Crossover

by Lucas Flint

  Hypno chuckled. “Ah, Shade, I’m not using my power at the moment. I’m just trying to have a good time.”

  “Did you say your name is Beams?” asked the female IEA agent. “As in, Alex Fry, from Golden City?”

  “Yeah,” said Beams in surprise. “How do you know my real name? I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

  “That’s because I’m Captain Helena Galaxy, Captain of the Adventure,” said the female IEA agent, gesturing at the IEA symbol etched into her uniform. “My deputy, Mr. Jason Space, went to your universe seeking the Rubber Ball. Did you meet him?”

  “So you’re Space’s friend,” said Beams. He nodded eagerly. “Yeah, I met him. He’s the reason I’m not in my universe anymore. He mentioned you to me, though he never showed me a picture of you or anything.”

  Captain Galaxy looked around and frowned. “But where is Space? I don’t see him anywhere.”

  “He’s … not here right now,” said Beams. “He’s back at the IEA headquarters.”

  “What about the Rubber Ball?” said Captain Galaxy, staring Beams straight in the eyes. “Is it safe?”

  Beams shook his head sadly. “No, it’s not. And it’s my fault.”

  Beams quickly explained to Captain Galaxy and the others everything that happened since the invasion of his universe by the Darzens. It took him a surprisingly short amount of time to explain everything, though he had to omit a lot of details and speak quickly, because he had no idea how much time they had until the Avatar or the Dread Priest sent more Darzens to kill them.

  “And then I jumped out of the window of my room in the Temple and got over here,” said Beams. He gestured at the dead guard behind them. “You guys know the rest.”

  “This is even worse than I feared,” said Captain Galaxy, staring at the street uncomprehendingly. “Chief Nebula dead at the hands of a traitor within the IEA … both the Soul Crown and the Rubber Ball in the hands of the Darzen … and Space badly hurt. I had hoped that Space would be able to keep the Rubber Ball out of the Darzens’ hands, but it looks like he failed.”

  “No, he didn’t fail,” said Beams. He pointed at himself. “I failed. I let myself get corrupted by the Rubber Ball, allowed it to influence my actions. Space did nothing wrong. It’s all on me.”

  “At this point, does it matter whose fault it is?” said Bolt. He pointed at the Temple. “The Dread God’s body, brain, and crown are all in that Temple, from what Beams told us. This Dread Priest guy is already setting up the ritual, which I imagine they’ll start with or without Beams. We need to break into the Temple and start breaking stuff.”

  “But the Temple is likely heavily guarded,” said Hypno, scratching his chin as he gazed over at the huge building. “Given what we’ve seen of the Darzens so far, I think it is safe to assume that they’ve gone the extra mile to protect their god’s body. It won’t be easy to assault that place.”

  “Do we have much of a choice?” said Bolt. He looked around at everyone. “We don’t have time to sneak around and try to slip through their defenses. Our best bet is a direct, no-holds-barred attack on the Temple itself. We take down anyone who gets in our way or tries to stop us, up to and including the Avatar and the Dread Priest themselves. And if necessary, we’ll destroy both the Soul Crown and the Rubber Ball.”

  “I agree,” said Captain Galaxy, looking up again. She had a look of determination on her face. “We should never have let it get this far in the first place, but what’s past is past. A direct assault is our only realistic option left if we’re going to stop the resurrection ritual in time.”

  Shade smiled. “I prefer to slink around in the darkness, but I’m also okay with breaking a few skulls here and there. Sounds like fun.”

  Hypno rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “Director Smith warned me that you could be a bit foolhardy, young man, but I can’t find fault with your ideas, even though I’m not much of a fighter myself.”

  Beams found it amazing how everyone just folded under Bolt’s authority. He himself felt quite persuaded by Bolt’s short plan, even though he had known Bolt for maybe ten minutes.

  He must have had experience leading people before, Beams thought, looking at Bolt with newfound respect. I hope we can sit down and chat after this, because I have a feeling that this guy’s led a very interesting life.

  “What do you think, Beams?” said Bolt, looking at him. “Will you join us, even though you just escaped from that place?”

  Beams nodded. “Of course. This is my mistake to fix and I’m going to need all the help I can get to do it.”

  “Excellent,” said Bolt. He looked toward the Temple and punched his fist into his other hand. “Then let’s go. We have no time to lose.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Bolt, carrying Beams on his back, soared through the skies over the Third Layer of Dread City. He could feel Beams tense against his body, which was probably due to the fact that Beams was not used to flying. Beams had explained to Bolt that there were very few superheroes in his world who could actually fly independently on their own and that many used machines and devices to pull off this ‘trick.’ That made no sense to Bolt, who wondered how you could be a superhero if you relied primarily on gadgets and devices to fight crime rather than your inherent, natural born powers, but there were a lot of things about Beams’ world that made no sense to him. Perhaps he would go there someday and see for himself what Beams’ world was like.

  In any case, Bolt had more important things to worry about. Such as attacking the top of the Temple and acting as a distraction for Captain Galaxy, Shade, and Hypno. He glanced down between the streets of the buildings below, but he did not see his allies, though that was probably because Shade was using her shadow powers to cloak their movements.

  They’ll probably reach the Temple at the same time as us, Bolt thought. Or maybe even before. Shade would probably do that just to be able to tease me about how slow I am.

  Shaking his head, Bolt thought over the plan briefly. It was simple. The group had split into two smaller groups. Bolt and Beams were in a group together, while Captain Galaxy, Shade, and Hypno had their own group. The two groups would attack the Temple simultaneously from different angles. Bolt and Beams would attack from the top, while Captain Galaxy, Shade, and Hypno would attack from the bottom. The reasoning behind this plan was that it would split whatever security forces the Darzens had mustered and make it easier to enter the Temple. They would try to meet in the middle, but the real goal for both groups was finding the Soul Crown, the Rubber Ball, or both.

  As always, Bolt was well aware that the plan could go wrong at any moment. Beams had briefly explained to all of them about the figure known as the Dread God’s Avatar who, by the sound of it, was much stronger and more powerful than your average Darzen and just as willing to fight. Beams said he didn’t know much about the Dread Priest, but told everyone to keep an eye out for him anyway in case he turned out to be a threat.

  It sure would be nice to have my friends from the Young Neos right now, Bolt thought. This reminds me of all of the missions we went on together. At least it’s more interesting than cleaning bird droppings off statues, anyway.

  “Okay, Bolt!” Beams shouted in his ear above the howling wind as they soared through the sky. “Remember the plan! We’re going to silently enter my room and then, when the others get to their spot, begin our assault. Got it?”

  “Yeah, I remember,” said Bolt, glancing at the windows of the center tower as they approached. “I just hope that Shade and the others aren’t too slow, because—”

  A loud screeching sound interrupted Bolt, followed by a heavy flapping of wings and then a dark shadow falling over them both. Bolt looked up just in time to see a massive bat-like creature swooping down toward them, its bird-like beak opened wide. Bolt swerved to the side, nearly tossing Beams off his back accidentally, and narrowly avoiding the bat, which soared past them like a dive bombing airplane.

  “Holy crap!” said Bolt, co
ming to a stop and looking in the direction from which the bat had come. “What the hell was that?”

  “A Kakarr,” said Beams. He sounded terrified. “Those things were part of the invasion of my world. My eye beams are useless against them. And it’s got a rider, too. Look!”

  Beams was right. Riding atop a saddle attached to the Kakarr’s back was a Darzen soldier wielding a spear of some sort. The Darzen soldier had sleeker, more aerodynamic armor in comparison to the armor which other Darzens wore, though it also made the soldier look even more intimidating than your average Darzen. The Kakarr made a sharp turn in the sky and was flapping back toward them, screeching all the while.

  “Air defense,” said Bolt. “Of course they would have air defense.”

  “What should we do?” said Beams. “If we waste time fighting that thing, the plan will be ruined.”

  “Then we won’t fight it,” said Bolt. He nodded at the window. “We’re not far from your room. Hang on tight!”

  Beams shot toward the windows and, raising a hand, fired a powerful blast of red lightning at them. The red lightning bolt exploded the stone windows apart, leaving a gap big enough for the two of them to enter. Bolt landed on the floor quickly, skidding a few feet away from the smoking gap before coming to a stop.

  “Whew,” said Bolt as Beams let go of him and staggered away. “That was close. You okay, dude?”

  Beams—who was shaking—nodded and said, “Y-Yeah, I—Watch out!”

  The Kakarr which had intercepted them in the sky was flying straight toward them. At first, Bolt thought that the Kakarr was going to crash itself into them kamikaze-style, but then its rider jumped off of the Kakarr’s back and used its momentum to throw itself through the air. The rider hit the floor with its shoulder and rolled onto its feet, holding its spear before it like it did that sort of thing every day.

  “Whoa,” said Bolt. “That was like an action movie. Maybe you should consider a career in Holly—”

  The rider rushed toward them, but Beams jumped forward and fired an unusually powerful blast of energy at it. The blast struck the rider in the face and sent him flying backwards out of the gap in the wall where the windows used to be. A few seconds later, Bolt heard a soft thunk as the rider hit the ground below.

  Beams looked at Bolt in annoyance. “We don’t have time for clever quips. Remember, we’re fighting for our lives here and these guys are going in for the kill.”

  Bolt cracked a grin. “What, you don’t have friendly banter with your enemies in your universe? Sounds boring.”

  Beams opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment the door to the room burst open and half a dozen armed Darzens spilled through the open door like water bursting through a dam. One of the guards pointed at Bolt and shouted in that weird Darzen language, but Bolt activated his super speed and rushed toward the guards. He slammed into them like a lightning bolt, sending them flying around the room like a town hit by a hurricane. One of the Darzens dodged his punch and tried to slash him with a sword, but Bolt dodged the blade and kicked the Darzen hard enough to send it flying into and through a wall on the other side of the room.

  In seconds, all six of the Darzens were down, leaving only Bolt and Beams standing.

  Bolt turned to face Beams, still smiling. “So what were you saying about wasting time bantering with the enemy? We don’t have time for it or whatever?”

  Beams scowled. “Whatever. Let’s just keep going. Those guys aren’t the only guards we’re going to have to deal with.”

  Bolt gave Beams the thumbs up and the two of them rushed out of the room into the hallway outside. The hallway was surprisingly spacious, the walls decorated with strange and frightening carvings depicting scenes that Bolt assumed were from Darzen history or mythology. He didn’t get much chance to look at them too much, however, because he immediately spotted more Darzen soldiers rushing toward them, a dozen in all, wielding a variety of axes, swords, and spears.

  “There they are!” one of the Darzens shouted. “Intruders! Kill them all in the name of the Dread God and his Avatar!”

  Beams stepped toward them, but Bolt put a hand on Beams’ shoulder and said, “Wait here. I’ve got a great idea, but you’re probably going to have to duck.”

  Beams glanced at Bolt in confusion, but Bolt didn’t bother to explain. He just shot into the air and landed directly in the center of the Darzen soldiers, who all turned around to face him at the same time.

  But Bolt gave them no time to react. He gathered up his electrical energy deep inside him and, with a yell, unleashed it in one great explosion of energy. The energy expanded from his body like a bomb, striking all twelve of the Darzens at once. Some were sent flying, some were knocked flat off their feet, and still others got burned to a crisp. In seconds, all twelve of the Darzens lay scattered around the hallway, unconscious and defeated.

  Panting slightly, Bolt turned to face Beams, who was staring at him in disbelief.

  “What was that?” said Beams in astonishment.

  “Just one of my favorite attacks,” said Bolt, dusting off his shoulder. “Useful for taking out multiple enemies at once, though it’s also a bit draining. But don’t worry about me. I’ve still got plenty of fight left in me.”

  “That is good to hear,” said a deep voice behind him, “because you are about to be in the fight of your life.”

  Bolt looked over his shoulder just in time to see a huge sword coming his way. He activated his super speed and ran away from the sword, stopping beside Beams and turning around to face his new enemy.

  The enemy who stood before them was yet another Darzen, but he was bigger and bulkier than the others, with a face that Bolt would describe as almost human. He wielded a long, dangerous-looking sword that looked like it could cut stone as easily as human flesh. The spikes poking out of its armor looked rusted and twisted, like thorns on a branch.

  “Who are you?” said Bolt, holding up his fists. “Another Darzen?”

  Beams took a step back. “It’s the Dread God’s Avatar.”

  “You mean that guy is the Avatar you told me about earlier?” said Bolt, looking at Beams in surprise. He looked at the Avatar again. “He’s even bigger than I thought.”

  The Avatar held his sword before him defensively. “Correct. And you are Bolt, the human who gave Brother Graalix some trouble, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah,” said Bolt, nodding. “Surprised you recognize me, given how I’ve never seen you before.”

  “You matched Brother Graalix’s description of you,” said the Avatar. “When I heard the explosions coming from the hall, I guessed that you were here. Brother Graalix warned me not to take you lightly, because you always seem to find a way to come out on top. But not today.”

  “What, can you see into the future or something?” said Bolt. “You don’t know that.”

  “Perhaps,” said the Avatar with a shrug. “But I don’t need to know the future to know that I will win today. The Prophecy has foretold the Dread God’s return. And the Dread God’s prophecies are never wrong.”

  “We’ll see about that,” said Bolt. He looked at Beams. “Ready, Beams? Beams?”

  For whatever reason, Beams was standing there as if he had become frozen on the spot. It was almost like someone had cast a spell over him, his limbs frozen solid.

  “Beams?” said Bolt, looking at him worryingly. “Hey, pal, are you all right?”

  Beams suddenly looked at Bolt and fired. His lasers struck Bolt in the chest, sending Bolt flying backwards into the wall on the opposite side of the room. He struck the wall hard and fell down onto the floor, where he lay, slightly stunned from the impact of the blast.

  Shaking his head, Bolt looked up to see Beams still standing there, his visor glowing dangerously with charged energy. It seemed like something had possessed Beams, which made Bolt suddenly realize that things were about to get a whole hell of a lot harder.

  “Beams?” said Bolt. “Beams, what’s the matter with you? Why did you shoo
t me?”

  The Avatar chuckled. He sheathed his sword and said, “Well, well, it appears that the Dread God is going to take care of you for me. I can sense that the Rubber Ball has taken control over Beams, so I might as well leave you two to your fight. The Dread God’s resurrection is at hand, so regardless of who wins and who loses, he will rise again either way. Just as it should be.”

  With that, a portal opened behind the Avatar, which he stepped backwards into. The last thing Bolt saw of the Avatar before the portal closed was the Avatar’s triumphant smirk.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Beams once again felt like a prisoner in his own body. He tried to stop himself from shooting Bolt, but now that he was back in the Temple, it felt like the Dread God’s power had increased. He could only watch as Bolt slowly rose to his feet, dusting himself off.

  “Beams, I don’t want to fight you,” said Bolt, raising his hands with his palms up. “We’re not enemies. This is just a big waste of time. We need to fight the Avatar and the Dread Priest, not each other.”

  Beams wanted to say that he agreed, but he couldn’t even control his own mouth. He just suddenly fired another laser blast at Bolt, but Bolt jumped to the side, expertly avoiding the blast, and rushed toward Beams. Bolt ran around Beams and then grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back. Though Beams couldn’t control his body, he could feel the pain from his arms being twisted in unnatural directions. His body even cried out in pain and struggled to break free of Bolt’s grasp.

  “Stop fighting!” Bolt snapped. “Get a hold of yourself! I could easily crush you like an ant, but I don’t want to. Fight off the Dread God’s possession!”

  Easier said than done, Beams wanted to say. He could sense the malevolence of the Dread God lurking somewhere in the back of his mind, controlling his every movement. The Dread God was angry at Bolt restraining him, so he twisted Beams’ head around and fired another laser at Bolt. He couldn’t hit Bolt exactly because that would require turning his head around completely, but Bolt did let go of his arms, allowing Beams to whirl around and throw a punch at his face.