Getting past the military cordon was no harder than usual, Jonkatta noted with grim satisfaction. Even in a world of wonders and Superguys, most humans never considered the possibility that something that walked on four legs rather than two might be worth keeping an eye on. Well, the lemurs had made a name for themselves, but they were practically humans anyway, genetically speaking. No, the real pain in the tail had been getting to the cordon in the first place, using the old Legs MkI transport system. There was little traffic headed for Topeka, and almost none of that stopped on the way. Not that Kansas was full of places worth stopping at. Hillier than he'd expected, if not mountainous like home. He now jumped from tree to tree in a suburban area at the edge of the darkness that shrouded the city. Not darkness like night, but more of a twilit grayness that pulled at his soul. He edged towards what felt like the boundary.... "Hold!" called a voice from behind the bole of a nearby tree. "Who bids me hold?" Jonkatta demanded. A jet black squirrel stepped into view, his eyes glowing redly. An ebon sphere was chained to one of his forelegs. "Once we might have shared an acorn, or raced up and down a tree to the confounding of humans, but no I must remain...." "A stranger," Jonkatta finished. "You must be the Park Stranger I've heard tales of. What brings you to Kansas?" The Park Stranger sulked a little. "I never get to finish my intro. Ahem," he straightened up and held the ebon sphere in both paws. "The great darkness before us has drawn many of the sensitive to this place, for it combines horror and fascination, repulsion and temptation. It is power, but a dark and tainted power. This power has devoured the one you seek, the tragic victim of demonic alteration, Gwen. And if you seek to rescue her, your fate will be death...if you are lucky. You are a normal, if extraordinary, squirrel, so the master of this domain will not automatically seek to make you one of his minions...but if he does, there will be two squirrels in need of rescue." "Then I'm to sit here and brush my tail while Gwen languishes in Topeka?" Jonkatta demanded. He barely knew Gwen, but he knew fate had dealt her a bad hand and disliked seeing her situation worsen. "There are others, those tied more tightly to the underlying nature of reality, who will deal with this," the Park Stranger assured him. Jonkatta sighed. "Let me guess...one of these 'others' is the human interloper Jack?" The Park Stranger shook his ebon sphere, stared into its depths for a moment, and then nodded gravely. "Signs point to yes." @>-`-,-`-,-`-,`-,-`-,-`-,-`- \\ // -'-.-'-.'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-<@ .|,Coherent Comics Presents \\ // #11 - Carcharodon Caelus --X------------------------- E }X{ ARCHS copyright 2002 by the '|` A Superguy Tale // \\ Dvandroid (Dave Van Domelen) @>-`-,-`-,-`-,`-,-`-,-`-,-`- // \\ -'-.-'-.'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-<@ "Man, it feels like we've been driving through these hills for months," Oakthorn sighed as he looked out the rear window of the military truck. "Hey, at least we're finally on an interstate," Anna countered, shifting uncomfortably in her jumpsuit. "Fort Riley's just a few more minutes away at this speed." And hopefully she'd be able to get something a little more comfortable to wear there, she noted silently. The truck started to sway back and forth. "Driver, is there a problem?" Kat called up to the front. "Just some high winds, ma'am," came the muffled reply. "This part of Kansas can get pretty windy." Skysabre tensed up. "I don't think these are just natural high winds." "Damn," Oakthorn sighed. "I'd hoped the teaser question last issue was kidding." "Driver! Stop the...!" Skysabre's warning was cut off as something slammed into the side of the truck, forcing it off the road. The four heroes quickly bailed out to face whatever had attacked them, as well as to try cushioning the impact of the truck as it careered through the rough grass towards a roadway cut in the hill. Oakthorn instinctively made the grass grow at incredible speed, helping slow the truck down, while Skysabre directed winds to soften the impact. Katena tried to grab onto the rear axle with her Stone Catena, but was a little too slow. Anna, whose powers weren't really suited for this, scanned the skies for the threat. "Um, guys?" she asked as the truck scraped to a stop, having to almost shout to be heard over the screaming metal. "Are sharks supposed to be able to fly in this world?" Everyone looked up to see a shark in the sky above them. It was covered in strange cartilaginous protrusions and tattooed patterns, causing it to look like some strange mystic cyborg fusion of shark and golem. One eye swirled with vile green energy, and the tail seemed to be more blade than fin. "Ah, variety! / Prey of many archetypes / on the grassy hills," the shark intoned. "Huh?" Oakthorn cocked an eyebrow. "What the heck is that supposed to be?" "Very good question! / A poetic shark am I / Doom from in the sky," came the reply. The shark swam closer, circling the small party. The driver had recovered his wits and was aiming his sidearm at the creature. "Your haiku threats do not intimidate me," Anna snarled. "Now shoo, before we fillet you." She waved her hammer to emphasize her point, deciding she'd need to do a lot of working out on arm strength if she was going to use the massive weapon on a regular basis. The shark merely laughed and flipped its tail contemptuously. A burst of wind screamed out of the sky and slammed Anna back against the road cut, crumbling the weak stone. Meanwhile, cars continued to zoom past at 70 miles an hour, oblivious to the danger. "Right," Oakthorn snarled. "Shark fin sashimi time," he declared as he pulled his bow from over his shoulder and nocked an arrow. "Arrowstorm!" he shouted, releasing one arrow and commanding it to multiply into dozens. "Skydoom is no frog / to be gigged upon a shaft / Arrows miss the mark!" came the reply, as Skydoom twisted in the air and avoided every single attack. "Let's just kill this thing?" Anna begged. "I don't think I can stand much more bad poetry...those aren't even proper haikus, most of 'em are just syllable-counting like a gradeschooler would do." "Could be worse," Oakthorn noted as he fired another barrage to no effect. "Sharkskin here could be partial to limericks." "There once was a shark from the boondocks?" Katena ventured as she leaped up the side of the road cut to get a better vantage point. "Don't EVEN," Anna warned. "Even the shark can probably see where that one would go." Katena jumped off the small hill, swinging her weapon. "Here's a poetry slam for you, Sharky!" Skydoom twisted quickly and suddenly his jaws were clamped down around Kat's head and upper body. "Mm-hrm-mm-uh-mmeh / muh-mee mo meh-mmr uh mee / muh mee moh mammeh." "Pardon?" Skysabre asked as he vaulted into the air, barely missing Skydoom with a sword slash. Skydoom spat Katena out. "I'd hoped for a treat / something more tender than sweet / but she's rock candy." "Bleah, shark drool," Katena shook her arms, sending a spray of viscous liquid from her body. "Get down here and I'll give ya 'tender!'" Meanwhile, despite all the exchange of banter, Skydoom was easily avoiding repeated attacks from Skysabre and Oakthorn. Anna didn't want to try using her new flames yet, because she didn't have much control over them and could easily end up burning Skysabre. But there had to be *something* she could do besides wave her hammer threateningly and avoid becoming chum. She noticed the driver had stopped bothering with his gun, and had gone back to the truck...probably to call in an artillery strike or something equally messy, given the military mindset. To heck with it. She could be messy too. "Guys, back off for a second!" she shouted, and they complied. "A hot meal is best / for stoking the inner fires / You shall do nicely!" Skydoom crowed as he arrowed towards her. At the last possible moment, Anna slammed her hammer down in front of her. A geyser of molten rock sprayed up and engulfed Skydoom, deflecting him just enough that Anna was not then immediately crushed by a ton of burning shark. With some satisfaction, Anna noticed that oncoming traffic had finally been stopped some ways down the road...maybe the driver had been calling about that. Good thing someone had, because Skydoom proceeded to flop onto the road as he sizzled. "Mmm, rock-crust grill," Oakthorn observed. "Should I finish it off, or do we wanna ask some questions first?" he inquired, pointing an arrow at Skydoom's glowing eye. Skydoom croaked painfully, "I am but the first / a test of your fighting skill / My master is..." Then suddenly, and without warning, Skydoom was hit by a bus. "Gah, first I get covered in shark slobber, now it's shark guts!" Katena snarled. "I guess no questions," Oakthorn put the arrow away. WILL THERE BE ANY QUESTIONS? WHY WAS THIS EPISODE SO SHORT? DO SHARK GUTS COME OUT IN THE WASH? Answers to some of these, and complaints from KDOT, on the next... SUPERGUY! ============================================================================ Author's Notes: Okay, it's short. At least I'm (hopefully) getting rolling again. My initial idea for this issue was to actually have the Road Race From Hell(TM) pass through, but too many people would then try to hit me with a bus. And yes, the Park Stranger's Ebon Sphere is a Magic 8-Ball keychain.