The Shadowverse

by Francesca Gallo

  Only when Titan pushed back she realized her fiery strike had been for naught. A translucent shield of energy had formed around her adversary, protecting him from any kind of onslaught. “My dear, have you learned nothing?” Reaching out, he telekinetically choked her, raising her body fully off the floor.

  Her mind went blank. Dad, I’m so sorry, she thought in distress. He held her up higher still.

  Titan’s eyes burned crimson, resembling an artist’s representation of a devil. “If it accomplishes anything, it was I who kil ed your parents. In fact, it was I who snapped your pathetic mother’s neck into a multitudinous number of pieces. You should be grateful. I saved you from the squalor of Xalen, and now you will fulfill your true destiny

  —live out your true purpose.”

  Rose was defenseless. Nothing could inhibit the power Titan wielded. At first, he was simply holding her up; but then his mind overwhelmed hers. Titan exercised his psychic powers as a weapon, cutting through her very being. Nothing could be safe from him.

  Every feeling, every emotion, and every event of her life was unlocked. She could feel him prodding through, while he rendered her impotent.

  “My friends wil come for me!” she croaked.

  “I am counting on it,” he spat. There was nowhere else to go. Nothing could stop it.

  Gripping tighter, he pulled her closer albeit keeping her steady. “You need not fret, my dear,” he proclaimed in his deep, hardened voice. “Now, you will leave behind your past. Now, you will do my bidding. Now, you will accept your true destiny. Now, and forevermore, you will bring Justice.”

  CHAPTER 13

  THE JOB

  After a transient teleportation to the slums of the alien city Azintea, the team of humans began their search for the one named Trypher. In this specific area, gas, wastes, and garbage abounded and proliferated. Every so often a patrol would glide by on a hovering scooter, eyeing the foreigners.

  Although the area surrounding them had been littered with garbage, advanced technology could still be seen, almost always attached to giant, dirty buildings. These buildings were lined with metal wires, which al owed energy to course through each wire like veins.

  Johnny zipped like lightning through many of the abandoned buildings and was in the last one on that block. He passed by an electronic door, which opened upon his presence. Peering in, his eyes caught sight of several armored individuals. Must be the guards, he thought. Each guard resembled Ledarius, except they were taller and spikes protruded from their backs. These spikes prohibited attacks from behind. In short, their appearance conveyed the message: Do not mess with me.

  In a moment, he sped out of the building and met up with the others, who stood near an information booth nearby. The door closed, leaving the guards confused, since there had not been anyone present. At least, that is what their eyes saw.

  “Ah, Johnny. You find anything?” Ryan asked as he scanned the information provided to him by another information booth.

  “You won’t believe it, but I found them. They’re in the secret room behind an abandoned building around the corner.”

  “Finally!” Sam exclaimed.

  Johnny frowned. “What do you mean ‘finally’?”

  “You know how long we’ve been waiting here?”

  “Uh, I don’t think it was very long, Sam.”

  “Precisely three-and-a-half minutes,” Jane interjected, glancing at her watch.

  “Long time!” Sam responded. Johnny rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry buddy, I was only being sarcastic.”

  “Big bold letters. Sarcastic!” Dustin added.

  “Shut up guys.”

  Jane giggled again. “What?” Johnny responded, puzzled.

  “Nothing. It’s just I admire the way you talk to each other. I never had brothers.”

  “Well Johnny boy here admires other stuff too, you know,” Dustin snickered, an impish smile pasted on his face.

  Johnny turned and glared. “Anyway, how about we go knock the crap out of this criminal, huh? It’s time to put the training to good use.”

  Ryan turned the information booth off. “Thank you for using IB1759,” it said.

  “Goodbye, and never forget to serve Lord Titan.” Ryan snarled at the generic comment, laying a single punch onto its mainframe which obliterated the fragile device like glass.

  No patrols were close by, thankfully.

  “If this Titan guy’s personality is anywhere near these booths, I’ll hate him.”

  “He’s probably worse,” Johnny acknowledged.

  “What do you think Rose is doing now?”

  “Not dead, hopefully.”

  “Wow, that pessimistic?” replied Sam.

  “Not much to be optimistic about, considering our circumstances.”

  The team snuck around the abandoned building. Once they arrived at the guarded room, Sam initiated his powers, causing his hair to turn white. “I can’t wait to beat some guys up. It’s going to be so lit.”

  “Just don’t get hit.”

  “Yeah, by the way, what do these guys look like?” Ryan asked.

  “They’re big, spiky, and armored.”

  “Great,” Dustin feigned a moan.

  Ryan bulked up, this time absorbing the power of the metal on the outer wall of the grubby edifice. After arriving at the door, Ryan backed up and kicked the door with every bit of his strength, far more than necessary. The sudden impact shattered the barrier, exposing the guards behind it. Ryan smiled. “Showtime.”

  ~~~

  Rose fell to the floor, total y drained. Her mind, on the other hand, was no longer hers to control. With Titan at the helm, Rose Johnson was gone, the memory of her past life left behind to the back of her mind. For now, Justice was all that remained. Titan had exploited the anger and insecurity that resided in her and used it to control her. This dark version of Rose now stood, ful of a neoteric energy. She grinned insidiously as he lifted her head, fingers on her jaw. “Ah, you will strong.”

  “Thank you, my lord.”

  “Yes, Aiko, the former wife and love of Sonovan Lung, was your predecessor, and though human, she had potential. But, as I mentioned before, emotion is a disease, and it must be eradicated. Sonovan Lung, the ancient warrior who defeated me so many years ago, convinced her mind to fight my presence. A grave mistake. Sonovan, as always, did not want her to fulfill her destiny or even her potential. Another unfortunate and unnecessary retaliation against my will, Aiko forced me out.”

  “How ludicrous, my lord. She could not comprehend the scope of your will. You only wanted to help her!”

  Titan sat on his giant throne as his armor clanked, eyes far away as if imagining every piece of the memory. “So is every being who resists my good judgment. Of all the worlds I have conquered and ruled, do you know what they each have in common?”

  “No, my lord.”

  “Heroes. These ‘men of renown’ believe I am the evil one. Yet, two of the few prime evils in this universe are the following: rebellion, and most of al , ignorance. These specific qualities spel doom for any advanced civilization.

  “Rebellion is pointless since my rule only consists of two constituents: peace and justice. For example, Zova, a planet whose inhabitants trust their politicians to rule, destroyed itself after years of corruption and injustice. My commanders discovered this civilization and reported to me the dire state of the species. I acted. Since they ruined the planet from pole to pole, the population grasped my hand of guidance. Now, a century later, the Zova people live in tranquility and splendor. Forgotten are the times of hardship and death. But that does not mean certain members of the government and population were not eliminated. In order to create a civil society, opposers of the ideas must be annihilated. They only create problems in enacting true justice and civility.”

  Justice sat on the floor, legs crossed. “I understand.”

  “Good. On the other side of the spectrum, ignorance has always been the downfal of civilizations, including Ear
th. My scouts have been studying humanity for the past century. Do you know what they found?”

  “Deterioration of the host’s wil to understand and learn.”

  “Very intuitive, my dear Justice. Wisdom has resided in your heart.” Titan paused, contemplating. “Of al the worlds I have discovered, Earth’s inhabitants are, by far, the most ignorant. Folly resides in them. They cling to emotions and spend years fighting amongst themselves, yet for nothing.

  “Injustice runs rampant in every section of their society: places of learning, government, and religion. Emotional y charged, traumatized inhabitants, labeled bullies, are al owed to hate and destroy the lives of innocent people, though most are hardly innocent.

  “Further, the people are completely ignorant towards anything immaterial. They say, and I quote, ‘If I can’t see it, it is not real.’ Myopia abounds, yet they still spread these lies and people believe them! With their logic, the Shadowverse is nothing but an imagination, and Ooris is also fake. But, there are stil a select few who I hold in high regard. In one of their ‘holy books’, the Bible, Hosea writes the most profound statement of all. ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge,’ is the quote. How intriguing! I never surmised any human could be so wise! Do you understand?”

  “I understand fully, my lord. In the years I lived among them, I saw the injustice and ignorance—their narrow-minded vision. You are correct in every sense of the word.”

  “Thank you, my dear Justice. Now you can see who I am, and soon, my mission.”

  ~~~

  “Wow, this is going to be so easy,” Ryan stated. It’s true. It looked too easy. “Johnny, let’s at least make it interesting.”

  Johnny smirked. “Now we’re talking.”

  Ryan spoke up. “Do any of you fine gentleman happen to know someone by the name of Trypher?” The guards did not answer. Instead, they engaged their weapons, which happened to be spears. These spears were electronic, and once activated, powerful electricity surged around the spearhead. “Guess you do.”

  “Is that an ESF?” Dustin noted, eyes wide.

  “I think it is,” Johnny replied.

  “Holy shit,” Sam marveled. “Who knew? An ESF! Told you Johnny! Aliens are dope!

  I’m honestly thinking about getting a place here!” The rest chuckled despite the guards’

  bewilderment.

  “What’s an ESF?” Jane asked him.

  “It’s an electrostatic field. It used to only be in video games, but it is obviously used here.”

  “I’ll just assume it’s bad, then.”

  “Yep,” he said as he shifted his body into a front stance.

  “Any advice?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty simple,” Dustin instructed. “Don’t get hit.”

  “These guys are toast,” Sam asserted.

  “They would have been toast if Rose was here,” Ryan replied. “We wil just have to work without her.”

  “Just remember your training,” Johnny instructed.

  A strong wind began to flow through the room. Soon it was as powerful as a hurricane. Dustin screamed for the others to move behind the wall to prevent themselves from being swept by its intensity. Dustin’s hurricane-force winds threw the large guards against the wall, wind speed approaching one hundred miles per hour.

  Each respective armor on the souped-up alien thugs cracked, allowing Dustin to pause the ferocious attack. “All right, all yours!”

  The others stepped out into the arena. Dustin rejoined them. The guards stood once again, even though the pain was great. “You will never get to her,” one said.

  “Yeah, we will see about that,” Johnny retorted. “Edge, engage fortification mode.”

  Johnny’s suit made a noise, followed by a formation of various shields of protection around his body. Material inside the apparatus moved about like a mouse underneath carpet, clumping together. This increased the weight present on the wearer, since now the apparatus had engendered nearly full-blown armor. At this moment, the stripes wrapped around him glowed azure blue. “I real y love this thing,” he exclaimed in pride.

  The others did the same. Dustin’s suit il umined gold, Ryan’s green, Sam’s white, and Jane’s silver. Their look had altered into a bulkier form.

  The guards attacked, slinging their spears at them. Sam managed to freeze two, and they fell straight to the ground like statues. “That will keep them quiet!”

  The other two guards lunged at them, but this time Jane halted them in action.

  Johnny turned to her. “Nice one.”

  Johnny ran at them with a speed so quick the guards were completely unprepared for him. He swept the leg of one, and then punched the back of the other, which flung the guard in Ryan’s direction.

  Once the other guard was swept and on the ground, Johnny sprang on top of him and punched thrice. It was light-years more than enough to knock him cold. On the other hand, the body of the other guard met Ryan’s fist. In a loud smack, he punched the helpless guard back into the wall, knocking him unconscious.

  Dustin chuckled. “I will suppose you used about a fourth of your true power?”

  Ryan chuckled at the remark. “Nah, probably about a tenth.”

  “Remind me never to piss you off.” Raising his eyebrow and smirking, Ryan chuckled.

  Johnny was quite impressed with himself. He wiped the sweat off his brow. “Wel , I’m doing pretty well with this.”

  “That was awesome,” Ryan concurred. “I need to set up an obstacle course so we can beat up the dummies.”

  “Yeah, that’s if we get back.”

  Another door opened. This time, five guards appeared. “Didn’t know there would be dessert!”

  This time, Johnny bolted for two of them. His punches aimed for the head and the solar plexus. The guards spit out blood as their predicament is a barrage of ice and wind. Adding in a few kicks to the crotch, the guards buckled as Johnny continued the onslaught.

  On the other hand, Jane telekinetical y pushed a guard to the ceiling and held him there. Sam froze him on the spot. As for the other two guards, Ryan thrust-kicked each, which was more than enough to knock them both out. Within a minute, they immobilized every armed guard.

  Ryan stooped down and patted one on the head. “Sorry buddy, but you had no chance.”

  “Yeah, I feel sorry for them,” Sam added. “Just doing their job.”

  “That’s their funeral,” Jane replied. “They supported a criminal.”

  “Yep,” Dustin replied, impressed Jane had come up with something he would say.

  There was a clatter below them. Johnny placed his ears to the floor. “You guys hear that?” A few seconds later, another clatter reverberated, as if glass shattered. “It has to be Trypher.”

  “Let’s go get her.”

  The group circled the corner and came to another door. Ryan kicked it and it shattered immediately. “I am getting so used to this. If we get back, remind me to send gifts to this Z guy.”

  Johnny glared at him. “Look, I get it. The powers are sick. Heck, even I admit it. The powers are awesome. But that does not mean Mr. Z is a good person. In fact, he might be our sole enemy. That is, uh, secondary to Titan, of course.”

  “Whatever.”

  Steps opened beneath them, and a new step formed as long as each took a step down. At the bottom, no lights were on, and it was dark. They could hear only the whispers of energy coursing through the wal s. “I don’t have a good feeling about this,”

  Ryan whispered.

  In the dark, the suits illuminated at their brightest. Some kind of energy coursed through the lit-up areas of their respective suits. “Sam, do you happen to have that bulb feature?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Let me check. Echo, activate bulb.”

  The system responded, “Activating bulb.”

  “I guess that means it does.”

  From the center of his chest, a small light emerged. Second by second, the light expanded like a parasite as it increased in luminosi
ty and encompassed every spot on his body. “Whoa,” Dustin awed.

  “Looks great,” Jane added. “We’ve got a bulb!”

  After thirty seconds of activation, the suit was totally lit. Their surroundings were covered in light. “Wow, that is bright!” exclaimed Ryan, who covered his eyes.

  The group could not identify anything peculiar in the room, but another door opened.

  They could make out a figure, and it spoke, though a language they could never understand. In a comedic change of events, they watched Trypher spewing anger, yet did not decipher her words.

  Sam turned to Johnny, a bit frazzled. “Uh, how are we going to understand her?”

  “Hmm. Jane, turn on Chronos.”

  She nodded once. “Chronos, are you there?”

  Chronos, her suit, made a sound. “Yes, Miss Cooper?”

  “Can you translate what Trypher is saying? To English?”

  “Certainly.”

  At that moment, Trypher strolled out of the corridor into the room, still declaring what seemed to be death upon them. But then, Chronos relayed the translated sentences back to the group, who now understood her. The words came out like a walkie-talkie.

  “What do you want with me?” she questioned, pointing two blasters at them. “Why must you hurt my guards?”

  “Wow, that is awesome!” Ryan exclaimed, amazed.

  “What can this thing not do?!” Sam added, equally astounded. “For the bil ionth time, I will literal y buy Z a new house.”

  Dustin coughed at Trypher’s appearance, now in shades of light. Her attire was comprised of orange garments complete with at least four-inch-tal heels. “Holy crap, that’s not what I expected. She’s h—”

  Recognizing where Dustin was going with his typical antics, Johnny cut in. This time, Chronos relayed the English words into Trypher’s language, and she stepped back, amused yet intrigued. “Oh, uh, we’re sorry ma’am, but it appears you scammed Ledarius Wepon 10,000 credits, so we are here to bring you into custody.”

  “A criminal throwing a criminal in prison? I never thought I would see the day.”

  “Well, today’s the day.”