Excelsior (22 page)

“The information was removed. You were followed by a Denarian and you were too occupied with Excelsior to notice. Fool!”

Danaak’s voice grew more defiant. “I am the fool?! I have come closer to defeating Excelsior than you could ever imagine! Stay there on Denab IV and let me use this power to destroy him forever!”

Nocterar‘s booming voice took on a contemplative tone. “So the jewel had awoken us both at the same time, it seems. Wherever Excelsior is, and whether or not his lifeforce has found its way into another body, his sword cannot be far away. And you know what that means, yes?”

There was pleasure in Danaak’s hiss. “Ah, yes. The power of the jewel in the centerpiece of that sword is equal in power to the jewel in our possession.” He paused. “My possession.”

“Take care to whom you speak, Danaak,” came a deep rumble and briefly his airway was crushed shut, then just as suddenly, released. “Excelsior’s jewel must be ours. When both jewels are with us, nothing can stop the Krunation Empire from spreading across the universe.”

Danaak had a glint in his eye as he played the good soldier and asked, “What is it you require of me?” He held back a laugh as he heard those words escape his lips. I will show him who the fool is and succeed where he has failed once again, he thought.

“Use the power given to you and spread a blanket of terror to make the people of that planet cry out for a savior, for a god to rescue them. And when Excelsior becomes that savior, obliterate him for all eternity.” Nocterar stopped himself from finishing his thought out loud. Use the jewel to destroy everything around you and restore the strength of your betrayed leader.

Danaak put his hands over the jewel. It began turning colors, giving a ruby glow. It felt warm to his touch. “Power,” he whispered. Vast, endless and overwhelming power, his for the taking. His and not Nocterar’s. The jewel seemed delighted.

He would use this flimsy world and its inhabitants to gain the ultimate power. Human heads would be so much easier to crush than Denarian ones, he had learned that already. And when he possessed the jewel of Excelsior, he could eliminate the only thing standing between him and total domination – Nocterar. “A truly great plan, Nocterar. I look forward to making your vision a reality.”

“Now, go!” The light around Danaak intensified as he hurtled toward the Earth.

*   *   *

Grannik sat silently in the back seat of Jason’s car, admiring the sword that gleamed in the sunlight. He studied the jewel. While the imitation was magnificent, this one pulsated with a shimmering iridescence, looking very much alive. He glanced over his shoulder as the Metropolitan Museum of Art receded further into the background.

Silence accompanied them through the
Manhattan
streets. As they drove past
79th Street
, Jason spoke. “Are you guys positive that no one will notice we switched the swords?”

“I ensured every single mark on that sword looked identical. The jewel I used pulsates with the same frequency of energy. Trust me when I say your planet does not have the technology to detect a difference,” Zorribis said.

“It really was a beautiful piece of work,” Grannik said as he kept his eyes on the museum. “We should contact Elder Klierra and let everyone know.”

Grannik’s words froze as a billowing, murky cloud moved before the sun, being cut through by a brilliant beam from the sky.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Jason said. “Are we being followed by police?”

“Police?”

“Um, constabulary.”

“Nothing that simple.” He pointed in the direction of the beam of light. “I remember seeing this back home on Denab IV. Where did Elder Klierra say where her place of work was?”

Jason thought for a moment. “It was
188th Street
, I think. About 20 or so blocks from
Columbia
University
’s medical center.”

“Are we near it?”

“Yeah, I think so. Why?”

“I think Danaak woke up.”

*   *   *

“Relax, let your muscles become like rags,” Radifen instructed as he and Matthew sat in the lotus position on the floor facing each other. Klierra sat on the couch watching Radifen’s creased, battle-weary face unfurl as he breathed his instructions. She swallowed the regret that Radifen never had the chance to be the great scholar and teacher that marked members of his clan.

“Allow all remaining fear to evaporate. Fear and anger are tools of the enemy, they are one and the same.” Matthew’s breathing increased, and Radifen spoke in a firm, soothing voice. “Purge yourself of your fear, Matthew. Let it haunt you no longer.”

Matthew’s breathing eased and slowed. After a moment, Radifen spoke again. “Good. Now release your doubt. You are no longer just Matthew Peters. You are also Excelsior, savior of planet Denab IV. You are a part of us, and we are a part of you.”

Matthew took a deep, cleansing breath as he felt himself sitting up a little straighter. A chill ran up his spine as he absorbed each of Radifen’s words into his body.

“I can feel it,” he gasped, his eyes tightly shut. Even though his body didn’t move, he could feel himself swinging his sword and destroying Krunation soldiers standing in his way. Little by little, episodes from of Excelsior’s past flashed before him, thrilling him as if he were watching them on a movie screen.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he gave Radifen a puzzled look. “What else can I do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I know I’m the savior of Denab IV and I know I fought and defeated Nocterar. But what else can I do? I have to admit, I never really wrote situations in my comic that were much different from battles and swordfights.”

Radifen nodded. “So your question is, what else is there to Excelsior other than what he can do with a sword?”

Matthew shrugged and nodded. “If Danaak has a weapon like the jewel, don’t I have something to counter it?”

“Well, I have to admit that I didn’t see Excelsior do very many god-like things. Someone like Elder Klierra would be the better person to answer a question like that.” Radifen turned toward Klierra. Matthew looked up hopefully.

“Cast your mind back to when Valertus was small, before we lived in the caves. Can you see him in my arms as I am telling him a story? Do you recall that story?” Klierra asked.

Matthew closed his eyes and tried to open himself to the early memories of Valertus. Nothing happened at first, then images swirled around him – a small furry creature that nestled in his arms, colorful cubes with handsome letters on each side, the breathtakingly beautiful face of a young woman.

“Klierra,” a voice said. “Don’t stop, we want to hear the rest.”

She turned her exquisitely shaped head and treated the small girl to a radiant smile. “Very well, Folmera. Who remembers what happened next in the Epic of the
Chosen
Ones?”

A lanky boy with the large hands and feet of a pre-adolescent yawned and intoned, “Excelsior came to Denab IV in a star and spoke to our mothers and fathers about the paradise to come.”

“Yes, Radi, and what did Excelsior say?”

“I have chosen you to lead and inspire the people of this world to live in harmony with the planet and one another.” As Radifen spoke, he dropped his pretense of disinterest. When he finished, his face was shining.

“Excellent, Radi!” the young Klierra hugged the boy, who blushed deeply in spite of his tan skin. Valertus waved his chubby arms happily.

A chuckle bubbled through Matthew and a feeling of peace and joy washed over him. Then the scene changed and he saw an older, but still beautiful, Klierra standing over him. He was on his haunches, his face in his hands.

“Mother, how do I know I have this in me?”

“You have been chosen for a reason, Valertus. You have been chosen because Excelsior knows you are the one to lead us out of these darkening times.”

“But I am just a man.”

“You are more than that. You are my son and you must cast your doubts aside.”

Matthew looked up at her, his eyes burning with tears.

“You must cast your doubts aside,” she repeated, but now her face was lined and the brilliant flame of her cascading hair had shortened. Matthew blinked several times and realized he was back in his living room.

Radifen’s voice caught his attention. “Your predecessors were limited only by their own flaws. Semminex didn’t trust himself; he wanted Excelsior to grant him some sort of magical powers. It wasn’t until he realized he had the skill he needed that Semminex defeated Nocterar and stopped the reign of the Krunation Empire... if only for a brief period of time.”

“What did you see Excelsior do that was special?”

Radifen smiled remembering Nocterar’s defeat. “Well, there was one thing that he did that I will never forget. Right after he came out from Nocterar’s castle, after he was buried…”

Matthew cut him off. “He flew to the top of
Semminex
Peak
.”

“Yes, but what I will never forget is the look on his face when he did it. There was no shock or surprise at his ability. There was only the look of total relaxation, as if he were in a deep sleep. It was at that moment, his body lifted into the air and we saw him levitate to
Semminex
Peak
.”

“Makes sense in a way,” Matthew responded. “I always had the most vivid memories from Excelsior’s past while I was sleeping.”

“I don’t know the extent of Excelsior’s powers,” Radifen said slowly. “I don’t think anyone can tell you that, not even Semminex or Valertus. But I do know that it’s not something you can test. Excelsior’s always been full of surprises and his abilities seem to appear at the right time. You’ll just have to let go and trust Excelsior to do what needs to be done.”

Matthew nodded and looked down at his right hand, the indentation of a star in his palm forever reminding him of his moment of impulse. That childish curiosity enabled him to answer the call of an object from another world without ever questioning what it wanted or why it was calling to him.

As he tried to resume his meditation, the telephone rang. Matthew stood up and answered it, feigning a sickly tremor in case it was his school.

“H-H-Hello?” he said with a wheeze, followed by a cough.

Matt heard Jason on the other line. “Good job on the voice, Matt. Is Klierra there?”

“Yeah, hold on one sec.” He held the phone out to Klierra. “It’s for you. It’s Jason. Either this is good news or he’s been given his one phone call.”

Klierra took the phone from Matthew. “Hello, Jason. Do you have good news for us?” She remained silent and inscrutable as she listened to Jason. Then her face turned pale. “Oh, no!”

*   *   *

“You guys?!” Teddy yelled out to each of the empty rooms that were normally occupied by Melissa and Carl. “Dr. Ritgen is not going to be happy when he gets here, you know! I am going to have to tell him about how you were smoking and…”

Just as Theodore walked past the doorway of the examination room that held the remains of the “Ritgen-Man,” a crackling sound of thunder and a bright beam of light filled the room. Theodore yelped as he heard the noise, then slowly peeked inside the room. His voice was noticeably shaken. “Y-y-y-you guys? What are you doing in there? If you’re d-d-d-doing anything to the…”

Theodore opened the door all the way and his eyes widened as he saw the “Ritgen-Man” standing in the middle of the room. The light around Danaak faded away and he looked around at his surroundings. As his eyes fell upon Theodore, he licked his lips. The jewel attached to him started to glow and the energy slowly seeped into Danaak’s right hand.

“Oh… Oh my God!” Theodore turned and ran down the hall, screaming a high-pitched scream that echoed endlessly. Danaak slowly followed the noise, keeping a fast-enough pace that would keep Theodore from getting to safety but slow enough to allow his screams to reach anyone’s ears.

Tears streamed down Theodore’s face as he ran up and down the halls, attracting the attention of other scientists and assistants peeking their heads out of their rooms. “Help me!” he yelled out in a panic. “Please, someone help me!”

“What’d you do this time, Teddy?” he heard one of the assistants yelling back. “Tell on Melissa again?”

As the other assistants started laughing and going back to work, Teddy continued to scream as he looked behind him and saw Danaak getting closer. He ran into an examination room with four different assistants peering into their microscopes, breaking their concentration by slamming the door, sobbing the entire time.

“Please someone help me! He’s gonna kill me!”

Before any of the other assistants in the room could respond with another joke at Theodore’s expense, the door flew open and Danaak stormed in. The energy from his jewel was fully absorbed into his right hand and he smiled as his eyes locked on to his trembling victim.

“NO!” Theodore screamed as Danaak unleashed a large blast of energy that struck Teddy right in the chest. The other assistants backed away in shock as they saw their colleague almost immediately dissolve into ash.