The Universal War by Nikhil Dhingra
Chapter 5: One Step At A Time
The spaceship landed in the middle of a narrow, dark alley in Garion’s former neighborhood, Lower Manhattan of New York. When they first landed, all Garion could make out was that it was midday. Just as quickly as it landed to drop off Garion and Purstan, the meteor disappeared again.
Before Rebolto left, he tossed Purstan some clothes. Garion noticed that there was only one pair.
“Wait, what about me?” Garion asked.
“Tear off your strings!” Rebolto yelled as the meteor almost immediately went hurtling into space.
“Did he just ask me what I think he asked me?” Garion questioned, a hint of fear in his voice.
“That will easily...wait, did you go through the purification process?” Purstan asked.
“The what?” Garion replied, puzzled.
“The purify....” Purstan sighed. “Were you born an alien or did you become one?”
“I became one,” Garion replied.
“That’s what I thought,” Purstan commented, “considering you barely knew how to use your powers when we started practicing.”
“Yeah,” Garion replied, feeling a bit down, “but now I can do this.”
Garion started making a ball out of his tentacles in his hand. He was about to shoot it at Purstan, before he caught it in mid-air.
“We don’t have time to fool around, Garion. We have to go. Just trust me when I say tear off your strings, they will grow back. I will put on these clothes while you deal with that.”
Garion started to tear off his strings, expecting pain. Though, as each individual tentacle fell off one by one, his normal clothes started to show. Before he knew it, he was Nirem again.
“I’m...I’m not a...a...a...freak!” Nirem could barely make out the words.
“Just keep in mind that you should only do this rarely,” Purstan replied, “because you never want to expose your human body, where you are more likely to die than in your alien one. But yes, you’re still human on the inside. Literally.”
Within seconds, they looked like normal kids again, wearing worn baseball caps, torn jeans, and basic T-shirts. No one would have second-guessed them.
“The first thing we have to do now is look for a place to build our team base,” Garion said, taking charge, feeling more confident about the fact that he is still human. “We’ll need an area to build our training ground and then search for the right team to assist in helping us defeat Draktos.”
“Agreed,” Purstan said back. “Let's look around for an available lot of land.” They both looked at each other from head to toe one last time to make sure they looked normal and then headed out of the alley into the city streets.
The city was busier than ever. There was a huge line of traffic that stretched so far that Garion thought it ended out of town. People were everywhere, walking up and down the sidewalks and back and forth across the streets; cars were honking for the people to stop blocking traffic. For some strange reason, it seemed that almost everybody had a copy of the newspaper in his or her hands. Some were huddled together reading while others were walking and talking so fast that it was hard to make out what they were saying.
“What‟s going on?” Garion asked Purstan, confused. Purstan shrugged.
They crossed the street to get closer to the action. Garion found a copy of the newspaper, left on top of an outdoor café table of a restaurant, and picked it up. He started scanning the headlines.
There was a lengthy article about Tom Granger, CEO of a major construction company, and known billionaire, and his plans to build a majestic mansion, surrounded by a moat, on a large, private section of land in the heart of the city.
“Perfect!” Garion exclaimed. “Now, all we have to do is somehow get access to Granger and negotiate with him directly to give us the mansion and land, which would be a key part in building our plan to eventually defeat Draktos.”
“We have a little problem, Garion,” Purstan realized.
“What?”
“Not only the problem of how we could convince TOM GRANGER to give us his land for no cost at all without revealing that we are aliens, but also how we even get across the moat?”
“Darn it, I forgot that we can’t reveal that we are aliens,” Garion groaned. “If worst come to worst, we could always think of a ‘creative’ way to obtain the mansion from Granger.”
Purstan smiled.
“Wait, but what about the moat?” Purstan asked, still puzzled on how they could even attempt to accomplish a task like that.
“Don’t worry, I thought of something for that, too. Follow me.”
When they reached the moat (by walking, due to the intense traffic), they ducked behind the nearest alley.
“There are security guards everywhere,” Purstan gasped. “Where’s your genius plan now?”
“Like I said, follow me.”
They walked outside, towards the two security guards next to the bridge toward the moat, near the surrounding boats around the moat, keeping watch for intruders.
Garion, not wanting to tell Purstan that he didn't realize how many security guards there would be, then noticed the kayaks. A big smile started to creep over his face as he noticed the rocks at the bottom of the moat.
"Purstan, you're able to levitate things, right?" Garion asked.
"Yeah," Purstan answered, confused to what Garion was up to.
"OK," Garion responded, "so here's the plan. I want your to levitate that rock hard enough to break the kayak right above it. Then, just follow my lead."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Garion."
"Me too," Garion murmured as Purstan started to levitate the rocks.
Garion watched the rocks slowly rise off of the moat's floor, reaching towards the kayaks. The stone's then broke the kayak's bottom surface with a rigid blow, sinking the kayak, along with the two startled security guards, into the water.
Before anyone could even react, Garion jumped to the rescue.
"We'll save you!" Garion screamed in the most cheesy, unheroic voice.
He then called for Purstan.
"C'mon Jacob," Garion called in the similar voice, "let's show Jordan what heroes really are!"
Purstan, realizing his cue, started running for the water along with Garion.
"Wait," one of the security guards called out, "we can handle the situation! You don't need to...."
But Garion and Purstan were already in the water, swimming toward the security guards.
Garion knew they had to act fast. When he reached the first security guard, he quickly shoved him down deeper into the water, motioning for Purstan to do the same.
Purstan, still puzzled, did as he was told.
Both of the security guards, still in a daze from what just happened, we're confused on what to do, where to go. Garion already made sure to use this time to his advantage.
He motioned for Purstan to follow him as he swam around the moat to the other, unguarded side. It took them a little while, but as they swam Garion noticed they didn't have to breathe.
When they reached the other side of the moat, they swam to the surface gripping onto land as they did so. Purstan started gasping for breath, while Garion just stood there, calm as he could ever be.
"What kind of plan was that?" Purstan asked in disbelief.
"Well,” Garion started, "now all of these security guards saw us jump in the water, trying to play hero, right?"
Purstan, still confused, nodded.
"Well, now that we vanished and no one saw our disappearance, they're looking for two missing children that tried to play hero. No one wants missing children on their
hands. Especially a billionaire."
"I think I see where your going with this,” Purstan understood.
"So, while all the security guards are looking for us 'missing children,' we use this window of time to talk or, if needed, forcibly negotiate to Granger about our team base. Then we move on to Draktos."
Purstan stood up, feeling satisfied.
"I did want to ask you something about my breathing....” Garion asked, but was then cut off by a familiar voice.
"So what are you waiting for?" Granger asked from behind them with a stern, old voice. "How about you 'forcibly negotiate' with me?"
The spaceship landed in the middle of a narrow, dark alley in Garion’s former neighborhood, Lower Manhattan of New York. When they first landed, all Garion could make out was that it was midday. Just as quickly as it landed to drop off Garion and Purstan, the meteor disappeared again.
Before Rebolto left, he tossed Purstan some clothes. Garion noticed that there was only one pair.
“Wait, what about me?” Garion asked.
“Tear off your strings!” Rebolto yelled as the meteor almost immediately went hurtling into space.
“Did he just ask me what I think he asked me?” Garion questioned, a hint of fear in his voice.
“That will easily...wait, did you go through the purification process?” Purstan asked.
“The what?” Garion replied, puzzled.
“The purify....” Purstan sighed. “Were you born an alien or did you become one?”
“I became one,” Garion replied.
“That’s what I thought,” Purstan commented, “considering you barely knew how to use your powers when we started practicing.”
“Yeah,” Garion replied, feeling a bit down, “but now I can do this.”
Garion started making a ball out of his tentacles in his hand. He was about to shoot it at Purstan, before he caught it in mid-air.
“We don’t have time to fool around, Garion. We have to go. Just trust me when I say tear off your strings, they will grow back. I will put on these clothes while you deal with that.”
Garion started to tear off his strings, expecting pain. Though, as each individual tentacle fell off one by one, his normal clothes started to show. Before he knew it, he was Nirem again.
“I’m...I’m not a...a...a...freak!” Nirem could barely make out the words.
“Just keep in mind that you should only do this rarely,” Purstan replied, “because you never want to expose your human body, where you are more likely to die than in your alien one. But yes, you’re still human on the inside. Literally.”
Within seconds, they looked like normal kids again, wearing worn baseball caps, torn jeans, and basic T-shirts. No one would have second-guessed them.
“The first thing we have to do now is look for a place to build our team base,” Garion said, taking charge, feeling more confident about the fact that he is still human. “We’ll need an area to build our training ground and then search for the right team to assist in helping us defeat Draktos.”
“Agreed,” Purstan said back. “Let's look around for an available lot of land.” They both looked at each other from head to toe one last time to make sure they looked normal and then headed out of the alley into the city streets.
The city was busier than ever. There was a huge line of traffic that stretched so far that Garion thought it ended out of town. People were everywhere, walking up and down the sidewalks and back and forth across the streets; cars were honking for the people to stop blocking traffic. For some strange reason, it seemed that almost everybody had a copy of the newspaper in his or her hands. Some were huddled together reading while others were walking and talking so fast that it was hard to make out what they were saying.
“What‟s going on?” Garion asked Purstan, confused. Purstan shrugged.
They crossed the street to get closer to the action. Garion found a copy of the newspaper, left on top of an outdoor café table of a restaurant, and picked it up. He started scanning the headlines.
There was a lengthy article about Tom Granger, CEO of a major construction company, and known billionaire, and his plans to build a majestic mansion, surrounded by a moat, on a large, private section of land in the heart of the city.
“Perfect!” Garion exclaimed. “Now, all we have to do is somehow get access to Granger and negotiate with him directly to give us the mansion and land, which would be a key part in building our plan to eventually defeat Draktos.”
“We have a little problem, Garion,” Purstan realized.
“What?”
“Not only the problem of how we could convince TOM GRANGER to give us his land for no cost at all without revealing that we are aliens, but also how we even get across the moat?”
“Darn it, I forgot that we can’t reveal that we are aliens,” Garion groaned. “If worst come to worst, we could always think of a ‘creative’ way to obtain the mansion from Granger.”
Purstan smiled.
“Wait, but what about the moat?” Purstan asked, still puzzled on how they could even attempt to accomplish a task like that.
“Don’t worry, I thought of something for that, too. Follow me.”
When they reached the moat (by walking, due to the intense traffic), they ducked behind the nearest alley.
“There are security guards everywhere,” Purstan gasped. “Where’s your genius plan now?”
“Like I said, follow me.”
They walked outside, towards the two security guards next to the bridge toward the moat, near the surrounding boats around the moat, keeping watch for intruders.
Garion, not wanting to tell Purstan that he didn't realize how many security guards there would be, then noticed the kayaks. A big smile started to creep over his face as he noticed the rocks at the bottom of the moat.
"Purstan, you're able to levitate things, right?" Garion asked.
"Yeah," Purstan answered, confused to what Garion was up to.
"OK," Garion responded, "so here's the plan. I want your to levitate that rock hard enough to break the kayak right above it. Then, just follow my lead."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Garion."
"Me too," Garion murmured as Purstan started to levitate the rocks.
Garion watched the rocks slowly rise off of the moat's floor, reaching towards the kayaks. The stone's then broke the kayak's bottom surface with a rigid blow, sinking the kayak, along with the two startled security guards, into the water.
Before anyone could even react, Garion jumped to the rescue.
"We'll save you!" Garion screamed in the most cheesy, unheroic voice.
He then called for Purstan.
"C'mon Jacob," Garion called in the similar voice, "let's show Jordan what heroes really are!"
Purstan, realizing his cue, started running for the water along with Garion.
"Wait," one of the security guards called out, "we can handle the situation! You don't need to...."
But Garion and Purstan were already in the water, swimming toward the security guards.
Garion knew they had to act fast. When he reached the first security guard, he quickly shoved him down deeper into the water, motioning for Purstan to do the same.
Purstan, still puzzled, did as he was told.
Both of the security guards, still in a daze from what just happened, we're confused on what to do, where to go. Garion already made sure to use this time to his advantage.
He motioned for Purstan to follow him as he swam around the moat to the other, unguarded side. It took them a little while, but as they swam Garion noticed they didn't have to breathe.
When they reached the other side of the moat, they swam to the surface gripping onto land as they did so. Purstan started gasping for breath, while Garion just stood there, calm as he could ever be.
"What kind of plan was that?" Purstan asked in disbelief.
"Well,” Garion started, "now all of these security guards saw us jump in the water, trying to play hero, right?"
Purstan, still confused, nodded.
"Well, now that we vanished and no one saw our disappearance, they're looking for two missing children that tried to play hero. No one wants missing children on their
"I think I see where your going with this,” Purstan understood.
"So, while all the security guards are looking for us 'missing children,' we use this window of time to talk or, if needed, forcibly negotiate to Granger about our team base. Then we move on to Draktos."
Purstan stood up, feeling satisfied.
"I did want to ask you something about my breathing....” Garion asked, but was then cut off by a familiar voice.
"So what are you waiting for?" Granger asked from behind them with a stern, old voice. "How about you 'forcibly negotiate' with me?"