by Lucas Flint
As soon as Mr. Space said that, Beams heard metal sliding against metal. Looking through the barrier, he saw that the cargo hold’s main entrance was slowly but surely starting to open. Soon, it was opened entirely, revealing the emptiness of the space between universes on the other side.
There must have been a powerful sucking force coming from outside, because as soon as the cargo hold opened, crates and boxes of supplies were sucked out into the void. The two remaining Darzens were also sucked out immediately, their arms and legs flailing pointlessly as they vanished into the void beyond. The Avatar was nearly sucked out as well, but he slammed his sword into the floor of the cargo hold, gripping its hilt with both hands. Fear and anger were mixed together on the Avatar’s face, but even his power did not seem to be enough to keep himself from getting the foothold he needed to advance.
But then a small laser cannon lowered from the ceiling on the other side of the barrier and aimed and fired at the Avatar. The laser blast hit the Avatar in the face and, though it didn’t seem to do much damage, the blast must have shattered his concentration anyway. The Avatar let go of his sword and was immediately sucked out into the void of space. The last thing Beams saw before the Avatar disappeared was absolute hatred on his face. Their gazes met briefly before the Avatar vanished into the void between dimensions.
A second later, the cargo hold closed up again and then the barrier vanished. The ceiling-mounted laser cannon also folded back up into the ceiling, leaving the cargo hold looking pretty much exactly the way it had before, minus several crates of supplies and the Darzens.
“Whew,” said Mr. Space, wiping sweat off his forehead. “For a moment there, I wasn’t sure that would work. When I saw the Avatar stab his sword into the floor, I thought for sure that he was going to somehow make it past the barrier. Luckily, even the mighty Avatar can’t handle a blast to the face without breaking his concentration.”
Beams looked at Mr. Space. “You mean this was something you planned?”
“More like improvised,” said Mr. Space. “Opening the cargo hold when you’re in the void between dimensions is incredibly risky, because you might get sucked out and die. At the very least, you’ll probably lose a lot of supplies, though that’s a small price to pay to keep the Adventure safe from those monsters.”
“How did you open the cargo hold yourself?” said Beams. “I didn’t see you get up and move or anything.”
“While you were talking with the Avatar, I sent Sparky a message to open the cargo hold from the bridge,” said Mr. Space. “Sparky didn’t want to do it at first due to how risky it is, but once I explained my plan to him, he accepted it.”
Beams looked back at the cargo hold entrance, frowning. “Does this mean that the Avatar is dead?”
“Hopefully,” said Mr. Space. “It’s possible to survive in the void between dimensions, but not likely, especially over a long period of time. Unless he gets picked up by one of his fellow Darzen ships soon, he’s probably going to die. If he’s lucky, he’ll find a portal to another universe and go there, though it’s equally possible he could just drift endlessly through the void for all eternity.”
Beams breathed a sigh of relief. “So he’s not going to come back here, right?”
“Right,” said Mr. Space. “Not anytime soon, anyway.”
All of a sudden, the speaker in the upper right corner of the cargo hold blared with Sparky’s voice. “Mr. Space, Beams, the cargo hold monitors on the Bridge say that there are now only two people in the cargo hold. I assume the plan was successful?”
“Yep,” said Mr. Space, nodding. “The Avatar is gone and probably dead. Let’s break out the champagne and red velvet cake!”
“Good to hear,” said Sparky. “And I can confirm that the Rubber Ball is still safely where you left it with me. I will note, however, that it appears we lost about ten percent of our cargo during the assault.”
“We can replace it at HQ,” said Mr. Space. “Speaking of HQ, how is the rest of the organization faring against the Darzens?”
“Not so well,” said Sparky. “The Darzens’ numbers seem to have grown and the protective barrier around the HQ seems to be getting weaker and—”
Sparky suddenly stopped speaking, as if someone had just interrupted him, prompting Mr. Space to say, “Sparky, what’s the problem? Did something happen?”
“Yes,” said Sparky. “I just received a message from Commander Nova addressed to the entire space fleet of the IEA. According to him, the Darzen forces are suddenly retreating for some unknown reason.”
“Retreating?” said Mr. Space in surprise. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes,” said Sparky. “Looking more closely at the monitors, it does appear that the Darzens’ fleet has ceased their assault on HQ and are busily making a retreat. I see stingers and warships alike disappearing into portals rapidly. They seem to be in a hurry, because I just saw two stingers crash into each other in an attempt to get through one portal.”
“Huh,” said Mr. Space. “I wonder why they’re so afraid all of a sudden.”
Beams looked at the Avatar’s sword, which still stood in the floor hilt up. “Maybe it was the fact that we got rid of the Avatar. He’s their leader, isn’t he? If he’s dead, then that means the Darzens don’t have anyone to lead them, which is probably why they’re retreating. They probably think they can’t beat you guys without the Avatar leading them to victory.”
“Makes sense,” said Mr. Space. “Still seems a tad suspicious, though, if you ask me. I’ve always been told that the Darzens never retreat from battle, no matter how bad the odds. On the other hand, if the Avatar was indeed chosen by the Dread God, then maybe his defeat is giving them a crisis of faith or something.”
“Either way, it works out well for us,” said Beams. He rubbed the back of his head. “It means that the Rubber Ball is still safely where it needs to be.”
“Right,” said Mr. Space. He looked up at the speaker. “Sparky, you can turn off the bridge’s security systems now. Beams and I are about to head back up to the bridge.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sparky. “Turning off bridge security systems now.”
Mr. Space looked at Beams. “Well, let’s get going. No reason to spend any more time down here than we already have.”
Beams nodded, but then glanced at the Avatar’s sword and the corpse of the Darzen he killed. “What about the dead Darzen? Should we do something about it?”
“I’ll have Sparky clean it up later,” said Mr. Space. “And get rid of that sword, too. Actually, that sword looks really cool. I think I’m going to keep it, assuming Galaxy doesn’t force me to throw it away.”
“Why would she force you to throw it away?” said Beams, looking at Mr. Space, puzzled.
“We’ve had bad experiences with taking mysterious alien objects we don’t understand,” said Mr. Space. “And the cooler the object is, the more likely Galaxy is to tell me I can’t keep it. Which is why I know she’s going to tell me to throw the sword away when she gets back from her mission.” Then Mr. Space stroked his chin in thought. “Perhaps I can convince Sparky to help me hide it. It’s pretty big, so it would be kind of hard, but maybe—”
Mr. Space was interrupted by Sparky’s voice blaring over the speaker again. “Mr. Space! Please get up here immediately. I’ve received an urgent communication from the Chief’s Office urging all ships to return to HQ now.”
“We’re on our way,” Mr. Space said. “But can you tell me why everyone needs to return to HQ? The battle is over. We won.”
“The message is short and doesn’t have many details,” said Sparky. “But if what it says is true, then it may not matter that we won the battle at all.”
“What do you mean?” said Beams. “What happened?”
Beams almost wished he hadn’t asked that, because when Sparky answered, he suddenly felt an ominous chill go down his spine:
“Amanda Nebula, the Chief of the IEA, has been found dead in her office.”
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br /> CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Graalix raised his fist above his head and brought it down on Bolt. But Bolt turned his head to the side, causing Graalix’s fist to miss his face and smash into the floor.
Without hesitation, Bolt blasted Graalix in the chest with a red lightning bolt. The lightning bolt sent Graalix flying into the ceiling, which he slammed into hard enough to send cracks running through it. Graalix fell almost immediately and was caught by Bolt, who flew up into the air and slammed Graalix down into and through the floor. They crashed into what seemed to be a break room for Facility workers. At least, that was what Bolt thought, because he saw a couple of guys wearing office clothing and sipping on coffee immediately scream and run as soon as he and Graalix smashed through the ceiling.
The two of them landed onto the floor with a crash. Bolt immediately wrapped his hands around Graalix’s neck and squeezed, but Graalix punched him in the chest hard enough to make him loosen his grip. Then Graalix shoved him off him and Bolt, taking advantage of the momentum, rolled backwards a few feet until he was back on his feet.
Rising to his full height, Bolt raised his hands, which were crackling with electricity. “When did you get so strong all of a sudden?”
Graalix also rose to his full height, dusting off his new sleek form. “When the Dread God granted me the strength I needed to avenge my people. I doubt you would understand, however. You were born with your power, while I wasn’t.”
“I understand that I’m going to smash your face in regardless of where your new power came from,” said Bolt. “Starting right now.”
Bolt rushed toward Graalix, but Graalix suddenly disappeared, forcing Bolt to screech to a halt and look around the break room in confusion.
“Huh?” said Bolt, turning his head this way and that. “Where did you go? Don’t tell me you can turn invisible now, too.”
Graalix suddenly appeared behind him and said, “Invisibility? No. Super speed, yes.”
Without warning, Graalix grabbed Bolt’s shoulders and threw him across the break room. Bolt smashed into the fridge hard enough to knock the door inwards. He heard glass and plastic break behind him, as well as smelled what might have been a smashed ketchup bottle, but he paid no attention to that. He just pulled himself out of the fridge and glared at Graalix, who stood with his arms folded in front of his chest with an amused smirk on his face.
“You don’t look very happy,” said Graalix. “Don’t like having your own powers used against you?”
Bolt scowled. “So the Dread God gave you super speed in addition to super strength? Neat god, even though he’s dead.”
“The Dread God may be dead,” Graalix began, “but he won’t—”
Bolt never got to find out what the Dread God wouldn’t be, because he ripped the fridge off the wall and hurled it at Graalix. Graalix’s eyes briefly widened in shock before he suddenly disappeared. The fridge smashed into the floor, sending bottles of water and plastic wrapped sandwiches spewing from its interior.
But Bolt wasn’t confused. He activated his own super speed and suddenly saw Graalix rushing toward him. He rushed toward Graalix and threw a punch at his face, but Graalix dodged it and punched Bolt in the stomach. The two began trading blows rapidly, each one blocking or dodging punches from the other.
But then one of Graalix’s punches missed and Bolt got a solid punch into his face. Graalix fell down to the floor and Bolt, turning off his super speed, brought his foot down on him, but Graalix rolled out of the way at the last second and Bolt’s foot shattered the floor tiles upon impact.
Rolling to his feet, Graalix was now panting. He didn’t have very many injuries on his body, but he looked tired nonetheless. Bolt couldn’t blame him, because the fight was starting to wear down on him, too, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to keep up against a foe who was nearly his equal in terms of strength.
“As powerful … as powerful as ever, I see,” said Graalix. “You are quick and powerful. As am I.”
“Difference is, buddy, I have a lot of experience controlling my powers,” said Bolt. He punched his fist into his other hand. “The Dread God may have given you powers on par with mine, but if you don’t know how to use them, then they’re useless.”
“Don’t condescend to me, human,” said Graalix with a snarl. “Even when I was a normal Pokacu, I was still above you. The Pokacu conquered countless worlds in the name of the Mother World. And once the Mother World is back, we will resume our conquest of not just the universe, but the multiverse as well. No one shall be able to stand against our might.”
Bolt shook his head. “You really can’t let go of the past, can you, old pal? Oh, well. I guess you’ll just be joining your precious Mother World in the afterlife!”
Charging his fists with electricity, Bolt rushed toward Graalix. The Pokacu also rushed toward him and swung one of his fists at Bolt. Bolt waited until the last second and then dodged the incoming punch, leaving Graalix wide open for a counterattack, and slammed both of his electrically-charged fists into Graalix’s abdomen.
Graalix roared in agony as the electricity coursed through his body. His skin began to smoke and his screams of pain grew louder and louder with every second. But Bolt just kept his fists connected to Graalix as firmly as he could, channeling as much electricity into Graalix’s body as he was able to.
Finally, Graalix suddenly stopped screaming and Bolt pulled his fists away. Graalix then collapsed onto the floor, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his skin smoking slightly from the electricity that had been inflicted upon him. With his chest rising and falling, Bolt knew that Graalix was still alive, which surprised him. Perhaps Graalix was tougher than he thought.
“Bolt,” came a voice from the doorway to the break room. Bolt looked over and saw Cadmus Smith, Peter, Nicknacks, and Captain Galaxy standing there, with Cadmus being the one who had spoken. “Is he dead?”
Bolt shook his head. “No. Just unconscious from getting electrocuted.”
“Good,” said Cadmus. He stepped into the room, his eyes locked firmly on Graalix. “Few things surprise me anymore due to my old age, but this one did. I wonder how the Dread God managed to get past our security and provide Graalix with such a massive power upgrade. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Legends say that the Dread God can reach across the cosmos and bless—or curse—anyone with but a thought,” said Nicknacks. “It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the Dread God was able to power up Graalix without even being alive anymore.”
“Is this the power of the Rubber Ball?” Captain Galaxy muttered. “Interesting … and terrifying … better take some notes to give to HQ when I get back …”
“What was that, Galaxy?” said Bolt. “The Rubber what?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” said Captain Galaxy, waving off Bolt’s question. “Just muttering to myself. It doesn’t concern you.”
Bolt’s eyes narrowed, but he decided not to push the subject any further. He looked up at the ceiling and said, “What about Shade?”
“I’ve already asked the Facility’s medical team to move her to the Facility’s medical center,” said Cadmus. “I suspect she’ll be okay, because she’s suffered far worse injuries in the past and survived. Still …” Cadmus looked at Graalix with an unexpectedly harsh gaze. “If she had died, I would have killed Graalix myself, regardless of how valuable his knowledge might be to advance US interests.”
“Wait, you mean we’re going to spare him?” said Bolt. He gestured at the ceiling. “Did you even see my fight with him? Graalix is a monster. You guys shouldn’t have even saved him in the first place.”
“If we hadn’t, we would be far less knowledgeable about the Pokacu race and their technology than we are now,” said Cadmus without missing a beat. “The knowledge we’ve gleaned from Graalix’s body will be used to further US interests in the not-so-distant future. Having to deal with an out-of-control prisoner who you managed to put down is a small price to pay for a brighter
future for all.”
“It’s irresponsible is what it is,” said Bolt. “You should have just let him die with the other Pokacu.”
Cadmus shook his head. “You clearly have no concept of international politics. The United States was not the only country attacked during the second invasion and it wasn’t the only country to end up with a wealth of Pokacu technology from the aftermath. But it is the only country to have recovered a live Pokacu specimen from the wreckage of a ship, which gives us an insurmountable edge over the other countries.”
“I don’t care about politics,” said Bolt. “I just want to do what’s right.”
“And that is why eighteen-year-olds don’t have the right to vote,” said Cadmus.
Bolt stepped forward, but then Nicknacks stood between them and said, “Enough bickering, both of you. Just because we have managed to defeat Graalix and keep the Soul Crown safe doesn’t mean that the Darzens are no longer a threat.”
“Nicknacks is right,” said Captain Galaxy. “The Darzens don’t give up that easily. The best thing to do would be to give me the Soul Crown so I can transport it to safety.”
“There’s no guarantee that you will be able to keep it safe,” said Cadmus. “At least, not any safer than the US government could.”
“Are you kidding me?” said Captain Galaxy. She gestured at the unconscious Graalix. “The Dread God managed to literally create a threat right in the middle of your own supposedly secure facility. And he could easily do it again if he wanted. Or he could send an army of Darzens to invade Earth and overwhelm your defenses through sheer power and numbers. Trust me, you guys don’t have the tech necessary to keep the Soul Crown safe from the Darzens.”
“And I’m not going to simply hand over a valuable, rare artifact to an unknown such as yourself,” said Cadmus. “I would need to request permission from President Plutarch first, though given how I have no intention of letting you have it at all, I will not do that.”
“Stop being such an obstructive bureaucrat and give her the damn Crown,” said Bolt. “You saw Graalix. Do you really want to see something even worse come after him?”