The Pit

-This story was initially submitted under the Prose Challenge "Any Old Thing" (https://theprose.com/post/389825/the-pit)

*I originally had this story published in my high school’s literary magazine back in my 1997-1998 school year. I left the errors and rough around the edges writing intact. I started actively writing again in April, and I have written a few short stories where the protagonist of this story has grown up and formed a global organization of heroes. At some point I may rewrite this story or rework it into an expanded follow up, but for now here is the original*

My name is Hugh. I am from a planet similar to Earth. I am a crime fighter. I left my old planet to come to Earth because I had helped to completely cleanse my home planet from evil, and I wanted to help do the same thing for Earth. I have superpowers from machinery. I have a dark helmet that covers my head and when I wear it, my body is fully armored and I have access to a bunch of different weapons. If I want to use a certain weapon, I just have to think about it, and the weapon will appear in my hand. If I don’t need the weapon anymore, it will just disappear when I think about it. Some weapons I have are a laser gun, a sword that lights up into a laser sword when I want it to, and a grenade. I am sixteen years old. This is what my latest mission is about:

I am after one of the earth’s most wanted thugs. He is a dangerous psycho killer named Gull. He has armor and weapons much like mine. He has killed tons of people and he has stolen tons of money. Right now I am in New York City chasing him down the crowded streets. He has just entered a deserted building that is in great need of repairs. I follow him in. I shut the door behind me and I look around. The walls are crumbling and the floor has holes in it. The building is really dirty. I walk into another room and I see Gull, standing there, unarmed. I let my laser gun appear in my hand and I aim it at him. “Put your hands up!” I yell. The fool doesn’t listen.

“There is something very special about this building.” he says.

“Okay, what?” I ask, feeling confused.

“I heard there is a bottomless pit in this building.” he says, confidently. He steps back a little, and I walk forward, when suddenly, the floor beneath me gives way, and before I am plunged into darkness, I see Gull, and I know underneath his helmet he is smiling triumphantly.

Now I’m falling down in a pit, and it could possibly be bottomless. It is totally dark. I fall onto a hard, dirty floor. I am in a dark corridor, and I can see around myself. I still have my laser gun in my hand, and I am prepared for anything. Just then I notice an armored figure heading my way. I shout a greeting, hoping he will be friendly, but when a laser shot is his response, I get the idea that he isn’t. I dodge the shot and I shoot back, hitting the figure in the chest. The figure explodes. I realize it isn’t human, it’s a robot. It isn’t a very good robot either. Just then I realize my troubles are far from over. More robots are coming out, more and more, surrounding me. I fire at robots all around me, jumping to dodge their fire. When there is a clear path, I run through, chased by robots. I then notice a trapdoor. I fire at robots coming toward me, dodge their fire, and open the trapdoor; I see some stairs. I begin to head down the stairs and I shut the trapdoor so I won’t be followed. It is now pitch black, and I feel my way around as I go down the stairs. Just then the stairs turn into a ramp, and I go sliding down. I soon slide into a chamber that is lit up. I look behind me and, where the chamber was, now stands a wall; there is no door. I am trapped in this chamber. That is the least of my problems: the chamber is completely filled with water, and my armor suit won’t save me from drowning. I only have a few minutes to live.

Just then I remember that I still have my laser gun in my hand. I never tried shooting it underwater, but I figure that there is always a first time for something, or in my case, a last time for something. So I fire the gun at the floor, and it works! I make a hole in the floor, and I am sucked right into the hole. I’m going down a sort of underwater slide. I have managed to get out of the water chamber, but I’m still not safe from drowning. Just then I notice a white chin-up bar ahead of me. I realize that I have one shot at this, and I reach out my hands and grab the bar. I have hold. I hold on really tightly as water flows by me. I hold on tighter, knowing that if I lose my grip I’ll go flying further down the tunnel. Eventually all the water from the chamber has flown by me, and I can finally breathe. I breathe a sigh of relief, but I realize that I am still not out of the hole, yet (no pun intended). Just then the part of the ceiling that the bar is attached to begins to move up. I hold on to the bar longer, hoping that this might be a way out. I rise upward into a tunnel. I go up and up, and finally I look to my left and I see a doorway. I realize I must be in the basement of the house that I entered when this whole thing began. I swing myself onto the basement floor, and I watch the bar that saved my life slowly move back down the tunnel that I rose from. I then wonder if Gull is still in the house. Just then I hear noise from a stairway ahead of me. I realize that someone is coming down. And I have a pretty good idea who it is.

Gull is now in the basement facing me. He is fully armored, and he is holding a sword in his hand.

“So I see you survived your little drop.” Gull says, “but now you have me to deal with.”

“I know, you don’t stand a chance.” I say heatedly, as I let my sword appear in my hand. We begin clashing swords, trying to strike each other. We fight each other for a little while, managing to go from the basement to the second floor.

“You know, this is really boring. How about a little more difficulty?” Gull says, as he lets his sword light up into a laser sword.

“Sure, why not?” I say, letting my sword light up into a laser sword. We begin clashing our laser swords. Just then we walk into the room where we originally confronted each other, and the room is full of holes. Then the floor beneath Gull gives way and he is about to fall into a pit when I grab his arm.

“Go ahead; drop me.” he says, angrily. “Kill me, it doesn’t matter. I’m nothing but a scum-ball anyway.” Instead, I let my laser sword disappear and I let my stun laser gun appear in my hand. I then shoot Gull in the head with it and I smash his helmet with my shot, destroying his armor. He is out cold, and I pull him up. I then very carefully carry him out of the house. I take him to the police station and I turn him in. I feel pretty good at this point. I have just succeeded at my first challenge on earth. I know this was only the tip of the iceberg, and I will have many more challenges ahead of me.....

The end (for now)!