Mykal's Return to Towbar's World

by Dave Hazel

  The man who threw Mykal’s coat at him gave the impression he wanted Mykal to put up resistance. “Good choice,” he said with a smirk. He patted his weapon, and kept his angry glare on Mykal.

  “I don’t like the way this looks,” Mykal whispered to Towbar. “If I give the word we make a break for it.”

  “I am with you my friend,” Towbar replied quietly. “Though, I do not believe these men intend to harm us. They could have harmed us when they first overtook us. It seems clear they desire information from us as the leader said to us. We may have the upper hand and not know it as of yet.”

  The escort led to the back of a black bus. All the windows were blacked out so no one could see in, but they couldn’t see out as well. Four other black vehicles, two in front and two behind the bus made up the convoy. It befuddled Mykal that William seemed so trusting. Mykal guessed their fame kept any harm from befalling them. The longer it dragged on Mykal got the impression William had an idea of what was unfolding. But how would William know about this?

  “This is like something outta a spy movie,” Mykal scoffed and hesitantly entered the vehicle.

  “Everything will be fine,” the leader said to comfort him. “Just cooperate and it will be a short day.”

  Mykal wanted to protest and explain he had a plane to catch. He knew that would give his captors something to use against him and have an upper hand over him. The one who threw Mykal’s coat at him continued to eye Mykal and looked like he wanted trouble.

  2.

  About an hour later the vehicle came to a stop. The doors opened and they were inside a building. There were many armed men standing around, but all these men were dressed in black uniforms and had ski masks covering their faces.

  “What the hell is going on?” Mykal stopped and looked around and tried to determine where they were.

  “Move!” The angry man barked and pushed Mykal from behind.

  Suddenly Towbar’s gigantic hand grabbed the man by his throat. The angry man’s throat seemed childlike in size compared to the giant’s hand. The giant squeezed hard enough to stop the man’s breathing and cause severe pain, but not hard enough to crush his neck. The angry man dropped his weapon while he fought against the vice like grip around his throat. He gagged and choked while he struggled to pry the monstrous grip from his neck.

  Within moments all the weapons were pointed at Towbar.

  “Stop! Stop!” Mykal yelled and jumped in front of Towbar to prevent them from shooting his friend. “We’ll obey, we’ll obey. Towbar’s protecting me from this guy. I just wanna know what the hell is going on, and why does this jerk keep pushing me?”

  “Do not do that again,” Towbar warned after he dropped the angry man, allowing him to crumble to the floor to gasp for air.

  “Gentlemen, let’s have a little more professionalism,” the leader said and glared at the gasping man. “There is no need for the situation to get out of hand.” He turned to William. “You go with them,” he pointed to two men with their faces hidden behind masks.

  William seemed to hold back a smile and followed them.

  Something about William’s facial expression and mannerism led Mykal to believe William knew the men. Everything from these armed men to William made Mykal uncomfortable. ‘Or am I just being a little paranoid?’ He wondered.

  “Okay, you,” the leader pointed to Mykal, “go with these men.” He pointed to three men, one of which was the recovering angry man. “And you,” he looked at Towbar with the same tone to show he wasn’t intimidated by Towbar’s monstrous size and superior strength, “I need you to come along with me.”

  Towbar stood his ground waiting for Mykal’s response. They didn’t know they would be separated. Mykal knew they couldn’t fight their way out of the underground fortress. They were unarmed whereas all their captors had automatic weapons.

  Mykal ended the momentary silent standoff. “It’s okay Towbar. Go with them and I’ll go with these guys. William seems to think it’s okay. I’ll see ya in a little bit.”

  Mykal followed the angry man who continued to rub the red finger imprints left on his neck. Two others walked behind him. Alone, Mykal’s anxiety increased. He still didn’t know what this was about. Mykal followed him through a maze of corridors until he was led into a small room. It appeared to be an interrogation room. The furnishings in the room were just a small metal table, three small, uncomfortable looking chairs, and a large mirror on one wall.

  In the room were three men with their suit jackets removed showing off their shoulder holsters with handguns hanging under their armpits. In a real interrogation Mykal knew the weapons would have been removed to eliminate the threat of the prisoner making a move on them. The table had some papers, a pitcher of water and a stack of Styrofoam cups. There was a bright light hanging over the seat Mykal was sure was meant for him.

  “Have a seat,” the angry one said and pointed to the chair under the light.

  “What’s this all about?”

  “We just have some questions for you,” one of the three jacketless men answered. He whispered something to his two partners and they departed the room. Mykal stood with a jacketless man with a handgun in the shoulder holster and the three escorts armed with Uzi’s. One who happened to be the angry man Towbar choked. He seemed to be angrier after Towbar assaulted and embarrassed him.

  ‘This is going to be interesting,’ Mykal thought looking at the stout angry man. His head was shaved into little stubble, an attempt to hide the fact that he was going bald. The man looked as if he wanted to take his anger out on Mykal since his protector and giant friend wasn’t present.

  “Please, take a seat,” the jacketless man offered as he motioned to the chair under the bright light.

  “Thanks, but I’ll sit here,” Mykal said and quickly took the chair that would put his back to the mirror. He knew people were watching from the other side of the two way mirror. “So, are you guys gonna at least read me my rights or something?”

  “Rights?” The angry man scoffed. “You don’t have any rights down here, boy. Now move your ass to the other chair or you’re gonna piss me off,” the burly man threatened.

  “Screw you. You haven’t told me why I’m here, you took me at gun point and you haven’t read me my rights so I know this isn’t legal at all. I’m not cooperating.”

  The angry man pounced toward Mykal and pressed his angry face close to Mykal’s. “You don’t know who you’re talking to. I’ll hurt your stupid ass, bitch,” he threatened and pointed one of his stubby fingers in Mykal’s face in an attempt to intimidate him. He must have felt confident his strong arm tactics would work against this famous media darling since his gargantuan friend wasn’t there to protect him.

  “You better back off slick,” Mykal snarled without flinching. “You lay one greasy finger on me then you better kill me or lock me away forever cuz I’ll make so much friggin trouble for you it’ll make your fat head swim. You got that, ugly bitch?” He fired back at the bully. The man didn’t scare him, rather the man made him extremely angry for trying to intimidate him. He felt the same anger when a Soso went after a smaller townsperson back in Towbar’s world.

  “Enough!” The jacketless man cut in when the bully’s arm cocked back. They had all been taken aback by Mykal’s response. Without the giant present to defend him they were certain he would buckle under their threats. “There is no need for this,” he said and pulled the angry man back by his arm.

  “I’ll bust you up you little snot nose punk,” the angry man threatened.

  “You don’t scare me, you goof,” Mykal raised his voice and stared back into the bully’s eyes. He didn’t want to be the first to back down.

  “Let’s back up,” the jacketless man said in a calming voice and pulled the angry man far from Mykal’s reach. “I will admit we got off to a bad start. Let’s start this all over.”

  “I don’t even know why the hell I’m here,” Mykal snapped at the man without the jacket. Mykal’s anger
came more from the fact that he was probably going to miss his flight home. Mykal noticed the jacketless man’s eyes looked pitch black. He wasn’t sure if it was just because they were in the enclosed room. “I want a lawyer or I want my rights read to me or let me outta here now.”

  “You’re not going anywhere until we get some cooperation,” the irate man snapped. “You’re not calling the shots here,” he chuckled angrily.

  “Screw you and your cooperation you mindless shit,” Mykal replied. It seemed clear they weren’t allowed to harm him. “You think I’m afraid of you? You friggin mutt.”

  “Why you sonova--” the man lunged at Mykal but the two grabbed him and prevented him from closing in to strike.

  “That’s enough,” the man with the black eyes said with a quiet sternness that stopped the angry man. “If you can’t control yourself, leave.”

  “This just proves to me that you can’t harm me,” Mykal declared. “So if you don’t tell me what’s going on, there’s gonna be problems.”

  “Mykal, I just need to ask you some simple questions and then we’ll let you go,” the man with the black eyes said. “Would you like a drink of water before we get started?”

  One of the two jacketless men returned. “You three may leave,” the man said when he stepped into the room. “We don’t need for this to turn into an ugly affair,” he added as he held the door for the three carrying Uzi’s. It appeared he had been watching through the two-way mirror. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said though he sounded frustrated. “I’m sorry about that Mykal.”

  “I still don’t understand what the hell this is all about.”

  “Let me introduce ourselves to you,” the man who just stepped into the room said. “We can not divulge our real names so you can call me Jack and you can call him Jill,” he motioned his hand to the man with the black eyes.

  “Jack and Jill, huh?” Mykal smiled and felt a little more comfortable with Jack being in charge.

  “I know it sounds silly,” Jill said with a smirk. “But we’ll get to the point. Where were you last night?”

  “Last night? I was in my hotel room all night. Why?”

  “Can you prove that if you had to?” Jack asked and looked at papers on the desk.

  “I guess. Me and Towbar never left the room once we got there. Captain Roberts was with us for a little while and then he went to his own room. I don’t know how else to prove it, but I was on the phone with my wife for a small part of the night. And at one point the hotel manager and the desk clerk called and asked if they could come up to get a quick picture with Towbar. We allowed them, so they saw us there. Now, can I ask why, since I answered you?”

  “So would you say that between the hours of one and four in the morning you were in your room?” Jack asked without answering Mykal’s question. Both Jack and Jill locked eyes onto his face.

  “Yes. That is a fact.”

  “Is it possible that you and Towbar or just Towbar could have left the room during that time?”

  “Yeah, I guess it’s possible, but we didn’t,” he answered and suddenly felt like they were going to pin a crime on him. “Now can you please explain to me what’s going on?”

  “We have reason to believe that you and Towbar, or possibly just Towbar were involved in a kidnapping that took place late last night,” Jack dropped the charge on him.

  “What!?” Mykal gasped in disbelief as the two studied his facial expression. “A kidnapping? What the hell kinda crap is this?” His first thought was a child had disappeared when he heard the term ‘kidnapping’. “Is that why you guys searched our room? There wasn’t anyone in there. We never left our room.”

  “But you just admitted that it was possible for one or both of you to have left between those hours. Correct?” Jill asked. His piercing black eyes were penetrating and cold.

  “I said it was possible, but it was also possible for fifty million other people to be where you think we were during those hours. Of all the people in this city why are we singled out for whatever you’re trying to solve? I wouldn’t know my way around the city if my life depended on it. And I’d have to say that it would be worse for Towbar cuz he’s not used to cities, let alone big cities.”

  “Why don’t you tell us why we would single the two of you out?” Jack asked. “Don’t you have the nickname of ‘The World Traveler’? And haven’t you traveled to another world?”

  “What the hell are you talking about? What does that have to do with a child being kidnapped?”

  “Who said anything about a child?”

  “Nobody, I just assumed if you were talking about a kidnapping that it was a child who was kidnapped. Did someone make a ransom demand and use the name World Traveler? Help me here, cuz I’m really friggin confused right now.”

  “The way these people were kidnapped,” Jack started and then deliberately paused. “They could only have been taken by you and Towbar.”

  “What? First of all why would I, or we, ever do something like that? And where the hell would we put them? Your guys checked our room. Not to be a smart-aleck, but do you wanna check my back pocket?” Mykal asked and chuckled. “It’s not possible.”

  “From all our information gathered,” Jill jumped in. “We know that you are not fond of our government. Despite all the nice little things you say in your public appearances I believe your motive could be to retaliate against our government by lashing out at the government employees who were abducted earlier this morning.”

  “Huh? What?” Mykal had to shake his head in astonishment. ‘Did I just wake up in the friggin Twilight Zone?’ He wondered. “Someone has been filling you full of garbage. The only thing I have not been happy with is my crazy, hectic, non-stop schedule. I don’t have anything against our government. And just to set the record straight, Jill, I’m as patriotic as they come,” Mykal declared fearfully as if that would carry some weight. “How the hell could I have, abducted,” he used his fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “Employees, meaning more than one, and all just last night?”

  “Don’t jerk me around,” Jack’s attitude suddenly changed.

  “Whadda ya mean, don’t jerk you around? I don’t know what the friggin hell you’re talking about,” Mykal snapped harshly. “We never left our damn room. We don’t have any weapons!”

  “Myk, is it Towbar?” Jill offered in a gentler manner. “Be straight up with us and we’ll guarantee that no charges will be brought against you. We have him separated so if you’re fearful of him, we can protect you.”

  Mykal paused and looked at them. “Are you guys for real? Seriously, is this a joke? Am I being pranked like on Candid Camera?”

  “We are very serious,” Jack avowed. “And if you fear him, we can help you.”

  “I’m gonna say this as nice as possible. You guys are outta your damn minds. Towbar would never do something like that and I do not fear him because we’re the best of friends. He left his world to make sure I made it back home,” Mykal suddenly stopped as a thought struck him. “Oh no,” he gasped. “How were these people kidnapped as you say?”

  “It was through the green fog that only you and Towbar have had any experience with.”

  “Okay,” Mykal sighed and lowered his head. “The people you’re talking about haven’t been kidnapped. I think they may have disappeared, yes, but that would mean they could have been sent to Towbar’s world. Now I think I might know what you’re talking about. If you know anything about my story you’d know the green fog that transported us to Towbar’s world was the same green fog to bring us back. While my squad was in the green fog the first time, I stuck my hand out the window into the green fog,” he said and demonstrated by acting out putting his arm through a window. “To make a long story short, my flesh that was exposed in the green fog, now turns green and tingles whenever the green fog is present. A few times during the thirty-seven days in Towbar’s world my hand turned green which meant the green fog was nearby. We didn’t know that at the time.
Anyway, I just told you all that to say, last night my flesh turned green,” he said and rubbed the area of his armed that changed color. “Meaning the green fog may have appeared nearby. We, me and Towbar, looked out our window but we couldn’t see it. If we coulda found it Towbar would have gone into it. He needs to get back to his world and that woulda probably took him back. But we don’t know how to make the green fog appear. And we don’t know why it appeared.”

  “I’m not buying that,” Jack replied and sneered.

  “So just out of nowhere, while you two are here in Washington D.C., it, the green fog, just magically appears?” Jill asked. “And it happens while you have no witnesses to corroborate your story. The chances are just too great for me to believe that it happened by coincidence.”

  “I’m sorry you don’t believe me but there’s nothing I can tell you. The only thing me and Towbar can come up with is, a man in Towbar’s world named Nidious knows about magic.” Mykal paused. He feared they would think he was crazy. “Yes, magic.” He paused again to gauge their reaction. “Anyway he wants to get Towbar back so he’s probably the one trying to get Towbar outta here. I know that’s a little wild and far-fetched, but I honestly don’t have any other suggestions. One thing I can tell you is, whoever went into that green fog, if they ended up in Towbar’s world where I was, they’re in great danger. They are in serious trouble if they don’t know anything about our story or what to do. When we got sent to Towbar’s world, there were over eighty people who got sent and most of us had weapons. More than fifty people died because of that place. It’s deadly and extremely dangerous.”

  “Let me tell you my theory.” Jack smirked and moved in closer to Mykal. “I think you and Towbar pulled this off to blackmail the President.”

  “That’s nonsense.” Mykal had to do a double take at both their faces to see if they were putting him on. “How the hell did you come up with that?” He raised his voice. “Why would I wanna blackmail our President?”