The Protectors

“Coming and Going” by Martin Maenza

A yellow taxi cab pulled up in front of a large, ornate home in the heart of Greenwich Village. After paying the cabbie for the fare, a brown haired young man dressed in a long brown overcoat exited the vehicle. Along with him was a young boy with brown hair, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. As the cab pulled away, the boy simply stood on the sidewalk with his brown eyes wide with wonderment looking at all the large buildings around him and beyond.

Alan Haygner realized the boy was not at his side when he reached the top of the steps that lead to the building, so he turned and called out to the lad. “Matt, come along.”

The ten year old smiled and came running up the steps. “Sorry, Alan,” the child apologized. “It’s just…I’ve never seen anywhere like this before.”

“New York City is a rather interesting place,” he agreed. “I wasn’t born here, but I’ve learned to consider it home.”

“And that thing that brought us here…it was like a chariot without any horses!”

“That’s a cab,” the elder male replied. “It is a kind of an automobile that runs on combustible fuel.” He looked down and saw the child was staring at him with the same wide-eyed wonder as before. Alan smiled. “I guess we have a lot to teach you about. Everything here is so new to you.”

“It is, it is,” Matthew nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go inside.” Alan opened the front door to his manor and escorted the lad in. What he found there was a little surprising, but in a pleasant sort of way.

An African-American male in his early twenties, dressed in jeans and a blue denim shirt, was sweeping up the hallway with a broom. He looked up when the front door open. “Hey, there!” Jerry Page exclaimed upon seeing the arrivals. “You’re home early.” He turned his head and called out down the hall. “Crystal, Alan’s back!” He turned back again and saw the boy standing next to his friend’s side. “And he’s brought some company too.”

“Jerry, I’d like you to meet Matthew Bradley. Matthew, this is Jerry Page.”

“Hey there, Matt. Good to meet you.” Jerry put out his right hand in greetings.

The boy looked at the offering with some puzzlement.

Alan leaned over and whispered, “When someone offers their hand, you shake it. It is sort of a greeting gesture.”

“Oh,” the lad replied. He put his right hand in Jerry’s.

“Hey, nice grip,” the dark skinned man joked. When Matt continued to shake it, Jerry gently pulled it away. “Alan, where’d you find this powerhouse?”

“It’s a long story,” Alan said as he took off his coat and hung it on the antique wooden coat rack near the door. Underneath his coat, he wore a beige turtleneck sweater and dark brown slacks.

“You can tell us over dinner,” a female voice said. “It should be ready in a little bit. I’m using my mother’s recipe for sauce.” The dark haired woman who appeared from the hallway wore a long navy skirt and a white blouse. On her beautiful face was a pair of dark glasses.

“She makes some killer sauce,” Jerry added. “She has an amazing sense of tastes when it comes to cooking.”

“Crystal,” Alan said as he moved to embrace the dark haired woman. “Good to see you again. I am so glad you were able to come out east to help out in my absence.”

“Yeah, she’s been a great asset to the group,” Jerry said with a smile.

“I have enjoyed myself,” she replied. “So, I hear you’ve brought someone with you?”

“Yes,” Alan said. He turned. “Matthew, this is Crystal Tofana , another of my friends.”

The boy held out his hand and said, “Good to meet you.”

Crystal reached out, found his hand and shook it. “It is good to meet you too.”

“Hey, Al, he’s a quick study,” Jerry said.

“Indeed,” Alan noted. He turned back to the woman. “Crystal, I hope your staying out here wasn’t a burden.”

She smiled. “Not at all. Your place was a little large for me though. Jerry offered me his sister’s vacant room so I would have some company. And, though you are back now, I think I plan on staying on a lot longer. Things have worked out very well.” She looked at Jerry and gave him a knowing smile.

“That’s good,” Alan said oblivious of the chemistry between the couple. “It will be nice to have others around as I help Matthew here get acclimated to his new home.”

“New home?” Jerry asked. “Did you go and adopt a kid while you were gone?”

“No, not really,” Alan said. “I’m more like a guardian of sorts. It is a little complicated and it is a long, long story. I thought it would be best to go into the full details when the others are around. Perhaps call a meeting for later with Larynx, Hydro Girl, Rainbow, Ricochet and Amazon?”

“Who are they?” Matthew asked.

“Remember I told you about how my friends and I have different names we go by,” Alan instructed.

“Oh yes,” Matthew said. “Sorry, I forgot.”

Jerry frowned slightly. “Alan, about Amazon,” he started to say. “You missed a bit while you were gone.”

“How so?”

“Well, it all started with this invasion fleet showing up in Earth’s orbit…” Jerry started to explain.

***

The brown haired young man sat on the armrest of beige leather sofa, watching intently as the blonde haired woman placed the last few items into a large suitcase on the nearby table. “So, Diana,” he said with a sigh, “you’re really going, huh?”

“Yeah, Tommy,” she said with a slight nod of her head. “I really am. I just need some time to clear my head after…” Diana Kane’s voice trailed off slightly.

Tommy Johnson did not need for her to finish that sentence.

He was there in space, along with the rest of the Protectors team as they stood side-by-side with the Justice Gang to face the invasion threat of the Destroyer. While trying to subdue him, Diana, as Amazon, however bore the full brunt of the alien conqueror’s unique energy discharge which had since led to her powers disappearing.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Makes sense.”

She sniffed slightly as she latched the two metal snaps to the Samsonite luggage. “Hey, don’t be so down,” she said. “I’ll only be gone for a few weeks. Besides, it’s been so long since I took some vacation time from the paper. A little sand and surf just might be what the doctor ordered.”

“Yeah,” Tommy nodded again. “Sounds nice.”

“And you’ve got the instructions for my plants, right?” she asked.

He held up a piece of paper with typed up information. “Right here,” he said, “along with a key to the apartment.”

“Good,” Diana said as she lifted the suitcase and placed it on its wheels. Like so many times the last few days, she was once again reminded of the loss of her super-strength. She pushed that thought away, trying not to consciously dwell upon it. “I mentioned to the landlord that you’d be by every now and again to watch over the place. Didn’t want him to think you were casing the place or anything. It’s not like you couldn’t slip in and out unnoticed though.” She laughed.

He laughed slightly too. “Really.” Tommy hopped up from his perch. “And, it’d be okay with you if I hung out for a bit after taking care of the plants, right? You know, maybe to watch some TV, use your kitchen or catcha nap or something?”

Diana turned and sized up the young man. She had known him heroically for a couple years now and had gotten better acquainted with him since the Protectors formed. She felt she was able to get a good read on him. He wasn’t being his usual carefree self. “Tommy,” she said as she approached him and looked him directly in the eye, “what’s going on with you?”

“Me?” the young man said nervously. “Nothing really.” He glanced away.

She considered for a moment. “Is something wrong…like maybe at home?”

Still looking away, he sighed to himself. Then, he turned back to his friend. “Well, yeah, sort of,” Tommy started to say. “It’s just…with everything going on with you…I…I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

Diana took his hand. “Tommy, you’d never be a bother.”

He started to smile and blush slightly.

She continued. “You’re like a little brother to me.”

His smile stopped. “Oh…”

“So, tell me what’s going on,” she insisted.

Tommy sighed again. At least I didn’t embarrass myself completely, he thought. He took his hand from hers and started to pace the room a bit.

“Well, you know how it’s my senior year and all,” he explained. “For the past few months, my folks have been getting all major about my plans for next year, for college and such. My dad has been especially riding me about it.”

“It is important,” Diana said. “You need a good education these days to land a decent job, etc.”

“I know, I know,” Tommy said. “And I plan to go to school at some point, I do. I just…well…right now I’m not sure what I want to be. I’ve done some stuff for the school paper, so maybe I might go into journalism like you did. Or maybe I’ll design some video games or something. I’m just not sure. The only thing I am sure about is that I still want to help people as Ricochet.”

“You’ve still got time to decide that,” she said. “You’re young and…”

Tommy spun around and stared. “Yeah, I know, lots of time to grow up!” He paused and then said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. It’s just…well…my folks and I got into it again a few weeks ago, right about the time all that stuff with the aliens was going down, and I…”

“Yes?” Diana asked.

“I sort of let it slip,” Tommy said, “that I’m Ricochet.”

“Oh,” Diana said. She sat down on the couch for a second.

“Yeah,” Tommy said as he sat down as well. “A big ‘oh’.”

She thought for a moment. “So, how did they take it?”

“How did your parents take it when you told them?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I had never told mine. I became Amazon while I was away at college, and it has been pretty easy to keep it a secret from them. After all, I only get back to Boston a few times a year to see them. And, there’s kind of no point in telling them right now either, you know?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah,” he said. Stupid, Tommy. You came over to try and cheer her up and instead you keep reminding her of her own problems.

“So how did your parents take the news?” Diana asked again.

“They didn’t,” Tommy replied. “It kind of blew up into a huge argument. My mother was all concerned about my safety and such. I’m an only child so she gets all protective and such. She doesn’t realize I can take care of myself just fine. And my father pulled the ‘while your under my roof’ bit, telling me that I had no right to be getting involved in something so dangerous. It got pretty loud with all the back and forth.”

“And?”

“And…I just flew off the handle. I kind of told them I was almost eighteen years old and could do what I wanted, that I was no longer a kid and they had to stop treating my like one. My father got even madder at that. He said he forbid me to risk my life in such a reckless manner. I told him I had to do it, that these powers of mine were some kind of gift. He couldn’t see that. He could only see that I had been keeping secrets from him and that I was openly defying him. So I…” His voice trailed off.

“Tommy, what did you do?”

“I told them…I told them that Ricochet was who I was and that if they didn’t like it that I was moving out.” His shoulders slouched a bit. “Kind of a dumb thing to do, huh?”

Diana reached over behind his head and playfully slapped it from behind. “Yeah, kind of dumb,” she said. Then she mussed his brown hair in a playful way to try and break the mood. “Look, I’m not in a position to give a lot of advice on this, but I can tell you that you need to be careful about hasty decisions. Sometimes you can go back on them. Sometimes you can’t.” She reached forward and lifted up his drooping chin. “You just need to think before you act next time, okay? You’re a smart kid,I know it.”

Tommy smiled. “Thanks, Diana. So, I can crash here?”

“I think you’d do better around others right now,” she said. “You know, to have someone else to talk to about things. Trust me; the loner keeping it all inside route is not all its cracked up to be. But, if you need a last option, you can stay here.”

“Thanks, Diana,” he said. He threw his arms around her and gave her a big hug.

“That’s what ‘big sisters’ are for,” she said. Then she rose from the couch.Tommy got up and took one of the bags. Together, they carried the bags out the apartment door, and then Diana closed the door and locked it.

Two minutes later, the phone rang. It stopped after four rings.

On the other end, Alan Haygner was disappointed that his friend was not there to receive his call.

***

As night fell across the eastern stretches of the New York State Thruway, a lone figure of a man stood on the side of the road with a small black bag. He wore a heavy coat and a scarf about his neck to keep of the cold November chill. He watched the road expectantly for oncoming traffic, occasionally breaking into a coughing fit that came and went. He ignored the few cars that whizzed on past him.

When he saw a large truck approaching, he began to wave his arms back and forth in hopes of catching the driver’s attention. The vehicle started to slow as it passed him and pulled off to the shoulder of the road. The man’s mouth beneath a graying mustache smiled.

He hurried to the passenger side window just as the driver finished rolling it down. “Hey, mack ,” the trucker called out, “you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the graying haired man said. “I just need a ride to the nearest truck stop to use a phone. You see, I’m a doctor.” He held up the small black bag.

“Oh, yeah, sure, sure,” the driver said as he reached to unlock the door. “Hop in. There’s a truck stop not ten minutes down the road.”

“Thank you,” the man said as he opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. He closed the door and put on his seatbelt. He started to roll up the window as the driver pulled the truck back on to the highway. The man began to cough again uncontrollably. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lozenge.

The driver winced at the coughing. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” the man replied as he sucked on the cough drop. “Nothing to concern yourself with, but thank you for asking.”

“Okay,” the driver said as he focused on his driving.

The ride was quiet then for the next two minutes, except for the hum of the tires on the road. Then the driver broke the silence. “You wouldn’t happen to be a vet, would you?” he asked.

“No,” the dark haired man replied. “Why?”

“Ah, just askin ’,” the driver said. “You’d never guess what I got caged up in the back of the truck.”

“What?” the man replied with feigned curiosity.

“A four hundred pound gorilla.”

“Really?” the man smiled. “Whatever are you doing with him?”

“I’m transferrin ’ him to a zoo upstate,” the driver replied.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” the hitchhiker asked.

“Nah,” the driver dismissed the concern with a slight wave of his hand. “That big guy is totally sedated. He’ll be out in plenty of time for me to get him off to his new home.”

“Good to know,” the man said. He turned towards the window and smiled again to himself. Perfect!

In short order, they pulled into one of the rest stops along the stretch of highway. “Phones are around back,” the driver indicated.

“Thank you,” said the man. “And, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you wait until I made my call before taking off?”

“Sure, no problem,” the driver replied as he pulled the truck into a spot and turned off the engine. “I might as well hit the can while I’m stopped anyway. I had some coffee a couple hours ago.” The two men left the truck and split off in two directions across the parking lot.

Five minutes later, the driver returned to the truck. He looked around the perimeter of the vehicle for the man, but he was no where in sight. “Hmmm,” he said to himself. He waited another minute or two then shrugged his shoulders. “He must’ve gotten tied up with his call.” He opened the cab door and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Just as he was about to put the keys in the ignition, he felt a sharp prick to the right side of his neck. He glanced up into the rear view mirror to see that a syringe needle had been stuck in the main artery of his neck. The man’s eyes grew wide before fluttering shut,; his body slumped forward before he could let out a sound.

A hand reached forward from behind the seat and caught the driver’s body before it could hit the steering wheel and specifically the horn. “Can’t have you alerting anyone to what is transpiring.” Then, another hand helped the first to haul the driver out of the way and into the passenger seat. It took a couple moments before the lifeless body of the driver was positioned out of the way.

Then, the middle aged hitchhiker emerged from the back, climbing over the emergency brake lever and the gear shift, and took his place in the driver’s seat. “Now, where did you…?” he asked aloud as he reached down around the floor in front of him. His hand caught something. “Aha!”

Retrieving the keys that had fallen to the floor, he put them in the ignition and started the truck. “Sleep well, my witless fool!” Dr. Basil Ranesferd said as he put the truck in gear. The engine strained until he found the right spot. “Your earlier act of kindness will be your last. Unlike your precious cargo in back, I have no further need for you. I’ll dispose of you the same way I did the man who gave me the details about your little transport run tonight. Hahahaha!”

The truck drove off into the night with its final destination completely changed.

***

About an hour later, six of the costumed members of the Protectors sat around a table in one of the rooms in Haygner Manor. The ornate wooden sliding doors in the back of the room opened as the light blue and red costumed Ricochet re-entered the room. “All set,” he told the group as he took an open seat.

At the head of the table, the blue robed Mystifier said, “I hope you gave him something educational to watch .”

“Absolutely,” the speedster replied with a smile. “I just popped in a compilation video I have that covers news clips about my various exploits.”

The green costumed User let out a groan. The blonde haired Larynx started to chuckle until red haired Hydro Girl gave him a slight jab in the side.

Mystifier tried his best not to roll his eyes. “I guess that will suffice.“Yes, please,” the white costumed Night Owl urged. “When you two arrived earlier today, I must say you had me curious as to what happened while you were away.”

“The short version is this,” the young sorcerer began to explain. “As a number of you know, my father was practiced in the mystical arts over in Europe where I was born and raised. My mother occasionally worked as a mid-wife. When I was in my early teens, we were paying a call on one of her recent clients. It turned out we arrived at a time of crisis.

“You see, Ms. Bradley had an unexpected visitor arrive just moments before we did. It was my father’s old enemy Zandorok , whom most of you are familiar with as well. That vile sorcerer had come to spirit away her newborn son Matthew. Father tried to stop him but could not, and Zandorok disappeared from this realm with his prize in hand. Father vowed to retrieve the child no matter what.

“A few months after that, I was sent here to the United States to study. Shortly after that, both of my parents disappeared and I have not heard from them since. I could not seek them out initially for my magical mastery was no where near the levels required. So, I devoted all my time to my studies in hopes that I could someday utilize the spells and artifacts my father left behind.

“A few months ago, one of my mystical probes caught wind of a lead – not to my parents but to the child Zandorok had stolen nearly a decade ago. In order to not lose the lead, I was forced to depart rather suddenly. I barely had enough time to send a mystic message to Night Owl to ask if she would come assist the group in my absence.”

“That would explain why you left without much word to the rest of us,” Rainbow said.

“I owed Alan so much for how he helped me a few years ago,” Night Owl added, “that it was the least I could do to come and help out. And I am glad I did. You all have become more than just teammates to me.”

User put his arm about her and gave her a little squeeze. “And we’re glad to have you here too, babe.”

“Get a room, you two,” Larynx joked.

Hydro Girl poked him again. She then turned back to their host. “So, Mystifier, we can assume then that you found Matthew and were able to bring him home again.”

“Yes,” Mystifier said, “but there are some complications. You see, since his abduction, the boy’s mother has passed on. There never was a father mentioned at the time of his birth nor was my mother aware of any other family of the woman. Thus, the child is somewhat of an orphan.”

“That sucks,” Ricochet interjected.

“Indeed,” Mystifier concluded. “Since my parents disappeared as well, I can understand a bit of what he might be going through.”

User nodded. “Yeah, I’ve kind of been there too myself. But at least I had my sister to help me through it.”

“Poor kid,” Larynx said.

“I feel like I need to something for him,” the sorcerer continued. “I certainly have the space here to offer him a roof over his head and meals and such. I can even help him with some of his scholastic needs as this world is so new to him. But I don’t think I can tend to him all hours of the day and night alone.”

“We can certainly pitch in,” Hydro Girl offered.

“Sure,” Rainbow added. “It could be fun.” She turned to her brown haired teammate. “Say, Ricochet, didn’t you say something to me earlier about needing a place to stay?”

Ricochet nodded his head. “Yeah, kind of…but…”

“Alan, why not have Ricochet move in too?” Rainbow suggested. “He’s certainly closer to Matthew’s age and could help you with a lot of things around here.”

“Whoa!” the speedster said. “You want me to babysit ?”

“Nah,” User said. “Think of it more like a Big Brother or a mentoring type of thing. I think you’d be real good at it. From what I can tell, Matthew doesn’t know a lot about living like a normal ten year old boy. Who better to give him guidance on what’s up and trendy than you?”

“Yeah?” Ricochet considered.

Just then, the doors to the study creaked open and a pair of brown eyes peeked in.

“Matthew?” Mystifier called out.

The door opened the rest of the way, and the ten year old boy stood there. “The thing…it ended…so I didn’t know what to do. So, I came to the door and…” The youngster looked a little confused.

“It’s okay,” Hydro Girl said in a welcoming tone. “Why don’t you come in and sit down, sweetie?” She glanced over at Mystifier who nodded.

The boy scurried in and hopped up on one of the open chairs. He glanced about at those seated around the table, all of whom seemed to be watching him back. “Wow,” he said with a bit of wide-eyed innocence. “You all have such colorful clothes.”

“These are our costumes,” Rainbow said. “They’re kind of special clothes.”

“What are they for?” Matthew asked.

“You know that video Ricochet showed you?” User said. The boy nodded yes. “Did you know what that was all about?” The boy nodded no.

“We’re all heroes,” Night Owl said. “We have special abilities and we use them to help others. We wear costumes so that people won’t know who we are when we’re not being heroes. And we use different names when we wear them, again to keep our secret.”

“I have special abilities!” Matthew exclaimed.

“You do?” Larynx asked. He turned to Mystifier. “He does?”

Mystifier nodded. “I was just about to get to that,” he said. “When Zandorok took him away to a far of land, my foe used his magic to transform the boy. When I found Matthew, he was being raised by a fire dragon. The dragon believed Matthew was also a dragon.”

“Hold up,” Ricochet spun about. “You can become a dragon?”

“Yes I can,” the boy said as he rose up from his seat suddenly. “Want to see?”

“Matthew, wait!” Mystifier shouted. “This room is not big enough for you to do that.” The boy frowned for he clearly wanted to show what he could do. Mystifier saw the disappointment in the child’s face. “Give me a moment first, please.” The sorcerer concentrated and performed a brief incantation.

The room about the group around the table seemed to shimmer and dissipate like fog. In fact, the whole manor around them seemed to fade off into the distance as if it were an elusive dream.

“Whoa!” Larynx exclaimed as he held the edge of the table as if he needed anchoring. “Next time a little warning, Mystifier.”

The sorcerer kept his concentration but was able to turn to the lad. “Matthew, now you can change.”

The boy nodded and concentrated, just as he had been practicing since he met Mystifier. The air about his small frame shimmered and swelled, his body seemed to blur and grow before the very eyes of the Protectors. Arms and legs were replaced with huge scaly limbs. His neck expanded and his face elongated into a large snout. A pair of wings sprouted from his back. All this occurred in a matter of seconds.

To the surprise of the gathered heroes, the boy was gone and in his place was a large, honest to goodness dragon.

“Oh my,” Rainbow exclaimed.

“His heat patterns are completely changed,” Night Owl whispered.

“That isn’t the only thing that change, babe,” User whispered back.

“That will do for now, Matthew,” Mystifier instructed. “Please change back.”

“Can’t I show them how I can fly and breathe fire?” the dragon asked.

“Another time, please,” the sorcerer said.

The beast nodded, closed its eyes and concentrated. As quickly as the process happened, the dragon reverted back into a child again.

As soon as the boy was back to normal, Mystifier recited a few more phrases.

The meeting area and its occupants were once again back in the Haygner Manor.

Ricochet bolted from his seat and ran to Matthew’s side. “That was so cool!” the speedster gushed. “I can’t believe our team now has a metamorph that can become a real live dragon!”

Matthew smiled. He liked the attention that Ricochet was giving him. “I can be a hero like you?”

“Sure you can!” Ricochet said. He turned to the others. “Right? He can be a Protector.”

Larynx considered. “I don’t know…”

“He is untrained,” Mystifier said. “He would need practice, lots of it.”

“We could help out there,” User said. “I agree he can’t go out without a lot of training though.”

“Would I get a costume too?” Matthew asked.

“He has to have a costume,” Rainbow said, “ and a mask. I assume they would come and go when he changes to a dragon just like his clothes did, right?”

“They would,” Mystifier said.

Hydro Girl smiled. “Good thing you all have a resident fashion designer in the house,” she said with a smile. “Let me see if I can come up with some designs.”

“He needs a name,” Ricochet said. “Something cool, something flashy.”

“Dragon Boy is definitely out,” User said.

“That is pretty bad,” Night Owl agreed.

“I got it!” Ricochet said. “Flamethrower!”

“That was a cool J. Geils song,” Larynx interjected.

“I like it,” Rainbow said.

“Me too,” Hydro Girl added. “I could definitely work some ideas around that.”

“I think it is Matthew’s choice,” Mystifier said. He turned to the boy. “So, Matthew, what do you think?”

“Flamethrower,” the boy said with confidence. “I like it.”

“Flamethrower it is then.”

***

Hours later, in a hidden lab a few hours north of New York City, Dr. Ranesferd managed to unload the cage with the still sedated gorilla. “Welcome, my simian specimen,” the scientist said to the slumbering creature. He flipped through the sheets on a clipboard that was in the back of the truck he hijacked earlier. “From you records, I see they have named you ‘Titan’ - a powerful name for a powerful beast. And, I see you are in perfect health as well. Excellent!”

Ranesferd started to cough uncontrollably, dropping the clipboard to the floor. He took the last of his lozenges and crushed the pack in his hand. As his cough began to ease, he dropped the empty box. “It’s good that one of us is,” he said to the creature. “This cough…it is just a reminder of the cruel twist of fate nature likes to play.”

He walked over to a table on the far side of the room and retrieved a metal bowl like item. “You see, Titan, I am dying. I have a rare, incurable disease that is slowly going to destroy my body.” Ranesferd opened the cage door, stepped inside and kneeled down near the gorilla’s head. “But I won’t go out that way. No, I won’t! And that is where you come in, my friend.”

He placed the bowl to the top of the creature’s skull and fastened it into place with a strap that went under the animal’s chin. Ranesferd then stood up and went to retrieve a set of wires. “This is part of my brilliant experiment,” he said as he attached the wires into the sockets on the bowl-helmet. “You see, I cannot allow a mind such as mine to be extinguished when my body fails.”

Dr. Ranesferd left the cage and retrieved a second bowl-helmet, placing it on his head and strapping it in place in a similar fashion. He attached another set of wires into his own helmet and turned his attention to the large console before him.

“Tonight, I will accomplish the unimaginable! I will, in a matter of moments, transfer my brain into your body and vice versa. I will give myself a strong, powerful form – one that will last me long after this human shell has expired. My mind, my intellect, must live on! And, best of all, I will prove to them – all those fools at the university – that they were wrong to mock me!”

“And now, we shall begin.” The scientist flipped a sequence of switches, charging up his device and sending a current of electricity into both of the helmets.

“Aaaaaaaah !” Ranesferd cried out. He grasped the edge of the console to steady himself, to hold back against the pain. All of his calculations, all of his theories – none of them could prepare him for the physical anguish the procedure was generating. He wanted to move, to stop the machine from continuing, but he could not. His legs buckled and started to give way beneath him. He held to the console even tighter as he cried out once more.

In the open cage across the way, the current was enough to shock the gorilla out of its sedated sleep and to cause the body to jump six inches into the air. The mighty jungle beast too screamed out in pain, in confusion. “Rawwaaaaarrrr !” It understood even less about what was going around about him. His hands reached out, fumbling for something to strike. They barely brushed against the metal bars of the cage.

And then, there was a huge explosion from the equipment, and the lab was filled with fire and smoke!

The sprinkler system in the ceiling kicked in; water rained down onto the fire. This just caused the smoke to raise more before the flames started to die back.

A lone figure rose out of the smoke and conflagration. There was also a sound, a low laugh that grew greater and greater in volume. In the figure’s hands was the limp body of Dr. Ranesferd.

“Success!” the gorilla cried out in a deep growl of a voice. “I have done it!He looked down at his former body and reveled at the out-of-body experience. “This husk, this worthless dying husk is of no further use to me!” He tossed his former body across the room as if tossing aside a discarded doll. “I am no longer that dying man. I am more, much more!” He thrust his long, hairy simian arms into the air triumphantly. “I am now an ape-man – Titan the Ape-Man!”

(to be continued)