All the Power in the World Chapter 3

July 1979

Thom spent his teen years as a ward of the state. His mother had no known family, while his father’s family didn’t want any reminders of their favorite son’s death or the child they blamed for it.

They had no idea how right they were. Thom spent years cursing his responsibility in his parents’ demise. But as he grew in to his teens, he realized that he couldn’t be the only one responsible for their indiscretions. He plotted elaborate revenge plots towards both of his parents’ lovers, but he suspected he’d never act on them. Better just to use his fortunes to ruin them in the years to come.

As his father’s soul heir, Thom became the owner of Thorington Electronics. But Thom was unable to access his position until his eighteenth birthday, and the board of directors shipped him off to an elite private school. He grew up in those silent walls. He dominated the other boys physically, academically, and socially. He graduated as top boy at the age of seventeen. The board enrolled Thom in Harvard in the fall of 1979. Thom had other plans.

“I don’t really care what you say, Reginald. It’s my company and I’ll do what I want with my time and money!”

Reginald McMahon, chairman of the board and CEO of Thorington Electronics, couldn’t believe his ears as Thom stood on the other side of the veranda. After years of taking care of the boy, this was the thanks he received. He shook his head.

“You will do nothing of the sort, Thom. You will go to college in the fall as planned and start easing in to your position over the next four years. Besides, your plan is insane. You can’t just stroll in to Cambodia and expect the government to accept you with open arms. They’ll kill you, no questions asked.”

Thom fumed. He would not let this sniveling bastard ruin his years of planning. Ever since his exploration of some of the librarian’s private works at the Arkham School, he knew where his destiny lay. He would go to Cambodia if he had to walk over Reginald McMahon to do it.

“I will have the unit and I will have Iron and I will be going to Cambodia. I may not be eighteen yet, but I own this goddamn company and that means you’d better do what I damn well say.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, Thom. I’m just looking out for your safety. It’s just not possible to safely go in to Southeast Asia. You could—”

Thom stepped forward to within a few inches of McMahon. Reginald’s eyes moved from their normal height at Thom’s chest up several inches to the younger man’s eyes. McMahon swallowed the bile rising in his throat as Thom glared down at him.

“You will agree to everything, Reginald.” Thom spat out the name as if it was some horrible disease. “If not, I’m sure you will enjoy your life in a few months when you find yourselves without a job, without a family, without a cent. I will destroy you, McMahon, and I won’t even bat my eyes. Do I make myself perfectly damn clear?”

“But—”

“No goddamn buts, Reginald. I’m taking Iron and I’m going to Cambodia. All you need to do is approve the damn funds and get out of my way.”

“For God’s sake, Thom, it’s a fool’s errand. You can’t honestly believe this magic stone of yours exists.”

Thom grabbed Reginald by the collar and lifted him from the floor. “Don’t you ever… ever… question my beliefs again. You only need to plan for my return. I’ll go to your worthless school, I will take over my position as owner and CEO, and I will take this company farther than your feeble mind could ever possibly imagine.” Thom dropped McMahon back to the ground.

McMahon straightened his collar. “But first, shouldn’t—”

“First, the talisman of the Old Gods. After that, you can ask of me what you want Reginald. But in six months, with or without you, I will be in Cambodia.”

“All right, all right. You can have your money, Thom. Just don’t get yourself killed over there.”

“You should worry more about yourself, Reginald. I will return and I’ll have the Signet Stone with me. And then—“ Thom smiled a malevolent grin and walked away.

*****

December 1979

It took several months of careful planning to get here, but Thom smiled as he looked in to the Cambodian jungle. His metahuman bodyguard, Iron, stood just to his left. Thom had become comfortable with the large Afro-American man at his side over the years.

Iron came from the streets of the Red Hook district of Federation. Red Hook would make any man hard, but Iron’s meta-powers made his skin resilient to almost any damage. Thom remembered how he first discovered Iron after taking a wrong turn in to Red Hook just after his sixteenth birthday. He stopped to ask directions, only to be surrounded by five members of the Boricua street gang. Thom was ready for the fight, but Iron stepped in before it proved necessary. One gang member got a swing in on the big man. His hand broke on contact with Iron’s skin. Iron swept the thug’s feet from under him and the thugs quickly made their departure. Thom thanked his metahuman rescuer, only to have Iron demand twenty bucks for his services. Thom smiled, gave him the twenty, and invited him back to the Hammer Enterprises offices the next day. Thom insisted on Iron’s immediate hiring, and they had been together ever since.

Behind them the other ten members of the expedition made their final preparations before their chopper would abandon them to their mission. All ten men were Viet Nam vets, and were Recondo trained. They knew these jungles nearly as well as any native. Thom knew they would need every ounce of expertise they possessed. Unable to secure an entry visa, Thom had flown them all in by helicopter before dawn. If they were found roaming in the jungles, they would certainly be arrested, if not shot.

Sgt. Hauser, the group’s leader or “Topkick” as his men referred to him walked over to Thom and Iron. The chopper lifted off behind Hauser. Thom suspected he knew what the team leader would say.

“We’re ready to move out when you are, Mr. Thorington.”

“Please, Sgt. Hauser, call me Thom.”

Hauser nodded. “All right, Thom, it is, sir.”

“Good,” Thom said. “We’ll enter the jungle in two minutes. Were the chopper pilot and ship captain properly briefed on the pickup?”

Hauser nodded. “They’ll be back to pick us up at 0300, two weeks from today. That should give us plenty of time to find the temple.”

“Perfect, Sgt. Hauser. Perfect. Let’s get moving then.”

“Washington!” Hauser called out for his second-in-command, a young African American man with a thick moustache. “Get the men lined up around Mr. Thorington,” Hauser said. “We’re on the move.”

The soldiers formed up in a loose circle around Thom and Iron. Thom slipped on his helmet and pack. He nodded to Hauser. Hauser gave the order to move out. The twelve men started their way deep in to the Cambodian jungle. Nine of them would never be seen again.

*****

The team made slow but steady progress through the Cambodian jungle. Thom’s map was out of date by about three thousand years, its accuracy questionable. The unit continually sent out three soldiers out in a circular sweeping pattern to cover as much ground as possible.

Three days in and they were already deep in to the jungle, but with still no sign of their goal. Thom’s frustration mounted.

Just as Thom was ready to call it a day, Sgt. Washington returned to the camp from a rotating patrol. He fell in to the back of the line without a word without a single word to the other soldiers. Iron pointed out the recent arrival to Thom who in turn called out to Hauser. Hauser barked an order to halt. The soldiers came to a stop except for Washington, who continued forward.

“I said halt, sergeant,” Hauser said. Washington showed no signs of even hearing his commander. Washington’s face remained blank, his eyes bloodshot and unseeing.

Hauser started towards Washington, but Thom stopped him with a hand to the shoulder.

“Sgt. Hauser,” Thom said. “Can you retrace Washington’s path of travel?”

Hauser seemed confused for a moment at Thom’s request, but he nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem, sir, but I don’t see why—”

Thom smiled. “I would suspect that Sgt. Washington has found our artifact.”

*****

It took the unit only forty-five minutes to find its way back down Wshington’s path. It led to a strange, overgrown circle of fourteen ancient stones. The stones seemed wholly natural, but each was massive in size. The exposed portions were a yard in diameter and rose just over two feet above the ground. No one could tell exactly how far they sank in to the ground. A soldier tried to dig one stone free, but he reached only about a foot down before he fell suddenly unconscious. Whey his comrades roused him, his eyes held the same blank expression as Sgt. Washington. Thom and Iron both tried to move a stone, but neither could budge it.

The youngest recondo, a Japanese man just known as Tommy to his comrades, gave a theory that the stones were some kind of Buddhist landmark. Thom just smiled. He knew the formation to be much, much older than Buddha.

“You sure about this, Thorington,” Iron said. “I don’t know about no Buddha, but I damn well know there’s some bad juju with that thang.”

“It’s the place, Iron. I know it.”

“It’s your show then. Let’s hit it.”

Thom nodded as he opened his pack and removed a notebook. He flipped through it for a moment and smirked as he found the right page.

Iron turned and walked away as Thom began to speak in some kind of unearthly language. He didn’t like Thom’s strange book. Quite frankly, it gave him the creeps. The noises of the jungle seemed to quiet as the incantation continued. The soldiers began to look around as all sound died around them. Their unease grew. Iron couldn’t really blame them. He didn’t like it much either.

Thom finished his chant and closed the book. Everyone stood quietly around the circle, waiting for what might happen next.

The light seemed to dim around them. Iron braced himself.

The soldiers looked at one another. Was this all a fool’s errand?

Light shot forth from the circle. It flooded out and illuminated the entire jungle floor. The soldiers stumbled back in fear. Iron looked to Thorington. Thom grinned.

His happiness faded as a roar emerged from within the stones. The soldiers raised their weapons, but nothing could prepare them as a giant clawed hand appeared from within the stones.

The beast flew up and out of the circle on two massive leathery wings. Almost the size of a small building, the creature looked down upon the soldiers. The monster licked its lips with a forked tongue.

With another roar, it swooped down towards the dazed Washington. Its jaws opened. Row after row of massive jagged teeth were visible for only a moment, before it’s mouth closed, taking Washington’s head and shoulders with it.

The surviving soldiers opened fire but the beast shrugged off the machine gun rounds like bee stings.

Its head lunged outwards and a blast of flame engulfed three more soldiers.

Iron stepped back, still not sure what to do. Never in his life had he battled an honest to God dragon. Iron lunged towards the monster. Now was the time to fight or die. .

*****

Thom wasn’t worried by the dragon. Common sense had told him to expect some kind of guardian to spring from the well. He didn’t expect something quite so…mythical. Nonetheless, he brought Iron along for the soul purpose of distracting the beast.

What he wanted was inside the well.

Iron ran past Thom and slammed in to the side of the dragon as it tore apart another soldier. Already most of their escorts were dead. Tattered body parts were all that remained of the first few soldiers. The survivors scrambled to find cover as the beast swooped to and fro. Thom turned away from the carnage and climbed over the nearest standing stone.

He looked down in to a whirling mist. Lights flashed from somewhere beneath the mist from what was once solid earth. Thom smiled. The portal remained open.

Another roar came from behind him. Thom turned to see the dragon’s eyes as they focused on him. It knew. Somehow it knew.

“Iron!” Thom yelled.

The bodyguard turned to see his employer standing upon the stones as the dragon bore down on him. He charged forward, smashing in to the beast with all his might. The impact sent the dragon spinning to the earth, several feet away. Iron looked back towards Thom.

“Thorington, this thing is killing us,” Iron said. “We need to get out of here! Now!”

Thom pulled his vision from the well back to his bodyguard. Why must these idiots make everything so complicated, he wondered. “You get these fools out. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Thom turned and jumped in to the well, disappearing from Iron’s sight.

The dragon roared as it rose back in to the air behind him. Iron braced himself for another attack, but the monster shot right over him and dove back in to the well.

“Shit,” Iron said. He turned and ran straight towards the well. He leapt the stones in one smooth motion. He crashed to the solid ground between the stones. No sign of Thom or the dragon remained.

“Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!” Iron beat against the ground. I’ve fucked up, he thought. I’ve fucked up bad.

He climbed from the well to check on the remaining troops. Only Tommy was still on his feet. The young solider scrambled to pull bandages from a first aid kit to patch up the claw marks across Hauser’s chest.

Pieces of their comrades littered the site around them.

Iron knew his job now was to get these two home alive come time for the rendezvous, whether Thom appeared or not.

Wherever he might be, he couldn’t help his boss now.

*****

Thom dropped several feet and landed in a bed of ash. He wiped the black residue from his clothes before taking in his surroundings.

The world seemed flat and barren. Nothing grew here. Nothing he could see anyway. But the stone was here. He could feel it through every fiber of his being. The Signet Stone would be his, and with it, all of Great Nyarlothep’s power. He would return with the stone and the world itself would be his.

If he could just find it.

The Atlantean tome offered no information about what he would find inside the well. He was on his own now.

The light shuddered above him as the well came back to life. Iron wouldn’t be fool enough to follow me, Thom thought. Who could it be?

The dragon burst forth from the well of lights in the sky. But now, it was far larger. It’s blood red wings spanned nearly forty feet, and its jaws alone were as big as Powerhouse himself.

It roared its fury at Thom.

Thom smiled as it swooped towards him. Its right eye was yellow and filled with menace, but its left eye—

Its left eye glistened like a prism. The Signet Stone.

The beast widened its jaws, ready to devour its prey. Thom reached up as it closed in. He grasped each jaw in his hands. The dragon’s eyes widened in confusion as Thom held its jaws apart.

The beast lashed out with a claw. But it couldn’t come too close too its own maw without hurting itself. Thom sidestepped the blow with ease. He yanked the beast’s head to the side with him.

The monster growled and slavered and beat its wings to break free. Thom held his grip fast, awaiting his opportunity.

The dragon inhaled. Thom watched as the creature’s throat filled with flame.

Good.

Thom pushed off from the ground. He pulled himself up and over the dragon’s head mere seconds before a blast of fire engulfed his former location.

His hand shot down in to the creature’s false eye. His strength allowed him to easily push his hand through the creature’s flesh. It took only a moment for him to reach around the talisman of the Old Gods. With a vicious yank, he ripped the Signet Stone free.

The beast beneath him roared out in agony and despair. Thom drove the Signet Stone down in to the dragon’s other eye. It cried out as blood surged from its wound and blanketed the talisman.

The stone glowed beneath the ochre with a radiant white light. The blood dissipated around the artifact. Thom’s vision never left the stone as he drove it and both his fists in to the skull of the dragon. The monster dropped to the ground and moved no more.

Thom pulled himself off its heaving form. He cried out in victory to the empty world as he held the glowing Signet Stone high.

A rainbow of light shot forth from the talisman. The light reformed in to the whirling pool above him. His passage back to Earth.

Thom clutched the stone in both hands before he leapt upwards. The dragon roared one last time as Thom vanished from the barren wastes.