Chapter Five
The chase lasted for what seemed like hours, and soon it was nightfall. As it led into a construction site area, both vehicles swerved, missing each other by millimeters. It was difficult to say which was louder: the squeal of sliding tires or the screams of the Camaro?s terrified (or thrilled, in Bloo?s case) occupants. Screams gave way to grunts as doors opened and they found themselves ejected.
?Hey! What?s the deal, yo?? Bloo asked the Camaro, seeming very upset at it. ?I was just startin? to enjoy the ride!?
They scrambled to stand up and would have run in any direction?except that they found themselves mesmerized by the sight that was unfolding immediately in front of them.
Emitting muted grinding and squealing noises, the Camaro was morphing right in front of their eyes. No changing in the shadows now. The robotic shape that emerged from the bulk that had been the Camaro was still the same light-blindingly bright yellow. It even sported, albeit in a radically different configuration, the black racing stripes that had originally caught Frankie?s attention.
The robot charged at the simultaneously transforming Barricade. Unfortunately for the friends of
Foster?s, they happened to be standing directly between the two clashing machines. As the robots slammed into each other, a section of the previous police cruiser?s chest popped opened to reveal an inner compartment, which was not empty.
Springing out and away from the main combat, the spidery form of Frenzy clutched at the clothes of Frankie and Mac and spun them around. Frankie?s transformed Camaro interceded immediately to protect them, knocking Frenzy aside while taking the brunt of Barricade?s charge, which sent the yellow robot tumbling backward. Rolling onto its feet, it charged straight at the transformed cruiser. As Barricade was knocked askew, one of its massive metal legs swung around parallel to the ground, swooshing through the air just over the ducking humans? and imaginary friends? heads. The group rolled and scrambled to put distance between themselves and the battling machines.
At least, seven of them did. Something was holding Mac back, preventing him from fleeing. Looking around, he found himself eye-to-lens with a mechanical nightmare that had secured a firm grip on his pants and was pulling him close to its insect-like jaws.
?HE?S GOT ME! I?M GONNA DIE!!!?
?MAC!!? Bloo cried, seeing the danger that his friend and creator was in, immediately going into panic mode.
Mac?s frenzied, rapid kicks glanced off the indifferent mechanical monster. All that kicking did, however, allow him to wiggle out of his pants. Freed, he managed to get to his feet. In shoes, socks, and boxers, he turned to run after his companions. Unfazed, the mechanoid promptly leaped onto his backpack, which he quickly removed and let it fall behind with his pants. But Frenzy was quick to jump off that and on Mac?s back and head.
?HEY!?
Staggering under the weight of the clinging robot, Mac did not have time to wonder where Bloo had found a power saw. Looking past him, he saw an open chest from which a dozen other tools protruded like metal flowers. Bloo came forward, holding the howling saw out in front of him. ?Leave my boy alone, you foul alien machine!?
Responding to the more dangerous threat, Frenzy let go of Mac and leaped at Bloo, who swung the saw wildly. There was a brief but very loud grinding noise. One of the robot?s arms went flying. Having picked up a loose length of rebar, Frankie charged the machine from behind and began battering wildly at the robot?s head. A couple more hacking swings and it lay on the ground, severed from the main body and twitching spastically.
Meanwhile, Bloo was still swinging the saw wildly, near catching the legs of a few friends in process. Mac shouted in reaction to this, ?Bloo! Stop! The thing?s dead!? However, Bloo wasn?t listening?he was having too much fun with the power saw. With no other choice, Frankie slightly clubbed the rebar over Bloo?s head, knocking both him and the saw out in the process.
?And to think, we?re fighting for our lives from something more dangerous than this idiot.? She uttered.
Well behind them now, Barricade had transformed back into a police cruiser, burning rubber and charging. The Camaro-turned-robot waited, waited?and then stepped aside. At the same time it undercut a nearby crane. Hanging from the crane?s arm was a solid steel wrecking ball. The wrecking sphere smashed square into the roof of the charging cruiser, stopping the vehicle cold. Flashing police lights and their protective plastic splintered and went flying in all directions.
With the metal-on-metal combat stopped, the group from
Foster?s turned and walked towards the standing figure of Frankie?s transformed car. It reached down to pick something out of the dirt and, extending a limb, offered Mac?s pants back to him.
?Uh, thanks.? Awed by the machine standing silently only feet away, Mac hurriedly struggled back into his pants. Next to him, the stares of the Andrews siblings, Frankie, and the imaginary friends were no less rapt as they gazed up at the mechanoid.
?My god. What
is it?? Sean asked.
Frankie had already come to a decision. Maybe it wasn?t founded on solid science, but it was good enough for her. ?Looks like a robot. Moves like a robot. If it could talk, I have a feeling it would talk like a robot. So I think it?s a robot.?
?Well, duh!? Bloo exclaimed. ?I could?ve told you that hours ago, Frankie! It?s a
superadvanced robot. Probably Japanese.?
Despite the fact that it saved their lives, Eduardo was still extremely frightened of the yellow robot. ?Why won?t it just leave us alone??
?It probably wants something from us, Ed.? Frankie said, full of wonderment, taking a couple of steps toward the hulking machine.
?Frankie,
what are you doing?? Mac asked. ?This thing didn?t come out of a cereal box!?
Gleaming yellow, the robot responded by taking a step toward the approaching Frankie. The head inclined downward in her direction. She found herself smiling and wrong from the get-go. ?I don?t think it?s gonna hurt us, guys.?
As they stared at the robot, they failed to notice the lights that sprang to life within what for the past several moments had been a dark, inert skull. Sprouting tiny centipede-like legs, the decapitated head rose up slightly to take stock of its surroundings. Its attention fixed on an object that had been dumped in the dirt: Alissa Andrews?s purse. Skittering over to it, Frenzy?s head began to transcan the contents. Lipstick, useless. Glasses, no good. Pen, insufficiently complex.
Sidekick. Limited storage capability, small and decidedly primitive, but sufficiently adaptable. As soon as it completed the transcan, Frenzy kicked the actual device into a pile of rubble and out of sight. Transformation ensued. The result was that it became an exact duplicate of the now-banished device. Unseen, it worked its way into the open purse, withdrew its legs and went dormant.
Frankie and robot stared at each other. ?I think?I think it wants something from me.? Her attention focused on the dark lenses that seemed to stare back into her own eyes. ?I?m not sure what. The other one kept asking something about ancestral artifacts.?
?Ancestral artifacts?? Wilt remarked, slightly confused. ?You mean like those old glasses that Madame Foster said once belonged to her great-great-grandmother??
?I guess so.? Cocking her head to one side, Frankie studied the robot?s head. ?Can you?talk? Communicate? In words we could understand??
Coco attempted something that she believed would help. ?Coco. Coco. Coco. Coco. Cococococo! Coco. Coco, Coco. Coco, Coco, Coco. Cooooco!?
The robot had done the same thing that the others had and just stared at her blankly, not understanding a word she said. Coco shrugged her shoulders, figuring it was worth a try, while the voice of an unknown D.J. poured forth from within the machine.
?I think it talks through the stereo.? Mac assumed. ?Or at least, it can channel commercial broadcasts and try to filter content to convey what it means.? In response, applause echoed from the robot. Nothing to lose by trying to get some more information, Frankie decided. ?What were you doing out last night? My buddy, Mac, and I followed you and saw you send something up into the sky.?
The sound of a radio evangelist?s sermon filled the air. ?
And a mighty voice will send a message, summoning forth visitors from Heaven!?
?HE?S AN ALIEN!? Bloo screamed excitedly. ?AWESOME!!?
The machine nodded and emitted a brief electronic squeak. As they stepped back and looked on, it shrank, shifted, transformed. Moments later, sitting before them once more was a by-now-familiar yellow Camaro. The doors swung wide and the horn beeped insistently.
?I think it wants us to get in.? Mac guessed.
?SHOTGUN!!? Bloo yelled, as he slipped in behind the wheel. It wasn?t long before Frankie got in and bumped him off the driver?s chair, taking position as driver there. Or at least she thought. Carefully, she took the wheel in both hands. It remained steady and unmoving beneath her fingers.
?I think I could get used to this.?
END OF CHAPTER FIVE