Crystal Ch. 16

"I do have a question though," Crystal asked. "Would you be bringing agents with us?"

"The thought did cross my mind," Commander Shinobay admitted. "But in the end, I decided not to. The agents have their own affairs to take care of across the nation. Besides, if there's any villainous activity going on, they'll be dispatched as soon as it's reported. Although, they might just be there for cleanup duty since you'll be finished before they get there."

"We won't let you down," Crystal promised, fist pumping with Hyper.

"I don't doubt you one bit," the Commander smiled. "There really isn't much to say for now, so if you guys have any input, the floor is open."

"I do, as a matter of fact," Dark Matter raised his hand. "I just remembered that during my battle with C4, he had on some sort of invisible or camouflage suit. Whenever I, or my powers, weren't touching him, I couldn't see him."

"Just like the villains' former hideout," Ghost remembered.

"You think the two are connected?" Commander Shinobay asked.

"It would make sense," Cherry nodded. "If the tech is the same, then you'd be able to cover anything with it."

"Would that make him have invisible powers or camouflage powers?" Zipper asked.

"Remember, its tech," Cherry reminded. "So, despite the skills he has, he's still powerless with or without the suit."

"It wouldn't be help him if he's hiding from me," Dot smiled proudly. "I'd detect his scent anywhere."

"Honestly, it's kind of hard to determine," Commander Shinobay replied thoughtfully. "If you think about it scientifically, then there really isn't a creature out there that can turn 'invisible'. Blending in with their surroundings is camouflage, no matter how you describe it. However, if you include Giggles and Ghost, then you have a different story."

"Then how do we determine where he is?" Shell asked.

"Ghost, turn invisible," Commander Shinobay ordered. Seconds later, the seat where Ghost was sitting appeared empty. "Now, if you look real close, you can detect a smoky layer that keeps you from seeing him. A better way to describe it is like a summer heat, where it's so hot, you can see the invisible heat in between you and wherever your eyes are looking."

"But what use would that be if we're fighting him?" Crystal asked. "We wouldn't have time to locate him because we'd be too busy running from him or fighting someone else."

"That's true," the Commander nodded. "But that would mean only people who can spot him from a safe distance can go up against him. The primary person is Dark Matter, but a couple alternatives would be me, Osprey, and Jasper."

"Me?" Osprey asked, a bit shocked.

"Yeah, birds may see the fish in water, but that doesn't mean they don't see the water," Commander Shinobay informed.

"And me?" Jasper inquired.

"If you concentrate on someone's body heat, then you won't have a problem locating him," Commander Shinobay shrugged.

"Does that mean --" Jasper began.

"No, I'm still mulling it over," Commander Shinobay replied. "Again, if there's nothing else, then this meeting is adjourned. Crystal, Hyper, come with me."

The two heroines followed the Commander to the teleporter at the top of the Tower and he put in the codes to send them to tower in Nebraska. Minutes later, they arrived and descended down the tower using the elevators. As the door opened, they saw the President and Solarium standing in the doorway.

"Commander," the President and Solarium greeted as they stepped in the elevator.

"Mr. President, Solarium" the Commander replied.

"Daddy!" Hyper said as she hugged her father.

"Hyper, it's good to see you again," Solarium smiled. "Crystal, I take it that you're protecting my daughter?"

"That's why I'm here, Mr. Solarium," Crystal nodded.

"Liar," Hyper rolled her eyes.

"To get straight to the point," President Rollington began as the elevator descended, "you, Solarium, and I will be interrogating Dictator Jones about any alternate plans he would have. It should give us something to expect in case Dr. Genie tries to make a move."

"You mean when she makes a move," Hyper corrected.

"Hopefully she won't," the President nodded. "Since Dictator Jones won't be much of a problem for us aside from withholding information from us, Crystal and Hyper will be out guarding the surrounding area in case the villains try to initiate a rescue attempt. You don't have to defeat them, just hold them off long enough for us to get him to another tower."

The elevator stopped eventually and the President, the Commander, and Solarium all stepped out as the elevator took the heroines back to the top. They entered a door where a room was split in two by a massive glass wall.

"Bulletproof, heat resistant, basically indestructible," President Rollington assured both heroes.

On their side of the glass were three chairs around a table with some refreshments on it. On the other side of the glass was mattress, table, toilet, and sink. There was also the notorious Dictator Jones watching them as they made themselves comfortable.

"What a surprise," Dictator Jones smirked. "The world's most dangerous men are all in the same place at the same time. If someone were to nuke this area, the United States would never be the same."

"Nukes," President Rollington said as he wrote the word down.

"What did you do that for?" Dictator Jones asked.

"We're here to find out any alternate plans you might have that Dr. Genie could be attempting to start," Solarium glared.

"HAHAHA! You think I'd tell you anything that would benefit you guys?" Dictator Jones howled menacingly. "Give me one good reason why I should."

"The fact that you get three square meals a day that is not bread and water is a good enough reason," the President informed.

"True, there's no doubt about that," the Dictator nodded. "I have gotten comfortable with my new living arrangements and I wouldn't want it to be diminished. Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Like we said, what other world domination plans do you have?" Solarium demanded.

"First of all, you can scratch nukes off the list," Dictator Jones said thoughtfully. "I want to rule the entire world, not half of it. You can put Pollen's female salvation plan on the list though. THAT was my idea and a darn good one at that."

"We already know that," Commander Shinobay reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dictator Jones waved him off. "You can put down Controlling Stock Market, Siphoning International Resources, International Media Takeover, Political Puppeteering, Global Food Poisoning, Extensive Global Warming, Global Cooling, International Assassinating, Artificial Natural Disasters, Terrorism, World War Three . . . and Worldwide Anarchy."

"Are any of those plans actually true?" President Rollington asked, more worried than the others since his professional occupation was in jeopardy. Solarium and Commander Shinobay, on the other hand, sat still with their mouths open in surprise.

"Well, if you think of it like a funnel, most of it would sooner or later lead to World War Three," Dictator Jones answered.

"So your ultimate goal was World War Three?" Solarium asked as he grit his teeth.

"No, like I said, it would lead to it," Dictator Jones corrected. "World War Three is inevitable."

"And which of these plans would Dr. Genie most likely use?" President Rollington sweated.

"None," the Dictator smiled.

"Then why make them in the first place?" Commander Shinobay inquired. "Wouldn't you want your second-in-command to follow in your footsteps?"

"If I left anything for Dr. Genie, she'd trash it by now," Dictator Jones snickered. "She never cared for my plans and I never cared for her 'pets'. The feeling was absolutely mutual."

"So she's not coming to get you?" Commander Shinobay asked.

"Not in the slightest," Dictator Jones answered. "People who are second-in-command always want the power of the leader. Always."

"Then why do you have so many plans?" President Rollington asked. "It seemed like you were making plans for the future in case you weren't captured."

"Actually, it's because I was never captured that I kept making backup plans," Dictator Jones shrugged. "Whenever my plans were foiled, I always managed to escape, so I stopped considering it a possibility. But, since I'm sure you want to know how my plans were going to play out, it goes like this: in case I wasn't able to control the United Nations, I'd set my other plans for political domination in process. Everything from controlling the media to worldwide terrorism would take place. While that plan rolls into motion, I'd begin poisoning the food in every nation. If I don't have worldwide power by then, then I spread fear everywhere by initiating the artificial natural disasters and return mankind back to their prehistoric instincts and subject everyone to anarchy, which I would then bring mankind out of by creating a government ruled by me."

If the audience could stretch their mouths any wider, they did.

"You . . . fiend," Commander Shinobay said.

"You wanted to know and now you know," Dictator Jones smiled cruelly.

"One thing, what if you didn't survive any of this?" Solarium asked.

"Then the world is left in Dr. Genie's hands," Dictator Jones replied.

"And what are her plans?" President Rollington inquired.

"That's all you're getting out of me," Dictator Jones shook his head. "You wanted MY plans and you got it. You're going to have to convince me to spill her plans."

"How about the lights?" Commander Shinobay suggested. "I'm sure you'll have a hard time going about your daily, imprisoned life in the dark. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Alright, alright," the Dictator consented. "Honestly, I don't know what the doctor's plans are. She's been mysterious since the day I met her. Of course, her usual plan is to create her own species and let them terrorize the world, but she's only able to create hybrids and supervillains. Unless . . . she's found it."

"It?" Solarium repeated. "What is this 'it'?"

"Only the most vile, repulsive, mindless creature that I've known her to make," Dictator Jones replied.

"The Void," they all said.

"But the Void was destroyed," Commander Shinobay reminded them.

"It was sent to be destroyed," Dictator Jones rectified. "I don't know if she knows where it is because I sure don't. All I know is that there would've been a confirmation in writing that the Void was disposed of if it happened. And, even if I'm not supposed to know, I would've known by now."

Alarmed, the President and the two heroes stood up immediately. After promising Dictator Jones to send in some of his favorite books, the three of them left the cell and went back up to the Tower. Crystal and Hyper were immediately radioed to return inside the tower and within moments, they were standing in the lobby.

"Whoa, you guys look like you've seen a bunch of zombies or something," Crystal remarked.

"Get your game faces on ladies," Commander Shinobay ordered. "We're going Easter egg hunting."

*****So yeah, the Void will be making a chaotic appearance, near the end of the story arc though. I deliberately withheld putting the Void in the previous chapters so that I wouldn't forget any important details while coming up with any new ideas. Also, there goes Dictator Jones' interrogation scene, though I might (more like definitely) add another one sometime soon. Another thing, Crystal is turning 21, Happy Birthday to you. At first, when approaching the subject, I wanted it to be seen as some sort of surprise, but it kind of put Dark Matter in a bad light (yes that was a pun) and I didn't want that. So, I decided to come on out with it and let you know so that you won't have to piece together a puzzle while reading the next chapter. For all my sex readers, sorry for the quick sex scene, I'll definitely be making that up next chapter. For all my plot readers, I'm beginning to wrap up those loose ends so that I can get the final story arc set up. And don't forget, I accept criticism, so if you have a question, comment below. --DM23*****