It was only though Szandor's quick reflexes that Dane avoided an encounter with an actual belly of a beast. Szandor pulled Dane back, the creature's mouth snapping shut on the space he was just in.
"Should we maybe -" started Dane, his thinking somewhat confused by fear.
"Run!" said Szandor insistently, as if Dane was an idiot. He broke into a run and pulled Dane along. He spared only a quick glance at the creature, worrying about his brother who was on the other side of that gigantic head. "Run!" he repeated when Dane stumbled instead of running.
With his legs in motion, the shouts of Szandor finally reaching him, Dane snapped back to focus. Running for his life was familiar territory. This he could do. Abby had started running before either of them, so she was in the lead. Dane passed Szandor as the monster hunter slowed briefly. Szandor wanted to be last to make sure neither of them fell behind. And despite himself, he was taking fearful glances behind him at the creature that was coming after them.
The ravenous serpent was sliding after them. Behind that monstrous head was a long length of body, almost as wide as the tunnel. It was snake like, a long stretched out length pushing into the tunnel, but Szandor couldn't tell just how big it was exactly. It was slithering quite quickly behind them. They were its prey and this predator would not be denied.
The creature's bulk was probably the only that that saved them in their panicked run. While it could slither quickly, the tunnel wasn't always as wide as it was where the monster broke through. Wherever the tunnel narrowed on the left or right, the creature had to shove past. It was not stopped; the creature's bulk simply broke the walls of the tunnel, forcing its way through. These moments were enough to slow it down and give Dane, Abby, and Szandor the time to escape. They had no idea what had become of Mikkel.
At first they didn't even notice when the tunnels changed to the official Avalon tunnels. But their footing was more sure, the tunnel less steep, and they began to see minor turnoffs. There were even a few ladders that Abby attempted to stop at and use to climb to freedom, but Szandor yelled at her to keep running. In his quick judgment, he deemed them either too rusted to use or doubted that they went anywhere they'd want to be. They did not want to get stuck on a ladder with a gigantic white serpent behind them. Better to run than stop and fail. He was looking for either a ladder he recognized or one that was likely to be intact and lead to freedom.
A few pulse-pounding, lung-rasping, foot-stomping moments later, Szandor shouted to Abby, "That one, use that one!" The ladder looked intact. Szandor noticed a puddle right below the ladder which to him meant water had come down from somewhere in the recent rain. It was a good sign. The manhole cover he saw in his flashlight beam meant it likely went straight to the surface.
She grabbed at this ladder, and then realized she still held her flashlight. She dropped it in the puddle below the ladder and started grabbing at the dirty metal of the ladder rungs. "Ew," she said as her hands were now wet with grime.
"Climb! Climb!" said Szandor, pulling up the rear and meeting her at the ladder, the creature not far behind them.
Her disgust giving way to fear, Abby began climbing vigorously. Dane dropped his own flashlight and began climbing after Abby. Szandor stood at the bottom of the ladder, nervously looking back at the serpent and wishing the other two would climb even faster. He also wanted to find out what happened to Mikkel, but he knew his first responsibility was getting Dane and Abby to safety. They had hired the brothers to protect them, and Szandor would be damned if he was going to let that responsibility down.
Szandor looked up at the manhole cover Abby had just reached. He had dealt with manhole covers that were rusted, stuck, or just covered with something heavy. He hoped this wasn't one them.
"It's stuck!" said Abby frantically, pushing against the cover with her strength but finding it unmoving.
Szandor cursed.
"Let me help," said Dane, climbing farther up the ladder to where Abby was. As she pushed, he reached his own arm to push against it as well. This would have been an awkward and uncomfortable position on the ladder if they weren't so panicked.
There was a screech from below them that echoed through the tunnel.
"We're running out of time!" said Szandor, who had pulled himself up the ladder to right below Dane. He was looking at the massive white serpent that was almost within biting range.
That extra bit of panic provided the needed adrenaline for Abby and Dane to finally push the cover out of its resting place. With their combined strength, the manhole cover lifted up and they pushed it to the side. Bright sunlight greeted them from above. Abby had never seen anything so beautiful.
She scrambled up out of the hole, gasping for breath in the fresh air. Dane moved up slower, Szandor right behind him on the ladder.
"Come on, come on!" shouted Szandor. He turned his head and saw the white serpent lunging toward them with a keening shriek.
Panicked, Szandor gave up on appropriateness and Dane's modesty, using his hand to push Dane's butt, causing the older man to emerge more quickly from the manhole. Szandor didn't bother to turn around as he scrambled after, the stench of the creature so much greater than before. His feet had just barely escaped the manhole when massive teeth closed on the space just below the opening.
A new panic flooding his veins, Szandor slid the manhole back into place. It was ludicrous that a simple piece of metal would banish the serpent, but putting it out of sight did wonders for their nerves. Szandor stood and got one step away before there was a heavy impact the ground below. Szandor fell forward onto the asphalt.
"What the?" he said. There was another impact. The asphalt beneath him cracked. His eyes went wide when he realized the creature was trying to break through to the surface. "Run! Hide!"
Dane and Abby, who had been standing not far away and gasping for breath, broke into a run. Szandor took in the location. They had come up in the parking lot of an abandoned restaurant. The faded and falling sign advertised burgers and fried chicken. Dane and Abby had turned the corner of the building, passing by the rusting trash bins. Szandor ran to them, out of breath.
"There's a serpent after us," said Dane, stating the obvious, his breath heaving, his mind finally resuming his usual state.
"What did you do?" said Abby accusingly, immediately thinking this was Dane's fault.
"I didn't do anything!" said Dane, throwing up his hands. "This wasn't me!"
"What did you do?" asked Abby more insistently.
"I'm gonna... just... make some defenses..." said Szandor, still out of breath but knocking over the trash bins to create a makeshift half wall. The serpent was still banging against the manhole, cracking the ground all around it. Szandor didn't think the trash bins were going to do much against the serpent, but they were better than nothing at all. They could try running again, but he needed at least one minute to rest before doing that again.
"The creature is clearly after you!" said Abby.
"It could be after any of us," said Dane. "I could be asking you what you did! Perhaps you did some investigative reporting it didn't like! Have you done any smear pieces on sea serpents recently? Maybe you made a crack about Nessie's mother!"
"What? That doesn't even make any sense!" said Abby. "Of course I didn't do any of those things!"
The ground shuddered and the asphalt near the manhole cracked.
"I hear cryptozoological creatures take mother jokes very seriously!" said Dane.
"We need to focus!" shouted Szandor, his breath finally caught. Dane and Abby were shocked out of their fight by his shout. They stared at Szandor, eyes blinking for a moment. Finally having their attention, Szandor continued. "Do you have weapons?" He produced a lead pipe and held it like a club. "Weapons?"
"No," said Abby. She had a camera and the power of investigative journalism, but she didn't think this was one of those Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword moments.
"Perhaps I have something in my bag," said Dane, who immediately began rumma
ging through his satchel.
The ground shuddered again.
"At this rate, that thing is coming out of that hole real quick!" said Szandor. "I don't know where we are, so we could run, but who knows how far! We need to be ready to act, run if necessary!"
"I'm going to take out my camera," said Abby.
"We don't need to film it, we need to hurt it!" said Szandor.
"Okay, good, I have a weapon!" said Dane. He held in his hand a Christmas snow globe.
"What is... How is... Screw it, you two are useless," said Szandor. "I'll do this myself!"
Leaving the two of them behind the makeshift cover, Szandor warily moved to the cracking asphalt. In one final hit with much greater force, the ground trembled. The manhole cover went shooting up into the air. The tremor knocked Szandor over, but he got back on his feet, preparing for the gigantic beast to push its way through, resulting in him having to defend himself and his two charges with his lead pipe. Those sounded about the odds he usually ended up with. He imagined it as some epic Boris Vallejo picture, except with a lead pipe instead of a sword, an abandoned restaurant instead of an epic scene, and without an inexplicably naked barbarian queen.
Behind him, other plans were made. "Okay, when it comes up, I'll throw the snow globe, and you put on your mask," said Dane.
"I can't believe you have another one of those," said Abby, but she kept her mask ready as she filmed. Dane's last snow globe somehow produced knockout gas. This one assumedly had the same effect or even more outlandish contents.
But the creature did not rise. After the manhole cover was dislodged, there came a great screech from below. Not the keening of a lunging predator, but a screech of pain. The serpent was a creature of the depths of the earth and water, unaccustomed to and not fond of the sunlight. Had it known it was about to meet the surface, it could have made sure the light was less by blotting out the sun. But it had not known the surface was beyond that manhole cover and was surprised. Shrieking in pain, it slithered from the hole. For now it would find other prey to sate its rage and hunger. But it would seek this prey again.
Up above, Szandor waited for a beast which never emerged. He heard the screeching, but didn't identify that as pain. And then the shrieking disappeared, replaced only by slithering sound. He relaxed his arms which held the pipe. Confusion weakening his courage, he backed off from the hole, returning to the two by the trash bins.
"What happened?" asked Abby.
"Beats me," said Szandor with a shrug. "But it may not be over. Let's just be ready, okay?"
In a few moments there was another set of noises from the open manhole. It sounded like something on the bars. They didn't know what it could be, so they all tensed in readiness. Szandor brandished his lead pipe, Abby framed the perfect shot, and Dane pulled back his arm to throw the snow globe.
Out of the manhole came Mikkel. Gasping for breath, he fell onto the cracked ground. He stayed there just a moment as the others peered at him, wondering if more action was to follow. Then Mikkel got back to his feet. He looked around, taking in the abandoned restaurant, and saw the others behind the cover of rusted trash bins. They waved Mikkel over, but they were still tense, expecting the serpent to arise at any moment.
"It's gone," said Mikkel when he reached them, his breath punctuated by gasps. "It took off when it saw the light."
They all finally relaxed, letting their arms drop and letting out collectively held breaths.
"What the hell was that thing?" said Szandor.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out," said Mikkel. To Dane and Abby: "Let's find you guys a cab. We need to make some calls and see some people, but I think our job for you is done."
"We'd be dead without you two, so thank you," said Abby.
"Wait until you see our adjusted bill," said Szandor, but Mikkel lightly cuffed him on the back of the head.
It wasn't until they were in the cab that Abby could truly relax. Cabs were familiar and safe. Except for that one time where they were locked in one driven by a robot that was trying to kill them and then the cab exploded. Mostly safe.
"Well, I guess this one was a bust," said Abby.
"What do you mean?" said Dane.
"We went looking for that armor, right? That was what you got directed to. And we didn't find it. We just found that serpent. And if the serpent itself is the case... well, I'm sitting this one out."
"No, it's not the serpent, but I think I got what we needed," said Dane. "Say, do you want to stop and get coffee? I could kill for some right now."
"Huh? What did you get?" said Abby. She didn't remember anything other than not finding the armor and then running for their lives from the serpent.
Dane reached into his pocket and pulled out the small sphere that preceded the serpent attack. Its metal surface shimmered in the light. "I think this is our lead."
Where There's Smoke...
Calling the small item a sphere was a simplification, a necessary classification of the moment, but one that Dane could probably improve upon. The item wasn't completely round. It flattened on two sides that Dane dubbed the Top and Bottom. Around these sides were thin flat areas about an inch thick that fanned out to the midsection of the sphere. There was a band around the midsection, like an equator, which separated each half. Despite parts of it being flat, none of the surfaces or angles were large or sharp enough to prevent it from rolling around. It was still mostly spherical, the differences subtle rather than extreme. Instead of calling it a "sphere", Dane instead starting calling it the "Sphere", as if giving it an upper-case name covered up its inadequacies of being a lower-case category "sphere".
The Sphere was made of Avalon Brass. A unique material found only in the New Avalon area, it was a gold-like color and it reflected direct light in a peculiar shimmer that was specific to the substance. This material had a shady and secretive history. It also unsurprisingly figured in many of Dane's cases. Avalon Brass was almost without fail found within the guts of any robot, death ray, or fantastic piece of technology. Magicians were also fond of using Avalon Brass to augment their magics. At least one piece of The Goggles was Avalon Brass. On the negative side of the coin, for all the fantastic things Brass could help with, it also was very dangerous to use. Avalon Brass was volatile. Magic using it was unpredictable. Devices using Avalon Brass might work well for a while, then suddenly explode without warning. Avalon Brass was a powerful tool for those who knew how to use it, but it was nothing resembling safe.
Where did Avalon Brass come from? No one really knew. Everyone agreed that it could only be found in the Avalon area mines which were now mostly tapped out. But how did it get there? Why did this metal appear only in one location on Earth, stumping geologists? Theories abounded, as strange as the secret uses for the metal: meteors, aliens, precursor civilizations, dimensional gates, dead gods, and unfathomable entities from beyond the ken of normal men. None made much sense unless you assumed other things that were already not widely agreed upon. But whether there was a plausible explanation or not, the metal existed - it made things work that science might suggest were implausible, and it randomly exploded. Avalon Brass was New Avalon's problem child. Dane and his allies were generally glad the mines were used up, as more Brass going on the market would make the world violent and strange. Its scarcity and obscurity made Avalon Brass more of a local problem.
The Sphere being Avalon Brass made it significant. Of course, over the years, Avalon Brass had been often used for decorative purposes, since most locals in Avalon didn't know its secret purposes, only that it was a pretty material that was a source of local pride. So a regular resident of New Avalon might see a Brass candlestick holder, building fixtures, or jewelry. And those things would be perfectly safe, completely inert; you wouldn't need to worry about your grandmother's dining set randomly exploding during a tense and dysfunctional family dinner. Avalon Brass objects wouldn't be anything of note for most people. But those people didn't regularly deal with strange threats
and diabolical villains who seemed to always possess an alarming amount of Brass. So if an object made of Brass showed up on one of Dane's cases, it was probably significant. Especially if there was no clue as to what the item was.
"Do you know what it is?" asked Abby in the cab.
"No idea," said Dane. He hefted the Sphere. "It's rather light, though."
"I guess we could tinker with it," said Abby, "but that's not the Dane Monday Game Plan, is it? Instead, let me guess. We're going to make the rounds with everyone, so that they call all tell us that they don't know what it is. Then you're going to tinker with it or find that someone wants to kill you."
"You know me so well!" said Dane with a smile. He looked back down at the Sphere. "It's magic or tech."
"Of course, what else would it be?" said Abby. "That's all anything ever is if it's made of Brass and our problem."
Dane nodded. "I'm going to take a guess and say it's some technological device. Let's follow that angle."
"So we're going to Jaya's?" said Abby. In addition to building cars and rocket engines, Jaya was their default consultant for technology, and Abby suspected that Dane liked visiting her more than any other ally, even when Jaya criticized what Dane did. It was just Abby's hunch though. Along with a hunch that there was a mutual feeling.
Jaya's garage on the east side of Riverside, a cheaper area that let her indulge her love of robots and cars without needing a high profit margin. Formerly the assistant of Professor Honnenheim, she had learned much about mad scientist robotics, even if she didn't approve of the Professor's methods or morality. Unlike the Professor, she lacked the sheer amount of Avalon Brass he had stockpiled, so her designs couldn't be mass produced. Often she had to take apart her last construction to cannibalize the Brass for her next endeavor.
Burning Monday: (Dane Monday 2) Page 4