Crossover

by Lucas Flint

  Shade leaned toward Bolt and, smiling mischievously, whispered, “He’s said that a dozen times already and he still loses his cool whenever you bring up his brother. He’s fun to troll.”

  Before Bolt could respond to that, Cadmus said, “Guests, meet Peter Blue, the Facility Supervisor. He is the man in charge of all operations and employees within the Facility. He’s not an official member of the G-Men due to lacking a superpower, but he works closely with us and is under my authority due to the Facility being under the purview of the Department of Superpowered & Extraterrestrial Beings.”

  Peter sulked when Cadmus mentioned his lack of a power. Bolt knew that superpowers were genetic, but he had never heard of siblings where one sibling got a power and the other didn’t. He supposed it was possible that Peter and Sandstorm might have had separate mothers or fathers, but given how closely the two resembled each other, he doubted that. It was just another odd genetic anomaly, he supposed.

  “Yes,” said Peter, standing up straight, though it did nothing to hide his big gut. “I’m in charge here, so you have to do what I say.”

  “Actually, my authority overrides yours while I am here, so technically they have to listen to what I say,” said Cadmus.

  Peter flushed with embarrassment again. “Yes, sir, of course.”

  “Can we just see the Soul Crown now?” said Captain Galaxy impatiently. “The Darzens are on the move and are likely searching for the Crown even as we speak.”

  “Of course,” said Cadmus. “Peter, open the box and show her the Crown.”

  “Yes, sir, Director Smith,” said Peter.

  He quickly undid the latches around the box, causing the lid to pop up. He opened the lid fully and then carefully picked up the object within, which he lifted up for everyone to see.

  The Soul Crown looked almost exactly like the holographic image which Cadmus had shown them earlier, only now it was real. It was big—about twice as wide as Bolt’s head—and, despite being gray and rusted, had a strangely beautiful and even majestic look about it. Strange alien symbols that looked like no earthly language ran along its surface, while its gems were cracked and faded as if from a lack of use. There was also a rather thick layer of dust on it, which caused Peter to cough slightly as he inhaled some of it while lifting up the Crown.

  “Here it is,” said Peter. “Facility Object Number Two Three Nine, or, as Cadmus calls it, the Soul Crown.”

  Captain Galaxy stepped forward, her eyes locked onto the Crown as if it was what she desired more than anything else in the world. “Can I hold it? Just to make sure it’s the real deal?”

  Peter nodded and handed her the Soul Crown. Cadmus’ eyes narrowed as Captain Galaxy took the Crown, but he didn’t say anything, perhaps because Captain Galaxy held the Crown with the gentleness of a mother holding her newborn baby.

  Captain Galaxy carefully looked the Crown over. “Yes, I think this is it.”

  “It looks so old, though,” said Bolt. “Even if the Darzens get it, what if it doesn’t work?”

  “Oh, it works,” said Captain Galaxy. “Trust me. I can say that even without having to try it out. This isn’t an Earth-made device. This was created by the Dread God himself millions of years ago. The Dread God is pure evil, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t intelligent or creative.”

  “Then why don’t we destroy it?” said Bolt. “That way, we can make sure that the Dread God doesn’t rise again.”

  “It’s not that simple,” said Captain Galaxy, shaking her head. “My orders are to retrieve the Crown, not destroy it.”

  “Orders?” Bolt repeated. “Orders from who?”

  “From the head of the IEA, obviously,” said Captain Galaxy. “What, did you think I was here on my own because I wanted to be here? I came because my boss told me to, nothing more.”

  “As true as that may be, I think we need to discuss whether you can take that with you,” said Cadmus. “The Soul Crown is US government property. Despite my authority, I need authorization from the President to give it to you, which I don’t currently have.”

  “Can you get it for me, then?” said Captain Galaxy.

  “I could,” said Cadmus. “But perhaps I don’t want to.”

  “What?” said Captain Galaxy in shock. “But the only reason I even came here in the first place was to get it.”

  “When did I say I would ever let you have it?” said Cadmus. “I don’t recall saying anything like that. Do you, Shade?”

  Shade shook her head, a big grin on her face. “Nope. I think that Galaxy here just assumed that.”

  “This is an object of multiversal importance,” said Captain Galaxy. “We cannot allow any government, no matter how big and powerful, to keep it. If you won’t get me permission from your president to take it, then I’ll just have to steal it. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me from escaping to another universe.”

  Cadmus tilted his head to the side. “You really have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you?”

  Without warning, Shade shot a long shadow tendril out of her hands at Galaxy. The tendril wrapped itself tightly around Captain Galaxy, making her cry in surprise and fall to her feet. She dropped the Soul Crown, but it was caught by another tendril before it hit the floor and handed to Cadmus, who took it without saying a word.

  “Galaxy!” said Bolt. He looked at Shade. “Let her go, now.”

  “No,” said Shade. “I think I’m going to keep her right where she is, thanks.”

  “Shade is correct,” said Cadmus. “We’re going to keep this woman prisoner in the Facility. Her unique status as a visitor from another universe means that she knows knowledge which could help put the United States a step ahead of its rivals. Not to mention her dimension-hopping tech is something that our scientists should have a look at to see if they can reverse engineer its properties.”

  “Cadmus,” said Nicknacks in a warning tone, “this is not right. The Darzens are not an enemy to be trifled with. Neither is their god, even if he is dead. We can solve this issue peacefully, but only if you let Galaxy go right now.”

  “No,” said Cadmus, shaking his head. “If these Darzens are truly a threat, then there is no safer place on the entire planet for the Soul Crown than the Facility. In all of the Facility’s years in existence, not a single person has ever successfully broken into—”

  A beeping ring tone suddenly went off. Everyone checked their phones, but it turned out that it was coming from Peter’s phone. He whipped it out of his coat pocket and snapped, “Peter speaking. What is it?”

  Peter’s eyes widened as he listened to the voice on the other end. “What? … Level Three? Are you sure? Okay, I’ll let the Director know. Just try to keep it contained and I’ll be down there as soon as I can.”

  Peter hung up his call as Cadmus said, “Who was that and what were they calling about?”

  “It was one of the security guards on Level Three,” said Peter. “He said that the Guest has escaped his containment and is making his way up here.”

  “The Guest?” Cadmus repeated. “Impossible. He’s in no condition to escape anything.”

  “Who is the Guest?” said Bolt. “What, is this a hotel now all of a sudden?”

  Before either Cadmus or Peter could explain, the conference room door was suddenly bashed off its hinges. It flew toward Peter, but Bolt blasted it with a lightning blast, making the door explode into pieces. Peter flinched, but Bolt immediately turned his attention to the figure who had stepped through the door. He gasped when he recognized the figure who had entered the conference room.

  “Graalix?” said Bolt in surprise. “Is that you?”

  The Pokacu alien made a rumbling chuckling sound deep in its throat. “Long time no see, human scum. It is time that I put an end to you once and for all, this time … in the name of the Dread God.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Beams ducked behind a storage crate and narrowly avoided a sizzling laser blast from one of the Darzens. He peeked over the
top of the crate and fired his own laser blast back, but the Darzen had taken cover behind a storage container on the opposite side of the room and his eye beams missed. He cursed and fell back behind the crate, listening as a sizzling laser blast struck the crate, though thankfully his crate was thick enough to take the blast without getting destroyed.

  We’ve only been fighting for a few minutes, but it feels like it’s been hours, Beams thought, blinking his eyes rapidly in order to get some moisture into them. And they’re still not down.

  Earlier, Beams and Mr. Space had arrived in Deck Two of the Adventure, where they were almost immediately assaulted by three Darzen warriors. The Darzens were some pretty odd creatures. According to Mr. Space, the Darzens didn’t have physical bodies like humans. Instead, they were energy clouds stuffed inside empty suits of armor, and even if you managed to pierce their armor and cause their energy forms to leak out, the Darzens might just possess your body and continue the fight that way. Beams had yet to see this particular ability of the Darzens in action yet, but he had no reason to disbelieve it, even though it sounded like something straight out of a science fiction novel.

  Beams glanced to the right. Mr. Space was crouched behind a container, occasionally peering out from around the corner and firing sound blasts at the Darzens. His attacks were no more successful than Beams’, but so far the two of them had managed to keep the Darzens from getting beyond Deck Two.

  But not for much longer unless we can kill these jerks fast, Beams thought.

  “Beams!” Mr. Space suddenly cried out over the sound of energy blasts. “Cover me while I get closer to the Darzens!”

  Mr. Space suddenly ran out from between the crates, yelling and shooting sound blasts at the Darzens. Beams stood up and began firing laser beams at the Darzens, doing his best to distract them from Mr. Space. Two of the Darzens returned fire, but the third kept firing at Mr. Space, who dodged and ducked the laser blasts as best as he could. But then one of the laser blasts caught him in the shoulder and he fell to the floor hard.

  “Space!” said Beams. “No!”

  Beams closed his eyes and fired his beams, which bounced off his eyelids and went back into his body. He immediately felt powerful and, opening his eyes, saw the Darzens starting to move in on Mr. Space, who was clutching his shoulder while moaning in pain. His shoulder was smoking from where the laser had hit and Beams could smell the stench of raw, burning flesh even from here.

  But Beams didn’t care. He just leaped through the air toward the Darzens and landed between them and Mr. Space. He lashed out with a kick, striking one Darzen on the chest, and then swept the legs out from underneath the second before blasting the third with a particularly powerful energy blast that sent it flying backwards.

  “Space, are you okay?” said Beams, glancing over his shoulder at his injured ally. “Can you still fight?”

  “Not sure,” said Mr. Space with a grunt. His eyes widened. “Watch out!”

  Beams looked back in time to see one of the Darzens rushing toward him with a long, jagged dagger in hand. Beams dodged the dagger and blasted the Darzen in the chest with another laser blast. He then followed it up with a continuous beam of energy aimed at the Darzen’s chest, which rapidly melted through the Darzen’s armor until it created a hole from which strange, green glowing energy began pouring out.

  But Beams—remembering what Mr. Space had told him on their way down here—didn’t let up on his beam. His beam disintegrated the energy form of the Darzen as it came out. The Darzen screamed in agony, but it seemed paralyzed as Beams’ laser tore through its energy form.

  When the last of the Darzen’s energy form was disintegrated, the Darzen’s empty suit of armor suddenly collapsed onto the floor with a clunk. Beams shut off the continuous beam of energy and blinked rapidly, because using such a powerful, continuous laser beam always made his eyes ache for a few minutes afterward.

  “Whoa,” said Mr. Space behind him. “I’ve never seen anyone kill a Darzen so easily before.”

  “Guess their energy forms don’t like my lasers,” said Beams.

  He looked up to see that the two remaining Darzens had retreated a short distance away from Beams. Though their faces were inhuman, it was obvious that they were afraid of him after seeing him kill one of their own so easily. The thought that these fanatical religious aliens feared Beams enough that they didn’t want to risk fighting him made him crack a grin.

  “What’s the matter?” said Beams. “Too scared to take me on? Afraid you’ll end up joining your friend in the afterlife? What kind of afterlife do you guys even believe in, anyway? I know you have a god, but—”

  There is no afterlife, human, said a voice in his head suddenly. There is only serving the Dread God and expanding his empire throughout the multiverse.

  Without warning, a dimensional portal opened up between Beams and the Darzens. A figure stepped out of the portal, another Darzen, but it was obvious to Beams that this was no mere foot soldier like the three he had been dealing with.

  This one was taller than the other Darzens by at least a head, with armor shaped to resemble a muscular body. It carried a long, rusted, yet majestic-looking sword by its side, while its armor was covered with spikes that made Beams think of a dragon. Even its face was different from its fellow Darzens’, wearing more human-like features. Its fists were as big as his head and its legs looked more like thick steel beams than legs.

  But what really frightened Beams more than anything was the stench of blood coming from this one. And Beams suddenly knew who this warrior was.

  “The Dread God’s Avatar,” said Beams. He took a step back involuntarily. “In the flesh.”

  The Avatar smirked. “Flesh? The Darzens abandoned their fleshly bodies millenniums ago. We took on purer forms of energy as a blessing from the Dread God, who promised us we could live forever as beings of pure energy than beings of flesh and blood.”

  “Didn’t help your friend,” said Beams. “Who I just killed, by the way.”

  The Avatar tilted his head to the side. “We are immortal, not unkillable. But it does not matter. I have come to retrieve the Dread God’s brain in order to bring him back to life. I know you have the brain with you, because it was not in your universe with your friends when I was there.”

  A chill ran down Beams’ spine. “What did you do to Rubberman and the others? Are they still okay? Did you kill them?”

  The Avatar rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “What I did to them doesn’t matter. All that matters is retrieving the Dread God’s brain. That is more important than anything else in the whole multiverse.”

  Beams shook in anger. He suspected the Avatar was being deliberately vague in order to play with him, but he knew he would find out soon, because once he killed the Avatar, he would go back to his universe and find out how everyone was doing.

  “I’m not going to let you go any farther,” said Beams. He raised his fists. “I’m going to take you down and make sure that your dead god stays dead.”

  The Avatar shook his head. “Once again, I am impressed by your bravery. As a warrior myself, I have always held respect for others who display bravery, even when that bravery expresses itself as foolishness. You may be but an infant in the eyes of my people, but you display a degree of bravery which even many of my own fully-grown people lack.”

  Beams narrowed his eyes. “Then perhaps you should leave me alone, rather than try to kill me. Isn’t that how warriors respect each other?”

  “When did I say I was going to kill you?” said the Avatar. He held out a hand. “No, I want you to hand over the brain to me voluntarily. And I know you will, because the Dread God wills it.”

  Beams blinked several times. “What? Do you really believe I’m just going to give you the Dread God’s brain because you asked nicely?”

  “Of course,” said the Avatar. “As I said, the Dread God wills it. And his will is always fulfilled, no matter how long it takes.”

  “How do yo
u know the Dread God wills it?” said Beams. “If he’s dead, I’m not sure how he can will anything.”

  The Avatar looked perfectly relaxed, which made Beams wonder if he had some kind of trick up his sleeve. “Because the Prophecy says so.”

  “What Prophecy?” said Beams. “I’ve never heard of any Prophecy.”

  “Then allow me to enlighten you,” said the Avatar. “Millions of years ago, when the Dread God was first slain by your ancestors, he uttered one last prophecy in his dying breath. The Prophecy is largely untranslatable into your inferior human tongue, but if I were to attempt to do so, it would sound something like this:

  “Weep not, my Children, my Sires

  For though death do conquer me

  And enemies dance over my grave

  But not eternally

  Soon, my enemies will cry

  My enemies will weep

  And ‘twill be due to one

  Of their own

  Who will come to my aid

  And bring me back

  From the dark Beyond

  And I shall rule over our enemies

  Forever and ever.”

  “Is that it?” said Beams.

  The Avatar nodded. “Yes. I am aware it doesn’t sound like much in your human tongue, but no language in all the multiverse even comes close to capturing the inherent beauty of the Darzen tongue. But I believe it communicates the general point well enough.”

  “Right,” said Beams. “Like I would ever give the Dread God’s brain to you, Prophecy or no.”

  The Avatar chuckled. “I know that the Dread God has been reaching out to you, trying to sway you to his side. You can feel him drawing you toward him, can’t you?”

  Beams stepped back involuntarily. “How do you know that? I’ve never told anyone else that.”

  “Because I am also connected to the Dread God,” said the Avatar. He touched his forehead. “It is one of the advantages of being the Avatar. The Dread God’s Avatar is no meaningless title. It represents a fundamental transformation in what I am, a change to my nature that makes me different from—and superior to—my Darzen brethren. I am still not the Dread God’s equal, but I am as above my fellow Darzens as an adult is from a child. My very nature has been elevated … and I can offer you the same, if you would but give me the Dread God’s brain.”