Lone Ranger Chapter 42

0.

The warehouse was out of the city limits and had not seen activity for some time then. It was huge with the tall ceiling but its width could not be defined for it was filled with stacked crates containing useless items. That was obvious by the layers of dust on the surface of the crates. The crates were stacked in rows and columns but the area at the far end of the warehouse was spaced out with the three long tables laid out in a ‘U’ shape. There were some wooden chairs there and then they're nothing on the table. It was the chairs that got occupied then by six figures in the double-breasted suit and the shined leather shoes. Their hats were three homburgs, two fedoras’ and one newsboy. The last belonged to an Irish who was a patriot and also bootlegger. They do share one common interest; they all smoked Cubans.

“Fritz, are you still feeling your prick?” The guy was wearing a darker suit and sat cross-legged. He was a smaller man and lost half of his hair on the scalp leaving him a crown there. He was backed up by three guards standing there dressed similarly

“Screw it, Banker. I can feel it.” The other replied. He was one with the stacked body and the mop of hair was cut short combed down the middle. However, they all stuck out like porcupine points.

“Can someone tell where the Devil is the ….” Fritz hit out then and swallowed back his words. To the assembled in the middle of the ‘U’, a figure soon appeared. It was not all that clear with the smoke with the smell of brimstones.  The new figure appeared in a white double-breasted suit and matching pointed leather shoes. Unlike the others, the new guy had on the long hair braided to the rear, and the set of eyes was deeply sunken into the face like a valley on the plains and the nose was the mountain range.

“Did someone called for me?” The long-haired figure voiced out. “No one lie to me. I am the Devil. I won’t be denied.”

“I did…Master. We were…” Fritz owned up.

“Yes, you did voice out but there were others who voiced their dissent in their mind.” The new guy smiled. “I preferred honesty but since I am the Devil, please feel free to lie among all of us.”

None of the six voiced anything then and the Devil then spoke out.

“I am told that Michael had sent a new champion here. I believed some of you knew him as the Lone Ranger.”

The assembled seated there gasped out and the one named Fritz spoke out.

“The Lone Ranger? It can’t be. I had him imprisoned in the Pits. He can’t ….” Fritz looked to the Banker. “You are the one responsible for it.”

“My vault is impregnable and none of the souls have ever escaped.” The banker looked to the Devil.

“I did not say there was an escapee. I said the Lone Ranger is on the trail. The new Long Ranger.” The Devil spoke up. “He is more dangerous than the previous one. Michael had empowered him with more power. You knew of the Long Ranger and his guns with the silver bullets.”

“Woo…” The Banker smiled. “I have seen them on the impact. They pierced the demons like it did for the others. I will skip the meal for it.”

“Thank you, Belphegor.” Belphegor was named the Banker for he was one with the great ideas to work things out Then the Devil cut in and then without a warning, Belphegor was flung across the area and slammed into the crates.

“If I needed an opinion, I will ask for it.” The Devil issued the warning. He then turned to the one with a Newsboy cap. “You ready to handle him.”

The one whom the Devil was referring raised the right hand to brush the hair off the forehead.

“I don’t give a fuck about any Lone Ranger. Cross my turf and I will destroy him.” The one who replied standing up. The suit was well sculptured to the body curves, and unlike the others, it was cut short at the waist.

“I am leaving now.” The one with the suit stood up and grabbed the hat. “That goes for all of you. Lilith does not do favors for anyone.”

Then one named Lilith then walked to the doorway hidden by the crates. When the doorway was opened, the scene outside was different from the warehouse view. It was a scene of wasteland and the smell of brimstones. Lilith's appearance changed on her exit from the three-piece suit to that of the loose toga with the sandals. Her shoulder-length hair was braided with colorful beads.

The other four still seated sighed and looked at the one they called their leader. Belphegor the Banker had resumed his seat at the table. Fritz passed over the homburg belonging to the Banker.

“Fuck! That’s not mine.” Belphegor the Banker pushed the hat away. “That’s a fedora.”

Belphegor then stood up and then stepped back from the table to retrieve the homburg at the corner. “I will kill the 

bastard.”

“Emotions….” The Devil commented back. “Belphegor the Banker, you are supposed to compose at all times. How could you react in this manner when you are supposed to be an example to them? We are facing a new threat when we are to battle a new foe? How many have we faced before in the last war? If you recalled, my fellow brothers, we lost the war then.”

The Devil let those words sank in before he continued on.

“This time we will win but I need the time to prepare for it. Keep the new Lone Ranger occupied. That one had come to our world.”

“He is the only one.” Belphegor voiced out. “We are seven among us.”

“Six.” The Devil reminded them. “Lilith had left us. She craved his attention once more. I am ever surprised that she valued him more than me who had re-united all of you here in Hades.”

“Lucifer…” Belphegor was cut off.

“I will hear not of his name in my realm. We will win again this time. But before that, tell me of the rebellion that still plagues me since my banishment.”

“They rose for the return of….” Belphegor cried out once more but was stifled by the harsh slap across his cheek.

“Heed my warning. No mention of his name or lose your rank with me.” The Devil cautioned the assembled. “I am not bluffing.”

“The rebels are not of a concern anymore,” Asmodeus spoke out. He was one of two who was dressed with the fedora. He picked up his discarded hat and then rubbed the seams. “My demons have annihilated most of them in the last ages. Even with his return, they are not of any threat.”

“Annihilated? I will share what I was to know. They were not beaten as what you have told me. They went into hiding and attacked the cities to free the slaves and source the supplies from our cities. You ought to read more on the reports of the killings on the street instead of indulging in your cigars and ballad of the dead heroes.” The Devil hit back.

“Master, we are containing the killings.” Maamon hit back with vengeance. “The rebels will be quashed soon. And the return of Lucifer. He will not last long with all seven of us here.”

“You are short of one now, Maamon. Lilith had returned to her previous lover. Some of you will not stand for any resistance. You are all demons inside but cowards on the outside. Also in you the spirit of the Angel does not exist anymore. Demons could only live here now.” The Devil looked at the assembled.

“If you do not want me to kill all of you? Voice out now or kill them all before I do. And the one that has returned.” The Devil slammed his right fist on the table. “Show me your real self. The Lone Ranger must not ride here. Or be darn I will be allowed for myself to be banished again. Hades needs me for I am to reform Hades.”

“Into my Hades.”

42.

Tonto stood there at the edge of the cliff to have a better view of the landscape. The plains of the ground spread out far into the horizon with its shade of orange and red in the texture of the terrain. The place was devoid of any living creatures and plants although there were the enormous mounds that resembled huge flat tabletops. These mounds are scattered across the plains like pieces of chessmen on the wide board. His mind drifted back to the badlands and colorful canyons of the last world he was familiar with but here it was not scenic but a bland portrayal of deadlands.

Tonto blinked his eyes to get a clearer view of the dust accumulated there. When he blinked his eyes, the layer of specks of dust there was wiped off by the tears from his eyes.

“Kemo-Sabe, it is all the same.” Tonto turned to his partner who was trying to figure out things of his own. They have been there for three days and that was the last time they met any living creatures.

“Are you sure Michael sent us in the correct world?” Tonto asked again. “The shaman had told me of neither worlds but this one defies any descriptions.”

“Dimensions, Tonto. Not worlds. We are not in your neither world. Not that I will expect you to understand.” Lance mocked the other. He grabbed the Stetson to hit it against his left thigh. He does that when he gets agitated.

“I know the books I read from inside out and for your information, I am versed in the worlds that Michael mentioned,” Tonto replied. “I did not…”

“I did learn mine on the back or on top of the camel hump.” Lance laughed. He knew that Tonto was about to refer to the vast desert named Sahara or Sahel in Arabic when Lance spent some years there. “Did you learn yours on the docks? Or was in the bawdy corners?”

Tonto was raised up at the Dover docks off the English Channels. He was sent there by his guardian there for a better living but he ditched there later and became a shaman.

“Have you learned how our ride really…get ridden?” Lance laid his right foot on the small mound next to his so named horse. “He is not the Silver I used to ride.”

 Tonto smiled and looked at the contraption in his view. It was not a grand design by his view but it had two wheels with the metal rims, the iron frame that held it, and spring-loaded leather seat with a set of handlebars on the front. The unique parts were the exhaust system and some miniature engines that have gears and knobs with cables. There was the harness that held all the parts together and it has what was told was a set of brakes to stop the contraption.

It was all explained by the Angel with the goggles over his eyes. Pardon, it was his real eyes and he handed Lance and Tonto a set of goggles. It would have been easier to operate it if there were horses to drag it but the contraption worked on a set of gears on a ‘designed two-stroke motor’. It held a sidecar as explained by the Angel that resembled more like a mini wagon fitted for one person with the legs bend upwards. The sidecar also held two saddlebags at the rear, and it holds the attached rim and wheel. On the iron frame near to the handlebars was the name ‘Chief’.

“Have you checked the engine, Kemo-Sabe?”

“You mean the one that purrs and roars on the turn of the handlebar,” Lance replied with an irritant tone. “Yes, I checked it and its purring like what our Angel told us it would do.”

“Pardon me on that hue and cries but we are not exactly in Texas or Alabama.” Tonto motioned with his hands above their heads. There was not one Sun there but three hence the dry landscape. “Perhaps you want to me to bring out my sexton to calculate our last known position.”

“Damn you and your ….Dover lessons. I am trying to figure out how we ride this …bike?” Lance snapped back in anger. “It’s a piece of infernal machinery like its ….”

“Creator? I stand against that. The Creator gave us many wonders in our lifetime, and before ours. So don’t be a hypocrite and condemned his creation.” Tonto called on his other faith to defend the bike. “It may one day outrun your Silver in the race.”

Lance pulled off the gloves from his hands and tossed it. He stepped away and joined Tonto at the edge. He was dressed in the old drags then as stated by the Angel who dressed him. They were sent there by Michael to prepare for their eventual task to locate Lucifer. The Angel there was named the Designer or called me Guppy. The chamber they were shown in was a plain empty one but there were mirrors on the sides and on the ceiling. There stood Guppy with his arms crossed and his eyes squinting at the duo

“Gracious me, are you dressed or was it thrown on by from your mother onto you with the discards or leftovers.” Guppy uncrossed his arms in exasperation. “And I thought toga was bad.”

“In Hades, you need to dress for it. Unlike here, they are not dressed. They just wrap it and if God ever knew which toga belonged to whom.” The Angel who was to decide on their dressing took a swirl to the rear. It was an impressive walk then rivaled by the later generations on the improvised raised jetty platform.

“Now where were we before the interruptions of ideas?” Guppy had his right arm up and the index finger curled. “Yes, I was to tell you on the dressing at Hades. I loved those areas. They are so ….fashionable.”

“Yes, a great way to describe dressing. I loved that expression.” Guppy then stopped there and from above his head, a rectangle container was lowered. Guppy reached for the container and set it down on the flooring. On the container was a panel board with some buttons and a small screen.

“Hello, darling. Are you happy to see me?” Guppy spoke to the rectangle container. “I have some new ….friends to dress on.”

The container released a series of beeps and burps that could mean anything to the unknown listener but to Guppy, it was his language of dressing.

“Yes, darling. We are making new garbs and not the shapeless toga anymore. And no, they are not doing for any recreational functions. Rome was not built in seven days but they have their dressing done in one.”

Guppy laughed at his words on Roman’s taste of dressing. He then looked at the duo and explained it.

“In fact, they are going to Hades.”

When the name Hades was mentioned, the rectangle box began to chatter and vibrated on its frame. Guppy then punched in some buttons and the rectangle box stopped. Lance stooped over to look at the box.

“I served it a shot of sherry laced with ions.” Guppy laughed out. “It goes bonkers then.”

“Okay, bad joke. I was just trying to amuse you. Let me show you what it can really do.” Guppy straightened up and then spoke to the rectangle box.

“Darling, please measure the two gentlemen and get them the conditioned garbs for the place,” Guppy instructed the box.  “Do hurry and please don’t get kinky.”

“Oh, another great expression for the line I am in.” Guppy continued. “Do amuse me. In our line, we are constantly improving.”

Lance and Tonto saw the beam of light that trailed down their body from the head to the toes. Then the box began to hum in a low sound before it released a loud beep.

“Be still, darling. I know they are handsome in the looks but please focus on the design. It’s what we are to do.”

Just when Guppy completed his statement, the box then gave out another harmonic hum and another rectangle box appeared from above. It was smaller and slim. Guppy reached for it and opened the cover. It revealed the new suits for the duo.

“Dark gray and white are not exactly my shades.” Lance grumbled on the shades selected for him. He had donned on a white fitted suit that covered him from the neck to the ankles. It had a red stripe drawn from his right shoulder downwards to his waist and then streaked across it like the letter ‘L’. His feet were enclosed in the dark boots and on his hands were the matching red gloves. It was matched on his boots. He had on a double gun holster below his armpits which were empty then.

“Reach behind your neck, Sir,” Guppy told Lance. “Pull at the lever there.”

Lance did as told. He reached for it and then pulled it. From the back of his neck, the hem of the suit there reached out and covered his head and then half his face to the bridge of his nose. From there, a translucent material covered the rest of his face. He felt the materials and was able to breathe. He could see past the covered mask over his eyes.

“Do I get my Stetson back and how do I pee?”

“Mon dieu! Darling, do tell him. I can stand to reply to all these petty issues. And shoo them later to the Weaponry Section. Those knaves could do whatever they need to except creased my design.” Guppy stormed off. Tonto was dressed similarly but his red stripes were streak on the top across the shoulders and it was drawn down in one wide streak in the middle to his waist like the letter ‘T’. The suit had a line of ‘fringe’ on the sides down the arms. He ignored the red coonskin hat offered.

“Oh, you need the coat to protect you from the heat.” The white coat with the fringe was a knee-length and it held a red stripe streaking down the left shoulder.