Level Down

5

Enid looked from the map in her hands to the landscape passing by her window and back to her map again. She checked and double checked landmarks, hoping that she wouldn't mistake one crater for another that Red had already driven past a half hour prior.

"Hey, why don't you turn on the radio?" Red asked.

Enid glanced down at the map and then out the window again before replying. "Okay," She reached forward and turned on the radio. She flipped through the stations hoping to find something at least half decent playing.

"Thanks," Red said. "I had to get a new radio installed a few days ago because the old one was smashed the last time I was in the Danger Zone."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine and so is the tank. Besides, that's not where the story ends. The thing is, the radio I had before was futuristic. I knew how it worked, but I swear nobody else could figure it out for the life of them without my help! Anyways, that one was completely smashed and so was my windshield. I was able to replace the windshield with a pretty much identical one, but the thing about radios is that they've changed a lot where I'm from! Nobody could replace it because they'd never seen anything like it, and nobody could repair it because it was smashed to bits! I didn't have the cash I would need to visit the future and replace it, so now I have a present-day radio and no idea how to work the darn thing!"

Enid laughed and leaned back in her seat, having found a station she figured they would both enjoy. She opened up the map again and continued watching out her window. On the right of the tank several rock formations towered upwards. They were flat at the top and round but not at all smooth. Some rocks ran perpendicular to the rest and looked as though they had broken off of others or collapsed under their own weight.

"I think we're coming up on the end of the line, just past those cliffs up there," Enid pointed ahead.

"Aye aye," Red said jokingly. "It's about time, too. We've been driving for a while now."

"Indeed," a familiar voice chimed from farther back in Red's tank. "I should have thought ahead as the ride here has been painfully boring, but I suppose it no longer matters now that we have essentially arrived at our destination."

"Dendy, you gave us away!" A second recognizable voice cried out from beside the first.

"You what!?" Red Action immediately brought the tank to a halt. She stopped the engine and unbuckled her seatbelt before she stood up to look into the back of the tank where Dendy and K.O. had been hiding. Enid followed her.

"What are you two doing back here?" Enid asked in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah, it's called the 'Danger Zone' for a good reason!" Red added matter-of-factly. "We don't want you to get hurt out here!"

"We wanted to see Elodie!" K.O. exclaimed.

"K.O. wanted to see Elodie," Dendy said at the same time. A short silence followed before she added, "I wanted to see the Danger Zone, as I have no data on it yet."

"Red, we have to go back," Enid said. "We can't wait here while we have K.O. and Dendy with us. Heck, we may have missed Elodie already, the map wasn't specific about timing."

"I'm a scientist, not a miracle worker, Enid," Dendy stated monotonously.

"Let's go back to the plaza, then," Red offered. "We can drop off these two and then if you want we can come back again."

"Wait," K.O. pointed towards the rocks outside. "I think I saw something!"

Enid returned to the front of the tank. As she made her way forwards she swore she could see something dart behind one of the pillars. Enid was unable to make out the shape before a single pink arrow cracked the windshield. Enid jumped back.