“Who are you?” Anissa raised her fists in a practised guard. This smiling woman brought a chill to her spine, something she only experienced in the presence of the Grand Regent of Viltrum.
“I’m one of your hosts, you can call me May,” smile still on her lips, May waved to the stars above. “I’m afraid you won’t find anyone on this world that can show you the way home, this isn’t even the same universe that you’re used to.”
Anissa’s eyes narrowed. Her instincts warned her not to engage this woman, to run, but she held firm. If this May spoke the truth, escape was pointless. She had no interest in running around an unfamiliar universe, when her path home floated right before her eyes.
“I have the feeling, you could tell me the way home,” Anissa steadied her nerve, muscles primed for battle. She was stronger than ever after her near death experience, a benefit of Viltrumite biology. “It would be smart of you to just tell me what I want to know, even I don’t know my own limits right now.”
“You’re a bold one,” May’s grin opened to a full out laugh. She squinted rune filled eyes through tears of mirth and shook her head. “I can see your power… it’s impressive, but it’s not enough to make demands like that here.”
One hand behind her back, May slipped closer to Anissa and raised a finger in her direction. Her smile shifted, more predatory than friendly.
“We could have had a grand battle five years ago, but now…” May motioned for Anissa to attack. “...I bet I can beat you with a single finger, no magic needed!”
Anissa snorted and blitzed forward. A swift jab of her left, followed by a front kick designed to force the arrogant woman back. May’s smile widened. She met the fist with her outstretched finger, a barrier that stopped the punch in its tracks. A light flick to the side repelled Anissa’s kick, a clash that brought the echo of thunder.
May stepped forward, finger arched back against her thumb. Anissa retreated, but the woman closed as if she stood still, one hand still held behind her back. A flick planted May’s fingertip, straight between Anissa’s eyes.
Another crack of thunder and Anissa’s world filled with blotted stars. Black and white voids fought for attention in her vision, both ears bloody from the impact. She struggled to right herself, but the landscape bled into the sky, her eyes unable to focus.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“See, I told you!” May’s voice sounded in her damaged ears as a hand snaked around her ankle to stop her fall. “Now let’s find Goku so he can get you back where you belong…”
----------------------------------------
“Who are you?” Han scuttled away from the hand that woke him, fingers wrapped around a sharpened piece of broken metal. He’d found it yesterday, his only defence against this hostile environment. “What do you want?”
“Don’t worry, kid,” The blond haired man flashed the terrified child a friendly smile as he stepped back. Hands spread to show he was unarmed, he went down on one knee and motioned for Han to come closer. “I’m here to help you, give you a home and a new family, if you’re interested?”
Han kept to the shadow, weapon held ready. He’d been alone for over a year, it had taught him much about the true nature of the world. Adults couldn’t be trusted, no one could. His life before the streets was a dream, lost to the brutal reality that was his wretched existance.
“No chance… now leave me alone!” The young urchin brandished his rusted fragment of metal, terror buried beneath the bravado that kept him safe. “Take your offer somewhere else!”
“If I wanted to hurt you, that little scrap wouldn’t stop me,” The man laughed as his body leaned forward. A blur of movement and Han’s weapon was missing from his grasp, held firm in the stranger's hand. “I really am here to help, the street is no place for someone like you.”
“There are plenty of kids out here,” Han rubbed at his wrist, numbed by the removal of his only defence. Tears pushed at the limits of his eyes, held back by force of will. “I’m not special… why don’t I belong with the rest of the forgotten on this planet?”
“They don’t belong here either,” The man’s eyes flashed, filled with an emotion Han didn’t understand. He placed a hand onto the ground and sighed. “I can hear them all, thousands of people calling out for help… it’s my goal to answer those calls, to build a galaxy without suffering and pain.”
Han flinched back. This man was crazy, a cleaned up lunatic that had latched himself to the closest ear. That, or he thought Han was a truly stupid kid. No one could hear a planet full of people, and no one cared about what happened to people like him.
“Look, mister… you can start with someone else,” Han raised his hands and began to inch around the well muscled stranger. “There are plenty worse off than me, now I’m going to…”
“You’re one cynical kid… I guess I’ll try another track,” The man appeared at Han’s side and took hold of his shoulder. Han turned to sink his teeth into his hand, but the stranger didn’t even flinch. “I’ll show you some of what I can do, then let you decide if I can change the world or not.”
A blurr replaced their surroundings, a vertigo inducing lurch that brought Han and the stranger kilometres above the ground. Corillia spread out below them, a perfect jewel when viewed from so far away. Ships rose in the distance, framed against the sun as they made their way into space.
“My name is Dan-EL, Emperor of Krypton,” Dan’s voice barely made its way into Han’s mind, the impossibility of their flight still all he could focus on. A gentle flick of Dan’s finger against his forehead brought him back. “Soon everyone in the galaxy will hear my message, and people won’t have to live as you have lived… I will tear down the broken system of the Republic, and you can have a place by my side if you want it.”
Han forced air into his lungs, past the frozen muscles in his chest. This had to be a dream, one that persisted even as he pinched at his own arm. Maybe he’d died, taken by the cold night air, and this was his brain's last gasp. A vision of hope, before the dark embrace of death.
“Am I dead…” Han managed to push the words past his rigid throat, quieter than a whisper. “Are you God?”