by Lucas Flint
“I didn’t know the Pokacu had a class system,” I said. “Why did you betray them, anyway?”
Nicknacks lowered his hand from his chest. “You see, Earth is not the first planet that the Pokacu have invaded. The Pokacu have always been a warmongering people, so when they developed spaceflight, they began to conquer other planets. Over the centuries, the Pokacu have conquered and destroyed countless worlds, most of which you have never even heard of, ending whole civilizations within months.”
“Destroyed?” Blizzard repeated in horror. “You mean they don’t just conquer them?”
“Of course not,” said Nicknacks, shaking his head. “Conquering a planet requires ensuring that the planet’s inhabitants do not rise up in rebellion and retake their home world. It is much simpler to kill an entire people and then go onto the next world.”
“Why?” I said. “What do the Pokacu gain from doing that?”
“I never knew why,” said Nicknacks with a shrug. “As a member of the lowly support class, I was never privy to the reasoning behind the invasion of any one planet. As far as I could tell, the only reason the Pokacu invaded and destroyed whole worlds was because they could.”
“You still haven’t explained why you betrayed them,” I said.
“I had to explain who the Pokacu were first so you would understand my motives,” said Nicknacks. “You see, I got tired of the destruction of so many innocent worlds. As a support class member, I rarely saw the actual battles and annihilation wreaked by my people. But one time … I did.”
Nicknacks looked down at the floor again, as if he was too ashamed to even look at us. “It was during the conquest of a particularly difficult planet, one of the very few planets we attacked whose people already had spacecraft of their own. It was one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts in our history as a people, the first one where we came narrowly close to actually losing, though our first actual loss would not occur until sometime later, during the first invasion of Earth.”
“What did you see?” I said. “What happened?”
“It was during one of the battles close to the end of that war,” said Nicknacks. “I was sent down to the planet’s surface to deliver some important supplies to one of our squads. The teleporter malfunctioned, however, and teleported me a few miles away from where I was actually supposed to land; nonetheless, I knew the location’s coordinates and decided to head there on foot, because it wasn’t very far away and the supplies I carried were not particularly heavy.”
Nicknacks’ voice became quieter. “By chance, I ended up finding a village that had been destroyed by my people. There, I witnessed a couple of the Pokacu soldiers brutally torturing—for no real reason—a family of the planet’s inhabitants, including their two children. I had known that torture was a routine part of any invasion, but actually seeing it in person like that … I am not sure what happened, but it made me rethink my support of my peoples’ invasions. The screams … I still hear them in my sleep sometimes.”
Then Nicknacks looked up at us. Although his eyes weren’t very human, he nonetheless looked quite disturbed by the story he told us. “After that, I decided that I couldn’t continue to support these invasions anymore. There was nothing I could do for the planets we’d already destroyed, but there was still a chance I could save other worlds by warning them of the coming invasion, because the Pokacu never announced their invasions ahead of time. So I found out what the next planet to be invaded was and I stole an escape pod and secretly fled the fleet, arriving on Earth not long after but well before the Pokacu would arrive.”
“And then you told the NHA about the coming invasion,” I said. “Right?”
“Correct,” said Nicknacks. “They were the only humans, unfortunately, willing to listen to me. It was how Earth was able to fight back against the Pokacu. By telling the NHA everything I knew about my peoples’ technology, tactics, and worldview, the NHA was able to handle the Pokacu much easier than any other invaded group of people had before them. As a result, the Pokacu suffered their first—and, to my knowledge, only—defeat, forcing them to retreat from Earth for nearly two decades as a result.”
“Did you ever tell the NHA Leadership Council about your connection to the Pokacu?” said Nicknacks.
“No,” said Nicknacks. “I hid my true origin because I didn’t want them to think I was really a Pokacu spy trying to infiltrate humanity. That, and I was ashamed of what my people were and what they did and did not wish to be associated with them.”
“I see,” I said. “Did you ever intend to tell anyone the truth about your true species or not?”
“At some point, perhaps, but I grew … complacent,” said Nicknacks. “I originally wanted to leave and find other worlds I could warn about the Pokacu threat, but my escape pod had been damaged and Earth’s current spacecraft are simply not up to the task of going to other solar systems. That is why I’ve stayed on Earth, although I’ve grown fond of humanity in the years since I arrived and feel quite comfortable here, despite the differences between humans and Pokacu that sometimes make things confusing and uncomfortable for me.”
“Did you expect the Pokacu to return at some point?” I said.
“No,” said Nicknacks. “I thought they might have given up on Earth, but I see that they have not. I don’t know what their plan is, but it is obvious that they must be stopped again.”
“Right,” I said. “Is there anything else you can tell us about the Pokacu that might help us defeat them?”
Nicknacks hesitated for a split second before he said, “No, at least not here. We’ve wasted too much time talking as is. We must leave before—”
There was a sudden sound of something heavy being slammed against a wall. We all looked around in alarm, trying to locate the source of the sound, but due to the wide openness of the warehouse, it was impossible to spot the source of the sound.
Until, that is, something smashed through the ceiling above and fell through the hole toward the floor. The thing landed on the floor with a crash, forcing us to scatter to avoid it. Once we all got away from it, we stopped and turned to look at the thing, which was briefly obscured by a large cloud of dust before it rose to its feet.
The creature—or maybe machine, since it looked mechanical—standing before us was huge. It had a ball-shaped body, with two eye stalks rising from its torso. It supported itself with six long, tentacle-like legs that ended in claws that looked sharp enough to cut steel. Its glowing red eyes looked around at us all, though they were impossible to read due to how alien they were.
“Oh, no,” said Nicknacks.
“’Oh no’?” I repeated, looking at Nicknacks in horror. “What do you mean, ‘oh no’? Have you seen that thing before?”
“Yes,” said Nicknacks, nodding. “And it will kill us all if we do not stop it first.”
Chapter Five
The strange machine immediately hurled one of its claws at Nicknacks. But Nicknacks knocked it back with his spear, forcing the machine to retract its claws, although the machine itself hardly looked fazed by that.
“What is it?” I said, raising my fists, even though my powers had still yet to return. “Another Pokacu weapon?”
“Yes,” said Nicknacks, holding his spear before him in a defensive position. “They are called Limb Drones. At least, that is what their name translates to in English from the Pokacu language; their real name is unpronounceable to human lips.”
“What can it do?” I said, keeping a careful eye on the Limb Drone and wondering why it hadn’t started attacking more yet.
“Kill you,” said Nicknacks simply. “Usually by ripping you into pieces with its very sharp and very dangerous claws. I imagine they sent it because they are too busy dealing with the other superheroes to spare any actual soldiers.”
“How do we beat it?” I said. “Do you know what its weakness is?”
“I do, but you cannot harm it without your powers,” said Nicknacks. “I will distract it while you and the ot
hers all get out of here. Even with my spear not working the way it should, I will have a better chance at distracting it than you would.”
“All right,” I said. I looked at the others and shouted, “Everyone! We’re getting out of here while Nicknacks—”
I was interrupted by one of the Limb Drone’s claws hurtling toward me. But then Nicknacks got in between us and stopped it with his spear, holding back the machine’s claw, which pushed back against him.
“Just go!” Nicknacks shouted. “Now, before it realizes what we’re doing!”
I nodded and ran away, along with the others. We split up into small groups, with Blizzard and Dizzy following me. We didn’t stop to talk about where we were going, but our goal was the same: Find the exit and get out of this place before the Limb Drone got us.
As a we ran through the aisles of the warehouse, I heard the sounds of Nicknacks fighting the Limb Drone. I heard metal smashing through boxes and metal cracking concrete, but I didn’t stop and look back. I just focused on getting as far away from the machine as I could, though I did look back every now and then to make sure that Blizzard and Dizzy were keeping up with me.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we found a door at the other end of the warehouse and we arrived there at about the same time as everyone else. The sounds of battle between Nicknacks and the Limb Drone sounded as loud as ever, but it was impossible to tell at this point who was winning and who was losing. I hoped that Nicknacks was winning, if only because I knew what would happen to us if he didn’t.
Strike kicked open the door and stepped aside, shouting, “Everyone out! We have to keep moving.”
“But what about Nicknacks?” said Blizzard, looking over her shoulder just as a huge burst of fire erupted somewhere in the vicinity of the fight between Nicknacks and the Limb Drone. “Are we going to leave him behind?”
“Yes,” said Strike. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine. We just need to—”
Suddenly, something came flying through the air above us. We all ducked as the large thing flew past us and struck the wall above the door, which it then fell from with a clunk. I looked over to see what had been thrown and felt my heart sink into my stomach.
It was Nicknacks. His armor was cut and broken in several areas, while he carried only half of his spear in his hands. He had a lot of cuts and lacerations across his face and his legs looked broken. Weird green blood was bleeding from his wounds, which made him look even worse than he already did.
“Nicknacks?” I said. I bent over him and shook him. “Nicknacks, can you hear me? Nicknacks?”
Nicknacks’ eyes opened, but he groaned in pain. “Ow … can’t stand …”
“What?” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“Can’t … stand,” said Nicknacks. He gestured at his legs. “Legs … broken.”
I looked at Nicknacks’ legs. They were twisted in unnatural ways, so I had no trouble believing that they were indeed broken. Nicknacks’ pained voice just made that even more obvious.
“The Limb Drone …” said Nicknacks. He grimaced before continuing. “Managed to paralyze it, but it won’t be long before it recovers and comes after you again.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “Then we’ll get you out of here before it recovers.”
“No,” said Nicknacks, shaking his head. “Save yourselves. Leave me behind.”
“No way,” I said. “You’re coming with us whether you want to or not. We’re going to need your help if we’re going to beat the Pokacu.”
I looked up at the others. “Stinger, Strike, I need your help picking up Nicknacks. And quickly.”
Stinger and Strike wasted no time in helping me pick up Nicknacks. The alien groaned in pain, but he no longer objected to us saving him, probably because he was in too much pain to protest. We took him out of the warehouse with us and then shut the door behind us, but before we could get very far, we heard something smash through the roof of the warehouse behind us and looked up in time to see the Limb Drone fly past us.
It landed hard on the street before us, landing so hard that it actually created cracks in the pavement. It rose to its full height, its dead red eyes looking down at us without any hint of emotion or mercy.
We tried to go to the left, but the Limb Drone cut off our path with one of its limbs, and then cut off our other path with its right limb. That meant we were effectively trapped between the Limb Drone and the warehouse, because there was no way we could go underneath it unless we wanted to get killed.
Backing up against the warehouse’s exterior, we looked up at the Limb Drone. We tried not to show any fear, but it was hard because it was now obvious that there was no escape. All the Limb Drone needed to do was attack with its other limbs and it would all be over.
The Limb Drone raised two of its other limbs, ready to strike. I stepped forward, not because I was strong enough to take its attacks, but because I wanted to protect my friends. I just stared up at the Limb Drone as its limbs came flying at me, claws bared and sharp enough to slice through me like butter knives.
Right before the Limb Drone could hit me, however, a large black wall of shadow erupted from the ground in front of me. It blocked the two claws, which clanged against it uselessly before pulling back, though the wall itself remained where it was.
“Huh?” I said, staring at the black wall in surprise. “Where did this come from?”
Just as I said that, a familiar, pale and feminine face peeked out from within the shadow wall. The face smiled. “Bolt, I thought you would recognize my powers from anywhere. Why so surprised?”
I looked at the face in surprise. “Shade? Is that you?”
Shade nodded and stepped out of the shadow wall. She was a young woman, probably in her early twenties or so, and also an agent of the G-Men, the government’s superhero team. She had a G-Men patch on her right shoulder, though I didn’t need to look at that to know who she worked for.
“In the flesh,” said Shade. She looked at my friends and the New Heroes and waved at them. “Oh, hi. I don’t think I’ve met all your friends yet, though I’ve met Nicknacks before, of course.”
My team and the New Heroes looked incredibly confused by Shade’s appearance. I was also quite confused, so I said, “But what are you doing here? How did you even get here? I thought you were supposed to be in Washington or something.”
“Oh, I’m still under orders to monitor you,” said Shade. She patted me on the shoulder like I was her best friend. “I saw the entire opening ceremony, but I managed to avoid getting hit by the powerless gas and escaped the Triangle. I would have helped you much sooner, but I had to contact Director Smith first with a preliminary report of the situation. I had to step in when I saw that thing corner you.”
Shade jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the Limb Drone, which was now observing Shade like it was looking for her weaknesses. Shade didn’t even look at it, as if she was not afraid of the giant alien robot behind her that could cut her into pieces if it wanted.
“You’re still watching me?” I said. I cursed. “I thought that you had stopped that nonsense after our encounter in the Cavern.”
Shade shrugged. “I just follow whatever orders Director Smith gives me. Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
Shade winked at me when she said that, which made me feel very uncomfortable, especially when I noticed Blizzard glaring at her.
So I said, “Okay, fine. Thanks for your help.”
“Hey, don’t thank me just yet,” said Shade. “That machine is still active, isn’t it?”
Shade suddenly turned around and waved her hands at the shadow wall, which sank into the ground like quicksand. The Limb Drone launched its claws at her, but Shade waved her hands and twin shade blades shot up from the ground and cut through the incoming claws, severing them and causing them to go flopping around the ground uncontrollably before stopping.
When Shade’s shadow blades severed the claws, however, they didn’t just spark
electricity. More of that weird blood came from the severed limbs and the Limb Drone actually made some kind of weird screeching sound, like it was in terrible pain. I had no idea how a robot or a machine could feel pain, but then again, maybe Pokacu machines were designed differently from ours.
In any case, the Limb Drone seemed to have forgotten all about us now. It launched its other limbs at her, but Shade immediately vanished into a pool of shade that snaked toward the Drone, causing its arms to merely strike the ground where she had been standing previously. Shade then rose out of the ground directly underneath the Limb Drone and jerked her arms upward.
As soon as she did that, two shadow blades launched out of her arms and struck the underside of the Limb Drone. The Limb Drone let out another weird, metallic screech before Shade jerked her arms apart, cutting the Drone in half. The two halves of the Drone fell onto the ground with loud clunks, still leaking green blood, although it smelled more like oil than blood.
Shade then turned around to face us and smiled. “There. That wasn’t so—”
Shade was interrupted by one of the Limb Drone’s claws coming at her again. But she sidestepped it at the last minute and slashed it in half with one of her shadow blades and then slashing the Limb Drone’s eye stalks off. The Limb Drone’s body parts immediately stopped moving, which was a good sign that it was actually dead this time.
“God,” said Shade, brushing back some loose strands of hair from her face. “These things are persistent even when you kill them, aren’t they?”