by Lucas Flint
“This is the Soul Crown,” said Captain Galaxy. “It was once the crown of the Dread God. It was so named because anyone he touched while wearing the Crown would lose their soul, which would be absorbed into one of the Crown’s seven gems and eventually be broken down and added to the Dread God’s own soul to make him even more powerful.”
Bolt gulped. “How did this thing end up on Earth?”
“Long story,” said Captain Galaxy. “All you need to know is that it is here and that the Darzens are seeking it in order to aid the resurrection of the Dread God. Should they get their hands on it, they could use it to steal the souls of every man, woman, and child on the planet. Or the Dread God could use it to make himself more powerful than ever. I imagine that he probably would need it, given he’s been dead for so long and probably won’t be at full power if they succeed in bringing him back to life.”
“That’s crazy,” Black Blur said, shaking his head. “Stealing souls … why, I’ve never heard of such craziness. It’s unreal.”
“I have,” said Bolt. “There was this girl named Savannah Jones whose soul was stolen a while back. I managed to save her, but it’s definitely something that has happened before, so the Soul Crown isn’t that crazy.”
“You’ve run into this phenomena before?” said Captain Galaxy interestedly. “Tell me more.”
“Bolt can tell you more about that story later,” said Mecha Knight before Bolt could speak. “You need to tell us where this Soul Crown is.”
The image of the Soul Crown on the wall suddenly vanished and Captain Galaxy lowered her hand. “That’s just the thing. I don’t know where it is.”
“What do you mean?” said Omega Man. “Do you mean to tell us that you came all the way from … from another universe just to tell us you don’t know where the Soul Crown is?”
Captain Galaxy shrugged. “More or less. All I know for sure is that it is somewhere on this Earth. The reason I came here specifically was because I believed that the vast resources of the Neohero Alliance would help me find the Soul Crown, wherever it is.”
“We would be more than happy to help you find it, if that’s what you need,” said Omega Man. “If the Dread God is truly as big a threat to Earth and to the multiverse itself as you say, then we’ll be happy to give you whatever resources you need to find the Soul Crown.”
“Shouldn’t we at least vote on it first?” said Lady Amazon. “I’m not thrilled at the idea of just giving this complete stranger access to our resources, given how we don’t even know if we can trust her or not.”
There’s no need to give her access to anything, Jessica, said a familiar gravelly voice in their heads. Not when there are other ways to find what you are looking for.
“That voice …” said Omega Man. “Cadmus, is that you?”
“Where are you?” said Mr. Miner, whipping his head this way and that as he searched for the owner of the voice. “Show yourself, you government spook.”
Very well, said the voices in their head again. I intended to show myself soon anyway. I was just waiting for the right moment to appear.
From out of a shadowy corner came two figures Bolt hadn’t seen in a while and who he didn’t want to see at all. One of them was a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, though Bolt knew he was much older than that, wearing an old-fashioned suit that went well with his dark hair. The other was a young, smiling woman in her early twenties wearing a thick patch with the word ‘G-MEN’ on her right shoulder. She smiled and waved at Bolt when she saw him, but he just nodded once to show he noticed her.
“Cadmus Smith,” said Omega Man. “This is … unusual. Generally, you call us ahead of time to schedule a visit, rather than breaking in like this.”
Cadmus Smith, the Director of the Department of Superpowered & Extraterrestrial Beings and the leader of the G-Men, the government-sponsored superhero team, simply rested his hands in his pockets. “I’m a stickler for the rules, that’s true, but even I know that things change in an emergency. And this is most definitely an emergency, one that could affect the United States, so of course I am interested in it.”
“How long have you been listening in on our conversation?” said Bolt.
“Long enough to understand much of what has happened over the last day or so,” said Cadmus. “But I wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t had Shade here watching your fight with the Darzen alien earlier. She notified me of Nicknacks’ return as soon as she saw him.”
Bolt looked at the young woman, Shade, who stood by Cadmus’ side. Shade was another G-Man agent, as well as Cadmus’ right-hand woman and eventual successor as the Director of the Department of Superpowered & Extraterrestrial Beings. Bolt had encountered both her and Cadmus several times since the start of his superhero career, largely against his will, because Bolt didn’t like or trust the G-Men, given their bad history with his family.
“So you’re still watching me?” said Bolt to Shade. “Don’t tell me you’re also watching me when I shower, too.”
“Is that how you say hello after the last time we saw each other?” said Shade with a pout. “Besides, I’m not assigned to you specifically. I just keep an eye on Hero Island in general, just in case something like this happens. Though I wouldn’t mind watching you in the shower if—”
“Shade,” said Cadmus calmly but firmly. “Please keep your mouth shut. This is not the time to flirt.”
“Yes, sir, Director Smith,” said Shade, though she still winked at Bolt anyway, which earned her a glare from him.
“So you two are with the government?” said Captain Galaxy. “Interesting.”
“Not as interesting as the fact that you are from another universe,” said Cadmus. “The last time we had a visitor from an alternate universe, the superhuman population of Earth was nearly destroyed. So forgive me if I do not entirely trust you.”
“Don’t worry,” said Captain Galaxy. “I’m here to help everyone. The last thing I want is to kill anyone … well, anyone other than the Darzens, who have it coming due to how brutal and violent they are.”
Cadmus nodded, though as usual, he looked skeptical. “Very well. If the Leadership Council trusts you, then I trust you as well.”
“Cadmus, what are you even doing here?” said Omega Man. “Are you just concerned about what the Darzen threat poses to the United States?”
“Yes,” said Cadmus. “But it’s more than that. I’ve been aware of this Dread God figure for some time now, but it wasn’t until I overheard Galaxy’s explanation of him that I really understood who he was and the threat he poses to our world.”
“How did you know about the Dread God?” said Bolt in amazement. “Have you guys already fought some Darzens or something?”
“Not quite,” said Cadmus. “We learned of him from a Pokacu named Graalix.”
Bolt scowled. He knew that name well. Graalix had been the sole survivor of the first Pokacu invasion of Earth and had also been the commander of the Pokacu army which attacked during the second invasion of Earth. “What are you talking about? Graalix is dead. He died during the second invasion of Earth.”
“Actually, he didn’t,” Shade piped up. “He was heavily wounded, nearly dead, but we managed to pull his body from the wreckage of the ship he was in and transported him in secret to a government facility you won’t find on any maps. We’ve been studying him ever since, trying to learn the secrets of the Pokacu in order to—”
“Shade,” said Cadmus sharply, this time actually looking at her. “What did I say about keeping quiet and letting me do all the talking before we came here?”
“Sorry, sir,” said Shade, smiling somewhat sheepishly. “I won’t speak unless spoken to.”
“Good,” said Cadmus. He looked back at everyone else. “As Shade said, we had salvaged his body from the ship and have kept him alive in a secret G-Men facility in the Nevada desert for the past year or so. We’ve learned quite a bit about Pokacu anatomy from him, but recently, he’s been ranting and raving about the
Dread God coming to Earth to destroy us all.”
“What?” said Nicknacks. He leaned forward in his chair. “Why would Graalix be talking about that?”
“Of that, we’re not sure,” said Cadmus. “We couldn’t understand any sense of his ravings until just recently. It is obvious to us now that Graalix must be receiving some kind of signals that even our most advanced machines cannot pick up, warning him that the Dread God is coming to Earth to destroy it.”
“But who would send these signals in the first place?” said Bolt. He looked at Captain Galaxy. “Galaxy, would you happen to know?”
“Don’t look at me,” said Captain Galaxy, holding up her hands. “I didn’t even know it was possible for Pokacu to receive signals from another universe.”
“It’s a mystery we’ll have to crack some day,” said Cadmus. “Nonetheless, now that we know what the Darzens seek, his rantings make much more sense.”
“They don’t seem all that helpful, though,” Mr. Miner grunted. “Sounds to me like he’s just ranting like a loony tune.”
“His rantings may not be helpful, but one thing is,” said Cadmus. “Namely, that the government has the Soul Crown which Galaxy spoke of.”
Captain Galaxy took a step forward, but then seemed to catch herself. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”
“Why would I?” said Cadmus, tilting his head to the side. “I have no reason to lie. We do indeed have the Soul Crown, though it isn’t on any public records and certainly isn’t available to the public or even to most of the government.”
“Where is it?” said Captain Galaxy. She tensed, like she was ready to run all the way to wherever the Soul Crown was being kept. “Tell me where it is.”
“In the same facility where we keep Graalix,” said Shade again. “It’s been down there for as long as I’ve been a member of the G-Men, though it’s probably been there much—”
“Shade,” said Cadmus.
This time, Shade just shut up and tried to look as innocent as she could. Bolt smiled, mostly because he enjoyed seeing Shade get embarrassed like that.
“As Shade was saying, the government has had the Soul Crown for quite some time,” said Cadmus. “It was salvaged from a downed alien spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico back in the fifties. No one knew what it was, so it was put deep inside storage and has never, to my knowledge, been taken out since then. I only remember it because I was there when it was first found and I realized that it looked exactly like the crown which Galaxy showed us.”
“The fifties?” Captain Galaxy muttered. “But you look so young …”
Bolt ignored Captain Galaxy’s muttering. “All right. So if we know where the Soul Crown is, why don’t we go get it? At least to make sure it is safe and sound.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” said Captain Galaxy. “Take me to the facility where it is being kept so I can verify that it is actually the Soul Crown. It might be something entirely different, so I want to make sure we’re on the same page here.”
“Fine by me,” said Cadmus. “You can come with us and we’ll show it to you.”
Bolt noticed that Cadmus said they would just show it to Captain Galaxy, but not actually give it to her, which is what Captain Galaxy wanted. He wondered if Captain Galaxy noticed that or not. Regardless, it didn’t surprise him, because Cadmus was not the kind of man to give up anything he deemed important, especially something as rare and powerful as the Soul Crown.
“Take one of our members with you before you go,” said Omega Man. “And Nicknacks, too.”
Cadmus looked at Omega Man. “Why should I? We need to take only the dimension hopper with us.”
“Because this is an NHA manner now,” said Omega Man. “The NHA has traditionally been on the front lines of extraterrestrial attacks on Earth. We intend to keep it that way, which I hope you agree with, because every recent alien attack has always required cooperation between the G-Men and NHA.”
Cadmus sighed, but said, “Very well. We’ll bring Nicknacks and one member of your choosing with us. Who will it be?”
Bolt shot his hand up. “I’d like to go, if that’s all right with the Council.”
“Bolt is a logical choice,” said Mecha Knight. “He already knows what is going on, so there’s no need to debrief him on the mission. Plus, he’s strong enough to defend himself or the others if the mission should go sideways, as these missions are wont to do.”
“Let’s vote on it,” said Omega Man. “All in favor of allowing Bolt to travel to the G-Men’s facility?”
Every hand in the Council went up. Even Black Blur’s hand went up, much to Bolt’s surprise.
“A unanimous vote,” said Omega Man in awe. “I can’t even remember the last time we did that.”
“But it’s binding, right?” said Bolt. “I can go?”
“Sure,” said Omega Man. “But we expect you to be back as soon as possible and to let us know if you need any help, all right?”
Bolt nodded. “Sure thing, Omega Man. I’ll do my best.”
“If we are all done talking, why don’t we head out?” said Cadmus. “Time is wasting and that is something we do not have in endless supply right now. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Sparky!” said Mr. Space. “Activate all of the hyperdrives and set our destination for HQ. Set the engines to maximum speed so we don’t waste any time.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Space,” said Sparky as he began pressing buttons and tapping touch screens. “Destination set. Hyperdrives activating even as we speak.”
Beams was suddenly thrown from his feet. He landed on the floor, but managed to throw out his hands and arms in time to break the fall. Mr. Space, on the other hand, stood by him with his arms folded over his chest, as if he hadn’t felt the ship move.
“Hey, are you okay?” said Mr. Space to Beams. “You fell pretty hard.”
“I’m fine,” said Beams as he slowly rose back to his feet, dusting his costume off. “I just wasn’t prepared for that sudden lurch.”
“Lurch?” Mr. Space repeated.
“Yeah,” said Beams. He gestured at the floor. “The ship lurched when the hyperdrives activated, didn’t it?”
Realization shone in Mr. Space’s eyes. “Oh, now I know what you mean! Yes, I forgot that hyperdrives can be hard for someone to get used to, especially if you’ve never been on an interdimensional ship before. I’ve just been on the Adventure so long that I’m pretty much used to its movements. I’m sure you’ll get used to it as well eventually.”
Beams nodded, but then he looked around and said, “Hey, wait a minute, didn’t you say that your friend was still on her mission? Aren’t you going to call her and let her know about the distress signal?”
“No time,” said Mr. Space, shaking his head. “If HQ is under attack, then all IEA agents are obligated to return to base immediately unless we are physically unable to. That means leaving behind some of our own agents if necessary.”
“What?” said Beams in shock. “But what if she needs your help?”
“Don’t worry about Galaxy,” said Mr. Space, waving off Beams’ question as if it was irrelevant. “She’s tough and competent, which are the two primary qualities that the IEA looks for in all potential agents. She can take care of herself, especially since we won’t be gone long, because as powerful as the Darzens may be, I’m confident the IEA will be able to repel their attack in short order.”
Beams nodded again, though he wondered what Mr. Space meant that Galaxy wasn’t by herself. Were there other members of the Adventure that he was unaware of? Or was Mr. Space referring to someone else?
I guess it doesn’t really matter, Beams thought. Looks like we’re jumping straight into a fight. That means I’m going to have to get ready to battle.
Beams raised his hand up to the side of his helmet, but then paused and looked at the Rubber Ball, which was held underneath Mr. Space’s right arm. Mr. Space was currently talking to Sparky, asking him to get the cannons
ready and prepare the Adventure’s shields, so he did not notice Beams staring at the box.
I can hear it, Beams thought. The heartbeat of the Dread God. It’s still alive in there … still thinking … and still very, very angry.
Beams was even surprised at himself for knowing that much. It had been six months since he had come anywhere near the Rubber Ball. He had thought that his connection to it would have gone away since then. He hadn’t even felt the Rubber Ball during his time apart from it, to the point where he had forgotten about the Rubber Ball completely until recently.
Yet now I know what it is thinking, Beams thought. No, not thinking. Feeling. And I also want to take it.
Beams found it difficult to resist the temptation to rip the box out of Mr. Space’s hands and open it to free the Rubber Ball within. He had no idea why he was having so much trouble with it. If anything, his connection to the Rubber Ball felt stronger than ever. It reminded him of something Rubberman told him once about weightlifting. If you took an extended break from weightlifting and then came back a while later, Rubberman had said, your body actually regained the lost muscle and strength much faster than if you had stayed at it every day. It was like lifting weight stirred your muscle memory and helped your body get back to its original strength and size quicker than normal.
Is that what is happening here? Beams thought. Has my connection to the Rubber Ball become stronger after our time apart? And will it keep growing stronger as time goes on?
Beams shook his head. He looked at Mr. Space and said, “How much longer until we get to HQ?”
“We should be there any minute now,” said Mr. Space. “Normally, it would take us at least a few days, but Sparky activated the Adventure’s hyperdrives, so we should be there in a few minutes.”
“If your ship can go that fast, then why doesn’t it go at that speed all the time?” said Beams. “It would be faster, wouldn’t it?”
“It would also blow out the Adventure’s engines completely and destroy the ship itself as well,” said Mr. Space, glancing at Beams. “Interdimensional tech may be amazing, but it’s not magic. It has limits just like every other kind of technology, though admittedly its limits are a lot higher than other kinds of tech.”
