Chapter Text
Jinmay picked up the Arcade’s doormat, giving it a brisk shake to clear it of the little bits of leaf litter and grass clippings blown in from the park. With the robot gone the Clean-Ops crew had decided to do a quick landscaping run; they’d been running a bit behind while the vehicle that got stuck in the melted asphalt was fixed.
“I do hope those little monkeys stay safe.” Ma Shenko shuffled around the doorway, giving the tiled mosaic entrance its last sweep for the day. Pa turned away from the window he was washing, squinting up toward the area the Robot had been headed. There was a dot there, something metallic steadily growing in the sky since before lunch.
(At least, Jinmay had seen it before lunch. Jym and Jam had said they’d only seen it about an hour or so after.)
“They’ll be fine, Ma. They know what they’re doing; they’ve been around since before we were born. And that’s quite a long while.”
“We’re not that old!” His wife snipped, waving her broom at him warningly. Jinmay covered her mouth to hide a grin. She’d been staying with the Shenkos for almost three months now; they’d been hosting refugees for years in the spare room above the Arcade. Jinmay was just one more of a long line of young people who’d found sanctuary in their home.
“Old enough.” Pan Shenko joked, reaching for his squeegee. a scream had him fumbling it into the bucket of soapy water. “What in the-”
Ma Shenko gave a strangled scream, Jym and Jam tumbling from their sisters’ ice cream shop at the sounds of the ruckus. Jam gasped in horror, Jym turning very green.
“Did their teeth just tear out of their head!?”
“Yes.” Jinmay quavered, face paling.
“What was that thing?”
“Some kind of light-” Jinmay broke off, a strange tingle running up and down her body. The twins rushed forward, sandwiching her between them. Only then did she notice her feet were hovering above the ground, steadily rising.
The twins' purple hightops started to drag on the concrete, Jym trying to stagger their feet but giving the attempt up for lost when they almost tripped and face planted.
“Can you move, Jinmay?”
“No! It’s like I’m stuck!”
Pa Shenko hurried onto the scene, waving the broom wildly. The straw and wood passed through the beam without sticking but failed to dispel it. Jam gave a little whimper, her hightops threatening to raise off the ground.
“Hold on, everyone!” Ma Shenko yelled “I just called Olivia!”
“Thank god!” Jym wailed, wrapping their legs around a tree. Their twin made a noise of agreement, her head stuck in the leaves. Jinmay was hovering near the top. She tried to move her arms, but they felt like lead weights soldered to her sides.
Somewhere a woman screamed, sobbing over her poor cyberpuppy. There was a sharp cry, followed by a wet noise, and retching.
“Do I want to know what that was?”
“Two words;” Jym replied “Steel plate.”
“Steel- you're kidding me!?”
“I wish they were.” Pa Shenko muttered, face frozen in horror.
“Hold on guys, I’m coming!” Olivia streaked around the corner, panting heavily.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“What are friends for?” The seven foot tall girl reached Jinmay easily, her size arresting any further movement caused by the ray. Her pigtails stuck up abruptly; then the holders unraveled and disappeared upward into the beam.
“Ouch. And weird.”
“It kind of looks like the beam that comes out of the ruby monkey’s magnets.” Jam muttered, furrowing her brow.
“Maybe it’s another magnet!” Jym whimpered.
Jinmay swallowed hard, mouth dry. She didn't remember very much about Cete. Just quick snatches; colors, shapes, the occasional face. Nothing solid. Nothing concrete. Gibson swore that was normal for some refugees.
The problem was she didn’t know if she had any steel plates or pins in her bones. It was pretty clear now she had a metal something somewhere, though judging by what happened to the poor kid with braces and the man with the plate on his skull, hers must be pretty deep or she’d be in a world of hurt.
“It’s letting up a little bit.” Olivia muttered. She was training to be a hovercar mechanic, like her adopted father Arven Gakslapper. She knew a thing or two about magnets.
“Maybe the Hyperforce found the source.” Pa Shenko sighed, leaning his broom against the tree. Slowly the blue glow became barely a ripple in the waning evening light.
A small speck began to grow above them. Twitching her arms, Jinmay managed to raise them just in time to catch a very frazzled cyberpuppy.
All five Shuggazoomians let out a startled cry when the puppy was followed by a veritable waterfall of clattering teeth.