Op: Phoenix, Mattimeo's Return (Pt. 2)


        Mattimeo reached the gym of the high school, and walked to the 
north side. He reched over the jamb of the service door here and found 
the key. He opened the door and stepped inside, replacing the key as he 
went. He walked across this little boiler room ane opened the furnace 
door. He stepped in, it was perfectly clean, even after yers of disuse, 
and he knelt down here. After touching his hand to the floor and reciting 
a choice five line from Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, a popped open in the 
floor, and he climbed down the stairs. He entered the NHSRDL laboratory, 
his private, Epsilon affiliated lab.

        Matt looked over the various huge lockers, holding either 
finished, prototype, or blueprint stage armors. He walked to the one that 
said 'Sonic HedgeHog - Unfinished Prototype!' He blatantly defied the 
warning (it is my lab y' know! :>) and opened the locker. A huge 12 foot 
long table with an enormous suit of armor on it slid out, complete with a 
toolbox and a cacaphony of meters on it. Matt grabbed a stool and sat 
down, using the various scattered tools to finish the armor. He stopped 
every few minutes and tested some various part with one of the various 
meters.

        He had just finished the last adjustment on the leg of the armor 
when a klaxon went off on the celing. "Computer, alarm status?" he said. 
        "Town-wide power failure. Disengage alarm?" replied the computer.
        "Yes, disengage." he replied monotonly.
        He put away the tools and pulled down a jumpsuit, and put it on. 
He pulled down a boot from the armor and latched it onto his foot. He did 
the same, then assembled the crotch, thigh, chest, arms, and helmt, and 
finally stepped back against the waist mounted flight pack. He then shut 
the locker, and engaged the magnetic joint rotators. He shut the lab down 
and proceeded out of the hidden exit tunnel, stopping only to open it at 
the end.

He was walking out of town when he spotted an X'hirjq toying with the 
high-voltage wires going into the little burg. {Shoulda known!} he 
thought.  "Hey, you! What're ya doin? You ain't from Newberry Public 
Works!" he said goofily.
        "How can one fight in cracked armor?" asked the surprised X'hirjq.
        "S'not cracked. And why dontcha come find out?" he said, as he 
spoke a codewrod and engaged the defensive systems of the armor. He 
watched the X'hirjq as his back and legs instantly sprouted spikes, his 
chest armor thickened, and his ars and shoulders grew Jihaddium razors. 
To complete this spectacle, his helmet sprouted 3 razor sharp crests, one 
on either side of his head, and one on the top.  "In the immortal words 
of Al Bundy, 'Lets Rock'" Matt said proudly. The X'hirjq drew his sword, 
and charged...

Will our hero prevail? Hell Yeah...maybe...Tune in next week, same Matt 
time, same Matt channel.