The White Ace and the Black Panther

For all its bulk and rugged look, Dark Tidings always gently makes landfall
As I enter, the Demon Knights are having the time of their lives in the hall
“Hello, boys. Having a party, are we? Perhaps you forgot to give poor old me a call”
They put on their best poker faces, “Black Panther. You look … good, standing tall”

“Never been accused of stooping. And as for looks, I advise plenty of water”
“It’s just a little celebration. Completely slipped our minds. Please, think nothing of the matter”
“How very civilized and odd! You lot are known to be mad as a hatter.”
“Shouldn’t believe all that you hear. All that is just chatter”

“Me too not a big fan of chatter. What’s there to drink?”
“We are sipping on red rust, and there’s some beer. Which one would you prefer, you think?”
“I will avail myself to some beer. Hmmm, don’t mind if I do,” drinking the beer I say with a wink
“And so that you boys don’t run out, I brought some wine. Here, sip on these”

I produce two submachine guns from under my jacket and turn them on the lot of them
One of them jumps and draws a gun mid-flight. My guns sprout a shield as my hands together come
He falls behind a desk, and I let loose a cascade of bullets, but he is good at this cat-and-mouse game
He vanishes and I find the muzzle of a gun touching my temple. “On a daily basis, panthers I tame”

I close my eyes and my ears brace for the sound of the gun
Part of a wall of the office cum residence comes flying as splinters with force enough to stun
A space plane comes skidding to a halt inches from my face, a plane whose color was dun
From my supine position on the floor, I look up as a voice says, “Isn’t this fun?”

The Demon Knights are knocked out of action
The leader yanks away his black-leather tie and puts his hulking shotgun on a beefy arm for traction
I pull on a leg encased in white boots and the bullet misses her by a second’s fraction
“That bullet blew a hole in my plane. Just what were you thinking, son?”

“Son? You are a regular bundle of sunshine and daffodils, aren't you?”
“The sun is not all that it’s rumored, and I prefer white lilies. You know, the gifts that I get are so few”
I catch the next shotgun blast on my shield and the impact jars my eyes’ view
“You want me to gift you white lilies when that tank of a gun is trained on us? That’s new”

“What can I say? I am quite fond of them“
“What we need is a plan. If that succeeds, I will give you a plane-full of white lilies, root and stem”
I find shield and guns liquifying with the next blast. “We have been smacked with overwhelm”
“Overwhelm? Never the White Ace. It’s time, of this attack, I took the helm”

She jumps straight up and flies straight toward the leader
He hurriedly puts a round from the bandolier around his biceps into the feeder
He points it to her fast-approaching airborne form and his finger starts closing in on the trigger
She arcs her hand toward his neck; a blade appears out of thin air in her hand and slices through. “You are dead,” on his chest, says the reader

He locks eyes with me as the head comes spraying blood and halts right between my splayed-out legs
“All kinds of baddies lie dead, and that was a wild bunch. Just who are you, is the question it begs”
The walls are shattered anew as all manner of souped-up planes enter carrying the very dregs
As of one mind, we dive into her plane. She flies it smashing through planes, walls, and beer kegs

“Sorry, buddy. Don’t do teams.” She touches the panel, and my seat is ejected downward
The seat tumbles in the air and turns to liquid and I stretch my arms to prevent falling face forward
I jump to my feet and run along the roof of my plane as fire from the planes propel me onward
The door of my plane opens upward as I jump and catching the door, throw myself inward

The pilot seat adjusts and receives my body
I fire up the engine, and get ready to welcome the party crashers getting increasingly rowdy
Guns emerge at the rear and start blasting their space planes gaudy
They put paid to their efforts to kill yours truly shoddy

I reach the White Ace blasting away the monstrosities in hot pursuit
She smiles at me. “Knew you would find your feet. Bye now. Miles to go and all, but it has been a hoot.”
I smile back. And just like that she disappears, to what destination is moot
For a space I look at the black space where she had been, and then in my direction, forward I shoot.