Fan Fiction: Short Stories

The Red Talon
by Corey Christopher

  Minutes passed as nighttime began to take its toll on the guards. They began to whisper to each other.

  "There's something weird going on tonight Cliff. I can feel something in the air. It's beginning to creep me out!"

  "Calm down Mac! I don't know what you are talking about. I don't feel anything." They both returned to silence, but a worried expression still remained on Mac's gruff face. With both backs to the door, they could spot any intruder that tried to free the captive inventors. No one would dare run this gauntlet, thought Cliff, except The Shadow. Suddenly a low whisper came to his ears; one so soft that it was barely perceptible, even to Cliff. A slight acknowledgement from Cliff as he stood perfectly still. Black gloved hands came silently out of the small window at the door. They grabbed hold of Mac's neck and pushed a certain spot. Mac slowly crumpled to the ground, right where he had been standing. Cliff bound his hands and feet with his belt, and dragged him to another cell. The heavy metal door opened slowly inward. In the pitch-blackness sparkled two gleaming eyes! The Shadow was ready to end the Red Talon's reign of terror and thwart his awesome army of robots!

  More instructions from the Chief. Cliff set to work freeing the prisoners and taking them out of the building and into the streets. The Shadow had already disappeared into parts unknown, scouting out the area. The Shadow glided silently down another passageway to a door with a light shining on the inside. The Shadow drew one of his automatics and silently opened the door. There, in a lavishly decorated office with bookcases lining the background, was a man with an evil smirk on his face. He was lounging comfortably in a high backed chair and wearing one bright red glove on his right hand. The Shadow had him completely covered with his mammoth .45 automatic.

  "I expected you earlier Shadow. You disappoint me," sneered the Red Talon.

  "Your scheme has failed. You shall no longer kidnap inventors and force them to do your bidding. They have already been freed. Even you did not know that you led The Shadow right to this hidden warehouse."

  "Did I?" The Red Talon was now openly mocking his antagonist. He wore a permanent gloating smirk on his evil face.

  As to answer this challenge, The Shadow tipped his hat forward and unfastened the cloak guarding his features. With a sweeping gesture, both hat and cloak were fully removed revealing the worn countenance of Albert Gauntest! The Red Talon was left staring with his mouth agape.

  "Gauntest?! But…but I looked up your records! You studied exactly the right kind of machinery! How can this be?!" A shuddering laugh from The Shadow echoed through the small office.

  "The Shadow assumes many identities," replied the professor's voice. "There is no Gauntest There was only The Shadow!" The mockery was even more complete as the Shadow assumed his normal sepulchral tones. "Now you shall surrender or meet your doom!"

  "Gauntest or not, I have prepared for your arrival. It is you who are trapped Shadow!" The Shadow laughed as he refastened his cloak and adjusted his slouch hat. The Shadow's laugh was a challenge to all who opposed him. The Red Talon looked down at the arm of his chair and pressed a button. The Shadow anticipated this gesture and leaped aside just as a huge metal weight came crashing down on where he had just been standing. Simultaneously a trap door had opened up underneath the chair of the Red Talon, and the seat tipped down, dumping the criminal into a chute. The Shadow jumped in after him, guns in hand.

  The Shadow landed in a room built completely with metal walls. The only thing visible was a doorknob all the way across the room. CLANG! The polished chute slammed shut behind The Shadow. The only apparent exit was the doorknob. When he turned the knob, he received a shock from a massive electrical current that threw him to the floor. A door opened on the left side of the room, and a huge, clanging monster stepped out. This was one of the early prototypes of the Red Talon's that had no green fuel or rocket pack. It was a massive bulk of machinery with enormous arms and a hole on the "head" of the beast. The Shadow leapt off of the floor and began to blast the metal monstrosity with his automatics, but to no avail. Suddenly a 15-foot jet of flame shots out of the hole, barely missing a diving Shadow and singeing his cloak. He got up and started to run in the opposite direction. The robot followed, advancing fast upon him. Behind a hidden panel, the Red Talon watched his fiendish plan to destroy The Shadow.

  The Shadow retreated in a serpentine pattern, confusing the robot's linear motion. It took the robot longer to reach him, as it had to constantly change directions. The Shadow began to back closer against another wall in the room. The Red Talon flicked a switch and "Whoosh", up came another metal panel, revealing a second robot! Before The Shadow could react to the new threat it fired a plume of flame directly at him. He dodged out of the way and the flames hit the first robot. The fire flowed right over it like rolling waves of water! Both robots chased The Shadow across the room. They were gaining fast, as The Shadow seemed to slacken his speed. He had been running and dodging constantly for many minutes. He ran straight at the wall in front of him, with the robots hot on his tail. He reached the wall, ran up the side, flipped in midair and landed on the shoulders of the first robot. The Shadow took out his .45's and began hammering the nozzle of the flamethrower. The other robot came clattering up alongside the other, and tried to beat The Shadow off its companion's shoulders. The Shadow dived to the floor as the second robot delivered a mighty blow to the head of the first. The robot's head violently exploded on impact, reducing both to a pile of rubble. The Shadow was blown backwards as the force of the explosion hit him in mid-leap. He remained motionless as an inky splotch on the floor. The Talon laughed mercilessly at the horrible scene in front of him. "He was becoming such a terrible nuisance. Easily worth the price of two robots though."

  While the Red Talon was enjoying a victory chuckle, there was yet again motion in the metal room! Slowly, The Shadow was regaining his feet. He wobbled a bit before assuming his statue-like pose. With one arm hanging limp at his side, the Master of Darkness stared right at the place where the Red Talon was standing in shock. The Talon could not tell whether The Shadow knew he was behind the wall or not. He watched nervously as the black clad vigilante calmly stalked over to the fateful doorknob that started the whole affair. As The Shadow bent down to inspect the knob, the Red Talon lost sight of him. He tried frantically to find him. It seemed his "Room of Doom" was not as effective as he would have liked it.

  As the Red Talon searched for The Shadow, The Shadow was busy tearing the lining of his cloak with his remaining good arm. He produced two different colored powders and laid them down at the base of the door, one over the other. He quickly mixed the chemicals then ran for cover behind the smoking remains of the robots. BOOM! The heavy metal door was blown right off its hinges and back into a dark hallway. The Red Talon realized that hi safe house had become hazardous to his health. He scrambled out of his hiding place and dashed down the smoky corridor. The smoke began to clear as The Shadow tore off after the fleeing Red Talon. Out the back of the warehouse was a marina. The Red Talon was going to put his fleet of robots on ships and sail them all over the world, but the ships were not tied up at the dock. Someone had untied them and weighed their anchors. The ships had begun to drift out farther and farther into the ocean. Escape by boat had been cut off. The Red Talon's elite guard had already been disposed of, and there was nowhere left to run. The Red Talon was out of options, except one. The Shadow began to advance slowly upon the evil criminal, covering him with an automatic.

   "Stop there Shadow!" screamed the Red Talon. "Any closer and the city will be blown to bits!" He took out a remote control and set his finger on the bright red button. The Shadow's ominous laugh echoed in the night.

  "Push that button and it will seal your doom!"

  "Shooting me won't stop my army! When I push this button they will destroy the city whether I'm dead or alive!!"

  Another ominous laugh from the Shadow. The .45 still hasn't moved from its aim.

  "You have been warned!"

  The Red Talon, already pushed over the edge, started to shake. "If I am to die, I shall at least take you and all of New York City with me! Ha ha ha!" He laughed as he pushed the button and turned toward the warehouse to watch his final triumph. The roof of the warehouse burst open and a fleet of robots were launched high into the sky, leaving behind a long trail of smoke. The Red Talon laughed as they were ready to begin their attack, when suddenly they change course and began to fly over the water. Their smoke trails form a giant arc going down, down to their new target.

  "What?! What is happening? My robots!"

  The Shadow laughed louder and louder as the criminal screamed at the rebellious robots.

  "Who do you think programmed and fixed those robots? Gauntest?" More sinister laughter. "I made sure that those robots would never be of any use to you. Gauntest also warned you when you kidnapped him that you would not benefit by his capture."

  The Red Talon cringed as all of the robots plummet to their doom in the ocean. The Shadow continued with his explanation. "That formula that the inventors completed for you had one fatal flaw in its design: It is completely neutralized in water. But when taken out of its protective liquid it violently combusts in contact with air. You didn't notice Gauntest mixing a clear liquid into the formula in the robots. I designed that as an extra precaution." He paused as he let the facts sink into The Red Talon.

  "Your reign of crime was terminated the moment you depressed that button. You are your own executioner!" With The Shadow's last statement, something else crashed through the roof of the warehouse. It was the last of the Red Talon's robots! It flew up as high as its comrades did, but this one was not aiming for the water. It was coming straight down to the dock of the marina! It was heading directly towards the Red Talon. The Red Talon took off running as fast as he can go. The robot started to gain on him. The Red Talon could not figure out why he cannot shake it. Suddenly, with a distant laugh from The Shadow, he realized why: The robot was programmed to track the frequency of the remote control he was carrying! The Red Talon realized his mistake, but it wa too late; just before he could toss the remote, the robot came crashing down on him, exploding on the ground. There was a massive fire from the green crystal's reaction with air, and it continued to burn like a huge bonfire.

  The police and firemen arrived within minutes of the explosion. The police were on the scene first. Joe Cardona and Inspector Klein were checking out the area.

  "When I got this tip to come down here and watch for flames, I wasn't expecting THIS many fireworks!"

  "Who tipped you off Joe?"

  Cardona looked around for someone he would never find… "Just some anonymous guy. But I knew he was telling the truth when he said the inventors were alive."

  "That was a little spooky how they were all standing about near the road waving their arms, and telling us to go to the back of the warehouse."

  "And that's when we saw the explosion."

  "Well Cardona, I gotta hand it to you. How you solve these cases like this just amazes me."

  Joe seemed a little distant as he agreed with Inspector Klein. "Amazes me too sometimes inspector...amazes me too..."

  Both men watched the firefighters put out the huge blaze as an eerie yet all too familiar laugh reached their ears. Even though Joe Cardona had heard that laugh before, it still sent a shiver down his spine.

  The Shadow had scored another triumphant victory for the side of justice. But what evil lies dormant under the city's beautiful facade?

  The Shadow knows...

The End