The Shadowverse

by Francesca Gallo

  Sam huffed and, despite the oddity, hugged Jenny tightly. It had been a surprise, since Sam typically disliked hugs. “Oh, this is new,” she acknowledged.

  “I just felt like it this time,” he answered. He pulled away. “Where’s Dustin?”

  “In his room. The pot roast is ready.”

  “Be right down.” With that, she left and went down the stairs to a demanding pot roast.

  Per Jenny’s direction, Sam found Dustin doing close to the same thing he had done.

  The man, the myth, the legend himself, Dustin Jones, brushed a shaking finger over his wooden dresser, home to a variety of diecast cars. He jumped upon Sam’s entrance.

  “Oh, just you. ‘Sup.”

  “Hey.”

  “I grew up in here,” Dustin said. “It’s funny. I have this comedic side—we both do—

  but this place always brings back when we were kids.”

  “Yeah, I feel you.”

  “And now that we’re leaving, what might happen?”

  “I don’t even know, bro. But…Johnny’s right. This is a path nobody’s taken. We’re pioneers. I can actually look forward to the future. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, Johnny’s right on a lot of things. Honestly, the dude lives in the future.”

  “Timmo was right. He gives off that older vibe at like…what? 21?”

  Dustin chuckled, clasping the edge of his bed. He breathed in deep and exhaled. “I’ll see you again. I promise.”

  When dinner wrapped up, the duo left for good. But they both gave an extra-tight hug to their parents. “I love you, Dad,” Dustin said to Robert, who wel -nigh equaled his strength thanks to a college footbal career.

  “I love you too, Dusty. Can’t wait for another meal at the table. Just please, don’t screw around with time wasters and keep to your studies. Same goes for you, Sam,” he pointed.

  If you only knew, Dustin thought.

  ~~~

  Johnny and Ryan found their parents together in Bethany Slade’s house. They knocked like the children they once were. But each had evolved since then. And, just like before, Bethany let them in.

  “Hey Mom, just got to give you a hug.”

  “You came to give me a hug, Ryan?”

  “Yeah, we were in the area. Where’s Timmo and Irene?”

  She beckoned them inside in answer to the question. Johnny’s progenitors sat on the sofa, total y oblivious, as was everyone, to the predicament. But Johnny had to keep it that way. The cost of their knowledge would be too much for even himself. Plus, there were times when he liked being a rebel. Anything but what society desired. Sometimes, he hated society. Too cliché far too often.

  Little did he know the kind of being he would meet. Little did he know how similar they real y were.

  “Hi Mom,” he started, doing his best, like Sam and Dustin, to not give in. “I was in the area…wanted to say hel o.”

  Timothy stood in an instant. “Well, I’m here.” Smiling wide, Johnny took a few steps towards the man he might never see again. Without hesitation, he embraced him, forearm slapping on Timothy’s back. “I love you, Dad…don’ forget it. You know, I might have found what I have been looking for. I don’t feel as lost as I once did.”

  Timothy’s expression said it al . “What do you mean?”

  “I…am not lost like I had been,” he replied. There was a war inside him at this point, neither side claiming victory. “Come on over, Mom,” he insisted.

  As she did, the three went into a triple-embrace, Johnny the tal est among them. He laid a soft, likely final kiss on Irene’s forehead.

  Ryan did the same, though almost a foot tal er than his mother. The two of them were almost a comedy. Nevertheless, he bent lower to lay a kiss on his mother. For so long, it had been the two of them. She had stayed by him when he went through those days of horror, the day of the incident. The day he lost him.

  As if their minds were in sync, Ryan and Johnny both reconsidered if the decision was the right one.

  I can’t do it, a side of Johnny told him. I can tel the truth right now and everything will be back to normal. Nobody needs to know about Titan. Nobody needs to know about any of it. His jaw clenched.

  On the contrary, Ryan highly considered reconsidering everything they planned. Why would I leave her here? he pondered. “Mom, I have to tell you something,” he whispered. He looked to Johnny, but saw something he never imagined. Johnny wanted to go.

  But destiny, Johnny’s mind declared. He knew the better option but, as a human, was as fearful as a deer among wolves. The path to a new world is laid before you.

  Why do you stall? Take it! “No,” Johnny mouthed to Ryan. “Don’t do it.”

  Ryan read his lips with ease, a gift bestowed to him from the countless times the brothers and he would do something rebellious in front of adults. He inhaled a titanic amount of oxygen before exhaling like a jet engine.

  “Yes, Ryan? What is it?”

  Don’t. His ears were ringing without relent, the few seconds extended in hours. “I love you, Mom. Got to go, though.”

  As the two young adults walked out and into their cars, their collective hearts beat like drums, as if in anticipation of a coming calamity. They looked back at the house to see their parents waving, a nice smile pasted on each face.

  Johnny turned to Ryan before stepping into his automobile. “It’s time.”

  Ryan slipped on a coat and twisted his neck to loosen up. “So it is.”

  ~~~

  Dangerously prepared, the group ventured out to Montauk Laboratory. There were no guards—only a fence that had many warnings attached in big, bold letters. Johnny unhinged his phone from his belt. “Kevin, we’re here. Now we wait.”

  “Good. This is my last t-transmission. We’l be waiting for you, whenever you get back. F-Focus on your training. Y-You guys have been p-preparing for this. I w-will do what is e-expected of me here. See you soon.”

  “Thanks, Kevin,” replied Rose. “Good luck.”

  FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

  After a short while of waiting, a low growl groaned beneath. The ground in front of them sunk, and out of the dirt arose a large, black orb. “Guess that’s the cue,” said Ryan.

  “Let’s go.” Rose led them into the wormhole. She leaped first, followed by the others.

  It sucked them in like a magnet.

  During the interstellar journey, most kept their eyes closed, for the sounds were enough to give nightmares. Only Johnny and Ryan kept their eyes opened, and what they saw was something beyond human knowledge. Space curved in seemingly every direction as they trekked through the fifth dimension.

  There was nowhere to hide now. Johnny thought he died. It was so dark, yet so much power surrounded him—the power of the universe. I’m doing this for you, Dad.

  But the trip ended far quicker than imagined. On the other side, an abundance of new colors and sounds filled Rose’s senses. She had landed in a large room, surrounded by transparent glass which provided an awe-inspiring view of the universe.

  “Whoa.”

  As she studied the entire room she stood inside, she noticed no one had fol owed.

  “Guys? Where are you?” There was no response, since no soul other than hers had ever made the jump. Fear settled in, as did worry. She had little time to think because a new object had entered her field of view: a gigantic man, staring out into space. He only left Rose to stare.

  “Do you know how long I have been searching for you?” the being questioned. “It is a great surprise, indeed.”

  “Who are you? Where are my friends?”

  He nearly flinched. Her voice. “Only one question at a time, Adia. Please.”

  “My name is Rose. I do not know who Adia is.”

  “That is only what you remember,” he returned, turning his body from the window to face her. “But I wil aid you in discovering al that you have forgotten, my dear.” Even from the distance between the two, his red eyes pierced through her like knives. W
hy the hel are his eyes red?

  He stalked closer, the sounds his feet made on the floor sending shivers down her spine. He was so much taller and larger than her comparatively frail physique. Nine feet, she assumed.

  “Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm.”

  “No, you d-didn’t answer my question! Who are y-you?”

  The figure breathed with confidence. “I am Titan, your savior. Lord of the Tetra. I lived, was not, yet now is.”

  “What do you want with us? With me?”

  “Come closer, child, and I will show you your ancestry, heritage, and genesis.”

  Though he beckoned her near, she was reluctant to move a muscle. “Closer I said,” he repeated.

  Reaching out his arm, an invisible force pulled her. At the much closer distance, he appeared even larger than she thought. “Stop!” she shrieked. But she had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Once in his physical grasp, he let go of his telekinetic hold on her.

  Titan used her fear as an advantage to display his superiority.

  “Come and see.”

  He led her to an orbicular screen, which attached to the mainframe of the ship. It turned on, and clouds came into view on its display. Her attention was invested in its grandeur, and soon, her mind followed. She felt as if it has warped her mind into the mechanism, living it out like a virtual reality headset.

  Titan narrated from everywhere as she examined her surroundings. Looking about her, this place was bright with life, a yellowish sky enclosing her. “This is where you first saw the light of day—Xalen. A technologically-focused species, the Xalen were among the first to achieve faster-than-light travel. But, before I saved their pitiful souls, society in Xalen began to fracture. Once an expanding civilization, the government of Xalen decided to end their expansion into the unknown of space. This was their first mistake.

  Angst grew throughout Xalen, and protests increased in drastic numbers, all in the name of freedom and goodness.”

  The views kept switching between politicians, protests, legislature, and cities. Titan chuckled lightly at the reasons Xalen no longer prospered; Rose could hear the chuckle from everywhere. “No matter the state or goals of a civilization, they al die in the name of a fake goodness.” The vista transferred to two people holding a baby; a beautiful, reddish-skinned woman, and a reddish-skinned man with a goatee. Rose, now mystified, could not reply. “These were your parents, Adia. On the left was your father, and on the right, your mother.”

  “Was?”

  “Your parents died of”—he thought for a better explanation— “unfortunate mishaps.”

  “I-I do not know what to say. I have waited for this day for a long time,” she responded, feeling weak. “I have so many questions.”

  “We will get there soon enough,” replied the voice. “I suppose you could say they were…noble.”

  “You knew them?”

  “Yes, I did. But over the years, your father changed. He was no longer one of the few honorable politicians. He focused on family—on love. This was his first mistake, as well.”

  “How is that a mistake?”

  “Emotion is the father of al error. Chemicals in your brain—they impede progress and only suffice to destroy a civilization’s potential. Sadly, your father succeeded in convincing his wife Kira—your mother—that the planet was ‘hopeless’ and that I would

  ‘destroy’ their society. Further, he convinced her to send you, his only daughter and possibility of descendants, away. If Earth’s society is of an example, when emotions are incorporated alongside justice, one destroys the other. There can never be both. Only one, for pure justice ignores so-called ethics or emotions.”

  She furrowed her brow at the comment, feeling a bit fearful. She tried to stay on point. “Why would he do that?” she asked, meandering through her changing surroundings.

  “As I said before, over time, he was lost.”

  “And where do you fit into this?” she questioned further. The scene shifted to Titan convincing Xalen rulers he was there to fix their problems.

  “Well I am your hero—I am your savior! Even though your parents sent you away, I never ceased from searching for you. When your friends began to channel their newly

  acquired powers, the Ooris in them left an impression in the Shadowverse, thus contacting me.”

  “What is the Ooris?”

  “It is the source of your friends’ powers. This Energy originates from beyond this material universe. The things you see in this cosmos are not all there is.” Once again, the scene in the orb shifted to another location—one black, but not evil—a place of darkness and pure, unrelenting Energy. “This parallel universe, what I call the Shadowverse, is a mere shadow of this one, where energies of all kinds reign. It is connected to this one by a series of wormholes—the creators of which I do not yet know. Sometimes the portals open where they should not.” The scene ended, Titan yanking her mind from the trance as she found herself in the throne room once again.

  The pieces of the puzzle began to link together in her mind. “The man who gave my friends these powers…his name is Z.”

  Titan lowered his head to her, his eyes shining like beacons. “Are you saying someone infused them with Ooris?”

  “I guess so.”

  He turned his body and walked to his throne. “This does not cohere in my mind. How is this possible?”

  “I do not know.”

  “There must be another.”

  “Another what?”

  Ignoring her question, he responded with one. Instead of reading her very memories, he opted to see if she would tell the truth. “Have your friends treated you with the respect you deserve?”

  She suddenly remembered why she had come. “More importantly, where are they?”

  CHAPTER 12

  THE VISION

  The ground once again met their faces on the other side of the wormhole. It closed behind them, and they stood up, brushing themselves off. “We made it!” exclaimed Ryan, arms in the air. Their destination was a new society, filled with colors, sounds, and smells unfamiliar to them. They observed their surroundings, amazed.

  “An alien civilization. Scientists would kill for this opportunity,” Sam marveled.

  Johnny looked around as if missing something. “Where is Rose?”

  “She isn’t here?” Jane responded. Dustin and Sam each looked around. There was no sight of her.

  Ryan gulped. “Rose? Rose!” he shouted. As the group ran to the side of a building, other species walked by them. “Holy shit, what the hell is that?!” whispered Ryan.

  “It’s an alien, at least to us,” Johnny responded.

  “Yeah, what did you think you would see? Humans?” replied Dustin.

  “Uh, no.”

  “Jane, are you OK?” Johnny said, turning to her.

  “I’m OK, thank you.”

  “Rose!” Ryan screamed. Johnny and the others yelled her name, listening for any response among the sounds of this new world.

  After searching for five more minutes, it soon became obvious she was not present on the planet. “She isn’t here.”

  “What are we going to do?” Jane asked.

  Ryan dropped to the ground, as if defeated. “A new world, endless opportunities, but the one thing I wanted didn’t make it.”

  Johnny placed his arm on his shoulder. “I’ve been thinking for the past fifteen seconds, extended into nearly two minutes for me. She made it through.”

  “What?”

  “Johnny, what are you talkin’ about?” Dustin replied.

  “But this was never her destination. It was ours.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that Titan character tricked us.”

  “I’ll kil him.”

  “Oh no,” fretted Jane. “He must have taken her.”

  “Then we need to go! We need to find him!” exclaimed Ryan in rage, now standing and reinvigorated.

  “How?” replied Sam.

&
nbsp; “We can ask Chronos,” Jane asserted.

  “Who?” replied Johnny.

  “Oh yeah,” Sam clarified for her. “She’s talking about the suit-guy. You know, the A.I.!”

  “Oh. Right.”

  Jane tapped her chest and spoke the keyword “Chronos.”

  “Yes, Miss Cooper?” it answered in its wonderful y unemotional voice.

  “We need your help.”

  “What may I assist you with?”

  “Where is Titan?”

  A few minutes passed, with a “searching” notification every thirty seconds.

  “It appears Lord Titan’s main vessel is located up.”

  “Well that doesn’t help us at al ,” Sam complained.

  “Yes, it does! He means in space!” Johnny replied.

  “We can’t go into space!” fussed Dustin.

  “Well, man the hell up, because that’s where we’ll be going. I always wanted to be an astronaut.”

  “Fine. But if I die, it’s on you.”

  “And if I die too?”

  “That’s stil on you.”

  An information booth sat nearby. In a flash, Johnny sprinted to it while the others followed at their own slow pace. “Welcome to Azintea, Capital of Nexon. Booth set to English, a language of Earth.”

  “Well that’s neat,” Dustin admired.

  “Yep, proof we know nothing about everyone, yet they know possibly everything about us,” added Sam.

  “It’s Big Brother,” Dustin complemented, eyes wide as if a conspiracy theorist.

  The screen turned blue. “What will you care to learn about?”

  A byline that read ‘ Titan’ appeared. “Dude, hit that!” Ryan whispered. The group gathered around.

  The screen shifted to Titan and his empire. The hologram of the massive figure rotated in place, eyes red per the usual and standing in excess of nine feet. “Titan.

  Savior of Civilizations, Lord, Mighty One, and the Endless Creator. The Tetra, the empire he founded once again, consists of dozens of worlds. This planet, Nexon, owes its survival to him.”

  “Wow, he’s big,” Sam acknowledged.

  “Holy shit…he’s…imposing,” Ryan blurted.

  The information booth continued and elaborated. “Per Titan’s teaching, there exist two universes. The one of you and me, and the parallel universe, or his home-universe, the Shadowverse. As he learned to manipulate Ooris, Titan grew strong, but pure, just, and elegant in his ways. This empire he has constructed from nothing serves him and him alone.” The piece of information ended but replaced itself with more.