Operation FUBAR

The director paced back and forth behind his desk. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was sitting before a Senate committee, trying to explain why he thought it was a good idea to release a tier 1 meta criminal into the public. The phone rang and the director nearly jumped out of his skin. Shakily, he picked up the phone.

"Director Kilgore" he answered.

"Sir, we need you in communications immediately." The voice on the other end sounded panicked. That was never a good sign.

The director speed walked down the halls, all the worst case scenarios jumping through his head. He turned into the communications room and flung the doors open with both hands. "So, what's urgent news?" He snapped.

The lieutenant looked horribly ill, like he was so nervous his body was physically sick. "Well.. uhm... sir..."

"Spit it out Lieutenant!" The director then shouted.

"The tracking device in the asset... was disabled about 5 minutes ago." The Lt. could hardly get the words out.

Kilgore stood still as a statue, almost incapable of processing what he just heard. After a 30 second silence, which felt more like a year, the director burst.

"HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!?!?!? THAT DEVICE WAS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED SO THAT HIS ABILITIES WOULDN'T WORK ON IT!!!!!!!!" Eugene Kilgore screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Sir... we were monitoring his vitals and, well, it appeared there was a massive surge of electricity through his body. It deep fried the circuitry in the chip, rendering it completely useless. There's no way to reactivate it." The Lt. said shakily.

"Electricity? How big was the surge?" The director asked, slightly calmer than he was a moment ago.

"Uh, 500,000 volts at a rate of 2.3 amperes. Basically he was struck by a very big lightening bolt. Maybe it killed him..." The Lt. responded.

"Killed him? Son, Julius Maddox is a telekinetic. That much electricity coursing through his body would have just charged him up. Within an hour, he's going to feel more powerful than he ever has. What's worse is, that chip wasn't just a tracking device. It was a kill switch. It took us 10 years to catch this son of a bitch the first time, and now he's out again.... and supercharged. The bracelets will be useless against him now. We'll have to use the magnetic cannon. On the bright side, he obviously found one of the meta girls. At least he's doing his job." The director was furious. This was a career defining catastrophe. Then the Lt. said something smart for a change.

"Sir... if Maddox is still alive, how could he know if the chip was disabled?"

Eugene sighed with relief... "He wouldn't. Not right away. But eventually he'll figure it out. We need to find him before he does. What was his last known location?"

"Same as Capt. Alpha's, sir. Just outside an old mineshaft in the Adirondack National Park." replied the Lt.

"Mobilize the men. We needed to be there five minutes ago." The director barked.

"Uh which men sir?"

"ALL OF THEM!"