Cathenna's Complexes

Cathenna’s Complexes

     The hallway shakes after several explosions. The last one causing Montan to lose his balance. I come around the corner into that hallway when I see him start to fall. I quickly ran up to him, and slide under him, in time to catch him. I continue my sliding until we are at the entrance Montan has been headed for.

     “That’s not the best way out of here anymore,” I said as I help Montan get up on his shaky feet. Another series of explosions caused us to almost lose our balance again. I grab ahold of his shoulders and guided him in the direction I have just come from.

     “I know a much safer way out of here,” I said. “One that won’t get us both killed after what you have done.”

     Montan looks back at me as the explosions continue all around them. “You should know how to get out of here alive. After all, you are helping the SpaceVillain who is trying to destroy Phosh.”

     “I’m not helping anyone,” I respond. Turning his left shoulder slightly, I guide Montan down another hallway.

#

     I stand in front of the four Leaders from Galactic with my fingers clasped hands behind my back and Montan right next to me. He leans in closer to me. “You need to relax. This will all be over with soon.”

     “That’s what I’m so worried about.” I never stop glancing at the Galactic Leaders sitting behind a small oblong solid structure.

     Just then they stop mumbling to each other to face me and Montan. It’s one of the female Leaders who spoke first. “We have gone over what Montan has given us about what happened a few sunrises ago. And we have a few questions to ask you about it.”

     “We have several questions,” said one of the males. “But the main one is, why should we give you your freedom after you helped that SpaceVillain try to destroy Phosh?”

     “I didn’t help any SpaceVillain. Cathenna isn’t a SpaceVillain yet. She’s a Super Villain who wants to be one. And she thinks this is her way of doing it.

     After taking a deep breath and letting it out, I continue. “Besides, the planet of Phosh is still in danger of being destroyed.”

#

     Montan places a small black squared box between a wall and a large floor-to-ceiling machine. Then he walks past it to the next one in that row. And he does the same thing. Only this time he does it between two machines.

     I glance out the partially open entrance. And I only take my eyes off Montan for a few heartbeats. But when I return to watching him, he has reached the end of that row of machines. “Are you sure this will destroy the complex?”

     “I’m sure,” said Montan as he places another box between the wall and one of the machines. “I did it like this with the other four complexes that I have destroyed.”

     “How much longer is this going to take? I ask.

     Montan places a box between two machines. “It shouldn’t be much longer. I only have three more rows to do. Then we can get out of here.”

     “When we do leave, let’s do it before you destroy this complex too. I don’t want what almost happened to us the last time to happen again. We still have two more complexes to destroy before I can get my freedom from all of this.”

#

     The tree extension that Montan is sitting on cracks a little. He grabs hold of the tree to stop himself from falling with the extension. Using both hands, he pulls himself up to what’s left of that extension. Looking around, he sees another one that’s even larger. He climbs up to it.

     Montan looks down to see that I have almost caught up to him. As I continued my climb, he started adjusting his Zoom Eyes at the huge rock in front of us. He is looking for a way into it. But he hasn’t found it yet. Montan adjusted his eyes a little bit more so that he can see it even closer. He still can’t find any openings, though.

     “Are you sure this is one of Cathenna’s Complexes?” Montan asks.

     “I’m sure,” I answer. As I sat down next to me.

     Montan removes his Zoom Eyes before he looks at me. “The reason why I ask is that this isn’t like her other complexes. All the others have been in largely populated areas.”

     “It’s because this complex controls all the others. Once you destroy this one, all my problems will be over with.”

#

     “Do you know how many Protectors there are in this complex?” Montan asks as we hug the walls in that corridor.

     “I’m not sure how many there are right now. But I do know that there are enough sleepers here for a thousand individuals.” I am next to Montan as we side walk down that corridor.

     An entrance slid open just as we got near it. Montan peeks around that entrance. “It doesn’t look like anyone is in here either. Maybe there is no one here like all of her other complexes.”

     “Maybe, but I don’t think so. This is her Control Complex. Even if she let everyone else go, she would have left a few Protectors behind. Especially, since almost all of her other complexes have been destroyed.”

     I follow Montan as he goes through that entrance. Montan slowly looks around a large room that appears to be a Control Room of some kind. “I think my problems are almost over with.”

     Just then seven more entrances slid open. And about fifty Protectors come through them. The Protectors start their attack just as soon as they enter that room. Several hundred laser tubes are headed right for us. “Maybe my problems aren’t almost over after all.”

#

     Even though I’m helping him, Montan staggers as we stumble through the Wooded Area. Then suddenly Montan loses his footing and starts to fall. I quickly get under his arm and grab him around his waist. After I get Montan back on his feet, we continue walking away from what just happened.

     “You have been hurt a lot worse than you want me to know. Why are you doing that?”

     “It’s not as bad as it looks. I have been hit a lot more time than this. And I’m sure it will happen again. I’ll be okay.”

     Montan slips and starts to fall again. I tighten my grip around his waist to keep him from doing that. “Are you sure you are going to be okay?”

     “I’m sure. I just need a little time in my Health Tube. And I can do that on our way back to Galactic. After all, Cathenna has been stopped.”

     I don’t know about that. Because I’m not sure she has been. The Control Complex should have destroyed the last complex too. But it may not have. I need to check it out. I just don’t know how I’m going to do that yet.

#

     After I put Montan in his Health Tube on his space shuttle, I go to his control room. Once I figured out how to control it, I lifted us off. But I don’t head for Galactic. Instead, I head for the last complex Cathenna has there.

     I’m only about halfway there when Montan comes into the control room. “Where are we going? Why aren’t we at Galactic? We should be there by now.”

     While I kept my eyes on the controls, I answered him. “I just have one more complex to check out before we go back to Galactic. It should have been destroyed along with the Control Complex. But I want to make sure it has been.”

     Montan looks confused. I can see it on the main monitor in front of me. “I thought that the Control Complex was the last one we needed to destroy to stop Cathenna.”

     “It was supposed to be. But because of where Galactic is at near Phosh I did it this way.”

#

     Hovering about a shuttle length away, I can see what is left of the last complex. I have no doubts that it had been destroyed too. But I need to know for sure. After I turn that shuttle parallel to a large opening there, I go to the side entrance and opened it. I take a few steps from the shuttle to the opening into that cloudtoucher.

     Montan steps over to that opening and stands next to me when I stop just beyond it. We both slowly start scanning that level. What we are looking at shocks us. There wasn’t too much left except for the pieces of that level.

     “Are you sure this is one of the weapons that Cathenna was going to use to destroy this planet?” Montan asks.

     “I’m sure. This was where the weapon was at.”

     I start walking around that level. Every so often I bend down and pick up a piece of it. Montan isn’t picking up anything. But he is watching me do it. I’m only doing it because of Montan. After all, I already know that all my problems are over.

#

     Once again, I stand in front of the Galactic Leaders next to Montan. I don’t understand what is going on. We have been waiting for a long time. But all they are doing is mumbling among themselves. Just then they stop talking to each other to turn and face us.

     It’s one of the females at the oblong structure who speaks first. “We have been watching you for the last twenty-five sunrises. And we all agree that what you have done makes you a hero too.”

     “I’m no hero. I may have done some hero things. But I only did them to get my freedom.”

     “That may be why you have done it. But that doesn’t mean you’re not a hero,” says one of the male Leaders.

     I don’t understand what they are talking about. Before I can ask them that, the other male Leader speaks. “You are probably wondering why we are calling you that.”

     “It’s because we want you to join us. You may not be a Super Villain. But you probably know a lot of them.” The other female Leader takes over. “A lot of the SpaceVillains too. You could help us a lot in our fight against the villains among us.

#

     “I’m happy that you want me to join Galactic too. But I only helped you to stop Cathenna for my freedom. And that’s all that I want.”

     As I turn away from a large monitor in the back of a very large room, I’m no longer at Galactic. I’m now facing three SpaceVillains. Two sitting slightly below the third one. I only speak to the single one. “As you have just seen, Galactic never knew that the Super Villain they were after was me.”

     “What I don’t understand is why you did what you did?” The single SpaceVillain asks.

     “I did it because they had me. If I didn’t come up with something fast, I would have been in either a deep prison somewhere for the rest of my life or I would be dead.”

     After I take a deep breath and let it out, I continue. “Another reason I did it is that I couldn’t let Montan destroy my complexes. If he did, he may have found out that my threat to destroy Phosh wasn’t going to work.”

     The single SpaceVillain smiled. “And you think that what you have just shown us makes you a SpaceVillain.”

     “Yes, I do. If this doesn’t do it, then I don’t know what will.”

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