Superhero Epic Ch. 6

Chapter 6: Dreams and Prophecies

Mindbender, Shadowcaster and Dracosaur had been searching from the skies for over an hour now, and Mindbender was becoming extremely frustrated.
"Where are the Metahumans you were supposedly so close to, Dracosaur?" Mindbender shot Dracosaur an incredibly nasty look. Dracosaur just kept staring ahead.
"Okay, we're gonna have to land, this place has too many little nooks and crannies to just fly over it," he said looking over a small villa-looking group of houses. There were brightly covered awnings on almost all of the buildings, though they were slightly faded. There were several stands to sell vegetables, fruits, and even clothes and such.
"Are they here or not?!" Shadowcaster now chimed in, as the three of them landed, also incredibly irritated.
"Oh, trust me, they're here, they just know we're here, otherwise we'd be able to see them." Dracosaur looked around for a moment. "Hey, Angela, it's Tony! Tony DeCaro! A very tiny, seemingly elderly woman walked out from underneath an awning.
"You're not Tony!" the elderly woman shouted. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"No it is me, Ange, look past all these scales. Look me in the eye." The woman stared at him intently, and then came into tears.
"Tony? What happened to you?!" she sobbed.
"Don't worry about that, I'm fine now. How've you guys been?"
"Don't give me that!" she said, hitting him with her worn-out handbag. "You left us! You went off on some goddamn drinking binge, and never came back! Now you come back looking like this, with two thugs!"
"Things have changed, Ange, I'm not gonna lie, but these changes are for the better, you gotta trust me." He leaned forward and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, and she smacked it away.
"You're right, Tony. Things have changed. We have a new leader! Someone who'll get us out of the mess we're in! Someone who's promised us everything we've ever wanted!" She looked up for a moment and then looked right back at Dracosaur with a crazed expression.
"I demand to meet this so-called 'leader'!" Dracosaur roared.
"Do you really? Fine, I don't see anything wrong with that." She walked down the little alley from whence she came, and Dracosaur, Mindbender, and Shadowcaster followed. They went all the way down the alley, heads popping out of the windows of the small buildings as they passed, until they came to an opening, where a ramshackle shack sat about twenty feet away from them. When they saw the shack, the little woman known as Angela walked away, apparently indifferent as to whether or not she was the one to introduce them to the leader. Movement could be heard from inside the shack as the door swung open. The creature that came out of the shack was quite remarkable, even compared to Dracosaur. If you would just give a squint, she may look human for a moment, but to look at her fully, it is more than obvious she's not. The first thing Dracosaur noticed about her (he always was much more of a detail person than a big picture one) was her body artwork. It slightly resembled the marks and symbols worn by the natives of the Vermillion Archipelago, very intricate, with very sharp points and curves. She also had large horns protruding from her forehead, overshadowing her deep scarlet hair. Also, along the side of her arms, were small spikes, which appeared to be the same material as the horns, starting at her wrist and moving up to her shoulder. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about her however, was her wings. They were large and a deep almost blood red. The fact that she had barely covered up her body attracted even more attention than was necessary.
"So, outsiders have come to my little hole, have they?" she spoke with an Edessan accent, very light, elegant, and seductive, but with rude undertones. "Look at you," she said, shooting her gaze at Dracosaur. "My, my, aren't you remarkable? You would be a fine warrior." She looked at him as though she was in a trance and then spoke again, this time though, in a language that wasn't Edessan, but still had the same seductive tone. "Yyeli lhar thorkai." Mindbender gave the woman a look just as intense and used his mind to speak to her.
"I wouldn't do that. Not with me around anyway." She looked at him with a smile, but Mindbender could see her shock.
"So, you have telepathic abilities as well, do you? Interesting, I will have to test my skills with you."
"Another time perhaps, my comrades and I are here on business."
"Really? What 'business' would that be?" She said out loud.
"Ah, very well, right to it then. My friends and I are creating the means to liberate our kind, and destroy the humans. I do not know if you have heard, but the Emperor now knows of our kind and it is time to strike!"
"You failed to mention that you are the reason that the Emperor knows about our kind," she snarled.
"Did I?" Mindbender said playfully, staring off into space. He then shot his eyes at the woman's, his playful gaze now turning into an intense stare, and changed the subject. "There are two things. Number one, try to pry your way into my mind again, and you'll find yourself in great pain, and two, the Emperor knows about us, yes, but now that means we can finally make our move."
"What do you mean, 'make our move'?"
"Ah, it seems you must be educated as well. My dear, the attack on the city was only the beginning. We must take several steps in order to ensure that the humans are ours for the taking. The first of which is your allegiance to my cause." Mindbender looked at her with a warm, inviting smile.
"If you're as powerful as you're claiming to be, why do you need my help?" She looked at him unconvinced.
"Am I right, my dear, in assuming that you are neither human, or a victim of the Metahuman Virus?"
"Why would you say that?" she said, slightly disconcerted.
"Look at you! There are tales of demons and such, it is said that demons gave the great tyrant Khylor his god-like abilities."
"Do you have a point?" she said, feeling extremely irritated.
"No human can speak the words you did, trying to seduce my friend here. Your mind is far too open, darling, you give it all away. Fret not, however, your succubus secret is safe with me. What I ask of you is simple. I need your seductive skills."
"No." She looked at him and hissed.
"No? You really think it's that simple? This matter is far too complicated to just say 'no'. You didn't even think about it."
"What makes you think I would even want to help you?"
"Are you serious?! Who wouldn't want to join a cause so noble? We are changing the world on a grand scale! Even your demon brethren would appreciate what we are doing! Surely they would like to come to the surface, and end their days hiding in the caverns of Drek, don't you think?"
"I never did have any regard for my demon brethren; I could care less what happens to them to be honest." She gave a noncommittal jerk of the head, and Mindbender looked irritated. "Very well then, you do not have to join us, but I would consider it an honor to have you with us." He was almost pleading now, and as such, was nearly disgusted with himself. "Listen I might be interested in your little offer, but I have to stay here, these people depend on me, like they used to depend on their old leader, who obviously didn't leave things in a very good state." She looked at Mindbender and smirked a little. Mindbender did not return her gaze. He looked at the ground in front of her before he managed to bring his eyes to meet hers. "Well if you must, it is regrettable, but I will not pry you from your duty. Farewell, dear." Mindbender turned tail, and gestured for his companions to do the same. The woman looked at Mindbender and called out to him. "Wait!" Mindbender stopped but didn't turn to face her. "Yes?" he replied emotionlessly. "I can't leave this place permanently, but if you ever need me, and it's urgent, I might be persuaded to join you temporarily," she smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind," he replied as he and his companions flew off into the night sky.
The moon shone through Artillery's window as he finally began breathing normally again. He had been awake for nearly fifteen minutes now, and he desperately needed a glass of water. He walked his way to the Mess Hall, and found that the lights were still on. He looked on the couch, and Pixie was just sitting there, clutching a pillow and bobbing her head back and forth. Artillery walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped and turned her body to Artillery. Her head-bobbing now became obvious. She had headphones in her ears, and it was clear to him now that she was listening to music. She paused her little music player that she pulled out of her pajama pocket, and smiled at Artillery.
"Hey hun, what're you still doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep," he said evasively. He went to the kitchen and began rummaging around the cabinets for a glass. He found one, picked it up, and began filling it with water from the sink. He walked back to Pixie as he took a rather large gulp of water, and sat down next to her.
"Frank, you're as white as a pearl, what happened? You don't have to hide anything from me." She took her headphones out and frowned at Artillery with an incredibly worried look. He looked back, and shifted his eyes away from hers. "I just had a very weird dream." Pixie looked at him with a quizzical expression. "Well what happened?" "It was weird from the beginning. I felt like I was in somebody else's body, watching what they did, and not able to do anything about it." He took another gulp of water and began talking again. "I was at the bank of a river, or the edge of a lake, not sure which, and I was collecting water for something. When I filled up my bucket, I walked toward this big hideous-looking man, who yelled at me for not getting enough water, and smacked me in the face. He said that I was nothing before he found me, and that he was gonna leave me, and then where would 'Draguardium' be?" At the last part, Pixie looked at him and said, "You mean the continent or the person?" "I would guess the person, considering he was looking right at me when he said it, and he made a gesture as though he was making fun of me." Pixie gave a slightly surprised look. Artillery noticed, and chuckled quietly. "Trust me, it gets weirder. After that I remember Draguardium jumping on him, and Draguardium said 'I'm through being your servant, Khylor!' When he did that, Khylor got really mad, and the two of them had some sort of magic battle or something, and at the end of it, there was a huge flash of light, and that's pretty much all I remember before I woke up." Pixie looked at Artillery slack-jawed.
"So, what, you're re-living the past now?"
"Seems that way. To be honest, I'm a little freaked out. I mean, what does this even mean?" He looked at Pixie and just sat there for a moment, looking into her eyes. She stared at him right back, unsure of what to say. "Maybe," she began, "this means that you have some sort of connection with Draguardium." Artillery looked down at his scepter and nearly laughed at his stupidity. "I just thought of something!" "What?" she said startled at Artillery's sudden excitement. Artillery smiled and continued his train of thought. "The first day I met you, you had a fit, and told me that I held the scepter of Draguardium, and that I was destined to be a hero. I would've said something before, but I hadn't remembered till now. This is incredible! I might be like a descendant of a war hero! This is so awesome!" "I think you're jumping the gun a little bit. Chill out and just breathe. Let's wait to wake them up, until they have slept for a good long while, then you can tell them all you want." Artillery looked at her irritably, and decided that she was right, and it was for the best. He lay there on the couch with Pixie in his arm, and the two of them slowly drifted off to sleep.
The air was chilled, spookily for a summer night, as Mindbender, Dracosaur and Shadowcaster landed on the front steps of Carter's old home. The breeze blew through Mindbender's long dark hair, and he smiled.
"Welcome friends, to the place I once called home. Hopefully it can still be called home, I don't know if Rupert has left or not." Mindbender walked up to the door, and pressed the doorbell. He waited a moment, and pressed it again. This time, a light could be seen from inside. The door opened and the tall, elderly man known as Rupert opened the door. "Master Caiman, you've returned! I was worried, you had disappeared! Who are your friends?" he said, completely unaffected by Dracosaur's dragon-like appearance.
"Ah, of course," Mindbender said pleasantly. He looked to his right. "This dashing Metahuman here is Dracosaur." Dracosaur gave a small wave and grumbled a bit. Rupert looked at him and smiled. "A pleasure, Dracosaur." He held out his hand, and Dracosaur reluctantly took it. Rupert's eyes then shifted to Mindbender's left. "My, my, who is this lovely woman?" "This," he said, gesturing at the person on whom Rupert was focused, "is Shadowcaster." "Welcome Shadowcaster," Rupert said, bowing to her. After he got out of the bow, he gave a very warming smile. "Would you like me to make all of you something to eat?" Mindbender looked at his friends. "Are either of you hungry?"
"I could do with some like lingon or something," Dracosaur said, licking where his lips should be, owing to the fact he had none.
"I'd like a fruit salad, if he can get it for me," Shadowcaster said, slightly uncomfortably. Rupert looked at Shadowcaster and nodded. "Of course, dear. Dracosaur, sir, how do you like your lingon?" Rupert shot him a pleasant smile, as he gestured for them to go inside. And, being good guests, they obeyed. As Dracosaur passed Rupert, he said very roughly, "Rare, if it's not too much trouble." Rupert merely smiled. "No trouble at all, sir." Once Dracosaur had made it in, followed by Shadowcaster, led by Mindbender, Rupert closed the door. "If you don't mind Master Caiman, would you show your friends to their rooms while I prepare their meals?" "Later, Rupert, we'll just be in the den for now." "Very well, I shall be in the kitchen if you need anything." "Thanks, Rupert." Mindbender walked to the den, followed by Dracosaur and Shadowcaster, as Rupert walked to the kitchen.
Mindbender, Dracosaur and Shadowcaster walked down a hallway, as Dracosaur made a stab at conversation. "Jeez, you're loaded!" Mindbender looked at Dracosaur as though he had just been insulted. "And? My father is an Archeologist, and gets grants from museums and such things, for donating pieces he collects from various digs." Mindbender waited for any retort, and none came, so he continued. "He was very impressive with his skills on a sword, any weapons from the Ages, for that matter, and, convinced that I needed to defend myself, he taught me what he knew. Unfortunately, he also taught that traitor, Franklin, who admittedly took to it much better than I did. He was an incredibly quick study, learning in a day or two what took me weeks. My father continues to gain money for his continued research on the Wars of Ages. He was researching the Last War of Ages, and then he disappeared." They had since made it to the den, though Shadowcaster and Dracosaur decided it was better to stand while Mindbender finished his story. Mindbender gave out a sigh, and plopped down in a large armchair. Shadowcaster sat down on a couch, crossing her legs. Dracosaur however, remained standing up.
"Rupert seems nice, what's his story?" Shadowcaster said, smiling at Mindbender slightly. "Well, he was in some kind of trouble at a dig site my father was at, some sort of curse or something, and my father saved him, and he swore a life of servitude to him. He has been with us ever since." Dracosaur looked down, slightly irritated that there was nowhere comfortable to sit. "Why didn't he go crazy when he saw me? I mean, I'm supposedly intimidating." Mindbender chuckled a bit. "Dracosaur, my friend, after all that's happened here, after all the maladies caused by the artifacts father brought home, you really think you would frighten him?" Rupert entered the room smiling, holding a plate, covered with lingon, cooked rare just as Dracosaur asked, and a small side of mashed tubers. In his left hand was a large bowl with an assortment of fruits, mixed in equal portion. He set the bowl on the table in front of Shadowcaster and then eyed Dracosaur curiously.
"Why are you standing, sir?" Dracosaur looked at him, laughing slightly, and he said, "Well, it's kinda hard to get comfortable with these giant eyesores on my back." Rupert smiled politely. "Would you like a small stool, sir?" Dracosaur raised an eyebrow. "That'd be nice," he said with a smirk. Rupert smiled kindly back at him. "Very well sir, if you will wait a moment, I will be back with a stool." He left the room momentarily, and came back incredibly quickly. "Here you are, sir," Rupert said, putting the chair right in front of the table. Rupert left the room before Dracosaur could say thank you. Dracosaur shrugged and sat down while putting his plate on the elliptical table. He took the knife and fork that came with the plate and began roughly carving the lingon and sticking large bits of it into his mouth. Shadowcaster gave him a look of disgust as she continued to eat the fruit salad with the fork she had been provided. "What?" Dracosaur said, his mouth full of food.
"You, my friend, are repulsive. Couldn't you at least try to be more civilized?" Shadowcaster swallowed and looked at Dracosaur again. "Mindbender's right, you know. Do you know what they do to those lingon before they kill them?"
"No, and I don’t really care," Dracosaur replied, jabbing his fork into the lingon fillet. Shadowcaster looked at him, the anger and near horror clear on her face. "That's horrible! That lingon died for you, and you're just stabbing it!" "Hey, it's dead, what do I care?" Dracosaur smirked at Shadowcaster. "I've lost my appetite!" She shouted, slamming her bowl into the table, knocking a couple of pieces of fruit out of it. She walked away, presumably off to find a bedroom, and Dracosaur continued eating. Mindbender watched in disgust as he finished off the lingon, and tilted the plate up to his mouth as the tubers slid in and he swallowed them without chewing. A large burp then followed. "Jeez, I'm stuffed! Where are your bedrooms, chief?"
"Wander around, I'm sure you'll find one, just don't go in the one that's marked as mine, and don't touch anything." Mindbender sat there as Dracosaur got up from his stool, and walked out of the room to find where he would sleep. Mindbender lay on the couch for a moment, and got up, feeling incredibly tired. He walked out of the room, and began walking up the stairs, looking at the pictures adorned on the wall, the smiling faces almost mocking him. He ignored them, and made it to the very top, and went into his room. He closed his door, and looked at his surroundings. Having all of Carter's thoughts and feelings, Mindbender couldn't help but get teary eyed. Carter's nostalgia was getting to him. He wiped away the tears and laid himself down. He tossed and turned for a moment, then found a comfortable position and drifted off to sleep. His mind blew off into fuzzy terrain, as a grainy, sepia-toned image floated into his mind. He was in a child's body, watching as soldiers took his parents away. Tears streamed from his innocent eyes as he tried to run after them, but additional soldiers held him back. The scene then flashed and the same boy was now a few years older, being jammed with hot pokers, in a tent surrounded by a large fence,
"Tell us where your traitorous parents are!" one of the men behind the poker screamed, jamming the poker into him again.
"I told you, I don't know!" the child screamed, tears flushing from his deep blue eyes. "STOP!" Another poker went into his side.
"This is pointless, kill him!" The general commanded. The sound of an enormous explosion filled the air as the soldiers quickly fled the tent. The general looked at the boy with utter hate in his eyes. "I will return, and when I do, you will die!" The sounds of swords clanging and arrows flying through the air could be heard as someone rode into the huge tent on a small brushback, a reptilian beast with two large legs and a two arms protruding from its torso, and a patch of green, bushy hair on its rear, from which it got its name.
"My god, what have they done to you?" the man said. The boy did not respond with words, only tears. "Let me help you out of there. The man hopped off the brushback, and walked to the table which the boy was strapped to, and removed his shackles. The boy gingerly sat up. "Whoa there kiddo, are you okay?" The boy nodded slightly and hopped to his feet. "You got a name?" the man said, stony-faced. "Khylor," he said weakly. He began slowly walking toward the brushback and nearly stumbled."I'm Jethro, c'mon, we gotta get out of here, like now!" He scooped up Khylor, and plopped him on the brushback, and Jethro hopped on it as well. "Hang on, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!" He grabbed the reins and slapped them against the brushback's hide, and the brushback charged out of the tent, and soldiers shouted as the brushback sped past them. It charged through the gate and kept on speeding past the sandy landscape.
"Where are you taking me?" Khylor shouted.
"Away from here, you need medical attention." The scene flashed again. Khylor was much older now, at least ten to 15 years. A fight was ensuing, and Khylor was deeply engaged in sword combat with a much larger, much stronger opponent. He dodged an incredibly fierce strike, and used his sword to hold his opponents sword to the ground. Khylor kicked his opponent backward, making him drop his sword. He picked it up, and used to quickly stab the giant. The blood seemed to climb up the sword, almost eerily creeping up to the hilt. Once it got there, the crystal that was in the center turned deep red, and Khylor smiled.
"Sorry I had to do that, but I have work to do, and you just happened to be in the way." Everything went dark, and a new image blurred into focus. Khylor was walking on top of a volcanic mesa, seemingly searching for something. He looked at his feet and found a spot with an ornate, intricate symbol, and pressed it. The ground beneath him began to shake, as a stone doorway came up out of the ground, revealing a staircase that went down into the mesa. He entered it, and began going down the enormous spiral staircase. The further down he went, the warmer it got, and he wiped the sweat that covered his forehead. He kept descending the staircase and when he made it to the bottom, a large archway revealed the volcanic, hellish citadel that he was making his way toward. Creatures flew around him and screeched at his approach. A large, deep black figure approached him as Khylor gave a smug look. The creature walked up to him and smiled.
"You have returned, have you? I didn't think you'd survive facing the sword. You have it, I assume," The creature said in a raspy wheezed voice. Khylor unsheathed the sword that he took from his fallen opponent and handed it to the creature.
"Here's your blasted sword, now uphold your end of the bargain, demon!" Khylor shouted. The demon looked at Khylor with a smile. "My, aren't we eager? Very well, this should only take a moment." He reached a hand out toward Khylor, and placed it on his forehead. Khylor began jerking around, and started screaming in pain. He felt as though his very soul was being ripped from him, and in all honesty, that's probably what was happening. Despite this, he could feel himself filling up with a warming energy that seemed to give him strength, and a renewing energy. The demon took his hand off Khylor's forehead and smiled. "You have received your gift. Use it as you promised us you would."
"Oh, don't worry, demon, I have big plans for the world. They'll regret ever making me their little torture victim." A twisted smile spread across Khylor's face, and he stood there for a moment, and then disappeared. Mindbender awoke, sweating, and floating above his bed. He brought himself back down to his bed, and even though it was morning, he decided that even after that dream, the best thing to do would be to sleep it off.
Artillery and Pixie were still on the couch at headquarters, when Knightbeast walked in, looking particularly scruffy.
"Wake up!" he shouted at the two sleepyheads on the couch.
"What?" Artillery said sleepily. Pixie didn't even move. She just lazily grunted. Knightbeast just frowned."You two, I swear, get up before I have to get you up." "Jeez, where's the fire?" Artillery stretched and stood up. "It's everywhere! You can't see it?" Knightbeast smirked. "I just woke the other two up, so we could all hang out, and we can get to know you more, since you were kind of thrust on us, and to be honest, all we know is that your family was killed, you haven't really told us anything other than that."
"Well, I've got some news for everyone anyway." Artillery said, avoiding Knightbeast's comment. Knightbeast raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what would that be?"
"What would what be?" Twilight said walking in the room. Tech walked in as well, though not in his cyber suit, he was actually wearing normal clothes for once. "What are you people talking about?" He said, rubbing his head. "Ask Artillery," Knightbeast said, pointing at the man in question. Before any of them could say anything else, Artillery began recounting the events of his dream. When he finished, Tech got excited, though skeptical.
"So you have actually seen a glimpse into Draguardium's life? You have seen his beginnings?" He said gleefully.
"Yeah, it was really weird, I was in his body, but couldn't do anything." Artillery replied, slightly frowning. Twilight looked at him, still a bit shocked. "So, Is he as amazing as everyone says he is?" he said, trying to make more conversation. "Not really, I mean, he was just a kid, not even as old as me yet." Artillery said. "Really?" Tech said, becoming more and more intrigued. "He was just a child when he rebelled against Khylor?"
"Yep, and what's more is, I think I might have some sort of connection with him. Pixie already made mention of the fact that I hold his scepter, she made a prophecy-thing the first day she met me." Pixie blushed. "Frank, we talked about that, I was just talking nonsense." Artillery looked shocked. He wiped the emotion off his face and looked back at Tech. "It just makes sense, I never had a dream like this before I got this," he said gesturing to his scepter. "I need to figure all this out! If it's true, then maybe we can take Carter out!"
"I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we? I mean, you don't even know if this whole 'dream' thing really happened. It could've been, and excuse me for thinking rationally, just a dream," Knightbeast said, frowning slightly.
"There is a simple way to test whether that scepter belonged to Draguardium," Tech said. "I'll need to run an analysis on it, see it from the inside out." Artillery looked at Tech and smirked. "Don't you remember what Jessica said? She said when we were back at that facility that no one could touch it but me. I would think that it wouldn't be affected by technology either." Tech looked back at Artillery and smiled. "Well, we'll give it a try anyway. Follow me." Everyone did as he asked, and made their way to Tech's room. It looked like a control center to a laboratory. The floor was littered with bundled cords and blinking red lights, and monitors were everywhere. He walked up beside one of the monitors to some sort of container. "Ok," Tech began, "Place your scepter in here, and we can get started." Artillery did as he was told and the container began flashing. A second later, the container began smoking and a large hiss issued from it.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Artillery asked, smiling. Tech looked at him, incredibly irritated. "It most certainly is not. Get it out of there!" Artillery flipped the lid, and took the scepter from the container. The computer screen became filled with static, and an image popped up, slightly blurred amongst the static. It consisted of a cross, encompassed by a triangle, covered with an empty circle. "That's Draguardium's mark!" Tech shouted.
"How do you know that?" Artillery said.
"That's the symbol on our national flag. It's been that way since Draguardium defeated Khylor. You don't get out much, do you?" Twilight said, almost mockingly. Artillery smiled. "No, not really."
"Could we just get out of here? We didn't find anything out." Knightbeast growled. Tech looked at him with a serious look on his face. "On the contrary, Knightbeast, I think that this proves Artillery correct. It is rumored that Draguardium had some sort of weapon, created purely for him. Who else would have Draguardium's symbol exude from that weapon, even if it did only show up on my computer screen?" "Be that as it may—" Knightbeast began, but was interrupted by Twilight, who had left the room, and was watching TV in the Mess Hall. He shouted to the people in Tech's room. "The emperor's on the TV again!" Knightbeast and the others ran into the Mess Hall, eager to see what the Emperor was saying.
"It is about time a change occurred! I am calling for a war on these creatures! Metahumans are a danger to all of Draguardium, all of the planet Hortath, for that matter! A word to any Metahumans watching this, you will be destroyed. The attack on this city proved to me that you are nothing but monsters! Therefore, I am hunting you down like the animals you are!" The emperor stormed off the screen as Twilight turned off the TV.
"What the hell are we gonna do now?!" Artillery shouted. "We're at war now? That can't happen!" Knightbeast shot him a look. "Well, it's gonna happen unless we do something about it, only problem is, I don't know what we can do about it."
"Are you kidding?!" Artillery yelled. "Mindbender wanted war, and he's gonna get it unless we go to Emperor Lignum and convince him to stop this!" Knightbeast growled and got very close to Artillery. "You don't think I want to?! This is gonna change everything, we're gonna keep getting killed until we all die out, and I for one, don't wanna let that happen, but how are we gonna stop it? If we just go in there, trying to fight, we're only gonna make it worse! What do you propose, Frank?!" Artillery was shocked by Knightbeast's use of his real name, but shook it off. "Well, I think," Artillery began, frightened by how close Knightbeast still was, "that we should go to his palace under a cloaking shield of sorts."
"A good suggestion, but he's going to have the palace equipped with anti-cloaking weapons, due to the attacks, I read it in the newspaper. The military doesn't normally release information like this, but they want Metahumans to know that they are serious about this war. Oh, and don't think about using our teleporters either. They're bound to have that place wired with EMP emitters." Tech said, frowning. Artillery looked at Pixie and got a brilliant idea. "Hey babe, you can bend light around yourself, right?" She gave him a quizzical look. "Yeah, why?" Artillery just looked at her and smiled. Well if you can bend light around yourself, how about other people?" She looked at him, and already knew what he was planning. "I've only ever cloaked one or two other people, Frank. I don't think I can cloak all of us. Why wouldn't the weapons just blast us anyway? After all, we're being cloaked too."
"Well, Artillery's idea is actually quite simple. Any modern cloaking device works on the simple premise of light refraction, or the bending of light. Light flows through space and time as a wave. When a beam of light is pushed through two different media, for example, a glass of water and a straw, the wavelength of that light changes. A cloaking device bends light at a specific wavelength, special to the object in question, thus making the object that the device is attempting to cloak, invisible to human eyes. These devices use electromagnetism to make the devices work, but the genius in Artillery's idea is that Pixie can do it on her own, without any electromagnetism, or any outside interference, just as light acts in nature. Anti-cloaking weapons can only detect cloaking done by mechanical means, not that done by nature, because natural refraction occurs on a daily basis everywhere."
"That was a pretty long explanation of something that was supposedly simple," Twilight said irritably. Tech scowled. "Well maybe if you would bother to do anything but stay in your room or watch television—"
"Now's not the time, Tech! Pixie, you gotta do it, or we won't be able to do this. Everyone to the Training Room!" Knightbeast interrupted, and everyone followed him to the Training Room.
A mile or so away, at Mindbender's humble abode, Mindbender became ecstatic with the news of an impending war. He immediately ran to Shadowcaster's room and woke her up; he did the same thing to Dracosaur and ordered them both to meet him in the living room. Once they were all there, Mindbender turned to his comrades.
"Our time has finally come! The Emperor has declared war on Metahumans! Now, with his death, we will ensure that we will be the superior beings that we already know ourselves to be!"
"Wait, 'with his death?' He's not dead!" Dracosaur said confusedly. Mindbender looked at Dracosaur and smiled. "Not yet, you mean. What we are going to do is kill the Emperor. With him dead, all of Draguardium, if not all of Hortath will want us dead." Shadowcaster looked at mindbender, also confusedly. "How exactly will that make us superior? If we're being hunted, then we will die out. What are you trying to do?"
"My dear, it is quite simple, you are being far too negative. With him gone, we will be hunted, yes, but we will be victorious. After all, who has the ability to destroy more so than us? I must confess, however, I do have an ulterior motive. The heroes, being noble as they are, will try to stop the war. If they can get to the Emperor before we do, they will become his brute squad, and do all they can to eliminate us, if not purely for their own satisfaction. The point is, if they are allowed to get to him first, then they will have his favor, and all of Draguardium will support them. If we are to get to him, we can further our cause."
"What exactly is our cause?" Shadowcaster asked, not convinced. Mindbender looked scandalized. "How dare you! Do not question the cause! Our cause, as you well know, is to become the superior beings of this planet. Killing the Emperor and toppling the government would be a rather large step in being superior, don't you think?" Shadowcaster looked a little frightened now. "Jeez, didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. Let's just get this over with, okay?" Mindbender gave her a nod and began walking to the door. "Let us leave. After today, the Emperor will be no more!" the left out the front door and flew off into the late morning sky.