Starmaster felt someone moving him, gripping his arms and legs. First, they carried him flat and then stood him upright. Was this a dream? Why are they tying him around the chest? Why can’t he sense any thoughts of people around him?
With a blinding flash, he felt the palm of a hand slapped against his face and a man yell, “WAKE UP!”
He opened his eyes, but then closed them again when his strength failed him.
Another blinding flash. “WAKE UP YOU FILTHY SPY!”
“Move!” A woman commanded, and a needle penetrated his arm.
With a flood of what felt like fire in his veins, it restored his energy. He opened his eyes, and the blurriness subsided quickly to reveal a room of well-dressed people. Everyone watched him with a mixture of fear and scrutiny. Directly in front of him, surrounded by highly decorated generals, was a short, fat man with an ugly sneer on his arrogant face.
“Whe...where am I? What happened?” Starmaster now realized they tied him to a pole. “WHAT THE!”
Supreme Leader Shoju Khan approached. “Welcome to the party, spy. I knew BADGE was stupid, but I didn’t know they were this dumb to be so easily caught.”
“What do you want from me?”
Shoju laughed, “Just your death.” he turned back to his group as one general left the room.
Starmaster smiled and said, “Too bad. I think I’ll just be going.” He attempted to transport himself with his power, but nothing happened. “What?!”
A weak voice next to him said, “Don’t try. If you attempt to use your powers too often, it will hurt you.”
Starmaster looked to the side and found another man tied to a post, just like him. On his other side was a tied up woman. Both wore blinking metallic collars. There was one on his neck and now he understood what this was, the infamous power suppressors. What he didn’t find was Chase.
“WHERE’S CHASE!”
Shoju waved a dismissive hand at him. “Enough talking.”
“WHERE’S CHASE!”
General Kaukatsu walked up to Starmaster and grabbed his face. “Your little friend is our special guest. We need her, we don’t need you.”
Just then the general who left returned with a silver tray. Upon it rested a strange-looking weapon. They presented this to Shoju like it was the rarest jewel in the world.
***
Shizue sat with a few of the children in the hiding place. They had a small, forty-year-old television in front of them. On it was the broadcast from the banquet. By law, everyone in Onnotangu would watch this.
“I don’t see them,” A little girl said.
Shizue smiled, “I’m sure they are there. Starmaster won’t be on the...wait, what is going on there?”
The cameras turned to show the prisoners bound to the columns in the room. Starmaster was at the center.
A little boy cried out, “HE’S THERE!”
“I know.”
“WHY IS HE LIKE THAT?” The boy was already beginning to cry. He liked Starmaster.
Shizue turned up the volume.
Supreme Leader Shoju held a large gun as he spoke to the world. “Fellow patriots of our glorious democracy, I have warned you of the threat of super-powered evil people, especially those from the criminal organization calling itself BADGE. Today, I will demonstrate that North Onnotangu has nothing to fear. We have a small army of well-trained, loyal super-powered heroes who will obey without question. All other soldiers will be given one of these, soon to be mass-produced.” he held up the gun. “Recently, new technology was brought to us by a good ally. This technology came from the alien invaders called Legion. Using this, we have developed a gun that is very, very special. Please observe.”
One general grabbed a random guest and shoved her in front of the leader. She screamed when he fired a beam of energy at her. However, nothing happened. She was unharmed, though she fainted into the general’s arms.
Shoju smiled with glee, “Now, observe!” He fired it at the older man bound to the post next to Starmaster. The man screamed and then evaporated into a fine mist, the collar and his clothing crumpling to the ground.
The kids around Shizue either screamed or cried wildly. She attempted to calm them, but her attention was mostly on the broadcast.
Shoju said, “The Energy Atomizer selects only that which makes a hero powered, then destroys it. With these weapons, we can wipe superheroes from this world and only North Onnotangu will have superpowered people, those loyal to me.” He aimed and fired at the woman on Starmaster’s other side, evaporating her.
Shizue had tears in her eyes. She listened to the children crying around her and knew their lives would be over soon if this got unleashed. She whispered, “I have to do something.”
***
Starmaster watched the giddy little fat man brandishing his new murder device before the camera.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen of the world, I present to you the true villains of Earth, BADGE. Tonight, during our simple little banquet, they sent in spies to undermine us. We have done nothing to undermine them. This is why we need to defend ourselves, so you need to bow to our wisdom. Tonight, before your eyes, I will execute one of BADGE’s own. With this act, I declare war on BADGE and all heroes.” He turned, held the gun up, and took aim at Starmaster’s chest.
“HEY, I’M NOT WITH BADGE. I’M WITH A LEAGUE, BUT NOT BADGE!”
Shoju laughed, “Don’t tell lies as your last words. That is pathetic.”
“IT’S TRUE! THIS IS INSANE. PEOPLE LISTEN TO ME, BADGE JUST HELPS. THIS MAN IS NUTS. HE IS EVIL AND...NUTS!”
No one moved. The generals laughed, and Shoju pulled the trigger. The beam came out, but it hit a brick wall, one that had not been there a moment ago.
“WHAT IS THIS!” Shoju screamed and threw a tantrum by pounding tables.
Starmaster unclenched his eyes, and other various parts, and realized he wasn’t atomized. Someone tugged at his hands. “What the…?”
“Hold still,” Shizue said as she hurriedly untied him.
“How did you...?”
“Goji can transport over short distances.” She pulled the rope free from his hands and went to his feet.
Suddenly they heard screaming and some gunfire from the other side of the brick wall illusion. Starmaster pulled on the collar as he asked, “What in the hell is going on out there?”
“My guess would be the children.”
“THE WHAT!” Suddenly the floor shook hard, and he fell forward against the bricks as his feet became unbound.
“Get ready to fight.” She said and then put her hand on the bricks.
He stopped fidgeting with the collar and readied himself. He would have to do without his powers for the moment. The bricks slowly vanished and an unusual sight met him. The small children from the hiding place were all over the room, attacking the generals. Shoju was trying to knock a blob of hardened purple goo from the end of his gun.
A general kicked a small girl away and then fired a gun at her. She was hit in the leg and screamed. He aimed again, and this time was met by a chair to the face. Starmaster picked up another chair and swung with abandon, going after a different general.
Shizue rushed over to a boy who was punching the walls, causing them to fall over onto several security guards. General Kaukatsu jumped over a wall and then went down to hit the boy. A cube of bricks surrounded his head, and he hit the ground under the extra weight.
Five security guards went to attack Shizue, but the boy stomped on the ground and the room shook again, rattling everyone simultaneously. Shizue gathered her footing and then formed a brick wall in the doorway, to prevent any further security from getting in.
Supreme Leader Shoju finally broke through the solidified purple goo and fired immediately. Shizue watched in horror as his beam hit the ground shaking boy. In less than two seconds, it had destroyed the child.
“NO!” She screamed. Forming those bricks over her hands, she rushed him, a parental rage exploding out of her.
Shoju wasn’t a trained warrior. He shot at her, but she was too fast. She first hit the gun, smashing the front end, and then slammed him in the face. He spun around once and then hit a table. She whipped her entire body around and used the momentum to hit him hard with her brick hands. He flew over the table and crashed into a wall. She refrained from murdering him right there, she merely trapped him in a wall of bricks.
Looking up, she saw that the fight was over. Generals and security littered the floor and a few guests. More than one child was injured, but only one died. Starmaster stood in the middle of the room, still holding a chair, a little blood on the feet of it.
“Is it over?” She asked.
Starmaster nodded, “I think so. We need to find Chase and find out if they have any more of those horrible guns.”
“I...I need to get the children to safety and treat the injured.”
Starmaster pointed at his neck. “Do me a favor. Don’t worry, I can handle the hit.”
She reared back and slammed her brick covered hand into the collar, Starmaster fell over and coughed hard, but the collar scattered across the floor. A small girl came over and put her hands on his neck. It healed right away. He smiled at her, “Thank you. Now, help the others.”
“Yes, master star.”
“I’m beginning to like that.” He was about to say something more when they both heard a strange sound. General Kaukatsu was slamming his head against the ground, or really the bricks still covering it. They shattered and vanished away as he lurched up, glaring at them with wild eyes.
“You foolish people!”
Shizue readied herself, but Starmaster stopped her.
“That’s not a human,” he said.
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