THE SHADOWVERSE

Justice Prevails

Johnny found a place to sit inside the main room. A cliff walkway extended out of the mountain about twenty feet away. Sonovan, fully covered in Ooris, sat next to him. Peace enveloped them and contentment kept both warm.

"You are a truly perplexing fellow, Johnny," Sonovan started. "Are humans of the modern day all like you?"

"No, and that's a good thing," Johnny answered, chuckling nervously.

"Why?" Sonovan replied, eager to know more.

Johnny shrugged. "Eh, it's just my personality, I guess. Sometimes, I wish I would be just another extrovert. Nope. INFJ."

"INFJ?" Sonovan replied in question.

"Never mind."

Sonovan nodded, dropping the subject. "The rest of the population? Are they like how I was when I was younger, or are they far better now? Has time brought us into a new day?"

Johnny shook his head, releasing a sigh. He looked into the far-off distance, past all the mountains, and to the vast horizon that stretched in every direction. "Yeah, you assume wrong."

"How?" Sonovan replied.

Glancing at him, Johnny framed his words. "I don't think they hold the morals and goodness you fought for anymore."

"What has happened to society?" Sonovan probed further.

"It's like Titan said. They're selfish and rebellious. Technology might have advanced it, but besides that, it has only brought distraction, among other things."

"I see."

"I might hate him, but the things Titan speaks of are scarily precise."

"Yes, I understand." Sonovan nodded, looking away. "He has always had a vast knowledge of the universe and worlds. Sometimes, I wish he wasn't always right. But he usually is."

"Where does he come from?" Johnny questioned.

"I am not sure," Sonovan answered. "A servant of his who I released, Torion, told me he perhaps came from a race of beings strong in Ooris, so it is possible he originated in the Shadowverse itself."

"You said that place is a parallel universe?" Johnny said, needing clarification.

"Yes."

"How do you get to it?"

"Only beings of true and pure Ooris such as Titan and I can see it. We have the power to walk between the realities."

"Well, that's neat." For a minute, he thought. "How can we get Rose back?"

"Since I experienced your current dilemma first hand, I can say without a doubt it will be difficult," Sonovan said. "For starters, Titan's telepathic power is unlike anything I have seen. That is his original ability—the power to read and control the minds of others. To retrieve her from his grasp, you must sever the connection."

"Well, how do you do that?"

"There is no way other than to disconnect the cord into his head," Sonovan answered.

"Yeah, well that sounds way easier than it is," Johnny grumbled.

"Trust me, I know," Sonovan responded.

"Then how?" Johnny asked again.

"You must shift his attention with a distraction. Now remember! If you somehow kill him before the connection is severed, her mind will be lost."

Johnny groaned. "What? Why?"

"There is a mental bridge. If a bridge is cut in half while people are moving to and fro on it, all of them perish. The people must cross first, and then the bridge can be dismantled without fatalities."