Chapter 10: Artificial Flight

As the girls arrived outside Sketch and Jamal were wondering who was going to test it. They asked each other if they were interested, and neither were accepting the job. Donna and Iris decided to ask what was going on.

"Well? Aren't you going to test this jetpack?" asked Donna.

"Sure," said Sketch, "but we don't know who should test it."

"Why don't you do it, Sketch?" Iris asked with a smile.

"Shoot, I can't even drive!" Sketch exclaimed. "I don't have a steady hand at steering away from obstacles and I doubt I'll do any better with this."

"Jamal?" Donna said smiling. "Certainly you're willing to try it out!"

Jamal shook his head. "I didn't design these controls. And like Sketch, I can't steer a car either, so I doubt I can control this jetpack."

Donna and Iris sighed. "You're both a couple of chickens," said Donna. "You won't even test this out? Tsk tsk! And you call yourselves men!"

Jamal and Sketch looked at each other. Sketch began to grin mischievously, and Jamal, knowing what Sketch was thinking, grinned also.

"Girls!" said Sketch. "You actually have the nerve to call us cowards? There's no doubt in our minds that you are as well!"

"What?!" said Iris. "That's an insult! Donna and I aren't cowards! In fact, we're the bravest girls anyone's ever seen! We haven't stood down to anything!"

Jamal smiled. "Okay then…" He picked up the jetpack and placed it in front of Iris. "Prove it."

Iris's jaw dropped. "What?! I…but this…you…I can't…why…huh?!"

"So you say you're one of the bravest girls anyone's ever seen?" said Jamal, laughing at her reaction.

"I see feathers growing, Jamal!" said Sketch, looking at Iris with a toothy grin. "Big yellow feathers!"

"What?! That's an insult!" Iris picked up the jetpack. "Fine! I'll do it. But if I die from this, I swear I'm gonna kill you!"

"Sounds fair," laughed Sketch.

Iris hesitantly put the jetpack on her back. The two handgrip controls slowly extended toward the front of Iris, and she held them firmly. "So, uhh…how do you start this thing?"

"See the little red button on the jetpack?" Sketch began. "That starts it up."

Iris saw the button on the right-hand grip. She pressed it slowly, and she heard a hum from the engines. She decided to firmly push the button down, and suddenly she found herself flying upward at a high speed.

"IRIS!" Sketch shouted at Iris. "That button is an analog control! The harder you press, the faster it goes!"

"SKETCH!" she screamed. "HOW DO I STEER THIS STUPID THING?!"

"Move the grips in the direction you want to go!" Sketch shouted. "Don't forget to bank as you turn!"

Iris did as Sketch told and she found herself maneuvering through the air flawlessly. Despite her fears of possible mechanical problems in the hastily-built machine, she was beginning to enjoy herself. "This is actually quite fun!" she said to herself. "And Sketch really made this thing easy to steer! Maybe this does have a chance in the market!"

"All right, Iris!" shouted Sketch. "Now I want you to come down for a landing! Just slowly move down and--"

"I know what I'm doing!" shouted Iris. She slowly lowered herself toward the ground, she slowly eased off on the boosters, and she began running in the air. Her feet soon touched the ground, and she let go of the button, turning off the engines. She slowed herself down, and came to a stop. She panted hard after her slight scare and her running landing.

"Good work, Iris!" said Sketch. "You seemed to handle it very well!"

"Thank you," said Iris between breaths. "You guys really did a good job designing and building this thing!"

"Hey!"

They all turned to Donna, who looked rather impatient. She was tapping her foot on the ground.

"When's my turn?"

 

When the workday was done, they wished each other farewell. As Donna and Iris went to their respective homes, Sketch and Jamal were walking towards theirs. They decided to talk about Donna and Iris.

"So what do you think of them, Sketch?"

"They're okay," said Sketch. "They're tomboys, but they're a big help. I just wish they didn't stare at me so much with that odd little gleam in their eyes."

Jamal was confused. "Tomboys?"

"That means a girl that acts like a boy most of the time," said Sketch. "Don't tell them I call them that."

Jamal nodded. "Okay." He sighed. "I have a feeling they're growing suspicious about me."

"Well, don't worry about it. Make up a story or something to avoid any trouble."

"I don't like to lie," said Jamal. "Anyway, I'm beginning to wonder if they're possible Tengus."

"Say what? Those two?"

Jamal shrugged. "Why not? They seem to be quite brave, and they're very skilled and intelligent. I think it's possible."

"But how can you tell who's worthy and who isn't? What makes you think that they have the right stuff? What made you think I had the right stuff?!"

"Kazano had given me the instincts of finding the right kinds of people for the job. They seem to fit rather well in my given specifications."

"Well, I just hope that if you do choose them, they won't wind up using their powers for purposes besides hunting down that Skidriff fella." Sketch scratched his nose. "What is that guy like, anyway?"

"It's hard to say," said Jamal. "I personally haven't seen him before, but he is an embodiment of total evil. Kazano tells me that weapons alone can't kill an evil Tengu. You must destroy the evil inside in order to defeat it. If you destroy the evil in it, you destroy the evil Tengu."

"But how?"

"I'm really not sure…"`

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