*All
characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons
Chapter 5
Too Close...
Sarah forced herself up. Michelle was still gone...but there hadn't
been any more...disturbances...since Babe left.
And his mother...she seemed so miserable. If it hadn't been for Ralph, both Babe's
mother and Pik's would have probably given up.
Since Ralph was there, it gave the two grandmothers something to
do. That didn't help her or Bill...and Michelle
was going to die soon.
Sarah was sure of that. She
slowly made her way over to Bill who was furiously scribbling on the wall,
"What are you doing?"
He didn't stop writing, "They didn't take away
my pencil...and I was lucky enough to have a sharpener...I'm trying to figure a
way out! Each of these equations are probabilities...what might happen, what will most likely
happen...and I'm trying different plans here!
I have a few ideas on how to get the door down, then we'll have to save
Michelle...if we don't she'll die, but there's a higher chance everyone else
will get out...I can't do that to Babe though..."
"What are our chances so far?"
"With Michelle still here, our best chance will
be when Kain takes her away to kill her.
If we want to rescue her, our chances are about 418 to 1."
"And if we leave her?.." Sarah knew she shouldn't have asked, but she
couldn't help it.
"Our chances will improve to 50 to 1. I don't know what to do! I've been trying to figure out another
way...but our best chances are if we leave without Michelle...I can't figure
anything better...Unless Ba--unless the Protector was here." Bill had almost forgotten that not everyone
here knew who the Protector was..."If he was here, our chances, WITH
Michelle, would increase greatly. We
could get Michelle, and still have a 10 to 1 chance of escape. Without her, our chances, with the Protector
helping us, would be about the same. I
just don't see how he'll get here in time though!"
Sarah sighed, "He'll be here...I trust him. Bill, he won't let us down."
Michelle had just ten hours left to live.
Babe flew through the sky. He was running out of time! In two hours...TWO hours, Kain would kill
Michelle! Where was she?! He had searched EVERY power plant! There wasn't a sign of her...anywhere...and
he was almost out of power. He had to
get home to rebuild the machine and recharge himself...he was dangerously
low...recharging himself though would take an hour...even IF the machine was
built! With it demolished like it
was...he would run out of time before he was halfway ready to keep the fight going! He had to find her soon...he could go for
three more hours...provided he didn't have to waste any energy firing his
cannon.
Kain flew slowly through the sky, staying just out of
Babe's radar range. He had an unconcious
girl in his arms. Her wings were clasped
together so that, if she woke, she wouldn't think about trying to fly
away...not that she would get very far...it was just to keep her hopes
low. Babe wouldn't find them...and in
two hours he would show himself...and make Babe chase him. He would drop the girl before Babe's
eyes. Babe would throw himself at her to
save her, but he would be too late. Kain
had everything planned. He knew the
exact speed Babe could achieve. He knew
every little thing about how Babe worked...He was sure this would work.
"One hour...One more DAMN hour...Where the hell
ARE you Kain?!" Babe shouted to the
sky. He was severely short on time...he
would NOT have enough energy if he had to fight...but he HAD to fight...how
else would he save Michelle...or anyone else?
A tear slid down and stuck to his helmet. He unlatched it and wiped away the
tear..."What the--"
He braced himself as rockets suddenly blasted overhead. Something zoomed past him, laughing.
And something else was screaming.
Babe chased after them, but they were moving too
fast! He was going to lose them! The problem was,
Kain knew it. He was flying ahead,
taunting Babe. Babe gasped as he watched
something start to drop from Kain's arms...Michelle! He slammed his helmet back on and tried to go
faster...but he couldn't...
Kain cursed and grabbed at the girl. She had woken up much too soon. They were still too far away for Babe to
catch her, but Kain was not happy that he hadn't forseen this. He kept a firm hand wrapped around her
arm. It threw him a little off balance,
but he wasn't going to let go until the hour was up.
Babe chased them for the next forty-five
minutes. For some reason, they did not
continue to pull ahead. Instead, he was
able to keep them in his sight...but just barely. Power
levels at 30% Warning. Power levels at 30% Cease actions and recharge. Babe turned off the warning signals. He KNEW he was close. Damn it, he KNEW! He couldn't get distracted. He had to save Michelle.
Five minutes...Five minutes left.
...four.
...three.
...two.
...one.
... ... ...none.
Kain glanced back.
Good. Babe was STILL too far
away. He let go, relishing the girl's
screams as she fell to her death. He
turned to Babe to watch him try vainly to save her.
Babe channeled as much power as he could to the
rockets. He wasn't going to make
it! She was falling..."Michelle...I--I'm not...I HAVE
TO!" He growled and willed
himself to go faster. His body reacted
to his will automatically...as it would had it been
his real body. He straightened, lessened
as much air resistance as possible. Babe
heard something crack, but paid no attention.
He was focused on getting to Michelle before she hit...something flew
off, and he could see much more clearly.
His eyes narrowed...a red glow started to emit from them as he gained
speed little by little.
Kain couldn't believe it, "You can't...YOU
CAN'T! NO!!!!!"
Babe pushed himself once more. He was angled in a steep dive to the
ground. If he could just get to her
before she hit...c'mon...c'mon....YES!!!!!! He shifted to
soften her fall as much as he could...held her in his
arms. The two of them fell to the
ground, but Babe was the only one who hit.
"NO! YOU
WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! I WAS
SUPPOSED TO WIN, DAMN YOU!" Kain
retreated. If Babe could do this...since
he had managed to do the impossible, Kain would have to rethink
everything. He landed at the power
plant, blasting away at anything he felt like...including his own men.
He made his way to the containment cells and grabbed
Bill. He also brought three of his men
with him. The five of them walked to the
room where Kain's recharging equipment was.
There was a table there for him to lay on as
well, in case he needed repairs. He laid down, "Bill.
Make me stronger. Make me
faster. Do everything you can to make me
better." He also added, in case
Bill decided to do the opposite, "Men, shoot him if he does anything that
will hinder me." His men knew
enough about his build to know what Kain meant.
They would be able to understand if Bill tried to deactivate Kain...or
if he downgraded him.
Babe flew with Michelle in his arms all the way back
to the lab. Once there, he started to
work on the recharging unit. Sugar kept
him going enough to finish. All through
the time he was building, Michelle had stared at him, "What is it?"
"Uncle Babe?.."
Babe stopped.
Had she just guessed? She had called
him Babe before...wait a minute! He felt
his head. The helmet was gone!..so THAT'S what had broken off...
"Uncle Babe...is it really you?"
Babe didn't quite know how to answer...she wasn't
going to take the angle story again...was she?.."Michelle,
I told you last time...I'm not here for long..."
"But you--but Uncle Babe, you were the
Protector. I saw you with the helmet
on...you're supposed to be dead..."
"I am dead Michelle...but I couldn't stand
seeing you get kidnapped by that man...you, or my mother, or my friends. Michelle, I came back to help you get
away..."
"But Uncle Babe..."
"Hush."
He gently--or at least as gently as his robotic body could allow--took
her to a bed. Luckily there was still
one untouched, so she had a comfortable place to sleep. Once he had put her to bed, and made sure she
was asleep, he went back to rebuilding his recharger. By the time he'd finished, night was almost
over. He plugged himself in, waiting for
the last hour of the night to go by...