Breaking Time

by Luke Derricks

  “Dude, it looked like you flickered!” said Ray.

  “Yeah, like for a split second, you weren’t there,” explained Dawn.

  “It worked,” said Luke. “I went back one minute, and immediately returned to the second I left.”

  “There is a way,” said Simeon, “to test all their powers.”

  “I know,” said Charlie. “I know…”

  “What?” asked Luke.

  “It’s one of the reasons I brought you here,” Charlie said. “They have this simulation training room type thing. Kind of like the holodeck on Star Trek. When James and I got our powers, we practiced in there.”

  “It’s designed to test your limits,” said Simeon, “in a safe and controlled environment. It’s designed to help you discover your power’s potential, its limits, and help you master control.”

  “Really?” asked Luke. “Like the Danger Room?”

  “Danger Room?” asked Simeon, completely lost.

  “Comic book thing,” explained Ray. “It’s not a bad idea. Ever since I discovered I had a power, I’ve been itching to really play with it and push it to the limit. Like, I wonder, can I lift a car? A truck? Mount Rushmore?”

  Dawn laughed. “Actually, I did that a little while I was waiting on you. I tried transforming into a variety of animals.”

  “But that still doesn’t solve the problem of Mastermind, or the second Luke,” said Uncle Charlie.

  “We have to do something,” said Luke. “If my powers have limitations, I need to know exactly what they are.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said Dawn.

  “It would help to know our powers better,” said Ray, “if we ever do have to face Mastermind and his mutants again.”

  “True that!” said Dawn.

  Luke said, “Besides, I’m sure the other me would’ve time traveled out of there right away. He’s probably actually back at the apartment right now.”

  Ray nodded. “You’re not exactly one to stick around and fight,” he joked.

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” asked Luke.

  “Nothing. I’m just saying, you’re a lover, not a fighter.”

  “Guys, can we focus here?” said Dawn.

  “Right,” said Luke. “Anyway, we can figure out later what to do about the other me. He’s probably not even aware of my existence yet, come to think of it.”

  “Now there’s an interesting question for the philosophers,” said Charlie. “Which one’s the real you?”

  “I am, of course,” said Luke.

  Ray chuckled. “I’m sure that’s what the other Luke would say too.”

  “The good news is,” said Charlie, “apparently Mastermind never succeeded in taking over the world.”

  “How can you be so sure?” asked Dawn.

  Luke nodded. He understood. “Because we’re in the future and there’s no trace of him around. No mutants. No evil world dictator. Nothing. Just a bunch of normal humans going about their business. Right, Simeon?”

  Simeon nodded. “I’ve never heard of any Mastermind. And I’m a historian.”

  “So we’re successful in stopping him,” said Ray.

  “Yeah,” said Luke, scratching his head. “I guess so.”

  “But we haven’t done that yet,” said Dawn.

  Luke smiled. “You’re not thinking fourth dimensionally. We will defeat him, and that’s why the future is safe.”

  “I don’t know… Sounds like we’re putting the carriage before the horse,” said Dawn.

  “Trust me,” said Luke. “I know time travel.”

  “Then,” said Ray, “we better make sure we’re prepared. Looks like we’re gonna have to face him after all.”

  “Right,” said Luke. “We have to act like we don’t know we’re already going to win, so we don’t get lazy or make any foolish mistakes. We still, after all, actually have to defeat him. Uncle, where’s this Danger Room you talked about? I’m ready to become a super hero!”

  “I’ll prep a shuttle,” said Simeon.

  Chapter Six

  Strange Sky

  Mastermind waited restlessly inside the mirror-walled chamber. He faced the pedestal – the Altar of Destiny – and impatiently checked his watch.

  He sighed. “How long is this going to take, I mean, really?”

  He hated waiting.

  Shadow shrugged her black furry shoulders.

  Venom and Kraken sat on the floor by the wall, talking amongst themselves. Rhino-Man paced in circles. Doctor Troyd and the other Luke were not present. Neither was the spider-guy Arachnus.

  Mastermind stared at the pedestal. “I don’t have all day.”

  “What’s the rush, boss?” asked Shadow.

  “Nothing. Never mind. It’s none of your business.”

  She lowered her head. “Yes, master.”

  Meanwhile, back in the future…

  Their shuttle lifted off the ground effortlessly and almost silently. It didn’t look anything like modern day space shuttles, or even the shuttles in science-fiction TV shows. This was more like a large white cube, with rounded corners. And in each corner were blinking lights. It had an almost plastic-like look, but was much sturdier and stronger.

  They launched straight up into the air, quickly, but felt no unusual g-forces inside. It was an extremely soft, gentle ride.

  Inside the large cube-like shuttle were several comfortable seats, display screens on every wall, and a control panel at one end. Simeon sat at the controls. Large windows lined each of the four walls, plus one on the ceiling and another at the floor. Luke looked through the bottom window as the ground rapidly moved away out from under them.

  He saw their launch pad shrink away – along with the other cube shuttles and various other space craft and vehicles parked there. He saw entire buildings, entire blocks, entire sectors, the entire city itself get smaller and smaller as they flew higher and higher up into the atmosphere.

  He saw the lush park they arrived in from the portal. The entire surrounding landscape. Mountains in the distance. And… a giant pyramid. Equally as large as the one on the desert planet. Just a dozen miles away from the city.

  “Uncle, Uncle, look! They have a pyramid too!” said Luke.

  “I know,” said the old man, leaning towards a side window to get a better look. “It’s where we – your parents and I – got our powers, remember?”

  “Oh right,” said Luke. “You said the other pyramid wasn’t there before. I forgot.”

  Simeon turned away from the controls for a second. The thing was probably on auto-pilot anyway. “You found another one?” he asked them. Their shuttle rose through the clouds and entered the upper atmosphere.

  “Yeah. Was one reason why I thought maybe your crystal was still working,” said Uncle Charlie.

  “Why do you say that?” asked Simeon.

  “Well, you guys built the first pyramid. I figured you built a second one on Sekhmet for some reason, too.”

  “Sekhmet?” asked Ray.

  “The name of the desert planet. According to the Tablet of Ningishzida.”

  “The Tablet of Whuh?”

  “We didn’t build the pyramid,” said Simeon.

  Uncle Charlie looked confused. “You didn’t?”

  “No,” said Simeon. “It’s been here as far back as recorded history. Several thousand years. If not longer.”

  “But…” Charlie was really confused. “You guys know all about it. You taught us about the Temple of the Gods, the Altar of Destiny, how it all works… You knew your way around inside like the back of your hand…”

  “Well, sure,” said Simeon. “We used it for millennia. It’s a part of our heritage, our culture, our way of life.” Their shuttle left the atmosphere and entered into the vast openness of space. The glowing blue-green planet waited below. White clouds. Endless blue oceans. Luke, Ray, and Dawn stared through different windows to take it all in.

  There was really no experience like it. Seeing Earth from this point of vie
w. Everything appeared so united. No borders. No boundaries. Just one planet. All sharing the same water, the same air, the same life.

  Except, now that they were higher up, the three of them all got a funny look on their faces. “Uh, Uncle,” said Luke, “Just how far into the future are we?”

  “Not sure,” said the old man. But… “Why?”

  “The continents are all different,” said Luke. “I mean, that kinda looks like Africa, a little. But where’s South America? Is that large island mass supposed to be Australia? Nothing looks right.”

  “I thought plate tectonics took millions of years,” said Ray.

  “They do,” confirmed Luke.

  “Wow,” said Dawn. “We must be really far into the future.”

  Luke looked out the side window. He analyzed the stars. “No way. This can’t be right.”

  “What is it?” asked Uncle Charlie.

  “I don’t recognize any of these constellations. There’s no way we’re a few hundred, a few thousand, or even a few million years into the future. We can’t be.”

  Ray and Dawn peered out the window too. Space. An infinite star field, reaching as far as the eye could see – and so very far beyond. It was beautiful. Magnificent. Awe-inspiring and vastly humbling all at the same time. But also absolutely unfamiliar.

  “What do you mean?” asked Charlie, looking out the window at the stars too. He saw the planet’s moon out his side. It was highly colonized – lights, buildings, roadways, large bubble structures with water and lush plant life underneath. It was too developed. He couldn’t tell if it was Earth’s moon – or just some other moon, about the same size.

  “Uncle,” said Luke, turning to face him. “We’re on another planet.”

  “So this isn’t the future?” asked Dawn.

  “Apparently not,” said Ray.

  “Then where are we?” she asked.

  “Eden,” said Simeon. “Didn’t the Visitor Liaison welcome you?”

  “Well, sure,” said Charlie. “I thought Eden was just the name of the city.”

  Simeon laughed. “No, no, no. Eden’s the name of our world. The city near the Ningishzida Gateway is called Babbalonna. It means ‘Beautiful Garden’ in the ancient language.”

  Charlie was only now realizing he had it wrong all this time. He saw humans and advanced civilization – and assumed he was in the future. But something didn’t add up. Why were there humans, this advanced, on another planet? Why did they speak English? And if they didn’t build the pyramid – who did?

  “Wait a second,” said Luke, realizing something. “If this isn’t our future, then that means… we still don’t know what happens to Earth.”

  Dawn gasped.

  Ray got an uncomfortable deep sinking feeling.

  “Mastermind,” said Charlie.

  “He might still have been successful – I mean, he might still succeed if we don’t stop him.”

  No one wanted to say it. But they all had a terrible gut feeling inside. Even if they did try to stop him, even if they gave it their best, he might still succeed no matter what. There were no guarantees. No assurances. No better future to look forward to.

  “What can you tell us?” asked Luke. “What do you know about Mastermind’s plans?”

  Charlie shrugged. “Not much. He just sometimes talked about how the world would be a better place if he was in control, and how people—all people—were really just monsters inside, and he was going to find a way to make the world see them for who they really were. He hates women. Wants to enslave them. Says they’re only good for sex and menial labor. But he doesn’t think much better of most men, either. He really… His worldview… With his power… I don’t want to even think what he might do.”

  “We have to stop him,” said Dawn. “I saw him. How he looked at us, when we were lined up, waiting to be mutated. We weren’t people in his eyes. I don’t even know if cattle is the right word. We were just… just…”

  Ray put his arm around her. “It’s okay. We know.”

  “He killed my parents,” said Luke. “He almost killed all of us. He’s mutating and mind controlling innocent people. And he’s bent on world domination. If he’s not a super villain, I don’t know what is.” He took a deep breath. He looked at each of them individually. “The question is… are we willing to do what it takes? We’re the only ones who have any chance of stopping him. Are we,” he said, “willing to be heroes?”

  Ray lowered his head. He never dreamed of being a super hero. Well, not since he was like 10 years old. Every kid dreams of being a super hero. But he was an adult now. He just wanted to get a good internship at some large company. Or start his own company. He wanted to live a good life. Have a family someday. Work hard to give them a better life than he ever had.

  And that’s why he realized he needed to do this. For his future family. For all the families in the world. Mastermind was a dangerous threat to them all. And Luke was right -- they were probably the only people on Earth who had any chance of stopping him. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “I’m in.”

  “Me too!” said Dawn, more confidently. This actually sounded exciting. This sounded fun. Dangerous? Probably. Full of the unknown? Most likely. Worth doing? Absolutely. Who else in the world gets a chance like this? To have an incredible super power. To use that power for the greater good. To make a difference. To be a hero. It was the role of a lifetime. She thought about it. And she smiled. This was the ultimate way to give her life real meaning. “Definitely.”

  Luke smiled. “Me too.” In a way, he felt like he was born to do this. Maybe he was.

  All those comic books, all those movies, all that dreaming and fantasizing and wishful thinking – it was all because his soul longed for this. He wasn’t put on Earth to hold some random job. He wasn’t put on Earth to be some anonymous cog in the system.

  No, he had a purpose. He could sense it. He always knew he had some higher purpose – even if, for the longest time, he didn’t know exactly what that purpose was. But today, now, he knew. With every fiber in his body and soul, he knew.

  Charlie smiled. A small tear escaped the corner of his eye. “I was hoping you’d say that. I couldn’t ask you – any of you – to do this, to risk your lives for friends and strangers alike… But the world needs you. I need you. James and Helen are gone. You’re the only hope left for stopping Mastermind and his mutants.”

  The shuttle docked. “We’re here!” said Simeon.

  “Ready for your training?” asked Uncle Charlie.

  Ray inhaled deeply, summoning his strength and courage. “Yeah, I’m ready, let’s do this.”

  “Let’s make sure Mastermind never harms or mind controls another person again!” declared Dawn.

  Luke cheered, “Aw right! Super friends, assemble!”

  Chapter Seven

  Stop Tampering with the Timeline!

  “We’re aboard a real-life space station?” Ray asked, full of simultaneous disbelief and wonder-filled awe. “But there’s gravity,” he said, stamping his foot on the floor.

  The space station itself was fairly large. Bigger than an average big-city mall back on Earth. And like a big mall, it had all sorts of departments, sections, retail stores, places to eat, and plenty more – people lived here full-time. Housing quarters, recreational areas, daycare centers, plenty of shopping, and a scientific deep space research center.

  Everything was enclosed, obviously; any windows had an open view of space or overlooked the planet below. But it was quite populated. Very busy. And not just with people who lived and worked here full-time. There were plenty of casual tourists and shoppers too, here just to grab some lunch, pick up a few items, or meet a significant other on a date.

  This civilization had pretty advanced space travel. The shuttle ride up was a clear indication. Flying to this station was, to them, no different than most people back on Earth driving to a neighboring city for work or pleasure.

  And this space station, clearly, had artificial gravit
y, as Ray was so quick to point out. And if this station was so quick and convenient for so many people to go to, Luke wondered where else they could go. Had these people colonized other planets? They already built up and colonized their own moon. Did they have interplanetary starships? Able to quickly and easily visit other worlds within their own star system?

  Were they already beyond that? Interstellar, perhaps? Luke imagined the possibilities. Traveling all the way to other stars, seeing other worlds, setting up outposts on those distant planets. Maybe even more than outposts. Maybe whole civilizations.

  Then he had a thought. What if these people originally colonized Earth? Simeon said their planet’s name was Eden. And when they arrived through the portal, they were surrounded by this beautiful garden-like landscape. Could this be the Garden of Eden? Is that where the myth came from?

  “The training room’s this way,” said Simeon, leading them through the main corridor. Shops, restaurants, and entertainment centers surrounded them on every side. Lots of signs gave visitors directions on where to find everything. Residential quarters were one way; the sports arena was another. Lover Lounges – whatever that was – was in another direction. As were more shops, places to eat, and other things to see and do. Even a small museum exhibit and high school were among the list of places to go.

  “Uncle, where did these crystals come from?” asked Luke as they walked through the station.

  Charlie shrugged. “Don’t know. Simeon, any idea?”

  “On the crystals’ origin? We haven’t figured that out. But we do know their network is extensive.”

  “Network?” asked Ray.

  “He means all the places it can go,” said Charlie.

  “Yeah,” said Luke. “You mentioned there was a sixth symbol?”

  Charlie said, “We only knew of the five, the ones marked on the Tablet of Ningishzida. But when James and I met with Simeon all those years ago… He taught us a little secret.”

  “The crystals are programmable,” Simeon said, almost nonchalantly. Like it was no big deal.

  “Programmable?” Luke remarked.