World Domination

by Steve Beaulieu

  As we discussed tactics, I heard every idea imaginable.

  “Throw the pyramids into outer space,” said one of the supers, a little blond girl with bright eyes and a bushy tail—that’s not just a cute euphemism…she really had a bushy tail. She looked to the hulking brute in the room—Crossbeam or some other such overcompensating name.

  He laughed. “You credit me more than am worth,” he said in a thick Eastern European basso profundo.

  We soon came to terms with the fact that we didn’t even truly know if the Voltress was in Egypt. We had to go there and see for ourselves.

  Corebreaker or Crunchmaster, or whatever his name was flew while the rest of us took the jet. I gave him strict orders to do nothing rash if he got there first. He assured me that he would get there first and that he didn’t answer to “capitalist bastards” like me. Not sure what timezone this guy was from, but he was already on my last nerve.

  We landed within a mile of the Great Pyramids. I could see the Sphinx and it was apparent something was off. Way off. There was a cold blue energy that seemed to hover over its massive head. We cautiously exited the jet and we were hit by a smell so putrid it could only be described as death warmed over.

  I couldn’t imagine what had tipped them off that something was awry in Egypt.

  As it transpired, it wasn’t just Kahn, Hitler, and Stalin that had been brought back to life. There were bodies everywhere—dead but not dead. Zombie stories, all the rage, right? Well, trust me, these weren’t zombies. These were something else entirely, all wrapped up tight in yellowing bandages. It was clear we were looking at mummies.

  I thought back to my Ancient Histories class. I was twelve and it was my third master’s degree. I imagined that some of these might be the remains of long-dead pharaohs and it saddened me to know what we were going to have to do. So much for resting in peace.

  They were far away from us, but their attention had been drawn by the sound of us landing. The wind was blowing hard, but it was unnatural—a result of the event happening above the Sphinx no doubt. I turned to the three supers who flew with me in the jet.

  “Anyone want to argue that we shouldn’t go find out what is happening up there?” I pointed to the blue cloud. “I didn’t think so. Be careful, we don’t know how dangerous those mummies are.”

  “Mummies?” shouted the small blonde. I think her name was Prairie. Prairie? Yeah, that sounded right. Her face was contorted in a form of terror I was unfamiliar with.

  “What else do you think they are?”

  “I don’t know…my eyesight must not be as good as yours. I just thought they were…tourists? I don’t know! But certainly not mummies. Are there even a such things as mummies?”

  I bent over and looked her in the eye like she was a child. “You can speak to animals and they do what you ask them to. Are you really unsure whether mummies could exist?” Her face turned red and I returned my attention to the rest of the group. “Are you guys ready?”

  A thundering boom cracked down so close to us I nearly lost my footing. I spun around quickly, gearing up for a fight but only found the giant Russian juggernaut, Crankshaft?

  “Nice of you to join us,” I said in mock joy. “We’ve gotta figure out what is going on up there,” I pointed again to the Sphinx.

  “I fly and go look,” he said.

  “No,” I shouted, but it was too late. He was already off. We watched as he flew into the eye of the preternatural show of lights and crackling sound. His form became awash with blue light and a deafening clap gave way to a flash of white. Lightning converged from all directions to the spot where the flying super had just been. He was gone. At the time, presumed dead. As I write this to you, I can tell you with all confidence…he is dead. I saw his charred remains with my own eyes. Poor guy, I can’t even remember his name. Let’s go with Crossbeam for the remainder of history, shall we?

  I swore. “This is why we don’t go off willy-nilly on our own!”

  We were down to four of us and the mummies were close enough that I could hear their feet dragging in the sand.

  I lurched forward, letting my speed carry me hundreds of yards in what appeared to be one bound. I met one of the mums with a clothesline across its neck. The thing flipped in the air several times before cracking down on its skull. I was grateful to see that it didn’t try to get up.

  The next one came at me fast—unnervingly fast. It grabbed hold of my arm and wrenched it back with supernatural force. I allowed my whole body to move with the momentum of its turning, reducing the amount of damage that could have been done. It still hurt.

  I managed to break free of the hold and thrust a stiff fingered hand through the chest cavity of the mum. I don’t know what my intention was, but it certainly wasn’t to be elbow deep in a mummy. The thing still thrashed and grunted, beating me relentlessly with its fists. Now I was far too close for comfort, with one arm lodged between broken ribs and the other at too awkward an angle to do any real damage to the beastie.

  I put my head down and shouldered into the mum. Above I heard a sizzle and I looked to see that its head had been completely disintegrated. I shoved its remains off of me and turned to see one of the supers—a beautiful brunette who went by Whisper. If things had gone a different direction…let me tell you! She and I would be producing quiet little cat babies. But she died too. Not right at that moment, but you’ll quickly see that there’s a reason I’m alone in this oval office as I write to you.

  I heard a dull roar steadily getting louder and higher in pitch. I looked up to see thousands of birds moving together in unison like so many synchronized swimmers. They swooshed and swooped and then rose high into the sky, almost disappearing from sight. Without warning they came back down like a mighty rush of wind and tore through the battlefield, pecking and clawing. The cries were all that could be heard, as if I’d been buried under the sea and the pressure of the ocean berated my ears. I watched as dozens of mums were whisked off the ground and carried to some far off and far away place. And then there was silence. Not actual silence, but the kind of silence that occurs when a storm settles.

  There were a few stragglers left and we picked them off one by one until the path before us lay clear.

  “Teflon is dead!” I heard someone shout. I don’t think his name was actually Teflon but that’s what I heard and I didn’t bother to seek correction. It was only me and the two girls left—Prairie and Whisper.

  We closed the gap between us and the Sphinx rather quickly, but found that none of us knew where to go from there.

  “Do we go inside?” asked Whisper.

  “After the renovations in the ’70s everything we thought could have been entrances were sealed shut.” The girls looked at me, wide-eyed as I spoke. I like to think they were impressed with my knowledge but as it turned out, I had a large gash on my cheek and it was starting to bubble.

  “I’ll deal with that when we’re done,” I said. “Whisper, can you blast us in?”

  “I don’t know if I’m that powerful and are you sure you want to destroy the largest statue on earth?” When I didn’t respond, she said, “What? I can’t know things too?”

  “Just blast us in!”

  Whisper closed her eyes and put forth both of her hands in a sort of a diamond shape. I could hear her muttering something under her breath and a small, green object began to glow between her fingers. It grew exponentially over the course of the next few seconds and then with a shout it burst forward, devastating the large rock form.

  We entered into the heart of the beast, so to speak. Whisper snapped her fingers and a small flame of energy appeared on her finger tips, providing much needed light. We passed from one cavern to the next with no resistance.

  “Art—I mean, Silver Serval?” I had almost forgotten about the earpiece I’d been fitted with before leaving for the mission.

  “Silver Serval, go,” I said.

  “There’s a massive storm heading your way and we fear the Voltress plans
to harness its energy for something huge. You’ve got to stop her, now!”

  “Did you think this would somehow make us go faster, Mr. President?” I asked, annoyed. “We’re doing the best we can. We’ve just entered the Sphinx. Looking for her now.”

  “Copy that,” the President replied. “Good luck.”

  A corridor broke into a fork and we chose to go right. We would have split up, but without the light of Whisper’s magic we could have been blind.

  I heard a squeak up ahead followed by another. Bats. Wrong superhero, Egypt!

  “Prairie, could you make sure those don’t give us any trouble?” All I heard was silence as a reply. “Prairie? Whisper, where’s Prairie?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “She was right behind me. We’ve gotta go look for her.”

  “No!” I shouted. “We don’t have time.” I told her what the President had just relayed to me. “You say a prayer for her or send her good thoughts. Whatever you’ve gotta do, but we have to keep going.”

  She nodded somberly, but understood.

  Suddenly the path opened into a giant chamber. It wasn’t made of the dusty orange stone you would have expected. Its walls were solid metal and covered in hieroglyphics. In the center of the room there was a large spherical contraption. That’s when I saw her—the Voltress standing on a platform in the middle of the sphere. I hadn’t seen her since that day she’d manipulated my mind into thinking she was a friend just moments after she’d brutally murdered my parents in cold blood. To this day, I have no idea why she did it and I don’t care. All I know was that she was going to die.

  She looked the same as she had all those years ago. Short greying hair and curves for days. I heard a chattering in my ear, a warning that the storm was growing closer. But I didn’t listen. It was just me and her and I’d been waiting for this moment for the better part of a decade.

  “Voltress!” I shouted before rushing toward the sphere. I stopped in the middle of the room and crumpled to the ground. I hit something invisible as hard as any wall. I picked myself up and placed a hand out in front of me. I felt something solid where there was nothing at all.

  Whisper threw balls of energy and they collided with the force field sending sparks raining down on me.

  “Stop!” I said as I walked the perimeter, feeling with my hand, looking for a break.

  “Art,” said the voice in my ear again. “The storm is right above you. It’s now or never.”

  I picked up speed, beginning to run now. The sphere began to rotate and spin, the Voltress at its center. She was staring at me now, laughing. Why do they always laugh?

  I raged against the forcefield and Whisper’s energy balls began their relentless attack again. Nothing managed to make her defensive magic waver for even a moment.

  Then there was a high pitched squeal and the room became white—solid white. I couldn’t see anything and then there was nothing.

  • • •

  Harsh sunlight poured in through a crack in the drawn shades and I woke. I opened my mouth to yawn. A maniacal cackle caught me completely off-guard but I reacted as I always did—I had the reflexes of a furry feline. I leaped out of bed and spun a quick circle. There was no one else in the room with me. It was at that moment I realized the laughter had escaped from somewhere deep within my own belly.

  I was in a hotel room. I had no memory of anything that had occurred leading me here. I got up and pulled the curtains fully open, basking in the sunlight. I could tell I was in Cairo but the last thing I recalled I was in England. I looked down to the streets below. It was a mess. The Middle East was always a war zone, but this seemed worse than normal. There were fires blazing from rooftops and people in the streets. They appeared to be rioting, fighting, destroying everything they could get their hands on.

  I liked what I saw. I remember a feeling of great joy coming over me. Like a kid in a candy shop I needed to be a part of what was going on down there.

  I looked down. I was naked. I opened the closet and found that it was full. I threw on some clothes. Not the sparkling silver leotard. I grabbed something black. Inconspicuous. Menacing. I tore down the seven flights of stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. I threw open the front door and allowed the mayhem to overtake me.

  I walked into the street, pushing past several men wearing business suits. They turned and tried to attack, but I leveled them with little more than a thought. I didn’t even bother to look at them once they’d hit the ground. I assumed they were dead and that was fine. The next moments were chaotic and unrehearsed. I turned cars end over end. I bashed in a man’s skull for bumping into me. There was no rhyme to what I did but I knew it needed to be done. I felt it inside of me. I was doing the right thing.

  A manhole cover rose slightly, imperceivable near my foot and I felt a cold, wet hand wrap around my ankle. Before I could respond I was being yanked into the sewer. A creature with large fangs stood before me. It was a creature I knew well. A creature I had fought on many occasions. I hated these goodie-goodies—no idea what they are doing. They don’t even consider what the world deserves, they just fight for what they think is justice. What I do is justice! I nearly screamed as the thought rose up on the inside of me.

  And then I did, “This world deserves judgment!”

  The reptile swatted me like a bug. Its huge hand caught me and I flew against the wall. I felt a crack and hoped it was the stone and not my spine. I stood up, thankful I wasn’t paralyzed. I was confident I wouldn’t be able to defend myself against this…thing. I never could defeat it when it was in its element, in the sewers. I leaped at it, landing a flying kick to its neck. It roared and swatted again, missing me this time. I let out another swift kick to the side of its knee. Iguanodon dropped.

  I took advantage of its weakened state and climbed back out and into the open air to join in on the fun.

  “This world has abandoned itself! It does not deserve life, but I will be the one to give it what it truly deserves.”

  I tore off through the streets at my superhuman speed. I passed by shop after broken shop seeing a reflection in the mirror that I barely knew. My speed began to slow as I looked into the eyes of the thing who wore my eyes.

  I stopped and walked toward the front window of a storefront. I looked into those eyes and saw pain and hurt. But I saw something else there. I saw through clouded deception. I saw my mother’s eyes. Suddenly, I remembered the Sphinx.

  “The Voltress,” I said under my breath. “She did this.” She’d convinced the whole world that no one deserved to live.

  She had done it—the thing every villain from small brainiac mice to giant brainiac machines had tried to do. She had finally accomplished World Domination.

  I ran back to my hotel room and picked up the phone. I dialed the White House’s private line. There was no answer.

  I stared out the window again, remembering that feeling. The thrill and excitement. The knowing that what I did mattered—but not knowing why. I had become a villain, but I didn’t feel like it. I felt…good. More than that…I felt like I was doing good. I would have time to explore my feelings after the Voltress was stopped.

  I ran back out on the streets and toward Giza. I cleared the city limits and the Pyramids loomed in the distance. The silhouette of the Sphinx grew as I neared it. The same blue cloud of energy pulsed above it.

  A green ball of energy landed in front of me, the heat of it burned and I dove to the side. I looked, following the trajectory of the blast, and saw Whisper standing atop the great cat-man statue’s head. It was in that moment I realized the irony. Did you catch it?

  Whisper floated down on a disc of energy and hovered before me. “You would do well to turn around Cat-Man,” she said. “You cannot stop her. I will not allow you to.”

  “What happened to you, Whisper?”

  I stared at her perfect body and beautiful face, now contorted into a vicious scowl. I told you…in another life…

  The disc dissipated
from beneath her feet and she landed softly on the sand. “What she is doing must be done.” Even as she said the words I felt myself agreeing with them.

  “No,” I said, unsure of who I was trying to convince. “Step aside or I’ll make you step aside.” She stretched out her hand and a bolt shot out. I dodged and came in hard, shouldering her and sending her to the ground. Energy shot from her hands propelling her to her feet. I threw a right hook and it landed.

  I know what you’re thinking: She’s a woman! You never hit a woman!

  When you’re dealing with super humans, all bets are off. It’s kill or be killed. I’d rather not kill her, but she didn’t leave me much of a choice.

  I punched again, harder. She took it in stride and lashed out. I shouted for her to stop but she wouldn’t listen. I tried to tell her she was being manipulated, but if she heard me, she didn’t show it.

  I gave her one last warning and I was met with a blast of energy to the chest. I soared through the air but managed to land on my feet, as I always did.

  I pushed through the pain and charged her, weaving in and out as she tried to hit me again and again. I brought back a fist and let it fly. I had to stop the Voltress and that meant stopping Whisper first.

  My hand went through her chest cavity just as it had the mum. I felt her still-beating heart against my forearm and quickly pulled my arm back.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

  I looked up at the cloud and tried not to imagine what was happening all over the world. I prayed it was only Cairo, but I knew better. That storm had been exactly what she needed last night.

  I entered the Sphinx the same way I’d entered before. I silently thanked Whisper for providing for me even from beyond the grave. As I sprinted through the caverns, I thought about my father—not the decapitated remains of my father, but the one who took me fishing and treated me like his little boy even though I was a freak. He treated me like I needed his wisdom even though I was far wiser than he. But I loved him for it. He never treated me like I was anything other than his little boy. I would do this for him.