by Stan Lee
“Nope,” Malik said.
“Before my time, too,” Nicky said.
“Maxwell held on to that info pretty tight,” Josie added.
“Carlos knows,” Steven said. “He’s been there. But unless Jasmine can wake him up, I don’t think he’ll be much help.”
A murmur rose in the room. The various groups turned and began talking among themselves.
“Son,” Mr. Lee said, his voice cutting through the noise. “When you were inside this gentleman’s…mind…did you see anything specific? Features of the land, writing on buildings or documents?”
“I, I don’t think so.”
“Spoken languages? Star patterns in the sky?”
“Sorry, Dad. Just a lot of sand.”
Mr. Lee shook his head. Great, Steven thought, turning away. Everyone’s looking at us. Which means everyone sees how disappointed he is with me—again.
“We will review all the data,” Duane said. “There may be something in the observatory feeds.”
“I am not optimistic,” Dafari said.
At the front of the room, Malik cleared his throat. As he pulled himself up to his full height, the raging Ox rose above his imposing figure. All eyes turned to him.
“Let’s begin mission prep,” he said, turning to Mrs. Lee. “Ma’am, you have specialized equipment that might help?”
“That’s correct,” she replied.
“Let’s take a look. Quartermaster, please join us. Mags, can you do a full check of all air and ground vehicles?”
“Will do.” Mags hesitated. “I’m not sure we have anything seaworthy.”
“Let me worry about that. Let’s go, people. There’s plenty to…”
He paused, noticing Steven staring at him.
“Steven,” Malik said, “this okay with you?”
Nicky and Josie joined Malik. They studied Steven, as though wondering what he’d do—whether he’d challenge their friend.
I was afraid of this, Steven thought. These Vanguard guys…they’re soldiers. Like Malik said, they’re not used to taking orders from kids.
“How are we going to carry out a mission,” he asked, “when we don’t know where we’re going?”
Malik stood his ground, eyes steady. “I’ve got an idea about that, too.”
“Steven? I must speak with you.”
Steven whirled around. “Dad, I’m kind of busy here.”
“This is important.” Again, the look of disappointment. “You can avoid your filial obligations no longer.”
“Avoi—I haven’t avoided anything! You’re the one who—Mom, tell him….”
But his mother was already walking off with Malik, speaking in low tones. The others started breaking into small groups, making plans and beginning mission preparations.
Kim approached, but Steven waved her away. He wanted to scream; he wanted to smash something. But there was no time for that now.
Up on the big screen, the red dot burned like a scar in the middle of the ocean.
Dad’s treating me like an infant, he thought, and Malik’s trying to take over my job.
“Steven?”
Mr. Lee turned his back and headed toward the door. Furious, Steven clenched his fists and followed.
“DAD,” STEVEN BEGAN, steeling himself, “we don’t have to have this conversation.”
He held up his card, unlocked the door, and walked inside his room. His father followed one step behind. The older man made a quick circuit of the small room, pausing to raise an eyebrow at a shirt discarded on the floor.
“I mean it, Dad.” Steven planted himself on the bed, grimacing. “I’d really rather not do the whole awkward father-son-bonding thing right now.”
Mr. Lee ran a finger along a dusty mirror. “Surprisingly modest quarters,” he said.
“I’m trying to tell you, I understand. You had priorities growing up, important stuff. I just wasn’t one of them.”
Mr. Lee stopped midstride and shot his son a look. “We gave you many gifts.”
Again, Steven felt the rage growing inside him. Don’t, he told himself. Don’t lose your temper. That’ll just show him he’s right about you—that you’re just a dumb kid!
“Case in point,” Mr. Lee added, gesturing upward.
Steven looked up. In his anger, he’d unintentionally manifested the Tiger avatar. It stared at his father, growling silently.
“If you mean the Zodiac powers,” Steven said, “I’ll remind you that you tricked me into receiving that gift.”
“Do you regret it?”
“No. But it would have been nice to have a choice.”
“You had a choice, not twenty-four hours ago. You risked your life to regain the power.”
He’s always got an answer, Steven thought. Always a reason, a justification for whatever he wants to do.
Mr. Lee sat down next to him on the bed—not too close, Steven noticed. The old man fidgeted.
“I understand you acquitted yourself well on that mission.”
Steven looked up sharply. Is he actually proud of me?
No. No, don’t fall into that trap. Remember: he always lets you down.
“At times, you remind me of your mother,” Mr. Lee continued. “She, too, is always dissatisfied. I expended much time and money bringing her father—your grandfather—over to the States from China. She took those efforts for granted.”
“Poor Dad. Nobody appreciates you.” Steven looked at his hands. “Of course, if you hadn’t brought Grandfather over, you might have had to raise me yourself.”
“He coddled you. Made you soft.” Mr. Lee looked over sharply, anger in his eyes. “He indulged your fascination with American things. I recall an obsession you had with an old penny, the kind with an engraving of wheat stalks on the back. You carried it around for weeks.”
“A penny? Expensive toy, Dad.”
But he remembered the penny. What had the year been on it—1956? To a five-year-old immigrant boy, the wheat stalks had been a symbol of America, of the New World—a world that belonged to him, not to his parents.
“We spared no expense for you,” Mr. Lee said. “And this is the result: a spoiled child. What have you accomplished with the gifts we gave you? What have you done in your life that is truly worthwhile?”
Steven stood up and stalked into a corner of the room. His father always knew how to hurt him—to reach right down and pull his son’s worst fears, his greatest doubts, into the light of day.
What have I done, really? Is all this power actually good for something?
Or will I just be ‘erased from the world’?
“You wanted to show me something,” he said quietly.
“Yes,” Mr. Lee said. “Without your mother present.”
Steven turned, his curiosity aroused. Normally his parents were inseparable.
“She is compromised in this area,” Mr. Lee explained.
He touched a button on his watch. Light stabbed out from it, into the center of the room. A holographic image appeared—like the one they’d watched outside in the snow but much cruder, in lower resolution. It showed a scene from the end of the Dragon’s attack on Alaska. The city lay smoking, the highway wrecked. The shadow of the Dragon’s wings fell over the charred beach.
“Reruns?” Steven asked.
“Watch,” his father said.
As before, the viewpoint zoomed down to pick out the local fisherman standing alone on the shore. The Dragon swooped low, facing the man directly. As it opened its mouth, fire dancing on its tongue, Mr. Lee froze the image.
“Do you see anything new?”
Steven scanned the image, walked around it. He shook his head.
“Perhaps with enhancement.”
Mr. Lee manipulated the watch. The viewpoint zoomed in and panned away from the Dragon, to the back of the beach. A pile of rocks marked the land boundary—and among those rocks, a figure crouched, watching the drama. The picture was blurry, highly pixelated; Steven couldn’t make out the fig
ure.
His father tapped the watch three times in succession. The figure grew steadily sharper, resolving into a familiar shape with a sharp nose and a dark cloak.
“Rat,” Steven said.
Mr. Lee nodded. “He was there.”
Steven thought furiously. Next to the Dragon, Rat was the most dangerous of the Zodiacs. To him, the others were just pawns in an endless maze of schemes and double crosses. Steven had no idea where, if anywhere, Rat’s true allegiances lay.
But he’d seen Rat just a few months before. With…
“Mom,” he said. “He was working with Mom.”
Mr. Lee nodded.
“Now…” Steven gestured at the blurry image. “Is he in league with the Dragon?”
“Possibly. Or perhaps he was spying on it. For himself or for some unknown master.”
Steven nodded, his eyes wide. The Dragon’s about to destroy the world, he thought. Jasmine and Carlos are off the board, Malik is challenging my authority, and Dad’s messing with my head as usual. Rat—he’s a problem I could do without.
“I must insist on discretion in this matter.” Mr. Lee clicked off the hologram. “But I trust you to deal with the Rat if he should reappear.”
Once again, the expression on Mr. Lee’s face was unreadable. But for the second time, Steven allowed himself to hope his father might actually be proud of him.
“There is something else,” Mr. Lee said, touching the controls on his watch again.
Another image appeared in the air: a young man with a wide face, dark eyes, and close-cropped hair. He sat in an office of some kind, surrounded by computer screens. The screen images were blurry, but Steven could make out a smoking volcano and a series of wavelength patterns.
“Hello, Steven.”
“Malosi.” Steven swallowed. “This is, uh, a surprise.”
That was an understatement. Malosi had been a soldier under Maxwell’s command; in fact, Maxwell had chosen him to host the Tiger power. He’d deeply resented Steven, almost killing the boy in an attempt to grab the Tiger power for himself. Steven had convinced Malosi to turn against Maxwell—but then Malosi had gone off with his former master, vowing to do what he could to guide the Dragon onto a better path.
“Yes,” Malosi said, as serious as ever. “I left Maxwell’s employ weeks ago.”
“Somebody make you a better offer?” Steven glanced at his father.
“Malosi,” Mr. Lee said, “is able to admit his mistakes.”
“You were right about Maxwell, Steven.” Malosi frowned. “There’s nothing left of him. It’s all just this primal force, the Dragon, now.”
“Okay, well, that’s cool of you to say,” Steven said. “And you know I love a good Tiger reunion. But are we through? ’Cause I’m really, really, really kind of busy right now.”
Steven turned away, clenching his fists. He liked Malosi, but something about the situation was making him irrationally angry.
“Malosi has been working with our people on qi enhancement,” Mr. Lee explained. “You will recall that qi was the basis for the company your mother and I founded. It allows ordinary people to enhance their gifts, granting them a much more modest version of your own Zodiac powers.”
“Sure, I remember. You made a good living selling crystals to gullible rich people.”
His father glared. “That is a gross mischaracterization.”
“I also remember who funded most of your research: Maxwell.”
“That part, sadly, is true. But we broke off all ties with Maxwell, long before the Zodiac Convergence and the assumption of your powers.”
“Steven,” Malosi said, “I know time is short. Your father wanted me to tell you about a weakness in the Dragon’s armor.”
“Sure. Awesome.” Steven threw up his hands. “Fire away.”
“It’s Mince. The girl scientist?”
“I know who Mince is, Malosi.”
“She’s crucial to the tech the Dragon’s using. And she’s tough, vicious as a scorpion. But inside, she’s just a kid.”
“That’s your great contribution to the fight? Mince is ‘just a kid’?” Steven stared at the hologram. “How about something useful? Like where the Dragon’s tech is centered?”
“I’m working on that. I’m analyzing qi levels and the volcano data, but I’m coming up empty.” Malosi grimaced. “Sorry, man.”
Steven turned away. When he and Malosi had met before, they’d fought like…well, like two Tigers. Malosi seemed much calmer now, more grown-up. That should have been a good thing; it meant Malosi was at peace with himself, and the Zodiacs had a new ally in their fight against the Dragon.
Somehow Steven found it infuriating.
“Steven.” Malosi stared out of the hologram. “I know this is tough on you. I can only imagine what it’s like, having to wrangle all those powered people. I’m impressed. I couldn’t do it.”
Steven paused, startled.
“I mean it,” Malosi continued. “Nicky alone…”
Despite himself, Steven laughed.
“I’m glad you have the power now. I’m happier without it.” Malosi paused. “I wouldn’t want to have to make the choices you’re facing.”
“Thanks,” Steven replied. “I guess.”
“Good luck.” Something twinkled in Malosi’s stoic eyes. “Tiger.”
The hologram winked off. Then it was just Steven and his father again.
“Malosi had none of your advantages,” Mr. Lee said. “He had no father at all. And yet look what he’s accomplished.”
Steven turned away. Don’t take the bait, he thought. Don’t let him get to you. But—
“I’m glad you found another son you like better,” he said.
Mr. Lee let that hang in the air for a moment. Finally, he said, “Your own qi seems out of balance.”
“Yeah, I’m a little gassy, too. I’ll manage.”
“Your team recently regained its powers.” A strange tone entered Mr. Lee’s voice. “Have you stopped to wonder why the Dragon allowed that?”
“Nobody allowed it.” Steven turned, frowning. “We broke into the Dragon’s lair and took our powers back.”
“The Dragon is the most powerful entity on Earth. Do you think it couldn’t have kept a bronze trinket secure if it wanted to?”
“We had the whole team.” But the words sounded false, even to him.
“The Dragon doesn’t care about you,” Mr. Lee said. “It’s so powerful—its plans are so far advanced—it doesn’t believe it can be stopped. The rest of the powers, all eleven signs of the Zodiac, mean nothing to it.”
Steven paused, blinking. He’s right, he realized. Dad, you’ve done it again. Cut through the crap and tore me down to size, all at the same time.
“Is the Dragon right?” he asked. “Is all this, everything we’re doing—is it all for nothing?”
Mr. Lee’s expression softened. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know.” Steven stepped closer, facing his father. “All your fancy suits, your attitude, your big company. Your new-age pseudoscience, your zillion-dollar tech—you’ve got everything in the world and you still don’t know anything.”
Mr. Lee looked him in the eye. But for the first time, Steven saw him blink.
“You don’t know whether we can beat the Dragon,” Steven continued. “You don’t know where Lystria is. Even your adopted son doesn’t know—”
“Nope. But I do.”
They both whirled around. A tall woman stood in the doorway, dressed in a skintight gray battle suit. Straight dark hair cascaded over one eye; her mouth was upturned in a smirk.
“Hey, Tiger,” she said, peering inside. “Nice crib.”
“Steven,” Mr. Lee said, “who is this?”
Steven struggled to breathe. If the situation was out of control before, this ought to drive it right over the cliff.
“Dad,” he said, “meet Snake.”
WHEN STEVEN ENTERED the two-story hangar bay, a rush of noise assa
ulted him. Hammers clanged, drills whirred, welding torches hissed. On the far side of the room, Malik stood with his back to Steven, supervising work on a vehicle of some kind, concealed behind a large screen.
Whatever that vehicle was, it had been crowded into a corner by the vast bulk of the Vanguard stealth jet. Snake patted the jet’s door, smiling her slinky smile, clearly proud of herself.
“Thought you might want your toy back,” she said.
Steven stared at the sleek gray plane. His team had stolen it from Vanguard a year before, then abandoned it after the assault on Maxwell’s Australian base.
“How did you get it out of Australia?” Steven asked. “That thing was a wreck.”
“You don’t want to know.” She rolled her eyes. “Tell you one thing, Monkey was no help.”
“He’s still working for Maxwell?”
“Until he dies.”
“But you’re not.”
He tried not to make it sound like a question. But Snake raised an eyebrow. She stepped a little too close to him and looked into his eyes.
“I’m here because Malik called me,” she said, “and because I agree that Maxwell has gone too far.”
“We’re not even, uh, sure he’s Maxwell anymore.”
“Whatever he is, he’s got to be stopped.”
Steven shifted from one foot to the other. Snake—Celine, that was her name—liked to flirt with him while reminding him constantly that he was just a kid. The combination made him nervous, a reaction that seemed to amuse her.
“I know you don’t trust me. But consider this.” She swept the hair from her eyes, which started to glow. The hissing Snake appeared above her head. “If I wanted to trick you—to make you believe me—you know I could do it.”
“That’s, uh, true.” He looked away quickly, before her hypnotic ability could seize hold of him. Snake was only making a point, but she was one of the most powerful Zodiacs. He couldn’t let himself be drawn into her games right now.
“Malik says the Dragon’s tech is in Lystria,” she said. “Or the hole that used to be Lystria.”
“Yeah, well. Malik would know.”
He shot a glare at Ox, on the other side of the bay.
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Snake said. “From the day we carried out the Lystria op, I knew Maxwell would return there. He never wastes material.”