Excelsior (2 page)

“Very soon, the Krunations’ perversion of our planet will end.” In his mind’s eye, he saw a ranting and raving older Denarian absorbing the shocks of several tazings from three different Krunation guards.

“Their emperor Nocterar will fall to our protector Excelsior!” He recalled Radifen getting off his knees and walking through the prison hall, stopping beside his cell.

“He will return to his people and destroy them and the monstrosity we are being forced to create." Semminex remembered Radifen looking into his eyes and smiling. The old man’s eyes then looked to the left of his cell door, resting on the electronic lock.

The chanting from the neighboring cells ceased. Semminex rose in time to see an old and frail Denarian shuffling down the hall. Radifen's head hung down, his stringy silver hair hanging in front of his face, his bony shoulders drooped.

Was this really Radifen? This beaten-down figure allowing the Krunations to send him to work duty? Where was the defiance, the bravado? Where was the man who absorbed ten jolts from the guards’ tazer batons before he was incapacitated? Semminex tried to look into his eyes as he passed the cell. Was there a plan in progress? Was this a charade? Or was it real? Had they finally broken him?

The two guards stopped outside Semminex’s cell. "Stay in my sight," Scar instructed the new guard. "I have to get Grannik.”

“Hopefully he won’t give you another one of those,” Coward warned, pointing at the large scar.

“Don’t remind me.” Scar pointed at Radifen. “He does anything, even move the hair from over his face, and you hit him with your tazer. He's dangerous."

"This old man? He doesn't look so tough."

"That's why he's dangerous. Don’t move.”

Semminex allowed himself only a moment to worry as he resumed digging at the cracked metal. If the Krunations had broken Radifen’s will, what did this mean for the rest of the Denarian prisoners? What did it mean for him? He squeezed his lips shut as he dug his fingernails into the crack and used his other hand to push against the wall. Semminex fell back, tucking his chin into his chest as he struck the cold, hard floor. His right hand held on to a chunk of metal he wrenched from the wall. The metal slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

“What are you doing in there?” the new guard yelled. Semminex quickly stood and pressed himself against the door again. He kept his eyes locked with the guard’s, and when he did not give an answer, the guard’s attention turned back toward Scar.

Radifen looked up, glanced in Semminex’s direction and smiled.

Semminex nodded his head, then pulled his arm back and punched the audirarian metal. The coward’s head snapped back toward the cell and he held up his tazer. “You want to get punished? Is that what you want?”

Radifen straightened his lanky bod and pushed his shoulders back. His eyes looked alive with defiance. Semminex watched with delight as Radifen’s fist smacked against the coward’s chin, knocking him to the ground.

“Hey!” Scar yelled out to Radifen, who had quickly relieved the unconscious Krunation of his key card, rifle and tazer. Semminex heard Scar’s footsteps getting louder. He quickly bent down and reached his right hand into the hole, past the metal obstacle. He moved his hand around and his fingertips rubbed against a button.

“Please, let this work,” Semminex whispered through gritted teeth as he pushed the button. He pulled his arm back out and heard the rusty gears inside the wall emitting a piercing squeal as they turned. Semminex looked at the bottom of the cell door and saw it start to rise. He slid his fingers under the door and grunted as he assisted the slowly-pulling gears.

Semminex ducked underneath the door and saw Scar running toward him and Radifen. Before Radifen could defend himself, the young Denarian lunged at the Krunation guard. He knocked the tazer out of Scar’s hand and pulled him to the floor, punching him repeatedly in the face as he spent so much of his life punching the cell wall.

The prison halls erupted with cheers as Semminex stood tall, his hands now stained with the brown blood of their captors.

Radifen yelled to him, “You’re younger than I thought.”

Semminex smiled back and saw the cowardly guard trying to get to his feet. The young Denarian pointed at the tazer in Radifen's hand and Radifen quickly handed it to him. As the guard rose, Semminex quickly jabbed him in the side with the tazer, knocking him down again. He then ran tossed the tazer back to Radifen and ran to Scar's bloodied body, grabbing his key card, tazer and rifle. The two Denarians turned left and ran to a specific cell across from Radifen’s.

Semminex used his key card to unlock the door and looked up as the hulking force known as Grannik stepped out. With his thick, muscular frame, large hands that could crush a Krunation’s skull and eyes that could strike fear into his closest friends, Grannik was a force to be reckoned with. And that very force looked down at Semminex and gave him a wide toothy grin.

“You’re shorter than I thought,” he said over the rejoicing yell of their fellow Denarians. Semminex used his key card to open the two cells to the left of Grannik’s.

A young woman with ash and dirt covering her face slowly stepped out of the first cell. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then looked up at her saviors. She gave a shaky half-smile as she saw Semminex, Grannik and Radifen. Another older Denarian, with only a few tufts of hair left on his head and his fingers bent like claws, walked into the hallway.

Semminex handed his key card to the girl. “You two start freeing the rest,” he instructed.

A voice from the end of the hallway shouted out, “Guards! They’re coming!”

“Better hurry,” Semminex said to the girl and the older man. They both leapt  into action, releasing Denarians from their cells as Semminex, Grannik and Radifen raced down the hall to meet a cadre of approaching guards. Semminex aimed his rifle at the guards' shadows on the wall.

A dozen guards ran into view, tazers on their belts and large rifles in their hands. Semminex opened fire, scoring direct hits in the chest of the first two guards. Their brown-colored blood seeped out of their wounds and mouths as their yellow eyes rolled back.

Semminex looked to his left and saw Grannik grabbing a guard by his neck and slamming him head-first on the floor. Freed prisoners stomped on the guard and used him as a launching pad to attack the Krunations behind him. Semminex looked ahead and saw a Krunation guard swinging a tazer at him. The Denarian ducked and fired a blast from his rifle that struck the guard in the stomach.

To Semminex’s right, the young girl continued opening one cell door after another. Denarians raced from their cells and wrapped their arms around any Krunation in range, pulling them down and stripping them of their weapons.

Denarians all around Semminex grabbed tazers and rifles and he pointed at Radifen. “Do you know where the caverns are?” he asked.

Radifen responded, “I’ll show you once we get out of…” He cut himself off as the prisoners heard the running and shouting of more Krunation guards.

Semminex motioned for all Denarians with rifles to join him in front of the group. “Everyone without a rifle, get behind us,” he instructed. He then aimed his rifle, prepared to fire. Grannik stood behind him, holding his rifle over Semminex’s head. Radifen, with only a tazer in his hand, stood to his left and motioned for everyone else to take a step back.

A group of 20 Krunation guards ran into view, each of them wielding their rifles.

“Fire!” Semminex yelled. All Denarians opened fire, cutting down their captors. Semminex stood in the middle of the melee, shooting with deadly accuracy as the unarmed Denarians cheered with delight.

The young girl and the older man continued freeing Denarians as Semminex watched the unarmed prisoners crawling on the floor toward the rifles dropped by the Krunations. Once they had them, they rolled out of the line of fire and created a significant advantage in numbers. In mere moments, the fight ended and the Denarians were once again victorious.

“Everyone against the wall,” Semminex commanded. “They can’t be the only ones left.” Everyone pressed their backs to the wall and followed him down the hall to the corner. Semminex reached the end of the wall and looked around the corner. He gulped as he saw another fleet of Krunation soldiers waiting for them at the end of the hall. Their rifles were at their sides and Semminex could see they were ready to aim and fire as soon as any Denarian was in range.

“Are there more?” Grannik asked in a low tone of voice. Semminex looked back and nodded.

“What do we do?” the young girl whispered.

Semminex took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Anything is better than here.” He then ran around the corner and opened fire, keeping his eyes ahead and yelling with rage as he fired on the Krunation barricade.

As Semminex defiantly ran toward the guards who tried to cut him down with their own weapons, he heard the shouting of the Denarians behind him. Laser fire shot out all around him, striking down the guards.

“I like you already!” Radifen yelled as he and Grannik ran alongside Semminex, leading their fellow Denarians to freedom.

*  *  *

“What's he looking at?”

Matthew heard Nick’s voice as he and Kelly “The Kraken” whispered back and forth about him, but he tuned them out with his face three inches from his desk. It made no difference to Matthew who stared, who sneered. He was in the zone. Nothing beats the zone. Where the origins of his cult popular character came to life. So what if his methods struck snickers from classmates, especially the 6’5” classmates wearing the letterman’s jackets? They weren’t his audience.

Excelsior lovers. They made up Matthew’s audience. And to his relief, that audience was more than just him.

The only element Matthew struggled with was scribbled on a piece of paper he tore from his steno notebook. A notebook he kept with him at all times, the closest resemblance to schoolwork he had written in his notebook in weeks. The paper read: 1 Denarian Year = 100 Earth Years. Denarian Lifespan up to 300 Years = 30,000 Earth Years. Underneath that were the words, “Semminex’s Story 10,000 Earth years ago.”
Matthew considered how valuable Excelsior was for him as a means of escape as he ran his hand down the back of his head, picking a spitball out of his hair. He then scratched his arm and wished that he had the type of muscles he had drawn for Semminex. Sure, he had little to no body fat, which was always a surprise to him considering the amount of fast food he ate, but he looked nothing like the hero he drew, the type of hero who would never have to endure taunting and spitballs.

Once he finished writing about Semminex leading the charge through the prison doors, Matthew decided to focus on the artwork. It was nothing too complex, especially since he wasn't going to be putting this on his site. Just pencil today, no color required. He leaned forward at his desk and paid extra attention to Semminex's look. He made sure his long and wild hair looked just right. Matthew seemed to take an hour on the eyes. Although if it had really been an hour, the bell would have rung.

“Mr. Peters? Mr. Peters?!”

When Mrs. Burton spoke Matthew's name the second time, he looked up from his page. Why would she pick this moment to call on him? She always had a knack for interrupting him at the most important of times.

Unfortunately for both him and Excelsior, as much fun as revisiting this origin was, Matthew still had to contend with Mrs. Burton's U.S. History class, and she was never fond of her students not paying attention. Especially a student going out of his way to show that he was not paying attention, which Matthew had a tendency to do whenever his face was three inches from his desk.

Matthew sat back in his seat. “Yes, Ma'am?”

“Were you listening to what I was just saying?”

Matthew looked around the classroom, where he had somehow become the center of attention. All 23 of his fellow students sitting at their desks had their eyes focused on him. Even the eyes of the US Presidents on the classroom posters seemed to be looking directly at him, waiting for an answer. He took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. He reached under his sketch pad and looked at his textbook, open to a chapter on the Civil War.

He decided to take a shot. “About the slavery in the South?”

Mrs. Burton wouldn't let him off the hook. She never did. He would gladly endure another lecture after class about the importance of listening, but he was convinced it was more fun to watch him squirm.

“What about it?” she asked.

Matthew could have told her anything regarding slavery, but only on the planet Denab IV. After trying to come up with a suitable answer, he decided that this wasn't a battle of wills worth fighting. “I'm... not sure where you left off.”

Mrs. Burton nodded. “See me after class, Matthew. I'd like a word with you.”

Matthew's chin dropped against his chest. Once again, he had let the work on his comic get in the way of his studies.

While Mrs. Burton went on with the day's lessons, Matthew brooded. No matter how many times she would go out of her way to embarrass him in the classroom, something wouldn't allow the lessons to fully sink in. His comic always took precedence.

When the bell rang fifteen minutes later, Matthew walked up to Mrs. Burton's desk.

“Mr. Peters, how many times this week have I had to interrupt the daily lesson so I could pull your mind back into the classroom?”