Beyond Shazam's Magic #4

[Glippernip]

Beyond Shazam’s Magic #4

"Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright.” Part One

Written by Gerry Brown
Edited by Joel Sawyer


The Deep Congo (Midafternoon):

The heat was oppressive. Sweat beaded and dropped
from the boy’s forehead down his face, but he didn’t
flinch or move a muscle, his hexoculars remaining as
still as the rest of his body. To the casual observer
he could just as well have been a statue, his
breathing even regulated so as to not move in the
slightest. He was stalking an animal and his prey was
elusive and cunning. He was determined not to budge
until he spotted his target. It was out there,
waiting just as he waited. The hunter and the hunted
both hiding, a battle of wills between them. A battle
the young man refused to lo....

“Spence? Thomas?!”

As soon as the girls voice was heard a thunderous
sound erupted from the dense jungle not ten feet from
the boys position. A huge bipedal creature covered in
orange fur with black striped highlights raced through
the brush with lightning speed and grace. In an
instant it was gone.

“Sunny!” The boy slowly lowered his hexocculars
and turned to face the blond girl that just stood up
from her hiding spot and had yelled his name.

“What? I was getting hot and didn’t see you. We
are WAY out of the STS safety area, you know.”

The blond, blue eyed girl called Sunny looked slightly
embarrassed, but mostly just out of place in the
jungle.

“Sunny, That’s the whole point! You weren’t
supposed to see him . None of us were supposed to see
Spence and neither was the Cat. A few more seconds
and it would have moved. We would have finally had
it. Do you know how long it took us just to get this
close?”

Abigail Freeman’s brown pony tail bobbed in the air
behind her as she gave Sunny the what not. She then
sighed deeply and just shook her head, lowering her
eyes as her hover chair lifted her from her position
under a large pile of branches and leaves. The chair
vibrated and hummed softly as she floated over to
Sunny and Spence.

Spence rolled his eyes and rubbed his chin before
addressing Sunny again.

“It’s all right Sunny. We still have plenty of
daylight left. We’ll catch up with him soon. The
trail is still hot.”

Abbey’s eyes widened and her jaw almost hung open.
What? Was he serious? They had spent the entire
morning tracking the legendary cat creature and Sunny
had just ruined the entire operation. How could
Spence be so nice about it? Abbey pushed her glasses
up off the bridge of her sweaty and dirt covered nose.
The weeks they had been hanging out together, Abbey
couldn’t help but notice how much leeway Spence seemed
to give Sunny. No matter what she did, Spence was
always so ...nice about it. He was beginning to be as
annoyingly nice as she was. Abbey bit her tongue as
she silently fumed, not totally sure if it was because
of the way Sunny had messed up or because of the way
Spence let her get away with it.

“I just don’t want us to get in any trouble.”
Sunny continued in her sing song voice. “I know its
our day off, but Mr. Snow was very explicit when he
told us, especially us, to stay within STS boundaries.
We are at least what? Ten miles from the camp by
now! And this Kaluua Cat keeps pulling us farther and
further into the jungle. What if its dangerous and
wants to hurt us?”

[Glippernip]

Sunny had been out in the jungle as long as they all
had and she sounded as if she was exhausted, but Abbey
couldn’t believe how she looked. Somehow Sonja Ross
still looked picture perfect. Her hair was somehow
not out of place, not a strand and her clothes looked
like they just came out of a hydromat. Abbey looked
down at her STS t-shirt, sweat stains growing from her
rmpits and rubbed the tip of her nose only to see a
smear of dirt appear on her finger. She nearly yelped
at the sight of herself in comparison and quickly
tucked her arms tight to her body and slipped them as
far inside her chair as she could.

Holey Moley, how does she do that? It’s over a
hundred degrees out here with humidity you can taste
and she looks like she’s ready for a Holovid
audition, Abbey thought to herself in frustration,
Maybe she’s the one with magic powers.

Abbey continued to boil in silence.

“We won’t get in trouble, Spence never does and
the Kaluua Cat has rarely been seen by villagers let
alone outsiders. It always avoids contact with
people. You see how close it was just now? If it
wanted to hurt us it would have done so already. We
were so close! I just want one picture, that’s all!
If I can get a holo of it, just think how cool that
would be.” The heat and disappointment of the day did
nothing to diminish Spence’s enthusiasm.

Abbey recognized a moment when she saw one and seized
it.

“Maybe you should head back, Sunny. Spence and I
can take it from here. We’ve been adventuring
together for a long time now. These things just
aren’t for everyone.”

Abbey left out that almost all of their ‘adventuring’
had been on the EtherNet playing Danger and Daggers.
She hoped she didn’t sound as excited as she really
was. Sonja was a great girl and a good friend, it was
just that since they all met the day after the
Teth-Adam Tomb incident, when Abbey first became
Captain Marvel, she had been with Spence and Abbey non
stop. Abbey was sure something was growing between
her and Spence. Something special, something that
wasn’t there back in Neo Fawcett, except maybe in
Abbey’s deepest secret thoughts. Just when Abbey
began to feel like she and Spence may begin to explore
that something special , Sunny showed up, never
leaving them alone, not for a moment. Abbey could
scream. It wasn’t like Abbey had boys falling over
themselves to spend time with her, no, that would be
Ms. Sunny. Spence was the only boy that ever was nice
to Abbey and now...now ohh that Sunny!

“Actually Abigail, I was thinking that maybe you
could go with Sunny.” Spence said as he turned to
Abbey avoiding her eyes sheepishly. “I think I can
make better time alone. Your hoverchair may be
sending off some vibrations that the Cat is picking up
on.”

Abbey’s eyes became the size of saucers. Did he just
say what she thought he said? And did he call her
Abigail?

“My hover chair...my hover chair!” Abbey caught
her voice as it was slowly rising into a yell. “What
about her not being able to stand still! What
about.......”

Abbey stopped mid sentence. In all her years in her
hover chair she had been the subject of many verbal
abuses. Her smarts, her average looks, her archaic
glasses and her chair had ensured that she was the
ridicule of many if not all. Still through it all
Abbey stayed strong and pushed forward refusing to get
upset especially publically. Never allowing herself
to break down on account of mere words, but today she
couldn’t help herself. Tears welled up in her eyes as
she turned her chair around and headed out of the
jungle. It wasn’t so much what had been said that
hurt, but who had said it that cut so deep. The world
could call her names and put her down, but she always
counted on Thomas Spencer to smile and be there for
her. He was her friend, her confidant, and she now
hoped her maybe more.

“Good luck finding the Cat, you two. Just leave
me alone!”

She yelled over her shoulder, barely getting the
words out as she choked up fast. The entire Spence,
Sunny, Abbey frustration breaking over her like a
shattered dam. Tears finally escaped her eyes and ran
down her cheeks. She chewed furiously on her lower
lip as her chair floated as fast as it could, heading
home all alone.

[Glippernip]

“Abbey! Abbey, wait! That’s not what I meant.
Not at all, I just....” Spence called out to her
beginning to run after her until Sunny grabbed his arm
halting his pursuit. “Sunny! I can’t let her leave
like that. You don’t understand.”

“Thomas Spencer! You just can’t leave me alone
with that thing out here.”

Sunny was truly scared of the Kaluua Cat not to
mention being left alone in a jungle unprotected. She
tried but she just wasn’t nearly as brave as Abbey or
Spence and she knew it. It was one of the reasons she
liked them both so much.

“I’ll go after Abbey. She was right, I messed
everything up out here. Her chair hardly made a
sound. I’ll catch up and go back with her. You stay
and get that picture. I’ll talk with her, we’ll
straighten all this out back at camp.”

Sunny knew Spence’s words had cut Abbey deeply. Poor
Abbey. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She was the
one taking everything in stride. The girl couldn’t
walk and yet had managed to save Spence’s life just a
few weeks ago. No, Abbey was right, Sunny was the one
scared and inpatient. Sunny smiled as she recalled
just how adventurous Abigail was. So smart and
fearless. She was just great, Sunny had to catch up
and make things right. She had never seen Abigail so
upset.

“I’ll talk with her. Just be careful, Thomas.”

With a sparkling smile, Sunny ran after Abbey. Spence
stood there scratching his head. A look of
bewilderment all over his face. He thought about all
that had just happened shaking his head. What had
just happened?

“Dumb, dumb. You could have said anything else,
anything at all. Her hover chair?! What were you
thinking?”

Spence sighed and walked in the opposite direction of
the girls. I just wanted to make Sunny feel better
about messing up the plan. I didn’t mean to hurt
Abbey’s feelings, I just wanted everyone to feel good.
Now no one does! And for that matter, why was Abbey
acting so snappy lately? That was never like her.
And on another note, why have I been so worried
whether Sunny was happy all the time. It was just
that she was just so nice and so pretty. Sunny sort
of looked like a younger version of Captain Marvel.
Perfect blond hair, blue eyes. Spence stopped in his
tracks. A quizzical look spreading across his face.
You don’t suppose. Nah. He shook his head and
continued on his way. And Abbey, well Abbey was just
his best friend. She was the funniest and smartest
person he had ever met. He was really seeing her in
different light during this summer trip, but Sunny was
just so, so..Oh, I don’t know! Spence’s thoughts
were causing his head to hurt.

“Arrgh! Girls! Why does it all have to be so
hard?” He spoke aloud without even knowing why. Ok,
Spence lets turn our attention to something easier to
understand then girls, like mythological creatures!
“Watch out, Kaluua Cat. The Rogue Spencer is back on
your trail.”

Spence slowly and carefully walked deeper into the
jungle looking for signs of the creature's direction,
the mysteries of the female mind put aside for another
day.

******************************************************

[Glippernip]

Several seconds after Spence disappeared into the deep
foliage, a green armored figure steps down on top of
Spence’s footprint. The armored form, obviously male,
was wearing full green battle armor. His head was
completely covered in a green helmet, with a yellow
reflective face plate. He was armed with a high tech
war rifle carried in two hands. Over his right chest
were printed the Initials R.A.P.I.E.R., under which were many
engravings. Several rows of symbols used to represent
decorations in combat. Over his left chest was the
engraving, Master Sergeant. Despite the bulk of the
green armor the man moved silently and gracefully.
The yellow mirror-like faceplate turned back in the
direction of Abbey and Sunny. After ensuring that the
young women were not coming back, the figure silently
and effortlessly headed off in the direction of
Spence.

******************************************************

[Glippernip]

Abbey stopped her hoverchair and wiped the tears from
her eyes. More than her feelings were hurt, she felt
as if there was a weight on her chest. Her heart was
in her throat. She couldn’t take a deep breath. Not
Spence, anyone but Spence. In all the time she knew
him, he had never looked twice at her chair. He never
allowed her to have a moment of self pity. He always
made her feel normal and what was more, he made her
feel special. How could he now blame her chair and
bring up her ...handicap?

“No more tears, Abbey. The Lady Abigail would
never allow herself to break down like this.”

She somehow managed to laugh after that comment. Of
course the dashing Rogue Spencer would never talk down
to his Lady. She cleaned up her face and began to
start up the hoverchair again, when she heard a cry
from the jungle behind her. “Sunny?” Abbey spun the
chair around and headed toward the scream. Wasn’t
Sunny with Spence in search of the Cat? That’s what
they had wanted all along, wasn’t it? Just to be
alone, just the two of them. Then a second cry of
‘Help!’ and Abbey was pushing her chair in Sunny’s
direction. Abbey spun her chair as fast as she could
in response to the second cry and the metallic box
slammed right into a huge tree trunk! The chair
sputtered for an instant and fell into a deep patch of
mud.

“Oh for heaven’s sake!”

The chair hummed and a barrage of bubbles rose from
the mud. The chair struggled against the pull of the
pool of deep mud. “Help!” It was Sunny! There was
fear in her voice, she was in trouble. Abbey frowned
and pounded the silver nose of her chair.

“Stupid chair! Shazam!”

********************************************************

[Glippernip]

Sunny struggled to hang onto the branch with both
hands. She hung suspended over an open pit. One
moment she was walking back and the next the ground
just opened up to swallow her. Her hands were
beginning to give way. She hoped Abigail had made it
safely back to camp. Even hanging over a dark pit,
Sunny was thinking about her friend. Abbey had looked
so upset and hurt when she headed off. Just then
Sunny was startled by a rumble of thunder and a flash
of lightning.

“Ahh...”

She cried out one last time as she free fell toward
the bottom of the pit, her body twisting so she faced
the ground as it raced up to her. Immediately, she
wished she hadn’t. Below her, coming up so fast, were
several wooden spikes! The pit was a trap to catch a
huge animal. Sunny closed her eyes as if to fend off
the inevitable.

“Hang on, Sonja!”

Instead of pain, Sunny felt herself being pulled
upward from under her arms. The Sun blinded her as
she was pulled from the pit and wind blew her hair
straight back. She peeked from behind her fingers and
looked over her shoulder to see the blue eyes and
button nose of ...

“Captain Marvel! Oh, Shway!”

She turned forward and watched the clouds above the
vast jungle canopy of trees. The view was amazing, if
only for a second as the next thing she felt was a dip
like that of a hypercoaster as she soared back toward
the Earth and gracefully avoided the limbs of the huge
mighty trees as they landed. Sunny’s feet touched
gently on the ground as her momentum caused her to
stumble forward a few steps before she could turn
around to smile and stare up at The Captain. The
Captain smiled back, standing tall with her cape
hanging loosely from its thick braided rope over her
right shoulder. Her blue eyes sparkling as her blond
hair blew gently in the same direction as her cape.
She placed her hands on her shapely hips, the yellow
lightning bolt almost glowing across her perfect
figure. Her long bare legs placed in the right
position to finish off her superhero pose.

“You’re beautiful.” Was all Sunny could think to
say.

Abbey had hoped her classic age of heroes pose would
generate some type of reaction, But hearing those
words coming from Sunny’s mouth almost made Abbey
forget how bad she was feeling just minutes ago.

“The Jungle’s not safe. You shouldn’t be out
here alone, child.” Child. It was all Abbey could
do not to grin. She tried to make her Captain voice
sound as authoritative and soothing as that of the new
Wonder Woman. All the kids of the STS watched her big
speech on the Holvid and several times after that on
the EtherNet. Abbey thought she was the perfect
female hero, strong, beautiful and captivating. She
was trying to sound and emulate her whenever acting as
The Captain.

Sunny’s eyes widened and she furiously shook her head.

“Oh, I’m not alone, Captain. I’m out here with
my best friends Thomas and Abigail. Oh my, I hope
poor Abbey made it back to camp. What if there were
more pits like the one I stepped into? Spencer said
some terrible things to her and I was going to make
sure she was OK.”

Abbey was going to continue to lecture Sunny on
breaking STS rules and planning on laying it on thick
as well, but Sunny was really concerned for her. It
didn’t take the Wisdom of Solomon to know she was
telling the truth. She wasn’t gloating and enjoying
her alone time with Spence. She was trying to find
Abbey to comfort her. She really wanted to help.

“Don’t worry about Abigail. I past her on the
way to you. She’s safe back at the camp.”

“Oh thank goodness! She’s such a great girl. I
was worried for her, but maybe I shouldn’t have been.
She’s so brave and tough. I wish I could be more like
her.”

Captain Marvel just stared down at Sunny. Abbey
couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Sunny
wasn’t just pretty and perfect. She really was like
the nicest girl in the world! Abbey wasn’t sure if
this made it easier to like her or easier to hate her.

“You should head back to the camp now, and be very
careful. Stay near the trunks of the trees. If there
are any more pits dug out there they will have to be
placed far from the large roots.”

Abbey wasn’t sure how she knew that, she just knew it
was correct.

“Yes, will do. Thank you so much, Captain. Oh,
wait! You should check on Spence. He’s chasing after
that Kaluua Cat thingie and he doesn’t know about the
traps.”

At that precise moment a terrifying roar tore through
the jungle trees.

“Spence,” Both The Captain and Sunny said at the
same time.

********************************************************

[Glippernip]

Spence ran faster than he ever ran before. He leaped
over rocks and obstacles, sweat and fear covering his
face. As he looked behind him he tripped on root
barely sticking out of the ground. He struggled to
get to his feet but when he put weight on his ankle he
winced in pain. It was so intense he couldn’t get up
and run again. He leaned close to the tree in a vain
attempt to hide.

“If I get out of this one, I promise to never
again chase after a legendary monster. I swear.”

Spence peered around the tree only to see the Kaluua
Cat in all its fearsome glory running right at him.
The beast had the form of a man covered from head to
toe in orange and black striped fur. He resembled a
tiger on two legs. His face was contorted with fierce
rage and it snarled and drooled as it charged him.
The beasts eyes were highlighted by long black
eyebrows that spread off the edges of his head as if
to accentuate his face. Although right now Spence was
more concerned with its razor sharp claws and
glistening white teeth. Spence couldn’t run and
refused to scream as he stared down the charging
creature. As the beast ran ever closer all he could
think of was how he wished he stayed at camp and kept
the adventuring confined to Danger and Daggers.

“Bad Kitty!”

Captain Marvel flew directly into the Kaluua Cat
shoulder first and the Cat let out what sounded like a
loud 'Meow!' Or a cry of surprise as it rolled into a
tree and was thrown into an open area surrounded by
brush. Captain Marvel turned quickly to Spence
kneeling beside him.

“Are you alright? Did that thing hurt you?”

Spence just stared at the Captain with eyes wide. He
had seen some of her battle with The Iron Maiden from
a distance and had caught glimpses of her at various
times over the past weeks, but never up this close.

“Wow.”

The Captain smiled and shook her head. Abbey thought
to herself she really had to transform in front of a
mirror one of these days. She had seen her Captain
Marvel form briefly in reflection, but never a clear
image of herself. She was sure of one thing, she
could really get used to the reactions she was getting
from people.

“I’ll take that to mean you're good.”

“Watch out!” Spence warned as the Cat creature
rose to its feet waving its clawed hands and snarling
fiercely.

[Glippernip]

Captain Marvel stood to her full height stepping in
front of Spence. The tiger like humanoid roared and
growled some more, but this time The Captain tilted
her head. Abbey was sure she could make something out
of it.

“Roar...growl...snarl...Roar!.....Stupid human
boy, why won’t he just run away like all the others?”

The Captain stared and leaned forward slightly as she
listened intently. Had she heard right? Could she
understand him?

“What did you just say? Did you just talk?”

“Ahh, It’s just growling and roaring. It’s
going to attack again.” Spence added peering around
Marvel’s legs.

“No, I thought I heard it say something. He just
said something.”

“It’s a Him,” Spence asked in surprise.

The creature stopped making menacing faces and spoke.
“You can understand me? Are you not of Earth? Then
your not one of the Hunters?” The tiger man’s
features eased as he talked to The Captain. He no
longer seemed aggressive or fierce. He now sounded to
Abbey, well educated and sophisticated, like those
British actors on the BHC, British Holovid
Corporation.

“Who are you talking about? I’m Captain Marvel.
I’m not hunting anyone.”

The tiger man stepped slowly closer to The Captain.

“The human hunters. They continue to chase me.
My name is Tawghalla of Karna, Son of Taghurrhu. I’ve
come here to Earth to stop a threat to this planet.
My Father was fond of this world during his days as an
adventurer and member of the Omega Men. I have been
here in hiding for many years searching and waiting
for the Dominion to make their move. Now the time
has......”

Captain Marvel giggled. Abbey tried to keep it in,
but she couldn’t help herself. This creature was
telling her he was an alien sent to Earth on a mission
and all she could think of was how much he reminded
her of her Grandma Mary’s old stuffed tiger. Talky
Tawny she called it. She would tell Abbey that Tawny
could talk and all Abbey had to do was talk to him and
he would talk back to her and her alone. It was just
a silly story that Abbey loved as a little girl and
now she was here talking to a tiger man that no one
else could understand. She found the whole situation
funny.

“I’m sorry. Did I say something amusing? Am I
entertaining you Captain? This is serious business.”

Abbey composed herself and The Captain stopped
giggling.

“No, its not you. You just remind me of someone.
Please continue. I apologize.” Mr. Tawny, she
thought to herself and almost laughed out loud again
but didn’t.

“Really? Well right now I’m trying to scare this
youth away so I can get on with the mission. He’s
quite hard to scare away, not like the many other
humans I’ve encountered out here in the jungle. I
don’t know if he’s brave or foolish. His recklessness
may just bring the hunters to me.”

Before Tawghalla could continue he was blasted by a
laser bolt in the back and fell to the ground before
The Captain! From out of the treeline and brush came
a squad of armored men. They all carried large war
rifles in their hands. The armor came in many colors,
blue, red, purple and each one’s face was covered by a
helmet with a reflective yellow glass over the
faceplate. No part of these men went unprotected.
Spence, Tawghalla and the Captain were surrounded.
The circle of soldiers opened for an instant allowing
a taller man in green armor to enter the circle and
approach the three of them. The armored soldiers
closed the circle as soon as he past with military
precision.

“I’m called Master Sergeant and that Extra
Terrestrial is now in the custody of RAPIER. I need
you to step aside, Captain. The alien and the boy
need to come with us for debriefing.”

Abbey looked around at the circle of soldiers and then
back at the one called Master Sergeant in the green
armor. She saw her red one piece bathing suit-like
costume in the Sergeant’s reflective yellow faceplate
and smiled.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have a problem with
that, Sergeant.”

Master Sergeant’s gaze never wavered from The Captain.

“That wasn’t a request, Ma’am.”

The Master Sergeant raised his hand and closed his
green armored hand into a fist. Every member of his
squad cocked and raised their rifles into a high ready
position. All locked and loaded on Captain Marvel.

Holey Moley, Abbey. I hope you know what you’re
doing, She thought to herself as Captain Marvel
began to bite her lower lip.

To Be Continued**********************************************