Lavabull

by J. R. Rain

  “I just caught the last thoughts of Rhino before he went up in flames, literally.”

  Some of the animen had escaped, while others had fought the lava army to their deaths. Rhino had been one of them, and now the smell of cooked rhino flesh—along with cooked leopard and jackal—filled the chamber.

  “Go on,” I said. The sounds of running feet—and claws and hooves—were getting louder.

  “The distant viewer the military used was wrong. The nickel plating over the weapon was only to protect the bomb from the lava. Lava doesn’t melt everything; at least, not immediately. Nickel has a melting point of—”

  “Never mind all that, what’s your point?”

  “The bomb is still ticking, literally. And we have less than five minutes.”

  “Where’s the shut-off switch?”

  “There’s no shut-off switch. The bomb is on a timer.”

  “Where is it located?”

  “Not far from here, within an active lava tube.”

  I didn’t know much, but I knew that most countries these days tested their weapons underground, where the damage was contained and fall-out was negligible. Just outside the entrance, I heard a commotion. Many more animen had arrived—luckily, they were met with just as many lava soldiers.

  “You picking up my thoughts?” I asked Lavender.

  “Yes. But even if Thera could cool the rock enough to completely encase the bomb, there’s still a chance the explosion might set off the chain reaction Villainous is hoping for.”

  “How big is the bomb?”

  “Not very big. A suitcase bomb, I think they call it. But big enough to possibly cause a volcanic eruption—hey, what are you doing?”

  “Hop on up, cowgirl, you need to ride me out of here—and take me to the bomb.”

  “But what about the animen?”

  “You let me take care of them...”

  And with her superheated arms and legs wrapped around me, I charged out of the room, and heaven help anyone who got in my way.

  ***

  Turns out, quite a number of animen and aniwomen had.

  But when I have a full head of steam, there’s not much on the planet that can stop me, even other animen. And I was charging through the lava tubes, horns and shoulders lowered, barreling and goring my way through. Amazingly, the molten soldiers let me pass. How they distinguished me from the enemy, I didn’t know.

  “They recognize me, you big oaf, now take a left into this next channel.”

  I did, turning and skidding, and then picking up speed.

  “Turn here, and here.”

  I followed her directions until I found myself standing before a steaming pit that could have been the entrance into hell. Below, glowing magma churned and bubbled.

  “It’s down there,” said Lavender, hopping off my shoulders, and joining me at the lip of the pit. Within the broiling pool of molten rock, I saw a smaller, darker section. An island of sorts, where Thera had cooled the lava around the nuclear device, back when we had thought cooling it would help. “This is the main conduit down to the large magma chamber. Most volcanoes explode when the pressure builds up inside this chamber, eventually blowing the top off a volcano.”

  “But there’s no pressure in here now.”

  “Not yet. Truth is, no one knows what would happen if a nuclear bomb went off inside a volcano. My guess—and Villainous’s guess too—is that an explosion in here would blow the top off this volcano; in effect, mimicking an eruption.”

  “And blowing the poison into the upper atmosphere.”

  “Where it will be swept up and effectively spread far and wide.” Lavender looked at me, and I saw the tears in her eyes. For the first time, I realized that this spunky woman who had suddenly appeared in my life, didn’t know what to do, and didn’t have all the answers.

  I may not have all the answers, either, but I was a man of action.

  “Contact Thera and have him–or it–continue to cool the surrounding magma.”

  Although nuclear weapons were often tested underground, I also knew that fusion bombs vaporized the surrounding rock, sometimes causing large craters to appear, or rock caverns that caved in on themselves. So, the more surrounding rock, the better.

  “Look who’s suddenly the expert,” said Lavender, picking up my thoughts. “What are you planning to do?”

  I scanned the vertical shaft that led to the vent above. It was hard to believe that just earlier in the day I was getting drunk in my living room... and now I was deep inside a volcano. “I’m going to plug up this hole and bury this weapon. We can’t stop it from going off, but we can negate its effectiveness.”

  I was about to charge off, when I paused, swept Lavender up in my arms and gave her the mother of all kisses.

  “It occurs to me,” I said, breathing heavily, “that this might be the last time either of us are alive.”

  “Too bad we don’t have another five minutes,” she said, winking.

  “Five? Give me two! Now, contact Thera and have him—”

  “Already done, big guy, while you were busy kissing me. Is there anything I can I do?”

  “You can stand back,” I said, and then set off.

  ***

  My plan was simple and bullish.

  I lowered my head as I ran along the narrow shelf. My right horn—as hard as anything on earth—dug deep into the rock wall and plowed a deep furrow into the cylindrical shaft. The result was better than I could have hoped. Massive chunks of wall broke free, splashing down into the magma chamber below.

  I continued running along the narrow shelf, once slipping and nearly losing my balance to plunge into the molten rock below. Anyway, I continued on, gasping, and digging my horn deep into the wall, leaving a wake of crumbling rock behind me.

  By the time I had gone completely around the shaft, I was pleased to see the mayhem and destruction I’d caused. Much of the interior wall had crumbled down into the magma chamber, filling it, and, I hoped, burying the weapon deep below.

  I paused only briefly to admire my handiwork—or my horn work—and swept Lavender up and onto my back.

  And charged the hell out of there.

  ***

  We felt the explosion.

  The floor buckled and I buckled with it. I nearly lost my footing, but somehow managed to stay upright. I continued running, wondering when we would be vaporized too...

  “Stop, Bull. We did it.”

  I slowed to a stop, gasping, hunched over. Some superhero I was.

  “Thera has confirmed that the explosion has been contained. But he is badly wounded. Too wounded to think of a mate. I told him we would be back.”

  I nodded, too tired to speak.

  “I’ve been thinking about Villainous.”

  “When... when did you have time to think about him?” I wheezed.

  “Mostly during my piggy-back ride.”

  “Bull-back,” I quipped, finally catching my breath.

  “Did you find it strange that Mr. Brookstone appeared almost seconds after Villanous’s media transmission?”

  “He said he was nearby—”

  “Or was he waiting?”

  “He said his department had been keeping tabs on me.”

  “Why you? There are dozens of animen and aniwomen.”

  “Maybe they keep tabs on all of them. I just happened to be the closest.”

  “Fine. Then how is it that these other animen and aniwomen have formed an alliance with Villainous, leaving you out of it?”

  “I’ve been entertaining the idea that he created them just for this purpose.”

  “Then that means he created you too. But how?”

  “I thought I had been created by accident, one night while working as a rodeo clown. During a fluke lightning strike.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t a fluke. Maybe the lightning strike had been pre-planned, for just that moment.”

  “But why?”

  “Maybe you were his test subject. Maybe he got the wron
g person. Maybe he had plans for you. Were you ever approached by anyone?”

  “Not that I can think of? Just media types. Interviews.”

  “No one who asked you to join him?”

  “No, not that I can think of.”

  She bit her lip, thinking. Her eyes glowed in the darkened tunnel, and I wondered if she could see into the dark as I can.

  “I can, to a degree,” she answered, although she sounded distracted.

  “Maybe he hadn’t gotten around to me,” I said. “Maybe he was planning to come around. Maybe there are others like me—”

  “No,” she said. “I would have heard of them. The world would have heard of them. You were the rare fluke. You were the media sensation. Hell, I read about you in a magazine from my small island. I hadn’t heard of the others.”

  “Which means he created them in secret,” I said.

  “But created you publicly,” she added. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I was just a down-and-out rodeo clown. Hell, I was a down-and-out superhero too.”

  Lavender began pacing. “Rhino and the others seemed brainwashed, somehow. Too willing to give up their lives for Villainous.”

  “What are you getting at?” I asked.

  She paused, biting her lower lip. “I don’t know. But you aren’t like the others.”

  “Maybe I’m a fluke.”

  “Or maybe you are a mistake. Maybe you are the one animen who got away, so to speak. At least, got away from him. Maybe there’s a reason why you were sent into this volcano. Lest we forget, Brookstone sent you here. Just like he appeared out of the blue.”

  “Or he is who he says he is, and I was sent here to help stop a global catastrophe.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt we foiled Villainous’s plan. He certainly didn’t expect someone like me to come along. The volcano should have exploded, and the poison should have been released into the atmosphere. It’s just that you were supposed to die with it,” she said. “Villainous wanted you dead. So did Brookstone.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. Then again, I didn’t like the idea of the entire human race being destroyed, either. I happened to like most of the human race.

  “So what’s the plan?” I asked.

  “We get out of here... and talk to Brookstone.”

  Chapter 13: Honeymoon

  They had made the decision, but there were details to work out. Lavender knew they could not simply emerge from the volcano, catch a flight to America, and go to confront Brookstone. As far as Brookstone knew, they were now safely dead. If they tried to act openly, giving themselves away, they would soon enough be dead in reality.

  “I have a problem with that,” The Bull said.

  “I am with you,” Lavender said. “We need to stay dead, at least until we reach Brookstone.”

  “I always wanted to be a zombie,” he said with a laugh.

  “Not a zombie. They are undead. There’s a difference.”

  “Or a ghost?”

  “They lack substance.”

  “You can read my mind, but I can’t read yours. What is on it, hotcore?”

  Now she laughed. “I would cool my core for you, bovine boy. What I mean is that maybe we could assume different identities, so that we remain officially dead but are actually still in business.”

  “What identities?”

  “That is the detail I am stuck on at the moment. Human folk like to have things like ID cards to prove they exist, and we can’t use ours now. They also use money for things, and what we have isn’t enough.”

  “Can the volcano help?”

  “I’m not sure how, even if it were in good condition.”

  “Via the telepathic volcano network. To locate a couple of folk we might switch out with. Ones who maybe would like to have lava buddies like your mother or a really hot man.”

  Lavender was amazed. “You’re a genius, bullhead!” She kissed him, her mouth now cool enough so as not to burn him. Then, answering his thought, she said, “No, it will take several hours to unheat my core. You’ll just have to wait on that.”

  “Damn.”

  “Meanwhile, I’ll ask Thera.”

  She reached out to the ailing volcano. Thera knew the score, from her mind, and agreed to contact other volcanoes in the area. They would survey the minds of all the thousands of tourists in the area.

  “Meanwhile, let’s get out of here,” The Bull said.

  They made their way cautiously up and out, avoiding any remaining animen. In due course they stood on the surface overlooking the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The scene was deceptively placid.

  A pair of figures approached them. Both The Bull and Lavender girded for mischief, until she touched minds with them. They were a lava man and lava woman, newly minted, both telepathic, sent by the volcano. They were coming to consult. “They’re okay,” Lavender murmured.

  “Well now,” The Bull said, eyeing the shapely nude female.

  “Her core is hotter than mine,” Lavender murmured, amused. “In fact, her surface would burn you. She’s freshly made.”

  “Oh, I really wasn’t thinking of anything.”

  The creature’s mind laughter was so emphatic that even The Bull picked it up. “She’s telepathic,” Lavender reminded him. “She knows what you’re thinking.”

  “Then tell her to put some clothes on,” he said, embarrassed.

  “They would burst into flame. Now let me dialog with them.”

  We have found a couple, the male thought.

  “Found a couple!” Lavender repeated aloud.

  “Damn!” The Bull said appreciatively.

  The couple was John and Marsha, names they had chosen to mask their real intention, which was to exchange identities with a native couple on Crete. They were history buffs and wanted to explore the country at leisure. They had not been able to clear it with the authorities, so wanted to do it unofficially. In fact, they had married recently not from love, because they weren’t each other’s type, but their common purpose. They were on their honeymoon, pretending to be lovers while searching desperately for two Cretans who might want to exchange identities with them for a few months, visiting America. So far they had been unsuccessful, and the tour was almost over.

  “Would they be amenable to associating with telepathic lava folk?” Lavender asked.

  They might be. This wasn’t certain, because the matter had not been raised with them. But if Lavender and The Bull talked with them, maybe there could be a deal.

  “And do you lavas want to be making out with these humans?” The Bull asked. “They may not be perfect people.”

  What the lavas and the volcano wanted was full human engagement, from mind to genital, from joy to pain. Thera would experience the human mode completely, because of the mind contact; it wasn’t even exactly vicarious. Just as Lavender’s mother and grandfather had.

  “We need to get to that cruise ship,” Lavender said. “Soon.”

  “We’ll swim,” The Bull said.

  “I’m not sure I am fit to swim. I can make the motions, but I’m pretty solid for my size and might simply sink. I wouldn’t drown, but I wouldn’t get there fast walking on the bottom.”

  “You’ll ride my back.”

  “Good enough.”

  The lava couple did not try to swim for the same reason as Lavender. They would wait on the mountain, and be in touch telepathically. It seemed that the range of one telepath contacting another was much greater than when they were reading the minds of non-telepaths. Their range was also greater than Lavender’s because they were full lava folk, undiluted by human ancestry. If the deal was made, they would know from Lavender’s mind, and arrange a rendezvous.

  “And cool off,” The Bull said. “I don’t care who the man is, he’ll need a cool core.” He was surely thinking of the wolf animan’s fate.

  They read his mind and agreed to be cooling while waiting.

  The Bull entered the water, and Lavender clung to his
back. She had cooled considerably, but her surface remained warmer than the human norm. “No danger of getting cold in the water,” he remarked. “Not while you’ve got my back.”

  “I’ve got it,” she agreed, pressing her breasts against him.

  “Now you’re heating me up,” he complained.

  “As if you mind.”

  He swam where she directed, going for the cruise ship. It took time, but he moved well, and by dawn they spotted it. It was one of those multi-decked liners that looked like huge stacked sugar wafers. It was anchored at the moment, while parties went ashore for assorted tourist traps. The Bull simply took hold of the anchor chain and shimmied up it, carrying Lavender with him.

  No one was on the deck, by no coincidence; Lavender had checked nearby minds before they left the water. They shook themselves dry and walked naked to the cabin where John and Marsha slept. Lavender knocked on its door.

  A young man answered. He looked at Lavender’s bare body. “Uh—”

  “We came in response to your summons, John,” she said smoothly. “You and Marsha are looking for a couple to switch places with. We are that couple.”

  The thought of protesting flickered through his mind. Lavender inhaled. The thought fled. “Come in.”

  Marsha was still in her nightie, sitting on the bed. She opened her mouth. “You’re beautiful, Marsha,” The Bull said, going to sit beside her. She closed her mouth. He was after all a lot of man.

  “We need to return to America anonymously,” Lavender continued blithely. “We are thought to be dead in the volcano eruption, and we prefer to leave it that way. We will be happy to take your places here, and assume your identities, at least until the tour is finished.”

  “How did you know about—?”

  She inhaled again, stifling him. “I am telepathic. I read it in your minds. I am Lavender, part human, part volcano lava. We have an additional deal for you, if you are interested. There is a lava couple who would like a social and maybe romantic association with a human couple. The woman looks like me, only more shapely. The man looks like my friend The Bull there, only more handsome. Both are telepathic and eager to oblige in any manner you might desire. They also represent formidable protection from any thugs who might seek to harm you as you poke about the ruins. I can put you in touch with them now if you wish to verify this.”