"Are you okay?" Arthur asked with concern when he saw the state that Jack was in.
Jack looked down at himself and realized that there was a dirty footprint on his chest and his shirt was a torn up mess. His jeans were in decent shape, although they were covered in mud and dirt, and the souls of his shoes were misshapen blobs of melted plastic.
"You should see the other girl" Jack joked. "Seriously though, we need to call Matt."
Once they had him on the phone, Jack relayed what he had experienced in the woods.
"Yeah, people are starting to realize that things are changing" Matt told them.
"Well if people dunking from the three point line in the NBA doesn't give it away," Jack said dryly, "the fucking sexy tree golems are definitely going to."
"I think that was a localized incident. I haven't heard any other stories like that yet." Matt replied calmly.
"There will not have been any other manifestations like the tree woman yet" a deep rumbling voice jumped into their conversation and Zachias projected himself into the room with Jack and Arthur.
"How do you know that?" Jack asked skeptically.
"What?" Matt seemed confused.
Jack realized that Matt wouldn't be able to hear Zachias. The big blue warrior only seemed like he was there in the flesh. In reality, he was only a mental projection, and since Matt was on the phone, he wouldn't be able to speak with Zachias directly.
"The birth of a Guardian like the one Jack faced in the forest is extremely rare. That one was born in the very same place where my body died cannot be a coincidence" Zachias said and Jack relayed his words to Matt.
"However," Zachias continued, "this is exactly what I mean when I say that your world is changing. My death released a massive amount of Qi into this world. It is not only the humans who will change because of this. The animals, plants, even the insects will evolve as well."
Jack was starting to understand the scope of the changes that were occurring on Earth. It wasn't just the alien empires that would become a threat to his friends and family. Even the wildlife would become exponentially more dangerous.
The mood turned somber as they all considered the implications of what Zachias was telling them. After a moment, Matt interrupted their musings.
"The good news, is that I think I found a way for us to discretely take the political power and resources that we need. Meet me in DC so we can game plan this mother fucking conspiracy" he said.
"So we are really going to do this?" Arthur did not look entirely comfortable with their intentions.
Jack understood how he felt. It's not like he ever dreamed about growing up and becoming a despot when he was a kid. If they went through with this, they would be crossing a line that they could never uncross.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"I don't think we have a choice" Matt answered. "If we want to be the ones writing the story, this is just what we have to do."
"I just never saw myself as a political puppet master" Arthur confessed.
"I know what you mean" Jack agreed. "Two weeks ago I was just a dumb stoner. Now I'm trying to become J. Edgar Hoover."
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A few hours later, the three of them were standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial discussing their coup.
"He wasn't the best looking president was he?" Jack asked looking up at the big statue. Arthur chuckled and Matt rolled his eyes and responded.
"Do you really want to talk about that or-"
"Fine, fine" Jack interrupted him and turned to his friends. "Let's talk about how we subjugate the most powerful government that ever existed. Or would that be China’s now? Anyways, you said that you had an idea?"
Matt took a moment to think and then slowly explained what he had been up to.
"I've been a fly on the wall of the most powerful people in the country for the last few days. You wouldn't believe some of the shit that these people get up to either." Matt shivered. "I'll never get some of those images out of my head."
Jack winced in sympathy.
"Please do us a favor and skip the nudity" he begged and Matt moved on.
"Happy to. It turns out it's not really the oval office that we need to get to. I’ve found a few organizations around here that whisper in the ears of the politicians. All we have to do is take one of them for ourselves." Matt calmly explained.
"Great, so we just take over the Illuminati" Jack said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "That should be easy."
"It might be easier than you are thinking" Matt responded. "There is a powerful criminal organization that has its hooks in a bunch of DC politicians. When I was spying all over the capital, I saw them giving orders to Senators, Representatives, it seems like everybody is somebody's puppet in this town."
Matt had always been a bit cynical, but spying all over Washington DC seemed to have exacerbated this characteristic.
"This is all pointless" a deep, booming voice said from behind them before Zachias projected himself to the three of them, appearing to step out of thin air. "The only thing that matters right now is that you all master Chakra. If you can't even do that, then you will be dominated or killed by the weakest members of any faction no matter what you do here."
"Even if that is true," Jack shot back, "sitting around meditating is not necessarily the best path to self-understanding. What could be more revealing than a mission to take over the world?"
Matt cracked a smile at that.
"So we are really going to do this? You know this will make us criminals right?" It was obvious that Arthur was having a hard time with their plan.
"You know you don't have to do this right Arthur?" Jack told his friend. "Matt and I can handle some dollar store masterminds on our own. In fact, it might be good to have someone stay back and man the fort."
They all knew that Jack was just trying to give his friend an out. Arthur was a decent person and Jack didn't want to see him corrupted.
Arthur thought for a moment, his blonde hair falling down in front of his eyes as he looked at the ground.
"No" he said uncertainly and then visibly firmed his resolve. "If this is what we are doing, then I am going with you."
Jack smiled and nodded.
"How come I don't get the choice to stay home and watch TV?" Matt asked with snark and Jack chuckled.
"Unlike you, our abilities ain't exactly covert" Jack answered.
"Yeah no shit" Matt agreed. They started walking back along the long rectangular pool towards the World War II Memorial.
"So how do we do this?" Jack asked. "Do we go work over some street thugs until they give us the big boss?"
Matt rolled his eyes and replied. "You think we should wear skin tight, color-coordinated outfits with capes while we do that?"
"I do like stretchy clothes" Jack quipped.
Matt laughed and shook his head.
"Give me a couple days to find out where these vampires nest. Then we go in and do the hostile takeover."
Jack nodded his agreement and stepped to the edge of the crystal clear pool and looked at his reflection. He wondered if he was ready to do the things he might have to in the next few days.
Then again, it was also exciting. It had been a while since he had been up to no good.