Hero Go Home

Previously: Digger returned from the past to find the exchange student waiting for him. And now…

“You know him?” Twain asked.

“Yes!” Digger said. “This is the dude I took the crystal from in Berkeley, the one we stole from Caveat. He followed me through time.”

He turned back to the ex-Czar. “How did you do that, any–whoa! Put your pants back on first.”

The ex-Czar narrowed his eyes, but made no move to cover himself. “That was you? Fifteen years ago, in the Frog mask?”

“Yes, it was me,” Digger said. “And on the skateboard, and… wait a second. How did you know it was fifteen years ago? If you followed me through time, shouldn’t you think it just happened a minute ago?”

“Digger,” Twain said. “This is the Cobalt Czar. I took his powers away with the mask.”

“Wait, you mean he…?” Digger turned to the ex-Czar again. “You told me you decided to become the Czar after some guy told you that people were assholes. I… That was me. I just did that.”

“You’re telling me you created the Cobalt Czar?” Cole asked.

“No, I didn’t create him,” Digger said. “I, whatayacallit? I inspired him, sort of. I mean, I was just trying to make, um, what’s your name?”

“Bogdan,” said the former Czar. “Bogdan Zolnerowich.”

“I was just trying to make Bogdan feel better, but he got it twisted around somehow.”

“You’re saying that was you also?” Bogdan asked. “They were all you?”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]“You’re telling me you created the Cobalt Czar?” Cole asked. “No, I didn’t create him,” Digger said. “I, whatayacallit? I inspired him, sort of…” [/blockquote]“Yeah, it’s a long story,” Digger said. “It’s this whole thing about how I keep getting sent back to the same time and place, like I…”

“Like you what?” Cole finally asked.

“Like there was something I was supposed to do there,” Digger said.

“Looks like you finally did it,” Twain said.

“You’re saying it was my destiny to create the world’s worst super-villain?” Digger asked.

“Hey,” Bogdan said. “I’m not the bad guy.”

“Yes,” Twain said. “Just like it was my destiny to take his place.”

“What do you mean, take his place?” Digger asked. “And no offense, but did you get… bigger?”

Twain was almost seven feet tall now, and broader in the chest and shoulders. His pants legs were bound tightly around his thighs, and his skin had taken on a strange sheen in the blue glow, as if it were fluorescing under black light. Twain switched on his flashlight and turned it on himself. The fluorescence disappeared, but his skin had definitely turned blue. Paler than the Czar’s, but blue nevertheless.

“The power of this place is mine now,” Twain said, his voice taking on a deeper timbre that seemed to rattle from the rocks all around them. “You should never have come after me, Digger. Look what it got you. Your powers are gone, as well as the Cobalt Czar’s. Who has the power now? I could kill you both right here and rule this part of the world with no opposition.”

The blue glow flickered, and all around them, the crystals resonated with an otherworldly vibration that sounded oddly like ghostly laughter.

That sounds ominous. We’re moving into the final few weeks, so don’t miss a single chapter (and yeah, I understand the irony of saying that when I can’t seem to meet a schedule to save my life right now…), especially the next one!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: The Cobalt Czar was on the verge of killing Twain when Cole appeared with the mask and a secret weapon. And now…

“Damn it,” Twain snarled. “The mask doesn’t work without the amulet.”

“I know,” Cole said. “Gimme a second.”

The amulet floated up from the bag and shot toward the mask’s forehead. The Czar gripped the mask to rip it from his face, but he was just a hair too late. The amulet found its makr, and his body rippled and shrank and fell. Another moment later, a normal-sized man lay naked and shivering on the stone floor of the cave.

“Damn it,” Twain repeated and ran to where the stone wall used to separate this chamber from the next. He knelt next to the useless shards of quartz, all that remained of the ancient Cup of Regret. “It can’t be broken.”

“Looks pretty broken, dude,” Cole said.

“But there has to be a way to fix it,” Twain said. “Otherwise, how do I go back in time?”

“Maybe you don’t.”

“No, I do,” Twain said over the confused moaning of the naked ex-Czar. “She said I did.”

“Who said?” Cole asked.

“Yi… Shit!” Twain scrambled to his feet, but slid to a stop next to the Czar. A slightly- built man with straggly whiskers looked up at him, shivering. The mask lay forgotten on the ground beside him.

“What happened to me?” the man asked. “You cut off my hand, and then…”

He stopped as he looked at his hands. Both of them. “What?”

“Lost your powers, but gained a hand. Conundrum,” Twain said. He turned to Cole. “Toss me the bag.”

“Why?” Cole asked even as he did just that.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]“Lost your powers, but gained a hand. Conundrum…”[/blockquote]Twain caught it and bent to scoop up the mask and amulet. “Can’t have him changing back, can we?”

“Changing back?” the man asked in horror as he stared at his normal-sized hands. “What did you do to me?”

But Twain was already in the other chamber and kneeling over Yi Fan. She smiled up at him, and the blood bubbling from her lips looked black in the blue glow of the crystals. “Did it work?” she asked.

“Yes,” Twain said. “He’s powerless.”

She smiled, and the black blood on her teeth made them look rotted. “Is this it?” she asked. “Is this… what you…?”

Her words trailed off, and she sighed, and was gone.

In the other chamber, Cole helped the ex-Czar to his feet. “So how does it feel to be a normal guy? Weird, huh?”

“This will not stand,” the man said. “This will not stand. I’ll get my powers back and make you all pay.”

“Yeah, I think that’s what we’ve all…” Cole stopped at a sound from the other room, a low moan that sounded unutterably sad. “Shit.”

Whatever he might have added to that thought was forgotten as Twain reentered the chamber. And perhaps the glow was playing tricks with his eyes, but Cole could swear he looked bigger.

“You,” Twain said, pointing at the Czar, and then Digger was between them, stumbling forward. He looked at the former Czar and said, “You!”

And so it has come full circle. It seems like it’s time to start wrapping this up. Or is it? Be here for the next episode to find out.

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Digger, in danger of being disintegrated by the Cobalt Czar, used the Cup of Regret to escape back in time. Meanwhile, in the present…

“No!” Twain shouted at the sight of the broken shards of quartz lying among the scattered blue crystals. Rage and desperation pulsed in his head to the sound of the River’s rush.

The Czar turned and noticed him standing there. He lifted a hand toward Twain. “Your turn,” he said.

“No, it’s yours!” Twain said. He thrust out his own hands and let the River’s power flow. A bolt of blue–like the Czar’s, but paler–struck the tyrant.

The Czar staggered back a step and scowled at Twain. “I knew it was just a matter of time before someone else tried to claim this power for himself. The world is full of assholes who take things from you just because they can.”

“Said the dictator!” Twain said and released the power again.

This time, the Czar was braced for it and did not stumble. “If that’s the best you can do, you are about to die a very disappointed man,” he said as he stretched forth his hand.

Which fell off.

***

A couple of minutes earlier, Cole swooped down to the cavern outpost. The top of the ridge had disappeared, and the cave entrance was now an oblong scar in the ground, leading down into blackness. Digger and the others needed the mask right now.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]The top of the ridge had disappeared, and the cave entrance was now an oblong scar in the ground, leading down into blackness. Digger and the others needed the mask right now…[/blockquote]But Cole paused before entering the passage down. If the fight was going badly, they might need more of an edge. He felt around with his magnetic sense and found his project buried under a pile of rock. He gave it a mental tug and several rocks spontaneously split in two.

Cole flew down to save his friends.

***

The Czar looked at his stump of an arm, cut off just above the elbow. Blue blood gushed out, but he clamped his hand over the wound and groaned. The blood on his hand smoked and sizzled, and when he pulled his hand away, the bleeding had stopped. “What…?” he started to ask.

“Hey,” said Cole. “Sorry about the arm, but I can’t have you killing people.”

The Czar looked at Cole in disbelief. “You did this?”

Cole nodded. “Steel wire extruded into a filament about a molecule thick. Cuts through just about anything. Tensile strength is ass, but my powers make up for that.”

“You… you…” the Czar sputtered. He waved his stump at Cole. “I just grew this back!”

“Sorry,” Cole said. “But on the bright side, that’s really hard to make, so obviously my powers are pretty well restored.”

The Czar snarled and extended his other hand. Cole grabbed Twain and flew to the side as he used his other hand to grab the golden mask from the case hanging at his side. The mask flew from his hand and fixed itself to the Czar’s face. He gave a muffled grunt and his blue beam flew wide of its mark, carving a new tunnel into the rock. The stone ceiling above them groaned as it adjusted to the loss of support.

Sounds ominous. Be here for the next episode to find out what happens next!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: In the cavern that holds the City of the Moon, Digger used the Cup of Regret to travel through time moments before being disintegrated by the Czar’s blue beam. And now…

Digger stumbled forward into what he was sure would be the flea market in Berkeley once again. A man was getting to his feet directly in front of him, but Digger couldn’t stop. They fell to the floor in a tangle.

Digger sprang to his feet, then offered a hand to the man he’d knocked down. It was the exchange student he’d already knocked down once before, the man he’d taken the crystal from. “Sorry, dude,” Digger said as he helped the man up.

“Stop that man!” the student said, pointing. Digger turned to see himself, mud-spattered and dressed in baggy skater jeans, disappearing around a corner. “He stole my necklace!”

“Not sure you want to say ‘necklace,’” Digger said. “Maybe ‘pendant’ or ‘amulet’ or…”

“Whatever it is, he stole it!” the man said. “We have to stop him!”

The man took a step as if to pursue, but Digger grabbed his arm and held him back. It wasn’t hard. The man’s struggle was half-hearted at best. “Look, dude, you’re not going to catch him. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” the man said, shaking his head. “It’s not as if you took it.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_line” align=”left”]Digger turned to see himself, mud-spattered and dressed in baggy skater jeans, disappearing around a corner…[/blockquote]“Well, I’m sorry on behalf of the rest of us,” Digger said. “Look, the world’s full of assholes who will take what they want from you simply because they can. At some point, you have to make peace with that and do the best you can with what you have. I mean, it’s not like you can fight the whole world or something, right?”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” The man looked outraged.

Digger shrugged. “I’m terrible at making people feel better. I’m not sure why I even keep trying. Oh, shit, I’ve got to run!”

He ran off, away from the sputtering exchange student and around the corner after his previous self. He rounded another corner and saw himself times two, the Digger in the baggy jeans being confronted by the Digger in the Chinese dress. Baggy Jeans disappeared as the crystal, swung by Chinese Dress, touched his cheek. Digger sprinted forward as Chinese Dress turned to talk to Caveat. “Excuse me,” he said as he leaped between them and grabbed the crystal.

The world swirled again, and Digger was once more in the cave, stumbling forward. He tripped over a chunk of crystal on the floor, went down sprawling on the stone floor. As he got up, he realized something was different.

The glow was brighter, for one thing, and the floor, which had had a cleared pathway through, was now littered with crystals large and small. He got to his feet and noticed the big difference: the wall between this chamber and the next, the Grand Cathedral as he  had dubbed it in his mind, was gone, apparently disintegrated by the Czar. If the cup hadn’t worked…

He turned at a sound behind him and noticed the really big difference. Somehow, the exchange student had followed him forward through time!

Whoa, what does this mean? To find out, don’t miss our next not-so-action-packed episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Yi Fan fell defending Twain and Digger from the Cobalt Czar’s assault in the passage leading to the City of the Moon. And now…

Digger ducked into the connecting passage to the next chamber as the Czar’s blue beam carved through the space where he had been standing. The Czar stomped after him.

Twain cradled Yi Fan in the dim glow of the blue crystals dotting the walls. She felt hot, and her face looked mottled in the half-light. She wheezed, a horrible liquid sound, and said, “Jeff.”

“No, just take it easy,” Twain said. “We’ll get you to the healer. Everything will be all right.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I cou…”

Twain waited for the next word, but it didn’t come. He strained to hear, as if she might simply be speaking too quietly for him to perceive. But even though the darkness seemed to magnify his hearing, so that he could hear the Czar thumping after Digger in the next chamber, the rush of blood in his ears, and even the sound of the tears squeezing out onto the surface of his eyes, he heard nothing from Yi Fan.

Digger ran into the antechamber where they had left the Cup of Regret. He saw it still sitting on the ground, a dark silhouette against the pervasive blue glow. And the amber liquid in it was definitely glowing now, green against the blue. Digger ran to the cup, scooped it up as he ran past, toward the stone wall with the narrow passage to the main cathedral. He heard stomping footsteps behind him, glanced back to see the Czar, glowing even brighter than the surrounding crystals, with hands outstretched, ready to loose glowing blue death at him.

Digger splashed the glowing liquid from the cup into his face as the blue beam lanced toward him.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Digger splashed the glowing liquid from the cup into his face as the blue beam lanced toward him…[/blockquote]Twain heard the sound of the Czar’s energy beam, but barely registered it. Who cared what the Czar was doing? Yi Fan was all that mattered, and she was gone.

But no, she wasn’t, Twain realized! Yi Fan had told him that he traveled back in time to meet her, and he still hadn’t done that. He could do that now and warn her to avoid the attack. He could still save her. He just needed the cup.

He sprang to his feet and rushed to the next chamber, where he stopped and gaped in wonder, unprepared for what he saw.

The antechamber no longer existed, in a sense. The stone wall separating the chamber from the main cathedral had been disintegrated, making the two room into one. Blue crystals littered the floor where the stone holding them had been melted away. It made a sort of sense that the crystals could not be harmed by the same power the Czar drew from them.

But the crystals were not important. The cup was. Twain scanned the floor for it; it was gone. Digger must have kicked it or something as he ran past. Twain scanned further down and saw the dark silhouette of the carved wood handle, surrounded by shards of milky quartz.

The cup had been shattered!

With the cup destroyed, how will Twain be able to fulfill his destiny of meeting Yi Fan? More importantly, how will Digger make good on his promise to return it to the museum? Don’t expect any answers to these questions in the next episode, but join us anyway. It will be worth your time.

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Ghost Dragon attacked the Cobalt Czar in a desperate bid to keep him busy while waiting for Metalord to return with the mask. Twain and Digger were trapped in the cave, pursued by the Czar, who seems intent on killing them all. And now…

Twain rushed to help Yi Fan, but the swirling ectoplasm reformed itself into the Ghost’s head once again. “Don’t touch me,” it said. “Go.”

Twain backed away as the Ghost scrambled to its feet. They retreated further into darkness, followed by the sounds of rocks being dug away on the other side of the stone barrier.

“This is your plan?” Twain asked as he turned on his flashlight. “Trap ourselves in the dark while we wait for the idiot who almost killed you last time to save us?”

“It may not sound like a good plan,” the Ghost said, “but I will not be the Czar’s servant for one more day.”

“You know, it’s rude to talk right in front of me like that when I can’t understand what you’re saying,” Digger said in English from ahead of them.

“Just shut up and go,” Twain said.

They descended further, and this time, the smells of must and mildew that Twain had barely noticed when he had been pursuing his destiny were much stronger. Everything smelled worse when you were trapped.

Behind and above them, the sounds of digging faded. “He must have broken through,” Yi Fan said. “Now it’s just a race.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Twain turned and saw the Cobalt Czar behind them, his skin taking on a glow from the radiance of the crystals like some sort of psychedelic black-light poster…[/blockquote]They picked up the pace, descending further into the dark, pursued by pounding footsteps like distant drums. The blue glow started to rise, and they emerged into the first chamber that bore the blue crystals. Even the Ghost seemed a little impressed. “What are these things?” he asked. “I feel…”

“Yi Fan!” came a roar from behind them. Twain turned and saw the Cobalt Czar behind them, his skin taking on a glow from the radiance of the crystals like some sort of psychedelic black-light poster.

“Get behind me,” said the Ghost, who stepped forward to do battle once again. His massive claw shot forward on an arm that stretched to twice its normal length..

“No,” the Czar said quietly and put forth his hand. Blue radiance shot out and engulfed the Ghost as Twain dove for cover on the ground.

Whatever the Ghost was–mental construct or animated spirit force from beyond the grave–it protected Yi Fan, at least for a moment. She screamed and fell to the ground as the spirit entity surrounding her dissolved away.

“No!” Twain shouted and rushed to her side. “What have you done?”

“What I should have done the first time we fought,” the Czar said. “I let my sentiment get the better of me, and this was the result. Now I’ll finish it.”

The Czar stretched forth his hand, and Digger shouted “Hey!”

Twain and the Czar turned to look at Digger, at the far end of the chamber. “You can waste time with them if you want,” Digger said, “but you should know that the savior of the world is in here with your precious crystals, coming up with a way to beat you.”

“Not if I kill you first!” the Czar snarled and stretched out his hand.

Can Digger survive the Czar’s wrath? Will Cole return in time? Don’t miss the next thrilling episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Ghost Dragon attacked the Cobalt Czar, attempting to keep him occupied long enough for Metalord to return with the Mask of El Coco. And now…

The Ghost snarled, his long white locks whipping in the ghostly winds that surrounded him. That hair lashed out to snare the Czar’s wrists while the Ghost’s giant gnarled hand clawed the Czar’s face. “Go!’ the Ghost snarled at Twain. “Into the cave.”

“We’ll be trapped in there,” Twain said.

“I have a plan,” the Ghost answered, backing toward the cave entrance as the Czar advanced against the Ghost’s strength, step by step. “Trust me. Go!”

Twain and Digger retreated down the dark tunnel with the Ghost just a step behind them. Twenty feet into the cave, the Ghost clawed at the walls and ceiling, causing a rain of debris which clogged the tunnel.

“What are you doing?” Twain yelled. “You’ll trap us in here.”

“We have to slow him down until your friend returns with the mask,” the Ghost said.

“He’s no friend of mine,” Twain said. “I don’t even know the guy.”

“That’s not…” A beam of blue carved through the rockfall, disintegrating a portion of the ceiling and dissolving a large portion of the Ghost’s head. The spirit wailed as the remains of its head swirled and eddied in a frantic ectoplasmic gush, and Yi Fan–her head blessedly untouched since she was so much shorter than the Ghost–screamed as well. She fell to the ground, caught in a beam of dusty sunlight stabbing down through a hole in the ceiling as more debris fell around her, bouncing off the maelstrom that was all that was left of the Ghost.

***

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]A beam of blue carved through the rockfall, disintegrating a portion of the ceiling and dissolving a large portion of the Ghost’s head. The spirit wailed as the remains of its head swirled and eddied in a frantic ectoplasmic gush…[/blockquote]Cole floated into the enormous restaurant-size palace kitchen, where a group of cooks sat around eating bowls of meat broth, laughing together in low voices. The laughter stopped as they all turned wide-eyed stares on Cole. One of the cooks stood and took a step toward him. “You can’t be in here,” the man said.

“I’m worried about you people,” Cole replied. “You seem to have stunted imaginations. Do you have any beer?”

The cooks shared a baffled look, and then the one in charge turned to him. “Uh, what?”

“I’m thirsty,” Cole said. “Give me a beer, and I’ll leave.”

Anxious words were exchanged among the cooks in Mongolian, and then the one in charged turned and crossed the room to a huge stainless steel refrigerator. He opened the door and pulled out a plastic gallon jug of amber fluid.

“That doesn’t look like beer,” Cole said.

The man poured out a glass and held it out toward Cole. “It’s good,” he said. “Please drink and go.”

Cole took the glass and sniffed at it. It smelled sweet–some kind of juice–but there was an almost floral scent to it, as well as another smell he couldn’t identify that reminded him of flying along the coast near San Francisco with storms coming in, smelling the ozone and feeling the lightning in the approaching clouds like a tingle on the back of his tongue.

He took a sip and was almost overwhelmed by the rush.

What will happen to Yi Fan? Will Cole get back in time, or will he pause to have a wine tasting? Don’t miss the next action-packed episode!

 To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Yi Fan attacked the Cobalt Czar to keep him from entering the cave until Cole could return with the mask. And now…

Digger emerged blinking into sunlight and stumbled up beside Twain. He heard a growl of frustration and saw the Ghost, gigantic and distorted, pressing the Czar face down into the ground.

Digger glanced at Twain and saw something perhaps even more bizarre. Twain was bigger, slightly taller and broader than Digger remembered, with his veins distended and pressing out blue against the white of his skin. But even his skin had a faintly blue cast, though it was fading away.

“What’s the deal?” he asked Twain, staring at the man’s hands.

Twain looked down and noted the blue, now almost faded to utter memory. “I told you I could feel it now.”

Digger heard another roar of frustration, tore his eyes away from Twain to see a beam of blue radiance carve its way across the ground like a creek bed being formed by a flash flood. The Ghost danced out of the way, and the Czar used the distraction to get up again.

“Yi Fan!” Twain yelled.

The Ghost and Yi Fan both turned their heads in unison to gape at Twain, then said in both their voices, “What are you doing out here, you idiot? Take cover in the cave! RUN!”

***

Cole floated into the Czar’s chambers and settled lightly to Earth. He’d found the room more quickly than he had expected. He heard the trip-trap of the woman’s heels as she hurried to catch up. He’d navigated here by following her squeals and scoffs of outrage, like a sort of backwards GPS.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]The Ghost and Yi Fan both turned their heads in unison to gape at Twain, then said in both their voices, “What are you doing out here, you idiot? Take cover in the cave! RUN!”[/blockquote]He scanned the room, looking for the mask, and spotted it on a side table. The secretary clopped into the room as he was picking it up. “Don’t touch that,” she gasped.

Cole didn’t reply. He considered the mask in his hands, with its odd face-within-a-face design. It was hard to believe that he and Digger had chased halfway around the world for something so small and ordinary-looking. It should at least glow or hum or something.

“Thanks,” he told the woman as he slipped the mask into the bag that Yi Fan had given him. “I’ll be going now.”

He lifted off the ground again and wobbled. He still didn’t feel entirely like his old self, and his mouth was dry. “Hey, do you have a kitchen in here someplace? I could use a drink before I head back.”

“You can’t…” the woman began, still panting, but Cole cut her off.

“Yeah, duly noted, but you might as well just give me directions,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ll kill you if I make you chase me there.”

***

“You! You’re in this together?” the Czar said when he saw Twain standing next to Digger. Then he looked back to Yi Fan. “All of you?”

“Don’t act surprised,” said the Ghost. “Our arrangement was one of convenience only. There was never any loyalty between us.”

“No,” the Czar agreed. He cracked his knuckles with a sound like gunshots. “So now let’s end our arrangement permanently.”

Cole had better hurry up with that mask, I’m thinking. Don’t miss the next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…

Previously: Yi Fan attacked the Cobalt Czar to keep him from entering the cave and finding Twain and Digger. And now…

Cole floated through the palace entryway, attracting startled stares from the work crews putting the finishing touches on the reconstructed palace. For a nasty, inhospitable speck of a country situated firmly in the ass crack between Mongolia and Siberia, the palace was actually pretty nice.

A woman in a semi-official uniform of white blouse and blue vest, probably an administrative assistant or house madam or something, came running. Her high heels and tight pencil skirt made her move with tiny mincing steps. The clack of her heels echoed off the marble floors and vaulted ceiling. “You can’t be here,” she said in Mandarin.

Cole descended to the floor and considered for a moment. “That’s strange,” he said. “It feels like I am.”

The woman’s eyelids fluttered like the light on an overtaxed hard drive. “No, I mean…”

“Doesn’t matter what you meant,” Cole said. “I’m looking for the Czar’s chambers.”

“You can’t go in there!” the woman said.

“We had this conversation already,” Cole said as he lifted off and floated past her. “I think we’ll discover that I can.”

He flew into the heart of the palace, the woman’s heels trip-trapping on the marble floor behind like the personal secretary to the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

***

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]The Ghost was not a physical being, not in the sense of having flesh and nerves. Punching him did no good…[/blockquote]The Czar surged up from the ground against the force of the Ghost pressing down on him. One of the Ghost’s more frustrating qualities was that he could grow and warp every part of himself from moment to moment. You could never be sure of his angle of attack, nor could you easily step out of his range to gather your wits before wading back in again.

The Czar punched up against the force holding him down, even as he reminded himself of the futility of it. The Ghost was not a physical being, not in the sense of having flesh and nerves. Punching him did no good.

In order to hurt the Ghost, you had to hurt his host. The last time they had fought, the Czar had nearly killed Yi Fan before he had managed to convince the Ghost that his appetite for revenge against the living would be better served by joining forces with the Czar and becoming his enforcer.

Something had obviously changed, and that something could obviously not be solved with a simple bargain the way it had before. The Ghost betraying their pact could only be a signal that he had some endgame in mind. He must believe he had found some way to defeat the Czar. He would go to his eternal damnation bitterly disappointed.

The Czar prepared to unleash his blue beam against Yi Fan when gigantic clawed hands picked him up and flung him into the sky. He tried to turn in the air and fire down at Yi Fan, but he was not a flyer. Aerial maneuvers didn’t come naturally to him. He reached apogee and fell back to earth, slammed hard into it and felt the hands pressing him down again.

Had a lot more planned until the cliffhanger, but 500 words runs out fast. Be here for the next exciting episode to see what happens next.

To read from the beginning, click here…