The future had arrived. Today, they would make contact. Over the last five nights, only Kevin had managed a restful sleep, as the others' minds were so preoccupied with their current situation that rest evaded them. The mental game was excruciating. At the end of the five days, the time had finally come. The future was at hand. It coursed through their very veins.
But they could not leave without saying their goodbyes, even if it would be furtively. Dustin and Sam, though usually light-hearted, were heavily affected by the idea of taking an interstellar wormhole across thousands of light years of space without a single word to their loved ones.
Therefore, they both showed up at their parents' doorstep the day of the departure. "Hey Mom," Sam greeted, walking straight in. The home of Robert and Jenny Jones, like the Sparks' abode, was simple and spacious.
The duo tried with every ounce of their acting skills to remain unsuspicious. To keep the act going, Dustin offered to stay for a meal.
"That sounds wonderful!" their mom exclaimed. "I have a pot roast."
Dustin licked his lips. Dammit, last pot roast for a while. "Yum," he said.
Until dinner, which would be served in a half-hour, the brothers ascended the stairs into their childhood rooms. The white walls and blue ceiling welcomed Sam, the memories of the past whispering into his ear.
This room had experienced so much—the endless crying when his grandparents died, a certain infamous breakup, and just plain hormonal imbalances. Thankfully, those times were over now.
He ambled to his bed, running his hand over its sheets, lost in thought. He had not noticed his mom standing in the doorway until it was too late. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Turning swiftly, he gulped and clenched his teeth. She looked very suspicious. "Nothing," he briefly stated. "I'm, uh, just reminiscing. I've not been sleeping so well lately."
She scrutinized his expression closely. He awkwardly smiled. "You're right," she said, taking two steps towards him. There was not a trace of distrust in her eyes, or her voice. But she had fooled him before, many times, when in situations akin to this. "If these walls could talk, they would say a lot."
Sam huffed and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise, since Sam typically disliked hugs. "Oh, this is new," she acknowledged.
"I just felt like it this time," he answered. He pulled away. "Where's Dustin?"
"In his room. The pot roast is ready."
"I'll be there soon." With that, she left and went down the stairs to lay the table. Sam found Dustin doing the same thing he had done. The man, the myth, the legend himself, Dustin Jones, brushed a shaking finger over his wooden dresser—home to a variety of die-cast cars. He jumped up on Sam's entrance. "Oh, just you. 'Sup."
"Hey," Sam greeted.
"I grew up in here," Dustin said. "It's funny. I have this comedic side—we both do—but this place always brings back when we were kids."
"Yeah, I feel you."
"And now that we're leaving, what might happen?" Dustin wondered aloud.
Sam put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I don't even know, bro. But, Johnny's right. This is a path nobody's taken. We're pioneers. I can actually look forward to the future. Know what I mean?"
Dustin nodded. "Yeah, Johnny's right on a lot of things. Honestly, that dude lives in the future."
Sam laughed just thinking about him. "Timmo was right. He gives off that old man vibe at like . . . what? 21?"
Dustin chuckled, clasping the edge of his bed. He breathed in deep and exhaled. "I'll see you again," he said, staring at the old mattress. "I promise."
When dinner wrapped up, the duo left for good. They both gave an extra-tight hug to each of their parents. "I love you, Dad," Dustin said to Robert, who well-nigh equaled his strength, thanks to a college football career.
"I love you too, Dusty. Can't wait for another family meal at the table. Just please, don't screw around with time wasters and keep to your studies. Same goes for you, Sam," he added.
If you only knew, Dustin thought.
* * *
Johnny and Ryan found their parents together at Bethany Slade's house. They knocked like the good children they once were. And, just like then, Bethany let them in.
"Hey Mom, just got to give you a hug," Ryan said.
"You came to give me a hug, Ryan?" Bethany replied.
"Yeah, we were in the area," Ryan said. "Where's Timmo and Irene?"
She beckoned them inside in answer to the question. Johnny's parents sat on the sofa, totally oblivious to the predicament of their son. But Johnny had to keep it that way. The cost of their knowledge would be too much. Plus, a small, defiant part of him liked being a rebel. Anything but what society expected.
Little did he know the kind of being he would soon meet. Or how similar they really were.
"Hi Mom," he started, doing his best, like Sam and Dustin, to not give anything away. "I was in the area, just wanted to say hello." His father stood in an instant. "Well, I'm here." Smiling wide, Johnny took a few steps towards the man he might never see again. Without hesitation, he embraced him, forearm slapping his back. "I love you, Dad . . . don't forget it. You know, I might have found what I have been looking for. I don't feel as lost as I once did."
Timothy's expression said it all. "What do you mean, son?"
"I'm not lost, like I had been," he replied. There was a war inside him at this point, neither side claiming victory. "Come on over, Mom," he insisted.
As she did, the three went into a triple-embrace, Johnny the tallest among them. He laid a soft, likely-final kiss on Irene's forehead.
Ryan did the same, though almost a foot taller than his mother. The two of them were almost a comedy duo. Nevertheless, he bent lower to lay a kiss on his mother's cheek. For so long, it had been just the two of them. She had stayed by him when he went through those days of horror, the day of the incident. The day they lost him.
As if their minds were in sync, Ryan and Johnny both reconsidered whether the decision to keep quiet was the right one.
I can't do it, a voice inside Johnny told him. I can tell the truth right now and everything will be back to normal. Nobody needs to know about Titan. Nobody needs to know about any of it. His jaw clenched.
On the other hand, Ryan was highly reconsidering everything they had planned. Why would I leave her here? he pondered. "Mom, I have to tell you something," he whispered. He looked to Johnny, but saw something he had never imagined. Johnny wanted to go.
But destiny, Johnny's mind declared. He knew the better option but, as a human, was as fearful as a deer among wolves. The path to a new world is laid before you. Why do you stall? Take it!
"No," Johnny mouthed to Ryan. "Don't do it."
Ryan read his lips with ease, a talent developed from the countless times the brothers and he would do something rebellious in front of adults. He inhaled a titanic amount of oxygen before exhaling like a jet engine.
"Yes, Ryan? What is it?"
Don't. His ears were ringing without relent, the few seconds extended into what felt like hours. "I love you, Mom. Got to go, though."
As the two young adults walked out to their cars, their collective hearts beat like drums, as if in anticipation of a coming calamity. They looked back at the house to see their parents waving, a loving smile pasted on each face.
Johnny turned to Ryan before stepping into his automobile. "It's time."
Ryan slipped on a coat and twisted his neck to loosen up. "So it is."
* * *
Prepared for danger, the group ventured out to Montauk Laboratory. There were no guards—only a fence that had many warnings attached in big, bold letters. Johnny unhinged his phone from his belt. "Kevin, we're here. Now we wait."
"Good. This is my last t-transmission. I'll be waiting for you, whenever you get back. F-Focus on your training. Y-You guys have been p-preparing for this. I w-will do what is e-expected of me here. See you soon."
"Thanks, Kevin," replied Rose. "Good luck."
* * *
After a short wait, a low growl groaned beneath them. The ground in front of them sunk, and out of the dirt arose a large, black orb. "Guess that's our cue," Ryan said.
"Let's go." Rose leaped first, followed by the others. The wormhole sucked them in like a magnet.
During the interstellar journey, most of them kept their eyes closed as the sounds alone were enough to give them nightmares. Only Johnny and Ryan kept their eyes open, and what they saw was beyond human knowledge. Space curved in seemingly every direction as they trekked through the fifth dimension.
There was nowhere to hide now. Johnny thought he must have died. It was so dark, yet so much power surrounded him—the power of the universe. He saw stars and galaxies funneled around him as if he were in a gigantic museum, moving infinitely faster than light.
The trip ended far quicker than they had imagined. On the other side, an alien view filled Rose's senses, who landed first. She had landed in a large room, surrounded by transparent glass, which provided an awe-inspiring view of the universe.
"Whoa," she said, looking around.
As she studied the room she stood in, she noticed none of the others had followed her. "Guys? Ryan? Where are you?" There was no response, since no soul other than hers had made the jump. Fear settled in, but she had little time to dwell on it, because a new object had entered her field of view: a gigantic man, gazing out into space. He left Rose to stare at him in silence.
"Do you know how long I have been searching for you?" the being eventually asked. "It was a great surprise to find you, but now that you're here . . ."
"Who are you? Where are my friends?"
He flinched at her voice. He had waited to hear it for decades. "Only one question at a time, Adia."
"My name is Rose. I don't know who Adia is."
"That is only what you remember," he replied, turning his body from the window to face her. "But I will aid you in discovering all that you have forgotten, my dear."
Even from the distance between the two, his glowing, red eyes pierced through her like knives. Why the hell are his eyes red?
He stalked closer, the sounds his feet made on the floor sending shivers down her spine. He was so much taller and larger than her comparatively frail physique. Nine feet tall, she guessed.
"Do not be afraid," Titan said. "I mean you no harm."
Rose's breaths quickened, a feeling of dread overtaking her. "No, you didn't answer me! Who are you?"
The figure breathed with confidence. "I am Titan, your savior. Emperor of the Tetra. I lived, then was not, yet now am."
"What do you want with us?" Rose replied, tremoring slightly. "With me?"
"Come closer, child, and I will show you your ancestry, heritage, and genesis. And, most importantly, your destiny." Though he beckoned her near, she was reluctant to move a muscle. "Closer, I said."
Reaching out his arm, an invisible force pulled her in. Closer, he appeared even larger than she had thought. "Stop!" she shrieked. But she had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Once he had her in his physical grasp, he let go of his telekinetic hold on her. Titan used her fear as an advantage to display his superiority.
"Come and see," he whispered.
He led her to a spherical screen, which attached to the mainframe of the ship. It turned on, and clouds came into view on its display. Her attention was caught by its grandeur, and soon her mind followed. She felt as if it was warping her mind into the mechanism, allowing her to live it out like a virtual reality headset.
Titan narrated from beyond as she examined her surroundings. Looking about her, a yellow sky began to form, followed by ginormous skyscrapers. The scene quickly changed though, as she found herself flying over the face of the land—across thousands of miles of countryside, oceans, and cities. "This is where you first saw the light of day, Adia. Xalen. A technologically-focused species, the Xalen were among the first to achieve faster-than-light travel. But, before I arrived to save their pitiful souls, society in Xalen had begun to fracture. Once an expanding civilization, the government of Xalen decided to end their expansion into the unknown of space. This was their first mistake. Angst grew throughout Xalen, and protests increased drastically, all in the name of freedom and the greater good."
The view flickered between politicians, protests, legislature, and cities. Titan chuckled lightly as he listed the reasons Xalen no longer prospered. Rose could hear the chuckle all around her. "No matter the state or goals of a civilization, they all die in the name of a mistaken 'good.'" The vista transferred to two people holding a baby—a beautiful, reddish-skinned woman, and a reddish-skinned man with a goatee. Rose, mystified, could not respond. "These were your parents, Adia. On the left your father, and on the right, your mother."
"Were?" Rose replied.
"Your parents died of . . . unfortunate mishaps," Titan explained.
Rose paused for a minute, then finally mustered the wherewithal to speak. "I don't know what to say. I've waited for this day for a long time," she responded, feeling weak. "I have so many questions."
"We will get there soon enough," replied the voice. "I suppose you could say they were . . . noble."
"You knew them?" she inquired.
"I did," Titan answered. "But over the years, your father changed. He was no longer one of the few honorable politicians. He focused his energy on family—on love. This was his first mistake."
"How is that a mistake?" Rose retorted.
"Emotion is the father of all error. Chemicals in your brain—they impede progress and only suffice to destroy a civilization's potential. Sadly, your father succeeded in convincing his wife, Kira, that the planet was 'hopeless' and that I would 'destroy' their society. Further, he convinced her to send you, his only daughter and possibility of descendants, away. If Earth's society is any example, you will know that when emotions are incorporated alongside justice, one destroys the other. There can never be both. Only one. For pure justice ignores both so-called ethics and emotions."
She furrowed her brow, feeling fearful and uncertain. She tried to focus on the important points. "Why would he do that?" she asked.
"As I said before, over time, he was lost."
"And where do you fit into this?" she questioned further. The scene before her shifted, to Titan convincing Xalen rulers he was there to fix all their problems.
"Well, I am your hero—I am your savior! Even though your parents sent you away, I never ceased searching for you. When your friends began to channel their newly acquired powers, the Ooris in them left an impression in the Shadowverse, thus alerting me."
"What is the Ooris?" Rose inquired.
"It is the source of your friends' powers. This Energy originates from beyond this material universe. The things you see in this cosmos are not all there is." Once again, the scene in the orb shifted to another location—one bleak, but not evil—a place of darkness and pure, unrelenting Energy. "This parallel universe, which I call the Shadowverse, is a mere shadow of this one, where energies of all kinds reign. It is connected to this one by a series of wormholes—the creators of which I do not yet know. Sometimes the portals open where they should not." The scene ended and Titan yanked her mind from the trance, so that she found herself in the throne room once again.
The pieces of the puzzle began to link together in her mind. "The man who gave my friends these powers . . . his name is Z."
Titan lowered his head to hers, his eyes shining like beacons. "Are you saying someone infused them with Ooris?"
"I guess so."
He turned his body and walked to the terrifying throne. "Are you saying someone infused them with Ooris?"
"I don't know," she replied.
"There must be another," he muttered.
"Another what?"
Ignoring her question, he responded with one of his own. Instead of simply reading her memories, he opted to see if she would tell him the truth. "Have your friends treated you with the respect you deserve?"
She suddenly remembered why she was here. "More importantly, where are they?"