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TWENTY ONE!
versus the mountain
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It was just another day for the Mech X4 team, which meant they had another adventure to attend to. This time they were called in to tackle a situation at Mount Lancer. The group all decided to gather in the lounge room to work out the final details of the plan before diving straight into it.
"I plotted a course to Mount Lancer." Natalie announced as she sat down on the couch.
"And I got travel brochures for sightseeing along the way." Spyder added, showing off the many pamphlets he had collected before sitting down on the couch in between the two female members.
"Are you sure we should take the robot out of state? Grey and Harper are still out there. They know who we are. We gotta protect mom." Mark said.
"Actually, I've got that covered." Leo assured, wheeling in a giant solar panel dish of some sort. "Cha-Cha! It's a home defence system. So we put this on top of you roof and it's programmed to detect all of our enemies. If it gets a hit, it'll let us know. I also wanted to have it release killer bees but capturing them one at a time was taking forever. This guy knows what I mean." Leo explained.
"No." Ryan denied.
"Alright, I should stay and help Leo, Harper-proof our place. You gonna be alright?" Mark asked.
"Totally go take care of mom." Ryan suggested to his older brother, who nodded in agreement.
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Ryan, Spyder, Harris, Hana and Natalie were all in the robot. They were currently making their way over to Mount Lancer to rescue all of the trapped miners and even Ryan's biological father, who was among them.
"Ok, I can see the mining company's op centre. We're almost there!" Natalie exclaimed happily as she closely evaluated the robot's systems.
"Hey, have you figured out what you're gonna say to you dad when you meet him?" Harris asked Ryan.
"Well, I'd lead with.......hi, I'm Ryan Walker. Can I have 14 years worth of Christmas presents, please?" Spyder joked, earning a bunch of glares.
"That's stupid." Hana rolled her eyes.
"I can't reveal my identity to him, guys. Harper's back! And if he finds out about my father, he'll go after him. Just...meeting him will have to be enough." Ryan explained before jumping up again.
"Hey, do we have time to stop?" Spyder questioned suddenly. "The world's largest cornflake is right near Mount Lancer. I found it on a blog called World's Greatest Hoaxes." He smiled happily.
"Oh, Spyder, hoax is something that's not..." Harris started to correct but Ryan quickly cut him off.
"Harris, just leave him in his dreams." Ryan suggested, not wanting to hurt the boy.
"And you decided to date that." Hana pointed out to her girl best friend.
"Hey! He may not be the smartest but he has other great qualities." Natalie defended.
"Yes, I'm very cuddly." Spyder added.
While the three members had continued to bicker, Ryan had landed the robot on the side of Mount Lancer. "We're here." Ryan announced happily, unhooking the Mech belt.
"I'm picking up a signal from down there." Natalie confirmed. "I'll tap into the feed." She began observing the different computer programs. Some found camera footage of the mine had popped up on the big screen and the only figure showcased was Ryan's father.
"It's really him." Ryan said happily.
Suddenly, the whole robot shook violently, which caused the entire team to stumble in shock. "Natty, what was that?" Ryan questioned worryingly, glancing over at the girl.
"Scanning..." Natalie announced, quickly searching the geographic scan of the area to figure out the problem. "The mountain is losing structural integrity. It could collapse any minute!" The girl panicked at the situation.
"Don't worry. We're coming for you, just hang on." Ryan assured to his father on screen, despite the male not hearing him.
"Your dad is separated from his team and all of the miners are trapped." Harris pointed out.
"If we're gonna rescue the miners, we have to move now." Ryan demanded.
"There's an elevator that goes directly to the chamber your father's in but the controls got busted during the cave-in." Harris explained.
"That's no problem for a technopath." Ryan assured.
"We can't reach it because that side of the mountain has collapsed." Harris discussed.
"Alright, that we're gonna have to make a pathway for the elevator shaft." Ryan pointed out before looking over at the long haired boy. "Spyder." He called out.
"Drill's online." Spyder confirmed, setting up the drill system to be ready for Ryan to use.
"Just be very careful. One wrong move and the whole mountain could cave in." Harris reminded.
"So you have any good news today?" Ryan asked.
"Um....I got my first chest hair." Harris announced happily. The boys all cheered happily for their short friend becoming a man but the girls both shared looks of disgust with each other.
"Congrats, man." Spyder complimented.
"Woah." Ryan clapped.
"Thank you." Harris nodded happily.
"Weird." Hana cringed in disgust.
Ryan than decided now would be the best time yo activate the drill. This caused the robot's arm to change from a regular mechanical arm to a drill. Ryan then got close to the mountain then proceeded to gently drill into the surface. "That's it, nice and easy." Harris assured.
"Almost there, a little bit more." Ryan confirmed, gently continuing the task at hand.
"Take it slow. Slow! Slow!" Harris exclaimed.
"We're through! Pulling the drill out." Ryan announced before carefully removing the drill from the side of mountain, where a giant gapping hole was now present. "We've made an entrance. Nice job, guys." He complimented, walking over to the elevator.
"Yeah but it won't last for very long." Harris reminded the team.
"You're just a ray of sunshine today." Ryan commented sarcastically and Harris shrugged.
"We'll zip down to the bottom of the mine and rescue my dad and the miners and then we'll zip right back up." Ryan explained.
"Ryan, we could get trapped down there." Spyder pointed out.
"We'll have to figure out a way to keep the exit open." Ryan ordered.
"I could extend the shields and keep the hole clear." Harris suggested.
"I could blast any debris that falls down there." Spyder added.
"I'll continue checking the map in case of any sudden movements." Natalie finished and Hana nodded in agreement with the girl's statement.
"Ok, cool. You four stay up here." Ryan ordered. "Wish me luck."
"It's going to be dark down there. Grab the X-goggles." Harris suggested and Ryan nodded in agreement before bidding farewell to the group.
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It had been an hour or so since Ryan had left the group to save the miners. The four remaining members just sat in the control centre, waiting for any sort of response. Harris was just checking an abundance of stats on his computer. Hana had decided to tackle a sewing project she's been dying to complete, so she was currently hand stitching some new buttons to her bomber jacket. Finally, Spyder and Natalie sat together, just sharing snacks at his desk. Overall, it was a calming time, despite it being a stressful situation.
"Starburst?" Natalie asked, wanting about piece of candy from the boy's bucket. He nodded before placing another unwrapped piece of candy into the girl's mouth. She frowned at the lemon taste.
"Really, lemon?! You couldn't of given me a cherry one." Natalie complained in fake annoyance.
"Fine, I'll give you a cherry one." Spyder playfully rolled his eyes before leaning in and placing his lips against hers. She could definitely taste the hint of cherry flavour on his lips. She pulled away from him with a smile on her face. "I meant the candy, you idiot." She joked.
"You still enjoyed it." Spyder smirked.
"Of course, I did." Natalie agreed before kissing the long haired boy again.
"Do you mind not making out in a time of crisis." Hana exclaimed in annoyance, causing the two teens to pull away from each other. "Our best friend could literally die right now and you two are spending it making out."
"Alright, we're be professional." Natalie assured.
"Good news!" Ryan announced suddenly, his voice coming through everyone's Mech-Link. "We found the miners. You guys hang on, ok?"
The robot violently shook all of a sudden, which had caused the emergency alarms to go off. The team shared looks of disbelief before they all rushed back to their desks to figure out the situation. They had realized that the whole mountain was on the brink of collapsing. "That rock wall was supporting the ceiling. It's all coming down!" Natalie panicked, alerting Ryan through her Mech-Link.
"Come on, Ryan. You're almost there." Harris encouraged.
"Ok, that can't be good." Spyder panicked as the alarm got even louder.
"Those rocks just blocked the exit. They won't be able to get out!" Harris exclaimed.
"I got this!" When defence doesn't work, offence takes over." Spyder assured.
"Spyder, are you nuts?" Harris asked worryingly with wide eyes.
"Yes, appreciate the support." Spyder nodded before hitting a button on his control panel. This had caused the robot to launch a few missiles that land at the side of the mountain.
"You cleared the hole but the elevator is still jammed." Harris pointed out in awe.
"Oh, I'm not done." Spyder assured. "Ryan, grappling grip!" He ordered by speaking into his Mech-Link for the technopath to hear him.
Spyder then quickly activated the grappling grip and sent it straight into the gapping hole to pick up the whole elevator shaft. Ryan used his powers to jump the robot away from the mountain. The group had made it back safely to the mining company's headquarters on flat ground and Ryan had controlled the robot to gently place the elevator shaft down on the asphalt. Within an instant, all of the miners ran out in relief.
"Nice work, guys." Ryan complimented happily, when he had exited the elevator. The team had waited patiently for the boy as they knew he had taken the time to reunite with his father. "We should probably get out of here." He reminded.
"Hey, while you were down there, I grabbed this screenshot of you off the video feed." Spyder confirmed before pulling up the picture onto the big screen. It showcased a wholesome moment of Ryan and his dad together.
"Thanks, man. That's...That's awesome." Ryan smiled happily. "What do you say, we go see a giant cornflake?" He suggested.
"Yes!" Spyder cheered excitedly.
Suddenly, the emergency alarm in the robot had gone off again. Mark then popped up on the big screen. He looked worried beyond belief. "You've got to get back to Bay City!" He exclaimed worryingly.
"Alright, we're on our way." Ryan assured, running back over to his platform.
"We never get to do my thing." Spyder muttered in annoyance at the timing.
Ryan then put on his Mech belt before taking the robot back to the city. The team made it back just in time to see the entire city lose all power. "The city's power grid is out of control." Harris pointed out.
"What's going on?" Ryan asked in confusion.
★ 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 ! spyder johnson ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)