Dawn on Jefferson (scifi story): Chapter Thirty-two - But I Didn’t Ask for Knight in Powered Armor!

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Chapter One: Getting Up
Chapter Two: Where I Live
Chapter Three: The Walk
Chapter Four: School
Chapter Five: Introducing my Friends, the Merry Pranksters!
Chapter Six: Walking to Mom's
Chapter Seven: Mom’s House
Chapter Eight: It Began on Constitution Hill
Chapter Nine: Attack of the Awknerds!
Chapter Ten: No Awknerds Were Harmed
Chapter Eleven: The Breaking Shadstorm
Chapter Twelve: Where I Envy Grilled Cheese
Chapter Thirteen: Doom! Doom! Doom! Where I Want to go to School! The End Must be Nigh!
Chapter Fourteen: The Game is a Foot
Chapter Fifteen: Uncomfortable Revelations!
Chapter Sixteen: WAITAMINUTE!
Chapter Seventeen: The Healing Power of Popcorn
Chapter Eighteen: The Lessons Learned Before Maven
Chapter Nineteen: No Haven From Maven
Chapter Twenty: Meeting Maven
Chapter Twenty-One: And Then I was Roasted Alive and Served Up With a Worm
Chapter Twenty-Two: That Which has Been Set in Motion…
Chapter Twenty-Three: Shall Stay in Motion...
Chapter Twenty-Four: Until Acted Upon by Something Absolutely Annoying
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Veena Swarm Circus!
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Rain of Blobs Pulled the Church Down
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Harrowing Sounds of Yoatling and the Popping of Creepy Fruit
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Where We Get Chastised by a Spiny Creeper
Chapter Twenty-nine: I Spy With Rosa’s Drone Eye
Chapter Thirty: Where I Lose to a Mockery. Stupid Mockery.
Chapter Thirty-One: Where I try to do the Right Thing

Chapter Thirty-two: But I Didn’t Ask for Knight in Powered Armor!

Screaming was not the most ideal reaction to a cockatrice. It was the natural reaction. After all, we were twelve. I was twelve!

I dropped my new Booster and ran. I had to. The others followed after, but Tom and Jackie paused after we were down the stairs and looked up. They had pulled out their needlers and were looking for the cockatrice. It launched up and into the air flying right over us. We ran up across the plaza and into the church. Fortunately, the great bronze door was open. Unfortunately, it was not possible to close it.

The cockatrice slammed against the doors and wedged its head in. It hissed and pulled back out. Tom and Jackie were a little too slow with their needlers, so they didn't fire at the beast. And it was a big beast, for a cockatrice. It was probably has big as it could get, being about four meters long and a wingspan twice that. It was a huge monster and our needlers only tickled it at best.

So silly 6th graders, thanks for the tickle, now hold still while I eat you.

I didn't say cockatrices were smart. Just big and scary.

What Jefflife needed was for people to be here for a most of a decent century or three. Then they'd realize people and Earthlife in general were not good eats. In fact, we were poisonous. However, they were not so smart. Yet. Though the idea of a SMART cockatrice did not seem very appealing either.

We were puffing and huffing behind a giant column when a stain glass window shattered inward. The cockatrice had figured glass was breakable and we were still edible. Right on one count at least. My inner wannabe architect cried out over the shattered window, but my outer me wanted to run like the wind. So, we hustled into a side room and then looked for some way out. There was. And it was going to shatter my heart like glass.

It was another window.

Tom started to make a pun. I saw it in his eyes and stance. He had that sort of stance. How could he have possibly been in any state to make a pun, I could not even remotely understand. I gave him a look that made it plain if he did, I was going to throw him through the window. He gave me a rather insolent smirk.

Now? Really? Gah!

The cockatrice started trying to get through the door behind us. We then did something really stupid: we jumped right through the window. Fortunately, our leathers were pretty thick. Unfortunately, Veena was actually cut even so and we would have to deal with that later though. We ran as fast as we could.

Across the plaza.

Through one of the cardinal directions toward the gate we came in through. And we started seeing loogers! Wonderful! Not only were we being chased by an angry cockatrice, now we had Jefflife not-frogs to spit on us with toxic goo.

Great! Just great!

None of us got actually spat on. Fortunately. Unfortunately, we forgot something really important about cockatrices.

Cockatrices were the boys.

Basilisks were the girls.

I think I had better explain what that means.

When Americans first set foot on Jefferson, they made note of all the critters on the planet. They needed to in order to make sure people could actually live there. Yes, they lost some of the first explorers to taxitos. By and large, they made note of most things large and small with the help of their robotic partners.

One of the animals they noticed was a snake like fish-thing that lived in the water. They observed it and called it the 'hydra.' (and if you say 'hail hydra, I will punch you in the mouth! There's only so many times a movie should be made and remade and had a sequel, Mouse!)

They also noted the rare flying feathered serpent-like animal we now call the cockatrice. It was big, mean and pretty rare. It seemed to like to live near the water though but hunted on land.

They also noted a large water monster, generally 9 meters in length, that seemed to vaguely be like our crocodiles. It would suction eat a lot of swimming animals and fish, but loved to grab animals from the shoreline and eat them. They called these 'basilisks.'

Finally, also noted out in the sea where what they thought were whale equivalents. They called them the leviathans.

What they didn't realize was they were all the same creature at different stages of its life cycle. Over a seven year period, the hydra transformed from small snake like eels to the cockatrices. Their front fins transformed into wings and the rear fins into legs.

Then, on the strike of 12, no. nonono.

I can't believe you actually started to fall for that.

No, really, they metamorphosed. But rather a clock? Really?

It was every seven years though. As the hydras grew bigger, they moved into deeper water until they are almost out to sea. Then when the seven year itch strikes, they crawl from the water, dry out and go on a mating flight. Several boys chase a girl basilisk until one finally catches her. The rest was too embarrassing to talk about. Still twelve here! Most of the boys were not so lucky. They slowly die out over the course of the next seven years. But they often tear up the land, eating many large and moderate size animals in the area. Some, those that survived and mated with the female, survive to all seven years. They followed the female to a lake or deeper water, where she will take the plunge and she will transform again into the crocodile critter and lay eggs for the next seven years. If she finds a river, she will slowly make her way down into the sea. Once she was there, she will finish her transformation into a leviathan. Why the leviathan stage exists, no one has figured out. One Dr. Jonah Jackson was trying to find out.

Dr Jackson was the one that figured out the giant cockatrices were really males of the same species as the basilisk and both were the breeding form of the hydra. He had also figured out after seven years, the male cockatrices transformed - those that made it through the seven years - transformed into female basilisk. He had also surmised the leviathans were the grandmother form of the same animal and taken a small boat out to study them. I think he thought they must be docile big whales, since that's the nearest thing on Earth. Oh, the irony of his name and his fate.

So, back to the brute-species chasing us. The male cockatrice helped to protect the female even when she was in the water and transformed. He'd try to fight off a new female and her entourage. However, half the time, he was eaten by the swarm of smaller cockatrices. Not pretty. However, he did have another use to her. He often chased prey to the basilisk so she can have a balanced diet while laying their eggs.

Oops!

Stupid Jefflife!

We ran along the causeway and were half way across when the water erupted. Out flopped behind us (!!!) a basilisk. We ran even faster. The basilisk was HUGE, one of the biggest I'd ever heard of and wiggle waddled after us as fast as it could. It was slightly faster than we were and it as closing on us, slowly and inexorably. It was going to get to us. It was going to kill us. We were going to die and then it was going to die.

Stupid Jefflife!

Stupid, stupid basilisk!

It was still a six meters - twenty feet! use your booster, Earther! - behind when we reached the hill. I turned and pulled out my needler. I set it to banglers and began firing at its eyes. It kept coming. Tom and Jackie stopped to help. I screamed at them to grab Veena and Rosa and run.

bang! bang! bang! bang!

It flinched at least.

I finally got a good shot into an eye and it stopped and howled.

Ha! take that, you stupid!

OH! CRUD!

I dropped onto my back just in time to avoid being snatched by the cockatrice. The howl apparently called it to its mate and here I was! Like a present! Joy!

bang! bang! bang! bang!

I fired away at the cockatrice's fluffy belly. It squawked! It actually squawked!

Score two for team Earthlife! Ha!

I quickly repointed my needler at the basilisk and fired more.

bang! bang! bang! bang!

It steam train hissed at me and stopped advancing for a moment. It was trying to decide if I was worth it. If it did decide I was, it was going to charge. I had better not be where I was. I turned - which triggered her charge! - and ran. Up the hill and behind some trees. From there I started firing more.

bang! bang! bang! bang!

The basilisk charged and the cockatrice swooped. I didn't see my friends, but I felt somewhat safe. I had plenty of ammo and the critters were not getting me tonight! Ha! Score again for Team Earthlife! Woo!

The awesome part was I did this without permanently harming either critter. It stung, but didn't kill.

Then, of course, everything went wrong.

From out of nowhere, a small missile arced up and exploded (!!) against the cockatrice. I swear had it been a critter that people could eat, they just got burger versions, ground up and even cooked in one shot. It might even have qualified as cockatrice sauce, like apple sauce, but made from Jefflife meat. bleh.

Then a form jumped from above me and landed down on the ground tackling the basilisk. The individual in powered armor actually grappled with the 9 meter long - oh good grief! 30 feet! - monster and then grabbed it by the tail. He swung the basilisk around and threw it back into the water.

Then the figure turned to me.

And my heart sunk.

On the figure's helmet was the same tricolor and chakra on the very same helmet I had stumbled over when this all began.