“You won’t leave here alive, Superguardian,” Minyak said as Maxx landed in the ruined city of Two Rivers in the Chain Islands. The yellow glow of the Super Consciousness around him had intensified to the point that it was hard to look at him directly.
“What have you done?” Maxx yelled at the black form of Minyak that was swelling slowly and becoming larger than nearby buildings.
“What a Daemon does!” Minyak yelled and he lifted a black arm that caused tendrils of the oily form to rise up from the ground and the tendrils wrapped body parts; legs, heads, empty shells; of the Guardians who had confronted him before Maxx arrived. “Bludon had its chance to welcome the Daemon. But you all rejected the hand of friendship and chose violence. The Daemon have decided to rule this world and any blu that stands in our way will be annihilated. So was your first Guardian, so are these Guardians, and soon the same will be true for you, Superguardian.”
Maxx barely heard the words that issued from the form of Minyak, there was a ringing in his ears after he saw Dexxx in pieces on the ground.
“Even if you were powerful enough to rid this world of me,” Minyak continued, “you cannot kill us all. This world will be ours.”
“Why did you kill him?” Maxx yelled as he knelt to grab Dexxx and pile him up. “Why do the Daemon want Bludon?”
“Now is not the time for a history lesson,” Minyak said, “but why not? I am still analyzing this Super Consciousness, I have some time.” There was a puddle of oil all around him, slinking over the rubble of homes and businesses. He was a black hole swallowing a block of Two Rivers, but Maxx noticed that the entire form of Minyak was fading, losing the striking black of his void.
“I will say that chance is a wonderful thing,” Minyak continued. “I do not arrive here by choice, and the same is true for the others who comprise the Head. We were banished from this dimension long ago but we clawed our way back through a doorway that opens on this paradise. The first Guardian killed the Eyes and we struggled to find this place, but after a long time, we figured it out and invited our kin to join us in paradise. But the Bludonians have fought the inevitable. A Daemon colony is ready to settle, and every battle waged between our kind was nothing compared to the one that the colony will rage with arcana that Bludon cannot comprehend. We do not want to kill all of the Bludonians. We will share the land with those who want to live subordinate to the needs of the Daemon. But all of the Guardians, and the scientists who puppet them, will be food for those like me who can put you all to best use. This Guardian Dexxx that I am consuming is special. Maybe he will transcend his pitiful life as a blu within me. You have time to make peace with your makers, or whatever it is that a blu does before he dies. The colony is traveling a long distance and they are legion. We can be your nightmares, or we can be your Gods. You choose.”
Maxx was holding pieces of Dexxx when he properly charged himself to detonate in a blast that would reduce the rubble of Two Rivers to dust, just as Minyak finished his lecture. As he spoke, Minyak’s tendrils were stripping and consuming the parts of the Guardians he had defeated. Maxx exploded his energy out as soon as it was gathered and he prayed that he would connect with Minyak, but when the dust settled, Minyak had disappeared and he knew that his explosion had missed the oily monster completely.
***
“Maxx!” Minister Quy says loudly. She is much older than Maxx, but she is fit for her age and appears to be as strong as him. “You are Special Minister of Bludon, the interplanetary diplomat, the chosen representative of Bludonians to the universe, and this is how you act among your fellow Guardians? I can only imagine what you get into away from Fumarole.”
“Mother…pardon me,” Maxx says playfully and half bows, “Minister Quy, pardon the coarseness of my language, but,” and he looks past Quy to address the small group of wide-eyed Ministers who accompany Quy on this trip, “let it be known that while I live and would die for each and everyone one of my fellow Guardians, some of them are very disrespectful to memory of our fallen comrades and that is something that we should not tolerate. I won’t tolerate it, and let it be known to everyone that Brenttt has disrespected the memory of the fallen Guardian, Dexxx, for the last time. He will do so again under penalty of death at my hands.”
Quy crosses her arms over her chest. She and the other Ministers wear white silk robes that identify them as Ministers.
“You are a Special Minister,” she says with exasperation, “you don’t have any authority to hand out death sentences. Maxx, there is discussion of removing your honorary title of Superguardian. Despite your successes, your behavior is not befitting a Special Minister. I agree with you that disrespecting the memory of fallen Guardians is abominable, and Guardian Brenttt should be disciplined, but Ministers do not kill other Bludonians!”
“Not with their own hands,” Maxx says defiantly. “But there is still plenty of blood on them.”
“We were chosen by our fellow citizens to make the hard choices,” Quy says and takes a step closer to Maxx, speaking seriously into his face. “We have to be adults. You were chosen for your admirable qualities, you are admirable Maxx, but you must always be the adult. Come with me. Your fellow Interplanetary Diplomat, the Queen Rowen of Oin, is at the main office. I assume she came here with you.”
Maxx follows Quy, and the other Ministers follow them, as they leave the gymnasium and head to the building that contains the main office, and contains officers and a large conference space for the Ministers when they are on Fumarole.
“Why is she on Bludon?” Quy asks as she walks briskly. She and Maxx have put distance between themselves and the other Ministers.
“She is visiting. We have All Star business to discuss.”
“So there will be another Arbitration?” Quy doesn’t whisper, but she is sure not to speak loud enough for the other ministers to hear her.
“Eventually,” Maxx says dismissively.
“She is helping you destroy the Guardian controls?” Quy asks and her expression changes to concern.
“Don’t even think about it, Quy, you are a former Guardian. You are monitored as well. The Queen Rowen is here on a cultural exchange. We are teammates, we represent our universe and we have made a point to appreciate the cultures of our universe. Hopefully others will visit in the future. Have you had a chance to speak with the Queen?”
“No…” Quy says absently. She is noticeably angry. “I am glad that the Queen is here, she seems to be an excellent ally of Bludon. But Maxx, I think that we should talk more extensively about the diplomatic duties of the Superguardian. You shouldn’t make decisions, like inviting foreigners, without discussing it with me. The controls are important, they are in place for a reason, and I am open to removing them, but we have to be smart about it.”
“It will be done today,” Maxx says and grabs Quy’s hand when he sees her about to respond loudly and candidly. “Trust this new reality. We are citizens of the Universe Prime 5, it is important to establish cooperation with other worlds. Any controls on me as a diplomat should be abolished immediately.”
Quy is about to say something, but then Maxx watches her eyes go blank for a second, like she loses control of the muscles that control her eyeballs, and then she is back to her normal self.
“She did it,” Quy says with astonishment. “It feels different. I feel…I feel…”
“Free,” Maxx says. He smiles at Quy as they continue to walk holding hands.
“Maxx!” Someone screams his name in the distance and when they scream again, he recognizes it as the Queen Rowen.
“I have to run,” Maxx says as he sprints away from Quy. “I think the Queen’s in trouble.”
PRL Serials 