2.28

Welt stood there in front of the oversized chicken. The dust had been blown away from its head. It stared at Welt with its lifeless eyes, tilting its head at the mysterious newcomer that had entered the room.

Projecting from Welt was a being of some sort. It had long, vibrant, mauve hair. A stoic face and the skin looked like metallic gold. From her waist, instead of legs, a spectral tail linked to Welt’s chest.

“What’s that?” Hunter asked.

“This is my power. Its my lifeforce made real. Her name is Razor Queen.”

“Um, why is she called that?” Gauzelle asked.

“Just watch.” Razor Queen folded over herself and started to spin like a wheel. Golden spikes extended from her body as she spun in place before she flew toward the chicken.

As she slammed into the giant bird, she continued to spin in place, shredding into the bird. The scene painted a violent picture, and the bird was ripped into pieces.

“What?” Jimena asked. None of them had ever seen such power.

“Why didn’t you just do that from the start?” Gauzelle asked.

“Because she’s dangerous,” said Welt, straining.

“How so?” Hunter asked.

As if to answer his question, Razor Queen stopped spinning and turned to look at the group. She winked and rolled herself up once again and flung herself toward the group.

“Don’t do it. They’re friends.” Welt ran toward the spectre. She bounced over him and sped toward the group.

“Call her off!” Hunter yelled.

“I’m trying. She gets carried away with fights.” Razor Queen hurled herself like a deadly wrecking ball at the group.

Hunter closed his eyes and waited for the attack, but nothing came. He opened his eyes to see Razor Queen spinning inches from his face. He could feel the air being sliced between them.

He looked past her to see Welt was holding onto the tail with all his might. Welt heaved and Razor Queen stopped. She straightened herself out and looked at Hunter. She gave a wink and floated on over toward Welt.

“They’re friends Razor. I’ve told you; you can’t just fight everybody. This is why we don’t make many friends. Now apologise.” Razor Queen looked at the group and waved. She faded away and Welt looked relieved.

“Mind filling us in?” asked Gauzelle.

“We have more pressing matters. Like your friend there, and Puddles. And don’t forget, Doctor Flink got away.” Welt sounded disappointed with himself.

He walked over to Puddles and scooped her up in his hands. He brought her in to his chest and held her firmly.

“We’ve been through a lot. Anyone know how we can get out of here?” Welt asked the group.

“Pretty sure I can get Michael or mom to teleport us out to safety.” Hunter looked at his wrist communicator.

“Michael, can you pinpoint our location and teleport us out of here? Silas is bleeding out and we have a seriously injured friend.”

“Yep, I’m on it. Okay, hang tight. I’ll have you out of there in a jiffy.” The group were encased in the familiar glow and teleported within the walls of The Fortress.

Doctors and nurses rushed to Silas’s aid and two vets were called from the lower floors to see to Puddles.

“We can’t afford this,” said Welt. He was amazed at all the high tech that was on display around the place.

“It’s alright. Its not as expensive as you think. Besides, you can always pay me back by working with me,” Michael offered. He turned to the rest of the group. “So what happened?”

The group filled him in on all the details they could remember.

“Good to see you back Jimena. So,” Michael turned to Welt. “You’re a Projector. Haven’t seen many of you around. A rare power indeed, even among those who can wield their lifeforce. Thanks for helping my team back there.”

“That’s all good. I’ll be back later; I need to go check on Puddles.” Welt left the room, and everyone watched through the room window as he awkwardly asked a worker where to go.

“What’s a Projector?” Jimena asked.

“There are some out there in the world, that can harness their very own life energies to empower them. A Projector is someone who can do that, and it’s an exceedingly rare power indeed. I’ve only met five in my whole life. They come in all shapes and sizes and can have wild abilities.”

“He seemed almost scared of his,” said Hunter.

“Even though a Projection is from their own life energy, it is its own entity. A cohesive bond needs to be formed and trust cemented, for it to work properly. Of those five I’ve come across. I’ve seen it go horribly wrong.”

“Is that what Cardinal Knight is with her birds?” Gauzelle asked.

“No,” Michael replied.

“What about that guy with the shark?” Jimena asked.

“Very well could be,” Michael mused.

“Are you interested in getting him into The Academy?” Hunter asked.

“No. He’s got his own path to travel. I don’t believe it’s with The Academy.” Michael stroked his chin and looked wistfully into nothing.

“Have you ever heard of Doctor Flink?” Gauzelle asked.

“Can’t say the name rings a bell. Completely flown under my radar. Are you going to help Welt in stopping him?” Michael asked.

“What about Silas?” Gauzelle asked.

“He’ll be fine, we can look after him here. There’s still three of you, and with Welt as well, this should be a pretty easy thing to do.”

“What do you think, Justice Punch?” Hunter asked.

“The name’s staying?” Gauzelle asked excitedly.

“What do you think Jimena?”

“I like it. What about him?” she nodded to Silas.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine with it,” said Hunter.

“Poor guy tried so many different names,” said Gauzelle. Welt walked back into the room.

“Can you help me in tracking down Doctor Flink? I don’t want him getting away again.”

“You can count on Justice Punch,” said Gauzelle.

“Can you teleport us back?” Hunter asked.

“I can, but it’ll have to be the last one for a while. You’re starting to cost way too much money and you haven’t done enough deeds yet.” Gauzelle went to protest but Michael gave a wink.

“We’ll start back where we were. Maybe something in his computers will tell us what we need.” They were engulfed in the light once again and teleported back to Doctor Flink’s lab.