by R. L. Ullman
I look up to find him staring at me—studying me—his arms folded across his chest. Then, I realize I’m only seeing him because he’s lowered his intensity. He’s big and broad-shouldered, but his facial features are impossible to pick out through the dancing flames. All I can make out are pointy-ears and a crooked nose.
“Y-you do?” I reply nervously.
“Yes,” he says, his voice crackling like a campfire. “You battled on Arena World. You were there for the final battle before everything disintegrated. You were one of the so-called heroes. A little hero.”
All this ‘little’ talk is making my blood boil.
“And you’re a minion,” I shoot back. “For Ravager!”
The fire man laughs. “So, you know of Ravager. And soon, Ravager will know of you. And your world.”
Wait? Did he just say soon? Does that mean Ravager doesn’t know about us yet? I’ve still got a chance!
“Why don’t you get lost,” I say. “While you still can.”
“Is humor your superpower?” he says. “I suppose in the end, it does not matter. Your fate is sealed.” He looks upwards. “My job is to find fertile planets for Ravager to consume. But I fear this has become more difficult. Without Order and Chaos, the multiverse is collapsing. Whole galaxies are vanishing in the blink of an eye, taking all of their planets with them. But I could tell from deep space that your galaxy is not yet affected. Yours is one of the stable ones. Yours is free of the Blur. At least, for now.”
“Blur? What are you talking about?”
“I have wasted enough time with you,” the Herald says. “Ravager must feed.”
He’s going to take off! I’ve got to stop him! I can’t let him get away and lead Ravager here!
I’m not sure the Freedom Ferry’s weapons are powerful enough to affect him. But I’ve got something better. I’ve got Meta powers!
I only hope it’s enough.
I concentrate hard, and wash my negation powers all over him. Suddenly, his bright, orange flames flicker, and then blow out like a candle.
It worked? It worked!
“What is happening?” he says.
Now I’ve got to reel him in. I reach down to operate the pincers, when I notice something strange on the radar. Something coming in fast—heading straight for us!
That can’t be right? It looks like a—
BOOM!
The Freedom Ferry lurches backwards. Luckily my seatbelt keeps me from flying out of my chair, but as the ship rights itself my cheek slams down on the console.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
I don’t know what happened, but I can’t worry about it now, I need to catch the Herald! But I can’t spot him anywhere. Where’d he go?
Just then, the Freedom Ferry is lifted completely out of the water! I’m rising hundreds of feet into the air at ridiculous speed! And then, everything stops. I brace myself for a big fall, but nothing happens. Looking down, I see that, incredibly, the ship is balancing on a giant plume of water!
“You do not have clearance to fly over Japanese air space,” comes a man’s voice. “Identify yourself.”
That’s when I see a dude wearing red goggles and a blue wetsuit riding a wave like a surfboard. He makes a cutting motion with his arm, and my stomach drops as the Freedom Ferry free-falls towards the ocean! Then, with an upward sweep of his hand, I’m buoyed by another wave!
He was that blip on the radar!
He can control water!
“H-hold on!” I yell, feeling queasy. “I’m Epic Zero! W-who are you?”
“I am Tsunami,” he says. “And you have five seconds to tell me whose government you work for, otherwise I will drown you in my sea.” He lifts up both hands, and I go flying back in the air.
“Wait!” I scream. “It’s not what you think!”
I land with a thud on top of another wave! I’m totally sea sick!
“Speak,” he says. “Quickly.”
“Look, I’m sorry if I broke some sort of international treaty, but I’m a member of the Freedom Force, and I’m trying to stop that fire guy before he escapes Earth and brings back something so big and nasty it’ll knock your flippers off.”
“What fire guy?” Tsunami asks.
Suddenly, a bright, orange streak breaks through the surface of the water and launches into the sky, leaving a blazing trail behind him.
“That fire guy,” I say, watching the Herald disappear into the stratosphere. He got away. I had him and he got away. “Well, I guess we’re all belly up now.”
“You are a member of the Freedom Force?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“But you are just a boy?”
“Yep,” I say. “Can’t deny that one.”
“You are coming with us.”
“Us?” I say. “Who’s us?”
“We are the greatest heroes of the East,” comes a booming voice to my left. “We are the Rising Suns.”
I turn to find four other costumed characters hovering next to the Freedom Flyer. Where’d they come from? There’s a big guy with a green cape and a dragon emblem on his chest, another guy dressed like a samurai warrior holding a glowing sword, a long-haired woman in a karate uniform, and a girl wearing a white mask, with a teardrop painted below her right eye.
Well, this doesn’t look good.
Now that the Herald’s gone, there’s no reason for me to stick around. These guys are clearly Metas, and I suspect if I don’t make a quick exit, I’ll be in major trouble. The problem is, my wing is still on fire.
“Zen,” Tsunami says. “Neutralize him.”
What? But, before I can react, I feel something enter my mind. And then, I hear a gentle voice.
Sleep.
The masked girl’s a psychic!
Suddenly, my eyes feel droopy.
I need to use my powers!
I …
need …
to …
get …
out …
I GET TAKEN HOSTAGE
“Wake up!”
The girl’s voice rings in my brain. My eyes jolt open, then close quickly from the bright spotlight glaring in my face. Squinting, I take in my surroundings.
I’m sitting at a table in a small room. Across the way are five figures shrouded in darkness. But I don’t need to see them to know who they are.
I try standing up, but I can’t move. I feel cold metal scrape against my wrists. Shackles?
Great. I’m trapped.
The figure seated across from me shifts in his chair, his muscled silhouette growing larger as he leans forward. I’m pretty sure he’s the big one, the one with the dragon insignia on his chest. “Who was the red, flying man?” he demands.
“Santa Claus,” I answer hoarsely. My throat is dry, like I haven’t had water in days. How long have I been here?
“I will ask you again,” he says, more sternly this time. “Who was the man of fire?”
I stare at my inquisitor—his face still hidden in shadows. I could lie, but at this point I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m clearly not talking my way out of this one.
“He’s called the Herald,” I say. “He’s a scout for the cosmic monstrosity called Ravager, the Annihilator of Worlds. I had him captured, but because of your fishy friend over there, he got away. Now, he’ll come back with that planet-eating terror and destroy us all.”
My captors exchange words in Japanese. Unfortunately, I’m not very multi-lingual. I barely remember a handful of middle grade Spanish, like ‘me aprietan mucho los zapatos.’ So I can’t understand a darn thing they’re saying.
“How did you come to our land?” the man continues.
“Um, by jet,” I say. Why are they asking me that? I mean, I was in the Freedom Ferry when they captured me.
There’s more back and forth in Japanese.
The man turns back and faces me. “Let me rephrase my question to be more precise. This jet, from which planet does it originate?”
What? Which planet?
Is this a trick question? I look at him like he’s got two heads and say, “Um, Earth.”
“Really,” he says. “Then how do you explain this?” He looks back at his armored colleague and calls, “Silent Samurai.”
Suddenly, the guy dressed in samurai gear steps forward and draws his sword. It’s long and sharp and could probably slice me into a million pieces. Then he raises it over his head!
“Whoa, big fella!” I say. “Watch where you’re pointing that thing!”
But when he swings downwards, the sword misses me and produces some kind of energy field in its wake. Then, the vibrating energy forms into a holographic image. That looks like me! And the Rising Suns! Wait a minute, it’s a re-creation of our fight!
There’s the Freedom Ferry—with me inside! I watch Zen wave her arm, putting me to sleep. And then, the Silent Samurai guy and the karate woman board the Freedom Ferry and pull my unconscious body out.
Watching myself get captured is weird. But then, things get weirder.
Suddenly, the Freedom Flyer goes transparent! And then it comes back again! It does this several times, like it’s popping in and out of the scene. And then, to my astonishment, it’s gone! Like, completely vanished!
What’s happening? I mean, I could have been inside that thing!
“Now,” the man continues. “Where did you send your ship? Back to your planet?”
“What?” I say. “No, I-I don’t know what happened.”
“Not true!” he bellows, slamming his fist onto the table which promptly splits in two. “Do I need to be more persuasive?”
“Stop Green Dragon,” says the karate-clad woman. “Look at his eyes. It is clear the child does not know.”
“I will judge what the child does and does not know, Fight Master,” the Green Dragon says. “Look me in the eyes, boy.”
Suddenly, they kill the spotlight and I can see everyone clearly. Behind the Green Dragon stand the rest of the Rising Suns. Fight Master must be the woman. And there’s Zen, and Tsunami, and Silent Samurai.
“Look,” I say. “This is all a big misunderstanding. I’m not from another planet, I’m a superhero from America. I was simply trying to save the planet from extermination, that’s all. Maybe if you call the Freedom Force we can straighten this whole thing out and I can go home?”
“You are going nowhere,” Green Dragon says. “Perhaps you are a spy, capturing unlawful surveillance of our country. Did you transport your findings back to your government in that ship?”
“No, I’m just a kid.”
“Then listen closely … kid,” Green Dragon says. “Only when you return the jet can we begin to discuss the remote possibility of your freedom.”
“But I didn’t make it disappear.”
“Perhaps an evening in solitary confinement will help revive your memory,” he says.
“Now hang on—”
“Zen.”
Oh no.
“Sleep,” she says, inside my head.
And I’m out.
***
When I wake up, it takes about a nanosecond to realize I’m in serious trouble. I’m a prisoner inside the tiniest cell in existence. But what it lacks in square footage it more than makes up for in efficiency, because it managed to pack in me, my cot, and a toilet. Yep, that’s pretty much everything you need in life.
I run my hand along the surface of the wall. It’s tungsten steel, the strongest metal on Earth. There’s no way I’m getting out of here. Even the door looks triple reinforced.
I feel super groggy, so I try shaking out the cobwebs. That Zen girl may be a more dangerous psychic than Mom. I mean, I never even felt her enter my mind. The next time I see her, I’m going on the offensive.
I stand up and stretch my legs. There’s not much room to walk around. And because there’s no window, I can’t tell if it’s day or night.
How did I get myself into this mess? I’m sure my parents found my note and are flipping out by now. If I could just get in contact with them they’d bust me out of here real quick. Then we’d show the Rising Suns what real good guys look like.
My mind drifts to Ravager. While I’m rotting in this cell, the Herald is probably leading that monster straight to Earth by now. The only way to stop him is with the Orb of Oblivion, but that’s gone. And who knows if it would have worked anyway? Especially in my hands.
I’ve got to get out of here! I push hard against the door, not that I expect anything to happen. I’m absolutely kicking myself for leaving my utility belt on the Waystation. Not that it would have mattered because I’m guessing the Rising Suns would have taken it from me anyway.
I’m about to pound on the wall and yell for help, when I lose my balance. I guess I’m not as steady as I thought. And my vision is still sort of blurry.
Wait a minute?
Blurry!
The Freedom Ferry was blurry!
It was out of focus—fading in and out before it disappeared. What did the Herald say about the Blur? Something about whole galaxies collapsing, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
O.M.G.
Was the Freedom Ferry a sign? Is our galaxy next to disappear?
I feel myself hyperventilating. I’ve got to get out of here! I’ve got to tell the Freedom Force! Maybe TechnocRat will know what to do!
But I’m trapped. And soon, the Rising Suns are going to come back for me, and who knows what they’ll do when I don’t tell them what they want to hear. If I only had the power to get out of this joint. To bust out like Dad. Or teleport like Makeshift. Or jump into a wormhole like … like …
Wind Walker!
That’s it!
The last time I saw him, he transported me home from another universe. What did he say before he took off? Call him if I ever needed help? But he didn’t give me a communications device or anything. And how’s he going to find me here? I don’t even know where I am.
I close my eyes.
Wind Walker! I call out with my mind.
Then, I open my eyes and wait, but there’s nothing. Okay, that’s clearly not going to work.
I put my ear to the door—there’s no noise on the other side. I scan the room for security cameras or monitoring equipment. Nothing. Well, what have I got to lose? Here goes nothing.
I take a deep breath, and yell as loud as I can, “WIND WALKER!”
Suddenly, a blue-skinned man with long, dark hair materializes before my eyes.
It’s him! He’s here!
But something’s wrong. He’s holding his right arm, and there’s a large slash across his face. And his eyes. They look … defeated?
“Epic Zero,” Wind Walker says feebly. “I came as soon as heard your call. I am sorry for the delay.”
“There wasn’t any delay. What happened to you? What’s wrong?”
“I-I will be fine, my friend, for now” he replies. “But soon, my world—all of our worlds, will not be.”
“Does this have to do with the Blur?” I ask.
“The Blur?” he says surprised. “Then you are aware of the great cosmic upheaval. Yes, I suppose we could call it that. For at this very moment, the multiverse is collapsing—blurring into one. And when it is complete, every mirror universe save one will be destroyed, taking countless lives with it.”
“What can we do?” I ask. “There’s got to be a way to stop it?”
Wind Walker brushes a strand of hair off his face and looks me straight in the eyes. “I do not know,” he says. “My powers only allow me to walk across dimensions. I have tried to intervene in every way possible. But all I can do is watch helplessly as whole universes die.”
“The Herald said this is happening because Order and Chaos were destroyed,” I say.
“The Herald was here?” Wind Walker says, his eyes widening.
“Yes, and now Ravager is loose—coming here to destroy my planet.”
Wind Walker looks at me solemnly. “I am sorry, my friend. I am afraid there is nothing we can do.”
“Nothin
g?” I shout. “I won’t accept nothing. Look, I don’t know how to stop this ‘Blur thing’ either. But, I’m not going to sit around and watch Ravager eat my home.”
“Of course,” Wind Walker says. “I am sorry. You are right. We are heroes, and need to act as such. Even in the face of impossible odds. Let me assist you. I assume you contacted me to free you from this prison?”
That’s a good start. But then I’ve got to figure out a way to destroy Ravager. And the only way to do that is with the Orb of Oblivion.
But my Orb is gone.
My Orb.
The words strike me funny. I mean, the Orb was never mine. It chose me. I never chose it.
My Orb.
And then a lightbulb goes off. Wait a minute. Wind Walker can cross universes, which means …
He can take me to another universe!
A mirror universe!
Where there might be a mirror Orb of Oblivion!
“Big guy,” I say. “I know exactly what I need you to do.”
Just then, we hear angry voices outside.
The Rising Suns!
I leap into Wind Walker’s arms and shout, “Get us out of here!”
“Who is that?” Wind Walker asks.
“Later!” I yell. “Right now I need less talking, more worm-holing!”
Suddenly, the door swings open and Green Dragon bursts in.
But he’s too late.
Because we’re gone!
I GO WHERE NO KID HAS GONE BEFORE
We hit the ground hard.
Wind Walker touches down smoothly, but I’m wobblier than a newborn deer. Everything is spinning like crazy, so I reach out for something—anything—to keep from toppling over. Then, I feel Wind Walker grab my arms, steadying me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Wow! I completely forgot what a roller coaster ride it is travelling through Wind Walker’s inter-dimensional wormholes. “I-I think so,” I say. “You know, I’m not sure I meet the height requirements to ride that thing.”
After a few seconds I get my bearings, but something’s off. I mean, why are birds the only things at eye level?
That’s when I realize we’re up high—standing on top of some green structure with giant spikes flaring out in all directions. I clutch Wind Walker’s arm and peer over the edge. There’s like, all these tiny people milling around below.