Plurk paste

It was cold in the woods, but Eddie didn’t mind. He’d never been in the woods before, not even for summer camp or vacation like some of the other kids.

“So…” Mr. Vega sneered. Eddie didn’t mind. Mr. Vega always sneered. It wasn’t personal. “First question... Can you turn your arms into any kind of gun?”

Eddie looked down at his blue, metallic, yet otherwise normal hands. “No... should they?”

Mr. Vega’s lip twitched, which Eddie knew meant he was disappointed, but he wasn’t going to show it. Mr. Malcolm said it was a pride thing.

Grown-ups were weird, even the ones the news said were bad.

“No, but a man could hope.” Mr. Vega said as he wandered over to a nearby closet. Eddie didn’t know they had closets in the woods, but there it was. Unlocking it, Mr. Vega revealed a wide variety of the most awesome-looking guns Eddie had ever seen. They weren’t like police guns or even AEGIS guns. They looked like they came from outer space.

For the first time since Eddie knew him, Mr. Vega smiled.

“I see someone else... appreciates... my collection.” His smile widened. It weirded Eddie out. “Every time there’s an alien invasion, or an alternate reality army invades... I make it my business to get one of their guns. It's amazing how little attention people pay to fallen hardware.”

The young cyborg jumped up and down. “Can I shoot one?!?”

Mr. Vega pat him on the head once... twice... and then promptly turned away. “Why else do you think we're out in the woods. Do I look like a ‘roughing it’ person to you?”

Eddie had to concede he did not. A rare chuckle escaped Mr. Vega’s lips as he handed Eddie a classic ray gun. It looked straight out of a comic book. Eddie beamed, his missing teeth glaringly absent in his sunny smile.

“This is so cool!”

“It’ll be even cooler when you fire it. Point it at that tree there and pull the trigger.”

Eddie did exactly as he was instructed. The gun whirred to life at the pull of the trigger, flashing lights swirling around the barrel as a green ray of light fired from the muzzle. It hit the tree dead on, engulfing the whole thing in pink light. When the light faded the tree was still standing... only now its trunk was orange and its leaves were blue. It took Eddie everything in his power not to drop the gun.

“This is THE COOLEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!” He yelled into the woods, pumping his fist into the air. Realizing what he did, Eddie coughed and did his best to look guilty. “Um... I mean... Please don't tell Mr. Malcolm I said that. I told him going to the top of the Wyatt Building was the coolest day of my life. I don't want to hurt his feelings.”

That rare smile returned, as did the sneer. “Oh, don't worry... ‘Mr. Malcolm’ is never going to find out about any of this.”