The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence
Page 26
ZODIAC
“Oh, great.” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “What does this one stand for?”
A smile tickled at the corner of Carlos’s lips. “It doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just Zodiac.”
“Zodiac.” Liam nodded. “Kind of on the nose, but it fits.”
Kim clapped her hands. “I like it!”
Duane stared at the screen for a long moment, then smiled. Roxanne struck a triumphant note on her guitar and sang: “Zodiaaaaaaaac!”
“Steven?” Jasmine touched his shoulder. “Can I have a word?”
She led him to the far corner of the room. “I know what you’re gonna say,” he said. “Our teamwork was sloppy. As soon as we get back, we should set up a real training program—”
She waved him off. “Back in the cavern,” she said. “When you caught me…I was trying to tell you something.”
“Oh,” he said.
“I was wrong about you. You did a great job back there. You didn’t just lend physical power to the team. You made them believe they could win.”
Steven blinked. He didn’t know what to say.
“I still want you to be able to have a normal life,” Jasmine continued. “But it’s nice having the Tiger watching my back.”
“Who wants normal?” he replied. “Normal’s totally overrated.”
Jasmine smiled. “Man, this is hard. I’m not used to being nice, you know? Don’t tell the others.” She gestured back at the table. “Especially Carlos.”
“Well, you gotta be mean to Carlos.” Steven grinned. “I mean, just look at him.”
At the table, Carlos was pecking away again at his laptop.
“He’s a nerd all right,” Jasmine said, laughing. “But he’s my nerd.”
Steven raised his head and willed the Tiger power to come forth. It glowed above, its savage head turning to face Jasmine head-on.
“Zodiac, huh?” he said.
Jasmine looked back, very serious. The Dragon rose up, its sinewy energy-body coiling around her. It looked stronger, fiercer, more solid than ever before. When its fire-breath touched Steven’s Tiger power, a flare of multicolored power surged into the air.
“Zodiac,” she repeated.
They walked back over to the others. “I think training can wait a few days,” Jasmine announced. “You’ve all earned a short vacation. And this plane can take you just about anywhere.”
“Great!” Kim said. Then she frowned. “Actually…I can’t think of anyplace to go.”
“Well,” Steven said, “I know where I want to go: back to Hong Kong. And I’d love to have some company.”
One by one, the others turned to him—Liam, Roxanne, Duane, and lastly Kim. “Hong Kong?” Kim asked. “So we can see where the Zodiac power came from?”
“Not exactly,” he replied. “I was thinking of the museum, not the secret sub-basement. There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t get to see, and I’d like to take in the rest of it.” He turned to Jasmine. “If it’s still standing.”
“It is,” she said. “But I thought you didn’t care about that stuff.”
Steven thought of his grandfather, of the heritage his parents had passed down to him. Jasmine was right; he’d never cared about it before. But now it gave him a warm feeling, a sense that he belonged to something greater than himself.
Then he looked at his teammates—and realized he felt something very similar toward them. They were the future, his chance to build something. His new family, built on the foundation of the old.
“I do care,” he said. “I do now.”
THIAGO THE RAT stood in a dark, cramped cavern, scratching away at the surface of the oracle bone in his hand. Stupid thing, he thought. So much slower than a holo-communicator!
Wherever his sharp fingernail touched the bone, faint gray writing appeared. When he was finished, the message read:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
I THINK I’VE GIVEN YOUR YOUNG TIGER A CHANCE.
A massive crash resounded through the wall, shaking the ground. That’s it, Thiago thought. The main cavern has collapsed. His intuitive power had allowed him to ferret out this narrow side passage, the one place where he knew he’d be safe.
The Rat’s little mousehole.
At his feet, Nicky—Dog lay still. Malik—Ox—groaned and started to open his eyes. Thiago pulled out his gas gun, leaned down, and squirted another puff under Malik’s nose. Malik moaned and went limp.
Thiago stared at Malik’s chiseled features, his thick jaw. You’re just a little too loyal, Thiago thought. If I hadn’t grabbed you, you might have gone along with your friends’ little walkout, formed a whole other faction. And that wouldn’t have served my employers’ purposes.
Sometimes one pawn can tip the whole chess game.
When Thiago stood up, a return message was waiting for him on the oracle bone.
THANK YOU. I REALIZE YOU’VE PUT YOURSELF IN A DIFFICULT POSITION. REST ASSURED THAT YOU WILL BE REWARDED.
Thiago scratched out his reply:
DON’T MAKE ME REGRET THIS.
IF I DO, YOU’LL REGRET IT TOO.
He stared at the bone for a long moment, but no further reply came.
Thiago exhaled, looking down at the sleeping forms of Nicky and Malik. He was playing a risky game, he knew. He remembered his own words, to Josie the Horse: If you defy Maxwell, you’d better have a Plan B. If Maxwell found out about his treachery, Thiago could wind up like poor Monkey.
He shuddered at the thought. I hope I’ve picked the right side.
Then he smiled and laughed, a high-pitched chittering sound. If not, he thought, I’ll just switch sides again.
After all, that’s what a Rat does.
The woman sat alone in a tastefully decorated study. Every wall hanging, every book on the shelves had been carefully chosen and arranged. The final message still looked up at her from the oracle bone:
DON’T MAKE ME REGRET THIS.
IF I DO, YOU’LL REGRET IT TOO.
The woman stared at the message for a long time. Then, with a quick motion, she wiped it clean with her palm. The oracle bone’s surface went blank, and she picked up her phone, looking at its screensaver: a faded picture of Steven Lee, age five, staring up in wide-eyed wonder.
A tear formed in the woman’s eye.
“My little boy,” she whispered. “What have we done to you?”
“CARLOS, I MEAN IT. Put the wand away or I’ll put it away for you, and you won’t like where it ends up.”
Carlos snapped the wand closed and turned back to his computer. “I’m just concerned.”
“Well, don’t be. I’m fine.”
They had dropped the others off, and were headed back to Greenland. Neither Jasmine nor Carlos knew how to fly a plane, but Duane had assured them the autopilot could handle the flight. The idea made Jasmine nervous, but so far the trip had been smooth.
“He did good,” Carlos said. “Steven, I mean.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Are you ever gonna tell him the whole story? About you and Maxwell?”
Jasmine frowned. For a moment, her whole body went tense. She didn’t like to think about those days.
“Maybe someday,” she said, keeping her voice deliberately light.
Carlos was still frowning.
“That’s not what’s really bothering you,” she continued. “What is it?”
“I…” He turned and looked her in the eye. “Back in the Grottoes. The Vanguard team…they crumbled awfully fast.”
“Our team was better,” Jasmine said. But even as she said it, she knew that wasn’t the whole answer.
“I suppose,” Carlos replied. “But it almost seems like someone was helping us.”
“Maybe I got through to Josie. She’s a good person, deep inside. And she wasn’t there with Snake at the end.” Jasmine grimaced. “I’ve got a feeling our world is about to get a lot more complicated.”
Carlos peered at her. “Are you sure you’re a
ll right? You’ve got a whole lot of Dragon power inside you, now.”
“I can handle it. Really.” She cocked her head at him. “But if you want to help me, go in the back and rustle up some dinner.”
He smiled, a little flirty. “I have four advanced degrees, and you want me to make dinner?”
“I’ll tell you what. Let’s land this thing and meet up with the others. I’ve been craving dim sum for forever.”
A moment later, his hands touched her shoulders. Despite herself, she jumped. He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
“Dim sum it is,” he said.
When he was gone, she let out a deep breath. Dragon energy poured out from her mouth, her hands, up from every inch of her body. The sharp-clawed Dragon whipped around the cabin, hissing and spitting fire. Then it turned, for the first time, to gaze directly at her with glowing red eyes.
“I can handle you,” Jasmine said.
The Dragon stared back silently.
“I can,” she whispered.
She tried to remember what the world had looked like, before. Before the Zodiac, the Dragon, before the Convergence and the Tiger and the recruits and the power. Before…
Before Maxwell.
It took a lot of effort, but by the time Carlos landed the plane, she almost felt human again.
STAN LEE is known to millions as the man who co-created Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The Fantastic Four, as well as hundreds of other Super Heroes. Stan serves as the chairman emeritus of Marvel and is currently the chairman and chief creative officer of POW! Entertainment.
STUART MOORE is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. His recent writing includes EGOs, an original comic book series from Image Comics, and Civil War, the first in an ongoing line of novels from Marvel Comics. Stuart is also a partner in Botfriend, a comics packaging company.
ANDIE TONG has art and design work featured in titles across a range of franchises, including Tron: Betrayal; Spectacular Spider-Man UK; The Batman Strikes; Smallville; Wheel of Time; TMNT; Masters of the Universe; and Starship Troopers. He has worked for such companies as Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, and Dark Horse.