Balance of Power

by Stan Lee

  He clenched his fists. There was no solution. If he stayed to protect his parents, his teammates would either drown or be fried by the Dragon. If he left to save Kim and the others, Mince would kill his parents.

  He couldn’t move. He could barely think. The plate holograms sliced through the air, faster and faster, mirroring the accelerating activity within the earth itself. The Tigers screamed in his ear: This is your choice. This is your doom.

  This is the way the cycle ends.

  He peered at Mince through the furiously moving holograms.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Ha-ha!” she cackled. “The brave Tiger. The chosen one. The great champion of the Zodiacs!”

  He looked away. His parents were staring at him. His mother looked worried, expectant, maybe a bit guilty.

  His father just glared. Steven’s heart sank, and then immediately he felt a surge of anger. Guess I’ve disappointed you, Dad. Again.

  “Time’s running out,” Mince continued. “Check it.”

  She reached out with both arms and zoomed in on the hologram. A mosaic of plates moved back and forth, left and right, colliding and sliding above and beneath one another. A pair of larger plates crept into view, moving slowly toward each other.

  “Those are the big ones,” Mince said. “These two plates are the key. Once they collide, the reaction can’t be stopped.”

  Steven didn’t answer. He thought of all the people who’d trusted him, who’d followed him up to this crisis point: His teammates. His parents. Maxwell’s former agents.

  They’re all about to die. Because I couldn’t cut it. Couldn’t break the cycle.

  He studied the two large plates. Their movement was slow, almost imperceptible. But they were drawing closer. Another five minutes—at most—and they would touch.

  I should have listened to the Tigers. I should never have taken the powers back. Even as the thought occurred to him, though, he knew it was just self-pity. If I’d followed the Tigers’ advice, the Dragon would still have carried out its plans. The earth would still be doomed.

  But I wouldn’t have to make this choice!

  Visions, voices, memories flashed into his mind. His team, his parents, lying dead at the Dragon’s hand. The ancient Zodiacs, hunted to their deaths by riders on horseback. The blasted hole in the desert. The Zodiac wheel, spinning faster and faster in the void.

  The Tigers’ whisper: Oblivion.

  The Dragon energy, sparking and flashing in the darkness. His fellow Zodiacs gasping, drowning.

  Water falling from the light. Drip. Drip. Drip.

  The chain-mailed warrior on horseback. No more Zodiacs. No more.

  The lanky Rat, dying in his arms. I have always loved you.

  The spinning wheel. The glowing crystal. The crossbow bolt through the heart.

  The tectonic plates, creeping closer and closer together.

  Jasmine—his own voice, sounding as if it came from the bottom of a deep abyss—are you gonna forget me?

  And his father—always his father: What have you accomplished with the gifts we gave you? What have you done in your life that is truly worthwhile?

  The Tiger pricked up its ears at that one.

  We all lived through the cycle, the old Tigers said, and all of us failed. Now you will fail, too.

  “Shut up,” he snarled. He shook off the visions and stared at the hologram. The plates were still converging, closing the gap, slow but steady.

  Mince leaned against the table with the crystal on it. Her body language was casual—but that, he knew, was an act. Inside she was coiled, tense, locked in her own private torment.

  What had Jasmine said about her? She wasn’t always bad.

  As he took a step forward, Mince turned sharply toward him.

  She’s tough, Malosi had said, vicious as a scorpion. But inside, she’s just a kid.

  All at once, Steven knew what to do. With an effort of will, he banished all distractions from his mind. His friends in the flooding drill-ship. The volcano rumbling around him. The crystal-driven machines. The slowly converging tectonic plates.

  His father, eyeing him from across the room.

  Steven walked through the hologram, into the space between the converging plates. Mince tensed and held up her DIE rings.

  “One step farther,” she said, “and I’ll kill you.”

  Inside, the Tiger roared at the challenge. But Steven didn’t move, didn’t leap to the attack. He stopped a safe distance from her and raised both hands.

  “I’m not going to fight you,” he said.

  She stood rigid, her fist still raised. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but she seemed less certain.

  She’s just a kid.

  “You’ve had bad things happen to you,” he said. “Haven’t you?”

  She laughed loudly. “That’s your play? Psych me out while your pals take a speed-learning course in how to breathe water? No, no, kid. That’s not how this game works. You have to choose.”

  “What about your choice?” He kept his voice calm, even. “Did anybody ever ask you about that?”

  “Nobody who’s still around.” She jabbed out with the DIE rings, posing like a ninja.

  “I asked you before what was going to happen to you. When all this was over.”

  “And I told you. I’ll be right here.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the large holographic plates—still inching closer together.

  “You said there’d be no people,” he said. “That’s what you really want, isn’t it?”

  Her lip quivered.

  “People cause you pain,” he continued. “Your father—he caused you a lot of pain. Didn’t he?”

  “Shut up,” she muttered.

  “That’s the lure of the Dragon.” He frowned, considering. “I didn’t understand it before. I just thought it was evil, inhuman. But it appeals to that part of us that’s been hurt, that’s terrified to be hurt again. It tells us we can get rid of the hurt forever. That we’ll never have to deal with human feelings—with people—ever again.”

  Mince reached up. For a moment he thought she was going to attack him.

  But Mince just pulled off her sunglasses, revealing tired, surprisingly light-colored eyes. “What’s wrong with not feeling?” she whispered.

  “Nothing. If you’re an immortal supernatural creature with elk antlers and incinerator breath.”

  Despite herself, Mince let out a strangled laugh.

  “But the rest of us…” He shrugged. “We gotta live in the world.”

  “W-what—” she stuttered, “what do you think you’re doing?”

  He smiled.

  “Breaking the cycle.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. Was that a tear in the corner of her eye?

  “Parents,” she said. “They screw us up.”

  “They sure do.”

  Mince reached into her pocket and pulled out a small remote control. She aimed it at the hologram and pressed a red button. The whirring subsided; the crystal went dark. The two converging plates ground to a halt.

  Steven’s parents ran to join him. Neither of them tried to hug Steven; he’d never had that sort of relationship with them. His mother eyed Mince with suspicion.

  But his father’s eyes were fixed on his son. The old man’s stare was different now. It took Steven a moment to recognize the expression.

  Respect.

  It wasn’t just his father. Inside, the Tigers also seemed to regard him differently. Almost with awe.

  I did it. I did what none of them could do. And I did it by focusing on one young woman…not a Zodiac wielder, not an ancient power, not a world-shaking catastrophe. Just a normal person in pain.

  Mince clicked off the hologram. When she turned to face them, she looked very unhappy.

  “The Dragon’s going to notice,” she said. “Soon. You better get out of here.”

  “Thank you,” Steven
said. Then he remembered: “My mother’s air hose…”

  “There’s diving equipment in the AAAHHHH!”

  Kim appeared in the air, centimeters from Mince’s face. Mince stumbled back and fell to the floor. Kim looked around, flailed, and dropped on top of her.

  “Kim!” Steven cried.

  “Get off me!” Mince cried, swiping out. Kim leaped away, barely avoiding the touch of Mince’s rings. Steven ran forward to catch her.

  Kim coughed, spitting water. She was soaking wet. She stared at him with wide, panicked eyes.

  “I ’ported blind,” she gasped.

  “It’s okay,” he said.

  “Never done that before. Didn’t know where I was going.” She shook her head—a wild, animal motion. “I could have died.”

  “Steven,” Mrs. Lee said.

  He looked up. Mince stood holding the remote control again. Her whole demeanor had changed; she seemed once again the vicious predator, the furious creature he’d known before.

  “So,” she hissed. “All that talk about living in the world, about breaking the cycle—that was just a trick? To distract me while your girlfriend attacked me?”

  Kim coughed again. “Girlfriend?”

  “No.” Steven took a step toward Mince. “That’s not—”

  “Stay back!” Mince held up her rings on one hand and gripped the remote control in the other. “I was a fool. A fool to trust you—to trust anybody.”

  “You can trust me,” he said. “I meant it. All of it.”

  “No. Never again.” She held up the remote. “No more people.” She pressed the button.

  Nothing happened. No hologram, no whirring noise. The crystal remained dark.

  Mince frowned at the remote. She jabbed at the button again, then a third time.

  “It’s okay.” Steven started forward, his steps slow and measured. “It’s over.”

  She locked eyes with him for a second, then threw the remote control. It struck him in the nose.

  “Ow!”

  She was already running toward the hatch leading outside. Steven rubbed his nose and started after her.

  Kim followed. “Hey,” she began, “what’s—”

  The entire room shook. A huge crack opened in the center of the lab, forcing the floor upward. A lab table toppled and crashed.

  Kim lost her footing and reached out. Steven leaped forward, the Tiger manifesting above his head, and caught her.

  By the time they landed, Mince was gone. As the tremor subsided, the floor settled back down. The Lees picked their way over to join Steven, stepping carefully.

  “Was that the Dragon?” Steven asked.

  “I think it was the last explosive charge,” Kim said. “Roxanne was about to set it off when I ’ported down here. I was hoping to get you out before—”

  A chunk of the ceiling broke loose with a loud crunching noise. Steven hustled the others out of the way as it came crashing down.

  “—before, like, that,” Kim finished.

  Steven thought furiously. “How bad is the drill-ship?”

  “Not good—it’s pretty waterlogged. We couldn’t figure out how to fix the hull.”

  “I can repair the ship,” Mrs. Lee said.

  Steven and Kim turned to her, surprised.

  “I watched your Mr. Ox outfit the vessel,” Mrs. Lee continued. “I know how to patch the leaks.”

  “My wife is the engineer in the family,” Mr. Lee said. “My talent is for business.”

  “I have many talents,” Mrs. Lee added.

  Kim blinked at Steven. “Your folks are full of surprises.”

  “Yes, they are.” He nodded, stunned. “Can you ’port us back up there?”

  “One at a time.” Kim grimaced. “And only if we can locate the ship. Otherwise we might poof back in under two kilometers of water.”

  “The hologram view,” Mr. Lee said.

  They scattered, each taking a position at one of Mince’s computers. The room shook again; a two-story ladder clattered to the ground.

  “All I’m finding is stored Minecraft games,” Steven grumbled.

  “I have it,” his mother said.

  The hologram flickered to life in the middle of the room. The drill-ship listed and wobbled, veering dangerously close to the glowing, smoking volcano.

  “Where’s the Dragon?” Kim asked.

  “It must have withdrawn,” Steven replied. “Probably thinks the ship is finished.”

  Kim studied the hologram for a moment. “Okay. I got it.” She held out a hand. “Mrs. Lee? I think you’re first.”

  Mrs. Lee hesitated.

  “Mom,” Steven said. “It’s okay.”

  “Steven,” his mother said. “It is not that I don’t trust your friend—”

  “Oh, I’m kind of more than his friend,” Kim said. “Maybe. Not quite his girlfriend, though, like the mad-scientist girl said. That’s crazy. Well, maybe someday. I talk a lot when I’m nervous, by the way.”

  Mrs. Lee glanced at her son, then smiled and shook her head. Kim took the older woman’s hand, pulled her close, and leaped. With a poof, they vanished.

  “Oh,” Mr. Lee said.

  Steven laughed. “Dad, that’s the most rattled I’ve ever seen you.”

  Mr. Lee grimaced. “If I am to take that ride next,” he said, “you may anticipate the joy of seeing me more rattled.”

  Steven reeled in shock. Was that a joke? From Dad?

  Kim poofed back in, breathing hard. Mr. Lee was true to his word; the expression on his face when Kim teleported him away was priceless. Steven watched them go, thinking: I’ll remember that happily for the rest of my life.

  One last time, Kim teleported back in. She staggered toward Steven, dazed from the exertion.

  “Just you and me,” he said. “Together again.”

  The room tipped sideways. A sink burst open, spraying water into the chamber. A support beam fell onto the Sha Qi crystal, shattering it in a spray of sparks.

  “You and me,” she echoed, wrapping her arms around his waist. “And a half-wrecked ship, a collapsing volcano, and a giant angry monster from before time with enough power to fry the world.”

  “Think we can handle it?” he asked.

  She smiled, tensing her legs to leap.

  “Piece of cake.”

  With a poof, they were gone.

  WHEN THEY ARRIVED inside the drill-ship, the water was up to their chests. Kim gasped and went under. Steven hoisted her back up.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll just…float here for a minute.”

  Josie was standing near the pilot’s seat, working the few controls that were still above water. There was a bandage on her forehead. She turned and called, “They’re aboard!”

  On the other side of the cockpit, Roxanne and Mr. Lee held a hard rubber patch against the crack in the hull. Mrs. Lee pushed her husband to one side and pressed a power drill into a corner of the patch. The drill whined sharply.

  “That should do it,” Mrs. Lee called. “Try draining it now.”

  Josie flipped a switch. A hidden compression pump started to hum. Slowly the water level began to drop.

  “Anything I can do?” Steven asked.

  Mrs. Lee waved him away. Mr. Lee took his hand off the patch and a spout of water erupted into the hatchway, spraying everywhere. Mrs. Lee turned to her husband and let loose a stream of curses in Chinese, too fast for Steven to follow. Grumbling, she stabbed the drill into another corner of the patch.

  “Sorry,” Mr. Lee said.

  Steven watched the drama, his mouth hanging wide open. He’d never seen his father apologize to his mother before. In fact, he’d never seen his father apologize to anyone before.

  By the time the patch had been secured, the water was below their waists. Kim floated easily down into a chair, exhausted. Teleporting with other people always took a lot out of her.

  “That should hold it,” Mrs. Lee called. “But I wish to emphasize that the hull is badly damaged. It
would be advisable to avoid stressful situations.”

  Steven laughed. “Mom, which Dragon-hunting mission are you on?”

  “Holo-projectors should be functioning now,” Josie called. “I think I can get an exterior view.”

  They all gathered by the pilot’s console as an overhead shot of the mountain flickered into view. “Observe,” Mr. Lee said. “The volcano’s mouth.”

  “No smoke,” Steven said. “The eruption’s stopped. Looks like the Dragon’s machinery is toast.”

  “Then we won? The earth is saved—it’s party time?” Roxanne mimed playing a guitar. “Maybe even concert time?”

  A quake shook the ship. Kim stumbled into Steven. Josie muttered something and manipulated the control stick, leveling them out.

  “‘Party time’?” Kim frowned at her teammate. “You got a big mouth.”

  Roxanne shrugged. “It’s my power.”

  “Look,” Steven said.

  In the hologram, the mountain shook and started to crumble. The mouth collapsed inward, sending bubbles and flecks of ash floating upward.

  With a sweep of giant wings, the Dragon burst out of the seabed. It seemed to stretch on for kilometers, across the length of the fallen volcano. Its claws were wider than before, its talons even sharper. Its jaws stretched wide, gaping beneath sparking horns. Energy crackled along its thorny spine.

  Holding his breath, Steven leaned closer to the hologram. The Dragon’s outlines were blurry, indistinct through the churning water. It’s still growing, he realized. It hasn’t even reached its full size yet.

  “It looks different,” Roxanne said. “Like it’s made of electricity or something.”

  “That is qi energy,” Mr. Lee said. “Amazingly pure.”

  “Drawn from the stars themselves,” Mrs. Lee added. “I’ve never seen levels like that.”

  The Dragon’s long tail whipped free, ripping a seam through the slope of the volcano. As the creature swooped into the open water, the mountain shuddered and collapsed flat.

  “Whoa,” Kim said. “Guess there’s no point in going back for Mince.”

  “She wouldn’t take our help anyway,” Steven replied. “I really thought I reached her, for a minute.”