Quark hovered over ocean waters as he checked his comm unit.
“Nova? What’s the emergency?”
Nova’s voice piped through. “You need to head to WMD HQ on the double.”
Quark shook his head, “why is it always them?” He vanished in a crack of sound and a blue flash. Moments later, he appeared over what appeared to be undeveloped land surrounded by mountains. A helicopter was parked in the middle of a field and from it poured out a small legion of the black-clad soldiers of the World Corps and two of their superhumans.
“Nova, we have a serious situation here.” Quark said. “The World Corps is present and they are zeroing in on the entrance to the Base.”
“How did they find that information? That League HQ is a secret. Get down there and make sure this doesn’t start a war with WMD. The last thing we need is Midgard to get pissed.”
“On it.” Quark flicked off his comm unit and rushed down.
The moment he approached the ground, he saw The Wizard and Hot Wings strolling out to meet this invading force. It made him happy that two of the cooler heads of WMD were out here to meet with the World Corps. He landed near them before they reached their enemy.
“Quark?” Hot Wings was a little surprised by him.
“Nova got the alert. I was nearby. When did they get here?”
The Wizard answered, “Just about ten minutes ago. They were circling the area for two hours before landing. I don’t know how they found us.”
“Trust me, Nova is livid right now.” Quark said.
Hot Wings muttered, “we aren’t too happy about this either. But, let’s hear them out.”
All three stopped and waited. The World Corps soldiers lined up and took up a defensive posture, even holding their weapons ready to fire. The two heroes, a man and woman, approached with a confident strut.
Hot Wings attempted a polite greeting. “Welcome to our base. I...”
The female super stated, “WMD will submit to questioning. The ones called Midgardsomr and Skelanimal will be apprehended and processed at the World Corps detention center. This is not a negotiation.”
The Wizard answered, “like hell. We are not under your jurisdiction. In fact, this location is currently owned by BADGE and is not under the authority of any one nation or even the UN.”
The male super said, “per UN directive 60714 subsection 13, all property that is owned by BADGE remains under the authority of the UN in cases of emergency or security risks. By this directive, you are to obey.”
Quark smiled, “sure, go command Midgard to obey and see how far that gets ya.”
The female super looked at Quark. “Agent Strange Quark of BADGE. I see our suspicion is correct. BADGE is harboring and protecting villains.”
Quark answered, “sure, BADGE is in the habit of protecting the heroes that fight to defend this world. Sure, Midgard has had a few slipups, and he is a little much to listen to. But, so far, he has helped save this world from countless enemies. You, on the other hand, have only traumatized this planet and sent the population into hysteria. So, right now, the points aren’t in your favor. Now, get back on your little helicopter and get outta here.”
The male super smiled, “or what?” the line of soldiers charged their anti-morphon guns.
Hot Wings narrowed his eyes at the two supers. “Trust me, you don’t want to mess with us.”
The two supers hovered a little higher off the ground. “You will come with us.”
Quark waved his hand and said, “hey, if I can interrupt the ego show. I just need to get a picture.” He held up his wrist comm and frowned. “Hey. How’d you...oh, look, you’re using tech morphons to mess with the cameras. So, that’s how you’ve kept yourself hidden. Nice work. But, I’m Strange Quark so....SAY CHEESE!” He held up his hands.
The two supers called out, “stop him!”
There was a great blue flash and Quark stood in the middle of the arboretum with all the other members of WMD staggering around. Even the ones hiding inside the base were now on the station.
Midgard bellowed, “I WANTED TO EAT THOSE STUPID HUMANS AND THEIR PATHETIC GUNS! SEND ME BACK!”
Quark looked at a photograph he had in his hand of those two heroes. “Listen, snaky, Nova doesn’t want us outright fighting them yet. That would only make the situation worse. You will just have to rest your slithery hide here for a while.”
Midgard growled out words no one understood. Hot Wings said, “try not to antagonize him. He’s pretty tense being forced to stay put for this long.”
“Take him to a training room and let him smack around a few training robots. I need to get this to Nova.” Quark vanished away and reappeared next to Nova in the Operations center.
Nova nearly stumbled into him. “Quark! You startled me.”
“I’m back from the WMD HQ.”
“And?”
“Good news. I prevented the situation from turning into an all-out fight. However, that means we have the WMD team up here now and the World Corps people were back at their base. Which means...”
“Which means we can’t send them back until this situation is resolved.” Nova stated.
“Or we find them another home.”
Nova said, “we have already had two more reports of League HQ’s being surrounded by World Corps. The others aren’t secret locations, but this is getting out of hand. Please, tell me you have something for me?” Nova pointed at the photograph.
“Yup, with a little of my special magic, I got a nice picture of the two heroes they had with them.”
“Don’t call them heroes.” Nova snatched the photo.
“True. Supers are a better term for them.”
Nova handed the photo to one of the robots. “Get to work on this right away.”
“Any luck with Arx?” Quark asked.
“Not yet. Chase is down there trying to help.”
***
Arx sat in a special chair in the middle of Dr. Henderson’s laboratory. Sensor devices beeped and buzzed all around as screens displayed information. Dr. Henderson stood next to Arx with a small sensor device while Chase leaned over him and had both her hands on his head.
She strained and grit her teeth as she groaned. Finally, she pulled her hands away and wiped sweat from her brow. “It’s no good. I just can’t use my powers on a living thing.”
Dr. Henderson said, “I know. I just hoped there was enough artificial stuff in him to trigger your abilities.”
“It doesn’t work.” She said.
Arx, bare from the waist up, grinned at her and bounced his well chiseled pecks at her. “You’re kinda cute.”
“WATCHIT BUSTER! SHE’S NOT INTERESTED IN A BOZO LIKE YOU!” EB hopped up and sat on a table near Arx, attempting to look as fierce as a bunny can.
Chase kindly removed the angry bunny and said, “Arx, you’re a sexy guy.”
“Not that sexy.” EB muttered.
She continued, “you’re also a convicted mass murderer. You poisoned me twice, tried to destroy this station, and helped an evil organization. I’m not interested in you.”
Arx’s entire form deflated slightly as he sunk into the seat. “You know, I always wanted a lot of awesome credits. Lots of blockbuster movies, big awards, sexiest man alive five years in a row....but I guess I will always be remembered for all that horrible stuff. And I don’t blame anyone for it. I did it. I can’t undo it no matter how much I wish I could.”
Dr. Henderson picked up one device confiscated from North Onnotangu. “There is one last idea I have, but it’s risky.”
Chase frowned. “You aren’t planning on using that stuff?”
“I’ve been studying these instruments, and the data gathered by the scientists in Onnotangu. This might work. In fact, it has the best chance of getting exactly what we need right now. But my medical ethics prevent me from wanting to go through with it.”
Arx cleared his throat and asked, “how risky is this?”
“All data shows that every person who ever had this used on them ended up dead.”
“Will it work?”
Chase said, “you can’t seriously be considering letting her do this to you?”
Arx said. “I have to consider my options. Will it work, doctor?”
“I believe so. Think carefully before you make a choice here, Arx, if we start, we can’t stop.”
“I know.”
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