitedly. “Kerry, keep an eye on your cousin for me, okay?” Kerry laughed and nodded, and Tobias noticed that she didn’t speak. “Your father will be waiting for you when you get off the plane, at the gate. Okay kids?” Both nodded. “Tobias will help you find your seats, right Tobias?”

Tobias smiled. “I will help them find their seats, and I’ll make sure that the stewardess knows that Thomas’ father will claim them at the gate.”

“Thank you, Tobias.” She made sure to give Kerry a hard squeeze before the attendant took their tickets, and the children followed Tobias into the plane. Tobias waved a farewell to Alex, and made sure that Kerry and Thomas both stayed close to him. Their seat numbers were relatively close to where his was. They were all seated near the back, with Tobias one row up.

Tobias’ hair just grazing the roof of the airplane, they attempted to get through the plane, no easy feat for anyone of the giant’s size. He had reservations on being able to even fit into the seat, given that his knees had been wedged into the back of the seat in front of him in his last flight. And that was an international flight. When they reached rows 29 and 30, Tobias jammed his guitar and his duffel bag into the overhead compartment above his seat. “Okay, kids, let’s get you into your seats.” Kerry, held firmly in place by a vice grip on her arm from Thomas, was placed in seat 30D with minimum difficulty, and Thomas willingly took his seat next to her. Tobias made certain that their seatbelts were fastened before he sat in his own seat.

When a stewardess came by, Tobias stopped her with a wave of his arm. “Excuse me, miss?” he asked, as she approached.

“Yes, sir?” she replied friendlily.

“See those two kids over there?” Tobias jerked his thumb behind him to indicate Kerry and Thomas. “The boy’s mother asked me to keep an eye on them for this flight, but they’re unaccompanied minors. The father is going to pick them up when we arrive in Zepther. Could you inform whoever’s job it is to know these things of that?”

“Certainly sir.”

As an afterthought, Tobias asked, “One more thing. Why was the flight delayed so long? I saw the plane in the gate long before we departed.”

“A special guest.” The stewardess smiled at the giant’s apparent confusion, and left after a slight bow. Tobias, having received no information, resigned himself to his seat, and hoped that whomever sat in front of him did not think badly of him. He was wedged in placed, despite all attempts to find wiggle room. Fortunately, both of the other people sitting in his row had already taken their seats, so he would not have to worry about getting up for anything other than an emergency.

After about fifteen minutes, everything seemed to settle down. Everyone had been boarded, and the flight attendants had taken their places at various intervals of the plane to begin their lecture about the various safety features of the plane. Tobias noted, out of the corner of his glasses, that neither Thomas nor Kerry were paying much attention, as Thomas had out what looked like a Game Boy and Kerry was watching avidly.

Tobias followed their example of ignoring the instructions of the attendants. Instead, he settled into his seat as best he could. Considering that he was seated in a coach seat, one of the vilest creations known to modern man, this was no easy talent for someone of his size. Well, at least I have plenty of time to consider my position. He needed time to think about that. And, as he did, his mind wandered to what he was carrying with him, stashed away in the overhead compartment among his belongings. Her gift to him. I really wish Erin hadn’t given me that thing. What does she expect me to do with it anyway? He decided to think about something else, so he turned his thoughts to Zepther, his new home. According to the internet, a device that Tobias in no way could use well, it was a relatively large city with a population of several million. I don’t like big cities. He was used to smaller communities, having spent a lot of time on the road. It’s also very cold.

With the safety demonstration over, Tobias heard the intercom die, then flare up again. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” announced the new voice. “That was our safety demonstration on the various features of safety our airline provides you, our wonderful passengers…”

Please take off.

“I’m your captain, Glen Quagmire…”

“And this is your copilot, Cleveland Brown,” said another, slightly calmer voice.

“We would like to welcome you aboard Flight 243 from O’Neil Airport, Illinois to Zepther, Michigan. We’re looking at a two hour flight thanks to some nice tailwinds and a great breeze coming up from the south. We’ll be arriving in Zepther at about a quarter to seven this evening.” There was a slight paused, followed by a continuation. “We’d like to apologize for the slight delay in getting everyone boarded. The plane needed a special inspection due to a special guest aboard our aircraft. Mayor Ariel Johnson of Zepther has joined us on our trip, so please make her feel welcome. We had to poke around to make sure everything was up to shape for the honorable mayor.”

So that was the ‘special guest’. Figures. Tobias sighed and rested his head against the top of his seat. Now that they mention it, I did see those guys in black suits. Must have been the mayor’s muscle. Mayor Johnson would probably up front in first class, a place that Tobias had wanted to sit, but his budget didn’t allow for. I’m pretty sure I could fit in those seats. In his ears, he could hear the engines beginning to start with a slight hum.

Let’s just get to Zepther already. I have work to do.

Total Word Count- 3832 Words

Part Two

Tobias silently swore at the redundancy of airplane flights. Despite the fact that he himself was responsible for his lack of entertainment, he still wished something would happen to relieve him from the distractions that surrounded him. He could listen to music, but that seemed like a bad decision. He had declined the stewardess’ offer to provide him with headphones for that very reason. I don’t get why people are so insistent about listening to such loud, annoying songs. They sound so lazy, everyone is either screaming or rap-speaking. Tobias just stared blankly into the seat in front of him, because in addition to this boredom, the entirety of coach seemed determined to prevent him from enjoying even a fraction of the silence he had enjoyed in the terminal. There was snoring, talking and, of course, about seven people who were unaware of the fact that he could hear their music from ten feet away.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the air was stale and disgusting. The air circulation was malfunctioning or something, because Tobias didn’t like the scent. It’s too warm and dry for my taste. At least it was cool, even if it wasn’t quite breezy.

Since they had taken off, the stewardess had been coming down the aisle every half an hour to offer drinks to everyone and pick up their trash. Tobias noticed her making her fourth trip down the plane as she left first class. She seems a little tired. Indeed, her blond hair was unkempt and her green eyes were a bit dull, but she still gave everyone a smile. Tobias noticed that, as she entered coach by way of the curtain that divided both sections, she hid away bottles of champagne in her trolley. Well, if I can’t afford first class, I guess I don’t get good hooch as punishment.

Tobias looked up when she reached his aisle. “Would you care for something to drink?” she asked.

In response, Tobias glanced at the two people sitting next to him: a married couple who were deeply involved with the nap they were taking. He tried to shrug, but the husband was draped on his right shoulder. “I’m going to guess a ‘no’ for them,” he offered sheepishly.

She giggled. “And what about you, sir?”

“Please, ma’am, don’t call me sir. I work for a living.” She laughed again. She’s nice… Eh, I suppose one drink wouldn’t kill me. “While I don’t drink alcohol, could I please have some Dr. Pepper?” In response she nodded, and her hand ducked into the trolley to grab a can for him. Tobias took it from her, along with a plastic glass to drink it in. Tobias glanced at the can in astonishment. It’s so tiny! It was so little he could barely hold it in his gigantic hands. The plastic cup was a joke, and he had to keep it in his thumb and pinky to not crush it. “You wouldn’t, by any chance, have anything slightly bigger? I don’t want to make a mess by breaking the can and spilling everything.”

“Unfortunately, no,” she answered, and shook her head apologetically. “We just have those tiny little things for everyone. Between you and me, I kind of wish we did have the regular cans. That way I wouldn’t have to go down this way every half-hour. It’s so dull. Plus, it might lessen my workload if we gave everyone larger servings. I wouldn‘t have to go down the aisle so many times.”

Tobias chuckled, and opened the tab of his soda can. “Now, while I agree that the cans could be bigger, especially for us giant folk,” the big man began, and took a slight sip of his drink, “I wouldn’t get your hopes up on decreased trips down the aisle. It’d probably just make everyone more eager to guzzle down caffeine.” Tobias then lifted the can to his lips and drained the soda in seconds. He then sighed, and looked at the small can. “Why do cup sizes always come in small, medium, and large? Why isn’t there a behemoth option for people like me?” He crushed the can with a few fingers and handed it back to the stewardess. “Here. That’ll at least save you an extra trip to my seat.”

The stewardess took the can from him, and he noticed a faint red graze her cheeks when his fingers briefly brushed against hers. “Now, while I appreciate the gesture, I wouldn’t get your hopes up on that,” she replied in turn, echoing what he had just said. Tobias smiled politely, and watched her as she moved passed him to continue her monotonous duties.

Approximately twenty minutes later, the snoring coming from the couple next to Tobias began to approach a loudness that the giant had previously used only to describe the deafening volume at rock-and-roll concerts. Their breathing has absolutely no soothing tone to it. There was also no polite way to resolve the noise, as Tobias understood that most people did not enjoy being rudely awoken by strangers. They sound terrible. Their snores combined gave off the impression that cattle were being slaughtered next to him, and a slight scent coming from them didn’t help the metaphor.

“Tobias?” Thankfully, a distraction to this horrible sound occurred in the form of Thomas, who had been standing behind him for a little while, his Game Boy in hand. The giant, only too happy to divert his attention from the noise his neighbors were generating, shifted in his seat to see what Thomas wanted.

“Yes, Thomas?” the giant asked. “What’s up?”

The boy held up his little game console. “I’m trying to beat this level for Kerry,” he explained, “but a monster in it keeps eating me up. Can you help me out?”

Tobias tried once again to shrug his shoulders, but failed. “To be honest, Thomas, I don’t really know how to play any video games,” he admitted. “I probably won’t be able to help you very much.”

“Please, Tobias. It‘ll only take two minutes…”

The giant sighed. “Well, I can try,” he answered. The little boy smiled as Tobias reached up to take the machine from him. Once again, the giant found himself inhibited by his size, for the little game console was in no way designed for people his size. “Uh…how do I play this? What buttons do I press?” The machine was designed like a clamshell: the playing screen on the tops and the controls on the bottom.

“You use the D-pad to move,” Thomas said, and pointed at a grey colored, lower case T on the left side of the console’s lower half. “Then there’s the A button, which makes you use a big bomb and stuff like that. And the B button next to it does a cool sword thingy.” Tobias positioned his thumbs were he had been told to, and waited for further instructions.

“O-okay,” he answered. “How do I make it start?” Thomas indicated a small grey circle at the bottom of the console which had the word “Start” printed below it. “Oh. Well, that seems obvious.” He pressed the button, and the action on the screen started up. Okay. You are much smarter than a video game. Now, what am I playing as? Tobias pressed the D-pad, and a small avatar on the screen started to move. Easy enough. It was some sort of guy, it looked kind of like an elf in green, and the avatar moved slowly. This game is in no way designed for people like me. He had to lightly tap on the controls to move the avatar, mostly because if he pushed it any harder the machine would probably break. Tobias also had to keep the screen relatively close to his face because the pixilated graphics were rough, though advanced for a handheld. The terrain around the avatar was some kind of earthy shape, so Tobias moved forward to find the monster that Thomas wanted help with.

“There it is!” Thomas exclaimed as Tobias entered a slight tunnel in the terrain design. “It’ll be at the end of this, so be ready.”

“Sure.” Tobias did as he was told and, as Thomas promised, a giant monster began to appear on the top of the screen. There it is…hey, is that a dragon? Tobias paused the screen and looked to the child. “What exactly am I supposed to do here?” he asked. Thomas shrugged.

“Tobias, if I knew that I wouldn’t be asking for help.”

“Touché, Thomas,” the other admitted, and resumed the game with a tap of the Start button. An action sequence began, in which the safe way behind Tobias‘ avatar was sealed off, leaving him trapped inside the cavern-like landscape with the beast. “That can’t be good.”

“That’s supposed to happen.”

“Oh.” Actually, it looks more like a lizard. Doesn’t have the wings of a dragon. The moment the action sequence ended, the giant lizard started to bounce around the screen, and Tobias was forced to dodge with his exceedingly slow avatar. After a few dozen bounces, the lizard stayed grounded, and turned towards the avatar to inhale air and, because of the suction force, the avatar itself. That doesn’t look good. The lizard began to spew fire at the avatar, the maneuvering around which proved to be an immensely difficult challenge. Then the boss began to settle down, which allowed Tobias to think tactics.

“Now what do I do?” he asked.

“I don’t know. This isn’t where I died, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what to do. The cycle keeps repeating, and I can’t figure out the boss’ weak spot, so I die each time.”

“I see…” The cycle repeated itself, and Tobias fiddled around with the controls to try and figure out the point of attack. He moved around to see if there was any sort of hidden trap and pressed the B button to use the sword, but it didn’t even dent the giant hide of the lizard. “Hey, Thomas, what did you say the A button did again?”

“That’s the one that lets you throw the big bombs,” the child answered. “Why?”

The monster started to inhale again. “Call it inspiration,” he chuckled. When the cycle repeated itself, Tobias readied one of the bombs, pressing the B button to make one appear in the avatar’s hands. He pressed it again while the creature inhaled, which it sucked up. Got you. A few seconds later, the monster exploded from within, and fell right on its back. “There,” he said, satisfied at his handiwork. “What should I do now?”

“Get close to the monster and hit him with the sword thingy!” the boy ordered. Tobias obeyed the child’s instructions and mashed the A button once he was within range of the giant beast, which was several times his avatar’s size. With each thrust of his sword, the beast made some sort of roar and flashed a red color when it took damage. Thomas, now very exited, extended his hand. “Now give it here!”

Tobias paused the action quickly. “It’s all yours, kid,” the giant said, and handed the console right back to him. “Come on back if there’s anything I can do to help you again.”

Thomas nodded his head. “Sure thing, Tobias!” he replied, before he rushed straight back to his seat to show his cousin his newfound mastery over the previously unbeatable boss. Tobias chuckled.

“Kids…” he murmured, and shook his head. He once again attempted to recline his chair. With Thomas gone, he was returned to the horrors of the snoring taking place beside him. Will this never end? Both the husband and wife were unstoppable, at least in volume, and the noise was beginning to vibrate through Tobias’ body. Okay, this needs to stop somehow. He surveyed them quickly. Both were rather large, even by the giant’s standards. The wife was draped against her husband’s side, and the folds of the gentleman’s left side was slumped on Tobias’ shoulder and right arm.

Let’s see… I could just shrug this guy off, but that might not be a good idea. Judging from the flab on the man, the husband probably outweighed him by about seventy pounds. And that’s not easy to do. I am a giant after all. But he really didn’t want to just throw him off, because that would result in both the couple’s heads conking together like coconuts. “But how do I wake them up…?” he pondered aloud, his voice masked by the noise. Hey, maybe Thomas and Kerry could come over here and…no, that wouldn’t work. If the couple had survived the exclamations of the little boy earlier, very little was going to wake them in the noise department.

“Would you care for something to drink?”

And then, his savior emerged. Tobias looked thankfully at the stewardess as she approached his seat, and mouth a “Thank you” to the lady. Okay, I have a plan. His strategy formulated, Tobias waited until she stopped the trolley, and grinned. Time to relieve myself of some serious volume. As carefully as he could, he tapped the gentleman with his mobile left arm. The man, completely engrossed with his nap, did not move, but Tobias’ efforts were not in vain. A light fart escaped in answer, and Tobias received the pleasure of a disgusting smell in addition to the vile noise next to him.

“I’ll try again,” he explained meekly to the stewardess, who was doing whatever she could to hold in a very obvious laugh.

Tobias aimed his finger properly the second time, and jabbed violently in between the man’s shoulder and neck. The husband woke with an angry yelp, and Tobias watched him swerve around like a dog searching for the origin of his wound. “Who disrupted my sleep?” he growled lowly to himself.

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Tobias answered, “but the young lady here was wondering if you wanted anything to drink.” He then nudged his head in the direction of the stewardess, who nodded along playfully.

The husband’s face changed from what appeared to be mild fury to a sudden thirsty look. “Yeah… Maybe. Hang on,” he slurred, still half-conscious. “Let me ask my wife…” He poked his spouse in her head, but found that it didn’t wake her. “Come on, honey, wake up.” He then pushed her off him, and she landed face first on the window.

“What?” she snapped at him, and Tobias thought for a moment the husband might die then and there.

“You want something to drink?” he asked casually, and Tobias thought him very brave for his daring.

“No!” she hissed, then resumed her nap.

The husband looked back to them and shrugged. “I guess not,” he muttered.

The stewardess smiled sweetly. “That’s okay,” she replied, then turned to Tobias. “And for you sir?”

Tobias smirked. “Thank you, but no,” he answered. “I’m still perfectly happy with what you gave me earlier.” He and the stewardess shared a knowing smile, and she left to continue down the aisle. Meanwhile, the husband and wife and settled down to resume their nap, only they were lying on one another, and on their sides, so the only sound Tobias could hear was gentle breathing coming from both of them. The man, however, was not quite out of it yet, so Tobias tapped him on the shoulder before he lapsed into total unconsciousness.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Would you mind keeping it down just a little?” Tobias requested, and flashed him a gentle smile. “Your snoring is beginning to bother me a little bit.”

The man nodded. “Sure thing,” he answered. “Sorry about any snoring. My wife’s got killer sinus problems. She’s been quite here, but she snores like a wildebeest when we’re at home.”

Tobias was slightly taken aback, and almost asked Really? aloud, but stopped himself just before he did, thinking it’d be rude. The husband, because he felt their conversation was over, draped himself over his wife again and fell right back to sleep. “Ah…” Tobias whispered, and closed his eyes. “That’s much better.” Though the silence that Tobias had so enjoyed at the airport terminal did not completely return, it was at least partially restored. My personal bubble isn’t being invaded anymore.

“Tobias?”

And then, as if to prove that perfect timing was nothing more than a lie, Thomas’ voice came up from behind him, probably with another game-related inquiry. The giant’s brows contracted briefly into his sunglasses. Help the kid. You said he could come back, so don’t get angry at him for following instructions. He relaxed, and turned back to look at the boy. He glanced at the console and grinned. “ Do you need some more help beating that game, Thomas?” he asked, then held out his hand to take the Game Boy.

“Yeah…” he admitted. “I thought that guy earlier was the big boss, but this one’s even harder!”

“Well, I’ll see what I can-”

BOOM.

For Tobias, time seemed to slow down. Beneath his feet, he watched as the whole plane began to rumble, and a great scraping noise invaded his ears. Sensing danger, Tobias immediately grabbed Thomas to protect him, as the boy wasn’t buckled down to anything. “Thomas, get down!” he roared. The Game Boy was forgotten as Thomas was lifted into Tobias’ lap, and the giant threw himself on the boy, protectively sandwiching him. What is going on?

Around Tobias, pandemonium began to break loose. People began screaming hysterically, the volume of which was beyond the levels of loudness that Tobias deemed tolerable. He heard a violent stamping of feet, but could see little to nothing because his face was pressed against his knees. The only thing he could see were various pairs of shoes stampeding from their owners’ chairs. The floor, because of the terrible turbulence, began to shift from a stable surface to an inclined slope which, when combined with so many panicking people, caused a downslide of bodies straight into first class. What kind of turbulence is this? It’s nothing like the normal bouncing thing that happens. This is like an explosion! Then he got more trouble, because the couple next to him suddenly thought that following everyone else’s example was a great way to make things easy for Tobias.

He groaned as they found out that he was unwilling to allow them to trample Thomas, and decided to climb over him in their haste to join everyone else. Nuts…they do weigh more than I do! It was hard, but Tobias managed to somehow keep them from crushing Thomas, who grunted under the small amount of pressure that unfortunately escaped from Tobias’ back. “Thomas,” the giant muttered, once they had removed themselves from his person, “how are you holding up?”

“Okay,” was the reply. “What’s going on?”

“Let’s find out.” Tobias lifted his head just in time to get batted by one of the yellow breathing apparatuses as it deployed from the plane’s emergency response system. Most of coach was empty, save of course for a couple of people who had been knocked out when the turbulence had hit. “This is some pretty bad turbulence but…” Tobias looked outside the window, “there aren’t any clouds here. I thought turbulence needed clouds.” However, once he got really close, he noticed that black smoke was coming from the right engine, along with a very noticeable fire. “That’s not good.”

“What is it?” Thomas asked, and rubbed his head. Somehow, he had taken a hit to the noggin, possibly when the couple had climbed over them.

“Engine’s blown.” The floor started to slant further. “We need to be careful about this, okay Thomas? You need to work with me, understand?” The kid nodded, and Tobias smiled. “Okay, first things first. We’ve got to find Kerry. Is she still in her seat?”

“Y-yeah… That’s where she was when I left her last.”

“Good.” Tobias undid his buckle and took Thomas’ hand. “Keep a tight grip on me, because no part of this is going to end well.” Thomas did as he was told, and both of them started for the aisle. The surface was still slanted but, because Tobias was properly oriented on the floor, both of them managed to properly walk on it. “Oh, that’s not good,” he muttered, as he noticed what had become of Kerry’s seat.

“Kerry!” Thomas screamed, and started running up the slanting floor. Tobias tightened his grip, and Thomas stopped.

“What did I just ask you to do, Thomas?” the giant reminded him. “Now, let’s see what we can do.” Kerry’s seat was still intact, but the others surrounding it weren’t. In their haste, the owners of the seats in front of and behind Kerry’s had broken them, welding them into a mass that trapped Kerry inside without any way to get out. Inside the seats, Thomas and Tobias could hear someone wailing in fear.

“Kerry!”

Tobias lowered his head and looked around. Apart from everyone that had been knocked out, the only people left in coach were himself, Kerry, and Thomas. I think it’s safe to help her. “Thomas,” he said, looking at the boy, “I want you to get into the first working seat you find, and buckle up right away. I’ll take care of this.” He approached the welding.

Thomas, far too terrified to do anything else, obeyed the giant’s request without reservation, and stuffed himself right back into Tobias’ seat. When the giant heard the belt buckle clip the child safely into place, he analyzed the best course of action. Five seats in all, counting Kerry’s. Two in front of her, and two behind. I just need to pry them off. “Okay, Thomas, Kerry, new rule. What happens here doesn’t leave here.”

“Why, Tobias?” Thomas asked.

“Because most people can’t do this.” And, with that, Tobias grabbed the first chair in front of Kerry and yanked it clean off the remainder of the chair with a loud clank. Tobias grunted, and tossed the chair away like a scrap of paper before he went to work on the second one. It took a little longer, because it was awkwardly twisted around Kerry’s seat, but Tobias managed to bend it back into its original shape and tear it away.

“Kerry.” The little girl was frightened beyond belief, and Tobias couldn’t really blame her. “Kerry!” She opened her eyes and quieted down as Tobias made certain that she was all right. “Kerry, listen to me,” he whispered in a calm, soothing tone, “the other two seats have jammed your seatbelt, which is going to be a little problem if I’m going to get you out. So I’m going to tear them off like I did these. Understand?”

The girl nodded. “Duck and cover, Kerry,” Tobias advised, so the girl balled up as best she could under the conditions. Tobias headed behind her and grabbed each seat with one hand. “Here we go!” He grunted and, like a strongman, pulled both seats back. He even made it look easy, because of his strength. Kerry giggled once she was free, and Tobias made certain that her safety belt was still intact.

“Okay, Thomas, get back in your seat and duck and cover just like Kerry. Everything’s going to be fine.” Thomas rushed over the moment he was allowed, and Tobias moved away to allow the cousins to verify one another’s safety. “Thomas, in the chair,” the giant reminded the kid, who had not done so.

“Sure, Tobias,” he replied, and leaped up next to Kerry.

“Good.”

“Now what are we going to do?” With the rush of saving Kerry gone, Thomas returned to panic. The giant practically saw the boy’s heart rate accelerate, and watched the transition from adrenaline-fueled to saddening fear. “Tobias,” he began, and the slightest of tears began to emerge on his face. “What are we going to do?”

Got to do something. Tobias lowered his face to his chest, and considered his position. I have to do something. Thomas began to wail, and Kerry joined him as their fear began to approach the breaking point. I need to do something. And then, Tobias thought of the gift that Erin had given him, the one lying in wait in his baggage. Is that what you want me to do, Erin? Is that why you gave me that thing?

I want to do something.

“Thomas, Kerry, stop crying.”

The children blinked, and looked up at the giant in surprise, astonished that he could be so calm amidst such chaos. Overhead, the dim voice of the captain could be heard crackling on the loudspeaker. “Mayday, Mayday! This is Flight 243 from O’Neil Airport requesting emergency assistance! We have one engine blown on the right side of the aircraft, and because of the explosion our landing gear won’t work! We can’t stabilize! Send any and all help available!” This announcement did not help matters, and both kids were still wailing.

“Kids, stop crying!” The giant clenched his brow and gritted his teeth. So, this’ll be the plan, right Erin? This was the big picture you mentioned. “We’re going to be fine, guys. I don’t want you to worry about a thing.” Erin, you could have at least asked me when you gave me that thing. You know I would have done it. His hands clenched into fists. I really don’t have much of a say in this.

“But, Tobias, how are we going to get out of this?”

“Thomas, look at me.”

What happened next, Thomas would forever remember. Thomas’ fear was lost to him as he watched the transformation that began in Tobias’ face. The kind, gentle giant that had spoken to him in the terminal started to disappear, and what replaced it was far more terrifying than any plane crash. It wasn’t a scary face, but it made his spine tingle all the same. The smile that made Tobias seem so friendly vanished, and his lips became a hardened line. It looked like Tobias had taken off a mask. His eyebrows contracted too, almost as if the unseen eyes beneath his glasses had become vacant and blind. Thomas whimpered as Tobias’ jaw became more pronounced through bulging muscles that started to become more noticeable. Thomas hadn’t noticed it earlier, but in addition to being extremely tall, Tobias had the muscle to back it up, something that had been hidden underneath his baggy clothing.

“I know you are scared.” Thomas heard the giant’s voice change. “But there are people out there who can save you. There is always someone who can save you.” With each passing word, Tobias’ voice altered from a kind and pleasant tone to a harsh and tough monotone. “That person needs to be you, Thomas. If you aren’t willing to save yourself, then you can never expect someone to help you.”

Thomas hiccupped, then brushed away his tears. “O-okay, Tobias.” Then he looked away from the giant to Kerry. “What should I do?”

Tobias then chuckled, and made Thomas hold his little cousin’s hand. “You need to do what you promised your mother you would.” His glasses stared at both of them. “Protect her, protect each other, and you will be protected in return.”

Thomas nodded. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Kerry looked up and whispered, “You promise?” The little girl clutched her cousin tightly.

Tobias nodded, then he stood up to his full height. “I guarantee it, Kerry.” His head clear, Tobias turned away from the children to the overhead compartment above his seat. The children’s fear is gone, replaced by hope. Tobias opened the latch, and withdrew the duffel bag containing Erin’s gift.

“What are you going to do, Tobias?” asked Thomas from his seat.

Tobias had to shuffle through the bag because, when he unzipped it, he remembered that he had placed the gift at the very bottom. His other clothing was hiding what he was searching for. So he threw the shirts and pants out of the way, digging until he found it. He passed by his toiletries and his possessions. The plane lurched as it began to tip downwards even further. There isn’t much time left!

Then he found it.

It was a small, black box resting at the very bottom, with the words To Tobias written on a tag. Tobias hesitated for a moment, before snatching up the box and tucking it under his coat. There isn’t much time left. Tobias knew that they were descending at an even faster speed, he only had a short time before the plane crashed into the airport.

“What are you going to do?”

Tobias had forgotten that Thomas had addressed him not once, but twice. The giant turned to the small child and said calmly, “I will keep my promise to your mother. I will protect you and Kerry.” He nodded his head once, then proceeded up the slanted walkway to the bathroom. If I’m going to wear this, I can’t let anyone see me in it.

Now, though, it was safe, because most of coach had been emptied by the explosion. Because people were so insane and panicky, they had abandoned their seats and their senses the moment after the explosion occurred, all under the impression that by not following the exact instructions of the earlier safety demonstration they would be perfectly fine. And, because the plane had become slanted, they rolled like dominos into first class.

Once he reached the bathroom, he looked around to make certain that no one was watching him, then grabbed the handle of the door. Though he tried to open it, it was jammed in place. Okay, we do this the hard way. Tobias drew back his free hand and smashed the door down with a single punch. It crumpled easily, and the giant forced his way through the remnants. Got to change. The bathroom was dank and smelly, but Tobias ignored the stench. He threw the box onto the toilet bowl and slammed the broken door shut behind him.

The giant immediately threw off his jacket and his shirt before stuffing them behind the toilet. “Let’s do this,” he muttered, tossing off his sunglasses. In the mirror, he saw himself tear apart the box, grasping at the black cloth within. A rough shirt, colored black and sleeveless, he forced on his chest. It was tight, and displayed his muscles rather prominently. Next, he reached for a mask that Erin had made for him, a faceless cowl that would hide his true identity. It will make me look like a devil. He pulled it over his face, and it covered everything, from his mouth and his next to his ears. Everything save his hair. Then, the final piece of the uniform came out of the box.

The eye stared back at Tobias, the symbol that Erin had made for him. It was black, with a green center and outlines. She had fashioned it as a belt buckle, so that was where Tobias clipped it to. The eye stared from his waist, and Tobias saw his reflection in the mirror, right before he left the bathroom. He looked monstrous, like a demon of darkness. Okay, Erin. I’m using your gift. With his gloves, which stretched now to the center of his forearms, he brushed his auburn locks out of his line of vision, and smashed through the door.

The door broke apart easily now that he had released his strength, and he stepped through into pandemonium. Beeps issued from the emergency system of the plane, and he noticed out of the corner of his mask that a trolley was rolling down the aisle into first class. But his world was quiet, and when he stepped forward, his boots left dents in the fragile floor. I will have to engage the landing gear from the outside. But he was in a pressurized cabin, and breaking that would result in everyone being sucked out.

He had almost reached the emergency exit, but heard a scream from behind him. He turned his cowl, and saw the stewardess from before trapped beneath some debris. But she wasn’t screaming in pain, but in fear. He saw it in her eyes. Tobias approached her, but she shrank away as well as she could.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked. “Stop this!”

Tobias disregarded her comment, interested only in doing his duty. She was crushed underneath a second trolley and what appeared to be a cupboard. Tobias lowered himself to her level, and took hold of both sides of the heavy trolley. With a grunt, he pushed it off her in moments, and broke apart the cupboard with a swipe of his fist. The stewardess, confused, needed to be hoisted up by the giant before she understood she was being rescued.

“Get to the front of coach,” he ordered her. “Then, buckle up, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. Understand?” She had just enough sense to nod her head, so Tobias returned to his original task of getting out of the plane. Now it is time to see the full extent of how far my abilities will go.

Erin had called it a ‘gift’, what he could do. But, as he had only been in control of it for a short amount of time, Tobias did not know exactly how far he could take it. Like most things, it took focus, so Tobias calmed his mind in order to call upon the gift. Go to work. Tobias watched as the change began along his skin, which started to bubble on his command. The color tone changed, altering from a light tan to iron grey, beginning at his shoulders. The grey spread, causing his arms to take on a whole new appearance. It trailed down in small rivers, covering his body in the ooze. In only moments, the transformation was complete, and Tobias looked to be made entirely of metal. Good. Now for the hard part. Tobias rotated his neck, cracking the bones within, and popped the bones in his knuckles. Each time, it sounded like steel snapping.

“E-excuse me.”

The stewardess. “What?” Tobias spat at her, deliberately trying to frighten her. Does she not understand that I am trying to help her? Why would she try to bother me?

The stewardess blinked in fear at the dark man, but still mustered up the courage to speak. “W-what are you going to do?” she asked. Tobias was getting tired of that question, especially since it was the third time he had been asked it within the span of only a few minutes.

“I’m going to save you,” was his simply response. Then, not wanting to give the stewardess a chance to respond, Tobias smashed both his fists into the emergency exit door. “Get out of my way.” With that, the metal-like ooze began to spread like an infection from his arms, pumping into the structure of the door. I need to shield everyone for when the airlock is breeched. Without enough metal, everyone will be sucked out, but with this, the cabin should remain pressurized long enough for me to land this heap of junk! Tobias added mass and density to the door, hardening it. The ooze spread out, covering the entire door quickly. The stewardess, who Tobias knew had not moved, continued to watch in utter fascination as it began to work.

With the door completely coated, Tobias began the next stage of his plan. Envelop me. The metal struck out at its master, merging itself past Tobias and forming a tiny bubble for Tobias to work in. The bubble had neither light nor air, but the giant didn’t miss either very much. The metal left the door and passed over Tobias’ body, creating a shield behind him. Relocate to my shoulders. The origin points of the metal began to slink up from Tobias’ forearms to his upper arms. “And…now!” With his arms free, and a secure connection to the shield, Tobias released the emergency lever on the door.

The door blew open in half an instant. The inflatable yellow slide used for emergency landings blew open below, but Tobias remained grounded in the small portion of the floor he stood upon. “Let it begin.” Because his arms were still coated with the metal sludge, Tobias had no difficulty fashioning claws to move around on the airplane’s hull. Metal dripped in rivers to his fingers, hardening once enough density was attained. When Tobias was reasonably certain that his claws had enough strength to keep a grip on the airplane, he began to climb, grappled to the side of the craft.

It was easily in the negative degrees Fahrenheit, but Tobias did not feel the chilling cold that would have frozen an ordinary man. Instead, he felt nothing as he climbed towards the center of the plane. Nothing. Briefly, he checked to make certain that his tendril was reasonably connected to the shield, and added length to it when he needed to. He continued to climb, and his fingers dug into the hull with loud screeches every time, until he reached the top, and planted both his feet on it.

From his mask, he could see that he had arrived just in time. The ground was getting closer, and he could make out individual plots of land beneath him. Out in the distance, he saw the fast-approaching dot that was Zepther’s airport. The plane was not stabilized, and the axis of symmetry was off. I have to equalize both sides before the landing gear will even work.

Tobias crouched on the plane and dug into the hull with his claws. The ooze transformed from the hardened nails into the harmless sludge and seeped around the surface of the airplane, aiming directly for the wings of the airplane. He would forcibly alter the edges of both wings to get an even surface. Then, once the plane was stable and stopped its rapidly descending course, he would open the landing gear with the metal and land the plane as best he could at Zepther.

As the metal began to worm its way into the wiring and construct of the craft, though, something caught Tobias’ attention. Or, to be more specific, somethings. He turned his head to see something heading towards the plane from the west. So that’s why the plane didn’t blow up outright. Tobias had thought it suspicious that anyone would blow up a portion of an airplane rather than destroy it completely. They want something. Or someone. Then it clicked. They’re after the mayor. The plane would have been demolished, but the mayor would have been counted among the deceased while they kidnapped her. “Well, that will not be happening,” he muttered.

The terrorists’ aircraft was painted black, and was designed very much like a fighter jet, though it was much smaller than the ones Tobias had seen. It had a three man cockpit, and Tobias noticed that everyone in the cockpit was sporting rather flamboyant costumes. Two men, one woman. He also saw the emblem on the side of the aircraft as it drew closer: a yellow upside down triangle with a line through the top.

“Bring it on.”

Word Count- 6547
Total Word Count- 10,379

Part Three

The air surrounding him was cold, something Tobias knew was not good for his metal. I have to be careful. If the metal gets too cold I will be in trouble. The wind roared in his ears, but that was expected. I am thousands of feet up in the air after all. The one good thing about the wind was that it kept his hair out of his line of vision, and that was barely helpful. I still can’t see exactly what it is my metal is doing. From his position by the top wing, he could only see a very broad view of how his metal was altering the wings. From the tear he had created in the hull, his metal had spread to slink into the main systems of the aircraft. I probably do not have enough metal to force the mechanisms to operate but, if I concentrate hard enough, I can definitely repair the circuits the pilots need to engage the landing equipment and stabilize the plane.

Concentration, hard enough to maintain in his current situation, was something that he had very little of. As he worked, he could see the secondary aircraft he had spotted veering towards the plane. I do not recognize that symbol. The emblem painted on the side of the jet didn’t denote relation to any search and rescue team that Tobias had ever seen. But why a golden triangle? “Does not matter,” he muttered, and prepared for the inevitable. If they attempt to board, I will have to deal with them. The jet, as he predicted, began to draw nearer, and Tobias got a better view into the cockpit of the aircraft.

Tobias saw immediately that the three people inside looked ridiculous. And I thought Erin’s gift made me look terrifying. They make me look impeccable. All three wore the emblem advertised on their jet proudly on their chests, but that was where the similarities between the costumes ended. The one woman, for instance, had on an outfit of bright yellow, with raven-black hair. Another, who sat behind the woman, was encased in some sort of black armor, with yellow eyes. And the last one, who sat in front, wore all blue, save in his gloves and collar, which were bright white. If I am close enough to see them, they are close enough to see me. Tobias watched the woman pilot the jet closer to the airplane and engage the autopilot. That is not a good sign. As if to confirm Tobias’ mental statement, the cockpit opened up literally side-by-side with Tobias’ position.

Tobias had just managed to enter the circuits designed to alter the flaps and spoilers on the wings when the terrorist craft’s crew burst out of their seats by ejecting. Here they come. Be ready. The attack was well orchestrated, for they did not come immediately after him like a herd of charging buffoons, but rather leapt to previously-arranged assigned positions. The one in the black armor jumped to a position no less than ten feet from where Tobias was crouched, and dug into the plane’s hull with his hand to ground himself, while the blue one grabbed hold of a wingtip spoiler as he landed on the plane. As for the woman, Tobias watched her simply fly alongside the plane, possibly to assist the other two if they fell. Not one of them spoke, and Tobias sensed that all six eyes were trained on him. How dare they? They are judging me like a piece of meat. Because they didn’t seem to be bothering him, Tobias resumed his work to reconnect the circuits in the craft’s system. Because there wasn’t enough strength to fuse the wires, Tobias added additional density so the task would be completed quicker. Relocate points of exit to upper arms. A fight was coming and, even though Tobias couldn’t feel it in the air, he could certainly sense the hostilities of the terrorists against him. I’ll need full use of my arms. Once the metal was connected by tendrils to his biceps, Tobias righted his stance to face the terrorists properly.

About a minute after the terrorists landed, they began to talk. The woman, clearly the leader for the mission, began issuing orders towards the others. “Bluestreak!” she shouted, and Tobias found it interesting that she could raise her voice above the screeching winds surrounding them. “Get inside the plane and get the mayor!” The one dressed in blue on the wing nodded his head fiercely, and started to crawl towards the windows. “Titanus!” This time, the armored man in front of Tobias snapped up. “Deal with the guy! I’ll cover you if you fall!” Tobias barely noticed their orders, far too busy networking the circuits together. After a little while, the pilots inside must have gotten the idea that they could fly again, because the plane started to level out. Now I just have to make sure my connection isn’t disrupted. Without the metal, the pilots won’t be able to fly again. But his work wasn’t quite done, because the landing gear didn’t work either, which would require even more metal to fix.

I still have time for that. Already his metal was worming its way through the electrical systems to mend the damage done to the wheels. I need to take care of these terrorists though. The woman had stopped floating above the plane, and was now flying right beside her partner on the wing, Bluestreak. Or whatever his brilliantly original name is. He needed to keep them from getting inside and breaking the airlock he was working so hard to keep in place. Meanwhile, his distraction Titanus getting very eager to follow his instructions.

“Okay, Truth!” he shouted back, in a very distinctive accent.

A southerner all the way in Michigan? They are not local. He began by grounding his feet into the hull of the plane, leaving footprints in the steel, and putting up his dukes. The armor he was wearing completely hid the user, but Tobias could discern Titanus’ talents from a mere glance. Boxer type. He also has the muscle distribution of someone who wrestles American style. His upper body is more developed than his lower half.

“So,” Titanus muttered, as he began to approach the stationary giant, “what’re you supposed tah be? Ya look like a bad Halloween costume.”

I hate banter. Why does everyone assume that, just because you are wearing a uniform, that suddenly makes it all right to make terrible jokes? Tobias did not dignify Titanus with a response verbally, and instead shifted his feet into a more comfortable position. He had to be ready for the lummox, even if he did have a slight advantage over the other black-clad warrior. I am the only completely grounded individual on this plane. You cannot knock someone over the edge when you are connected to the fighting platform.

“Not much of a talker, are ya?” his opponent asked, this time in a more menacing tone. He took a step forward, as if to assert his dominance. “You afraid of me?”

“No,” Tobias answered in a low growl, just audible enough for Titanus to hear him. If it will help speed this along… “I just find your costumes far too repugnant to even find words for. I have been too busy suppressing my gag reflex to communicate with you.” Could we please skip the talking and get to the part when I beat you up? “Furthermore, I dislike those who speak rather than act. It will lead you nowhere.”

Tobias could not determine Titanus’ emotions underneath his armor, but he imagined them to be something very akin to rage, because the suit began to shake and Titanus’ fists began to clench. “I seem to have made you angry,” the giant taunted, as he wanted to get the nuisance out of his sight to deal with the more pressing issue of landing the plane. “My apologies. I did not think you intelligent enough to understand me. You have proved me wrong.” Tobias hissed out the last few words. There. If that does not make him angry enough to attack me, nothing will.

Tobias’ words visibly stung Titanus, for with each syllable the giant noticed the armored gentleman lower his head more and more, and the muscles beneath the black suit pop additional muscle. Finally, Titanus’ face flashed, and the man rushed Tobias in a complete disregard for his own safety. “Ah’ll show you!” he screamed at the giant, and threw a heavy punch right into Tobias’ face.

Fortunately for Tobias, this was very easy to read. His engorged muscles make it so simple to see what he will do. Indeed, because Titanus was so angry, he failed to properly shield his movements from his opponent, and paid the price. Tobias, despite being connected thrice to the aircraft, dodged him with a brief sidestep to the right at the last moment. Titanus’ arm went wild, and stuck violently at the air where Tobias had been standing only an instant previous.

“Too slow, little boy,” Tobias whispered, just as Titanus’ left ear passed his face. With his limbs free, the giant extended his leg just enough to trip Titanus. Now, momentum will take its course. Because Titanus weighed so much, and it showed in his footsteps, the young man found himself completely unable to balance his body in time to prevent a fall. Tobias then lowered his left elbow onto Titanus’ exposed neck. Titanus, armor and all, smashed hard into the plane’s exoskeleton.

Now to give that girl something to do. Tobias did not grab Titanus, for he was too heavy for even the giant to lift, but he kicked Titanus to the gut before the armored man could recover. The wind firmly knocked out of him, Titanus began to slip over the edge of the flat top of the plane. I guess the suit, even if it is difficult to damage, does little to prevent recoil damage. “Hey, girl!” he shouted to the woman Titanus had referred to as Truth.

Truth and Bluestreak had been busy attempting to gain access inside the cabin. So far, their bid to kidnap the mayor had been unsuccessful, but Tobias did not want to leave them alone long enough to find any entry point. Truth turned and gasped, just as Titanus tumbled off the side, clutching his stomach. “Better rescue him! It’s a long way down!”

“Dennis!” she cried, and swan-dived down to recover his body. Bluestreak watched this transpire, then heightened his gaze to Tobias, who was glaring at him in the same style of a man in utter disgust.

“What are you looking at?” Bluestreak yelled at Tobias.

I find that rather ironic, considering my mask’s design. The faceless mask continued to glare at Bluestreak as he neared the windows of the airplane, and Tobias started to walk across the plane towards the wing. Once I get rid of him, I should be able to deal with the landing gear without anymore trouble. Titanus was heavy, and it would take Truth some time to handle him.

“You,” he growled. Tobias didn’t want to go down onto the wing because it would cause additional weight problems. The plane is going to destabilize if I do not remove him from the wing. Instead of attacking Bluestreak head on, Tobias lifted his arm to generate a new tendril from his metal. I will nick him on a pressure point. The pain should force him to fall, and that will cause more problems for Truth. Maybe enough to give me the amount of time I need to start the landing gear. Once the tendril had enough density, Tobias lowered his arm like a rifle. He needed to take careful aim so as not to damage any of the plane’s equipment. Fire.

The tendril exploded from his arm like a bullet, aimed directly at the meeting point of Bluestreak’s shoulder and neck. But the shot, while it traveled with the speed of a bullet, was too slow for Bluestreak. A hitherto-unseen skill emerged, in which Bluestreak shifted his whole body quickly enough to evade Tobias’ strike. The giant’s vision barely caught Bluestreak’s movements. It looked exactly like a blue…streak.

“Nice try, dummy,” Bluestreak retorted, grinning with all of his pearly whites. “How about you try hitting me at a speed a turtle might have trouble with? Be a whole lot faster than that attack!” Tobias did not answer.

Arrogant punk. Tobias attacked again and again with the tendril, but failed to land a successful hit. Again and again he missed, and was taunted by Bluestreak for his sloth attack speed. How about you be quiet now? Beneath Bluestreak, Tobias began to add density to one of the little wires that was connecting the pilots to the wing flaps, giving it enough length to move on its own away from the circuit system. He didn’t want Bluestreak to see it though, so he made sure to keep the man’s attention focused solely on dodging the visible tendril above him.

“That all you got, Metalhead?” Bluestreak inquired, then laughed at the clever nickname. “Come on, give me a challenge here!”

“How is this?” Tobias asked, then jabbed the arrogant youth right in the small of his back. Bluestreak’s eyes weren’t visible, but the pain he experienced was established through the shout of surprise that escaped his lips. “Good night.” Tobias smashed Bluestreak right in the jaw with the visible tendril, which caused unconsciousness in most humans but only extreme pain in the boy’s case. Bluestreak lost his grip on the plane and fell, just as Titanus had done before him. That will keep them busy. Having temporarily disposed of his opponents, Tobias retracted the tendril he had used to attack Bluestreak into his arm and the second one into the plane, where it fused and added density to the other wires.

Below him, Tobias could see the nearing ground very clearly. They couldn’t have been more than a few miles away from the airport. I need to get the landing gear operational now. He reverted his attention to manipulating his organic metal, which by now had wrapped itself all around the wheels in preparation to reconfigure the wires. This will be more difficult than the wings. When the engine had exploded, it had caused little damage to the wings and their mechanics other than disrupt controls, but fragments of the engine had smashed up a vast amount of circuits below the plane, several of which were needed to make the wheels work.

Okay. Take it slowly. Carefully add plenty of mass and density where needed, and reconnect the wires so the pilots can activate the landing gear. Little by little, he pulled the wires back together, using the conductive metal to transfer electricity between broken pieces where needed. He himself wasn’t electrocuted, thanks to the fact that he only used his metal as the medium, and it moved quickly from one wire to the next. It is done. I hope the pilots realize that. Which they did, apparently, because soon after the landing gear began to open, and everything was ready for landing.

Thud.

Something connected with Tobias’ face or, to be more specific, his right cheek. The giant turned around, and saw that he was completely surrounded by three very unhappy spandex wearers. Truth was hovering above him, eyes ablaze in fury, which was understandable considering the work she must have had to do to get both Titanus and Bluestreak back to the plane. Titanus was holding his gut with one hand, with the other braced into a fist. Bluestreak looked the least pleasant, as a large bruise had already begun to develop around his mouth, turning it from chocolate colored to an unhealthy purple.

“Round two?” Tobias asked, almost casually. They nodded eagerly, and Tobias readied himself. With all the circuits in place, I can devote myself to thoroughly beating the pulp out of them until they leave the plane alone. “Okay then.” And when I foil your kidnapping attempt, the police can arrest you when we arrive at the airport. Every single one of the kidnappers assumed some type of defense stance.

“Careful guys,” Truth warned from above. “He’s dangerous.”

“Ya don’t need to tell us dat,” Titanus grumbled. Bluestreak nodded in agreement.

Bluestreak was the first to attack, simply because he was the fastest. Now that the plane was at a lower altitude, they didn’t need to keep such a tight grip on the aircraft, as it was traveling at a much slower speed. Tobias did not see it, but he guessed that from the blue afterimage that the speedster left behind that Bluestreak ran up behind him to attack. Typical. Tobias’ arms ceased to move as Bluestreak wrapped himself around the giant to hinder his movements.

“Now!” Truth commanded, and Titanus shot forward, this time certain that his attack would connect. Tobias knew what to do though, and quickly generated additional metal to protect his chest, the point of attack that Titanus’ muscles revealed that he would aim for. From his chest, metal hardened quickly, because it did not have to travel a great distance. It amassed quickly, and hardened just as Titanus struck.

Smash.

Tobias didn’t move one inch. His feet still grounded into the plane, he couldn’t even if he had wanted to. But the metal upon his chest, while it was not visible to anyone, was what had created the echoing crack. Tobias watched, as if in slow motion, while Titanus’ fist connected with his chest. But the moment it did, however, physics came into play. With every action comes an equal and opposite reaction. And, because Titanus had not put enough action into his punch to produce the intended reaction, Tobias’ metal caused the armor that Titanus, or Dennis, as Tobias had heard Truth call him, wore to crack at the knuckles. And now, the recoil. Titanus was thrown back by the force of his own punch, and landed flat on his behind in front of the metal giant.

“What the…” Tobias interrupted Bluestreak’s reiteration of what had just happened by deciding to remove the speedster from his person. Tobias drew his head forward and, moving the metal from his chest to the back of his head, smacked Bluestreak in the forehead with a resounding metal ping. The head butt caused Bluestreak to lose interest in holding Tobias down, and he crumbled without resistance to the ground, from whence he did not move. Truth did not move, but Tobias saw her eyes bulge in shock.

“I guess that leaves you and me, Truth,” the giant murmured without emotion. “Your backup didn’t do much to accomplish your goals, so I suggest you leave right now.” He glanced down at the two unconscious terrorists with indifference. “I will even let you take them with you. Just get back in the jet and leave.”

The lady, however, had a lot more spunk than Tobias originally had given her credit for, because she stood her ground in defiance of the giant’s order. Well, standing her ground might be an overstatement, considering she isn’t doing it physically. Truth hovered about a dozen feet out of Tobias’ reach.

“We Starbolts don’t back down quite so easily, tough guy,” she retorted defiantly.

These guys are called the Starbolts? Really? “Truth, that is a ridiculous name for an organization,” he answered harshly. She has a hard time concealing her emotions. I need to provoke her to attack me like I did the others. “Originality in naming was clearly not in your organization’s founding bylaws.” Have to build up the metal so I can reach her. The additional metal, currently located at the back of his head, began to slink down his body, over his glove and into his right hand. It took the appearance of a giant silver growth on his palm. “But Truth, if you are trying to save face for your little club by challenging me, than I am afraid it will not work.” And now, the final touch. “I am much more powerful than anything you could do to me. Look what I did to your friends.”

Truth huffed with indifference, though Tobias could tell from the shaking in her arms that his words had struck a cord with the Starbolt. “We’ll just see about that, Metalhead!” she shouted at him. But she held herself in check, and kept her distance to judge him. Tobias stared at her through his cowl, and tried to figure out what her motive was this time.

Then, he sensed something strange occurring inside his body. Something is trying to poke around inside my brain. Indeed, though Tobias could not feel the actual prodding, Truth was nonetheless attempting to dig through his cerebellum. Good luck with that. Tobias had nothing to fear, so he continued to collect metal into his hand for his attack. “That isn’t going to do you any good, Truth,” he murmured aloud. “You will not find anything.” Why is she wasting her time trying to read my mind? Has she not figured out that my skin is not the only thing about me cast from metal? Eventually, once Truth figured out that whatever she was looking for wasn’t going to be found, she retracted the mind search, and Tobias saw a change of expression in her face. She changed from confident and stubborn to terrified. He saw it in her eyes, she looked like someone in utter horror at what she had discovered.

“What…what are you?” she spat at him, and Tobias noticed a heightening of her voice’s pitch. “Why can’t I sense anything from you?”

In response, Tobias snarled at her. “What are you babbling about, little girl?” Okay, I have enough metal. Now compress into a little ball. The growth mutated and shifted, and transformed into what looked like a very deflated ball in his palm. Tobias kept working with it, and it eventually began to shape into a perfect sphere, no larger than a marble. Then he added to it, making certain that it gained no mass but increased immensely in density. When it is hard enough, prepare to launch. It was nearly ready too, because Truth had wasted a good thirty seconds trying to scan his mind, which it seemed she was still trying to comprehend what she had discovered. Just a little more time.

“Why isn’t there any emotion?” Truth shouted, nay, demanded, of Tobias. The giant was silent, and watched as bright yellow bolts began to materialize in the lady’s hands. “What is wrong with you?” She was getting angrier, probably from the strange malfunction of her powers but also from the defeat of her fellow terrorists.

And it is finished. Tobias unveiled his palm, which he had been hiding from the terrorist, and displayed the single marble in his hand, connected to him through lithe strands of iron branching from his arm over his glove. Truth issued a violent exclamation, and hurled her bolts down upon Tobias. Now to deflect those attacks.

The metal branched out of its ball form to create a circular shield, converting density into mass. It actually looked more like a mirror, which was what Tobias had in mind when he had mentally crafted it. It was still forming as the bolts struck it, and they actually forced Tobias to take a step back from the impact shock, but they were too weak to even dent the solid steel. These attacks were either formed improperly, or they just did not have the kinetic force to break my metal. Tobias forced the kinetic spheres back, and they launched right back at where Truth happened to be hovering, forcing her to dodge or be hit by her own attack.

“Take a wild guess, Truth, as to why you cannot sense any of my emotions,” Tobias stated, then began to alter the metal yet again. The shield contracted rapidly back into its marble shape. Strike her bluntly. I want her alive for the police. The marble exploded into a giant bolt of Tobias’ own design. Instead of expanding it, Tobias kept it in its exact spherical shape, but shot a single tendril from it. The intense density of the ball was enough to force the tendril upwards at tremendous speeds and, because Tobias had excellent vision, the tendril bashed Truth in a pressure point in the direct center of her forehead. It did not draw blood, but it would certainly leave a very noticeable bruise. The shock of the attack caused Truth to lapse out of consciousness, which was a slight problem. She cannot fly if she is not awake to move her body. Tobias immediately wrapped the tendril around her waist to prevent her from falling off the battlefield, and drew her back to the airplane. Even if she is a terrorist, I will not kill her.

Truth’s body was laid delicately next to Bluestreak’s, and Tobias had the good sense to bind both of them with metal to prevent either of them from getting up again. Now that I have dealt with the terrorists, perhaps I can check the plane’s status. He looked down, and saw that the ground was very, very close to the plane’s altitude. So far, the pilots had been able to fly the plane to the best of their ability, thanks to his repairs, so the giant was confident that they would land safely. The Starbolts craft, however, was a different issue. It was following the plane’s trajectory, and had engaged its landing gear, even without a human crew to give it orders. That is very advanced AI. It would pose no problems, as its orders were most likely to follow, not attack.

Judging from the speed of the plane, how far away the airport was, and how low they were, Tobias estimated that they would arrive in Zepther in about two minutes, give or take fifty seconds. The airport, which looked very similar to O’Neil Airport, was getting closer. That poses a bit of a problem. I need to get back to the plane and avoid detection, but I also have to keep the Starbolts safe enough until they can be turned over to the authorities. Tobias saw the runway drawing near. He was running out of time.

First, I will save the Starbolts. Because he already had Bluestreak and Truth wrapped up in his metal tendril, he found it relatively easy to use to bring both Starbolts to him. He grabbed both and threw them over his shoulder like carryon luggage, because the impact from the plane’s landing would probably severely injure them. However, he did not extend the same courtesy to Titanus, whose armor, even if it wasn’t strong enough to handle Tobias, was probably reasonably able to withstand the landing. I should tie him down though, so he does not roll off. Tobias spat the metal tendril right at Titanus, and wrapped him up like a cocoon to prevent his escape. Titanus groaned in protest, but his armor might have been malfunctioning, because he didn’t try to resist it physically. His preparations complete, Tobias watched as the airplane started downwards to the runway, bracing himself for the landing.

Tobias did not feel the wheels slam against the concrete earth beneath them, but he certainly knew that a vibration was ripping through his entire body. His teeth chattering underneath his cowl, he watched the plane lift again briefly, then hit the ground with even more force. Ride it out. Increasing his grip on Bluestreak and Truth, Tobias maintained his bearing thanks to his metal anchors that he had placed into the airplane. The plane showed down quickly, probably because the pilots had little ability in terms of moving the plane, and were just grateful to get it back onto the ground. When Tobias was certain that they had stopped moving, he checked the Starbolts jet, which had also properly landed. Time to leave. I have to change into my civilian gear.

Tobias dropped Bluestreak and Truth unceremoniously to the plane’s surface, and both groaned as their faces met steel. He then removed the metal holding down Titanus, and threw him together with the other Starbolts. I hope they wind up in a cell together. It would be a shame to split them up. “The police will be here momentarily to take you all away,” he growled to Titanus, who was too injured to respond, though Tobias thought he heard some sort of wheeze from him. Still, I wonder what they wanted with the mayor. She is only the mayor of Zepther, it is not like she is from New York. I would understand if they tried to kidnap the mayor of New York City. He looked down at Truth, the majority of who’s body was being crushed by the weight from Titanus’ armor. What is so important about Zepther? First Erin asks me to come here, and now these Starbolts terrorists hijack the plane I am on no less.

“I guess it doesn’t matter right now,” he muttered, as the metal throughout the plane began to return to him. He had to hurry, because he could hear sirens approaching the plane of the authorities, people he wished to avoid. Just a little more and I am done. When the last sliver of metal returned to him, Tobias left immediately. He had kept just a slight amount on his hands, so it was easy to fashion claws to climb back down with. He dug into the hull of the plane in the exact places he had carved into before, not wanting to damage the plane further than it already was. He reached the blown emergency door quickly, and jumped through. He had retracted the metal already, so there was nothing to stop him from leaping in the plane and completely suppressing his metal into his body. The visible skin on his arms changed, just as they had before, but reversed. The grey transformed back into the regular shade of pink that was Tobias’ ordinary skin tone.

Mission complete.

Through his mask, Tobias did a quick inspection of his surroundings. The stewardess was gone, the giant didn’t know where, but not a living soul looked upon him as he stood there. It is safe to change from my uniform. Tobias dashed into the bathroom where he had stashed his civilian garb, and began the hasty but necessary process of discarding Erin’s clothing and donning his regular gear. I should probably hide this uniform in a better place than the box though… Even if the Starbolts are taken away, the police will be looking for the person who stopped them. Those kids looked weak too, they will break and provide a description of what I was wearing. Plus, he added to himself, the stewardess had seen him leave the plane.

Tobias first removed the mask. As his face was exposed to air again, he breathed the stale oxygen, for it was better than the disgusting scent of overused air that he had been breathing inside his mask. I can fashion this into something less conspicuous. He folded the single piece mask upon itself over and over again, until it looked nothing like a mask and had the exact appearance of a black bandana. Satisfied, Tobias stuffed it into his pocket. Then his shirt came off. I will just turn it inside-out so no one can see the tough textiles that it is made of. When he did this, the shirt looked exactly like an undershirt, right now to the looseness that he had normally seen with most white undershirts he had worn. Problem solved.

Now all he had to do was retrieve the regular clothes he had hidden behind the toilet. When he did, he discovered to his pleasure that none of them had gotten damp or tarnished since he had left them. He tossed on his shirt and his jacket, and reapplied his sunglasses. There. Transformation complete.

Or, so he thought. As he took the box up, he remembered that he was still wearing Erin’s eye on his belt. Quickly, he unclipped the belt buckle and threw it into the box. Okay, now the transformation’s complete. “Time to hide,” he murmured, and slowly walked down the aisle to return to his seat. As he passed, he noticed that Kerry and Thomas were still alive, even if they were knocked out. Well, we made it kids. You’re safe. With that, he returned the box to his bag, and stashed it away carefully. He then sat down, and waited for the authorities.

Word Count- 5453 Total Word Count- 15,832

Part Four

Tobias looked up over the destruction of the airplane’s coach class. Nothing looked the same as it had only a half-hour before or so, he couldn’t quite remember how long it had been since the explosion. Carefully, because he had been wedged between two seats, the giant removed himself from the seats into the aisle. Lights around him flickered on and off, and the air conditioning had stopped working, so the air was even staler than it had been earlier. Tobias looked around, and saw that various people were getting up. From the first class, he heard all kinds of commotion, but ignored that. He headed instead over to where Thomas and Kerry would be seated, solely interested in helping them.

When he reached their seats, he received a surprise. Both of the children were knocked out, and had evidently slept peacefully through the landing. That’s good. Tobias, because of his size, had to crouch down next to Thomas’ seat in order to properly wake the child. Thomas was nearest to the edge, to the giant woke him up first by tapping lightly on his shoulder. “Hey, kiddo,” Tobias murmured. “You all right?”

It took about three prods before Thomas’ eyes started to flutter open and look around. “Give me five more minutes, Mommy,” he mumbled under his breath. “I don’t want to go to school today.” Tobias suppressed a chuckle at this, and rubbed the boy’s shoulder to completely wake him up.

“Sorry, Thomas,” he answered, and Thomas’ head slowly lifted from Kerry’s shoulder to spot the giant. “I’m not your mother, and we’re not going to school.”

Thomas’ eyes opened up completely. “T-Tobias…?” the boy asked weakly. The man nodded, and Thomas coughed lightly. “Is that you?” Once again, the man nodded his head, and smiled gently.

“Yeah, Thomas,” Tobias replied, and patted the kid’s head. “It’s me all right.” Thomas grinned. Okay, he’s all right. Except for a small bruise that Tobias noticed had formed on his left temple, Thomas was visibly fine. The giant glanced over at Kerry, who had a matching bruise on her right temple, and chuckled. They must have conked each other out while we were landing. “Are you both okay?”

“Sure are,” the little child answered, and tried to bring himself into an upright seating position, but stopped halfway. “Ah!” He grabbed his shoulder in pain, and Tobias noticed that a damp crimson spot had begun to form along the coat. And it was getting bigger. “Man, sorry, Tobias. I guess I got cut my something.

Tobias shook his head. “Don’t worry, Thomas. Don’t apologize for something like that. It’s not a problem.”

“Do you have any Band-Aids?” Thomas asked.

Weird. He’s not crying anymore. Tobias knew that Thomas was trying very hard to look tough and not let the pain get to him. “I’m sorry, Thomas, but I don’t think I do,” he answered the kid. “But don’t worry. I can probably bandage that up with something if you take off your coat and roll up your sleeve.” While Thomas obeyed his instructions, Tobias looked around for anything he could use to patch up the wound for him. Nothing around here…guess I’ll have to use one of my shirts. “Just a second, Thomas.”

The giant stood up and opened the overhead compartment above him. He unzipped his duffel bag and grabbed the first shirt within reach. This’ll have to do. “Okay, Thomas, roll up your sleeve,” the giant instructed, and tore off part of the shirt. Thomas did as he was told, and exposed a tremendous gash in his upper arm. Tobias looked at it, and smiled. “Yeah, don’t worry Thomas. It looks worse than it is.”

“Really?” the boy asked. Tobias nodded.

“Yep. It just looks deep is all. You’re perfectly fine.” He pointed out the wound to Thomas. “See, no bone. We just have to apply pressure to it, and the bleeding will stop.” Tobias wrapped the torn shirt around the gash and tugged to tighten it firmly over the wound. Thomas gasped, and the giant looked up. “Does it hurt too much?”

Thomas shook his head, and clenched his jaw. “It just stings a lot, Tobias.”

“It’s supposed to sting. Just wanted to make sure it didn’t hurt too badly.” Tobias tightened his grip on the bandage. “Sorry, this’ll probably sting even more, but I’ll be as gentle as I can with it.” Thomas nodded, and the giant applied further pressure. He noticed that Thomas was trying hard not to let his pain show. He’s being pretty brave about this. After a few minutes, the bleeding began to slow. “There we go, Thomas. It‘s getting better.” Slowly, the bleeding stopped, and Tobias wrapped up the wound with the shirt. “Sorry, Thomas. I don’t have the right equipment to dress this properly, but the police will be able to deal with it without any problems, okay?”

“Okay, Tobias.”

“It might scar too, so make sure to take good care of it.”

At this, Thomas seemed genuinely excited, and his eyes widened. “Cool!” he exclaimed. “Scars are awesome. I’ve seen guys in movies with scars, they’re so cool. Especially when you get them in accidents, then you can tell people about them.”

Tobias just chuckled, and helped the little boy put his jacket back on. “Well, I’m glad you think so.” Better check on Kerry too. “How are you holding up, Kerry?” he asked, and the little girl opened her eyes in a flash. She squeaked in slight pain and rubbed her head, but otherwise seemed fine. “Good. Everyone’s okay then.” Both children nodded their heads eagerly. “Then let’s get out of here. I think everyone’s gathering in first class.”

Thomas agreed, and hopped out of his chair. Tobias helped Kerry out of her chair, and picked her up. “Come on kids,” he muttered, and put Kerry down in aisle. Thomas grabbed his little backpack, so Tobias slung his duffel bag over his back. “Yes,” he sighed in relief, as he took down his guitar, which had retained no damage from the landing. “I can’t break this thing…” With the case in his right hand, he led the children towards the curtain that divided the plane between first class and coach.

Thomas pulled on Tobias’ jacket, so the giant stopped just before they went through. “Tobias, can I ask you something?” the boy asked. Tobias smiled, and tilted his head down to the very diminutive children.

“Of course, Thomas,” he answered. “What is it?”

Thomas opened his mouth, but shut it, as he apparently had some sort of difficulty expressing what he wanted to know. “What happened?” he asked finally. “I don’t remember what happened before we landed. Neither does Kerry.” Beside him, the little girl nodded her head in agreement.

Tobias arched his brows, slightly confused. “You don’t? That’s weird.” He scratched his head, then chuckled. “Well, what do you remember? Maybe I can fill in some blank spots for you.”

Thomas shrugged. “Not much. I remember the explosion, it was a big boom. Did you have my game?”

“Possibly. My head’s kind of fuzzy on the exact details.”

“Oh.” Thomas drooped his head. “So, what happened then?”

Good question. “I think we were saved,” he answered as simply as he could. “By a savior.” Then, Tobias smiled. That brings back memories. Erin used to say that all the time. The children didn’t ask any more questions, and Tobias didn’t press the issue further, so he pulled back the curtain and led them into first class. Mostly everyone was up again, but a few heroes were taking care of the ones that weren’t. Thomas and Kerry made sure to stay close to Tobias, who proceeded directly to the stewardess, who appeared to be in charge of the recovering passengers.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She sighed, and rubbed her temples. “A couple of the passengers are hurt, but nobody’s dead, thank God. We’re trying to get everyone ready because the police contacted the pilots and said that they were coming through in a few minutes.” Tobias nodded. “Are you all right?” she inquired, with an air of concern that the giant caught.

“A crick in my neck, but I’ll manage,” he answered with a smile. “The boy here, Thomas, has a gash on his upper arm that I patched up.” He stood aside for the stewardess to inspect the child. “Both have bruises on their foreheads, but nothing too major.”

“You poor things,” the stewardess cooed to the children. Kerry enjoyed the attention, and hugged the woman in thanks. Thomas, on the other hand, probably thought that being pampered by the stewardess was the furthest thing from the cool image that he wished to emulate, and only allowed the stewardess to inspect his bandage before he walked right back over to Tobias’ side. “Excuse me, mister tough
guy.”

Tobias laughed. “He’s just trying to show off,” he explained.

“Well, yeah, but-”

Just then, the entire flight heard some sort of gigantic smash come from the outside of the plane. The stewardess and the giant turned around just in time to see the door on the other side of the plane fly open, torn right off the hinges. “What’s that?” Tobias demanded, and arched his back. Thomas noticed that the giant’s muscles bulged.

From the outside of the airplane came three people, all dressed in spandex. Gabriella and Bluestreak followed Titanus into the plane, and all of them had very unpleasant looks on their faces. “Who’re they?” the giant asked the stewardess.

Her eyes widened. “T-those are the Starbolts,” she replied in awe. “They’re a big superhero team from Dastara City, down in Florida.” She pointed at each one. “It’s Gabriella, Titanus, and Bluestreak. They’re huge!” Tobias huffed with indifference.

“Never heard of them. I really should catch up with the times,” he murmured. “But what are they doing here?”

“Don’t know,” the stewardess whispered back. But, the Starbolts answered the question by themselves, as they proceeded directly towards the mayor, who was being guarded like a prized treasure. “But it seems like they came to rescue the mayor.” And then, Tobias practically saw the inner workings of her brain kick into overdrive. “Maybe they’re the ones who dealt with the guy that showed up earlier!”

“What guy?” the giant asked.

She shrugged. “Some guy I saw earlier. He was pretty scary. He showed up and tore a hole in the plane! The Starbolts must have gotten him, because I haven’t seen him. He must have been after the mayor!”

Tobias muttered something under his breath that the stewardess did not catch, but watched as the Starbolt Bluestreak embraced the mayor in what appeared to be a cripplingly powerful hug. “Well, that might explain things,” he said. “That guy might be related to the mayor or something like that.”

She nodded. “I think Bluestreak’s the mayor’s nephew, but don’t quote me.”

I really have to start keeping up with the times. Tobias mentally slapped himself, then returned to looking after the kids, who were star struck at the Starbolts.

“Can we get autographs?” Thomas exclaimed in excitement. “Can we, Tobias? Can we?” Tobias chuckled.

“Why don’t you ask them?” he suggested. Those Starbolts look like they took a beating pretty badly. Each of them had several bruises, and the one Gabriella had a giant purple dot in the center of her forehead that she kept rubbing. Her costume was also slightly tattered, a deep shade of blue with several cuts and shreds around her waist and arms. “I’m sure they’ll do it for little tykes like you guys.”

Thomas smiled. “Thanks Tobias!” Taking Kerry’s hand, the boy led her towards the superheroes. “E-excuse me, Miss Gabriella?” he said carefully, not wanting to bother the super heroine. Gabriella, however, didn’t seem to mind that her conversation with Titanus had been interrupted, and squatted down to their level.

“Yes, kids?” she inquired politely.

“Can we get your autographs?” Thomas asked. “Please?”

At the mention of the word ‘autographs’, Titanus turned around, though it was hard to tell if he had a smile on his face. “Be happy to, squirts,” he replied. “Uh…can I get a pen here please?” One of the mayor’s security provided him with one, and the armored warrior scratched his name onto a discarded napkin. He then handed the pen and paper to Gabriella, who mimicked his motions. “Hey, Marcus, ya wanna sign this thing?”

Bluestreak turned around and nodded. “Sure.” Releasing the mayor, he too signed the napkin before handing it and the pen to Thomas, who promptly placed the paper delicately inside his backpack, not wanting to lose it. “Don’t lose it, kid.”

“Nope!” the boy squeaked. Titanus and Gabriella chuckled, and followed the children back to Tobias.

“Say thank you to the Starbolts, kids,” Tobias instructed. Both Thomas and Kerry bowed their heads lightly, and Thomas issued his thanks to the superheroes.

“Don’t mention it, little ones,” Gabriella answered sweetly. “Are they yours?” Tobias opened his mouth in surprise, the Starbolt was addressing him.

“N-no,” he stuttered, flattered that the Starbolts would even speak to him. “I’m just watching them for this flight, thanks to some help.” He smiled at the stewardess, who blushed again. “The boy’s father is waiting for them at the terminal… Or, I guess he is. What exactly is being done for everyone here?”

Gabriella thought about it for a moment. “I think everyone’s being escorted off and they’ll try to recover the luggage and contact everyone. Right now, we should probably start getting everyone out of the plane. The police say that someone tampered with it and it could collapse due to internal alterations.”

“Okay,” Tobias replied. “Come on guys. Let’s get you to your dad, Thomas.” The Starbolts, after announcing their intentions to everyone, got everyone to line up properly in two single file lines. Very nice. The giant, with the stewardess in the back supervising the evacuation, moved slowly in the direction of the doorway out. The wounded got out, with some help from Bluestreak, Gabriella, and Titanus, and shortly after everyone had exited the plane and were outside in the fresh, freezing air that was Zepther, Michigan.

“It’s cold,” the stewardess murmured, shivering.

Tobias shrugged. “I don’t really get that cold, so I don’t mind it that much.” He breathed the air around him, which smelt of nothing but slight exhaust fumes, and smiled in content. “Air smells nice though.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s get the kids inside the airport. Thomas’ father is probably worried sick, he’ll want to know that they’re okay.” She agreed, and both ushered the children into the warmth and security of Zepther Airport with the rest of the flight. Tobias noticed that, as they did so, the Starbolts mysteriously disappeared, as did the mayor herself. Guess that they did what they came here to do. He opened the door for the other three, and Kerry, Thomas, and the stewardess rushed in behind him. He shut it and followed them to the check in gate.

It’s strange that there’s no police at all though… One thing that had altered in the world was the significant decrease in the amount of policemen roaming the streets of the world since superheroes had begun to reveal themselves. Not that there weren’t the same number. In fact, I’m pretty sure with all the supers running around there are probably more. They just didn’t deal with stuff like a plane crash. They learned to pick their battles, and leave supers alone when only supers can save the people.

The giant, swept up in his thoughts about superheroes and the battles they fought, did not notice as he and the others neared the first check in station, which happened to be a line of metal detectors in front of him. Well, this isn’t going to be fun. “I hate metal detectors,” he grumbled to himself, something the stewardess picked up with interest.

“Why, sir?” she asked.

He groaned, and covered his mouth. “It’s sort of embarrassing, so I’d like to keep it to myself if that’s all right. I’ll just need to explain things to the guard.”

“Why would you need to explain anything?”

“I always set metal detectors off. Every. Single. Time.”

She giggled, but Tobias’ prediction held true. When it came their turn, Thomas and Kerry dropped their belongings into the trays provided by the staff and zoomed straight through the detector without any problems whatsoever. The same happened with the stewardess, who took just a little bit of extra time to remove some jewelry on her ears and her fingers before she too passed safely underneath the detector. Then it came Tobias’ turn, so he grimly stepped forward to empty all of his metallic possessions into the trays.

The guard at the other side of the machine handed him one tin to place his items in. Tobias emptied his pockets, which included his identification, such as the passport and his ticket stubs, and his wallet, among other things. However, when he tried to put his giant boots into the container her found that they would not fit. Meekly, he looked down at the diminutive guard and asked, “Can I get anything bigger please?”

The guard looked up, and grumbled, “Yeah, Bigfoot,” and passed him a bigger one. Tobias, if he heard the comment, chose to ignore it, and just set the boots inside with his belt.

“Thank you,” he replied politely. Tobias, holding his breath, walked underneath the machine, fully aware of the fact that both Thomas and Kerry were waiting for the beep. And, as Tobias had promised, the moment he stepped under the detector it started to flash and scream its beeping. Tobias sighed, and simply allowed the other guard on the side to approach him.

“Have you emptied all of the metal out of your pockets?” he asked, and pointed his portable metal detector at the giant. Tobias nodded his head. “Is there anything you might still have with you that might be made of metal?” Again, the giant nodded.

“Sort of,” the giant answered meekly, and lowered his head.

The guard looked him over. “What kind of ‘sort of’?” the guard muttered. “Is it the glasses? Take them off.”

“I can’t,” Tobias answered. “My eyes are sensitive to sunlight, so I can’t really remove them without going blind.” He tilted his head to display the glasses, which were perfectly black. The guard couldn’t see anything underneath them. “Sorry I can’t.”

“Ah…” the guard murmured, and nodded. “I understand sir. No problem.”

“Thank you. And-” With this, he leaned into the man’s ear, not wanting any of the children or the stewardess to hear him “-that’s not the only thing. When I was a kid, I accidentally ate a lot of coins. My mom didn’t pump my stomach, so the metal is still in there. She thought it built character.” To prove this, he opened his jacket and displayed his gut. “If you’d like, you can scan my gut to prove it.”

The guard nodded. “Well, let’s see.” He whirled the wand-like device up and checked Tobias’ belly. Just as the giant promised, it whirled to life and started beeping like crazy. “Okay, I think that’ll do it sir,” he said in satisfaction. He put the wand away, and allowed the giant to step through.

“Thanks a lot,” Tobias answered. “And, please don’t tell anyone about that. It’s very embarrassing for me.”

The guard chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me,” he whispered with a wink.

The giant exited the line and picked up his belongings on the other side of the x-ray detector. Well, that went well. He stuck his boots right back on and reattached his belt before he joined the others, his duffel bag and his guitar in tow. “Okay, let’s get out of here,” the giant mumbled.

“Tobias, why do you set off the metal detector?” Thomas asked.

“Let’s not talk about it,” the giant answered. “I always forget something made of metal on me. No matter how hard I try to get it all off.”

“It’s all right,” the stewardess said. “Come on, kids. Let’s get you to your guardian.” Tobias led the way down the halls, Thomas and Kerry at his heels, with the stewardess bringing up the rear. With the rest of the flight, they reached the final checking area: the line that screened everyone’s passports and information.

I hate this thing. It always takes so long. Why don’t they have more people working this thing? After a few minutes, they moved about a foot in the direction of the checking stations. With about thirty left to go. It took them about a half-hour to get to the station itself and, even then, they had to go one at a time.

“Hey,” the giant said, and looked towards the stewardess. “Why are you here? Don’t they have a separate checkout deal for flight crew?”

She shrugged, and then again Tobias noticed the tingling on her face. “I guess I kind of like the company,” she replied. “Plus, I thought I could help you with the children.”

“Thank you,” he answered.

Tobias went first in the checking station, as the children had to go with supervision and the stewardess was the best person to do that. He handed his passport to the woman behind the counter. “Name please,” the woman said nasally, not bothering to look in depth at the little book, and only checking its authenticity, which was perfect. “Name please.”

“Oh!” Tobias said. He hadn’t noticed he was being addressed. Erin really outdid herself with my identity. “Tobias Green.”

“Tobias Green…” the lady mumbled without interest, and pulled up his information. “United States citizen. Previously listed as living in Europe, currently registered as a new resident in Zepther, Michigan. Correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered.

“Recent traveling prior to Zepther includes stops in Brussels, Belgium and O’Neil International Airport. Correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tobias repeated.

“Are you traveling alone?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he repeated.

“Enjoy your move to Zepther, Mr. Green,” the station attendant stated, then handed back his passport.

“I’ll try.” Tobias then walked away and waited for the stewardess to get Thomas and Kerry passed security, which for some reason took a lot less longer than his interview did. “All set?” Both children and the stewardess nodded, so they headed for the welcome terminal, as none of them had anything they needed to get at baggage claim.

Tobias thought it was rather high tech that the receiving area’s doors would open, as though they were designed to wow anyone traveling away from the difficult and often annoying experience that was flying. But he changed his mind once the doors did open, and the giant noticed that, instead of a small crowd of people waiting for their loved ones to disembark the plane, there was an army of reporters battling said loved ones for the chance to get interviews.

That’s mildly disgusting. At the sight of Thomas and Kerry, however, the reporters went insane, and charged in the foursome’s general direction. Both children looked frightened, but Tobias turned around to them and smiled. “Don’t worry, kids,” he whispered, and patted them on the heads. “We’ll get you to your dad, Thomas, and those reporters won’t bother you.”

Thomas smiled. “Thanks, Tobias.”

When the reporters arrived Tobias, in his unusually calm way, stood in front of the children and prevented the reporters from reaching them. “Can I help you all?” the giant asked politely, when some of the reporters began to jab microphones in places Tobias felt were slightly inappropriate to jab things into a person.

One of the reporters, apparently braver than the others, craned his neck up to look the giant in his glasses. “We were wondering if we could interview those delightful children behind you about this traumatic experience.” Tobias detected in his voice a distinct aroma of greed.

Tobias tilted his head, as if considering it, and the reporters waited with bated breath for his decision. “No,” he said pleasantly, and gave them a courteous smile. “You may not. Now move along.”

The press didn’t like that verdict. “But sir, I’m sure that those children would love to tell us what they felt on the plane as they plummeted to their deaths.”

Tobias arched his brow in confusion. “Really?” he asked, with an air of sarcasm.

The reporter stuttered. “T-that came out wrong.”

Tobias‘ smile faded, and leaned into the reporter’s ear. “You are right. It did come out wrong,” he whispered with a slight growl. “Now leave them alone. There are plenty of glory hounds out there who would love to talk to you. Boost your ratings elsewhere.” When Tobias lifted his head back up to smile, the reporter had a look on his face that clearly indicated a deep fear of the giant. “Would you please move along?”

The reporter nodded, as he had a sudden, strong urge to agree with the giant. “C-certainly sir,” he concurred. “We’ll interview someone else.”

“I hope you do,” the giant replied. Then, as the herd parted around them to other passengers, Tobias turned to the children and grinned. “Okay, let’s get you guys to your dad, Thomas.” Thomas, in awe of the giant once again, complied.

It didn’t take long for them to locate Thomas’ father, mostly because the gentleman rushed in their direction the moment he saw the children. He looked different from both, which meant Thomas’ features were maternal. The father had bright red hair and grey eyes, but he wrapped his arms around both the moment he could. Tobias and the stewardess waited from afar as the family reunited.

“Thomas! Kerry!” he shouted, and picked them up to hug them.

“Uncle Harris!” Kerry squealed in joy. Thomas, on the other hand, was mute in his happiness to see his father, and maintained a stoic, calm composure.

The stewardess bumped Tobias’ elbow. “He’s acting like you do,” she whispered, and pointed to the little boy.

Tobias chuckled and, just before they fell off, adjusted his sunglasses. “Gee… I sure hope that doesn’t last. Kids are like sponges.” Both of them shared a hearty laugh. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave though.” I wouldn’t want to break up such a nice family reunion. Plus, I should probably get to Ms. Urashima’s home and introduce myself. I start working tomorrow. With that, he started for the doors outside to the taxis, but was stopped by the stewardess, who grabbed his sleeve.

“Hey,” she said, and he turned round to face her. “Don’t you want to, I don’t know, say goodbye to them?”

Tobias smiled, but shook his head. “Sorry, but I’m not one for stuff like that. The kids are safe, and Thomas’ father is with them. It’d be rude for me to interrupt a family like that. I’m just glad that I did what Thomas’ mother asked me to do. I made sure they came here safely, and they did.” He bowed his head. “By all means, go and make sure that they’re fine after this.” He withdrew the sleeve she was grabbing, and extended his arm. “It was a pleasure to meet you, miss. If I am ever on a plane again, I hope that you are serving the drinks.”

She giggled, and gladly accepted the handshake. “And I hope that, if there is ever a time when my plane’s crashing to the ground, someone like you is there to make me smile even a little bit.”

Once again, Tobias had to be careful. Don’t break her hand. When he released her, he bid her good day, turned on his heels, and headed out of the airport and into the freezing air of Zepther. Have fun, Thomas and Kerry. I’m glad we were sitting next to each other. Outside the airport, there were many, many people, most of them unloading vehicles or loading up luggage from visitors. Either way, Tobias tried to ignore the stank of cigarettes as he passed by several people huddled together smoking. That smells terrible. It ruined the scent of fresh air.

Signs erected above him indicated where he had to go to hail a taxi, so he lugged his belongings down the north side of the arrival terminals. After about a hundred feet, he noticed a small fleet of about twenty taxis sitting in a row along the sidewalk. That must be it. He walked towards the first free taxi he saw, and he denoted this from whether they had a cabbie leaning against their driver’s side window.

“Need a ride?” the cabbie, who smelt strongly of cigar, inquired.

“Yes,” Tobias answered. “Can you take me to a shop called Comic Central? I was to understand that everyone knew where it was.”

The cabbie coughed. “Yeah, I know where that is,” he said between hacks. “Stuff your stuff into the back trunk and we’ll get out of here.” Tobias nodded, so the cabbie popped open the back for Tobias to carefully place his guitar and duffel bag inside. He shut the trunk and got into the passenger’s seat. “Buckle up for safety kiddo.” Tobias took the cab driver’s advice, and the cabbie gunned the very loud engine.

They pulled out of the airport fairly easy, and much faster than Tobias expected. I guess with the incident on the plane not everybody feels up to traveling today. The cabbie got them onto the freeway that connected the airport to the city, and started to speed up. I’m really glad I have a seatbelt on. But it was alright, as the cabbie knew how to drive pretty well.

“You new in Zepther?” he asked.

Tobias nodded. “Just moved here.”

“That’s nice,” the cab driver muttered. “You live uptown or downtown?”

“Uh…not sure. I’m going to be working with the manager of Comic Central, so I guess I’ll be living where Comic Central is. What’s the difference?”

“Well…Comic Central is in uptown, so you shouldn’t worry too much about it.” He hacked, and spit out his window. “But Zepther’s divided into two sections. There’s the uptown, which is basically where most everybody lives, and everybody visits. Then there’s downtown, a kind of bad place that has some of the city’s harbor. I don’t go there too often, but I don’t really want to. Bad place.”

“Really?”

“Really really, kiddo.”

Man, I didn’t know that. “Thanks for the information. I’ll try to stay out of downtown if I can.” The cabbie brushed aside his gratitude, and got off the freeway to drive into the main city. “How far into Zepther is Comic Central?” Tobias asked.

“Just about a few minutes,” the cabbie replied. “We’ll be there in no time.”

True to the cabbie’s word, Tobias found himself on the doorstep of the comic shop in no time at all. “Thanks,” he said, and tipped the man what was owed from the money in his wallet. “Keep the change.”

The cabbie nodded, and stuffed the money in his coat pocket. “Make sure to get your stuff out before you go. I’d hate to have to come back here for no reason.” Tobias laughed, and removed his belongings from inside the taxi. The cabbie waved from his window and drove off, leaving a trail of exhaust in his wake. Tobias, after the black haze lifted and he finished coughing, turned around to see his new home.

And the woman that was approaching the door to greet him.

Word Count- 5258 Total Word Count- 21,090