Paranormals (Book 2): We Are Not Alone

by Andrews, Christopher

  Vortex seized the opportunity to hit the triclops with a repellant attack. The triclops was pushed over onto its back, its left blade wrenching free from the hardened ground as it fell against the far side of the depression they were fighting within.

  Shockwave cried, “Let’s finish this bastard!”

  Unfortunately, the triclops was in pain but not delirious. It kicked out with its massive legs, catching each human full in the chest, its huge feet covering them from sternum to hips, shoving them both up and out of the depression. The only thing that saved them from crushed chests, squashed organs, and shattered pelvises was the micro-chainmail they both wore — still, when they landed almost side by side, they were each struggling to regain the breath that had abandoned them. Shockwave then stopped moving as he lost consciousness, leaving only Vortex to see the triclops, cradling its injured lesser arm, climbing out of the cavity.

  Vortex tried to take a shot, any shot, at the triclops as it clambered to level ground, but all his energy reserves were long depleted, and at that moment, he lacked the vigor for a laser or vortex of any consequence — a few extra seconds might make the difference as his eyes recharged, but it didn’t look like he was going to get them. And to top it off, he could hear the wasp buzzing around somewhere nearby. He tried to get up, but a rush of vertigo thwarted his efforts. Helpless to do anything else, he lulled his head around, seeking any backup that might be coming.

  Takayasu and Density were the only two left on their feet, and they were crouched over Charl’s still body as the wasp circled around them. Powerhouse was trying to get up, but something was wrong with his hands, making it a grueling task. And Shockwave was out cold here beside him.

  Well ... at least Lincoln got Lamprey Face ...

  Vortex pulled his head back around. The triclops was almost on them now, and Steve readied himself for one last act of defiance. If he was going to die, he wanted to at least take out one of those three eyes — hell, maybe he’d get all of them. Zap, zap, zap! It was a pleasing fantasy—

  The triclops suddenly jerked his gaze away from his intended victims, looking up into the sky beyond them. Its lips peeled back in a snarl, prompting Vortex to twist around so that he could see.

  The Shining Star was incoming, and he was hauling ass, leaving a brilliant trail of silver energy in his wake.

  The triclops growled something at the wasp, gesturing toward the oncoming Taalu and not sounding happy at all. You said you stung him! Vortex imagined it bitching. You said he was dead! The wasp continued to circle Takayasu and Density, but slower, its attention divided. The triclops rumbled something more, then turned back to Vortex and Shockwave, ready to spear or behead them before facing this new threat.

  Vortex wheezed, “You waited too long, dude ...” And then his lasers hit the triclops right smack in its third eye.

  The triclops shrieked, its greatest betrayal of anguish yet. The beast performed a rewarding, spastic dance as it clutched at its forehead.

  Vortex, mastering his dizziness this time, rolled over onto his feet, grabbed Shockwave by the hands, and dragged him away from the spasming giant. The triclops whirled toward them and stomped blindly after their retreat, coming dangerously close to crushing Shockwave’s legs. Vortex shored himself up and hit it with a brief repellant wave, pushing the alien back a few steps.

  When the triclops dropped its hands, its wounded eye was an even deeper shade of copper than Della had left the other two, and as all three of them blinked and focused on Vortex, it was evident the monster could still see.

  But the triclops wasn’t looking where it should.

  His energy sheath burning brighter than ever, Shining Star passed overhead so close and so fast, Vortex lost his balance all over again and fell on top of Shockwave. Shining Star collided with the triclops with an impact that was even louder than when Powerhouse killed the walrus.

  But Shining Star wasn’t finished. Blowing past the stunned triclops and turning on the proverbial dime, he arced over the battlefield and slammed into the wasp, driving it down into the ground, gouging a trench a dozen yards long in spite of Density’s transmutation. The wasp fought back, jabbing upward with its stinger, trying to pierce Shining Star whenever it could. Shining Star seized the insectoid in an awkward bear hug, trapping its stinger between his legs and lifting it, rising into the air.

  “Look away!” Shining Star rasped, his voice strangled and harsh — courtesy of the wasp’s neck sting, no doubt. Takayasu and Density obeyed, huddling over Charl, and Powerhouse dropped his heavy head between his swollen forearms. Vortex did not have to look away, and was therefore the only witness to what happened next.

  As the wasp writhed and struggled to either break free or sting its enemy, Shining Star’s energy sheath brightened further still, illuminating their immediate surroundings like daylight. The energy coalesced over his chest, then burst forth into the wasp’s abdomen.

  Oh, no ...

  Vortex’s heart sank. Callin must not have known about the wasp’s reflective exoskeleton.

  Sure enough, the energy pulsed into the wasp for a brief moment, then fired right back at Shining Star ... except that it was absorbed into his energy sheath, only to refocus and discharge at the wasp once more.

  Back and forth, back and forth, the energy passed between them, Shining Star firing, the wasp returning, and back again. The process grew faster even as the intensity grew brighter, a crisp, burning stench permeating the area, and soon even Vortex’s eyes could barely make out their forms within the blazing cocoon that surrounded them.

  And then it was over. The energy settled around Shining Star ...

  ... while the wasp, now little more than a charred, sizzling, smoking shell, slipped from his grasp and fell to earth. Only then did the others begin peeking out.

  “Taalu!”

  That bellow reminded them that the fight wasn’t over yet.

  Vortex spun around in time to catch the triclops’ kick along his side rather than against his spine. But the giant wasn’t kicking him away this time — it knocked Vortex over, then placed its left foot directly on top of him, pinning him to the ground on his back. He tried to shove the triclops off with a repellent vortex, but the alien pressed down on him, and the already-winded hero felt his ribs threatening to splinter under the tremendous pressure.

  The triclops released a slew of what they all assumed to be curses, then pointed its left blade down at Vortex’s face; the triclops let that soak in for a moment, then aimed its right blade at Shining Star.

  “Katecto, Taalu!” it demanded. “Jac be katecto! Moet haan pynot!” It sneered in scorn, accompanied with a slight bow dripping with scathing sarcasm, “Crollnim Bessa Callin Lan ...”

  “I don’t need a translator for this part,” Powerhouse said, grunting in pain as he hurt his wrists trying to get up.

  “Grand Lord,” Takayasu warned, “if you accept this challenge, be careful of those blades. They were able to cut through your brother’s skin.”

  Shining Star’s head jerked down toward Takayasu, then to the inert form of his little brother, still lying on a bloody patch of ground. “Charl ...” he whispered.

  “Katecto!” the triclops demanded his attention, shoving his foot into Vortex, eliciting a weak groan from the barely-conscious human.

  Shining Star drifted toward the triclops.

  “Shining Star,” Powerhouse called, “help me up. Get me on my feet and we’ll take him together.”

  The triclops must have understood the gist of that, because it jammed its foot against Vortex yet again, and this time something cracked audibly with another moan from Steve. “KATECTO!” it raged.

  Shining Star replied with a Taalu-style nod, then lowered to the ground, his energy sheath fading to almost nothing. Glaring up at the triclops, he drew a slow, deep breath, then another, his forehead furrowing in deep concentration. He raised his arms until they were spread straight out from his sides.

  Vortex could barely make out all of
this — in truth, only the pain searing through his cracks ribs was keeping him cognizant. He had just enough awareness left to wonder, What in the world is Callin doing ...?

  The triclops must’ve been thinking the same thing. “Moet faun? Katecto, Taalu! Moet ...” Its words trailed off as it cocked its head in bewilderment.

  Shining Star’s silver cape separated at the bottom. To the onlookers’ collective astonishment, it undulated under its own power and, in just a few seconds, split up the middle, a little more on his left side than his right, wavering and writhing close to the Grand Lord’s body. Once it reached his shoulders and still-swollen neck, it detached from his uniform and slithered down each of his outstretched arms, the sight mesmerizing everyone, including the triclops. The material on his right flowed past his waiting hand, while the rest consolidated around his left forearm ...

  ... and before the spectators could fully take in what had just happened, Shining Star’s cape was gone, and he stood before them with a gleaming metal sword and circular shield.

  Shining Star shook himself as if clearing his head, then pointed his glistening sword with its two-and-a-half foot blade at the triclops just as the giant had at him. But instead of yelling a return challenge, his stated in his raspy voice, “Della.”

  The triclops jostled forward as Della soared in and rammed her shoulder into the back of its left knee, knocking its foot off Vortex, who immediately started gasping and coughing. The Lan sister huddled before the helpless Shockwave and Vortex, ready to defend them.

  It wasn’t necessary. The moment the triclops lost its hostage, Shining Star charged, his sword slashing across his path. The triclops cried out as one of its lesser hands — the same Shockwave had cut into — separated from its arm.

  Shining Star levitated, rising until his height was just under that of the triclops’, detracting from the Noctoponm’s size advantage. Their blades crossed again and again, the metal clangoring sharply against the smooth stone, and whenever the triclops tried for an opening with its injured right blade, Shining Star’s shield blocked the effort. Their speed increased, blades flashing, whipping through the air, shield used more than once to ram the bigger alien. Slow step by slow step, Shining Star drove the triclops back.

  Lingering behind the battle, the rest of them tried to regroup. Relieved from her post, Della hobbled over to her younger brother’s side — tears streamed down her cheeks, borne of both pain and frustration, as she was afraid to move him. Powerhouse finally made it back to his feet, but he’d put everything he had into taking out the walrus, and it was all he could do now to stand upright.

  Vortex sat up with Density’s help as Takayasu checked on Shockwave. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his ribs, Steve asked, “Is he ... okay?”

  “He’s alive,” Takayasu commented from where he bent over his partner, “but his left eye is completely full of blood now. We need to get him back to a hospital.”

  “What about ... the Taalu?” Vortex asked, eying Charl as he winced from breathing. “They’ve got to have ... medical facilities, right?”

  Takayasu shook his head. “I’m guessing this is too—”

  An especially loud clang! cut him off, and they all returned their attention to the still-raging battle. Shining Star appeared to have the triclops on the ropes, his silver blade whizzing around, slashing at the monster faster and faster. But whatever trick he’d used to transform his cape into his sword and shield had taken something out of him — his energy sheath lacked its usual luster.

  Takayasu asked Vortex, “How much juice do you have left? If they separate, can you hit the triclops with a compression vortex?”

  “Depends ... every second that passes ... I’m recharging ...”

  Takayasu stood and took a few steps toward the fight.

  “Whoa!” Vortex rebuked. “Don’t think about ... getting in the middle of that.”

  Takayasu said nothing as he continued to stare at the combatants, his brow furrowed in thought.

  “Michael, I mean it. This is why ... you guys have paranormal partners. This is too big for your ... PCA gadgets.”

  “Maybe ...”

  PCA

  Shining Star saw an opening and lunged, but he realized it was a mistake before he completed the attack. He brought his shield around, but not before the triclops’ blade jabbed against the inside of his right arm, the tip cutting through his flesh — probably not as deep as the triclops had hoped, but more than enough for Callin to feel it. He held onto his sword, but he was forced to retreat, flying backward, away from the beast’s followup attack, aimed at his throat.

  Though he refused to show it to his enemy, Shining Star was tiring. His flight getting here, overpowering the wasp’s reflection ability, willing his cape to transform, and the wasp sting on his neck, which still ached terribly... Everything was catching up with him, but he refused to retreat. Charl was down, maybe dead, and the others were still recovering. He was all that stood between this final Noctoponm and his people, and he would not accept defeat!

  The triclops rushed him, trying to press its advantage. Shining Star blocked the attacks with shield and sword, but allowed himself to hover backward as he did so — at least he was drawing the beast away from the injured.

  Then, in his peripheral vision, Shining Star saw one of the humans approaching, circling around to come in behind the triclops. To give his ally more time, he angled his retreat, keeping the triclops’ attention focused on him while—

  Shining Star bumped up against something smooth and solid, and unmoving — just like that, he had nowhere else to go, and the triclops seized the advantage. Tying up Shining Star’s shield with one blade, it jabbed the other under his guard. The blade caught the Grand Lord on the right side, just above the pelvis, and this time, it was a significant stab — Shining Star was by no means run through, but the giant then twisted its huge blade and slashed out sideways. Callin’s blood ran down his right leg, staining the white fabric and demonstrating to his human friends that, yes, Taalu blood was as red as theirs.

  Shining Star pointed his sword at the triclops and directed an energy blast down his arm and out through the metal blade; the anemic effort was enough to force the triclops to retreat a few steps, but not much more. Shining Star allowed himself the briefest glance over his shoulder to find out what had blocked his retreat. What he saw was the veiled surface of a ship, the Noctoponm ship.

  The triclops jammed its wrist-blades into the ground, and a wall of earth raced up to slam Shining Star against the hull of the ship. Disoriented, he lost his bearings and his energy sheath sputtered, dropping him along with the relaxing soil.

  The triclops loomed over him through the cloud of dust. It pinned his sword down with its left blade, and he barely got his shield up in time to block the other. The beast crouched over him, its one good lesser arm grabbing at him, its right blade working its way past the shield, inching its way forward ...

  Michael Takayasu jumped onto the triclops, used its bent leg to spring higher, got one arm around its massive neck as he swung his other arm up, and slapped a psi-jammer on the triclops’ forehead, right on its third eye. The device, usually able to snap three-quarters around a rogue’s head, could only close on the triclops’ forehead like an undersized tiara. Snarling, the alien shrugged with enough violence to knock Takayasu from his perch.

  At first the psi-jammer appeared to do nothing at all. Then the giant stiffened — the psi-jammer worked so hard against its target, it emitted a climbing electric whine, something Takayasu had never before heard. Without thinking, the triclops lifted one twitching hand to remove the device ...

  ... which freed Shining Star’s sword. Callin brought his silver blade around, hacking off the triclops’ remaining lesser hand. The beast cried out, but the bulk of its attention remained on getting the psi-jammer off.

  This was its final mistake.

  Launching from where he lay on the ground, the Shining Star shot upward and rammed his sword thr
ough the underside of the triclops’ jaw. The sword continued onward, through its tongue, through the roof of its mouth, and into the upper portion of its thick, armored head, and it did not stop until Shining Star pressed the hilt against its stony flesh.

  The creature’s unobscured eyes locked on Shining Star’s face. They betrayed no emotion now, beyond a hint of confusion. Then, just like that, their glow faded. The triclops, its body befittingly stiff as a statue, fell over backward, with Shining Star riding it to the ground.

  The Noctoponm were dead.

  PCA

  The battlefield remained silent for a short time after that. The moment, finally achieved, demanded some acknowledgment as a hard-won victory, but the combatants were so drained, no one could muster the strength to celebrate.

  Takayasu offered Shining Star a hand up. He accepted it, leaving his sword embedded in the triclops’ skull for the moment.

  “So ...” Michael commented, “your cape can turn into a sword and shield.”

  Callin nodded, human-style.

  “That might’ve come in handy earlier.”

  Accepting the sarcastic dig with a grunt, Callin bent, took the sword hilt in hand, and dragged the weapon free; the blade showed no sign of blood or gore, the triclops’ skin scraping it clean as it came out. “It takes a good deal of concentration and energy,” he explained, his voice still raspy and labored. “If I had truly appreciated what we were up against when we first met them, I would have done so before going into battle. But I confess, in spite of my words of caution, I was overconfident. After all ...” He adopted a haughty posture, mocking himself. “... I am the Shining Star, who vanquished the evil Cargaun.” He shook his head. “By the time I realized just how bad things were going to get, it was too late. And look at what that mistake cost us.”

  “Well ... at least we won.”