Chapter 10: HIVE's Victory
Kid Flash shot across the countryside at top speed, the wind that followed him so strong that it cause trees to rock violently in the ground. It took real concentration to avoid slamming directly into an obstacle at this speed and ending up a yellow-and-red smear against some tree or rock, and managing to keep it up while holding the directions from the HIVE captives in his head was a real challenge. He just hoped the directions they'd given him had been real, and not just a mercenary soldier's idea of a laugh.
Finally he saw the mountain looming ahead of him. Kid Flash rushed up its sides, dodging around trees as he tried to remember what the soldiers had said. They wouldn't give him a specific entrance- apparently their loyalty or fear ran that deep- but they had told him that there were guards who patrolled around the area. If he could find one of them, he could follow them back to the entrance.
Suddenly he caught a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye and pulled himself to a sudden stop behind a tree. Yes- there was a HIVE soldier there, beam rifle cocked as he looked around questioningly for the source of the rushing wind he'd just seen. Kid Flash slipped back out of sight and waited for the man to finish his inspection, apparently decide he'd been seeing things, and then return to his patrol. Patience was not the speedster's strong suit, but right now it looked like what he needed. Darting quickly from one tree to another, he followed the soldier on his path.
For what felt like several hours they wandered about seemingly aimlessly, but finally the soldier stopped by what looked like nothing more interesting than a blank face of rock on the mountainside. Kid Flash seriously hoped he hadn't decided that this was an ideal place for a nap, but as the soldier approached the cliff he held up one armored hand, palm out. There was a shimmering, and the rock vanished, replaced by a pair of imposing steel doors. They slid open with an impressive burst of steam, and a second soldier stepped out, presumably the first's relief. They exchanged brief, idle chatter and then the first stepped inside the base. Kid Flash saw his chance and darted forward, running so fast that they'd be hard pressed to see anything but a blur. Before either guard had registered his presence he was past them, rushing down the long metal hallway with a trail of wind blasting behind them. He could hear the two guards shooting at nothing, and then the sound of one of their voices as he made a call on his communicator. That was when the alarms started blaring.
"Well," Kid Flash muttered under his breath. "I'm in. Easy part over with. Now I have to find Jinx and get out of here."
The Second Director looked up angrily as the intruder alarms sounded, eyes narrowing angrily behind his mask. Spinning, he turned to look at his colleagues. "What is going on?" he demanded.
"I believe that we are under attack," came Fifth's acidic reply.
Second whirled on him, lightning crackling around his gloves as he clenched his fists. "I am aware of that," he hissed. "I designed our alarm system myself- I know what it means. I merely want to know specifics."
"In that case, you might be best served leading a troop of soldiers to the source of the disturbance rather than taking out your anger on those who've been standing right next to you for the past half-hour," Fifth said.
"Enough!" First snapped, stepping between them. The other four Directors shrank back- First, Second, and Fifth were the strongest personalities among them, and they had no desire to get between them when they were obviously angry. "I will not have your rivalry poison the Mistress's ascension. Second, control your temper, and Fifth, remember that Second's presence will be required at the ceremony, as the machine we will be using was his creation." He lowered his hands, but his eyes remained cold. "Now, do either of you have any civil recommendations?"
"Well," Fifth said, "if Second will be otherwise occupied- and of course postponing the ascension over something so trivial is out of the question- then I might recommend that, say, Fourth and Seventh take their forces and patrol the perimeter to search for the intruder and capture them?"
The three powerful directors turned to face their colleagues. Fourth was a slender woman with a distinct fondness for advanced weaponry, while Seventh was a rather weedy man with a good head for tactics. Second thought it over, decided he couldn't see any harm to himself in Fifth's suggestion, and nodded once.
"Excellent," First said. He turned to the rear of the room, where the Mistress's chair hovered. "Does this plan please you?" he asked.
"Go," the Mistress rasped. "Protect our base until this is through."
First turned back to the others. "You may go," he ordered, and the two Directors saluted and swept from the command room.
Second stepped forward. "I will fetch the prisoner," he said. "Let us finish this as soon as possible."
Kid Flash heard the sounds of booted footsteps echoing through the halls as they marched towards him. The HIVE base was a labyrinth- he was sure he'd passed this part of the corridor at least three times before, and was no closer to finding Jinx than he had been when he'd started- but the soldiers seemed to know where they were going. Deciding that it would be best if he went the opposite way, he turned from the sound and ran down the hall- only to run directly into a second group of yellow-armored soldiers, led by a familiar-looking figure in dark purple.
"You!" he said, skidding to a halt. Then his mind caught up with what it was seeing, and he realized that this was not the Fifth Director, though his uniform was the same. This man was shorter and thinner, and the laugh he gave was more high-pitched and emotional than the other's smooth, soft voice.
"Well, well," the strange Director said, "it seems you've foolishly blundered straight into my path. As you can see, you are outnumbered and outmatched." There was a clicking sound, and Kid Flash looked down to see a small but nasty-looking gun pointed directly at him. "It would be easiest on us all if you came quietly."
"Ah, I'd love to, but you see this phrase "come quietly" just isn't in my vocabulary." Before the Director could shoot, Kid Flash lunged into motion, blurring past the man and seizing hold of his cape, which he hurled over his head and then shoved the stumbling figure into his soldiers. They fell back, trying to avoid accidentally shooting their leader, and then Kid Flash was among them, grabbing weapons and delivering quick taps to the head. When he was through, he brushed his hands and stepped back to observe his handiwork- a round dozen gold-armored figures and one purple one, all lying on the ground in a heap.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," he observed, but listening closely he could hear the sounds of the other group of approaching soldiers. At first he considered running, but looking more closely at his defeated enemies brought a different plan to mind, one that would take too long for anyone else to pull off in this situation, and therefore hopefully the HIVE wouldn't expect it. A mischievous smile on his face, he grabbed the fallen Director and darted down the hall until he found a convenient side room to duck into. Within moments, he was adjusting the Director's cloak over his shoulders, and wondering exactly how these people put up with full face masks all the time. Leaving the real Director blissfully unconscious and out of the way, he stepped back out into the corridor, almost bumping into the purple-armored woman who led the other soldiers.
"Seventh," she demanded, "your men are lying in an unconscious heap in the middle of the corridor. I trust you have an explanation?"
"Well," Kid Flash said, trying to make his voice sound as much like Seventh's as he could and thanking the distorting mask, "we ran into the intruder and he refused to surrender. There was a fight, and he took a lot of us down, but I think I got a shot in him and it hurt, so he ran off. You should have seen him," he continued, warming to the story. "Great big guy, all muscle- handsome too. Very heroic-looking."
"Where did he go?" the woman Director demanded, apparently losing her patience.
"That way- up the corridor," Kid Flash said, pointing. "You just missed him."
The woman motioned for her soldiers, and they turned and darted back up the hallway. Kid Flash expected her to go along with them, but instead she grabbed him by the arm and began to march in the opposite direction.
"Where are we going?" he asked, feeling nervous. Had he given himself away, somehow?
"To the ceremony, Seventh," the woman snapped. "Even you can't be that dense. Let the grunts handle the fighting- we need to be there when the Mistress takes our prisoner's power and become's immortal. Or at least, that's what Second says will happen."
"Oh, right. The ceremony." Jinx! Kid Flash screamed inside his head, but didn't dare reveal any of that aloud. He decided changing the subject might be best. "What about, err, my soldiers?"
"They'll keep," the woman said. "Soon enough we'll be changing the world- it starts tonight. A few minions are nothing compared to that."
"Yeah," Kid Flash said, mind whirling. "Guess you're right."
Jinx looked up as the door to her cell slid open and a man in the purple uniform of a Director entered. At first she thought it was Fifth, but this man was too large and muscular, and as he stepped forward she saw a naked cruelty in his eyes that was far different from her kidnapper's chilling emptiness. She had vague memories of him retrieving her from Fifth's jet, though she'd been drugged at the time, and after some effort a name- or rather a title- came to her. Second Director.
"So," she said, "what are you here for? Is it "let's all beat up the prisoner day"? Those were always popular with the gangs of thugs I used to run with."
"Silence," Second snarled. "Your feeble taunts do not affect me. Come. Your presence is required."
"Really? Well, my presence isn't interested in attending." She smiled nastily. "And from your tone, I'd say my feeble taunts have gotten to you rather nicely."
His only response to that was to lunge forward quicker than her eyes could follow and strike her across the face, knocking her back. As Jinx looked back up at him, face stinging, she wished more than anything that she was out of these cuffs so she could blast whatever smug expression he had under that mask off. As it was, she simply marked him down as someone she was going to enjoy hurting a little too much after she got out of this mess.
"Speak again and you'll only make things worse for yourself," Second said. "I am not a kind or forgiving man. And when I said that your presence was required, I didn't mean to imply that I was giving you a choice." Bending down, he grabbed Jinx roughly by her collar and hauled her to her feet, forcing her to walk ahead of him out of the cell. Two guards waited there, weapons at the ready, and he handed her off to them, taking a position behind as they began to march through the winding corridors.
"You should be honored," Second breathed behind her. "You're going to get to be the first real subject of my greatest invention, not to mention revitalizing our Mistress. It's not a claim anyone else can make."
Jinx wiggled her hands, trying to get them out of the cuffs- or at least looser- without anyone noticing. "Yeah," she said, "having my powers and my life sucked out of me sounds great fun. But you should be 'honored' too- once I'm free, I'm going for Fifth first, and then you. Kind of appropriate for the guy who's just second-best, wouldn't you agree?"
She could hear him tense behind her as he fought back rage, and she allowed herself a little smile.
Kid Flash felt his eyes widen behind his mask (or rather, masks) as he stepped into the central chamber of the base beside the woman Director, whom he'd learned was called Fourth. The room was shaped like a massive cylinder, and it's floor was full of milling HIVE soldiers and a handful of other robed and masked Directors. At the center was a raised platform, and on it were perched two chairs. One was empty and plain, apart from being covered in distinctly unpleasant-looking devices, while the other was ornate and occupied by a small, hunched figure in robes but no mask. He could barely make out the figure's face, apart from two gleaming eyes that suddenly turned on him with their full force and left him shivering. Somehow he had the feeling those too-bright eyes had seen straight through him, but let him be because he was of no consequence. It wasn't a happy thought.
"Quit gawking," Fourth snapped. "You'd think you'd never been here before. Now come on- First wants us over there." Kid Flash followed her through the soldiers, who hastily made way for them as they approached the other Directors. As they approached, the tallest, whose robes had golden trim on them, looked at them appraisingly. "I take it the intruder has been taken care of?" the man- First, presumably- asked.
"We had a fight, and he was hurt," Kid Flash said, trying to keep his voice steady and sounding like Seventh's. "Fourth's soldiers are chasing him down now."
First looked somewhat displeased, but not truly angry. "That should keep him busy until the ceremony is complete. There's too many of us in here for him to seriously jeopardize it, and we can hunt him down at our leisure after it is through. You've done… adequately." He turned away from them towards another door. "Ah, good- there's Second with our guest of honor."
Kid Flash turned and saw another director and his soldiers enter- but his eyes were drawn to the captive they had with them. "Jinx," he breathed softly, hoping desperately that none of the others heard. Fortunately, they didn't seem to have- all of their attention was on the captive and captor approaching the center of the room.
Jinx didn't look at any of the HIVE soldiers as she was led into the huge room. She'd almost had her hands free, she though, but that may have just been wishful thinking and was certainly a moot point now. There was no way she'd be able to get out surrounded by so many soldiers. Some part of her whispered that maybe she wasn't going to be getting out of this one. She banished it to the back of her mind. If she let herself think like that, she was trapped.
Second and his men led her up a staircase around the central column, and there at the top her cuffs were finally released. She thought for a wild moment about hurling herself at him with the most powerful hex she could muster, but before she had a chance the two soldiers ceased her and slammed her down into the chair, which immediately locked her into place. Jinx twisted and struggle, to no avail. She was trapped.
"Are we ready?" Second asked.
"Directors ready," the tall one, probably the First, said. "Mistress?"
"I am prepared," she said. "I grow weary of age and weakness. Let me be reborn!"
"Very well." Second strode over to the side of the platform to where a raised platform stood. He punched some commands into it and then stepped back, waiting. Jinx heard a low humming and crackling begin from near her feet, and she knew that the machine that would strip away her powers had activated. Fear lanced through her, but she refused to show it. No matter what they did to her, she wasn't going to let these HIVE maniacs think she was weak.
The humming grew louder, and then the pain started. *
*AN: Yes, I know, evil cliffhanger. I hope to have the next chapter up later this week. And, for anyone who thought that KF's infiltration was too easy, remember that the Directors are a bunch of eccentric (to put it mildly) ambitious people who aren't terribly close even with their colleagues, and on top of things are rather preoccupied to begin with. His impersonation wouldn't hold up for long- but right now, he doesn't need it to.