by Lucas Flint
Once both of our teams were down there, I heard Blizzard call, “Bolt, Strike, are you two coming down yet?”
“We’re coming,” I replied. I looked up at the sky one more time before I looked at Mecha Knight. “Are you coming, too?”
“Yes,” said Mecha Knight. “But I will go last.”
I nodded, but allowed Strike to enter first. Once he was inside, I grabbed the sides of the doorway to pull myself in when I suddenly heard a strange, high-pitched sound somewhere in the sky above. It sounded kind of like a whistle, except it was getting louder and louder with every passing second.
I looked over my shoulder at Mecha Knight, who had gone unusually still. “Mecha Knight, what is that sound? It—”
“Get in!” Mecha Knight suddenly shouted. “Hurry! Before it hits!”
He shoved my back, forcing me into the stairwell in the tunnel. Just as I staggered against the opposite wall, Mecha Knight pulled the door shut, which automatically locked with a click before Strike or I could react.
“Mecha Knight?” I said, looking over at the door. “Are you still—”
All of a sudden, a huge explosion erupted from somewhere above me. It sounded muted, but even through the concrete roof, it sounded far too close for comfort. The entire staircase shook, causing me and Strike to grasp the railings for dear life while our teammates cried out in surprise.
Then I heard heavy chunks of stuff slam against the ceiling and I noticed that I could no longer hear the whistling sound anymore. Of course, I was now inside a concrete building that most likely blocked some of the noise, but it still sounded eerily quiet outside now that the explosion was over.
“God …” said Strike. His hair was a little messed up, but aside from that he looked unharmed. He looked up at the ceiling. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It sounded like a bomb or something.”
I looked at the door. “What about Mecha Knight? Do you think we should go out and make sure he’s all right?”
“I’m not sure it would be safe to go out there,” said Strike. “You saw what those Pokacu were capable of. If Mecha Knight was destroyed in the explosion, then opening that door would just let the Pokacu come in and kill us.”
“But I have to make sure he’s okay,” I said. I raised my hand to my earcom and tapped it. “Val, can you connect me to Mecha Knight’s helmet? I want to try to talk to him.”
“Yes, sir,” said Valerie. “One moment, please.”
I waited a few seconds as Valerie attempted to connect my earcom with Mecha Knight’s helmet. I already knew Mecha Knight’s communication channel, so I didn’t think it would be very hard for Valerie to connect us … assuming, that is, that Mecha Knight was not blown into pieces by whatever had blown up outside.
After a few tense seconds of waiting, Valerie suddenly said, “I am sorry, Bolt, but I am unable to connect to Mecha Knight’s helmet. It appears that his communication channel is offline. Would you like me to try to contact him again in a few minutes?”
My heart falling, I shook my head and said, “No, Val, that’s all right. But thanks … thanks for checking. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay,” said Valerie. “I’m always here if you need me.”
With that, my earcom clicked off and I looked at Strike. “Valerie said she couldn’t connect to Mecha Knight’s communication channel.”
Strike’s eyes widened. “Then does that mean that Mecha Knight is … dead?”
I didn’t say anything to that, mostly because I didn’t know what to say.
Chapter Four
Strike and I joined our teammates at the bottom of the staircase, where they had all gathered. We didn’t bother to open the door and try to look outside, primarily because of our concerns over the possibility of being caught and killed by the Pokacu. We were also worried that the explosion might have made the air unsafe to breathe out there, though we didn’t know for sure.
The others wanted to know what happened to Mecha Knight. We told them that we didn’t know for sure. We just told them that Mecha Knight had chosen to stay out there in the open when the explosion happened. We said he was probably okay, but deep down, I had my doubts. It seemed likely to me that Mecha Knight was dead; and, if he wasn’t dead, then he was probably too badly damaged to rejoin us, which meant he was most likely going to become a prisoner of the Pokacu, if they didn’t finish him off.
Regardless, we decided that Mecha Knight would have wanted us to keep going so we could escape the Triangle, so Strike and I led our teams down the tunnel in what seemed to be the direction to the warehouse that Mecha Knight had told us about. Having never been down here before, I had no idea if we were going in the right direction or not, but given that this was the only direction in which the tunnel went, we just assumed that this was the right way to go.
The tunnel was a lot wider than the staircase and pretty dark, but there were lights along the walls at ten foot intervals, so it wasn’t like we were walking through total darkness. Still, the visibility wasn’t as good as it could have been, so we had to advance carefully in case there was anything hiding ahead of us.
Not that we thought there was anything dangerous down here, of course. After all, the Pokacu were still focused on the area around the Justice Statue, at least as far as we know. But the Pokacu had seemed incredibly well-prepared and so easily could have set up some kind of ambush or trap to capture anyone who tried to escape this way. It didn’t help that none of us had regained our powers yet; although now that we were no longer exposed to the powerless gas, I felt much stronger, though it would probably be another couple of hours at least before my powers fully returned. And the question was whether or not we even had a couple more hours to allow our powers to come back.
As we walked past the various tools and bits and pieces of stone and concrete along the floor left from where the workers had worked, I thought about Mecha Knight and Nicknacks. I hoped they both survived, but given how powerful, swift, and merciless the Pokacu had shown themselves to be, that seemed unlikely to me. Both Mecha Knight and Nicknacks were veterans of the last Pokacu invasion, but there was no telling what kind of weapons and technology the Pokacu had at their disposal nowadays; weapons and technology that those two may not be prepared to deal with.
And if Mecha Knight was dead … I didn’t cry. I had already lost Dad and I didn’t want to lose Mecha Knight, who was basically a mentor to me. Of course, I didn’t want anyone in the NHA or INJ to die, but Mecha Knight’s death would hurt me a lot more than the deaths of the other NHA members. Then again, given that Mecha Knight was really a robot, I wondered if he even could die or if he could transfer his consciousness from his current body into another robot body or machine if his current body got damaged or destroyed.
I glanced at Strike as we walked. He looked even more somber than me. No doubt he was worrying about the Midnight Menace and the other INJ leaders and members who had been attacked. He probably felt guilty about abandoning them; I felt guilty about it myself, even though there was nothing any of us could have done to save them.
I wondered if the Pokacu were going to kill everyone or not. I figured they were, given that many of them had helped defeat the Pokacu the first time, but there was noway to know for sure. I just wished I could have saved everyone, even though, again, there was literally nothing I could do about it.
Eventually, after several minutes of walking in silence, we reached the end of the tunnel, which was another staircase, but much wider than the first one. It led to a trap door, which was locked, but Strike and I managed to break it open by slamming into it together, forcing it to flip open and allow us to leave the tunnel and enter a new building.
We were inside what was obviously the warehouse that Mecha Knight had told us about. The ceiling and catwalks were high above us, while shelves full of boxes and building equipment filled most of the available space, allowing a few open aisles between the shelves for people to walk betwee
n. It was incredibly dusty and smelled like it had not been cleaned in a while.
“Hello?” I called, my voice echoing in the wide open space. “Anyone there? Hello?”
There was no answer. I guessed that the workers must have left this place after the Statue was finished, which meant that we were alone in this place.
Because it was safe to come out, Strike and I climbed out of the trapdoor first and then helped the rest of our teammates into the warehouse. Once everyone was in, we closed the trapdoor and then locked it with a metal pipe run through the handles. We also put a large crate on top of it, but I knew it wouldn’t keep out any Pokacu soldiers who might try to follow us through there. It would probably hold them back for at least a few minutes, which would be enough time for us to flee.
Once the trapdoor was closed, I looked around at everyone. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yes,” said Blizzard, nodding. “But what are we supposed to do now?”
“Should we wait until Mecha Knight comes back?” said Treehugger. She no longer looked as sick as before, now looking more worried than anything. “Did he say where he was going to rendezvous us?”
“Mecha Knight didn’t say when he’d rendezvous with us,” I said, shaking my head. I didn’t say ‘if he’d rendezvous with us’ because I didn’t want to imply that he might be dead.
“Are we on our own, then?” said Slime. He wiped the sweat off his brow.
“I don’t want to say that exactly, but—” I said.
“Yes,” Strike said abruptly. “We are.”
Slime’s eyes widened and he sat down on top of a small crate, while the other members of both teams just exchanged worried looks.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” said Talon. She brushed back her blonde hair and glanced out the windows of the warehouse. “Should we try to leave Hero Island?”
“Not yet,” said Strike. “For one, none of us have gotten our powers back. And two, the Pokacu would likely shoot down any vehicle they saw trying to leave. With both the NHA and INJ down, the Pokacu effectively have control over all of Hero Island.”
“I’m afraid Strike’s right,” said Shell. Shell’s back—which was usually abnormally large and strong—looked normal now, no doubt an effect of the powerless gas. He pushed his glasses up his nose. “If the Pokacu have the Leadership Council and the INJ’s leaders, plus a good chunk of members from both organizations, it’s pretty clear that this island is now Pokacu territory.”
“That means it will only be a matter of time before the Pokacu find us,” said Strike. “Anyone want to bet they’ll find us before or after our powers return?”
“But we shouldn’t give up or despair,” I said. “Right now, the Pokacu only seem to have control over the area around the Justice Statue. If we move quick, we should be able to get off this island and contact help.”
“Help?” said Blizzard. “Help from who?”
“The other NHA and INJ members who were not present for the ceremony, for one,” I said. “Also, there’s the G-Men.”
A collective groan rose from everyone when I mentioned the G-Men, but I said, “I know, but the G-Men, to our knowledge, haven’t been taken out by the Pokacu yet, so they still have all their members, bases, and equipment. And because they helped defeat the Pokacu in the last invasion, that means that their senior members most likely have experience fighting Pokacu, so they could be helpful in defeating them again.”
“All of that is good, but the problem is that we actually need to get off Hero Island first,” said Strike. “Or at least contact people on the outside.”
“Not to worry,” I said. “Valerie can contact the G-Men, plus any NHA or INJ agents on the outside. Just hold on a minute.”
I tapped my earcom again and said, “Val, you still there? I need your help.”
“Yes, Bolt?” said Valerie. “What do you need me to help with?”
“I need you to contact as many NHA members outside of Hero Island that you can,” I said. “And the G-Men, too, if you can get in touch with them. Tell them about the Pokacu attack and everything that has happened in the last hour or so and ask them all to come back and—”
“No,” came a voice that rang throughout the warehouse. “Do not call anyone back to Hero Island. It is a trap.”
Alarmed, my team and I looked around wildly until I spotted Nicknacks standing on top of the catwalks near the ceiling. He jumped down over the railings and landed expertly on the floor, though I noticed he stumbled a little, like he was tired or possibly even wounded.
Straightening up, Nicknacks pointed at me and said, “Do not call anyone here, Bolt. That is exactly what the Pokacu want.”
“What?” I said. “But we need help. Omega Man, Mecha Knight, the Midnight Menace, and everyone else … they all need our help.”
“And they will get it, but not in this way,” said Nicknacks. I noticed that he had a lot of cuts and burns on his face and armor, no doubt from his fight with Graleex and the soldiers. “The Pokacu have probably already set traps to capture anyone who tries to get onto the Island.”
I lowered my hand from my earcom as Strike said, “Nicknacks? What are you doing here? Bolt said you were fighting the Pokacu.”
“I was, but I retreated when it became clear that I couldn’t beat them,” said Nicknacks. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Seems like they’ve advanced quite a bit since the first invasion fifteen years ago. They were using new weapons I have not seen before and even damaged my spear.”
Nicknacks held out his spear, which was no longer humming with energy. There was a long, sharp crack running its length, which probably explained why it was silent.
“But how did you get past the Triangle Prison?” I said. “Mecha Knight said that no one can get past it.”
“Limited teleportation is one of my special abilities,” said Nicknacks. He grunted and rubbed his back. “But I can only teleport myself and my equipment, and only for a very short distance, plus it tires me out quickly. I teleported to this place because I guessed that this was where Mecha Knight would send you. Quite glad that I guessed correctly.”
“Huh,” I said. “I didn’t know you could teleport.”
“It’s not an ability I advertise or use often due to how much energy it uses,” said Nicknacks. “But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it would be a foolish mistake to bring more heroes to this island. Instead, we must leave as soon as we can and then regroup with whoever we can find.”
“How are we going to do that?” I said.
“I can already think of a way out, though I am unsure if the Pokacu have already dealt with it,” said Nicknacks. “In any case, we must leave as soon as we can. While the Pokacu will likely spend some time gathering up the other heroes, they will no doubt send some of their soldiers outside of the Triangle to secure the rest of the Island and search for us, if they haven’t already.”
“Hold on,” I said, holding up a hand. “What do you mean, ‘gathering up the other heroes’? Aren’t the Pokacu just going to kill everyone?”
Nicknacks shook his head. “I doubt it. As much as the Pokacu loathe you neoheroes for stopping them the first time, I am guessing that they will probably just take everyone prisoner instead.”
“Why would they do that?” said Strike. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to kill them all and take out the biggest threat to their invasion? There’s nothing stopping them from doing that.”
“Logically, yes, it would make sense, but I believe that if they really wanted you dead, they would have simply blown you all to pieces with that missile that Omega Man and Bolt stopped earlier,” said Nicknacks, nodding at me when he spoke my name. “But notice how they merely de-powered everyone instead. That tells me that they have different plans for the neoheroes, though what, exactly, I cannot yet say.”
“Are they going to torture everyone?” said Treehugger, hugging herself.
“I bet they’re going to try to get important information out of them first,
” said Blizzard. “Maybe they’ll interrogate Omega Man and the rest of the Leadership Council for information on Earth that could help their invasion.”
“A likely possibility, but either way, we must not dally,” said Nicknacks. “Right now, we are not capable of defeating the Pokacu, so we must leave Hero Island and regroup with anyone we can find, as I have said before. Come.”
Nicknacks turned to leave, but before he could take even one step, I said, “Wait a minute. I have some questions.”
Nicknacks stopped and looked over his shoulder at me in exasperation. “Can’t they wait until we’re off Hero Island? They can’t be that important.”
“Actually, they are,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Back in the Triangle, you said that Graleex was your ‘brother’ and Graleex called you a ‘traitor.’ I thought you were the last surviving member of an alien race that had been eliminated by the Pokacu.”
Nicknacks froze. The others all looked at him with a mixture of surprise and anticipation. I remembered that none of them had been there when Nicknacks had admitted to being related to Graleex, but it didn’t matter to me, because I was now wondering what Nicknacks’ true allegiance was.
I thought that Nicknacks wasn’t going to answer, but then he turned around and said, “I am sorry, but … I lied about that. I am not the last surviving member of an alien race wiped out by the Pokacu. The truth is … I am a Pokacu myself.”
Everyone took a collective step backwards from Nicknacks, including myself, although Nicknacks didn’t come toward us or attempt to harm us. Still, that revelation was not exactly good to hear in light of the recent Pokacu invasion, or even in light of the last one, given all of the chaos and destruction the Pokacu had caused the first time they attacked.
“But you don’t look like a Pokacu,” said Strike. “You look completely different from all of the ones I’ve seen.”
“Like you humans, we Pokacu come in a variety of different races, or I should say subspecies, since that is a better descriptor of what I am,” said Nicknacks. He put a hand on his chest. “I am a member of what you might call the support class, while Graleex is a member of the soldier class. That makes us ‘related,’ insofar as we were bred in the same environment and came from the same batch of genetically designed individuals. The soldier class is the class meant to lead the invasions on planets, while the support class is the backbone of the army, providing medical attention to wounded soldiers, delivering supplies onto the battlefield, and doing various other tasks to ensure that the soldiers can do everything they need to do.”
