The Blower File: Part 8

Greenshade moved sideways, trying to get around behind Caffeine Girl without her noticing. But she evidently guessed his intention and kept moving around to face him as he moved.

Meanwhile, Hooded Angel tried a more direct tactic on Brave Eagle. He had lunged straight at the boy, evidently thinking he could catch him off guard. But with a single movement, the boy jumped, using his staff as support. He twisted out of Hood's path, twirled around the poll, and landed with both feet on Hood's back.

Caffeine Girl had apparently underestimated Greenshade's ability. Though she had been trying to keep up with him, she had lost track of him. The next thing she knew, he was behind her and had lifted her a few feet off the ground.

Brave Eagle had Hooded Angel at a disadvantage but not for very long. With a bound, he was back on his feet, throwing his attacker off. Brave Eagle landed in a crouching position and as Hooded Angel rushed, he used his staff as a shield. For a moment, the two wrestled for control of the stick, but with a strange and sudden twist, the boy pulled the stick out of the other's grasp and in the same movement, used it to knock the man sideways.

Greenshade had thought he had Caffeine Girl under control. She had gone rather limp when he picked her up and it seemed she was powerless--but then without warning, she started beating her feet and arms against his armor, building up enough momentum in a second or two to break free and drop, feet first, back unto the roof.

Sky wondered if she had really had enough to speed to break Greenshade's grip or whether she had just caught him off guard. In either case, she was more dangerous than they had thought.

Hooded Angel was beginning to catch unto Brave Eagle's fighting tactics. This time, he came in from behind, grabbing the boy's arm so he couldn't use his stick. With an instinctive movement, Brave Eagle twisted and with his left hand grabbed his tomahawk and threw it. It whirled around and the handle hit Hood a glancing blow on the back of the head. With all the protection built into his hood, it couldn't have hurt him much, but it did cause him to lose his grip, and Brave Eagle sprung away, using his staff like a vaulting pole to clear about half the length of the roof.

“Your tricks are no match for the skills of my people,” remarked Brave Eagle as he landed.

“Your skills aren't bad,” agreed Caffeine Girl, as she dodged another attempt by Greenshade to catch her. “Now if only we could improve your wardrobe choices.”

“This costume is the traditional dress of my ancestors.”

“You're ancestors obviously had no fashion sense.”

Brave Eagle vaulted to a point behind Hooded Angel and tried to catch him off balance with his staff. “Look--I don't criticize your clothing choices, do I? Biker-chick-wannabe,” he added in a lower voice.

Hooded Angel was too quick and whirled around, forcing the boy to move back.

And at this moment, a new figure appeared. “There you are. I told you kids not to go running off on your own like this.”

At the voice, both Brave Eagle and Caffeine Girl stopped temporarily to glance at the source.

Sky was also taking a good look at the source. What he saw was a short, black-haired man of about thirty. He wore blue jeans and a skin-tight black a-shirt which clearly outlined his muscular torso. Beyond this, there wasn't much of note about him. Yet, when he appeared, several of Sky's sensors jumped slightly, as if with this man came some kind of mysterious energy.

He was still glaring at the two youths. “You have no idea how upset I was.”

Brave Eagle shook his head and looked at Caffeine Girl. “We made him upset.”

Caffeine Girl shook her head also and then turned to Hooded Angel and Greenshade, adding, as if in explanation, “You really don't want to make him upset.”

The appearance of the new figure had caused a temporary ceasefire. “So, what?” asked Hooded Angel, who seemed to be at a point somewhere between anger and laughter. “Are these your kids?”

The man in the a-shirt gave a short laugh. “Not hardly.”

“As if I'd admit being related to either of you, even if I was,” added Caffeine Girl.

“But I am supposed to be keeping an eye on them.”

“Conan, we're fine on our own,” Brave Eagle interrupted. “At least, I am.”

The man scowled. “Are you sure? Because last time--”

“It'll be different this time.”

“Conan?” repeated Sky, raising his eyebrows.

“Right.” Caffeine Girl motioned to the newcomer. “This is Crystal Conan. He's a really nice guy once you get to know him. At least, that's what we've been told, but we haven't actually proved it yet.”

Sky nodded. So these three were working together, to some degree or another. But were they working for Blowers and his team or were they independent? He had no records about any of these three, so he could only guess about their affiliations.

But Hooded Angel and Greenshade were not new to this business and neither one were going to be caught off guard by this strange trio or their patter.

Hood barked a few orders into their communicators. “Greenshade, take care of the boy. He's got skills, but he can't beat you. Right now, they've got an advantage of numbers, so if we can knock out at least one, it'll even things a little. Parkour, you and me will run interference on the girl and this Conan fellow--we've got to be careful since we don't know exactly what we're dealing with here.”

“Conan looks like a tough customer,” Sky observed.

“Yeah, but that doesn't always count for much in this business.”

“Just be on your guard. There's something about him which is making all my gauges jittery. I think he may be hiding some kind of super-power.”

“Got it.”

Hooded Angel moved forward and fired his grapnel at Caffeine Girl. At the same time, Parkour turned a summersault, pivoting to a position to move towards Conan, who stood at the far edge of the rooftop, his arms crossed. He didn't seem inclined to get involved in the battle. Caffeine Girl easily avoided the grapnel and moved in for the offensive. Even though she moved quickly, Hood had been prepared for a counterattack and so even as she came, he swung around, smacking the girl with his cape. It wasn't enough really to hurt her, but it also prevented her from hurting him. She stumbled backward as if caught off guard by this ploy, and Hood used the opportunity to fire his grapnel again.

Greenshade had used the momentary confusion to melt away and for the moment even Sky wasn't sure where he was, except that he was probably coming around to close on Brave Eagle without the boy seeing him. Greenshade's stealth ability might be the most useful thing they had at the moment.

Conan had turned slightly to look at Parkour, though he still had one eye on the battle between Caffeine Girl and Hooded Angel. “Look, kid, whatever you're thinking of trying, don't. I don't like hurting kids, but we all have to do things we don't like sometimes.”

“Um, I'm almost eighteen,” said Parkour, a little irked.

“Almost isn't all,” Conan replied, his eyes narrowing. “At you age, you shouldn't be risking your neck out here in this kind of brawl. Having nerve and spirit is all right, but you've also got to have some sense of respons--”

“Conan, could you stop adulting for just five minutes?” asked Caffeine Girl, deftly avoiding Hood's grapnel. “The middle of a battle is no place for you to be giving our enemy life lessons.”

Conan gave a grim smile and shook his head. “Old habits die hard.”

“Old habits?” asked Sky, still floating invisibly above the battlefield.

“He used to be a teacher,” Brave Eagle explained. Greenshade still hadn't closed in on him. With Conan and Parkour occupied, the boy was moving over to attack Hooded Angel, who seemed to be getting dangerously close to Caffeine Girl.

At the same time this was going on, Conan had finally made his move. Unfolding his arms, he sprung forward and swung at Parkour. It was only Parkour's agility which saved him. He turned a backflip and avoided the blow, but just barely. Judging by appearances, Sky guessed the punch would have laid him out if it had connected.

Hooded Angel had been focused on Caffeine Girl and so wasn't prepared when Brave Eagle attacked him from behind. But he hadn't lasted this long as a vigilante by accident. Brave Eagle had struck him with his staff--Hood rolled with the blow, pivoted, and swung around before the boy could get his balance back and had pulled the stick out of his hand. In almost the same motion, Hood counterattacked, using Brave Eagle's stick to push him to the ground.

For the first time, Conan seemed to take an actual interest in the battle. “If you hurt him, I'll--”

“You're making him angry,” commented Brave Eagle, as well as he could with Hooded Angel pushing him against the ground.

Caffeine Girl shook her head and glanced at Parkour. “You really don't want to make him angry,” she explained.

Brave Eagle tried to push Hooded Angel off, but there wasn't room for him to maneuver and so there was nothing he could do to counterbalance the other's superior weight.

“Now, just stay still for a minute, kid,” Hood ordered.

Brave Eagle said something in an exasperated tone which clearly indicated his meaning even though his words were incomprehensible.

Hooded Angel frowned. “You'd better not be cussing me out in Indian.”

Parkour had rolled back to a safe distance from Conan and now the two stood eyeing each other carefully. But now he glanced over at Hood with a slight smile. “It wasn't cussing, but it wasn't exactly complimentary, either.”

“How would you know what he said?” asked Hood, not allowing his curiosity to distract him from the matter at hand. “You can't understand Indian, can you?”

“That wasn't an Indian dialect,” Yfi explained. “It was Japanese.”

“You speak Japanese?” Hood was surprised, but still not letting go of his advantage as he pushed the boy against the ground.

“It is the language of my ancestors,” Brave Eagle responded proudly.

Sky raised his eyebrows and then frowned. “Come to think of it, your facial structure...” he tapped a few controls and pulled up some images on his computer... “is more Oriental than Native American. But that get-up--and your hair-cut--and even your name--”

“Those are also in honor of my ancestors.”

“But that doesn't make any sense--”

“My life is really complicated, OK?” the boy exploded, his voice cracking slightly.

Sky raised his eyebrows again. “Emo much?”

Hood shook his head. “I'd forgotten how much I hated being a teenager.”

“He can be a little whiney and annoying sometimes,” agreed Caffeine Girl. “But we are supposed to be a team, I guess.” She paused for a moment and dashed forward, obviously with the intention of knocking Hooded Angel aside and freeing the boy. But as she moved, there was a shimmer of something green and she slammed suddenly into Greenshade. The impact was too hard and too fast for her to avoid it or him to take advantage of it and they were both thrown back, though both were able to regain their footing easily (well, in Greenshade's case it wasn't really footing since he was flying). But the force of the impact was such that it actually threw Greenshade back against Hooded Angel. It wasn't a direct collision and the force was dispelled enough that it didn't actually hurt him, but it did make him lose his grip just slightly--and that was enough for Brave Eagle to get one arm down to his tomahawk, which hung at his waist. He didn't have enough room to throw it properly, but he managed to send it flicking off at an angle.

In theory, it shouldn't have been able to do anything--but clearly this was no ordinary tomahawk. Flying as if it had a mind of its own, it arched upward, and its blade cut into the wooden facade along one side of the roof, bringing a shower of wood down, directly to where Hooded Angel and Brave Eagle were wrestling. Hood sensed more than saw the danger and instinctively moved--and in that instant, Brave Eagle pushed back, regained control of his staff, and vaulted free, catching the tomahawk which arhced back to him.

But the wood never hit. In a blink, Caffeine Girl had rushed into the gap and, moving too fast to see, collected the falling wood and laid it in a neat pile at the edge of the roof. “What on earth was that, BE? You could have both been killed with that kind of stunt.”

“Hey, look, CG, I didn't exactly have a lot of options or a lot of time to think up something. We don't all have super-speed.”

Conan (who was back to standing with his arms folded) shook his head. “She's right. That was pretty careless, kid. You're never going to make it in this business with that kind of sloppy work.”

Caffeine Girl shook her head. “You're being adult again.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe when you two get a little maturity, I won't have to do it all myself.”

Brave Eagle seemed a little miffed by the criticism. “Look, I'm doing the best I can over here.”

“No, you're not,” answered Conan bluntly. “You can do a whole lot better than this.”

“Actually, you're right--you can't do any better,” said Caffeine Girl. “And since Conan doesn't look like he's going to be any help, I guess it's all up to me.”

“Look out!” Sky spoke the warning sharply, more because of something in the girl's attitude than any visible danger. He got the feeling that up to this point she had been playing around more than seriously trying to fight them--now it seemed different.

But his warning came too late--not that there was anything anyone could have done. She moved towards Hooded Angel, moving at a fast rate but not more than a normal person. He fired his grapnel at her--and she turned suddenly into a green blur as she shot forward. And before Hood knew what was happening, she had tied him up with the rope of his own grapnel. She came to a stop for just an instant and then shot sidewise towards Parkour. She moved so fast that even with his reflexes, he couldn't avoid her attack. Using her momentum, she gave him a punch in the stomach that left him doubled up for a minute or two. Then she zipped sideways again and jumped--very nearly catching Sky. But her onslaught against the other two had taken at least six seconds and that had given him the time to rise high enough that she wouldn't be able to reach him unless she happened to be able to fly.

“Well, why didn't you do that ten minutes ago?” asked Conan. His tone was grouchy, but there was a slight smile in his eyes.

“I thought I'd give Big Chief Bonehead a chance for once. Anyway, I thought the point was to distract them, not actually defeat them.”

Sky looked at the girl curiously. Had she just admitted that the goal of all this was a distraction? Or was that part of her game?

But something else had happened at almost the exact same moment. A large police drone swept down from the sky. It was an advanced model, Sky thought. He definitely hadn't expected MCPD to have tech like this. It even had two guns mounted to it, along with a speaker. As it swooped down, a voice sounded from the speaker. “You're going to be sorry you did that.”

Parkour glanced up at the voice, more in concern than surprise. They had all expected it, really. “Yfi, easy. I'm okay.” He was now standing straight again. Sky guessed he'd probably have a pretty bad bruise but otherwise, he seemed fine. If Caffeine Girl had wanted to put him out of the fight, she'd misjudged her strength.

“Don't worry,” answered Yfi's voice, from the drone. “I've got everything under control.” Yfi did sound a little more coherent than usual. Maybe she really was learning to keep a grasp on herself and her powers.

Caffeine Girl glanced up with a smile, one hand on her hip. “That thing may have a gun, but can you hit a moving target?”

“I don't need the guns--and they're not working anyway. But since you can't fly, you can't take it out, with all your powers. And even without the guns, I can use this thing to take out your two friends. And if it's just you against all of us, with me out of your reach--even you'll trip up eventually.”

“Really? I'm not so sure about that.”

Conan shook his head. “Careful. She does have a point.”

Yfi turned the drone and headed towards Brave Eagle. The boy threw his shoulders back. “Don't worry, you two. I've got this one.”

“Are you sure--” Conan seemed genuinely concerned.

“Totally.” Brave Eagle placed the fore and middle fingers of his right hand against his pendant. As the drone got closer, he shouted out: “Henshin!” With the word, he threw his arms wide and jumped. But at the same moment, the pendant began glowing with a strange radiance. In less than a second, the fiery aura had spread from the pendant and engulfed his body, yet still somehow retaining its shape.

“What in the world--” Hood began.

“Watch out!” shouted Sky, at almost the same moment.

Like a mystic firebird, it shot into the air. Before Yfi could decide on a course, it had passed through the drone, which crashed to the ground, lifeless.



“What is that thing?” asked Yfi, speaking from Parkour's earpiece.

“A brave eagle, apparently,” replied Sky.

It wheeled in the sky and shot towards Greenshade, but Greenshade had had enough time to be forewarned and the speed and agility of his armor allowed him to get out of its way, though just barely. It turned as if to make another pass, but instead, it faltered and swooped to the ground on the border of the roof. As it did, the fire died and collapsed, and it was Brave Eagle who landed in a crouching position on the roof.

“Are you OK, kid?” barked Conan.

Brave Eagle didn't look especially OK. He was doubled up on the ground and holding one hand to his mouth. “I think I'm going to throw up,” he managed.

Sky drummed his fingers against his control rod. “So, let me get this straight. You have a superpower like that, but using it makes you so sick you're vulnerable afterward?”

Brave Eagle didn't seem to like the question. “Look, have you ever had every single atom in your body converted into raw energy and then back again? Because if not, I don't want to hear it.”

Sky and Hood exchanged glances and then Hood sighed. “I wouldn't be a teenager again for anything.”

“It is a hard time,” agreed Conan. “Hard enough to find your place in the world, without getting stuck in this work or having to take responsibility for a power that you can't control--a blessing that's more like a curse. I feel sorry for you.”

Caffeine Girl shook her head. “You made him empathetic.”

Brave Eagle still looked as if he were about to lose his lunch, but he managed: “You really don't want to make him empathetic.”

Conan had closed his eyes now as if concentrating. “Did you hear what I said, kid? I--feel--sorry--for you.” He spoke the words with an effort. And as he did, it happened. His whole body seemed to glow with a hot, white light--and then a solid beam of light shot from him and struck the boy. Instantly, Brave Eagle jumped up and all trace of his previous discomfort was evident.

At the moment that the light shot from Conan, every instrument in Sky's collection jumped. The man had released some very powerful and very unconventional form of energy.

“Thanks, Conan. But I've got this now.”

“I doubt it.”

“So, what, you can shoot a beam of light when you feel sorry for someone? What kind of power is that?” Hooded Angel seemed incredulous.

Conan grunted. “Look, I never asked to have a shard of alien crystal buried in my chest. I never asked to gain the power to objectify my own emotions. So don't blame me if you don't like it.”

“Objectify your emotions?” repeated Parkour, swatting something away from his ear.

“Convert them into energy or matter,” Caffeine Girl explained.

“Oh.”

Sky sighed and dropped to the ground. They were getting nowhere fast. “Look, I think this has gone far enough. Brave Eagle has a great power, but he can't control it. Caffeine Girl's power is pretty good, but it's not enough to take us down. I still don't quite get your power, Conan, but you don't seem overly anxious to use it to take us down. In short, this little battle isn't going anywhere and there isn't any point in it going anywhere since Ace Trainer's ball isn't doing any good for any of us. So I really don't see why we're even bothering to continue this meeting--unless you happen to want to join our conversation on religious philosophy.”

Conan grunted. “Well, that would be better than talking about plagal cadences, I suppose.”

“Plagal cadences?” repeated Sky. Conan had thrown it out carelessly, but the instant Sky heard it, everything made sense. Well, sort of. He spun to face Parkour. “Didn't you swat at something a minute ago?” He had noticed the motion without taking any thought of it.

“Yeah. There's a lot of flies around here.”

“That's what I thought.” Sky turned his attention to his various scanners. The thing he wanted to see--the thing he knew was there--wouldn't show up on an ordinary scanner, but it couldn't be hidden from him completely, either. Since he was sure it was there, it was just a matter of trying different approaches until he found it. He fiddled with his controls for a second and then he spotted it--or, rather, them.

“All right, Doctor,” he commented with a sigh, “I've locked into your signature. You can't hide anymore so you might as well join the conversation.”

A fly buzzed by him and hovered in the air beside Conan. Another fly joined it. And another. In a second or two, there was a vast swarm of them, growing larger by the moment. Of course, they weren't really flies. Sky knew that now. They were drones--remotely controlled miniature robots which could mimic the behavior of flies, but also do things flies couldn't do--take a definite shape, for instance. Before thirty seconds had passed, the swarm had taken a definite shape--the figure of a tall man, wearing a cape and a top hat.

Conan glanced at him with a scowl that seemed only partly ill-natured. “How long have you been watching over our shoulder?”

“You didn't think I would leave you unprotected and unattended, did you?” The figure spoke with an urbane, cultured voice. “For instance, what did you think caused that police drone's guns to jam so that Yfi couldn't use them against you? No, you are in good hands, as always.”

Sky nodded in greeting. “So are these people working for you, Dr. Drone?”

The man bowed. “In a manner of speaking. Though I had no intention of making my presence known.” He glanced at Conan and added a little sharply. “If it were not for your indiscretion--”

Conan scowled, but there was something of a smile in his face too. “It's not my fault you talk about plagal cadences so much that they were able to pin you down from those two words.”

“I was wondering about these three, but I never guessed they would be working for you,” added Hooded Angel. He was slightly more at ease now, but there was still a guardedness in his stance. As a mercenary, Dr. Drone's position in the super-hero community had always been ambiguous. Hood and Sky had fought alongside him before--and they had seen enough of his power to make them worried about fighting against him now.

“Well, I would hardly say they're working for me,” Dr. Drone corrected. “Rather, I have been asked to keep an eye on them. Of course, I was originally called in to attend to Conan in a medical capacity--I am a real doctor, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” agreed Sky. “You use your expertise in robotics to work with robotic surgery. It's funny, actually. One of the world's foremost experts in robotic surgery is Dr. Matthias Kildaire, and he's also an established expert on plagal cadences--which is your private hobby. And he's from Upper Sandusky, which seems to be your stomping grounds, too.”

Dr. Drone smiled. “Life is full of these little coincidences, Sky. You shouldn't let them bother you. As, as I said, I was looking after Conan--his powers has had a very unique effect on his body and I'm still trying to fully analyze and understand it. Because of my connection to Conan, I was asked to also keep an eye on Brave Eagle--he has yet to master fully the powers of his pendant (which, despite appearances, is purely scientific and not arcane, though certainly unusual), and this means Conan is useful in order to keep him from experiencing undue kickback from his experiments. And I was asked to watch over Caffeine Girl because there was concern that her power might be causing harm to her--which I have yet to verify or deny.” Dr. Drone took a step forward and bowed slightly. “Trust me, my friends, I do not especially like working with these three--but when the president of the United States asks you for a favor, it isn't good form to turn him down.”

“The president!” repeated Hooded Angel, taking a step backward.

“Are you really saying that President Conners is behind this?” added Sky. “Are you working for Conners now?”

“No, though these three may be eventually. I am my own master, as always. Still, as I said, I hated to refuse when he asked me--and I owe him a favor or two, anyway, so I took on this job gratis, against my ordinary policy.”

Hooded Angel swore in annoyance. “Than what on earth are you and your little school group doing here in McHenry City, fighting us?”

“I had a tip that several of the Futureplex's agents were going to go rogue here in McHenry City--I thought it would be a good training exercise for Conan and the others, as well as possibly giving rise to a profitable piece of work of some kind for yours truly.”

“'Several'?” repeated Sky. “As in 'more than one'?”

“That is the general meaning of the word 'several',” answered Dr. Drone. “Of course, we knew that there would be trouble once Boris Blower was charged. I knew, naturally, that he was really Bone Crusher and it appears that Conners had either known or suspected the same for some time.”

“Naturally,” echoed Sky automatically. “So you knew about Boris--but that still doesn't explain the 'several.'”

“Well, I think that would be obvious. With Blower going rogue, it was only logical that some of his companions would join him--though I confess, I wasn't it expecting it to be you five.”

Sky sighed. “So let me get this straight. You've been fighting us because you think we're working with Bone Crusher in--well, whatever it is he's doing now.”

“Precisely.” Dr. Drone swept off his hat in a bow. “I couldn't have said it better myself.”

“Well, don't say it yourself, then,” Hooded Angel all-but exploded.

Brave Eagle was shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, apparently impatient at all the talking. “So, wait, I'm confused. These are the people we're fighting, right?”

“Wrong.” Hooded Angel sounded about ready to start foaming at the mouth. (Or maybe he was foaming at the mouth under his mask.) “We're trying to track down Blower--and stop him.”

“Technically, we have gone rogue,” added Sky, “given that we're here without the Futureplex's authority or knowledge, but we're just trying to stop Blower before things get out of hand.”

“You seem to have a lot of info about what's going on--did your info happen to mention that Bone Crusher now has super-powers?”

Dr. Drone raised his metallic eyebrows in surprise. “Really, now. Exactly what kind of super-powers?”

Hood and Sky glanced at each other; then Hood took a deep breath and answered: “The Heroic Ion.”

This time, Dr. Drone, Conan, and the two teenagers all started at the same time. “That's not possible--” Dr. Drone began.

“Unfortunately, it is. And not only that, but he has allied with several other antiheroes--Big Foot, Snow Angel, and the Bell Ringer. They've even managed to capture Time's Detective and Silence. And then there are some other villains showing up here in McHenry City, though we haven't figured out how they're connected. That's why we were all here--trying to find Blower and stop him.”

Brave Eagle smoothed out his mohawk and glanced at Conan and Dr. Drone. “So these aren't the bad guys?”

“Certainly, that is their claim. Of course, if they were bad guys, they might claim exactly that.”

“Yeah,” Hooded Angel grunted. “And that argument works the other way too. Because we don't have any evidence that anything you've told us is true, either. It's not as if we can just call President Conners on the phone and ask if you're really working for him.”

“In other words,” said Greenshade quietly, “if any of us are going to do anything--either fight each other or work together--we'll have to do it by faith.”

“Well,” said Caffeine Girl after a slight pause, “they aren't exactly fashionable, but they're better company than Bone Crusher, at least according to what I've heard. Let's roll with it.”

Hooded Angel threw back his cape in an irritated movement. “You and I have never seen eye-to-eye on a lot of things, Drone, but I know you've got more sense than to throw in with Bone Crusher. And whatever is going on here is getting beyond us. The problem is that we just flat-out can't find Bone Crusher and can't figure out what he's doing. That, together with everything else, put the odds firmly in his favor.”

“That is the precisely the problem we had encountered,” Dr. Drone admitted. “Do you have any info on his location since he escaped from the Futureplex?”

Sky nodded. “He went to his house and then to the BBB. He intended to use his radio program to blow the cover on some Futureplex secrets, but we were able to stop that.”

“We have Discus and the Forester searching out leads from there--hopefully,” Hooded Angel added.

“What you tell us adds certain interesting complications to the situation,” remarked Dr. Drone, thoughtfully. “In other words, this is something of much greater scope than we originally imagined. It is not a matter of a few Futureplex agents going rogue. It seems that we are dealing with some rather more complex than that.”

Conan had been frowning thoughtfully. “Yeah, but that might work in our favor.”

“Do you have an idea?”

“Of course he does,” answered Caffeine Girl. “He couldn't hang around with me for so long without a little of my genius rubbing off on him. Not unless he's as thick-headed as Brave Eagle.”

“Hey!”

Conan ignored the two teenagers. “I've worked with the Bell Ringer before. I had some business in Gothington and our paths crossed--anyway, point being, if he's with Bone Crusher, I may be able to locate him.”

“Wait, what?” Hooded Angel looked at him curiously.

“Every human being has a unique energy signature created by their body chemistry and their emotions intersecting in the cortex. And one of the side benefits of my power is the ability to identify those energy signatures. Of course, with some superhero types, this signature gets scrambled, but the Bell Ringer's just an ordinary guy--at least, he doesn't have powers, though he could give some of you with powers a run for your money.”

Dr. Drone tapped his fingers together. “Yes, that's true, but I do not quite see how it helps us. Your powers aren't great enough to detect his energy signature unless you're close to him, which assumably we aren't at the moment.”

Caffeine Girl snapped her fingers. “Is that where we come in?”

“Actually, if I can have help from Yfi and the rest of you, we may be able to make this work.” Dr. Drone bowed to Hooded Angel. “If I may...?”

“Go on.” Hood didn't much like taking suggestions from anybody, especially Dr. Drone, but under the circumstances it made sense.

But Dr. Drone didn't get the chance to speak before Yfi interrupted. “Can ordinary equipment pick up these energy signatures?”

“No. Most equipment can't. But my drones can--an upgrade I added after working with Conan. By using them as sensors, we can search through the city for any sign of Bell Ringer--and from him, we should be able to find Bone Crusher. However, there aren't enough of my drones to cover the city effectively.”

“But if I can access the programming of your drones, I should be able to duplicate the programming with other sensors around the city, right?”

“Exactly. I specifically designed my drones to prevent outside invasions from hackers such as yourself, but I see I will have to make an exception.” He bowed. “However, to cover the city effectively, you'll have to use the dish at McHenry City Research Lab. It's the only device in the city capable of being upgraded in that way which also has sufficient range to help us. To access that, you'll have to be hardwired in. And to do that, you'll need to physically infiltrate the lab.”

“And that's my job?” suggested Caffeine Girl. “I can get her in and then be back here in thirteen seconds. Maybe twelve.”

“You and Greenshade should take care of that since Greenshade can fly. And in case of trouble, backup would be helpful. The rest of us will stay here and hold this rooftop as a command center. Since Conan is the only one who can identify the readings once we get them, we do have to protect him.” He turned and bowed to Hooded Angel. “Does that plan seem satisfactory to you?”

“You and Yfi are the tech experts. If you think it'll work, go for it. Any chance we have of locating Bone Crusher is good enough. We're running out of time.”

“Good, then you all know your places?”

“Just be careful,” said Parkour, talking into his headpiece.

“Don't worry. I'll be here and there and everywhere and back again before you know it.”

“This should be fun. Race you!” Caffeine Girl shot off the roof and vanished.

“Even when I was a teenager, I didn't have that much energy,” said Greenshade, with something like a sigh. And then he also vanished.

That left Parkour, Sky, Hooded Angel, Brave Eagle, Crystal Conan, and Dr. Drone together on the roof.

“Are you sure you should have let her go on her own?” asked Brave Eagle, looking at Conan. “She may need help.”

Hood shook his head. “Greenshade should provide all the back-up she needs.”

“And since you can't fly,” Conan added, “it'd take too long for you to get there. Until you master your powers, anyway.”