"Is he dead, Sheriff?" asked Hanson, calling Valenti "Sheriff" out of habit.
"I don't know," said Valenti, "but…"
Hanson and Valenti jumped back as the alien's eyes shot open. The alien quickly jumped to his feet, causing the two to draw their guns. The alien could see the human's fear, but thought that they would shoot him. Instead of attacking, the alien ran off.
"What the?" said Hanson, "but you shot him!"
"The bullet must have just grazed his shoulder."
"No Sheriff," said Hanson, talking quickly as usual, "I saw it. Hit 'em right in the back. Could have hit his spinal cord or nicked his heart."
"You must be mistaken," said Valenti, "he couldn't of got up if I hit him there. It's so dark that you probably didn't get a good look."
"Maybe," said Hanson, "but I've never seen anything like that before! Do you think I should call in the National Guard?!"
"The National Guard!" Valenti exclaimed.
"Do you think it's too early?"
At this point Valenti realized that things would be all right. Hanson still respected his opinion, and the authority that Valenti technically didn't have. "Just a bit," Valenti said, "look, the people in the UFO Center probably heard the shot. Why don't you go in there and assure them the situation is under control."
"But," said Hanson, "the situation isn't under control."
"You don't tell them that," said Valenti, "now go!"
"Right, Sheriff," said Hanson as he ran past Valenti, toward the UFO Center.
"That's Jim!" Valenti called back.
Hanson turned back to face Valenti, still jogging backward, "Jim, right," he said. Then, Hanson turned around and entered the building.
Valenti let out a sigh of relief seeing that the Hanson deal was under control. He had to investigate to see what kind of numbers the aliens had. He had a feeling he would find that it is a massive force. That being the case, Max and others, even with their powers, would need help. Help he felt obligated to provide.
Max woke up, his head ringing, and his body weak. He looked around. His wrists were cuffed with chains extending to a wall behind him. The room was pretty small. The wall behind him was met by two walls that slanted inward, making the wall on the other side of the room shorter. There was an opening on the other side, a doorway, except no actual door, with three guards on each side of it, making a total of six. Each guard was armed with some kind of weapon, one that had a unique shape and one that Max had never seen. The guards all stood straight up and were very serious. They reminded Max of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Although Max had never been there, he knew of it. Max was scared to do anything. Before he had time to consider an escape, or what might happen to him, someone new entered the room.
Michael, Larick, Isabel, and Tess were in a car driving to the place where the alien ship landed. The long night was over, and the sun had begun to rise. In the car, Michael was driving, and Larick joined him up front. Tess accompanied Isabel in the back seat. Tess could see the concern on Isabel's face.
"Don't worry," said Tess to her friend, "Max will be fine. He is strong."
"I don't know if I share your confidence," said Isabel honestly, her voice shaky, "I keep thinking, what if he doesn't survive? Max is full of self-doubt and hesitation. I know my brother."
"He'll pull through," said Tess assuringly, "I know he will."
"We're here," Larick announced.
"We are?" Michael said, "the ship's way up there."
"They're expecting us," Larick explained, "we have to approach stealthily. Trust me. Park here."
Michael parked the car, and confronted Larick, "Should we trust you? We have no way of knowing what your agenda is here."
"I knew Max," Larick said, "we were close."
"It's true," said Tess, "I remember."
"Yeah Michael," added Isabel, "Max told us about the discussion with Larick from the summit."
"Right," said Michael, "but you'd better be not be deceiving us."
The four exited the car. "Okay," said Larick, "I'll set up a distraction, then you three sneak into the ship. I'll try to join you and help out if I can."
Larick went up to the ship, and approached the guard who guarded the door. "Hi, my name's Brody Davis. This is an amazing craft! And you're not aliens; I told my friends you weren't. So, what is it? It's some kind of government experiment isn't it?" Brody continued to bombard the guard with questions backing him farther and farther from the door. He inattentively motioned for Michael and the others to make their way inside, which they proceeded to do.
Max saw someone walk in, it was Kavar.
"What do want with me?" Max asked.
"I want you to die in front of the public, Xan," Kavar replied, "and I want them to adore me for bringing you in."
"But I'm not Xan," Max told him, "my name is Max Evans, I am a human. I don't want that old life back. I'm perfectly happy here on Earth."
"I think I actually believe you," said Kavar, "but that changes nothing. Rule #1 of politics Max: give the people what they ask for. The people want you dead."
"Because of you," said Max, "I've been told I was a good and popular leader. You smeared my reputation. And now, I have to pay?"
"Don't humans have a saying," Kavar said, '"life just isn't fair.' Well, it's not, and if you're upset by my actions, you're turning to the wrong person for sympathy. I must admit that at this point, seeing you weak and unaware of the past, I have no desire to see you dead."
"Then why can't you let me go," Max asked, "say that you killed me already?"
"No," said Kavar, "sorry. Only a public execution will do. Your pathetic state of being changes nothing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to oversee the lift off of this fine vessel."
Kavar swiftly exited after that last remark, leaving Max alone with the guards again. Max found himself fatigued, despite the fact that he had just woke up. He started staring at a carving on the wall that for some reason intrigued him. It was of a staff with a ball on top. Streaks irradiated from the ball, as if it were some sort of gem. Max would not gape at the carving excessively, before long, he fell asleep, hanging off the wall by his chains.
Michael, Isabel, and Tess were in the ship. There were not many officers around. Most of them were probably still out searching, and would be coming back later.
"This ship is huge," Michael said, already frustrated, "how do we find the engine room?"
"Hear that?" Tess asked.
"It's a little hum," said Isabel nodding her head, hearing it too, "if we follow that noise, do you think it will lead us to the engines?"
"That's a good bet," Michael decided, "let's go!"
After climbing down ladders and crawling through crawl spaces, the three of them finally reached a door where they heard the noise of the engines. It was very loud, and clearly the engines were behind it.
"Okay," said Michael, "how the heck do we open this thing?"
"You're thinking too much like a human," Tess said. She looked around and saw a small gray panel just right of the door. She waved her hand in front of it revealing an indentation the shape of hand. Tess placed her hand there and the door opened.
"Sue me," Michael retorted back to Tess.
None of the people inside seemed to notice the door opening. "All right," said Michael, "Tess block me from their minds. You and Isabel will stay here, and I'll do as much damage as I can."
"I don't think I can keep a mind warp going on aliens like this very long," said Tess.
"Then I'll just have to work fast," Michael said.
Tess initiated the mind warp and Michael ran inside. On his right was tons of equipment, but he couldn't understand what it was, or what it was for. On his left were a dozen objects that looked like turbines. Whatever they were, they seemed to be generating power. Something (blades perhaps,) inside of the casing was spinning and increasing in speed. At the far end of the room, Michael spotted a control panel with several people around it. He pointed his hand at it, and used his powers to melt the metal. Sparks flew and the spinning stopped. Michael ran out.
"Go, go!" he shouted.
Tess broke the mind warp and the three ran off. "Where now?" Tess asked.
"Let's get out of here," Michael said, "before we get caught.
"Wait," said Isabel, "Max, we, we have to find Max!"
"They won't hurt him," Tess said, "but they will hurt of we're caught."
"No," said Michael, "Max is in trouble. We may not be in the best position to pull off a rescue, but we gotta try!"
So, the three aliens set off to find Max.
When Max regained consciousness he felt refreshed. He saw that Kavar was back.
"Well Max," Kavar told him, "this old ship isn't going to let us take off without causing trouble. Looks like the departure time is delayed."
Max looked at Kavar differently than before. "Kavar," he said, "I demand to be released!"
"You demand?" Kavar confirmed, surprised to hear Max say such a thing, "Since when have you demanded anything."
"Since I saw it," Max said.
"Saw what?" asked Kavar, concerned.
"The Royal Seal, you shouldn't have put it here," Max said, smiling. Seconds later he closed his eyes for a brief moment and the chains holding him to the wall disappeared. Kavar looked shocked, the guards tried to respond with their weapons, but without a thought, Max erected individual forcefields to contain all six of them. Max walked forward, toward Kavar.
"I've decided I want my kingdom back after all," Max said, "you say you're in telepathic communication with the real Kavar, then send him this message: he's next." Kavar realized his fatal mistake in underestimating his enemy. He had assessed him as weak, and became too comfortable. He should have been on his toes, if he had, perhaps he could have had a fighting chance. Max held his hand over Kavar's heart and killed him right there. A silver handprint was left on his chest, visible through his burnt shirt.
"There he is!" shouted Isabel, spotting Max. She, Michael, and Tess ran over to the doorway.
Max released the forcefields holding the guards, but within seconds a green shockwave emanated from his body, vaporizing everything living in the room – including the six guards and the carcass of Kavar, which Michael and the others never saw. The rest of the Royal Four wasn't affected by Max's shockwave because they were still gaping in from the doorway.
At first, all three of them were blown away. Michael and Isabel just froze, unable to believe that they were watching Max.
Tess stepped forward into the room a ways, and asked, "Max, how did you do that?"
"Tess!" Max exclaimed. He ran up to her, held her in his arms, and gave her a long passionate kiss. "I remember, Tess," he told her, "I remember everything. I don't know how exactly. I was looking at that carving there, the Royal Seal, a staff that exists on our world. A staff I once held possession of. I was fascinated by it for some reason. Then I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I knew it all. I remember the man I used to be, who used to be, Tess, who all of you used to be. I remember the power I once had, and now, I can do it all again. I remember what it's like to be a king, and I want it back. I want everything back." He kissed her again.
"Max," Tess said holding him tightly, "I'm so glad that you finally remember. I've waited so long for this."
"I know you have," Max told her, "but do not worry, I won't push away from you again, my wife. You shall be at my side from now on, where you belong. Now, my first task is to confiscate this vessel and return home. With my new found powers, we should be able to easily take it."
Michael and Isabel and stepped into the room, still in awe of what had happened to Max. They could tell that Xan had not completely dominated him, it was still Max, but he had been flooded by new memories, and a new influence passed over him.
"Max," said Isabel, her voice shaky, her mood worried, "all this power, all at once, it's overwhelming you with your human emotions. I don't think you can control it."
Max let go of Tess and turned to face Isabel, fury in his eyes. A fury his sister had never seen from Max. "I can control it," he protested. But that statement proved to be an immediate contradiction. Max could feel the anger dwelling inside him, a furious stream of negative emotional energy, begging to be released.
"No," he said, fighting with himself, "keep it in, keep it in, I must…"
Tess put her hand on his shoulder for support, but Max was not strong enough. A tremendous amount of energy came pouring from his body.
Larick finally found them. He saw Max the rest of his royalty talking. He started jogging toward the door, but stopped, blinded by a flash of light. His eyes stunned, Larick walked in the room, hoping that he had not just seen what he suspected.
At the UFO Center, Maria was becoming impatient. "Oh, c'mon Liz," she was saying, "aren't you worried about them? Doesn't it bother you not to just sit here, and not know what's happening?"
"Maria…" Liz started.
"Don't you 'Maria' me," said Maria, "I know you Liz, no matter what you say you're worried about Max."
"Okay," Liz admitted, "yes, I am very worried about Max…"
"See, see…" Maria said happily.
"But," Liz continued, "we can't just go out there. It could be dangerous. We need to wait until Valenti comes back."
Somebody was opening the door to the UFO Center. Everyone inside noticed, and became quiet. Liz and Maria tensed up; fearing it was an alien.
"Brody?" Maria said, as her and Liz ran up to him, "where have you been during all of this?"
"My name," said the man, "is Larick, not, not Brody."
"Larick," said Liz, "then have you seen Max?"
Larick looked at her for a long moment, and then recognized the two girls as close friends with some of the Royal Four. "Max?" responded Larick, "Max is dead… they all are."
To be continued…