Chapter Six. Enter: Hans Zarkov

The next day came and went as Flash had went to pick up somebody. He had not revealed who it was to anybody, but all he said was, "an old friend" and the others were intrigued to who the old friend was, including the young Defenders, even Kendra, who had yet to know the full story of her uncle, the legendary Flash Gordon.

Kendra walked over to the control room as she wanted to talk to Dynac X about something. Rick was aware of the what she was going to talk about and watched close by.

"Hey Dynac." Kendra asked, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Certainly, Kendra. What is it?" Dynac X responded as she was intrigued by what the newest member had on her mind.

"Knowing how you came to be, knowing about your funeral and all," Kendra asked, "I...You would not mind if I called you Aunt Dale sometimes, would you? Not during our battles but when we are at a quiet time like this."

Dynac X was speechless at first. She did not know what to say as no one had ever asked her that. She wanted to cry, but she knew she had no tears to shed as she was touched by Kendra.

"Certainly." Dynac X finally answered, "If you would like to call me Aunt Dale during the quiet times, then you can. Rick sometimes still calls me Mom during those times and even your uncle Flash had called me Dale sometimes."

"Thanks Aunt Dale." Kendra replied. Rick smiled, happy that his cousin could make his mother happy even though she was a living computer.

That afternoon, Dynac X announced that Flash had returned to Monitor with the new guest. Mandrake, Lothar, the Phantom, Rick, Jedda, Kendra, LJ and Kshin along with Zuffy and Kisa all gathered at the control room to meet with Flash and his long time friend.

"Flash should be coming here with this friend of his any time now." Lothar said.

"I think I see him now with his friend." Mandrake pointed at the nearby corridor.

"We are home!" Flash announced as he arrived at the control room with a man that was around the same age as the adults, black hair, brown eyes with a beard wearing a blue shirt with a turtle neck collar, black pants and tan shoes.

"So this is your friend?" the Phantom asked.

"Yes he is." Flash introduced his friend to the others, "Defenders of the Earth, this is my long time friend and companion, Doctor Hans Zarkov."

"So we finally meet at last!" LJ exclaimed.

"Nice to meet you." Jedda added in, "My name is Jedda Walker, daughter of the Phantom."

"The Phantom," Zarkov looked over at the purple jump suited Defender, "The Ghost Who Walks. So, the legend is true."

"Yes indeed." the Phantom replied, "It is an honor to meet you."

"It has been awhile, Doctor Zarkov." Mandrake spoke up next, "You remember Lothar?"

"How can I forget you two?" Zarkov asked, "You have helped us in the past."

"This is my son, LJ." Lothar introduced his son to Zarkov.

"Hi there." LJ waved at the older man.

"And this is my young protege, Kshin." Mandrake introduced the youngest member of the team.

"Hey there." Kshin greeted the man as Zuffy exclaimed happily, "And this is Zuffy. We thought his kind, the Zuffoids was wiped out by Ming, but they weren't."

"So I see." Zarkov replied before glancing over at Kisa, "What do we have here?"

"This is my panther Kisa." Jedda introduced her black panther, "Do not worry. She only attacks our enemies."

Kisa nodded, acknowledging that statement.

"You remember my son, Rick?" Flash asked his friend.

"Yes. Indeed." Zarkov answered, "The last time I saw him, he was a child."

"No one remains a child forever." Rick replied, "It has been awhile."

"And I would like for you to meet my niece," Flash introduced the newest member of the team, "Kendra Gordon. I just gained custody of her yesterday."

"Wonderful to meet you, Dr. Zarkov." Kendra replied.

"It is wonderful to meet you too, Kendra." Zarkov nodded as he shook hands with her.

"So how has the university work been?" Flash asked.

"It has been great." Zarkov answered, "I am very sorry about Dale. It was very tough for me to give out the news to her parents as well as yours since you were not able to at the time."

"About that." Rick stated. The scientist looked at the young man with confusion until Dynac X appeared on screen, "Hello again, Doctor Zarkov. It has been a long time."

"Zarkov," Rick introduced the super computer to the startled scientist, "meet Dynac X. She is the central computer system of Monitor."

"She?" Zarkov was confused by this.

"Dynac X's operating systems contains the psyche, the life essence of my wife, and our dear friend, Dale." Flash revealed.

"Fascinating!" Zarkov exclaimed in amazement, "Your son is quite the genius!"

Flash nodded in agreement.

"Flash, there is something you need to know."

"What is that?"

"It is your parents, Flash. They have been abducted."

"What?! How?"

"That is what the reports on National News was talking about." Zarkov explained, "the authorities tried to stop some clay and ice people from attacking the city and taking your parents, but it was too much and they were taken."

"You do not think it is Ming, do you?" LJ asked.

"Possibly." Flash answered, "With the clay people that were with the ice soldiers you mentioned, there is only one person I know who controls clay people. Princess Astra."

"Queen Aura's daughter?" Zarkov asked in surprise.

"Correct, my friend."

"The last time we saw her, she tried to make us into clay people." Jedda spoke up.

"And she wanted revenge on my Dad for her mother's death." Rick added.

"Ming is up to his old tricks again." Zarkov stated.

"He always had been." Flash replied, "We will need to figure out where she have taken my parents. Also, we need these questions answered too: Is she still in cohorts with Ming?"

"But that is impossible I was able to take the bracelet she had from her. How could she be able to come up with clay people?" Jedda asked.

"She was probably able to come up with a new bracelet." the Phantom answered.

"You guessed correctly Phantom," Flash replied, "if the clay people are back, then chances are Astra was able to come up with a new bracelet."

"So we are heading for a rescue mission?" Kendra asked.

"Not yet." Zarkov answered, "We need to first find out where she had taken Flash's parents."