Continued from Part One

Jesse Miller burst out of his cabin in the English village brandishing the sword he derived his superhero name from, folly on his mind. “Laban, there’s no use trying to talk me out of this.”

Revelator followed on his crime-fighting partner’s heels. He’d know what Jesse was thinking right now even without his brainwave detecting implant. “Jesse, you’re being a total fool!”

“Nothing foolish about it. He’s in the caves and he needs killed.”

“He could have doubled back. We need to wait here.”

“And do what? Let him pick us off one by one? I don’t think so. I didn’t wait for Al Qaeda to kill in the US. I hunted them down like rats. Dark Mystic is no different.”

Revelator shook his head. Jesse was in stubborn mode. There’d be no dissuading him. “Okay, but I’m coming along.”

“Not this time.” Jesse dropped his sword to the ground to mount it. “I have to do this alone. I got us into this mess and I’m going to have to get us out.”

Revelator placed his hand on his shoulder. “We’re in this together. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott.”

The intensity drained from Jesse for a moment. “I Spy.” He laughed. “You made me watch every episode of that show.”

“It seemed appropriate given that we were Americans overseas dealing with people who’d like to kill us.”

“It wasn’t much of an escape.” Jesse darkened. “The difference is that this is my fault. I’ve got to fix it.”

“No you don’t! This is why you’ve never come to Christ!”

Jesse stiffened. “Really, is this a time to be talking about religion?”

Revelator folded his arms. “When is the time? The only time you want to hear about religion is in church. Even then your mind is on everything else.”

Jesse snorted. “Come on, I go to church. That’s more than I can say for most of our team. I’m in the top 30% of our team in religiousness.”

Revelator threw his hands up. “There you go again. Everything with you is a statistic. You use God. He’s not the Almighty Creator of the Universe, he’s your lucky rabbit’s foot that will help you in battle and make your son turn out right. You think he gives you an edge, but you’re too proud to turn to Him and admit you need Him, that the Great Sword can’t fix everything.”

Jesse looked towards the ground. He’s one to preach with his drinking problem.

Revelator shoved Jesse. “You jerk!”

“What? You have a problem with something I thought?”

“You’re trying to manipulate me. You hope I’ll get so mad and hurt by you saying that, that I’ll go off and cry, and let you get yourself killed. Well, Jesse, I’m not going to give you the satisfaction. You’re a jerk, but you’re my jerk. If we’re going down, we’re going down together. I wouldn’t even be in this business if it weren’t for you.”

Jesse smiled grimly. “You could always get on with someone else.”

Revelator laughed. “Sure, let me polish my sidekick resume. Don’t even suggest going solo. My power doesn’t lend itself to fighting crime on my own. I wouldn’t last a month. Besides, I promised to fight alongside you, and I keep my promises.”

Jesse shook his head. “How did I get a partner like you? It’s more than I deserve.”

“We don’t get what we deserve. It’s called grace.”

“Okay. You can come, but no sermons.”

Revelator laughed. “Fine.”

Jesse mounted his sword. “Magnetize! Laban, hold on.”

“Sword!” said a female above them.

Jesse and Revelator turned. Descending from a tree was the finely sculpted Pantheon.

“You need help,” she said. “And I’m happy to offer my services.”

Revelator touched his chin. “I don’t know.” She’d genetically engineered herself with the legendary powers of the twelve mythical Olympians, but if they kept this up long enough, Jesse would get a good sized team together.

Jesse grunted. “Fine, let’s get going before anyone else decides to risk their lives.”

Continued…Next Monday

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