Epic Zero: Books 4-6 (Epic Zero Box Set Book 2), page 11
But again, I’m torn. I want to tell her everything, but if I do, it could destroy my timestream.
But if I don’t, she’ll die.
“And by the way, what’s wrong with you?” she says. “You’re fading in and out! Is that your power?”
I look down at my body, which is now blinking rapidly like a strobe light! I’m feeling light headed. Is this it? Am I about to disappear from existence?
I look over at Meta-Taker, who’s still holding the Cosmic Key in his outstretched hand. The only thing running through my brain is that I’m responsible.
I’m responsible for creating him. I’m responsible for unleashing him on the world. I’m responsible for the deaths of Sunbolt, Dynamo Joe, Rolling Thunder, Madame Meteorite, Robot X-treme, and countless others.
I’m responsible for everything.
But as my eyes fixate on the Cosmic Key, images of other cosmic entities fill my mind.
The Orb of Oblivion.
The Building Block.
The Orb of Oblivion 2.
All of them are gone now. Destroyed.
Blown to pieces.
Blown to…
Then, I get an idea!
If I can blow up the Cosmic Key, I can destroy Meta-Taker before his reign of terror ever begins! I can save my friends and redeem myself! I can erase the mistake I’ve made!
Even if it costs me my own life.
Suddenly, I have absolute clarity.
I know what I’ve got to do.
“Get out of here,” I yell to the heroes. “All of you!”
“Elliott, wait!” Mom calls out.
But I’m already gone.
I’ve borrowed Blue Bolt’s speed and Dad’s strength.
I’m running so fast, everything around me seems like it’s moving in slow motion.
I’m five feet away.
I just need to snatch the Cosmic Key and rip it in half. Then, all of this will be over.
Four feet.
I think about Dog-Gone and Grace.
Three feet.
Hopefully, they’ll still make it.
Two feet.
Because after this, I’ll be finished. But it’s worth it.
One foot.
Meta-Taker looks up, his eyes growing wide. I’m nearly on top of him. But as I reach for the Cosmic Key, something huge swoops across my line of sight, taking the key right out of the monster’s hand!
No!
I barrel into Meta-Taker and we both go tumbling to the ground. But when I look up, I’m shocked, because there’s a Pterodactyl flying through the air—with the Cosmic Key in its mouth!
Then, the prehistoric dinosaur is swallowed up by a green vortex, Cosmic Key and all!
“Finally,” comes a booming voice from above.
And that’s when I see him, his red, three-eyed head floating above us all. It’s him! It’s Krule the Conqueror!
“Finally!” Krule says, his voice echoing through the chamber. “The Cosmic Key is mine! And now, the universe will be mine as well!”
Then, there’s a huge flash of white light and his image is gone, taking my only chance of destroying Meta-Taker with him.
I’m broken. I don’t know what to do next.
But I don’t have to wait long for an answer, because I’m suddenly lifted into the air. The next thing I know, I’m face-to-face with Meta-Taker!
All of my nightmares from our first encounter come racing back. The penetrating stare. The rotten breath. The evil grin. I look into his eyes. There’s absolutely nothing left of Fairchild in there.
My hatred swells, and I swing at him, but it’s no use.
I’ve expended everything I had.
But then, there’s a huge blast of fire, and Meta-Taker ROARS in pain. As he tries to protect himself, he drops me to the ground. But the fire is so intense it pushes him into the wall!
“Hands off my friend, creep!” Sunbolt yells.
I land on my back. I want to stand up, but I can’t. My vision is getting blurry, and I-I can’t feel my legs!
Suddenly, I hear, “Let me go!”
I look up to find Mom and Gigi standing over me. I’m so happy Gigi’s okay. But they’re holding someone captive. It’s a man, with a green costume and a cone-shaped helmet.
It’s the Time Trotter!
“I sensed him lurking in the corner when that flying lizard showed up,” Mom says. “So, I took him down with a psychic blast. And then the Gray Ghost pulled this off his wrist.”
She holds up a watch.
His time-travelling watch!
Mom kneels over me and puts it in my hand.
“You’ve got to leave now, Elliott,” she whispers urgently. “I looked inside your mind and set the watch to where you need to go.”
“No,” I say. “I-I have to stop Meta-Taker, you don’t understand.”
“You’re wrong, son,” she says, with a sad smile. “I do understand. I’m so proud of you. You’re a real hero. But now you have to leave.”
Suddenly, there’s a loud ROAR!
Meta-Taker!
“N-No,” I say, panicked. “I-I can’t.”
“Elliott,” she says. “If you die here, there’s no telling what could happen to the future. When I looked into your mind, I saw you save the world—several times over. If you’re not there, billions could die. Now listen to me. You must use your powers. You must go now. Trust me, I’ll cover your tracks here.”
I look into her eyes, and I know she’s right.
I’ve done all I could do here.
This may be my last chance.
I look at Gigi and say, “Bye, girl.”
I close my eyes and tap into the watch.
“Goodbye, son,” she says. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” I say.
And then, I’m gone.
I GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING
When I open my eyes, I’m totally disoriented.
Somehow, I’m back in my bed, on the Waystation.
But how’s that possible? Was I dreaming?
Then, I realize I’m holding something. It’s the Time Trotter’s watch! Suddenly, it all comes spinning back.
Sunbolt!
Gigi!
Meta-Taker!
The picture!
I look over at my nightstand, and the photo of my family is back! There’s no crazy cat!
I drop the watch, throw off my covers, and run out of my room.
Seconds later, I crash into someone coming around the corner.
“Grace!” I yell, throwing my arms around her.
“Whoa,” she says, nearly dropping her plate of jelly doughnuts. “What’s gotten into you?”
“You’re here!” I say. “On the Waystation!”
“Yeah, so,” she says. “Did you hit your head or something? And what’s up with your pajamas?”
Pajamas?
I look down to see I’m still wearing the black uniform and neon green boots I got at Groovy Threads.
“Oh,” I say. “It’s just a Halloween costume.”
“A little early for Halloween,” she says.
“Yeah,” I say. “Hey, where’s Mom and Dad? And Dog-Gone?”
“Some people are in the Galley,” she says.
“Great!” I say, running down the hall. “Oh, and you can watch all the cat videos you want!”
“Gee, thanks,” I hear her say. “Weirdo.”
I book down the hall and enter the Galley. Dad and TechnocRat are having lunch at the island. I run over and give Dad a big hug.
“Hey, buddy,” Dad says. “Nice to see you, too.”
“Same here,” I say. “By the way, the shorter hair is a huge improvement.”
“Um, okay,” Dad says.
Then, I pick up TechnocRat and squeeze him.
“Easy, kid,” he says, dropping his cheese stick.
“I’m so sorry for earlier,” I say. “I know you did everything you could to help me. You’re a great hero. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Aw, thanks, kid,” TechnocRat says, turning red.
Then, a brown-and-black creature emerges from beneath the table.
Dog-Gone!
I run over and tackle him. We roll over each other and he licks me on the nose.
“Take it easy with him,” Dad says. “He had a rough night. Apparently, someone gave him an entire bag of cookies. You wouldn’t happen to know who it was, would you?”
“I’m so sorry,” I say to Dog-Gone. “I promise I won’t do that again, no matter how stubborn you are. You were just trying to do the right thing. I realize now it’s in your nature.”
Dog-Gone licks my nose again.
“Hey, where’s Mom?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Dad says. “She’s around here somewhere. Do you want some lunch?”
“No,” I say, even though my stomach rumbles.
I’m hungry, but there’s something I have to do first. Apologizing to TechnocRat felt good, but it wasn’t enough. I have more apologies to deliver. Lot’s more.
I give Dog-Gone a belly rub, and then head out of the Galley. I make my way through the Waystation, to the one place I know I need to go.
The Hall of Fallen Heroes.
As I enter, a chill runs down my spine.
I flick on the switch, and the spotlights come on.
They’re all here: Rolling Thunder, Madam Meteorite, Robot X-treme, Dynamo Joe, and Sunbolt.
But then, I’m shocked.
Because instead of five statues, there’s six!
“Hey, pipsqueak,” comes a familiar voice.
“Mom!”
I turn around and hug her tight.
“It’s so great to see you again, Elliott,” she says, rubbing my back. “I knew you’d make it home okay.”
“You knew?” I ask. “But how?”
“Because it just felt right,” she says. “Elliott, I know how hard this was for you, but some things are just destined to happen. It wasn’t your fault Meta-Taker was created. He would have existed one way or another, and these heroes would have suffered the same fate.”
I look at all of the statues.
Although I hear what Mom’s saying, I can’t help but feel like I failed them.
“Try not to be so hard on yourself,” she says. “You did amazing things back there, but the situation had to play out the way it did. That’s why I left you that note.”
“Wait?” I say. “That note was from you?”
“Yes,” she says. “After reading your mind in the past, I knew that one day you would need it. So, I taped it to TechnocRat’s Time Warper right after you were born. But I couldn’t tell you about it. Otherwise, things may have happened very, very differently.”
“Wow,” I say. “But how come I was the only one who wasn’t affected? Why did I have to go through this?”
“I would say thank goodness it was you,” she says. “But my theory is that your negation powers shielded you. At least for a while. But eventually, even time started to catch up with you. I guess the saying is true, ‘time waits for no man.’”
Yeah, I guess that sort of makes sense.
Then, I get a strange thought.
“Mom, do you think it’s really over?” I say. “Could this time mix-up thing happen again?”
“No,” Mom says. “I think we’re past this loop now. All of the things that had to happen have happened. And maybe a few things got added that were better than expected.”
“You mean, like that?” I say, looking over at the sixth statue.
“I told you I’d cover your tracks,” she says with a wink. “I think I accomplished that.”
“Yeah, I’d say so,” I answer.
“It’s nice coming up here and visiting these true heroes, don’t you think?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll be coming up here more often. It feels nice to remember them.”
Speaking of remembering, suddenly the image of a three-eyed man pops into my mind.
“What about Krule?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she says. “We haven’t heard a thing about him since he took the Cosmic Key all those years ago.”
Well, that’s a relief. But then again, he’s got the Cosmic Key. So, I wonder if he ever escaped from the 13th dimension? I shudder at the thought. I sure hope not, but deep down I feel unsettled just thinking about it.
“Want some lunch?” Mom asks.
“Sure,” I say. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“You got it,” she says. Then, she kisses my cheek and leaves.
It’s just me and the statues.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” I say, tears running down my cheeks. “I-I wish I could have done more for you. But I’ll never forget you. You are all a part of me now. So, whenever I do anything heroic, it’ll be like we’re all doing it—together.”
I wipe away my tears and take one last look at the statues.
Rolling Thunder.
Madame Meteorite.
Robot X-treme.
Dynamo Joe.
Sunbolt.
The Nullifier.
Then, I flick off the lights, and head for the Galley.
Epic Zero 5: Tales of an Unlikely Kid Outlaw
I GET ROCKED
I’m running through a subway tunnel in hot pursuit.
My prey this time are a brother-sister Meta villain team called Mover and Shaker. Apparently, they broke into the Keystone City Museum and walked out with millions of dollars in precious gemstones. Then they made their escape through the subway system.
It was a great plan, but unfortunately for them they’re not the only brother-sister Meta team down here.
“Can you possibly move any slower?” Grace barks, zipping over my head with flashlight in hand. “They’re getting away!”
Of course, they’re probably the more united brother-sister Meta team down here.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” I call out, my voice echoing through the tunnel. But deep down I realize she’s right. Maybe I am dogging it a little. After all, I’ve barely worked up a sweat.
I mean, normally I’m geeked up for a chance to wrangle up some rogues. But right now, I’m feeling a little cautious. Maybe I should explain.
Up until about ten minutes ago, Grace and I were stuck on the Waystation doing homework while the rest of the team was out on a mission. So, I pretty much resigned myself to an evening of ice cream and integers.
That is, until the Meta Monitor started blaring.
Even though our parents told us to stay put no matter what, they couldn’t really expect us to ignore the alarm, could they? I mean, we’re superheroes for Pete’s sake. Someone’s gotta stop doing math to save the day!
So, I was thinking this would be awesome.
Then I found out the crooks went underground.
That’s when things got a little less awesome.
You see, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s going underground. And it’s not because I’m afraid of the dark. Trust me, I moved past that stage years ago (and no, nightlights don’t count). And it’s definitely not because I get claustrophobic. I’ve been in plenty of tight spots before and managed to hold my own.
So, what’s my beef with going underground?
Well, in my experience, nothing—and I mean NOTHING—good ever happens underground.
Take Meta-Taker for instance. The first time I laid eyes on that monster was when he popped out of the hole the Worm dug for him. Then there was my nightmare encounter with Alligazer in the sewer system.
See the pattern here?
Yet, where do I find myself now?
Running through Keystone City’s subway system—underground.
Yep, you’d think I’d have learned by now.
Of course, I could have opted out. In fact, I pretty much convinced myself I wouldn’t be going on this little subterranean adventure. Then Grace called me a ‘chicken.’
So that pretty much explains what I’m doing here.
“Come on, slow poke!” Grace yells, flying around the bend. “You should rename yourself Molasses Boy!”
Well, that was rude. But when I shine my flashlight in her direction she’s already gone. Man, I sure wish I had her confidence right now. But I guess I’ve been burned too many times underground before.
Nevertheless, I pick up the pace. Other than Grace’s barbs, the only sounds I hear are my footsteps sloshing through puddles and my heart beating way too fast.
Sometimes I can’t believe I’m doing this stuff.
In retrospect, I guess I could have copied Grace’s flight power. After all, running through a subway tunnel is risky business. In particular, you want to avoid the third rail. That’s the one that supplies power to the train’s electric motor. One accidental touch could fry you to a crisp.
So that’s pretty unnerving.
Speaking of unnerving, I barely had time to read the profiles of Mover and Shaker before we got here. What I did catch is that Mover and Shaker are Meta-morphs who can change their molecular structures into stone and sand respectively. I suppose if their criminal careers don’t work out, they could open a half-way decent landscaping business.
I flash my light along the walls. Boy, it’s depressing down here. Everywhere I look is gray concrete and black mold. Yuck! The sooner we get out of here the better.
The problem is that I’m not even sure we’re going the right way. Grace picked this direction and I wasn’t going to argue with her, but the subway system is massive. We’ve probably been heading down this tunnel for five minutes without finding any—
“AHHH!”
That scream!
It’s Grace!
Without thinking, I sprint towards her voice, shining my flashlight everywhere but I don’t see her. After about fifty yards I stop and catch my breath.
Where the heck is she?
Suddenly, my flashlight is knocked out of my hand and I hear it CLANKING onto the rails.
Great. It’s pitch dark and someone is next to me!
Did I mention I hate going underground?
“Well, well,” comes a female voice, echoing through the tunnel. “We must be the Pied Pipers of Meta children, because it seems like we’re being followed by all of these annoying costumed kids.”
I reach into my utility belt and activate my flare. It lights up like a sparkler and I suddenly find myself face-to-face with a woman. But she’s no ordinary woman.
