Canto 155 – The Killer Clowns of Mingo
“Let me introduce myself. I am Smiley Creaturefeature, Imperial Harlequin of the Triumvirate now present on Mingo!”
A second Harlequin also stepped through the ruined doorway. “And I am Sharpwhistle Crackplatter, his second in command.”
The two costumed cyborgs both switched on a feature of their armor simultaneously and immediately sent the entire hallway into chaos. Flashing and strobing colored lights along with barely audible sonic waves warped the senses of all the Psions the cyborgs faced, and Emperor Mong even couldn’t get his pants pulled back up.
Phoenix and Rocket both ignited their fire forms, but neither was able to see through their own flames because of the constant color-changing lights.
Jackie was unable to concentrate enough to teleport. The sonic waves kept her from using her inner eye.
Shu could pick up rocks and debris, but his telekinetic senses were fooled enough by the lights that he couldn’t accurately target anything.
Ged’s senses also were overwhelmed. But he took a moment to think, letting Smiley and Sharpwhatsit cartwheel around him and his distressed students. He didn’t particularly care what they maybe wanted to do to Mong.
Now, the Blind Kraken of Jargoon was a creature with no sense of sight or capability of hearing. It’s tentacles were guided by a superb heat-sensory organ that could identify shapes and locations of both hot and cool things And the amphibious creature had no problem being completely out of the water for long periods of time. And Ged had both hunted and eaten one more than an Earth decade ago.
“What is that blobby white thing?” Smiley said to Sharpwhatsit.
“Dunno… but it don’t look bullet-proof.”
Both Harlequins whipped out slug-throwing weapons called machine guns and filled the air with projectiles. Ged used several of his twenty tentacles to shift his writhing students out of harm’s way while his gelatinous body absorbed and digested all the slugs that hit him.
“It seems to like that!” shouted Sharpwhatsit as he did a handspring and cast the machine gun aside.
“Lasers, then?” asked Smiley.
“Lasers, yes!” answered the other clown.
The medium-laser pistols they both pulled out fired hot laser light at Ged’s shape-changing body. He not only absorbed the attacks, the extra heat energy he absorbed made his tentacles quicker.
The first catch was Smiley Creaturefeature’s right ankle. The second catch was Smiley’s gun hand. Then he poured megajoules of heat energy into Smiley’s limbs, completely melting his muscle-control circuits. He was completely immobilized though he was still alive in the way that cyborgs are alive, He was out of the battle.
“I will avenge you, Smiley,” hollered Sharpwhatsit. He cast away the laser and pulled out a vibro-sword. Each tentacle that Ged reached out with was immediately lopped off and rendered useless.
But the Electric Coil Monster of New Spain had once been hunted by Ged and his brother, and then dissected for the scientist that hired them. Ged knew it inside out.
When Sharpwhistle Crackplatter’s blade embedded itself in Ged’s coil, he sent a lightning charge of electricity coursing through the surprised dancing clown. He fell writhing to the floor, all his circuits shorting out, making him as dead as an undead cyborg can technically be.
The students, no longer incapacitated by the Harlequins, stood around Ged as he transformed back into his human form.
“I hope we don’t have to overcome any more of those things,” said Phoenix.
“You should go after the Triumvirs that have your girlfriend right now before they call up any more of those terrible monsters,” whined Mong, still sniveling.
“Lead us there,” Ged commanded.
Catch a Falling Star 