Chapter Three. Work to Do and The Phantom Joins Up
It is going to be a greater threat than we know indeed, but we would learn more about what we are up against once your uncle Flash started coming to.
"What happened to Flash Gordon?" LJ asked seeing the illusion, "Where did he..."
"He was here all the time, son." Lothar answered, "Mandrake merely created the illusion that he was gone."
"Let he illusion fade!" Mandrake told the others, "Let Flash awake!"
"Mandrake!" Flash exclaimed, "Lothar! You saved me!"
"You are safe for now, Flash." Mandrake told his friend before asking, "What new danger do we face now, my friend?"
"Not just we Mandrake." Flash answered, "the whole human race!"
"What do you mean?" Lothar asked.
"Patrolling the galaxy with my wife Dale and my son Rick," Flash explained, "I intercepted a message from the planet Mongo. I learned that Ming again plans to invade the Earth, but Ming's scout ships found us and captured Dale and Rick before I could escape!"
"Your family in the hands of the deadliest tyrant of all?!" Mandrake exclaimed.
"Now that I have brought you the warning," Flash told his friends, "I must return to Mongo! Every second counts!"
"He must not return to Mongo alone, Mandrake." Lothar insisted.
"We have fought together in the past," Mandrake replied, "and we shall do so again, but it will be us against a planet. The legions of Ming are the mightiest force in the galaxy!"
"You can beat anybody!" Kshin exclaimed, "I know it!"
"Perhaps Kshin," Mandrake replied, "but there is too much at stake this time! We need one other: the greatest tracker and hunter of all!"
Your Aunt Dale and cousin Rick were captured by Ming the Merciless and he was going to stop at nothing to get Flash at his grasp as they were at the Planet Mongo.
"Sire," Octon announced, "squad leader Garax begs to report."
"Speak at once!" Ming demanded as Garax was on screen, "Have you captured the accursed Flash Gordon?"
"No exalted one." Garax answered, "He vanished after we had surrounded him!"
"Vanished?!" Ming exclaimed, "Explain yourself, Garax or else you will suffer my wrath!"
"If my father Ming cannot guess what occurred I shall tell him!" Prince Kro-Tan spoke up, "Did Gordon not land at the home of Mandrake? Obviously, the magician tricked your bumbling squad leader."
"Noble Prince Kro-Tan speaks the truth, sire." Octon replied to Ming.
"Silence, Octon!" Ming yelled, "I do not need the opinion of a living computer! I am still the one with the power! I am still mighty Ming! Let none of live forget it!"
"But father..." Kro-Tan tried to speak.
"And you too, Prince Kro-Tan will speak only when you are spoken to!" Ming told his son before giving out his next orders, "Flash Gordon will not ellude me for long...not when I hold his wife and son captive! He will return to his family or his family will lead us to him. Bring the prisoners before me, without delay!"
"Yes, my lord Ming." Octon replied.
Dale Arden – Gordon was comforting her son Rick and trying to keep them both warm for in the dimly lit cell, the temperatures were a bit frosty to say the least.
"Don't be afraid Rick," Dale told her son, "Your father will come back to help us. In the meantime, we must do our best to stay alive."
The two heard footsteps and they realized guards were on their way here.
"Remember the plan. Everything depends on it." Dale looked at her son before standing up.
"I will not let us down, Mom." Rick replied as Dale went to hide. Garax was not at the cell but three ice robots, mere guards have arrived.
"Look!" the first guard exclaimed, "The boy is alone!"
"The female escaped!" the second guard added.
"Let's blast the doors open!" the third guard exclaimed. With that, the three ice robots fired their weapons and the doors opened. Rick managed to duck safely and just as they were about to enter the cell, Dale knocked down the ice robots.
"The gun, Rick!" Dale exclaimed, "Get the gun!"
"Got it!" Rick grabbed the gun that fell to the floor. He fired a few shots as he declared, "Nothing will stop us now!"
That hope was short lived when one of the recovering robots grabbed Dale and exclaimed, "Drop your gun! I have your mother!"
"Don't do it, Rick!" Dale pleaded.
"Mom!" Rick cried.
"Run Rick!" Dale pleaded again.
"I'm not going without you, Mom!" Rick objected.
"You must save yourself!" Dale insisted, "Run! For your Dad! For planet Earth! You got no choice!"
"I'll come back for you." Rick vowed before being chased by the ice robots.
"He must be caught!" the first guard shouted, "By Ming's command!"
"He runs into the ice cave." the second guard stated, "and there is no way out."
Rick hurried in hopes that the ice robots would not find him as he headed down a hill, "Dad taught me there is always a way out, so as long as you keep trying. I cannot fail now. For Mom's sake."
From below he could hear the ice robots shout as they were looking for him.
"Move with caution! Search every crevice!"
"Time is on our side! He cannot escape!"
Suddenly, something grabbed Rick from his shoes and dragged him down a hole. That something would turn out to be Zuffy, the Zuffoid that saved Rick from being caught by those ice robots!
"What?" Rick glanced at the little Zuffoid for the first time. First Zuffy bounced up and down happily and then it walked over to Rick and licked his face, "Okay. Okay. I get the idea. You're friendly. Now cut it out."
Rick managed to sit up enough to see that the little Zuffoid was all by himself, "So, where is everybody? Where's your Mom and Dad?"
Zuffy cooed in sadness.
"I know how you feel little guy," Rick picked up the little Zuffoid, "Sure wish I knew where my father is."
Meanwhile, your Uncle Flash, Lothar and myself were in Africa as we were searching for the one known as the Phantom. The Ghost Who Walks.
"Now that my ship has been repaired why are we wasting time in Africa?" Flash asked, "What is so important about this guy you are looking for?"
"He has a power that none can match!" Lothar answered.
"That is why they call him the Ghost Who Walks." Mandrake explained, "To others, he is known as the Phantom! It all began in the 17th century when Captain Walker, skipper of an ocean going frigate, made it safely to he African shores after battling a horde of deadly pirates. Seeing as much violence among the natives as he had found in civilization, he vowed to devote his life to battling injustice there in the jungle. He called himself the Phantom! For generations, each of his descendants carried on the tradition, which is why the natives think he is immortal."
"Who dares reveal the Phantom's secret?"
The three men were startled by a voice from above.
"There is someone above us in the trees!" Flash exclaimed.
The Bandar warriors arrived surrounding the three men as they were prepared to attack.
"Bandar warriors!" Lothar exclaimed, "We are surrounded!"
"Let me handle it!" Mandrake told his friend.
"No! I will handle it!" Jedda leaped down from above, showing herself to the three men, "I am Jedda, daughter of the Ghost who walks! Stand back or Kisa, my panther will attack you!"
"Jedda!" Mandrake looked at the young woman, "you were a child when we last met!"
"No one remains a child forever." Jedda replied before looking at the three men, "Now I remember you, Mandrake. What brings you to the land of the Phantom?"
"Lead us to your father and I shall explain." Mandrake told her.
Jedda led us through a perilous journey for the land of the Bandar is savage and fraught with peril, but we finally made it to the skull cave, which was the home of the Phantom, who agreed to see us and we would explain the situation that was happening.
"I knew you would see us." Mandrake told the Phantom, "This is Flash Gordon, whose wife and son are prisoners on the planet Mongo."
"Then they are captives of Ming the Merciless! I can guess why you are here." the Phantom replied.
"You are the greatest hunter, the greatest tracker of all!" Flash stated, "but I see you remain impassive. I understand why should you risk your life for someone you do not know."
"Wrong, Flash Gordon!" the Phantom firmly assured the blonde man, "Your fame has spread even to the jungle, but with the Phantom gone, who will protect my Bandar people?"
"It isn't only the Bandar," Flash replied, "If Ming conquers the Earth, we will all be victims!"
"Say no more!" the Phantom stood up in response, "The Phantom will join you, but I must make plans for my daughter. I do not wish Jedda to stay here alone."
"I understand." Flash replied, knowing the feeling as a father to protect his child.
"That is not fair!" Jedda objected, "I am no longer a child! You do not have to..."
Mandrake gently touched her shoulder, "Even the ghost who walks has a father's heart."
Sometime later after we arrived back at my place, Jedda was dropped off with LJ and Kshin as we headed off to Mongo to rescue Dale and Rick.
"Will they make it, LJ?" Kshin asked.
"They've got to, Kshin." LJ answered, "For all of us."
"Of course they will." Jedda retorted, "The Ghost who walks never fails, but why was I left behind with children when my place is with my father?"
"Hey," LJ chimed, "lighten up, Jedda, they'll be okay."
Jedda sighed roughly as she was on her knees and held her head up in the air, most likely meditating.
"Kshin," LJ told his young friend, "We are going to have our hands full with this one!"
"Aw, she'll get over it." Kshin replied before looking over at Kisa, "Let's make friends with the big cat!"
Just to let you know, eventually, Jedda would learn to adapt well with the rest of the young Defenders, but what we were about to face was something far more tragic than we had hoped for.