Read The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back Online

Authors: Christopher Helwink

Tags: #adventure, #action, #kids, #teachers, #first grade, #second grade, #third grade, #fourth grade, #fifth grade, #family, #young adult, #childrens book, #schools, #junior high, #lesson plans, #rainy day, #kid combat, #no violence, #no foul language, #friendly, #safe for kids, #spy kids

The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back (7 page)

BOOK: The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back
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The Boy in Blue headed for the wooden
staircase that ascended up to the second and third floors. He
headed for the third floor.

“Where? Where?” Rocket asked of his brother
as the two boys entered into the museum.

“There – the stairs,” Wedge let out and
headed for them. Both boys hurried up the two flights of stairs and
looked around for the Boy in Blue.

“I don’t seem him,” Rocket said as he looked
around.

“He must have ducked into one of these rooms.
Let’s split up.”

The two boys went their separate ways. Wedge
to the right, Rocket to the left. Wedge ducked into various rooms
around the mill, but couldn’t find anything. He would peak into the
rooms first, as if a top agent spy on a secret mission, then fully
enter into the room.

Rocket was seen just walking right into the
rooms. He didn’t care about how he found the Boy in Blue, he just
wanted to find him. That’s when he radioed back to The
Playground.

“Do we have any surveillance feeds of this
place?” he asked.

“We’re still scanning,” Gears replied back in
his ear.

While the members of SOCKs at The Playground
scanned, Wedge and Rocket continued their pursuit. With only a few
rooms left on the third floor before they met up, Rocket started to
wonder if they picked the wrong floor.

“Are you sure he went to the third floor?” he
asked of his brother over his communicator.

“Pretty sure,” Wedge answered back. Rocket
rolled his eyes and went into his last room. It was pretty blank
and just like the other rooms. Fake mannequin farmers doing some
sort of nineteenth century chore surrounded by fake food, fake
lamps, and sometimes – fake animals.

This particular room looked like the place
where the farmers used to make cider from the apples in the
orchard. Two fake farmers stood at a wooden table, surrounded by
wooden apples, making fake cider.

There wasn’t too many hiding spots in this
room. Rocket quickly checked behind the door and walked over to the
farmers, he didn’t see anyone.

Wedge, on the other hand, had a more
difficult time getting into his last room. The room's door was
closed and was marked STAFF ONLY. Wedge walked up to the door and,
to his surprise, found it to be unlocked.

He swung the door open, but did not enter the
room. The gray metal door, which was different then the other
doors, slide open and came to a stop when it hit the wall. Wedge,
still playing spy, peeked around the corner.

The room was the grain room. Here, wooden
barrels of wheat were stored that would be used by the staff
members of the mill to show tourists how the farmers in the old
days would smash the grain – using the mills waterwheel.

The room was dark when Wedge entered the
room, but he could see the outlines of about a dozen wooden barrels
strung around the room. The room was void of any furniture, but
some old machinery was lying about as well.

Wedge’s hand raced up and down the side wall
as he entered the room, looking for a light switch. With a couple
of swipes – he finally found it.

The single light bulb hanging in the middle
of the room by a metal chain sprung to life. It didn’t produce much
light, but it was enough for one to see what was going on.

As the light came on, there was a rustle in
the room. Wedge turned his attention to the area where the noise
was. It almost sounded to him like someone quickly moving into the
remaining shadows of the room.

Wedge proceeded with caution. He didn’t know
what to expect. The barrels were randomly placed in the room and
there was no order to them. Wedge would have to fight his way
through the maze to look behind all of them, and to make it to
where he thought the noise came.

Wedge snaked around the first barrel –
nothing. He kept looking left and to the right, just to make sure
no one was moving about in the room. He didn’t see anyone.

Another noise. Wedge whipped his head around
again. It came from about the same place. Wedge continued in
deeper.

He made his way around another barrel. Then
another. His heart raced inside him as he made his way up to the
noisy barrel.

Another noise.

With a gulp, Wedge raised his arms up as if
to try and catch something – or someone – if they ran out from
behind the barrel. With a deep breath, Wedge jumped around the
barrel, ready to find out what was making his noise.

As he landed, he landed with a “Ha!” With a
quick look around, he found himself alone. A second later, he found
his noise scurrying over to the next barrel. A rat.

“Ugh,” Wedge said out loud to himself. He was
disappointed he didn’t find anything.

Just then, a barrel in the front of the room
tipped over and spilt all over the ground. From behind it emerged
the Boy in Blue. He didn’t waste any time looking back at Wedge, he
just bolted for the door.

“Hey, get back here!” Wedge ran out and
started to fight back through the maze. But, it was too late. The
Boy in Blue made it out of the room and slammed the door behind
him.

“Rocket,” Wedge yelled, “he’s heading right
for you!”

Hearing the call over his communicator,
Rocket ran out of his last room and saw the Boy in Blue, across the
mill, running away from him. The Boy in Blue looked over, saw
Rocket, smiled, and continued down the hallway.

Rocket took off in the direction of the Boy
in Blue, but he was well behind him. The Boy in Blue had a
comfortable lead as he reached the end of the museum and ducked
into the room directly above the waterwheel. Without even
hesitating, the Boy in Blue opened the window, flung himself out
it, and onto the small ledge.

Below him, about two feet, the waterwheel on
the side of the mill was hard at work. Water came crashing over it,
turning the wheel very fast. The wheel, about ten feet wide, was
covered with water as the Boy in Blue made his move.

Taking a running step, the Boy in Blue went
off the ledge and hit the center strut on the wheel. Not even
resting on it for a millisecond, the boy completed his move as he
leaped off the wheel. Diving into the cold waters of Pepper Creek,
the Boy in Blue started to swim to the far banks of the creek.

Rocket reached the window. He looked out it
to see the Boy in Blue swimming away. There was a commotion in the
room as tourists tried to figure out what just happened. They all
looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. Rocket,
disappointed, retreated out of the room. Walking up to him, was his
brother Wedge.

“He got away,” Rocket said disappointed. His
voice came in low and distorted over The Playgrounds intercom. Kid
Combat, dejected, hung his head low.

“How?” Wedge asked of his brother.

“Dude, he jumped out of the window and into
the creek. There was nothing I could do.”

“What do you want us to do now, Kid?” Wedge
asked.

“Get back here. There’s nothing you can do.
We will have to think of another plan…”

 

 

Chapter Ten

Evil Hides in the Shadows

8:30PM

 

 

Night time fell on Elmcrest. The late summer
night was coming to an end and the bright blue sky faded away in to
red and oranges – followed by black. It was an unusually cool night
this evening as the winds were howling through town. Tree branches
flapped in the breeze and leaves fell to the ground.

Inside the first property Jones had ever
bought, now known simply as “the warehouse”, the Boy in Blue waited
for Jones. The building was still in a state of decay as the years
of neglect continued.

The Boy in Blue waited in silence in the
center of what was once the main printing press room. It was
practically pitch black in the room – as it was lit simply by the
streetlights outside. The Boy in Blue waited, with his sunglasses
on, his hood up, and his right hand wrapped around an object.

The wind took form in howls as it ripped
through the vacant building and the dozens of broken windows
throughout the structure.

The Boy in Blue was not afraid, nor was he
alone anymore. All too familiar to the walls of this building came
a steady clumping noise. The steps were slow and precise and headed
right for the boy. He stood there, confident and sure – without an
ounce of worry.

As the steps got closer, the outline of Jones
became more apparent to the Boy in Blue. The boy could see the
broad shoulders of Jones and the heavy outline of his frame. As the
light bounced in and out of the windows, the Boy in Blue could also
see the snarl across Jones’ face.

“You’re late,” the Boy in Blue said towards
the moving shadow. A low grunt was the only answer he heard in
return. Jones continued to walk up and stopped about three feet
away from the Boy in Blue.

“And you’re in no place to tell me what I
am,” Jones said.

“Oh, I think I am,” the Boy in Blue said,
flipping the object in his hand.

“And what is that?” Jones asked.

“Nothing much. Just the technical specs of
what is going on in Maple Forest,” the Boy in Blue answered. He
could see he got Jones’ attention as the snarl on Jones’s face went
away and was replaced by puzzlement.

“You were successful on your assignment then?
That
is
a welcome change,” Jones said back, taking a step
closer. “May I see, it?”

“In good time,” the Boy in Blue said with a
smile. “For a price of course…”

The snarled returned. “You already negotiated
a price for this, boy” Jones said through his teeth. “A
very
generous price.”

“That was before I found what I found,” the
Boy in Blue said. The two stood there for a few seconds. “I want
double.”

“Ha!” Jones rang out. “What makes you think I
will pay you that?”

“Because if you want to find out who he is –
this is your best bet.”

Jones was outraged, but he was also stuck.
His months and years of plotting to find out who Kid Combat was
only lead to disappointment. Somehow, this boy was able to get more
information on Kid Combat than he was able to.

Jones never lost his anger – or his snarl –
and glared at the Boy in Blue. The boy stood there with no
expression on his face, from what Jones could see under his
disguise.

Jones walked right up to the Boy in Blue.
“You’ll get your money, boy. But, don’t for a second think you have
bested me or think you will get away with this again.”

“Deal,” said the Boy in Blue. He let out a
half smile. “Now, call for your assistant to bring you a
computer.”

Within a few minutes Two returned back to the
warehouse carrying a laptop. He set it down on one of the tables
near Jones and the Boy in Blue and turned it on. The Boy in Blue
walked over to the computer, inserted the flash drive, and brought
up a folder with one file in it.

Jones, intrigued, walked over and joined the
Boy in Blue. With a double-click, the one file was opened. Within a
second, the blueprints for The Playground were displayed in front
of Jones. Jones, was a bit confused.

“What exactly am I looking at here, boy?”

The Boy in Blue turned and faced Jones.
“This,” he pointed at the screen, “is what is below those trees in
Maple Forest. It’s some sort of base. I was in it earlier today.
And when I left, two boys came after me.”

Jones stood there and thought for a minute.
“What did you see when you were in there? Was there anything that
gave you an idea on who Kid Combat is?”

“Not exactly, but there is something going on
down there. And you can bet,
this
is his base,” the Boy in
Blue answered.

“And these two boys that were after you. Do
you know who they were?”

“Not exactly.”

Jones stood there for another moment in
silence. He walked a few steps away from the computer and into the
darkness. Two and the Boy in Blue stood there – wondering what
could be going through his mind.

“Seems these kids are more of a threat than
even I expected,” Jones started. Two nodded behind Jones’ back, but
the Boy in Blue did nothing. Jones then turned around quickly and
walked back up to the laptop. He studied the blueprints
closely.

“No kid could build this base on his own. Who
could be helping him?” Jones questioned out loud. There was no
answer from his audience.

“Seems my enemies in this town are growing in
number. We’ll need to flush them out,” Jones thought out loud. He
walked up to Two. “Two, start work on Maple Forest –
immediately!”

“But, sir!” Two let out. “We don’t have the
proper clearance yet!”

“That is a formality, Two – don’t concern
yourself with it. Just get the crews to Maple Forest – I want work
started within a few days. No one will stop us. No one will dare
stop
me,
” Jones barked out at his assistant, “now go!”

Two turned, didn’t say another word, and left
the warehouse.

Jones turned his attention back to the Boy in
Blue. “As for you, you came here with what you thought was valuable
information. Information you thought I could use – and demanded
more money from me,” Jones said to the Boy in Blue in a tone that
would scare most kids. For the first time in the evening, a small
amount of fear could be seen on the Boy in Blue. As Jones
approached him, he took a few steps back.

“Well, you were wrong,” Jones said. “This
information is useless to me. This leads me no closer to Kid Combat
than I was a few minutes ago. All you have done, boy, is make
yourself look like a fool,” Jones finished his statement with his
finger in the Boy in Blue’s chest. The boy looked down on the
finger poking him hard in the chest, then looked up at Jones.

“You will get no money for this,” Jones said
in a low, deep harsh voice.

“We had a deal, Jones” the Boy in Blue said
back.

“I’ve altered the deal,” Jones said and
backed away from the Boy in Blue. There was a pause of a few
seconds in the air and the Boy in Blue was very anxious now.

BOOK: The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back
6.83Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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