THE SHADOWVERSE

Dream We Knew

Rose Johnson, now Justice, stood in her scarlet-illuminated suit. Titan had said he expected her friends to arrive, and that she should be ready to do what was necessary. He had questioned her as to how she had acquired her suit, for they were indeed his and currently only in the process of design.

Unable to explain the anomaly, Titan resorted to his psychic powers. Her memories became his memories as he searched her mind. The answer was stunningly perplexing. Faced with a paradox, Titan had spent hours in his throne room in order to come to a reasonable solution to this enigma.

This mysterious speedster, only referring to himself as Z, left Titan bewildered and mystified. Rose had noted that her friends had received suits specific to their powers. Titan's military had, at the moment, produced two of these, Oracle and Chronos.

"How did he obtain them?" he asked her. His hand rested on her forehead.

"I do not know," she replied.

* * *

"It's ready, freaks!" Ledarius yelled. No customers entered the shop, thanks to the big, bold "Closed" neon that attached to the entry.

"Finally!" Ryan replied, jumping off his stool like a man on a mission.

"About time!" Dustin added.

Johnny shook profusely. No pregame nervousness could compare to what he had been undergoing. His skin felt like it was going to explode, and his bones felt ready to lurch at any moment.

As they piled into the elliptical craft, its construction staggered them. "You know how many people would kill to see this?" Sam asked, looking about.

"Yeah," Ryan replied, "Too many."

The Octavian's cockpit comprised scores of illumined buttons and switches. Two little holograms of information hovered an inch over the dashboard.

Johnny desperately strove for optimism, but could not escape the stranglehold of pessimism. He could muster only a pasted-on smile. From what he had heard, Titan was the most feared being in the universe, and he—Johnny Sparks—was about to confront him. When he got those powers, he didn't expect this was the path that had been laid out. But there was no going back. Whatever story now unfolded, whatever events were on course to take place, he would be prepared. He had to be. This was the stuff legends were made of.

"All right, sit tight. It's going to get bumpy," Ledarius warned. The craft lifted, and Ryan held his breath. In fact, they all did. The engine purred like a kitten as a blue energy emanated from the rear. The ship jerked and shuddered like an elderly rollercoaster.

Johnny's knuckles whitened as he gripped the balance bars. He closed his eyes, wondering if they should even be doing this. Two sentences came to mind. The words from his father, hours before the encounter with Z.

You wanted to reach the stars. You wanted to go beyond them.

He nailed those words of comfort and wisdom into his brain.

Ten minutes of ascension through the skies rocketed by before the ship freed itself of Nexon's gravitational grip. The group stared out the window, in awe at the sight.

"Wow," Johnny marveled. "What a view." There were dozens of ships, small and large, surrounding the planet like bees around a hive. The lights from the cities shone like tiny stars on the surface. If this did not resemble science-fiction, nothing would.

Ledarius flipped more switches. "This is it."

"Hail Mary, full of gra—" Ryan yelled before the Octavian cut him off with the tremendous sound and energy from the drive. The view from inside was inimitable. The space in front of the craft curved on itself. Behind the craft, space seemed to expand. The crew held on tight for this pivotal moment of launch. However, the ship had already achieved its purpose, and they were well on their way towards the Titan.