Bubble Energy Taken by Force

Theft

 Nearly drowned in the noise of relief were tiny motors whining. Puzzled, Stephen turned seeing two men armed with heavily customized belt fed assault rifles. The one wearing long, black hair and a well-groomed beard gripped a crystal disk he recently ejected from a slot. Stephen complained, "Where did you hire these bodyguards? They are the rudest men I've seen. Look at them. One guy is pointing a machine gun at me."

"Bodyguards?" Corin spun around. "We don't have bodyguards."

The scraggy bearded man with a black crew cut jeered, "Thanks for the blueprints and source code for the most advance computer system in the world." He then sprayed numerous screaming bullets into every monitor, shattering the pained expressions of Corin's computer intelligence. Next, rows of mysterious metal boxes winking colored lights became crumbing scraps filled with smoking holes. Each bullet punched a hole big enough to put a finger through. Relentlessly, he thoroughly chewed everything remotely electronic. After finishing, he sneered, "Guess what, we now have better computers than these infidels'."

Stephen quickly realized they were playing with him. Any moment, they will shoot bullets through his tender heart. "Hold it. Let me try to negotiate with you two. Maybe I can help heal your hurt feelings."

Wordlessly, the man with the crew cut re-aimed his machine gun, forcing Stephen to huddle behind his tipped over table.

"Why are you so full of rage against us? I'm a peaceful man dedicated in bringing prosperity to the world. Look me up under last year's Global Health Award. This corporation is righteous; they done no wrongs."

More screaming bullets made further conversation impossible. Stephen's heavy table withstood the full barrage. It vibrated a little bit from the impacts, but held. "What did the scientists made their furniture out of?"

Huddled behind another tipped over table, Corin briefly signaled Stephen, using American Sign Language, to continue distracting them while Jim worked nearby. Carefully, Jim poured liquid chemistry into a plastic produce bag. After tying it closed, he threw the rapidly inflating balloon at the man firing the gun.

At mid-flight, the bulging bag burst, forming a rapidly expanding grayish cloud. Within an instant a tremendous thunderclap shook the room. Blinding orange sphere of fiery fury threw both men off their feet and slammed them against the wall at the other end of the room. Tinkling chandeliers tumbled into the floor, adding to the piles of dusty debris.

"I've lost my machine gun too. Retreat before they toss more of these at us."

Jack cried, "Awesome! You make the best fuel-air explosives."

"All I wanted to formulate was a simple chemical gas bomb balloon to knock them out."

Both terrorists disappeared into the gloomy stairways. The machine gun, with its wooden stock afire and trigger jammed, continued firing. Recoils from firing large caliber armor-piercing bullets propelled it in rapid jerks through the opened door. It's trailing bullet belt quickly vanished inside the darkness.

Their vicious curses mixed with the sound of the still firing weapon tumbling down the stairs. "It's following us. Stop it. Ouch!"

"You figure out how. OW," another shouted back.

Gradually, the echoing noise dimmed.

Slamming down the wrecked landline phone Corin snarled, "Anybody got a good eulogy for our phone system? We won't be calling anyone from this, nor from our mobiles." He pointed at the shattered remains that slid down their desks and stopped numerous bullets.

"I have one on me", Stephen piped up, "but need to step outside. The stone walls are blocking the signals."

"Careful!" Jim warned as Stephen opened the sliding glass doors and silently crawled outside.

Moments later, Jim and Corin followed him outside to the grassy lawn. Stephen barely had a chance to fiddle with his mobile phone when Corin cried, "Behold, they're still below us."

Jim yelled, "They sighted us. Quickly! Duck behind the boulder." Far below, both men sprayed the mountaintop with machine gun fire.

Stephen grumbled, "Now what, give them the finger? Nobody on our side has a gun."

Jim reassured Stephen, "Let em fire away. All they will get from their effort is a depleted armory. Nobody has yet to develop a bullet that can penetrate a gazillion-ton boulder."

"Do you think it's safe to be standing so close to it? Look at it wobbling." Stephen asked.

Jim answered, "Fear not, the rock is stable. Twice, I tried dislodging this infernal thing with sticks of dynamites, and it refused to budge."

Immediately after Jim finished speaking, the granite boulder shifted, awakening with a hoarse groan. Clouds of dust burst as the house-sized wrecker skidded down the cliff. Mature trees, some more than three stories high, were savagely torn from their roots. The bouncing boulder gouged a long trail of churned dirt, toppled trees, and shattered rock. Each impact shook the ground. The impotent barriers seemed to only encourage the behemoth to speed up. Panicking, the pair dove into their car and screeched away, burning rubber. A moment later, irresistible force made out of granite rolled past where they had parked and crashed through Stephen's rented Benjamin, grinding it into the ground.

"Hey look, you forgot to remove this during demolition." Using one hand, Jack held up a rock that was supporting the boulder.

Stephen said, "I don't believe it. You're all crazy. How can you four show such courage while facing death? No, I don't want to know the story; it's unnatural. I'll get nightmares for weeks thinking about it."

"It was nothing", Jim commented, "Their machine guns aren't as scary as Jack's famous spikes. You can still see scruff marks all over the court's walls where his volleyball hit."

"By the way, my mobile never received any signals; it's out of range from the nearest cell towers. We're screwed."