[OLD] The Scorpion Mission (#2)

Twenty-Nine

Ivy stared at the diagram on the wall, trying to figure out what was happening. "What's Zodiac?"

"I'm afraid Scorpion's just the tip of the iceberg." John's gaze flickered to the diagram, then back to the computer. "Merely a branch of an organization known as Zodiac."

"All those other logos..." Ivy swallowed.

What was John saying?

What is he saying?

"Are other branches," John finished.

"No," Spencer said. "There are eleven more organizations just like Scorpion?"

"Twelve, technically, if we're counting Zodiac itself. They have their own headquarters."

No.

No way.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Victoria exclaimed.

Ivy shook her head. "You can't be serious."

All their planning was for nothing? All the work they did?

"Why haven't we heard of them?" Claire asked.

John shrugged. "The others work behind the scenes. Zodiac's the center of this whole operation, but Scorpion's the front. Claudia's in charge of carrying out plans and attacks, but she's not behind everything."

Ivy put her head in her hands. Was this what Malcolm meant when he said they would need his help? Did he know about Zodiac?

She looked up, as she remembered something else Malcolm had said. "Who's Andrew Hale?"

"Andrew Hale? I'm surprised you know the name." John's fingers danced across the keyboard. "Andrew is Zodiac's leader."

"Spencer, start setting up the bomb," Ivy said, eyeing John as he pulled a USB drive from behind the computer.

"Right," Spencer muttered. "Claire, wanna give me a hand?"

John stood up, holding the USB drive.

Ivy glared at him. "You're not leaving with that. We're destroying every piece of information Scorpion has."

"Are you going to stop me?"

Ivy held up her hand and let it burst into flame. "Yes."

For some reason, John looked disappointed. "Ivy..."

"Hand it over." What did he think, they were just going to let him waltz out of the building with all of Scorpion's information?

With a sigh, John tossed the drive to her. Ivy caught it with her fiery hand and clenched her fist around it, letting it melt. As hot metal dripped down her wrist, her gaze found something sitting on the desk John had been sitting at.

Ivy walked over to it and picked it up. It was a hunk of some kind of metal. "What's this?" she asked. She glanced at John, who didn't answer. Ivy rolled her eyes and pulled out the USB Dr. Newman had given them. She plugged it into the computer.

There was a loud beep, and the servers went down.

A loading bar appeared on the screen as the drive downloaded all of the information it could find on the system. When it reached 100%, Ivy pulled the drive back out and pocketed it.

"Come on, Ivy," Spencer said. "The bomb's timer is running."

Ivy turned to John. "I would suggest leaving, if you want to live," she said coldly. When John didn't respond, she walked toward the door.

"I know about your electrokinesis," John said.

Ivy paused. "What?"

"I know why, too. I can explain it to you." He looked over at her. "If you come with me."