Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return

MADISON DANIEL

PRESENTS

LUCAS RYAN VERSUS

————————————————

THE RETURN

LUCAS RYAN VERSUS: The Return

Madison Daniel

Original Text Copyright © 2014 by Madison Daniel

Kindle Copyright © 2015 by Madison Daniel

Createspace Copyright © 2015 by Madison Daniel

KINDLE EDITION

Cover Copyright © 2014 by Madison Daniel & Grzegorz Rutkowski

Cover Image created by Grzegorz Rutkowski

http://88grzes.deviantart.com

LUCAS RYAN VERSUS: The Return

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and actions are used fictitiously or products of this author’s wild imagination. Any similarities to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

LITERARY SOUNDTRACK

Lucas Ryan Versus is a living, breathing work of entertainment. It’s meant to be enjoyed and consumed with a musical playlist. Each chapter is bookended by a song that resonates with the story and its characters. I have enclosed that musical playlist. Feel free to follow my lead or download your own playlist. Support the arts and the artists.

DO NOT ILLEGALLY DOWNLOAD.

Look, listen and fade away…

“For the dreamer in us all.”

Mads

CHAPTER LIST:

LEVEL 01 - MAN IN A BOX

LEVEL 02 - IT’S ABOUT TIME

LEVEL 03 - THIS KID’S NOT ALRIGHT

LEVEL 04 - MIDNIGHT CITY

LEVEL 05 - COOL KIDS

LEVEL 06 - MZ. HYDE

LEVEL 07 - HEROES (WE COULD BE)

LEVEL 08 - BIG FREEZE

LEVEL 09 - PANIC STATION

LEVEL 10 - FEELING GOOD

LEVEL 11 - WE’RE THE KIDS

LEVEL 12 - OVERPROTECTED

LEVEL 13 - BEGGIN FOR THREAD

LEVEL 14 - DANGEROUS

LEVEL 15 - LEAVE A SCAR

LEVEL 16 - BAD BLOOD

LEVEL 17 - EVERY DAY IS EXACTLY THE SAME

LEVEL 18 - AMEN

LEVEL 19 - POINT OF NO RETURN

LEVEL 20 - MY DEMONS

LEVEL 21 - CARNIVORE

LEVEL 22 - APOCALYPTIC

LEVEL 23 - MAYHEM

LEVEL 24 - WEAK AND POWERLESS

LEVEL 25 - THE DAY THE WORLD WENT AWAY

LEVEL 26 - THE HAND THAT FEEDS

LEVEL 27 - SEND THE PAIN BELOW

LEVEL 28 - THE RED

LEVEL 29 - CLOSURE

LEVEL 30 - KINGS AND QUEENS

LEVEL 31 - NORTHERN LIGHTS

EPILOGUE - END OF ALL DAYS

HERE’S SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT NEED TO KNOW
:

“Greetings, my fellow adventurer, I’m Lucas, your average fifteen-year-old underachiever. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, with my parents and small crew of friends. My life usually revolves around video games, comic books and movies, but recently that all changed. Now, I spend my time chasing monsters, slaying dragons, time traveling, and basically keeping the worst evils in the universe from ingesting my high school and clueless town. All of this while juggling detention, bullies, final exams, and the pursuit of my lifelong crush, Olivia Weaver. Oh, and did I mention that I possess the power of an otherworldly jewel that has fused itself with my arm in the form of a tattoo, and I barely know how to control it? Yeah, I almost forgot about that. Anyways, welcome to my journey. Feel free to follow the instructions below…”

INSERT TOKEN

PRESS START

GAME

ON

LEVEL 01

MAN IN A BOX

The darkness was absolute. It smothered me in its never-ending embrace. With a grunt, I focused my burning eyes on the sliver of hope that glowed before us. Its faint flicker disappeared around the corner. My hands pulled at the walls, scratching their way along the smooth but freezing surface. As I rounded the corner another shriek called for me, this time much louder.

They
were getting closer.

My feet pushed me harder and I closed the gap between the fleeing light and my body. If I used the rest of my strength I was sure I could reach it…reach him. With a snap, the stranger carrying the light snuck around another corridor and then another. It was obvious this maze was only getting larger.
Deeper into the rabbit hole I go
.

Another scream erupted from my faceless pursuer and my body covered over in icy bumps. I quickly slammed my right fist and forearm into the closest wall, and the magical tattoo carved into my skin stuttered to life. Blue and gold light poured from it igniting the pathway but only for a moment. But the moment was enough.

I was seconds away from death.

The mysterious light-runner I had been chasing was now gone and in his place was a wall, a dead end. From under my feet the floor began to shake as
they
called for my blood again. I smashed my once powerful fist against the wall and it filled the space with a mechanical echo. Another screech came from just outside the last corner I had run from. I was doomed.

Even worse, I was
their
dinner. A teenage chicken nugget for the impossible monsters that stalked me. At least I would be spared the sight of them feasting on me. The darkness was too thick to even make out a shadow. With that awful thought I clutched the wall behind me and waited for the pain. Just then the black maze lit up everywhere in a snap, as if someone had flicked the light switch on. Great, I guess I’d have front row seats to my bloody demise. I just can’t win!

Quickly, my eyes pulled together and focused on the mass of scales and claws that seemed frozen by the light. From the floor to the dripping ceiling was rows of teeth and hate filled eyes. They belonged to what looked like a thousand twisted serpents. All of
them
intertwined like a woven anaconda that heaved with one sickening breath. A thousand horrors wrapped in a morbid bow of fangs and saliva.
Their
mouths all buzzed with rage as they grimaced in place, paralyzed by the light.
What was happening?

“Lucas!” she called out.

“Sophia!” I gasped, as her surprised face appeared behind me in the sheen of the wall. She seemed to be on the opposite side of the wall with her palm pressed against it. It was like looking into a window.

“Get down!”

“Are you all right?” I asked, ignoring her order. She shook her head in a mess of brown tangles and pressed her hand against the wall harder. The determined face of my twelve-year-old savior seemed to change in front of my eyes. She looked so much like her older sister, Olivia. The Weaver sisters. Both of them had dark brown hair that hung past their shoulders, though Sophia’s was a few curly inches longer. They shared the same big brown eyes but for some reason Olivia always hid hers behind colorful contact lenses. Blue or violet were her go-to colors. They were extremely close with each other. The thought of them made time fall away. For a split second I missed home. I missed my friends. I missed my Xbox. But most of all, I missed Olivia Weaver. Lead singer of the all-girl rock band, Sister Red, and the one girl I’ve had a crush on since grade school. Who was I kidding, it was much more than just a crush. She was my girlfriend.

“Lucas, duck!” Sophia screamed. From around her fingers came a high-pitched hum. It emitted from the special rings I had given her. The Jynshee Rings, thirteen unbelievably powerful bands that when worn together, offered almost unlimited powers. Sophia had twelve of the thirteen bands in her possession still. The thirteenth ring was lost, for the moment. Together the jewelry was the stuff of legends. Super powerful, and unimaginable. Well, at least they used to be. Since being trapped in this other dimension, their impossible power has been running on empty. I wish I knew how to fix them. If only we had some kind of owner’s manual to help us with them.

Sophia closed her eyes and pushed harder. I spun around to the floor. The spaghetti swarm of serpents squirmed in place as if they knew what was about to happen.
Their
panicked shrieks became deep and guttural.

I covered my head and screamed, “Do it now!”

Sophia unleashed a sonic wave filled with golden light that shattered the wall between us and rushed into the knot of demon snakes.
They
all melted away into liquid ash that smelled like burnt tires. It made me gag a little.

“Lucas, hurry! I see a way out!” she yelled, over her shoulder as she ran down a new corridor. Her sporty sneakers carried her swiftly and barely gave me a time to catch up with her.

“How did you find me?” I asked, running alongside of her.

“I didn’t. You found me,” she huffed, as we rounded another corner in the maze.

“Huh?”

“I woke up in a dark room one second and the next, I was staring at you through the wall…like one of those two-way mirrors. You know, the kind where you can see from one side but the other side seems like a normal mirror,” she said.

“You woke up and I was suddenly there? Weird.”

“Yes.”

That’s when it hit me. “Holy moly…
he
led me to you…” I mumbled, and stopped running. The mysterious light-carrying shadow man I was following earlier. He brought Sophia and I together.

“What? Who did what?” she smirked.

“The Dark Beacon…the last beacon we were told to find.”

“Huh?” she wearily asked.

“I was told to find the three energy signatures, or beacons. My magical tattoo and I are the first beacon. You and your rings are the second beacon. The shadowy figure that has been watching us is the third beacon, I think.
He’s
the one I’ve been searching for since being trapped on this nightmarish planet.
He
took me to you.”

“I don’t understand…” she tried to say, but we were interrupted again. A roar ripped into us like a freight train as a new player entered the game. From around the last turn a giant snout appeared. It sniffed the air before unleashing another roar. It pushed forward just enough to reveal its hideous head. Covered in scales that seemed to be bleeding, its jaws opened up like a python readying itself to ingest a much too large meal. It was a dirty shade of purple and had three sets of silver eyes. All six pupils locked onto us. Sophia tightened her hand onto mine and waited for me to do something. Without thinking I turned around and pulled her forward, but found our once opened corridor was now sealed closed again. The maze was changing, and it didn’t seem to want us to leave.

Sophia mumbled, “Oh, no.”

The hungry carnivore pushed forward with its razored teeth stretching from its menacing mouth. Instinctively, I forced Sophia behind me and threw my arms in front of my face. As the monster’s fangs inched closer to us my forearm lit up again. Warm yellow light filled our death box and I held my breath. Suddenly, the light from my fleshy gauntlet smashed into the ceiling above us, incinerating a large hole just big enough for us to squeeze through. Before I could offer up my escape plan, Sophia was already scaling my back and reaching for the new hole.

“Hurry!” I called out. Her feet disappeared above me, before instantly being replaced by one of her small hands.

“Grab on!” she yelled. With a jump and a smack of our sweaty palms she pulled me up just enough for me to get a good grip on the sides of the hole. Quickly, I pulled myself to safety and stood up, finding her other hand with mine. She smiled up at me and helped lock in my stance before looking below our feet. The hole was now gone, replaced by a new slab of gray steel. I searched the location around us. We were now in a giant domed structure the size of a warehouse. Thirty-yards away was another familiar face.

“Felicity!” Sophia announced. Felicity twirled around facing us, her dusty spirals of blonde hair mimicking her head movement. Her freckled face filled with surprised anger as she ran up to us.

“Where the heck have you two been?” Felicity cursed. She tightened a small fist in front of her face as if to threaten me. Wrapped around her index finger was the thirteenth Jynshee Ring. She had found it before we were placed in this nightmare. I thought it was lost forever, along with her. She quickly scolded me again, “This is all your fault, Lucas!”

Obviously, she wasn’t my biggest fan. Felicity and I were actually bitter rivals back home. Oil and water. I was relieved to see that she was still alive but annoyed that she had held onto her lovely attitude. Before she could add another bad timed insult, I pushed past her in a trance. I grunted back her way, barely acknowledging her, “Hey.”

“Where are you going? Don’t you ignore me!” she moaned.

“Calm down, Felicity, he’s found something,” Sophia said, from far behind me.

In my ears was a pulsating throb. A familiar sensation. A drumbeat.

“A heartbeat,” I gasped. I pushed forward in the darkened room, following the growing thrum inside my head. Just when the sound drowned out everything else, I tripped, slamming into the floor with a dull thud. “Ouch.”

Just in front of my eyes was a small pyramid-shaped jewel made of gold. It gleamed inside my eyes, locking me in place. I didn’t even notice when Sophia and Felicity walked up behind me. My eyes studied its surface and found tiny markings along its sides. The same exact markings etched into my forearm. The pounding heartbeat stopped inside my head. My hand reached out to scoop it up but I hesitated for a moment.

From over my shoulder Sophia asked, “What is it?”

Without even thinking, I said, “Our way home…I think…”

“How could you possibly know that?” Felicity snapped.

“I just do,” I said, distant. This was how my last adventure started, with a small magical stone. That unbelievable stone led me on this journey to this forbidden universe, maybe this new rock would lead me back home. Maybe it would lead us all home.

“Pick it up,” Sophia whispered.

“This is stupid, Lucas! The last thing we need is you unlocking another strange rock with mystical powers. Look where it led us last time!” Felicity cussed, waving her arms around her head. Man, it was so easy to dislike her.

“Felicity, technically you’re the one that wished us here,” Sophia added, with a nervous laugh. She was right.

“Shut up, princess!” Felicity scolded. That was it. She had flipped my angry switch. I turned to her with annoyed grief plastered on my face and was completely ready to lay into her about her snarky attitude when from over her shoulder came a hissing. I stood up and pulled the girls behind me. Standing in the center of our large prison was the shadowed being I had been chasing, the Dark Beacon.

“Lucassssss…” the shadow hissed. Its outline was tall and smoky, resembling a man. I couldn’t see any details along his face, only burnt red eyes. I stepped forward, ready for some kind of answers.

“Are you the one I am supposed to find? Are you the last Beacon? The Dark Beacon?”

With a raspy cackle, he answered, “Yessssssss.”

My forearm started to flicker with gold light again and so did the triangular stone on the floor between my feet. The dark figure seemed to wince from its light.

“Okay…tag, you’re it. Now, how do we get out of this place?” I asked. The floor began to rumble and sway. Not a good sign. I leaned forward and asked again, “How do we get home?”

The shadow leaned toward me and whispered, “Belieeeeeeeevvvvvve.”

Believe?
Oh crap, not again. I looked back down at the pyramid below me and swiftly snatched it into my fist. It attached to the contours of my palm and dug itself in as if it were a part of me. The mysterious heartbeat returned, only this time it was in synch with my own. I felt as if we were one. I stared down at my illuminated fist and smiled.

“Ripley, is that you?” I asked, quietly.

The hulking shadow behind me interrupted with a warning, “Lucassssss.”

“What?” I said, not even looking his way.

“Runnnnnnn…”

My eyes stole a look back his way just as the floor began to tear open. “Huh?”

“Run!” the Dark Beacon warned. As he did the floor exploded upward extinguishing his smoky body in an instant. The enormous serpent monster from the maze rolled upward, filling the new hole with its heaving torso.

“Uh, oh.”

Sophia latched onto my shoulder and Felicity began to run in the opposite direction. As she did, another roar ripped through the air and she froze in place.

“What do we do?” Sophia begged, in terror. The beast bellowed again before us and inhaled a gargantuan breath that tugged at our clothes like a giant vacuum. Its teeth grew longer, and thick black saliva spilled everywhere. I held Sophia tighter unable to move my legs.

“Lucas! What do we do?” she screamed louder.

“I don’t know!”

Suddenly, from inside my mind came a calming and familiar voice.

~ Believe. ~

In my head I answered back.
Ripley? Is that you? You’re still alive! You’re still with me! I knew it!

~ No time for salutations, Lucas. We only have a few seconds. ~

My secret weapon that lived inside my mystical tattoo, Ripley. The sentient being that was born from the mysterious jeweled stone I had found weeks before in the front office of my high school. This magical stone had bonded with me and revealed hidden powers within myself. It had unleashed Ripley. Cryptically, Ripley had told me to find the Three Beacons the last time we talked. I was afraid we’d never speak to one another again. With hope creeping back in I asked the voice in my brain…

What do I do?

~ All three of you must make the connection. ~