Meteor Soldiers - Episode 1-6

Down the dark corridor marched Tokusatsu, followed by Penta and the others. Following the man around many corners, Corey wondered how deep under the marshy waters they were heading. He lingered at the back of the flock with Burt, though the flock didn’t necessarily include lone wolf Chess, who dragged himself along like a ragdoll on a string.

            “I don’t wanna fight either,” said Burt to Corey, “but I’ll admit that I’m also excited. You know those Lost episodes where the opening scene focuses on some unintroduced characters, and their conversation consists of cryptic subtext, but you’re hyped because you know that within two minutes a central character will appear and everything will make sense? That’s how I feel.”

          “Really?” Corey replied. “My mood more closely resembles the feeling you get when you have to take a suppository, so you cover it in lube, but right after inserting it you realise that the lube was actually Dencorub.” No matter where they were headed, their final destination was danger. He didn’t know how he’d react when forced to face it, but he wouldn’t have to wait to find out; they reached an iron security door at the hallway’s end, lifted from a vintage spy movie. Striped black and yellow ‘Danger!’ patterns ran the door’s centre - a perfect metaphor for the danger his new life would encompass. In fact, the metaphor was so perfect, he though, that any author to use it would be publication-worthy.

            Tokusatsu placed a finger on the door’s scan panel, and a green LED light instantly flashed. A symphony of whizzing gears played as the door split vertically and opened. “Be warned,” he said, turning to the crowd: “Within these doors you’ll learn truths made to shock. If there are any M. Night Shyamalan films you’ve yet to see, I recommend watching them now. After entering this door, no other revelation shall ever shock you.”

            “His films are predictable,” said Gina. “I guessed from the start that Bruce Willis’ character was the village.”

            Into the room they stepped, blinded at first by a lack of light. But once they’d all entered and the door had sealed behind them, they noticed the pedestal in the centre, spraying alien blue illumination around it. Miraculously, the walls were blacker than those of the Control Room, and the light barely made them visible. Once they’d formed a semicircle around the pedestal, Corey realised that it held up a weighty chunk of rock, wrapped in a luminous blue bubble.

            “As you know,” said Tokusatsu, “mankind didn’t evolve from apes, but rather travelled to Earth from galaxies beyond on board an enchanted vehicular asteroid.”

            “Umm, no, I didn’t know that,” said Burt.

            “I just told you,” said Tokusatsu. “If you didn’t know even after I told you, you clearly weren’t paying attention.”

            Is he serious? Corey thought. “Wait, you mean humans came from outer space?”

            Tokusatsu clasped his temple in frustration. “Attention everyone: Your ancestors arrived on Earth in an asteroid. I won’t explain it a fourth time.” Penta gave an empty shrug, as if saying ‘He’s always like this’. “Now, the original celestial object was fragmented upon entering our atmosphere, and most of the individual parts are now powerless. However, one such meteorite survived...” He gestured at the misshaped hunk of stone on the pillar, protected by the dome of blue fluorescence. Only now did Corey notice the stone’s rough surface, like a coarse flesh scalded by atmospheric acid. He also noticed the shape of something else - perhaps another pillar - in the room’s corner. Gina took a few curious steps towards it, before bending to examine it.

            “BRAWK!”

            “Aggh!”

            She leaped backwards and landed on her rear as something fluttered away from the pillar. Landing on Tokusatsu’s shoulder, it was revealed to be a parrot; red wings, blue down the underbelly with a faint grey ‘beard’ of feathers beneath its green face and head. A sharpish black beak hooked out from the air-dweller’s face. All in all, an average but handsome bird.

            “A parrot indoors?” gasped Burt, clutching his cheeks. “When will the madness end!?”

            “This here is Reif,” said Tokusatsu, stroking the bird’s face with his index finger. “I only have two allies helping me fight this war, and evidently one is a parrot. You can see why I need your help.”

            “Brawk!” Reif crowed. “Must fight war. Fight war and speak in disjointed sentences. BRAWK!”

            “That’s one smart birdy,” said Chess.

            “Yes... Pretty smart,” Tokusatsu said with a frown. “But he’s still quite unstable. He’ll often defect from a conversation to give horoscope readings for fictitious star signs.” He clicked as if remembering something. “On the topic of star signs, there is but one true method of prediction. Our forerunners predicted the future through riddles - riddles unlocked by calculating the intersection points of meteors.”

            “Like Loom of Fate,” squawked Reif, “only less stupid.”

            “All foreseen events have come to pass, except for one.” Tokusatsu breathed deeply. “I have kept this riddle in my heart for years: Nene-traet oairi litirus lif inormus uil-doe, gickil jestikals dif jaibrous-”

            “What the Lord’s-name-in-vain-taking hell does that mean?” Corey asked, uncaring that he was interrupting.

            “It’s the language of another species from the planet humans originated from. Translated to English, it is as follows: Satan’s mouth fears none but five - Mary Sue on a vendetta, a hunter who speaks not, the man clad in darkness, one whose head is but a void, and some really fat guy.”

            “So this alien race just happens to have a word for ‘Mary Sue’?” Chess said in disbelief. That’s when Corey remembered something Tokusatsu had asked him, and considered the mannerisms of Penta and his schoolmates. Could it be?

            “That riddle.... was referring to us?”

            “I believe so,” said Mr. Tokusatsu, scanning the five younger humans in the room. “The five of you may well be the ones mentioned in the riddle, capable of challenging Devil’s Maw and restoring balance to the world. Admittedly, I’d have preferred it if one of you kids was black and another was Asian, purely for diversity’s sake. In any case, there is but one way to know if you’re the ones.” He pulled a controller-like device from his pocket and tapped a longish sequence of keys. Subsequently, the blue laser dome covering the meteorite faded with a zapping sound. For a second the room was dark. Then the lights came on, bringing true visibility to the walls at last.

            The stone on the pillar was finally unprotected.

            “Place your hands on the meteorite,” said Tokusatsu, “and let’s see if it blesses you with power.”

            “Blesses you with power! Blesses you with power! BRAWK!”

            “I’m not doing this...”

            Once more, everyone turned to Corey. He knew he’d receive criticism for his objection, maybe even another accusation of cowardice from Penta. But he just didn’t care anymore. “Look, I’m not a chosen one. I don’t want Devil’s Maw to succeed any more than you do, but they don’t fear me just because a riddle says so.”

            “Then make them fear you,” said Tokusatsu.

            “Make them fear! Make them fear! BRAWK!”

            “But.... I’m no warrior, alright?” Corey didn’t have a clue what to say. Why weren’t the others supporting him? Didn’t it go without saying why they shouldn’t be made to fight?

            “What did you expect when you joined the army?” Chess asked, almost casually.

            “Honestly?” said Corey. “Not this. Not an evil army or an enchanted meteorite or, or, Emperor Bukkake? I thought I might - might -­ go off to war against another nation, with more than five allies. None of this crap.”

            “Repeat last few words of sentence twice followed by squawk,” said Reif.

            “Please, just touch the stone,” said Tokusatsu, in a solid but pleading tone. Desperation was more evident in his voice than authority, which was almost disturbing. “You admitted that the enemy need to pay for what they’ve done. Don’t wait for someone else to punish them.”

            Burt looked around at his companions, then took a timid step towards the rock. Clearly he was the bravest, but Chess was still first to place his palm on the stone. Since bravery was said to be a lack of knowledge, Gina placed her palm on the stone without fear. With robotic movements, Penta approached the rock as well. For a moment, they ignored Corey and simply waited for something to happen.

            None of Corey’s arguments had mattered, because he was ultimately bound to obey. Not because he wanted to battle Devil’s Maw. Not because a bunch of meteors had prophesised it. It was because in the end, he always gave in. Rarely did he feel the need to disrupt the flow of events that surrounded him. Whether or not it bothered him varied from time to time, but he was simply a drone. He’d never made any life-altering decisions on his own, except for one:

            He had chosen to join the army.

            Although Dave had suggested joining, his other friends thought it was a foolish idea. He didn’t join out of loyalty to Dave - far from it. He had joined to prove he was capable of making large leaps that directed his future. That one decision had thrown him into turmoil, and eventually into this room. He’d controlled the cause, but could never control the effect. Taking this into account, he now had to choose: would he passively go with the flow and fight in a war, or would he proactively run away screaming like a sissy?

            He was surprised when Reif mentioned a third option: “Find reason to fight. Brawk! Make self brave, see importance of battle. Grow bollocks to oppose shadows. Like most Leotarians you feel the need to belong, but watch out for September thirteen to eighteen, where Venus is aligned with-”

            Tokusatsu silenced the bird with the offer of a cracker as Corey tiptoed to the meteorite. The other four already had hands planted on the rock, and eagerly eyed him.

            “Do it for mankind,” said Penta in her empty monotone. He looked to Burt for assurance.

            “I’m behind you, man.”

            He then looked to Chess.

            “Meh, do whatever you want.”

            He glanced at Gina.

            “Just get me what you’re having.”

            I can always make a decision after I’ve touched the stone... And so it was. Once more he would comply. He raised his right hand, and slowly, uneasily, lowered his palm until the coarse fabric of the asteroid hunk pressed into his flesh.

            Then came the light.