53 The Turn of the Tide

53 The Turn of the Tide The sky over the Rainbow Lake was filled with superheroes flying towards the Green Valley's battlefield. 'I finally got through to them!' explained Table Guy. 'At first, they thought that a city full of unhappy people would lead to higher crime rates, which would mean more hero work for us! But my fellow supers eventually agreed that losing the heart of the city we love is not a price worth paying! The final straw was when the Big Xs started to plough through the districts! That's when they agreed to join me in helping the Resistance! And that's why we're here tonight!' 'Thank you,' said Peanut. 'So, who's that over there?' 'That's Badger Boy!' said Table Guy. A good friend! He

was standing near me at the back of the queue on power- giving day! I think he overslept too! Admittedly, a badger is not the first animal whose powers you'd like to be able to harness, but wait until you see what he can do with those claws! Especially when he's working alongside his counterparts, Mole Chap and The Earthworm!' And what about her?' asked Peanut, pointing to a woman flying to their left, dressed in bright red, with a selection of giant, foldable metal tools behind her back, fanning out like metallic angel's wings. 'That's Generic Multi-Functional Pocket Tool Girl!

'A powerful. ally in many' different ways! Particularly if the mission requires you to file your nails or open a bottle of wine!' Table Guy brought their flying coffee table to a stop and Jonathan Higginbottom pulled up next to them on his boardroom table. They watched as the heroes began to do their stuff. Badger Boy swooped down towards the Big X that was carving its way through the remaining Resistance convoy. He was closely followed by a tall, thin man in a reddish-brown, ribbed costume, and a much shorter figure dressed entirely in black, with enormous silver claws and a silver visor covering his eyes. The Earthworm and Mole Chap, Peanut assumed. Badger Boy led them towards the grass area just in front of the Big X and, instead of slowing down as they neared the ground, he accelerated, before disappearing, claws first, with an explosion of earth, into the grassy hillside. A few seconds later all three heroes burst back out, via another muddy explosion about thirty metres away. 'What are they doing?' asked Jonathan Higginbottom.

'Watch, citizen!' said Table Guy. Slowly, the ground between the heroes' entry, and exit points started to move. It was hard to spot at first, but then the mini-landslide became more and more widespread. All of a sudden, it collapsed in on itself creating a huge trench about three metres wide and ten metres deep. One of the Big X's strengths, it's gargantuan size, was also its weakness. It meant that changing direction was a very slow process. Consequently, there was nothing the RAZERs in the cockpit could do to avoid what happened next. The massive vehicle plunged teeth first into the trench, tipping forwards a full ninety degrees, leaving its giant treads whirring uselessly in the air. 'YES!' yelled Peanut, as if she'd scored a goal at Wembley. 'IN YOUR FACE, BIG x!' 'Now it's time for Bucket Head to do his thing!' said Table Guy, pointing at another hero, whose head appeared to be a made of a large, slightly rusty bucket. 'Watch him go!' The flying, bucket-headed man positioned himself directly over a particularly aggressive platoon of RAZERs who were outnumbering a cluster of archers by the fallen siege tower. He then proceeded to tip his head slowly forward. To Peanut and Jonathan Higginbottom's amazement, a huge torrent of water poured from his bucket, and splashed down on to the robots, causing them to instantly short-circuit. Bucket Head

then tipped his head back, moved over to another platoon and did exactly the same thing. 'He has an endless supply of water!' said Table Guy. 'That's the thing with these heroes! Each has their own unique talent, and no matter how niche it might be, it's always useful and impressive if applied correctly!' The trio hovered above the action for another few minutes, watching some of the cooler-looking superheroes, the ones who must have been near the front of the superpower queue, do their thing. Captain Chill was particularly effective with her beautifully sculpted ice-statues of mermaids and unicorns

that temporarily came to life and chased the RAZERs into the same trench that claimed the Big X, before melting away to nothing. The Silver Skater was a picture of cool nonchalance, as he kickflipped, board- slid and ollied several RAZERs into wide-eyed submission. Hammerhead, meanwhile, employed his shark-senses to sneak up on the robots and take a bite out of their circuit boards, while Nightingale used her very beautiful but very high-pitched singing voice to break the RAZERs' glass eye-panels so that they couldn't see what they were doing, which again resulted in them toppling into the trench. 'I think,' said Peanut, 'that the tide is definitely turning in our favour.' 'Don't speak too soon,' said Jonathan Higginbottom, pointing down and to the right with his tail. 'Look!' The Big X that had been parked at the end of the North Draw was slowly making its way across into the Green Valleys to help out its fallen comrade. 'The alligator is correct!' said Table Guy. And... a new danger arrives from the east, also!'