 |
The three men had pulled Ray Hampton into the alley and demanded his money and gold watch. Two pointed guns at Ray while the third impatiently waited for the money and then for Ray to remove the watch.
“Hurry up, we don’t have all night,” he said. Ray put the watch into the one man’s hand and the other two lowered their guns. “Thank you. You have a good rest of your night now.” They turned around and saw a big man standing behind them. “Uh, can you get out of the way, tiny? We have places we need to go.”
“Like Hell?” the man said and a large gun suddenly materialized in his hand. The two thugs held up their guns and the man went for them first.
The bullets scattered through the back of the men’s heads and they collapsed to the ground. The other man held up his hands. “Hold on, maybe we can come to an agreement. You can have the watch?”
The gun went off and the thug went down like his buddies. “I don’t like criminals,” the man said.
“Oh, thank you, sir,” Ray teared up and was ecstatic. “I was hoping someone would walk by and help me.”
“I don’t like criminals,” the man said again and raised his gun at Ray. “But I hate negroes more,” and he pulled the trigger, bullets scattered out of the back of Ray’s head and Ray collapsed with the other three.
The man’s gun disappeared and he walked casually out of the alley.
“Three of these bodies match the description of these robbers we’ve been trying to catch,” Officer Murdock said about half an hour later when the police were called to the scene. “My thought is these three were robbing Mr. Hampton when somebody interrupted.”
“Maybe a fourth member of the gang?” Officer Laretti suggested, pointing at the three criminals. “Turned on the other three and killed the victim?”
“Money and valuables are still here. The assailant clearly wasn’t going for a robbery. Just murder.”
“Maybe a vigilante taking the law into his own hands.”
Murdock nodded. “Could be. What about Mr. Hampton?”
“Bad aim? Collateral damage? Mistake?”
“Here’s hoping that until we find this...person, let’s hope there are no more mistakes,” Murdock said.
The man was walking several feet behind a white guy and his black girlfriend. They were holding hands and every so often she would lean her head onto his arm as they would kiss. He ducked into a doorway as they waited to cross the street. The first bullet blew through her head like a melon and the second tore out his throat as he turned to look at what happened to her. The people on the sidewalk screamed and ran off in different directions. The gun was already gone and the man was off again.
“Watering down our gene pool,” he muttered. “She wasn’t fit to scrub his toilet, let alone have his children.” The man got lost in the screaming crowd which softened to a normal crowd a couple blocks away.
“Think it’s the same person?” Officer Laretti asked Murdock.
“Highly probable,” Murdock thought out loud. “And nobody saw anything?”
“They heard the gunshots and saw a non-descript man in the area who they are all sure is who we’re looking for. Most witnesses say the shots came from over there,” Laretti pointed to the doorway.
“Sir, there’s a situation at Braley’s. We think it’s our gunman,” another officer came up to Murdock and Laretti.
“Get as many officers as you can down there. And see if we can find Time Man,” Murdock said and began running in the direction of Braley’s.
Braley’s was an institution in the neighborhood. Opened in 1922, it served the best food on this side of Golden City despite being considered a diner. The police surrounded Braley’s. Nothing had happened in several minutes but they were being cautious. Time Man landed among the officers and was debriefed by Officer Murdock.
“We think he is still in there but we’re not positive. There hasn’t been any sound or movement in about ten minutes,” Murdock explained.
“Let’s see what’s going on,” Time Man, followed by Murdock and Laretti with their guns drawn, walked up to the restaurant and went inside. As they stepped inside, Time Man’s face dropped upon seeing the scene. Blood was everywhere, dozens of bodies lay on the floor or were slumped over tables or in booths.
Murdock noticed Time Man’s reaction to the scene. “You never get used to it by the way.”
“No, I can’t imagine that you ever do,” Time Man cleared his throat.
Another officer came in. “Suspect has been spotted at 72nd and Grover.”
“Get officers there. I’ll cut him off and hopefully detain him,” Time Man said and flew back out the door. Another two victims were in the intersection. A solitary man was walking away, toward a crowd of people. Time Man swooped down and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. “You’ve done a lot in a few hours.”
“Yeah. I guess I found my niche,” the gunman said. A gun suddenly appeared in his hand. He shifted and aimed at Time Man, pulled the trigger and Time Man was knocked back, dropping the gunman.
The gunman landed hard on the street but on his feet. Time Man was still in the air, his shoulder in pain and his suit there in tatters. “He didn’t have a gun when I grabbed him. Where’d it come from? Can he make guns magically appear?” The police began arriving. “He’s there. Right there,” Time Man pointed. The gunman took a couple shots that tore through a couple of officers.
“I’m prepared for war,” the gunman said. A grenade appeared in his hand after he had moved the gun into his other hand. He began running into a building followed by Time Man. As Time Man grabbed the gunman again, the grenade went off. The large explosion brought the building down. It was a hotel and several people were buried along with the gunman and Time Man.
After several minutes, Time Man pushed his way out. “How many buildings have fallen on me?” he asked himself.
The next couple of hours was spent digging people out of the rubble of the hotel. Thankfully, most of the people survived but were a little worse for wear. They never found any evidence of where the gunman went or who he was.
“Careful! Careful,” Dr. Schnebly directed the men moving the giant tomb. The men gently lowered the tomb to the ground and then were waved away by Dr. Schnebly.
“Why is this sarcophagus so large?” Schnebly’s assistant asked.
“Because inside,” with gloved hands he carefully removed the lid and slid it to rest on the floor “is the largest mummy we’ve ever seen.”
The mummy was gigantic. Over six feet tall and as wide as two people with broad shoulders and thick legs. The body seemed untouched by decomposition but without seeing the body, it wasn’t known what the body looked like.
“The tomb it was found in was completely barren. No hieroglyphics, no jewels, nothing. Archaeologists even thought it looked like its tomb had been purposely caved in,” Dr. Schnebly said.
“I wonder which pharaoh it is,” the assistant said.
“We’ll start finding out tomorrow,” Dr. Schnebly said. The two of them left the room. The door closed and the mummy was left alone in the room. The room was sealed--nothing could get in or out. The mummy was alone in the room for a couple hours when, barely noticeable to the naked eye, it began moving.
