The Reality Drudge Part 4

                 
        The Reality Drudge Part 4
        Written by Scott W. Taylor

Last time in The Reality Drudge: Ford, an inter-dimensional employee at the agency of reality has tampered with reality, a result that got his fired from his job, and exiled to the planet Earth. There he had his reality wand stolen by the evil Major Malice. Now its a race against the clock to retrieve the wand and hopefully restore the human race back to the way it was.





The heat ray deflected off the shields of the tank. It ricocheted clear into the sky, hitting M. Malice's ship upon rebound. Malice lurched forward, carelessly dropping the reality wand. The object in turn rolled across the floor and disappeared out of a ventilator shaft before he could retrieve it.   



The wand hurtled through the air landing in a flower bed just outside the aquarium. The sudden jolt activated it and it sent out a discharge of reality-altering rays. One discharge sped straight through the window of the aquarium. Another shot out across the Thames. 
    Ford shouted to Commander Trash, 'Stop the van!'
    'Why?' the 7 foot mutant cockroach asked.
    'I think Malice dropped the wand!'
    Commander Trash brought the van to a grinding halt.
    In the flower bed the reality wand had ceased its wayward activity. But the giant robot had seen it also and was taking huge strides to retrieve it. 

Ford took a run, leap and pounced upon the device, then rolled out of the way of the robot's hand as it reached down to grab the wand. 
    'I have it!' the little guy called out. 

    He quickly aimed the wand at the robot and sent the huge hulking tin can back to the department of Reality and Intel. 
    'I'm back in business!' he called with glee. 
   

The cuttlepod remained in its stationary position above the city. On board M. Malice picked himself up. His sharp teeth gritting with fierce anger. 
   'Bare down on those Trash Commanos! I want them all annihilated!' he ordered to his two flunkies. 
   'No can do, boss' replied Goon. 
   Bob then added: 'The navigation controls were damaged in the last attack. They have the wand. It'd be dumb to mount a counterattack now!'
   'Well, you'd know about dumb wouldn't you!' Malice replied, sarcastically. 'Very well, retreat...for now.'
   The cuttlepod began to float slowly away, leaving behind it a trail of black smoke. 

Back on the ground the tanks and vehicles pulled up beside Ford. 
   'I have it!' the little man uttered, waving the wand in the air. 
   'That's good' Dirk Gumbo reacted as he jumped down from the Grarbage Tank Mark 2.
  'Now how's about changing the entire world back the way it was' added Cinderella. 
  'Yeah, like we're sick of looking like this' Malloy interjected.
  'Well, first I'll need some kind of amplifier. Something strong enough to transmit a signal all around the globe.' 
  'How about the British Telecom Tower?' Danny Mult offered. 'Its used for communications.'
  'Worth a try' Commander Trash answered, leaping back into the van. 

The British Telecom Tower. located in Fitzrovia, towered above the skyline. Its many transmitter dishes placed high upon its pinnacle. 
   The Trash Commandos arrived at the base of the tower. 
   'Hope this works' Commander Trash emphasised as he pulled up to the front doors. 
   Ford accompanied his friends into the tall building. They quickly took a flight of stairs, and ascended to where they needed to be. 
   'Where do we need to be?' Commander Trash queried.
   'Several more flights of stairs to go' Danny answered sharply. 'The first 16 floors are all utility platforms that control radio and ventilation. We need to go further up before we reach the open section where the telecommunications carry TV and data via a microwave radio.'
   'That sounds perfect!' Ford commented, following the Trash Commandos up. 

   'Okay huff, puff, how far now?' complained Dirk Gumbo, slowing his pace. 'How far before we...huff...puff...reach the microwave thingamajig?'
   'We're on floor 3' Danny replied, looking back at his comrade. 
  'Oh, that's good to know...Can't we take the lift!'
  'No, the lift could be unstable. Not worth risking.'
  'Oh, its...huff...huff...worth risking. Puff. Trust me.'
  Dirk turned to Ford.
  'Hey, Ford! Hows about using that wand of yours to reduce the amount of stairs we have to climb, eh?'
  'No...No' Commander Trash said, placing his hands in the air. 'We'll walk. If we make this stairs shorter we'll end up making this building shorter, and right now we need the height in order to transmit the signal. Okay, so stop being lazy and lets walk it. Okay, we don't need to fiddle with reality any more than we need to!'
   Dirk let out an exasperated grunt and continued to wade up the stairs. 

  At the Department of Reality and Intel (DRI) a pair of beady eyes watched on as the heroes ascended the tower. 
  'They must not reach the transmitter' uttered a voice, deep and demonic. 
  'No, boss' a gangling fiend reacted obsequiously. 
  'If they do then the entire world may be changed back to the way it was.'
  'Oh I know, boss.'
  'We can't allow it.'
  'I know...I know, boss.'
  'Send in the mercenaries. Let them deal with them.'
  'Right away, boss.'
  The boss oozed suddenly from the shadows. His large, green, bulbous frame turned slowly, and hovered over the banks of computer terminals. 

   'For a hundred years I have used my position at the DRI to gain certain leverage into the workings of this tiny little world known as Earth. Finally, my long anticipated wait has come to an end. That buffoon, Ford did not realise the full scope of his mistake. Soon he will come to know. Soon he will realise...that I, Bio Boss am hungry and I, Bio Boss shall feast upon the mutant world known as Earth!'            
          
High atop the tower the Trash Commandos set the microwave signal devices to emit the radio waves that would carry the reality wand's effects to the entire globe. 
   'That's it! That's it!' Ford blurted excitedly. 'This is perfect. The signal from the wand should be carried far and wide, even augmented to counteract the mutant crisis on this planet.'
   'Oh to be human again!' Jay 'Wheels' Malloy spoke elatedly. 
   'It won't be long now' Ford promised, as he hooked up the wand to the machine. 'Its ready! We can transmit!' 
   
   'Are the mercenaries ready?'
   'Yes, Bio Boss...Yes.'
   'Then send them to the coordinates I have provided-Quickly!'
   'Yes, boss, yes!'   
Bio Boss' two ugly mercenaries stood ready upon the matter transfer module. 
    'Transporting now!' 
    Bio Boss' minion threw the switch and the two mercenaries were bathed in a blinding light, then hurled into Earth's dimension, their molecules taken apart, then reassembled mere moments later inside the telecom tower.    

   The two mercenaries appeared inside the room where the Trash Commandos and Ford were busy at work. A sudden blast of energy from a laser rifle quickly sent our heroes diving for cover. 
   One of the mercenaries pointed a finger at the machinery around them.
   'Forget about them!' the mercenary ordered. 'Destroy the machines in this place. Without their transmitters they won't be able to reach their objective!'
   The insurgents began firing at the equipment. 
   Danny Mult sprang swiftly into action by increasing his body size and mass. The human amoeba inflated his body, bursting outwards in all directions at once, and growing more legs and arms, reaching out like a macro bacteria, and pushed the invading mercenaries back against the window. 
   'No room to breath!' one of the insurgents rasped as Danny's inflating body pushed the unfortunate creature against the wall. Growing, increasing in size, Danny Mult's entire body began to fill up every inch, quarter, nook and cranny of the room.
   'Danny!' Commander Trash shouted. 'Stop! you're gonna break every transmitter in the room! Danny! Return back to your normal size! You're gonna wreck everything!'
   Hearing the plea, Danny quickly began to shrink back down to his former stature, returning to his regular humanoid shape. The mercenaries fell to the floor suddenly, unable to maintain consciousness after being mercilessly squashed like bugs. 
   The other Trash Commandos held their throats and began to breath as normal. 
   'Sorry, guys' Danny shrugged. 'I don't know what came over me. I suppose I did it out of self defence.'
   'No harm done' Commander Trash rasped as he went to check if the equipment was okay.          
   'I don't think anything was harmed' Ford added with a smile.
   Commander Trash threw a switch and the dishes attached to the outside of the telecom tower began to emit the reality wave signal. Every corner of the world began to feel the effects of the wave. All those who had been changed initially by M. Malice's weapon began to transform back into humans again. 
   'I don't feel any different' Cinderella exclaimed.
   'You don't look any different' Danny added, glibly. 

   The Trash Commandos all looked at Ford. The little creature knew he was going to be blamed for this little oversight. Only it wasn't an oversight at all.
   'Ford?' the Commander spoke.
   Ford removed the wand from the comm system it was hooked into. 
   'Its done' said the little guy. 'You helped save the world. Now you'll help me save another one.'
   'What do you mean we'll help you save another...another what?' Malloy asked.
   'World' Ford answered, waving the wand in the Trash Commando's direction. Quickly there was a bright light, and instantly the room our heroes occupied was suddenly empty. 

  The city of London was quiet/still. A bit of movement could be discerned in certain areas. Then more movement followed. People- yes actual people!- began to emerge from the buildings, some coming up from the sewers. One child could see her reflection in a shop window and ran to it, amazed that the image reflected back at her was her old self. More and more human beings began to flock into the streets. The air was filled with elated chatter. It was a miracle.

  Deep within the department of the DRI, that same pair of eyes watched the live feed on the view screen with growing rage and disappointment. 
    

   'I thought I told you to stop them!' Bio Boss seethed.
   'Well I sent the mercenaries' the minion fawned, bowing his head.
   'Obviously they weren't up to the task. And now the world has reverted back to the way it was. There are humans rejoicing in the streets! There are humans! Not mutants! Humans are no good to me whatsoever! I need mutants!'
   'Boss' the lackey commented rather sheepishly, 'Just before Ford and those Trash Commandos vanished I was able to track the signal to where they were going.'
   'You did?' Bio Boss said, looking up, his interest beginning to pique. 
   'Yes, boss. It seems they went through a sub-dimensional event capable of transporting them to an alternate reality. The data is being fed through as I speak. Boss...! Here there be mutants!' 








                                            The End....