I decided to give a go with some Fan Fiction. However I am using some Public Domain characters instead of any well known already copyrighted characters from publishers. While these are Public Domain, all the stories, characters and other things associated here are copyright of Eric N. Boyd.
Hope you enjoy this brief intro Chapter and I hope to continue this Western Steampunk story filled with more action, so bear with me if you can.
Thanks!
The Adventures of Doc Strong. Chapter One.
1904. Tombstone Arizona, an abandoned silver mine whose name has long been lost to time and scavengers. As mining came to cease just prior to the start of the 20th Century, the area saw a fluctuation of its economy, mostly for the worse.Doc Strong, an inventor and former silver miner himself, had managed to stake out a successful claim before the other mining operations caused widespread damage to the water table, consequently wreaking havoc on the mines and areas of the town. He was one of the few who had proposed a different method of mining to halt such damage but he'd been called an instigator, and charlatan, wanting only to have claims and mines for himself. His self-interest was at heart but he also knew the damage was going to affect the town and townspeople, his own home. No one would listen but he did succeed in operating his mine prior to closing it out himself long before the water table was affected.
He invested his silver earnings to his projects and many inventions. Many of which he never patented but kept for himself. Many of them based on steam propulsion principles and electro-magnetic fields, he held a vast array of equipment meant to be used for purposes of further explorations into the Earth's core.
Initially working alone, he eventually met up with Rulah, one of Tombstone's few female practitioners of medicine. A Veterinarian by schooling and practice, she met up with Doc Strong when one of his mules needed care due to an abscess on his side. The attraction between Doc Strong and Rulah was instant and mutual and soon they became a couple, marrying and each one helping the other with their assorted studies and ideas of exploration and medicine.
Doc Strong developed a pressurized containment suit which enabled the wearer to survive at great depths underground and underwater. No one other than Rulah and himself knew about this suit. He had plans to use it in order to help investigate the damaged areas of the water table around the silver mines and Tombstone proper.
Beneath one of those very silver mines, activity was happening. Several creatures labored about, thick in hide, musty in odor, having great musculature and barrel chests, broad foreheads and small red eyes, these were nameless humanoid beings serving their master, a man they called the Black Bat. Not having much reference other than the creatures which inhabited their lairs, the creatures gave him the name due to his black clothing and the way he "talked" to them. The creatures were called Lava Men by their master, Black Bat. Black Bat held them captive via his telepathic capabilities, a mutant whose powers were easily used upon the simple humanoid creatures. They "spoke" to him via his mind, barely uttering words from their mouths, simple grunts. They had no comprehension of actual spoken language as they could not speak due to their environment. Black Bat however, upon discovering this race many years ago, used his powers to mind control the entire race. They were his slaves and labored constantly, excavating the silver mines for his own personal wealth and gain.
The particular silver mine he had his Lava Men working one was well hidden from all eyes and his telepathic powers also enabled Black Bat to "hide" the mine from view. He was a very wealthy man already yet he longed for more, more wealth, more power, more control of not only the Lava Man....but of men and women of Tombstone as well.
Soon, the paths of Doc Strong, Rulah, the Lava Men and Black Bat would soon cross in ways the people of Tombstone won't be prepared for!
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