Kyle:
I was finally back at the camp. I dropped to my butt behind the cleft, holding my chest. I looked up to see- a giant pink bunny staring at me with giant lifeless eyes, about three inches from my face. I screamed like- well like a little kid. I then jumped back and slammed my head into the back of the rock.
I heard chuckles and a straight-up laugh- that definitely belonged to Xao. I stood up rubbing the back of my head as Xao and J-Star came out from behind a bush not far away. "Haha guys," I said. "What if I had been followed?"
"Pretty sure your weapons would have been drawn," Xao said. "Jess taught you well."
I sighed. "Point..." the bunny was waving at me. "So that's a projection..." I waved a hand through it. "So if I- HOLY CRAP!" To my left, I was suddenly looking at a giant grasshopper, again its face about two inches from mine. It twisted its head side to side as I eased my hand away from my lightning blade. "What's the big idea?"
The two teens made finger pistols at each other as I folded my arms. J-Star smiled and started to explain. "Well, Xao said that-"
"That thing goes away," I quickly said, pointing at the bug that was twice my size. It vanished.
J-Star shrugged. "Xao pointed out I was kinda holding myself back. I use presets when I use my projector, but it can project literally anything I imagine. It takes time to manifest a full copy of myself- but if I just project random images your average opponent will be momentarily confused anyway. The idea isn't to project-specific kinds of projections, but just as many sounds and sights as possible, rendering one's senses of sight and hearing useless."
"Hm..." I blinked a few times. "That's... actually pretty clever."
"So I'm practicing confusing the heck out of someone." That voice came from the top of the cleft. At that moment I realized Xao didn't have a bright green shirt like the person in front of me standing with J-Star. I looked up seeing J-Star and Xao waving down at me.
I looked at the ground- which now was bright pink. "Okay... this is gonna be an interesting night." I just looked forward, realizing it was meaningless to try to find them with my eyes at the moment. "All that being established, we have a problem."
A pair of giant lips appeared over my shoulder and spoke in a deep near tenor voice. "I'll say."
I couldn't help but give a grin to that as I inched away involuntarily. "The leprechauns are amassing a small army."
"Just a squad of six huh?" J-Star's voice came from behind me as the lips disappeared.
"Doesn't that thing have a limited battery life?" I asked.
"Yep!" J-Star's voice said somewhere over my right shoulder. "But if I move around and distract you, good luck figuring out when it's out of juice to find me." I looked down at my scanner- which at the moment looked like a giant eyeball- I jumped as it blinked when I almost touched it.
I continued. "Technically it still is a squad of six. The army is composed entirely of mimics and a few hunters. All of those are easy enough to dispatch at a distance since they're not smart enough to carry weapons."
To my left- "Don't the leprechauns just carry laser swords or something?" Xao asked.
I shrugged. "Those things can fire their lasers or retain them, they're good at range or close up." I sat down as the ground appeared to turn into a giant eyeball under me. I just sat down anyway and- "OW!" I shot up pulling the thing out of my behind. "Who even packed thumb tacks?" I demanded.
YOU ARE READING
Globe Tracers 3: Heritage of Triad
AdventureJessica gives everything to protect her friends, unleashing her true power against the crime boss Tyrin. He's driven off, but the power has damaged her body so much, Jessica is now at death's door. Kyle and Xao make a deal with the king of the Tric...