It was freezing cold, much colder than April had anticipated. Still, she was excited. Worried, yes, but excited. They were on Mongo! They were actually on Mongo!
„I don't like this, Flash," Dale quietly said to her husband. „If Ming learns that we're here..."
„I know," Flash replied. „I wouldn't worry as much if it was just me or even just us, but with the kids..."
„What happened back then now might come back to haunt us," Dale said, remembering the first adventures they've had on Mongo. They had thought so highly of themselves and had wanted to prove themselves – and barely escaped, crashing into the dome of one of the palace buildings in the process. They had lost their ship then and had to escape with a Mingship. But worse than that, the crashing of the dome had taken a life – that of Ming's younger brother. Sure, Ming was the enemy, but... his brother had never done anything to them or Earth. And yet, thanks to the reckless actions of two young people he had lost his life. No wonder Ming hated them.
„We won't let it haunt us," Flash promised her. He looked around. All he could see was ice and snow, but he'd been on Mongo often enough to know in which direction to go. „Look, let's go find Morduk. He's always helped us. If anything, we can stay with him for a while, or at least stay the night. If we can get to Barin, he can probably help us get a ship."
„Morduk – that's the guy who helped you during your first expeditions to Mongo, right?" Rick asked, shivering in the cold. They were all dressed in their winter gear and were well prepared for the weather, since the temperature was even worse on the moon they had prepared to land on originally. But it was still way too cold.
„How will we find him?" April asked, more curious than afraid. „Everything looks the same here."
„There are some weirdly shaped rocks in the distance – I know where we are now. That's roughly the area I tried to land in. It will still be a few hours though until we reach Morduk's village."
„Hours?!" Rick sighed.
„Well, we've got to keep moving, kids," Dale warned. „It will get worse if we stop moving."
„We'll make it, I promise you," Flash assured them.
And off they went, not knowing what was to come.
„It's him, isn't it?" Ming asked when Garax entered again. He had already heard it from Octon but he wanted to hear it from Garax again.
„Flash Gordon, yes," Garax agreed. „It's not his usual ship but our scanners indentified the flying style. It's not likely that it's anyone else." He paused for a moment before asking: „How do you wish to proceed, Sir? Shall we send out roboships to kill him and everyone he brought with him?"
„No," Ming immediately said. „I want to know who is with him first, and what he wants. If possible, capture them alive. If I connect Flash Gordon to the Inquisitor, I might find out where the damn rebels are hiding and who is part of the so-called resistance. Also, there are some other secrets I wish to know. So go and find them alive. If you have to, kill everyone else, but get me Gordon!"
Meanwhile, Lothar Kehwabe was on the phone with his ex-wife, something he usually avoided doing. There were some things she had never forgiven him for but for LJ's sake they tried to have a civil relationship. Most of the time, it worked. Today, Lothar was already annoyed because he had hit another dead end on his search for Cathleen O'Connor, and his ex-wife didn't seem to be in the best mood either.
„I don't see why LJ can't come live with me again," she said. „You don't even have an apartment of your own. You're living with..."
„So what?" Lothar interrupted. „This is a temporary arangement until we find something suitable. Leave LJ here for a bit. The separation was hard on him. He's trying to make new friends and Mandrake's kid is also living here."
„You know I took care of him when he was little and you were too busy traveling the world with Mandrake. And now he's daddy's boy again. I just want to have a good relationship with him."
„Well, so do I," Lothar replied. „You know you're between jobs and it's still not clear where you will be moving to. You can still have a relationship with him, no matter where he's living. I always maintained one."
„Sure," his ex replied angrily. „Because you were the hero everytime you came home. I was the annoying person trying to teach him some manners and respect and who made him go to school everyday."
„That's not true," Lothar said. „You did a great job as a mother and he will spend the next school holidays with you, whereever you might live then. Just give it a chance. He's trying to settle in here, that's why he hasn't called that much. Once he's settled into a routine..."
„You could have a been a king, Lothar," she reminded him. „And so would LJ be one day if you hadn't abdicated the throne. You took that chance from him."
„Not this discussion again," he sighed. „I decided my destiny lies elsewhere. Please respect that."
„Yes, with another person," she grumbled. „Do you think LJ will be as happy there when he learns the truth? That he will never be King of Twelve Nations because his father..."
„Stop!" he warned her. „This was always more about you not becoming queen and is less about LJ not being the prince."
„I married you, Lothar. And what did I get – not the throne I was promised, and not the man that promised me the world either. Just remember, once LJ finds out certain things, he might not be as much your boy anymore as he is now."
With that, she hung up. Lothar sighed. When they had married, he had loved her. But... maybe not enough. But their marriage had produced a wonderful son and he was very thankful for LJ.
Turning around, Lothar saw Kshin standing in the door, looking lost. He smiled at the little boy.
„Once LJ comes back, I'm sure you two could hang out for a bit," he said.
„He's already back," Kshin said. „But he doesn't want to hang out with me."
Lothar tried to sound positive. „Well, it's new situation for all of us. LJ had to leave behind his mother and his friends when we've decided to move to Central City. I'm sure once everything is a bit more normal around here, the two of you will become friends eventually."
„I hope so," Kshin said. „It's so lonely here sometimes and Mandrake doesn't always have the time to do something with me."
„Well, I was about to prepare dinner," Lothar said. „You want to help?"
„Of course!"
A lot more cheerful, Kshin followed Lothar into the kitchen. This was also something LJ never did – cheerfully offering his help to do anything in the kitchen...
Amy, however, didn't get any dinner at all. She didn't even try to leave her room because she didn't know what to say or do. Her foster father was still angry. She could hear him yelling at her foster mother when she came home from work.
„Are you sure?" she heard her foster mother say. „I know those kids tend to be stupid and lazy, but this one at least comes home on time and does her chores."
„I saw it happen, Anna!" he foster father shouted. „I know the world talks about including aliens into our society. But not in this house. But not in this house! We're humans, and Earth should be for humans only. All this space travel only brought us people like her! They're the dangerous ones, the ones that look like humans but are not!"
„I'll talk to the agency tomorrow."
„That's not enough," her foster father angrily replied. „We'll see if we can't beat the weirdness out of her. There are ways to remove strange abilities – I've read about it online."
„Those are scams, Jeff," his wife sighed. „I agree she has to go, but..."
„That's not a scam, it's real!" he insisted. „They say they can exorcise those kind of powers! It's aliens – or Satan – trying to take over! But not in my household, I assure you!"
With tears in her eyes, Amy climbed in her bed, pulling her blanket and her pillow over her heard so she would not have to hear them screaming anymore. Good thing Laurel was staying with a friend tonight. At least she had the room to herself. But what if her foster father would really bring in some crazy people who would do things to her? Could these powers be removed? If she could get rid of them, maybe finally she could be normal. But... what if they meant something?
Mandrake the Magician...
He did have such powers as well. Maybe he could help her in some way? Sitting up again, she started going through her stuff. She didn't have many belongings. For now, all she needed was her phone, the money she had earned while babysitting next door and a change of clothes. And then maybe she could just run away... to Central City perhaps, to find the man who might hold all the answers.
But what if it was a dead end again? Biting her lips, she thought it through again. She would need to leave late at night through the window and buy herself a bus ticket to Central City. Hopefully, the money would be enough. It was not like she had any other option. She did not want to meet whoever her foster father was about to call to get rid of her powers.
Mandrake and Lothar had no idea about the young girl that would soon be on a bus on her way to Central City. They were having dinner with Kshin since LJ had already eaten in town.
„I was hoping he would come downstairs for company," Lothar said.
„Just let him have a break," Mandrake suggested. „You've only been here for a few days. Young LJ can't avoid family dinners forever."
„I think it's yummy," Kshin said, cutting his meat. „You're really a good cook, Lothar."
„Thank you," Lothar replied with a smile. „I actually taught myself." He then looked over at Mandrake. „Well, once we've found a suitable apartment, we'll be moving out and you'll have some peace and quiet again."
„Nonsense, old friend," Mandrake immediately said. „Just stay here. It's just like old days again, only that we're not traveling anymore. This place is way too big for Kshin and me. There's plenty of space for you and LJ. Of course, if you want to find something else, I'd be more than happy to help you looking."
„Please stay!" Kshin said with excitement. „I really like having you here."
„Well..." If he was honest with himself, Lothar didn't want to move out either. It felt good to be here with Mandrake again. „I'll have to talk with LJ, of course. It's a long way to school each day. But if it works out, I'd be happy to stay, at least for a longer while."
„Great!" Kshin exclaimed.
Lothar and Mandrake both looked at each other. Yes, it sounded great. It felt great too. Just like old times indeed.
Note: I thought this would give Ming an additional reason to hate Flash especially since we do not have a prequel here other than the knowledge that Flash's famous on Earth for his adventures as a Space Pilot. But in this reality, we have Flash working for the Space Center and surely, they had send other pilots to Mongo as well. So I thought I might give Ming a reason to hate Flash specifically.
I also didn't want to make it too easy for them, so hours of walking in the snow it is. After all, in the show they once walked for ages in the snow too – without winter gear on and Lothar even with a t-shirt on.
Note: I'm keeping the Ming scenes short. In this project, I want to focus more in families, friendship and legacies than fighting.
Note: I've decided to somewhat stick to Lothar's original origins. I've also given him an ex-wife which is only briefly mentioned here. I've decided that if I've ever write anything where she comes up more, I'll give her more attention then. She is in my „episode guide" and appears sometimes but I'm not satisfied with her character anymore and would like to change her for future appearances.
Note: Well, I gave the foster family names. I also changed the reason from them being strict religious people to assholes who are against aliens and supernatural powers. I felt it worked better than people trying to compare her to the devil.
