Defending the Rocket

Sophia lead the group to her toolshed, where someone was doing some woodwork. He turned and smiled.

"Hi, Sophia," he said.

"Hi, Matt," she replied. "GT, this is my brother Matt. Matt, this is GT. He'd like to borrow a wrench."

"Oh, sure," said Matt. "I've got a few of them, doesn't bother me." He opened up a blue rusty toolbox. He pulled out a wrench and handed it to GT.

"Thanks," said GT. He started studying it carefully.

"No problem," Matt replied. "Uh, you need anything else?"

"Nope, we're good," said GT. "Bye."

Matt waved and went back to his work.

"Thank you, Sophia," said GT. "This will help out a lot."

"You're welcome," she smiled.

Giving her a final nod and grin, GT lead his friends to the forest where they left the rocket ruins.

_____________________________________________________________________

"Oh, crap," muttered Spencer.

By the broken rocket, there was a group of five men, examining it. One had a brown moustache, one was quite pudgy, one was burly, and another was wearing overalls instead of a uniform. The last didn't have any descriptions that made him stand out in any way.

"Hey, hey!" GT called. "Get away from that... pile... of junk!"

"Did you put this junk here?" asked one of the men.

"It wasn't only me," GT answered. "We all kind of did."

"This is a public park," said the man. "You're not supposed to litter here. It pollutes the earth."

"We didn't litter," said Voltergeist. "We know that it's wrong, we were just leaving it there for a mo-"

"No excuses," sadi the man. "Move it out or else."

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!!!" shouted Voltergeist with a loud buzz. He zapped out an electric charge that thoroughly stunned the man and sent him sprawling on the ground. The man with overalls knelt down and help him back to his feet, staring in surprise at Voltergeist.

"Don't be a wimp," growled Voltergeist. "It was only ten volts."

Brown Moustache pulled out a gun and aimed it at Voltergeist. "Don't move!" he yelled.

"Get ready, everyone," said GT in a low tone, then "Get them!"

The five charged at the remaining three men. Burly pulled out a billyclub and hit Spencer with it, knocking him to the ground. Voltergeist electrocuted Burly and then lunged at Overalls. Using his arrow magic, Mark shot out three arrows and nailed Pudgy with them, knocking him hard against a tree. Reena dug her fangs into the neck of the electrocuted man but Brown Moustache took aim and pu a bullet through her right wing. She cried out in pain.

GT slammed into Brown Moustache, grabbed the gun from his hand, and spun, clubbing him in the jaw with the handle. Brown Moustache fell, and Burly rushed at GT, the billyclub raised. GT somersaulted uder Burly, striking him in the nuts with the gun as he did so, then landed on his own hands and kicked him in the back, knocking him over. Spencer grabbed the billyclub from the ground and struck Burly in the head with it.

Reena was crouching on the ground, nursing her wing and whimpering. Mark and GT rushed to her side.

"Are you all right?" said GT in worry.

"I-I think so," she sobbed, slowly entending her wing, but retracted it instantly and winced.

"I can fix it," said Mark soothingly. He placed his hand on both sides of the bullet hole. "Heal!"

An orange flash pulsated from his palm, and Reena flinched. When Mark removed his hands, the hole was gone. It was as if it wasn't even there.

"Do you feel better?" he asked Reena.

"Yes..." she replie, testing it again. "The pain's gone. Thank you."

"Anytime," said Mark. He got up and headed toward the ship. "I think it's time to get started on the rocket."

Just then, a different rocket ship roared down, maaking a gust of wind so powerful it blasted him back. The rocket landed and three men stepped out.

"Varcanzoggolian Police. This the rocket?" one asked.

"Yeah, Mark replied. "What's left of it, anyways."

The three men began to haul the pieces onto their rocket. "We'll take this back to Varcanzoggle."

"Wait," said GT. "Can we get on the rocket, too? We've got the wrench."

The man frowned. He held out his hand and GT gave him the wrench. The man's hand felt scaly. He stared at the wrench, studying it.

"This it?" he asked.

"Yeppers, peppers!" said Spencer a little too cheerfully.

The man smiled and slipped it into his pocket. His teeth also seemed reptilian. "Perfect. We'll bring this back to our planet, too."

"But can we come with you?" asked GT.

"I don't think so," said the policeman. "You were sent in the once-a-rocket ship (he gestured to the pile of junk), and the people of Varcanzoggle will be expecting you to come back in it. We were just going to repair it, set it to autopilot, and then send it back to you so you could ride it back. It's the way of Varcanzoggle."

"Okay..." said GT slowly. "This won't take long, will it?"

"We'll get it done as soon as we can," said the man. And with that, he stepped onto the rocket with the other and it started to take off. But GT heard something over the titanic roar of the ship:

"Did it work?"

"He fell for it, all right. There's no way he's coming back."

The rocket screamed into the sky with a blast.

GT headed back to the others.

"We've been tricked!"

"What?" asked Spencer. He looked confused. "They weren't police?"

"No, they weren't. I should've known. The scaly skin, the pointy teeth, the humanoid form..."

"Oh, no!" cried Reena. "I know what they were: cransacols. "They have the ability to shape-shift into anything," she continued, "and they've been known to be evil."

"This blows!" yelled Voltergeist in a flurry of sparks. He kicked a tree, and the spot where he kicked it started to catch fire, but Mark put it out. "How did they even come here? Why did they come here?"

"They must be in league with the Wreck Mech," said GT. "They must be trying to destroy the wrench so that the root can never be deactivated."

There was a long silence.

"Well..." started Spencer, "how do we go back home now?"