Author’s Note – The following story features the superheroes from Mark Dennion’s novel the References! Mark’s novel is published by Elephantine Publishing and it is available on Amazon. You can follow Mark on Facebook and on his web page www.markdennionbooks.com
The References are a team of superheroes whose powers are based on their abilities to use their mastery of the components of the English Language to battle bad punctuation, the use of slang, yellow journalism, and crime. The References are comprised of: The Human Dictionary- A yellow and blue clad hero who can define any word. Atlas, a young man with the ability to navigate to any destination in the world. Thesaurus Rex, a Tyrannosaurs with the brain of human who can only communicate in strings of synonyms. The Guardians of Grammar have triumphed over wrongdoers such as the Wu-Slang clan and villains like the libelous Lexi -Con but how will they fare against the Prince of Monsters and his corrupt chronicler?
It was early in the evening but the moon shone bright overhead and it cast an eerie glow around the city. Outside of the city zoo, two of its greatest protectors huddled together near one of the employee entrances to the establishment. Atlas, the hero of headings, looked at his friend and fellow crime fighter the Human Dictionary, “Are you sure that we want to involve Thesaurus Rex in this? I mean, I think that we can handle this guy by ourselves. If we are looking to be stealthy having a thirty-foot dinosaur moving through the city might draw unwanted attention to us.”
The Human Dictionary smiled, “Attention! Noun- Notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important: At least, that’s the definition of the manner in which you used the word in your question. The answer to your question, is an emphatic yes! The scoundrel that we are going to take down today has written more libelous articles about Thesaurus Rex than nearly any other celebrity on the planet. He deserves to the be there when we put an end to this evil editor!”
Atlas shrugged, “Okay then. Let’s go get the big guy.” He reached into his hallowed satchel and pulled out a map of the zoo. He glanced at it quickly, “Follow me. I have already found the quickest route to his pen and if we are going to do this then time is of the essence.”
The Human Dictionary nodded, “Essence! Noun – Absolutely critical or crucial. You are correct so let’s get moving.”
The Human Dictionary followed Atlas through the zoo and as promised the directionally inclined hero brought them to the pen of the zoo’s star attraction in under three minutes by following the fastest route. The zoo was closed and the moonlight was only illuminating the very center of the pen. The dynamic definer called out to his friend, “Thesaurus Rex, are you there?”
The ground shook as a massive saurian head and leg stepped out of the shadows. With a second step, the entire body of a thirty-foot-long T-rex stepped out in to the moonlight. The dinosaur still had the shreds of lab coat around his tiny arms. The clothing was a reminder to Dr. Sinclair O’Nim that while he had the body of one the greatest predators to ever walk the planet that his still possessed the mind of a brilliant scientist. The dinosaur looked at the two heroes and said, “Friends! Associates! Comrades!”
The Human Dictionary called out to the Cretaceous Carnivore, “Sly Lyson has finally come to the city. Do you want to help us put an end to his phony tabloid ravings?”
Thesaurus Rex looked down at the newspaper clipping that filled his pen. He then looked at his friends and smiled, “Absolutely! Unconditionally! Categorically!”
The Human Dictionary nodded, “Categorically! Adjective - Without exceptions or conditions; absolute; unqualified and unconditional.” The hero walked over and opened the gate to the therapod’s pen. Thesaurus Rex stepped out of his enclosure and roared with such ferocity that it shook the ground and caused all the other animals in the zoo to respond in kind.
Atlas comely pulled a map of the city from his satchel, “I have already determined the most expeditious route to Mr. Lyson’s office. His office building is directly on the harbor. The shortest route there is one and three fourths of a mile from our current location. If we hurry, we can catch him as he is leaving it and heading for his car.”
Thesaurus Rex bent down and said, “Climb! Scale! Ascend!” The other two heroes climbed onto the dinosaurs back. Atlas shouted, “Through the front gates, and then take a left of Lees street!” Thesaurus Rex ran out of the zoo as Atlas continued to shout directions at him that led the three heroes to office of Sly Lyson.
The trio of heroes, who the media had dubbed the References, arrived at the offices of tabloid editor Sly Lyson just in time to see him opening the door from his building. The editor had a disheveled look about him as if he was in a rush and afraid of something.
Lyson was running toward his car when Thesaurus Rex roared! Lyson stopped dead in his tracks and he looked in the direction of the therapod. When Lyson saw the dinosaur he breathed a sigh of relief.
Thesaurus Rex yelled at Lyson, “Stop! Cease! Desist!”
Lyson began laughing as he looked at the Human Dictionary, Atlas, and the imposing form of Thesaurus Rex. The editor chuckled, “It’s only you guys and your pet dinosaur! When I heard that roar I really got worried. I thought I had run out of time to skedaddle!”
The word skedaddle no sooner left the editor’s mouth then the Human Dictionary was hit by a wave of vertigo. He was falling to the ground when Atlas reached out and caught his friend. Lyson starred quizzically at the besieged hero, “What the heck is wrong with you?”
The Human Dictionary shook his head to help reorient himself, “The slang word that you used. I can’t define slang. Whenever I hear a slang word, it temporarily drains me of my abilities.”
Lyson laughed, “That part about you becoming weaker when someone uses slang is true?”
The Human Dictionary quickly perked up, “True! Adjective: Being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; conforming to reality or fact; not false.” With the act of defining the word true, the Human Dictionary regained his strength. “Yes, that is true but that is the only true thing that you have been printing about us and nearly every other story covered in your poorly edited tabloid.”
Lyson looked nervously at the harbor, “Listen, I have a family. I do what I need to do to pay the bills and put food on the table. If I don’t report the “near news” then you better believe that somebody else will- like that new reporter at The Chronicle, Tabitha Lloyd. Face it, you are celebrities. Who you are and what you are is no longer personal. You belong to the public. Just be grateful that certain laws won’t allow the media to share your secret identities,” Lyson finished.
“Threat, warning, intimidation?” questioned the wordy dinosaur.
Again, Lyson stared out into the harbor. “If you want to try and sue me for libel we can talk about it later. Right now, I have to get out of here and so should you.” The editor took a step toward his car when Thesaurus Rex’s foot came crashing down in front of him. The therapod looked down at him and said, “Listen! Attend! Heed!”
The Human Dictionary placed his hand on the editor’s shoulder, “We are not here to sue you. We are here to point out the error of your ways. You need to understand that as a newspaper editor and reporter you are a conduit of truth for the people. Society relies on you to inform them of the events that shape our world. When you purposefully print articles with fabricated information it negatively affects society’s ability to understand events that are occurring around them.”
Atlas stepped forward, “In other words, we are here to point you in the right direction so that the information you are supplying to world doesn’t lead them astray.”
Lyson took another quick look at the harbor. He felt a desperate urge to flee the area that had nothing to do with the heroes who were confronting him. He tried to placate the References so that they would let him leave. “Okay I get it. No more half-baked articles about how Thesaurus Rex is in talks to star in the Jurassic World sequel or how Atlas is the best person to buy a
map to the homes of the stars from.” He tried to push his way past Atlas to get into his car, “Can I please go now?”
Thesaurus Rex leaned down toward the man, “Misunderstanding! Confusion! Misinterpretation!”
The Human Dictionary nodded, “Misunderstanding! Noun: A failure to comprehend something correctly! We have already explained to you that it’s not just the false stories that you are printing about us that is the issue. It’s all the stories you are printing. For instance, your stories about a giant monster swimming around the world and fighting other beasts is widely believed by the public!”
Lyson shook his head in disbelief, “You mean Gfantis? Look all of the stories I have written about him are true! He is a real-life kaiju and even more than that one of my reporters was looking into a claim that Gfantis was seen of the coast of the city. I had her take a helicopter out to check on the claim and she says it’s true!” The editor was so nervous that he began to laugh, “Don’t you get it? Gfantis is on his way here! He will be entering the harbor at any moment! This city is about to be destroyed by a kaiju!”
As in response to Lyson’s statement sirens started to wail from the docks. The References and Lyson turned toward the harbor to see a massive swell of water moving toward the city. The water rushed over the docks and flooded the street which ran parallel to the water. A gargantuan head with a crescent shaped horn at the top of it rose out the water. The creature roared as it lifted its body into an upright position and its full fifty-five-meter height. A dark shadow fell over the docks as the sheer bulk of Gfantis blocked out the moonlight. Gfantis looked at the city he was about to ravage with disdain as he took his first step out of the water.
Thesaurus Rex replied, “Kaiju! Monster! Creature!”
The Human Dictionary defined what he was looking at, “Kaiju! Noun - A giant monster, particularly such as those common to Japanese science fiction films, like Godzilla or Gamera.” He then shook his head, “I can’t believe it. That thing is six times larger than Thesaurus Rex. It will cause the deaths of countless people if it reaches the heart of the city.”
Atlas quickly pulled a map and a highlighter out of his satchel. He highlighted a route on the map and then he handed it to Lyson, “Follow the route I have highlighted. It is the quickest way out of the city.”
Lyson was in the process of taking the map from Atlas when the ground shook as Gfantis took another step into the city. The monster then roared and the windows of Lyson’s office building shattered from the overwhelming sound of the monster’s call. The editor scrambled into his vehicle and he yelled at the Human Dictionary and Atlas, “Get in the car! We have to get out of here!”
The Human Dictionary shook his head, “No this is our city. The people here are our responsibility. We need to try and buy them some time to evacuate.” With that statement, The Human Dictionary, Atlas, and the mighty Thesaurus Rex started walking toward the quickly approaching Gfantis.
Sly Lyson didn’t argue with the References. Instead he sped away in his car. As he was fleeing, the tabloid editor took one look in his review mirror to see a giant clawed foot come crashing down into the city. He could see the References jump in front of the kaiju’s foot and he shook his head in sorrow when he saw that even the fully grown dinosaur could not reach Gfantis’s ankle.
“So, what’s the plan?” Atlas asked.
“Simple,” The Human Dictionary began, “He is there. We are here. The city is behind us. We have to keep what’s in front of us in front of us and what is behind us behind us.
“I don’t suppose that the monster will leave town just because I hand him a map of how to do so. Do you have any suggestions of keeping the city and the monster separate?”
“Still working on that. Maybe if we-”
The conversation was cut off by a roar that was so deafening that the two heroes were nearly knocked over by it. Only the call did not come from on front of them, but rather behind. Thesaurus Rex sprinted past his two comrades, jumped on the monster, and dug his dagger-like teeth into its foot. Gfantis roared in pain.
“Well, that’s one way to get the ball rolling,” The Human Dictionary commented.
Thesaurus Rex began to scale the monster- biting and digging in his claws as he climbed. The dinosaur wordsmith looked more like a movie velociraptor on the back of an enormous Tyrannosaur rather than a thirty foot monster.
The Human Dictionary and Atlas ran toward the monster’s foot in attempts to do whatever they could to stop the monster.
Lyson continued to watch the action of the fight from his rear view mirror as he fled the town. As he drove, he switched on his recorder and he began composing his next story, “Recently, there have been sightings of a group of individuals calling themselves the References. This group has been moving through the city and battling crime as well as the misuse of the English language. People have been unsure of how to define these individuals. Today the kaiju known as Gfantis entered our city and he was met not by the military, or some giant robot, or a scientific super weapon. The only opposition that stood between Gfantis and the city where a man who can define any word, a man who can give you directions to any destination, and a dinosaur who speaks in strings of synonyms. Regardless of the outcome of their battle, The References’s stand against Gfantis has defined who and what they are to our city. From now on, when the people in the city look up The References they will see the following definition: The References! Noun- Heroes.”
Gfantis vs the Guest Monsters Page 30
