TA DA! And now the chapter you've been waiting for! Finally you will know who the heck Alex is. And why he's so important to Trish and Tor. But I won't keep you anymore so on with the chapter!
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Explanation
The group sat down at the oval table in the main room. Tor and Trish stood at the end of the table. On Tor's left sat Phantom Girl making dreamy eyes at him. To her left sat Gantor. Brainy had chosen the seat directly across from Trish. He was staring intently at her on the edge of his seat. Saturn Girl and Superman sat on either side of him, Superman on his left Saturn Girl on his right. They both knew how important this was to him. And just in case it was bad… They didn't want to see what would happen. Between Saturn Girl and Gantor Joe sat on the floor, drooling contently on Gantor who seemed not to notice. On Superman's left side sat Lightning Lad looking very uncomfortable as Speed was holding his left hand. And Yoom had opted to sit on the table space between Superman and Lightning Lad. Yoom it seemed was having a hard time not laughing at the look on Lightning Lad's face. But it was dead silent in the room.
"Well, where do we start?" Tor asked.
Trish's eyes flitted from face to face. Everyone's face except Brainy's. "It's really hard to say it..." She seemed very uncomfortable and embarrassed.
"Trish can you still do that scary brain thing?" Gantor asked.
"Which scary brain thing? The one from last week or one of the other ones?" Trish responded.
"That one where you go all… 'Oooh' and we go all 'Eeee!'" Gantor waved his hands around to emphasize his words.
Tor looked at him. "That one where everyone's like 'Ahh!'?" he raised his arms in front of his face like he was casting a spell.
"No the other one." Gantor replied.
"Oh that one!" Trish said. "Yeah I think so... great idea! Let's see…" During this exchange the Legion was trading looks of confusion and stifled laughter. Everyone except Brainy, he hadn't moved since he sat down. "Ok, we'll try that. I'm going to implant the images in your minds… it'll be easier than trying to explain it..." Trish said. She raised her hands up and chanted something under her breath. "It's starting. Don't worry I'll explain what's happening if you don't get it. Now during this time we will all be linked." Trish explained. "It won't hurt."
A flash of reds, blues, and greens was ignited before their eyes. Well, rather in their minds. It was like a dream. They were all still awake but were only aware of what was happening in their minds and the other minds around them. And so the story was begun.
The group heard, very faintly, Lightning Lad's exclamation of 'What's going on?' Then Trish's voice was heard sounding like a narrator commenting on a story. "These are Tor's and my memories of the things that have been. As of now, you are witnessing the final days of the Eastlandians…"
As these mellow-dramatic words were spoken a scene appeared. A bustling city surrounded by a lush green forest. Superman looked around and was surprised to see ghostly figures of the rest of the group except for Trish and Tor. He opened his mouth to speak when Trish's voice stopped him. "This is better than having an 'out-of-body' experience isn't it? I thought it would be less confusing if you could tell where you were."
Lightning Lad blinked a few times and floated over to hover next to Saturn Girl. Far away from Speed. "So we're basically ghosts."
Gantor appeared behind Lightning Lad and clapped him on the back. Lightning Lad jumped. "Yep that sums it up."
Brainy looked around. "Where did Trish and Tor go?" The other Legion members looked around too.
Yoom zoomed to Brainy's left ear. "Well, since these are a combination of Trish and Tor's memories they can't obviously be in two places at once. So they're just outside of mind reach. Otherwise this wouldn't be able to happen."
"Then why is Brainy still here? I mean if he's supposed to be this Alex, then why-" Saturn Girl started.
"It's not his memories. And the Alex we remember is different." Tor's voice said. "Now look. Down at the wall."
Two figures had appeared on top of the wall. The group of 'ghosts' floated down closer as the figures came into view. A younger version of Trish jumped down into the foliage. "Alex! Hurry up! I want to show you this while there's still some sun left!" she called. Two things stuck out as different: one, wrapped around her left arm was a white metal tube and though her wings were not out you could see a faint outline of them against the leaves.
The second figure called down after her. "Do we have to? Is it really that important?" He called in a childlike voice. It sounded suspiciously like Brainy's voice. Lightning Lad glanced at Brainy, who was too absorbed in the scene unfolding before him to notice. Saturn Girl caught Lightning Lad's eye and shook her head. Now was not the time for Lightning Lad's sarcastic remarks.
The boy jumped down after Trish. He was about half a head shorter than Trish and was a very light blue skin tone. His blond hair fell gracefully over one eye. The other was a weird shade of purple-pink. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt top with blue jeans over dark purple tennis shoes. At his hip there was a large brown gun. You could just see a faint outline of some forest green wings. "That boy is Alex. My younger brother." Trish's voice said. The boy, Alex, ran after his sister.
"Oooh. Brainy if that's supposed to be you-" Phantom Girl started, she raised her eyebrows playfully at him, "You're HOT!" Joe barked at this comment almost as if he was laughing.
"What?" Brainy and Lighting Lad exclaimed together.
"I agree." Speed offered. "Trish you never told us your lost little bro was such a cutie!"
"Seeing this makes me want to be a girl instead of an 'it'." Yoom said.
"You are cute in that form Brainy." Saturn Girl said.
Brainy's cheeks turned a darker shade of green with each of these comments. He turned around to hide how much he was blushing. He didn't ever remember feeling this embarrassed. Even his first alignment without the collective couldn't top this. Brainy was now practically radiating with embarrassment.
"Come." said Tor's voice, breaking up the chatter. "There's much more to see." The group floated behind the two teenagers. Soon the young Trish stopped short. Alex ran into her and they fell to the ground.
Trish spoke, "Seesh. Of all the brothers in the world I could've had, I got stuck with you. Get off."
"Well you were the one who stopped because of nothing." Alex replied. He scrambled to his feet and brushed himself off. "Why are we going this way? You said it was nearer to the river… that's that way." He pointed to the right. "This way is towards- oh no." he clapped a hand to his forehead.
"You're brilliant Homes. Did you get that yourself or did you need help?" Trish commented under her breath and started off again.
Alex shook his head and followed. "Will you stop quoting the 3rds? It's very annoying."
"You're annoying." Trish retorted.
"Yeah? And that was the 12th time you quoted something from the 3rd dimension! First from those books you're always reading, then from those annoying songs-"
"Hey!" Trish pulled back a branch a bit too hard and it whapped Alex in the chest. "No dissing the music! 3rds actually have good taste."
"You don't have any taste." Alex laughed.
"Says the boy who can hear a G and a C and can't tell which is higher. I swear, someday I am going to take that head of yours, screw it off, and feed it to the ligers." Trish muttered. "Come on." They continued through the forest. As the two came to a clearing they saw, leaning against a tree, a younger Tor. He was wearing a blue shirt, and black jeans. The scythe was still on his back. He didn't have as many lines around his eyes or the dark circles underneath his eyes. But instead of looking shorter he looked taller.
"Yeah I shrunk." Tor's voice said. "If you say anything, you're dead."
The group heard Trish's voice snigger. "You did look better taller." She added.
"I'm going to hurt you." Tor's voice cried.
"Well, do it later. We're telling a story here." Trish's voice laughed. The group refocused on the three teenagers.
"You brought along your little brother?" Tor asked. The voice that came out of his mouth was high. This Tor, it seemed, hadn't gone through puberty yet. Tor sighed. "It's not natural. You two get along too well. It's creepy."
"Do you want to see this?" Trish asked. The two boys looked at each other.
"Maybe if you told us what we're going to see." Alex said. Tor nodded.
"Fine." Trish said. "I found a dimension portal." Tor and Alex looked at each other and back at the young Trish. Then they both burst out laughing. "I did! I'll prove it!" Trish ran off to the right.
"Trish wait up!" Alex called. He ran after her. The younger Tor sighed and followed. The trees around the group thinned and became a field. In the distance you could see a line of trees. Faintly you could hear the babbling of a brook.
The 'ghosts' looked at each other as they followed the three figures. Superman glanced at Brainy. He was floating along staring at the ground. Superman expected to see an unreadable face as usual but was surprised. He could read Brainy like a book. He was confused, worried, and slightly creeped out by all this. Superman blinked. 'This is weird. Brainy usually hides his feelings really well.'
"We're linked Superman. I can hear everything you're thinking as clearly as if you were talking." Brainy sighed. "Be careful what you're thinking."
Superman jumped slightly in surprise and looked down. "Sorry Brainy." He said.
"It's okay." Brainy replied.
"What the heck is that?" Lightning Lad asked. At the same time the other group members thought it, resulting in a loud ringing in everyone's ears. The group had arrived at the line of trees. Beyond them was a small stream and hovering about a foot above the surface of the water was what looked like a blue jagged tear in the air. Swirling, pulsing, and humming.
"What?" Speed asked.
Yoom started glow a bright purple and pointed. "That tear looking thing!"
"No way!" Gantor whispered. "It's- it's- it's-"
"It's an unfound dimension portal!" cried Tor.
"Where does it go?" Alex asked.
Trish walked over to it. "That's why I brought you guys here." She said. "Let's see where it goes!"
"Sounds good! Let's do it!" Tor said. He joined the younger Trish in the water. It swirled around their ankles.
Alex looked slightly frightened at the prospect. "Just go through? What if we get lost? What if it closes? What if we end up in an undimensioned dimension?" He backed away. "Uh uh. This is a bad idea."
Tor sighed. "You're way to paranoid Alex. You always poke holes in great ideas."
"If it's a great idea I shouldn't be able to poke holes in it." Alex said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"That sounds just like you Brainy." Lightning Lad laughed. Everyone ignored him. "Touch-ee." He said.
"Come on Alex!" Trish said. "It'll be fun! You spend way too much time indoors as it is. Have an adventure for once! Besides, it might be even better on the other side. But we'll never know unless we do it. So let's just see what fate has in store." She beckoned to him.
Alex sighed. He was not getting out of this. "Fine. I'll do it. But if something bad happens it's your fault. Completely your fault."
Trish shrugged. "I can take that bet. What could happen?"
Very audibly the group could hear Trish's voice heave a deep sigh. "If only I knew…"
The three teens stood shoulder to shoulder: Tor on the right, Trish in the middle and Alex on the left. "Ready guys?" Tor asked. In response Trish grabbed the boys' hands.
"Ow!" Alex exclaimed. "That was real hard Trish! That's going to be permanent I know. I heard bone crack. Are you sure we should do this? That," he held up his left hand which had a bright red mark below the thumb, "isn't a good sign. I can't move it anymore."
Brainy shivered slightly. "That's why…" he whispered. Superman, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Phantom Girl looked inquisitively at him. Even though he had whispered it the members of the group could hear him clearly.
Gantor spoke, "Why what?"
Speed elbowed him in the stomach. When Gantor didn't flinch at all she rose up to his face and poked him in the eye. "Don't intrude you big oaf!" she said to him.
"I was just curious." Gantor whined.
"You need to figure out when to ask and when not to!" Speed commented.
"No, it's okay." Brainy said. "I've always noticed that when I get nervous or I feel like something bad is going to happen that part of my left hand starts to hurt. If I really am this Alex," he laughed, "then it explains a lot."
"Come on Alex. Let's go! It will be an adventure. Weren't you just saying that you never get to do anything?" Tor commented. "You know you want to!" He said in a singsong voice.
"And that-" Brainy said, "sounds just like you Lightning Lad." The group laughed at this.
"You just got Poned in the face." Superman laughed. When he saw the weird looks on their faces he explained, "That's what we said when someone makes fun of someone else because of something they say." They still looked confused. "Never mind. I guess it's a 21st century thing."
The group shrugged collectively. "Well…" Alex considered, totally oblivious to what was going on above him.
"That works for me!" Trish said. She grabbed Alex. "Ready?"
"Uh-" Alex started but Trish stopped him.
"Too bad! Through the portal, past the boundaries, yadda yadda here we come!" Trish leaped for the portal dragging Tor and the struggling Alex. Then all three of them screamed. It sounded like people on a roller coaster. Some voices were screaming in delight but one voice yelled out in extreme terror.
The ghosts felt a pull on their chests as they were sucked into the portal with them. The DAWIPA members laughed at the feeling of portaling. They were used to it. The Legion members screamed in terror. It felt like they were getting burned by fire and splashed with water at the same time: hot and cold, painful and relief at the same time, but as it started to become too much to handle it stopped. Everyone looked down at the ground where the three teenagers they followed had landed spread eagle on the ground.
Brainy gasped. "I know this place!" The others looked at the room they had landed in. It was made of shiny gray material. It looked like an operating room. On the tables were many sharp and painful looking instruments straight out of a horror film. Off to the right the room expanded into a large room filled with operating tables and smaller tables with the operating instruments on them. It was cold and gave everyone the chills.
"Of course you do." Trish's voice said. "This is the assimilating room on a Coluan ship. It's where they create more of their kind. Does it bring back unpleasant memories?" That last statement had a slight edge to it. Brainy nodded silently.
"Get off! Can't breathe!" Tor gasped. Trish got up and looked around.
"Where do you think we are?" she asked.
"Some type of operating room." Alex offered.
Trish walked to a table. "Looks messy." She commented.
Tor got up. "Do you think the things that live here are friendly?" He asked.
Alex opened his mouth and then dove under a table. "Hide! There's something coming!" The others obeyed his order.
Just as Tor got under the table the door opened. Two Coluans came into the room: one carrying a clipboard and the other looking around. Brainy gasped again and edged away from the front of the group. As if he was seeking protection from the bodies he put between himself and the other Coluans. "The Grand High Leader!" He breathed.
"Aren't there any suitable civilizations for the process?" the Grand High Leader asked.
"Not that I can find. We need a new resource. All small civilizations are too closely related with the United Planets to use." The Coluan with the clipboard answered.
The Grand High Leader walked next to the table where Tor, Trish, and Alex were hiding. He glanced down to the table, a sneaky grin creeped onto his face. "I think we can find a new resource soon."
The other Coluan shook his head. "That's illogical. Unless we can find a portal to another world that is not known by other beings, which is very unlikely, we won't be able-"
"We will be able to find a portal." The way the Grand High Leader delivered this line made the other Coluan stand up straighter and back up. To everyone's surprise Brainy straightened up a bit and flinched. He seemed to do it sub-consciously.
The Grand High Leader exited the room. The other stood in the room for a second. He looked around and shivered. "I don't know what it is about this place but it gives me the creeps." And with that he left the room as well. It was quiet in there for a few moments.
Then Alex's voice was heard. "They're gone."
"Do you think they saw us?" Tor asked, turning to Trish.
Trish shook her head. "I don't think so. But I figured out where we are. We're in the 3rd Dimension."
"Bet you're happy." Alex commented.
"Of course I am." Trish said back. "But it doesn't seem at all like the books described it. It's too… clean."
"We keep our operating rooms sterilized. Why shouldn't they?" Tor asked. "But what were they talking about? What kind of 'resource' are they looking for? And why do they need an out-of-the-way civilization?" He shook his head. "I don't like this place. Let's go."
"I agree it's not right. It feels bad." Alex rubbed his hand. "We should leave before they find us."
But the young Trish wasn't listening. She ran to a small window and looked out into empty space. "Wow. It's beautiful." She whispered. "Have you guys ever been in space before?" she sounded like a child looking at something she had never seen before."
Alex shook his head. "Trish you know there is not such thing as 'space travel'… at least not a ship this big."
Tor joined Trish at the window too. "No way, this isn't possible." He breathed. "Alex come over here and look at this!" Alex came over grudgingly.
He glanced quickly at the stars twinkling outside the window. "Great. We can see stars. Now let's go." He went back to the portal they had come out of. "I'm leaving. This place is really getting my skin crawling. Goodbye!" and with that he jumped through the portal and was gone.
"Come on Trish. Alex is right. We better leave before those things come back." Tor said. He too walked over to the tear in the air. Trish didn't move. "I'm not leaving you here. Come on."
"Shh. Do you hear that?" the young Trish had her head cocked towards the door. "I think they are coming back."
Tor took another step to the portal. "Good, an even better reason for us to leave."
"I guess you're right." Trish sighed and joined Tor at the portal. "I don't like the look of those creatures anyway. I don't think we should let them see us." Tor nodded in agreement.
"Why are we going back? It doesn't seem logical." The voice of the Coluan from before, the one who was with the Grand High Leader, floated into the room.
Then the voice of the Grand High Leader pierced the room making Brainiac 5 flinch involuntary. "You do not need to know Ector 6. All you need to do is follow my instructions."
Tor put one foot in the portal. Trish gestured him on. "Go! I'll be right behind you. Hurry up!"
Tor disappeared from view. Trish stepped into the portal. Just before she got through it though the door opened and the Grand High Leader was standing there smiling at the young Trish with the other Coluan standing there open mouthed amazed at what he was seeing. Trish made eye contact with him for a second and disappeared into the portal.
The sickening feeling of portaling pulled the ghosts back to the river surrounded by trees. Alex and the young Tor were already walking back to the bank. "Took you long enough." Tor snorted. "They didn't see you did they?"
"No." Trish replied looking at the portal fearfully.
With that all three of them left the river and walked back to the city. "Trish," Tor's voice whispered quietly, "you told us they didn't see you…" Trish didn't answer. "You told us they didn't see you…" when Tor repeated this his voice almost disappeared and was full of regret.
The three teenagers parted at the clearing and the ghosts witnessed Alex and Trish walk to the wall and into a small house. Where they fell onto two beds and fell asleep. The ghosts looked around at each other. "We're skipping the sleep scene aren't we?" Yoom asked trying to sound cheerful. And true to this the stars and moon sunk into the horizon very quickly. Joe almost went after the stars but Gantor grabbed his collar and held him at bay.
Trish and Alex were sleeping peacefully as the sun rose over the wall. But the peace was shattered as an explosion ripped through the silent air, screams rose up and cries of terror. Trish and Alex sat bolt upright and ran outside. The beautiful city they had seen the night before was in total disarray and panic. Smoke rose up in columns above burning buildings. People ran this way and that trying to find an escape route. The walls had collapsed into a pile of rubble and twisted metal.
"Trish! What's going on?" Alex called out.
"I don't know!" Trish shouted over the din. A loud humming was heard and everyone quieted. Over the city a giant shadow spread. A ship was flying low overhead. The screams erupted and a mass of terrified women, screaming men, and crying babies ran collectively away from the ship and towards Trish and Alex. "Run!" Trish yelled. She and Alex ran to avoid being trampled. But the wave of flailing arms and rolling eyes overtook them and they were separated. "ALEX!" Trish yelled, reaching out a hand to her brother who was getting swept further and further away. The young Trish started running sideways and was soon beside the mob. She broke off into the trees.
Tor was already standing there panting. "It's those things from the portal!" He yelled, panicking. "They're here! Everyone is being taken into those ships! What's happening Trish?!? What's going on?!?" He stopped screaming for a moment and asked the next question calmly. "Where's Alex?" He asked.
"He got swept away with the mob. We've got to get him. And anyone else we can." Trish took charge and tried to remain calm. But her eyes were glassed over as if she was on an auto-pilot and inside she was screaming and panicking just like the mob.
The ship was getting closer and closer with every passing second. And now that it was closer Tor and Trish could see a silent green light radiating from the ship. Anyone that was too slow to escape from the ship was passed over with the light and fell to the ground. Behind the ship many smaller pods were teleporting the unconscious people up into the large ship. Tor spotted Alex on the edge of the crowd. He pointed at Trish and she nodded. She ran off to her brother.
Tor however walked calmly into the center of the crowd. He lifted his scythe off his back and planted it firmly into the ground. The mob parted around him, some calling to him telling him to run for his life, some just shaking their head at him, some even grabbed at his shirt sleeve to try to drag him along.
But Tor stood his ground, waiting for Trish. As he waited a girl came up to him. She had tan skin and dark brown hair. She would have looked normal if her face didn't look like it was pressed into the center and her eyes were entirely too small. They looked like embroidery beads. "Classeri!" He said.
"Tor what's going on? What are these things?" She asked.
"I don't know." Tor yelled in order to be heard. "Trish, Alex and I found a dimension portal and saw some of these things on the other side. I don't know how they got here."
"We have to get out of here Tor!" Classeri said. "I'm heading to the shelter with the others." She started to run off.
"Classeri! Wait! Don't go! You won't make it!" Tor's cries went unheeded.
Trish, meanwhile, had sprouted her wings and flew over to Alex. He grabbed her foot and she flew him back to where Tor was. "Tor! You have to attack that ship! I'll try to calm everyone down!" She flew up to the sky and started shouting. "LISTEN TO ME!" The mob quieted and stopped running. Millions of heads turned towards Trish as she floated above the crowd. "Don't be afraid! We can get back the people we lost if we work together! Our powers can defeat this foe! Just like the other enemies we have faced! Stand together! Don't be afraid! Fight for your homeland so you can stay in the place you love! Don't turn your back on everything our ancestors worked so hard to build! Beat them back! We can defeat anything as long as Yamista looks down on us! And he smiles on us today! Fight!" she raised her fist into the air, "WE CAN WIN!"
The people below stood and breathed for a moment or two soaking in the words. It seemed for a moment to work. But a voice full of panicked terror rang out over the uneasy quiet, "Don't listen to her! What in the 29th can we do against these things? Run for your lives! AHH!!!" This scream ignited the fuse of total chaos. The mob surged forward, driven by an instinct to survive and oblivious to all thoughts and common sense.
Trish flew back to the ground. "Well, that didn't work did it?" Tor said sarcastically. Trish glared at him. "Alright! I'm going!" Tor lifted his scythe out of the ground. The shaft started to glow red. The very air around him rippled as though it was around a blistering hot fire. "Leave this dimension! Go!" The scythe was swung around in a wild circle and a wave of red molten lava burst into the air. But the lava did no damage. Instead, the shields deflected the crude attack off to the side, incinerating some trees and houses.
"Tor stop!" Alex yelled. "We have to try to rescue all the people we can! Then we can regroup and… and save the others!" Alex clapped his hands together. A green and maroon circle appeared around his hands. He opened his arms and the circle grew larger. "I'll get as many as I can, you two go and get a pod ready. We have to get out of here." Alex sprouted his own wings and flew after the mob and the ships. Tor and Trish looked at each other. Then they jumped into the air, Tor sprouting his own brown leather wings, and flew off to the left.
The ghosts followed them until they arrived at an overgrown temple. Trish blasted a beam of teal light at the top. It opened to reveal a small ship. It was small compared to the Coluan ship but it easily could have had the Legion's cruiser inside of it. Tor flew down and into the ship. And within a couple seconds the engine revved up. Trish flew back the way they came and the ship followed. Alex was coming towards them as well. Beneath him he carried a small group of people in some sort of trance. "I couldn't get anyone else! They were too panicked." He explained. Then, he and his sister flew into the ship.
"Tor," Alex demanded, "put the ship on auto-pilot. We need to regroup." The others he had rescued were starting to stand up.
"They are from the 3rd dimension! I told you they were dangerous." One said.
"Where is everyone else?" Another called.
"Look!" Cried a small girl. She was pointing out the window down to the ground.
Alex ran over to the window to see what was distressing the girl so much. "Oh, Yamista's brethren of hell…" Beneath the ship the city could be clearly seen. Burning to the ground and completely destroyed. No one talked for a very long while. The rescued were holding each other and crying silently. Tor and Trish came over as well. Tor was just in time to see the city and forest burning and the city's skyline collapsing into dust.
Tor slammed his hand against the wall of the ship. "Goddamnit!" he yelled. "Yamista's forsaken blood! Against Mother God and Earth! Those Frigging Bastards! Our homes! Our city!" He shoved his way past a crying lady to the window. "Everything is gone… everything… Our dimension!" His eyes widened, "With this much damage… the imbalance of peace… our dimension might collapse. Yamista! Yamista what did we do that you punish us like this? Why do you turn your shining face away from us? What are we going to do? Those fucking bastards! I'll kill them myself and hand-deliver them to the Forsaken Brethren Deep in Hell! I'm going to kill all of the ignorant beings who ever had contact with that ship! I'll kill them all! I'll kill them!" Tor's eyes grew wider and started rolling back into his head. He grabbed behind him at the scythe on his back.
Trish grabbed his scythe before he could reach it. "You need to calm down." She said in a shaking voice.
"Trish do you understand what will happen? The dimension will collapse! We have to leave and get as far away from this dimension as possible! We won't be able to save anyone else! We lost! Yamista abandoned us! We're doomed!" Tor sank to his knees, tears flowing down his cheeks. "What do we do? What can we do?" he whimpered. His voice was choked with sobs.
Trish knelt down next to him. "We go on. If we escape we can find a way to save the others." Alex knelt down as well. The girl from the window curled next to him and he put his arm around her. "All of you. We need to get out of here before the internal core is demolished. Then we can find the ship and get the others back before they are hurt-"
"Or worse." A man added. Trish glared at him.
Tor was still shaking and crying though was calming down considerately. Alex stood up and walked to the pilot chair. Silently he typed some words into the computer. The computer screen flashed as he disengaged the autopilot. Alex sighed and drove the ship out of the atmosphere. "Brace yourself. We're portaling." A girl cried out in fear. Trish hugged her, trying to calm the girl and herself down. "Hold on. Get your last looks of this place. I can't promise that we will ever be able to come back. I don't promise anything…"
Tears now flowed freely down everyone's face. They looked out the window at the shrinking city. The Coluan ship was rising too. The destruction left behind it was terrible. Not a single building was left standing. No live thing moved in the dust or forest. The bodies of people too slow lay trampled and disfigured.
Tor and the rest could see the Coluan ship as it warped out of sight. As it disappeared a large tear appeared in the air. A blue jagged tear that pulsed and hummed. A dimension portal. Everyone knew what it was now. But now the sight was filled with a dread and fear. The portal no longer was a point of interest. Instead it was something no one wanted to ever see again.
Alex flew after the ship and through the portal. The feeling of portaling wasn't as bad this time. No one made a comment though. The silence that hung in the air seemed to smother and kill any thought except sheer shock. The scene outside the window changed to the black star-filled eternal night of space. There was a bright star in the distance like a small sun.
"Look at that star." Tor commanded. "Don't look away. Look and witness the end of our dimension. Or you'll regret it forever." The small, scared group turned to the star. As they looked on the star seemed to warp and twist. It shuddered and winked on and off. Finally, as though it was sighing, the star went out. There was no blast of light. No explosion. Nothing. The star was just gone. As though the night around it had swallowed it whole and covered the remains.
"What happened?" Speed asked. Everyone turned quickly around to face her. "What? I'm sorry to ruin the mood but I thought when a dimension collapsed there was a big explosion or something."
"Not really." Trish's voice was strained and afraid. "Our dimension was surrounding that star. That was the core. But with the sudden absence of life the balance in the core was disturbed too much. And our dimension collapsed."
Saturn Girl looked at Brainy. His face was frozen in shock. His mouth almost stretched into a silent scream. It was a warped, frightening look that you usually see only in nightmares. 'But this must be a nightmare.' She thought. And even though the others could hear her thoughts no one made a comment.
They turned their attention back to the figures on the ship. Everyone below was quiet. Alex was the first to speak. "Their ship is stopping. From the scanners I think this race is called the 'Coluans'. I can't get anything else from the mainframe. It's too well encrypted. But I have a lock on the others."
"Please save my husband!" Asked a woman near the corner. "I can't live without him!"
The small girl started to cry again, "I want my mommy!"
Tor hugged the girl tightly. "It's okay. We'll get your mother back. I promise. You're Classeri's (Class-er-ees) little sister aren't you?" The girl nodded. "We'll get her back too. We'll get everyone back.
"We're trying to do everything we can. But-" Trish stopped talking as the ship rocked wildly. "What happened Alex?" She yelled.
"They have us in a tractor beam!" Alex turned fearfully. "The thrusters aren't doing anything. I have them on at full power and it's not making a difference."
Tor looked at him. "I'm not letting them take me without a fight." He raised his scythe into a battle position and faced the door. "Who's with me?"
"Maybe we can reason with them." A man suggested. "They seem intelligent. I'm sure we can reason with them."
"Trust me." Tor replied. "They're made of metal or something. It's not right. We either fight or go willingly to whatever fate they have."
"Stop it." Trish said. "Alex, before they can board the tractor beam has to turn off. Before they can get on turn on the thrusters. If we time this right we might be able to get away from here."
Alex turned to the screen. "I'll try." Everyone watched the central screen. The Coluan ship came closer as the tractor beam brought them in. They were a few meters away when the pull of the tractor beam stopped.
"NOW!" Trish yelled. Alex pulled a lever down. The ship jerked roughly and started to move away. But a blue beam of light connected the side of their ship to the Coluans.
"No!" Alex started to pull levers and push buttons in a vain attempt to separate the two ships. On the main screen Coluans came through the beam and toward the ship. The women and girl started to cry and huddled together. The men who had been rescued formed a line between the door and the women.
"We've got to hold them off!" Tor shouted.
Something banged on the door. "Open the doors before we use force!" A voice called out. The Coluans banged on the door harder.
"Stand your ground!" Trish yelled. She lifted her hands into the air above her and started to form a green – blue protective barrier around the people on the ship. It only surrounded Tor and her but was steadily getting bigger. "Keep the door barred!" she said.
The cover she had created held but the door was forced open. The cover hadn't reached a few of the people. The girl Sarah, the woman holding her, another man and woman… and Alex. Trish tried to force the barrier to grow bigger but it was too late. The Coluans came in and quickly subdued the small band. They dragged the struggling Alex out of the door. Tor held Trish back to prevent her from going after them.
"They won't kill them right now. It would have been done by now." He whispered. "Besides we need a plan to get the rest of them back." Trish lowered her hands as the last Coluan left. "We'll get them all back. I promise."
"This is all my fault." Trish whispered.
Tor looked at her angrily. "You can moan and groan about that after we get the rest back."
"You're right." Trish angrily shook her head. "Let's go."
Tor and Trish tip-toed out of their ship. They could just hear Alex as he was taken away. Tor nodded at Trish and they followed Alex's voice. "Let go of me! Don't make me hurt you! Hey-yah!" There was a sound of flesh contacting hard with metal. "OW!" Alex cried. "What are you made of? Rock?"
Another voice grunted. Everyone assumed it was the Coluan that had Alex. "Be quiet." It commanded.
"NO!" Alex yelled. Trish and Tor came around the corner and saw Alex and the others disappear into the operating-like room.
"Oh no." Trish whispered. "We have to stop them!" Tor didn't answer. He gripped his scythe more tightly.
Two Coluans came out the door. "Why do you think the Grand High Leader had us do that?" one asked. The other shrugged. Thankfully they turned to the left instead of the right. So Trish and Tor were not noticed.
Trish gestured to Tor and they walked up to the door. Trish nodded and Tor sliced at the door. It opened. Inside the room they saw the others. But there was something wrong. Something very very wrong.
Everyone was now metallic. Their skin had been changed to the same green of the Coluans' skin. Their eyes now held two colors and stared blankly up at the ceiling. The room looked, if possible, even larger. Every table had a body on it. And every body looked strange and defiled somehow. Trish was the furthest in the room. Her form swayed sideways dangerously. But she caught herself before gravity took over.
Trish walked silently, as if in a trance, to one of the tables. On it laid a woman. Up close, you could clearly see why her skin looked green. Tiny green machines were attaching themselves to her skin, every once in awhile the woman made an involuntary jerk and slight moan of pain. But she was unconscious. The machines made quiet clicking noises and buzzed slightly. Trish bent down for a closer look. She could see small bumps moving underneath the skin. But what drew her attention was the woman's forehead. There were thousands of bumps moving around and vibrating. Something must have been under the skin, on the skull, and most likely in the brain. Trish leaned closer. Then the tiny machines burst through the skin and poured out like blood. Trish gasped. Bits of pinkish material were stuck to each of the machines. A pile started to grow on the woman's neck as the machines dropped their load and returned to the hole.
By now Tor had joined her at the table. "That's Mrs. Licpow… (Lick-pow)" he said incredulously. "What are those things doing to her?"
Trish bent down again and looked even closer at the exposed brain. "I think they are removing her memories. That part of the brain holds memories and that's what these machines are removing." She shuddered.
Tor looked at Trish and back at Mrs. Licpow. "We've got to help her." He said. But he made no move. "We've got to do something. Something… Anything…"
Trish put her hand on his arm. "I don't think we can do anything. We could hurt her more. These machines look like they know what they're doing." Tor started to shake. "I don't know what they are doing. But if we stop them now it might be worse than whatever those Coluan's are planning. We need to find anyone we can move and save." Tor looked at Trish with pure hate in his eyes. "It's hard I know, but saving one life for sure is better than saving another that could die any moment. She would save the same thing. Look Tor, I know how much she means to you. I know she's the closest thing you have to a mother but we need to find anyone we can actually save. We're running out of time! Come on."
With that she ran off down the aisles looking at each person. Tor took one last look at Mrs. Licpow and joined the search for survivors. "Oh no." Trish whispered. "It's Sarah." Sarah, the small girl from the ship looked the same as Mrs. Lipcow. Trish forced herself to move on. She and Tor had only reached a quarter of the beds when they heard approaching footsteps. They ducked beneath the nearest two beds before the persons entering saw them.
The Grand High Leader entered followed by the one called 'Ector 6'. Trish and Tor didn't even bother to look out. They were petrified with fear, along with the ghosts floating above them. Lightning Lad, Superman, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Speed, Yoom, Gantor, Joe, and Brainy watched apprehensively as the Grand High Leader walked towards Mrs. Licpow.
The Grand High Leader had a strange expression etched on his face. A very unnerving smile was stretched over his features. One that told of a mad brilliance behind the cool calculating face. "This is working even better than I expected." He said quietly.
Ector 6 looked at Mrs. Licpow as she gave another involuntary shudder. "What are we doing?"
"We are saving her life." The Grand High Leader answered. "It's for the best. Now go and report to the others that we will soon have replacements for the ones lost last year." Ector 6 hesitated. He looked scared as though seeing a movie that he knew held and unhappy and gruesome end. "GO!" Ector 6 left to carry out the orders commanded.
The Grand High Leader stepped to the small table next to Mrs. Licpow. The table held the shiny steel instruments Trish and Tor had seen before. No one dared to breathe. Not even the ghosts, though they knew perfectly well that no matter what they did it wouldn't change a thing.
Every living thing in the room watched in horror as the Grand High Leader put his hand on Mrs. Lipcow's forehead. Small green tentacle like things sprouted from his hand and embedded themselves into her forehead. As they watched small ridges could be seen popping up underneath her skin and stretching to the rest of her body.
Suddenly the green tentacle things exploded from her skin and twined around Mrs. Lipcow's arms, legs, torso, and head. Soon nothing could be seen but twisting, writhing, green wires. Small spurts of blood came out between the wires. You could just barely hear the low tortured moans from inside the wires.
The Grand High Leader ripped his hand away, smiling evilly. He moved on to the next bed and the next person. What used to be Mrs. Lipcow now looked like a pile of junk left to rot. The twisting wires were now stained with blood and twisted and dug into the skin relentlessly.
Everyone's eyes were practically falling out of their heads. But still the scene unfolding below was too horrible to speak of. And they knew this scene would stay etched in their minds for the rest of their lives. No matter how they wanted to rid themselves of it.
Tor and Trish made a quick dash out of the room and away from the terrible scene. As they turned a corner they ran into something. Tor looked up with tears in his eyes at the Coluan they had run into.
The Coluan looked like the rest of them except for its eyes. They were entirely too small, like embroidery beads. "Classeri?" Tor asked incredulously.
The Coluan blinked. "I do not know you."
"Yes you do!" Tor yelled. "Classeri it's me! Tor! Tor Cylix!"
The Coluan narrowed its tiny eyes. "Why do you seem so familiar?"
Tor didn't answer. He grabbed the Coluan's arm, jumped up and punched it hard in the neck.
"What are you doing?" Trish asked.
"This is Classeri. I don't know what they did to her but we need to try to save her. It has to be reversed! Whatever they did to Mrs. Lipcow they did to Classeri." He started to drag the unconscious Coluan to the docking bay where their ship was. "Help me out here."
Trish complied. In about two minutes they were out of the Coluan ship and flying off into the black night sky. The Coluan started to moan and sat up. It looked around and blinked several times. It lifted its hand to its head and rubbed it. "I remember this place…" it whispered.
Tor left his place from the helm. "Classeri do you remember me?"
"Yes." The Coluan said staring at Tor. "Tor what happened to me? Why am I like this? What happened to me Tor? What happened?"
Tor grabbed Classeri's shoulders. "I don't know. I don't know Classeri. But Trish can reverse it. Can't you?" he turned to her hopefully.
Trish bent her head down. "I-"
Classeri's face broke in terror. "I don't want to stay like this Trish." She said almost pleadingly. "I don't want to stay like this. I don't feel anything. I can tell now that's its all a simulation. The nerves, the sight, everything is fake. Don't make me stay like this Trish!" She jumped from the chair she was in and grabbed Trish. "Don't make me stay like this!"
"I'll try." Trish gently lifted Classeri's arms off her and sat Classeri down. "I'll try. But I can't promise you anything. It might make you even worse. Are you sure you want me to?"
"Yes." Classeri whimpered. "These sham emotions… they're killing me Trish," She bent down and grabbed her knees in terror and grief. "They're killing me."
Trish opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. "I'll try." She said more confidently. There's an unpopulated planet nearby, I'll do it there."
The 'ghosts' were stunned. Everything was happening so fast. No one spoke. No one looked around. All eyes were fixated on the three figures below. The air around them was crackling with feelings of terror, fear, and incredible grief.
They watched as Trish and Tor landed the ship and set up a make shift operating table. Classeri laid down on it as Tor and Trish bowed their heads in prayer. Suddenly the scene below went dark. A silhouette of Trish standing defeated over a table was seen.
Trish's voice was heard. "It failed. Classeri died that day at my hand."
There was a giant jolt as everyone lifted their heads from the table. It was like waking up from a nightmare. Once again there was no noise. Even Joe was panting silently. Tor slumped down into a chair in a daze. Trish was still standing there. Her fists were clenched and the knuckles were white. There was a line of where tears had flowed earlier.
Superman, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Yoom, Gantor, Speed, Phantom Girl, and Joe glanced at Brainy. His head was bent down. You couldn't see his eyes and his mouth was a flat line. The only thing you could see that showed any emotions was a very thin line of tears on his cheeks. Both Superman and Saturn Girl wanted to say something to him but before they could Brainy stood up from the table and ran out of the room. Tears were still rolling down his cheeks.
Superman tried to speak but Saturn Girl reached across the table and put a hand on his arm. She didn't say anything. But Superman knew what she meant. Brainiac 5 had never cried. Never. Not even when he had gotten his arm blown off. If he was crying… If Brainiac 5 had tears flowing down his cheeks… Then it was very bad, very bad indeed.
And tears were flowing down his cheeks.
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There! I finally finished! That took so long. I don't know when I will get the next chapter up… I'll try to get it up soon. And by soon I mean by the end of the school year… (May)