Gar waited with a small gathering of BADGE robots in a tent just outside of Fort Knox. US military stood guard while heroes came and left in their ongoing mission of collecting the shards.
Gar kept a close eye on this, being the highest-ranked BADGE official at this location now. They gave him command of the collection, which was a first for him.
“Sir, we have five more heroes incoming.” A robot spoke to Gar.
Gar looked down at a computer tablet. “Good. Give them the clearance orders.”
“Understood.” The robot walked away.
Gar stepped away from the commotion and over to a special tent. Inside lay Strange Quark with Krystal Fae and EB next to his bed.
“Gar!” EB hopped over to him and hugged his leg.
“Hello, EB.”
EB hopped back to Quark's bedside. “He’s not well.”
Gar came over and looked down at Quark, who radiated red energy with parts of him going invisible and then returning to normal. “Can you fix him?”
Krystal gave off a sorrowful laugh. “He confounds even me. I have tried some healing magic on him since conventional stuff doesn’t do a thing. It didn’t work. All I can say is that he is in a state of flux.”
“Why did he explode when he touched those shards?” Gar asked.
“I...don’t know. We’ve gathered all the data from every sensor device even remotely scanning the area when this happened, and it doesn’t answer that question. This energy is unusual, and that’s all we have.”
Just then Chromatic Death came into the tent. “Hey, guys. Just got back with the shards I found. Not many, but I ain’t as fast as some of these heroes. How’s Quark?”
“Not good,” EB said.
Chromatic came over and looked down at the glowing hero. “I’ve seen some strange crap in my time, but this takes the cake.”
Gar was about to say something when he paused and gave Chromatic a curious look. “You called him Quark.”
“Yeah, that’s his name.”
Gar shook his head. “You have called him many things, most of which I do not understand, but you never called him by his name.”
Chromatic looked down at Quark with great sorrow. “He saved my life. I was a total jerk to him and he still was a true hero. The only dudes I ever show any kindness to are my League Mates, and even then I like to tease until they wanna punch me. Others, well, they get nothing but my rude attitude. It’s kinda my thing. And, this Quark guy, he got on my nerves from day one. You know. But even when he was hurt’n like hell, he protected me. That chick with the blades, she would’ve done me in, and he stopped it. I can’t be mean to anyone who would do that. Just wish I could tell him all this now.”
EB suddenly blubbered and bawled out, “THAT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!”
“Gah, no cry’n!” Chromatic yelled.
Gar smiled, “Quark will make it. He’s a strong...thing.”
Chromatic whispered, “I hope so.”
A gigantic shadow suddenly covered the tent, and the sides flapped hard in a heavy breeze. A robot stuck his head in and said, “Commander Gargoyle, Nova is landing.”
“Thank you,” Gar responded.
A large, new BADGE shuttle landed in the field near the collection of tents. Dozens of heroes either hovered in the sky or stood around, watching the small team from the Spacestation exit the aft doors of the craft.
Chromatic Death, Gargoyle, and Krystal Fae waited at the center of the tents. Director Nova approached as a team led by Dr. Henderson rushed in to collect Strange Quark.
Nova stood in front of the group. “Report?”
Gar waited a moment and then realized that it was his job to report since he was in charge here. “Oh, right, that’s me. Collecting has been difficult. It was harder to find the shards than we expected. Um, what did she say?” Gar looked back to a table with all the reports on it.
Krystal continued where Gar had forgotten. “The US military has conducted a thorough scan of the shard blast area for radiation signatures. The energy within the shards did not contaminate anything, and no clean-up will be necessary.”
Gar had a broad smile, “Yes, that was it. The radiation stuff. It’s good.”
Nova gave a gentle smile to Gar, “Good job, son. This was a big project for your first command.”
“Thank you, Director.”
“Now, show me to the collection.” Nova didn’t wait for an escort, he walked toward the center tent on his own.
Gar followed and showed him the tent filled with small, secure containers, each holding several shards. Chromatic and Krystal weren’t far behind.
Gar looked over at robot 10915, “Have the last heroes arrived?”
The robot answered. “They returned the final five shards four minutes ago. No further shards reported on any sensor sweep of the area.”
Nova asked the robot, “How many collected?”
“We have gathered ninety, sir.”
Dr. Hostetter from the University of Tennessee came into the tent. “Oh, hi there.”
Nova frowned at the man. “Who are you?”
“Oh, sorry.” He walked over and pumped Nova’s hand, “Dr. Mark Hostetter, geologist, and gemologist. I have been helping inspect the shards being brought in.”
Gar piped up, “I asked him to help. He knew a lot about this stuff.”
Nova asked, “Well, what’s the verdict?”
Dr. Hostetter looked down at the table with the various piles of ruby-colored items. “We have had forty-five shards brought in that appear to be from the same gem, one that exudes a unique energy signature.”
Nova asked, “Forty-five? But I thought we had ninety?”
“There are also pieces of gemstone and other minerals that are not related to the stone in question. Your people were good at gathering, but they weren’t entirely accurate. In fact, we also have pieces of glass and plastic that were mistakenly brought in.”
Nova examined the pile of ruby shards. “Is this all of them?”
Dr. Hostetter shook his head. “These won’t make a complete stone, these would only make half of the gem.”
Nova looked back at Gar, “Do we have any more shards coming in that you know of?”
“No, director. The last heroes out there cannot find any more signs of them.”
Nova shook his head, “Then our enemy got to the rest. Get these back to the station. Dr. Hostetter, would you care to join our team on the station for the time being? I could use your expertise in this.”
Dr. Hostetter had a broad smile, “My pleasure, sir.”
“Then help escort these up there, the robots will show you the way.” Nova watched the doctor and robots gather the shards and leave. He then turned to Gar and asked, “Any sign of Chase, anything at all?”
“No,” Gar softly answered.
“This makes no sense!” Nova suddenly blurted out, which startled everyone. “What happened to her?”
Chromatic said, “She’s a known thief. What’s the big surprise?”
Gar turned and was about to give Chromatic a reason to be afraid of him, but Krystal stepped in before the stone hero got in trouble. “Chromatic, Chase has changed. She’s not the same person she once was.”
Nova softly said, “I want to believe that. I need proof, something to hold on to as hope that this is not what it appears to be.”
Everyone was silent again, no one daring to speak or offer ideas.
Gar suddenly rushed out of the tent.
Nova looked back, “What is he doing?”
“I don’t know.” Krystal also watched him leave.
Gar bounded into another tent, and then came running back, holding something. He rushed right through. Both Chromatic and Krystal had to dodge his wings as he raced by. He slammed something on the table in the room and said. “THIS!”
Nova was still a little confused when he looked down at a knife. “What?”
Chromatic piped up, “That’s the blade she damaged my baby with. So?”
Gar said, “She doesn’t use these anymore.”
“What?” Nova asked.
Krystal caught on. “Wait, Gar has something there. Back when Chase fought Cupid, Fuma Hanzo gave her a pair of magical shuriken. They vanish moments after making contact with her target, and she can summon them again. It’s like having an endless supply of blades.”
Nova slowly picked up the knife. He stroked his beard as he looked it over. “Yes, I remember now. Those blades wouldn’t leave evidence like this. They’re sharper and more precise. Why would she use one of these old throwing knives?”
Gar said, “Something is wrong with her. And here is proof.”
Krystal said, “He has a point. But I don’t know where to go with this from here. I don’t know of anything, spell or power, that could turn a person evil like this.”
Nova stabbed the blade into the plastic surface of the table and left it lodged there. “All I need to know is that she’s being controlled and needs to be saved. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
***
Krampus silently watched his monitors. He watched BADGE clean up and leave the site they had used to collect the shards.
Chase came in and placed a satchel in front of him. “I did it. I was able to get forty-five of the shards before those heroes got to them.”
Krampus slowly opened the bag and looked inside. Unlike the shards of glass and plastic heroes accidentally gathered, these were all part of the same gem. “Only forty-five?”
“Yes.”
Krampus let out a rumbling growl from his chest as he said, “We had the chance to have ALL OF THEM, and you bring me HALF!”
Chase glared right back at him, showing no fear. “I did what I could, I was against hundreds of heroes working across five states! Where were you?”
He turned on her, grabbed her by the neck, and held her up. “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again!”
“We can get them back.” She gasped out.
“And we will.” He dropped her.
Just then the computer connected to the badge communicator beeped wildly. Krampus rushed over and checked it. “Ah, my data stream, I’m getting information from BADGE’s computers.”
“Is that good?” She asked.
“Depends on the information.” Krampus sent the data to the main computer and then checked on it. “Ah, I see...I see. How interesting.”
Chase walked up and looked at the screens. There were various displays of energy graphs and readings. A few camera shots were showing the moments Quark erupted in energy explosions, both inside Fort Knox and out in the field.
“What’s all this?” Chase asked.
Krampus smiled his loathsome grin. “Your little encounter with those heroes has provided me with valuable information. It appears I’ll be collecting yet another BADGE operative for my use.” He left this computer to work on other devices, where he would concoct his next phase.
Chase stood before this computer, looking at those fuzzy images of people near Quark. Quark was a red blur with a bubble of energy exploding off of him. However, it wasn’t him that drew her attention. She stared at the gray man with large gray wings.
“I...I think I know this person.”
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