“No, that is what you believe—it is your opinion. Right you are, Sonovan Lung. But extraordinary measures require extraordinary will.”
Sonovan approached him. “For what? To slaughter every person you deem unfit for life? Who made you judge, jury, and executioner?”
“The Justification will undoubtedly prompt a swift end to the injustice, evil, and free will spread across creation. My hand is still there for you to grasp, imagine that! You murdered me, yet I will stil forgive. Just say the word, and I will order for a ship to take you to me at once. You and I can rule! No more pain! No more anguish! No more corruption, evil, and madness! And chief among these, no more free wil . Together, you and I, the most powerful beings in history, can place our stamp on this reality. You once said we could have been friends. Here is your chance.”
“What made you this way?” Sonovan replied quickly, which cut short Titan’s proposal.
Titan remained silent for a brief time but then spoke. “A better question is, ‘Why are you here?’ You are on Herook, with your beaten al ies. Now please, leave me alone. I
have a great many things to attend to.” Unlike in the physical universe, Titan, as the others, control ed no powers. Therefore, Titan had not known they had arrived on Earth due to Z’s spectacular timing.
“Oh, I forgot. You are a very multifaceted man, correct?”
“You dare harass me by labeling me a man,” spat Titan.
Titan approached closer to where they were within a foot of one another. “Have you shrunk?” Sonovan quipped. “I thought you were larger.”
In an intriguing turn of events, Titan laughed, loud snickers echoing. “I am proud to acknowledge time has taught you humor! Wel , at least Aiko’s death did something!”
Head high, he did not retaliate. “Yes, time has taught me many things, and for that, I am grateful. Unfortunate for you, I have let Aiko’s death go. The past is unchangeable, but the future is in my hands.”
Titan scowled at him, and for the first time in years, lingered; unsure of what to say next. Therefore, a response would not be uttered. Instead, he turned away. “You never answered my question. Why will you not stop?”
Swiftly turning his head back to him, Titan sneered. “Do not worry, for it will be over soon. Why do you think I have kept you and your allies alive? You feed me more power!
If I killed any of you, the scope of my power would diminish. Our humble union you, me, and your allies have formed is beautiful. The Ooris inside you has connected us all in a complex integration of wil s. Though I supply the Energy into al of you through the Shadowverse, you all also bestow me with additional power. Like when you had opened the Xun, the time vortex, you helped me. Now you are unintentionally helping me again.
Thank you for that—so generous of you.”
Titan dematerialized, a slight grin pasted on his face. Sonovan let out a distressed breath and closed his eyes. In a moment, he arrived where he had left: his dull bedroom. The others were waiting for him, including an average-sized man they had not acquainted him with.
CHAPTER 37
REVELATION
Though he and Titan had a heart-to-heart in the oddest of ways only a minute prior, Sonovan held out his hand in greeting. “And you are?”
“I-I’m K-Kevin,” he stuttered, shaking his hand thoroughly without letting go. “Kevin M-Moon.”
“Greetings, Kevin Moon. I am Sonovan Lung.”
“Wow, th-that’s an awesome name,” he responded, stil shaking his hand.
“Yeah, it is,” Ryan interjected.
Rose pushed them both away, especial y since she could tell Sonovan thought the outpouring of emotion awkward, even for him.
“H-How did you s-survive?” asked Kevin, shooting looks at each. He shoved his hands in his pants pocket. “I imagined y’all were d-dead, so this is a surprise. But s-sure as h-hell welcome.”
“In summary, we met Titan,” Johnny started. “He warped Rose’s mind, and she became his psychopathic lackey.”
Kevin glanced from Johnny to Rose and back. “W-Wait, what?! Rose, are you OK?”
“I’m fine now, Kevin. Thanks.” She grasped his shoulder softly. They had been friends for years.
“Yeah, long story. Anyway, we met Sonovan Lung. He once defeated Titan, who’s the ruler of many worlds. We met him on Herook, which turned out to be a gorgeous planet with a bit more gravitational pressure than Earth.”
“Cool!” Kevin replied. “Go o-on!”
“So we trained under him, and then met up with Titan again. He, uh, nearly beat us, but we escaped and took Rose from him.”
“Y-You fought him twice?!”
“Yeah, pretty crazy,” Ryan joked. “Thought we were going to die both times, but hey, we’re alive and in one piece.”
“You won’t believe how advanced the other planets are,” Dustin added. “There are crazy bathrooms that legitimately suck the crap out of you, artificial intelligence, and a slew of species that look like the ones from Star Trek.”
Kevin gulped and widened his eyes. “Oh. My. God.”
“Yeah, and the ships are powered by the Alcubierre drive!” said Dustin, giddy.
“Well, sort of,” Sam cut in.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“H-Holy sh—”
“And the UFO’s spotted for decades are actual y scouts for Titan,” remarked Johnny.
Kevin turned to him in disbelief. “Shit.”
“Yeah, just don’t tell anyone we told you that.”
“Why?”
“Just don’t,” Rose interjected. She gave him a look and Kevin widened his eyes.
“Uh, O-OK.”
“So, what’s there to do now?”
“We wait.”
“For w-what?”
“For Titan to arrive. Sonovan thinks a few days.”
“Whoa, slow down tiger. T-Titan is c-coming h-here? To Earth?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!”
“Wait til you hear his plan.”
“Let me guess. It has to do with evil.”
Johnny chuckled and answered, “Nailed it.”
~~~
Still in warp, Titan found time to simply train himself. He reminisced when he had last fought Sonovan and The Shadows. The rage from that day stil cursed him. This time, he would not fail. This time, he would destroy him. This time, the stakes had been raised.
“Creation has groaned from the beginning until now, waiting to be saved.” WHACK.
“And now the hour of its reckoning has come—its justification is here!” he said aloud.
SLAM.
On a table on the other side of the room, six boxes lay. They were gray with black highlights. The metal glistened in the light. Titan eyed them, waiting for the moment to arrive. He had not discovered the identity, but knew a journeyman when he saw one.
A wormhole opened in the midst of the throne room. Out of it jumped a man in a white mask and jacket. Titan grinned at the sight. The bait worked.
“Greetings, Titan,” he addressed. “It’s been a while.”
Titan pondered his words, yet staying afar near the transparent belvedere. “Z. That is the abbreviation for your name, is it not?”
“That’s right,” Z answered, steadily striding to the black table.
“Who are you? Where do you come from? Why have you come to this place?”
“Can you not just read my thoughts?”
Titan chuckled, but erased the grin from his expression. “I could, but on the contrary, I am enchanted by this meeting. Since I found out about you, I have never stopped pondering your existence. With that said, I will not do as you say, but will come to the answer in my own time—naturally, you can jest.”
“Well, that is good to know.”
“Oh please! Forbid the use of kind gestures! There they are. Give it to them.”
Z turned to see five boxes on the table, waiting for him. He smirked under the mas
k and turned back to Titan, who simpered. “Thank you, my lord.” Z grabbed them and opened a portal once again. My lord? Titan wondered. Titan halted him with a question.
“Z, tel me. Do I succeed? Do I prevail?”
His back to Titan, Z slowly turned his head to respond. “Yes, yes you do.”
Not a human, then, Titan realized. The Emperor of the Tetra studied his eyes, and innately sensed the truth had been told. “Godspeed to you, wherever or whenever you venture.”
Z nodded once, turned back to the portal and leapt into its grasp, disappearing completely. Titan clasped his fingers in front of him while he moseyed to the throne and sat, armor clanking on the seat. He pressed a button and the massive chair rotated in place, facing the grand spectacle of warped space as the behemoth ship, the Titan, travel ed many times past the speed of light.
~~~
“Yikes. So we’re a-about to be p-possessed?” exclaimed Kevin.
“You can say that,” Johnny responded.
“And he’s here in a few days, mind you,” Ryan added.
At once, Sonovan stood up. He sauntered to the corner of the room, where his pack lay. Grabbing it, he removed several items, including his swords, known as the Vorson Swords, a few smal portraits, and three rolled up banners.
“What are you doing?” Johnny asked as the others talked.
“Making it my own,” he replied. He placed a portrait of he and a woman on his night table.
“Who’s that?” Johnny asked.
Sonovan glanced at it, holding the stare for a short while before turning back, repositioning his attention on the banners. “That is Aiko, my wife.”
Johnny picked it up and examined the picture. “She was beautiful.” Indeed, she was.
An Asian woman, she had undeniably raven-colored hair, and was rather tall for the time, though a bit smal er than Jane.
“Most of all, she was beautiful in the areas that counted in life. Inside, she was pure.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, for it was not your fault.”
“It is courtesy.”
Sonovan glanced at him and back at the banners. He found a hammer and some nails and began to secure the banners to the wall. The others came over to see what the fuss was. “What are you doing?” Dustin asked.
Sonovan did not reply and instead continued his work. The banners were attached; the large, bold letters standing out amongst the dul room. “There,” he muttered. These letters resembled no language on Earth, because it was an alien language.
“Where did you get those?” Ryan asked.
“One thousand years ago, on the planet Ionio. They were inside our dojo. ‘Our’ as in The Shadows. We were a team. I took these for myself.”
“Is this when we final y learn who they were?” asked Sam, obviously more absorbed.
“It is,” he answered.
“C-Cool,” Kevin replied. “You are immortal, I suppose?”
“You are correct.”
“How?”
“The Ooris. It keeps me alive. The only way beings like us can die is for them to travel into the Shadowverse.”
“I n-need a cup of coffee.”
“Me too,” Jane replied.
“By the way,” Rose interrupted, “What happened back there?”
“I spoke to Titan.”
“What did he say?”
“He has not changed. But, he told me why he hasn’t kil ed you. The Energy you emit connects all of us—a giant web. He supplies you with extra power, and you supply him with even more.”
“Like a trading system,” Ryan said.
“Precisely.”
“So it’s called Ooris?” Kevin surmised.
“Yes, Ooris. Titan refers to it as Ooris, but I prefer Ooran Energy. Nevertheless, they are one and the same.”
“Cool name.”
“Yes, it is named after the Oora, a living Energy being bil ions of years old.”
Kevin spit out the water he drank. “D-Day k-keeps getting better.”
On the other hand, Jane walked to the table and also picked up the portrait. “Is this Aiko?”
“Yes, that is Aiko, my wife.”
Johnny carefully examined a photo of Sonovan and three others, each ranging in size. “Who are these guys?”
“Oh wow,” Jane exclaimed.
“I think those are—” said Sam, before Sonovan interrupted him. The man ambled to where they stood.
Today. “The Shadows, as we cal ed ourselves,” Sonovan cut in. “We were a team of the most powerful, skil ed fighters in the galaxy and were devoted to defeating Titan.
Without them, I could not have beaten him. We were so optimistic—so lively—from a time long past.” In the photo, Sonovan wore a completely black suit of armor with green highlights. To his right and left, three others wore similar outfits of protection. Though the Shadowforce, at the moment, considered themselves heroes, the figures in this photograph were different, almost poles apart. They were warriors. “That is Zydok, nicknamed Zy.” he said, pointing to the person on his right. He was wearing a mask, as was everyone in the photo. “The two on my left were Orslon and Venarian. Ors and V, as we cal ed them.” Sonovan lowered his head, eyes glistening as he recollected what they had been through. A tear oozed out and plummeted to the ground. “The greatest, most fearless fellows and warriors I had ever met. They found me when I had nothing. I had been thrust into a new world.”
“What happened to them?”
“Ors and V were never connected to the Shadowverse. Only Zydok and I were. And not even he had developed as deep a connection to it as I have. They died, and luckily, I was there. I could see them off. Zydok though…was murdered.”
“By Titan,” Johnny responded.
“Yes. I had told you this before.”
Sonovan glanced at Kevin, who gulped. “So I returned to Earth with Aiko. Five-hundred years passed, and Titan came back from the dead. And here we are. Zydok is
dead, Aiko is dead, I was a wanderer for nearly half a mil ennium, and then Z led me to you.”
“Oh, y-yeah! Z! What happened to him?” Kevin asked.
“He popped in every so often,” Ryan replied.
“He had developed a wormhole device to transport Sonovan to Titan’s ship,” Johnny added. “In turn, Sonovan saved us. Then we met him again, this time in a cave. He used another device to teleport us to Earth. Said he had modified Titan’s technology.”
“Whoa, w-what did it look l-like?”
“Big, bulky, and made up of several smal connected spheres of energy. It was weird.
But anyway, he told me the Z we had met was not the real Z.”
“What do you m-mean?”
“He was insinuating his real identity, I concluded. When he left us, he had activated a cylindrical box he carried.”
“But it wasn’t a usual wormhole,” Sonovan said.
“That is because it wasn’t a usual wormhole,” replied Johnny, pacing around the room.
“What conclusion have you come to, then?”
“He’s a time traveler.”
“Time traveler?”
“Yes,” he replied, gesturing with great animation. “You even said Titan had acquired the technology. Plus, he even said it himself. He had done real y bad things, and the Z
we had encountered was not the right one.”
“Whatever that means,” Dustin added.
“Yeah, I don’t necessarily understand what that means. But I think we saw different versions of him at alternating points in time.”
“I see,” Sonovan replied. “Do you believe he is in cooperation with Titan?”
“I do not know.”
“Titan brought up Z many times,” Rose said. The others turned to her.
“Real y?”
“Yes. He said he was fascinated and entertained by him, and asked me my opinion. I remember that I said he is likely neutral.”
“Then what?” Ryan asked.
“When he fir
st learned of his existence, it troubled him.”
“Why?”
“Because he hadn’t expected another one of us to be out there. Worse yet, as he said, his own power had not felt another.”
“Interesting,” Sonovan replied, “How Titan could not sense Z’s presence. Interesting, indeed, but flummoxing all the same.”
“Time tr-travel. Incredible. You s-said the machine looked like a c-cylinder?”
“Yeah, it was long and round,” Johnny replied, angling his arms to show the size.
“G-Got it.”
The door opened and a guard with the name ‘JC’ on his lapel strode in. “I hate to interrupt, but the President is on the phone.”
“Oh, give it to me,” Johnny replied.
JC handed it over and waited by the door. Johnny turned the phone on speaker.
“Hello, you there?” the President asked.
“Loud and clear! We hear you.”
“All right, good,” replied the President. “I am sending some security headsets over there for you. They’ll allow us to keep in contact.”
“Thank you, sir. When do you think they wil arrive?”
“By tomorrow. I have a few things to attend to now, so I will hang up.”
“It was a pleasure to speak to you, sir. Thank you.”
“The pleasure’s al mine.”
Hanging up the phone, Johnny glanced at Sonovan. “So, you got any more lessons up your sleeve?”
Sonovan smiled and nodded. “Oh yes. When shal we begin?”
“When are you guys ready?” Johnny asked, hands on his hips.
“Uh, can I eat first?” Ryan replied. “I’m starving.”
“So am I,” Rose replied.
Ryan chuckled and said, “That’s my girl.”
Johnny, Dustin, and Sam’s collective expressions went deadpan. “Wait, so are you two official y a thing now or…” Sam asked, grasping for a clarification.
“We’re getting there.”
“Oofy doofy,” Dustin replied. “Guess I was wrong! Ten was the charm.”
“Ten what?” Rose shot back.
Dustin and Sam snickered to each other. “Uh, nothing.” Ryan’s face was embarrassed and internally begged for them not to spill anything discomfiting.
“What do they mean?” Jane whispered to Johnny.
“She was his tenth crush.”
The Shadowverse Page 31