Mon 14 Nov 2011
Girding Their Loins
Posted by Patrick Rennie under The New Adventures of a Deposed Dictator
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Story Recap: While on vacation, the supervillain Photius encounters a superhero also on vacation. That hero is Bad Penny, and the two have a history. Specifically, Photius has killed Penny six times over the course of their careers. With that history, the two spend a few minutes catching up and threatening each other before getting down to the inevitable combat. Their conversation is interrupted before the fisticuffs by some sort of commotion down by the beach.
From the sea, a leviathan threw its head high into the air and roared.
Both Photius and Bad Penny turned to look at the monster.
“Huh,†Photius said. “Were you stalling me so he could show up and help you defeat me?â€
“What? No,†Bad Penny said.
“Oh. Because that would have been brilliant.â€
Bad Penny jumped up and raced his way around the pool. Photius left his deck chair and followed, his flip-flops thwoping mightily beneath his ground-devouring stride. Penny reached the reached his towel and bag and began rummaging through the latter.
“The monster is over there,†Photius pointed out.
Penny cocked his head at Photius and pulled a strap out of his bag. Attached to the middle of the strap was a smooth block of black plastic with two gold prongs sticking out of the front.
“Ah. Your wrist-mounted Van De Graaff generators,†Photius said, swiping the device.
“My lightning guns,†the hero growled, pulling a second one out of his bag.
Photius fiddled with the one he held and said, “Penny, I assure you, that description of them is even less accurate than the one I just gave.â€
“Give me that back,†Bad Penny said, strapping the second one to his wrist.
“You want me to fight that monster unarmed?â€
“You’re going to help me?†Penny asked skeptically.
“I was willing to kill you for interfering with my vacation. What makes you think I would offer the sea creature an exemption?â€
“Right,†Penny said sourly, snatching the first gun back from Photius.
Down at the beached, the screams had died down as the bystanders cleared out. The staff and guest around the pool had also run away, leaving Bad Penny and Photius by themselves. The monster bellowed again and shuffled further onto the beach.
“You’re going to let me run into a fight with that thing with just what I’m wearing?â€
Penny looked him up and down. “Personally, I’d lose the flip-flops.â€
“Fair enough,†Photius said, stepping out of his shoes. “Give me a second to hit the bar before we head down there.â€
“Why, is that thing allergic to alcohol or something?†Penny asked, watching the supervillain walk over to the poolside bar.
“No. I just need something sharp,†Photius said, holding up the knife the bartender had been using to cut  lemons. “Now we can go.â€