ic Freedom's Finest #6: Space Rocks

[Gizmo]

The first thing John Blake was aware of as he awoke was that he was most certainly not in his bed. The metal floor below him was cold and unyielding while the harsh blue light and background buzz of electricity surrounding him wasn't doing anything to relieve his pounding headache.

 

The sight that greeted him as he forced open his eyes wasn't any more comforting. The teenager found himself sitting at the base of a cone of crackling blue energy the projected down from above him, trapping him in a circle of space no more than seven or eight feet across. The room outside his unorthodox cell was dark and details were difficult to make out but he could see that his cone was one of many in a long row stretching out into the distance. The wall behind him curved slightly, giving him the impression of a hull, which would have explained the faint vibration he felt through the drool-damp cheek resting against the deck plating.

 

Getting to his feet John discovered that he was still in the sleep clothes he'd put on the night before and that he was not alone. Standing in the cone to his left was a pile of stones in the rough shape of a humanoid figure, rough edges fitted tougher to form thick limbs and hulking shoulders topped by a squat, lantern-jawed head. For a moment the human mistook it for a statue until it turned its gaze upon him, two wells of burning red where eyes might have been.

 

After a moment the creature raised a hand in affable greeting and said, "Rock."

[tv50watcher]

Well he had never had a weirder wake-up call.  John started standing alert, scanning for anything he could see to determine where he was.  When he initially didn't notice anything, he turned to the creature that appeared to be called "Rock", eyes darting around for any conceivable way of escape. 

 

"Hello, my name is John... Do you know where we are Rock?"  John seemed a tad worried about where he was... He was gonna miss classes, and wasn't sure what time it was... He couldn't risk Gargoyling out of this situation.  Not yet anyway.  He pounded on the energy field for a moment, before getting annoyed by the tingling and settled himself down.  Where the heck is he?!

[Gizmo]

The stoney giant offered a shrug that sounded like gravel being ground underfoot. "Rooock." With lumbering movements he hunched down before sitting on the deck with a resounding impact, the vibration carrying well past John's own conical cell. Resting his blocky chin in one hand Rock extended the other, running a finger against the humming barrier. It left a trail of sparks where is passed, the discolouration lasting just long enough for the creature to three vertical lines before returning his hand to his lap.

 

The meaning seemed clear enough: Rock had been there for three... what? Hours? Day? Longer? Considering what sort of units of measure might be relevant for a being made of boulders proved to be less than reassuring for the human teenager. Apparently sensing that the attempt at communication wasn't going as well as he might have liked, Rock spread his hands with the palms upward and asked, "Rrrrock?"