by Joe Corso
The six men crowded into the portal. It was tight, but they fit. Lucky told the three guys to his left to leave the portal quietly.
“Don’t make a sound.” He turned to the others on his right. “I’m going to step out of the portal. Don’t let go of me until we’re all completely out of the portal. Understand?” They all nodded yes.
“Remember, no one can see you so use your mikes to communicate with one another. Okay, here we go.”
Lucky stepped out of the portal and surprised Shan right in the middle of a meeting. Shan turned and pointed to Lucky, “There he is. Get him.” As he said that, the four men in the room with him fell to the floor unconscious. Lucky grabbed Shan. Shan tried to shake Lucky’s grip on his arm but it was to late. Lucky shoved Shan forward into the portal. Shan stopped resisting when he felt the pressure bearing down on him, on his chest. He started to gasp for air and was beginning to panic. Then, without warning, Lucky pushed Shan out of the portal and into prehistoric history. This was the exact spot where the Tyrannosaurus Rex had been brought down, with the help of Lucky’s fire power, and by the prehistoric natives. Lucky stepped out of the portal and eyed Shan.
“You sent men to kidnap me. You almost killed me. Now look around you. This is your future. This is where you’ll spend the rest of your days, Shan.” But as Lucky backed away to re-enter the portal, Shan challenged him.
“You are supposed to be a fighter. That’s what your record says. I only see a coward running to safety. Shan took off his shirt and motioned for Lucky to come and fight. Lucky thought for a moment. He really didn’t want to spend any more time in this time period, but yes, he had a bone to pick with Shan. Lucky ripped off his shirt and stepped back into the jungle as Shan smiled. Shan’s thoughts were nothing more than to kill this cocky American. The two men positioned themselves then began circling each other, each one waiting for an opening. Shan was in excellent shape, but so was Lucky. Lucky had wisely used his time while waiting for his son to be born and was like a ripped, ironman now.
Shan rushed Lucky and swung his arm. His hand was like a sword coming down on his target. Lucky dodged by shifting to his left. Shan’s hand struck a branch and severed it cleanly from the tree. Lucky made a silent note to himself to not allow himself to get hit by Shan’s deadly chopping swing. Shan spun his body so that his torso was like a “T”, level with the ground, and kicked Lucky so hard that Lucky’s body slammed into a tree about six feet behind him. Shan performed a series of quick moves and even for a man his size, he continued, almost unaffected, as he pummeled Lucky with karate chops to his chest and face. His fists felt like sledge hammers and were beginning to take their toll on Lucky. Shan sensed it and rushed Lucky again, but this time Lucky let him advance and just like Bobby Boots, he side stepped the rushing Shan, only Lucky now reached out as Shan flew by, grabbed his wrist and moved his body in a three sixty arc, causing Shan to tumble overhead in a complete circle. Lucky held onto his wrist as Shan tumbled upside down, causing his wrist to twist almost to a breaking point. But Shan, still alert, reached down and grabbed Lucky’s ankle with his free hand and pulled it towards him causing Lucky to let go of his wrist. Shan turned around, shook his wrist to restore the blood flow and faced Lucky. Shan had clearly underestimated this man and his fighting ability. Lucky, admittedly, was every bit as good as he was. Shan, once again, began to circle Lucky, but this time a bit more tentatively, not wanting to make the same mistake. But Shan knew he was bigger and stronger than the American and that thought restored his confidence. He smiled at the Lucky and said, “Pretty good, American, but this time I will finish you.”
“You talk too much,” Lucky said impatiently. “Come on. If we’re gonna fight then let’s fight. Stop the chatter. Let’s do it Shan!” Lucky screamed. “Come on big man with the little punches. I’m gonna beat you to a pulp. Come on chicken shit or are you scared? What’s the matter Shan? Look, the big man’s scared of poor little ole me.”
Shan hated to be taunted and so he did the one thing he shouldn’t have – he lost his temper. Blinded by his hatred toward the American who had so many powers, he charged Lucky, counting on his brute strength to end this fight. Somehow, it didn’t dawn on him that he had tried that earlier and it hadn’t worked. Lucky grabbed the same wrist but this time, he swung his leg over Shan’s arm and snapped it at the elbow as Shan grabbed his arm, grimacing in pain. Lucky smiled and walked toward him. He spun kicked him in the head and hit him with a crushing right hand followed by a left to his gut. The body shot penetrated Shan’s muscular six pack gut and he felt it so deep inside that he couldn’t catch his breath. He wanted to put his hand up to surrender, but Lucky spun kicked him again to his gut once more and punched him furiously with a series of rights and lefts until Shan fell down to the ground. Lucky looked at him for a second, took his right foot and started to kick him once last time, but instead just leaned over him and spat on him. He looked at Shan and shook his head. The bigshot Chinese man who intimidated everyone, thought he was unbeatable, now looked pathetic lying there. Lucky took a survival knife, velcroed to his pant leg, and threw it at him hitting him in his arm. It was the piece de resistance – one final message, one last insult. Lucky then turned and stepped back into the portal and disappeared. In an instant, he was back in the room with his guys. He couldn’t see them but they saw him.
“Christ Lucky,” Mickey said, “we were just about to leave. What took you so long?”
“Long story.”
Chapter Thirty
Lucky flew back with the boys in the professor’s spacesaucer. The ship was traveling twenty-five hundred miles per hour. It could have gone a lot faster but the professor was testing its speed in increments. Lucky looked around the interior of the professor’s invention and thought to himself , ‘My enemies know of my abilities and they keep coming after me trying to learn how I do what I do. To what lengths would they go if they knew about the professor’s saucer technology?’ He shuddered to think about it.
The boys took off their invisibility suits. While great for the job, they were uncomfortable to wear while just hanging around, especially sitting. The trip back didn’t take very long. Before long, they were parked under the Triborough Bridge. The professor gently let the saucer come to rest on the manicured grass of the field situated a few feet from the concrete parking lot under the bridge. The men got into their cars and drove the short distance to the safehouse. Lucky held a brief meeting as to what had happened with Shan.
“I think Shan will be dead before this day ends,” Lucky said. Then he looked at Mickey. “Mick, I want you to do something for me tomorrow. Call Flackstein and tell him to set up a fund for aspiring inventors. Tell him to issue grants to qualified people. He’s got to do a thorough background check for whoever wants it. I was even thinking of starting an R&D department. Maybe we’ll do both. In any case, run the two scenarios by him and when I return, fill me in on what he decided to do.”
Mickey who never said much looked at Lucky, “Don’t tell me you’re going back?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ll be leaving right after this meeting. I have to decide what I’m going to do about Krystina and my son.”
“That’s pretty heavy duty, Lucky,” Mickey said.
“Yeah, this is a decision that requires a lot of thought. It’s altering history. I was thinking that if I raised him in our time, he would have the knowledge he needs to run his kingdom should he go back. I think Krystina can handle our time now. I’ve been introducing her slowly to what we have here. If they come here, I’d want our son to attend the finest colleges. It would be a tremendous advantage for him to have the educational benefits of this day and time. I have no clue if he will or will not have any of my abilities. Mine only came about as a result of my head injury, but I suppose it was there perhaps all the time, just waiting for a catalyst. Maybe I just wasn’t tuned into it. I mean, there’s a lot to figure out, to find out.”
Lucky had now been gone for six weeks and he was anxious to
get back to his Princess and to his son. Lucky walked over to the guys, shook each one’s hand and embraced them all. He thanked them for always being there for him and promised them all that their futures, monetarily, were bright. There was a genuine affection, a mutual love those boys had for one another. Lucky was a little emotional this time for some reason, and he didn’t want to choke up in front of his buddies so instead he said, “You guys know what to do. I’d like you to work it out between yourselves and take turns watching the place while I’m gone.”
When Lucky stepped out of the portal, Krystina wasn’t there. Lucky walked through the halls, past the stationary guards, whose eyes followed him as he walked past. He then walked right into the Throne Room where instinctively, everyone backed away as he walked by. King Robert, seeing Lucky approach, stood and put his arms out and motioned for him to sit next to him.
“You are here,” he said. “The wizard, has by the will of God, returned.”
Lucky was beginning to have a bad feeling.
“What is it Robert? What has happened?”
“It’s the inquisition,” the King answered. “They came in the night and took Krystina . . . and the baby.”
Lucky’s face turned red. He clenched his teeth. He breathed heavily and deeply. “Where did they take her?” he managed to ask. He knew the answer before asking the question. He turned and said to the King, “If either the Princess or my son are harmed in any way, I’ll show no mercy for those involved.”
Lucky left the Throne Room, walked to his room and pulled out a trunk from behind a curtain and opened it. He removed a reversible, camouflage mask. He turned it to its solid black side. He laid out his army combat shirt, the one that was the coolest under his hot body armor. But he wouldn’t be needing body armor today. He then took out his black army suit and his non-metallic safety toe ranger boots. After he was completely dressed, he pulled out his automatic and inserted it into a holster over his left breast. He removed three hand grenades and placed them into a velcro pouch over his right hip. He took a boot knife and velcroed the knife and scabbard over his right calf. Now he was ready. He checked once again to see if he had forgotten anything. Yes, he had. He needed his backup, so he pulled out his glock and strapped it to his ankle. Now he was ready, for sure. He sat down a moment and allowed his thoughts to float as to where the princess and his son were being held. Their location flowed into his mind vividly. He knew exactly where they were. There was no room for error. He stepped into the portal.
Lucky was now in some sort of a court room with spectators and armed men. On the dais were five priests. The priest in the center was the one who controlled the inquiry. Lucky recognized the men. He’d deal with them later but for now, he watched and listened as a narrow minded bunch of hypocritical little clergy discussed a life as if it were nothing. He saw a strange woman holding their baby.
It was time to make a dramatic entrance. The priest was in the middle of asking the Princess if she had slept with or was currently sleeping with the devil. Krystina, seated in a chair in the front of the room, was crying, asking for her baby.
Lucky suddenly appeared right alongside Krystina. She looked up at him and smiled, tears flowing harder down her face. The priests and all the others in the room gasped. One man held his hand to his heart while others looked toward the heavens as if to save them. The entire room fell silent, in shock as if they had witnessed an apparition suddenly appear before them. There he stood, a man dressed in black from head to toe. They were frightened. They could not see the man’s face, but the clothes he wore were unlike any they had ever seen. When he spoke, they trembled.
“I heard you ask the Princess where the devil was. Am I the devil you were looking for and wanted to see? You . . .” he said, pointing to one of the shaking priests, “tell me, am I the devil of which you speak?” The priest said nothing. “Speak up. I cannot hear you. Did you lose your tongue? Answer me. Am I the one you wanted to see? I am here now and I will answer for my wife.”
The priest, made several signs of the cross and finally summoned the courage to ask,“Who . . . what . . . are you?”
“I am King Robert’s wizard.” Lucky figured he might as well exaggerate a little. “I have defeated armies in the King’s name. I have saved his kingdom from crusaders and marauders. How dare you ask me who I am. Do you think your pitifully few armed guards can stop me?”
The priest rose and motioned for the guards to remove Lucky. “Take him to the dungeon. We will question him there.” The guards wanted no part of this wizard. They were frightened. The priest yelled again to them, “Take this man or lose your heads,” he said. Slowly, the men inched forward. As they closed in on him, Lucky leaned to his left and vanished before their eyes.
“Over here dolts. Come and get me,” he taunted. They rushed him once again but this time he appeared behind the chief inquisition priest with a knife to his throat. He bent down and whispered in his ear. “Tell then to back away now, or I will kill you as you sit.”
“Men, do not charge,” the priest shouted.
“Now,” Lucky said as he spread his legs defiantly and crossed his arms. “My power, my magic. Allow your eyes to see and your ears to hear.”
Lucky pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it around the room. Those in the room, on the floor, including those in the upper gallery, held their breath wondering about the strange object he held and what it would do. The silence was stilled by ten rounds of gunshots, fired in quick succession at windows and anything that would break. Glass shattered, holes appeared in the walls, people fell to their knees in shock and fear. Fire had come out of the object he was holding in his hand. This was indeed the great wizard of myth, of rumor, the man whose stories were told all throughout other kingdoms, whose stories spread like the fire he possessed. Some called it thunder from the sky; others proclaimed that the earth had moved. Many had heard of King Robert’s wizard. Now they had seen him and the powers he possessed firsthand.
Lucky holstered his gun and pointed toward the priest in charge. He motioned for him to leave the room. The priest was too frightened to move, his feet rooted to the stone cold floor. Lucky moved toward him and still the man did not move. He simply stood and watched as Lucky grabbed hold of him and they disappeared before the throng. They stepped out of the portal into a rat infested dungeon, the same one that his arch enemy, Vlad the Impaler, had used on his subjects.
“Do you like it here priest?” Lucky asked. The priest’s eyes were wide. He panned the room eyeing pathetically undernourished prisoners, listening to their wails of pain or loneliness.
“No?” Lucky asked. “Well how about here?” and they stepped out at the construction site of the great pyramid. “How about here? Would you like to stay here and help them build the great pyramid? Wait a moment, I have a place you might like.” In another second, they were among the dinosaurs. “How about here?” The priest hung his head.
“No, please take me back,” he finally managed to say. “I will release the woman and child.”
“You don’t have the power to release anyone. I alone have that power. But I’ll take you back, if you promise not to hurt anyone else, ever again, without my approval.” The priest nodded his agreement.
The two men reappeared inside the inquisition chamber, much to the surprise of everyone. Lucky turned to the spectators. “Everyone leave this building now. Get out now and do it fast.” The spectators fled the building as if it were on fire. The guards, who normally stood fast, waiting for their orders from the priests, fled too, running ahead of the priests. Lucky waited for the room to clear. It was now just the three of them – Krystina, the baby, and Lucky.
“Stay here for a moment. Wait for me,” he said as he left the room and walked toward the door. Outside, he took a stance, up high, on one of the steps, and announced, “If anyone dares to harm the royal family again, I will destroy your entire village.” He then stepped back inside the makeshift courtroom, grabbed the Princess’s hand, and told
her to hold onto his arm and not to let go, that he would help her balance the baby. Lucky removed the three hand grenades from his pouch, pulled the pins out of each of them and tossed them into three different corners of the building. At that second, he pushed Krystina into the portal, missing by seconds the exploding grenades.
The crowd watched as the building exploded, its walls collapsing on one side only. Other than that, the building still stood. It was when they entered the building that they could see the total destruction the wizard had caused. The men-at-arms searched for the bodies they thought they might find, but the priests knew they were gone and no one was about to pursue them.
The priest in charge of the inquisition, viewing the devastation nodded. “It was foretold that a great wizard would some day appear to become the protector of the king and his name was . . . Merlin.”
Shortly after Lucky’s visit, the inquisition disbanded.
Epilogue
For the first time in his life, Lucky was unsure of what to do. It was by far the most important decision he would ever make. Should he take the Princess and their child to his time, the present, full of modern day medicines and technology, full of luxuries to which so many took for granted? Could he leave her and take his son with him? No, he thought. There was nothing about that scenario that was right. Could the Princess adjust?
Krystina found Lucky in the King’s Garden. He was pacing back and forth. Lucky did not mind being interrupted by her. Her love was never an “interruption”. Her radiant smile made him come alive.
“For what reason are you solitaire, Lucky?” she asked. “Would you care to join me for the fast of the morn?”