Senor 105 and the Elements of Danger by Cody Quijano-Schell (ed)

Author:Cody Quijano-Schell (ed)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Obverse Quarterly 1.2
Publisher: Obverse Books
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Anti-Element

Julio Angel Ortiz

‘So, tell me,’ began the diminutive masked figure, ‘what makes you think that you can defeat Señor 105?’

Around the table, a murmur of agreement swelled, heads nodding slowly in fear-laced motions. The initial speaker was a man whose smaller stature was in stark contrast to his powerful physique, taut brown skin over sculpted muscles. His mask was black, adorned in crimson flames. Chiquito Invader allowed the question to hang in the air for a moment longer, then spoke again.

‘Well?’

Fools, Matador de Almas thought to himself.

‘You see, you all have been approaching this matter from the wrong angle,’ he said slowly, patience cemented in every word.

Matador surveyed the oblong oak table, of which he sat at the head. He looked over his companions. There was the Terrible Prince, Chiquito Invader, Capitan Muerte, and then finally, the only female of the group, Princess of Pandemonium, Pandora X. All foes of the fabled Señor 105. All had failed in one key mission. They had been unable to kill Señor 105.

‘Señor 105 has proven to be notoriously hard to eliminate,’ Matador continued. ‘He has defied all of your plans, all of your various methods to end his existence on this planet. And while your attempts have been admirable... Pandora, your Probability Parabola was the most inventive... none of them have come close to stopping 105.’ He paused. ‘But where you have failed, I will succeed.’

The Terrible Prince spoke up, barely containing the fury lacing each word. ‘And what makes you so certain?’

Matador smiled. ‘My plans have been in motion for a while. Soon, Señor 105 will be ensnared in them. And by then, it will be too late for him to escape.’

‘Famous last words,’ Pandora added in her sultry voice. That solicited a few awkward chuckles.

‘Perhaps,’ Matador said. ‘But allow me to assure you of this: Señor 105 will be dead by dawn!’

‘So, it’s just a haunted mansion?’ Sheila asked, making no attempt to hide her incredulity and disappointment. They were in the foyer, before a staircase that spiraled to the second floor. The walls and stairs were made of dull cherry wood. Señor 105 stepped forward, lazily placing his hand on the banister and looking around, lost in thought.

‘Indeed it is, señorita’ 105 said, taking in his surroundings. There was dust everywhere, and furniture that was either broken or covered in drape cloths. To boot, there was a thunderstorm raging outside. ‘It all does seem... manufactured, doesn’t it?’

Sheila floated ahead of him. ‘You think? What clued you in? The robotic mummies? The wooden automatons?’ She glanced up, exasperated. ‘The scarecrow-vampire hybrids?’

‘I wasn’t expecting those.’

‘Neither was I. And it was a refreshing change. But still! Who fights those things?’

‘Apparently, we do.’ 105 cracked his knuckles. ‘But yes, this place is too mired in horror archetypes to be anything more than a trap.’

Lightning chose that moment to flash through the windows, promptly followed by thunder.

‘I would never have seen that coming,’ Sheila deadpanned. ‘So, what next?’

‘We go to the basement.’

Sheila turned to 105. ‘What?’

‘The basement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.