Beyond the horizon

As the fresh izigans boarded their various clan ships, Erik sneaked around the back of the Megatorium. He had noticed the captains, along with his brother, heading there. Almost there, he glanced around to ensure no one was following him. Suddenly, a noise caught his attention. Turning to look, he saw nothing, but when he faced forward again, someone was blocking his path.

The person leaned against the metal wall with his legs crossed. From his expression, Erik realized that this person had been tailing him.

Erik was furious and walked toward the person angrily. "Get out of my way," he demanded.

"As expected, cold as your brother," Ace said, stopping Erik as he tried to pass. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Who are you? And what do you want? You don't want to get into my business, do you?" Erik asked.

"My name is Ace, vice captain of the Umbra clan," Ace replied. "I'm stopping you because you aren't supposed to be wherever you're heading."

"You're not trying to stop me, are you?" Erik asked, scowling at Ace.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go any further," Ace declared.

Erik looked at Ace for a moment, then suddenly leaped, using the wall to propel himself over Ace. Ace reacted quickly, jumping slightly to grab him mid-air. But Erik was ready. He conjured a long black cosmic rod and twisted, creating a force strong enough to knock Ace out. Ace, who wasn't expecting a cosmic rod, was surprised when he saw it and barely managed to block it with his hand. The force slammed Ace to the ground in slight pain, while Erik vanished into a small light at his side.

"Are you kidding me?" Ace exclaimed in disbelief, recovering from the impact. "Cosmic rods? At his age? No, no, no. My eyes must be deceiving me. And that zap-in-reality technique, teleportation? Eren's younger brother is something else."

Erik reappeared near where the captains were gathered, five of them, including Eren. "Hey, Eren! What happened to all the messages I sent you from Earth? You left me all alone. What's wrong with you?" Erik shouted as he approached Eren.

Eren looked at Erik with disgust, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him to eye level. The other captains reacted quickly, trying to free Erik from Eren's grip but found it difficult.

"Listen, kid," Eren said angrily. "You're here now, aren't you? Mind your tongue. I'm your captain, not your brother. Know your place. I could kill you right now. Next time you annoy me, it will be your end." Erik struggled, trying to free himself.

"I can't use my powers. What's going on?" Erik thought, still struggling.

Eren finally released Erik, throwing him to the ground. Ace quickly rushed in, helping Erik up and carrying him away from the captains.

"Eren, are you out of your mind?" Lucy asked with concern. "That was your brother. You were strangling him!"

"He should know who he's dealing with before walking up like that," Eren replied coldly.

"He's your brother," Lucy insisted.

"Not here. I'm his captain," Eren said.

Meanwhile, at the research building, Dr. Helix brought Deborah out of the lab, and they stood at the door, talking.

"Deborah, that kid just gave me a clue. I think you can create your own construct reality," Dr. Helix said.

"Look, Helix, we don't have time for this. Earth izigans can't do construct reality," Deborah replied.

"They can't yet. But maybe earth izigans haven't figured out theirs. I believe you have a unique way of unlocking that ability. It's still experimental, but trust me on this. Since your clan has only five members, it would be easy to work on it," Dr. Helix said.

"Is it because of those whispers? Could be..." Deborah paused, realizing something. "Oh, I actually heard a frequency a normal person can't hear. Well, I'll give it a try. But I don't think Kenneth will have time for it, and the kids need to train first until their cosmic energy is strong enough."

While they talked, Belle listened from the other side of the door.

"Do you think what they're saying is useful to you?" John asked.

"Shut up, John. You're not even izigan, yet you want to be the assistant of some old man," Belle replied.

"That 'old man' is seventy and the head of the research department. He owns the big building, and yes, I'm going to be his assistant," John explained.

"How did he get interested in you so fast? I thought he was someone you had seen before," Belle said, walking toward Dave as he lay.

"When we arrived a week ago, the ship had a fault. I replaced a part with a fusion led from one of my devices. Dr. Helix saw me do it. He was amazed, called me, and started asking questions, which I answered. He asked what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to work here. Boom, I'm one step closer to being his assistant," John said.

"You're still a kid," Belle added.

"Jeez, I'm 19. I'm ready for anything. Working for Galaxia is my biggest achievement."

"You said this one's name is Dave, right?" Belle asked.

"I wouldn't mess with that guy. According to Dr. Helix, he's a mystery boy, popular among the head base and izigan officials," John said.

"How is he popular? He just got here and is unconscious," Belle asked.

"Come, let me show you something," John said, heading to a glass screen computer and searching for something while Belle watched. "A week and two days ago, a video was uploaded showing something unusual and amazing. It was blocked from all social media on Earth and kept in Galaxia's secret archives. Dr. Helix thinks I didn't see the code, but I did," John said.

"You're not even his assistant yet, and you're already going through secret archives. You're not to be trusted," Belle said.

"Can you just shut up and see what I'm about to show you?" John whispered.

John played a video showing Dave's body emitting light, with a long blue beam shooting into the sky.

"Wow!" Belle exclaimed, surprised. The video, captured from a distance, ended as the wave reached the person filming.

"What was that?" Belle asked.

"What did it look like? It was him, Dave. No one knows how he did it. It's still under investigation. The only unusual thing detected was the low sound frequencies from him and that guy over there," John explained.

"What about the Asian boy? Anything odd about him?" Belle asked.

"Nothing yet, but Dr. Helix believes what happened to Dave might be similar to what happened to Lang. That's his name, Lang," John said.

"Lang," Belle repeated softly.

**SECTOR UNIT**

The members here were busy as usual, sitting in front of computers and holographic screens. Terry paced around in frustration.

"Kate, have you gotten anything?" Terry asked as he approached her.

"Sir, only five sky stations have responded. The other seven can't be reached. Our signals are active, but theirs aren't," Kate replied.

"Is Cale Ruger's team among the five?" Terry asked.

"No, sir," Kate answered.

"Oh, shit. Keep the signals active," Terry ordered.

"Alright, sir," Kate said. Kenneth walked into the sector unit room, noticing the seriousness and Terry's disturbing look. He approached Terry, who rushed to meet him.

"The atmosphere here is tense. What's bothering you this time?" Kenneth asked.

"I haven't calmed down. We're trying to complete the signals for all twelve sky ships on various missions."

"What do you mean 'trying to complete'? What's going on?" Kenneth asked, curious.

"Five ships are connected. The others, we don't know what's holding them back. It's unusual, but let's not speculate. We're still in this," Terry said.

"Tell me Zora and Cale Ruger's team are among the five, please," Kenneth asked, but Terry's expression said it all.

"Terry, you can't be serious. This can't be our first planetary mission failure. Those izigans on those planets don't deserve to die. I don't know what you'll do, but make it work. We lost Tim; we can't afford to lose his student Cale Ruger and Zora, who is fit enough to replace Tim," Kenneth whispered rigidly, holding Terry close.

"Kenneth, we'll wait. Our signal is strong. We hope their sky ships pick it up," Terry whispered.

"I hope so," Kenneth muttered, his words conveying concern and discomfort. He wasn't ready for bad news as he was still recovering from the ones he witnessed.

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