JULY 15.

"Are you sure we're after the right guy?" Moira asked.

Isadora nodded. With luck, she'd be on the Invisible Man's trail by breakfast. The two had managed to infiltrate by claiming to be two of the "Birds of Prey". Time to see if their bluff had worked.

Isadora's eyes narrowed in at the crowd. At a poker table, she saw a distinctive pair of triangular glasses- Fiona Widdershins was there. But there was something else going on…

Malcolm Shepard was perched on the balcony. "Ignatius Mann"- one of his employer's numerous aliases- had tipped him off to Operative Kynes being at the Xanadu. Nearby, a sniper rifle- complete with suppressor- was mounted on a tripod. Shepard chuckled. This should be easy. The former soldier thought. He put his eye to the scope, and prepared to fire.

The sound of a very large copy of a combined Oxford English Dictionary, Encyclopedia Britannica, and thesaurus echoed through the room. Shepard fumed. He had missed Operative Kynes by a country mile, and his bullet had left a hole in the wall across the room- not in his target's skull. However, he aimed at Operative Quigley Quagmire for his second shot. Another shot was fired- but the gun misfired.

"Stupid gun!" Malcolm Shepard muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, the A-101 "Incisor" gunships that the "Invisible Man" had ordered were on the move towards Vegas…

JULY 16.

"Shepard, I want an explanation as to why Operatives Kynes and Quagmire are still alive." The Invisible Man ordered.

"The gun jammed on me." Shepard replied.

"Anyways, that plan went out the window. Plan B is heavy firepower." The Invisible Man answered back, exhaling a large cloud of smoke.

"Elaborate, boss." Shepard requested.

"It's simple. We have the new A-101 gunships that the USAF requested. Furthermore, we have a few Israeli tanks." The Invisible Man replied.

"Does it matter where the tanks are from?" Shepard asked.

"As a general rule, Israeli weapons are top of the line. This includes tanks." The Invisible Man answered.

"Any American tanks?" Shepard asked.

"A platoon's worth of Sherman tanks." The Invisible Man answered.

Meanwhile, Moira Tucker woke up as the sun rose over the Vegas Strip. She looked at the alarm clock. 6:00 A.M. Best to get an early start.

The hotel room's shower was large enough for two- and co-showering was almost a norm in the Southwest. And since Isadora and Moira were having to share a suite, the two were in the same shower…

Isadora Quagmire had recognized that Moira, for all her surprising idiocy, had been quite attractive. No wonder Duncan Quagmire had fallen for her…

Elsewhere, Quigley Quagmire had a Beretta to Fiona Widdershins's head. Operative Kynes watched the questioning from an old armchair.

"Question 1: Who shot the gun last night?" Quigley growled.

"What gun?" Fiona retorted.

"Spit it out!" Quigley snapped, driving the gun closer to her temples.

"It was Malcolm Shepard!" Fiona fearfully answered.

"Question 2: Who was he targeting?" Quigley snarled.

"Kynes!" Fiona yelped.

Quigley pulled the gun in his direction.

"Question 3: Who was he working for?" Quigley calmly asked.

"The Invisible Man." Fiona answered.

Quigley and Kynes left the room, with a tied up Fiona Widdershins still in there.

"She didn't know it wasn't loaded." Quigley piped up.

"I thought it was loaded." Kynes replied.