The Superheroes Mission 4: Thieves in the Crystalline Cavern Part 2

In a matter of minutes, they end up at a cave entrance in the middle of the desert. They park the motorcycle inside the cave. The male thief hops out and helps his sister out of the side car. She sits down next to a giant crystal. Robot Boy looks around and notices that the entire cave is illuminated by dozens of blue crystals scattered all over the cave everywhere. Sprouting from the ground, to the walls, and even a gigantic crystal cluster in the ceiling. The male thief gives his sister some water stored in a canteen, presumably from the Nile River. She drank it. Once she was done, the male thief puts the canteen aside. Robot Boy, feeling a little awkward and unsure of how to interact with them at this moment, goes over next to where he parked and tries to contact Superhero HQ 5 to request medical support. However, when he activates his watch and tries to send a transmission, he can’t get a signal through. He wonders why and looks around the cavern. Computers are starting to roll out from various parts of the cave over to where the thieves are. Robot Boy takes a closer look at them and notices their metal appendages. That’s when it dawns on him, “Originally Programmed Computers.”

All the computers look towards him when he says that, their digital faces full of surprise. The male thief stands up and asks, “You know about them?”

“Yeah. I have three of them living at Sector 17,” answers Robot Boy.

He looks around some more and begins to notice that not all these computers, if any, were in tip-top shape. Some of them have cracked screens, others had wires sticking out of the back of their monitors, and some only had one hand. It suddenly hits the thief, “Oh, you can’t contact anyone, right? Sorry about that. One of them is causing interference due to faulty circuitry. Let me fix that real quick.”

The thief grabs his toolbox and him along with one of the computers go over to another corner of the cavern. He sits down on a rock and opens his toolbox to retrieve a screwdriver. Using it, he unscrews the back of the monitor off and places it to the side. He then puts on some insulated gloves and some goggles that were also in his toolbox. Afterwards, he grabs a soldering iron and gets to work soldering the cables.

“You know how to fix them?” blurts out Robot Boy.

“You don’t?” asks the thief genuinely surprised.

Robot Boy shakes his head.

“Huh,” utters the thief before answering without looking away from his work, “Yeah, this is child’s play where we come from. This technology is actually kind of primitive.”

RB looks at the girl and asks concerned, “Will she be alright?”

The male thief answers, “Don’t know. That’s why I’m fixing this computer right now. I’m hoping once I’m done, you’ll be able to contact some kind of medical assistance.”

Robot Boy replies, “I should be able to once I can get a signal through. What are your names by the way?”

The thief replies, “Ever since we got here, we’ve been going by the names Tech Boy and Tech Girl, since we thought, humans was it? might have difficulty pronouncing our real names.”

He puts down the soldering iron and picks up the back of the monitor along with his screwdriver. As he begins screwing the back of the monitor back on, he says, “You should be good to go. Try it now.”

Jeremiah presses a button on his and as it opens, the sound of shattering crystal could be heard from above and a crash came from behind Jeremiah. He turns around and notices a hole in the ceiling. Below it on the ground, besides various bits of shattered crystal, was some sort of mechanical sphere.

Tech Boy looks towards it and murmurs as he takes off his goggles in surprise, “Drop pod.”

Tech Girl looks towards it, and with wide eyes full of fear, she breathes out slowly, “No.”

The drop pod opens. A rather large woman a bit on the chunky side with brown eyes steps out of it wearing big black boots, black gloves, and some kind of green outfit.

The woman says, “Did you two really think you could run away from home? And look at the state of your poor sister, Gaxibro. How do you expect her to walk down the aisle in that condition?”

Tech Girl coughs, and Tech Boy furiously answers, “And we told you, Mom, we don’t want to get married! Especially not to those poor excuses of a bride and groom that you’re trying to engage us to!”

“I don’t want to hear it! Those two happen to be the prince and princess of two of our biggest threats! You’ll be doing the whole planet a favor by marrying them!”

“At the cost of our own happiness! No thanks!” yells Tech Boy.

Tech Girl tries to get up, but falls back down since she’s still weak from the heat. Robot Boy observes this entire interaction along with Tech Girl’s reaction. He looks straight at the large lady and yells, “Hey lady!”

She looks over at him and finally notices him. How she didn’t notice him before is a wonder. She asks, “And who might you be?”

“The name’s Robot Boy and you can’t force people to marry if they don’t want to!” stated Robot Boy not thinking of the consequences of his own actions.

“Do you even realize who I am?” asks the woman who is growing angrier by the second.

“No,” answers Robot Boy.

“I am the Queen of Planet Gaxi and I will be taking my children back even if I have to do it by force!”

The Queen’s skin suddenly turns green as she grows massively in size. Her bottom goes from humanoid to a myriad of tentacles and even her normal hands turn into tentacles. She sends Robot Boy flying into a wall with a slap from one of her mighty tentacles. Then, she grabs Tech Boy and Tech Girl with two more tentacles. Tech Girl bites her mother causing her to let go and drop her. Robot Boy gets back up from his impact and shakes it off. Superhero Smiley Face appears and reminds, “Remember what I taught you earlier?”

“Right. It’s all about focus.”

Robot Boy takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment. His feet slowly rise from the ground. When he opens his eyes once more, he levitates towards the Queen rapidly, the inside of his pocket glows brightly as his hand ignites. He punches the Queen in the face and combos it with a roundhouse Earth Kick. The Queen grabs him with a tentacle and slams him into a crystal shattering it.

“A Citaloanin, I’m quite surprised. I’ve never met one that could wield multiple elements,” comments the Queen.

The computers have all gone into hiding. Tech Boy gets ready to take a huge chomp himself when Tech Girl attempts to tackle the Queen, but to no avail. The Queen slaps her away and she lands on the ground back first. Tech Boy takes that huge chomp causing her to scream in pain loosening her grip on him. This allows him to slip out and land on the ground feet first. He runs over to the motorcycle as the light from Jeremiah’s pocket dims. Robot Boy is struggling to get out of the tentacle’s grasp. Tech Boy arrives at the motorcycle and presses one of the clearly labeled buttons causing a missile launcher to come out the side and launch a missile. The missile hits the Queen’s upper half knocking her backwards and the impact caused her to let go of Robot Boy, who levitates in the air upon release and hits her with a whip of fire, his patented Fire Strike. An earth boot forms around his foot and he closes the distance to kick her with another Earth Kick. This one oddly stronger than the last.

She grabs him and tosses him into the wall. Tech Boy rams her with the motorcycle knocking her down. Tech Girl gets back up but is still feeling a bit feverish. Jeremiah levitates towards the Queen’s side and hits her with a diagonal Fire Strike that hits her so hard, it keeps her knocked down a bit longer.

At Superhero HQ 5, an operator contacts the boss, “Sir, we have a problem.”

“What is it?” asks the boss.

“It’s Jeremiah, sir,” she starts as she looks at the big screen at the front of the room which shows a meter next to a wireframe 3D model of Jeremiah that is also present on his Emergency Watch, “his power level is steadily rising. At the rate he is going, it won’t be long until he reaches critical levels.”

“What happens when it reaches critical?” asks the boss.

“According to the data we gathered from him when the Evil Orbs crashed down to Earth, when it reaches critical the energy of the Orb will run wild shortly before detonation destroying everything in a 5 square mile radius.”

“You’re telling me that Jeremiah is a living bomb?” questions the boss as Jeremiah is getting tossed around like a ragdoll constantly being slammed into the floor and walls and a crystal or two before the Queen tosses him straight at a crystal, which threatens to impale him on impact. With barely any time to react, he activates Earth Kick and spins shattering the crystal, but not stopping the impact to the wall. That maneuver caused the meter to fill up a bit more putting it well over half. He falls back to the floor.

Tech Girl is sneaking off to one of the corners of the cavern where some of the computers are hiding at. Tech Boy is currently driving the motorcycle circling around the Queen and he found the blasters on it. He’s currently firing a volley of lasers aimed at the Queen. While it was having some effect, it wasn’t enough.

She crushes the motorcycle with a tentacle and grabs Tech Boy once more. Tech Girl is trying to convince the computers to help, but they rather hide in the corner than attempt to face that Queen.

Superhero Smiley Face appeared and says, “It’s time to switch.”

Robot Boy gets back up and yells, “Transform!”

A tornado forms around him when he yells causing the meter to significantly rise upon activation. The tornado dissipated.

“Did he get taller?” questions Tech Boy.

“What’s with the new hairdo? It’s…kind of ugly,” comments Tech Girl.

“What an odd transformation. I’m not familiar with this one amongst you Citaloanins,” comments the Queen.

Standing in Jeremiah’s place was a much taller figure with a darker skin tone and oddly curly hair braided in pigtails on the sides. Jeremiah appears next to him as a transparent figure and asks, “What’s this ‘Citaloanin’ thing she keeps calling us?”

Superhero Smiley Face brushes it off and says to the Queen, “I haven’t met anyone familiar with my home planet in a long time.

“Still,” he continues as the meter starts to drop a bit, “I’m afraid I can’t let you harm my host body!” An earth boot forms around his foot and without turning kicks a piece of crystal into the air. The meter rises a bit. The piece lands in his hand and he tosses it like a spear at the Queen who dodges it with ease. However, that was a diversion.

He closes the gap on her while she’s distracted. His hands ignite as he puts them together and clocks her on the top of her head. Then, he Earth Kicks her in the face. He grabs her with his hands ablaze and uses the momentum from his levitation to slam her into the ground. The meter rose even further. The impact causes her to involuntarily let go of Tech Boy. Superhero Smiley Face kicks her aside.

“Had enough yet?”

She screams and tries to grab him with a tentacle. He sidesteps her and grabs it with his fiery grip in order to suplex her. Once she’s on the other side, he jumps and punches her in the gut. The meter is getting dangerously close to red. She coughs a bit from the impact. SSF takes a brief second to assess the situation taking particular note of Tech Boy and Tech Girl. The Queen tries to grab him with her tentacles, but he counters them with Fire Strike. His watch alarm goes off as the button rapidly flashes red. He checks it and sees that the meter has passed its safety mark.

“What is this?” questions SSF.

Jeremiah appears and says, “A meter?”

The operator’s voice says, “Robot Boy, your power has reached critical levels. Cease and desist all use for everyone’s safety.”

The Queen grabs Superhero Smiley Face by the leg and holds him upside down. His face appears on the big screen next to the meter in Superhero HQ 5 as he says, “That may not happen.”

He presses the button on the watch, and it closes. The Queen gets back up and Superhero Smiley Face attacks her with Fire Strike. The watch’s alarm blares louder than ever further emphasized by its flashing red light as the Queen hits the wall causing her to let go of SSF who starts glowing a faint yellow. He feels power surging through him prompting him to rush at the Queen with twin fiery fists and pummel her with a 5-hit combo each hit stronger the last increasing the glow little by little and raising the meter ever closer to the top. He roundhouse kicks the Queen into a crystal that pierces her, but it’s not fatal.

One of the computers say to Tech Girl, “You have to stop him, that energy is unstable!”

She looks at the glowing SSF with his watch’s flashing red light and blaring alarm. The Queen sends her tentacles at him. He grabs one and spins around slamming her into a wall. The meter is only a couple of inches from the top and his glow is super bright. Tech Girl looks around taking particular note of the Queen’s drop pod and a nearby crystal cluster. She hatches a plan and relays it to the computers who now decide to cooperate because they don’t want to die.

One turns into a high-speed table and Tech Girl hops on. They sped towards the crystal cluster Tech Girl spotted along with any of the computers that still had transforming capabilities. Several computers went to hold down the Queen and others went to her drop pod. The computers stretched their arms to hold the Queen down. SSF lands and starts wondering what’s going on. His glow begins to dim a bit. The computers at the crystal cluster turned into a crane. Tech Boy saw this and quickly figures out the strategy. He ran over to SSF and says, “Behind.” He looks behind him and sees the computers gathering around the drop pod cluing him into the plan. SSF nods at Tech Boy as the Queen tries to grab them. He pushes Tech Boy aside and spins to dodge. The meter is slowly decreasing along with the brightness of his glow. They both run to opposite sides.

Tech Girl gives the computers the go-ahead. They tear the cluster from the ground using a net they made with the crane construct and hit the Queen on the back with it. She starts stumbling as the other computers grab the drop pod and bring it towards her. The Queen turns around while she stumbles and sees Tech Girl. She sends her tentacles straight at her, but then Superhero Smiley Face appears right in front of her and deflects them with Fire Strike. Unfortunately, this fills up the meter and his glow increases, but he’s not in as much danger as he was two minutes ago.

He checks the meter and while he’s still in the red, he’s got enough leeway for one more move. His hand ignites in a huge blaze, bigger than all the other ones he made today. The Queen stops stumbling, right as SSF jumps and punches her straight into the drop pod. Tech Boy runs over to it and closes it with the press of a button. The Queen is forced to turn back into normal size, so her own drop pod doesn’t crush her. When it closes, Tech Boy activates the Emergency Retrieval Beacon.

Parts of the ceiling break apart but instead of falling down they fall up as a blue beam shines down and lifts the pod up. Backup just now arrived on the scene. The Queen exits her pod on the ship and sees the Superheroes.

She growls as the pilot asks, “What should we do now my Queen?”

She orders angrily, “Retreat for now. We don’t have the forces to deal with them.”

“Roger.”

They began their retreat with several Superheroes ships pursuing them. A few of them landed. The boss rushed in, “Sector 22, secure the perimeter. Sector 18, investigate the area. Everyone else, question the witnesses.”

The boss walks up to Superhero Smiley Face, “Now what could have possibly happened that warranted you risking your own self-destruction for?”

“Self-destruction? Is that what this ‘meter’ thing is all about?” asks Superhero Smiley Face.

“You don’t know?” questions the boss curiously.

“You don’t know what a meter is, after driving that vehicle?” genuinely asks Tech Boy.

The boss looks at him and asks, “And who might you be?”

SSF answers, “He calls himself Tech Boy. I believe he is one of the thieves we were sent to catch.”

Tech Boy gulps as a young woman rushes to the boss, “Sir, we have a young girl here who is suffering from heat exhaustion. We need to get her to a medical facility immediately.”

“The closest place around here would be Superhero Stadium, but it has no staff there at the moment.”

“As long as it has proper medical equipment, it should be fine. A few of us have been trained as field medics,” informs the woman.

SSF’s glow was slowly starting to dissipate as the boss replies, “Very well. Take whoever you need on board Sector 18’s ship and head there. Is there anyone else who needs medical assistance?”

“No sir,” replies the woman.

“Dismissed.”

She salutes and runs off. He looks at Tech Boy and asks, “You, are you related to the girl?”

He looks him dead in the eye, “She is my sister.”

“Then, go with her. Tell the staff you have temporary security clearance on my authority,” says the boss.

Tech Boy salutes not knowing what proper procedure is used for this event and runs over to his sister. The boss suddenly receives a report, “Sir, the enemy got away. I’ve never seen a ship that fast before. It cleared orbit like it was nothing. By the time we were in the stratosphere we lost sight of it.”

The boss looks at Superhero Smiley Face and asks, “Who did you face?”

Superhero Smiley Face answers, “She called herself the queen of Planet Gaxi, and our thieves are her children.”

The boss looks at him in astonishment wondering what kind of trouble they have just gotten into.

It didn’t take long after that to load everyone up on a ship and retrieve the Changing Rocket parts. They rushed over to Superhero Stadium and frantically wheeled Tech Girl to the medical facility there while Tech Boy waited outside. Most of the other sectors were either in charge of relocating the Originally Programmed Computers or investigating the scene. Time passes. No one comes out of that facility. Superhero Smiley Face is waiting with Tech Boy, but he is no longer glowing. Finally, someone exits the room.

“She’s going to be ok. Just a few days rest and she’ll be all better.”

Tech Boy rushes in there to check on his sister. SSF follows him. As Tech Boy is telling his sister how glad he is that she’s ok, the boss walks in.

Superhero Smiley Face asks him, “So, what are you going to do with them?”

“Don’t know. I just read your report, and in my personal opinion, I think it’s too late to avoid an intergalactic incident. Erasing their memories at this point would not be a wise move, either. For now, I’m trying to contact the Intergalactic Superheroes for advice.”

Jeremiah appears and asks excited, “There’s Intergalactic Superheroes?”

“Intergalactic Superheroes? Just how far does your organization extend?” asks SSF.

“They technically rank above me, but I don’t know. I’m only in charge of the Earth Division,” answers the Boss.

“Does that mean there’s a Mars Division?” asks Jeremiah.

“What is Mars?” questions SSF astonished.

“It’s the next planet in our solar system, and yes there is a Mars Division,” answers the boss.

“Yay!” cheered Jeremiah.

“I’m going to switch back to Jeremiah,” says Superhero Smiley Face.

Right as SSF attempts to leave, a voice says, “Wait.”

He turns back around and looks at Tech Boy. He gets up and looks straight at them, “We want to join your organization.”

“May I ask why?” asks the boss.

“Because we don’t want to go back to Planet Gaxi! Our mother wants to marry us off for political gain and we already told her countless times that we don’t want to marry them! We can be a valuable asset to-“

The boss interrupts him, “Are you even aware of the kind of work we do?”

“No, not really,” answers Tech Boy.

“We capture and apprehend the most dangerous supervillains imaginable. Knowing this, are you still sure you want to join the Superheroes?”

Tech Boy looks him dead in the eye, determination on his face, “Yes, I am sure.”

The boss turns back to Superhero Smiley Face, “Go and switch back to Jeremiah. I need to talk with him.”

SSF leaves the room and goes into the stadium. He takes a deep breath and a tornado forms around him turning him back into Jeremiah. He walks back to the medical facility.

The boss asks him, “Jeremiah, if I were to allow Tech Boy and Tech Girl into the Superheroes, are you willing to take all responsibility for the consequences of your actions today and be able to work together with them in Sector 17 for the foreseeable future?”

Jeremiah salutes and answers, “Yes sir. I would be honored to have Tech Boy and Tech Girl as my teammates, and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

“Then, from now on, Tech Boy and Tech Girl will be a part of Sector 17, effective after Tech Girl’s recovery.”

Meanwhile in space, a spaceship comes out of a wormhole somewhere outside the solar system, maybe even outside the Milky Way.

“So what do you plan to do now, my Queen?”

“We are going to recover my children at all costs, even if we have to invade Earth with all our might to do so,” says the Queen.

A few days later, Tech Boy is currently at Sector 17 finishing the repairs to Computer.

“And done, we’ll work on insulating your hands later,” says Tech Boy.

Tech Girl is currently rewiring the computer to increase its performance and signal range.

“And there we go, this ought to be a good start for now,” thinks Tech Girl aloud.

She gets out right as the boss calls, “Sector 17, are you ready for your next mission?”

Jeremiah walks up and says, “Yes, we are ready.”