Breaking Time

by Luke Derricks

  “You guys have a revitalizer-doohickey here too?” Ray asked Simeon.

  “Something similar, yes,” he said. “But you know you’re welcome to use the healing chamber in our temple, too. Their technology is still better than ours. We’ve reverse engineered a lot of what’s in that temple, but we haven’t mastered it all.”

  “So,” Luke asked, “does that mean aliens really did build these pyramids? Or could it still be man-made, but from the distant future?”

  Simeon shrugged. “No other races have claimed it.”

  “Races?” asked Ray. “As in, other alien races?”

  Simeon nodded.

  “So you weren’t kidding earlier. It’s not just us out there in the universe? There really are… aliens.”

  Simeon laughed. “A few.”

  Ray shook his head. “And to think this morning I was worried about finding enough financing for my friend’s indie film. Really puts things in perspective.”

  Dawn was excited. “So what are they like? The other alien races.”

  Charlie interrupted, “There’ll be plenty of time for that later. We do have a more pressing issue to deal with right now.”

  “Right,” said one Luke. “Mastermind.”

  Ray nodded. “We can’t afford to be weak or tired when we face him. I say we all get a quick rejuvenation boost from their healing chamber and then immediately head back to Earth. We know Mastermind’s going back there sooner or later.”

  “And where his portal will have to open,” added Charlie.

  “Exactly!” said Ray. “Maybe we can get the jump on him or something.” He turned to Simeon. “Which way to the healing chamber?”

  “Back on Eden. I’ll notify them we’re coming.”

  “I wish we were better prepared,” worried Luke.

  “We’ll figure out a plan on the way,” said Ray. “I just hope we’re not already too late.”

  Maybe they were.

  Back in the Temple of the Gods, Mastermind checked his watch again. The sphere reappeared – and Arachnus launched out.

  “It’s about time! What’d you get?” he demanded.

  Arachnus smiled, revealing his spider-like fangs.

  All the other mutants gathered around. Rhino-Man, Kraken, Slimer, Venom… They had all been through the sphere. All endured some tragic life experience over and over again – and all gotten a unique power to cope with it. All that remained was Arachnus.

  “It’s a good one, boss,” he said, stretching his multiple spider arms and legs. “I can steal anyone else’s powers…”

  Mastermind grinned. “Perfect.” He turned to the slime-based, goo-oozing girl. “Slimer,” he said, “go check on the doctor and our new friend.”

  Chapter Eight

  Calling (Very) Long Distance

  Doctor Troyd laid across the medical lab table. Different colored lights scanned his body. A holographic medical doctor appeared.

  “I’ve completed my diagnostic,” he said. “Are you ready to be repaired?”

  Luke stood by Doctor Troyd’s side. “Yes,” said the young man. “Please heal him.”

  The holographic doctor grabbed a nearby medical tool. It was an oval-shaped device with spinning multi-colored lights. He placed it over Doctor Troyd’s right ear. The lights spun around faster and faster, then blinked three times. The hologram did the same thing again on Doctor Troyd’s left ear.

  “Your internal wounds have been repaired.”

  Doctor Troyd’s eyes went wide. “What?” he said.

  “Your internal wounds have been repaired.”

  He laid there speechless, silent. And then, slowly, a smile crept onto his face. “I– I can hear again?” he exclaimed. He started laughing. “I can hear! I can hear! Quick,” he said, turning to Luke. “Say something!”

  “Um, hi,” said Luke.

  “All repairs have been completed,” said the hologram. “Please wait for final diagnostic.”

  New lights scanned Doctor Troyd from overhead. A few seconds later, they stopped.

  “Confirmed. No additional repairs needed,” said the holographic doctor. “You are cleared to go.” He vanished.

  Doctor Troyd jumped off the medical table. He grabbed Luke by both shoulders and shook him. “My hearing’s back! I can actually hear again!” He hugged Luke tightly. “Mastermind kept his word. He gave me back my hearing…”

  The crazy-eyed scientist looked like he was about to cry.

  Just then, Slimer entered the room. “’Ey,” she said. “Boss is waitin’ fer you guys.”

  Doctor Troyd ran over to her – and even though she was made entirely of all sorts of gooey disgustingness, he hugged her anyway too.

  He sighed with inexpressible happiness and gratitude.

  “We’ll be right there,” he said, overjoyed.

  Meanwhile, Mastermind and the other mutants waited in the mirrored room. And Mastermind pulled out his pink glowing crystal.

  He knelt down to the floor and drew a large circle. Then in the center, he drew a smaller circle, with lines dividing down the top and across the middle: the symbol for Earth.

  “Um boss,” said Rhino-Man, “we leaving already? The others aren’t back yet.”

  Mastermind ignored him. He didn’t have to explain every little thing he did. They needed to learn to trust him. He wasn’t about to abandon Doctor Troyd, Slimer, or Luke on this planet. He still had use for all of them.

  The portal opened.

  They saw blue skies. A few white clouds. The mutants looked down at the floor, through the portal, and saw upward into the sky. Weird. If they adjusted their angle, they could see the remains of Stonehenge on the other side.

  Mastermind pulled out his cell phone. He made a very long-distance phone call. Probably the first interplanetary phone call ever made. Okay, not probably. Definitely the first interplanetary cell phone connection ever. Can you imagine how much his cell phone bill would’ve cost, if not for the help of a little portal?

  Anyway, it rang.

  And rang.

  Rhino-Man and the others watched. Who was he calling?

  Someone picked up. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you again,” said the voice on the other end. It was a male voice. An unfamiliar one.

  Except to Mastermind, of course.

  “Were you able to hack into BioGen’s security cameras?” Mastermind asked him.

  “Sure did.”

  The man had a mostly-American accent. But Stonehenge was in the United Kingdom. Who was Mastermind talking to?

  “And have you sent any copies out yet?”

  “Not yet,” said the man on the phone. “Was waiting on your call.”

  “Go ahead. We’re almost ready here. Remember, I want all the major news networks to see this. Everybody. The UK, the United States, and every other country with cable TV. Got it?”

  “Right, got it. Just like we planned.”

  “I planned,” corrected Mastermind.

  “Right, sorry. Just like you planned.” The male voice sighed, probably rolling his eyes too.

  “You’re just the hired help. Don’t forget your place,” reminded Mastermind.

  “Whatever.”

  Mastermind tightened his jaw, but kept himself calm.

  “Anyway,” said the male voice. “When can I expect final payment?”

  “As soon as my videos go out,” said Mastermind, gnashing through his teeth. “It’ll be waiting in the usual account.”

  “It better be,” said the man. “Don’t screw me over.”

  “Just do your job,” said Mastermind.

  Silence on the other end.

  “Fine,” he finally said. “Uploading now.”

  More silence while they waited.

  The other mutants watched Mastermind carefully. What was their master up to now?

  “It’s done,” said the voice on the phone.

  “Good.”

  “Now where’s my money?”

  Mastermind rolled his eyes. Wer
e people really this easy to manipulate, even without mind control? He switched to a financial app on his cell phone. Entered in a total of one million dollars. United States currency. This was the final price for an unknown hacker to betray his nation and world. Mastermind pressed the big button marked “transfer.”

  One million dollars. Transaction completed.

  “It’s done,” said the super villain.

  A second of silence. Probably verifying the amount. “Thank you,” said the man on the phone. “Pleasure doing business. Let me know if you ever need my services again in the future.”

  “Perhaps we can meet face to face for once?” Mastermind grinned.

  “Not likely,” he said, and hung up.

  Mastermind stared at his disconnected phone. “Idiot.”

  “Who was that, boss?” asked Rhino-Man.

  “No one.” He X-ed over the portal, closing it. “Now where’s that slimy girl and the others?”

  “Right here, master,” said Slimer, entering the mirrored chamber with Doctor Troyd and Luke.

  Mastermind looked to Troyd. “Well?”

  Doctor Troyd smiled. “Better than the day I was born.”

  “So what’s our next move, master?” asked Luke. “I know my uncle and friends will come looking for me.”

  Mastermind walked over to the mind-controlled Luke. The poor fool had unwittingly popped out of the sphere and right into their hands. This was clearly an unexpected advantage and bonus in his plan. One Mastermind would definitely use.

  But it also bothered Mastermind to see another, different Luke, seemingly identical in every way, with Chuck and the others. Could they be clones? Twins? Something else?

  So earlier, while the other mutants were taking turns going inside the sphere to get their own powers, Mastermind asked his mind-controlled copy of Luke a series of questions. And under Mastermind’s irresistible control, Luke told him everything.

  Everything.

  Like, how Uncle Charlie had given him a crystal, how they wandered onto this planet and fell down into a dark pit, almost met an untimely demise by some alien snake monster… and eventually, made their way up into the pyramid, where they met up with Ray and Dawn. And, this Luke told Mastermind, they all had powers.

  Including the power of time travel.

  So that explained it. The other Luke that Mastermind saw must’ve been from an alternate timeline. It was the only logical conclusion. Which meant his Luke was exactly identical to the other Luke – with one significant difference: this Luke had become Mastermind’s loyal and faithful servant.

  A loyal and faithful time-traveling servant. A definite advantage, indeed. Had he known, in advance, he’d have an asset like this, he might’ve structured his plan very differently. But oh well. No matter. They had a schedule to keep. Things were already in motion.

  After all, a good plan today was better than a perfect plan tomorrow. His plan would still succeed, no matter what. No one could stop him now. Not even a handful of unexpected new wannabe “super heroes” under Chuck’s pathetic tutelage.

  Still, just in case, having a time traveler on his side was a little extra insurance that made Mastermind all the more confident.

  Now, the only question that remained was where Chuck and the others went. A moment ago, they had escaped through a portal, back to the entrance point on this planet. But Mastermind doubted they’d stay there long. Knowing Chuck, they probably went back to Earth – or maybe one of the old man’s other favorite planets.

  They, too, would become useful assets to his team, Mastermind thought. The only thing better than one time traveler under his control – was two time travelers under his control.

  The very idea of it tickled him with excitement.

  Chuck, on the other hand, was pretty useless – who cared about a night vision super power? The girl – she was supposed to be one of his new mutants anyway. But she’d be more useful in her current form, as a shape-shifter. How did she get that power anyway? According to his Luke, she never went into the sphere. Was there some other way to gain powers that he didn’t know about?

  And then there was Ray. That kid kept showing up everywhere he didn’t belong. More of a nuisance than a threat, in Mastermind’s opinion. But his telekinetic powers would come in handy too. Not as useful as some of the other powers his other mutants already had. But one more super-powered mind-controlled mutant on the team couldn’t hurt.

  Mastermind didn’t really need any of them. They were just bonus additions. But more importantly, he didn’t like having uncontrolled people potentially interfering with his plan. He and his mutants needed to be the only ones with powers. He couldn’t risk these would-be “heroes” getting in the way, causing frustrating complications, at some critical moment.

  “Any chance they’ll come back here?” Mastermind asked his enslaved Luke.

  The young man shrugged. “Maybe, but I doubt it. If it were me, I’d wanna regroup and get some training. Master our new powers. Form a plan. Try to do the whole super hero bit.”

  Mastermind nodded. “Just like your parents.”

  Luke had a sudden mix of emotions. He wanted to serve and obey his new master – but another part of him hated Mastermind for murdering his parents. Especially after just witnessing it, over and over again, inside the sphere.

  He clenched his fists.

  Mastermind noticed. “Relax,” he said, looking deep into Luke’s eyes.

  Luke’s fists relaxed.

  “Where would they go?” asked the mind-controller.

  Luke really didn’t know.

  “Alright.” Mastermind preferred to add them to his little team, but time was running out. He really didn’t want to risk them interfering in some unexpected way. Best to kill this loose end now. “You still have your crystal?” he asked Luke.

  Luke reached into his pocket. He did. It was with him when he entered the sphere. It came out with him when he left.

  Of course, that meant the other Luke still had an identical crystal too. But that wouldn’t matter.

  “Doctor Troyd,” he said, looking to the unkempt scientist. “Continue as planned. You know what to do. Take the boy with you,” he said, shoving Luke towards the scientist. “Go without me. We’ll find you later.”

  “Oh. Okay,” said Doctor Troyd.

  “Open a portal back to Earth,” Mastermind said to Luke. “But I have a special symbol I want you to use.”

  “But…” Luke said, confused.

  “Do as I say, now!” He pointed across the room. “Over there.”

  Luke obeyed. He walked to the other side of the room and began drawing a large circle on the floor.

  Mastermind grabbed the doctor’s arm and whispered into the scientist’s newly-working ear, “And make sure the boy gets a new form. Your choice.”

  Doctor Troyd looked at Mastermind. He was serious.

  “Okay,” softly nodded the doctor.

  Luke had completed the circle. He looked back. “What’s the symbol, master?”

  “M5,” said Mastermind.

  “What?” asked Luke.

  Annoyed, Mastermind clenched his teeth. “It’s the letter ‘M’ followed by the number ‘5’.”

  “That’s a symbol?” remarked Luke.

  “Use it!” Mastermind shouted.

  Okay. No problem. Geez. Luke started drawing this new, unknown symbol.

  “You still have that video we recorded earlier?” Mastermind turned to Doctor Troyd.

  The eccentric scientist reached into his lab coat pocket. He grabbed onto his cell phone. The same one they had recorded a quick video message of Mastermind saying “you will grant this man access to anywhere and anyone” on earlier, back at the hotel lobby, back in California. Doctor Troyd nodded.

  “Good. It’s almost time to start using it,” said Mastermind.

  Doctor Troyd would need it to gain access to someone very important very soon.

  The portal opened back to Earth. “It worked!” exclaimed Luke.
He saw what looked like the baggage claim area at a busy airport. Where was this? His uncle didn’t tell him about this place.

  The portal on the other end opened along a wall. People rushed by, carrying luggage, meeting up with loved ones, looking exhausted from their long flights. But some stopped to stare into the portal, confused and a little afraid.

  From their perspective, they saw mostly darkness. Luke opened his side of the portal along the floor. So onlookers from the other side could only see up towards the mirrored ceiling of the pyramid chamber room.

  More people stopped around the portal. A small crowd quickly gathered. Luke leaned over the portal. To their perspective, he seemed to be walking on and clinging to the other side of the wall. “Um, Master…” said Luke.

  Doctor Troyd and Mastermind walked over to the portal. Troyd stepped up to the edge and leaned over. This was going to be a little awkward. Maybe if he climbed in at an angle… or maybe… hmm. Perpendicular floors were not his thing. He wasn’t feeling too sure about this.

  Mastermind sighed and shook his head. He pushed them both through. They rolled and fell through, landed hard on the floor on the other side, and the crowd gasped and murmured. One lady screamed.

  Mastermind looked through from the other side. “Close the portal.” Then he looked to Doctor Troyd. “You know what to do.”

  Luke moved the crystal across the open space. Swiped from the left and then the right. The portal instantly vanished.

  The onlookers couldn’t believe their eyes.

  “What the fuck?” remarked one witness.

  Luke smiled awkwardly. “Hi guys.”

  Security started approaching.

  Doctor Troyd grabbed Luke’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Chapter Nine

  Power Failure

  Meanwhile, elsewhere in the galaxy… They thought they had more time.

  Time to learn their new powers. Time for a quick rest before an inevitable conflict. Time to get prepared.

  They were wrong.

  Mastermind was already several steps ahead of them. Time was rapidly running out.