by Lucas Flint
“Building something,” said the Midnight Menace. “They’ve made the Fist into their base of operations while they are here. I am not sure what they are building, however, so don’t ask me.”
Bolt folded his arms in front of his chest. He glanced down at the empty Darzen armor lying at their feet. “And the Darzens are here, too. Perhaps they are after whatever the Starborn are making.”
“That is possible,” said the Midnight Menace, “but anything is possible with the Darzens. In any case, I suggest leaving the Starborn alone. They’ve already made it clear that they are not in the mood to talk to visitors.”
“Maybe they don’t want to talk to you, but I bet they’ll be willing to talk to me if I go over and say hi,” said Bolt. He jerked a thumb at his chest. “They already know who I am. All I need to do is just stop by the Fist and say hello.”
The Midnight Menace sighed. “It won’t be that simple. The Starborn highly value their privacy.”
“And?” said Bolt. “You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to. I can find my way to the Fist myself.”
“It’s not that,” said the Midnight Menace. “It’s … oh, never mind. I keep forgetting how young you are. You are still very impulsive. That is probably why you are not listening to anything I say.”
Bolt scowled in annoyance. “I’m an adult. A full-time member of the Neohero Alliance. I’m still young, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“True, but it does mean that you have a higher chance of being stupid than someone my age,” the Midnight Menace observed. “In any case, I can see that you are not going to follow my advice and stay away. So I will escort you to the Fist.”
“Really?” said Bolt in surprise. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I think I can find it myself.”
“It’s too dangerous for you to go alone,” the Midnight Menace insisted. He gestured at the shadows all around them. “The Shadowlands chew up and spit out kids like you on a regular basis. However strong you may be, the Shadowlands is stronger still and far less merciful.”
“I could fly,” said Bolt. “That would be easier and quicker than walking, anyway.”
“That would be even more dangerous than walking,” said the Midnight Menace. His red eyes flicked upward. “The skies of the Shadowlands are far more brutal than the land. The creatures that live in the skies … well, let’s just say that there is a reason I either walk or move through the shadows here.”
Bolt also looked up at the sky, but the pitch black darkness of the Shadowlands meant he couldn’t see anything. Nonetheless, he sensed that the Midnight Menace was right and that the skies were at least as dangerous as the ground, if not more so. Besides, it was never wise to fly around in the dark anyway. He’d learned the hard way that that was a great way to ensure you’d get lost and crash into buildings and big objects you couldn’t see.
“I will take you to the Fist,” said the Midnight Menace. “And it isn’t because I am a nice guy or anything like that. It’s because Omega Man would never let me hear the end of it if he found out I left you to die in the Shadowlands.”
“Okay,” said Bolt. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
-
The trip to the Fist of the Gods was much shorter than Bolt thought it would be. This was because they didn’t walk at all. Instead, they shadow traveled, similar to Shade. That surprised Bolt, because he had not been aware that the Midnight Menace could shadow travel. He thought that only Shade could do that, but the Midnight Menace informed Bolt that any superhuman with shadow powers could shadow travel and that it was not exclusive to Shade.
As a result, less than a minute after Bolt declared that it was time for them to go, they arrived at the base of the Fist. The pitch black darkness of the Shadowlands made it nearly impossible to see the Fist until Bolt raised his fist and charged it with electricity. A bright red light glowed around Bolt’s fist, illuminating the area enough for him to see the giant fist-shaped building standing right before them.
Up close, the Fist of the Gods was even bigger than he thought. It also looked far more realistic, as if it was the fist of an actual god punching through the earth. Its rough surface was withered from exposure to the weather, while strange and frightening carvings, faded due to the passage of time, could be vaguely seen along the top of the doorway.
Then again, given how many gods I’ve seen so far, who’s to say this isn’t the first of some long dead god from who knows when? Bolt thought, glancing at the ground and wondering how big the rest of the god’s body was in relation to the fist. It’s certainly not impossible, at least.
“Here we are,” said the Midnight Menace. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword as he looked up at the massive stone structure rising before them. “The Fist of the Gods.”
Bolt whistled. “Makes the Justice Statue look tiny.”
“Right,” said the Midnight Menace in a slightly annoyed tone. “The Starborn should be in there at the moment. I imagine they must be working on something right now, so we need to be careful about how we approach them so we do not interrupt them. We’ll go through the front door there.”
The Midnight Menace pointed at a small, rather ordinary-looking front door stood at the base of the Fist. Although it was about the size of a normal door, in comparison to the massive Fist rising from the earth, it looked tiny. It was also rather hard to see because it was made of the same stone as the rest of the structure and blended in quite well with the rest of the building.
Bolt blinked. “You mean it’s that easy? Just press the doorbell and wait for the Starborn to invite us inside for a cup of tea?”
“Hardly,” said the Midnight Menace, shaking his head. “For one, it doesn’t have a doorbell. You’ll have to knock. For two, I doubt they will hear you knocking in there. Every time I’ve come close to the Fist, I’ve always heard loud noises coming from it. I imagine it is the sounds they make as they work, which means they are unlikely to hear us knocking even if we knocked really loudly.”
“Then we should just let ourselves in,” said Bolt. “Right?”
“Right,” said the Midnight Menace, “though again, I must advise caution, because the Starborn may not react kindly even to visitors they know.”
“Are you going to come in with me?” said Bolt, tilting his head to the side. “Or are you just going to stay outside and wait? Because I don’t really need your help anymore, now that I’m here.”
“I’ll go in with you,” said the Midnight Menace. “Normally, I would be fine with just leaving you on your own, but given the current circumstances, it would be best if I stayed with you at all times, at least until you leave the Shadowlands. Perhaps after this, I will take you back to our universe and you can report back to the NHA on what you’ve learned.”
Bolt nodded. “Makes sense. Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go inside already.”
Bolt took one step toward the Fist, but then the Midnight Menace grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back suddenly. Bolt stumbled back onto his behind, but before he could ask the Midnight Menace why he’d done that, a sharp whistling sound entered his ears and something long and sharp struck the ground where he had been standing with a loud thud.
The Midnight Menace, apparently unafraid, bent over and picked up the object. He glanced at it briefly before tossing it over his shoulder to Bolt and saying, “Poison dart.”
Surprised, Bolt caught the dart and looked it over. It was indeed a metal dart of some sort, with a long, thick shaft and a thin, razor-sharp needle at the end. It had black feathers sticking out of the back and was very light in his hands, though Bolt had a feeling that it would hurt if it had struck him.
“A poison dart?” said Bolt. He looked up in the direction from which the dart had come from. “Did you see that coming?”
“I heard it before you did,” said the Midnight Menace. His eyes were also scanning the Fist above, though he didn’t seem to be having much luck in locating the shooter. “Which is
why I pulled you back.”
“Thanks,” said Bolt as he rose to his feet, dusting off his costume. “But who did that? The Starborn?”
“Doesn’t seem likely,” said the Midnight Menace, “but you never—”
Another whistling noise entered Bolt’s ears, but the Midnight Menace drew his sword and swung it to the side. His blade cut an incoming arrow in half neatly down the middle, sending both sides passing by him without hitting either him or Bolt.
“An arrow?” said Bolt, staring down at the arrow pieces on the ground at his feet. “Are we dealing with an archer now or something?”
“Or some kind of assassin,” said the Midnight Menace as he lowered his sword, though he clearly hadn’t lowered his guard. “Regardless, it’s obvious we are under attack. The smartest move would be to get into the Fist before someone attacks us again.”
“Smart for you, perhaps,” said a familiar deep voice somewhere in the shadows, “but not convenient for us.”
Without warning, multiple bright lights suddenly turned on all at once. The Midnight Menace actually hissed as he covered his eyes with his hand, while Bolt had to look away to avoid getting blinded. At the same time the lights turned on, however, Bolt heard the clanking of armor and weaponry all around him, though it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the light.
But when his eyes finished adjusting to the change in brightness, he almost wished they hadn’t:
He and the Midnight Menace were surrounded by two dozen armed Darzens. And there was no way out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Luckily for Beams, Sonny and his crew did not argue with him about his plan. As soon as Beams informed Sonny that he would need cannons, the captain of the ship immediately began barking at crew members to find all the cannons they could and bring them to the side of the ship facing the whirlpool. Beams was amazed at how quickly and efficiently the sailors and seamen brought all of the cannons over to the right side of the ship, filling them with cannon balls and gunpowder despite the torrential downpour. It was even more amazing when Beams realized how panicky the sailors had been just a few minutes ago.
I’m glad they’re on my side, Beams thought, watching the sailors as they aimed the cannons at the whirlpool with expert skill, though if this plan doesn’t work, they won’t be on my side for long.
“Hey, Beams,” said Sonny. He was walking back to Beams from one of the cannons, having apparently finished talking with his first mate about the cannons. “We’ve got nearly all of the cannons lined up, powdered, and ready to fire as soon as you say so, but we still don’t know what your plan for saving the ship is.”
“Guess this is the best time as any to tell you,” said Beams. He pointed at the whirlpool. “We’re going to fire all of the cannons at once at the kraken in the whirlpool. With luck, the combined power of so many cannons hitting it at once will kill it and make the whirlpool disappear. Even if the blast doesn’t kill the kraken, it might scare it away, which would have the same basic effect of causing the whirlpool to disappear.”
Sonny was chewing on a bit of straw, which moved about in his mouth as he considered Beams’ plan. “It’s simple, all right, and me and my crew like simple. But we can’t see the kraken, and if we can’t see the kraken, then we can’t aim at it very accurately, if at all. It’s a big risk to shoot so many cannons at it at once because there’s no guarantee that any of the cannonballs will even hit the damn thing.”
“True, but it’s our best bet for taking out the beast,” said Beams. “Besides, all we need to do is make sure that the cannons are aimed directly at the whirlpool. And like I said, they don’t need to hit all at once. Even just a few good hits ought to do the job.”
“Well, it isn’t like I have any better ideas,” said Sonny with a shrug, “so we’ll give it a try. Better than running around like a bunch of headless chickens, anyway.”
“Captain!” a sailor who Beams recognized as Sonny’s first mate rushed up to them. He was much younger than Sonny, probably in his late twenties, though his beard was almost big enough to rival Sonny’s. “We have all of the cannons lined up and aimed at the kraken. We are ready to fire on your orders.”
Sonny looked at Beams. “Well, kid? What do you say? Should we fire now?”
Beams looked out toward the whirlpool. It was still whirling as loudly as ever and he couldn’t see the kraken which was creating the whirlpool, but he knew that they didn’t have much time left before the anchor snapped and the entire ship was pulled down into the depths of the ocean never to be seen again.
So Beams nodded at Sonny and said, “Fire at will, Captain.”
Sonny nodded in return and shouted to the sailors manning the cannons, “Shoot, damn it! Fire at will!”
Cries of “Aye, aye, captain!” came from the sailors, only to be quickly drowned out by the deafening blasts of the cannons all being fired by once. It was the loudest explosion Beams had ever heard in his life and he had to slap his hands over his ears to protect his hearing, though he stopped as soon as he realized that his helmet was protecting his hearing all by itself.
Still, Beams couldn’t help but watch in awe as over a dozen cannonballs, each one twice the size of his head, exploded from their cannons and flew across the churning ocean toward the massive whirlpool. Despite the rain and wind, the cannonballs flew straight and true. All twelve of the cannonballs crashed into the very center of the whirlpool all at once, creating another explosion and sending gallons of water flying into the air wherever they crashed. Above the noise made by the crashing cannonballs, Beams thought he heard the cry of some kind of bird, but that sound was quickly drowned out by the explosion of the cannonballs, the falling rain, and the churning ocean waves making the ship shudder and shake with every movement.
Then, as abruptly as it came, the whirlpool faded. Soon, the bay was at peace again, the calm, crystal clear water as flat as a pancake. Even the rain seemed to be letting up now, turning into a light drizzle than a torrential downpour.
“I can’t believe it!” Sonny shouted. “It worked! The kraken is dead and we are saved!”
The collected sailors, including the ones who did not fire the cannons, began cheering and screaming for joy. A few of the sailors did a little dance, while others tossed their hats up into the air and even more got on their knees and thanked God for their survival. Beams even saw a sailor kiss one of the ladies, while another picked up a kid who seemed to be his child and swung him around as the little boy laughed in happiness.
Sonny took Beams’ hand and shook it furiously. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Very few people ever survive a kraken attack like this. Had it not been for your crazy plan, surely we would have all died today. I don’t know how I can possibly repay you.”
“It’s okay,” said Beams, wrenching his hand out of Sonny’s massive hands and rubbing his arm, which was aching due to how hard Sonny had shaken it. “You don’t need to pay me anything. Saving the lives of you, your crew, and your passengers is reward enough.”
“And so modest!” said Sonny in amazement. “Whoever your parents are, kid, did an excellent job raising you. But still, I must insist on giving you some kind of reward. Wait, I know.”
Sonny jammed his hand into the pocket of his coat and then pulled out a small object, which he gave to Beams. “Here, take this. It’s not much, but I hope you will accept my humble gift.”
Not wanting to offend Sonny or his crew, Beams took the object and looked at it. It was a pearl of some sort, bright white and incredibly shiny. It shone even under the dark storm clouds above, seeming to have some kind of inner light source independent of the sun.
“Thanks,” said Beams, looking up at Sonny, “but what is this?”
“A family heirloom,” said Sonny. “It belonged to my great granddad, who found it after he survived his encounter with that kraken I told you about before. Legend says that anyone who survives a kraken attack will find a pearl of unusual luck, which will grant its owner with the kind of luc
k that will save them in their darkest hour. Because you not only survived, but killed, a kraken, I felt like you earned it.”
“This is a family heirloom?” said Beams in surprise. He held it back out toward Sonny. “No, Sonny, you should keep it. I can’t take something that is so important to your family.”
“No, you can have it,” said Sonny, pushing it back toward Beams. “As I said, you survived and defeated a kraken. If anyone deserves a lucky pearl, it’s you, my boy.”
Frowning, Beams nonetheless accepted the pearl, which he put into his pocket. “Well, if you insist. I’ll make sure to keep it safe.”
“I know you will, boy,” said Sonny. “And make sure to pass it down to your own children, too, once you have some. They’ll love it. I know I loved it when I was your age, but I also know that it truly belongs only to those who deserve it.”
Beams opened his mouth to respond, but then closed his mouth and nodded. “Sure. I’ll treasure it always.”
“Wonderful,” said Sonny. “Now, do you want to come with us on our voyage? We still have plenty of room on our ship for one more passenger. Or you could even join the crew. A boy your age who can keep his cool in a storm like that would make a great addition to our crew.”
Beams shook his head apologetically. “Sorry, Captain, but I can’t go with you guys. I have my own mission to complete and I can’t do it if I join your crew or become a passenger of your ship. I need to get back to the island. There’s someone there I need to talk to.”
Sonny’s big smile was replaced by a disappointed frown. “Really? Ah, well. I understand. Still, if you ever wish to join our crew, don’t be afraid to stop by and say hello. You will always be welcomed here on this ship, not just by me, but by my whole crew. Right, guys?”
“Aye, aye, captain!” came a collective shout from the crew.
Beams couldn’t help but smile at that. “Thanks. Well, it’s time for me to go. Good luck and have a safe voyage to wherever you’re going.”
With that, Beams ran over to the railing and then jumped over the side of the ship. This time, he landed on the nearby peninsula very easily. He looked over his shoulder to see Sonny, his first mate, and several other sailors waving goodbye at him. He waved goodbye back before making his way down the peninsula back to the beach where he had emerged from the cave onto in the first place.
