Indiana Jones and the Talisman of the Gods

Chapter 3

The God of Evil

Ronin Inokuma pushed Dr. Jones into the metal cage and padlocked the door shut. Indiana slumped against the cold walls of the dark containment. He never tried to runaway. He was going to the bathroom, not to mention talking to a Japanese god. How could he have been gone five hours? He didn't stay in the Garden that long, but, indeed, five hours had passed. Could time move differently in the Garden? Maybe time was nothing at all there, just a meaningless property that no one abides by. An interesting theory, he thought.

"Who's there?" A raspy voice called from the far corner of the black box. From his accent, you could tell he was Japanese. "Is there someone else in here?"

"Shut up!" General Okidonomi shouted from the outside. The setting sun provided little light over the camp. However, an amber band of twilight streaked through the small hole near the top and shone on an old shriveled hand.

Dr. Jones scooted over to the hand. "Are you Mr. Shimizu?"

The man coughed, then wheezed out one word: "Yes."

"Why are you here? Why do they have you? Are you an archaeologist?"

The man coughed a cough that sounded almost like a laugh. "I am Ryuji Shimizu. I am a shaman from a village in northern China. General Okidonomi and his troops raided our village not to long ago looking for a portal of some sort. They kidnapped me and said that I could help him in his quest. I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what? The raiding?"

"Well, yes and no." The man coughed. He sounded sick. He needed help. "Yes, I was afraid of the raiding, but I was more afraid because of the warning. My mentor, a wise man from the Himalayas, warned me when I was just a lad that the world would be brought to its knees by a stone tablet. I had no clue what he meant by that, but sure enough, that's what happened."

Indiana readjusted his wide brimmed hat. "So the Japanese are after a stone tablet?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"That's what they want me to get…"

Shaman Shimizu shifted in the dark, his voice apprehensive as he spoke: "That's what they want you for? They want you to help them destroy all civilization?"

"Well, I'm not really going to get it for them."

"Oh, really, Dr. Jones?" General Okidonomi stood looking in through the eye hole. "Well, then, perhaps you need some persuasion."

"No, General, that's not what I meant!"

WHAM!

Indiana Jones woke up bound to a table. His head throbbed in pain. Someone had hit him! They had knocked him out. He tried to move, but his hands and feet were tied to the table with leather strips. He swore under his breath and squirmed to get free. General Okidonomi leaned over him.

"Dr. Jones…" He had a menacing look, one that psychopaths usually have before murdering someone. "You have tried to run away and you have betrayed our trust. Now you will pay dearly for it. But to decide your fate, you must answer a riddle."

Jones's eyes widened. "What kind of people are you? You're going to let me chose how I die?"

"Oh, no, silly American. You won't die, but you will suffer. Yes… Yes, you will suffer."

"Go on then! What's your riddle?"

"What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?"

Jones looked emptily at the General. "That's your riddle? It's easy! The answer's man! Seriously, the most popular riddle from Greek mythology…" Immediately he wished that he had just said the answer.

"Really, if it is so easy, then I guess that you'll just be electrocuted."

Jones was horrorstricken. "You're going to electrocute me? What was the other punishment?"

"Ah, nothing much. Just a water torture trick we learned from the Chinese when we raided their villages. Now that you're going to be electrocuted…" He turned over to one of his men. "Inokuma!" Ronin Inokuma ran over and stood at attention in front of the general. "Go and get the wet sponge. It's time for the punishment."

Within minutes a wet sponge was stuck to the end of a metal pole with jumper cables attached. Indiana yelled violently for them to stop and that he would help them, but it was no use. Inokuma lowered the sponge and a drip of water landed on Dr. Jones's chest, sending a shock through his body. The sponge touched his exposed chest and Jones screamed for mercy. His body tensed and felt like it was burning from the inside. He felt like he was on fire, like he was slowly roasting in a heated blaze.

Inokuma lifted the sponge. Jones's chest was burned. A large welt covered most of his chest and the remaining areas were covered with burned skin and scarred flesh. Jones's vision was fading in and out. He was near losing consciousness.

"So, will you help us now, Dr. Jones?" General Okidonomi laughed evilly as Indiana Jones passed out.

Jones woke up and it was pitch black outside. His chest burned like he was on fire. Even the slightest move made it sting. He lay were he was and called out. "Shaman?" The man must've been asleep. Jones mustered up all of the strength that he could, hoisted himself up, and peered through the eyehole.

Outside, a lantern created a small pine comb of dim white light that lit up a map on a table. General Okidonomi was talking with another man. They were mapping out something. The man took a ruler and measured the distance on the map and recorded his findings on a slip of paper. He handed the slip to Ronin Inokuma, and he ran over to what, in the faint moonlight, appeared to be a large silver cargo plane. He spoke in rapid Japanese, ordering men to put fuel in it.

Jones was tired. His welt seemed to be pulsing with pain. He slumped over against the wall and was about to attempt to sleep but something was happening outside. The padlock to the cage snapped open and someone entered. Jones was scared. He was in no condition to do anything, and the person appeared to have a gun. Then the reassuring voice broke the silence.

"Dr. Jones?" It was Yuki-onna. If someone was going to help him escape, why not a Japanese spirit? "Dr. Jones, are you awake?"

"Yes." Breathing even hurt his chest. "What do you want?"

"For one thing, I want to heal you." She crouched and wobbled over to Dr. Jones. She kissed him on the lips, and as she did, a deep freezing feeling spread throughout his body. His chest glowed an icy-blue and he instantly felt better. She let go and the warmth came back to him. He had just been kissed by a spirit, and not only that, but healed as well. "Now, I would also like to help you escape."

Jones smiled, though unseen in the dark. "That would be great!"

She pushed something into his arms. A machine gun and his pistol. "Take this weapon and use it in the morning. They will come for you at dawn. I will shield the peak in a chilled fog, but it is up to you to run away. I also asked that you take Shaman Shimizu with you."

"I promise."

"I must go now, but heed my words, Indy. I cannot help you in the morning. I will be under General Okidonomi's control. Don't worry about me. Just run!"

General Okidonomi and his comrade finished their discussion and parted ways. Yuki-onna looked right into Jones's eyes. "Good luck, Dr. Jones. You'll need it."

That morning two Japanese soldiers popped open the padlock. Early morning light streamed into the room. Jones and the shaman slept against the back wall. The soldiers rushed over to them and dragged them to their feet. Jones punched one of the soldiers in the gut and elbowed the other in the face. Jones took his machine gun from out of his hiding place—underneath him against the wall—and shot both once in the heart. Looking outside, it was incredibly windy. Snow and slush swirled around in the frigid gusts.

The shaman, with his long black hair and apple green eyes, and Jones ran out into the open. Jones released fire, shooting in every direction. Men cried out, but no fire was returned. The shaman sprinted ahead of Jones running down the slope of the mountain. Indiana followed. He continued to shoot behind him.

Then the fog suddenly disappeared. Dead Japanese soldiers lay on the ground, Ronin Inokuma among them. Several stood with machine guns and rocket launchers. General Okidonomi smiled is wicked smile.

A soldier spoke in Japanese: "Should we shoot him?"

"No. Let him have fun. He won't escape us."

Jones was running. Shaman Shimizu had jumped off a small ledge and was still running. Jones was about to jump off of that same ledge when the shaman scrambled up it and ran towards him. "Run! Turn back!" Soon Jones saw why. A tank was coming up the mountain. Two soldiers stood on the outside, guns at the ready. Jones turned and ran back at the camp, then turned back at the tank. They were stuck.

"Ah, Dr. Jones," Okidonomi called. "It's a stalemate. You're lucky we don't kill you now. We need you. You can either try to run away and die, try to fight some more and be tortured, or surrender and come back up here and live. It's your call."

Indiana gulped. The choice was obvious. General Okidonomi didn't want to kill him. He was too important. Jones dropped his machine gun and threw his hands up in surrender. Slowly, he walked back up to the camp. Soldiers were dragging away the bodies of their fallen comrades. Yuki-onna sadly stared at the ground.

When he and the shaman returned to the camp, General Okidonomi laughed. "Soldiers can be replaced, Dr. Jones. We have countless to spare. You are endlessly outnumbered."

"I understand…" Jones had a plan. The soldiers had let down their guns and walked away. They were preparing for a departure. The camp was being taken apart and loaded onto the cargo plane. Jones stared at the general. "General, does torture and death amuse you?"

He chuckled. "Yes, it does. I always loved to torture small animals as a kid. Now I torture people for the greater good of Japan."

"What if it is you who is being tortured?" Indiana pulled out his gun and shot General Okidonomi in the lower left gut.

To Jones's surprise, he laughed. "Dr. Jones, you foolish, foolish mortal." Blood started flowing out of his gut, like it was being forced out. The blood continued to flow until the bullet fell out of the wound. Then the wound healed.

"How did you do that?"

"Dr. Jones. If you know your mythology so well, then you know that there is a Japanese god of evil."

"No… It can't be…" There was no way that Okidonomi could be a god.

"Yes, Dr. Jones. I, General Haruko Okidonomi, am Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the Japanese god of evil."