THE SHADOWVERSE

Come and See

"That a wormhole?" Ryan questioned aloud. His jaw dropped to the grass, hiding within the green blades.

"And we're the first humans to use one," Johnny said.

The gravity increased, and the wormhole pulled them towards it, including Kevin. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!" Ryan cried, screaming in fear along with his companions.

The next moment, they were all outside, among the trees. Far off in the distance, Montauk Laboratory resembled a beacon. Each of them had landed on the grass, face first.

"Teleports left for the day: three," the A.I. notified.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to get used to that," Ryan griped.

Kevin, however, was ecstatic and already up and about like a kid in a candy store. "Wow! T-That was amazing!"

There was little time to groan, as the whirring noise of helicopters filled the air. Raising their heads to the cloudy sky, the group caught sight of a large object. It was flying across the sky, followed by a helicopter.

"Wow, this is going to be easier than I thought," Sam crowed confidently. Johnny slipped on his face mask, which reached up to his eyes. The rest did the same. They looked like criminals, or rather ninjas.

Unfortunately, the conglomeration of metal—the bug—caught sight of them as well, pointed itself at the ground, and landed. The greenery and forest behind its bulky, ugly frame provided some color to the otherwise dull appearance.

"It's more machine now than insect," Dustin quoted. "Twisted and ev—"

"It doesn't s-seem organic," Kevin interjected, quickly snapping a photo.

"It isn't," the machine responded. They all jumped back. On further examination, it appeared that the voice did not originate from the bug itself, which appeared to be a machine.

"Who are you?" questioned Rose.

"Adia, come and see!" the machine beckoned.

"Her name is Rose," snapped Ryan. "And whoever you are, you can go right back where you came from."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the voice answered.

"The hard way it is," Johnny responded. Ryan motioned for Jane to throw him a medium-sized rock. He gripped it as the rock shrank, transmuting itself into him. As a result, he grew seven inches and absorbed the stony material.

The invader shot at them with the blasters built into its legs and arms. They dodged the attacks, and Johnny slipped through the fire, using his speed to go around the bug and confine it. Following his lead, Jane reached out with her arm and telekinetically inhibited its body. While the bug was ignorant of Johnny's presence behind, he speed-kicked it, sending it hurtling towards the others.

"Coming your way!" Johnny shouted, side-kicking the inorganic beast again as it hurtled through the air. Sam froze it with a discharge of his own power just as the invader fell into the wheelhouse of Ryan's punch. The contact with his fist obliterated the bug, only sparing its severed head.

"Woohoo! That was awesome!" shouted Ryan, exhilarated. "That felt amazing!"

"Great job!" added Sam. "We didn't even need to use Dustin or Rose!"

"Yeah, well I would've liked to do something," Dustin sulked.

"Doesn't m-matter! I just witnessed the f-first team up in h-history!" Kevin cheered, clapping and raising his arms in celebration as if he had won a championship.