Operation Phoenix: Turning Point Battle, Part 4
        
        by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net)

        "Hey!  You can't leave those planes on the runway!" complained an
air traffic controller for Des Moines International Airport.  I was surprised
to find anyone could still talk, let alone complain here.
        "You're not spongified?" CyberPyro asked incredulously.
        "Huh?"
        "Spongification: the turning of your brain to silly putty by the
demon known as b'harnii.  Also caused by this Purple Cloud."
        "Umm, no.  None of the air traffic controllers here have been 
affected."
        "Wow.  Drink jolt cola or coffee at work?"
        "Coffee, ten or more cups.  Jolt when I can get it.  But, look those
four ... err ... three planes can't sit there!"
        "Send us the parking bill," CyberPyro said, smiling as Andromeda
taxied out onto the runway and launched himself.  "What do you know: air
traffic controllers sound naturally immune.  Let's find Owsen, I know he's
around."
        "What we need is some..." started J-Rock.
        "..transportation!" finished Morgenna.
        "Oh, yes!" said Cerberus, eyeing a VW bus sitting idle near the exit.


...

        After a brief argument over driving rights and shotgun, all four
Jihaddi piled into the VW bus, which they were delighted to find had been
retrofitted with a Porsche 944 engine.  Cerberus took the wheel and promptly
drove to the nearest 7-11 where the Jihaddi liberated a large cache of 
Unhealthy Snacks[TM] from spongies trying to replace them with apples,
celery, and other Hellthy Snacks[tm - HellWyrm].  The driving was somewhat
difficult since all the plow drivers had since become spongified and quit
their jobs, but the snow kept falling.
        Supplied to resist several hours of the Purple Cloud's influence, the
four Jihaddi set out to comb the city for Owsen.

...

        "Left!" CP shouted, getting frustrated.
        "No!  We just went that way!" complained Cerberus, "I'm going right!"
The VW bus lurched to the right, tires squealing as we slid across the wet
pavement,  and bucked as the engine slammed into a higher gear.  Hubert, as
we'd named the bus, caught air as he went over a small hill and landed,
sliding forwards to a waiting ring of Wyrm bots.
        "Shit!" complained Cerberus as he fought to slow the vehicle, slush
flying from under the van's tires.  Before we'd come to a complete halt, the
gears ground slightly as the driver threw the engine into reverse: We didn't
have to fight these things.
        Four more WyrmBots showed up in the rearview mirror, blocking our
escape.  We were encircled, and couldn't get away easily.
        "Wonderful.  A trap." complained J-Rock, throwing the side door open
and grabbing his X-Rifle[tm].  Morgenna landed silently in the street,
powdery snow puffing up around her feet.  Cerberus slammed the driver's door
as he strode forward, white light surrounded him.  CP jumped out, slammed the
door, and paused, uncertain of what to do.
        A HellWyrm bot leveled its plasma cannons at Cerberus and fired, the
air ionizing as they streaked towards him.  White light exploded in front of
the plasma bolts and they disappeared, smashing into a building half a block
behind the bots.  Cerberus snapped his fingers and four bots disappeared in
flashes of light, only to reappear outside of the city limits, 10,000 feet
above the ground.
        "GET DOWN!" yelled J-Rock as CP began mumbling a spell, intensely hot
flames swirling around his body, turning the slush in the street into steam.
Morgenna, knowing the end result, began hurriedly chanting a protection
spell.
        CyberPyro stretched his arms forward, giving the roiling mass of fire
about him a direction and purpose.  The flames streaked away, four meteor-
like balls of flame hurling towards a cluster of three Wyrm bots.
        The meteors struck simultaneously, one hitting the HellWyrm, B'habii
B'hopp, and B'hii J'haa bots individually, the fourth exploding between the
three.  Fire erupted in the streets, a solid wall rushing towards the
Jihaddi, the pressure of the explosion shattering everything it passed over.
        J-Rock stepped back, instinct taking over, with a cry of alarm as the
flames closed in.  Then the Jihaddi were engulfed in flame.

                                                                CP

Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)