THE SHADOWVERSE

Escape

Rose leaned back against the stone wall of the mountain, recollecting. "Titan only invades planets when it's necessary and then he links them into his massive empire. But he only raids planets which he believes need aid—corrupt and suffering worlds, such as Hallux and Corsic. There are many undeveloped worlds with unintelligent inhabitants. These he leaves alone, because they are not civilized. Once a species advances sufficiently, he is there to pick up the pieces.

"But his plan for Earth is different. It is not to destroy them or to invade. The plan is to use humans. He has taken some from Earth and tested them. He claims you have some kind of spirit."

"Whoa, what? What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Elaborate," Johnny requested.

"A spirit. He says it is some form of a trans-dimensional energy. Apparently, he has one too."

"And how would he know all this?" Johnny replied.

"It makes sense. His knowledge of the universe is boundless, as I told you," Sonovan replied. "This. This is why he wanted Earth so badly the first time I fought him," he said in dawning realization. "Because of the special trait humans, like myself, possess. But I destroyed him before he had enough time to investigate further. It is all coming together."

"Right," Rose concurred. "And he calls it 'the answer.' Basically, he wants to become everyone, or for everyone to become him. The idea is to utilize a machine he has already built. First, the machine will expose the Shadowverse to our realm. It will flood the planet with an outburst of the Shadowverse's energies. Ooris, they call it. Once the whole atmosphere is encompassed by the energy, he will project his consciousness into the machine. And here's the worst part. Once that happens, everyone is doomed. His spirit will enter our bodies, and he will become each and every one of us. Or, we will become him. I don't know. The sheer power he will possess will even grant him the ability to morph all of the humans into himself."

Shocked, the group began to loudly discuss the information, voicing their colorful opinions. Sonovan did not speak, but only listened.

Out of nowhere, a sound of rockets echoed in the distant night sky. "Wait! Quiet! Do you hear that?" Rose hushed.

"Hear what?" Ryan asked.

She held up her hands to shush him. The sound grew louder with each passing second.

"I think I hear something now," Sam said.

"Oh shit," Ryan said.

Johnny bolted to the cliff outlook. In the distance, he spotted several bright lights. "Oh no, that can't be good."

"What the hell is that?" Dustin fretted, peering to get a better view.

Sonovan pulled out a small telescope he had acquired over the years. "It's his forces. We need to abandon this place." The lights stopped their motion and lined up in a row across the distant sky. Sonovan knew exactly what this meant. "We have to go. Now!" He sprinted into his room and gathered a bag of vaccines, belongings, serums, his swords, and slung it around his shoulders. Everything else he left behind forever.

In moments, the squadron of fighters were firing at them. Everyone ran inside as pieces of the cliff broke off under the relentless impacts. Explosions blew apart the walls of the hideout. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Looking below, Sonovan spotted the ship they had stolen, burning merrily. Their only escape route—their only way off-planet—was demolished. He gulped as it exploded into a pillar of smoke.

"Sam, activate your suit! We need to teleport to a cave in the west! Do you see it?" he pointed to a forested hill to the west, which rose nobly over the valley.