Shattered Perceptions
Chapter Twelve
by Tim Francovich
"Shatterstar!" Cannonball exclaimed. The old man spun around with surprising speed, saw where Sam was staring and looked quickly up at the vid screen mounted at the street corner.
Displayed on the screen (as on *all* the screens on Mojoworld) was the ongoing battle between Shatterstar and Windsong. Virtually every resident of the planet was currently enthralled by the images of the fight between two of the arena's most skilled and deadly warriors.
Sam and the old man were no less enthralled than the spineless ones. Lepton was not so impressed. "It's just an arena fight," he pointed out. "He's been through dozens of these, maybe even hundreds. We need to keep moving."
"This is MY first time to see him fight," the old man replied. Struck by a strange tone to the ancient one's voice, Sam turned to look at him. To his surprise, the Rebel's hood had fallen back, revealing his face for the first time. His hair was long, white and very straight. His face was extremely wrinkled, yet still showed firm features, such as his sharp nose and a mouth that appeared overly inclined toward smiles. His grayish eyes were riveted on the vid screen. One of them seemed to glow slightly for only a moment, like a coal remembering some long-forgotten fire. But the glow passed so quickly, Sam thought he might have imagined it. What struck him most was the expression on the old man's face. As he watched Shatterstar fight, his face showed wonder, amazement, and... was it... pride?
Once again, Sam had the odd feeling that he had met this man before. But before he could pursue that thought further, Lepton interrupted again. "We really need to get moving," he said brusquely, flipping the old man's hood back into place. "There's a pair of dog soldiers scanning us from across the street."
"You are correct," the Rebel answered, tearing himself away from the screen. "But time is now something we are short of. We have to reach the arena before this fight concludes."
"No way to do that subtly," Lepton observed. "You plan on flyin' in?"
"Yes, Sam will carry me. We'll leave you to make it in your own inimitable style," he replied. "Sam, if you would..."
Cannonball allowed the old man to hold onto his back as he activated his blast field and took to the air. He was momentarily surprised by his passenger's light weight until he recalled that both Longshot and Shatterstar had possessed hollow bones. The two fang troops watching them stood frozen for a moment before one of them managed to fire one shot after the ascending duo.
"Don't worry, sir," Sam said. "As long as ah'm blasting, we're both invulnerable."
"Yes," the old man replied, smiling faintly. "I know..."