The Dragon's Return

by Stan Lee

  Then Mrs. Lee’s expression turned hard again.

  “You’re right,” she said. “But maybe I can help you do it.”

  She held out a small metallic object shaped vaguely like a heart. It was perfectly smooth except for a single button built into the top. Steven took it from her and ran his fingers over its cold surface.

  “This is a qi amplifier,” she explained. “It’s kind of a…helper, a way of bringing out a person’s inner gifts.”

  “Or inner Zodiac power,” he said.

  “Exactly. We were developing it for Maxwell, before we learned of the Convergence. After that, we managed to keep it from him.”

  Steven stared at the device. “So Maxwell doesn’t have this.”

  “If you find yourself in danger, it may allow you to draw on your inner resources. But use it sparingly. It’s still experimental. After two or three uses, the circuitry will fuse permanently, rendering it useless.”

  He nodded and pocketed the device.

  “Also,” she added, “it draws its energy directly from the stars. So try to use it outdoors.”

  “Great,” he replied. “Does it only take name-brand batteries, too? Or high-octane gas?”

  She shrugged. “It’s all I can offer.”

  Steven stood and walked away from the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother watching his every move. He believed what she’d said, the revelations about his power and about Jasmine and Carlos. And yet…

  I can never trust her, he realized. Not completely. She and Dad…they always have their own agenda. He turned toward Rat. For instance, why are they in league with this guy?

  So many questions.

  “Steven?” Mrs. Lee said. “Your friends need you.”

  He didn’t look at her. He turned to Rat and asked, “Will you take me?”

  Rat nodded, smiling. “I got another toy for you, too.”

  “Then let’s go.” He turned back toward the kitchen table. “Mom.”

  She stood up. He had the strange feeling she wanted to hug him—though he couldn’t remember the last time she had done that.

  He held up the qi amplifier. “Thanks for this.”

  She nodded.

  Then he rushed out the door as fast as he could. He didn’t want her to see him cry.

  JASMINE SOARED through the sky, her fists clenched before her. The Dragon blazed all around, its tongue whipping and hissing. It stared straight into the setting sun, as if challenging nature itself to some primal battle.

  Ahead of Jasmine, spread out across the red sand of the Australian outback, lay the Vanguard complex. An old dirt access road wound toward it, ending at a small checkpoint flanked by two guard towers. The white central building was spherical, with a couple of bumps protruding on opposite sides. It was surrounded by smaller white buildings, numbered one through eight and connected by thin paved pathways.

  According to Ox’s intel, the small buildings were barracks for soldiers, supply depots, and weapons caches. Two larger, oval-shaped buildings bracketed the main building. One was a recreation hall, and the other held detention cells.

  That might be where Carlos is, Jasmine thought. Steven, too.

  The complex was clearly on alert. Vanguard soldiers, in their distinctive uniforms, hustled from one building to another, brandishing fierce-looking energy weapons.

  At the checkpoint, a single agent spoke into a phone. He pointed up, at the fearsome Dragon blazing through the sky.

  Jasmine let out a fierce screech, like the cry of an ancient, wrathful god. The Dragon whipped around in the sky, then turned and swooped toward the first guard tower.

  At the tower’s base, the last Vanguard agents scurried inside. Its twin cannons began to glow bright, and a pair of energy beams stabbed into the sky.

  Jasmine didn’t flinch, didn’t veer. Her face was a mask of determination and rage. The Dragon surged bright, even brighter than before. It opened its mouth, snapping and snatching through the air—

  —and ate the Vanguard energy beams.

  Then it let out another noise, a horrible noise—one that might have been laughter.

  Jasmine unleashed a blast of fire. The tower’s first cannon disintegrated in a shower of glass and metal, raining down on the road below. Jasmine turned to the second cannon and, once again, breathed fire, a prolonged barrage that bathed the guard tower in an inferno of unimaginable heat. Glass cracked. Steel liquefied. Soldiers fled, retreating toward the heart of the Vanguard base.

  She followed their path, pausing in midair to survey the small domes. They bore large numbers on their roofs, counting down as they arced around the main dome to her right, like pebbles around a lake. Eight. Seven. Six.

  Inside her, the Dragon screamed, an ancient power reveling in its own release. It had enjoyed blasting those soldiers, along with their weapons of destruction. Now it wanted more: more combat, more enemies, more devastation.

  Jasmine swooped low, reared back up into the air, and let loose with a full-strength Dragon blast. Dome eight cracked wide and exploded, plastic and metal flying. Soldiers poured out like ants, scattering toward the rear of the complex. A small group of them paused, pointed up at the sky, and struggled to aim their energy rifles at the moving target.

  Jasmine didn’t even notice. She was already hovering over dome seven, unleashing another deadly Zodiac burst.

  I’ll blast them wide open, she thought. Every one of them. Until I find—

  Her earpiece crackled to life.

  Jasmine frowned; that should have been impossible. She’d set her comm system to ignore most incoming calls. There was only one frequency that could get through—and only one man who would know to use it.

  A faint voice came through. “Help.”

  Jasmine went cold. It was him. It was Carlos.

  “Help,” he repeated. “Building five—”

  The channel went dead.

  She looked down at the carnage, the smoking crater that had been dome seven. Small rooms—bunks and barracks for soldiers—lay exposed, wrecked and burning. A few Vanguard agents sprayed foam on the fires while others spoke urgently into their wireless comms.

  When she turned to look at the main dome, the Dragon surged. There, it seemed to say. There is our enemy. Let me loose!

  No, she told it, not yet.

  Not until we find him.

  But the Dragon kept screaming. Its power was almost too much to bear. She’d gotten used to it those previous months, learned to live with the constant burning in her brain. But there was something different about it now. It almost sounded like a warning.

  Jasmine knew she’d been distant from the others. She’d cut them out of her life, obsessed with her private crusade. They think it’s because of the Dragon, she thought. They think I can’t handle it—that it’s too overwhelming for any human to wield and still maintain sanity.

  But that’s not it.

  Keeping the Dragon at bay had been a constant battle. But what really weighed on her—what made her uneasy and constantly pushed her away from her teammates—was what it could do to her friends. The harm it might do if it were unleashed, free of her control, at the wrong time.

  Her own words returned to her mind, the words she’d spoken to Steven less than two days before: Maybe the Zodiac power is meant to be wielded alone.

  Was that what the Dragon meant, why it seemed to be screeching a warning inside her mind? Jasmine thought of the research she and Carlos had done into Zodiac users of the past. There were very few records to be found. It was almost as if, when their time was up, the hosts of the Zodiac power just…vanished.

  She looked up at the blazing Dragon surrounding her, at its sinewy snakelike body and hissing jaws. When all this is over, she wondered, will it consume me, too?

  Does having more power only make the end more certain?

  Jasmine swooped over the main building, watching the Vanguard soldiers flee for cover. Dome six slid by beneath her. And then—

  Five.<
br />
  She paused for a moment, hovering above the small structure. Energy welled up in her hands, forming a blazing ball of fire. Do it, the Dragon seemed to say. Unleash our power!

  No, she told it. If Carlos was inside, a frontal attack might hurt him. It could even kill him.

  After all, he’s human. And I’m not—not quite.

  Willing her power to fade, she wafted down to make a soft landing. There were no soldiers in the area—they had all fled, seeking reinforcements.

  Building five, like the others, was perfectly round and unnaturally white. Even that close it seemed smooth and featureless, as if it was made of a single sheet of high-tech plastic. She squinted, noticing something odd: as the sun set, the dome was beginning to emit its own radiance. A barren eucalyptus tree stood up against it, silhouetted like some gnarled demon in the eerie glow.

  She walked slowly around the dome until she came to a door built into the side. She pushed it lightly, and it swung inward.

  Again, the Dragon’s warning screamed in her mind.

  Jasmine walked inside, into darkness. Something moved up ahead, and her power flared up involuntarily. She edged forward and jumped as the motion repeated itself.

  It was a mirror.

  She concentrated, radiating just enough Dragon energy to light her way. Images of herself reflected the light back: ahead, beside, and above.

  She was in a hall of mirrors. One mirror showed her clenched fist, glowing bright. Another reflected her ankle. A third showed the back of her head, whipping around as she turned to look.

  She glanced down warily, frowning. The floor was mirrored, too, reflecting the soles of her boots as she walked.

  She heard a faint cry from up ahead.

  Jasmine reached out, feeling her way. The corridor curved around, an endless succession of warped images. She moved forward, flinching at the constant echoes of her own movements.

  It was hard to tell how far she had walked. But eventually the mirrors spread out; the corridor widened into a larger chamber. And in the center of that chamber…

  Carlos stood on a low dais, tied to a pole with his back against a freestanding complex of mirrors. His face was turned partially away from her. As she approached, he craned his neck around, straining against his ropes. He looked stressed, almost panicked, and there were bruises on his cheeks.

  Then he saw her and his eyes closed in apparent relief.

  “Jaz,” he said softly. “Sorry I didn’t make it home for dinner.”

  She walked up to him slowly, cautiously. At last she’d found him, battered but alive. She should be happy; she should be bursting into tears, rushing into his arms.

  But the Dragon was screaming. Wrong, it seemed to say. This is all wrong!

  “Jaz?” Carlos asked.

  She paced in a circle, studying Carlos. She had a strange urge to touch his bruises. She raised a hand to his face, and he flinched. She felt embarrassed, ashamed.

  “Maxwell—he brainwashed me,” Carlos continued. “He—he reached right into my head and made me do things. Terrible things.” He shivered. “But I fought it off. I threw off his conditioning.”

  “You must have been through hell,” she whispered.

  “You know what kept me going? The thought of getting home. To everyone, but…but mostly to you.”

  Her hands were shaking, she realized. She grabbed one with the other, forcing herself to be still.

  Carlos managed a weak smile. “Can we continue this with me untied?”

  She took a step toward him. But again, something made her stop.

  “I don’t blame you,” he said. “I don’t blame you for being suspicious. But listen, Jaz.” He turned to stare into her eyes. “These past few months, I’ve witnessed every side of Maxwell’s operation. Things we never saw before, either of us, when we used to work for him. Maxwell’s soldiers—they still think I’m working for him. But I know how to stop him. I can bring him down. I can end this madness for good.”

  She gestured at the mirrors on the walls. “He tied you up here? In this sadistic little fun house?”

  “Yeah. When you attacked,” he said. “He wanted me out of the way.”

  “Maybe he wanted you as bait?” she asked. “To draw me here?”

  “I don’t—maybe. But you’re still the Dragon, aren’t you?”

  Slowly, she nodded. “I am.”

  “Jaz, this is it. This is everything we’ve worked for, right at our fingertips. Ever since the day we first met, in that dive bar. Remember? You showed me those stolen papers labeled ‘Project Zodiac.’ It was in Oakland, California.”

  “It was Palo Alto,” she said sharply.

  Confusion crossed his face. “No. It was Oakland.”

  “I know,” she said. “I was testing you.”

  “Smart. I would have done the same thing.”

  She frowned and turned away. Every human bone in her body yearned to release him, to trust him and help him and be with him, the way she had been before. He was Carlos; he was the man she’d spent the previous three months searching for, to the exclusion of everything else. She’d sacrificed sleep, food, and friendships, all so she could find and rescue him.

  But it’s all wrong.

  “Jaz, it’s me. It’s really me.” He struggled against his bonds, gazing at her with those earnest, pleading eyes. “Just let me down? And we’ll go save the others. Together.”

  She stared back for a long moment. Memories flashed through her mind, a thousand images of the times she’d spent with him. Founding the Zodiac complex, holding hands and shivering in the cold as they watched the foundation being poured. Teaming up to sabotage Maxwell’s Convergence plans. Recruiting Roxanne, the first of the new Zodiacs, in a castle in France.

  Defeating Maxwell in the caves beneath China.

  “I’m the Dragon,” Jasmine said softly.

  She reached out a finger and zapped the rope around Carlos’s neck. Then she freed his arms and legs. He stumbled down off the dais, into her arms.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  She reached out to embrace him. He felt warm and welcoming. His smell was masculine, familiar.

  Then something caught her eye. In the mirror behind Carlos was a reflection of his hand. As she watched, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, unfamiliar device with a single large button on it.

  She pulled back and stared at his face. It was twisted into a nasty, conniving grin. She backed away, but it was too late.

  He pressed the button.

  All around, the mirrors began to whir and move. With astonishing speed, the corridors vanished, the walls folding up like chairs after a party. The mirrors swung back and snapped into place—klik-a klik-a klik-a—against the outer walls of the dome.

  She stood in the exact center of the dome-shaped building. Mirrors shone from every wall, every surface, stretching up to the ceiling and down across the floor.

  “Surprise,” Carlos said.

  Jasmine summoned the Dragon. It flared bright, reflected in every mirror. She swiveled to face Carlos, her hands blazing.

  “Careful, Jaz,” he said. “Close range like this, you might kill me by accident.”

  His voice was different: taunting, cruel. But he was right.

  She turned and aimed a Dragon blast at the side wall. It struck a mirror—

  —and rebounded at her, striking her in the stomach. The impact knocked her off her feet and sent her skidding across the floor.

  She lay still, clutching her stomach and struggling for breath. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what had happened. She’d wielded the Dragon power a hundred times, but she’d never felt it turned back on her.

  Carlos strode around her in a wide circle, keeping his distance. He was still grinning. “That worked better than I expected,” he said.

  “How?” she gasped.

  “Ah! Good question.” He continued to pace, gesturing like a professor addressing a lecture hall. “The Zodiac energy is theoretically infi
nite, and the Dragon can access more power than any of the other signs. You know that, right? Don’t bother to answer, just lie there twitching. Anyway, the Zodiac was nothing until one man figured out how to harness it. And who was that man?”

  “You,” she said.

  “Right! Me. And now I’ve done it again…figured out the ultimate trap for a Zodiac wielder.” He looked around, pleased with his handiwork. “Took a lot of stress testing before I was sure it would work. But it’s true: the only thing that can stop the all-powerful Dragon is the Dragon itself.”

  She glared at him. The Dragon was quiet, receded within her—gathering its strength.

  “Of course,” Carlos continued, “much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t have done it without Maxwell. This sort of work requires equipment and resources. He was very generous.”

  “But…” She struggled to her knees, watching him. “But you turned against Maxwell.”

  “Did I? Or was I working with him all the time?”

  She knew that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. But his words sent a chill through her.

  He turned away, shrugging. “It’s not important. What matters is, Maxwell is right. You can’t be trusted with the Zodiac power—none of you.”

  “And he can?”

  “Maxwell is a visionary. And I’m going to help him fulfill his destiny.”

  Carlos’s demeanor had changed. He sounded wholly rational, perfectly assured. He seemed to truly believe what he was saying.

  Jasmine felt the Dragon rising inside her again. Keep quiet, she told herself. Don’t let him know you’re getting your power back.

  “What about the things you said before?” she asked. “All the plans we made, to stop Vanguard and take Maxwell down?”

  “Oh, Jaz.” The cruel grin crept back onto his face. “You’re so easy to trick.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “You’re—it’s like you said before. He brainwashed you.”

  “That’s irrelevant. If the conclusion is correct, the method of deriving the answer doesn’t matter.”

  She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the scientific method.”