“The power is mine!” exulted the man. “The power that I shall use to rule this world!”
Standing behind an old ornate table in the disused former antique shop, he appeared to be of middle years, his face still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marred with the results of lifetimes of extreme evil. His hair was long and dark, and his countenance decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare. He was wearing an ebon-black vestment robe.
Beside him was an insanely voluptuous young girl with raven hair and luminous blue-green eyes. She wore a tiny bikini top, miniskirt, and spike heels that made her appear several inches taller than she actually was.
“It’s so sexy, father,” purred the girl. “I like the power of the Solarians!"
“That is right, Anastasia,” agreed the man with a peal of mad laughter. “It is sexy, and it is supreme power. It is the power that I -- Magister Don Wingus -- shall wield over all!!”
With this, a weird yellow light shone about the room, along with a sight as of myriads of darting creatures -- creatures of the same bizarre radiance. …
“This is where our systems detected the Solarian power arising from, hmmm?” said I, Doctor Daniel Rumanos. “Harold’s Antiques. It closed a couple years back when the proprietor retired.”
“So these Solarians,” said Millie Drake. “They actually come from the Sun?”
“Quite so, my dear Mills,” I replied. “They are a form of life that actually exists on that star’s surface. Usually harmless and not interacting with any other life forms, there are however occasional times when certain beings have attempted to exploit their power for inappropriate reasons. This appears to be one of those times!”
I was clad in my usual finery that sunny morning; including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, sunspecs, panama hat, Star of David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.
My companion, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and a sun-kissed complexion. The powder blue dress she wore only served to highlight her slender figure.
The door of the old shop was locked of course, but I knew my escape artist skills would make short work of that. I had just begun to apply myself to it when I heard Millie cry out:
“Daniel! Look at that!”
I looked up to see what had startled my companion and beheld weirdness indeed. It was an hovering mass of myriads of darting creatures, shining bright yellow -- and headed directly to-wards us!
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the strange sight again vanished.
“Daniel,” said Millie, “was that…?”
“Yes,” I affirmed. “The power of the Solarians. That was just a comparatively small portion of them, however. It was a mere warning against continuing our campaign against whomever has summoned the alien energies. The full Solarian power shall be much more devastating.”
I had by now opened the lock, and we stepped into the shuttered antique shop.
After searching through several dusty rooms, we entered one that was occupied by a man in a black vestment robe and a young girl who eyed me lustfully. Of course, I recognised them both immediately. I knew the man to be my most deadly enemy, the renegade Algolite who is the most wanted criminal in all of Time and Space; and I knew the girl as his insane and iniquitous daughter.
“You!” I said. “Don Wingus. I should have known. It is you that has called forth the Solarians, having reunited with your daughter Anastasia here to plan one of your utterly mad schemes, hmmm?”
“Rumanos, you old meddler,” countered Wingus. “You just cannot resist the urge to harass my existence, can you? However, it is no matter. I have the power of the Solarians, a power I shall use to rule this planet!”
As he spoke, the shining energy of the Solarians began to grow around Don Wingus, with the myriad darting creatures whirling about his form.
“Wingus, you are utterly insane,” I told him. “You cannot control the Solarians. They are creatures of fire and light; things beyond even your ability to manipulate.”
“Oh, but you are wrong in that, Rumanos,” he retorted. “The Solarians are totally under my control -- which I shall now demonstrate to your detriment!”
With this, the shining yellow energies suddenly increased like unto an hundredfold, and shot forth directly to-wards Millie and me!
“Die, Rumanos die!” bellowed the arch-criminal. “Feel the pain of death as the Solarians bring your doom!”
Do you see the terror, forsooth the strange horror of this situation? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- facing the villainous Don Wingus and his whorish daughter Anastasia. There we were as the full power of the alien Solarians -- the very same force that Wingus intended to utilise in his mad scheme of world domination -- was unleashed upon us!
“Now you will die, Rumanos!” repeated the madman. “The power of the Solarians, which I control, shall bring your death!”
The pain was indeed immense as the awesome force of the Solarians surrounded Millie and me. It was like unto the fire of a furnace, but with an anguish beyond that of the merely physical; a burning horror of extreme nuclear fission.
“Daniel!” screamed Millie. “I can’t stand this! What can we do?!”
“Resist it, Millie,” I counselled. “We must endure until we can somehow escape. We must…”
“Father!” suddenly interrupted Anastasia Wingus. “Father, please don’t do this! Don’t kill Doctor Rumanos! I like him. I want to have him as a plaything when you rule the world, okay? You can kill that Miss Drake if you want, but leave him alone, please. Please, father? Please?!”
“Stacy, you low-IQ tramp!” thundered Don Wingus whilst slapping his daughter across the face. “I am sick to death of your damnable obsession with that ridiculous old Daniel Rumanos! Do you hear me? I am sick and tired of it and will tolerate it no more!!”
Within the Solarian melee, Millie Drake again spoke to me.
“Daniel, do you notice something?” she said. “The power isn’t attacking us anymore.”
“Quite so,” I pondered. “Wingus has been distracted and his control is waning.”
With this, I stepped forwards, the Solarians parting when I passed. I then delivered a kung fu kick to the stomach of Don Wingus, sending him sprawling several paces backwards.
At this, the Solarian power completely changed direction and, in stead of continuing to attack Millie Drake and me, concentrated itself upon Wingus and his daughter.
It was over in moments. We heard Don Wingus bellow in outrage and Anastasia scream in terror as the Solarians rushed upon them. Then, with a sound like unto an atomic explosion, the yellow light suddenly vanished.
I glanced around the room. There was no sign of the nefarious Wingus or his wretched daughter.
“Fascinating,” I pondered. “The extreme energy of the concentrated Solarians seems to have taken them completely out of existence."
Millie Drake then ran into my arms. “Is it all over then? Have they been destroyed?”
“So it appears,” I replied as we began our exit of the old antique shop. “Nevertheless, we have seen Wingus escape from seemingly impossible situations before. We must continue to be vigilant against any possible resurgence of his evil. But for now, all is well. The Solarians have returned to their proper place on the Sun, and Earth is safe from the threat of tyranny!”
***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
