The Dragon's Return

by Stan Lee

  “Roxanne!” Duane called. He turned just in time to see her climb to her feet. Her eyes were blank, too. Her mouth opened, and a single high-pitched note came out.

  Pain lanced through Duane’s head; he dropped to his knees. Before he could recover, a trio of Vanguard agents grabbed him tightly by the arms.

  “Don’t move, pig-man,” Snake said. “I think you know what my power can do.”

  He shook his head, groggy. Duane had experienced Snake’s hypnotic control back at Dragon’s Gate. She’d used him the way she was using Liam and Roxanne, as a weapon against his friends. He was still ashamed of that.

  Snake gestured toward the back of the complex. Roxanne and Liam started to move, both of them walking stiffly. The soldiers followed, ushering Duane along in front of them.

  As they passed the last dome, the landscape turned to red earth. There were no trees there, just sand and rock. In the distance, another access road curved around the back of the complex, but that one was unpaved. It didn’t look like it had been used for a long time.

  Duane glanced back. From his viewpoint, three of the small domes were visible, all still intact. The large central building rose up beyond them.

  Still no sign of Jasmine, he thought. Where is she?

  Snake led them into the cleared area between the complex and the arc of the access road. A small shack, made of bare wood, stood alone on the sand. It was unlit—barely visible in the darkness.

  But as they drew closer, Duane could make out three figures clustered around the shack. Monkey leaned against one side, scarfing down a banana. Three banana peels lay on the ground at his feet.

  Snake raised an eyebrow at him. “Thanks for the assist,” she said sarcastically.

  Monkey grinned and chewed. “We been busy,” he said.

  The second figure was a tall, serious-looking man in Vanguard uniform, holding a third, limp man by the collar. Duane squinted and managed to make out the unconscious figure: Ox.

  Snake turned sharply to the soldiers. “That’s far enough,” she said. “Give us room.”

  The soldiers fanned out, forming a semicircle. They raised their weapons, keeping the Zodiacs in their sights.

  Duane, Liam, and Roxanne were penned in, facing the shack. Duane glanced at Roxanne. She stood silent, utterly obedient. Her eyes looked like big blank circles.

  Snake walked slowly up to the tall Vanguard agent. She peered at him with…suspicion, maybe? Duane wasn’t sure. He wasn’t good at reading emotions.

  “You must be Malosi,” Snake said.

  The Vanguard agent nodded. The two of them stood for a moment, appraising each other awkwardly.

  Then the agent—Malosi—pointed a thumb at Monkey. “He wasn’t much help to me, either,” he said, “but we managed to scoop this one up.” He hefted Ox’s limp body.

  Monkey shrugged. He tossed away his peel and pulled out yet another banana.

  I’m the only one left, Duane thought. He pulled himself up to his full height and turned to face Snake directly.

  “What now?” he asked.

  Snake stared back at him for a moment. Her eyes flared, as if she were considering using her power on him. But instead she just turned and called out to Monkey. “Vincent?”

  Monkey stood at the door to the shack, finishing off his last banana. He threw away the peel and rapped twice, fast, on the door of the shack. “Yo, Operator!” he called. “Time to place a call!”

  Duane watched, puzzled. Operator? Slowly, the door opened.

  Carlos stepped out of the shack, his movements calm and unhurried. He cast his eyes across the group, as if taking the measure of each player in turn. Snake, her eyes glowing with power. Liam and Roxanne standing rigid at attention. Monkey smirking.

  Duane gasped.

  Carlos paid no attention. He turned to Malosi and gestured at Ox, unconscious on the ground. “Over there,” he said.

  Malosi reached down and lifted Ox by the collar again. A faint Zodiac glow rose up from Malosi as he tossed Ox toward Duane and the others. Ox crashed into the ground and let out a groan.

  Duane helped him to his feet. Ox gestured at Liam’s rigid, unmoving form. “If this guy knew how to land a plane, I could have taken both Vincent and that new Tiger.”

  “New Tiger?” Duane asked.

  But before Ox could answer, Carlos stepped forward and smiled. “Everyone’s here,” he said. “That makes things easier.”

  “Carlos?” Duane asked. “What are you doing?”

  Carlos whipped out a small dart gun and fired—four times, in rapid succession. The first dart struck Roxanne on the neck. She cried out and staggered back.

  Ox slapped at his throat as the second dart made contact. The third one struck Liam, whipping his head around.

  Duane tried to duck, but there was no time. The dart struck his neck and stayed there, attached by some kind of adhesive. He scrabbled at it, but it wouldn’t budge.

  Then he felt thin metal probes break his skin. They jabbed into his neck, sharp and hard. “What is it?” he cried, trying to turn his head to see. “What’s it doing to me?”

  “They’re…” Ox winced in pain. “They’re burrowing into our skin. Little…nanotendrils, I think they’re called.”

  The metal feelers dug into Duane’s flesh. He tugged at the device, but it was no use. It had taken root, and it wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s a power drainer,” Carlos said. “My own design.”

  “Yeah?” said a female voice.

  Duane turned. Roxanne and Liam stood together—both clear-eyed, glaring at Carlos. The dart, Duane thought. It broke Snake’s hypnotic spell!

  “Drain this,” Roxanne said.

  She opened her mouth to let out a sonic cry. But all that emerged was a weak, strangled screech.

  Carlos laughed. “The Zodiacs,” he sneered. “You know, I never thought much of this team. Without Jaz and the kid, you’re nothing.”

  Duane clenched his fists. He didn’t know why or how, but Carlos was definitely working for Maxwell again. He had figured that out, intuitively, a few moments before Carlos fired the darts. Sometimes Duane could do that—put together the pieces of a puzzle on a nonrational level.

  For all the good it does me, he thought.

  “You forgot somethin’, brainiac,” Liam said. “Your little dart might be stuck to my neck with superglue—”

  He launched himself through the air, leaping toward Carlos. The Ram burst forth, snorting and roaring above his head.

  “—but nothing can break my skin,” Liam finished.

  Carlos watched calmly. At the last moment, he stepped to the side—just as the Ram started to fade. Liam flailed in midair, tumbled, and landed in the dirt.

  Carlos leaned down, speaking to Liam like a patient teacher. “The dart doesn’t need to penetrate your skin,” he said. “That just makes the process faster. Your power lasted a whole thirty seconds longer than your teammates’—I hope you made the most of it.”

  Snake, Monkey, and Malosi moved closer to Carlos. We could rush him, Duane thought. Carlos isn’t much of a fighter. But without our powers, we’d never beat them all. Not to mention two dozen armed Vanguard agents.

  Duane could feel the drainer doing its work, sapping the Zodiac energy within him. He was helpless; so were Liam, Roxanne, and Ox. They’d been tricked, outmatched. Defeated.

  Liam staggered over to rejoin his teammates. He dabbed at a cut on his lip and stared for a moment at the small drop of blood on his finger.

  Duane had never seen Liam bleed before.

  They stood together, along with Roxanne and Ox, opposite the Vanguard forces—and Carlos. Two groups facing off like gunslingers in the Old West.

  “What now?” Duane asked.

  Carlos grinned and held up a small cylinder. “I’m glad you asked,” he said.

  He pressed a button, and the world seemed to tip on its side.

  ALL AROUND the little shack, the ground began to rumble and shift. A circular plot of
land rose up, tilting slightly. The red soil began to crack apart, sliding away to reveal a carefully engineered artificial platform.

  The soldiers took another step back. As they watched, the platform began to rise into the air.

  On the platform, Roxanne struggled to maintain her balance. A sudden lurch knocked Duane off his feet. He fell into Liam, and the two of them tumbled to the surface.

  “Ow,” Liam said. “Not invulnerable anymore, remember?”

  Roxanne stumbled. “What’s happening?” she asked.

  She looked up, dazed, and saw Carlos standing over her. Snake and Monkey flanked him. Malosi stood just behind, frowning as always.

  Carlos held up the cylinder, the device he’d activated just a moment before. “Surprise,” he said.

  Roxanne just stared at him.

  “You’ll excuse us,” Carlos added. “We have a few preparations to make.” He gestured toward the edge of the platform. “Go ahead. Take a look.”

  He turned away and motioned to Snake, Monkey, and Malosi. They followed him toward the shack, away from the depowered Zodiacs. They seemed totally unconcerned with Roxanne and her friends.

  And why should they be concerned? Roxanne thought. We’re trapped and powerless!

  The Vanguard agents, she noticed, seemed surer on their feet. They’d been expecting Carlos’s trick, the rising plot of ground that had thrown their enemies off balance.

  Liam touched her shoulder. “What now?” he asked.

  “You heard the man,” she said. “Let’s check out the view.”

  She led him, lurching and stumbling, over to the edge of the huge disk. Now she could see: the airborne area covered a circle about twenty meters in diameter. The shack had risen along with them, but the domes and the access road were still down on the ground. She could see the soldiers, too, staring up at attention from below.

  They were still rising. We must be about ten meters in the air, she thought. The ground shifted and cracked beneath their feet, revealing the transparent plastic surface of the platform.

  For the first time, the enormity of the situation struck Roxanne. This isn’t some military base we’re assaulting, she thought, or a criminal mastermind with a secret hideout. It isn’t a mindless sandstorm or a couple of rogue agents.

  This is the most dangerous man in the world. With his private army—and a near-infinite box of toys.

  She turned to look back at the shack. Monkey was fumbling with a device on his wrist.

  “Vincent,” Carlos asked, “do you have the holo-link set up yet?”

  “Almost,” Monkey muttered. He shook the device in the air.

  The disk stopped rising. The soil had thinned out, leaving a layer of thick transparent plastic holding them in midair. Red earth crumbled off the sides, falling like snow to the edges of the glowing Vanguard complex—twenty meters below.

  Roxanne crouched down and cleared the last bits of dirt away, making a bare patch on the disk’s surface. Through the plastic, the Vanguard domes looked like luminescent marbles scattered across the ground. The guards were tiny pixels of light, their energy weapons glowing in the dark.

  It’s like a game, she thought. But what are the rules? And where’s the main player—Maxwell?

  Then Duane was at her elbow, speaking low. Liam and Ox had crouched down, too, casting occasional glances over at the Vanguard operatives.

  “They’re using gravity-negation equipment to keep us in the air,” Duane said. “I think it’s in the shack. I might be able to slip inside and sabotage it, if someone can distract our opponents.”

  The shack, Roxanne noticed, was at the exact center of the platform. Inside it, machinery hummed and whirred, dropping in pitch as the disk stabilized in midair.

  “Well, we’re fresh out of Zodiac power,” Liam said. “But Ox and me are still fighters. If he tackles Snake low, I might be able to—”

  Ox motioned for silence. Carlos was striding toward them, with Snake right behind. Celine’s eyes glowed like warning lights.

  Carlos stopped a few feet from Roxanne and her team. He began to pace back and forth like a college professor, glancing at each of the Zodiacs in turn.

  “Let me explain what’s going to happen,” Carlos said. “Each of you has a drainer on your neck. Right now they’re inhibiting your powers—but I could use them to drain the Zodiac energy out of you, one at a time, until nothing is left. That would work. It would do the job.

  “But,” he continued, “it would be inefficient. It would take time. It would increase the possibility of sloppiness, of error. For instance, while I was draining you”—he pointed at Roxanne, then at Duane—“you might be tempted to try to deactivate this lovely antigravity platform. Which, I might remind you, would lead to a pretty big fall for those of us—like me and you”—he pointed at Liam—“who do not currently possess extra powers.”

  “I’ll take me chances,” Liam growled.

  “I’m sure you would. Which is why I am taking none.”

  Carlos turned and motioned to Malosi. The young man stepped forward.

  “You’re familiar with the special properties of the Tiger,” Carlos said. “When Steven wielded it, he made a fascinating discovery. The Tiger is the only Zodiac sign that can connect with the other powers, drawing them together and enhancing their strength. That ability turned the tide at Dragon’s Gate, enabling you to defeat Maxwell.”

  “Enabling us,” Roxanne said. “You fought with us, Carlos.”

  “I did,” he acknowledged. “That was a long time ago.”

  For just a second, Carlos seemed to waver. A confused expression crossed his face. Huh, Roxanne thought. Could there be some of the old Carlos left inside him?

  But he had already snapped out of it and seemed his new, cruel self again. “At Dragon’s Gate, the Tiger was your salvation,” he said. “Here, it will be your—”

  “Dammit,” Monkey said. “I can’t get this to work.”

  Carlos glanced over, annoyed. He strode across the platform and grabbed Monkey’s arm. With a harsh twist, he clicked the device free of Monkey’s wrist.

  “Ow,” Monkey said.

  Carlos marched to the shack and mounted the device on the outer wall, securing it with a magnetic latch. Then he ran his fingers expertly along its tiny touch screen.

  A hologram rose into the sky, three or four times life-size. Maxwell’s glowing dark-eyed face looked down sharply at them. He stared around, surveying the group in an unhurried, almost casual way.

  “I think he was going to say ‘your doom,’” Maxwell said.

  Roxanne studied the enormous hologram. Maxwell sat in a dark room, holding only a tarnished bronze sphere in both hands. The sphere glowed, casting an eerie light on his face.

  The Maxwell hologram turned to face Malosi. “My Tiger,” Maxwell said, with a hint of pride in his voice. “You may begin.”

  Malosi smiled up at the looming face. For a moment, Malosi looked less like a warrior and more like a child. A child, Roxanne thought, receiving a rare word of approval from his parent.

  Then Malosi’s face went hard again. He nodded, closed his eyes, and clenched his fists. The white Tiger began to rise up around his body, raging fierce and wild in the night.

  Not many options, Roxanne thought. Carlos is Maxwell’s creature now; so is Malosi. And Monkey is absolutely loyal.

  That only leaves…

  “Snake,” she said softly. “Celine?”

  Snake frowned at her, then looked away.

  Malosi’s eyes were closed; he seemed to be in a trance, gathering his strength for some battle to come. Carlos was tapping on a small analyzer device. Monkey just stared up at Maxwell’s image with pure adulation.

  Roxanne leaned in closer to Snake. “You’re next, you know,” she whispered. “Once Maxwell has our powers, he’s gonna take yours, too.”

  Snake glared back. But her eyes didn’t glow.

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said.

  “Roxy’s right,” Liam
said, leaning in. “Ye know it’s true.”

  “It is what I would do,” Duane said, “if I were a power-hungry madman.” He paused. “Which I’m not, of course.”

  “No. No,” Snake replied, her voice low. “I’m loyal to Maxwell. I’m not a traitor, like Josie and Nicky.” She pointed at Ox. “Or like him.”

  “Maxwell doesn’t care about loyalty,” Ox said. “He has no allies. Only tools.”

  Snake cast a nervous glance at Carlos and Monkey. They hadn’t heard the conversation. She turned and stared off in the distance, as if remembering something from long before and far away.

  “Berlin,” she said quietly. “I miss Berlin.”

  The Zodiac energy continued to build up around Malosi. He spread his arms, drinking it in.

  “Let me ask you something,” Roxanne said. “This should be your moment of triumph. Do you feel triumphant?”

  Slowly, Snake shook her head.

  It’s working, Roxanne thought. She’s listening! Roxanne opened her mouth to continue—

  —and then a sharp stab of pain ran through her neck. She raised a hand and touched the power drainer. The pain was focused there, spreading rapidly through her neck and chest, into her entire body.

  “Aye,” Liam said, staggering. “I feel it, too.”

  Roxanne winced. She dropped to her knees, and Ox and Duane fell with her. She looked up at Snake and held out a hand.

  Snake’s eyes still weren’t glowing. But she shook her head.

  “Too late,” she said sadly.

  Then Carlos was beside her. “Too late indeed.” He cast a cruel smile down at Roxanne. “But that was a good last try.”

  “What’s—happening?” Roxanne gasped.

  Carlos gestured at Malosi.

  The Tiger bloomed and blossomed white-hot around Malosi, brighter than ever before. Its claws scratched at the air, feral and deadly. Energy flared in all directions, forming tendrils of Zodiac power in the air.

  Then the tendrils reached out to the captive Zodiacs. As Roxanne watched, a single energy strand touched Liam’s neck. He cried out.