Chapter 2: Revelations

The Past…

“Look what I have made for you, Elmar.”

The young woman came over to see what gift awaited her.

“It is an update to the reality simulator I have been working on,” Zilas pulled out a head device connected to some type of machine, “Put it on.  You will see as if you are watching the Zenn-Lavian seas… nothing is more relaxing.  Soon, I will create a way which will utilize everyone’s senses, where they can escape to a totally different reality from their own!”

Elmar rubbed against her young companion.  “You are very smart… but wouldn’t you rather use your knowledge for something different.  To create something real, to discover something new?”

“You have no vision!  People will love this!  It will be a new form of enjoyment!”

“But is that what you want Zenn-La to become?”

The man was clearly upset.  He grabbed his equipment and left the room.  “You don’t go anywhere in life by building a ship, Elmar, not anymore!  Perhaps you should wake up… there’s a new Zenn-La out there!”

Elmar began to cry, when another young man in the same laboratory came to comfort her, “It’s all right, Elmar.  Zilas just doesn’t have the same dreams that you and I do.”

Elmar wrapped her arms around the young man and smiled, “Thank you, Jartran Radd.”  Though she was currently involved with Zilas Flantz, she knew that, deep down, her love belonged to Jartran Radd.  He was a student who was known for his scientific mind.  He was currently working on projects to help better space explorations, by breaking the speed of light and making other planets inhabitable, but there wasn’t much interest in Zenn-La for such things.

As Jartran Radd continued to hold the young woman, Zilas Flantz had returned, watching what was transpiring.  That day, he swore revenge on Jartran Radd.

The Present…

The man formerly known as Norrin Radd walked the streets of New Zenn-La as Norrin Radd once more.  Though the Power Cosmic flowed within him, his outer appearance looked no different than any other Zenn-Lavian.  But as Norrin Radd walked the streets, reconstructed to look like that of his homeworld, he did not feel like he belonged.

No matter what he did, he could not fit in.  He wondered if he could ever fit in, if he could ever call another place home.  He questioned if it was this place.  Or perhaps it was something about him.  Or perhaps it was a mixture of both.  He could not deny that the death of his father still haunted his being.  It was an event that changed his life forever, an event that helped drive him away from Zenn-La and into the hands of Galactus by saving the home he disowned.  He blamed Zenn-La for his father’s death and he blamed himself.  He knew it was time he forgave both, or he could never find peace on this new world and could never live with himself.

Many hours and many thoughts later, Norrin Radd sat on a bench, with his hands grasping his head.  He felt like calling his board to his side and escaping this new, but familiar land.  He knew, however, that he had to stay.  This place offered, if not a new home, a new solution to a haunting question – was he to blame for his father’s death?  While his father encouraged him and inspired him, he turned his back when his father needed him most.  He drove his father to suicide, when he refused to forgive him for his sins.  No one was left, but him.  His wife, Norrin’s mother, died of the same fate.  But Norrin Radd questioned if his father truly died of suicide, or if it was murder and if he was the murderer.

Zilas Flantz sat next to Norrin Radd, he could see the distress in his appearance.  “Would you like to confide in me?”

“Thank you, Zilas Flantz.  This place has brought back all sorts of old memories.  Memories of my father.”  Norrin Radd was truly thankful for what Zilas Flantz had done.  In truth, he wished the old man was his father.

“That is no accident, Norrin Radd.”

Norrin Radd looked at the old man with curiosity.

“I knew your father.  In fact, much of what surrounds you was created with technology of his.”

“You knew my father?!”  Suddenly it hit him.  “Zilas Flantz… you are the one whose… whose work my father…”

Zilas smiled, “Yes.  But that was a long time ago.”

“No.”  Suddenly, Norrin Radd felt guilty for what his father had done and remembered how ashamed he once was.  “Please accept my apologies… on behalf of my family’s name and honor.”

“Do not mention it.  As I said, it was a long time ago.”

“Yes, but what my father did.  It was disgraceful.”

“Your father and I were friends.  What he did, though reprehensible, it was not worth ruining that relationship, that trust.”  His head then dropped, as if in sorrow, “It was not worth his life.”

Norrin Radd rose from the bench, looking more distressed than before.  “Thank you, Zilas, but I must go.”

Norrin Radd then called for his board.  It flew from his apartment to his side.  He stepped on it and flew upward.

Zilas Flantz watched as his new friend ascended into the sky.  Then a smile appeared on his face, his plan, years in the making, was finally coming together.  Perhaps it was time to reveal everything.  No, there was still more to be done, he had to drive Norrin Radd to the edge.  Then he would get his revenge.

Norrin Radd’s board stopped at no particular point in the now dark skies of New Zenn-La.  Norrin Radd looked over the place he wished he could call home, then he looked at the stars.  At one time, those were his home.  But now he was no longer at peace within himself.  The guilt of his father’s death had returned to him.  For a small moment in time, the thought then entered Norrin Radd’s mind.  The thought that had come to his father’s a long time before and his mother’s even farther back.  No! Norrin insisted in his mind.  Suicide was not an answer.  It had been the answer for many Zenn-Lavians for many centuries, after their thirst for life ceased, replaced by the arrogance of what they had accomplished and the ignorance to imagine more.  But for Norrin Radd, this thought had arisen from guilt.  Could he really consider himself responsible for his father’s actions?  Or was something else interfering?  Perhaps this was Mephisto’s doing!  Perhaps it was this world!

He then felt a hand touch his shoulder.  The hand was drenched with blood.  Norrin turned his neck to see what it was, to see his father leaning over him.  His body dead and decaying, Norrin noticed the bullet wound to his head, where his father had shot himself.  His father extended his bloodied hand to his son, and he then seemed struggled to mouth something, but before Norrin could tell what it was, the image was gone.  His father was gone again.  Leaving Norrin Radd alone again, trying to determine what the meaning of it all was.

Below, Zilas Flantz sat, strapped in a machine.  He was wearing some remarkable device on his head.  His eyes were closed, as he was now using his mind’s eyes.  He grinned, as he felt it was time to enter the next step in this game.

Norrin Radd sat on his board and overlooked the world below him.  Suddenly, the entire planet flickered, as if he had been watching a television image that had lost its reception.  As everything before him faded away, he saw nothing but a naked planet, filled with dark orange sand and rocks – empty except for one small building.  Then, in the same way, the planet was restored to the image of Zenn-La he saw before.

“By the gods of Zenn-La!”  Norrin Radd stood on his board, knowing something was wrong.  He quickly returned his appearance from a simple man of flesh to a man of power.  He was once more dressed in silver, suited for whatever battle awaited him.

He soared downward, to find Zilas Flantz, to find answers!  As stormed into his house, the old man sat quietly in his chair, as if he was awaiting his arrival.

“What is the meaning of this, Zilas Flantz?  What kind of trickery are you trying to pull?”  Moments earlier, he had seen the entire world of New Zenn-La flicker before his eyes.  He realized now that it was all an illusion.  Everything he had seen and felt and heard in the past few days was all just an illusion.  Everyone he interacted with did not exist, but one.  Zilas Flantz.  Somehow, Silver Surfer knew this man was behind all this.

“That’s right, Norrin Radd.  This is all but an illusion,” Zilas responded, as everything returned to its true state – a deserted rocky planet, with one building, a building covered with Zenn-Lavian technology and centered around one machine.  The machine was large and covered with various mechanisms, and Zilas Flantz was wearing a headpiece of some sort that was connected to it.  “This is all an illusion designed to teach you a lesson, to share with you a history of your heritage.”  And then their surroundings shifted back to the illusion Silver Surfer had been living in recent days.

“My heritage?”

“Yes, son, about your father… and your mother.”

Silver Surfer was quickly getting frustrated with this situation, if it was not for his curiosity, he would leave, but he was intrigued.  Why did this man, who had been wronged by his father, go through so much trouble to have an audience with the Silver Surfer?  And what did he know of Norrin Radd’s parents?

“Does this have to do with my father leaving your name out of his project’s credits by accident?”

Zilas chuckled.  “Oh, no… that was no accident.”

Could it be that my father purposefully ignored this man’s achievements? Silver Surfer questioned to himself.

Zilas Flantz grinned, “Let me tell you more about my relationship with your father… and your mother.”

Zilas then changed the settings on his machine, transforming the illusion that surrounded the two, showing Norrin Radd an illustrated history of his parents and their relation with Zilas Flantz.  He saw that his mother originally belonged to Zilas, until Jartran Radd won her heart.  He saw the young grudge and rivalry between Zilas and Jartran, a rivalry between two battling intellects and two very different philosophies.

The images were striking.  Tears flowed down Silver Surfer’s face, as he saw images of parents he lost so long ago.  Everything was being revealed.  Zilas Flantz was not the noble man Silver Surfer thought he was.  The world he was on was not the reality he thought it was.  But Silver Surfer was still puzzled.  “What does this have to do with me, Zilas?  Are you trying to punish me for the wrongs of my father?  Why have you brought me here?”

“No, Norrin Radd.  I have already punished your father…” Zilas moved closer to the Silver Surfer in the reality he had created, “I think it is time you know the truth about your father… about my dealings with him… and my role in his death.”

The Silver Surfer fell to his knees, as if he had already known what images he was about to see.  Just then, the realities around the Silver Surfer twisted and turned into a familiar form, as the scenery turned into the Zenn-La from his early stages in adulthood.  Before him, he saw his father, tears pouring down his face, as he pleaded to his young son, Norrin Radd to return…

The Past…

…Jartran Radd pleaded for his son to come back, “Son, wait!  Let me explain.”  But he was gone.  He was disappointed in what his father had done.  He was so proud of his father, winning the Delta Award.  But the news discovered he had not given credit to the creator of a small factor of his work.

Jartran Radd was not sure what to make of the situation.  He could have sworn he cited everyone’s name correctly.  Could it be that someone else was behind this?  Someone who wanted him to fail?  Perhaps the same man who he supposedly forgot to give credit too?

He looked through his many drafts and blueprints leading up to his Psi-Sonic Transmitter invention.  “I knew it!” he exclaimed out loud, “This must have been the doing of…”

He was then interrupted by a very familiar voice.  “Zilas Flantz.  Hello, Jartran Radd.”

He quickly hid some of the papers under the huge stack he was browsing through and turned around to see his enemy from years ago, “Why did you do this, Zilas Flantz?  Are you so jealous of everything I have accomplished?  Or perhaps that Elmar chose a path with me other than a path with you?”

Zilas Flantz’s face was full of anger, “Do not bring the dead into this.  You stole her, you will not steal my dream too!”

“I did not steal anything from you!  Jartran Radd rebuts.  He paused then continued, “You know I can prove my innocence.  I did cite you as the creator of that very simple equation, yet you somehow managed to have it erased on my final presentation.  You have risked your entire career just for revenge.  You are lucky that I am a sympathetic person.  We can let this all blow over and simply blame it on error.”

“I do not think so, Jartran Radd.  Your project should have been mine.  You don’t even care about the Psycho-Recreational Arts.  You should have stayed with spaceships!”  Zilas Flantz yelled, the jealousy evident in his voice.

“You know there is no funding for that, otherwise I would, instead of dwindling in these dream machines!”

“Well, do not worry, Jartran Radd.  You won’t be dwindling your talents any longer.”  Zilas Flantz pulled out a gun.  “Say hello to Elmar for me.”

Concluded in Chapter 3

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