Part 18
Chase moved items out of the way with the help of Zen, the Penguin.
She found Fleagle leaning up against a wall with Justin sitting near
him. Both were awake now.
“You
good?” She asked.
Justin
nodded, “I think so, my head hurts though.”
Fleagle
whimpered, “My leg hurts.”
“Zen,
help me get them out of here.”
Zen
pushed a clod of dirt to the side and pushed a bookcase away.
“I
feel funny.” Justin felt his body.
Fleagle
said, “Me too. All tingly.”
Chase
spent a moment with that sensation crawling over her skin, “Me too.
Wait, if the Leprechaun doesn’t have his magic any longer, then we
are about to...”
“We
gotta get out of here,” Justin struggled to his feet and went to
help Fleagle up, “Come on. We don’t want to get bigger inside
this place.”
Zen
picked up Justin and set him to where he could get up the makeshift
dirt ramp while Chase helped Fleagle over the debris.
“Help!”
Chase called out to Dr. Blake, who looked down into the exposed
opening.
Dr.
Blake reached down, but before he could grab any of them, Fleagle
grew twice his size in a shot, then Justin grew. Dr. Blake quickly
grabbed Fleagle and put him on the ground, then got Chase up. Zen
tossed Justin just as his growing sped until he was normal in size.
To the awe and amusement of the crowd, all three returned to their
natural size quickly.
Nova
helped Chase to her feet, “You all better?”
“I
think so.”
They
helped Fleagle to his feet and a medic got him into an ambulance.
Justin
jumped up and stretched out his arms, “It feels good not to be
tiny!”
Chase’s
eyes bugged and she turned around. “Justin, you popped your
buttons.”
“What?”
He suddenly realized he was stark naked in front of thousands of
people. He yelled, covered himself, and hid behind Nova. Fortunately,
Martial Law lent him his overcoat.
Chase
smiled at Nova, “Looks like the shrinkable bodysuit works just
fine.”
“Glad
to hear.”
Just
then a small voice yelled out, “LET ME GO! I’M WARNING YOU!”
Krystal
Fae held the Leprechaun in her hands, a magical aura containing him,
“I tested him. His magic is almost gone. It appears it was taken
when his crock of gold went.”
The
Leprechaun said, “I will not be handled like this. DON’T YOU KNOW
WHO I AM!”
Nova
leaned over and got in the little man's face, “Yes, you are now a
prisoner of BADGE.” he looked at Krystal, “Escort him to New
York.”
***
Chase
and Nova entered a special holding cell block where the Leprechaun
sat on a bench.
“Come
to ask me why I betrayed this stupid planet?” The Leprechaun
grumbled.
Nova
stepped up, “I have many questions. And, yes, one of these is why
you would attempt to destroy an entire country, as well as thousands
of heroes.”
“Killing
the heroes was his plan, not mine. I didn’t care about that. I just
wanted rid of that damned little green country.”
“Why
hate them so much?” Nova asked.
The
Leprechaun sneered, “I wanted to be like my kin, helpful. Yet, the
humans mocked me, scorned me, made fun of me, treated me like a joke.
I was the stupid little imp of their fairy stories. I was the mean
little spirit that caused trouble for no reason. Then they had the
stones to turn me into a caricature of reality. Stupid cartoon images
of me plastered on everything from whiskey to cereal boxes. I’m one
of the most powerful of my kind before we came to Earth Legion feared
me. I was tired of the jokes, the stories, the foolishness. I was
ready to leave this planet, but I wanted to go with a bang. I wanted
to show this world who they made fun of.”
“So,
they bullied you,” Chase said.
“Seven
hundred years of bullying will turn anyone bitter,” Nova answered.
This
surprised the Leprechaun, “Yes, then you get it.”
“I
get where the anger in you came from, but it does not justify your
response to it.” Nova came closer to the forcefield between him and
the Leprechaun, “What I need to know is our enemy's plans. What
does the Hooded Man want? Who is he? What will he do next?”
The
Leprechaun laughed with a sly smile, “In the dark, are you? So lost
and confused, it must drive you insane to not know what he is up to.
Oh, it is quite the plan. To tell the truth, when I learned of what
he is planning, I was glad to be leaving this planet.”
“Don’t
play games. Give us the details.” Chase materialized one of her
blades in her hand.
The
Leprechaun gave her a dismissive sneer, “I do know who he is...or
rather was. This Hooded Man, as you call him, was one of my kind who
came here seven of your centuries ago. He went East and took on the
identity of a creature your people call a Jinn. He was always a
wicked soul, deep down. He was a powerful man from our world. He
wants more power. They denied him the right to rule on our world long
before Legion came. Now, he will assert that right over your people.
How he will accomplish this, I’m not entirely certain. I know that
his goal is to gather power from others of my kind. This way he’ll
be even greater and no one among my kind will be able to stop him.”
“Your
kind...who are your kind?” Chase asked.
“I...I
cannot say. We have denied our own name for so long I cannot speak
it. However, you surely know us, one of ours is right here, at
BADGE.” He looked at Nova, “Right under your nose.”
Nova
solemnly said, “That is not true. And, now that you’re going to
spin lies, this conversation is over with.”
“Fine,
believe what you will.”
Nova
led Chase out of the room. The Leprechaun was alone once more.
Chase
said, “I’m not so certain that he is lying about one of his kind
being here at BADGE.”
Nova
said, “Right now, our concern is what happens next. This world is
in grave danger if we don’t find and stop that, Hooded Man, this
Jinn.”
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