Part III of VI
Written in a Lab
Castle Onett
--A quiet night on the roof
The young man couldn’t actually fly; he was just propelled by the self-made jetpack he had strapped on. And he wasn’t actually from the stars above; just from the neighboring land of Winters.
The guard on the roof who’d secretly noticed him had gotten a little confused about these two things, but still managed to draw and raise his sword as the intruded landed up there.
As soon as the sword was raised, a beam flew and cut through it.
Jeff put his blaster away.
The startled guard wondered for a moment what exactly was happening…then heard the blade drop with a clank.
Jeff wasn’t looking at him. “Where are the Starmen being made?” he began removing the weight from his back.
The man on his far left glanced at the hilt…then back up at Jeff…then at the hilt again…then back up at Jeff. Suddenly, he tossed it down and turned, running for a lever nearby. Before he could reach it, another beam arrived, beating him to the target—which popped and let out a few sparks. The alarm it was connected to had just become inaccessible from this area.
The guard slowly turned around.
Jeff spoke. “Where are the Starmen being made? Believe me, I’m in no mood to ask a third time.”
“I…I can’t,” the guard lifted his hands. “The queen will have me executed if she finds out I told.”
“I’ve never known the queen of this kingdom to be that kind of person…whatever it is that’s happened here.”
“…There’s a new queen now.”
“…” Jeff’s eyebrows rose for a second. “Wait. You mean….? No…now I think I’m getting it. All of my dealings were directly with the princess. You’re telling me she’s the queen now because of…”
“What are you talking about? Are you the one who helped her bring these accursed things into our kingdom?”
“No, I…I never knew she was…” Jeff took his eyes off the guard for a moment. “Look, I just heard about them earlier—when I was told that there were some running wild throughout Winters. What I need to know is, were those strays, or is she planning to invade Winters like she tried to invade Twoson?”
“I don’t know; I’m just a guard. I figure they were strays.”
“How so?”
“Because she’s been replacing so many of us with so many of them. It doesn’t surprise me at all to hear that some of them might’ve wandered away; they can get around quickly with that fading thing.”
“…Why are you still serving her?” asked Jeff.
“Because there are too many of them around not to. Maybe yesterday I could’ve tried leaving the kingdom, but if she keeps making those things at this rate…soon there will be too many for the rest of the world to say no to her as well.”
That was something that made Jeff feel very, very guilty. “Well…I’m going to see that that doesn’t happen…even if I have to die in the process.”
Just then, a Starman who’d appeared behind Jeff fired a beam right at the boy’s head.
Jeff flinched at the sound and dodged just in time. The beam struck the man Jeff had spoken to in the chest, bringing him to his knees before he collapsed.
A hole was blown through the Starman as Jeff turned and pointed, the results of which made it fade away in defeat.
Jeff paused a moment, staring nervously…then turned and ran over to the fallen guard. “Hey. Hey. You all right?”
The groaning began.
“You have to tell me where she’s been using the technology to produce these things. What room?”
It continued.
“Come on, man. You’re going to make it, but for your kingdom, tell me where she’s got the tech set up.”
“The basement…”
“The ba…” Jeff looked away. “Of course. Just the place to do things secretly,” he mumbled. A moment later he stood, leaving the guard to be found, and soon opened a door leading him inside. Using the noisy jetpack to land in front of the building could draw too much attention, which was why he’d come to the roof planning to sneak in.
After walking down a stairway and reaching a door that would truly lead into the castle, Jeff paused…then kicked it open with his weapon raised, revealing the upper level of a large dark room. Maybe he should’ve been a little quieter, because as he walked along the carpeted balcony and became momentarily distracted by another staircase in the distance, beam after beam began flying from downstairs.
Jeff ran forward with his head down, firing back over the railing while just hoping to hit something.
Hole after hole began scaring the wall right beside the young man as he moved. The staircase leading down on his left drew closer. A shot tore through the side of his jacket, barely missing his body.
Jeff turned and started running down the regal staircase, pulling out a second blaster as the Starmen aiming for him adjusted to his new position.
The shots continued.
Just passing the halfway point, Jeff suddenly tightened his grips and leapt, doing an aerial cartwheel right over the railing…a beam passing by as he went…before landing downstairs right-side-up with his back turned. Still holding both weapons, the sides of his jacket rose with the motion as he spun and lifted a leg high in the air, kicking a nearby vase across the room.
A Starman aimed for it, and while it was making that mistake, it suddenly felt a powerful blast from one of Jeff’s weapons that would cause it to fade away seconds later.
A lot of other expensive material broke as Jeff scurried to the side while pulling both triggers and being fired upon at the same time.
Three minutes later, a Starman in a room a few floors below approached two others standing on opposite sides of a door. He spoke to them and walked by as the door automatically opened and closed behind him. About 30 seconds passed and the door slid open again. Two blasters were pointing at two Starmen’s heads, and both blasters fired.
The guards collapsed, fading before they completely hit the floor.
Jeff stepped out with the weapons still extended on both sides, looking back and forth. His arms lowered, and he saw an elevator across the floor this time.
By the time the car’s doors slid open, no one could be seen in the room. Moments later, Jeff peeked from the side and looked in, weapons ready. It was empty until he entered and directed it to continue to the floor on the very bottom.
During the trip, Jeff knelt and fiddled with a small device he’d produced from his coat—which was one of a few—and left it on the floor with directions to explode right around the time the car would go back up if summoned.
The elevator came to a stop, the doors opened, and finally, Jeff entered a room that was bright—which made it quite easy for him to spot the familiar equipment he’d come to destroy. Unfortunately, it also made it quite easy for the Starmen that had been produced by it to spot him.
For the next several minutes, Jeff ran, ducked, and fired while engaging around 20 Starmen at once. Almost the entire time, he’d hoped—to no avail—that the fight would cause some of the small chambers that had produced the enemy to take significant damage. He even deliberately tried drawing fire to those locations, but the Starmen seemed to know where not to shoot.
More of Jeff’s hope began to fade—actually, the very world around him began to fade for a moment—when a Starman concentrated…and a blast of what felt like ice held Jeff in place, and a beam that was already flying his way struck him in the shoulder…and blew out the other side.
Jeff screamed out the pain, falling into motion again as he hit the floor. Both blasters left his hands and slid away. Jeff’s jacket was growing redder around the left-shoulder area.
The Starmen began to focus.
Jeff was crawling away, suddenly thinking of nothing but the wound.
Across the floor, the elevator doors opened again.
The Starmen between Jeff and the elevator stopped, turning around.
Jeff managed to turn as well, trembling as he held his shoulder. He saw his attackers kneeling suddenly…and as their heads lowered, he saw Tracy, reigning Queen of Onett, appearing with a crowd of gold and transparent Starmen around her.
Jeff didn’t know which was scarier: the seemingly advanced enemies, or the incredibly cold expression on the face under the crown.
She held something up. “Perhaps you’re still wondering about this.” It was the device Jeff had set to explode in the elevator—now deactivated and harmless.
“…” Jeff looked up at her, still clinging to his shoulder.
“You taught me well, Jeff. Too well.”
“Tracy…what’s going on? You’ve used all this equipment to make these things somehow? You used them to take the throne and attack Twoson? Why?”
“Shhh…” said the queen, quietly. She directed the Starmen to stand, soon having them aim at Jeff.
He looked around nervously. “T-Tracy…”
“Shhh…” she said again, awaiting the final shots.
The arms pointed.
The target closed his eyes.
And just then, the wall not too far behind Jeff exploded, blown away by an incredible attack.
Everyone was naturally surprised and acted that way.
Out of the smoke left behind came a shady figure, soon stepping into the light and revealing himself to be the Prince of Onett—who’d just teleported home a moment ago.
The Starmen redirected their aim, but Ness had already begun summoning another blast. The colorful energy soared ahead and blew the silver Starmen away—all of whom had suddenly attempted to cover the space between them and Tracy, barely managing to succeed.
Ness knelt, wrapping both arms around Jeff while wondering what he was doing here.
The silver bodies faded, revealing the unflinching expression of the queen—along with her advanced unit.
Ness had come angry, but he was still able to make a choice between getting Jeff to safety, or taking on a slew of new enemies he couldn’t be so sure about, and possibly ending up just like the fallen boy before him. A moment after choosing, he lifted his right arm and pointed at Tracy. “You prepare yourself; I’m coming back soon. And when I do…”
The girl remained unchanged. One of the guards around her launched an attack that looked very much like one called Starstorm.
Still clinging to Jeff, Ness successfully executed a short-range teleport, bringing both boys right outside the hole Ness had created. They felt the cool night air whipping around them as they began to spin and teleport much farther away.
* * * *
Dalaam
--The Palace’s Interrogation Room
“AHHHHHHHHH!” Picky was now shirtless and elevated just above the floor with his arms bound over his head.
There were three other boys in the room. Two were doing the up-close work; the other was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.
Picky caught his breath.
“Come on, Picky…” King Poo unfolded his arms. “I’ll say it again: trying to steel the Sound Stone is a very, serious, offense. Not just against Dalaam—against the world. I just want to know who sent you, then we’ll see that it’s them and not you who pays.”
Picky said something he shouldn’t have…again.
Poo sighed, eyeing the guards. “Let him down.”
* * * *
Winters
--The mansion on the hill
One of her eyes appeared before a tiny screen. A bar on this screen moved up and down, conducting a scan.
Very soon, the letters Y-C-U-L could be seen reflecting on her face. The balcony doors opened compliantly, letting her back in. Moments later she was downstairs again. Her gown and short brown hair shuffled as she strode, lighting candles in the usual places. The sound of the front doors opening caused her to turn slowly.
Jeff’s left arm was hanging around Ness’s neck, his weight partly supported by the other boy in the process.
It wasn’t too long before they were all sitting about halfway up the wide stairs—Jeff actually lying back on them between the other two.
“Like I said, I’ve partly healed his wound,” said Ness, looking forward with his wrists over his knees. “The rest is up to nature, but it could still use some proper tending to help things.”
Lucy spoke, “You have my gratitude.” She leaned back, pulling one of her brown locks aside.
“Highness…” said Jeff.
“Just call me Ness.”
“Ness…” said Jeff. “I’m sorry. I really, truly am. Now you’re exiled from your own kingdom and things are crazy there because of me. When I sold the equipment, I dealt directly with Tracy—even met with her a few times—but with her being a royal, I honestly thought she was representing the kingdom. I didn’t know she had her own agenda.”
“I believe you.”
“The business works that way all the time.”
“I know,” replied Ness.
“And I have no idea how she used my tech to create those things.”
“That’s because she didn’t.”
Jeff’s eyebrows rose for a moment.
“…When I was captured…before I escaped and got to Twoson…Tracy told me more about what had happened. Not much, but more. Now I understand what she meant by ‘copies.’ ”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve got news for you: the Starmen weren’t created with your technology, they were mass-produced with it.”
“What?”
“Don’t you know the legend? It’s all over that Internet of yours. The Starmen were one class of soldiers who fought for Giegue during the war—the one the Four Heroes ended.”
“…”
“They were completely organic in those days. She said this new breed have had machinery built in—giving them that beam attack—while remaining organic so they can still learn and use PSI.”
Jeff continued, “…So the machinery parts would explain why Strong thought I’d built them.”
“…Tracy was given prototypes of the new breed and has been using your technology to make copies since.”
“Given prototypes by who?”
Ness’s eyebrows lowered. “Someone banned from the kingdom a long time ago: Count Pokeyus of the Deep Dark Lands.” His fists had tightened.
“So why would he…?”
“Probably for revenge on Onett. But even if he was the one who put her up to it, that still doesn’t exonerate Tracy for what she’s done.” Ness stood up.
Jeff flinched, “Where are you going? You can’t go back there tonight; she’ll be too well prepared and guarded after--”
“I’m not going back to Onett…not yet, anyway. I’ve got an old friend in Winters—an inventor like you. I’m going to just crash in his attic for the night, then settle the score with Pokeyus tomorrow.”
“If you want, you could stay here,” Jeff offered.
“Oh, I…wouldn’t want to intrude on you and your…sister?”
“Oh no, no…Lucy and I aren’t siblings.”
She spoke up, calmly. “My father took Jeff in at a young age. Over time, he trained him in the ways of business, technology…and weaponry. After he passed away, I asked Jeff to stay and help me keep the business going in his honor. It was better for us to remain together.”
Ness was looking down at the floor. “You’ve got something very nice here…and I don’t just mean the company.” He suddenly teleported, appearing over on the platform by the front door. “Be sure to remember that everyday,” he mumbled.
He unlocked and pulled one of the doors open, then closed it after exiting.
Moments later, the seal was in place again and the mansion’s doors were locked.
* * * *
Dalaam
--Throne Room
“Brain Shock worked it out of him,” said Poo.
“And you’re sure he said Count Pokeyus?” asked a male soldier.
“Of the Deep Dark Lands,” Poo continued.
The soldier spoke again, “The question is: Why would Pokeyus want to steel the Sound Stone?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question,” said Poo, “but I know the answer to another one: How are we going to respond to his failed attempt?”
“…And the answer is…?”
Poo picked up a sword. “I think tomorrow we’ll be paying the Count a little visit.”
* * * *
Castle Twoson
--Throne Room
Her elbows rested on the arms of the chair; the tips of her fingers were touching just in front of her mouth.
“Princess?” said a soldier who entered.
“…What’s up?”
“Our reinforcements have arrived from Peaceful Rest Valley, just as you’ve requested,” he continued.
“Have them—excuse me, thank you—now have them get a good night’s sleep. We’re going to attack Onett soon. Especially since that feed we saw has apparently shown Ness retreating.”
“Princess…?”
Paula got up, stepping down from the platform and looking elsewhere. “There’s a price that comes with attacking Twoson—someone will pay it.” She ran her hands over the ribbon in her hair. “By noon tomorrow, I’ll have the head of a young queen on my wall.”
To Be Continued
Here are some scenes from the next 101
* * * *
“Sorry,” said the Prince of Onett. “I needed to talk to you and for that I needed you to stop.”
The King spoke. “How can I help you?”
* * * *
“Face me, coward. Don’t let it be said that I blew you away from behind,” Ness spoke with anger yet again.
* * * *
The other girl turned, revealing a calmly bold stare of her own. “You want my life, Princess?” said Tracy of Onett. “…Come take it.”