Horus Fleet
And the Genetically Altered Cyborg Rat-Race
By Brian Middleton Jr.
Dinah Peril was dangling a good ten feet above the acid filled fish tank. In reality, at this particular moment, she was in no real danger of being burned. The rope that held her above the acid had been selected for it's strength, so there was no real chance of it giving out. Despite this fact, she screamed, and screamed, her panicked noise adding an interesting sonic backdrop to Baron Rolfstein's obligatory monologue.
"As you can see," the baron said, "his legs are robotic." He was speaking to a lanky man who was standing at the front of a giant glass maze that the baron had built. The baron was using his two rubber glove covered hands to guide the man's eyes toward a Saint Bernard-sized rat that stood in a separate maze that run parallel to the one that the lanky man was standing in. "This may have been enough to make him faster than you, Horus, but of course, I couldn't take that risk," he continued. Baron Rolfstein knew that Horus Fleet was the fastest man to ever set foot to ground. It had been a goal of the baron's to humiliate Horus ever since the speedster had exited the time-stream. "I've also re-engineered him genetically," the mad baron explained, "splicing cheetah DNA into his body. Together with the robotic legs, it's a one-two punch of speed that should prove to everyone that you are not the fastest," Rolfstein said, shaking his head in that strange way he did when he was drunk with a possible victory.
"I don't want to sound proud," Horus said defiantly, "but I'm pretty sure that I am." When the world was much younger, Horus had run in front of a moving train, laying the track in front of it so that the locomotive wouldn't wreck. He had been successful in rescuing the train and it's passengers, but had gone so fast that he broke the barriers of time, and was launched into the future.
"Even still, you may have remained the fastest, had I not invented a new type of chronal anomaly," the baron crooned. "One so powerful, it will actually allow Robocheetarat to bend the rules of physics and travel faster than the speed of light without any of those pesky paradoxes!" The baron laughed while pulling a tiny pistol from his lab coat. "Remember, if you win the race, and reach Dinah before she burns up in the acid, you two walk away scot-free. If Robocheetarat wins the race, you both die. So, I suggest you run for your life, Horus!" the mad man exclaimed. Then he laughed his horrible laugh and fired the pistol into the air, signaling the start of the race.
Robocheetarat got off to an amazingly good start. The cheetah DNA, the robotic legs, and the paradox-blocking chronal anamoly all worked like a charm. But Horus Fleet was made by God to be the fastest man that ever walked the Earth. Evil Mad Science gets trumped by Divine Mastercraftsmanship every time. Horus ran the six point five mile maze in just under ten seconds, untied Dinah three seconds later, and sucker punched Baron Rolfstein in the stomach not two seconds after that. Robocheetarat was making great time, and would likely finish the maze in another twenty four seconds.
"Well Baron, you've failed again," Horus said. "And this'll be the last time," he continued.
"What do you mean?!" the baron exclaimed. His face was a strange mix of angry eyes and poutyface.
"It's time that I get moving on," the speedster explained. "I only stopped in this timezone to see if anyone had discovered a way to go backwards in time. I've only been able to go forward, and each time I do, I'm that much further from the woman I love." Dinah looked away, hiding the tears that had flooded her eyes. Horus knew that she was crying, and did the only thing he could think of. He ran, faster than any man had ever dreamed of, and entered the time-stream again.
The Baron stood still for a moment and then picked up a clipboard. He started to scratch some newly thought of equations on to the sheet of paper. "This won't be the last you see of me, Horus Fleet!"
- - -
Brian Middleton is a husband, a musician and a storyteller. His story, 'Maddie and the Strange Train' was featured in Down in the Dirt Magazine. His flash fiction will soon be featured in Yesteryear and Weirdyear magazines. His self-published fantasy novella, 'The Clockwork War' is being released, one chapter at a time at www.freewebs.com/octoberisfine.
And the Genetically Altered Cyborg Rat-Race
By Brian Middleton Jr.
Dinah Peril was dangling a good ten feet above the acid filled fish tank. In reality, at this particular moment, she was in no real danger of being burned. The rope that held her above the acid had been selected for it's strength, so there was no real chance of it giving out. Despite this fact, she screamed, and screamed, her panicked noise adding an interesting sonic backdrop to Baron Rolfstein's obligatory monologue.
"As you can see," the baron said, "his legs are robotic." He was speaking to a lanky man who was standing at the front of a giant glass maze that the baron had built. The baron was using his two rubber glove covered hands to guide the man's eyes toward a Saint Bernard-sized rat that stood in a separate maze that run parallel to the one that the lanky man was standing in. "This may have been enough to make him faster than you, Horus, but of course, I couldn't take that risk," he continued. Baron Rolfstein knew that Horus Fleet was the fastest man to ever set foot to ground. It had been a goal of the baron's to humiliate Horus ever since the speedster had exited the time-stream. "I've also re-engineered him genetically," the mad baron explained, "splicing cheetah DNA into his body. Together with the robotic legs, it's a one-two punch of speed that should prove to everyone that you are not the fastest," Rolfstein said, shaking his head in that strange way he did when he was drunk with a possible victory.
"I don't want to sound proud," Horus said defiantly, "but I'm pretty sure that I am." When the world was much younger, Horus had run in front of a moving train, laying the track in front of it so that the locomotive wouldn't wreck. He had been successful in rescuing the train and it's passengers, but had gone so fast that he broke the barriers of time, and was launched into the future.
"Even still, you may have remained the fastest, had I not invented a new type of chronal anomaly," the baron crooned. "One so powerful, it will actually allow Robocheetarat to bend the rules of physics and travel faster than the speed of light without any of those pesky paradoxes!" The baron laughed while pulling a tiny pistol from his lab coat. "Remember, if you win the race, and reach Dinah before she burns up in the acid, you two walk away scot-free. If Robocheetarat wins the race, you both die. So, I suggest you run for your life, Horus!" the mad man exclaimed. Then he laughed his horrible laugh and fired the pistol into the air, signaling the start of the race.
Robocheetarat got off to an amazingly good start. The cheetah DNA, the robotic legs, and the paradox-blocking chronal anamoly all worked like a charm. But Horus Fleet was made by God to be the fastest man that ever walked the Earth. Evil Mad Science gets trumped by Divine Mastercraftsmanship every time. Horus ran the six point five mile maze in just under ten seconds, untied Dinah three seconds later, and sucker punched Baron Rolfstein in the stomach not two seconds after that. Robocheetarat was making great time, and would likely finish the maze in another twenty four seconds.
"Well Baron, you've failed again," Horus said. "And this'll be the last time," he continued.
"What do you mean?!" the baron exclaimed. His face was a strange mix of angry eyes and poutyface.
"It's time that I get moving on," the speedster explained. "I only stopped in this timezone to see if anyone had discovered a way to go backwards in time. I've only been able to go forward, and each time I do, I'm that much further from the woman I love." Dinah looked away, hiding the tears that had flooded her eyes. Horus knew that she was crying, and did the only thing he could think of. He ran, faster than any man had ever dreamed of, and entered the time-stream again.
The Baron stood still for a moment and then picked up a clipboard. He started to scratch some newly thought of equations on to the sheet of paper. "This won't be the last you see of me, Horus Fleet!"
- - -
Brian Middleton is a husband, a musician and a storyteller. His story, 'Maddie and the Strange Train' was featured in Down in the Dirt Magazine. His flash fiction will soon be featured in Yesteryear and Weirdyear magazines. His self-published fantasy novella, 'The Clockwork War' is being released, one chapter at a time at www.freewebs.com/octoberisfine.
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