THE SHADOWVERSE

Shadowforce

Subject to a crazed indignation he had not experienced in years, criminals were shoved in for Titan to vent his rage, and he slaughtered them without remorse. A seemingly endless repetition of snaps, breaks, and spewing blood gradually soothed his ire. Solis strode in, keeping his gaze firmly averted from the dead, who lay there in mounds.

"My lord, your forces completely destroyed the hideout," Solis stated. "The mountaintop is also demolished. But there were no dead bodies found. So, we obliterated their ship, which they stole from us."

Titan released his telekinetic grip on an already-dead lawbreaker, exhaling deeply as it fell to the floor. "They cannot be far. They are now marooned. Drop an X9 bomb in the surrounding area. I want them dead. Well, possibly. At least scare them a bit."

An X9 bomb was the third largest his military had constructed, the first being the X3. Yet, its power to destroy was apocalyptic. It would annihilate anything within a three-hundred-mile radius, and the radiation would destroy even more.

"Yes, my lord," Solis said. "My own ship is loaded with an X3 weapon, for backup, of course. Not like we need backup."

"Good. Make sure the divisions of troops are ready for action once we reach Earth. You can never prepare enough. Heroes always seem to find a way. I want them armed and ready."

"Of course."

Titan paused. "Here is my final command to you: equilibrium. You understand what that entails, correct?" Solis nodded once. Smiling in a sinister manner, Titan bid him away. "Then see to its completion, Solis."

"We will end this once and for all," Solis growled. "Forever."

* * *

The heroes and Sonovan pressed their faces to the ground. Joy was an understatement. Happiness soaked them in its torrents. Sonovan smelled the ground in earnest admiration, for he had not done so for five-hundred years.

"Home at last! Never have I been so glad!" he exclaimed, smiling from ear-to-ear. "And still, it retains its beauty!"

"We're back! Holy crap!" Ryan exclaimed as well. He ripped out grass and rubbed it against his cheek. The others, to their own surprise, did the same.

"Oh yeah, I can be here all day!" cried Dustin.

"I almost want to eat it," Sam added, motioning to the dirt.

"Ew, no. That's disgusting," Rose replied. Jane laughed.

Only Johnny remained standing. He faced Z. The man seemed strangely familiar, yet so dissimilar to anyone he had ever met. "Look, I think I was wrong about you. So, I'm sorry for that."

Z shook his head and gave Johnny a hard look from behind his mask. "There is nothing to be sorry for, Johnny Sparks. The one you had met before was not . . . really me. He was a fake. That was not Z."

"Then who are you?"

"I am Z. Just . . . not him." At this, Johnny furrowed his brow in confusion.

After a few seconds of silence, Johnny responded, "Is your name really Z?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know anything anymore. What I've been through has generated questions I have no answers to."

"At one time, I felt the same. Don't worry. Heroes always figure it out in the end." His scribbled mask moved with his mouth as he spoke.

"Can you join us? It's fine if you keep the mask on. But we need more help. A lot more help."