Volume I: A Secret Lost

Chapter One: The Escape

9:30 PM

He stood there in the shadows of a room on the first floor. Tired after a long run, he breathed heavily as sweat glistened off his forehead. Inside his three piece suit, his heart raced as he frantically looked for a way out.

Many thoughts came into Kid Combat’s head as he stood there in the corner of the room, trying to get out of this hostile environment. The most important one was whether or not this mission was so important that he was dropped into the belly of the beast, alone, with no back up plan. There was no second option, no contingencies. This was it.

There was, after all, no time to plan for this mission. Time was of an essence. Kid Combat and his crew knew this. They knew they had to get in here now- not later- or lose their secret forever.

The room he found himself in was nothing more than a greeting room for guests of this mansion. Twice as long as it was wide, it was decorated with no paintings or artifacts. Instead, the walls were made of a patterned concrete. Outlines of large black squares, triangles, and rectangles filled in by gray cement dominated the walls. The odd walls gave the room a dark, wet feel. The smell of stale cigar smoke lingered.

Blasted! Kid Combat thought to himself. He could still feel his heart pounding underneath the layers of clothing. The ten-year-old super genius stood in the back corner of the room, examining the wall thoroughly. His thin body moved from side to side as his hands searched every square inch. He could have sworn there was another way out; everything he and his secret alliance studied of the mansion had brought them to this conclusion. Blueprints, photographs, and drawings all pointed to an exit on this back wall. Upon inspection, it didn’t take him long to figure out that he was wrong. Kid Combat pressed a button on the small communicator attached to his outer ear, radioing for help.

“There’s no door, Gears,” Kid whispered.

“Checking …” came the reply to his earpiece, followed by silence. A few anxious moments went by, and Kid Combat began to sweat again. He knew getting caught would bring an end to his secret identity. He looked over his shoulder—he was safe for the moment. But that moment was fading fast.