Mission: Impossible The Hida Factor

by BMillsWrites

The lives of IMF agent Ethan Hunt and Officer Hiroki Hida secretly crossed, and now Cody Hida has become a target that Hunt and his IMF team must protect.

10. The Battle of Shadows

Mission Impossible: The Hida Factor

--AN: This was meant to be the last chapter, but it's getting too long. I find myself enjoyably re-reading it, and using up all the little time for I have for actually writing the rest of it. Plus, there is the fact that I've added almost 2,000 words since I last reloaded this chapter. I'm moving the last major element -- a final confrontation with Delton Zane and any aftermath -- to an eleventh chapter all its own. I've only got flashes of that in mind, but I think it's going to be good piecing those bits together. Enjoy! -- B.M. --

Chapter 10: The Battle of Shadows

Cody Hida stared at the gun brandished by Delton Zane. The sleek firearm was pointed right at IMF agent Ethan Hunt, who was was still disguised as the man named Randall. The youngest Digidestined had seen, and even been menaced by, all sorts of digital life forms, weapons, and attacks. Cody had laid eyes on the Digimon Emperor's terrifying Chimeramon Yet, the reality of Delton Zane pointing a gun, with the Eden Device looming behind him, was scarier than any Digital World danger. The man Zane wasn't being controlled by Dark Rings, and he wasn't confused like maybe Ken Ichijouji had been. The man intended all the evil that he was doing, and didn't care at all. As scared as he was, Cody was even angrier. The bad man's gun was a cowardly endorsement of the way the boy's father had died. It just couldn't go unchallenged. Ethan Hunt sensed the strain on Cody's disposition, and strengthened his own grip. The youngster could not escape the arm hold that prevented an attempted lunge at the armed psychotic.

Zane sneered and gave Cody some mocking, "Ah ... ah ... ah," of universal baby-talking disapproval. "Little boy Hida will get to suffer soon enough, but now it's Mr. Randall's turn." The European saw the boy refrain, so the man gloated, "Little boy Hida understands. The gun must make my Japanese better." It didn't, but telling the man that meant speaking to him, and Cody didn't want to. The small boy just continued to scowl fiercely. The boy's look was nothing to Zane, who continued with the American. "Let us discuss your replacement then, shall we Mr. Randall, hmm?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Zane?" the supposed Randall asked with an instant of tense hesitation. "I thought we settled. The kid's your problem from here. I take my money and go. If you want someone to take over that's your business but you sound like you've got someone lined up, and I haven't been paid."

Zane offered an apologetic look, "Promises, promises eh, Mr. Randall? I must confess this is a bit ungrateful on my part. After all, I really do have your mundane, utilitarian focus to thank in finally acquiring the Hida brat. Of course, I recognized both of those qualities in you from the very beginning Mr. Randall, so I've intended you for other utilitarian needs of mine. For example, you're the ideal patsy in the boy's disappearance ..." He paused only to grimace terribly at Cody, "... and his inevitable death. So you see, Mr. Randall, you're much more valuable to me now as a silent partner -- rather extremely and permanently silent, than I could possibly pay for, so why bother? Alas, it's bound to be the death of you too."

"You're going to kill me?" Randall asked disbelievingly. It seemed he'd give Zane all the time in the world to enjoy the sick joke -- as long as it was a joke.

Delton Zane sounded an annoyed groan. Toying with unfortunates -- as he couched references to his victims -- wasn't as much fun when they so lacked perception. "Mr. Randall , you have such a plodding grasp of the nearly-obvious. You are going to be killed, that I assure you. However, I'm not going to do it. Your replacement has requested that pleasure." The European held them in the menacing tableaux until they all heard the heavy gasp of a large door, off-set some distance behind Zane, releasing its airtight seal. "Ah, that would be my apprentice joining us now." Zane glared mockingly at Cody. "You like formality little boy Hida? You should enjoy this then. Please allow me to introduce the next great assassin to be forged in the Delton Zane mold, Quint Morgan."

"Delton, I wish you'd be careful not to talk so much." Morgan chided as he walked up behind the senior killer.

"My dear Quint, there's no need to fear for your privacy. We're perfectly secure here. The scientists won't re-enter until I permit it, and these two will be dead sooner than later."

"I'll see to that much right now." the traitor agent declared coldly. He quickly reached for his own gun and began to raise it to a level with Jace Randall's head. Ethan Hunt was faster, doing something that none of them, not even Cody Hida, expected. As the apparently terrified mercenary, he crouched low and seized the boy more firmly with one arm around Cody's throat and the other around the youngster's waist. Instantly, Cody was jerked into a position as a shield against Morgan's intention to fire.

Delton Zane waved off any thought Quint Morgan had of simply firing through the child. "Well, Mr. Randall! I must say, I didn't know you had such a ploy in you." Far from being angered, the master assassin seemed amused, almost pleased.

Free from his need to point a gun, Zane moved to a nearby control unit. "I'm told that the objective of negotiation is to move the other party out of an initial position. I think you'll find this device very moving." He activated a particular switch and an "X" grid of panels retracted in the room's roof, stories above them. A huge bar with six radiant spokes descended quickly from the center of the "X". Each spoke had a powerful hydraulic arm with a grasping clamp. These arms rolled onto tracks that gave them coverage on every angle of the "X", plus the midpoint in both directions.

The deployment of Zane's grapplers was as showy as Zane himself. That gave Hunt an opportunity to direct Cody's gaze -- by subtly turning the boy's head while readjusting the choke hold. Scaffolding framed the interior of the room, supporting walkway levels above the floor. The interlocking patterns in the seams of this scaffolding created nooks a small boy might get into and not be reached easily. Cody knew he couldn't nod to confirm anything, but he also knew what Ethan-san wanted him to do. When the chance came, he was supposed to run, climb, hide, and not get caught.

Zane shouted loudly at Cody. "Oh little boy Hida, what is it that you children say? I believe it's 'ready or not here I come!" The center hydraulic arm, steered by Zane, rushed toward the American with the boy. Hunt waited until the last possible second, then he pushed Cody into a running start sideways while jumping up, avoiding the gaping clamp and landing balanced on the moving arm itself. The multi-directional break kept Morgan from re-training his weapon on either potential target long enough for Hunt to pull the control wires loose and rupture the arm's hydraulic feed. Zane couldn't stop the arm, and the steam that poured from the hydraulic covered both escapes.

Now Delton Zane was beyond angry. "Don't just stand there!" He barked at the dumbfounded Morgan. "Neither of them has any way out of here. Track Randall down and kill him ... now! I have something special to deal with the brat."

"Will that work as well as this last gadget Delton?" Morgan sneered.

"Enough!" Zane roared. "I said find Randall and kill him."

Quint stared hard at Zane, but got moving. "Count on it, Delton."

While Morgan began his pursuit, Delton Zane called out loudly for the Hida boy's attention, "Little boy Hida! Listen to me! Bad time for games like hide and seek, little boy Hida! I don't play nice! I use mean toys to find hiders for me! Little boys easily found! Hearts beat faster, they give off different energy! Come back now or a mean toy will come get you! Too late! Enjoy the game little boy Hida. Your last one!"

Zane was activating another control even as he finished speaking. Cody had just reached the base of the scaffolding when he heard another air pressure hiss releasing Zane's latest evil surprise. The opening hatch was on the same wall as the boy now faced, but much further down from where Cody stood. The youngster was compelled to look , not out of foolish curiosity, but to know what he was up against. It emerged from its wall well. "It" was an ant -- not the little social insect that Cody admired as one of nature's most industrious creatures. Delton Zane's ant was a sleek, metallic corruption of natural design. It was also about the size of a minibus. Antennae flicked restlessly, looking for, then acquiring a particular signal. The robot ant's head did so much turn much as it swiveled to obviously focus on Cody. While it turned the rest of its body, the boy saw that the thing had two sets of mandible pinchers. One set resembled the clamp that Zane had set against Ethan-san. The other set of pinchers was serrated with several points on each side. The ant opened and closed both sets of pinchers quickly, causing sparks to fly from the contact friction of the serrations meeting. Cody started to climb the scaffolding before Zane's hunter took one step in the child's direction. The young Hida also worked to go deeper into the scaffolding. Boys much younger than Cody knew that ants could climb too. Climbing up was just buying time, but climbing in was the best chance to keep the oversized insect at bay while Cody thought of some way to defeat the ant. Of course, the youngster had Upamon with him, and the Digimon would save the day if he could digivolve to Digmon. That was a really big if outside the Digital World. Cody knew Ethan-san couldn't help him now. The IMF agent had trouble of his own to survive.

Cody couldn't spare thoughts for any situation back in Odaiba. If he could have, the boy would've completely understood the exasperated grimace on Joe Kido's face while speaking to Tai by cell phone. The call came in just as Joe was trying to explain the gathered information to Komi Nagamu's portrayal of teacher Kani Miro. It took the older Joe that Cody knew and admired to not become physically ill at having to relate the new problem to the helping woman. Yolei's headstrong decision to continue tracking Cody alone challenged even the IMF's capacity for flexibility. The diversionary game for Cody's friends was already a hasty construct, and now it had to evolve as fast as agent Nagamu could think. The way it was supposed to work, a general indication of who Zane actually was would be revealed to the kids, but not until Cody was safely home. Then they'd be told how helpful information from their novice sleuthing had been when placed in the right hands. Now, Komi had to intervene directly. Fortunately, she could still do that as just an adult taking charge so there was no need to drop the Kani Miro cover.

"Joe, I bet you know the fastest way to get to the harbor from here don't you?" Kani Miro asked as she got her purse.

Joe nodded. "Yes." It was hard to read his curiosity through the obvious discomfort on his face.

She asked a new question, carefully thinking out loud. "Can we get down there ahead of Yolei?"

"Yes," Joe noted with a moment of consideration that would've pleased Cody Hida very much. The oldest Digidestined shook off the one word responses, "This part of the city is between where Yolei's coming from and the harbor."

"Good," she observed and instructed. "Meet me in the lobby. I have to call and break an appointment -- but this is more important now. While I do that you call your friends and have them get home right away, especially the younger ones. I'm guessing Yolei's parents wouldn't be too surprised if she decided to do something impetuous on her own, but the circumstances make that extremely upsetting, so Yolei's escapade isn't anything to volunteer right away. Would any of your group have a problem with covering up disobedience for a good reason?"

Joe almost winced. "The only one who might is Cody ... Ms. Miro, maybe we should ask the police to pick Yolei up. I know Cody wouldn't want her to get hurt even when he can't stop her from getting into trouble."

Komi Nagamu again felt how deeply Cody's abduction effected his friends, and she reminded herself not to play so cavalierly with these kids and their feelings -- they weren't trained agents. Still, they had their unusual group dynamic to think about. "Joe, do you want the police asking what a group of school kids are doing by investigating Cody's taking the way you've gone about it? That's why you all asked me to act as a go-between. Besides, I wouldn't want to become known as the teacher who gave the go ahead by not stopping you kids in the first place. I could kiss my teaching career goodbye. It'll be much better to stop Yolei ourselves, and get her home before anyone's parents imagines she's doing what she's probably trying to do. OK?" The collegian nodded and she continued. "That's settled. Please meet me down in the lobby. I won't be long." Joe, reasonably persuaded, left to call his friends. Komi called hers, pressing a single button on her ultra-secure miniature satellite phone. "Paige, there's a field situation in play. No, we're not compromised -- in fact I think we may have another opportunity developing."

The younger female agent quickly relayed the gist of the latest turn to her acting leader. Paige Brooke assessed the information and counseled on strategy just as quickly. "I agree Komi, that's the boost our end game could use. The sooner we get to Ethan and Cody the better. We'll set your new play in motion. Go ahead, but keep the kids you're with in check -- zero human collateral damage, I know you know that but ..."

"... it never hurts to repeat it," Nagamu finished. "I've got to go, Paige."

Brooke affirmed simply. "Right." Authorization was the gist of the quick contact , but it implied all the concern any IMF agent could convey to another as mission situations changed around them.

Ethan Hunt would have both approved and admired his team's innovative resourcefulness, but like Cody Hida in another part of Delton Zane's sinister chamber, the IMF agent's immediate thoughts were focused on survival. Hunt's thinking wasn't as self-serving as the instinct might dictate. If civilians -- like the Hida boy -- ever had to see IMF in action, what they saw was gadgetry and misdirection. There was so much more that went into preparing IMF agents to do what they did. Once again, Ethan Hunt reached past the point where most men let instinct kick in, allowing him to rely on his specially trained thought processes. IMF agents didn't segment or compartmentalize problems or obstacles during the course of a mission. Each mission had an objective and situations either flowed with that outcome or against it. When it came right down to it, completing an IMF assignment simply meant changing the flow of events so they resulted in the desired outcome. What most people considered as their everyday lives was, more often than not, a series of arranged connections -- Everything was connected. Most immediately for Hunt, that meant that his being tracked down by Quint Morgan, and Cody Hida's fleeing from the mechanical terror Zane had released weren't separate problems -- They were aspects of the same problem because they threatened the desired outcome of the mission. There was never any question of doing one first and the other second. Hunt was trained to do both, and he needed to move as quickly as possible considering the danger the boy was in.

Hunt got off the commandeered hydraulic arm while there was still enough steam pouring from it to cover the fact that he'd done so. Ethan knew that Quint's arrogance and estimation of Jace Randall's lesser abilities would prompt the rogue agent to continue following the arm. That was predictable, typical behavior from Morgan, and Hunt could count on it. Quint Morgan had always been a promising operative, but to a certain point in his career things came too easily for him. Superficial success warped his ego, and Quint started thinking he was a little better than IMF gave him credit for. Blind to his need for improvement, Quint's work was marred by both grand overreaching and slight mistakes. The first flaw could usually be managed with decisively superior leadership reigning Morgan in and putting him in his place. The other flaw was unforgivable at IMF. One agent's sloppiness could kill entire teams. Quint Morgan had never been seriously considered for IMF team leadership. Morgan only believed he was passed over, and then he turned traitor. Once again, Quint was taking the easiest path to doing what suited him. Taking Morgan down ASAP was now fully in line with the course of the mission, but Hunt just might find some satisfaction too, professional and otherwise. Beyond the chamber diagnostic area that centered around the Eden Device itself there was a myriad of cubicles serving as workspaces for the scientists, both medical and mechanical, that Zane had working toward his deadly purposes. Ethan Hunt quickly headed for a cubicle that had stairwell access to the the catwalks immediately above, and other items that he could put to innovative use.

Quint Morgan wasn't fooled for long, at least not by the diminishing smoke screen fading from the sputtering hydraulic arm. He was actually surprised a hack-for-hire like Jace Randall had the brains for a vanishing act. Morgan doubled back, but had to do so cautiously with the possibility that Randall was now behind him -- but why would an escaping coward want to rear flank his pursuit? The recovery from misdirection was swift, but the traitor agent openly grumbled as he realized Randall wasn't anywhere to be overtaken. All the alarm bells that Quint Morgan had ever been trained to survive by should have been sounding, but they weren't. Morgan's ambition and ego had steadily blunted both the noble and practical sensibilities that made doing all the things that really kept covert operatives believing staying alive is worthwhile, much less necessary. Quint was focused on killing people : because he could, because there was money in it, but more and more because he enjoyed the idea of killing people. His dark focus kept him from even considering the scenario about to play out above him.

A sound made Quint Morgan look up to see a figure dropping at him rapidly. Most people would've never seen any identifying detail in the very dark surroundings, but the rogue agent could and did. Even a fleeting glimpse of features was enough to establish the face of Jace Randall. Cold observation noted simply that Randall had miscalculated -- launching his ambush from too high above, allowing too much reaction time. Morgan fired his gun, instantly targeted at the moment of the initial sound. He continued to fire with impressive speed as the unsurprisingly limp form fell to the ground. Three stories above the position that Quint Morgan fired from, the remains of a impressive, rush-job rigging testified to the effort put into the doomed leap. Some cord, a pulley system, a balancing scale, and chemically accelerated fluid fuel burners were the elements of the last secret this Jace Randall could apparently take to the grave.

Gunshots! Cody Hida heard somebody firing a gun. Though the sound of the weapon he hated most would always taunt Cody's acutest memory of loss, there was no time to wallow in introspective fear. The boy knew that Ethan Hunt didn't have a gun when they'd split up. The youngster naturally imagined that Ethan-san had been chased down or worse. Somebody had to do something to help, and since only Cody was available, then he had to do what he could. There was one very big obstacle to the child's heroic determination: Delton Zane's giant robot was hunting the boy down at the same time. So far, Cody had done very well eluding pursuit. He had climbed, wriggled, and squeezed into the most interior of the framework supporting walkways above and below. The young Hida was glad to see that the mechanical ant had difficulties getting at him. It could, and did tear the framing bars in small sections easily enough with its mandibles and pinchers, but the ant was just too heavy. Delton Zane's need to be impressively lethal led him to a fearsomely overbuilt design for his monster. Each time the robot put force into snapping metal, it dropped under its own weight and had to re-establish previous position. Cody was grateful for that, but it was another aspect of the thing's design that sparked the boy's thinking. The youngster made his way as fast as he could to the deepest corner of the support structure -- sided and backed by the chamber's walls, and roofed by one of the catwalk floors. It was a good defensive position, the ant could only really come at him from the front. Cody hoped it would work for what he had in mind too. There was enough of a ledge on the underside of the catwalk to get Upamon out of the backpack and prepare the Digimon for what they were about to attempt.

"Upamon, how close to the Digital World do you have to get to digivolve to Armadillomon?" Cody asked. The urgency of the child's question instantly calmed and focused his Digimon partner.

"Gee Cody, I can do that much as soon as your D-3 opens a Digital Gate to let us pass through a computer screen. What are you thinking about doing?" The second part of the digital being's response was tinged with concern.

Cody answered, but still pressed for more information, "I'm thinking in a hurry Upamon, I just hope I'm thinking right. Once you become Armadillomon you can become Digmon, right?"

Upamon's nod involved his whole face. "If my energy's normal, and if you access the Digi-Egg of Knowledge, and if you say 'Digi-Armor Energize!' -- then sure I can. Please Cody, tell me what you want to do."

"OK," Cody agreed simply, then drew in a deep breath just to prepare himself to finally say it out loud. "There's a couple of computer screens built into the ant, one on the front of its thorax and one on the back. I saw them both when that thing slipped down, then reared back up coming after us. I'm going to try to open two Digital Gates right through that thing -- in the front and out the back. The two portals should be so close together that we won't even land in the Digital World. We'll pass right through it. Since you'll become Armadillomon as soon as we digitize all you have to do is become Digmon before we clear the Digital Gate, then hold on to being Digmon as long as you can as we go through the return gate. That's what we're going to do."

"Oh, if that's all, then it ..." Upamon started to agree until the he realized exactly what Cody's plan would mean if the slightest thing went wrong, or even went the slightest bit right. "Cody, it's great because of what the energy surge will do to that nasty ant-thing. It's also terrible because of what coming out of that thing after the energy surge will do to you."

Cody nodded, unable to deny the dangerous truth his Digimon partner realized, but the boy wasn't negotiating. "I know, Upamon, but like it or not we have to help Ethan-san as fast as we can ... or even get ourselves out of here now. That means trusting what we know how to do ourselves -- and we Digiport all the time. No matter how fast we cross between the real world and the Digital World we always seem to slow down to land safely, if not always comfortably.

Upamon's concerned little features brightened "You're right Cody. That can happen here too."

The youngster vocally grasped for brief confidence, "It will Upamon." Cody and Upamon left mutually honest fears conditioning that conclusion unspoken between them. "I'm really glad you're with me Upamon." Cody gratefully honored his friend

"I'll never be anyplace but with you, Cody," the Digimon promised and leapt onto the child's shoulder.

Cody pulled out his D-3 and Digi-Terminal before putting the lightened backpack on again. "Then let's do it." Together, they turned and faced the robot ant's relentless approach.

Cody knew that timing was important. The mechanical ant had to be very close to access Digital Gates on its built-in computer screens. Should he allow the ant to grab him?. That really didn't seem like a wise idea -- even in a desperate plan. How could he get close enough without being too close for comfort? Then, Upamon gave voice to something Cody felt too. "I wish the others were Digiporting with us."

The boy wasn't as prone to wishing as his age might allow, but Cody sensibly determined that feelings didn't always have to be pragmatic. "I wish they were too Upamon." Cody's desire for the presence of his friends was powerful. It might have overwhelmed him at the worst possible time, but the youngster talked through the intense feeling, hoping it would just free up space in his head to calculate his timing. "Yolei would want to be right up in front, competing with Davis for the chance to open the Digital Gate. Yolei gets so excited about going to the Digital World. I know that means she really loves what she does there, and everybody she's doing it with. Davis has to have real courage, too, if he actually wants to argue with Yolei as much as he does, but friends can do that" Cody Hida gradually became aware of an unexpected source of illumination. His D-3 was glowing. The small boy felt the power that was making it glow. It felt like energy was coming from everywhere right through him. Cody sensed a moment where he might have tried to deliberately say the "right things" to channel more of the energy into his Digivice, but the small boy let that moment pass. This extra energy was a gift, and the only honorable way to receive a gift was to receive it, not bring it to yourself. If there was more to say, then it had to come out on its own -- and because Cody really felt it from the inside. The D-3 glowed even brighter, and Cody continued to invoke the strength of his fellow Digidestined.

"Kari's our bright spark. She was right, a little light of good is a lot stronger than any big, evil darkness around it. She proves it." Thinking of Kari led naturally to thinking about TK, though the younger boy didn't fully understand why. TK could easily be the reassuring brother figure, but the tall blonde boy was anything but easy going when it came battling darkness. "I can wonder about TK's reasons later, but I'm sure that everything he does comes from hoping things can be the best way they can be." Cody was surprised to suddenly think of Ken Ichijouji. The minor lunch-time debate about Ken flashed through his mind. For all the imperial deeds that Cody cited against ever trusting Ken, there was already one small, powerful resource in Ken's favor, the Crest of Kindness. "I've always thought that crests worked one way -- that our crests represented the traits we have best. Maybe they work two ways. They could also help us with the trait of the crest because we need it. Maybe Ken used to be a kind kid, and now he needs the Crest of Kindness to help him be that way again. I need to think more about that, but I'm willing to consider the possibility because my friends want me to." Again, Cody's D-3 glowed brighter.

Zane's mechanical ant bore down, almost within grappling range of its small human target and the unknown life form it sensed near the objective. The field of bright energy around the boy interfered with the robot, causing it to slow down like an overloaded computer program. Still, Cody sensed he couldn't release the collected energy in his D-3 ... yet. Something was missing ... someone was missing. Then Cody knew. "I'm part of them, just like they're part of me. I hold the Crests of Knowledge and Reliability. I know who my friends are, I know how we all try together. They can count on me and I can count on them." Suddenly, the android ant put everything it had left into rearing up against the light barrier between it and Cody. The youngster felt the strain of holding the terrible thing off. He gritted out one last realization. "I can rely on everything I do know about us to trust that we're doing good ... so it's more than reliability ... it's faith ... I believe it's all true!" The ant stopped in mid-rise, caught in the full strength of the power Cody Hida summoned. In spite of the brightness, Cody saw that the thing was stuck just as its computer screens came to eye level for slightly short nine year-olds. Cody saw a Digital Gate open on the screen before him. There was no need to shout what came next, "Digiport open." The small boy gratefully felt the familiar pull of being drawn into transdimensional light.

Cody found that trying to do other things during Digiporting wasn't very comfortable. It normally felt like being pulled along by lightning, so the added movement seemed super-slow. That's why -- even as the youngster turned his head to confirm that Upamon had digivolved to Armadillomon and taken the usual position by his partner's side -- Cody was accessing his Digi-Terminal and forming the words, "Digi-Armor Energize!" Armadillomon transitioned to Digmon just as he and the boy crossed into the Digital World. A backwash of energy from the rapid digivolving tore backwards through the Digital Gate behind them, lasing through the middle of Zane's dishonorable ant like the business end of a samurai's blade.

Simultaneously, Cody and Digmon continued hurtling through a very narrow stretch of the Digital World. There was no hint of the slowing that usually happened after coming through a Digital Gate. The young Hida struggled to see what he needed to see, the returning Digital Gate. Cody realized that he had to take the good with the bad. The good was that this Digital Gate was elevated to the same height they were being propelled along. The bad was that the same Digital Gate was so high because it was on a TV screen encased in the side of a Digital World mountain. Digmon had his own idea about safety while the digital being could maintain his advanced form. In mid-flight the Digimon reached over and drew his human partner closer, gently pulling Cody in front and then arching over the boy so that Digmon's back shell shielded the child as much as possible. Cody repeated, "Digiport open," as soon as he could, and another slight pull told him when they crossed through the Digital Gate. This time, Digmon strained to hold on to his form. When the Digimon finally began to phase into the yellow light that usually marked his de-digivolving, it happened very slowly and the sphere that normally became Upamon again remained Digmon's size while completely surrounding Cody. Together, they rematerialized through the impaled ant's second computer screen and kept going. The energy that trailed behind completed the energy blade that bisected the mechanical insectoid.

The partners slowed and floated to a far corner of an adjoining section of scaffolding. They and the ant were so interior in the support structure that no one outside it had seen what happened immediately before, and would not see what happened next. Cody, hovering in the energy ball that was still somehow part Digmon and part Upamon, watched. Only the encompassing comfort of his digital friend's presence kept Cody from reeling with awe and alarm at the destructive result of the counter-attack he was responsible for. The Digital Gate that had expanded to accommodate Digmon's retained size suddenly imploded. Zane's metal beast crumpled inward with it, like a can subjected to intense negative pressure. The front of the robot rushed to meet the back of it, and top raced to meet bottom -- compacting the bisecting digital energy. The partner sphere around Cody Hida smoothly lowered the boy to the relative safety of the chamber floor before that compression reached critical mass. When it did, the ant exploded from the inside out. What was left of the robotic creature fell to the ground much less gently than Cody's own descent. After the small blast, there was a quiet lurching sound, followed by a loud screech as the whole section of scaffolding surrounding the ant collapsed on top of it -- entombing its twisted scrap once and for all. When Cody reached the ground, the yellow field around him quickly shrank in on itself in proportional reduction until it settled into the boy's arms and became Upamon again. The little yellow being was on the verge of exhaustion, but his black eyes still gleamed with pride, accomplishment, and thankfulness. Cody hugged Upamon tightly, knowing that his own moist eyes reflected the same sentiments to his partner's. The youngster did his best to control himself for both their sakes. The small boy assessed the damage they'd caused. They needed to get moving again, to avoid Zane and assist Ethan-san, but Cody couldn't help summing up as only an atypically self-disciplining child might. "Upamon, if we ever try something like that again ... we're both grounded."

As Cody and Upamon undertook their private battle, Joe Kido and the woman he knew as Kani Miro raced toward a particular part of Odaiba. The college student directed the substitute teacher toward a spot that was sure to be a place to intercept Yolei before the young teen girl reached the harbor and set sail for more trouble. Joe fully understood the need for urgency, but he also knew the heavy traffic patterns that usually effected the area they were heading for. The speed was beginning to make Joe queasily regret the supposedly cautious decision to let the young woman do the driving. Komi Nagamu, easily capable of deconstructing Joe from the over-prepared and over-scheduled collegian he was now to the nervous adolescent he must have been, silently sympathized. The speed she pushed Joe's car with now was meant to convey a sense of uncertainty -- a chance that Yolei might slip by them if they didn't risk it.

Actually, there was zero chance of either traffic problems or failing to wrangle the girl. Because the Japanese efficiently automated the means to handling its flow of mixed pedestrian and motorized traffic, Paige Brooke invisibly tapped into Odaiba's securest traffic mainframe as easily as most people blinked. As for Yolei, Paige was also able to effectively shut down pedestrian traffic approaching the harbor by keeping crosswalk lights from changing until a re-deployed and re-costumed Norman Teller was in position to get the girl's attention. Once he knew she was in sight, all he had to do was engage in a little impolite mouthing at other walkers as he moved on the street across from her. That drew her disapproving stare, and she couldn't miss the large shoulder logo on the side of his jacket sleeve. The logo had four Greek letters Yolei had seen very recently, the ones that translated to the English anagram name "ZANE". Norman Teller knew she started following him without tipping her off to that knowledge, or deriding her attempts to make it look like she wasn't following him. Teller simply electronically signaled Brooke, and Yolei suddenly got every light she needed to trail her suspect. She'd have had to be riding Halsemon to realize she was now following a zigzag pattern that still moved toward the harbor, but was expertly planned for intentional interception at a specific point.

Her pursuit continued until a moment came when Yolei thought she'd be able to catch up to the man just beyond the next intersection. What she had in mind for when she did catch him was anybody's guess, but the capture never happened. Yolei was held in check by not getting the one crossing light she wanted, and immediately, Joe's car pulled up in front of her. The college student was telling her to get in even before he could roll down the window -- the passenger seat window. The tall young girl lost sight of the jacketed man, and she was about to verbally explode at Joe for making her lose her best chance to track Cody, while still doing enough smooth-talking to either get the oldest Digidestined to join her or get out of her way. However, the girl's verbal gymnastics shrank back in her throat when she saw Cody's substitute teacher lean across from the driver's seat of Joe's car to firmly repeat his request. Yolei obeyed and got into the back seat of the car. The teen girl observed a few moments of contrite silence, then she tried to explain about the man with the jacket in a frantic pleading not to leave the harbor area. Nagamu's Sensei Miro-san was in no hurry, and showed every indication of using a ride home for the full lecture Yolei had coming. The teacher was about to start the car when a man knocked on the driver's window. Kani Miro didn't roll down the glass until everyone in the car plainly saw the Interpol identification.

The flat, overly-objective voice was instantly recognizable. "Miss, I'm Inspector Iatsu. This is urgent, so listen carefully. I'm with Interpol. The girl in your back seat there can vouch for me. I've been watching her since she came into the area and started following a man I had under surveillance. I want to know why she was following him -- which makes her a material witness to my investigation. Lucky me, I can't let her out of my sight now, and since neither you nor the young man there is likely to leave without her, what I suggest is that we all get in this car of yours do exactly as I say -- now -- before everyone who looks grownup here gets charged with interfering with an official investigation. How's that sound?"

"Perfecto! Let's get going Inspector. I knew you had to be a ... nice guy ... way ... down ... deep." Yolei's renewed vocal enthusiasm choked to a halt as Ms. Miro-san, Inspector Iatsu, and Joe Kido all looked at her in a way she never wanted to be looked at like again. The triple rebuke didn't matter a moment later as Joe got in the back seat with her. Iatsu took the front passenger seat and instructed the substitute teacher to start driving again back in the direction of the harbor. The girl's only thought was immediately resuming any chance to find Cody as quickly as possible. The man from Interpol "revealed" that the guy Yolei had been following was suspected of communicating threats to some influential business leaders on behalf of a shadow company. The teen girl impulsively volunteered that company's name Omega Alpha of New Epsilon. Yolei's candor made Inspector Iatsu demand to hear everything that any of them knew. Kani Miro offered a wise example by remaining silent. Joe stammered like a phone's busy signal while trying to come up with something to say. They both left Yolei free to say everything and nothing. She brought up everything they suspected about someone named Zane and potential map coordinates to go toward, but Yolei said almost nothing about the way their circumstantial evidence was gathered. The lanky girl told Iatsu how his own remark to Mrs. Hida about fringe groups started it all. Yolei had "friends" who helped. They had "only looked" at "stuff" and "just asked" lucky questions in a few places. The translation of Greek letters into a Western name was described "a wild idea". Yolei finished by telling the now over-talked investigator that of course, nobody knew what anything meant because after all -- she and her friends were just kids. The fact they went to a new teacher instead of the police with the results of their "detective work" only proved that.

Norman Teller threw Inspector Iatsu's hands up with convincing exasperation. "That's enough." He took a calming breath as the young teen girl looked him with a I'm-just-telling-you-kind-of-what-you-asked-for shrug "We'll talk about all of that later. As a matter of fact, Interpol has information that this guy is headed for an island, somewhere just off the shipping lanes approaching the ports here. There's a lot of little islets in that general area. The numbers of your so-called map coordinates are actually in the vicinity. I'll check it out." He said it as dispassionately as ever, then directed his words to Kani Miro. "Let me off at the marina docks. I'm making you personally responsible for these other two until I come back. I'll be back, count on it, but now I have to find a boat. With any luck I'll catch sight of the suspect on the water with enough distance between us not to notice.

"Hey, you're not going anywhere without me Inspector!" Yolei demanded with unusual confidence.

The Inspector countered her with irritated sarcasm. "Give me one good reason why you're in any position to say that young lady."

Yolei responded instantly, and with unsettling ease. "I'll give you three. I already have a boat waiting at the marina, I'm the only one who can sign it out, and you're running out of time to keep up with what's-his-face in the jacket."

Inspector Iatsu stared at the girl for a moment, then coolly instructed the teacher. "Park. It looks like we're all going." Yolei settled back in victory, though her thoughts for her youngest and best friend still fueled the intensity of her combative attitude. Joe Kido shared all her concern, and now desperately tried to recall everything he remembered about warding off seasickness. Kani Miro and Inspector Iatsu were thinking well outside the characters they portrayed, because they were IMF agents Komi Nagamu and Norman Teller. The double charade with the two teens gave both operatives a rational cover to reach Ethan Hunt and Cody Hida. Teller and Nagamu were both gearing up for whatever they found on Delton Zane's island.

Quint Morgan kept his gun trained on what he saw as the corpse that used to be Jace Randall hit the floor. The sound of bones snapping was thin, unprotected from the thud of flesh that should surround them. Instead, there was instantaneous muted popping that sounded like ... balloons weighted with some substance splitting open. That substance wasn't Randall's visceral contents, but a powder that billowed up from impact and coated everything around it, including Morgan. The renegade agent knew the powder was a compound. He could smell and taste one of its key components -- ordinary flour, obviously for aerial dispersal. Morgan waved and blinked quickly through the few steps it took to loom angrily over the body that wasn't a body. He took the decoy in at a glance, now careful to keep his guard up. It was a medical display skeleton, dressed in scrubs and a lab coat. A remnant of cord was looped through a hole punched through the back of the clothes, wrapped between the fixed ribs and cinched to the spine. The face on the now shattered skull was Jace Randall's in perfect synthetic reproduction. Quint Morgan understood instantly, and screamed with a combination of anger and strange gratitude, "Ethan! Ethan Hunt! What, did you want two weeks notice or something? This is it Ethan, game on buddy. Today I graduate from IMF second-stringer to world-class assassin. I'm really glad that my final exam turns out to be you, not some lowlife mercenary fall guy and a runty little kid!" Morgan spit and hacked, not totally out of vehemence, but because of the substance that covered him. Flour wasn't the only thing in the mixture. There was something granular to it, and something metallically acrid. "You've been rummaging through the science goodies. I love the skeleton, great job. You put whatever this stuff is into latex gloves, inflated them and stuffed them into the clothes, really clever. Right now I'm wishing I'd brushed up on tactical chemistry. So what is it, Ethan? I'm dying to know, and if I'm not, I promise that you will be."

"It's not as impressive as I'd hoped Quint. I didn't really get to finish it." Hunt's voice came from all around. Morgan fought the sting in his eyes to open fire with the gun he'd reloaded while trying to verbally rile Hunt. "Zane's scientists were a big help, Quint. A bunch of them left their cell phones lying around when they evacuated. It didn't take long to make them ring with a single number. Take all the guesses you want about where I am. You won't get to reload that gun again." Morgan tried to turn a growl into a laugh as Hunt continued. "Now, let me help you with that chemistry. You know about the flour. That spreads out great -- but it also prolongs the reaction I was going for. The rest of the ingredients are sugar and potassium nitrate. Ethan Hunt moved to act and describe while Quint Morgan processed what the particular combination added up to. "All you need now is a light!" Hunt's voice came specifically from above, prompting Morgan to raise his gun again. Just as the gun came up, a flaming test tube: stuffed with burning cotton soaked in lighter fluid impacted with Quint Morgan's wrist. Other flaming test tubes followed quickly. The air flashed with a purplish burst that became choking yellow-brown smoke. The open flames reacted with the coating substance, spreading purple flares and smoke like the burning of marshmallows over a campfire. Quint Morgan was in the middle of a giant, improvised smoke bomb.

The turncoat agent drew on his own reflexive training to prepare for an immediate attack from Hunt, an attack that was unnervingly delayed just long enough to ensure that Morgan barely mistimed a well-guessed spinning backward roundhouse kick, aimed to crush Hunt's throat as he approached. Hunt countered by crouching low and quickly swiping Morgan's support out from under him with a leg whip. It was too much to hope that Quint would land flat on his back. Morgan braced instantly with his arms, then pushed himself back into a fighting stance. Both men knew that Morgan was the better fighter, but Hunt engaged him physically for a reason. Of the two, only Ethan Hunt cared to remember that physical combat was a poor substitute for superior strategy. Rather than drawing Hunt into a prolonged fight that would prevent saving the Hida boy, Morgan was stupidly up on his feet with fire in his eyes -- immediately ready to fight and kill IMF's best with all the macho bluster his ego could generate. Quint Morgan launched into a vicious series of punches and kicks, hoping to get in close enough to use a killing move. Ethan Hunt blocked, retreated, and managed to deliver only the key blows he needed to check his assailant's deadlier ambitions. Throughout the exchange Hunt leapt up when Morgan attacked low and dove to the floor when the traitor attacked high. Hunt had to move that way a lot because Morgan was relentless, but only eight of the moves counted. Hunt had planned it, and Morgan had no idea. Their combined, sweeping movements cleared away much of the heavy smoke that remained. The gun -- Morgan's gun -- became visible on the floor behind Morgan himself. Ethan Hunt saw the slightest hint of the look in his "friend's" eyes that told him Morgan knew the gun was there too. Hunt barely twinged in the gun's direction when Quint Morgan managed one effective kick to the other man's midsection that sent Hunt sprawling backwards. The loyal IMF agent made a halting effort to rise, but didn't.

Quint Morgan reclaimed the gun, and declared victory. "Looks like you were almost right Ethan. Turns out I won't have to reload my gun." Hunt was still struggling to rise when both men heard a huge crash from another part of the oversized chamber. "It sounds like Zane's shop project needs to dig little Cody out from beneath an industrial-sized erector set. When it does, I'll tell what's left of the little guy how much you hated failing him. Goodbye Ethan." Morgan pulled the trigger. A bullet exploded from the gun's chamber. It impacted against a solid wall of glowing, green energy and landed on the floor only inches away. Quint Morgan blinked once in disbelief, then he immediately took in the new situation. Green energy surrounded him in a narrow box formed by the emitted fields from eight small transmitters -- four above him affixed to overhead grids, and four below him adhered on the floor in corresponding positions. Morgan had retrieved his gun at the center of a waiting containment area. Quint realized that Ethan had trapped him. Hunt jumped up easily from the floor, unshaken by any feigned injury. He walked briskly over to the imprisoned counter-agent. Morgan could not hear Hunt through the energy field, but lip-reading would work. "That was close, Quint. I almost forgot to give you the parting gift from Norman." Hunt held out the tiny signal button he'd used to activate the fields. Ethan Hunt's voice became cold. "I'm going to make sure you get everything that's coming to you -- buddy."

Morgan immediately tried to destroy the transmitters, but they were each protected by the very energy they emitted. The trapped man became physically violent within his confines. He could not force his way through the barriers, so he finally attempted being clever -- the last resort of a man who would never be clever enough. "Ethan, I can give IMF Zane's whole network. You know what a blowhard he is about his work. Well, I've listened to it all. I know every name. The assassins are only the beginning. I'm talking about his financing and counter-intelligence. There are big fish on Zane's hooks in every agency you've ever heard of. I've kept records -- encrypted records. IMF can have it all."

Hunt made all that out easily, even though the anger behind the words wasn't helping either Quint's lip articulation or his credibility. "That's really very congenial Quint, especially from a man who just tried to shoot me."

Quint growled, but quickly gritted back into talking. "Yes ... and that was a business decision Ethan, in some weird way I know you understand that. Now you've changed the terms, so I'm negotiating."

Ethan walked a slow tight circle around Quint Morgan's projected prison. He seemed to be considering the traitor's offer, even pausing for thought three-quarters of the way around. At the end of the pacing, he asked. "The information you've got could probably solve a lot of old problems for IMF -- ones that go back years, right?"

"More like decades." Morgan tempted. "You want a preview Ethan? Not a problem, ask.

"What about just three years ago, Quint. Tell me about the broken op on the plane the night Zane nearly blew our our original evacuation of the Eden Device."

"That's it?!" Quint's expression of disbelief was almost mocking. "That's settling for a cardboard box when I'm offering deluxe accommodations."

"It's what I want to know!" Hunt articulated sharply. "Answer my questions about that night and I'll press this button again before a sweep team can extract you." Hunt held up the tiny control for the transmitters.

Morgan looked suspicious. "Why would you do that?"

Ethan Hunt's reply came with the speed of personal ego. "Because I want to know, and because you know that if I even imagine seeing or hearing of you ever again, I'll kill you. That's what I'm offering -- or would you rather have the deluxe accommodations that IMF reserves for agents that don't even rate the disavowed list?

Quint wasn't completely stupid, after all. "OK, deal. Three years ago it is."

The IMF team leader's questions were intense and immediate. "You were working with Zane that night weren't you Quint? You gave him our game plan, intelligence for airport set-up, and blocked my communications when I called for emergency support, didn't you?"

"Yes." Morgan spat the answer. "Anything you don't know already Ethan, or did you just want to make me say it?"

Ethan shook his head in eager assurance, "Not at all, I'm still shaky on a couple of important details. The killing shots, there were two different shooters, weren't there?

"Yes." Quint confirmed.

Hunt nodded in an I-thought-so manner. "Zane killed the inventor. In a twisted way, he saw the doctor's informed cooperation with IMF as disloyalty. But Zane didn't shoot the police officer, did he Quint? Zane knew who I was in disguise because you told him. Zane would kill me last, want me to suffer in failure, and above all do it up close and personal. No, the person who shot at me wanted me dead, but from far away and with someone else to blame. The man who fired that shot -- that man was a pure coward. Were you that shooter, Quint?

Quint Morgan's eyes were dark and stone cold. "Yes."

"Then you killed Officer Hiroki Hida?" Ethan Hunt asked with an oh-that-means expression.

"That's the way it turned out," the rogue agent confirmed. "Not that I mind, but you've got me on treason and trying to kill you, but the thing you want hear about is that fool cop's clueless heroics?" It's a good thing you aren't a lawyer Ethan."

Hunt corrected by raising his index finger to make a single point. "Quint, it all depends on knowing who your jury is. You see, you can't hear me through the fields around you, but they actually broadcast what you say into little earpieces I'm wearing. There are two pairs of earpieces. I've heard everything you've admitted to ... and thanks to the English to Japanese translation feature so has he. Ethan Hunt stepped aside to reveal Cody Hida, behind him. The boy looked physically taxed, but that was nothing compared to the anger that blazed in his face.

The boy's first knowing step toward his Dad's murderer was the hardest, but each following one was as grueling in its deliberateness. It became a march -- the kind that police officers used to tell disruptive people that a serious reckoning, backed by all summoned resources, was unavoidable. Ethan Hunt simply stepped out of the way to let the youngster pass, it was the boy's right. Quint Morgan wouldn't care, and he would never understand, but Cody Hida's righteous condemnation marked the captured man as a bad man -- an evil man -- who would willingly and on purpose never, ever be good ever again. In all the universe there would never be a more powerful consignment away from goodness than an innocent child's conviction that a person was no longer capable of it.

Morgan went to the opposite extreme. He actually berated Cody, "What's the matter kid, you lose something important? Do you think looking at me like an angry little puppy is going to get to me? It's not. Do you think I'm going to apologize for killing your Daddy? I'm not. He got in the way! He was stupid! Go ahead and cry, it's useless. If you really want to get something out of this, then you better hate me. Hate me! Let it teach you to hate other people just enough not to die for them, OK? While you're at it, save some of that hatred up for your friend Ethan there. He was my target, not your Daddy. By now you know Ethan is really good at what he does. Don't you think that he should have been good enough to keep your Daddy from getting in the way? That means Ethan would be dead right now, but your Daddy would be alive -- and you'd be home with him safe and sound right now, with your Mommy ready to tuck you in . I think Ethan should have been that good. In fact, I think he is. He just didn't want to die that night, so he let your Daddy die instead. Deep down inside Ethan knows the same thing -- so give him his fair share of the hate you should feel right now. After all, that's the polite thing to do."

Cody's whole face quivered through a range of emotions as Quint Morgan taunted him, but he wasn't going to say anything. No matter how badly he wanted to shout -- scream -- against the man's insulting rant, no response like that would ever convey the one truth the killer had to be made aware of. The young Hida knew that he was the only one who could depict that truth, so the boy silently called out to for an extra-special memory and the strength to do it justice. The youngster drew from among his earliest lessons in true politeness and helpfulness -- really in goodness -- his Dad had taught him years before

"Being polite and helpful will always serve a man well Cody, you can remember that right?" Officer Hiroki Hida encouraged. Little Cody Hida nodded, extra-dutifully. The pleased father continued, "That's good, because doing those things mean you do good for others, but they make you better too. That's what character means, so they build character Cody. That's a big word, can you say it?

The very young boy nodded, and happily put everything he had into repeating the requested term like a politely muted trumpet blast "Character, Daddy, character."

Hiroki Hida cheered. "That's great son! That's a lesson more people should know."

"Even big people like you Daddy?" Cody asked, always wanting to be mindful of the differences that Mommies and Daddies needed sometimes.

"Yes, even big people like me Cody," Hiroki affirmed. "Here, let me show you what I try to do every time someone comes up to me for help while I'm on duty. I stand in a special way to show them I'm listening to them and that I'm ready to help them . It's like this. I stand up straight, that shows I'm alert. I keep my hands at my sides and my feet together to show that I'm not too rushed or busy to help. Holding my shoulders back with my chest out a little bit, but not too much, means I'm trying to be strong without looking mean. Someone should feel that talking to me is safe and easy. Finally, and most important Cody, I always try to look right at a person's eyes when I'm listening and talking to someone. That's the very most important thing. I do that trying to tell every single person I talk with that they matter to me like a friend. There's another big word for putting what those things mean all together Cody. All of it together is respect."

The child nodded vigorously, and repeated without prompting, "Respect." Then he asked, "Do you get to respect everybody Daddy?"

Officer Hida smiled at the thoughtful nature of his little son's innocent question. "I'd like to Cody. I certainly try to respect everyone for being another person with the rest of us. Sometimes people who do bad things on purpose don't let me respect what they've done, and I have to stop the bad things from hurting other people." Hiroki paused when he saw Cody's face scrunch with a still-cutely righteous anger. The idea that anyone would dare to do something bad on purpose, and mess up his Daddy's chances to respect that person was just ... wrong-bad-wrong. The father quickly assured his son that there was always a way to respect something, "I know how you feel Cody. People trying to do bad makes me a little angry at first too. Just remember that the chance to respect something is always better than getting angry about badness. I'll tell you what helps me Cody, then you can try it if you think it will help you, OK?."

"Course it does help from you Daddy, OK thank you." Cody certainly determined.

"Good," Hiroki Hida continued. "I try to remember that whenever people try to be bad on purpose there are always more people trying to be good on purpose. There might be one bad person, two bad people, or even a bunch of bad people, there are always, always more good people -- billions more good people."

Cody looked puzzled for a second, and finally asked in a tone sounding like he should already know, "Are billions more than bunches Daddy?"

Hiroki laughed, but composed himself in a still-amused way when he saw the unmistakable what's-so-funny look on Cody's serious little face. "As a matter of fact Cody, billions are bunches and bunches and bunches more than the biggest bunch you can imagine.

"Or even Yolei can Daddy?" the small boy asked, thinking the size of Yolei's imagination would be a harder thing to beat.

The father nodded with confidence. "Bigger than even Yolei could imagine!"

"Oh." Cody Hida responded with the briefest hint of childlike amazement while his mind processed what his Daddy said as an everlasting truth, "OK, Daddy. Thank you."

"Son, the real thing to remember," Hiroki Hida bent down to share with his boy face-to-face, "and the thing to take to heart isn't the numbers -- it's the people and the good that most of them want to do. That's what I can always respect. That makes anybody who does good stronger, and sometimes it's enough to make bad people want to be good again, sometimes it isn't because they can't find the good inside them anymore. No matter what, a good person needs to show a bad person that the good stays even when any bad that tries to stop it. Good is forever Cody-kun, bad isn't, and that's a truth that can always and must always be respected by those who care. When I show that to a bad guy, then I know I've done my best, even if the bad guy never, ever understands."

Little Cody Hida imitated his father's special ready-to-help-stance and offered his service, "Me too, Daddy. I want to show bad guys what's good too."

Other fathers easily would've laughed at the sheer cuteness of the small young boy's overreaching determination, but Hiroki Hida knew that his son's statements like this started out as a promise, and only got more serious from there. He smiled to show Cody that a casual attitude was OK, but Hiroki also nodded with approval and appreciation. "Well Cody, I hope it's a long, long time before you know anyone who's trying to be bad on purpose, but I believe that when you do you really will show what good is, because you are a good boy. Hiroki stood behind Cody in scaled stances at attention -- only with the man's hands supportively resting on the boy's shoulders. "You can do it when you have to Cody. From now on, you're part of the good that I'll show, and I'll be part of the good you show. OK, partner?

"OK partner Daddy, thank you very much," the young Cody Hida formally affirmed then smiled, just like his Daddy.

The spirit from the memory ... the spirit of Hiroki Hida's faith in the power of good radiated across time in the mind of his now nine year-old son. Cody came to attention in exactly the same stance his Dad had enthusiastically demonstrated and described. The youngster looked Quint Morgan squarely in the eyes,. At that moment, Cody was completely the continuation of a life that Morgan had changed, but not destroyed. A legacy of goodness had been handed on from father to son. The words that came to Cody Hida's mind were the words of a four year-old who knew his Daddy was standing right behind him. They would be the only words Cody Hida would ever say to his father's killer. "Good is forever, Mr. bad guy, and bad is not. My Daddy says so." Encouraged by a loving certainty as real as the two strong hands that had once confirmed that truth for him once and for all, Cody Hida turned away and walked back silently to Ethan Hunt.

The little boy's calm in dismissing Quint Morgan's only hold over him made the traitor agent angrier than ever. Quint furiously tried to dig claws of manipulation back into the child. "That's really telling me off kid. I'm sure I'll feel that in the morning won't I? I'll send you a postcard if I do. Oh, didn't Hunt let you hear the part where he said he'd push the triggering button on this box again if I came clean about the op three years ago? The one where I shot your Daddy! Look at me! I said look at me, you self-righteous brat! I killed your Daddy!" The man realized how out of control he sounded and forced himself into a false, sinister calm. "Never mind kid. Some day, Ethan or no Ethan, I'll teach you a lesson or two myself, personally. Right now, Ethan has to press that button. He said he would, and you can't let him lie about it -- Your Daddy wouldn't like that."

Cody looked only at Ethan Hunt and nodded. "Press the button Ethan-san, you told him you would."

"That's right Cody, I did." Hunt acknowledged and pressed the small button for the second time. "I just didn't say what would happen when I did." The energy fields that formed the box around Quint Morgan began to resonate. Morgan realized he wasn't being released, he was being rendered unconscious. Quint only had time for one last lunge against the front of his tight prison before he collapsed in captive sleep.

Ethan Hunt wasted no time on savoring Quint Morgan's defeat. He turned his full attention to Cody Hida, who wasn't the least bit surprised that the bad man had been fooled. Cody had been fooled too, sort of. Ethan Hunt-san had at least kept his promise to show Cody his Dad's murderer. However, the agent let Cody believe it had been the bad man Zane. Hunt had also put Cody on the stage at the mall with Morgan without making that evil responsibility clear. Ethan knew that every credit he had in the youngster's estimation was weighted against a debt of deception. Cody saw this man again as just good enough to be tolerated and just bad enough not to be a hero. The mannerly and practical boy pushed through the tension between him and this adult because they still needed each other. "I came as soon as I could to help you Ethan-san."

"Thanks," Hunt offered genuinely before re-gearing them both. "You've been through a lot Cody, now you realize that it was more than you thought, but at the time you just didn't need to know. I hope someday you can understand." Hunt changed the subject. "Did Zane's ant malfunction?"

Cody was more honest than he needed to be. "I guess it did when I destroyed it. I mean I guess the explosion destroyed it, but I knew it would -- that and the scaffolding that fell down on it."

It was a rare thing for Ethan Hunt to be surprised, "Cody, how did you that?"

"Ethan-san I can't tell you that," Cody Hida stated matter-of-factly, there was no trace of sarcasm in his voice. "You just don't need to know."

"Then, I'll try to understand that someday." The agent skewered himself on his own patronization because the boy wouldn't. "One bad guy down, one to go. Cody, I'm going to find a way for you to get back in the wiring shafts, then I want you to get to the main hub and stay there until I come get you. This thing with Zane ... it's going to be bad."

"No Ethan-san, please." Cody politely but stubbornly refused. "We're not splitting up again. I have to help against the bad man Zane. He might expect to see one of us again, but I'll bet he'll be surprised to see us both. Especially since you are ... you now."

Ethan Hunt smiled, I think you're right Cody, and I think we can use that to our advantage. If you did the job against Zane's ant that I think you did, then I know where we'll find Zane if we hurry. Let's go."