The Double Agent
“It would seem that Lord Zedd has… ‘uses’ for Rita… uses I never thought about before.”
“What do you mean?” Dregon asked into the comm’ unit as he stared at the ceiling, laid back on his bed in his chambers aboard the Spidership.
“He long ago reclaimed the Green Dragon Power Coin, and has been recharging it ever since. He is rapidly losing his energy stores - you understand the difficulty in giving a Power Coin back the powers it has been stripped of?”
“I believe so… it requires a lot of time and energy, and has to be done by he or she to which the Coin was born… yes?”
“Correct.”
“So where does Rita come into this? Can’t this play well for us?”
“I think so - I just feel that he is letting Rita do all the work, attacking the planet, whilst he conserves what energy he can.”
Dregon shrugged, “I care not… Rita will be fine. By recharging his Coin, Zedd will play straight into our hands. When he is weak enough, we shall take him with ease.”
~*~*~*~
The Chamber of Command felt empty - it wasn’t, but that’s what it felt like. Lord Zedd’s magical powers were the kind that could fill a room like a tangible presence, yet, when they weren’t there, everyone was given the impression that something was missing, though they could never quite put their finger on what that was...
The Emperor himself was a little changed - he wasn’t quite as burly as he had been, his poise was becoming increasingly more slack and he always seemed rather sluggish, as though he never got enough sleep at night.
Rita was edgy herself, as though she were dreading some upcoming event, whilst Goldar was crotchety, constantly now paranoid about his girlfriend’s loyalty to him, whilst Scorpina could only worry for her Emperor; she had helped him live through the Zeo Crystal incident in the first place, and she couldn’t bare to see him weakening again…
There were those of the contrary disposition to the scorpion warrior, however…
“He grows weaker everyday,” the mysterious voice hissed to Count Dregon over a secret comm’ device, “No one seems to notice, except Scorpina, but she is close to him and knows him better than his wife…”
“Is he weak enough?”
“Yes… you can see it in his bearing and feel it in his presence. He is like a wilting flower, losing colour and energy…”
Dregon sniggered under his breath, “Yes… I can imagine. Can you advise me on the right moment to come and claim my prize?”
The voice seemed to be tense with excitement, “There is a perfect chance in two days from now - the Empress and her old bodyguard, Goldar, are heading for M51 to collect Master Vile and some Orb of Doom - Zedd will be all but alone. I can deal with Scorpina. Come then and take your chance.”
“Yes,” Dregon agreed, “I’ll intercept Rita on her way and get a message to Vile - he’ll enjoy this as much as I. Goldar shouldn’t be too hard to dispose of… Then, I’ll come to this Lunar Palace and claim a prize I have wanted for many-a-year.”