by Lucas Flint
The prison yard was as desolate and red as the rest of the Canyon. Chains—some wrapped around skeletons of creatures that were clearly not from Earth—hung along the walls, while a large guillotine stood ominously in the center. A set of double doors was in the ground, locked with a thick chain around the handles, while the doors to the other towers were open. Oddly enough, however, Blizzard did not see any other guards in the area; indeed, if Blizzard hadn’t known better, she would have thought that the entire prison had been abandoned for decades, perhaps even centuries.
“This place looks … old,” said Treehugger, looking around at the old stone walls upon which they stood. “Not nearly as technological as I thought it would be.”
“That’s because Doom was built not by the Servants of the Starborn, but by the civilization that once lived in the Crimson Canyon before dying off ages ago,” said Sparky. “The prison was discovered and taken over by the Servants, but that is irrelevant. What matters is saving Space and Galaxy, who are most likely underneath those doors.”
Sparky pointed at the double doors in the center of the prison. “The most secure cells are located underneath the prison, because they have no windows or other holes that a prisoner could use to escape. The only way in or out is through those doors, and they are very heavy, let me assure you.”
“You act like you’ve been here before,” said Blizzard.
“No, I’ve simply done my research on this particular place,” said Sparky. “Research is something I am very good at. It’s how I knew where to find you and your friends. Now, come with me. We don’t have much time before the guards realize they were tricked and decide to come after us.”
“I was going to ask about the guards, actually,” said Treehugger, looking around again. “I was expecting there to be hundreds of guards, but there’s barely anyone here.”
“The Servants don’t need hundreds of guards for two prisoners,” Sparky replied. “And consider, also, that the Crimson Canyon acts as a very good prison all by itself, given how you can’t escape it without dimension-hopping tech of some sort. Still, the Servants are big believers in quality over quantity, which means that the guards here are likely of a higher grade than your average Servant, which would make fighting them an ill advisable idea.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” said Shell. “Let’s get down there before these higher quality guards figure out we tricked them and come back here to stop us.”
Blizzard nodded and created an ice slide leading down from the walls to the double doors in the ground that Sparky had drawn their attention to before. All four of them quickly slid down the slide, reaching the prison yard with ease. Sparky, being the first down the slide, immediately began working at the chains, cutting away at them with blades that popped out of his wrists, while Blizzard, Shell, and Treehugger took up positions around the doors to defend Sparky just in case the guards came back. Yet as far as Blizzard could tell, the guards were not coming back anytime soon. Indeed, it seemed as though the guards had instead chosen to flee the prison, though she instantly dismissed that as wishful thinking, because there was no way that the guards would ever abandon their posts.
It must just be the bee drone, Blizzard thought. Must be a better distraction than I thought.
“Sparky, are you finished yet?” asked Shell, looking over at him in annoyance. “We don’t have all the time in the world, you know.”
“I am quite aware of that, Shell,” said Sparky. “It is just that these chains are far thicker than I first thought, but I should have them broken in just a few—”
All of a sudden, the sound of grunts, clinking armor, and stomping boots could be heard coming from the nearby towers. And then dozens of prison guards—each one armed with huge rifle-like guns in their hands—burst out of each open tower, yelling unintelligible battle cries and waving their guns through the air wildly. Several of the guards began firing at Blizzard and the others, but Shell threw up a large shield around them, causing the plasma blasts to dissipate harmlessly upon hitting the shield.
“Sparky, you’d better hurry up!” Shell said. He looked like he was straining. “Can’t hold up this barrier forever!”
“I know, I know,” said Sparky, now hurriedly cutting through the chains as fast as he could. “I’m almost finished … just a few more seconds …”
“We don’t have a few more seconds,” said Treehugger, looking through the shield at the rampaging hordes of Servants rushing toward them. “Once they hit Shell’s shield, it’ll pop and we’ll all die!”
“Not unless I have anything to say about it,” said Blizzard. “Treehugger, Shell, stand back. I’ll keep them busy.”
Thankfully, neither Treehugger nor Shell questioned what she meant. They just moved back closer to the doors where Sparky was still cutting through the chains as fast as he could. They weren’t as far away as Blizzard would have liked, but it would have to do.
She raised her hands above her head and then, with a yell, slammed her hands down onto the ground. Ice instantly shot out from her fists in every direction, quickly covering the ground of the prison yard, though she managed to make the ice go around the double doors, thus keeping Sparky, Treehugger, and Shell from being frozen.
The Servants, however, were not so lucky. Every Servant who stepped on the incoming ice wave ended up tripping and falling onto the ground, often knocking over several of their fellow guards in the process. Those who had already fallen were struggling to find their footing, but the ice that Blizzard had summoned was too slick for any of them to stand upon. The ice was also starting to cover their bodies, armor, and weapons, making it hard for any of the Servants to stay still long enough to aim and fire their weapons.
“Whoa,” said Shell, causing Blizzard to look over her shoulder to see that Shell and Treehugger were staring at her dumbfounded. “That was—”
“Amazing,” Treehugger finished for him. “I didn’t know you could do that, Blizzard.”
“It’s nothing, really,” said Blizzard, waving off their praise. “It’s really just a little trick. It won’t keep them down forever.”
Before Shell or Treehugger could say anything to that, a sudden snapping sound followed by a triumphant, “I did it!” caused all three of them to look at Sparky. A bundle of snapped chains lay in a pile near the doors, while Sparky was busily trying to lift up the doors. Blizzard, Shell, and Treehugger ran over and helped Sparky open the two doors, revealing a set of stone steps leading down to a pitch black dungeon which reminded Blizzard far too much of the cavern of some dark creature, like a dragon or something.
“Quickly, let’s get down there before the Servants recover,” said Sparky. He stepped aside and gestured urgently down the steps. “Go, go, go!”
Blizzard, Shell, and Treehugger rushed down the steps and Sparky followed, closing the heavy wood doors behind them. As soon as the doors slammed shut behind them, they were plunged into darkness, although only for a few seconds before Sparky’s fingers lit up like a flashlight, giving them some illumination in the darkness. The light from Sparky’s fingers allowed Blizzard to see more of those strange carvings along the walls, though she also noticed what may or may not have been a dried blood stain on the floor.
“Gosh, it’s dark down here,” said Treehugger, looking around the dungeon uncertainly. “Feels like the bottom of a well.”
“Indeed, but it is far less scary than it looks,” said Sparky. “Space and Galaxy are somewhere down here, so we should find them quickly if we do not delay.”
“What about the doors?” asked Shell, looking up at the thick doors above them. “Shouldn’t we find a way to block them off in case the Servants try to follow us?”
“Good idea, Shell,” said Blizzard. She pointed a hand at the doors. “I’ll just freeze them shut. It probably won’t hold forever, but it should—”
All of a sudden, Sparky’s hand wrapped around her wrist. She looked at Sparky in shock, because she had not heard him come up to her like that.
“I would not advise that you do that, Blizzard,” said Sparky in a low voice. “Remember, we do not need to escape through the doors. We can simply use my dimension-hopping tech to leave the prison immediately. It works underground, so we do not need to be on the surface. In addition, it will take a long time for the Servants to cross the ice, giving us plenty of time to escape before they ever make it down here.”
Sparky’s grip on her wrist was uncomfortably tight, causing Blizzard to nod and say, “O-Okay. Can you let go of my wrist now, please? It hurts.”
Sparky immediately let go of her wrist. “I apologize for holding you so tightly, but I had to in order to get your attention. For now, we must find Space and Galaxy, and quickly, because I bet that the Servants are already recovering from your surprise attack.”
With that, Sparky turned and ran down the darkened dungeon. Though Blizzard, Shell, and Treehugger followed him as always, Blizzard could not help but find Sparky’s apology lacking. He did not seem genuinely sorry for hurting her like that, but Blizzard supposed that, being a robot, Sparky didn’t really have actual emotions. And anyway, the mission was nearly over and soon Blizzard would be back with Bolt on Earth, rather than this strange pocket dimension that creeped her out, so she did not worry about it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Bolt?” said Talon, putting her hand on her left ear, where her own earcom was. “Bolt, are you there? Hello?”
Talon stood in the shadows between two crates on the east side of the warehouse, where the warehouse’s parking lot was. At the moment, the parking lot only had one car in it: A sporty red Dodge Neon, in which the two men had arrived. But Talon was not paying attention to that car. She was listening to her earcom, trying to get Bolt to answer, but all she heard was static.
A few minutes ago, Talon had heard an explosion come from the inside of the warehouse. Because she had not yet received the signal to enter the warehouse from Bolt, Talon had decided to communicate with him via earcom instead. She wanted to know if Bolt had already engaged Electrica in battle yet or if that explosion was something else that she did not need to worry about.
But the longer Talon went without hearing Bolt’s voice in her ear, the more concerned she became. She tapped her earcom again and said, “Stinger, White, did either of you hear that explosion?”
“Yes,” said Stinger. “Can’t get a hold of Bolt, though.”
“Brother not answering earcom,” said White. “No luck.”
“Yes, same here,” said Talon. “Something happened in there, but I don’t know what.”
“Don’t worry,” said Stinger. “You guys stay put. I’ll head in there and check on Bolt. Just—what? Who are you?”
All of a sudden, static began screeching in Talon’s earcom, causing her to shout, “Stinger! Hello? Are you still there?”
Unfortunately, Stinger did not answer. She just heard even more static than before, though she thought she had caught the cocking of a gun right before Stinger’s voice went to static.
“White, are you still there?” said Talon, looking at the roof of the warehouse in worry.
“Yes, still here,” said White. “Can’t hear Stinger anymore, though.”
“I can’t, either,” said Talon. “Something must have happened to him. It sounded like someone attacked him.”
“I’m scared,” said White. “Brother and Stinger both silent.”
“It’s going to be all right, White,” said Talon, rubbing the back of her neck. “We just need to be careful and not panic. Whatever is going on, we can handle it.”
“Yes, we can,” White agreed. “I go to roof to check on—What that sound?”
Abruptly, White’s channel became static, causing Talon to say, “White? White, are you there? Hello?”
But just like Bolt and Stinger, White did not answer. Panic began to fill Talon, but she ignored it. She lowered her hand to her side, thinking about what she needed to do.
What is going on here? Talon thought. Did Electrica bring along her kids? But it didn’t sound like them. Then who could have attacked—
A flapping of wings above caused Talon to look up just in time to see a crow flying toward her, its claws out. The crow tried pecking at her, but Talon waved her arms at it, causing the crow to fly away. But it didn’t leave. It just flew over onto the lamppost which illuminated the parking lot, but it watched Talon as if challenging her to come after it.
Frowning, Talon tilted her head to the side. “A crow? I didn’t think crows came out at night.”
“He’s not just a crow,” said a deep, older voice from the shadows above. “His name is Charlie.”
This time, Talon heard a much louder flapping of wings and she looked up in time to see what appeared to be a giant, humanoid crow flying toward her at startling speeds. The huge crow clamped its claws around her shoulders and lifted her into the air, but Talon’s claws popped out of her wrists and she slashed at the giant crow. Her claws cut through one of its legs, causing the crow to let out a strangely human grunt of pain and drop her onto the parking lot below. Talon hit the ground at a roll and rolled back up to her feet, though her shoulders still ached from where the giant crow’s claws had sank into her flesh.
Before Talon could catch her breath, the giant crow swooped down onto the nearby car, nearly crushing its roof in. The giant crow rose to its full height as the smaller crow landed on its shoulder, which helped Treehugger realize that it was not a huge crow at all, but rather a man with crow wings and a flight suit.
“Pantalone,” said Talon, raising her claws defensively. “That’s your name, right?”
“Yes,” Pantalone said, nodding. He suddenly cringed and patted his leg. “And now I know why you are called Talon. Those claws of yours are nearly as sharp as mine.”
“Nearly?” Talon said. “Please. My claws can cut through metal. Yours are just glorified bird talons.”
“Perhaps, but I can still use them to rip you to shreds,” said Pantalone. “Or pluck out your pretty little eyes.”
Talon bit her lower lip, determined not to show any weakness to this man. “What are you even doing here? Did you come just to attack little old me?”
“Please, girl, you are not important enough for me to take time out of my day specifically to kill you,” said Pantalone. “I am here on my master’s orders; namely, to ensure the death of a certain individual in the warehouse.”
“And who would that be?” said Talon. “Bolt?”
“Not him, no, though he will undoubtedly die if he gets in the way,” said Pantalone. “The young man, Eli Corey, he is the one we are here to kill.”
Talon raised an eyebrow. “’We’? Do you mean you and your pet?”
“Actually, he’s talking about me,” said a deep Cuban voice from somewhere within the shadows just outside the parking lot.
From out of the shadows walked a man in a Venetian mask and a tricorn, a black cape flowing behind him. His brown eyes shone from the eye holes in his mask, making him look more like a soulless machine than a human.
“Volto,” said Pantalone in an annoyed voice. “You’re late.”
Volto shrugged. “Unlike you, I can’t fly, so I’m naturally slower than you.”
Talon’s eyes widened. Two Venetians? Uh oh.
Aloud, however, Talon said, “So you two are here to kill Eli. I don’t know Eli very well, but because I am opposed to murder, I am going to keep you two from getting into the warehouse.”
“How cute,” said Pantalone with a chuckle. “The girl thinks that we are planning to kill Eli personally. Perhaps I didn’t make it clear earlier: We’re the distraction.”
“Distraction?” Talon repeated. “What do you mean?”
“Another one of us has entered the warehouse while you weren’t paying attention,” said Volto, gesturing at the warehouse. “Our job is to ensure that he is not prevented from killing Eli by you or your fellow Young Neos.”
Talon gulped. “Do you mean that White and Stinger—
”
“Are currently being distracted by our fellow Venetians, yes,” Pantalone said. “So don’t expect either of them to come to your rescue. You’re on your own.”
Talon tried not to look afraid, but deep down, she was terrified. Both Pantalone and Volto were powerful supervillains in their own right; indeed, Volto could probably beat her by himself with his powers. And if Pantalone was telling the truth, then Bolt was in danger, not only of being killed by Electrica, but of also being killed by the Venetian who had already sneaked into the warehouse. Talon needed to get back into the warehouse and save Bolt; at the very least, she needed to let him know about the intruder.
But Talon also knew that if she tried to run, Pantalone and Volto would chase her. She might possibly be able to outrun Volto, but Pantalone was too fast for her to escape. He could swoop down and grab her with his claws before she even realized it. Her shoulders ached just from the thought of being picked up by Pantalone’s claws again.
Then I’ll have to end this quickly, Talon thought. Take them both out as fast as I can and then get into the warehouse before their friend kills Bolt.
“Well, girl?” said Pantalone. “What are you going to do? Just make faces at us until we get scared and run away?”
“No,” said Talon, shaking her head. “I am going to rip those stupid masks off your faces and make you eat them.”
“Oh, this one is feisty,” Volto said. “It will be quite pleasurable to kill her.”
Talon growled and took a step toward Volto, but the Venetian pulled a gun out of his cape and fired at her. Talon just barely managed to jump to the side at the last moment, hiding behind a large crate as the bullet whistled by.
Getting onto her hands and knees, Talon shouted, “Hey, I didn’t know you had a gun! That’s unfair!”
