Hero Go Home

Previously: Digger tried destroying the crystals with his Drillers, which caused a huge explosion. Not good. And now…

The Ghost snarled at Twain. He warped and swelled, and suddenly, there was a giant, savage face looming above Twain, though there wasn’t room in the passage to contain the entire head. “What do you think you can do? Just because the crystals make you strong? I AM THE CRYSTALS!”

The face dissolved, reformed into a giant claw. Twain thrust his hands up and released the energy he’d been building. A blue beam identical to the former Czar’s lanced up, dissolving a huge section of ceiling.  The claw dissolved as well, and the crystals resonated with the Ghost’s outraged howl. Twain looked up through the hole he had made, saw indigo sky dotted with blazes of  red and yellow cloud; the sun was setting. Twain’s spirit sank a little. He had really hoped to see daylight.

“You think that accomplished something?” the Ghost said as he reformed before Twain.

“It hurt you, didn’t it?” Twain asked.

“It was uncomfortable,” the Ghost said above the groaning of the abused rock ceiling. “But our strength comes from the same source. You can’t destroy me with it, and you don’t dare destroy the crystals. The explosion would kill you all, and even if it didn’t, you would become powerless.”

“Perhaps,” said Twain. “But I might find other sources of power.”

“Like what?”

“Like the scroll, perhaps,” Twain said.

The Ghost laughed again, and dust sifted down as the ceiling rumbled. “The scroll is worthless! You think that wasn’t the first thing I did once I possessed your precious Yi Fan? We went over that scroll for weeks. It’s nonsense, gibberish. We ended up using it to prop up a table in that pile of garbage that used to be her house.”

“What scroll?” Digger said, climbing painfully to his feet.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]“If we were in Hell, I’d just rip him to pieces with my claws,” Digger said. “Which might not kill him, but would be satisfying.”[/blockquote]“Never mind,” Twain said as he concentrated on drawing more power from the crystals. Perhaps if he could summon a big enough blast… “You’ve been to Hell. How do we kill this guy?”

“If we were in Hell, I’d just rip him to pieces with my claws,” Digger said. “Which might not kill him, but would be satisfying.”

“Claws?” Twain asked.

“Long story,” Digger said. He wiped his eyes against his biceps to clear them of the blood running down from his forehead. He nodded at Cole and Bogdan, still out cold. “You think you can keep him busy while I get them clear?”

“Why?”

“Because I might have to blow up the crystals, and I’d rather we not all die when I do it.”

“How many days do you plan to travel?” asked the Ghost. “You have no idea how much power is contained in those largest crystals. You might destroy all of Mongolia in the blast.”

“You’re bluffing,” Digger said.

“Perhaps,” the Ghost admitted. An eerie shuffling noise echoed from the stone passage behind them. “Or perhaps I’m stalling until my servant arrives and things get really interesting.”

The Drillers came to life with a POP and a whine.

“Digger!” Twain said “Don’t do anything stu…”

The abused ceiling collapsed with a roar.

Yes, I know the “weeks” bear an ever more nebulous relationship to reality, but seriously, we’re almost done. Don’t miss the next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Digger regained his powers using the mask he found in the Grand Cathedral and fired his Drillers for the first time in 42 weeks! And now…

The force of the blast pulverized rock for over 10 feet, but Digger made no move to escape. He’d just been so happy to have his powers back, he’d had to blast something.

A whirlwind kicked up around him and then the Ghost was there, clothes and hair whipping in that phantom gust. “So that was the power the mask stole from you,” the Ghost said. “You realize I won’t let you escape.”

“Why not?” Digger asked, slipping the mask back into the bag. He hung the bag over his shoulder. “If I leave I’m no longer a danger to you.”

The Ghost chuckled. “You’re not a danger to me now. But you could prove useful.”

“How so?”

Ghostly arms seized Digger and whirled him around so that he was facing a waist-high crystal just in front of the rockfall that blocked the exit. “My spirit is trapped,” said the Ghost as Digger’s hand was yanked toward the crystal. “But I can possess your body when you’re touching a crystal. Then I can use that incredibly destructive power of yours to spread terror.”

“Or not,” Digger said and fired the Driller. The crystal shattered in an immense explosion.

***

Twain was knocked back by flying fragments as the rockfall blocking the passage exploded outward. He slammed against the wall and fell to the floor as the passage grew bright from the combined glow of the thousands of crystals in the Grand Cathedral.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]Digger’s eyes half-opened and spotted Twain. “Destroying crystals… not good plan…”[/blockquote]Smoky tendrils whirled in the air, and the Ghost reformed before him. Twain could hear him only dimly over the chime sounding in his head. “What did you do?”

“I just got here,” Twain said, but the Ghost was not looking at him. He turned and saw Digger with his Drillers restored. He was lying on the ground a short distance away, wearing what was left of his old costume. The shirt had been shredded off his body except for some tattered bits hanging around his neck, along with a canvas messenger bag that had seen better days. His face and chest bled in a hundred places where sharp shards had pierced his skin, and the fronts of his pants were ripped as well. Blood dribbled out his ears.

“What happened?” Twain asked.

Digger’s eyes half-opened and spotted Twain. “Destroying crystals… not good plan.”

The Ghost roared with laughter, and the crystals chimed and rumbled with him as more rock fell from the weakened ceiling. “No, not a good plan at all!” he gloated. “Their power is mine and mine alone, and I will use it to seize this world by the throat!”

Twain looked to Cole and Bogdan, saw them both lying still on the ground. He struggled to his feet as the chime in his head gave way to the rushing roar of the River, and when he looked down at his arms, he saw the cuts in them closing up as they swelled with power. He grinned crazily at the Ghost. “You haven’t won yet.”

You know what? We’re coming too close to the end for hype. Just check back soon for the next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: As Twain was escaping to the past, Digger was trapped by a cave-in and had just discovered something strange in the darkness. And now…

Laughter echoed all around Digger as he tried to figure out what his hand had found. It was cloth, heavy canvas, and there was something hard and lumpy inside it. It couldn’t be…

“Are you afraid, trapped here in the dark?” growled the Ghost’s voice from all around him. “The others, I’ll have to kill myself to keep them from escaping, but you I can just leave in here to smother until my servants dig your body out.”

“Servants?” Digger slipped his hand into the bag slowly. The Ghost apparently didn’t “see” things in the human sense, but Digger didn’t want to be obvious. As his fingers roamed the metallic surface of the object inside in the bag, he became sure that this was the Mask of El Coco.

“I can’t manifest my spirit too far from the crystals,” said the Ghost. “But I have possessed one man, who is coming here to take more crystals back to the palace, so I can possess more hosts. They will dig more crystals out of here to transport all over the world.”

How had the gotten in here? The cup was broken. Had Twain found another way to travel through time, or were there two masks, and the other one had just happened to be sitting deep in this cave?

“Why would they do that?” Digger asked.

“Because my spirit will travel with them,” the Ghost said as if Digger were an imbecile.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Once again, he heard that sound in his head, like a distant chime…[/blockquote]As Digger explored the surface of the mask more thoroughly, his fingers found an odd depression, the sides sticky with old adhesive. Something had been taped there. And to one side, Digger’s fingers found a metallic lump with tape still stuck to it. He fitted the lump into the depression and smoothed the tape down.

“What good will that do?” Digger asked. “Looking to get romantic with somebody in Paris?”

“No, I want to destroy it,” said the Ghost, “and everyplace else.”

“Why?”

“I’m dead, and I’m angry,” said the Ghost. “That’s what I do.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Digger said. “You want to see what I do?”

He pulled out the mask and placed it over his face. Once again, he heard that sound in his head, like a distant chime, and felt the wave of disorientation flow over him. He was ready for it this time, though, and then it was as if someone had turned up the brightness control on a television. Suddenly, he could see the entire cavern in finer detail. Even better, he could feel the space around him again, could feel the subtle qualities of the stone under his feet and sense the movements of the men on the other side of the rockfall.

And once again, there was a familiar pain and weight on his arms. The red LED’s of the bogus seismometers blinked in the darkness.

“What are you doing?” asked the Ghost over the rising whine of the Drillers powering up.

“Guess,” Digger said and blasted at the wall.

Digger has his powers back, but you can’t beat a Ghost by punching it. How can he win? Don’t miss the next crucial episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Twain traveled back in time to warn Yi Fan about her impending death, but she refused to listen. And now…

Twain backed away from Yi Fan as she turned and stomped down the path Twain had indicated. She had blood on her clothes, and Twain didn’t want to think about how it had gotten there.

What was he going to do now? He had failed to stop Yi Fan from becoming cursed and also failed to warn her about her impending doom. Maybe Digger was right. Maybe time travel couldn’t help.

No! He could still find a way to put this right. If Digger could keep going back to the same point in time, so could he. And this time, he thought as he clenched his fists in determination, he wouldn’t mess things up.

Throbbing pain in his clenched fist distracted him. He looked down and saw that his palm was covered in blood. It looked as if it had been sliced open with a knife. Now that he thought of it, his palm night have been cut when he turned the knife against Yi Fan’s father. Maybe that was his blood smeared across Yi Fan’s back.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]As he examined the cut on his hand, he thought he saw dim blue sparks, like tiny bolts of lightning, flicker across the gap in his skin…[/blockquote]As he examined the cut on his hand, he thought he saw dim blue sparks, like tiny bolts of lightning, flicker across the gap in his skin. It was so quick and so dim, he couldn’t be sure he had actually seen it. He looked slightly to the side of his hand and saw the spark clearly in his peripheral vision. And when he looked directly at his palm again, he saw that the cut had gotten smaller.

It was healing.

And there it was, the answer he’d been seeking. He didn’t need to keep traveling back in time to try to save Yi Fan. He just needed to use the power of the crystals to bring her back. He wasn’t sure exactly how to do that, but as he got used to the power flowing through him, his body seemed able to figure these things out for itself. All he needed was to find a crystal to send him back to the present.

And then, as if on cue, he heard the Ghost starl and strike, and knew that his past self had been captured. Now was his chance. While everyone was focused on getting the other Twain safely shipped to the Czar’s dungeon, he could slip into the cave and head down to the City of the Moon for his ride home, so to speak.

He took to the shadows and slipped down the trail to the cave mouth. Across the compound, he saw Yi Fan catch sight of him as he entered the cave, and then he was descending into the dark. As he reached the antechamber before hte Grand Cathedral, he took off the bag holding the mask and crawled on his hands and knees through the connecting tunnel. He flung the bag into the chamber near the Altar. He might need Digger’s help, after all.

He took a deep breath and touched a crystal and the world exploded.

What happened? Don’t miss our next explosive episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Twain used the Cup of Regret to go back in time and meet Yi Fan on the night she first captured him, where he kissed her and told her he loved her. And now…

She pulled away from him again. “How can you love me? I’ve never even met you.”

Twain took a deep breath. “Okay, this will be hard to understand. I’m from the future.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I really am.”

“That’s not hard to understand,” she said.

“It’s not?”

“I don’t believe it, but I understand it,” Yi Fan said.

“I can prove it,” Twain said. “As soon as we’re done talking, head down that way and you’ll run into a guy trying to sneak into the City of the Moon.”

Yi Fan’s head snapped around to search for the intruder.

“Relax. It’s me, but you know, Past Me,” Twain said. “Or Present Me, or whatever. Just make sure you capture me alive.”

“What if the Ghost decides to kill you?” Yi Fan asked.

“He won’t,” Twain said. “He still has a use for me.”

Yi Fan looked confused, but before she could say anything, he silenced her with another kiss. “Look,” he said, “I know this doesn’t really make sense now, but even if you don’t believe me, there are just three things you need to do to make sure everything works out. First, capture me over there in a minute. Second, you need to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time in a few weeks.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]You want to warn me about something awful that will happen to us that you don’t know exactly how to avoid, so you’re leaving it to me to figure out. Did you ever stop to think that I might figure the best way to avoid this thing is to avoid being with you?[/blockquote]He quickly described the yurt where he was picked up on his return and the alley where he’d met her again. “You have to make sure that happens.”

“But if you’re a fugitive fleeing the Czar’s men, how do you know I won’t just arrest you again?” she said.

“I can’t tell you why you won’t,” Twain said. “But you won’t.”

Yi Fan looked taken aback by his absolute confidence. “And what’s the third thing?”

Twain shook his head. “I can’t tell you exactly what to do, there,” Twain said. “I can only warn you…”

“Wait,” Yi Fan said. “Something bad happens?”

“Not if you…”

“No, stop,” Yi Fan said. “I don’t want to know.”

“You have to know,” Twain said, “so you can…”

This time, Yi Fan’s lips silenced his. When he pulled away, he asked, “Seriously, you…”

She put her hand over his mouth and said, “Stop talking. You want to warn me about something awful that will happen to us that you don’t know exactly how to avoid, so you’re leaving it to me to figure out. Did you ever stop to think that I might figure the best way to avoid this thing is to avoid being with you? That I might sacrifice love to save myself? Do you have any idea how lonely I’ve been since this thing happened to me, and now you want to destroy my one chance to end that loneliness by telling me…”

“Okay!” Twain said, yanking himself free of her grip.

“Get out of here!” she snarled, swiping at her eyes. “Because I’m going to hit one of you in about five seconds, and you don’t want to be the one I pick!”

Can Twain find another way to save Yi Fan, or is she doomed? Join us for the next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: In the past, Twain fought with the young Yi Fan’s father to keep them away from the cave where Ghost Dragon was trapped. And now…

Twain stumbled sideways from the blow. The knife had struck the bag holding the mask, so had not penetrated. Yi Fan’s father staggered forward and lunged at Twain with the knife again.

But Twain saw it coming this time. His left hand came up almost without thought to deflect the man’s arm, while his right redirected, turning the knife and thrusting it back at his attacker. The knife slipped in under the man’s breastbone. His eyes went wide in shock as his breath caught in his chest. He wheezed and sank to the ground.

“What have you done?” Yi Fan screamed.

“It’s the standard move they taught me when someone comes at me with a knife.” Twain knelt beside the gasping man, whose hands still clutched the hilt of the knife that had been turned against him. Twain gently pried the man’s hands away from the knife hilt and reached for it himself. He wasn’t going to pull it out–right now, the knife in the wound was the only thing keeping the man from bleeding out–but if Twain had hold of the knife, neither Yi Fan nor her father could pull it out and kill him before they could get him to a doctor or something. “But then, we never used a real knife be…”

As the shadow of Twain’s hand fell over the knife hilt, he noticed a crystal inlay in the hilt bore a faint blue glow that hadn’t been visible outside the shadow. And when his finger brushed across it in the next instant, he was gone.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]he noticed a crystal inlay in the hilt bore a faint blue glow… And when his finger brushed across it in the next instant, he was gone…[/blockquote]“…fore…” Everything went dark, and the ground shifted underneath Twain. The gentle rain ended, and when Twain stood up and looked around, he realized he was in the compound which held the City of the Moon, and it was nighttime. “NO!”

He heard voices speaking out nearby, and realized guards were coming to check out the noise.

He faded back toward a fence, angled away from the approaching voices, then took to the shadow of a maintenance shed. He quietly turned a corner and almost bumped into someone coming the other way.

The white streak in Yi Fan’s hair was unmistakeable in the moonlight, and Twain’s heart sank. When he had encountered the younger Yi Fan, her hair had borne no white streak, and her face was unscarred. Obviously, he had failed to stop the curse from playing out.

Yi Fan’s lip curled in a snarl, but before she could summon the Ghost, he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.

She grunted angrily and pushed him away. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ve missed you.”

She brushed a hand through the white streak in her hair and stepped back. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Yes, you’re Liu Yi Fan,” he said, stepping forward and taking her in his arms. “I know everything about you, and I love you.”

He kissed her again, and this time, she didn’t struggle as much.

We knew this was coming, so the circle is now complete. But can Twain manage to save Yi Fan in the future? Dont miss next week’s crucial chapter!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Twain traveled back in time, hoping to warn Yi Fan of the danger in the future and save her life. Only he ended up going back further than he anticipated, and is now trying to keep her from being possessed by the Ghost in the first place. And now…

“What’s wrong with him?” Yi Fan asked, looking at Twain apprehensively.

Twain glanced down at his hands and saw that his skin had not returned completely to normal. A trace of blue still remained, just enough to make him look almost dead. And he was still bigger than before he had been exposed to the crystals in the cave. His ripped clothes still clung tightly to his musclebound physique.

“My body has been warped by the power you seek to possess,” Twain said, in his spookiest voice. “Learn from my example and flee while you are still whole.”

Even as he said it, Twain realized that he could as easily say the same thing to himself. And because he knew exactly how much good such an admonition would do against him, he prepared for a pushback from the man facing him.

“No,” the man said, assuming a fighting stance. “You Dragons destroyed my clan. I will use the powers of your own scroll against you, destroy your order completely and restore my people to their former glory!”

“Dude, you sound like a movie,” Twain said, adopting his own fighting posture. “And not one of the good ones. Forget the scroll, go home and raise your daughter. She needs you.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]He caught sight of young Yi Fan’s face, watching in terror as her father battled some vaguely human monster…[/blockquote]“Don’t tell me what to do!” the man yelled. “You don’t know anything about me!”

He charged forward, and the battle was joined.

The man was skilled in a Northern style Twain was only vaguely acquainted with, but Twain’s recent exposure to the crystals seemed to have sharpened his muscle memory. He easily countered the man’s every attack with the forms the old man had taught him years ago, even though he had barely practiced them in the time since. Just like in his fight with the hooligans in the alley, days ago, when the skills had seemed to come back all by themselves…

And then he caught sight of young Yi Fan’s face, watching in terror as her father battled some vaguely human monster, and her words came back to him. That kung fu you used… I’ve seen it before, a long time ago.

The man struck him a hard blow across the jaw in his moment of distraction, and in a flash of anger, Twain struck the man in the chest with an open palm that flashed blue. The man flew back across the small clearing, got tangled in the lower branches of a tree, then finally fell to the ground, senseless.

“Father!” Yi Fan cried and ran to his side. When Twain approached to see if he was okay, she turned with tears in her eyes, snatched up a big rock from the ground and winged it at his head with wicked accuracy. It hit him in the forehead, drawing blood; the pump from the crystals was wearing off.

And then she was flailing at him angrily. He stumbled back, managed to grab her arms and hold her still, but before he could explain, the knife struck home.

Will Twain save Yi Fan from the Ghost? Don’t miss our next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Twain discovered the Ghost trapped in a strange cylinder inside an ancient temple. He decided to destroy the cylinder to destroy the Ghost, but stopped when he realized the evil spirit might then be able to take over Twain’s crystal-enhanced body. And now…

“No,” Twain said. He backed away further, into the shade of the trees beyond the cave entrance. “I can destroy the cylinder from a distance, where you can’t reach me.”

A strange motion caught the corner of his eye, a swirling of shadows underneath a tree to his left. “Exactly how far is that, do you think? And how long would you have to wait before you returned for the scroll, to be sure I was really gone?”

“What makes you think I would return for the scroll?” Twain asked. “Who says I want it?”

The shadows shifted, and something in Twain’s mind told him the Ghost was smiling. “You want it. I can see the greed on your face whenever I mention it. So go ahead. Claim it.”

Twain looked at the spot where he was standing and retreated another 50 yards, until he could barely even make out the dark blotch of the cave opening in the shadow of the cypresses. He waited a moment to see if the Ghost would come taunt him, but nothing happened. Surely he was far enough away now that the Ghost could not possess him when he blasted the cave.

“What are you waiting for?” the Ghost called from a distance. “Surely you’re far enough away now. Don’t worry about destroying the scroll.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Twain turned back to the cave. Now or never. He had to destroy the temple…[/blockquote]Destroying? What if he destroyed the scoll in destroying the cylinder? He didn’t even know for sure if there was a scroll, but if there was… Imagine being able to learn all the things the old man had tried and failed to teach him and more.

He couldn’t risk destroying such an ancient and fragile artifact. The cylinder would have to be opened carefully, which meant Twain had to risk being possessed. But how could he…?

He was interrupted by the sound of voices in the woods behind him.

He turned and saw a man climbing up the hill behind him, picking his way through the trees. Following behind by several paces was a teenage girl. “I’m hungry,” the girl complained. “Let’s stop and eat a little.”

And even though she was almost a hundred yards away and several years younger, Twain recognized Yi Fan’s voice. Could this be the day that she was cursed?

Twain turned back to the cave. Now or never. He had to destroy the temple while she was still far enough away that the Ghost could not possess her and destory her life.

But the scroll… Could he really destroy such ancient knowledge? What might be lost from the world with such an impulsive act?

No, there was another way. He would stop them before they found the temple. He would turn them away, and then they would be safe. He began to walk down the hill to head them off. “Stop!” he shouted.

Yi Fan’s father looked up in alarm, then stepped in front of her protectively. “Who are you?”

“I’m the Guardian of the Temple,” said Twain, “and you shall not pass.”

I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Don’t miss the confrontation, next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…