Afterburner (SS Mini-Series)

Episode 1-3: Kay-Oh

    I feel my body getting dragged away, and eventually, the police cruiser with both cops is brought into my view. Including Clyde, they all watch over me.

    "Troy, say something!" Clyde demands. I try to move my mouth, but since the jaw is a muscle too, I can't form words. I feel saliva pool up and dribble out of the corner of my mouth. Kay-Oh apparently has more than just a single power, and this last one only makes his first one that much stronger.

    Clyde cradles my neck and lets my head go limp. I'm hanging upside down, and it kind of feels good. "Dammit, I had no idea things were going to get this bad. To hell with his rules, I should've jumped in and saved you."

    No, Clyde, that would only have resulted in both of us being defeated at the same time. You need to review the footage and find out what things look like when you fight him. Study the video you took, and come back with a plan.

    "Can you hear me at all?"

    I try to gurgle something with my spit-filled mouth, but no sound comes out. Am I going to drown in my own saliva? Oh god, Clyde, put me on my side! Hanging upside down is only making it harder to breathe now.

    "I'm going to airlift you back to Ispio. Doctor Nivans is going to make you all better."

     No, dammit! I can't prove it, but something tells me there is no cure to this unless it's Kay-Oh's defeat. Nivans won't know how to treat this strange anomaly. This isn't normal science.

    I see Clyde look in the distance and begin to talk. I think he's using his comms. "Amy, I need you to check on Troy's vitals for me."

    I'm still linked in, I can hear Amy's response. "Looks like his vitals are fine, but there's something affecting his muscular system. It's as if his caloric count has been reduced to zero. If that's true, then he must not be able to move a single muscle. Is he okay?"

    "No, Amy, he's paralyzed. Kay-Oh did something to him when he lost the fight. He won't move, he's just staring into the sky letting his drool dribble down his chin."

    "Whatever you do, don't feed him. He won't be able to swallow correctly, and he'll choke to death. I'm reading that his nanobots recently ran the resuscitation program. Don't let his heart fail too many times, the shock won't be able to save him all the time. In fact, it might kill him."

    Oh great, my own nanobots will kill me if my heart stops too many times. Without any calories in my body, organ failure is bound to happen, my heart will stop with or without choking. I wonder how much time Clyde has to fix this mess before I end up croaking like a watch with a dead battery.

    "If I can't feed him, what about an IV?"

    "Did your tech team actually pack you an IV kit?"

    "No..."

    "You're going to have to get him here quickly so Nivans can help him out. I'll get Barry on the line."

    "Roger."

    Guys, that's not going to work. Why can't anybody read my mind yet?

    "Clyde, bad news. Barry's jet is already active today, I'm afraid I have to send in another pilot. Without Barry's camouflage abilities, this other pilot will have to take a longer flight route to avoid airspace trespassing. It'll be a long wait. What about a local hospital?"

    Clyde peeks over at Kay-Oh, I hear screaming, but I'm not sure who it is. "Kay-Oh has the whole town as his hostage. Trying to leave the scene is an invitation to hand-to-hand combat. No one can leave, and no medical teams may enter without also being seen as a combatant."