Heroes Rising Fiction: The Missing Mythic Part 7

Part 7

Gamma Ray moved through the trees and over the rocks near the cliffs that dropped off to the ocean below. People passed him and never knew he was present. His ninja training served him well. He did not want to attract attention. He listened in on the conversations of locals, to gather info on if Maneki-Neko came here. He had explored many locations already and was about to give up on this one when he heard two people speaking.

“It was a cat...with a golden coin in its paws.”

Gamma hid in a tree above the two villagers.

The other old man said, “You must be seeing things.”

“No, really, it was a solid white cat with odd markings for a cat, and it had a big, shiny golden coin.”

“Are you saying it was a lucky cat?”

“Maybe.”

“Bah! You’ve been drinking.” The man left his friend.

Gamma dropped beside the first man and asked, “Where did you see this cat?”

“WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!” The man yelled.

“No time. Where did you see this cat?”

The man pointed down toward the beach, “Going along the coast.”

“Thanks,” Gamma said and then vanished in a puff of green smoke.

The man looked around for a moment and then said, “Definitely need to give up drinking.”

***

Gamma ran along the beach, searching for any clues. Pawprints were impossible to find, the surf washed them away. Any shed fur would also wash away. To him, this was a brilliant move on the cat’s part. This made her very hard to track. As he ran past a small cave in the rock wall, a golden flash caught his eye and he skidded to a stop.

Returning to the cave, he looked in. It was hardly more than a gouge in the rock, but a small creature could be hiding. “Hello, Maneki-Neko?” Nothing came. He pulled out the pendant from under his outfit, “Lord Dragon sent me to seek you. Please, I mean no harm.”

A little white head peered around a rock, “Truly, that is Lord Dragon’s symbol.” With that she came out, crawling over smoothed stones and piles of shells.

Gamma knelt and bowed to her, “Hello, my name is Gamma Ray.”

“I am Maneki-Neko. Jinn is out there, he tried to kill me.” She was still rattled from the incident.

Gamma nodded, “We know. Lord Dragon wanted to be certain you were safe.”

“I know how to hide.”

“I see that. You did an excellent job. I am difficult to fool and you almost fooled me.”

“What do you want?”

Gamma said, “We are searching for information about the missing mythic. The man who came here first and does not know of his identity as one of your kind. Do you know anything that can help us locate him?”

She shook her head, “No. I have lived in this part of your world for centuries and I have encountered no one that made me consider them one of our kind in disguise. Now, with all these supernatural heroes running around, it is hard to know.”

“I understand. We...”

Maneki-Neko suddenly gasped, “I sense magic coming, powerful magic!”

Gamma turned, and his hands filled with green energy. Maneki-Neko hid behind the rocks again. Gamma said, “I will lead him away from you, stay in hiding.”

Suddenly a person crashed into the sand of the beach and rolled until she hit an enormous boulder. Krystal Fae coughed and pushed herself up with the help of that stone.

“Krystal?” Gamma let go of his energy and ran to her.

Krystal looked up, her face bruised and bloodied, her costume a mess. “He is too strong. I barely escaped with my life.”

Maneki-Neko ran out, “Oh, it is the one who saved me.”

“It is good to see you are still well,” Krystal said.

“Thanks to you. You look awful.”

Krystal pulled a leaf out of her messy hair, “Trust me, I look better than I feel. Jinn is unbelievable. I almost didn’t make it out with my life.”

Gamma asked, “Do you know where he is?”

“Not currently, but I can say he was heading west across the Indian Ocean the last time I saw him before he hit me with that last blast of magic. It took all I had to direct myself toward you.”

“We need to get you to Lord Dragon.” Gamma helped her to her feet.

“I was hoping you’d say that. We need to organize ourselves.”

Gamma looked back at Maneki-Neko, “Get back into hiding.” With that, he helped Krystal move.

***

Chase stood with Lord Dragon in a room where they had set up a mirror as a direct link to BADGE. Nova spoke to them from the New York HQ.

“So far we have reports back from Africa, agents found Anansi and spoke with him. He has nothing to offer in locating this mythic. I got a report moments ago from St. Petersburg, they located the Tooth Fairy, she too offered no fresh information. So far, we are coming up nil about this mythic. We also have had no sightings of Jinn.”

Lord Dragon pondered this, “Have you spoken with Leprechaun?”

“Yes, just an hour ago I had one of our best heroes interrogate him...again. He still says he knows something but is unwilling to divulge any details. Do you think you could force him to talk?”

“He was always a stubborn man. I doubt I could get him to talk. He knows I will follow the principles of my people to the letter. Which means I will not kill him, thus I hold no other method of convincing him you haven’t already tried.”

Nova let out a hard sigh, “We will continue this search. When I have new information, I will be in touch. BADGE out.” The mirror changed to their reflection.

Chase asked Lord Dragon, “What next?”

Lord Dragon gave her a gentle smile, “Next is dinner. Let us rest, hunger and weariness are not beneficial.”

“Go ahead, I will join you shortly. I have to send my reports. BADGE is all about paperwork.”

He left her. She picked up the communicator and transferred files.

Gar stuck his head through the door. “Chase, they’re preparing food.”

She smiled, “I know. I’ll be there.”

Gar came in, “Are you sending my reports as well?”

“Yes. I know you have trouble working these things. Besides, we have so little to report.”

Gar quietly said, “Do you suppose they have a reason?”

“Reason?”

“For keeping us here. They don’t need two BADGE people here.”

Chase finished and then asked him, “What do you mean?”

“What if they kept both of us here because they suspect one of us...is this mythic?”

Chase asked, “Do you think you are him?”

Gar shook his head, “No. I don’t think so. I don’t remember my past, but I know I was made on this world. The man who gave me life died. So, I cannot be the mythic. Right?”

“How should I know?”

He held up his hand, “Can you help me? Can you search my past and see?”

She took his hand and with a sympathetic face said, “I can’t. I cannot search the past of living things. Even though you think you’re just stone, you have life in you.”

Gar now truly looked worried, “Since I don’t know my past, I might be the mythic. I am not normal.”

“None of us are normal. Not knowing your past doesn’t automatically make you this mythic. Truth is...I don’t know my past either.” She quietly admitted this.

“What? But, your file at BADGE...”

“It’s a lie.” She chuckled at herself, “Same damn lie I’ve told for years. Parents who loved me, but died, raised in a military facility where they trained me to be a fighter. Escaped and became a thief. Nice little story, huh? Just a story. I know nothing about myself before I was sixteen. I’ve tried hard to dig those memories out of my mind, but nothing happens. Even a telepath couldn’t help me. I have incredible skills. I just don’t know who taught me and why.” She held her arms against herself, “Since the Leprechaun said a mythic was at BADGE, I have been scared to death it’s me. Maybe I’m far older than I know.”

Gar inched closer, as though he would hug her, but stopped. “I...uh...think dinner is ready.”

She forced a smile, “Sure.”

He watched her leave, a quiet concern written on his face.