Continued from Part Sixteen

Back on Night Lord’s roof, the Em-erald Avenger scanned inside. Night Lord snored while the guards played Parcheesi. Good.

The Emerald Avenger put on a gas mask, broke a hole in the roof, and threw a container of sleeping gas into the room.

The guards fell on the Parcheesi board, already napping.

The Emerald Avenger broke through the roof of Night Lord’s room in The Aveng-ing Eagle.

Night Lord startled and reached under  his bed for a weapon.

The Emerald Avenger lashed out his bull whip, grabbed Night Lord’s hand, and pulled the screaming man up as The Avenging Eagle ascended.

The Emerald Avenger pressed a but-ton. A needle extended and pierced Night Lord.

The screaming stopped.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book November 22nd

Continued from Part Fifteen

“Timmy, you’ve got a future in this business.” Night Lord smiled as he counted the cash. He stopped at a check. How many times must he repeat himself? “For the last time, we don’t take checks, particularly one with ‘For Crack Cocaine’ in the memo line.”

“Sorry, I’ll get cash from him.”

“Checks for drugs.” What was the world coming to? Next, his dealers would want him to supply them credit card machines.

He forked over ten Ben Franklins. “This is your cut, Hitchens. Take your stuff and go. And don’t get caught!”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

###

The Emerald Avenger watched Timmy leave from the roof. He peered through the wall like his favorite comic book hero. Finally, Night Lord had gone to bed. The Emerald Avenger checked his watch. Four thirty a.m.

He eyed the armed guards and the steel door. He had to return to the normal life of Dave Johnson for a few hours, but he would come back with a vengeance.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book November 1st.

Continued from Part Fourteen

Déjà vu slammed the Emerald Aven-ger as he sat in the pew behind the assas-sins at Reverend Jones’ old church.

No more preachers would die, not with the Emerald Avenger on the case.

Finally, the preacher’s lips stopped. The Emerald Avenger watched on the edge of his seat as Hitchens got up and prayed with the preacher. If the kid pulled a gun, he’d quickly dematerialize it with-out anyone seeing him.

Hitchens shook the preacher’s hand and walked out the door. The Emerald Avenger slipped out the back. “I’ll be old man before I get to Night Lord’s lair this way. I have to speed this up.”

 ###

Around nine in the morning, Dave called Hitchens. “Night Lord speaking. Come to headquarters at once.”

Hitchens yawned. “First, I don’t know where your headquarters are at. Second, you got me confused with my brother, Timmy, again. He’s the dope dealer.”

“Oh, my mistake.”

“Just don’t bother me at this hour.”

“It’s not my fault you were up until two a.m. watching the Marx Brothers.”

“Hey, how did you know that?”

Dave hung up. That was close.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book November 1st.

Continued from Part Fourteen

Déjà vu slammed the Emerald Aven-ger as he sat in the pew behind the assas-sins at Reverend Jones’ old church.

No more preachers would die, not with the Emerald Avenger on the case.

Finally, the preacher’s lips stopped. The Emerald Avenger watched on the edge of his seat as Hitchens got up and prayed with the preacher. If the kid pulled a gun, he’d quickly dematerialize it with-out anyone seeing him.

Hitchens shook the preacher’s hand and walked out the door. The Emerald Avenger slipped out the back. “I’ll be old man before I get to Night Lord’s lair this way. I have to speed this up.”

 ###

Around nine in the morning, Dave called Hitchens. “Night Lord speaking. Come to headquarters at once.”

Hitchens yawned. “First, I don’t know where your headquarters are at. Second, you got me confused with my brother, Timmy, again. He’s the dope dealer.”

“Oh, my mistake.”

“Just don’t bother me at this hour.”

“It’s not my fault you were up until two a.m. watching the Marx Brothers.”

“Hey, how did you know that?”

Dave hung up. That was close.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book November 1st.

Continued from Part Thirteen

Through the Avenging Eagle’s peri-scope, the Emerald Avenger watched a youth with dreadlocks knock on Tommy Hitchens’ door. Strange, he’d spent eight hours plus yesterday watching Hitchens march to doors—to deliver pizza. Besides snooze until ten, the only other thing Hitch-ens seemed to know how to do was crash in front of the television.

Hitchens opened the door. “Hey, Ace, what’s up?”

Dreadlocks asked, “You ready for some action, bro?”

“You bet.”

“Then let’s hit the road.”

 “Finally!” The Emerald Avenger  followed them in stealth mode and groan-ed when they stopped. “The zoo!”

He stayed close by them in the zoo and listened to them talk, hoping to catch them trying to sell drugs.

Hitchens said, “The elephants are cool.”

“Straight up.”

 ###

The Emerald Avenger zoomed, his radar scanning for any sign of his drug dealers. He’d fallen asleep at the zoo and lost them.

Ah, the bank, the drug dealers must be robbing it.

The young men came out waving about savings bonds—and receipts.

Hitchens said, “I’m glad we did this. It’s important to save for the future.”

Ace nodded. “Word.”

“Now for some real action, right, man?”

The Emerald Avenger muttered, “About time!”

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book November 1st.

Continued from Part Twelve

The Emerald Avenger strolled up Main Street, twirling his bull whip. He needed a new info source. But what?

He spotted a bum sitting on the corner, with a newspaper in his lap. Ah, perfect! “Hey, know where Night Lord’s head-quarters is?”

The bum coughed. “No.”

The Emerald Avenger pulled a twenty out. “Do you remember now?”

“Um, no.”

The Emerald Avenger pulled out more where that came from. “How about now?”

“Look, I like the money, but Night Lord ain’t a freak who advertises that. You could try following one of his dealers.”

“Know who one of them might be?”

“Uh …Tommy Hitchens.”

“Thank you, my kind sir.” Bowing, the Emerald Avenger tipped his fedora.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book September 1st.

Continued from Part Ten

Up to his waist in sewage, and bent over nearly as low, The Emerald Avenger stopped. He hit his watch’s night light. Terrific. He’d spent over two hours look-ing for Night Lord’s secret sewer lair, but all he’d found was rats and deadly germs.

Okay, so maybe information obtain-ed by duress was not always the most accurate.

He returned to The Avenging Eagle and flew back to work.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book later this Summer

Continued from Part Nine

Standing on the sidewalk at 1250 First Avenue South, the Emerald Avenger gasp-ed. “Safeco field!”

Where could a super villain hide his lair in the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark? Un-derneath it, maybe? The Emerald Avenger soldiered in through the front gates.

A security guard rushed over. “You can’t go in there!”

“I’m here to banish evil from this place.”

“Look, the ownership will decide when to fire the manager.”

“I’m here to fight a kingpin named Night Lord whose headquarters is under this park.”

“Fella, that’s not possible. The only way anyone could get under this park is to tunnel through from the sewer.”

“The sewer!” The Emerald Avenger ran to a nearby manhole and climbed in.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book later this Summer

Continued from Part Eight

That evening, Dave turned about in front of Naomi’s full length mirror. He looked awesome in his new black suit. It looked ordinary, but had a bullet proof lining, a shiny emerald dress shirt, a black fedora with an emerald hat band, two tone emerald dress shoes, and an emerald bull-whip.

He put on a pair of rap-around slim-line night vision goggles that he’d heard about on a forum from some guy named “Josh.” Perfect.

Powerhouse had too much of a rep as a traditional superhero. This required someone darker. The Emerald Avenger.

The Emerald Avenger couldn’t fly. It’d attract suspicion if he had the same powers. No, he had something even better.

He went outside, pulled a tiny model air craft with hover capabilities out of his pocket, and focused on it until it grew to a full size, live ship. The Avenging Eagle.

The Emerald Avenger hopped inside his craft and rose straight up three hundred feet into the air. A press of a button, and the Avenging Eagle became invisible to the naked eye and radar.

The Avenging Eagle descended in an unlit alley behind a drug deal.

The Emerald Avenger lifted a mega-phone. “I’m here to avenge.”

The dealer and the junkie gaped at The Avenging Eagle and it’s large capacity machine guns.

The Emerald Avenger pressed the fire blanks button on his dashboard.

The cowards fled.

From the Avenging Eagle, The Em-erald Avenger lowered a bull whip, grab-bed the seller by the legs, and soared up. He kept a video of the dealer in one corner of his screen and giggled as the poor sap lost his drugs, his wallet, his gun, and his lunch.

The Emerald Avenger stopped at two thousand feet and pulled the screaming deal-er into the cockpit. “Look down.”

The dealer did. The Emerald Avenger kicked him in the rear. The dealer fell out into the night. The Emerald Avenger ex-tended the whip and pulled the dealer back in. “Do you want to live?”

“Yes!”

“Tell me where Night Lord’s lair is.”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer.”

The Emerald Avenger kicked him out of the plane and the whip once again grab-bed him. “Sure you don’t know?”

“Okay, I’ll tell, just don’t kill me.”

The Emerald Avenger brought the dealer back up. “Where is he?”

“At 1250 First Avenue South!”

“Powerhouse would’ve let you go now. Unfortunately for you, I’m not Power-house.”

The Emerald Avenger delivered super blows to the dealer’s torso and kicked out his front teeth. With the whip he slashed a funny looking A in the flesh of the dealer’s back. He’d have to practice that more.

Upon the approach to the hospital, The Emerald Avenger said, “You won’t die, kid, but you’ll need to be in the hospital a long time. Let me ask you a question. Did you finish high school?”

The dealer shook his head.

“I’d reconsider. I’m not going to kill you, but if you keep this up, someone will.”

He dropped the dealer off in front of the hospital. He watched until a nurse came and took the dealer into the emergency room.

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book later this Summer

Continued from Part Seven

Dave flipped through the paper. In the obituaries, a familiar name punched him. “Oh no—Jimmy!” He buried his face in his hands, and wept.

“See what happens when you run from your destiny?”

Dave glanced behind him.

Zolgron folded his arms, his eyes hard. “Now, what are you going to do about it?”

Dave’s chest heaved. He focused on an action figure Derrick had left lying out. The toy melted into plastic goo. “Something like that to whoever’s responsible.”

Zolgron smirked. “Don’t melt your-self.”

“What?”

“You promised to be there. You weren’t. Now, you must make amends by catching the killers, but you are the one to blame.”

Dave bit his lip—Zolgron was right. He knelt. “I will make amends.”

Continued Next Tuesday

Tales of the Dim Knight is coming out as book later this Summer