Mod Superhero

Full Throttle Heart - 10 - Into Town

"Okay. Wake me up when..." The apprentice trailed off and began snoring quietly.

Both Gabriel and Truck-kun trailed off, both retreating into their own solitude.

~

Some hills later, when the sun was beginning to set, their destination appeared on the horizon. Truck-kun paused to take in the sight. After days of traveling through the ancient forest and still more traversing the hills, they'd finally found civilization.

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, there we are." The knight spoke with the solemn reverence of a soldier returning home. Gabriel had never said which town he hailed from, but in that moment, Truck-kun believed it was this one.

Truck-kun nearly asked him if that was the case, but the metal warrior looked on the sight differently.

A mix of feelings swirled in its gas tank.

Back on Earth, with Joe, people had looked on Truck-kun with indifference. It had been a simple box truck, no different from the others on the road. Few people talked to Joe, and no one talked to Truck-kun.

But here, in this strange world, people reacted differently to Truck-kun. Some with disbelief, others with awe or even fear.

"Gabriel," Truck-kun whispered. "Are you certain we need to go into town?"

"Of course," Gabriel replied. "Is something the matter?"

"...How will people react when they see me?

Gabriel tapped his fingers on the door thoughtfully. "I truly don't know, but you are a warrior and you should be treated as such. Besides, their more liable to freak out when they hear—"

"HOLY MACKEREL!"

Al's voice startled everyone. Al flitted and looped through the air.

"Have you ever seen something so beauti—"

Al smacked into Gabriel's window and fell to the ground.

"I'm good!"

~

[After a quick discussion, it's agreed that Gabriel and Morden would walk beside Truck-kun, and enter the village together. Truck-kun stays in its truck form. Al rides atop Truck-kun's cab and does his best normal bluebird impersonation.

[Two guards stand at the front gates of town, and their eyes grow progressively wider as the strange group approaches.]

The older of the two guards held out a hand to stop them. To his credit, neither his hand nor his voice wavered as he looked Truck-kun up and down.

"Don't believe I've seen you before, strangers. What brings you to town?"

Gabriel stood tall and stoic. "Food and rest. My charge here is a wizard's apprentice and we have a parcel to deliver to his maester."

The guard wriggled his mustache and nodded. "You look like an honest knight. Very well."

The younger guard pointed to Truck-kun. "What manner of horse... or carriage, is that?"

"Neither," Gabriel said, patting Truck-kun's door. "This is my fellow knight, Truck-kun."

Truck-kun's suspension creaked as it bowed its front end. "I know my appearance is strange, but I am a humble knight."

The young guard's mouth fell open in disbelief, but the old guard nudged him.

"Far be it from me to keep a knight from their task. Go on in. The inn's down the road."