by Lucas Flint
I gasped. “Graleex? Is that you?”
The Pokacu nodded. He tapped the side of his helmet with his normal hand, causing the visor to flip up and reveal his ugly, inhuman face with the insectoid eyes and slimy blue skin that I would recognize anywhere. “The one and only, back from the Mother World to finish what my people started.”
“Bolt, you know this one?” said Omega Man, looking at me in confusion.
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “Back when Robert stole my powers, I ran into this guy under the sea. He was the only surviving member of the last Pokacu invasion and he used my escape pod to leave Earth to return to his world. He also gave me the powerless gas that helped me defeat Robert before he left.”
“So you survived the other human that had been trying to kill you?” said Graleex. “I thought for sure that that human would have killed you, but I can see that my gift helped. Oh, well. Either way, I will not spare your life.”
“Why not?” I said. “I mean, we weren’t enemies when you left.”
“Of course we were,” Graleex growled. “Humans and Pokacu can never truly be friends. Temporary allies, yes, but nothing more than that. Besides, the only reason I gave you that powerless gas in the first place was to ensure that your world would not have that powerful human defending it. It appears that my plan worked..”
“Well, we’re still not going to let you win,” I said. “We beat you once. We can beat you again.”
“Really?” said Graleex. He looked around at all of the unconscious or defeated superheroes with an unimpressed look on his face. “It appears that this invasion is already over, given that Earth’s mightiest defenders are all currently lying in crumpled heaps around us.” He looked at me again and smiled. “Of course, that was the plan all along. The Mother World always learns from her mistakes, so we made sure to take out the masked humans before we attacked anywhere else on this world.”
“We aren’t the only superheroes in the world,” I said. “There are others in countries all around the planet who can take you out.”
“Yes, but by the time any of them ready their own defenses, your country will be a ruin and the rest of you puny humans will be scrambling to survive,” said Graleex. He aimed his arm cannon at me. “But enough talk. I came here to conquer, not to tit tat. I mean chit-chat.” He scowled. “I hate English. A clumsy and imprecise tongue, nothing like the beauty of the Pokacu language.”
I was about to say that I hated English class, too, before Graleex fired a blast of blue glue at me. It was coming too fast for me to dodge, but Omega Man shoved me out of the way just in the nick of time. I hit the ground just as the blue glue slammed into Omega Man, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there as the blue glue rapidly solidified around his body.
“Omega Man!” I shouted, looking at him in horror. “No!”
“Omega Man?” Graleex repeated. “Hmm, I seem to recall that that was the name of one of the masked humans who defeated the first invasion so long ago. If this human is the same Omega Man who halted the first invasion, then that will make this second invasion all the easier.”
“Don’t worry, Bolt,” said Omega Man. He struggled against the solidified glue, but it wouldn’t even budge under his struggles. “I’m still alive. You just need to leave.”
“Leave?” I said. “But I want to stay and fight.”
“Yes, let the human stay,” said Graleex, aiming his arm cannon at me again, as did the other five Pokacu with him. “Let him taste the same bitterness of defeat that I tasted for so many clicks.”
All of a sudden, something huge flew out of the powerless gas cloud around us and landed hard on the ground between me and the Pokacu, throwing a small dirt cloud in the air. The sudden crash caused the Pokacu soldiers to step back, while I had to cover my face to avoid getting dirt in my eyes.
In seconds, however, the dirt cloud went away, revealing a green-skinned, horned alien standing in its place. He wore thick, blocky armor and had two red slits for eyes and a weird-looking organic vent for a mouth. He also carried a long spear in his hands that hummed with charged energy.
“Nicknacks?” I said in surprise. “What are you doing here? I thought that the powerless gas had negated everyone’s powers.”
Nicknacks—whose real name was N’ckn’ax, the last surviving member of an alien race, and the alien who warned us of the original Pokacu invasion years ago—looked over his shoulder at me. “I am not a neohero, therefore the powerless gas does not affect me the same way it affects you or John. I’m not even human.”
“Nicknacks?” Graleex repeated. His eyes narrowed. “Traitor!”
Nicknacks turned to face Graleex, holding his spear before him defensively. “Nice to see you again, too, Graleex. As single-mindedly loyal to the Mother World as always, I see.”
“Only because the Mother World birthed us and gave us life,” said Graleex. “And, unlike you, I show gratitude toward those who help me.”
“Nicknacks, what is going on?” said Omega Man, who had ceased trying to break free from the blue glue by now due to how useless his struggles had been. “How do you know him? What does he mean that you are a ‘traitor’?”
“It is a long story,” said Nicknacks, “but to put it into terms you humans would understand, Graleex is technically my ‘brother,’ albeit not a very good one.”
“No brother of mine would ever betray the Mother World,” said Graleex. “I knew you were still somewhere on this world, but I had not expected to see you again so soon. I thought a traitor like yourself would have run away at some point, but I suppose you must know that there is not a single world in the known universe that would keep you safe from the Mother World.”
Nicknacks shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve become … fond of the humans and their ways. Have you ever had what humans call a hamburger? It is delicious.”
“Disgusting,” said Graleex. “I knew you were a traitor, but eating the humans’ own livestock? That is simply degenerate.”
“Degenerate or delicious?” said Nicknacks.
Graleex shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I intended to kill you once I returned, and now you’ve saved me the trouble of finding you. You must have a death wish.”
“Not a death wish,” said Nicknacks. “Just a desire to protect an innocent species from genocide.”
“Genocide?” I repeated. “You mean they don’t just want to conquer us?”
“Yes,” said Nicknacks. “But Bolt, you must run. You and the rest of your team need to escape the Triangle Prison before Graleex and the others kill you.”
“Run?” I said. “No way. I want to fight.”
“Nicknacks is right, Bolt,” said Omega Man. “You have to leave. Don’t worry about us. We can take care of ourselves.”
“But—”
“You would do well to listen to your elders, Bolt,” said a familiar, monotone voice above me. “You might actually learn something for a change.”
Mecha Knight suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed right next to me. He stood up, looking completely unfazed by the landing, and then looked over at the Pokacu. “Ah, yes. I forgot just how disgusting the Pokacu were.”
“Mecha Knight?” I said. “How are you still conscious? The powerless gas—”
“Like Nicknacks, due to my … different nature, the gas is ineffective on me,” said Mecha Knight, patting his chest. “You know what I am talking about.”
I did. Mecha Knight was not actually a man in a suit of armor. He was actually a robot with a human mind implanted into his body. I supposed that he was being vague about it so no one would know about it who didn’t need to know about it, since Mecha Knight kept his true nature a secret from everyone except the Leadership Council, me, and a few other NHA members.
“So two still stand out of the hundreds that have fallen,” said Graleex. “Absolutely pathetic. We will crush you two as a warning to the rest of what happens when you cross the Pokacu.”
“Not two,” said Nicknacks. He g
estured at himself with his spear. “Just one.”
“Huh?” I said. I looked up at Mecha Knight. “Aren’t you going to help him?”
“No,” said Mecha Knight, shaking his head. “I am going to get you, the Young Neos, and the New Heroes out of here. Nicknacks will hold off the Pokacu on his own.”
“What about the adults?” I said, gesturing at all of the fallen superheroes lying around us. “Can’t you save them, too?”
“Unfortunately, we cannot,” said Mecha Knight. “The adults will be fine, anyway. We need to get you and the other young superhumans out of here so that you will not get killed.”
“Do you think you will be able to escape from us?” said Graleex. “You are very foolish if you think we will let you leave alive.”
Graleex once more aimed his arm cannon, this time at Mecha Knight, but then Nicknacks suddenly rushed forward. He stabbed his spear at Graleex, who managed to dodge it, although the Pokacu soldier standing behind him wasn’t so fortunate and went down with a cry when Nicknacks’ spear pierced his heart (or what I assumed was the Pokacus’ heart, though I didn’t know if they actually had hearts or not).
“Go, now!” Nicknacks shouted back at us. “While I have them distracted!”
Mecha Knight nodded and then grabbed my arms. Without hesitation, Mecha Knight rocketed back into the air, his iron grip on my arms taking me with him and ensuring that I would not fall. Even so, I screamed as we flew, mostly out of instinct, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch myself if Mecha Knight suddenly dropped me.
Chapter Three
We soared above the powerless gas, which was still too thick to see through, until we arrived at the base of the Justice Statue. There, I saw the rest of my team huddled together, along with the New Heroes, who all looked up as Mecha Knight and I approached.
“Bolt!” Blizzard shouted, waving at me as we approached. “Are you okay?”
We landed on the ground just a few feet away from the others and Mecha Knight let go of me. Rubbing my arms, I said, “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little—”
I was interrupted when Blizzard hugged me, hugged me so tightly that I couldn’t even breathe. Normally, I enjoyed her hugs and could tolerate them due to my super strength, but because of my currently de-powered state, it actually did hurt, though not very much since she wasn’t very strong herself.
“Blizzard,” I said, my voice choked. “Please let go. You’re hurting me.”
Blizzard immediately let go of me and said, “Sorry. I was just so worried about you that I couldn’t help myself.”
“Is everyone else okay?” I said, looking around at the others.
“Yeah,” said Strike, nodding. “Only problem is that our powers don’t work, but aside from that none of us were harmed badly by the blast.”
“Good to know,” said Mecha Knight. “Now we have to get out of here quickly before the Pokacu send more soldiers after us.”
“And leave behind the others?” said Strike. “What about the Midnight Menace and the other leaders of the INJ? Are we just going to abandon them? What if the Pokacu kill them?”
“I do not like having to leave them behind, either, but we cannot save everyone right now,” said Mecha Knight. “There’s just too many people to carry. Even if the powerless gas had not negated our powers, it would still be impractical to get everyone out.”
“Yeah, but—” said Strike.
“No arguing,” said Mecha Knight, holding up a hand to silence Strike. “Our priority is getting all of you out of here. I am certain that the Midnight Menace would agree that getting you kids out of the Triangle is more important than saving himself.”
Strike’s hands balled into fists like he wanted to argue, but then he shook his head and said, “Okay, we’ll go with you. But how do we get past the laser walls?”
Mecha Knight looked up at the huge laser walls that surrounded the entire area. “Potentially, I could fly over them, because my rocket boots could propel me through the air very easily. Unfortunately, I do not think I could carry the combined weight of all of you with me, because that would require more fuel and would likely end up burning up all of my fuel before we could get very high, assuming I could lift off at all.”
The sound of lasers being fired made me look over my shoulder briefly in the direction that the sound had come from. The yellow gas was still too thick to look through, but it sounded to me like the sound had come from the area where Nicknacks was holding off the Pokacu. It was quickly followed by a roar of fire, which was actually briefly visible above the cloud of powerless gas before it vanished just as quickly.
“If only we could destroy the ships,” said Blizzard, looking around at the three Pokacu spaceships that formed the Triangle Prison. “But without our powers, we can’t even reach one.”
“I probably could, but I imagine they’d shoot me down before I could get close enough to actually inflict any serious damage,” said Mecha Knight. He stroked his chin in thought. “We will have to come up with a way out quickly, because if we don’t—”
Mecha Knight was interrupted when a laser beam launched down from the huge spaceship above. It struck the ground before us and then vanished, revealing three more Pokacu soldiers who instantly aimed their arm cannons at us.
But before the soldiers could fire, Mecha Knight launched toward them. He drew his sword as he flew and slashed at them, moving incredibly fast for a machine. He cut off one of the soldiers’ arm cannons, slashed open the chest of another, and beheaded a third, killing them all in less than a minute. The three dead Pokacu collapsed to the ground as Mecha Knight shook the Pokacu blood off his sword and turned to face us, showing no more emotion about this than he usually did.
“That was qiocl,” said Mecha Knight, glancing at the dead Pokacu that lay around him, “but I imagine they will send more now that these three are dead, which is why we must—Treehugger, what’s the matter?”
We looked over at Treehugger. Her face had gone green and she’d covered her mouth. I didn’t understand why she looked so sick until I realized that she was staring at the Pokacu corpses lying on the ground.
“I’m just … just not used to seeing dead people like that,” said Treehugger. She covered her mouth again and looked away.
“Hey, it’ll be fine,” said Strike, patting her on the shoulder. “We’ll be out of here and away from these guys in a jiffy.”
Although Strike spoke in a friendly voice and didn’t seem to pat her too hard, Treehugger nonetheless jumped when Strike touched her, like he’d electrocuted her. She then recomposed herself and, removing her hands from her mouth, said, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. I’m not sick at all. I just got a little spooked is all.”
It was pretty obvious to me that Treehugger just didn’t want to look bad in front of Strike, but Mecha Knight nodded and said, “I understand. I dislike killing myself, but sometimes it is the only way to deal with certain threats. In any case, we must go before the Pokacu send more soldiers after us.”
“But where to?” said Slime. I almost didn’t recognize him when I saw him, because his skin was no longer slimy and green, but a very pale white, though he was sweating up a storm now. “We can’t escape the Triangle Prison.”
“Follow me,” said Mecha Knight. “There is still a way we could escape, but only if we do not delay.”
Mecha Knight instantly started walking away from the dead Pokacu, with the rest of us following without delay. Mecha Knight led us around to the back of the base of the Justice Statue, which was apparently unharmed from the earlier explosion, and showed us a blank stone wall behind the Statue’s base.
“Where are we going, Mecha Knight?” said Blizzard as we stopped before the Statue’s base. “Are we just going to hide here behind the Statue until help arrives?”
“No,” said Mecha Knight. “Just hold on a minute. I believe the exit I am thinking of should still be here, unless it was sealed off after construction of the State was finished.”
“Sealed o
ff?” I said as Mecha Knight walked over to the blank wall. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see,” said Mecha Knight. He put his hands on the wall and pushed it, causing it to go inward. “Ah, here we go. This should work.”
The portion of the wall that Mecha Knight had pushed inward slid to the side, revealing a dark, narrow staircase that went down … well, I wasn’t sure how far it went down. It looked like it descended forever into the darkness.
Mecha Knight stepped aside and gestured for us to enter. “Go now. There’s no time to waste.”
“What is it?” I said, before any of us entered. “Where does it go?”
“This was a maintenance tunnel used by workers building the Statue,” said Mecha Knight. “It was used for helping the workers move materials from the warehouse where they’re stored to underneath the Statue’s shroud without being seen. I’ve never used it myself, but I was made aware of it when the Statue was being built. I did not know until this very moment, however, whether it had been sealed off or was still usable now that the Statue is finished; we’re lucky that it is accessible.”
“Where will it take us?” said Stinger.
“It should take you to the warehouse where the building materials were kept,” said Mecha Knight. “That’s just outside the Triangle, so we’ll be free once we enter.”
“What will we do from there?” I said. “Run away?”
“We’ll wait for your powers to return and then come up with a plan to defeat the Pokacu,” said Mecha Knight. “Perhaps try to contact people off the Island to call for help. But until then, we must go into hiding. Now go, before the Pokacu try to stop us.”
I nodded and gestured for the others to enter first. Blizzard and the rest of the Young Neos quickly made their way down the stairs, followed by Strike’s team, but not Strike himself. He stayed outside with me and Mecha Knight, his eyes trained on the sky in case any Pokacu spaceships came flying after us. Yet there was nothing in the sky except for the huge laser wall and the spaceships that created and maintained it, though I doubted that would last for long.