The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back (8 page)

“Well, what is the new deal?” he asked of
Jones.

“They most certainly will come for you
again,” Jones started. The Boy in Blue could see Jones’ mind
working overtime. “I will agree to pay you what you have asked, if
you do one more thing for me.”

“And what is that?” the Boy in Blue asked.
Jones turned back around with a huge grin on his face.

“Help me set a trap…”

Chapter Eleven:

Trapped

Today is the day.

The trap has been set.

Today is when I get Kid Combat…

8:14AM

Jones wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to
riding on public transportation with the common people. But, here
he was – in the first car of a commuter train, leaving from
Elmcrest to downtown.

Today wasn’t your typical day, though, at
least for Jones. He hoped that this was the day he had long waited
for. The years of the unknown. The years of frustration were about
to end. Today was the day when he would get Kid Combat.

The train started up from its scheduled stop
at Elmcrest. Jones sat in the first row of the commuter train and
waited. His fists were clenched at his side as he sat in his common
seat, with the common people.

Where is that blasted kid?
Jones
thought to himself. He referred to the Boy in Blue.

Jones looked around the train car. He looked
at all the ordinary people around him. His face was distorted with
anger as he scanned each one of them up and down.

Idiots. All of them.
He thought.
I
control them all.

Finally, Jones’s cell phone went off. He
glanced down and it and then put it away. Jones got up from his
seat in the first car of the train and started to walk down the
aisle between the rows of seats. Dispersed throughout the train
car, waiting for direction, were a large group of men. They all
wore Jones Industries uniforms.

“It’s time,” Jones said to the men, and
started to lead them out of the first car. The men got up and
followed Jones two wide.

Jones just received the call from the Boy in
Blue that he had been waiting for. Jones didn’t work too hard on
this plan, but he was sure it would work and capture his greatest
ill. He would use the Boy in Blue as bait. He was perfect for this
situation. Jones knew that Kid Combat was after the Boy in Blue –
trying to figure out who he was. With all the events Jones had
planned around town – the uniforms at Lincoln, the plans for Maple
Forest, the break in of The Playground – Jones knew Kid Combat
would have to figure out how the Boy in Blue was connected to all
of it. He knew if he dangled the Boy in Blue in front of him, Kid
Combat would follow. Judging by the text message Jones just
received from the Boy in Blue, it appeared that Kid Combat had
fallen for the bait.

Jones’s stride was long and determined as he
made his way into the second car of the commuter train. He opened
the door with such a great force, that it startled the passengers
in the next train car. As he passed by them, the passengers looked
up from their books or daydreaming and watched Jones, and a
battalion of his men, race through the train car.

Two more. Two more cars and I have
him.
Jones thought to himself.
I have waited long for this
day…

Jones made his way into the car adjacent to
where the Boy in Blue was. The plan was simple – get Kid Combat
somewhere were he couldn’t escape. That’s why Jones picked the
train. Then, Jones could swoop in and unmask his greatest ill.

The Boy in Blue purposely let himself get
exposed this morning and hoped that Kid Combat and his band of
friends would follow him. Seemed the Boy in Blue made a good worm
on a hook.

Jones didn’t know what Kid Combat would do,
or how he would approach the Boy in Blue, but the Boy in Blue was
instructed that if a chase was to ensue, to lead that chase in
Jones’ direction. There, and then – Jones would finally get Kid
Combat.

One more car…

Samantha peered up and glanced at the Boy in
Blue. She noticed him turn slightly around, as if he knew they were
coming. And even though he wore thick silver sunglasses that
shielded his eyes from Samantha, she knew that Kid Combat and
herself were being targeted.

Samantha stood there puzzled and didn’t move.
Kid Combat didn’t move for another reason. As the door swung open –
Kid noticed something worse than the Boy in Blue. Through the
windows, and into the next car, Kid noticed a man walking towards
him. He walked very determined and was followed by a row of men
walking two wide and three deep.

It was Jones and his body guards.

“Oh no,” Kid exclaimed to Samantha. “It’s a
trap!”

Kid grabbed Samantha by the arm and turned
around and opened the door to the train car behind him. The two
friends walked very quickly through the next car and opened the
rear door, leading to another foyer between train cars.

Jones opened the door leading to the car with
the Boy in Blue. As he entered the car, he noticed the Boy in Blue
sitting alone in his seat. There was no sign of any other kid
around him. Jones walked up to the Boy in Blue with a puzzled look
on his face.

“Where is he?” Jones snapped.

The Boy in Blue looked back to where he saw
the two kids entering into the train car. “They were right there,”
he said as he pointed towards the doors. “They must have ran. They
must have seen you coming,” the Boy in Blue answered. Jones didn’t
like that answer. His face distorted and anger was stretched across
it. He pointed harshly at the Boy in Blue.

“You have failed me, again,” Jones said and
walked off with his men, hoping to keep on the trail.

“Get this door open, Sam – it’s our only
hope!” Kid exclaimed to Samantha. He referred to the side door that
led off the train.

“I’ll try, but I don’t have any tools,”
Samantha replied. She walked over to the circuit box that housed
the controls for the door. With a quick tug, the panel opened up.
In it were an array of wires and screws leading to the doors. A
short circuit, Samantha thought, could override the controls and
force the doors to swing open.

As Samantha tinkered with the wires, Kid
Combat went to the inner door and peered through the window –
looking for Jones. Still gaining ground, Jones was in the
neighboring car and walking faster than ever.

Kid turned and spun towards Samantha.

“Sam, you have about three seconds to get
that door open!”

As Kid Combat said that, he looked out the
exterior window – the train was slowing.

“Next stop, downtown,” came a voice over the
PA system.

“We might have caught a break here, Kid,”
Samantha said. “I can see the platform approaching.”

“Keep working on the door, Sam,” Kid said
back to her. “This is going to be a close one!”

Jones was in the next car. The train was down
to a crawls pace as the platform for the train was mere feet away.
Jones and his men made it to the doors. Almost simultaneously, both
sets of doors opened. Within a nanosecond of those doors opening,
Kid Combat and Samantha were off for the races.

Walking through his set of doors, Jones saw
the backsides of the two figures running out of the train.

“Follow them!” he barked out to his men. One
by one, each man filtered through both sets of doors – and after
the children.

Kid Combat and Samantha had a good two
hundred feet lead on the men to begin the chase – and they would
need ever inch of it. The two flew down the dark platform. There
were on platform 12 of the downtown station. The long sheet of
concrete was starting to fill as passengers of the train they were
just on started to file off of the train. Being smaller, Kid and
Samantha had an easier time navigating through the crowd then the
men following them.

Kid and Sam made it to the end of the
platform and made their way through the revolving door – leading
them into the train station building.

A large open building presented itself to
them as they made their way though the door. Passengers from many
other platforms were coming into this building and there were many
different ways to go.

“Which way? Which way?” Sam asked of Kid.
They both turned their heads in many directions as they made their
way deeper into the building.

“This way. Follow the largest crowd,” Kid
answered back. He grabbed Samantha’s hand and led her down an
escalator. The two fought their way through the crowded, small
walkway.

Just then, Jones and his group of men filed
off of the platform and into the building themselves. Jones and his
men too stood in the large open room and wondered which way to go.
Jones scanned back and forth around the room saw a small commotion
on the escalator leading down.

“There,” Jones said to his men and pointed in
the direction of the escalator. “Go!”

Kid and Samantha made their way off the
escalator and out the doors – leading to the streets of downtown.
The first thing Kid noticed was the noise. The city was loud in the
morning as commuters made their way off to work. Taxis, cars, and
busses whizzed by him and Samantha.

Kid led the two to the right of the building
and continued to run down the street.

Jones and his men fought through the
escalator full of people and emerged from the building. To Jones’s
dismay and anger – there was no sight of the two kids.

“Split up and fan out,” Jones said to his
men. “Do not lose them…”

A group of Jones’ men went in every
direction. Some went to the left, others went straight ahead. Jones
and the few men that remained went to the right – the same
direction as Kid and Samantha.

Kid and Samantha had about a half a block
lead and continued to run as fast as they could. Jones and his men
started to gain ground.

Where are we heading, Kid?” Samantha barely
puffed out. The two kids dodged traffic as they ran across the
intersection. Kid never answered Samantha.

Jones and his men continued their chase.
Jones, leading the pack, could see the two figures he was chasing.
Every once in a while he would see a head or an arm or their legs
pumping through the crowd of people. Jones determination could be
seen in his face. This is the closest he has ever been in capturing
Kid Combat. He was a mere fifty feet away. And he was not getting
away this time…

Kid Combat ran. He ran faster than he did the
last time he faced Jones. Samantha followed closely behind him.
Their legs burned, they sweated from the summers heat, and they
started to fade.

Kid knew Jones was behind him. He never
turned around to actually see, but he knew they didn’t lose him
yet.

Another block went by. Buildings started to
merge into one and the faces all around Kid became a blur. He had
no plan or direction that he headed, he turned down streets that
allowed him to turn, and went with the flow of traffic.

Jones just followed the commotion. Every once
in awhile, in front of him and his men, he would see people
scatter, or someone would yell out “hey!” or “watch out!”. Jones
followed those small clues to lead his men towards Kid Combat.

He was getting close. He could feel it. It
drove Jones faster. A right turn here, continue going straight,
over there near the river. Jones followed with rage. Kid Combat ran
with courage.

Kid and Samantha rounded another
intersection. There, rounding the corner of the block in front of
them, was a group of Jones men. With Jones closing in behind them,
Kid and Samantha couldn’t turn back the way they came.

“In here, in here!” Kid exclaimed out to
Samantha, grabbing her arm and pulling her down a small alley. The
two friends ducked behind a few garbage cans and waited.

“This is crazy, Kid,” Samantha said sitting
and leaning up against a garbage can. She faced away from the
street and breathed heavily. “We can’t keep this up all day.”

“I know,” Kid said, turning towards Samantha.
He was out of breath himself and gasped for air. Slowly, his body
started to regulate itself down to a normal pace.

Kid looked up and peered between the two
garbage cans he hide behind. There, he could see the street, and
more importantly Jones’s men rushing by them. It appeared they
might be safe.

Jones’s men continued past the small alley.
They almost got to the intersection of the street when Jones
rounded the corner.

“What’s your report?” he asked of his
men.

“Nothing. We’ve seen nothing since the train,
sir,” one of the men said to Jones.

“That’s impossible,” Jones said, clenching
his fist. “He was right in front of us. He
had
to of come
this way.”

“We didn’t see him, sir,”

Kid Combat left his hiding spot and made his
way up to the edge of the alley.

“Come on,” he whispered back to Samantha. “We
can’t stay here, we’re pinned down.”

Kid took a small chance and peaked his head
around the corner. There, off in the short distance, he could see
Jones and six of his men standing in a small circle near the
intersection of the street. Even with the distance, Kid could hear
Jones yell the next order to his men.

“Fan out, all of you!” he barked. “He’s here
somewhere – search every inch. Find him!”

Kid returned back into the alley. He didn’t
look good.

“What? What is it?” Samantha asked with a
sense of urgency in her voice.

“Not good. Not good at all, Sam.” Kid said
back to her. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

“Where do we go?”

“Not sure yet,” Kid responded. He went back
and peaked his head around the corner again. He saw Jones’s men
split up in multiple directions and start to search up and down the
street – even inside the businesses. Kid knew he only had a minute
or so before they came to the alley.