Nova paced in the Operations Center, quietly wearing a path in the metal floor. Justin worked tirelessly contacting all the leagues and making sure they had their orders. Skelanimal leaned against a wall, grumbling about having to wear his collar.
Just came down the steps to the main floor and held up a tablet for Nova. “That’s it. We have almost all the leagues coordinated.”
Nova took the tablet, “ninety-eight percent. What about the other two percent?”
“You know some of these leagues. They like to act like rogues. But, I have word from all the leaders, even the other two percent, that they won’t go in without BADGE authorization.”
“Fine. I guess we still need some boots on the ground in case of bank robberies or other minor issues. Let them be rogue. What about the military?”
Justin took the tablet and used it to activate a small window on the main monitor. A map of Earth spread across with red lines slowly moving out from countries, all heading for the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. “They completely ignored your request to not send in support before it was petitioned.”
“Idiots!” Nova spat. “What are their orders?”
Justin opened another window on the tablet. “They’ve been ordered to engage. They are to destroy that floating castle.”
Skelanimal piped in, “hey, if they’re gonna do that. Why not send in the heroes as well? You bring that thing down, it’s a big win.”
Nova didn’t even turn to acknowledge Skelanimal, “because, we don’t know her power. If you recall your little attack on North Onnotangu. With just a taste of Krampus’s magic, you were able to lay waste to most of their military forces.”
Skelanimal grinned, “yeah, they went SQUISH... ahem... sorry, I mean... yeah, I remember.”
Nova, irritation in his voice, said, “Krampus only had half his power when he did that to you, and you only got a tiny portion. Imagine what she can do at fully strength.”
“Oh, crud. They’re toast.”
Nova said, “what is the ETA of the first strike by military forces?”
Justin looked over his data, “earliest is three hours.”
“Then we have to try negotiation.”
“Negotiation!” Skelanimal blurted out, “you gonna talk to her. Krampus was thick headed, she aint gonna be any better.”
Justin casually asked Nova, “do we have to keep him around?”
“Sadly, yes. He’s still our best source of info from the inside.”
Just then the doors of the lift opened, and the regal figure of Lord Dragon stepped out. “Director Nova, you wished to see me?”
“Yes. Come over here.”
Lord Dragon walked down the steps, passing Skelanimal without any note of acknowledgment. “How can I be of service?”
Nova said, “we have a critical situation, and it’s about to get worse. I need your helping dealing with your wife.”
Lord Dragon somberly said, “I’m afraid my powers are extremely limited. Jinn broke my talisman and my wife absorbed some of what I have left.”
“I’m not sending you to combat, I’m asking you to speak with her.”
That stunned everyone. Lord Dragon said, “speak with her? How? I confess to be frightened of approaching her. Her mind is twisted and her power great.”
Nova said, “Commander Justin has discovered something.”
Justin cleared his throat and bowed a little to the Mythic. “Sir, the enemy... I’m sorry, your wife used our old League Wars arena for the basic structure of her castle. While she has drastically changed a lot of the form, there are bits of the tech that are still intact and operational. We could hack into the old holo-projector. With this we should be able to make contact at a distance.”
Lord Dragon asked, “will she be able to respond to what I have to say?”
Justin said, “yes. This will work as a two-way communication. Fortunately, she will be roughly four hundred kilometers away from us, so the risk should be minimal.”
Lord Dragon said, “never underestimate one of our kind.”
Nova asked, “will you help negotiate with her?”
Lord Dragon looked at Nova with steely eyes, “I will do whatever it takes to remove this threat from your world.”
Nova gave Justin a nod. “Do it.”
Justin stepped over to the communications robot and went to work. The main monitor flickered off and then came on with a lot of fuzz. Slowly, the imaged faded from the blurry fuzz and became the interior of the old League Wars Arena. The bleak, cold metal walls and floor a stark contrast to the woman enthroned in reds and oranges.
Suddenly, Krampus stepped in front of the screen. “What is this!”
Nova spoke first, “Krampus, we wish to speak with the Lady Phoenix.”
“HOW DARE YOU SPY ON US!” Krampus roared and slashed a claw through the hologram, which did nothing but cause a momentary pixelation.
“Stand aside!” The stern, powerful voice of Lady Phoenix echoed throughout the room.
Krampus gave one last snarl at the screen and then stomped away.
Lady Phoenix stood from her throne, a good distance from the screen. She lifted from the ground and flew toward them. “My, my, how clever of you to find a way to contact me. If I weren’t impressed by your ingenuity, I should be angry at you impudence.” Her fiery gaze settled on Lord Dragon, “why, husband, it is good to see you survived your foolish attack on me. Do we have your little human friends to thank for your wellbeing?”
Nova spoke before Lord Dragon could, “Lady Phoenix, I do not know what you want with challenging us, but we don’t take kindly to threats.”
“Threats. Oh, no, my dear Nova, my challenge was no idle threat, it is a fact. I am going to thresh the grains of this world and find the worthy few seeds with which I shall build a new Legion. Many will perish in the challenge, but they do not deserve to live.”
“You have no right to decide who lives or dies.” Nova calmly stated.
“Oh, but I do. I am the most powerful being on this planet right now. That gives me the authority to decide such matters.”
Lord Dragon stepped up, “My lady...my love. Please, I know this not to be your true attitude. You are kind and peaceful. You have a loving heart that was ever unmatched by any.”
“Love, peace, kindness, these are words of weakness. Nothing more.”
Lord Dragon answered, “love is not weakness, you taught me that. These humans understand that, probably more than just about any other alien race we have encountered. Can you not see this? We love this world, it has been our home for many years.”
“What you call a home was more of a prison. We were locked away, only allowed to be part of these creatures’ lives at tiny intervals. They didn’t even know we were real until our son showed them genuine power. And, for that, you murdered him!”
Lord Dragon looked down in shame. “What happened to Jinn was unavoidable. We gave him every opportunity to turn around and refrain from his evils. What came to him was his choice.”
“His choice... well, my dear husband, this is my choice. Legion failed to bring this planet down, but that only proves that these people are worthy of being members of my new Legion. At least those truly strong enough.”
“I will not allow you to do this.” Lord Dragon stated.
She came close to the screen, her eyes flashing a brilliant light. Lord Dragon gagged and fell to his knees. “You will not ALLOW! You do not seem to understand the power I hold!” Her voice shifted from one tone to another, as if a dozen people were speaking at once. “You are broken, weak, useless. You will beg to be my consort, but never a part of my Legion!”
Lord Dragon was pressed in a prostrate position as he struggled to breathe.
Nova yelled, “CUT OFF THE TRANSMISSION!”
Justin pounded the computer screen, “I can’t!”
Lady Phoenix, in those many voices, said, “Do you know why we failed to stop Legion on our world? We are so strong, so powerful, yet we failed when you little humans succeeded. It was his fault! My dear husband! He feared them so. He worried we would all perish. Oh, the war was horrible, and many failed, but we could have won. My son, Jinn, proved that. But, no, we followed our leader in his cowardice! We fled to a planet of insects unworthy of calling themselves sentient. Lord Dragon, king of FOOLS!”
Suddenly a metal seat crashed through the comm station and the whole view screen went dark. Lord Dragon flopped on the ground, taking in hard breaths. Nova looked back and saw that Skelanimal had ripped a robots seat out of the floor and thrown it.
“Uh… good work.”
Skelanimal gave a quick nod, “when all else fails, break something.”
Nova came down to Lord Dragon, “are you okay?”
Lord Dragon looked up, his face a pale color, “I saw into her soul. This is worse than I thought.”
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