Part 4 (1/2)
”Who?” Delores asked with some trepidation.
”Not me,” Louie put in all too hastily. ”I hope.”
”Not any of us!” Zabana suggested boldly. ”Thing has us confused with four other people!”
”Let'sh jusht invite it for a drink!” Doc suggested from somewhere around ground level.
”The woman,” the voice explained.
Delores tried to laugh. ”Uh, guys? Perhaps it is time for a change of scene.”
”It is no use,” the voice replied. ”There is no escape. Slime is your destiny.”
There was an explosion, followed by the all-too-familiar oily laughter. Delores was sure, had there been any light, they would have all been surrounded by blue smoke.
The archest of archvillains had found them again.
”It is no use!” Dread chortled. ”There is no escape!”
”You're stealing my lines,” a monstrous voice interjected.
”Pitiful fools,” Dread continued, ”don't you realize I have made certain adjustments to my ring that will allow me to follow you any-” He paused. ”Eh? Did somebody say something?”
”There is only one response to line thieves,” the voice replied. ”Slime.””Come now, Delores,” Dread chided. ”How childis.h.!.+ Trying to confuse me by- disguising your voice? You can't fool me that easily. What do you take me-ick- what is this stuff-where is it coming-blechh-get it off me- ugh-I can hardly move. It's already up-glub-around my-gurgle.”
Doctor Dread was heard no more.
”Out of here?” Louie whispered.
”Out of here!” Delores agreed. ”Grab hold, fellas!” She felt Louie's hand on her arm, and Zabana's on her shoulder. A moment later, Doc grabbed her ankle.
”Up, up, and away!” Delores announced as she twisted the ring.
There was the usual explosion, and they were gone. On the whole, however, Delores would have felt better if she had not heard those last few words: ”There is no escape from slime.”
”This is more like it!” Louie announced happily.
It was night, and the world was devoid of color. This didn't seem very promising, either, except that Louie liked it for some reason. Delores only hoped it was better than that dreadful place they had just escaped. There was light here, after all, even though it was a harsh, white light that threw long, dark shadows across the alleyway.
And the shadows looked like nothing so much as bars on a cage. Far away, Delores could hear a woman's laughter, the plaintive call of a saxophone, and the wail of police sirens.
”This is the city,” Louie explained. ”This is where I belong. This is a place where a guy in a double-breasted suit can feel comfortable.” He looked down at the cowboy duds he still wore. ”Now if only I had my double-breasted suit back, we'd be fine.” He shrugged apologetically as he began a furtive walk to the street at the alley's end.
”Otherwise,” he called softly over his shoulder, ”we might have some trouble.”
This time, Delores understood what Louie was talking about. Since they were dressed as two cowboys, a jungle prince, and a woman who was about to be sacrificed to a volcano G.o.d, they might not blend in here. But this was Louie's home world. There must be some way to find less conspicuous clothing, and she was sure the sidekick could help them there. With luck, maybe she could get out of this stupid muumuu and back into something more comfortable, like a black vinyl jumpsuit.
She walked after Louie, waving for Doc and Zabana to follow. Once they blended a little more fully into their surroundings, it would be time to think about other things.
This was the sort of decision she had learned in Heroic Strategy 201; if this was a place that Louie truly knew, maybe it was time to stop running, and make plans.
Delores felt a slight s.h.i.+ver roll across her spine and shoulders, a reaction, no doubt, to the terrors of that dark world they had just left. Still, they had escaped the place cleanly, as Dread faced the wrath of the thing that had first threatened them.
Whatever they had met in the darkness had-at the very least-inconvenienced Dread. Delores was all too aware of the resources of their nemesis to believe that he had been eliminated. But he had been delayed. That would have to be enough. It proved heroes could still beat the odds on occasion, even after the Change.
Louie reached the end of the alleyway. He took off his ten-gallon hat and peered around the corner.
Delores crept up behind him. ”What should we do?” she whispered.
”How should I know?” he whispered back. ”I'm only a sidekick.”
”I'll find a shaloon,” Doc ventured from where he crawled behind them.
”Zabana lead way!” the big fellow offered. ”Laugh at all who stand before us. Beat, strangle, stab with hunting knife! Zabana not only Prince of Jungle. He prince of everywhere!”
”Uh, no,” Delores replied immediately. ”I'll lead the way. Unless-” She stopped herself, her heroic instincts temporarily overcome by pragmatism. ”Louie, do you know of any used-clothing stores around here?”
Louie grinned at that, glad at last to be given a sidekick sort of thing to do. He led them as quickly as possible down the deserted streets to a place called Second Avenue Second Hand. Strangely enough, even though it appeared to be the middle of the night, the store was open for business. Delores thought she heard gunshots as she opened the store's front door, but they were behind her, somewhere in the distance, as were the shouts, screams, and sirens that followed. She quickly ushered the others inside.
A little bell rang as the door shut behind them, closing out the noise from the street.
Delores glanced around the shop. It was awfully s.p.a.cious in here, much larger than it appeared from the street; more of a warehouse than a storefront. Bright electric bulbs were hung along the ceiling, but half their light was lost in the dust that surrounded the shelves and tables piled high with clothes. The light bulbs seemed to stretch away as far as Delores could see, but half this place was still lost in shadow.
”It's awfully quiet,” Delores whispered.
”Like a tomb,” Louie agreed.
”It looks deserted,” Delores observed. ”I wonder if anyone's here?”
”May I help you?”
The words were spoken in a conversational, if efficient, tone. After all the whispering, it sounded to Delores as if someone had shouted in her ear.
A small, bent man stood directly before them in a narrow aisle between the mounds. He had probably only stepped out of the heavy shadows, but it seemed as if he had appeared out of nowhere. He smiled at his customers.
Delores exhaled. There was nothing to be upset about. She was glad she'd only jumped a little bit, and hadn't yelled at all.
”We need some new outfits,” Louie explained.
”That I can see.” The small man nodded pleasantly, as if having two cowboys, a jungle prince, and a woman in a muumuu walk into your store was an everyday occurrence. He waved at the piles of clothing on either side. ”This is the place.”
Delores and the others got to work. Louie found a double-breasted suit for himself, and another one for Doc. They had some problems with Zabana, but after certain alterations were made on the better part of a pair of double-breasted suits - which were thereupon sewn together - he too looked as if he belonged on this world.
They were interrupted once.
The door slammed open. A man took a step inside, but stood strangely erect as machine gun fire erupted outside. The man staggered forward one step, then back two, before falling on the sidewalk outside.
The door slammed closed.