Week 38.1 – Coup

Previously: As Twain and Digger discovering the secret of the City of the Moon, Yi Fan tried to stall the Cobalt Czar from entering the cave until Metalord could return with the mask. And now…

“Then again, let’s not go in right away,” the Czar said with a small smile. Yi Fan’s tension eased, but only barely. The Czar turned to take in the rest of the small outpost. “There’s something I’m still not clear on.”

“What’s that?” Yi Fan asked.

“The damage,” the Czar said. He walked out of the inner compound to the crumpled remains of a truck in the small motor pool. The various fluids from the truck had mingled in a reeking, viscous puddle with a rainbow sheen. “This truck has been demolished like the ones on the road leading up the hill, and that truck over there…” he pointed at the ass end of another truck sticking out of the small barracks, “was used to destroy that building. Destroying vehicles and using them as weapons certainly sounds like Metalord, but the way these are ripped to shreds doesn’t look like his work.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” the Czar said. “As a matter of fact, they look like your ghost’s.”

“How strange,” Yi Fan said. “He must be trying to sow distrust between us.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Ghostly fists smashed down on top of the Czar. The ground shook with the impact, and the Ghost howled his rage to the iron sky…[/blockquote]“That must be it,” the Czar agreed. He turned and strode toward the cave, calling out over his shoulder, “Cave now, yes? You stand guard out here.”

“No!” Yi Fan said as she ran to catch up to him.

The Czar stopped and turned to face her. “Did you just refuse to follow my order?”

“No,” Yi Fan said. “I… I merely meant that it might be better if I accompany you.”

“The City of the Moon is for me and me alone,” the Czar said. “Have I ever been unclear on that?”

“No, certainly not,” Yi Fan said. “But these Americans, they are…”

“They are dead men,” the Czar said and walked toward the entrance.

“No!” Yi Fan shouted in a voice not entirely her own, and ghostly fists smashed down on top of the Czar. The ground shook with the impact, and the Ghost howled his rage to the iron sky.

***

“That sounds like… Yi Fan!” Twain said. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the chamber the way they had come in.

Digger started to run after him, then stopped and looked at the cup. He’d thought the juice required an hour in the sunlight, but it looked as if the juice in the cup was already glowing. It was hard to tell because of the pervasive glow of the crystals lining the walls and ceiling, but it certainly looked…

He had no time to worry about it now. He dashed out after Twain, leaving behind the blue glow of the crystals and following the bobbing circle of light from Twain’s flashlight. He bumped into rocky projections and stumbled over irregularities in the cave floor as he tried not to lose sight of the flashlight’s glow. The howls of the Ghost surrounded him in the darkness as he pushed forward. The ground rumbled once again, and tiny chunks of rock sifted from the ceiling.

A fight has begun. There will probably be more tomorrow. Don’t miss the next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…