Chase walked through the BADGE facility with a covered tray in her
hands. She presented her BADGE ID, and the doors of the war room
opened. The main monitors were all active with scenes of heroes
battling one another in a large arena. It was a spectacular display
of powers and strength that had thousands of fans roaring for more.
In the center of the monitors, sitting alone, was a single figure.
“Analyzing
League Wars?” She approached the director.
Nova
remained silent, lost in thought.
“Nova?”
Chase touched his arm.
He
jerked and finally looked at her, “When did you get here?”
“Just
a moment ago. The bots down in the foodservice were worried about
you. You have eaten little in the last few days.” She handed him
the tray, “They made you this.”
He
picked up the lid and found a cheese sandwich with a bowl of soup.
“Ah, my normal breakfast.”
“You
eat soup for breakfast?”
He
smiled, “I picked up the habit when I was stationed in Turkey for a
bit. I fell in love with this soup, though the robots never make it
quite right.”
“So,
how are you doing?”
“I’m
fine.” He stirred the soup.
“I
don’t mean your health. You’re never sick. I mean, what’s going
on? You’ve been sitting in here for days. The League Wars came and
went after the whole Leprechaun incident. And here you sit, quietly
staring at replays of the matches. This isn’t like you.”
He
laughed, “You’ve known me for a couple months and already know
everything about me.”
She
sat down, “I know almost nothing about you. You’re the most
secretive person I’ve met. But, I can tell when there is something
wrong. You haven’t been yourself since...well since we talked with
the Leprechaun.”
Nova
tasted the soup and then added a pinch of salt, “It’s this hooded
man, this Jinn.”
“Oh,
I see. He’s been off the radar for weeks now. Nothing has come up
and that worries you.”
“Yes,
it does. Gar and Gamma-Ray have been searching for the Dragon and
Phoenix for almost a month now, to no avail. And, we have hundreds of
heroes and agents all over the planet and there has been no sign. I
can’t imagine that he has stopped moving, that his plans are
stagnant. He just gained considerable power from the Leprechaun.”
Chase
said, “That’s a problem. We have to put ourselves in his shoes
and figure out his next move.”
“A
wise course of action, if he were just some criminal or
run-of-the-mill supervillain. He’s something entirely different,
something we haven’t encountered enough to truly gauge his next
move. And that bothers me.”
Chase
spent a moment before she said, “And...”
Nova
glared at her, “And...what?”
She
folded her arms and cocked her head at him, “This is about
something else. If you were worried about figuring an enemies next
move, you would have these screens covered in the footage of his
battles, actions, whatever. You would be running numbers and
analyzing data gathered from the heroes who have encountered him. You
were lost in thought, and it is bothering you to the point of
distraction. Director Nova of BADGE is not distracted.”
Nova
ate a bite of the sandwich and spent a moment gaining a rare smile,
“You...are good. I knew bringing you here would help harness that
cleverness for other things than theft.” He reached over and turned
off the screens. “Fine, you want to know something. This isn’t
about the battle, or his moves, or his plans, or anything else. This
is about a name.”
“A
name?”
“Jinn.”
Chase
frowned, “Jen, as in Jennifer?”
“No,
Jinn or some people call him Djinn.”
“You’ve
heard of him before?”
Nova
nodded, “Yes. How I didn’t see this a long time go, I don’t
know. But, I have met him. I know what he is capable of, not his
powers, but his disregard for life. I don’t want to go too far into
detail, but I will tell you I know more than I realized about our
foe. That he’s gone silent makes me more worried than I’ve been
in a long, long time. What are his plans? Which legendary figure is
he going to pick next? What is his ultimate goal?”
Chase
thought about that, “Well, he has been following the seasonal
legendaries pretty closely. My guess is that he will go after the
Easter Bunny next...if there is one.”
Nova
nodded, “Oh, there is one. Let’s just hope we don’t have to
deal with him. He is...shall we say, interesting.”
Chase
asked, “How is it you know these legendaries so well?”
He
paused as he looked at her, “You don’t need to know that.”
***
Near
the BADGE HQ entrance, the grasses rustled and a white blur shot
between two large tufts. To the naked eye, this area of New York
State was nothing but an old thicket of trees and a ragged shed.
However, there were two heavily armed guards casually guarding this
shed.
One
of the two walked in a wide circle around the other. He stopped,
checked a sensor device, and then continued.
“Paul,
are you going to pace all night?” The stationary guard moaned.
“I’m
doing my job,” Paul answered and then checked his sensor again.
This time he frowned, “I’m picking up something.”
“What?
Another car?”
“No,
this is the Alpha signature.”
This
grabbed the stationary guards' attention. He came over to Paul and
looked at the sensor, “Are you sure?”
“Look,
and it’s moving.” He quickly jerked to the side, following
something, “Did you see that?”
“No.
But, look at this?” He leaned over and picked up a sparkling
brightly decorated egg.
Paul
scanned it, “I’m picking up trace amounts of this energy. This is
just like those coins, but not as strong.”
“Hey,
look, it’s cracked. I think it’s hollow.” He broke it open.
Paul
backed up, “WOAH, watch it. That might explode or something.”
Paul
picked up a piece and unwrapped a bit of chocolate. He scanned it,
shrugged, and then ate it. “OHMYGOSH, THIS IS AMAZING!” he was
lost in the ecstasy of the creamy confection.
The
other guard quickly tried a piece and was just as enamored.
Suddenly
they both turned when they heard the doors of the BADGE elevator
close. This should be cause for alarm, but they were engrossed with
enjoying another piece of this decadent delicacy.
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