by R. L. Ullman
As I get lower, the explosions seem to be getting louder, which means I’m getting closer to the action. I try to turn, but the steering difficulties from the shuttle seem to have carried over to the chair as well. I manage to strong-arm my way to an area I think is a good distance from the fighting.
All the while, there’s one detail that keeps playing over and over again in my mind.
That energy rocket was purple.
The only Meta I know that can create purple energy constructs is Master Mime.
But I don’t have time to solve that one either because, as usual, things are about to get much, much worse.
“Well, well, well,” came a familiar voice. “Look who decided to drop in.”
My chair lands smack in front of the Worm and some other masked moron.
“And how considerate of him to bring his own front-row seat,” the Worm adds. He’s standing with his puny arms folded across his chest and a smug look on his face. The orb is still hanging around his neck, pulsating more rapidly than the last time I saw it.
The other guy isn’t anyone I’ve seen before. Based on Meta profiles, I can tell he’s not Taser or Brawler or Dr. Demento. He’s small. Probably smaller than me. He’s wearing an orange costume with a strange black and white concentric circle design. His mask covers his eyes and he has a dark mohawk and goatee. Is this Makeshift?
I try to stand up, but am held down by the seatbelt of my chair. I’m still buckled in!
“Please, don’t get up on our account,” the Worm says, reaching into my pocket to remove his mobile phone. “I certainly hope you enjoyed being me. I’m still not sure why you wanted to, but I’m grateful nonetheless. You see, once I realized who you were, it was child’s play getting you to setup your family.”
“You won’t stop the Freedom Force!” I declare.
The villains laugh.
“Oh, we’re not planning on stopping anybody,” the Worm sneers. “We thought it would be much more entertaining to watch them stop each other.”
The Worm spins my chair and what I see is so unexpected it takes my breath away.
The Freedom Force is in full-on combat with one another!
Master Mime is trying to pin down Blue Bolt with a pair of giant purple pincers. TechnocRat is chasing Shadow Hawk and Grace with a futuristic ray gun. And Mom has Dad on his knees with her mind control powers.
“Stop it!” I yell. “Make them stop!”
“What’s the problem?” asks the Worm. “You’ve never seen your parents fight before?”
“H-How are you doing this?” I stammer.
“Now there’s an interesting story,” says the Worm, dropping to one knee. “Would you like to hear it?”
I nod.
“Well, you see, one night, really late, I was sitting outside my trailer, drinking a beer and feeling sorry for the pitiful state of my life, when the most incredible thing happened. Something really big fell out of the sky. Now I could tell that this ‘thing’ was in some serious trouble. It was covered in flames and there was a long trail of smoke. I watched the darn thing fall. It fell all the way down until it crashed into the mountains creating a huge explosion. I knew right away it wasn’t a plane or a helicopter or anything ... human.”
The Worm wipes his mouth. “So, I finished my beer and went into the mountains. The crash was so massive it didn’t take me long to find it. There was a trail of destruction that went for miles. Anyway, I followed it until I came upon the cockpit. It was split completely in half—broken right down the middle like a cracked egg. And, you’ll never guess what I found inside. Go on, guess.”
“I have no idea,” I say annoyed. “Enlighten me.”
“The pilot. Can you believe it? The sucker was still alive, lying flat on his back. His skin was puke yellow and he had these bright green eyes and these pointy ears. He was wheezing and coughing up all this blackish-colored blood. It was disgusting. It didn’t take a doctor to know he was in bad shape. Well, he looked me up and down and I could just tell that I wasn’t the guy he was hoping for. But, you know what they say, ‘the early Worm gets the bird.’ Anyway, he was holding a box, protecting it like it was some kind of baby. He told me that it was all up to me. That I should take the box, but not to open it. Take it and hide it somewhere where ‘the others’ wouldn’t find it. He said the survival of the entire universe depended on it. You know what happened next?”
I shake my head.
“He died. I never found out who these ‘others’ were and frankly, I didn’t care. You ever been given a present you weren’t allowed to open? So, of course, I opened it, and inside was this little beauty.” The Worm grabs the orb and starts rubbing his thumb over its smooth surface.
“I figured I could probably pawn it off. You know, get some cash and maybe retire down in Florida. But, then something weird happened. The orb started talking to me. Not out loud or anything, but inside my head. I thought I was crazy at first but ... it kept telling me that I was now the most powerful being on the planet. It kept saying it over and over and over again. I couldn’t shut it up. Can you believe it? Me, a Meta 1, the most powerful being on the planet? At first, I didn’t believe it either. But then, it showed me what we could do.”
The Worm stares over my shoulder to where the heroes are fighting. “And then, I started to believe.”
I look at the orb. Somehow it’s responsible for all of this madness. The Worm is using it to control the Freedom Force! Then things start to click. The Worm had the orb when Meta-Taker appeared. The giant hole! The Worm must have tunneled down and freed Meta-Taker so he could use the orb to control him!
And, that alien ship must have been a Skelton ship!
I needed to get that orb. I needed to take it away from him.
“Without that orb,” I taunt, “you’re still just a loser.”
The Worm slaps me hard across the face.
“Correction,” The Worm says, circling. “I was a loser. But aren’t all Meta 1’s losers by definition? Aren’t we the laughingstocks of the Meta community? The misfits. The clowns. Just look at us. Gifted with all of these wonderful, but useless powers. So, I started thinking what if? What if the tables were turned?” He looks over at the heroes battling. “You wanted me to stop the fighting, didn’t you?”
I nod.
“Watch this!” And then, the Worm calls out, “Stop!”
And the Freedom Force freeze in their tracks.
“Come here!” he orders.
The heroes turn and walk towards us like robots.
“Here we have the greatest heroes in the world,” says the Worm. “All at my beck and call. If I say ‘run,’ they’ll run. If I say ‘attack,’ they’ll attack. I suppose I could keep them around. Perhaps I can use them as a Meta army of sorts? But, heroes always find a way to save the day, don’t they? Nah, I think it’s best if we get rid of them.”
“Wait,” I say. “What do you mean?”
“I mean get rid of them. Have you met my associate? He goes by Makeshift.”
The little man steps forward. I knew it!
“He looks so unassuming doesn’t he?” The Worm says. “Just another worthless Meta 1. Another loser just like me. Don’t you think things would be different if there weren’t so many Meta 2’s and Meta 3’s walking around? Shouldn’t Meta 1’s have a chance to be the most powerful beings on the planet?”
“Wait. What are you going to do?” I ask.
“Makeshift,” The Worm says. “Get rid of ‘em.”
The little man steps forward and puts out his hands. “I’ve never done so many at once before.”
“Wait!” I cry out. “Hold on!”
Suddenly, a giant yellow circle spews out from his hands and surrounds the Freedom Force. It starts to expand and contract around them, picking up more and more speed with each rotation. And then, with a giant WHOOSH, it collapses on itself, taking the Freedom Force with it.
“No!” I scream.
There’s nothing left where they st
ood. Just patches of dirt and grass. That’s it. Just dirt and grass. And, it’s all my fault. I made them come here. I led them to their deaths.
The Worm comes towards me. “Now we weren’t expecting you here, but it certainly helps tie up any loose ends.”
He pulls a knife from behind his back.
I can try to run, but what’s the point? There’s nothing left. I feel tired. Woozy. Like my eyelids are tied to anchors. I feel myself giving up. Slipping into darkness. I just wanted to be part of the team.
But instead of the sharp cut of a knife, I feel a different kind of sensation; like I’m lifting into the air.
“Hey!” the Worm yells.
I look down and notice the Worm getting smaller and smaller.
I have no clue what’s happening.
Then, I glance up.
For a moment, I think I see a tiny fly with bright, green eyes carrying me off into the sky.
And then, I’m out.
I GET THE SHOCK OF MY LIFE
“Elliott!”
I hear a faint noise in the distance.
“Elliott!”
Repeating itself. Getting louder. Strangely familiar.
“Elliott!”
Then, I feel a sharp smack across my cheek.
“Elliott!”
Slobber rolls down my chin.
I open my eyes. Everything is fuzzy. Blurry. But I can just barely make out the silhouette of a person standing in front of me. By the shape, I can tell it’s a girl. Ever so slowly, she comes into focus. She’s staring at me. Staring with these bright, green eyes. I know those eyes.
“C-Cammie? Where am I?”
I rub my cheek, which is still smarting like crazy. Did she just hit me?
I take in my surroundings. It’s morning and we’re in front of the Prop House. At first, I think I’m dreaming, but then I realize I’m still strapped into the pilot’s chair from the Freedom Flyer I. No such luck.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Don’t you remember?” Cammie says. “I rescued you.”
“You did what?” I say. “Rescued me from what?” I struggle to replay everything I can remember. Then it all comes flooding back: the Worm, the orb, Makeshift, my family. The fly with the bright, green ... green ...
My eyes lock onto Cammie’s.
And then, I synthesize a million pieces of information at once.
“Y-You’re the fly?” I stammer. “You were that weird fly that landed on me after the Meta-Taker fight?” I unclick myself from the pilot’s seat and scramble to my feet. I feel unsteady. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
“Oh, relax,” Cammie says, rolling her eyes. “Don’t you think that if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now? Or let the Worm do it for me?”
I hesitate. “Maybe. Or, maybe you wanted to kill my family too. Just like the Worm did.”
“Elliott,” Cammie says. “I’m truly sorry about your family. I didn’t see that coming or believe me, I would have helped. But, I also know what it’s like to lose someone you love. You see, the Worm confirmed my deepest fears. My father is dead.”
Her father? What is she talking about?
And then, I realize what she means. That alien that crash landed on Earth with the orb. It feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice down my shirt.
“Your father was a Skelton!” I blurt out. “So, that means...” Instinctively, I move behind the pilot’s chair.
She smiles. “Guilty as charged.” And then, before my eyes, she transforms from the girl I know as Cammie to an alien version of herself. Her eyes brighten from emerald to neon green. Her skin takes on a pale, yellow hue. Her ears climb upwards, stretching to her temples. Her clothes transform from preppy to … regal. Her white top and skirt are adorned with gold trim, and thick, gold jewelry surrounds her neck and wrists. “My birth name is K’ami Sollarr,” she says, her tone turning much more formal. “I am the daughter of the Chief Scientist of the Skelton Empire. Or, at least, I was.”
All of the horrible things Shadow Hawk told me about the Skelton pop into my brain. “You’re evil. You’re here to take over the Earth.”
“No, Elliott,” she says. “I’m not here to take over the Earth. I’m here to save it.”
“Yeah, right,” I say, mapping out escape routes.
“Tell me,” she says. “Are all humans the same? Do you share the same beliefs as the Worm?”
“No,” I answer. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It is, isn’t it?” K’ami says. “Yet, you stand here accusing me of the same thing. You must understand that just as all humans are not the same, neither are all Skelton. There are those that exist only to conquer, but there is a brave minority of us that believe there is another path. My father was one of those. That is why he stole the Orb of Oblivion.”
“The orb of what?”
“The Orb of Oblivion,” K’ami says, “It is a cosmic parasite of sorts, a sentient object of dark matter that seeks out unfulfilled desires and feeds off of them to make itself stronger. Its powers are as expansive as the imagination of its host.”
“So you’re saying that this orb is feeding off the Worm?”
“Yes,” she says. “And, it is getting stronger by the day.”
“So, how do you know so much about this ... Orb of Oblivion? How do I know you’re not making this whole thing up?”
K’ami lowers her head. “As you have alluded to, my people are conquerors—destroyers—always looking for more influential ways to expand our Empire. We have spent centuries looking for the Orb of Oblivion. Some thought it was only a legend—a fantasy told to small children. But, the Emperor believed it was real. He demanded that every inch of the universe be searched and catalogued in his quest to find it. Many thought it was a fool’s quest. Until one day, it wasn’t.”
K’ami looks up to the sky. “A strange signal was picked up on the far side of a desolate galaxy. It was determined that the signal had come from the implosion of a large star. Our calculations had not predicted its demise, and our scientists could offer no justification. It was determined that something unnatural had happened. So a squadron was deployed to investigate. After many cycles, they had all but given up identifying a cause when a final reconnaissance drone made a remarkable discovery. It was an orb. It was lying on the surface of an unnamed moon orbiting a barren planet. No one knew how it had gotten there. Yet, there it was.”
She pauses. I notice her voice has lowered and she’s clenching her fists.
“It was brought back to Skelton. Naturally, as Chief Scientist, my father had the task of confirming that the orb was legitimate. He was a good man of extraordinary intellect and integrity. One night, he came to my room. It seemed as if the weight of the universe was on his shoulders. He sat for a long time in silence. And then he told me that the orb was talking to him. That every time he touched it, it would tell him to do dangerous things. When I asked what he meant, he would not say.”
“We sat in silence for a while longer. And then he told me that the orb did not find itself on that little moon by accident. Somebody had put it there—far, far away where no one would ever find it. Then, he said something even more remarkable. He told me that the Orb of Oblivion had orchestrated its own freedom. That somehow, the orb had convinced that star to explode so it would emit a light so bright it would shine across the galaxy. So it could be found. My father wondered aloud that if an object of such power could convince a star to explode, then what would it be capable of doing in the hands of a Skelton Emperor? We both knew what he had to do. He made me promise him that I would be strong—that I would never show weakness. That is the last time I saw him.”
“So he stole the orb and brought it to Earth?” I ask. “Thanks a lot.”
“My father was a man of peace,” K’ami says. “His landing on Earth was not his fault. It was mine.”
“What?”
“You see, on our world, blood lines share a powerful bond. A direct psychic lin
k of sorts. My father had arranged to hide me with friends he had trusted, but after he left they betrayed him. I was turned over to the Emperor. I was ... tortured. They exploited my psychic connection to track my father down. Somewhere deep in space they caught up with him. After a terrible battle, he prevailed, but his ship was badly damaged. Earth was the closest planet to land and try to recuperate. It was then that he disconnected from me. I had betrayed him. I waited for him to reach out to me again, but he never did. I feared he was dead, but I had to know for sure. Now I do.”
Tears well up in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“After that, I expected they would kill me,” K’ami says. “It was their mistake that they did not. I conserved my strength and waited for the right moment. When that moment arose, I struck. I stole a supply ship and followed my father’s path to Earth. I swore that I would finish what he started. I had just enough fuel to make the journey. As soon as I landed on your planet, I could sense the immense power of the orb. It was palpable, as if it was calling out to me. I followed it to its source. And that’s when I discovered you.”
“Me?” I say. “What do I have to do with all of this?”
“You, Elliott Harkness, are the savior of the universe.”
“What?” I say. “Are you nuts? If you knew anything about me you’d know that I pass out in the face of danger.” I start to inch towards the Prop House. “Look, I’m really sorry about your dad, but right now I just want to go up to my room, curl up into a little ball and never come out.”
Then something unusual catches my eye.
The door to the Prop House is ajar.
We never left the door unlocked, let alone open. Never. Ever. Ever.
“What is wrong?” K’ami asks.
I push the front door. It swings open with a creepy screech. Although it’s dark inside, I can tell immediately that something isn’t right. I turn on the lights.
At first, it looks like the house has been robbed. Tables and chairs are turned over, bookshelves are emptied, the television is smashed, pictures shattered. Then I realize, this is no burglary. Everything is still here, although now completely destroyed.