Priority Code: Alpha
The hum of the gravitational lift did little to soothe Dr. Aeon’s nerves, his hands alternating between tapping his leg and adjusting his equipment. This was not going to be a good meeting.
With a slight shudder and a hiss, the lift came to a stop and the doors opened into the main audience chamber. Around the room, being attended by their flunkies, were Lord Recluse’s four lieutenants: Sirocco, Ghost Widow, Black Scorpion, and Mako.
“Lieutenants, indeed,” Aeon sneered silently to himself. “If Lord Recluse wanted a real lieutenant, I was the only logical one for the job. Now I have to go through these four to even get an audience!”
Composing himself as best as he could, he turned and approached the nearest of the four—and the one with whom he shared the most common ground—Black Scorpion.
“Scorpion,” he said, his voice sounding hesitant and timid to his own ears.
“What is it?” Scorpion growled, pulling his eyes away from yet another adjustment to his armor.
Aeon cleared his throat. “As you know, I have sensors up all over
“Yes, yes, I know all of that,” Scorpion said, cutting him off. “Don’t insult my intelligence or waste my time! Now out with it!”
Scumbag, Aeon thought to himself. If you knew half of what I do, you wouldn’t constantly have to fix that erector set you laughingly call ‘armor’.
Aeon gathered himself again. “Very well. My sensors have picked up a massive super-human power spike, the like of which we’ve not seen since the Rikti’s last invasion.”
“So the heroes are up to something again,” Scorpion sneered dismissively, giving Aeon a brief hand gesture to send him on his way. “They can’t touch us here, so what difference does it matter to us?”
Aeon ground his teeth, but kept his composure. “But that’s just it. It’s not hero activity I detected—it’s villain-based, from right here in the Rogue Isles!”
“WHAT?!?” Scorpion thundered, turning so suddenly that his tail sent one of his technicians flying against the far wall. “WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? WHERE? WHO WAS IT?”
“Why all the yelling?” asked Ghost Widow, as she glided into the conversation. “Did someone use the wrong size battery again, Scorpion?”
Scorpion acted as if he would answer, but Aeon knew his information was too important to be delayed. “It’s this power spike I detected, Widow….a villain spike…in the Abyss.”
Ghost Widow’s nostrils flared slightly, an indication that she had been severely stunned by this news. “Indeed. That is something of note. We must inform Lord Recluse at once.”
“Inform him of what?” snarled Mako, spitting carelessly on Aeon in the process.
“A potential threat has been identified by our dear Dr. Aeon, here," she replied smoothly. "It is something of which Lord Recluse should be made aware.”
“Bah! Let’s just go take out whoever it is and be done with it,” Mako snapped, dripping even more drool on Aeon’s shoes and causing acid to start eating away at the marble floor at this feet.
“Feel free to go try,” Widow said, a sinister smile playing on her lips. “We’ll send someone along behind you to pick up the pieces and ship them to the nearest sushi restaurant when you’re done.”
Mako slobbered and strained, clearly trying to restrain himself, and Ghost Widow’s glare was like looking into the face of lady Death herself. Aeon took a slight step back. If there was going to be a confrontation between Widow and Mako, the last place he wanted to be was between them.
“Fine,” Mako finally grunted. “Go tell him and be quick about it. The faster he knows, the faster we can do something about it.”
Widow smiled knowingly, took Dr. Aeon by the elbow, and led him toward the throne where Lord Reclose sat in meditation. As they walked past Sirocco and his Mu attendants, electricity seemed to fill the air, and Aeon could feel the hair on his head—and the back of his neck—standing on end.
“An ill wind is stirring,” Sirocco sighed.
Ghost Widow nodded to him, then turned and mounted the steps to the dais where Lord Recluse’s throne sat. When she got to within several feet of it, she stopped and stood waiting in silence. Aeon, bursting to speak, knew that to do so before he was given permission would mean instant death, no matter what his news. He may try to maneuver around the others, but he was not about to cross Lord Recluse.
“Speak,” came the hollow voice from the throne.
“My Lord, Dr. Aeon has brought us information of such importance that I felt it needed your immediate attention,” Ghost Widow said promptly. Aeon gritted his teeth, noting that, in one simple sentence, she had effectively taken credit for bringing this urgent matter to Lord Recluse’s attention.
“That remains to be seen,” Lord Recluse replied, turning to look directly at Dr. Aeon for the first time. “I shall let the gravity of the news speak for itself.”
Trembling, Dr. Aeon stepped slightly forward. “My Lord, by your command I have continued to monitor
“Indeed you were, Aeon,” Recluse purred, “Although I seem to recall that such reports were to be sent to me through regular computer channels. Why have you insisted on bothering me in person?”
Shaking more than ever, Aeon opened his mouth to speak, noting how dry his throat seemed to be, and closed it. He swallowed with difficulty as Mako, Black Scorpion, and Sirocco moved up behind him, close enough to hear his response…or carry out his death sentence, if Lord Recluse commanded it.
“M-my Lord,” Aeon stammered, “I would only d-do so in the most extreme of situations. S-surely you know my faithfulness and loyalty to you is without q-question!”
A small, evil chuckle rumbled from the throne. “We shall see.”
Seizing this opportunity, Aeon turned the laptop tablet in his hand around so that Lord Recluse could see the readings for himself. “As you can see, My Lord, the power readings are nearly off the charts. Put that together with the level of superhuman activity and its location, and there can be only one conclusion.” He cleared his throat again. “My Lord, someone has defeated the Hamidon.”
The silence stretched for an interminably long time, and Aeon could feel the sweat trickle down his back. He inched his hand ever so slightly closer to his belt, hoping to be able to trigger his duplicates in a last attempt to escape, should the need arise.
“That is significant news, Doctor,” Recluse said finally, causing Aeon to slump slightly in relief. “But it has been done before, as you well know. Why is this event more significant than they?”
Aeon knew that this was his last card. If this failed to satisfy Lord Recluse, he likely wouldn’t survive this encounter.
“My Lord,” he said with all the calmness he could muster, “All of these villains wear the same colors…and they are not the colors of Arachnos. I feared that, if they were able to defeat the Hamidon, they may pose a threat to Arachnos itself.”
The red gleam that shone from under Lord Recluse’s helmet intensified for a moment, and Aeon was certain that he’d gone too far. The tension mounted for a few moments, and then, to Aeon’s amazement, Lord Recluse began to laugh. His rumbling, evil roar filled the audience chamber, and seemed to relieve the tension like someone letting air out of a balloon.
“Doctor, it will take a great deal more than a one-time show of strength to threaten the might of Arachnos,” Recluse said, turning back to his contemplations.
As Ghost Widow took Aeon by the elbow to steer him away from the throne, however, Lord Recluse continued. “Still, anyone who is that organized could potentially become a powerful pawn…or perhaps a useful ally…as surely as a potential adversary. We would do well to keep tabs on them. Assign them Priority Code: Alpha.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Aeon replied. “It will be done.”
As the four lieutenants moved back to their positions, they shared guarded looks with Aeon and with one another. Clearly, this was something of staggering proportions, as Priority Code: Alpha had only been used previously on one occasion—for the Freedom Phalanx itself.
“Oh, Doctor,” Lord Recluse called from the throne.
Frozen on the spot, Aeon turned back. “Yes, my Lord?”
“What do these upstarts call themselves?” Recluse asked, the red gleam is his eye again.
“The Twilight Avengers, my Lord,” Aeon responded, and quickly made his way back to the lift.