by Lucas Flint
A groan of pain came from Bolt. White ran over to his brother and scooped him into his arms, while Talon popped her claws out of her wrists and Stinger raised his stingers before him. Although Talon was willing to fight Mann and the Venetians, she had to admit that seeing Mann defeat Bolt in one hit had shaken her quite a bit. And the Venetians hadn’t even done anything so far, which made Talon wonder about their chances of success once the Venetians actually started really fighting.
“So you still wish to fight me even after that display of my power,” said Mann. He shook his head. “Ah, to be young and too stupid to know your limitations again. It—”
Mann suddenly started coughing and hacking. The blonde-haired Venetian—Della, if Talon remembered correctly—put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Mr. Mann, are you okay? Do you need another healing touch from me?”
“I’m fine, Della,” said Mann, shrugging her hand off his shoulder. “It’s nothing. Don’t let my weakness distract you from our enemies, but thanks for the concern anyway.”
Della pulled her hand away from him, but she still watched Mann carefully anyway, like she was ready to jump in and heal him if he started feeling bad again. Talon wondered if Mann was dealing with some medical problems; given how old he was, that wasn’t entirely surprising, though she wondered why he hadn’t had Della simply heal him of whatever was ailing him.
“Anyway,” Mann continued, looking down at Talon and Stinger again, “the fact that you are working with Eli tells me that you already know my true plans, plans you clearly intend to thwart.”
“Yeah, we do,” said Stinger. “You want to control the Starborn to take over the world. That’s what Eli told us.”
Mann chuckled. “Well, I suppose I underestimated the intelligence of my grandson, though I can tell that he didn’t really understand the full extent of my plans. For you see, I don’t intend to merely control the Starborn, but become one of them, and rule the planet as its one, true god.”
Talon gasped. “What? What do you mean, you want to become one of them? Is that even possible?”
Mann leaned on his cane, his ugly smile never leaving his face. “Of course. The Starborn were once themselves normal creatures, limited by the laws of physics just like the rest of us. Yet through their own experiments, they transcended those limits and now roam the multiverse like gods. I, too, shall achieve godhood and live forever and ever, wielding the kind of power that no human, super or otherwise, will ever be able to challenge.”
“You sound like a megalomaniac to me,” said Stinger. “Just another crazed supervillain who thinks he should be in charge of everything.”
“Stupid boy,” Bauta snapped. “How dare you speak that way to the great John Mann. If you only knew who you spoke to—”
Mann, however, waved a hand to silence Bauta. “It is fine, Bauta. The boy, like most superheroes, is limited in his vision. He doesn’t see the problems that his kind have created or why my ascension to godhood is necessary, not just for myself, but for the survival of the Earth and humanity.”
“What are you babbling about?” said Talon. “How does you becoming an even bigger tyrant than you are now benefit humanity?”
Mann rested his hands on his cane again. “How ignorant you are of the horrors which exist beyond the multiverse. The Starborn are coming to Earth, and once they get here, they will destroy us all, all because of you superhumans. If I can control their power, then I can save humanity, which will give me the right to rule over it as a wise and benevolent deity. I will be able to discard this frail, decaying body in exchange for an immortal body that will never age or grow old or even die.” He looked down at his veined hands with disgust. “This is what I have been working toward my whole life, the entire reason I founded the Mann Corporation, the reason I became one of the richest men on the planet. Wealth for wealth’s sake has never interested me; I seek only more wealth and money in order to fund my plans to save the world.”
Mann suddenly looked at Talon and Stinger again, his eyes wide with anger. “But you stupid children have never understood that. You have done everything in your power to get in the way of my plans. The arrogance of youth continues to astound me, but it doesn’t matter. Today, you and every other superhuman on the planet will die and I will usher in a new golden age for humanity, an age free of the problems your kind brings to this planet. My name shall be revered by every nation on the planet and every knee shall bow to my glory. I will ride the white horse of war and destroy every nation which foolishly rebels against my rule. Utopia will finally be achieved.”
“Dude, you sound crazy,” said Stinger. “And, by the way, does killing every superhuman on the planet include your Venetians? You know, the guys standing right next to you? Who have powers they could use to, I don’t know, kill you in a hundred horrible ways if they want to?”
“Mr. Mann has already promised us places of power in his new world,” said Pantalone. “He will share the power of the Starborn with us. We shall all ascend to godhood and live forever.”
“Quite right, Pantalone,” said Mann, nodding. “For the sacrifices you have all made for me, you will each be made gods of your own dominions. I always reward employees who do a good job, and you have all followed my orders most excellent. It is sad that dear Colombina, Zanni, and Arlecchino are not here to join us, but they signed up knowing the risks of working for me and their sacrifices shall not be in vain.”
Although Mann spoke grand words about those three, Talon thought that he didn’t sound exactly broken up over their absence. No doubt he was glad that he would get to keep more of the power of the Starborn to himself.
“Now,” said Mann, looking down at the Young Neos once again, “I have explained all that you need to know. Not that it will help you; you are missing half your team, your leader has been knocked out, and time is running out. If you immediately give up now, I may consider sparing your lives and giving you all a place in the new world I will rule as footstools, perhaps.”
Talon did not say anything, mostly because she realized that Mann was right. She didn’t know if she and Stinger could beat the Venetians on their own. Yes, White and Bolt were here, but with Bolt taken out, White would likely need to spend the fight keeping him safe. That didn’t even factor into account Eli, who would also need to be defended, lest the Venetians use him as a way to disarm her and Stinger. And, of course, Blizzard, Shell, and Treehugger were still missing, which didn’t help make the situation any better.
This might be our final battle, Talon thought. I might never see my mother again. And then she, like everyone else, will have to suffer under the rule of Mann for the rest of her life.
Talon was almost ready to throw in the towel when a chuckle came from behind her. Curious, Talon looked over her shoulder to see Bolt standing up, leaning on White Lightning for support. Bolt, despite having taken such a devastating blow, did not look even remotely afraid of Mann. He just kept chuckling, as if he had heard a great joke, though Talon didn’t see what was so funny about this situation.
Neither did Mann, apparently, because he said, in a voice that was more of a snarl than anything, “What are you laughing about? I’m surprised you can even still breathe, given how hard I hit you. How many more ribs will I need to break before you finally die?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” said Bolt. His voice sounded weaker than usual, yet his eyes blazed with amused confidence. “I heard your whole story and, I gotta say, I’m not impressed.”
Silence suddenly descended upon the chamber like an unexpected snowfall. Even the Venetians looked shocked at Bolt’s casual dismissal of Mann’s plans, while Mann’s right eye twitched.
Nonetheless, Mann said, in his usual calm tone, “I was not trying to impress you.”
“Yeah, but it still didn’t scare me much,” said Bolt with a shrug. “Your pretensions about saving the Earth aside, I can tell you’re just an old man frightened of dying. You don’t really care about humanity or the planet. You just don’t wan
t to die, because you don’t know what lies on the other side and you’re afraid you might not like it.”
Mann’s mouth twisted into the ugliest scowl Talon had ever seen in her life. “Like you know anything about me.”
“I don’t know you very well, true, but you remind me of someone else I once knew who didn’t want to die,” said Bolt. “She pretended like her desire for youth was noble, but in truth, she was just a bitter old woman who didn’t care about anyone other than herself. And that’s just what you are, regardless of what high-minded justifications your twisted old mind can come up with.”
Mann’s hands shook, though whether it was because of fear or anger, Talon could not tell. “Your opinion doesn’t matter. You still can’t stop me.”
“Hey, man, we’re still here,” said Bolt, gesturing at himself and the other Young Neos. “As long as we continue to stand, there’s always a chance to save the day.”
Mann’s hands shook harder than ever. “Then stand no more.”
Mann pulled out a small device from his pocket—the Call, Talon realized—and pressed the largest button on it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Treehugger ran with Space and Blizzard, doing her best to keep up, though her shorter legs meant that she had to take more steps than Space or Blizzard did. Still, Treehugger didn’t slow down, because she was all too aware of what would happen if she was too slow and the Servants caught up with her.
Speaking of the Servants, they had yet to run into any of those creatures after their clash with Mig-Noggorth back in that weird laboratory. Right now, Treehugger, Space, and Blizzard were running through the hallways of the Incinerator, following Space’s tracker, which was helping them find the location of Sparky. It seemed like most of the Servants were still distracted by the holograms which Space had set up earlier, but how much longer that would last, Treehugger had no idea. She just hoped that by the time the Servants realized they had been tricked, that she, Blizzard, and Space would be long gone, perhaps with Sparky as well.
The layout of the Incinerator was confusing, to say the least. It was dark and somewhat cramped, with narrow hallways, exposed pipes, and other things everywhere. It was still possible to run, of course, but Treehugger felt like she was running through some kind of huge, abandoned factory or possibly through the sewers of New York City, though the halls of the Incinerator were certainly cleaner than the NYC sewers.
“How much longer until we find Sparky?” Treehugger asked as they ran up a set of metal stairs, their footsteps clanging loudly against the metal steps as they ascended. “Is he close?”
“Should be,” said Space, glancing at the tracking device in his hands as they reached the top of the steps and ran down yet another hall. “According to the tracker, he should be in this room right … here!”
Space suddenly came to a halt in front of a closed door. Treehugger and Blizzard, surprised by his sudden stop, accidentally ran past him, but quickly rejoined him in front of the door. To Treehugger, the door did not look any different from the dozens of other similar doors they had passed so far on their journey across the ship, but the tracker in Space’s hands was beeping loudly and a red dot on its maps of the Incinerator helpfully labeled ‘SPARKY’ was blinking rapidly on the other side of the door.
“Sparky’s in there?” said Blizzard. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s open the door and get this over with.”
“It’s locked,” said Space, waving a hand in front of the door. “See? Won’t open. And I’m all out of explosive holo disks, so—”
“Step back,” said Blizzard, gesturing at Space and Treehugger to stand back. “I’ll open it. You two just stay out of the way.”
Without argument, Treehugger and Space retreated a short way down the hall, while Blizzard raised her hands before the door and focused. Her hands began glowing with white ice energy and, like magic, a thick sheet of ice began covering the locked door, until soon the entire door was covered in ice so cold that Treehugger could feel it even from the other end of the hallway. Space shivered, though Blizzard, as usual, looked completely unaffected by the cold.
Instead, Blizzard slammed her hands together and the ice suddenly fractured. With a loud crash of ice and metal, the door completely collapsed, leaving nothing more than a pile of frozen metal in the doorway.
“There,” said Blizzard. She looked at Space and Treehugger. “What are you two waiting for? Let’s go in.”
“Uh, sure,” said Space, who sounded a bit flustered; perhaps he wasn’t used to Blizzard’s powers yet. “Follow me.”
Drawing his sound blaster from his hip, Space climbed over the pile of frozen metal and into the room on the other side. Treehugger and Blizzard followed as quickly as they could, until soon all three of them were inside the room.
The room into which they had emerged was larger than Treehugger had expected. It was wide open, with a seemingly bottomless pit in the center, spanned only by a rather thin bridge that led to the other side of the room. On the other side of the room was what appeared to be another entrance and next to that entrance was a computer system of some sort, though the design was so foreign to the computers that Treehugger was familiar with on Earth that she didn’t understand how it was even supposed to work.
Sitting at the computer, his back to them, was none other than Sparky. Sparky appeared to be typing on what looked like a holographic keyboard, but he stopped doing that and immediately turned around in his seat, surprise obvious on his robotic features.
“Sparky!” Space shouted. “Sparky, it’s me, Space! Remember me? I’m here to bring you back home, buddy.”
Sparky rose from his chair, but rather than run, he stayed where he was. “Jason Space. Yes, I remember you, though I don’t know what you mean about bring me ‘back’ to ‘home.’ I serve Captain Omanx now, not you.”
“Sparky, that’s just the Servants’ reprogramming talking,” said Space as he began walking across the bridge, with Treehugger and Blizzard following close behind. “If you come with me and these girls, we can get you fixed right up back on the Adventure.”
“I do not need ‘fixing,’” said Sparky. “I am functioning perfectly well. You, on the other hand, are a threat, one that needs to be dealt with.”
“Come on, Sparky,” said Space. “There’s no need to talk like that. We don’t need to fight. We’re friends and friends don’t fight.”
Treehugger said nothing, but she found it curious how Sparky still had not moved. True, Sparky was a robot, but the fact was that if Sparky was intending to fight them, he would have already come forward to meet them on the bridge, yet he had not moved even one inch from his computer. Either Sparky was not a good fighter or something else was going on here.
“When did I ever say that I was going to fight you?” said Sparky.
Just as those words left Sparky’s mouth, the door next to the computer slammed open. Captain Omanx and about a dozen other Servants of the Starborn streamed out of the doorway, quickly blocking it off with their sheer numbers. They immediately aimed their plasma rifle at Treehugger and the others, their weapons humming and glowing with repressed energy.
“There you are,” said Omanx, giving them an expression which might have been a vicious smile. “I knew you would make your way here eventually, but I didn’t know when exactly.”
“What?” said Space in surprise. “Another trap?”
“Indeed,” said Omanx. “You see, I knew you would come for the robot eventually, so I put him here, seemingly defenseless, in order to lure you and your friends out of hiding. I allowed you to believe that your cheap holograms had tricked my men into going on a wild goose chase, but only so you would enter this room, from which none of you will leave alive.”
“The other doorway,” said Treehugger, turning around. “It’s still open. We can still—”
Unfortunately, when Treehugger looked down to the other end of the room, another dozen Servants burst out from it, kicking aside the chunks of the shatt
ered frozen door across the floor. In seconds, the other doorway was as blocked off as the first, completely trapping Treehugger, Blizzard, and Space between two large groups of armed, murderous Servants. Treehugger looked around, but she did not see any other exits they could use to escape.
“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t cover both entrances?” said Omanx. “Unlike Mig-Noggorth, I can actually empathize enough with people to know how they think and how they react when they run into danger. That also means that I know exactly how you will sound when you begin screaming for mercy as my men and I tear you three apart piece by piece.”
“Hold on, don’t you need Blizzard and me?” said Treehugger anxiously. “We’re your prisoners, remember? You were supposed to bring us to the Starborn.”
“We can explain to the Starborn that we had to kill you out of self-defense,” said Omanx. “Given how much they trust me, I doubt they’ll question me very much. Besides, there will be plenty of superhumans for them on Earth; losing you two is not a very serious loss.”
Blizzard looked at Space. “Space, we have to leave now. There’s no way we can beat all of these guys, even with my and Treehugger’s powers.”
“But we need to save Sparky,” said Space. “I can’t just abandon him here.”
“Come on,” said Blizzard, brushing back her long hair. “You heard Sparky. He considers himself a servant of Omanx now. There’s no point in wasting time and risking our lives trying to save him when he clearly doesn’t want to be saved.”
“That’s because he needs to be reprogrammed,” Space insisted. “If I can get a hold of him, I could reprogram him back over to our side.”
