by Ryan Tang
Lews could only gape.
"We need to fight him?"
"Yes! Yes! Him and the traitor! Him and the traitor! Run! Run! Why did we have to fall here? Run!"
Lews couldn't run.
He was a brave boy at times, he really was, but he'd lost so many fights before. The lightning man was so much stronger than the Captain. If the Captain tried to fight the Paragons, he'd just be a smear in the dirt. A big smear, but a smear nonetheless.
The black and gold machine held its opponent in place as lightning bolt after lightning bolt struck the samurai Paragon. The liquefied limbs rippled.
"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"
Lews gaped and repeated himself.
"That?"
"We need to fight that?"
"Yes! We need to fight him! Him and the traitor! Run! Run! Run! We can do that too! We can do that too! We just need two hearts that fight as one!"
But Lews couldn't run. His legs had turned to jelly.
The golden machine dropped the samurai to the ground and called out to the crowd.
"It doesn't matter how strong you are! If you bond, you will become even stronger! This is the way! This is how we take back Old Earth! Two hearts fighting as one!"
Then the massive machine plucked Lews like he was a cherry.
"Let go! Let go! Let go!"
"No! No! No!"
"Run! Run! Run! We need to run! We can beat him! I promise I can beat him!"
Lews stared at the molten arm. The Eternium gushed from arm to shoulder like a waterfall.
The voice in his head cried out again.
"Stop staring! We can do it too! I promise! We just need to fight as one! Two hearts fighting as one! We can do it! We can do it too!"
The golden lord cried out to his loyal audience.
"Bonding! It's how I beat Nels, a warrior beyond compare! It's how I summoned Liquid State Eternium, the divine metal of legend. And it's how this boy survived his fall."
The massive hand brought Lews up to a box that floated at the very peak of the stadium. The transparent wall slid aside to allow the boy to enter.
The king stepped out of his machine.
"It's nice to meet you!"
Even from up close, he sounded like he was speaking through a bad connection. He was wearing the most eccentric outfit Lews had ever seen, but he still looked like a god.
The Lightning King was dressed like a cartoon superhero. His skintight outfit was white from head to toe save for the dazzling thunderbolt nested in a golden circle around his chest. His boots and gloves were gold as well, as was the long cape that flowed behind him. The man was seven feet tall, a whole foot taller than the captain, and his enormous muscles were clearly visible against his tight outfit. He looked like he could kill the Captain with a single punch.
Lews thought hard, talking to the creature in his own arm, which had gone completely still in the hopes the Lightning King couldn't see him.
"Who is he?"
The Familiar's voice was an unending stream.
"Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.
"Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run."
The voice was so scared Lews instinctively turned around, but of course, there was nowhere for him to go. He was in a box thousands of feet into the air.
The king smiled kindly and repeated himself.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?"
"My name is Lews."
"Hello, Lews."
The Lightning King offered his hand to shake. His hand was bigger than Lews's entire head. When they shook, the boy's tiny hand looked like a rat caught in a trap.
"Where did you come from?"
The words squeaked out of Lews mouth. There was a magnetic quality to the Lightning King, a force that compelled people to obey him.
"A ship. The Distant Star."
"A ship!"
The man turned around and boomed out to the crowd.
"He came from a ship!"
"A ship?"
"What ship?"
The Lightning King smiled.
He wasn't king just because he looked like a god. He wasn't king just because he was taller, stronger, and more handsome than any other man or woman on the colony. Of course, it didn't hurt. There are plenty of places that choose their kings just because they were tall, strong, and handsome.
But the Lightning King was also a student of history. He knew about the ships, and he made sure nobody else knew about them. He wanted everyone on his colony to rely on him.
His people just had to enjoy themselves on his beautiful colony with enormous stadiums and buildings covered in lights. They just had to watch the duels he put on every single day.
The Lightning King would do the thinking for them, and that was how he liked it best.
"I know of these ships. The ships sailed because the Earth kings forced them away. Just like how our ancestors were forced away. But in my wisdom, I realized we should stay and build! That's why we have heaven here, and the poor souls on the ships do not."
He gazed down on the boy.
"Lews, is your ship heaven?"
"No, no, sir."
The voice was still screaming, but somehow the Lightning King's buzzy voice dimmed the sound of it.
With those assertive words, the king convinced the crowd once again of his genius. He convinced Lews as well.
The boy hadn't thought about it before.
Why hadn't they tried to build a stable home?
The Distant Star was a small and dingy little ship with a murderous captain.
The colony was a beautiful place with a leader who shined like a god.
They even had Paragons!
Why did the Distant Star only have tiny little models?
"So you came from a ship. But what brought you to this colony? You must have fallen overboard!"
"I did."
The king reached forward.
The fish whimpered, but it was no use.
Just a twist of his massive fingers, and the shirt had been torn to shreds.
The fish embedded in Lews's arm was still as a rock.
The king laughed, and another voice, one that sounded just like his, doubled his laugh.
He gestured at the people below.
"See! Our friends! Our friends! They can go the places we can't. This is how we'll take back Old Earth!"
"No. No. No. No."
"Run. Run. Run. Run."
"Not friends. Not friends. Not friends."
The king smiled big and wide.
To Lews, he certainly looked like a friend. At least, he looked like someone who he didn't want as an enemy.
"And soon all of us will have the power of Liquid State Eternium. That is Eternium's true form, and it can only be accessed with two hearts that fight as one."
The crowd cheered and cheered. They clapped their hands together for their king who looked like a god. Their king who'd defeated a legendary warrior from Old Earth like it was nothing. Their king who could shoot lightning from his hand. Their king who could make his Paragon glow brighter than the sun and move swift as a waterfall.
The Lightning King's voice crackled.
"Come. Take a seat beside me! You look like you need some food!"
As soon as he said it, Lews realized how hungry he was. He hadn't had any stew. He'd left it on the table after he stormed out to the vent. He didn't even know how long that'd been, and he'd swam a long time.
He was very hungry.
"No. No. No. No."
"Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad."
"Run. Run. Run. Run."
"Oh god, why did I mess up so bad?"
"How did we end up here?"
"Run! Run! Run! Run!"
But there was nothing Lews could do, and the chair looked so nice and comfortable. It was piled high with soft cushions, and it was actually bigger than his tiny bed, the one he split with Amno.
He sat down.
The chair felt as good as it looked.
The
king smiled possessively and clapped his hands together.
"The boy looks hungry. And he should be! He was on a tiny ship! Let's show him our hospitality in the City of Lights. Let's get him some food! Quick! Quick!"
His men hastened to obey him.
When the king's servants climbed up to the platform with big trays of food in their hands, Lews realized just how hungry he was.
His stomach was so empty it felt like it was cutting a hole in his belly.
The first plate had two burgers with enormous patties. The one next to it was packed high with potato wedges. Lews had only ever seen pictures of burgers. Here, he had two of them all for himself.
The fish screamed and screamed, but the sight of the food overwhelmed everything else. The voice became just a distant ring in his head.
The king put a massive hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Eat up! And let us know if you need more!"
The first bite was exquisite. The food was just as good as Dennis's cooking – maybe even a little better – and there was so much of it. He wolfed the whole burger down in a minute. He felt strength return to his body. He felt his stomach slowly fill as he stuffed a massive fistful of potato wedges into his mouth.
The voice was drowned out by the taste of food in his mouth.
"You need to go below and free my people! Please! Please!"
Lews finished both burgers and all the wedges too. Then he asked for more.
By the time the next plate arrived, the voice in his head had faded out even further.
He took another bite of burger.
Lews was beginning to feel very full. It was a feeling he'd never felt before in his life. It was a wonderful buzz – at his stomach and in his mind too. He could almost feel the food pressing against him. He took another wedge, just to push it a little further.
All the while, the Familiar screamed and screamed. Soon the noises turned into images, flashing back and forth in the boy's mind.
The tank.
The wedge in his hand.
The tank.
The Lightning King's kind and generous smile.
The tank.
The samurai Paragon and the incredible skill of the pilot.
The tank.
The way the golden Paragon had almost dissolved.
The tank.
Lightning falling from the sky.
The king smiled.
"Would you like to come back the next day?"
Lews took another look at the grand Stadium.
Here, everyone was a winner.
There was enough food for everybody.
There was no little sister to beat you up to take your toy Paragon.
There was no Captain's Share.
"Yes."
How could The Lightning King be a bad guy? He was giving Lews so much food.
The tank looked bad, but why would he think of something like that when there was food right in front of him and Paragons battles for him to watch? Why would he think of something like that when the Lightning King had created a place so much more wonderful than the Distant Star?
The image of the tank slowly faded away and dimmed.
That was the trick to the Lightning King's regime. He controlled everything his people in the Stadium saw. He did all the thinking for them, and that let him get away with anything he wanted.
The king grinned.
"Welcome to the City of Lights. We hope you enjoy your stay."
Lews thought he would.
____
"What!"
The girl's sudden interjection tore Alex away from the story.
"What!"
"That's it?"
"He's going to give up?"
He did then, but he didn't lie low forever. There was still a lot of story to go. Lews was a brave boy. Once he saw the underground pool, he couldn't look away, not forever. But he did give up, just for a while.
Alex carefully chose her words. She didn't want to spoil the story.
"The food was too good, and the Lightning King was too scary. Lews was starving his whole life. And he'd just gotten beaten up. It's hard to be brave all the time."
Alex had been in Lews's position before. Right after the quakes. Her students had bombarded her with messages, and she chose to hide. Looking back, she still didn't regret what she'd done. She was a librarian. How was she supposed to deal with earthquakes and disasters? She'd stood against Stock and the quakes as a citizen of Plenty, not as an individual.
"You know, right after Stock started mining the colonies, I hid in the book-corridors. I was too scared to see anyone."
"Really? You? But you have a Paragon!"
"Not at the time. Everyone gets scared. Being brave is when you fight even though you're scared."
Lews wasn't a coward. He was just a scared little boy faced with a task far larger than any one person. Before the story ended, Lews would forge a Paragon of his own. The machine was invulnerable so long as his pride didn't waver. A few chapters later, he'd stand bravely before the Lightning King, taking strike after strike. His enemy never discovered what was happening. As each bolt hit, Lews would use his Familiar's Aspect to turn himself incorporeal and Travel through the attack.
The Lightning King howled with rage, but like Alex in the courtyard, Lews didn't falter. Like Alex in the courtyard, he became brave again with the help of friends. When all seemed lost, the Familiars in the tank and the Lightning King's servants both rose to fight by his side.
"I was really scared. I didn't know how to face my students. It took my friends to get me back out. They told me it was alright even if I didn't know what to do. That's why we're the strongest. Not the Paragons. Just being together."
It was how they'd defeated Stock, and it was how they'd conquered the problems facing them since Stock's defeat. Alex's Paragon was of little use when the Eternium ghosts rose, and her adventures on Diligence had been a battle of wits, not of raw strength.
Alex frowned.
They weren't together now, though. They hadn't told everyone about the assassin. She and Leanne had kept it to themselves.
Alex sighed. What had she been doing? The answer was in front of her all along. She hadn't needed to finish reading The Familiars to see it.
It didn't matter who they were up against - whether it was Generosity's Families, her old childhood tormentors on Diligence, or even Peter and his orange pod. Alex had no chance of deducing the traitor by herself, and for all her brilliance, neither did Leanne or the two guards. If anything, it seemed like the strain of investigating alone was too much for Leanne to bear. Plenty always won by standing together. That was the way to do it, not all this sneaking around.
If Alex wrote a message on the Forums, the traitor would know that he'd been discovered. But the colony had thousands of people. She and her friends had stood together against Stock, and they'd stood together during the missing Paragon crisis. They'd built a hundred Paragons in a single night. They wanted the Gate opening to be perfect, just like Alex and Leanne did. They could stand against a single traitor.
Alex stood, and the tablet clattered to the ground.
"We're not reading anymore, are we?"
Alex blinked.
The rush of the realization had briefly pushed even the girl out of her mind.
"No, I have something to do."
"Is this about Stock?"
"Sort of. I need to visit a friend."
There was no need for Leanne to overwork herself. She'd already been pushing herself too hard after the accident. They'd focused too much on the positives of secrecy without noticing the countless pitfalls.
She reached for her tablet, but before she could grab it, a message from Jared blared across the room. It was so loud that echoed across the walls even though she'd dropped her tablet facedown.
"Everyone duck for cover! If possible, return to your apartment! If not, take the nearest shelter available! I repeat. Everyone duck for cover! If possible, return to your apartment! If not, take t
he nearest shelter available!"
What the hell?
She lifted her tablet. A live broadcast showed a circular shuttle streaking towards the Gate.
"The pod has not responded and is moving toward the Gate at top speed. Prepare yourselves for direct impact."
"Look! Look!"
The girl stared out the window. She was so scared that her tool-hands clattered uncontrollably against the sill.
The pod was so close that Alex could see it streaking through the night sky.
"We've tracked the flight path. It came from Generosity!"
The girl let out a cry of fright.
"It's Stock! He kept saying he had friends on Generosity! He said they were blood brothers! They're coming! They're coming to free him!"
Alex knew what she had to do. The librarian ran out the door, but then the girl grabbed her, hooking Alex's arm by her cup holder hand.
"Take me. I'll be brave. Braver than Lews."
Alex paused, then nodded. The girl had a right to be there.
____
Alex pressed her Eternium shard against the wall. She'd given the other to the girl, but she only needed one to summon her Paragon. The book-corridors shifted. Eternium erupted from the walls, twisting from black to blue as Alex and the girl were delivered straight to her office.
Her Paragon stood in the Spire courtyard.
The torso nested inside an enormous flight pack in the shape of a crescent moon. In one hand was a rounded shield, on which she'd painted scenes of the beautiful new home they'd built together. The other hand carried her composite rifle. The weapon's long barrel and tipped bayonet gleamed brighter than the sun.
One eye was nearly black, the color of the sea caught in a horrible storm. The other was the bright blue of a cloudless day. The shark teeth snarled.
Alex took the controls and shivered.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
Her Paragon felt angry today. Perhaps that was for the best. There was a lot to be angry about.
Jared continued shouting from his tablet.
"Everyone needs to go home! Everyone needs to find shelter and duck for cover!"
Alex didn't know where the pod fit into it, but she had no interest in finding out. She was bad at plotting, but good at fighting.
The controls felt like a part of her hand. She and her machine were one.
"A woman pursues her greatest desire."
The thrusters spat blue fire and then the scenes of Plenty, the colorful apartment buildings, Margaret's eccentric restaurant, the well-organized greenhouses, and of course, the Spire high in the sky, faded into blurs as she streaked back toward Stock's home. The streets were utterly empty. Alex could see worried faces in the windows pointing up at the pod shooting towards them.