Fan Fiction: Crossovers
In the Midst of Shadows
by Greg Daulton
Chapter 7
The Green Hornet waited in the hideout, waiting for the mysterious man known as The Shadow. Without warning or notice, the mysterious figure of The Shadow appeared next to a far wall. The Green Hornet immediately noticed as The Shadow came out of the dimly lit corner.
"You've been showing up here a lot lately," the Hornet announced.
"Yes, Hornet. You seem to be my only link to this jewel fiend," The Shadow hissed.
"My aide, Kato, and I have devised a plan. It's obvious that Johnny Sapphire is after someone; a newspaper publisher named Britt Reid. Sapphire isn't going to leave Detroit until he has gotten his big score. I visited Reid's home last night. We're going to use him as bait and I'm going to drop him off at Sapphire's hideout. But don't worry, I convinced him to cooperate. Sapphire and his gang are planning something soon and we need to bring him down before he does anymore property damage, thefts or worse."
"Get to the point Hornet. What's my angle in this?"
"I need you to protect Reid. You see, after I drop Reid off at the hideout, I'm going to be following up on another lead. I'll join you as soon as I can."
"I see," said The Shadow, piecing together the Hornet's logical plan.
"Yes. Now Reid is going to move through the front of the church, raising as much attention as he can. These racketeers will respond and I'll need you to slip in quietly and take them out. But there is one stipulation."
"And what is that." The Shadow pondered.
"No killing. These men need to see the long arm of the law."
"I agree, Hornet. So at what time should I be there?"
"One hour should be enough time to get ready."
"One hour it is then," The Shadow acknowledged, and with that he seemed to melt back into the dark corner from where he came.
The night was foggy as the Black Beauty pulled into an abandoned lot that was less than a quarter mile from the abandoned cathedral that served as the current hideout for the Sapphire gang. Britt Reid hastily exited the car and began a heavy jog towards his quarry's lair. As he ran, Reid thought of The Shadow and how thankful he was that this mysterious avenger of crime had come to the city and helped with these jewel thieves.
Moments later, as he came upon the place, he swiftly approached the large sanctuary doors, hesitating only for a second to think about what to do next. As he opened the sanctuary doors, he stepped inside and screamed, "Is anyone here?"
Immediately, just as Reid had planned it, two goons armed with automatic pistols entered the elegantly spacious sanctuary.
"Well, what do we have here?" a thug muttered, keeping his gun trained on Reid. "Quick, O'Neil, tell the Boss we've got Britt Reid. This is going to make him very happy."
With that, the hired stooge known as O'Neil left the sanctuary en route to one of the back rooms. The other henchman moved closer to Reid, his gun still trained on the poor newspaperman.
"Don't worry, Reid," the goon muttered. "The Boss is going to take good care of you."
With that the goon moved behind Reid and slammed the butt of his gun on Reid's neck, making him to fall to the ground unconscious.
Sometime later, Britt Reid sat bound and gagged to a chair in the very center of the cathedral basement. As he looked around, he noticed that the huge room resembled more of a warehouse than a basement. The dingy gray walls were lined with long metal tables and large crates that no doubt contained the gang's loot. There were several doors that lead to storage rooms and in the center of the far wall of the basement was an elevator that led to upper floors of the church.
Britt Reid felt a hand grip his neck from behind, pulling off the gag. Suddenly the nefarious Johnny Sapphire stared him in the face.
"I apologize for the gag Mr. Reid. Now tell me, how did you find this place?"
"I was abducted from my home," Reid uttered, trying to act afraid. "The Green Hornet kidnapped me and brought me here. He said something about how I was an added bonus."
"And what a sweet bonus you are. I had paid off the cops and every newspaper in the city to keep quiet about my activities," Sapphire spoke, lighting up a cigarette and the continuing. "So far you've been quiet, but as the biggest paper in the city, I was always a little nervous about you, given your reputation. I wanted you and now the Hornet has brought you to me."
"Are you going to kill me?" Reid asked.
"I just might do that, but then again, you'd make one hell of a ransom. Say, just what do you know about me and my gang?"
"I know that you have pulled several jewel heists all over the city. I know that the cops can't find you. So help me Sapphire, if I get out of here alive, I will expose you, so help me, God."
"Well, I was hoping we could be friends, Mr. Reid, but now you've hurt my feelings," Sapphire uttered sarcastically. As one of his henchmen handed him a revolver, the gangster aimed the gun at Reid's head. "Say goodbye Reid."
Without warning, a sinister yet familiar laugh echoed across the entire basement.
"Boss, what's that?" a frightened thug exclaimed.
"He's here," Sapphire informed as he recognized the insane laughter of The Shadow.
"It's The Shadow, boys," another goon exclaimed. "Boss, what do we do?"
"Put Reid in one of the storage rooms. Keep him bound to the chair," Sapphire ordered. "And somebody bring out the big guns. We've got a shadow to catch."
The laughter continued, growing louder and louder. As the thugs carried Britt Reid away, putting the bound man into an old and empty storeroom, other henchmen brought out heavy machine guns and automatic rifles to combat the despicable Shadow.
Moments later as Britt Reid sat alone is the dimly lit storeroom, he slipped a small razorblade from out of his left shirt sleeve and began filing down the rope that bound his hands to the hard wooden chair. Once free, he removed the ropes and immediately began positioning some small metal crates near the back wall in a stair step pattern. . In his mind, Britt had no time to lose; Johnny Sapphire had many well-armed goons and The Shadow was brutally outnumbered. As Britt finished stacking them, he quickly climbed up the makeshift stairs as high as he could. Reaching the ceiling, he dislocated one of the panels and climbed through.
As he made his way through the ceiling, he found a dirty ventilation shaft that led to the sanctuary. He didn't have much time. He had to get to the Black Beauty, don the costume of the Green Hornet and quickly return to the old church to aid The Shadow in the gang's capture. He began crawling through the vents and eventually came to the end. Dislodging the ventilation screen, he climbed through and thus entered the dark sanctuary of the church. He promptly looked around to see if any of Sapphire's goons could be found guarding the entrance. No one was in sight. Wasting no more time, he ran to the large sanctuary doors, threw them open and began running as fast as he could to get to the Black Beauty.
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