Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:31:29 GMT
Thunderbolt: The Tibetan Connection!
By lawrenceliberty
Paul Cannon finds new dangers from an old source of evil!
1988
1
Tom Falcon glanced back over his shoulder as he raced down a darkened city street. He could not see anyone but then again he knew his pursuers could practically become invisible since they were so skilled in the arts of deception. The city street was not literally dark. There were streetlights and traffic signals and the flickering lights from passing vehicles to illuminate the cloudy night; however, Falcon felt the night was black as was life itself since he was oppressed by worries without answers and troubles that seemed to make no sense even in the light of day.
He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in a store window. He looked terrible. His hair was out of place and beard stubble dotted his otherwise pale cheeks. He wore a suit that had once been functional and clean if not stylish. Now, it was much like the owner: worn by time and use!
Suddenly, he felt them. He realized his enemies had closed in on him from two sides. How did they manage to get in front of him? He gasped for breath and whispered a desperate prayer. Would it do any good to shout for help? He didn’t see any cops and he didn’t believe they could do much against men and women who were like characters from some old film or pulp novel.
The three men and their female ally all wore matching costumes of black clothe that enabled them to almost blend into the shadows. A scarf-like mask covered each face leaving only their cold eyes to bear witness to their humanity or more accurately to their lack thereof.
“Please! Don’t hurt me! Why won’t you leave me alone? I’m a waiter. I never hurt anyone! Why are you hunting me like this?” he said.
They made no sound but as always they moved in unison. Their gloved hands reached out for him from each side. Tom Falcon glanced left and right. He saw the mysterious agents who had chased him from his home days before. He saw their relentless aggression and felt their hatred as if the emotion was a palpable, living thing. Perhaps, it was since he certainly knew it was directed at him with purpose and a focused desire for his death or capture. Then, Tom Falcon saw something more! He looked up to see a man balanced precariously on the edge of a store roof. He was dressed in red and blue and the odd garment that covered him completely was dissected down the middle with each half marked by a different solid hue. A domino mask covered the Asian man’s eyes and he moved with such grace that even Falcon in his current predicament marveled at his skill!
He dropped off the edge of roof and seemed to hang there in mid air for a second before flipping several times and landing perfectly below.
“Leave him alone! “he said in a soft but determined voice.
“This does not concern you! He will come with us!” hissed the female assassin.
The man in the costume smiled as if something had amused him.
“Surely, man’s inhumanity to man concerns us all and if it does not then truly should our concern be even greater it appeared!” In any case, this man is under my protection!” he said calmly.
The four black-clad figures charged toward him and passed him without making contact. He was suddenly behind them. He had not turned intangible like a ghost but his agility was such that he had managed to avoid them all with ease.
He placed one hand on Tom’s shoulder and nodded in a reassuring manner. He smiled as if to say that everything would be fine and that he and this stranger now shared some secret knowledge that was denied to others. He made Falcon suddenly feel better about his plight.
He lashed out with astonishing speed and a spinning kick dropped one man to the pavement. He allowed his body to continue its spin and lifted himself upward into the air so his other leg struck the second attacker with equal success. He landed and rolled forward to rise up between the other two and block their attacks while flipped backward and studying them with obvious pleasure.
“MY first ninjas since I arrived in New York. This is a red letter day!” he said.
He dived forward and caught both of them around their necks. With one seemingly simple motion, he knocked them out and left them near their previously fallen partners.
“Are you hurt, sir? My name is Thunderbolt although I am not the first to use that honored name.” he said as he turned to face Falcon. He was completely composed in spite of his exertions and showed no sign of being tired or breathless.
Tom Falcon said, “I’m okay. Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was a dead man! They’ve been after me for so long. Who are they?”
Thunderbolt said, “Where are they might be a more pertinent question since they have vanished as their kind so often do when faced with one who does not fear their shadowy presence. Come with me to my home and we will talk this matter over. There will be an answer to this dilemma you face and together we shall find it. They will return but when they come for you again, they will find me waiting.”
Falcon nodded eagerly and followed the young hero into the night. It was later than before but the night seemed a bit brighter now.
2
The Van Norton estate was one of the most impressive homes in Palantine, Illinois. It was a historic old home that had been the scene of numerous grand balls and society weddings in the previous century. For decades it had merely been the home of the last of the Van Norton’s. Percy Van Norton was in his late sixties or early seventies. He had a brilliant, thick head of white hair and the rugged handsomeness that had once made him one of society’s most notorious playboys was still evident beneath the lines on his weathered face. He was in bed with attending doctors and nurses around his sick room. He could afford the finest care but as he stirred restlessly it didn’t look as though even his family fortune could restore his vitality.
A fat doctor who looked as though he needed to practice what he preached when it came to regular exercise and healthy meals shook his head sadly. He liked old Percy Van Norton and was sorry to see his friend and patient sink into such poor health.
“I don’t think it will be long now! I only wish there was something we could do!” he said.
A nurse nodded almost fearfully. “He has no one? Even though he has all that money and this huge old house, he will die alone!”
The doctor said, “I met him before the war. He was a decorated soldier in World War II in direct contrast to the life he had led before the war. I’d have called him a dullard back then. He was so dense. He was…well…stupid and languid. After the war, he became something of a world traveler. He spent years in the Far East. As you can see by the décor, he loved the antiques and the culture of the Asian world. I don’t know why he just seemed to wither away after losing his wife. I understand about grief. I lost my Agnes three years ago myself but Percy just crumbled mentally and physically after his wife passed away!”
At that moment, Percy opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. He failed to do more than just catch the doctor’s eye.
“The book! Bring me the book!” he said in a weak and rasping voice.
The nurse said, “What book does he want?”
The physician shook his head. “I don’t know but it is clearly important to him. I admit I never thought of him as a reader! He was never what I’d call an intellectual or even a collector of books!”
He leaned closer to the old man’s bed and said, “What book do you want? Where is it? I’ll get it for you at once!”
Percy said, “Safe. Look in safe. Combination is my birthday!”
The doctor hurried over to the large wall safe that rested behind a painting of a younger Percy and his late wife Judy. He knew the location well since he was in fact Percy’s closest friend.
He smiled ruefully as he made the necessary adjustments and opened the safe.
“It is just like Van Norton to use something as obvious as his birthday as a combination. Then again, he never did seem to fear anything in all the time I knew him!”
He frowned as he saw a few legal documents and the outline in dust of what had been a book.
“It is gone although clearly a book rested in this safe for many years!” he mused as he glanced across the room to where his old friend groaned and then fell into an uneasy sleep.
3
Thunderbolt II (Paul Cannon) sat across from Tom Falcon as the troubled man readily ate the meal that Cannon’s friend Priya Singh had prepared. The pretty Indian woman was in fact a medical student but she seemed skilled at various domestic arts no doubt learned during the years she had cared for her widowed father Dr. Tabu Singh. Dr. Sigh himself sat nearby and the father-daughter duo listened intently as Paul questioned their guest.
“Those warriors wore garments that came from Tibet. I suspect they were in fact Chinese but they did have training like the warriors so well known in Western popular culture as ninjas! am new to America and have only lived in this home which belongs to my father for a short time. I grew up in Tibet under very unusual but happy circumstances. I am learning new things each day that I spend here in America with my good friends the Singhs. I will help you as much as I can if you will tell me your own story!” he said.
Tom Falcon said, “Thank you all. I am a waiter. I work at Delvecchio’s near Queens. I was raised by my mother. She died a few years ago. I never knew my father. He was a scientist named Phillip Falcon. From what Ma said one day, he was involved in some pretty weird stuff back in the forties. She would never talk about him. I only mention it because I can’t think of any reason an ordinary guy like me would become the target of some kind of cult! They broke into my home and I barely got away. They’ve been after me ever since! I don’t know who they are or what they want! Ma and I were just regular folks. My father may have been different but like I said, I never knew him.”
Dr. Singh said, “Your father was known to me by reputation. You see, like Thunderbolt and me, he also was known in Tibet. He visited there and stories of his adventures were village gossip during my own youth.”
Priya smiled and said, “Ah, the Tibetan Connection! “
Tabu said, “That sounds entirely too much like the thrillers my daughter loves to read when she should be attending to her medical textbooks!”
Priya laughed loudly and tossed back her long, back hair. Paul admired her as she bantered with her father. He had developed a strong affection for her in the short time since she had accompanied him from the home in Tibet where he had been raised by Peter Cannon his adoptive father and the original Action Hero called Thunderbolt.
Paul said, “Please tell us more, Dr. Singh! My own esteemed father mentioned the oddly large number of Westerners who had adventures of one kind of another in Tibet. There was a super human man named Fred Carson, a mystic of sorts known as the Green Lama, a journalist named Jack Flynn, and..!”
Tabu said, “Yes, and several others but to get back to the point I was trying to make when Priya interjected her attempt at humor, Dr. Falcon was a scientist who invented a machine that enabled him to travel through another dimension that he called the 4th dimension! He did in fact oppose an evil genius in Tibet before the war.”
Priya smoothed the hem of the short red dress she was wearing and said, “I was serious. I assumed from the way you described your foes that they had some tie to Tibet. When father mentioned Dr. Falcon also visited that remote spot I suspected a connection!”
She playfully stuck her tongue out at her father who shook his head and then smiled with affection.
“My wayward daughter has a point although her demeanor often suggests correctly that she is entirely too pleased with herself!” he said.
Paul jumped to his feet and said, “Someone is here! “
He moved swiftly across the room and stopped at an empty spot near a bookcase.
He suddenly grabbed what appeared to be thin air and as he pulled at this blank space, a pretty girl fell into his arms as if she had materialized out of nothing,
As she snuggled closer to him, a girlish giggle filled the room. Paul glanced down at a lovely young woman with long wavy blonde hair and a heart-shaped face with delicate but flawless features. She was wearing or barely wearing a brief pink harem costume and slippers.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Zanzi the Magician. I was only able to slip in unseen because of my powers of illusion. You certainly are as capable as legend suggests. I doubt even your father could have detected my presence that quickly!” she said in a rather breathless tone of voice.
Tom said, “How did you do that? She was invisible!”
The girl said, “Not exactly. I just cast an illusion of empty space where I was standing. It works out to about the same thing as being invisible!”
Thunderbolt said, “I did not see her. I detected her perfume and heard her breathing.”
Priya thought, “Cheap perfume!”
Thunderbolt continued, “Zanzi? Your father is Zanzibar the Magician! He studied the ways of the East as well! My father called him the second greatest magic user of them all!”
Paul released her as Tabu and the others approached them.
Zanzi flounced across the room and said, “Well! I like that! Second best indeed! I suppose you think that stuffed shirt Yarko is superior! My father is a true hero. He sent me here to warn you about a threat that may menace us all.”
Thunderbolt said, “I meant no disrespect. Zanzibar and Yarko are both legendary. Your loyalty to your father is a worthy trait. Please tell us more!”
Priya eyed the exotic blonde with a look of pure disdain. “My legs are better than hers!” she thought.
Zanzi stared at them with large blue eyes that were heavily painted with a pinkish hue of mascara.
“Sorry. Dad had a nervous breakdown a while back. It was caused by my mother’s death. He did some things that he regrets. He is using all his resources to correct those misdeeds now that he is fully recovered. He also detected the threat I came here to warn you about. A powerful man from Tibet is seeking items of power associated with that mystical land. He has sent those warriors that I overheard you speak of to track down those who possessed them! He means to use them to conquer the world! This information came to father in a trance while he was in Africa!” she said.
Priya adjusted one red high heel and said, “Of course it did!”
Tabu frowned at his daughter as Paul said, “ I assume this villain thinks Tom here has something of power that his father originally possessed like the dimensional travel machine!”
Zanzi shrugged and swung her legs back and forth as she perched on a stool.
“I don’t see how a machine could relate to magical relics but you are the hero of this case! Any girl could tell that!” She fluttered her eye lashes at Paul who seemed both intrigued and discomforted by her attentions.
Thunderbolt was rather pensive as he listened. He had been abandoned as an infant by his real father a Chinese genius and wizard known as the Hooded One. Peter Cannon was his father’s most hated enemy. He had raised the baby as his own son and now Paul had only love and respect for the only father he had ever known. Indeed, he felt he owed everything he was to the benign influence of the remarkable Peter Cannon. Still, whenever he heard any story about villainy, he wondered if the father he never knew was behind it.
Tabu said, “I think we should locate the other relics and alert those who may be in danger. I don’t believe any of the heroes you named before actually used such items. Carson’s ring was largely symbolic.”
Tom said, “I don’t have any machine like the one my father created. I don’t even know what such a device would look like, I’m a waiter. That’s all!”
Zanzi said, “So wait. We’ll take care of you. I am an illusionist. I can’t work magic like my father. I do have the ability to become attuned to certain mystical vibrations. I can locate other sources of Tibetan magic in the area!”
Tom said, “What about me?”
Thunderbolt said, “Stay here with Priya and Tabu. This home has certain secrets of its own that should enable you to remain concealed from any foe!”
Priya stood up and gestured to Falcon.
“It’s okay. This mansion was actually built by a Prohibition era bootlegger. He lined the lower level with hidden passages that weave their way under the heart of the city. We have several safe houses in reach from the main tunnel!”
She glanced down at her designer dress and heels.
“And to think I was making fun of Zanzi’s outfit. I’m not exactly dressed for sewer diving!” she mused.
4
Thunderbolt hurried toward a brownstone as Zanzi followed in his wake.
“We are too late!” he said as he pointed to where eight of the black clad warriors were rushing out of the house.
He raced forward and dived into their midst. He jabbed one warrior in the neck and then shoved his falling body into two others. He kicked them backward and then flipped through the air to crash into two others. He dodged a knife thrust and brought his knee up to disarm his attacker. A quick wrestling toss enabled him to send another warrior down to the lawn.
He received several blows as the remaining attackers tried to overwhelm him with sheer numbers but he continued fighting and managed to avoid their blows as he focused his amazing powers of concentration.
He noticed Zanzi had raced into the brownstone and he assumed the girl could handle herself if more of their foes were within.
“Your efforts are senseless. True power comes from restraint and self-awareness not from the acquisition of any material item!” he said.
He ducked as a warrior swung at him and then knocked him out with one punch.
He hurried by the final fallen foe and entered the brownstone to a scene of horror.
Flames flickered across the walls and the roof and cast a lurid glow over three prone figures.
Zanzi hurried to his side and said, “We are too late. I can’t revive them!”
Thunderbolt nodded and said, “Get out and summon the fire fighters and paramedics. I will do what I can!”
Zanzi stared at him with a look of sorrow on her pretty features. Gone was any trace of the brassy demeanor she had assumed during their initial meeting. Clearly, she had inherited her father’s sense of theatricality as well his the power to cast illusions. Beneath the bubbly persona, she was a serious and concerned young woman.
“It’s too late. No one could survive those flames!” she cried.
“I can! I must! I will!” declared Thunderbolt as he concentrated and summoned the mental and physical disciplines he had been taught from childhood by his father.
He grabbed a curtain from the window and wrapped it around his body as he jumped over the flames, and grabbed the oldest of the three victims. The bald man was still breathing and had not been burned yet.
He scooped up a pretty woman with long brown hair and then bent his legs and leaped up and over the rapidly spreading flames once more.
As he gently placed them safely outside, he saw the gleaming lights of a fire truck approaching from the end of the street,
He glanced up and saw a gigantic fireman looming over the brownstone and pointed toward the burning building. Clearly, Zanzi had made the most of her abilities to draw attention to the fire even before its smoke could be seen from across the city.
He drew a deep breath and hurried back in only to stop as a rain of flaming rubble crashed down in front of him.
Thunderbolt drew back his fist. He could smash his way through the rubble but would that truly accomplish anything as far as saving the final victim? Surely the poor man’s body was ignited by now!
“Looking for me, son?” said a deep voice.
As he fought to see through the choking cloud of smoke, he saw a man in a bright red costume who seemed to be merging from within the smoke itself like some post modern djinn!
They hurried outside to where Zanzi and some paramedics were treating the other man and woman.
“Stay back, gentleman. This is something I was born to do!” announced the costumed man.
He spread his arms wide and suddenly the flames flowed away from the building and the structure itself seemed to be restored! The heat diminished as a swirling funnel of fire engulfed him and then vanished!
“That was incredible!” gasped Zanzi.
“Not really. My husband has been doing that kind of thing for years!” said the brown haired woman who sat up unharmed and took the hand of the remaining older man as he was placed on a stretcher by the paramedics. There was no sign of the beaten warriors in black. They had vanished once again upon their defeat.
“Is he hurt?” asked the man in red as he hurried over to join his wife and their friend.
“No! Jarvis was just stunned. I think his enhanced vitality will help him shake off any ill effects of the fire or the attack! The poor dear!” said the brunette.
The man in red was stared at by the firefighters with genuine awe on their features. He was a legend to most of the city and especially to men in their profession.
“The Flame! I can’t believe it is really him!” said one onlooker as a crowd gathered outside the now cool and partially restored structure.
Thunderbolt said, “You’re the Flame? I have heard of you. I need your help!”
The Flame said, “Linda, go with Jarvis. I will join you after I thank this youngster.”
Zanzi said, “I’m Zanzi. You remember me from when my father had his..problems?”
The Flame said, “Of course. I hope he is not ill again!”
Zanzi said, “He is fine. He sent me to warn you. Someone seeks your Tibetan lore!”
The Flame said, “Maybe, I better explain a bit about myself. I’m Gary Parsons. I’m also known as the Flame although I was more active during the war years than I have been since then. My wife Linda Dale Parsons is Flame Girl. Jarvis is our friend and family butler. He first started working for me before I ever become a costumed hero in the thirties. His father worked for my parents as well!”
Thunderbolt said, “The attackers were after the secret of your super powers over flames or your prolonged vitality!”
The Flame nodded and said, “Yes, and they clearly knew what they were looking for and where to find it. I stopped worrying about a secret identity back in the sixties. Linda and I and Jarvis stopped aging for the most part and there seemed no need to worry about that kind of thing. As I said, we semi-retired after the war. There was even a young woman who called herself the Flame II but she had nothing to do with us and we never met her.”
Thunderbolt said, “What is your connection to Tibet? That seems to be the key to this riddle!”
The Flame said, “My folks died in a flood in Tibet. I was raised at a lamasery. The lamas taught me secrets of the elders that enabled me to master one element. The alignment of the stars at my birth made fire the element I was born to command. I am immune to heat and can absorb it or regulate my own body temperature or travel via flames from one fire to another. I came back to America and became a private inquiry agent and costumed hero. Later, Linda gained similar powers and in time we passed certain formulas on to Jarvis to prolong his own vitality. None of us have really aged that much in the last fifty years although my hair is thinning a bit.”
Zanzi said, “What formula granted you such vitality?”
The Flame said, “We call it the elixir of the elders and it does give the drinker a type of personal fountain of youth. That formula was what those thugs took off with!”
Zanzi said, “We may still stop them. They also seek other Tibet items of power like one that I sense will be found in the Alleghany mountains near Hexville!”
As they walked around to the back of the building, the Flame led them to a large lot on which a hangar rested. He shoved open the metal doors with what had to be super human strength and revealed a bright red plane with an odd design.
“Don’t worry. My autogyro plane will take off vertically. We casn depart right now from here with no difficulty!”
“So we are going to visit him? He should be a great help to us!” said the Flame.
“Who?” asked Thunderbolt.
Zanzi smiled again with some of her former sassy manner.
“Your father’s candidate for magician number 1: Yarko the Great!”
5
Yarko the Great was already deep in battle with a hoard of the silent warriors in black. He was a handsome man with a charisma and confidence all his own. He wore a black suit with a pale white turban. His eyes flashed with a magical energy as he faced his foes in the confines of his small home in the mountains.
“You will regret this intrusion!” he announced as he faced the invaders and glared at them.
They moved forward in unison and gasped as he seemed to swell up in size before their eyes. Before they could stop their charge, he scooped them up in both hands as if they were the dolls they now resembled.
“Who sent you? If you hope to regain your normal sizes, then speak the name of the fool who dared disturb Yarko the Great!” he said in a stentorian tone.
He concentrated and then smiled coldly.
“Your minds are clouded by your dark master’s icy touch. You can not betray him even should you wish to do so! You are pawns but I shall still punish you for your deeds. You will regain your sizes in a few weeks!” he said.
“Now, where is my cat?” he said as he glanced around the room.
Before he could resume his “cat and mouse” game with the stricken intruders, a larger figure stepped out of the shadows and knocked him to the ground with one hand.
He grunted and started to get up when the huge man kicked him in the face and left him stunned on the ground.
The brutal attacker grabbed the red gem from Yarko’s turban and stepped dismissively over the tiny warriors left behind. Like their allies, they turned to smoke seconds later as well.
Yarko groaned and sat up moments after the thief had departed. He was a strong man himself and possessed an impressive constitution.
He greeted the Flame as the hero suddenly emerged from a candle on the mantle.
“Yarko. I am sorry I arrived too late! My plane is coming on autopilot even as we speak! We are after the same men who harmed you!” he said.
Yarko seemed unfazed by his old friend’s appearance.
“My jaw wishes you had been a bit timelier! For all of my superhuman posturing I felt that blow like any other man!” he said with a grimace.
Later as Yarko, Zanzi, the Flame, and Thunderbolt sat aboard the autogyo plane, Yarko said, “The last known Tibetan relic of power is not in the U.S.A. I sense it has been taken. The Book of Wisdom was stolen from the Illinois home of Percy Van Norton days ago!”
The Flame said,”Van Norton was a mystery man back in the forties. I think he gained super strength from the book you mentioned. At least that is what one of the lamas who raised me said.”
Thunderbolt said, “My father is still in Tibet. Perhaps, he could stop this foe there if that is indeed his place of concealment!”
Yarko said, “I respect your father greatly. Yet, I sense that this crisis is not his to avert. I think another man will determine our victory or defeat but as yet I cannot say who he is!”
Thunderbolt frowned as he noticed how intently Yarko seemed to glare at him.
“Does he detect some taint from the evil of my birth father? Does he sense that I am the son of the Hooded One himself? Does he know me better than I know myself?” he mused.
Meanwhile, in a small house Priya, Tabu, and Tom Falcon sat in front of a large book.
“I maintained certain records that detail the adventures of the original Thunderbolt and his foes. I also have a few clippings that relate to other individuals of interest. It was always my desire to learn as much as I could in order to be of more use to my friend. One such clipping describes your father. Phillip “Flick” or “Flip” Falcon was a brilliant man. He disappeared in 1969 a few months before your own birth!” said Tabu.
Priya said, “Do you suppose he left this dimension via the machine he created? He may be in another world or time!”
Tom shrugged and said, “I don’t know. This stuff is way to heavy for me. I flunked math in school.”
Priya said, “Someone is coming! I think we’ve been discovered!”
Tabu said, “Take Tom and get away. I will stay behind and delay any foe!”
Dr. Singh was sincere and brave but a back injury had slowed him down and he was certainly no match for the warriors in black as they swarmed into the house and quickly captured the three occupants.
Tom struggled but he was no fighter. Priya was very capable and managed to stun one of the warriors before falling victim to the others.
As she fell, she thought, “Paul, you’ve got to come through for us! You’ve just got to!”
6
Meanwhile, as Thunderbolt II (Paul Cannon) turned to listen to Yarko the magician explained more about his own circumstances.
“I studied in Tibet and India as a young man and learned much in each location; however, the gemstone taken from me tonight was merely a decorative stone. It has no inherent magical properties!” he said.
Zanzi said, “I can trace all the stolen items to Tibet. Our foe has taken them there and clearly can travel faster than we can!”
The Flame said, “My plane is faster than any conventional model but based on what I’ve seen of those warriors, they can disappear at will!”
Zanzi said, “I can detect the stolen items in a particular lamasery in Tibet.”
Thunderbolt II said, “I was raised in and near such a place as was the Flame. I know such centers to be places of prayer and spiritual growth although even in such figurative gardens may be found serpents!”
The Flame nodded and said, “I had a friend who was an action hero during the pre-war years. He was called Thor. He fought a mad lama who was bent on world domination!”
The rugged Himalayas came into view and in moments the swift craft had brought them over small villages and scenes of rustic beauty. The plane landed vertically on one snowy plain within a small valley where an elaborate lamasery rested as the solitary structure in sight.
Zanzi said, “I concealed our arrival with an illusion but if this thief is as capable as we think, he may have higher degrees of perception than an ordinary man!”
They climbed out of the red plane and approached the silent structure.
The Flame said, “I can scout ahead. I sense a fire within the building.”
He vanished into smoke and reappeared over a flame that crackled in an open fireplace.
He frowned as he saw twelve of the ninjas. They charged in from each side and the hero in red met them with his own mixture of enhanced strength and elevated body temperature.
“I owe you boys something for what you did to my friend Jarvis!” he said as he crashed into them and began pounding away. He had semi-retired from the role of action hero many years before but he still relished the excitement of such a role and he felt confirmation once more than he was meant to be a hero.
He was successful in his attempt to drive them backward and he began to wonder how these skilled but not super strong warriors managed to down him and his wife before.
Then, a dark figure loomed over the battle and walked menacingly toward him. He was larger than any of the others and he glared at the Flame with inhuman eyes. He showed none of the discomfort that the increased heat generated by the Flame caused the other normal sized men and women.
The Flame nodded resolutely and approached the big man. He was unafraid in fact some part of him thrilled to the old feeling of daring that had sustained him as a young man newly come to America from the Tibetan lamasery in which he had been raised. The lamas had been men of peace but Gary Parsons combined a desire to help others with a desire for adventure. Now, though older, he still felt the exact same way!
As the Flame resumed his solitary battle, the others entered and swiftly found themselves surrounded by more of the black clad warriors.
Yarko’s expressive eyes widened and the nearest attackers stiffened as if under some mental compulsion to yield!
Zanzi waited and watched for the right moment to make the appropriate use of her own powers of illusion.
Thunderbolt was already in motion as a being of grace and skill who wasted no motion and made every action meaningful.
As he deftly dodged and stunned the warrior’s, he frowned as his keen senses detected the approach of newcomers . The clatter of high heels, the scent of a familiar perfume, all led him to recognize Priya’s presence even before several of the warriors shoved her forward along with her father and a clearly frightened Tom Falcon.
He noticed all of them were unharmed and he smiled at them as if to offer some silent reassurance.
Tabu was clearly unafraid but concern for his daughter was clear to see on his face.
A gaunt man in a green and gold robe approached. He had gray hair tied back in an elaborate braid and and long beard and goatee covered the lower part of his wizened face.
He smiled coldly as he looked at the heroes and his silent warriors.
“My name is Chang. I have waited a long time for this day. Much planning has gone into thus most happy of meetings!” he said.
Yarko said, “You won’t achieve anything by the acquisition of the book, the gemstone, and the elixir. We will prevent you from employing those items that actually contain mystical power!”
Chang laughed and said, “I beg to disagree but more to the point I have already achieved my most cherished ambition by having that young gentleman in my humble home!”
He gestured toward Falcon who shook his head and said, “I don’t understand. I don’t know you!”
Chang said, “But your missing father was in fact most instrumental in inflicting much pain upon me many years ago! In his absence, you shall serve as the object of my long desired revenge!”
Zanzi gasped in pain as two of the warriors grabbed her from behind. Her effort to avoid them via an illusion had failed.
Three of them approached and dropped the battered body of the Flame before her feet.
“I regret your ally failed to best my own colleague!” announced Chang.
The large being who had so easily dealt with the Flame and Yarko in their homes came out of the shadows.
Yarko moved forward to confront him but the powerful mage was too slow. The beast in black moved faster and again knocked him to the ground.
Thunderbolt moved closer and stepped between his friends and the huge figure in black.
“He moves with speed and strikes with strength beyond the capabilities of a human!” said Thunderbolt.
Chang nodded and said, “Remove your veil. Allow our prisoners to see you in all your alien glory!”
The giant tore away his own veil to reveal brilliant golden skin and long black hair. He was clearly not from Earth!
“He was given the insipid appellation of Lunar upon his initial arrival on this planet back in the thirties. He belongs to me body and soul and I have greatly enjoyed using his limitless might against you all! Phillip Falcon used his 4-D machine to thwart my own youthful ambitions and I have waited far too long for the means to get revenge upon him or in this case upon his spawn! I lacked the means to do so until I was approached by one who offered me use of these shadow warriors and told me where to find the Tibetan relics of power! I merely made use of his kindly offered resources to seek my own goal of gaining power over Mr. Falcon here! My patron need not know of my personal vendetta!” said Chang.
Falcon said, “Please! Don’t hurt them! If you hate me then kill me but let them go!”
Chang grinned and said, “Noble of you. I had dismissed you as one lacking all courage!”
Yarko groaned and tried to sit up.
“There is much more to Mr. Falcon than you realize!” he said.
Chang shrugged and said, “Really? Then perhaps the wise man should merely end his life now rather than prolong anticipated pleasures to come! Kill him, Lunar!”
Lunar lurched forward toward Tom Falcon even as Thunderbolt blocked his path and dodged one massive arm as it swung toward him.
He said, “You are an unwilling pawn of this man’s evil! I ask you to resist him and join us in friendship!”
Lunar scowled and grabbed for the smaller man but once more Thunderbolt narrowly avoid his grasp.
He flipped forward and landed with both feet squarely against Lunar’s chest but the alien merely shrugged off the impact and send Paul Cannon tumbling backward.
Priya screamed, “Look out!”
Lunar scooped up Thunderbolt and crushed him within a powerful wrestling hold even as the young man began to focus and channel his own force of will power!
“I can! I must! I will!” he whispered as he regulated his breathing and drew upon the mental and physical resources that were denied to ordinary men.
He trembled with the effort but managed to break Lunar’s hold. He regained his feet and lashed out again and again with blows designed to stun the huge alien.
Slowly he made some progress in staggering Lunar but he realized that if he was to succeed in bringing this crisis to a conclusion he would have to take more drastic actions!
Thunderbolt concentrated and drew back one hand before driving it against Lunar’s head with devastating impact!
Lunar crashed to the ground and Chang screamed in rage.
“Kill them! Kill them now!” he bellowed,
Thunderbolt hesitated and then turned to Falcon as if guided by some inner voice or unspoken awareness!
“Help him use his own inner power!”
“Father?” he gasped as he felt with some certainty that it was his father’s voice that echoed within his mind in his hour of need. He knew Peter Cannon had spent eons mastering various skills found only in the ancient scrolls of power he alone had studied!
He smiled as he looked over at Falcon.
“You never met your father but he did indeed pass on certain gifts to you. He was saturated with the energies of his 4-D machine and you were born with such untapped energies within your own cells! Breath slowly and concentrate on my voice! Be calm and feel the truth of my words!” he said.
Tom Falcon obeyed as Thunderbolt guided him in accessing at least a small portion of the force of will potential found within all humans!
As the black warriors and Chang himself closed in on them, Tom’s body glowed with a red aura that outlined his body and then surged forward to touch the warriors and their furious master.
They vanished and all was still.
“What happened?” gasped Tom as he fell backward into Tabu’s arms.
“You used the innate 4-D energies you were born with to teleport them all through time and space much like your father was able to do with his machine!” said Yarko as he stood up and Zanzi helped revive the Flame.
Tom said, “I’ve never done anything like that before but now I can feel power surging through my body! How did you do it? How did you help me tap into it?”
Tabu said, “The Thunderbolt is unlike anyone else. He can, must, and will achieve miracles!”
Priya rushed forward and kissed Paul Cannon as the young hero received congratulations from the others.
The lamasery was now empty and in a matter of moments, they located the stolen items.
“He took them for some unknown master but we’ve secured them once more!” said Yarko.
Thunderbolt said, “I feel sorry for the alien named Lunar. He was a slave!”
Tabu said, “All men and women become slaves when they surrender to their baser natures! Perhaps, he will find freedom and peace yet!”
Falcon said, “I don’t know where I sent them. I didn’t exactly think before doing it!”
Yarko said, “You are much more than a mortal man. You are the 4-D Man now!”
“I suppose this is a victory but I feel only a sense of dread!” thought Thunderbolt.
Elsewhere, Fennu Zai heian Zhong the Hooded One, smiled behind the iron plate that held his shattered face together. Chang’s failure had been a planned victory for him. His only audience was made of the retrieved shadow warriors and the silent alien called Lunar.
“I let the fool Chang believe that I wanted him to secure those useless relics for me when in truth I only wanted the revenge-mad dolt to acquire Phillip Falcon’s son so I could remotely tap into his 4-D energies for my own purposes. I could not let Chang realize how valuable young Falcon truly could be. I also wanted to see my long lost son in action. He is everything I hoped he would be and of course what I want most for him is for him to be a living weapon that I may use to end the life of my most hated enemy his adoptive father Peter Cannon!”
The Hooded One laughed as his own body glowed with the same red energy that had come from Falcon’s body hours before! The Master Schemer had many plans for the future!
Epilogue days later
Within the once silent bedroom of Percy Van Norton a startled doctor and nurse looked in disbelief as their formerly frail patient bellowed with robust laughter.
He held the recovered Book of the Ancients and smiled with sheer pleasure. His thick white hair was now dark black and his frail body rippled with muscles and new vitality.
“You’ve become a young man again!” cried the nurse.
Percy grinned broadly and said, “Yeah, all it took was contact with my favorite book. Reading it over and over as a kid made me into a regular superman. I packed it away when I got married and never thought much about it until I lost my wife and became ill. I guess it has given me a second chance at life and I’m sure going to make the most of it!”
It was a new beginning for Percy Van Norton and it would lead him down a remarkable path unlike anything he had experienced in his youth!
By lawrenceliberty
Paul Cannon finds new dangers from an old source of evil!
1988
1
Tom Falcon glanced back over his shoulder as he raced down a darkened city street. He could not see anyone but then again he knew his pursuers could practically become invisible since they were so skilled in the arts of deception. The city street was not literally dark. There were streetlights and traffic signals and the flickering lights from passing vehicles to illuminate the cloudy night; however, Falcon felt the night was black as was life itself since he was oppressed by worries without answers and troubles that seemed to make no sense even in the light of day.
He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in a store window. He looked terrible. His hair was out of place and beard stubble dotted his otherwise pale cheeks. He wore a suit that had once been functional and clean if not stylish. Now, it was much like the owner: worn by time and use!
Suddenly, he felt them. He realized his enemies had closed in on him from two sides. How did they manage to get in front of him? He gasped for breath and whispered a desperate prayer. Would it do any good to shout for help? He didn’t see any cops and he didn’t believe they could do much against men and women who were like characters from some old film or pulp novel.
The three men and their female ally all wore matching costumes of black clothe that enabled them to almost blend into the shadows. A scarf-like mask covered each face leaving only their cold eyes to bear witness to their humanity or more accurately to their lack thereof.
“Please! Don’t hurt me! Why won’t you leave me alone? I’m a waiter. I never hurt anyone! Why are you hunting me like this?” he said.
They made no sound but as always they moved in unison. Their gloved hands reached out for him from each side. Tom Falcon glanced left and right. He saw the mysterious agents who had chased him from his home days before. He saw their relentless aggression and felt their hatred as if the emotion was a palpable, living thing. Perhaps, it was since he certainly knew it was directed at him with purpose and a focused desire for his death or capture. Then, Tom Falcon saw something more! He looked up to see a man balanced precariously on the edge of a store roof. He was dressed in red and blue and the odd garment that covered him completely was dissected down the middle with each half marked by a different solid hue. A domino mask covered the Asian man’s eyes and he moved with such grace that even Falcon in his current predicament marveled at his skill!
He dropped off the edge of roof and seemed to hang there in mid air for a second before flipping several times and landing perfectly below.
“Leave him alone! “he said in a soft but determined voice.
“This does not concern you! He will come with us!” hissed the female assassin.
The man in the costume smiled as if something had amused him.
“Surely, man’s inhumanity to man concerns us all and if it does not then truly should our concern be even greater it appeared!” In any case, this man is under my protection!” he said calmly.
The four black-clad figures charged toward him and passed him without making contact. He was suddenly behind them. He had not turned intangible like a ghost but his agility was such that he had managed to avoid them all with ease.
He placed one hand on Tom’s shoulder and nodded in a reassuring manner. He smiled as if to say that everything would be fine and that he and this stranger now shared some secret knowledge that was denied to others. He made Falcon suddenly feel better about his plight.
He lashed out with astonishing speed and a spinning kick dropped one man to the pavement. He allowed his body to continue its spin and lifted himself upward into the air so his other leg struck the second attacker with equal success. He landed and rolled forward to rise up between the other two and block their attacks while flipped backward and studying them with obvious pleasure.
“MY first ninjas since I arrived in New York. This is a red letter day!” he said.
He dived forward and caught both of them around their necks. With one seemingly simple motion, he knocked them out and left them near their previously fallen partners.
“Are you hurt, sir? My name is Thunderbolt although I am not the first to use that honored name.” he said as he turned to face Falcon. He was completely composed in spite of his exertions and showed no sign of being tired or breathless.
Tom Falcon said, “I’m okay. Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was a dead man! They’ve been after me for so long. Who are they?”
Thunderbolt said, “Where are they might be a more pertinent question since they have vanished as their kind so often do when faced with one who does not fear their shadowy presence. Come with me to my home and we will talk this matter over. There will be an answer to this dilemma you face and together we shall find it. They will return but when they come for you again, they will find me waiting.”
Falcon nodded eagerly and followed the young hero into the night. It was later than before but the night seemed a bit brighter now.
2
The Van Norton estate was one of the most impressive homes in Palantine, Illinois. It was a historic old home that had been the scene of numerous grand balls and society weddings in the previous century. For decades it had merely been the home of the last of the Van Norton’s. Percy Van Norton was in his late sixties or early seventies. He had a brilliant, thick head of white hair and the rugged handsomeness that had once made him one of society’s most notorious playboys was still evident beneath the lines on his weathered face. He was in bed with attending doctors and nurses around his sick room. He could afford the finest care but as he stirred restlessly it didn’t look as though even his family fortune could restore his vitality.
A fat doctor who looked as though he needed to practice what he preached when it came to regular exercise and healthy meals shook his head sadly. He liked old Percy Van Norton and was sorry to see his friend and patient sink into such poor health.
“I don’t think it will be long now! I only wish there was something we could do!” he said.
A nurse nodded almost fearfully. “He has no one? Even though he has all that money and this huge old house, he will die alone!”
The doctor said, “I met him before the war. He was a decorated soldier in World War II in direct contrast to the life he had led before the war. I’d have called him a dullard back then. He was so dense. He was…well…stupid and languid. After the war, he became something of a world traveler. He spent years in the Far East. As you can see by the décor, he loved the antiques and the culture of the Asian world. I don’t know why he just seemed to wither away after losing his wife. I understand about grief. I lost my Agnes three years ago myself but Percy just crumbled mentally and physically after his wife passed away!”
At that moment, Percy opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. He failed to do more than just catch the doctor’s eye.
“The book! Bring me the book!” he said in a weak and rasping voice.
The nurse said, “What book does he want?”
The physician shook his head. “I don’t know but it is clearly important to him. I admit I never thought of him as a reader! He was never what I’d call an intellectual or even a collector of books!”
He leaned closer to the old man’s bed and said, “What book do you want? Where is it? I’ll get it for you at once!”
Percy said, “Safe. Look in safe. Combination is my birthday!”
The doctor hurried over to the large wall safe that rested behind a painting of a younger Percy and his late wife Judy. He knew the location well since he was in fact Percy’s closest friend.
He smiled ruefully as he made the necessary adjustments and opened the safe.
“It is just like Van Norton to use something as obvious as his birthday as a combination. Then again, he never did seem to fear anything in all the time I knew him!”
He frowned as he saw a few legal documents and the outline in dust of what had been a book.
“It is gone although clearly a book rested in this safe for many years!” he mused as he glanced across the room to where his old friend groaned and then fell into an uneasy sleep.
3
Thunderbolt II (Paul Cannon) sat across from Tom Falcon as the troubled man readily ate the meal that Cannon’s friend Priya Singh had prepared. The pretty Indian woman was in fact a medical student but she seemed skilled at various domestic arts no doubt learned during the years she had cared for her widowed father Dr. Tabu Singh. Dr. Sigh himself sat nearby and the father-daughter duo listened intently as Paul questioned their guest.
“Those warriors wore garments that came from Tibet. I suspect they were in fact Chinese but they did have training like the warriors so well known in Western popular culture as ninjas! am new to America and have only lived in this home which belongs to my father for a short time. I grew up in Tibet under very unusual but happy circumstances. I am learning new things each day that I spend here in America with my good friends the Singhs. I will help you as much as I can if you will tell me your own story!” he said.
Tom Falcon said, “Thank you all. I am a waiter. I work at Delvecchio’s near Queens. I was raised by my mother. She died a few years ago. I never knew my father. He was a scientist named Phillip Falcon. From what Ma said one day, he was involved in some pretty weird stuff back in the forties. She would never talk about him. I only mention it because I can’t think of any reason an ordinary guy like me would become the target of some kind of cult! They broke into my home and I barely got away. They’ve been after me ever since! I don’t know who they are or what they want! Ma and I were just regular folks. My father may have been different but like I said, I never knew him.”
Dr. Singh said, “Your father was known to me by reputation. You see, like Thunderbolt and me, he also was known in Tibet. He visited there and stories of his adventures were village gossip during my own youth.”
Priya smiled and said, “Ah, the Tibetan Connection! “
Tabu said, “That sounds entirely too much like the thrillers my daughter loves to read when she should be attending to her medical textbooks!”
Priya laughed loudly and tossed back her long, back hair. Paul admired her as she bantered with her father. He had developed a strong affection for her in the short time since she had accompanied him from the home in Tibet where he had been raised by Peter Cannon his adoptive father and the original Action Hero called Thunderbolt.
Paul said, “Please tell us more, Dr. Singh! My own esteemed father mentioned the oddly large number of Westerners who had adventures of one kind of another in Tibet. There was a super human man named Fred Carson, a mystic of sorts known as the Green Lama, a journalist named Jack Flynn, and..!”
Tabu said, “Yes, and several others but to get back to the point I was trying to make when Priya interjected her attempt at humor, Dr. Falcon was a scientist who invented a machine that enabled him to travel through another dimension that he called the 4th dimension! He did in fact oppose an evil genius in Tibet before the war.”
Priya smoothed the hem of the short red dress she was wearing and said, “I was serious. I assumed from the way you described your foes that they had some tie to Tibet. When father mentioned Dr. Falcon also visited that remote spot I suspected a connection!”
She playfully stuck her tongue out at her father who shook his head and then smiled with affection.
“My wayward daughter has a point although her demeanor often suggests correctly that she is entirely too pleased with herself!” he said.
Paul jumped to his feet and said, “Someone is here! “
He moved swiftly across the room and stopped at an empty spot near a bookcase.
He suddenly grabbed what appeared to be thin air and as he pulled at this blank space, a pretty girl fell into his arms as if she had materialized out of nothing,
As she snuggled closer to him, a girlish giggle filled the room. Paul glanced down at a lovely young woman with long wavy blonde hair and a heart-shaped face with delicate but flawless features. She was wearing or barely wearing a brief pink harem costume and slippers.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Zanzi the Magician. I was only able to slip in unseen because of my powers of illusion. You certainly are as capable as legend suggests. I doubt even your father could have detected my presence that quickly!” she said in a rather breathless tone of voice.
Tom said, “How did you do that? She was invisible!”
The girl said, “Not exactly. I just cast an illusion of empty space where I was standing. It works out to about the same thing as being invisible!”
Thunderbolt said, “I did not see her. I detected her perfume and heard her breathing.”
Priya thought, “Cheap perfume!”
Thunderbolt continued, “Zanzi? Your father is Zanzibar the Magician! He studied the ways of the East as well! My father called him the second greatest magic user of them all!”
Paul released her as Tabu and the others approached them.
Zanzi flounced across the room and said, “Well! I like that! Second best indeed! I suppose you think that stuffed shirt Yarko is superior! My father is a true hero. He sent me here to warn you about a threat that may menace us all.”
Thunderbolt said, “I meant no disrespect. Zanzibar and Yarko are both legendary. Your loyalty to your father is a worthy trait. Please tell us more!”
Priya eyed the exotic blonde with a look of pure disdain. “My legs are better than hers!” she thought.
Zanzi stared at them with large blue eyes that were heavily painted with a pinkish hue of mascara.
“Sorry. Dad had a nervous breakdown a while back. It was caused by my mother’s death. He did some things that he regrets. He is using all his resources to correct those misdeeds now that he is fully recovered. He also detected the threat I came here to warn you about. A powerful man from Tibet is seeking items of power associated with that mystical land. He has sent those warriors that I overheard you speak of to track down those who possessed them! He means to use them to conquer the world! This information came to father in a trance while he was in Africa!” she said.
Priya adjusted one red high heel and said, “Of course it did!”
Tabu frowned at his daughter as Paul said, “ I assume this villain thinks Tom here has something of power that his father originally possessed like the dimensional travel machine!”
Zanzi shrugged and swung her legs back and forth as she perched on a stool.
“I don’t see how a machine could relate to magical relics but you are the hero of this case! Any girl could tell that!” She fluttered her eye lashes at Paul who seemed both intrigued and discomforted by her attentions.
Thunderbolt was rather pensive as he listened. He had been abandoned as an infant by his real father a Chinese genius and wizard known as the Hooded One. Peter Cannon was his father’s most hated enemy. He had raised the baby as his own son and now Paul had only love and respect for the only father he had ever known. Indeed, he felt he owed everything he was to the benign influence of the remarkable Peter Cannon. Still, whenever he heard any story about villainy, he wondered if the father he never knew was behind it.
Tabu said, “I think we should locate the other relics and alert those who may be in danger. I don’t believe any of the heroes you named before actually used such items. Carson’s ring was largely symbolic.”
Tom said, “I don’t have any machine like the one my father created. I don’t even know what such a device would look like, I’m a waiter. That’s all!”
Zanzi said, “So wait. We’ll take care of you. I am an illusionist. I can’t work magic like my father. I do have the ability to become attuned to certain mystical vibrations. I can locate other sources of Tibetan magic in the area!”
Tom said, “What about me?”
Thunderbolt said, “Stay here with Priya and Tabu. This home has certain secrets of its own that should enable you to remain concealed from any foe!”
Priya stood up and gestured to Falcon.
“It’s okay. This mansion was actually built by a Prohibition era bootlegger. He lined the lower level with hidden passages that weave their way under the heart of the city. We have several safe houses in reach from the main tunnel!”
She glanced down at her designer dress and heels.
“And to think I was making fun of Zanzi’s outfit. I’m not exactly dressed for sewer diving!” she mused.
4
Thunderbolt hurried toward a brownstone as Zanzi followed in his wake.
“We are too late!” he said as he pointed to where eight of the black clad warriors were rushing out of the house.
He raced forward and dived into their midst. He jabbed one warrior in the neck and then shoved his falling body into two others. He kicked them backward and then flipped through the air to crash into two others. He dodged a knife thrust and brought his knee up to disarm his attacker. A quick wrestling toss enabled him to send another warrior down to the lawn.
He received several blows as the remaining attackers tried to overwhelm him with sheer numbers but he continued fighting and managed to avoid their blows as he focused his amazing powers of concentration.
He noticed Zanzi had raced into the brownstone and he assumed the girl could handle herself if more of their foes were within.
“Your efforts are senseless. True power comes from restraint and self-awareness not from the acquisition of any material item!” he said.
He ducked as a warrior swung at him and then knocked him out with one punch.
He hurried by the final fallen foe and entered the brownstone to a scene of horror.
Flames flickered across the walls and the roof and cast a lurid glow over three prone figures.
Zanzi hurried to his side and said, “We are too late. I can’t revive them!”
Thunderbolt nodded and said, “Get out and summon the fire fighters and paramedics. I will do what I can!”
Zanzi stared at him with a look of sorrow on her pretty features. Gone was any trace of the brassy demeanor she had assumed during their initial meeting. Clearly, she had inherited her father’s sense of theatricality as well his the power to cast illusions. Beneath the bubbly persona, she was a serious and concerned young woman.
“It’s too late. No one could survive those flames!” she cried.
“I can! I must! I will!” declared Thunderbolt as he concentrated and summoned the mental and physical disciplines he had been taught from childhood by his father.
He grabbed a curtain from the window and wrapped it around his body as he jumped over the flames, and grabbed the oldest of the three victims. The bald man was still breathing and had not been burned yet.
He scooped up a pretty woman with long brown hair and then bent his legs and leaped up and over the rapidly spreading flames once more.
As he gently placed them safely outside, he saw the gleaming lights of a fire truck approaching from the end of the street,
He glanced up and saw a gigantic fireman looming over the brownstone and pointed toward the burning building. Clearly, Zanzi had made the most of her abilities to draw attention to the fire even before its smoke could be seen from across the city.
He drew a deep breath and hurried back in only to stop as a rain of flaming rubble crashed down in front of him.
Thunderbolt drew back his fist. He could smash his way through the rubble but would that truly accomplish anything as far as saving the final victim? Surely the poor man’s body was ignited by now!
“Looking for me, son?” said a deep voice.
As he fought to see through the choking cloud of smoke, he saw a man in a bright red costume who seemed to be merging from within the smoke itself like some post modern djinn!
They hurried outside to where Zanzi and some paramedics were treating the other man and woman.
“Stay back, gentleman. This is something I was born to do!” announced the costumed man.
He spread his arms wide and suddenly the flames flowed away from the building and the structure itself seemed to be restored! The heat diminished as a swirling funnel of fire engulfed him and then vanished!
“That was incredible!” gasped Zanzi.
“Not really. My husband has been doing that kind of thing for years!” said the brown haired woman who sat up unharmed and took the hand of the remaining older man as he was placed on a stretcher by the paramedics. There was no sign of the beaten warriors in black. They had vanished once again upon their defeat.
“Is he hurt?” asked the man in red as he hurried over to join his wife and their friend.
“No! Jarvis was just stunned. I think his enhanced vitality will help him shake off any ill effects of the fire or the attack! The poor dear!” said the brunette.
The man in red was stared at by the firefighters with genuine awe on their features. He was a legend to most of the city and especially to men in their profession.
“The Flame! I can’t believe it is really him!” said one onlooker as a crowd gathered outside the now cool and partially restored structure.
Thunderbolt said, “You’re the Flame? I have heard of you. I need your help!”
The Flame said, “Linda, go with Jarvis. I will join you after I thank this youngster.”
Zanzi said, “I’m Zanzi. You remember me from when my father had his..problems?”
The Flame said, “Of course. I hope he is not ill again!”
Zanzi said, “He is fine. He sent me to warn you. Someone seeks your Tibetan lore!”
The Flame said, “Maybe, I better explain a bit about myself. I’m Gary Parsons. I’m also known as the Flame although I was more active during the war years than I have been since then. My wife Linda Dale Parsons is Flame Girl. Jarvis is our friend and family butler. He first started working for me before I ever become a costumed hero in the thirties. His father worked for my parents as well!”
Thunderbolt said, “The attackers were after the secret of your super powers over flames or your prolonged vitality!”
The Flame nodded and said, “Yes, and they clearly knew what they were looking for and where to find it. I stopped worrying about a secret identity back in the sixties. Linda and I and Jarvis stopped aging for the most part and there seemed no need to worry about that kind of thing. As I said, we semi-retired after the war. There was even a young woman who called herself the Flame II but she had nothing to do with us and we never met her.”
Thunderbolt said, “What is your connection to Tibet? That seems to be the key to this riddle!”
The Flame said, “My folks died in a flood in Tibet. I was raised at a lamasery. The lamas taught me secrets of the elders that enabled me to master one element. The alignment of the stars at my birth made fire the element I was born to command. I am immune to heat and can absorb it or regulate my own body temperature or travel via flames from one fire to another. I came back to America and became a private inquiry agent and costumed hero. Later, Linda gained similar powers and in time we passed certain formulas on to Jarvis to prolong his own vitality. None of us have really aged that much in the last fifty years although my hair is thinning a bit.”
Zanzi said, “What formula granted you such vitality?”
The Flame said, “We call it the elixir of the elders and it does give the drinker a type of personal fountain of youth. That formula was what those thugs took off with!”
Zanzi said, “We may still stop them. They also seek other Tibet items of power like one that I sense will be found in the Alleghany mountains near Hexville!”
As they walked around to the back of the building, the Flame led them to a large lot on which a hangar rested. He shoved open the metal doors with what had to be super human strength and revealed a bright red plane with an odd design.
“Don’t worry. My autogyro plane will take off vertically. We casn depart right now from here with no difficulty!”
“So we are going to visit him? He should be a great help to us!” said the Flame.
“Who?” asked Thunderbolt.
Zanzi smiled again with some of her former sassy manner.
“Your father’s candidate for magician number 1: Yarko the Great!”
5
Yarko the Great was already deep in battle with a hoard of the silent warriors in black. He was a handsome man with a charisma and confidence all his own. He wore a black suit with a pale white turban. His eyes flashed with a magical energy as he faced his foes in the confines of his small home in the mountains.
“You will regret this intrusion!” he announced as he faced the invaders and glared at them.
They moved forward in unison and gasped as he seemed to swell up in size before their eyes. Before they could stop their charge, he scooped them up in both hands as if they were the dolls they now resembled.
“Who sent you? If you hope to regain your normal sizes, then speak the name of the fool who dared disturb Yarko the Great!” he said in a stentorian tone.
He concentrated and then smiled coldly.
“Your minds are clouded by your dark master’s icy touch. You can not betray him even should you wish to do so! You are pawns but I shall still punish you for your deeds. You will regain your sizes in a few weeks!” he said.
“Now, where is my cat?” he said as he glanced around the room.
Before he could resume his “cat and mouse” game with the stricken intruders, a larger figure stepped out of the shadows and knocked him to the ground with one hand.
He grunted and started to get up when the huge man kicked him in the face and left him stunned on the ground.
The brutal attacker grabbed the red gem from Yarko’s turban and stepped dismissively over the tiny warriors left behind. Like their allies, they turned to smoke seconds later as well.
Yarko groaned and sat up moments after the thief had departed. He was a strong man himself and possessed an impressive constitution.
He greeted the Flame as the hero suddenly emerged from a candle on the mantle.
“Yarko. I am sorry I arrived too late! My plane is coming on autopilot even as we speak! We are after the same men who harmed you!” he said.
Yarko seemed unfazed by his old friend’s appearance.
“My jaw wishes you had been a bit timelier! For all of my superhuman posturing I felt that blow like any other man!” he said with a grimace.
Later as Yarko, Zanzi, the Flame, and Thunderbolt sat aboard the autogyo plane, Yarko said, “The last known Tibetan relic of power is not in the U.S.A. I sense it has been taken. The Book of Wisdom was stolen from the Illinois home of Percy Van Norton days ago!”
The Flame said,”Van Norton was a mystery man back in the forties. I think he gained super strength from the book you mentioned. At least that is what one of the lamas who raised me said.”
Thunderbolt said, “My father is still in Tibet. Perhaps, he could stop this foe there if that is indeed his place of concealment!”
Yarko said, “I respect your father greatly. Yet, I sense that this crisis is not his to avert. I think another man will determine our victory or defeat but as yet I cannot say who he is!”
Thunderbolt frowned as he noticed how intently Yarko seemed to glare at him.
“Does he detect some taint from the evil of my birth father? Does he sense that I am the son of the Hooded One himself? Does he know me better than I know myself?” he mused.
Meanwhile, in a small house Priya, Tabu, and Tom Falcon sat in front of a large book.
“I maintained certain records that detail the adventures of the original Thunderbolt and his foes. I also have a few clippings that relate to other individuals of interest. It was always my desire to learn as much as I could in order to be of more use to my friend. One such clipping describes your father. Phillip “Flick” or “Flip” Falcon was a brilliant man. He disappeared in 1969 a few months before your own birth!” said Tabu.
Priya said, “Do you suppose he left this dimension via the machine he created? He may be in another world or time!”
Tom shrugged and said, “I don’t know. This stuff is way to heavy for me. I flunked math in school.”
Priya said, “Someone is coming! I think we’ve been discovered!”
Tabu said, “Take Tom and get away. I will stay behind and delay any foe!”
Dr. Singh was sincere and brave but a back injury had slowed him down and he was certainly no match for the warriors in black as they swarmed into the house and quickly captured the three occupants.
Tom struggled but he was no fighter. Priya was very capable and managed to stun one of the warriors before falling victim to the others.
As she fell, she thought, “Paul, you’ve got to come through for us! You’ve just got to!”
6
Meanwhile, as Thunderbolt II (Paul Cannon) turned to listen to Yarko the magician explained more about his own circumstances.
“I studied in Tibet and India as a young man and learned much in each location; however, the gemstone taken from me tonight was merely a decorative stone. It has no inherent magical properties!” he said.
Zanzi said, “I can trace all the stolen items to Tibet. Our foe has taken them there and clearly can travel faster than we can!”
The Flame said, “My plane is faster than any conventional model but based on what I’ve seen of those warriors, they can disappear at will!”
Zanzi said, “I can detect the stolen items in a particular lamasery in Tibet.”
Thunderbolt II said, “I was raised in and near such a place as was the Flame. I know such centers to be places of prayer and spiritual growth although even in such figurative gardens may be found serpents!”
The Flame nodded and said, “I had a friend who was an action hero during the pre-war years. He was called Thor. He fought a mad lama who was bent on world domination!”
The rugged Himalayas came into view and in moments the swift craft had brought them over small villages and scenes of rustic beauty. The plane landed vertically on one snowy plain within a small valley where an elaborate lamasery rested as the solitary structure in sight.
Zanzi said, “I concealed our arrival with an illusion but if this thief is as capable as we think, he may have higher degrees of perception than an ordinary man!”
They climbed out of the red plane and approached the silent structure.
The Flame said, “I can scout ahead. I sense a fire within the building.”
He vanished into smoke and reappeared over a flame that crackled in an open fireplace.
He frowned as he saw twelve of the ninjas. They charged in from each side and the hero in red met them with his own mixture of enhanced strength and elevated body temperature.
“I owe you boys something for what you did to my friend Jarvis!” he said as he crashed into them and began pounding away. He had semi-retired from the role of action hero many years before but he still relished the excitement of such a role and he felt confirmation once more than he was meant to be a hero.
He was successful in his attempt to drive them backward and he began to wonder how these skilled but not super strong warriors managed to down him and his wife before.
Then, a dark figure loomed over the battle and walked menacingly toward him. He was larger than any of the others and he glared at the Flame with inhuman eyes. He showed none of the discomfort that the increased heat generated by the Flame caused the other normal sized men and women.
The Flame nodded resolutely and approached the big man. He was unafraid in fact some part of him thrilled to the old feeling of daring that had sustained him as a young man newly come to America from the Tibetan lamasery in which he had been raised. The lamas had been men of peace but Gary Parsons combined a desire to help others with a desire for adventure. Now, though older, he still felt the exact same way!
As the Flame resumed his solitary battle, the others entered and swiftly found themselves surrounded by more of the black clad warriors.
Yarko’s expressive eyes widened and the nearest attackers stiffened as if under some mental compulsion to yield!
Zanzi waited and watched for the right moment to make the appropriate use of her own powers of illusion.
Thunderbolt was already in motion as a being of grace and skill who wasted no motion and made every action meaningful.
As he deftly dodged and stunned the warrior’s, he frowned as his keen senses detected the approach of newcomers . The clatter of high heels, the scent of a familiar perfume, all led him to recognize Priya’s presence even before several of the warriors shoved her forward along with her father and a clearly frightened Tom Falcon.
He noticed all of them were unharmed and he smiled at them as if to offer some silent reassurance.
Tabu was clearly unafraid but concern for his daughter was clear to see on his face.
A gaunt man in a green and gold robe approached. He had gray hair tied back in an elaborate braid and and long beard and goatee covered the lower part of his wizened face.
He smiled coldly as he looked at the heroes and his silent warriors.
“My name is Chang. I have waited a long time for this day. Much planning has gone into thus most happy of meetings!” he said.
Yarko said, “You won’t achieve anything by the acquisition of the book, the gemstone, and the elixir. We will prevent you from employing those items that actually contain mystical power!”
Chang laughed and said, “I beg to disagree but more to the point I have already achieved my most cherished ambition by having that young gentleman in my humble home!”
He gestured toward Falcon who shook his head and said, “I don’t understand. I don’t know you!”
Chang said, “But your missing father was in fact most instrumental in inflicting much pain upon me many years ago! In his absence, you shall serve as the object of my long desired revenge!”
Zanzi gasped in pain as two of the warriors grabbed her from behind. Her effort to avoid them via an illusion had failed.
Three of them approached and dropped the battered body of the Flame before her feet.
“I regret your ally failed to best my own colleague!” announced Chang.
The large being who had so easily dealt with the Flame and Yarko in their homes came out of the shadows.
Yarko moved forward to confront him but the powerful mage was too slow. The beast in black moved faster and again knocked him to the ground.
Thunderbolt moved closer and stepped between his friends and the huge figure in black.
“He moves with speed and strikes with strength beyond the capabilities of a human!” said Thunderbolt.
Chang nodded and said, “Remove your veil. Allow our prisoners to see you in all your alien glory!”
The giant tore away his own veil to reveal brilliant golden skin and long black hair. He was clearly not from Earth!
“He was given the insipid appellation of Lunar upon his initial arrival on this planet back in the thirties. He belongs to me body and soul and I have greatly enjoyed using his limitless might against you all! Phillip Falcon used his 4-D machine to thwart my own youthful ambitions and I have waited far too long for the means to get revenge upon him or in this case upon his spawn! I lacked the means to do so until I was approached by one who offered me use of these shadow warriors and told me where to find the Tibetan relics of power! I merely made use of his kindly offered resources to seek my own goal of gaining power over Mr. Falcon here! My patron need not know of my personal vendetta!” said Chang.
Falcon said, “Please! Don’t hurt them! If you hate me then kill me but let them go!”
Chang grinned and said, “Noble of you. I had dismissed you as one lacking all courage!”
Yarko groaned and tried to sit up.
“There is much more to Mr. Falcon than you realize!” he said.
Chang shrugged and said, “Really? Then perhaps the wise man should merely end his life now rather than prolong anticipated pleasures to come! Kill him, Lunar!”
Lunar lurched forward toward Tom Falcon even as Thunderbolt blocked his path and dodged one massive arm as it swung toward him.
He said, “You are an unwilling pawn of this man’s evil! I ask you to resist him and join us in friendship!”
Lunar scowled and grabbed for the smaller man but once more Thunderbolt narrowly avoid his grasp.
He flipped forward and landed with both feet squarely against Lunar’s chest but the alien merely shrugged off the impact and send Paul Cannon tumbling backward.
Priya screamed, “Look out!”
Lunar scooped up Thunderbolt and crushed him within a powerful wrestling hold even as the young man began to focus and channel his own force of will power!
“I can! I must! I will!” he whispered as he regulated his breathing and drew upon the mental and physical resources that were denied to ordinary men.
He trembled with the effort but managed to break Lunar’s hold. He regained his feet and lashed out again and again with blows designed to stun the huge alien.
Slowly he made some progress in staggering Lunar but he realized that if he was to succeed in bringing this crisis to a conclusion he would have to take more drastic actions!
Thunderbolt concentrated and drew back one hand before driving it against Lunar’s head with devastating impact!
Lunar crashed to the ground and Chang screamed in rage.
“Kill them! Kill them now!” he bellowed,
Thunderbolt hesitated and then turned to Falcon as if guided by some inner voice or unspoken awareness!
“Help him use his own inner power!”
“Father?” he gasped as he felt with some certainty that it was his father’s voice that echoed within his mind in his hour of need. He knew Peter Cannon had spent eons mastering various skills found only in the ancient scrolls of power he alone had studied!
He smiled as he looked over at Falcon.
“You never met your father but he did indeed pass on certain gifts to you. He was saturated with the energies of his 4-D machine and you were born with such untapped energies within your own cells! Breath slowly and concentrate on my voice! Be calm and feel the truth of my words!” he said.
Tom Falcon obeyed as Thunderbolt guided him in accessing at least a small portion of the force of will potential found within all humans!
As the black warriors and Chang himself closed in on them, Tom’s body glowed with a red aura that outlined his body and then surged forward to touch the warriors and their furious master.
They vanished and all was still.
“What happened?” gasped Tom as he fell backward into Tabu’s arms.
“You used the innate 4-D energies you were born with to teleport them all through time and space much like your father was able to do with his machine!” said Yarko as he stood up and Zanzi helped revive the Flame.
Tom said, “I’ve never done anything like that before but now I can feel power surging through my body! How did you do it? How did you help me tap into it?”
Tabu said, “The Thunderbolt is unlike anyone else. He can, must, and will achieve miracles!”
Priya rushed forward and kissed Paul Cannon as the young hero received congratulations from the others.
The lamasery was now empty and in a matter of moments, they located the stolen items.
“He took them for some unknown master but we’ve secured them once more!” said Yarko.
Thunderbolt said, “I feel sorry for the alien named Lunar. He was a slave!”
Tabu said, “All men and women become slaves when they surrender to their baser natures! Perhaps, he will find freedom and peace yet!”
Falcon said, “I don’t know where I sent them. I didn’t exactly think before doing it!”
Yarko said, “You are much more than a mortal man. You are the 4-D Man now!”
“I suppose this is a victory but I feel only a sense of dread!” thought Thunderbolt.
Elsewhere, Fennu Zai heian Zhong the Hooded One, smiled behind the iron plate that held his shattered face together. Chang’s failure had been a planned victory for him. His only audience was made of the retrieved shadow warriors and the silent alien called Lunar.
“I let the fool Chang believe that I wanted him to secure those useless relics for me when in truth I only wanted the revenge-mad dolt to acquire Phillip Falcon’s son so I could remotely tap into his 4-D energies for my own purposes. I could not let Chang realize how valuable young Falcon truly could be. I also wanted to see my long lost son in action. He is everything I hoped he would be and of course what I want most for him is for him to be a living weapon that I may use to end the life of my most hated enemy his adoptive father Peter Cannon!”
The Hooded One laughed as his own body glowed with the same red energy that had come from Falcon’s body hours before! The Master Schemer had many plans for the future!
Epilogue days later
Within the once silent bedroom of Percy Van Norton a startled doctor and nurse looked in disbelief as their formerly frail patient bellowed with robust laughter.
He held the recovered Book of the Ancients and smiled with sheer pleasure. His thick white hair was now dark black and his frail body rippled with muscles and new vitality.
“You’ve become a young man again!” cried the nurse.
Percy grinned broadly and said, “Yeah, all it took was contact with my favorite book. Reading it over and over as a kid made me into a regular superman. I packed it away when I got married and never thought much about it until I lost my wife and became ill. I guess it has given me a second chance at life and I’m sure going to make the most of it!”
It was a new beginning for Percy Van Norton and it would lead him down a remarkable path unlike anything he had experienced in his youth!