Ravenwood Scrapyard
June 17, 2001
2:15 AM
The scrapyard was a graveyard of rusty metal. Stacks of crushed cars towered like twisted skyscrapers, casting long, jagged shadows in the moonlight. The air smelled of oil and wet iron.
"Keep moving," Kenji whispered, his chest heaving. He clutched the Black Box tight against his chest.
Behind him, Marco was jogging with a heavy, rhythmic thud. He was carrying Sarah on his back. Even with her weight, the big guy didn't slow down, but his breathing was ragged.
"How much further?" Sarah whispered, wincing as her injured ankle bumped against Marco's leg.
"The tunnel entrance is past the crusher," Aris hissed, pointing to a massive yellow machine in the distance. "About two hundred yards."
They moved through the maze of junked cars. Every creak of settling metal sounded like a footstep. Every shadow looked like a trench coat.
"Stop," Maya said suddenly. She grabbed Kenji's hoodie.
"What?"
"I feel... cold," Maya whispered. Her teeth started to chatter. "He's close. I can feel his hunger."
CRUNCH.
To their left, a stack of cars groaned. A Ford Pinto at the top of the pile slid sideways and crashed to the ground, flattening a washing machine.
Dust billowed up.
Through the dust, a silhouette walked calmly. The Detective didn't run. He didn't climb. He just walked through the obstacles. When he reached a car blocking his path, his body turned into black smoke, flowed through the broken windows, and reformed on the other side.
"Run!" Kenji yelled.
Stealth was over.
They sprinted toward the crusher.
"Target acquired," the Detective's voice boomed, amplified by the metal around them.
He raised his shadow gun.
POOF.
A bullet of compressed air struck a stack of tires next to Aris, sending rubber flying.
"He's herding us!" Aris yelled, ducking. "He's not trying to kill us, he's driving us toward the tunnel!"
"Why?" Marco grunted, pumping his legs harder.
"Maybe he wants us to open it for him!" Kenji realized. "The Box! He can't use it! He needs me to use it!"
They reached the edge of the scrapyard. A steep, gravel embankment led down to a set of rusted train tracks. The tracks disappeared into a dark, gaping maw in the side of the hill: The Old Train Tunnel.
The entrance was blocked by a heavy chain-link gate, wrapped in barbed wire and chains. A sign read: CONDEMNED. DO NOT ENTER.
"It's sealed!" Sarah yelled from Marco's back.
"Marco, battering ram!" Kenji ordered.
"I'm a little busy!" Marco shouted, gesturing to Sarah on his back.
"Drop me!" Sarah said.
Marco skidded to a halt on the loose gravel. He gently lowered Sarah to the ground. She leaned against a rusted rail tie, balancing on her good leg.
Marco turned to the gate. He roared, his skin turning gray and jagged. He charged.
CLANG.
The gate bent inward, but the chains held.
"Again!" Kenji screamed.
He looked back up the hill. The Detective was standing at the top of the embankment. He adjusted his fedora. He raised his hand, and the shadows from the crushed cars stretched out, forming long, black tendrils that slithered down the hill like snakes.
"Hurry!" Maya screamed, throwing a rock at the approaching shadows.
Marco backed up and hit the gate again.
CRUNCH.
The hinges snapped. The gate fell inward with a deafening crash.
"Inside! Go!" Kenji waved them in.
Marco grabbed Sarah again. They stumbled into the darkness of the tunnel.
The air inside was stale and cool, smelling of damp earth and creosote. It was pitch black.
"Lights," Kenji said.
They clicked on their flashlights. The beams cut through the gloom, revealing rotting wooden supports and rusted tracks. Water dripped from the ceiling. Plip. Plip.
"The Green Dot," Kenji said, looking at the Black Box. He didn't dare open it again, fearing the signal would give the Detective a lock, but he remembered the map. "It was in the center. We have to go deep."
They ran down the tracks for what felt like a mile. The sound of the Detective pursuit faded, but the feeling of dread didn't lift.
"There!" Aris shone his light ahead.
Blocking the tracks was a train.
But it wasn't a normal subway car. It was a massive, armored locomotive. It looked like something from World War II—black iron, riveted plates, and tiny slits for windows. It had no wheels; it had been welded directly to the tracks, turned into a permanent bunker.
On the side of the iron door, painted in faded white stencil, was the symbol: PROJECT ECHO.
"This is it," Sarah whispered. "Grandpa's panic room."
Kenji ran to the heavy iron door. There was no handle. Just a smooth, circular indentation in the metal.
"The compass," Aris said. "It fits there."
Kenji set the Black Box down on the tracks. He opened the latches. The brass device inside was humming violently now, the blue crystal spinning so fast it was a blur.
Kenji picked it up. It felt hot in his hands.
He pressed the device into the circular indentation on the train door.
CLICK. CLUNK. HISS.
Gears inside the armored door began to turn. Steam vented from hidden pipes. The massive iron slab slowly hissed open, sliding into the wall.
"Get in!" Kenji grabbed the device and shoved his friends inside.
Just as Marco stepped through the threshold carrying Sarah, a shadow whip lashed out from the darkness of the tunnel.
CRACK.
It wrapped around Marco's ankle.
"No!" Marco yelled as he was yanked backward. He dropped Sarah inside the train and fell onto the tracks outside.
The Detective stepped into the light of the train's open door. He was standing ten feet away, holding the shadow whip.
"Thank you," the Detective smiled, his gray face illuminated by the train's internal lights. "I knew you could open it, Key."
He pulled the whip, dragging Marco toward him.
"Marco!" Kenji screamed.
Kenji stood in the doorway. He looked at the heavy iron door controls. There was a big red button labeled SEAL.
If he hit it, the door would close. Marco would be locked out with the monster.
If he didn't, the Detective would get inside and kill them all.
"Close it!" Marco yelled, clawing at the gravel. "Kenji, close the door!"
"No!"
Kenji didn't hit the button. He didn't run.
He looked at the Detective. He looked at the distance between them. Ten feet.
I can't carry people, Kenji thought. I'm too weak.
But I can move objects.
Kenji looked at the heavy Black Box case on the floor of the train. It was made of steel and foam, weighing about twenty pounds.
"Hey!" Kenji shouted at the Detective.
The Detective looked up.
Kenji grabbed the empty Black Box case.
Warp.
Kenji didn't warp himself. He touched the box and pushed his energy into it.
The box vanished.
POP.
It reappeared instantly—ten feet away, directly inside the Detective's chest.
Or at least, that was the plan.
Kenji's aim was off. The box materialized just above the Detective's head and dropped.
BONK.
The heavy steel case smashed onto the Detective's fedora.
It wasn't a lethal blow, but it was surprising. The Detective flinched, his concentration breaking. The shadow whip dissolved into smoke.
"Now, Marco!" Kenji screamed. "Move!"
Marco scrambled up. He didn't run. He lunged, diving through the open door of the train like a baseball player sliding for home.
Kenji slammed his fist onto the red button.
HISS-CLANG.
The iron door slammed shut just as a shadow bullet pinged off the metal surface.
Heavy bolts locked into place. Thud. Thud. Thud.
They were sealed in.
Silence filled the train car.
"You..." Marco panted, rolling onto his back. "You dropped a suitcase on his head."
"It was supposed to teleport inside him," Kenji muttered, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. "I missed."
"It worked," Sarah said, leaning against the wall. She looked around the interior of the train. "We're safe."
The inside of the train car wasn't a passenger cabin. It was a high-tech laboratory.
Rows of computer banks lined the walls. There were bunk beds in the back, a small kitchenette, and weapons racks—mostly empty, but with a few strange prototypes left behind.
And in the center of the room, dominated by a massive glass cylinder, was a suit.
It was a sleek, black bodysuit with glowing blue lines running down the arms and legs. It looked like armor, but flexible. A helmet sat next to it.
Aris walked over to the console in front of the suit. He wiped dust off a screen.
"Guys," Aris said, his voice echoing in the quiet lab. "This isn't just a panic room. It's a training facility."
He pointed to a sticky note attached to the monitor. It was Sarah's grandfather's handwriting again.
It read: FOR SUBJECT ONE. THE INTERFACE.
Kenji walked up to the glass cylinder. He looked at the suit. It was his size.
"The Interface," Kenji whispered.
He looked at his reflection in the glass. He was dirty, bruised, and terrified. But he was alive.
"He's going to try to break in," Kenji said, looking at the heavy door.
"Let him try," Aris typed a command on the keyboard. "This train is reinforced with lead and titanium. And... oh, wow."
"What?"
"The train isn't dead," Aris grinned. "The reactor is offline, but I can hook the Compass up to the engine. If we power this thing up... the defense turrets come online."
"Turrets?" Marco smiled, sitting up. "Now we're talking."
Kenji looked at the suit again.
"Hook it up, Aris," Kenji said. "We're not running anymore. We're leveling up."