Tabloid
Issue #6
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Six
Dealing With Death
With great force, Madeline is tossed into a dark cell. The
creature that she was attached to just a few minutes ago, has not only been
freed, but is the one who tossed her in the cell. She hits the stone floor hard
and hurts her shoulder. The cell door is then shut behind her by the Men in
Black. The monster smiles at her as the door is closed. They then turn and leave
her. She slowly gets up, rubbing her aching shoulder. She slowly moves her right
arm and makes sure it is not broken or dislocated. Her shoulder really does
hurt. There is great pain, but she has full range of motion with her arm. She is
relieved to know that nothing is broken. Sitting on the ground, she looks around
her new home to see where she is. Half expecting a small cell like on Earth, she
is relieved to see that there is a fair amount of room. The room is quite long,
in fact it is so long that she cannot see all the way back. Of course it is also
very dark, so that may be part of the problem. Along the walls are what look
like street lamps. They appear to be built into the wall and protrude a little
as they are pole shaped. At the top, they come out just like a street lamp. They
do not give off as much light as a street lamp in New York City, but this still
give off a fair amount. There are two on the left side and two on the right side
of the cell. After that, the rest of the cell is in darkness. The ceiling is
about fifteen feet high and looks like the ceiling of a cave. There are some
stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The floors are stone and very rough. There
is a slope towards the center of the room, where there is a drain in the floor.
The drain is about four feet across and has what looks like a wrought iron. She
slowly stands up and starts walking around. She wants to see if she is alone in
the cell. As she walks down the cell, she hears something scurrying around. "Oh
great, rats." she says as she prepares herself for the worst. She hates rats and
knowing this world, they are probably huge. She decides to call out and see if
anyone answers "Hello, is anyone there?" She stops for a second to listen for a
response. At first there is silence, but then she hears a faint voice. "I am
back here." She concentrates to see where the voice came from and realizes it is
in the back of the cell. She steps into the darkness and slowly makes her way
towards the back. She is cautious to take one step at a time as she can barely
see her hand in front of her face. She takes a few more steps when her hand
feels something. It feels like a cloth. "Hello, who are you?" she says as she
keeps touching the cloth. She feels the cloth turning and she sees a glowing
skull in front of her. It glows like it is on fire and it wears a dark robe. "I
am death and I have come for you." the skull says. Madeline screams and turns to
run, but ends up tripping herself. She falls to the ground. Once she hits, she
turns to look up and sees the skull coming at her. She then sees a glowing hand
reach out to her. "Let me give you a hand." it says as it reaches for her. She
screams at the top of her lungs and says "Get away from me. I'm not ready to
die." She tries to crawl away as fast as she can. She struggles to get to her
feet when she feels something grab her arm. It is the feel of cold bone and it
makes her struggle even more. It quickly pulls her up and she hears a voice say
"Calm down, I was just kidding." She stops struggling for a second to think.
With all that has gone on, she decides to listen to what Death has to say. She
turns to him and looks at his glowing skull and bony hands. "I'm sorry I scared
you, I just have been really bored." She looks at him like he is insane and asks
"What?" He then smiles as well as a skull can smile and says "I am Death, but on
this world nobody dies. So I get bored and I didn't mean to scare you....well,
actually I did....but I am sorry I scared you." She has heard strange stories
about Death, but never heard of him apologizing. "So you are Death?" she asks.
He brings his scythe up and sets it down on. "Yeah, I'm Death. The Grim Reaper.
Whatever you want to call me. I was assigned this world, but the problem is that
no one ever dies here. Makes for really boring work. So I pretty much go around
and scare people. It is pretty juvenile, but as I said, I am bored." She then
asks "So what are you doing in this cell?" He laughs "Oh you think I am locked
in. I can leave whenever I want. I am just here to see if this guy in the back
dies. I am really hoping to finally have some work." She gives him a dirty look
and says "That is really morbid." He laughs and says "I know but I am Death."
She then asks "Where is this guy you are watching?" He then brings his scythe
forward and illuminates it. "Follow me." he says in a spooky voice as he walks
towards the back of the cell.
An hour has passed and the aliens are still waiting for
Madeline to come out. They keep looking at each other for answers, but none of
them have any answers. The King, who is tired of waiting, speaks up "I don't
think they are coming back." Batboy speaks up next "Maybe we should go look for
her or something." The aliens keep looking back and forth at each other. It is
like they are waiting for one of them to speak up. After several seconds of
exchanging glances, one of them speaks up. "It is obvious that she is not coming
back here. Now we need to calculate whether she returned to Earth or is here."
The King runs his fingers through his hair as he says "It is obvious that she is
not here. So she must be on Earth." The aliens once again exchange glances. Then
a different one speaks up "We do not mean here as in this very spot. We mean
here on Tabloid." The King slaps his forehead and says "Hunka Hunka Burning
Love, you mean she may be on this world?" Batboy then asks "Well if she is here,
why is she not here?" They take a moment to figure out a response. His wording
is a bit confusing to a race that is very literal. One of the aliens then
answers "It is very possible that someone redirected her and the alien to
materialize at a different point." The King is now confused and does not hide it
"Madeline was supposed to Return to Sender, but you are saying that she may have
been lost in the mail?" The aliens have no idea what he is saying. They look at
Batboy who translates it for them "He does not understand why she did not return
to this room. He wants to know how she was redirected elsewhere." That helps
clarify things for the aliens a bit and they nod to show they now understand.
After a few glances, one of the aliens speaks up and says "There are other
aliens here besides us. They are not supposed to be here. They have intentions
that are as your people would say are evil." The King and Batboy look at each
other. They are worried for Madeline's safety. The King then says "Why don't we
go after these hound dogs and get back our little darlin?" The aliens once again
are confused and look to Batboy for clarification. "He wonders why we don't go
after these aliens and get back Madeline?" The aliens then give each other
glances and one of them once again speaks up "We do not know their location at
the present time." The King punches the wall as he yells "Great Balls of Fire."
Batboy then touches him on the shoulder and says "That wasn't your song. It was
actually done by Jerry Lee Lewis." He turns to him and says in a nasty voice "I
know but it sounds better than yelling Love Me Tender."
Chained to the wall, stuck in the back where there was little
light was an older man. He was wearing a lab coat, but with his head down,
Madeline could not see who it was. "Are you all right?" she asked the man. For
the first time in days, he heard a friendly voice. All he has heard was the
guards and death, neither of which were all that pleasant to the ears. He
squinted in the darkness to try and make out who it was. He saw Death there with
is glowing head and hands but he knew that voice did not come from him. This was
a female voice and it sounded very familiar. If it were not for the events of
the past few days, he would probably easily recognize it. But the torture, being
chained in the darkness and having Death constantly asking if you are doing
worse is enough to impair any man's memory. Once his eyes move away from Death,
they see a shadowy form. "Sorry, but I cannot see who it is." the man says in a
tired voice. Madeline then looks at Death and asks "Is there anything you can do
to get more light in here?" He looks at her and says "What do I look like? A
lamp?" She then gives him a dirty look and he relents. He lifts his hand and
soon more light illuminates from his bony fingers. Madeline then looks down at
the man and notices that it is Dr. Frankenstein. "Doctor! What happened to you?"
she says as she kneels down next to him. He looks at her and says "Madeline, the
men in black stuck me here to die." Suddenly Death lights up and says "Did
someone say die?" Madeline turns around and screams at him "Will you quit it
with the death stuff." Death then turns around and grumbles to himself "What
does she expect, I am Death." She then grabs his chains and pulls on them "We
have to find a way to get you out of these chains." She pulls on one of them
over and over and then tries the other one. Both are strongly secured to the
wall. "There has to be a way to get you out of these." she says as she looks at
them and thinks. "There is no hope. Free yourself. If you don't you will end up
dying here with me." Death then turns around again and gets ready to say
something when Madeline looks right at him and says "Don't even think it." He
then grumbles some more and walks off, leaving both of them in almost total
darkness. Only a faint glow from Death keeps it from being total darkness.
While The King and Batboy try to figure out a way to save
Madeline or for that matter how to find Madeline in order to save her, one of
the aliens comes into the room and begins to speak. "We know how to find
Madeline." he says to The King and Batboy who are both sitting at a table. "Lay
it on me." The King says as he quickly stands up. "We noticed DB Cooper left
right before Madeline went through the shadows. We used our tracking devices to
follow him to a castle on the outskirts of the city." Batboy also stands up and
says "So you think that DB Cooper is a traitor?" The alien stops for a second
before answering. When he fully understands Batboy's question, he responds "We
feel that in your words, he sold us out." The King then asks "Why would he sell
us out to the enemy?" The alien understands that question and answers
immediately "He wanted to get back to Earth. We were trying to figure out a way
to do it without disrupting things on Earth. He became tired of waiting and they
made him a better offer." The King and Batboy then start heading out the door as
The King says "Well, what are we waiting for, we have a little darlin to save."
They all then head out the door.
As Madeline stays back and tries to comfort Dr. Frankenstein,
the door to the cell opens. In walks Adolph Hitler with his werewolf. He is
carrying a torch which is illuminating the whole room. "Vat good to zee you
met." he says as he walks towards the back of the room. "What do you want?" she
screams at him. "No vorry miss. I came to only talk." he says as he nears them.
"Leave him alone, he has been through enough." she says as she moves herself in
front of him, to shield him. Adolph laughs as he says "Miss, I came to talk to
you." She is shocked. What can Adolph Hitler want with her. "Me? What could we
possibly talk about?" she asks in a nasty tone. He then moves the torch to the
hand that is holding the werewolf's leash. With his free hand, he pulls a whip
out and cracks it on the ground. "I vant ansvers and you vill supply them." he
says as he cracks the whip on the ground. She puts her hand up to cover her face
and asks in a scared but pissed voice "What could I possibly tell you?" He then
cracks the whip on the floor again, only this time a little closer to her. "I
vant to know about the aliens." Madeline then brings her other arm up to cover
her face as she expects him to hit her at any time. "I don't know anything, I'm
not even from this world." she screams as she closes her eyes. She hears the
crack of the whip and waits for the sting on her skin. But it does not hit her.
Once again, he brings it a little closer but doesn't quite hit her. "I am losing
patience vit you. Give me information, NOW." He then cracks the whip and this
time it does hit her. It rips through her blouse and stings her skin. She
screams in pain as it leaves a mark on her arm. "I am telling you the truth, I
don't know nothing." He then cracks the whip again. This time it hits her leg.
With her eyes closed, she cannot block it or try to get out of the way. It once
again rips her clothing, this time her pants leg. She quickly reaches down to
rub the pain in her leg. "I vant answers and I vant them now." he says as he
raises the whip, readying it for another strike. Tears are rolling down her face
as she cries in pain. She has never felt pain like this before. "Leave her
alone. She knows nothing." the doctor screams in hopes that he can get Adolph to
whip him instead. "You stay out of this. I vill deal vit you later." he says as
he cracks the whip next to the doctor. Madeline starts moving away from him, in
hopes that she can get away from his whip. If it wasn't for the snarling
werewolf, she would rush him and try to get that whip away. But one look at its
long fangs and vicious looking claws are enough for her to think twice. As much
as she doesn't want to be whipped, the thought of being torn to shreds is even
scarier and that werewolf looks like it can do it with ease. Adolph takes a few
steps towards her and raises the whip again. "Vell, are you ready to give me
answers?" She closes her eyes and tries to cover as much of her body with her
arms as possible. She braces herself for another blow, but instead she hears a
groan and the sound of something being ripped. "Vat is that?" Adolph asks as he
turns to see the Frankenstein Monster ripping the bars apart. He is literally
pulling the bars out of the stone wall and pieces of stone are flying
everywhere. "Attack my verevolf." Adolph says as he lets loose of the leash. The
werewolf runs right towards Frankenstein's monster. The monster sees the large
werewolf running on all fours towards him. He throws down the bars and prepares
to meet the creature head on. While Adolph is busy watching his pet run to
battle, Madeline realizes this is probably her only chance. She quietly gets up
and runs as fast as she can towards him. When she reaches him, she jumps on his
back and pushes his head down. The surprise and her weight knock him off balance
and he falls. When he hits, his face goes right into the stone ground, with
Madeline's hand pushing it down. The impact breaks his nose, knocks out some of
his teeth and renders him unconscious. After he slams into the ground, Madeline
rolls him over to make sure he is out and sees blood pouring out of his nose and
mouth. Realizing that he is knocked cold, she begins to search him. Within
seconds, she finds what she was looking for, a set of keys. As she prepares to
get up, she sees Death behind her. "There is a gun in his coat pocket." he says.
She looks in there and sure enough there is a German luger. She pulls hit out
and says "This may come in handy." She then stands up but finds Death is
blocking her path. "Aren't you going to kill him?" he asks. "No, I'm not going
to kill him." she says back to him in a pissed off voice. "But he beat you with
a whip, doesn't that make you angry?" he replies as he tries to convince to take
another's life. "I am angry, very angry, but I am not going to kill anyone. Not
even Adolph Hitler." Death then drops his hands and looks down "Damn it, what
does it take for someone to die on this world?" She just runs past him and right
to the doctor. She fumbles with the keys to find the one that will unlock him.
She looks over her shoulder to see the monster and the werewolf battling. The
fighting is fierce with the two of them locked in combat. The werewolf has his
fangs dug into the monster's arm and is drawing blood. The monster is using his
free hand to pound on the werewolf's head. Madeline keeps trying one key after
another, until she finally finds one that works. She then unlocks the cuffs and
soon the doctor is freed. He is weak and she has to help him to his feet. He
struggles to walk as he has been chained to that wall. But after a half a dozen
steps, he starts to walk better and finally is able to walk on his own with no
assistance. He then reaches for Madeline and says "Quick, give me the gun." She
hands it to him and he aims it at the werewolf and shoots. The bullet hits the
wolf in its side and it screams out in pain. It then lets loose of the monster's
hand and turns to the doctor. The monster then takes this opportunity to grab
its jaws and pull them apart. The wolf tries to turn its head and break loose
but it finds it cannot get loose from the monster. It struggles a little more
before the monster breaks it jaws and kills it. The monster then drops the
lifeless werewolf and lumbers towards the doctor. They meet partway through and
he hugs the monster. But their reunion is short-lived. A bullet flies past their
head. They turn to see the Men in Black coming. The monster then looks down and
sees the drain and reaches down and pulls the iron cover off and tosses it at
the Men in Black who move to avoid it. "Down." the monster says as he points
down. Madeline quickly climbs down the hole. The doctor stops and says "What
about you?" The monster looks at him and says "Me fight. You go." The doctor
knows not to argue with him and climbs down the hole as well. The monster then
is hit in the arm by a bullet. He turns towards the Men in Black and lumbers
after them.
In the alien spaceship, the King is pacing back and forth in
the ship as they head towards the castle. He is singing a song to try and calm
him down "Don't want to be no tiger cause tiger's play too rough. Don't want to
be no lion cause lion's aren't the kind you love enough." Batboy who is getting
annoyed screams "Will you just sit down and shut up. You are driving me batty."
The King looks over at him and says "I can't help it, I'm all shook up." Batboy
comes over and puts his hand on the King's shoulder and says "She will be fine,
just relax. Now come sit down over here." They both go over to the table and sit
down. As they sit there and talk, one of the aliens come in and hands them both
a ray gun. "Take these. You will need them." The King looks at it and says "Hey,
The King doesn't do guns." He then hands it back to the alien. Batboy jumps in
and says "What do you mean the King doesn't do guns? Everyone knows the real
Elvis Presley was an ace marksman." Stunned, the King turns to Batboy and asks
"Are you sure?" Batboy grabs the gun and gives it back to him "Sure, he was in
the army wasn't he?" The King smiles and says "Yeah, he ..I mean I was in the
army. Gimme that gun, I have a little darlin to save." He then runs into the
next room. The alien turns to Batboy and asks "Was Elvis Presley really an ace
marksman?" Batboy laughs and says "I have no idea but it worked."
When Madeline reaches the bottom of the drain tunnel, she
finds herself in knee deep sewer water. "Yuck, this is disgusting." she says as
she splashes into the foul smelling water. She looks up and sees the professor
coming down the tunnel. As she looks on the wall, she sees there are faint
lights. There is one every few hundred feet. It keeps it from being pitch black
but it is not allot of light. She turns to help the professor down and says
"Where are we?" He splashes into the water and says "I would say by the water
and the smell, we are in the sewer system." She gives him a no kidding look as
she says "I figured that much out, but where are we in relation to the city?"
The professor laughs and says "Sorry, guess I have been hanging around with my
monster too much. I have no idea." She then turns to him and asks "Well, do you
have any idea which way we should go?" The doctor looks one way and then the
next and finally says "This way, I feel a breeze coming this way, so there must
be an exit." They both walk down the tunnel, trudging through the disgusting
water. They keep walking for a good half hour when they see a light in the
distance. "That may be our way out." the doctor says as they pick up the pace.
As they speed up, their splashing grows louder and echoes through the sewer. As
they get nearer, they see a large room up ahead. Within seconds, they enter the
room and they find they are in a large round room with light pouring in from
what looks like a hole in the ceiling with a grate over it. The hole is a good
twenty feet up. There is a ladder hanging from it but the ladder is six feet off
the ground. Madeline starts to run towards the ladder, when the doctor holds her
back. "What's wrong? Let's grab that ladder and get out of here." she says as
her eyes are fixed on the ladder. "Take a look around." the doctor says as he
points below the ladder. Before she can say anything, she looks and sees there
are numerous alligators swimming around the ladder and now that they have seen
them, they are swimming that way. "Alligators in the sewer, I should have
expected this." she says with a pissed off look on her face.
Tabloid © Tom Zjaba 1994 - 2008