Blue Nexus #1: Into the Nexus!

           

Living up on a hill that was a decent enough distance from light pollution definitely had its perks for a young astronomer. Living alone on a hill with a large backyard had its perks for an athlete who enjoyed practicing their skills, such as lacrosse. Living on a hill away from the noises of surburbia had its perks to let a student do their studying.

            It was very quiet, windy, occasionally warm, but overall comfortable up on that hill. There was a lone house with a very large backyard that rested upon it. The house was single story, with three bedrooms. The master bedroom didn’t have much to it, neither did the second largest bedroom. The third bedroom was merely the guest room. The backyard was double the length and width of the house, and in the backyard was a worn-out lacrosse net, a shed that served mostly as an observatory, and a small trunk full of sporting goods.

            The sun was just peaked over the mountains when the patio door opened, exposing seventeen year old Kyle Raiden to its rays. He had his sunglasses on already, holding his lacrosse stick in hand. He twirled it around with masterful ease, as he’d trained himself over the winter to become, essentially, an expert at the sport.

            It’d been three weeks since tryouts, and two weeks since Hell-week. During that time, Kyle more than proved himself as a lacrosse player and athlete; however, he didn’t earn the full-respect of his teammates and coaches, due to his missteps in the past.

            Kyle was a very fit boy, though. Standing in at six-foot-one and a hundred seventy pounds of mostly muscle, he was as athletic as most of the boys at his school. He wasn’t the strongest, but he extremely quick on his feet and had killer agility. He prided himself in his physical prowess, something he felt he worked hard for. His appearance was shaped by his lacrosse playing as well. He began to develop helmet-hair and he had some bruises up and down his arm. The straps from his chest pads, since he didn’t wear an undershirt, made lines across his chest and part of his six-pack.

            He adjusted the tape on his right wrist as he stepped outside. At practice earlier some got in a good shot on him, crushing his wrist beneath his body. It wasn’t broken or fractured, could be sprained but he couldn’t tell, so he decided to try throwing with using his left arm to see if that would fare any better. So far he was twirling the lacrosse stick easily in his left hand, so that was a plus.

            His grandparents were indeed home, as Kyle had to tell them where he was going just before he stepped outside. They weren’t too old, maybe around sixty or so, but they were his only form of family he had left. He had no aunts or uncles that he kept in good contact with—he couldn’t remember any of their names for that matter—and his parents up and left when he was only three years old for no reason. Not even his grandparents knew. They just told him that he was left with all of their old astronomy gear.         

            Kyle didn’t know much about his parents outside of the fact that they were good people who weren’t much of socialites and tended to spend most of their time star-gazing. Kyle also couldn’t remember very much about his parents, like memories with them, outside of a visit or two to an observatory that was downtown.

            It was his grandparents that sort of let him become who he was. They helped him get all of his lacrosse gear—donated, essentially, by the school—and allowed him to build the shed to have the observatory, as the guest room was typically taken up by Kyle’s friends Kip and Luke. Kyle had the build the shed all by himself, since his grandfather had problems lifting heavy things, but he had guidance from his grandfather. They were very much parents too him, though they didn’t spoil him and treated him like they had his father. He was often told how much he was like his father, but that Kyle had more intuition than his father did, and was more driven to succeed in school.

            Kyle liked to hear that, but wished he could have known his father to see how they were similar. What were his main hobbies, what kind of stuff did he do as a teenager that only his friends knew about? Kyle knew all about how his father and mother met and about their wedding and how his father wanted so badly to be an astronaut but couldn’t afford anything about community college. He wanted to know personal things, the things that fathers and sons could actually talk about.

            After a while, Kyle adjusted to the fact that he would never know, but the seething curiosity remained. At least he could have his own experiences to tell his children about with his goofball friends.

            Kyle made his way over to the trunk, which held some of his lacrosse gear. He wiped off the top and opened it up. He heard the fence shaking behind him and turned around. Kip and Luke were standing there, having just hopped over the fence.

            Kyle had known Kip longer than Luke, since he lived just down the hill while Luke was more near the school, about a mile or so away. Kip and Luke were the same height but look a little different. Kip was thinner than Luke and wore cargo shorts and the mid-calf black socks all the time. Luke was more of a…hipster, wearing bright colored shirts and tight jeans. His grandfather often wondered what was wrong with Luke to have him make those clothes, but Kyle forgave him since it just came with how his grandfather was raised. Kip liked to think he was cooler than he was while Luke could hardly care, he tended to focus a little more on school.

            “Hey guys,” Kyle said, sifting through the stuff and plucking out three lacrosse balls. He placed two in both of his pockets and the third in the pouch of his stick.

            “Ah, looks like you survived another practice,” Kip said, nodding.

            Kyle shook his head, laughing a little. “I see you’ve still got faith in me.”

            Kip sighed. “Look man, I already told you that I don’t want to have to go to your funeral. You’re only seventeen, you want to die that badly? Do you realize how good the lacrosse teams are around here?”

            “Not really, no,” Kyle said, standing at the spray-painted white line fifteen yards in front of the net. It was his usual shooting spot. “I just want to know how good we’re gonna be, that’s what matters. I’ll get to know the others teams when we come around to playing them.”

            “Well you should probably get to knowing them a lot sooner because you know that our team, historically, is not that good,” Kip said.

            “Yeah, but, since Kyle’s on the team now,” Luke said, stepping up to Kip and leaning on him. Kyle nodded. Luke continued, “Which means we’ve got about a percent better chance of winning now.”

            “You guys saw me at tryouts, I was the standout player,” Kyle said. He turned around, stick in his left hand, and shot, arcing his body. The ball flew through the air and went into the net, but Kyle couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. Mostly because he wasn’t wearing his pads, and because he was using the opposite side he was used to.

            Luke pointed at the tape on his wrist. “I take that back, he’s broken.”

            “I’m not broken,” Kyle said stubbornly. He walked over to the net and picked up the ball.

            “You’re broken,” Luke said.

            “Did you guys really just come here to pick on me again?” asked Kyle. “Or are you looking for my homework?”

            Kyle, the smartest of the group, typically did his homework right as he got home from practice. In his mind he had little time in his day to do anything else: he had school, then practice, then homework, then practicing by himself, then he would usually ride his bike down the hill to meet up with Kip and Luke and gallivant around the neighborhood to see what was up or if there was anything to do.

            They could all drive but there was nowhere to drive to, and nobody really for them to see that invited them places. They didn’t want to just show up somewhere unannounced, as in their town it was a bit rude to do that. Plus, their neighborhood wasn’t near anything but the school, and there was hardly anything to do there after hours anyway. Anything legal, that was.

            “Nah, just looking for something to do,” Kip said. “I haven’t gotten much homework yet anyway because all my teachers are starting to focus on all their AP kids, leaving us in the dust.”

            “Oh so you mean kids like us?” Luke asked, pointing from him to Kyle.

            Kyle shrugged and Kip nodded.

            “Just go hunting on social media to see if any girls are looking for dates to the Sadie Hawkins dance next week,” Kyle said, taking another shot, this time angling his arm differently. He missed completely and the ball crashed into the wooden fence. There were some cracks or dents in the wood from his missed shots but none of them too bad.

            “Or do you just want me to stalk Mira to see if she’s looking for someone?” asked Kip. Luke made a cat-call and Kyle avoided eye contact.

            Mira Jones was, by all means, the love of Kyle’s life. Did she know? Absolutely not…at least, he hoped not. Since their first meeting back in middle school it was love at first sight, and Kyle had tried a few times to ask her out but almost every time either Kip, Luke, or someone else interrupted and he’d suddenly find somewhere new to go. They were great friends and all of her friends guessed that he had a thing for her. It was tough to keep secrets in a high school with a very small population, particularly the ones around gossip.

            Mira was the captain of the track and field team and was well-regarded as one of the top athletes of the school. For a long stretch of time she’d dated the varsity football quarterback before breaking up with him and essentially vowed to never date an athlete again, as their schedules hardly matched up. Outside of track and field she was also on the TV production crew at the school as one of the lead editors, making some of the best school-produced videos Kyle had seen their side of YouTube. Well, that much was probably skewed by his interest in her, but objectively everyone at school seemed to like them.

            She and Kyle had one class together, American History, but sat on opposite ends of the room and shared a passing glance maybe three times a week. But boy did Kyle look forward to those passing glances. They talked in the hallway when they saw each other, as Mira regarded him as a good friend and Kyle regarded himself as permanently friend-zoned. Kyle did know, however, that one of Mira’s best friends, Sandy, had a major crush on him, and even learned to play lacrosse to try and impress him. Did Kyle like Sandy?

            As a person, yes, he did. She was very nice, especially to him, and had her perks. But she was quite a jerk to everyone else that wasn’t named Kyle Raiden or Mira Jones, particularly to Kip and Luke, seeing them as the bane to her shot at him. She had no idea about Kyle’s feelings for Mira and Kyle felt that if she did know, his life would be pretty much ruined.

            “Nah, you can pass on that,” Kyle said, picking up the lacrosse ball. He tossed in the air, then caught it. “I’m just going to assume that you wanted me to guide in something to do, correct?”
            Both Luke and Kip nodded. Kyle sighed. He looked over to the sun, which was now mostly behind the distant mountains. Daylight would last for barely over an hour more, and he knew that his grandparents didn’t like him out too long without them knowing where he was.

            “Alright, I guess we can—”

            “Kyle!” his grandfather shouted. His voice, despite being a little old, was still deep and commanding. All three boys looked with some shock over to the patio. “Son, I need you to run into town for me really quick and pick up some milk and bananas from the grocery store!”

            “Yeah but Mr. Raiden, we were just gonna—” Luke started.

            Grandpa Raiden put up a hand. “Nope, Kyle’s grandma isn’t feeling too hot so he’s gotta do it, he’s gotta find something to do other than just practice lacrosse all day. You’ll become a lacrosse stick if you keep playing with that some more.”

            Kyle sighed, and looked over to his friends. “Sorry guys, gotta go.”

            “Do you want us to come with you?” he asked.

            “Nah, that’s fine,” Kyle said. “I don’t think my grandpa would like it if I were driving you guys around anyway. I got this, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            The two boys nodded, said goodbye, and hopped back over the fence, heading down the hill. Kyle slowly walked inside, shutting the door behind him and placing the lacrosse stick down near the old jukebox that was hardly played anymore. Kyle’s grandfather handed him the keys the second he met up with him.

            “Be safe,” he said, patting him on the back. “Love you, kid, thanks for doing this.”

            “No problem, gramps,” Kyle said quietly. He moved out of the living room to the left into a short hallway. He turned right from the laundry room, then went through the door in the laundry room to go into the garage. He flicked on the light. It was a standard two-car garage that only had one garage in it. Next to the car there was nothing but a hanging bike that his grandfather used on and off. Most of the stuff in the garage was on the right side of the car, such as a work bench, some weights, Kyle’s box, and lots of miscellaneous boxes.

            Kyle slipped into the car, a relatively new one bought with some of his grandparent’s lucky winnings at a monetary Bingo night, then opened the garage door and left.

            He liked to leave the car in neutral as he rolled down the hill. The hill wasn’t too steep but it was enough to get him up the regulated speed in the neighborhood. He honked at Kip and Luke who were walking and talking down the road. The two of them jumped and Kyle snickered.

            He left the development with instinctive ease and drove past the school that was down the road a little bit until he was in town. The town was small and almost felt closed-in. It was hardly three blocks large and most of its convenience stores were just in the middle, such as the grocery store or the local drug store. Parking lots were easy to maneuver, too, making them perfect places to learn to drive. There was a break between this part of town and a more active one that was for another high school down the road, their rival school, but Kyle hardly had to visit down there unless he was going through it to the mall.

            The problem about all of the closed in and small space was that nothing changed, as nothing needed to change. Yeah, places updated with the times but barely. Most of the families living here were the same for generations. It was a very diversified town that still bore some influence on Native American culture, being in Virginia and all, but it was the same people all the time. When families were in town, like for Thanksgiving, it was a ball to see new faces. The town got a little more populous in the fall when the local community college was in but in the spring there was, oddly, nobody. Kyle heard that nobody bothered going to college around there because everyone was too invested in the lacrosse team to even go to class, but that was a load to him. He wanted to go to college, but not there.

            He wanted a shake-up, really. Kyle stepped out of the car, waving to the cart-boy at the grocery store. He had no idea what his name was or if he maybe went to that community college, but he waved at him every time he went into the store. Just as he saw many familiar faces within the store. Part of that was because he helped out at the elementary school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but a major part was that the town was so small it allowed for hardly any change, any big shake-up. The biggest place to hit-up at night was the small club, apparently, down the road past Kyle’s house, and even then Kyle was far too young, and smart, to go to that club.

            Kyle locked up the car and looked up to the sky. He shook his head. Going to school was mundane enough but going to school with almost the same people his whole life was worse still. Transfer students were adored at his school as they had experienced things outside of his small town.

            That didn’t mean that the town didn’t grow, though. It grew about as much as the tectonic plates liked to move, Kyle liked to think. It moved slowly enough for someone like Sandy to have a deep crush on him, when he was essentially a second-rate lacrosse player who had no  money for college and missing parents. It grew enough for Kip to become more popular, and it grew enough to where he was up to date with current events.

            He continued to look up to the sky. Over the last two years, the Earth had seen its major share of expansion, and Kyle’s small town would have hardly any of it. Super-heroes were now spotted around the Earth! From the alien from Mars known as Riko to the meta-human persona known as Phoenix and apparently vanished super-hero/ mercenary out west, who Kyle could not remember the name of, the Earth was growing. Kyle liked to look up at the sky and hope that one day he would get to see a man in a cape soaring across the sky, perhaps even land in the small town and say, “Hey, guess what, I’m your new guardian” and then the town would get some form of excitement.

            Kyle shook his head and looked toward the ground. That could never happen, though. His town was only famous for its lacrosse at a high school level, and lacrosse wasn’t too popular a sport in the professional world while baseball, basketball, and football of all types was on TV. Kyle wanted the town to be noticed, way more than he wanted to be noticed. He felt like he was a part of the system, but it was boring one.

            There was a booming noise above. Kyle looked up, looking for a streak from a rocket that was coming back into Earth. Wait, he though, there weren’t any. Not that he’d heard of. He kept good track of the Earth’s space-travels ever since Riko appeared. His parents were deep into astronomy and passed that gift onto him. As such, he had star-charts and moon trackings all over his observatory. He had dates on his calendar for every mission into space. But there couldn’t be one as spring brought on too many clouds for the astronauts to go up. Was Riko coming to Earth? Was it another alien like him, perhaps like the rumored Martian Eclipse?

            Something small blotted in the sky, hanging there for a moment before vanishing behind a cloud. Most of the people around him were just as confused as he was. They only looked up for a second or two before looking away. Kyle furrowed his brow as he kept his gaze up. Whatever it was, Kyle thought as his belief in super-heroes kicked in, it was definitely flying, though its distance away from the town was a mystery.

            Suddenly, a noise ripped through the sky and with a sudden boom, Kyle knew that whatever it was decided to land. The shockwave of the landing sent people airborne, but not seriously. Most of them landed on their backs, some taking a moment to get up. Car alarms went off and two were flipped. Kyle’s car was pushed back, knocking him to his butt as well. He scrambled to his feet, standing behind his car.

            Dust began to settle, and inside of it was nothing like a man besides its bipedal stance. It was very tall, the creature, and had two sharp talons. Its arms were patched and bulky. It had bulky legs and for toes there were also two sharp talons. Similar to an alligator, it’s mouth jutted out, also revealing its sharp fangs. The creature’s eyes were wide, though, and black. Its head was rounded. A thick black tail laced out from behind it, smacking the ground and even breaking some of the concrete rubble. When the dust fully faded, Kyle realized the creature was orange with dark orange blotches up and down its arms and legs, but it’s chest was more scaled. Oddly enough, it was wearing ripped up black pants, like it was trying to wear them.

            The creature looked around at the population, standing in a crater that wasn’t too deep. Everyone was frozen in fear, with only one guy being proactive and calling 9-1-1. The creature, somehow, managed to crack a smile. It was aware.

            Kyle looked up again. Okay, so any minute now Riko or Phoenix or someone was going to come swooping and take this thing away. Things like this didn’t happen in his town. Aliens were still a myth, to some the beings of Riko and Phoenix were gods. What did that make this thing? Well, Kyle thought, that depends what side it’s on…

            The creature’s tail lashed out and it struck through a building, shattering the glass and part of a pillar. It looked around, straight at the man calling 9-1-1-. He opened his mouth and a ball of fire shot out of it, incinerating the man and forcing screams and shouts from the populous. The creature moved its arms up and began to levitate. It levitated out of the crater and then stood on the level ground with the rest of the population. Police sirens wailed in the background. Kyle gulped and remained hidden behind his car.

            The creature seemed to gulp before speaking perfectly, “My name is Gargador. I am from a world much unlike yours. On my world the gravitational pull is much stronger, the air much more toxic, and we are ruled by a tyrant. I have arrived not as a conqueror or destroyer, but as one who is seeking the truth. Thus, I have a question, and if someone can answer it, I’ll leave just as quickly as I have arrived.”

            “Well will you clean up your damn mess?” shouted an anonymous, but brave, woman near Kyle.

            The creature looked over to her. “Your world is weak, that is not my fault.” He looked away from her, scanning the area until he found Kyle. His eyes, already wide, widened some more and he raised his arm, pointing a finger with a sharp fingernail a Kyle. Everyone looked over to see who he was pointing at.

            “Merciful Cata, I’ve found you,” he breathed. He spoke up, his voice booming, “Son of Lara and Thomas, you must come with me now. We have much to discuss.”

            Kyle, petrified, could only quake in fear. He hardly even realized how tightly he was gripping his rearview mirror. How the hell did this thing know his parents name, and who the hell was Cata? He gritted his teeth and subconsciously tightened his grip.

            Gargador nodded. “Just as I suspected, you didn’t fall for that. Very well.”

            Gargador suddenly leapt into the air, then landed right in front of Kyle. He pushed the car away with ease, not scratching it though, then gripped Kyle’s neck and hefted him like nothing into the air. Kyle kicked but he was being gagged. His face turned red in seconds.

            “I’ll destroy you and bring your head as a trophy to your parents,” he said. “Then I’ll kill them and you’ll all be together as a happy Nexus family.”

            Kyle couldn’t think, there was no blood flowing into his head. All he could do now was wait until his head popped off like a cork.

            He heard a growing noise and then, suddenly, was freed from Gargador’s grip. Gargador crashed into an empty minivan with nobody around it while Kyle crashed to the ground. His vision was flooded with stars, but when he recovered, he breathed in normally and looked up.

            Standing before him was a man in a simple hoodie and jeans. The hoodie was black and the jeans blue, nothing weird about that. What was very weird, however, was the fact that he had a blue aura around him. Not only that, but Kyle easily put together that the man who was standing before him had simply kicked Gargador away. On his left wrist, Kyle also noticed, as a blue bracelet.

            “What the hell is going on?” Kyle asked himself.

            “Listen, kid, you’re gonna wanna get out of here,” the man said. He had a very commanding voice.

Was this another super-hero, perhaps even Riko? No, couldn’t be Riko, as Riko was an alien and this guy clearly had human hands and a human voice. Riko, in his super-hero form, didn’t look or sound human.

            “Who are you?” asked Kyle.

            “An agent of the Nexus, just like your parents were,” he said.

            Before Kyle could ask, the man said, “Look, I know you’ve got questions, but right now all I can tell is that you already have the answers, all of them were given to you. Get out of here now if you want to find out about them.” The man looked around at everyone, then back to Gargador. Kyle swore he heard a light laugh. The man said finally, “Gargador, let’s take this out of town! You might say you’re not a destroyer, but I like to think you’re definitely a liar.”

            Gargador frowned. “Damn Cata, a Nexus found me. Oh well, destroying your kind is something we War Gods love doing.”

            “If only you were a War God,” the man, apparently a ‘Nexus’ said. He boomed toward Gargador, punching him swiftly and into the air. Gargador caught himself and launched a fire ball at Kyle. The Hood Nexus knocked away, then knocked Gargador in the face.

            Kyle, stunned momentarily, took in the words of Hood Nexus and shot toward his car. In mere minutes he was home, his mind running at a million miles an hour. Before his grandparents could interrogate him at all about what happened—heck they probably didn’t even know outside of the boom noise that signaled Gargador’s arrival—Kyle parked the car, placed the keys on the counter, and went straight for the shed.

            If it was true that his parents had already given him all the answers to his questions, then it was somewhere in the astronomy gear. That was the only thing his parents had ever given to him. But still, he had so many questions:

            Were his parents alive? Gargador made it sound that way but Hood Nexus made it sound like they were already deceased. And beyond that: what is the Nexus? A place, a person, what could it be? Was Hood Nexus the only one, were his parents a Nexus? Could he be a Nexus and not know about it? That raised another question, was Gargador a War God? How much of a bad guy was it if he’s just taking orders? Kyle didn’t want to get too far into the ethics of it all, but he knew that Gargador had to be a pretty big baddie for him to come crashing into town and blame the gravity of Earth.

            Kyle swung the door open and shut it instantly, getting straight to work. He went first for the trunk of knick-knacks and pictures his parents left for him. Sure enough, on several of the pictures, his parents were wearing a blue bracelet similar to the one that Hood Nexus was wearing. However, the same bracelet was not in the trunk or any of the things in it. Next he took to the boxes, which were pretty much all emptied out as they had all been for the telescope. Kyle knew that it nothing was in the shed’s infrastructure, as he’d built it, so nothing was there.

            Kyle took apart some of the telescope, even, to look for some of the things, but it was just as clean as the last time Kyle checked it. He sat down, disappointed. Maybe his parents forgot to give him whatever it was, maybe they left it all to Hood Nexus. He seemed to have all the power to use it, so, it would make sense that he had it.

            The sun was in pretty much the same position it’d been in before, so it still looked like twilight outside. Kyle wondered how the battle against Gargador was faring, and how the town was taking it. So many questions, he thought. Not nearly enough answers.

            He twirled around in his chair, tapping the eyepiece of the telescope as he did so, hoping for an answer. Nope, nothing. He twirled again, and still nothing. There was an echo of what sounded like a shout, forcing Kyle to look up through the now-open hatches of his roof, but nope, nothing. No Gargador, no Hood Nexus, no other aliens. Not a clue.

            Kyle stood up, giving up. He walked over to the door as he heard the chair continue to spin. Wait, the chair. He looked to it. He’d never inspected the chair before. Why would he, it was just a chair? Figuring not much would come of it, Kyle looked around the chair, then lifted up the cushion off of it. Instead of the blankness he was looking for, he actually found his answer.

            There, buried beneath the cushion of the seat, was the bracelet. Kyle, mentally, damned his parents for not putting it in a better spot but could hardly care in the moment. The bracelet looked actually plastic. It was light blue, too, with nothing special about it except for a darker blue line across it, just like the one that Hood Nexus was wearing. Except, the one Hood Nexus owned had a glowing blue line, this one just had a flowing one.

            Kyle slipped on the bracelet and suddenly it began to glow. He looked around himself, wishing for a blue aura to appear around him. He checked the cushion again, and noticed that taped to the seat was a piece of paper, rather ruined and a little worse for wear due to the age, no doubt. Instructions, perhaps?

            He unfolded it and placed it in the lightest part of the shed. It wasn’t instructions and it was hardly a note. It was dated three years after Kyle was born, though, and from his knowledge, a few weeks prior to his parents leaving. All it had written on it, in rather large writing was, “NEXUS ENTRY FOR YOU, USE WITH CAUTION NOT IN PUBLIC. SEE YOU SOON.”

            The handwriting resembled nothing of his father and mother, so, did someone else write the note? Was it intended for someone else? If this was intended for him, then, did his parents no longer have a bracelet?

            And, again, what was this all about the Nexus? Would Kyle be transported there and gain some magical powers or something? Kyle looked around the bracelet as it clung to his wrist, rather tight on it but not to the point of cutting off circulation. He raised an eyebrow. Curiously, he traced his finger along the line of the top of the bracelet.

            A blinding blue light flashed around him and he felt like he was yanked up in the air, yet was still on the ground. Air blew into his chest, puffing it out and for a split second, Kyle felt like he flexed. The blinding flash of blue faded as Kyle suddenly found himself indeed transported to somewhere new—an area of pure black.

            “Uh?” Kyle said. He looked down at his hands, which were surrounded by a blue aura. In fact, his whole body had the blue aura, just as the Hood Nexus did.

            “Ah, so you’ve come, son of Lara and Thomas,” a voice said. Kyle spun around.

            “Are you the Nexus?” he asked.

            The voice laughed. It was a welcoming voice and sounded a little aged. “No, I’m just another humble servant of its awesome power. Some have regarded me as a master of it. My name is Aequitas, one of the first to find out about its power.”

            “But if you’re here, then, where are you?” asked Kyle. While he was on the topic of location, “And where are my parents, are they here, too?”   

            “I have bonded my spirit and soul with the Nexus,” Aequitas said. “Thus, I am everyone within it, and I am also nowhere without it. As for your parents, I cannot say. I am able to track all users of the power of the Nexus, yet cannot track those without it. Your parents gave up all of their power to meld the transporter you have today.”

            “You mean the bracelet, they put theirs together to make mine?” asked Kyle.

            “Similar to a human birth, yes,” Aequitas said. “When that happened I could no longer track them, I’m sorry. But know this: their boding of their power has made yours even greater than theirs. Your ability to wield the power of the Nexus is greater than most before you. I must say, even I’m jealous.”

            “How many are like you?” Kyle asked. “Hundreds, thousands?”

            “There have been thousands before you, Raiden-Son, but only eight of us have become one with the Nexus as I have.”

            “Then why am I talking with just you and not the other seven?” asked Kyle. “Could they not make the trip?”

            “I’m afraid that is information for another day,” Aequitas replied. “When you reunite with your parents, I will be able to explain.”

            “So my parents are alive?” Kyle asked, excitedly.

            “From what I’ve heard, yes, your parents are alive,” Aequitas said. “But you are in great danger, Raiden-Son. Gargador the demigod seeks to destroy you as he tried your parents. One of the followers of the Nexus does battle with him now, but only with your help can he defeat the beast. Use the Nexus, Raiden-Son, as your parents before you and as I before you.”

            “How the heck am I supposed to do that, I only just got it?” Kyle asked desperately. “Is there a set of instructions or a code or something I should follow?”

            “The powers of the Nexus will grant you abilities no human has ever had,” Aequitas explained. “To you, at first, the change will be extreme. But in perhaps a day’s time you will hardly notice the difference; it will have become one with your body and soul.”

            “So instinct, then, it’ll just become instinct.”

            “That is correct. The Nexus would not have presented itself to you so willingly were you not a worthy man, Raiden-Son, so now you must prove your worth and save your town and your world. I have faith in you, and if you ever have doubts, know that I, and the other eight Sentients, are here for you.”

            “Will I always be transported here when I try to use the Nexus power?” asked Kyle as he felt himself starting to fade away.

            “No, only when I or another will it,” Aequitas replied. “Until next time, Raiden-Son. Good luck.”

            Kyle vanished and in a blink he was back in his shed. He looked over to the clock and realized no time had passed since Aequitas transported him into the Nexus. He looked around, looking for a glass, and when he found one, grinned with glee.

            Kyle was about four inches taller and was a lot more muscular. He was ripped in just apart every muscle, but it was a subtle kind of ripped that didn’t shout “I am a super man!” His eyes were a piercing blue now rather than a darker blue and his hair grew a little longer but maintained its same shape. He also wore completely different clothing. He had a black cloak with a black shirt and black pants underneath, as well as easy-to-move-in boots. He noticed two blue streaks along his face below his eyes on his cheeks almost like war-paint, but when he touched them they felt naturally a part of him. He looked down at his arms and saw that he had a blue line starting at the blue circle in his hands that ran up along his arm and into his back, presumably to another circle. Overall, Kyle felt far more empowered, and the new look helped with that immensely.

            He stepped outside, wondering if his grandparents had noticed a thing, but nothing was changed. A breeze overcame him and he felt very light, as if he could jump and touch the clouds.

            That opportunity presented itself, as a sound similar to a jet ripping across the sky became audible and suddenly, Gargador appeared, hovering over his fence.

            “Just as I feared, he said, opening his mouth, a fire ball appearing. Kyle raised his hand, though—completely unsure of what he was doing—and a blue ball of energy shot out of it, soaring into Gargador’s chest and forcing him to swallow the fireball.

            Mimicking Gargador from earlier, Kyle raised his hands and inhaled. As he exhaled, he imagined raised himself to his tippie-toes, and as he did, his body began to levitate in the air. He felt some sort of energy allowing him to rise. He flattened his feet and he sustained levitation level with Gargador, who was sneering.

            “So now you’ve got the Nexus, too. Hope that you don’t think that means anything, I’ve killed plenty of people with the Nexus. That’s what makes me a War God.”

            “What did I say earlier?” asked someone behind Gargador. Gargador’s face turned to fear as he moved back and allowed Kyle to see Hood Nexus standing behind him. Hood Nexus looked over to Kyle. “Caught on quick, good for you.”

            “I was told I would,” Kyle said. His voice was much deeper and resounding.

            “Must be an Earth thing, because most of the aliens I’ve run into today have been pretty darn stupid,” Hood Nexus said. “Just like this one.”        

            “I’m not foolish to be surprise attacked by two Nexus,” Gargador said. He began to float back. “The child of Lara and Thomas will be dead, as will you.” He pointed to Hood Nexus. “You can’t protect him forever.”

            “Earth’s got a line of heroes that are willing to both protect him and defeat you,” Hood Nexus said, crossing his arms. “I’m not worried about it.”

            Gargador frowned. “Neither am I.”

            With that, he turned and shot off into the distance, making hardly any noise as he did so until he got farther away and sped up. Hood Nexus shook his head, looking over to Kyle.

            “Got any idea how to get down from there?” he asked, starting to let himself down.

            “Not a clue,” Kyle admitted.

            “Just lower your arms and let gravity pull you down, sort of like how you forgot all about it as you started to fly,” Hood Nexus instructed.

            Kyle did so, relaxing his body and letting himself fall slowly toward the ground. When he touched down he exhaled deeply, then loosened up his arms.

            “How do you like it?” asked Hood Nexus.

            “You mean the this stuff?” Kyle asked as he moved his arms around. “I like it a lot.”

            “You look just like your parents did,” Hood Nexus said, with a hint of pride.

            “How do you know them?” Kyle asked, the question burning in his mind like a torch.

            “I’m sure Aequitas, or one of the other Sentients, told you that the answers would come when they need to. This is one of them. I’ve been waiting for you to find the bracelet for a while, kid, and now that you have, I can start my mission again.”

            “Mission? What, are you part of some group or something?”

            “No, just, curious about something out in the Andromeda Galaxy, gotta check it out.”

            “Wait whoa, you can go into space?”

            “Yeah, so can you,” Hood Nexus said, sprouting a smile. Some light peeped out from behind the mountain and Kyle realized that Hood Nexus had a small beard and was wearing just a regular hoodie and jeans, like he thought. But how was he accessing the Nexus without a full transformation? His aura was still around him, as was Kyle’s.

            “I imagine that’s one of several perks,” Kyle muttered.

            Hood Nexus began to float. “I imagine it is. Stay out of trouble while I’m gone…actually, don’t stay out of trouble. Stay in trouble so you make sure it doesn’t go anywhere!”

            Hood Nexus turned, lurched his arms forward, and shot out of sight like a rocket. He faded into the twilight sky in a small flash of blue, headed off on his new mission and left Kyle with far more questions than answers.

            Kyle looked down to his bracelet, running his finger across the same way he had when he first transformed. Just like when he’d first transformed, too, he got out of that form and back to his regular form. He did feel some difference, but not a grand one as he had when he first transformed into his Nexus power.

            Curious to see if his grandparents really had seen anything, he went into the house. The living room was empty save for his grandfather in the kitchen turning something in a boiling pot as he watched the news. He flicked his head toward the TV, Kyle turning his head to see.

            On the news was showing some of the battle of Hood Nexus and Gargador. The headline read, simply, “Who the Hooded Blue Man?” Kyle kept in a snicker that Gargador wasn’t even mentioned despite him holding himself so high and mighty.

            “Damn aliens and super heroes all over the place, who do these creeps think they are?” he asked.

            Kyle looked over to his grandfather curiously for a second before looking back. Either he was playing the part of a parent who didn’t want to expose their child to the truth or he honestly had no idea that the Nexus was in play in town. The question crept into Kyle’s mind and festered there for a second. Who was he, now that he had the powers of the Nexus at his disposal.

            Hood Nexus left him in charge, it seemed, so he needed to become something more. He needed to be what his parents wanted him to be, what Aequitas expected of him. He looked back to the TV, seeing the destruction Gargador wrought. The town had never even experienced a nightmarish public shooting before this monumental moment, and moments like these the town could not afford. Nor could the world.

            Kyle nodded, then pointed at the TV. “You mean you’ve never heard of this guy? Yeah, he’s one of those new super-heroes.”

            Figuring that the town could easily replace himself with Hood Nexus, Kyle looked over to his grandfather, who was giving him a confused expression.

            “Nobody really talks about him, he’s pretty new, but I think he’s going to be fighting more guys like this thing more often, possibly even around here.”

            “Well great, whose our town hero then?”

            Kyle looked from the TV to his grandfather. Who was he?

            “He’s the Blue Nexus,” Kyle said proudly.


Next time: There's a brand new superhero on the streets! How will the community react to it all? How will Kyle react to it all! Find out in "Blue Nexus #2--The Phoenix and the Martian"