Sparkplug and Talon: Fight the Orcas

 Sparkplug and Talon

Fight the Orcas

Tom Plex floated lazily in his room reading a book. He lay in a comfortable position four feet off the ground. There was nothing supporting Tom, just empty air.

Tom and his sister Sally were siblings. They were friends and cooler than that, they were superheroes.

Tom had a few powers related to lightning. He could fly, he had the ability to shoot lightning, and he could make a rope out of lightning. His superhero name was Sparkplug.

Sally had the ability to turn into five different animals. The animals were: A Peregrine Falcon, a swift, a cougar, a dolphin, and a monkey. Her superhero name was Talon.

The watch on Tom’s wrist buzzed for a moment and Tom looked down so fast that his neck popped.

The watch said: MISSION. It also had the number two, and a GPS coordinates for Alaska.

Tom clicked a button on his watch and he was instantly wearing a suit like Spiderman's except that it was electric blue and had a yellow lightning bolt on the shoulder and no spider symbol.

Sparkplug floated down to the ground and opened the door. He met his sister in the hall.

She was wearing a suit that looked like Black Widow’s from The Avengers. The biggest differences were that it was the same color as a mountain lion’s fur and it was missing the symbol in the middle.

Sparkplug nodded and Talon turned into a small swift. She flew through the hall and down the stairs.

Sparkplug lifted off the ground and followed his sister.

Mrs. Plex was sitting in the living room. She looked up, noticed Sparkplug in his suit, and nodded, giving permission for him to go on the mission.

Sparkplug grinned and zoomed through an open window and into the air.

A small swift was flying in tight circles. When she noticed Sparkplug, Talon rocketed north.

Sparkplug grinned and chased after her.

The scenery below them changed from forests, to deserts, to mountains, to forests again, to lakes, to forests again. After a while ice littered the ground below Sparkplug.

Talon tirelessly flapped a few yards ahead of her brother.

Every few minutes Sparkplug checked his watch to see how close they were and soon, they were right on top of the destination.

The watch changed. Now it read: There are chips of information placed in trained seals. You must protect them from predators, so that they reach their destination. The seals you must protect will come onto the ice and bark twice before diving down again.

Sparkplug dove toward the ground and became especially glad that he had his warm jacket on as he got closer to the ice and snow smothered ground. He landed and started doing jumping jacks, his teeth clacking together.

Talon landed before she switched from a bird, to a shivering cougar. She paced back and forth, her enormous paws sinking in the snow.

Sparkplug kept his eyes peeled for predators. He saw several whales in the distance and a snowy owl soared over his head.

Suddenly four enormous seals leaped onto the ice and each gave two tremendous barks before diving down again.

Talon turned into a bird and rocketed off toward the seals.

The superheroes flew together several yards behind the seals, watching for any threats.

The water east of the seals churned and the head of an orca erupted from the sea. Another swam behind it, and another behind it, a pod of orcas were swimming toward the seals.

Talon looked at Sparkplug as if to say, “I can’t do much right now, a dolphin couldn’t do anything.”

Sparkplug nodded and flew toward the killer whales. He shot lightning at the leader. It seemed to do nothing but make the orca swim faster.

Sparkplug started to panic. If none of Talon’s animals would help, and his lightning wasn’t doing much, then what could they do? Would this be their first failed mission?

Without noticing, Sparkplug started to slow down. If he failed on a mission it might be the end of his career. Commander Grov would decide that if they couldn’t stop a pod of orcas they weren’t worthy to keep saving the world.

Talon screeched and dove to one of the orcas. She jabbed her talon into the orca’s blowhole.

The orca bellowed and slowed.

Talon started circling the seals trying desperately to protect them.

No, Sparkplug thought. I am not failing this mission. Talon found a way to be helpful as a bird. I can shoot lightning, I can figure out how to protect these seals. His mind raced as he tried to think of a plan. Then, he grinned.

The seals swam faster and faster, they leaped up onto a block of ice and squirmed as best they could to the center of the ice.

Sparkplug made an electric rope and whipped it around one of the orcas. He fed electricity through the rope and the killer whale bellowed in pain.

Sparkplug unwrapped the rope whale and dove toward it licketysplit. He shoved his hand into the blowhole of the orca, and shot a small bolt of lightning before he wrenched his hand out.

The killer whale bellowed in pain and started swimming away.

Talon continued diving and scratching the orcas before swooping back up. It appeared to be working. The whales started turning and swimming away.

Sparkplug’s technique took longer and he soon found a way to shorten it. Instead of wasting time with the rope, he would just dive and shock them through the blowhole. Soon the orcas had all dispersed.

The seals, who had been cowering all this time, now dove back into the water and were undisturbed the rest of the way. Sparkplug and Talon flew back to their home and fistbumped.

“I thought we were going to fail,” Sparkplug exclaimed.

“Me too,” Talon agreed. “Then I thought of scratching them and that worked.”

The two heroes walked into their house and Tom finished reading his chapter. He and Sally recounted the mission to their parents and then ate dinner as a family. A family of two regular parents and two superhero children. One of the strangest families you’ve ever heard of.