Jester Book 1: Abduction

Ch 16 Part 3: Ambush

Gray's upward hand served as a deterrent to the onslaught they were going to combat.

While Crow assessed the situation Chester took note of a missing element. There were only five Brawlers here. Eight had gone missing. Leon was just seen escorting Jessie somewhere, which left Mandy and Poco. He wondered if that explosive recoil they heard was caused by Bo. Maybe he was in combat with the remaining Brawlers. He hoped that Mandy hadn't been converted into one of these monstrosities as well, but he knew that was a hopeless plea. The thought of having to fight her made his stomach churn but the bigger problem was the skeleton. Their medic was somewhere far away. Just like last time. Waiting for a chance to heal them.

'Please keep him busy, Bo,' the jester internally prayed.

Chester's eyes went into search mode. Crow's eyes were in disbelief. He couldn't stop staring at her. Staring through his old friend. The electromagnetic zombie girl had been like a sister to Bibi. That made her another one of his goddaughters. He couldn't accept this. Who would have expected this? Watching her atop that perch, her skin held together by duct tape and wiring. Her free will was stolen by what looked like a technological cage. She was being tortured, even if her cackles screamed otherwise.

Crow stepped forward, "Emz. Snap out of it!" A useless call he knew, "Everyone's been so worried. You disappeared." He had to try, "Bibi's been a nervous wreck. Mortis is tearing the park apart looking for you." Maybe by some cliché, "I'm worried about you."

His voice would reach her.

Emz went silent. A stiff and tense aura fell over them. The fog disappeared for a moment. An outcome that caused the leader, Enigma, to observe her next move closely. Behind her digital visor, there was a glimmer of hope. Humanity hidden beneath the wires and codes. Then a smile came up from her bowels. Followed by a heinous cackle, "Yea-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Her fingers reached to her belt. She flicked open a few canisters and the fog doubled its intensity. Her hands went to the sky, like a goddess calling upon a storm to smite these mortals. Enigma gave a small smile.

Chester stopped his search when he saw what Crow had beckoned. He put a hand on his shoulder, "There's no point. That's not her." He looked around at all the robotic machinations, "None of them are. They're a bunch of Carbon Copies"

Crow smacked away his uncertainty, "Right. Right. Their copies..." The bird looked deep into the LED display. If he concentrated he might be able to see her eyes behind the visor. His tone was less confident, "They're just copies."

While he was taking in the five Brawlers against them he saw Gray drop his hand. His fingers contorted into the imaginary pistols children would fire during playtime. His fingers mimed a gun's barrel and his eyes were positioned behind the sights. He couldn't see it but Chester saw Gray mouthing the word, BANG.

He jumped forward, rolling out of the way of the imaginary bullet. It left a sizable indent in the roof's concrete barrier. With the massive recoil that Enigma suffered from he must have been using an unholy caliber hand cannon. Chester got to his feet ready to send an attack back at the robotic mime. Instead, he came face to face with ColdFront's angry grimace. The flurry of slushy goodness inside his plexiglass case was spinning like an F5 tornado. The snowcone spewer placed the palm of his hand against Chester's nose. It happened so fast. A compartment opened on his palm and out of it came three condensed balls. Not only did they hit Chester's face like a rock but they somehow were burning and freezing his cheeks at the same time. A confusingly painful experience that made him roll away while hollering in pain.

Crow tried to rush to his aid but a new problem appeared at his feet. A rapidly disappearing fuse attached to thirty grams of gunpowder. His feathers stood on edge and jumped back to avoid a quick death. With his hollow bones and powerful legs, he started floating on a nonexistent breeze. He readied his blades for a return volley at the crazy carbon coot. Until his lungs filled with that purple gas once more. His heart ignited and his body fell to a tumbling knee.