“Get them!” Jones yelled out to his men. The men, leaving what they were previously doing, all started towards Kid and Samantha. Jones never started to run, though, and grabbed one of his men as he tried to go by.
“No,” Jones said with a smirk, “not that way, come with me.” Jones retreated the way from which he came, hoping he would be able to outwit and trap Kid Combat.
Kid and Samantha continued to run. They ran down the sidewalk, through the street, and between parked cars, hoping to elude and evade their chasers. None of it worked. While it bought them some time, the men never lost sight of Kid and Samantha. As they ran, one of the men’s communicator went off.
“Yes, sir,” he said, tripping the switch on his earpiece.
“Lead them west,” the voice said. “I will cut them off.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
The man turned to his men. “Spilt up. Head to the east, flush them to the west,” he told them. At the next intersection, the one large group of six became two groups. One headed straight towards Kid and Samantha. The other, turned left and headed east.
Kid finally looked back. “They’re splitting up!” he told Samantha as they fought their way through a group of business men.
“Next intersection, turn right,” Kid said. The friends turned right and proceeded down Jackson Street. Kid and Samantha tried to keep their pace up, but they began to tire. Kid breathed heavily and could barely see. He looked over at Samantha and she was in the same shape. Kid returned his eyes to the street in front of him, and that’s when he saw Jones rounding the corner with a group of his men. Samantha saw it too.
“Kid!” She said between breathes.
The next intersection was LaSalle and it was about fifty feet away. Jones and his men, to this point, had not seen Kid. Luckily, they were looking the other way down the street.
“We can make it, Sam!” Kid exclaimed out.
The two friends picked up a shot of adrenaline and their speed increased. Kid split his vision between the intersection that loomed closer and Jones and his men. Ten feet away. Five feet away. Kid and Samantha started to make the turn.
“There!” one of Jones’s men rang out. Jones turned and looked and saw the blurry image of a boy running around the corner of a building again. This time, though, he saw who he was running with. A girl. A girl he remembered.
I knew she was one of them. Jones said to himself. “Go!” he rang out to his men.
The 400 block of LaSalle was a narrow, two lane road. On the east side of the street, old brick buildings that housed offices of hundreds of companies stood. On the right, was the epicenter of the financial district. The entire block was one building long and home of the worlds largest bank. Four stories tall, a lot of money ran through this building as stock brokers and traders conducted most of their business from inside these walls. It was such a powerful building that many people would stop by and take a tour of the building and its workings.
Jones could feel that he was close to capturing his nemesis. He can’t run forever. Jones thought to himself as he led his group across an intersection. He will be caught.
“I know this place very well,” he said to his men. “This street is a dead end. There is no way out on the far end. I want a group of you to stand guard at the intersection. The rest, come with me.”
Jones knew right around this corner, he would find out who Kid Combat was. There was no escape. The road ended, the street was narrow, and even if Kid did sneak into one of the buildings, Jones had connections all over the place and would find him.
Jones let out a small grin, and turned the corner. It quickly vanished.
“No. No. No!” Jones exclaimed. “It can’t be. No!”
A sea of people. A dozen school busses and hundreds of kids greeted Jones as he made the turn. Being such a high profile landmark in downtown, dozens of schools took field trips to this location daily. It seemed today, was no different.
Hundreds of kids, and their teachers trying to control them, were all up and down the street. Making their way through the madness, were Kid and Samantha.
As he made his way through the pack, Kid snatched a hat from the back of one kids backpack and put it on his head. “Catch your breath, Sam. We should be able to hide in here,” he said to his friend. The two friends stopped in the middle of a pack of kids from a school.
“Why? Why are there so many kids here? It’s summer,” Sam questioned. She stood up tall, with her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. She looked around the crowd and was surprised by the amount of young traffic.
“I don’t know, Sam,” Kid puffed. He eventually caught his breath. “Summer school?”
“Maybe,” Sam said. “Poor them, lucky us.”
Jones stopped and looked at the crowd. He was very angry and very disgusted at the sea of people in front of him. He turned around in disgust to his men.
“Find them. Now!” he said. The men dispersed in every direction – looking for a boy and a girl, ones they didn’t have any description on, in a sea of kids. It was like looking for a particular fish in the sea full of fish.
The men searched long and hard. They walked up to each pack of kids and tried to identify Kid and Samantha. They would ask each class questions if they saw two kids running down the street towards them or if they knew of any kids that didn’t belong here. They didn’t receive any promising leads.
Kid and Samantha continued to move through the group of kids, pretending to be on a field trip. The closest the men came to finding Kid Combat is when one of the men ran into Samantha.
Going from group to group, one of the men backed up right into Samantha. She stood there, pretending to not understand what was going on. The man looked at her for a brief second and went on to the next group.
Kid and Samantha just waited in the crowd of people. After awhile, the men started to get frustrated, and gave up the chase.
“Sir,” one of the men said approaching Jones. “We, we can’t find them.”
Jones just looked at the man, then at the sea of people. He then turned and retreated. After a few minutes, Jones’s men followed suit.
Kid Combat and Samantha saw the men leaving and took a collective sigh of relief.
“That was close,” Samantha said to Kid. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We need to meet up with the gang,” Kid said. He pulled out his communicator and radioed back to Gears. Kid told Gears about the chase and that they needed to meet up.
“Sounds good, Kid,” Gears said over the speaker of Kid’s communicator. “I’ll get the troops rallied and we’ll meet you at The Playground later.”
“No,” Kid said back in defiance. “Not there. It’s not secure.”
Kid paused for a moment to think. “Meet us at your tree house.”
*********
“Why are we meeting here, Kid?” Rocket asked out loud. The five members of SOCKs sat in Gears’ tree house. The mood was very gloom in the room and there was a lot of anxiety. The set of friends had been through a lot over the past week, and it was all starting to set in.
First, Jones had returned to Elmcrest. Then, Lincoln and the other schools in town fell to Jones. Not only did they fall, it would appear they would have a new dress code. The Playground was broken into – and no one knew the extent of it. And finally, it appeared that Maple Forest and other parks in town were in jeopardy of being turned into another financial business for Jones.
It was almost too much for Kid Combat to take in. He and his team fought so hard to keep Jones under control and to limit his power. It seemed in the few days since he returned to Elmcrest – Jones’ power only increased.
“The Playground, it’s been compromised,” Kid answered. “Until we figure out who or what people know – it’s not safe for us to be there. I have Roller there now – shutting things down. I don’t want any of you going near it for now. Understand?”
Kid looked around at his four friends. Each one simply nodded.
&n
bsp; Samantha, making a rare appearance in the tree house, was the next to speak. “He’s showing up there tomorrow, isn’t he?” She referred to Jones – and Maple Forest.
“If not then, soon…” Kid said.
Chapter Twelve
The Playground Unsheltered
8:00AM
Kyle laid in his bed. He was still asleep in the early morning and dreamed of better days. His small body was under the covers and a slight fidget went through him as his two-way radio went off.
“Kyle, Kyle,” the voice said over the speaker. It was Samantha. Her voice was low at first, but as she kept saying his name – her tone increased. “Kyle, Kyle, Kyle!”
Kyle awakened from his sleep and rolled over. He grabbed his radio and answered with a simple “Yea?”
“Kyle,” Samantha said again. Her voice was very calm and almost nurturing. To Kyle, it sounded as if something bad had happened. “It’s starting. You need to get to Gears’s tree house.”
Kyle could tell by the tone in Samantha’s voice and her demeanor – she meant the work on Maple Forest. Jones certainly wasn’t wasting any time to get his plans – whatever those were – started.
The next thing Kyle heard was a large rumbling out of his bedroom window. The noise was extremely loud and Kyle got out of bed and opened his blinds. There, he saw – what he estimated – was five or six dump trucks rolling down his street toward Maple Forest. The large, yellow trucks lumbered down his street, one after another, right for the main gate to Maple Forest.
“Oh, no,” Kyle said. He turned around, got dressed in a hurry, and headed towards Gears’s house.
The main gate that led into Maple Forest was opened by a large man wearing a yellow hard hat and the trucks proceeded into the park. Their large wheels cut up the grass below them and they trampled everything they came in contact with. The trucks rolled through the gate, made an easy left turn, and settled right on top of the baseball diamond in Maple Forest.
“Where should we start, sir?” a man driving one of the trucks yelled out his window. Just to the left of the trucks, and standing over what was once home plate, Phillip Arthur Jones swung around and answered the man.
“There,” Jones said and pointed, “with those trees past centerfield. Get rid of them. All of them.”
Kid Combat made the three block walk over to Gears’s house. He made his way up the tree house, where he found Samantha and Gears waiting for him. The twins and Roller were not present.
“How bad is it?” Kid said as he climbed into the tree house.
“KC,” Samantha answered. She handed Kid Combat a pair of binoculars which he could use to see out to Maple Forest from the tree house window. “I’m not going to lie to you, it’s pretty bad…”
Kid took the binoculars and went over to the window. He pointed the device towards Maple Forest and adjusted the lenses to focus. He first noticed the massive trucks lumbering through his beloved baseball field – tearing it up along the way. The trucks made their way out to centerfield and headed for the secret entrance to The Playground.
He then moved to his right, and noticed that workers also began tearing up the fence that lined the forest. Turning back to his left, he found Phillip Arthur Jones, standing on his baseball field, barking out orders to workers.
“My, God,” Kid stated in shock. “I can’t believe this…”
“Even if they tear down the trees, Kid, The Playground should be safe. Roller says he closed off the elevator shaft pretty good. Unless they start to dig too much, we should be okay…” Gears said. Either his plight landed on deaf ears, or Kid Combat was too enthralled with what was going on in Maple Forest to answer.
All three friends stood at the windows in Gears’s tree house and looked out in horror at what was going on in Maple Forest. The trucks reached centerfield and workers started to cut down one of the trees. Within about five to ten minutes, the first tree went crashing down. Workers quickly went over to the fallen tree, started to cut it into smaller pieces, and machines carried those pieces into the back of the waiting trucks.
Kid Combat and his friends sat there in agony, unable to do anything. Kid knew that if he or any of his crew tried to stop what was going on – or go anywhere near Maple Forest – Jones would spot them and link them back to Kid Combat. Kid knew, just as he did with Lincoln, he would need to let Jones take control.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can watch,” Samantha said.
Another tree fell. This one much larger than the last. Workers quickly started up their chainsaws and started cutting it to pieces. The first truck, full of wood, revved up its engines and proceeded back across the field. It exited out of Maple Forest and lumbered back down the street.
As the truck exited out of the park, it made a massive breeze as it passed people who started to gawk at the work that was being done on Maple Forest. One man, who stepped out in front of the crowd, felt the breeze the most. The stack of papers he held in his hand, as he walked towards the park, rustled loudly in his hand – and he took his other hand and placed it over the papers.
Gears, focusing in on the truck leaving Maple Forest, was the first to notice the man.
“Hey, what is Mr. Thompson doing here?” Gears asked.
“What?” Kid said in shock. “Where? Where is Mr. Thompson?”
“Right outside Maple. Right by the gate.”
Kid stopped focusing on the trees in centerfield and moved his head – scanning for his friend. He finally found Mr. Thompson, his ally, and one of the few people who knew who Kid Combat was.
What is he doing here? Kid thought to himself. Did he find something?
“Let’s get down there,” Kid said.
Charlie Thompson, the owner of Spring Roads, and once the former mayor of Elmcrest, walked through the gate of Maple Forest. He surveyed what was going on and looked for the man in charge – Phillip Arthur Jones.
He found him standing over near home plate and proceeded over to Jones. Lost in his work, Jones barely noticed Charlie approaching. Still giving out orders and admiring what was going on, Jones was in his own world. Charlie walked up behind Jones and stood there for a second. When he realized he wasn’t going to be acknowledged, Charlie let out a small cough to get Jones’s attention.
Jones spun around and saw Charlie standing there. Jones was a bit puzzled as to what he was doing here.
“Thompson,” Jones simply stated, “what are you doing here?”
“I did some digging around, Phillip,” Charlie started, “seems you didn’t file the proper permits to start your work here today,” Charlie paused there and handed Jones the paperwork he had been carrying. Before Jones could read it, Charlie added “I’m shutting you down.”
Jones let out a huge laugh. “You can’t be serious!” he said. The laugh continued.
“Completely serious,” Thompson returned. He stood there, very confident and not intimidated by Jones.
“What will you do, Charlie? Take this to court? You will lose millions!” Jones said joyfully. He got great amusement in Charlie’s vein attempt to thwart him. Jones remembered Charlie fondly from their days back in politics. When Jones became mayor of Elmcrest and Charlie was voted out of office. That’s when Charlie lost his loving, caring Elmcrest and it was replaced by Jones’s cold, faceless Elmcrest.
“You forget, Jones, I ran this town before you did. I know some people,” Charlie answered.
“Ha! You’re people are now my people,” Jones scowled.
“We’ll see about that, Jones. We’ll see about that,” Charlie came back – still with no intimidation towards Jones. There was silence between the two and a long, dark stare down proceeded. Jones’s smile began to disappear and was replaced by his evil snarl.
“But, for now,” Charlie said, “You’re shutdown. Get these trucks out of here. Immediately!”
Jones didn’t answer Charlie right away. He just stood there, starring at him, and thinking. He thought back to a time, not too long ago, when his
plans for this same park were blocked, mysteriously, and all of a sudden. Jones started to piece things together. He took a step closer to Charlie, trying to intimidate him.
“This is the second time you and that kid have stopped me with Maple Forest, isn’t it?” Jones asked of Charlie. Charlie, unable to help it, didn’t answer Jones – but he did let out a smile that gave Jones his answer. “You must be protecting something very valuable.”
“I am. The future leader of this town,” Charlie answered.
Jones let out a grunt. Charlie’s smile just got bigger. Jones’s temper started to boil over – you could see it in his eyes. Jones realized, once again, he had lost in his attempt to take over Maple Forest. His fists were balled up tightly and his teeth clenched. The anger consumed him, but Jones knew there was nothing he could do.
“You win this round, but, consider this your warning, Thompson,” Jones said – pointing a finger at Charlie. “I will get even with you…”
Charlie didn’t answer Jones’s threat. He just stood there and continued to stare down Jones.
Jones, for the first time in a long time, was the first to flinch. He turned away from Charlie, and radioed his men.
“Shut it down, men. We have been shut down,” Jones said over his radio. He walked away from Charlie and proceeded out of Maple Forest to his waiting limo. He got in, never looked back, and drove off.
Within minutes, the crews and trucks started to leave Maple Forest. The big, loud machines, backed out of the park. The damage was done, though, as the ball field was filled with deep tire treads and the grass was torn out in most areas.
Only three trees were taken down in centerfield – not nearly enough to cause any danger to the secret entrance to The Playground.
As the last of the trucks and men exited out of Maple Forest, Kid Combat, Samantha, and Gears, walked up to Charlie.
The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back Page 7