Slizer Short: A New Millennium

[The Mugbearer]

The turn of a new millennium was at hand for the citizens of the Slizer Planet -  a giant ball of flame hid the sun from view, casting its ominous red light over the Judge’s Dome.

Inside, a tall, black-and-yellow mechanoid, a Slizer by the name of Jet, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“There is a storm brewing,” he said in a raspy voice. He looked away from the fiery light in the sky, turning towards the center of the chamber he stood in. There stood four stasis canisters.

Four of us will wait out this storm, thought Jet. Carefully pressing his hand against one of the capsules, he closed his eyes, sighing sorrowfully. Only four. There are no more canisters on the whole Planet. We will have to draw straws to decide who will be saved. And I somehow doubt I’ll get a lucky draw…

“We have answered your summons, Judge,” came a voice to his right, shaking him free of his own thoughts.

At the entrance of the chamber, the seven stood - seven Slizers from the Seven Regions of the Slizer Planet.

Jet mustered a warm smile.

At the head of the seven was a mechanoid in red and black, hot as flame. Torch. He eyed the canisters with unease.

Behind him was Scuba, an insightful blue Slizer from the depths of the Water Region. And behind Scuba, the Slizer Ice stood, his skiing goggles lifted. Next was a teal Slizer - Turbo, conqueror of the City’s streets. Not used to walking upright, the racer awkwardly stumbled after Ice, barely bumping into him.

The rest of them - Amazon the Jungle Slizer, Granite the Rock Slizer, and Electro the Energy Slizer - lagged behind.

“I hope you know why I have summoned you to my Dome?” Jet began.

Turbo was the first to speak. “Nope. Enlighten us, bright-head.”

“Keep your mouth shut, supersonic disaster,” grumbled Granite, poking him with his leg.

“Shut up, stone head-”

“Silence!” Jet interrupted. “Can you stop squabbling, even for one moment?”

Scuba shook his head and stepped forward. “Do not be angry with our brothers, Jet. please, tell us: what is this about?”

The judge Slizer turned his head to the fiery orb in the sky. The other Slizers shuffle forward to look at it too.

“A disaster is upon us, the likes of which we have never seen before, and of which no records can be found,” said Jet.

“What kind of disaster?” Electro asked, raising his brow.

Jet said nothing. The rest of the assembled Slizers exchanged worried glances.

Scuba touched his comrade’s shoulder. “Jet?”

“The flaming orb in the sky,” he replied. “It is an asteroid, massive in size, pulled in by our planet’s gravity. Soon, it will hit our planet, and even I cannot comprehend the damage it will cause.”

A strained silence ensued. Those present looked from the asteroid to each other, to the four canisters in the room with them.

“I have prepared for the worst,” the Judge Slizer continued. “Our Disks of Power, along with our gliders, are already safely stored beneath the Dome. Four of us will do everything in our power to prevent the coming catastrophe. The other four will survive, and rebuild the Planet if the first four should fail.

His comrades gasped.

Turbo was the first to break the silence. “How will we decide who is to do this?”

Jet did not answer, turning and walking to a locker mounted on the wall. He opened it, taking out eight sticks.

“Four of these are shorter than the rest. We will take it in turns to draw one each. Whoever draws a long straw will be put into stasis,” he said, pointing at the canisters. “And then, they will be launched into space.”

Torch huffed and stepped forward, clenching his fists.

“I won’t be drawing,” he challenged. “Because I will not be called a coward for waiting out this storm. I will stop the asteroid, even if I have to do it myself!”

The red-and-black Slizer turned away, shaking off his brothers who tried to stop him, and started for the exit. Jet sighed and swung his arm, a Disk of Power at the ready. It flew across the chamber, striking Torch square in the back, paralyzing him.

“Wh- why?” He gasped, falling to the ground.

“Because I do not want you to die in vain, brother,” Jet replied, shaking his head. “Scuba, put him in the first canister. Torch made his choice. I only hope that none of you are foolish enough to also pass up the draw.”

While the Water Slizer was busy opening the canister, Jet offered the straws to the rest of them in turn. Turbo and Ice drew long straws. Granite and Electro drew the short ones.

“It looks like it’s you and me left, eh, Scuba?” Amazon chuckled, eyeing the handful of straws skeptically. “You first?”

Scuba shrugged, drawing a stick from Jet’s hand and inspecting it. It was longer than the others.

“Let it be as it is,” he said simply.

“Such is life, I guess,” replied the Jungle Slizer, forcing a smile and helping his brother into the canister.

After Turbo finally entered his canister, grumbling stubbornly all the way, Jet activated the built-in rocket boosters. Together with the three remaining Slizers, he backed towards the chamber’s far wall.

“Goodbye, my friends,” he whispered as the canisters launched, eventually fading into fiery dots in the crimson sky. “Let the gods protect you…”

The new millennium began with global catastrophe, sowing terror in the hearts of the Slizer Planet’s inhabitants: the asteroid struck the Sea of Energy, sparking a chain reaction the created a powerful storm. The storm rolled across the planet, incinerating the Jungle, levelling the mountains, and destroying almost all inhabitants of those regions. Those who survived were changed by the storm’s energy, becoming an entirely new species - the horrifying mutants, Slizers of the Millennium.