Chapter 6: The Final Test
Jinx stumbled down the street away from the scene of the battle, ignoring the startled looks from the people she pushed passed. At first she hadn't noticed, probably as a result of adrenaline, but now she was starting to become aware that she was exhausted, and her whole body hurt. It was probably because of all the power she'd unleashed at the end- manipulating probability on that scale took a lot of energy, and it had to come from somewhere. In this case, that "somewhere" happened to be her.
Finally, she found a sidewalk bench a good distance from the square and sat down, holding her aching head in her hands. Jinx wasn't usually given to bouts of angst or introspection, but now she found it rising in her unbidden. For the last several months, ever since leaving the HIVE, she'd been trying to prove to herself that she could be something other than a criminal, which wasn't the easiest thing to do when one's powers could only be used to destroy. She'd felt like she'd been doing a pretty good job of it, but today just hit home that destruction was still the one thing she was really good at. A whole city square torn up, and the bad guy still got away- hardly the action of a great hero, there! The look in Kid Flash's eyes had just made it worse.
Jinx doubled over as pain shot through her head. And to top it all off, she thought irritably, I still haven't gotten rid of or even figured out these blasted headaches! All in all, these haven't been a fun few days. She allowed herself to smile weakly through the pain and exhaustion at the sheer understatement of that thought.
"You know, that whole glum, haggard look just isn't you," a familiar, cheerful voice said from nearby. "But, I have been told that I'm good at cheering girls up. Bet I can help." Jinx looked up to see Kid Flash leaning against the far side of the bench, looking more disheveled than usual after his encounter with the Fifth Director but in overall good shape.
"I appreciate it, but I don't really feel like talking right now," she told him.
"Maybe not, but I think you probably need to," Kid Flash said, his tone suddenly more serious. For an instant he seemed to blur and the air rustled, and then he was sitting on the bench beside Jinx. "You looked like you saw a ghost back there. What's on your mind?"
She almost smiled at him. "First off, how'd you find me?" she asked.
He shrugged. "It wasn't hard. I saw which way you went, I know this town pretty well, and I do run pretty fast, especially after I got over where that creep in the mask shocked me. But what I want to know is why you ran off in the first place."
"It was… what I did back there," Jinx said slowly. "You know, all my life I've been able to make bad things happen around me, and I was lucky that I learned to control it pretty well early on. But I was still bad luck, and I knew it, and sooner or later everyone around me knew it too. That kind of puts people off. You think I stuck with Gizmo and those other losers after the HIVE Academy went belly-up because I liked their personalities? They didn't mind what I blew up as long as it wasn't them, so they didn't mind me. You never seemed to mind either, but today I sort of… lost it, when I saw him hurting you. I did a lot of damage back there, and it was all for nothing because he still got away. It just made me afraid that after seeing it, you'd be afraid of me too, and I didn't want to deal with that."
"Well, I'll admit it was a bit of an eye-opener," Kid Flash said. "You don't see someone cut loose like that every day- at least I don't. But really, I think you're being too hard on yourself. I've heard lots of nasty stories about people who couldn't control their powers, or went crazy because of using them, but you were trying to do good back there. Whoever that guy was, he was just ready for us."
"He was from the HIVE," Jinx told him. "I don't know what part of it- I'd never seen him before- but he was definitely wearing the symbol, and that robe looked a lot like the ones Brother Blood used to have his assistants wear. Well, they didn't have high-tech battle armor generally, but otherwise the look was the same. I think he was the genuine article, and for some reason he wanted me."
"Well, he's not going to get you," Kid Flash said, surprisingly fiercely. "It would be really irresponsible of me to let the creepy man in the hood and mask kidnap my best friend, you know."
"You're sweet," Jinx said, finally grinning at him. "Sometimes annoying, but sweet." She got to her feet. "Did the police get any of those soldiers? 'Cause if they did, I think we need to have a little chat with them to see if they know exactly what the boss wants with me."
Kid Flash returned the smile. "Now that's more like it," he said, and moved to stand as well. Jinx turned and began to walk back down the street, when suddenly the pain lanced through her again, white hot. It was her whole body this time, not just her head, and as she collapsed to one knee it was all she could do to stay conscious. Though none of her power got loose, she could see tiny bolts of purple lightning playing about her arms and legs.
Then the attack was over and she pulled herself back to her feet, leaning against Kid Flash's arm for support. "On second thought," she said weakly, "maybe the henchmen can keep. Whatever's happening to me, I think I need help. I can't keep going like this."
"Yeah, but help from who?" Kid Flash asked, concern in his eyes.
Jinx's expression hardened. "I don't know," she said, "but I'll find somebody."
"Begin testing."
"Yes, Director," the technician who had been addressed said with a quick salute, before turning to his assistant. "You, fetch the test subject. We don't want our bosses to be disappointed in our work, do we?" The assistant scurried off, knowing full well that in the HIVE, disappointing one's superiors could prove… hazardous for one's health. After all, a secret criminal empire wasn't run on sweetness and kind thoughts.
The Second Director of the Inner Circle watched the man go with a bored expression behind his mask. He stood on a catwalk that spanned a vast cavern, the center of which was dominated by a cylindrical machine with a heavily wired chair perched atop it. The machine was the Second's brainchild, and his pride- his comrade and rival the Fifth Director was skilled at making traps and tricks, but none could match the Second when it came to creating truly powerful weapons of destruction. It required a certain degree of passion to create such a device, he thought, something that the cold and detached Fifth would never understand. The Second, though, found destruction something he could actively enjoy, and so he threw himself whole-heartedly into building it into his creations. Indeed, he and the weapons he made were on some level so very much alike.
"I trust this will work," an imperious voice said from beside him, and the Second turned to face his immediate superior- the First Director, who oversaw the day-to-day operations of the HIVE's empire and was second only to the Mistress herself. He wore the same uniform as the Second, though he was rather taller and more slender, and the edges of his cloak and hood were lined with gold. "Everything rests upon this effort."
"I am well aware of that, Director," the Second said, "and trust me when I say that I have fulfilled my end of the operation. Now it falls to the Fifth to fulfill his, and deliver the girl." The Director's tone indicated that he felt his colleague might not be up to the challenge.
The First waved him off. "I have full confidence in the Fifth Director's ability to secure Jinx for us. If only that fool Brother Blood hadn't driven the Academy into the ground we would never have lost her to begin with- I'd be of half a mind to test your machine on him if we could find him- but I have no worries that she will be captured. My concern right now is for your performance, my old friend."
The Second nodded as he saw the assistant technician return, wheeling in a thin table to which was strapped a man whose body was emitting electrical sparks. "Trust me, Director, you will not be disappointed," he said. "Technicians, begin the test."
The head technician saluted again and motioned to his assistants to begin. The man on the table was wheeled up to the machine, and men in shock-proof suits removed him from his bindings and carried him to the top of the machine. They strapped his protesting form into the chair and then quickly retreated, none of them desiring to be caught nearby when the test commenced.
Once they were all out of the way, the head tech nodded once at the Directors and then pressed a button on his console. The machine came growling to life and began to pulse, emitting flashes from around its base at intervals that the Second knew corresponded precisely to the test subjects heartbeat. Suddenly the electrical discharges around the man increased dramatically in their frequency and intensity, and he threw back his head and screamed as light enveloped him. When it cleared, he sat perfectly still, eyes blank and staring at nothing while the machine powered down. The electrical discharges that surrounded him were completely gone.
The head tech checked something on his control panel and then smiled tightly. "Success, Directors," he said. "The energy his powers produced has been successfully captured and stored, ready to be used as we see fit. It's not the same kind of energy we'll ultimately need, of course, but I imagine I can find some uses for it. The most important thing is that this test has been a success."
"Excellent," the Second said, not paying any attention at all to the man whose mind had seemingly been destroyed even as his powers were stolen. Smiling behind his mask, he turned to his superior. "I promised I would deliver, didn't I?"
"Indeed you did," the First said, sounding grudgingly impressed. "Now all we require is the girl, and all that we have planned can finally proceed." Without further word, he turned and swept away along the catwalk, cloak billowing behind him.
When he was gone, the Second turned back to the head tech. "Get the test subject down and reset the machine for Jinx," he ordered. "Everything must be perfect for the Mistress's ascension."
"Yes, Director," the tech said, and ordered his men to get to work. On the catwalk above, hidden by his mask, the Second Director smiled.