The Shadowverse

by Francesca Gallo

  “How about I cut myself some slack and fork over 20,000 credits so I can keep my skin?”

  “Your skin?” replied Johnny, confused.

  “Don’t you know what happens to criminals?”

  “Uh, yes?”

  “OK, foreigner. Once found, every criminal, no matter the felony, is executed on this planet. Solis cal s it Titan’s ‘cleansing of injustice.’”

  Their eyes went wide. “That must be why Ledarius wanted her apprehended,”

  Johnny whispered, turning to the others. “We had better watch ourselves with him.”

  “Duh,” Sam replied. “He’s a criminal too.”

  “Twenty-three thousand and you won’t have to hear from us again, ma’am.”

  “Would you like it on one credit or on multiple?”

  “Oh, uh,” Johnny looked to the others, who did not know how to respond either. “I will take two. 20,000 on one, and 3,000 on the other.”

  Not replying to that, Trypher disappeared into another room. The group listened as Trypher unlocked several safes, returning once finished. “Twenty-three thousand credits.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. You won’t have to hear from us again.”

  “Sorry about the guards,” Ryan said. “Don’t worry, we made sure not to kill them.”

  “But remember,” Trypher reiterated, “if you ever come around here again, any of your relatives would be in immediate danger.”

  They simply smiled. “Yep.”

  “Now, get outta here.”

  “I second that,” Ryan responded.

  “Thank you for your time,” Johnny said to Trypher, who hadn’t placed the blasters in their holsters yet.

  The foreigners collectively made their way out of the room. It was a mission accomplished. Closing the door behind them, the group ascended the stairs and perambulated out the abandoned building. “Phew, that was a close one.”

  After trekking the distance back, they sauntered into Ledarius Wepon’s shop. The gray door separated from the middle with a whoosh. Upon their ingress, Ledarius had been helping a customer with a specific throwing weapon—but once he saw the group, he said something to the stranger and he walked out, eyeing the foreigners.

  Ledarius leaned over his transparent register, smiling mischievously. “Well, well, well, I will reasonably assume you had a good chat?”

  “You could say that,” Johnny replied. “Thing is, we didn’t apprehend her or anything like that.”

  “What? That was the deal, buddy.”

  “Well listen here, buddy,” Ryan replied, “I think you would rather enjoy this.”

  Johnny took out the 20,000-credit piece and handed it to Ledarius, who raised his eyebrow. The others were waiting for him to hand over the second piece, which was 3,000. He only eyed them, and each fel into place. Ledarius chuckled.

  “I have to say, I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you.”

  Ledarius turned and bent down under his register. A moment later he sprang back up. “You sure you want to go to him?”

  “Of course we are.”

  “Well, I could use people like you. These powers you have. They could help me and you get really, really rich.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ryan interrupted, “but our friend is in danger. And also, wouldn’t you rather us take Titan out of the equation instead of helping you?”

  Ledarius thought for a moment. “It isn’t going to go the way you think, heroes. Many years I have watched, and I have seen much. People like you, who were so virtuous and capable of great things. Then they decided to fight him. Many of ‘em had their own agendas. Titan had probably taken something important from ‘em, and they aspired to seek revenge and kill him.”

  “What happened to them?”

  Ledarius shook his head, eyes far away. “They were no match. It was not just his power, but his cunning. Now, they are either bones used in fertilization or have been enlisted into his military.”

  “Did he take someone from you?” questioned Jane.

  Ledarius paused, eyes staring into nothing. “He did. I once had a wife. She was…

  taken from me. My wife and I were sabotaging an attack on my hometown, but they stil kil ed the rebels and her too. In her dying breaths, she urged me to run and never look

  back.” His eyes were even further now than before. “And so that is what I have been doing al these years. Running.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jane responded in sadness. “That is just terrible.”

  Ryan stomped to Ledarius, who was leaning on the wall. “We will destroy him. I promise you that.”

  Ledarius snapped out of his trance. “Come back here.” He motioned for them to follow to the back of his shop, which was the size of a warehouse. “There she is. She’s cal ed the Octavian.”

  A medium-sized vessel came into view. It was light gray and shaped similar to a flying saucer, except a shred more el iptical. Tall lamps bathed the craft in light.

  Ledarius pressed a button, and the whole roof spread apart with a loud screeching noise. “It will fit every one of ‘ya.”

  “Whoa,” Johnny said.

  “How is it powered?” Ryan asked.

  “What he said,” Dustin and Sam both added.

  “I won’t explain it since you earthlings wouldn’t have these elements on your planet, but its ‘fuel’ is technical y the universe.”

  “What?”

  “The drive bends space, so it is possible to achieve faster-than-light travel.”

  A light went on in Johnny’s head. “Alcubierre drive.” He brushed his fingers over the ship’s frame.

  “An Alcubierre drive?” responded Ryan. “The speculative proposal of a warp drive by Miguel Alcubierre?”

  “It must be,” Johnny replied.

  “I’m confused,” Jane interjected. “What are you talking about?”

  “Miguel Alcubierre is a Mexican physicist. He theorized that space-time could be altered in such a way which would al ow for faster-than-light travel. It would incorporate the use of higher dimensions and exotic matter!”

  “I will take it it’s a good thing.”

  “Sure is!”

  “When can we get out of here?” Ryan asked Ledarius, who had been watching the shenanigans.

  “30 minutes.”

  “Remember, we need to go to wherever Titan is.”

  “He is located in his ship, the Titan.”

  “Not on a planet?” asked Johnny.

  “Not since Sonovan kil ed him. Apparently, he likes ships a whole lot more now.”

  “Great.”

  “OK, well where does he happen to be?”

  Ledarius connected something into his computer, and then came back. “It will take a day’s travel to get there.”

  “A day?!” Ryan screamed. “Twenty-four hours?!”

  Ledarius furrowed his brow, shaking his head. “What do you mean twenty-four hours? Thirty-one hours. A day is thirty-one hours.”

  Johnny shot Ryan a look. “Oh, right. But stil !”

  “Just whenever we can get out of here, please tell us. OK?” replied Johnny.

  “I got ‘ya, Earthling. It will be 27 more minutes.”

  “Good.”

  Their thoughts drifted to Rose. Thirty-one more hours, Ryan thought in dismay. Let’s just hope she isn’t dead.

  CHAPTER 14

  DREAM WE KNEW

  Rose Johnson, now christened Justice, stood in her scarlet-il umined suit. Titan had said he expected her friends to arrive, and that she should be ready to do what was necessary. He had questioned her as to how she had acquired her suit, for they were indeed his and currently in the process of design.

  Unable to explain the anomaly, Titan resorted to his psychic powers in order for him to know how. Her memories became his memories as he searched her mind. The answer was stunningly perplexing. Faced with a paradox, Titan had spent hours in his throne room in order to come to a reasonable solution to this enigma.

  This mysterious speedster,
only referring to himself as Z, left Titan bewildered and mystified. She noted her friends had received suits specific to their powers. Titan’s military, at the moment, produced two of these, Oracle and Chronos. “How must he have received them?” he asked her.

  “I do not know.”

  ~~~

  “It’s ready, freaks!” Ledarius yelled. No customers entered the shop, only because he had closed it for the day.

  “Finally!” Ryan replied, jumping off his stool like a man on a mission.

  “About time!” Dustin added. Sam, Jane, and Johnny had been quiet. In fact, Johnny shook profusely. No pregame nervousness could compare to what he had been undergoing.

  As they piled into the el iptical craft, its construction staggered the others. “You know how many people would kil to see this?”

  “Yeah,” Sam replied, “Too many.”

  “Got that right,” Ryan replied.

  “Yep,” Dustin added.

  The Octavian’s cockpit comprised scores of il uminated buttons and switches. Two little holograms with distinct sorts of information hovered an inch over the dashboard.

  The truth was that even though Johnny desperately strove for optimism, he had been by far the most pessimistic. He could muster only a pasted smile. From what he heard, Titan is the most feared being in the universe, and he—Johnny Sparks—is about to meet him.

  “All right, sit tight. It’s going to get bumpy,” Ledarius warned. The craft lifted, and Ryan held his breath. In fact, they all held their breath. The engine purred like a kitten, but they could see a green energy. The ship jerked and shook like a rol er coaster. No, worse.

  Johnny reddened his hands holding the balance bars. He had closed his eyes, wondering if he should still do it. Only two sentences came to mind. The words from his

  father, hours before the Encounter with Z.

  You wanted to reach the stars. You wanted to go beyond them.

  He nailed those words of comfort and wisdom into his brain.

  Within ten minutes, the ship freed itself of Nexon’s gravitational grip. The group stared out the window, in awe of the sight. “Wow,” Johnny marveled. “What a view.”

  There were dozens of ships, smal and large, surrounding the planet like bees to a hive.

  The lights from the cities shone like tiny stars on the surface. If this did not resemble science-fiction, nothing would.

  Ledarius flipped more switches. “This is it.”

  “Hail Mary, full of gra—” Ryan yelled before the Octavian cut him off by the tremendous sound and energy from the drive. The view from inside was inimitable, the space in front of the craft curved on itself. Behind the craft, space seemed to expand.

  The crew held on tight for this pivotal moment of launch. However, the ship had already achieved its purpose, and they were well on their way towards the Titan.

  ~~~

  Titan beckoned Justice toward him. Now that she lay in his control, Rose became his new Voir, despite Solis’s ostentatious dissidence.

  “Yes, my lord?”

  “Solis has reported to me Ledarius Wepon and your former allies are in transit to our location.”

  She flinched. “They mean nothing to me.”

  Titan turned back to the expanse of the universe beyond his ship with an enigmatic smile. “To be certain, you must engage them.”

  Justice appeared a jot worried. “I will do my best.” Something in her strained her mind to remember. She brushed it off.

  “If I concluded correctly about your potential, your best is enough.”

  She left with that statement. Titan ordered the dark-clad Solis to be brought to him. “I want you to cruise the ship in their direction.”

  “It wil be done, my lord.”

  ~~~

  The passengers marveled at the scene. “Wow, it’s like space has become a soup,”

  Sam admired.

  “Yeah,” Johnny added. “I think that results from the curvature.”

  “That is correct,” Ledarius responded. “But if I were you, I would be desperate to get sleep.”

  “You are probably right.”

  “There are two rooms in the back.”

  The door to the rear of the craft unlocked and slid open. They located a door on one side of the hal way and one on the other. “OK, Dustin you’re with me,” Sam said.

  “And we will be in the other,” Ryan replied. “Twenty-nine hours boys. Twenty-nine hours.”

  Jane said nothing and walked into the room. Four beds laid in the room, two on each side. These beds were constructed similar to bunk beds, except the “mattress” is a long case. Each person would float in its clasp.

  “Well that’s neat,” Johnny exclaimed. “I suppose aliens have solved gravity too.”

  “Duh.”

  “They’re aliens! It’s what they do,” Dustin responded.

  “Get some sleep, please.”

  After a few minutes fiddling with the touchpad, Johnny managed to close the door.

  Dustin and Sam were in one room, and the rest in the other. No one had brought spare clothes either. Johnny climbed the ladder to the top compartment. Jane slept below him, and Ryan on the other side of the smal room.

  “Here, it opens like this,” Johnny motioned, helping Jane with the touchpad. “There.”

  The compartment door slid open and she climbed inside. Johnny smiled in comfort and shut her in. Within seconds, she was floating inside the sleeping compartment. Ryan looked on in anxiety.

  “Uh, that doesn’t look very comfortable,” he complained.

  Johnny did not answer but waited for her to drop away to sleep, which took less than five minutes. Ryan eyed him in suspicion. “What?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, but don’t you think that was a bit awkward, even for you?”

  “I was just making sure.”

  “Yeah right. That’s what they all say.” Johnny quipped back with an imitation of

  “that’s what they all say.”

  “Well, to be honest, I’m worse,” Ryan chuckled. He hopped into the compartment as well and sealed himself in. Johnny did the same. Once inside the compartment, the air chilled contentedly. Because of this, he too fell asleep in minutes.

  ~~~

  At the front of the ship, Ledarius contacted another ship. A voice came over the screen. “Do you have the subjects?” it stipulated.

  “I do.”

  “Lord Titan wil be most pleased with your delivery, Ledarius.”

  Of course I haven’t. Not since my love had been taken. “Never failed, have I?”

  “It is pleasing to see you have lived up to expectations.”

  Ledarius smirked. “It’s why I’m in this business, after all.”

  “We have calculated your arrival to be thirteen hours, since the Titan will travel in your direction.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “I hate to interrupt the tension, but you need to leave. Now.”

  “Or what? Are you going to ask for another lighter?”

  Johnny was about the steady business of reliving the meeting between him and Z.

  Then, during this dream, another being came into view, rising like a serpent. Its eyes were glowing blood red as it stood at least nine feet off the odd ground. “Hello, Johnny

  Michael Sparks.” He spoke in a deep tone. In the dream, the stage shifted to a dark, misty place. In fact, the mist seemed to give the impression that the location is real, and it is. Wait. Red eyes.

  “Where am I?”

  “You are in the Shadowverse.”

  “The Shadowverse? What? Are you Z?”

  “I am not Z.”

  “What is this place?”

  “It is the source of our power, Sparks. It turns out someone has exposed you to Ooris. Though not pure, it is enough to bestow upon you the abilities you have gained.”

  Johnny raised his head in conclusion. “Titan.” The said being nodded a single time.

  “Where is Rose?”

  “She
is safe and is waiting for you to arrive.”

  “How is Rose?”

  Titan ignored the query. “Your friends, too, have acquired power—power they cannot control.”

  “We are doing just fine, Titan. Where is Sonovan Lung? We need to find him.”

  Titan nearly laughed at the question. Nearly. “I am here, and you ask me ‘where is Sonovan?’”

  “Can’t you answer?” he quipped.

  “Very disrespectful remark, Sparks. Very impressive. Come here now.”

  At that moment, an unexplainable force dragged Johnny to the place the dark figure stood. “What are you doing?” he exclaimed. “Let go of me!” Truly, Johnny was intimidated, for Titan gave an imposing impression in this dark realm.

  “I’m afraid I cannot do that.” After a few dreadful seconds, Titan grasped Johnny. “Let us look into the past, shal we? A token of a time not very long ago.”

  Instantly, the surroundings vanished and Johnny appeared in a bright hal way.

  Teenagers were darting about, while others chattered to each other. It soon became undeniable Titan had somehow accessed a memory from high school.

  “So, these were your humble beginnings,” Titan noted. “Charming.” Looking around, the place intrigued Titan. Johnny furrowed his brow at the sight of himself, a blonde back then. In this high school, Johnny Sparks had been quite the popular one, despite his displeasure of the title. “Ah, there you are. What an innocent fel ow.”

  “Why this? Why do you want me to remember this?” Johnny questioned.

  “I want to see you in action.”

  As the two watched, the high-school Johnny Sparks kept to himself, trying his best to either ignore stares from girls or scowls from people who did not fancy him. Closing his locker, he noticed a new kid bul ied by two members of the footbal team. As if instincts had kicked in, Johnny rushed to the boy’s aid, who looked no older than fifteen.

  Watching, Johnny said, “Yep, that’s me. I’ve always stood up for the little guy.”

  “Good trait,” Titan answered.

  The high school Johnny Sparks had sprinted over. “Hey, what the hell are you guys doing?” he demanded in anger. The boy’s eyes widened that someone had assisted him. Of course, the two bul ies did not think the same.

  “Whoa, you had better watch that mouth. Look who it is! Johnny Sparks here to save the day!” mocked one of the two.