“Thank you, sir,” Johnny replied. “But we need to reconnect with our loved ones.”
“I will have a driver take you where you need to go.”
“Yeah, wel , uh, we live in NYC, so we’ll just teleport there.”
Captivated, the President asked, “Can I see it?”
“Sure.”
Dustin activated the portal, and the sphere rose from out of the floor. “Incredible,” the President awed. “Just incredible.”
“Yeah, it really is,” Ryan replied.
“Mr. President, we will be back in about two hours,” notified Johnny.
“I will be expecting you, Shadowforce. But for now, take those things off and get in casual attire.”
Sonovan asked for one favor. “Sir, if possible, may I take a short strol around the city? I have not been to Earth in a terribly protractive amount of time. If I have pleased you, grant my request.”
The President was enamored by Sonovan’s veneration. “Of course. You can ride in one of our SUV’s. Tell Charlie where to drop you off.”
They nodded and jumped into the portal. As quickly as they had burst into his office, they burst right back out. Alone, the President chuckled. “Amazing.”
~~~
Johnny, about to jump into a portal Sam would open for he and Jane, stopped short.
His body felt weird and tingly. “Uh…I don’t feel so good,” he groaned, fal ing to the floor.
“What’s happening?”
Jane, Sam, and Dustin shouted for Ryan to come over. “Ryan! Come here! There’s something wrong with Johnny boy!”
Rushing to his aid, Ryan bent low. “Is this like the car fiasco?” He slipped his head underneath Johnny’s shoulder, helping the weak man to stand. “You don’t look very good.”
“Yeah, you look pale,” Jane added.
“What she said,” Sam complemented.
Though wobbly, Johnny stood thanks to Ryan’s support. “I-I think it’s the Ooris. I’ve spent way too much. Sonovan s-said that if we use our powers too much, we’ll lose them for a bit.” He tested his power, yet the Ooris did not respond.
“What?” Dustin retorted. “How long is ‘a bit’?!”
“I don’t know. A few hours?”
“So if I use mine without caution I’l lose it too?” further questioned Ryan. “Who told you this?”
“Sonovan. On Herook. Maybe I forgot to tell you.”
“Shit.”
“What does he need?” asked Rose. She had not been in the room.
“Uh, a lot of Gatorade.”
~~~
Ryan and Rose together ventured to his house. He knocked on the door, and she asked, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Mom. It’s Ryan.”
Nearly ripping the door off its hinges, his mother rushed and embraced him. “Ryan, I had thought I lost you!” she cried. Her dark brown hair ruffled against his shoulder. Rose stood there, not speaking a word.
“I’m fine, Mom. I have so much to tell you.”
She looked at her son with admiration and happiness as her hand was placed on his cheek. “Do you know how many nights I have slept?”
“Probably none.”
“That’s right, Ryan. None! And you know what made it worse? Some stranger broke into the Jones’s place and told them where you were. I was next! He broke in here too!”
“What did he look like?” Ryan questioned, definitely suspicious as he furrowed his brow.
“Tal , and he wore a jacket. And I don’t know what he looked like. Something covered his face in a mask. Hold on! Do you know him?”
“What? Oh, uh, kind of.”
“Well, who the hel is he? What boys are you palling around with now?” She glanced at Rose, only now realizing she had been there the whole time. “Wel ! Who might you be, ginger? My apology if this offends you, but by golly you are tal !”
“Genes,” she replied, nodding.
Ryan let out an uneasy laugh and cleared his throat. “Mom, this is Rose. We met her a while back. A lot of weird shit has happened, so please, can we come in?”
“You’re my son, Ryan. Of course you can come on in. And please, bring your girlfriend with you!” She turned to Rose, who blinked twice. “He final y did it. I’m so amazed he found someone like you,” she whispered. “You know, he always had problems around pretty girls.”
“Mom!”
~~~
In corroboration with what Sonovan had said on Herook, Johnny had partial y lost his ability. Unable to run or move at the superhuman speeds, Johnny found himself temporarily locked inside a human body once again. Thankful y, only several hours would be needed before he could become the Johnny Sparks he had come to fancy.
The real y fast version, the version he believed fit him better than anything life had offered him. The speedster—the hero—Johnny Sparks.
Johnny took Jane to his house, upon her desire. She wanted to meet them. “All right, well don’t be suspicious, Jane,” he said, walking up to the door he had doubted he would ever see again.
“Why would I be suspicious?”
“Well, uh, the last time I brought a girl home was four years ago. And that relationship didn’t work out very wel .”
“I understand. But we aren’t in an actual you-know-what, right?” she murmured.
“Oh, uh, I guess.”
“I’ll do my best.” He smiled and rang the doorbel .
Irene unlocked it and swept it open. Her eyes lit up at the sight. “Johnny! Oh my God!” Similar to Bethany’s reaction, Irene grabbed him and held on for dear life. “My life has been absolutely terrible for the past week!”
“I’m so sorry for not tel ing you, but it was in your best interests, Mom.” He held her as tight as good, not wanting to let go.
“Timothy! Come on down! You won’t believe who’s here!” she screamed. “But someone did tel me, Johnny.”
Johnny furrowed his brow, as did Jane. “What?” they both responded in unison.
“What do you mean?”
“Please, come on in.”
~~~
“Here we go, dude,” chuckled Dustin. “This is it. Got the camera?”
“Mom’s gonna kill us for this.”
“She’s gonna kil us for leaving in the first place.”
“Can you imagine if we lost and Titan killed us?” Sam jested.
“She would have killed us for that too,” Dustin responded.
He knocked on the door and rang the bell. A pair of eyes popped into view behind the window shades. Simultaneously, the door flew open. “Dustin! Sam! You’re alive! Is-Is this really you?” Jenny exclaimed, stammering. “Worried sick I’ve been! Do you know what kind of torture we have been under?!” She finished with a slap on both cheeks, but they did not really care. A slap on the cheek was literally nothing compared to what had transpired.
Robert came to the door and his eyes widened. “Kids! We’ve been worried sick!”
“I just said that, Robert.”
“You know how bad this has been? It’s been torture!”
“I said that too,” she replied.
“You’re both grounded!”
“You can’t ground us, Dad,” Sam countered.
“We’re 22,” Dustin finished.
Robert frowned. “All right, well, I’ll figure something out. Aw come over here!” he said. His big arms grabbed them both. Jenny joined in.
“I have missed you so much. I was entertaining suicide, actually.”
“Don’t say that Robert!”
“And it made it worse when some crazy freak zoomed into our house.”
Dustin and Sam glanced at each other. “What?!”
“Yeah, he told us where you were! Herook, or whatever he cal ed it? And you were the first to go to outer space. Gosh, that sounds so sci-fi.”
“That was Z!” Dustin exclaimed.
“You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s a special friend.”
“Real y? He didn’t seem li
ke a friend. Ordered us to not say anything to anyone except Bethany, Irene, and Tim.”
“He did?”
“Yeah! And he broke into Bethany’s house.”
“He did?!” the brothers shouted.
“Yes, it’s been hectic.”
“Oh God, this is so crazy.”
“Come on in! I want to hear where you’ve been! It’s been a crazy society since these
‘wormholes’ as they call them opened.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Sam replied.
“All right, we’re coming on in.”
~~~
A while later, the duo had explained their story. Starting from the beginning, Ryan and Rose both told their sides of all that transpired, including Titan, Justice, Z, and his soon arrival.
“This is too much,” Bethany said. “I can’t retain all this.”
“Take your time,” Rose replied. “Even I can’t make sense of it al .”
Nodding, Bethany stood and went into the kitchen. She returned with three glasses filled with water. “I am sure you need this.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Ryan said, helping her with the cups. He handed Rose one.
“Thank you.”
“Are the boys reconciling as well?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“How long?”
“Until what?”
“Until he gets here.”
“Less than a week,” Rose replied. “Likely around the five days range.”
~~~
“Ah, home sweet home,” Johnny exhaled, reclining on the family couch. “It’s been too long.”
Timothy found a place to sit right next to his son. He placed his hand on his shoulder.
“I told you,” he said. “You are special.”
Johnny remembered that night, the very night he and the others had been affected by Z. On the couch, he turned and gave his father a firm hug.
“Out there among the stars, away from your family. But please, why didn’t you tell us you had these…gifts?”
“I don’t know. I just thought it was not the appropriate time.”
“Well, either way, I’m so proud of you, son.”
“Thanks, Dad. But, uh, what are you talking about? Who told you?”
“Bethany and the Jones’s. Some masked nut broke their homes. He told us where you were and what happened. Why didn’t you tell us?”
Johnny gulped for the bil ionth time in the last week. “Did Beth describe him wearing a mask?”
“Yes. You know him?”
This is getting crazier each time. It doesn’t make sense. “Let’s just say we’ve been in contact with him recently,” he responded, glancing to Jane for possible support. “His name is Z—well, that’s what he told us. But I don’t know who, or what, he is. During our ventures, he would help us out. He created a device to transport us here. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Sounds like a friend,” Timothy said.
“I don’t know. I cannot trust him.”
“Why?” Jane interjected. “Why can’t you?”
Turning to her, he said, “A guy who has my ability and only keeps a mask on? I definitely can’t trust him. But I respect him for being an aid in our time of need.”
“Oh, OK.”
“By the way, who are you?” Irene asked. “I’ve never met you before.”
“I’m Jane. I met your son on accident.”
“Accident?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty hard to explain,” Johnny cut in. “You see, Z gave us our powers, and that night is when I met Jane. She was under attack by some thug.”
“You attacked a thug?” Timothy responded in astonishment.
“Well yeah,” Johnny replied, “He was toast.”
“That’s my boy.”
“And Z helped you? Why?”
“He said he had done some bad things in life, and he wanted to give back to the universe.” Johnny brooded over the statement, ruminating. “And you know what? That reminds me,” he said, turning to Jane. “He said we had seen a fake Z, remember?
Something along the lines of ‘that was not Z.’”
“Oh, you’re right. I remember him saying that.”
“I am lost,” Timothy replied. “Who is who?”
“It’s possible there are two Z’s?” Johnny contemplated, glancing at Jane for more help.
His mind ran into overdrive, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “I think our little friend here isn’t what you call a coincidence. You know what that means, do you?”
“I can see where you are going with this. No. Just no. That is not possible and you know it.”
“But think about it! Sonovan said Titan had acquired technology with that capability.”
Timothy and Irene glanced at each other and back to Johnny and her. “I don’t think I understand what you are saying, Johnny,” Irene said.
Johnny smirked, shooting looks at each person. “He’s a time traveler.”
~~~
“Please, tell me al the places you’ve been!” exclaimed Jenny. “I want to hear it.”
“All of it?” Sam responded.
“All of it,” Robert replied.
“All right, but I warned you.”
From then on, the events were recollected and told. Like Ryan had done, everything was brought to light.
“So, Rose was a psychopathic murderer who kil ed her father?”
“Please, never mention it. She is awfully sensitive about the matter.”
“And another psychotic alien is coming to Earth? To turn us into freaks like him?
You’re crazy.”
“No, Dad, it’s all true,” Sam replied. Astronomical stories, in Robert’s mind, were over his head.
“Soon enough, he’ll be here. And you had better hope it’s a repeat of our last fight.
Or else we’re doomed.”
Robert instinctively grabbed his sons by the shoulder and embraced them tighter than a belt. In a matter of seconds, the aura in the room had changed to a serious one.
“I’m not going to lose any of you, you hear me? What can I do?”
Instead of replying, the brothers brought their mother into the group hug. After a minute, Dustin said, “Just stay put. We’ll handle it. Z said we had to be the hero he knew we could be. And that is what we are going to do.”
Easing out of the embrace, Sam sat back onto the couch. His phone rang. “Hel o?”
“Sam, it’s Johnny. Meet me at my house. Cal Ryan and get him over here.”
Sam furrowed his brows, eyes scanning the street outside his house through the shades on the window. “Uh, why? Something wrong?”
“I’ve got a clue as to who Z is.”
His eyes widened. “We’ll be right over. Wait there.”
Hanging up the phone, Sam fastened his basebal cap onto his long hair. “Dustin, we got to go.”
“Why?”
“Johnny’s figured something out.”
“About what?”
“Z.”
“Oh shit. Sorry Mom. Sorry Dad. Duty cal s!”
Jenny and Robert again hugged their sons. It had been far too long. “Just make sure you come back.”
“Of course,” Sam replied as he opened the door to leave. Of course.
CHAPTER 35
A WALK
After Charlie dropped off Sonovan Lung at a parking spot in downtown Washington D.C., he thanked him. The African-American smiled and shook his hand.
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, he began to walk, measuring his strides, erecting his posture, and keeping his balance. As he passed by a flood of fellow humans, Sonovan felt somewhere else, a dream, possibly. How could this place be so different from how he remembered it?
During his stroll, he drew much attention. His tall, large build, bun, long bandana which reached his spine, and attractive robes received second and third looks. The blueish-gray robes’ proper name was Orskan, given to him by a hero of old, the name Orslon. He had y
et to explain to the group who The Shadows were, yet that day would likely be today.
In response to the awkward glances of civilians, Sonovan seized the opportunity to reciprocate, except he exaggerated it.
His deep stares bore into passing people—men, women, and children. Businessmen and women became distracted from their cal s, and teenagers put down their phones.
Sonovan marveled at them, but felt a sadness overwhelm him like a wave. A momentous amount can be learned from the eyes, and he knew that. The modern-day man is absent of peace, he noted. They rush to and fro, but to where and for what purpose? Mankind seems to have forgotten the very first principle of meditation—peace of mind and spirit.
Titan had been correct. Entertainment had become quite the drug.
He continued the stroll, still watching, listening, learning. The city was a grand place, like so many he had been to across many worlds. These were unsophisticated in comparison, but they accomplished what humans intended of them.
Once he had seen enough, Sonovan found Charlie’s SUV and got in. Charlie asked him if he had enjoyed his time.
“Not as much as I had thought, I am afraid. It has changed so much. Today’s people seem to think entertainment is a right rather than a privilege. Thank you, though. My gratitude is with you.”
Charlie nodded and replied, “Yeah, it’s not for everyone.”
Sonovan nodded and they sped off to the designated location.
A FEW HOURS LATER
Underneath a farm in Maryland, the government had set up a large underground bunker. About the size of three ice hockey rinks, the purpose of the bunker was for safety in case of an attack. For now, the large escapade’s function was to shelter the new heroes for five days, or whenever Titan himself would arrive.
On his own, Sonovan meandered through the halls of the bunker, which was unfortunately pale and depressing. The walls wore a miserable gray, and, of course, no natural light could permeate it. Thank goodness there were computers, televisions, radios, walkie-talkies, phones, along with a slew of guns and other weapons in a safe.
Making himself comfortable, Sonovan tested his knowledge of computers and marveled at how simple they operated. Compared to the planets he had visited, Earth was many steps behind. Nevertheless, since the last time he had called it home, Earth had advanced further than he could have imagined.
~~~
Jane went outside and took a seat on the porch of the Sparks’ home. His parents, on the other hand, stayed inside. Johnny followed her and sat on the bench across.
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