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[Vance Diamond]

Sky roared, earth thundered,and Knigel's knobby knees nearly crumpled for the quake of it. The night was tumult with it all. The pounding rain beat upon his brown hair and long since conquered the unruly curls with more success than Mom. Droplets also fell on the bridge of Knigel's running nose, their liquid shrapnel causing involuntary twitches from his wide, blue eyes.

The titan walked cautiously into the plaza, like a booming storm with a sense of rhythm. Its skull mask level with the fifth-story windows of the skyscrapers, a giant lost amongst the trunks of an urban jungle. Dull twilight darkened its gray camouflaged skin, and from across the plaza, Knigel could hear the raindrops strike the behemoth with metallic cacophony- splattering drops creating a mist about it, like clothing.

It was the coolest giant robot man Knigel had ever seen, and the first one not on the holovision. He forgot that he could not find his parents, or anyone for that matter (and moments before he had been quite distraught about that, too). Water from above washed away the salty residue of forgotten tears.

A brilliant, azure streak cut through the humid air toward the robot, appearing and vanishing like a falling star- a building-side burst in a crackling rumble of crumbling concrete- shattered glass hissed down upon the skulled titan. Knigel blinked for several moments before the afterimage disappeared. The robot man turned its grinning visage to a new arrival.

The first giant's slightly shorter, slightly stockier sibling avalanched into the plaza at a lazy jog. The new arrivals face was scrunched between two over-sized shoulder blades and its skin was menacing red. With an arm that became a tube at the elbow, the newcomer pointed at the skulled titan. Another blinding flash split the gathering night, snappings of power filled the air, Knigel's hair stood out on end- its lightning struck the skull titan in the chest, rocking it back- glowing orange globules of robot skin dripped down its belly and fell to the pavement far below. Skull took a short step back to regain balance.

Stocky lumbered clumsily to the left- directly at staring, little, wide-eyed Knigel- while twisting its upper-body at the waist to keep Skull in its sights. It became taller and taller as it approached, the earth shaking, the pavement cracking audibly with every footfall. Knigel watched it come, a deer in headlights.

Skull twisted its torso as well, a less brilliant flash sparkled from each of its hips, followed by the loudest noise Knigel had ever heard. It was like a playing card in a bicycle spoke, but billions times louder- he slapped hands over his oversized ears, yelping, feeling a warm liquid leaking out onto his hand.

Things Knigel didn't see sawed through Stocky's kneecap, bursting it open like a grape. Mid-stride, Stocky pitched forward to the ground, its face a meteor. The pavement erupted from the impact- Knigel was knocked off his feet and his tailbone landed painfully on the hard ground. Stocky didn't move after that. Eyes still wide from an amazement exclusive of all emotion, Knigel stood, walked five steps, and placed a tentative hand on the fallen, motionless Stocky. It felt like a dump truck.

Skull rumbled over to examine its lifeless kin, then it turned and bent slightly to stare at Kingsly. Then it shouted with his Mom's voice, sounding like when he had accidentally followed the wrong mom out of a store: “Knigel! Thank ***!”