Cotton Bear's Castle - Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Illinois Ben had slipped into the room that Voltran was scurrying about in. A small passage leading to an upper catwalk made for an easy entrance.

Overlooking the whole room, Ben could see he had several henchmen to take care of, along with some support staff. Cotton Bear took the low way into the room, through Voltran’s den. It was in there that Cotton Bear discovered some interesting items.

“10 minutes to uplink” was called out over the P.A. system as the support staff monitored the operation.

Voltran hurried up his actions. The buzz in the air grew louder and a slight smell awakened the hairs in Ben’s nose.

Watching the movements of Voltran closely, Ben figured out that this was the moment he had to stop Voltran. He couldn’t wait for Cotton Bear, and he couldn’t wait for the dagger, however it was to be used.

Voltran connected a few jumper cables into place and ran the lines over to the Brainmaster 2000. Attaching them one at a time, he must have placed close to a dozen wires to the Brainmaster 2000 before he retreated to the panel of switches.

Ben slowly uncoiled his whip and with skilled precision threw it out at an overhead light. At the same time a crackle came from the electricity generating machine below him. Holding on to the whip end, Ben climbed over the catwalk railing, and onto the other side. Then, in an athletic manoeuvre, jumped off the catwalk and swung perfectly down and over to the Brainmaster 2000, or as it is truly known, the Hipnotiktrans. Reaching out with his left arm while holding the whip handle with his right, Ben grabbed the Hipnotiktrans helmet and sailed on past and up to another catwalk. As he arrived at the catwalk, Ben grabbed hold of the railing with his leg. Unfortunately he had misjudged the lengths of the cables connected to the Hipnotiktrans helmet and it drew tight and pulled him back. Ben was in an awful position now with one leg holding him to the railing, his right hand holding the whip and the left hand hanging onto the helmet which was pulling him back. It would only be a matter of time before Voltran would turn away from the knobs and dials and go to the helmet.
“5 minutes to uplink” boomed a voice from the P.A. system.

Voltran looked happy and giddy as he twisted a couple more knobs before turning back to the helmet. His happiness was instantly shattered when he saw the helmet was not where he had left it. Following the cables led Voltran to further unhappiness as he gazed upon the gymnastics of Illinois Ben.

“You!” shouted Voltran. “You should be dead!”

“Sorry about that bud, it seems my number wasn’t ready to come up” Ben replied with a smile on his face.

Voltran wasn’t happy and in an instant realized Ben was not in a very good position. Grabbing the cables with both hands, Voltran gave them a heavy tug, pulling the Hipnotiktrans helmet out of Ben’s hand. Crashing down on to the floor, Voltran ran over and scooped the helmet up.

Ben, now with a free hand reached up and secured himself on the catwalk. Climbing over to stand on the catwalk, Ben had to get down there and stop Voltran.

“Get him now!” shouted Voltran and immediately the henchmen sprang into action. From both directions they made their way to ladders at either end of the catwalk. Ben soon figured out this wasn’t going to be easy.

The first henchmen arrived at Ben with a flurry of punches that Ben blocked with the Win-Poe fighting style he had learned from one of his earlier adventures in the Far East. Countering those punches with a flurry of his own, Ben was able to knock-out one henchman. Jumping over the now sleeping henchman, Ben started in on the next one. Using a combination of kicks and punches, Ben was able to make short work of the next couple of henchmen. By now the henchmen from behind him had arrived and Ben had to repeat the whole punching and kicking thing once again.

“3 minutes to uplink” boomed the voice form the P.A. system.

Ben realized this was getting him nowhere fast, as unfortunately the henchmen kept on coming. It was time for a quick getaway. Using his whip on the light fixture, he snapped it and leaped over the catwalk railing, swinging down and across the room. Only this time he let go and slid on the floor, leaving the henchmen for a moment. But a moment was all he needed.

Voltran had now placed the Hipnotiktrans helmet on his head and the flow of electricity was starting to increase.

“You’re too late Illinois Ben!” Voltran shouted, “Soon everyone in the world will do my bidding, including you, and I plan to make your first command to die.”
“90 seconds to uplink” the P.A. voice boomed.

Ben ran to the control panel in an attempt to turn some dials or push some buttons, but an electromagnetic force zapped him, sending him back several feet. Landing on his back, stunned, Ben was an easy target for the henchmen who had made it down from the catwalk. Grabbing Ben the henchmen held him tightly.

“Don’t let him go men.” Voltran ordered. “I want him to be the first to be under my control, I may even make him throw the final switch that sends the signal to the uplink satellite.”

As tough as Ben was he couldn’t get loose from the grasp of the henchman.

“45 seconds to uplink” the voice boomed once again.

Voltran was now absorbing more and more energy. His eyes were beginning to glow a brilliant blue and his finger tips were sparking between themselves. Ben couldn’t take his eyes off of this evil mess before him. Voltran started to laugh and laugh hard and loud.

“25 seconds to uplink” boomed the P.A. voice.

Voltran was beginning to lift himself off the floor with pure energy. His body radiating heat and light as the gauges on the control panel went off the scale.
“15 seconds to uplink” boomed the voice

Ben continued his useless struggle against the henchmen, who all seemed to gain strength along with Voltran. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Cotton Bear coming out of the den, with the dagger in hand.

“10 seconds to uplink… 9, 8, 7, 6, “the voice continued.

Ben reacted almost on instinct as he sent his hand down his left side, into his holster, grabbing his gun. With a slight turn of his wrist he was able to aim the gun at the foot of one of the henchmen. A loud puff of smoke and noise surrounded Ben as the henchman let go to take care of his shot foot. Taking this moment, Ben brought his left knee up and into the groin area on the henchman to his right. The resulting contact caused the henchman to double over on agony, leaving Ben to deal with the one henchman behind him. Falling forward into a somersault, Ben rolled out of the possible grip of the rear henchman. As the henchman leaned forward to get Ben, Ben spun quickly, taking out the henchman’s legs, knocking him to the ground, for which Ben then gave him a one-punch knock-out.

“4, 3, 2, 1” the P.A. voice continued.

Voltran was now a good 2 feet above the ground, suspended by bolts of electricity, arms outstretched, his cape flowing behind him. Slowly his arms came together in front of him, bringing a ball of electricity between the hands.
Cotton Bear was a good 10 feet away as the P.A. voice boomed one last time.

“Zero…uplink commencing.”

“Ben!” shouted Cotton Bear. “Grab the dagger, hold it up to the sun!”

And with that Cotton Bear threw the dagger underhand towards Ben who had to make a diving leap to catch it as Cotton Bear’s throwing arm wasn’t too good.
Seeing Ben grab the dagger brought surprise and anger from Voltran. The ball of electricity grew in size as Voltran aimed it at Illinois Ben.

Ben got to his feet holding the dagger and made a quick turn towards a low table on his right. Stepping on a chair, then the table, Ben leaped into the air, holding the dagger by its middle and allowed the sun coming in through an upper window to strike the clear diamond on the end of the dagger. The Hipnotiktrans dagger hung in the air without Ben holding it and produced a brilliant flash that was hypnotising. It then produced a blinding light from the tip of the spear. Travelling towards the Hipnotiktrans helmet, it snapped Voltran’s head back, knocking him head over heels. In a series of sparks and showering electrical surges, the control panel went up in an explosion that took out half of the room. Debris went flying and Ben and Cotton Bear took safety behind an overturned metal table.

Voltran stopped spinning long enough to scream out at Ben and Cotton Bear.

“You may have stopped me this time but I will not be stopped forever”

Cotton Bear stood up and took out another item from his bag. It was around 12 inches round and 8 inches high, with detailed inscriptions all around the base. There were three crystals embedded in it and a single diamond in the middle. Lifting it up he threw it out at Voltran, who was still hovering above the floor. It landed, and slid under Voltran’s feet almost perfectly. Looking down, Voltran didn’t know what to think of this unique device.

The Hipnotiktrans dagger sensed the new device and once again produced a blinding light from the tip of the spear. This time it travelled towards the new device. It struck one of three crystals embedded in the outer ring of the device which made it spin on its own inner ring. It continued to strike the device, the blinding light lit up a center funnel that grew in size until it had covered Voltran completely. Then the Hipnotiktrans dagger device stopped producing the blinding light and fell to the floor. The spinning crystals picked up speed until they created the illusion of only one crystal, in pure white. As the device sped up, the funnel slowly reduced in size taking Voltran with it into the heart of the device, an uncut 2000 carat diamond.

Then all went quiet as the device stopped spinning. Voltran was gone, trapped in the device known only as the ‘Corazon de la Salida del Sol’, or ‘Heart of the Sunrise’.

Ben and Cotton Bear stood there in the midst of the mess left behind by this epic battle. Voltran’s support staff awoke from their hypnotic sleep and openly wondered where they were. Cotton Bear explained that all their questions would be answered. Ben went over to the device and picked it up.

“Now this should be in a museum,” he stated with a smile, “But I think we should keep it a little more secure.”

“I think I know just the right place to keep it.” Cotton Bear replied. “A nice castle with a real big vault.”

Illinois Ben then grabbed the Hipnotiktrans dagger from the floor. “Would you like to keep this safe as well?” holding out the dagger to Cotton Bear.

Taking it from Ben, Cotton Bear placed it back in his shoulder bag. “This belongs in a library.”

They both laughed.

“So Ben, where to now?” questioned Cotton Bear.

“I think a little period of rest is in order or at least until the next adventure comes around” Ben said. “After all, this wasn’t my first adventure and it won’t be my last.”Smiling, Illinois Ben knew of the adventures to come and the excitement to be had and deep down couldn’t wait until the next one arrived.

The End of Cotton Bear's Castle