A pile of computer components rested on a table with five emitters aimed at them. Dr. Osteen placed a pair of dark goggles over his face and pressed a button. The lights in the lab dimmed as the emitters produced bright yellow beams. This energy lit up the tech on the table and then it died down. He quickly checked over the results of this and gained a wicked smile.
The door of the room opened and Arx came in. “Yo, doc. We got her.”
Osteen took off the goggles and tossed them aside. “It’s doctor. And, where did they put her?”
Agent Delta stepped in, bandages on his face and neck. “Here, of course.”
“Oooh. Lemme see her.” Osteen grabbed another sensor device and followed them out of his lab.
They walked through the storage area where the caged animals rested. Mercenary agents of the secret organization waited around the parameter with weapons ready. In the last cage rested the bluish purple woman with bright red hair. A device wrapped around her head and they bound her hands behind her.
Osteen hesitated when he saw her, even hiding slightly behind Arx. “Is it safe to be around her? I don’t want her messing with my head.”
Delta flicked the cage with his hand. “She’s asleep, and even if she weren’t, this cage blocks her powers. That restraint on her head is also designed to dampen her powers. If your data on morphonic radiation is accurate, our tech is perfectly suited to keep her contained.”
“My data is just fine. Don’t forget, it was I who first awoke the avatars.” Osteen stepped around Arx and held up his scanner to read her.
Delta said, “yes, of course. It was your work that revealed these creatures to us and provided us a tool which will grant us our desires… so long as you continue to produce results.”
“Don’t worry. I have always been reliable. Why do you think I’m the most wanted scientist in the world, I produce results no matter the costs.” He chuckled with glee.
Arx said, “there were a lot more guys working with me. I didn’t know you had so many extras.”
“They aren’t extras, they are mercenaries. We added to our ranks recently. The next phase of this plan requires a lot of encounters with those Avatars and BADGE. We need a distraction, something to keep them busy. So, my organization just hired a lot more thugs who want to play at being some kind of special forces. They will go and randomly mess with the heroes around the world while we continue with the plan.”
Arx asked, “what’s this big plan of yours? You said I was part of it. I like a juicy part, but I gotta know how to prep for it, ya know?”
“Just keep following our orders and you’ll play your part perfectly.” Delta said.
Arx smiled at his own reflection in his flexed, shiny arm. “Awesome. Just so I get my adoring audience back. I miss all the girls drooling over me.”
Delta ignored the egomaniac and asked Osteen, “what do you need next?”
“Just tell your soldiers to move the equipment from storage room five into here and set up one of the units over this cage. I’ll set up the next process to extract what we need.”
Delta snapped his fingers and the nearest soldiers rushed to fulfill this order. “Anything else?”
“No, that’ll do fine.” Osteen checked his readings with a lusty smile. “However did you get the information I needed? This kind of data would have taken me years to extrapolate.”
“I read it in a magic book, which we will obtain soon enough.”
Osteen asked, “You mean the Avatar of Magic? That old Tome of Merlin? I thought that was just a fable. Was it real?”
“Yes. BADGE had it. We got it, I read it. They think I’m dead and that they saved the book from our clutches. BADGE underestimates our organization or that I’m trained to have a perfect, photographic memory.”
“What’s a photogenic memory?” Arx asked.
Delta said, “photographic, you idiot. It means I don’t forget things. Now, go take selfies in a mirror, I’m sick of the glare off your biceps.”
“Will do.” That insult went right over Arx’s head, and he located the nearest mirror.
Osteen said, “I can have…” his sensor let out an alarm.
“What’s that?” Delta asked, his soldiers ready to strike.
“I see we have a guest, just as I suspected.” Osteen rushed back toward his lab.
Upon opening the door, they found that pile of computer components forming into a humanoid figure. The technological man smiled at Osteen. “Greetings friend. Been a while.”
Osteen said, “I see super charging that stuff with tech specific morphons was just the right bait.”
“Bait? What for?” The Master of Tech asked.
Delta said, “you.” His soldiers shot Master of Tech with five special beams and he went down.
***
Starmaster, sporting a nasty black eye, looked up at a hovering drone. “We’ve searched the area more than a dozen times, no sign of Mental. She’s gone.”
Nova said, “we can’t find a single scrap of footage of her abduction during the conflict.”
“It was a hairy fight. They used weapons I’ve never seen. We’re lucky we didn’t lose anyone. There were a lot of them. I didn’t expect such a horde.”
Nova stroked his goatee. “I suspect our enemy has bolstered his ranks with more mercenaries. Probably a lot of scrappy wannabe mercs that’ll do anything for a paycheck.”
“Whoever they were, they made a mess.”
Nova continued looking over the other drone images. “Gather what you can from that debris and begin searching for our enemies’ HQ.”
Shinobi, who held a small bit of the fallen tech from the fight, joined Starmaster. “This stuff is unique. I’m sure we can trace it like we traced the tech on that giant robot that attacked Vegas earlier.”
“Good. Then get on it.”
Starmaster said, “we have a few minor problems. Small bands of those mercenaries have attacked heroes outside this area. I don’t know if this is just other organizations taking advantage of the situation, or if our enemy has some motive for random strikes.”
Nova said, “our enemy just kidnapped one of the Avatars. Locating the others will be their top priority and ours. My guess is that their soldiers are out there searching for clues. We need to find the head of this snake and cut it off. Tell the heroes to be aware that the risk level is heightened, but the objective remains the same. Find our enemy and protect the remaining Avatars.”
“Understood.” Both Shinobi and Starmaster answered.
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