A/N: This chapter shows that not everyone involved in the accident will be the gang's rival, but exactly who is their new ally?
Coming of a new ally
"Okay, our first priority will be to free Catlin from Chrissy's control, as well as Nikki and Jude, if they themselves are being controlled, that is," Wyatt declared, once the situation was explained to him. "Yeah, just one problem: how do we do that without falling under her control as well?" Jen asked. "I can answer that," stated a new voice from outside the huddle they were in. Turning around with a cringe, they saw a strange male figure wearing the following: a brown ski mask that was modified to look like an owl's face and had the mouth and chin exposed, a white utility belt, a black jumpsuit with what looked like wiring underneath, as well as various gadgets that did who knows what, and a black serrated cape on his back.
"Who are you supposed to be and how did you get into the security room?" Jonesy asked. "Relax; I'm on your side. My name is unimportant, but you can call me Night Owl. Oh, and next time, lock the door." After slapping his forehead, Jonesy asked, "What do you mean that you're on our side?" "I was at the accident you caused by while carrying books on detective skills, ninjistu, and engineering. As a result, my deductive reasoning skills are on par with that of Sherlock Holmes, my fighting skills are above and beyond that of most opponents, and I can manufacture just about anything. Long story short, I've known about you're powers, and everything related to them, from the moment I saw you during Darth's attack; I actually would have helped you out with him, but I was still getting my gear together. Don't bother trying to remember who I am, though: I was coming out of the bathroom when the explosion happened, and your attention was elsewhere," the masked teenager explained.
"Back on topic: Chrissy won't be able to control you so long as you're wearing those devices that you designed, Wyatt. I figured out that as long as the technology is emitting your costumes, if she tries anything with her telepathy on you, all she'll get is a headache," the figure stated, before stating, "Don't worry about me: my mask has a layer of lead built into it, so she won't be able to use her powers on me even if she tried, not that it matters that much." "What do you mean?" Wyatt demanded, to which Night Owl replied, "I can't help you out just yet: I'm currently working on some things that should take care of two of our three foes. In case you're wondering why I'm not interested in neutralizing all three, the fact is, I am, but I have a pretty good idea on which one will be easiest to take down."
"Hold up: why are you helping us?" Jen wondered, to which he replied, "I have my reasons, among them proving to someone I care about that she doesn't know me as well as she thinks she does, assuming she finds out who I am. However, my main reason is that I made a promise when I was younger, and I intend to keep it, now that I have the means to do it." Briefly turning around, the Penalty Box employee asked what they were all thinking: "How do we know we can trust you?" to which he replied, "You don't, but the only thing I hate more than people who pick favorites are those who prey on the weak."
At this, they turned around, only to see his cape go out the door. "We'll let him go for now; right now, we have to find the others before who knows what happens," Jonesy stated as he and Wyatt ran out the door. Before she left, though, Jen began asking herself why she felt that this "Night Owl" seemed familiar.
Meanwhile, Nikki had managed to sneak herself back into the Khaki Barn. She had quickly figured out that as long as Chrissy wasn't talking to her that she didn't have control of her, but that wasn't what was bothering her at the moment. No, what was bothering her is that she couldn't seem to get Catlin's attention without drawing some herself. Just as she was about to try something, however, she noticed Jude walk into the store. At that moment, she mentally kicking herself, as she realized that the others had sent him here to stop her from doing something stupid, which might actually be possible, even with her current invisibility. Rushing out of the store and grabbing him before anyone else noticed him, Nikki pulled Jude behind a pillar and came back into invisibility before whisper-yelling, "What are you doing?" "Trying to stop you from getting yourself caught!" he yelled back in the same hushed manner.
"Did you hear something?" one of the hypnotized customers asked. "Not sure, but either way, let's get out of here," another stated. At this, Chrissy approached him and demanded to know why he wasn't buying anything, to which he replied, "You do have a great deal going on right now, but your running low on merchandise: why stay here when there are other stores that still have their shelves stocked." At this, Chrissy stopped and began to think. While she hated to admit it, this guy had a point: with or without her powers, she couldn't keep this scheme of hers going if she didn't have anything to sell. Sure, they still had the snow cone thing Kirsten was doing, but even that would be useless if they didn't have supplies. Too bad shipments weren't going to be available for another two days.
Suddenly, an idea struck. With a smirk, she mentally commanded all the customers to leave and went over to her two partners in crime.
"Well, we still need to get Catlin out of...what is going on?" Nikki exclaimed. Neither of them could believe it: the customers were leaving! While they were glad this was the case, it didn't make any sense: from what Nikki understood, this shouldn't be happening. Before they could figure out what was going on, however, Catlin walked past them.
Taking a chance, Nikki snuck up behind her and hit her on the head. "Hey, what was that for? Wait, where am I?" Catlin exclaimed, her eyes returning to their normal color. "How about a 'thank you' for freeing you from Chrissy's mind control?" Nikki retorted as she pulled her friend over to their hiding place. "Is that what happened? I don't remember that much after delivering your coffee," Catlin remarked.
"Quiet! Those girls are saying something!" Jude exclaimed.
"What's going on? I thought the plan was working?" Kristen exclaimed. "It is, but one of our customers gave me an idea: why should we settle for this mediocre lifestyle when, with our powers, the whole mall, maybe even the world, could be ours?" Chrissy said with a grin. "What's wrong with how things are now?" Kirsten asked, to which her economic superior replied, "You mean besides the fact that our so-called bosses won't be delivering the much-needed merchandise until our next pay day? Just so you know, we'll still be working here in the store, but we won't be taking orders from anyone else anymore! Not even those mystery heroes who defeated Darth can stop us!"
Unaware to the Khaki Barn employees, their whole plan had been overheard by three of the "mystery heroes" they were talking about. "We'd better get to the others before things get out of hand," Nikki exclaimed. "I just hope that they have a way to keep me from losing my mind again," Catlin stated. "Dudettes, I was sorta thinking the same things," Jude replied before the gang sprinted off towards the security center, unaware that they were not the only ones who overheard Chrissy's plan.
After explaining to the others what happened and getting into their disguises, Catlin asked, "You sure our headsets are the only things we need to keep our grey mat ears, Wyatt?" "It's pronounced 'grey matter,' and although I'm not positive, if things go south, we can always keep using cognitive recalibration," Wyatt explained, to which Jude groaned and said," Dude, not all of us know brain speak." "It means that we hit each other on the head like Nikki did to Catlin earlier," Jonesy explained, at which point he notices everyone staring at him. "What? I don't sleep through every psychology class lecture!" he exclaimed.
"Whatever; let's just go stop those three and hope the Bird shows up," Jen stated. "Who's the Bird?" Nikki asked, to which Wyatt simply stated, "Don't worry; we'll tell you later."
Figuring that their best bet of finding the Clones was to look in the last place they saw them, 6teen headed towards the Khaki Barn. They were just passing the food court when the loud speakers crackled to life.
"Attention, shoppers: we have an announcement. As of today, the Khaki Barn is no more!" a semi-distorted voice stated. As the people shopping starting murmuring to themselves about what that could possibly mean, the teen heroes realized that the Clones had managed to link the PA system of the Khaki Barn with that of the mall itself!
The voice continued as they ran through the hallways, all the while noticing that some of the shoppers were already showing signs of being controled: "Today, we introduce to you its replacement: the Khaki Club! The location will be the mall itself, with its headquarters being the location the Khaki Barn would be normally. How do I become a member, you ask? It's simple, really: bring any valuables you can find to our headquarters and give a thousand dollar membership fee. Everyone who joins will get a snow cone for three-hundred dollars paid up front and gets to pay double for every item they purchase. Thank you and have a nice day."
Once they finally got to the store, their worst fears were realized: just about everyone in the mall was under Chrissy's control and there were over fifty "Kristens" getting closer to them. At that moment, the PA system crackled to life again. "It seems we have a few people who don't want to partake in our generous deals. Fortunately, those who don't join our club get another option: total annihilation!"
"How did we get into this mess? Nikki shouted. "Anyone else getting a strange case of déjà vu?" asked Jonesy, but his question was ignored.
It seemed hopeless: true, Chrissy's powers had no affect on their team, but it seemed that they would need a miracle to get them out of this jam.
"Any last words, you fools?" the telepath taunted. "Yeah: do you hear humming?" Jen asked. In fact, it was true: the PA system had come to life again, but this time, something was different: instead of words or even music, a low hum was coming out of the speakers. The teen heroes were confused at first, until a certain someone started crying out in agony.
"Sorry I'm late: had a little trouble finding the right signature," stated a figure from the shadows. "Whoever you are, turn that off: I'm having trouble focusing!" Chrissy demanded. "Exactly," said the same figure, now right behind her.
Before she could react, though, she felt a surge of electricity course through her body. The moment it happened, she found herself on the ground looking up at what she thought might be a demon from hell. "That's enough, Ron: the thing I gave you did its job," the masked figure said into a com-link, at which point the humming stopped.
"Get him," the head Clone demanded before passing out. At this, the "Kristens" surrounded him. While the teenaged heroes and the now free shoppers panicked, the masked man stood firm. "I hope you realize that if I take down the original, the others go as well," he said with determination, to which the copies all replied, "Too bad you don't know which one of us it is, freak."
As if on cue, he threw some orbs at the one of the clones, which exploded and released a dark cloud. "Please: you can't fool us with a smoke screen," one of the clones stated, before noticing the figure had another mask on over his mouth. "That wasn't smoke," he stated as one of the "Kristens" began to cough, "It was knock-out gas. Oh, and for future reference, don't try and fool someone who has Infrared sensors in his mask."
As the clones disappeared and the real Kristen lost conciseness, the team, minus Jude and Jonesy, who was helping his friend out of the ice, started to surround Kirsten. "Any chance I can offer you a snow cone?" she asked with a nervous laugh, to which Nikki simply replied, "No thanks: I prefer punch," at which point, she gave her rival a black eye.
Later that day, the group was meeting up in the back room of one of the stores that somehow had not been broken into with the reason they won. "So, Night Owl," Nikki began, "not that I'm complaining or anything, but how did you know that low hum would stop Chrissy's mind control? Also, how did you convince Ron to play it over the PA system?" "The frequency of the hum was on the opposite end of a high pitched one that would have done the same thing, which I couldn't use if I didn't want to disorient your friend with the love of string; no offense," the masked figure stated, to which Catlin replied, "None taken." "As for the thing with Ron, let's just say," he said as he pulled off his mask, "he was helping someone he knew." To say the group was shocked at this revelation was an understatement.
Meanwhile, in a specially designed juvenile detention center, the Clones were all flustered. Kirsten was under a heat lamp while holding a hand to her eye, all the while murmuring about how she knew this was a bad idea. Kristen had special cuffs on that shocked her every time she tried duplicating trying to figure out how to work out the apparent kinks in her powers. Then there was Chrissy, who was placed in a stasis field. Not that it mattered: the only thought in her head at the moment was "Who was that guy?"
A/N: Next chapter, we find out what 6teen already knows: Night Owl's true identity.