Dr. Bolt

CH 6 (1)

New Discoveries

Dr. Bolt

Before Ironclad could drag him out of the hospital, Dr. Bolt chomped down on his hand. Ironclad yanked his hand away with a yelp and protectively held it to his chest. "What the hell?" He quickly wiped the wet bite mark against his gown. Apparently feeling that the action wasn't enough to purify his hand, he helplessly wiggled it in front of him. "Ewwww. What if I get rabies or whatever other disease you carry?"

"My hygiene was endangered far more than yours in doing that." Dr. Bolt deadpanned.

"Oh? How courageous of you." Ironclad said, pushing the exit door open. As he passed through it, he turned his head to glare at Dr. Bolt. "For the sake of both of us then, why don't you just, I don't know, not bite me like a rabid animal?"

White light rushed through the opening door.

Daylight?

Dr. Bolt covered his eyes and stepped outside. It was indeed daylight. In fact, it appeared to be early in the morning. Dr. Bolt absently followed Ironclad past a parking lot and onto a sidewalk, ignoring him as he continued to complain about the bite.

It was noon when Dr. Bolt had left Valpine back in the Villain's Lair. That had to be at least six hours ago. The sun should have set by now but here, it was still morning.

A time difference like that should've been obvious, but it was hidden by the eerie parallelism this city had to his own; the city was paved, the buildings stood in varying heights, electrical posts ran along the roads- all placed in the center of a valley. The noises of human activity disrupted the peace of the mountains around them.

Was it possible that the Exergist hadn't taken them to another world but into another dimension?

If so, then he had accomplished something that Valpine could never even dream of doing. I have not only replicated her power but improved it..

Dr. Bolt was imagining different scenarios where his doubters were faced with his true potential when he crashed onto Ironclad's back. After glaring at the back of Ironclad's obnoxiously large form, Dr. Bolt leaned to the side to see what had stopped him. "The light means you can pass." Dr. Bolt said when he found nothing but a clear crosswalk.

Instead of crossing, Ironclad wordlessly turned and continued along the sidewalk, passing the rows of cars that were waiting behind the traffic light.

Idiot man.

Instead of questioning, Dr. Bolt went back to imagining the pleas for forgiveness from his fellow coworkers as they knelt in front of his pedestal.

Ironclad

I'm not afraid of cars. I'm not afraid of cars.

There were many buildings across the street. Some had "open" signs flashing behind their windows and doors. Vibrant, green bushes that had been trimmed into pleasant shapes decorated the sidewalks. He could even make out a small plaza with a fountain.

I'm really not afraid, he continued, if I had crossed the road, I would've been missing out on all of the possibilities on this side of the street. He turned his attention to the path ahead. There were only three buildings that directly followed the hospital; A funeral home and two worn down motels.

Ironclad glanced back at Dr. Bolt, who didn't seem to realize that they were heading towards a dead end. An old man with a cane stepped out of a motel room and turned to lock the door. An opportunity, Ironclad thought. Of course, it was my intuition that led us here.

"You there!" Ironclad called out, making the man look up. Ironclad took long purposeful strides towards the man. He stopped in front of a window and peered into it, nodding in approval. "Good. Good. You seem to have a good place here. I'm in need of food and housing so I will be gracing you with my company until I'm no longer stranded in this god forbidden world. Should I take a spare key, or do you need to have one made?"

"Uh," the man took a step back, tacking in Ironclad's face. Ironclad straightened with a proud smile. His complexion has always been his best aspect. It wasn't subjective either. His family always told him that-

Ironclad spun to his reflection in the window. "Really?" He moaned. His face was still battered. He touched the stitch across his cheek. How long was it going to stay like that?

From the reflection, he saw the old man's eye flickered to Dr. Bolt, who had been grinning and mumbling to himself.

"Oh, right." Ironclad said with a sigh. "I guess he will want to stay too. I apologize for his intrusiveness. I am accustomed to staying in more... spacious corridors, and I definitely haven't had to share before, but I'm sure he won't take up too much space. Besides, Dr. Dolt here probably prefers to stay in a hole with his cockroaches, so we won't have to see too much of him." Ironclad laughed.

The man raised a shaking finger towards Ironclad. "You need to leave, or I will call the police." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black item.

"The police?" Ironclad asked.

"Yes, for harassment."

"Harassment?!? Who is harassing you?" Ironclad snatched Dr. Bolt by his collar. "What have you been doing to this man?" Ironclad demanded as he shook him in the air.

"Let go! The God of villains was about to proclaim me as their descendant." Dr. Bolt yelled as he hammered his fist onto Ironclad's bruised eye.

Ironclad cursed as he dropped Dr. Bolt to cover his eye. Of course it didn't lessen the pain. He placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Forget about Dr. Bore." He told the man as he glared at Dr. Bolt. "It will be just you and me then. Let's go."

"Don't touch me!" The man pushed Ironclad's hand away with his cane. "Stop harassing me or I will call the police!"

"I... what? I don't think you understand. I simply need a meal and a place to stay."

"And I need you to leave." The man spat out.

"Okay, okay." Ironclad took a step back with his hands raised. The police were his allies, they wouldn't arrest him. Even if they didn't recognize him as Ironclad, brethren of the law always recognized each other; however, the distressed expression on the man's face kept him from explaining. "Okay, I'm leaving now." Ironclad said as he took a step backwards.