Free Akiko on the Planet Smoo by Mark Crilley

other locked onto his neck.
    Spuckler grabbed the bars of our cage and began pulling at them with all his might. I could tell he wanted to go out there and save Gax, but the bars just wouldn’t budge.
    The rest of us sat there helplessly as the Shnum-Crusher started pulling Gax’s neck out as far as it would go. It stretched out two or three yards before it reached its limit, and then we could hear this terrible squeaking sound. Gax was still functioning, but he had lost his ability to speak properly.

    â€œ XGRBLE PPRYPT FFFKGHFFT, ” was all he could manage to say as his neck stretched out yet another inch.
    â€œI can’t bear to watch,” said Spuckler, putting his hands over his eyes and turning away.
    Me, I couldn’t help looking. And I’m glad I did, because otherwise I’d have missed something pretty amazing. You see, just when we thought it was all over for Gax, a little screw popped off him and dropped down into an opening a few inches from the base of the much larger robot’s head. It was quite a tiny little piece, just a bolt or a loose screw or something, but it must have worked its way down into the Shnum-Crusher’s insides and knocked something out of whack. All of a sudden he started shaking like crazy and making this horrible squealing noise. A hush fell over the crowd. Spuckler took his hands off his eyes and looked up at the Shnum-Crusher. He was rocking wildly from side to side as if he were trying to dance.
    â€œGet down, everybody!” Spuckler shouted. He covered his head with his hands and threw himself onto the floor of the cage. “The Crusher’s gonna blow!”
    Mr. Beeba and I covered our heads just in time.
    BA-DOOOOOOOOOOOM!
    The mighty Shnum-Crusher exploded into a million pieces of metal, all of which shot out in different directions, leaving white trails of smoke behind them like bottle rockets. A few pieces shot right through our cage, and others flew way up into the highest seats in the arena, sending spectators scrambling for safety. When the smoke finally cleared (and it was a few minutes before it did), there was nothing left of that robot but a little crater in the middle of the arena.
    As for Gax, he had rolled loose from the Shnum-Crusher’s claws just before the explosion. He’d gotten kind of charred and covered with soot, but otherwise he was okay.
    The crowd booed and hissed. I’m pretty sure most of them hadn’t bet on Gax. In fact, I think we were the only people in the whole place who were happy that Gax had won. When they put Gax back in our cage, we congratulated him on a job well done.
    â€œThat was real good, Gax,” Spuckler said as he wiped some of the dirt off Gax’s helmet. “Blowin’ him up was pretty much your best option at that point.”
    â€œWere you scared, Gax?” I asked.
    â€œ NOT REALLY, ” Gax replied calmly in his low electronic voice.
    â€œGax ain’t scared of nothin’, Akiko,” Spuckler chuckled. “His fear circuits blew out years ago.”

Spuckler was the next contestant. They didn’t have to drag him out of the cage, though. He practically
volunteere
d. When the big fat guy came over to take him into the ring, it was Spuckler who ended up leading the way.
    â€œDon’t worry, pal,” Spuckler said to the man, sounding like someone who did this sort of thing for fun. “I know the drill.”
    Having just seen Gax beat an opponent many times his size, Mr. Beeba and I were a little less nervous. Spuckler, after all, was a fairly tough-looking guy, and we were pretty sure he could handle whatever it was they would send out to fight him. No one had as much confidence in Spuckler as Spuckler himself, though.
    â€œRelax, everybody,” he called back to us as he approached the center of the ring. “I ain’t met one yet I couldn’t lick!”
    Again the giant steel doors slowly creaked open to reveal the dimly