“Station, come in!” Nova held the call-button on the shuttle.
Krystal navigated while The Wizard stood behind both of them. She said, “Sir, we can’t dock yet, the bay doors won’t respond to the code.”
Nova let go of the comm, “Nothing is responding. My communicator won’t work, the shuttle’s comm won’t work, it’s like the station is dead in space.”
The Wizard frowned as he leaned over to get a better look, “I can still sense both magical and normal power over there. The station isn’t dead.”
Krystal agreed with a nod, “The power isn’t dead, but it is fluctuating. I can sense it as well. Systems are going offline and then coming back. Surges are racing through conduits throughout that place.”
Nova grumbled, “That is the most sophisticated piece of technology ever built by humans.”
The Wizard said, “That may be true, but if something arcane is happening to it, the tech doesn’t stand a chance.”
They moved closer to the docking bay doors. Krystal said, “I would try to open a portal so we can at least get inside, but with the way the magic is messing with this place, I would hate to cause a decompression or put the shuttle in the middle of your office.”
Nova asked, “What about Skelanimal or Krampus? Do either of you sense them?”
The Wizard closed his eyes and held out his hand. A glowing orb of light appeared. At first he simply stood there, then his face scrunched and strained. “I...I can’t break through the magic barrier. I sense nothing.”
Nova said, “Okay, well, we have one other option. There is an emergency hatch we can dock with. Take us over the station and head for these coordinates.” He punched in a set of numbers.
Krystal looked at his commands. “Really? I didn’t know about that?”
“It’s a secret. We have to have ways of getting in and out of that place enemies aren’t aware of.”
EB hopped through the station, an egg at the ready to strike. His ears were up and constantly moving, his nose twitched nervously.
“I know you’re on the station. You know I’m Vexillian, I can handle whatever you got.” He quickly turned and almost threw his egg, but there was nothing behind him. His ears went down, “You...you don’t scare me.”
Just then that voice spoke over him. “Then why are you so scared, little bunny.”
EB trembled. “I’m not just a bunny.”
That voice was now right behind him. “Oh, really?”
EB turned and threw his egg. It exploded with a bright blast of colorful energy. He waited a moment, only to find nothing behind him. That laughter echoed around him and then seemed to flee down a corridor. Against all the fear in his belly, EB followed the sound as he materialized a new egg in his hands.
“Hop, little bunny, hop.” The voice mocked him.
EB saw that orange light around a corner and he ran faster, pushing himself to have courage. His trembling stopped, his worry sank, all he felt was fierce determination. Sliding around the corner, he came to a dead stop. All at once, the terror returned as he looked at bodies scattered across the floor.
“Chase!” He rushed to her side and felt her cold face. “No, who did this to you?”
He gasped and ran over to Gar and then to Strange Quark. “Guys! Come on, get up! Don’t be...NO!” He raced over Gar to Nova’s side.
“Buddy! Nova! No!” Tears were in his eyes as he pushed on Nova, hoping to rouse the fallen man. “You can’t die!”
That laughter bellowed above him. The light in the room drained, only that orange glow cast deep shadows across the fallen people of BADGE. EB put his forehead on Nova’s arm and cried deeply.
The evil voice asked, “Where are your friends, little bunny?”
EB pushed away from Nova and looked up at the dead face of the Director. “NO!”
“Denial, how sweet.”
EB swiped the tears out of his eyes with quick, angry motions. “This...this can’t be real.”
“Of course it is. Fear is as real as you make it.”
EB smiled and held that egg up. “You made one mistake, my old friend. Nova isn’t on the station.” The egg grew so bright that the orange light was cast away. With a rocking explosion, it blew apart, spreading a golden mist out in a concussive wave. The surrounding bodies were blown away, then they too turned to dust and vanished.
EB turned and looked up at a floating pumpkin with a carved face. “Nice try, Spirit, but I’m not so easily fooled.”
“Hee hee hee, so much fun.”
“FUN! YAH!” EB threw another egg at The Spirit of Halloween, but the spectral entity dodged the explosion and then flew around the room, cackling in glee. EB followed with several more throws, but he couldn’t hit the enemy. The spirit vanished through a wall and was gone.
EB spent a moment waiting for his enemy to reappear, but he didn’t. “I have to find help.”
Skelanimal skulked through the corridors of the BADGE space station. The robots guarding the detention area were all out of commission. Whatever that strange spirit had done to the tech up here was more than enough to keep him safe. He paused and looked into a room with four beds.
“Another living space,” he grumbled and then prowled down the dark corridor further.
He found more and more of these simple, spartan living spaces since he was in the dormitory wing of the station. The student heroes would stay here for the brief time, learning and adjusting to their powers. Right now, they were at the Orbital Arena either participating or helping during the League Wars, which suited Skelanimal just fine.
“Where are those damned shards?” He grew tired of staring at empty beds and storage closets. “I need to find their laboratory.”
“Lab..labor...lab...” a voice buzzed.
Skelanimal jumped and then punched something behind him. He pulled back his sore fist as he had just smacked a metal wall. A flickering panel buzzed and then showed a map. “What’s this?”
“Laboratory...lab...deck...labo...” The computer wasn’t able to construct a decent sentence, but the map was clear enough.
“Aw, great. It’s five levels up.”
He found the elevator and punched the button, but nothing happened. Grousing and grumbling, he located the nearest emergency chute and began the arduous climb. After one hundred and twenty-five rungs of the ladder, and even more bitter words, he stepped out onto the Laboratory deck.
Skelanimal jumped and looked behind him as he heard the throaty laughter of that strange spirit. The orange, translucent thing flew through the bulkheads and then sped away. Skelanimal found a dark corner and hid for a moment, not sure if anyone was chasing this thing. He had come too far to be caught now. No one appeared.
“That thing’s really having fun. I better get outta here before he leads those idiots back to me.”
He began searching the labs. This was an easier task, since the power was almost completely out and one lab had a steady red glow coming from the darkened doorway. He stepped in and a smile crossed that wicked face. The glint of ruby light flashed in his beady little eyes.
“Krampus is going to be so happy, these dumb humans have made this easy.” He snatched a bag from the corner and began piling the shards in like a bank thief at the vault.
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