2.7

Word was out that schools would be starting again tomorrow. That meant this was the last full day I could devote to searching for Bakuda until the weekend. I really wanted to find her and thought I was getting close last night.

I made my way to Riley's. She and Dinah were still eating breakfast when I arrived. Dr. Havisham had already left for work. "Dinah, before we do anything else, I wanted to double check that you are still safe from the kidnappers here."

"There is only a 7.757% chance of being successfully kidnapped this week, even if I go home. Which my parents say I have to as there's school tomorrow. I think the chances of a successful attempt are going down as Riley adds more enhancements to me. Right now I think I could take out a couple of those mooks by myself, even without the Spinner gear."

"I'm making a new costume for you too," Riley told me. "From what I can tell, your suit is basically spandex. My modified spider silk should add significant damage resistance with no extra weight. It will look the same too. I should have it ready tomorrow or the next day."

I was pleasantly surprised. "That's very thoughtful of you. My current costume is created by my power, but I should be able to adjust that to create your costume instead. Might take a charge or two, but the advantage is worth it. Thanks."

"Shall we get to the map? Riley's treatments have helped decrease the pain generated by frequent use of my power. That means I can answer more questions each day. Maybe we can pinpoint her lab this time."

We got out the map and set to work. Unfortunately, the answers were not what we wanted.

"What is the chance that Bakuda moved her lab since yesterday?" I wanted to make sure we were ok started on the same section of the map we had been working from.

"98.091%" Dinah answered.

"Crap, she moved," I said. Riley frowned at my language. "I must have gotten too close yesterday. Maybe when the girl exploded?"

"I guess we start again," Dinah said.

"I am going to gamble that she did not move too far." I pointed to the quadrant of the map she had been in. "What is the chance that Bakuda's current lab is in this quadrant of the City?"

"92.813%"

I set a line bisecting the quadrant and pointed towards the half further inland. "What is the chance that Bakuda's current lab is in this section of the quadrant?"

"8.572%"

Dinah pushed herself to answer two more questions, narrowing the likely location to a couple of square miles. I saw her involuntary wince and immediately stopped. "You need to be more careful. Don't push yourself on these. Even if you are reducing the pain, it may still be doing damage."

"You're right, but I want to get her."

"We will," Riley added.

I bid the girls a good day and went out to the Docks. I wanted to look a little closer at the area where the explosion had been last night. I wanted to see I could find her abandoned lab. Maybe there would be some clue that would help me find were she had moved.

I flew to the previous site. My flight speed had increased somewhat. I was measuring it as 40 mph now. I only had one charge in reserve, and decided to keep it there for now.

When I got to the semi-destroyed tenement I started looking closely at nearby buildings. After several minutes of searching I found a former meat wholesaler with evidence of recent usage. There were several food wrappers and piles of cigarette butts outside the entrance. The doors on the ground floor were locked, but the roof access was not.

I let myself in and found that the giant freezer room showed signs of recent use and the removal of equipment. There were a number of papers scattered on the floor along with discarded bits of wiring, circuit boards, and other technological detritus.

I started looking at them for any clues. As I squatted reading half a bill of lading I felt a change in air pressure and heard a quiet pop. I half-rolled, half-flew forward as a grenade flashed into a ball of fire where I had been.

Oni Lee was standing on the other side of the room.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" I said. "Surrender and no one has to get hurt."

He doubled to appear next to the door. He dropped something that created a block of ice, sealing the exit. Then he was back where he started.

He appeared over me and dropped two grenades, his body falling along with them. I zapped the body with my arcblast. When it dusted, so did the grenades.

He fired a machine pistol at me. I dodged some rounds and soaked the others. I tried to zap him but her reappeared in another corner.

He threw a pair of grenade, which I batted back towards him with a plank torn from the floor. I threw the plank at him, but he was already gone.

This went on, back and forth with no advantage gained for several minutes.

Crap! This was not a great match up. I'd almost rather fight Lung.

My accelerated cognition kicked in.

I was faster than him and any one of my attacks could take him down …

His line of sight teleport meant that I was never facing the real villain …

It took him a fraction of second to teleport, leaving his duplicate behind …

If I could grab him in that fraction of a second …

He would teleport away …

If I covered his eyes he could not teleport …

Tried that, didn't work. Too slow …

If I could stop him without covering his eyes …

Immediate knockout blow...

Might accidentally hurt/kill …

Power negation …

Not strong enough …

Boost with charge …

I dropped my reserve charge into my power negation touch and waited.

He's gonna try the swarm attack …

He appeared in front of me and my hand flashed out as fast as I could move. I barely brushed against him but I felt my trump ability lock on.

His eyes flicked over my shoulder as he readied to pull two grenades from his bandoleer. Then he grunted. His eyes turned to me as he tried to step back.

I grabbed him with my other hand and pulsed my taser touch. He jerked with the current flowing through him. I gave him another pulse and his knees gave way. I maintained my grip and tasered him one more time.

After that a bandage from my belt first aid kit made a nifty blindfold. Finally I zip-tied his wrists and ankles, just to be sure.

Three charges popped. I kept them in reserve.

After three minutes the supercharge on my trump power wore off. I double checked the villain's bonds and called in the arrest.

I continued searching the location while I waited for the PRT to come take Oni Lee off my hands. He refused to answer any of my questions. I wasn't certain he understood English. Nothing in the building gave a concrete lead. I saw that Bakuda had tapped into the industrial electrical outlets. So I figured any building she moved to would need a good power supply. Thick walls to suppress sound. No, or limited, windows. Truck access.

It was more than I had before, but nothing I could not have figured out if I had bothered to think about it. I had to remember that even the strongest heroes used their brains.

After debriefing Velocity, who had accompanied the PRT agents to pick up Oni Lee, I flew to the area Dinah had indicated contained the new location of Bakuda's lab. I didn't bother telling the PRT about it as they had not wanted to know the past two days. NO reason to assume that would change now.

The day was another bust. I did manage to stop a mugging and a purse snatcher, both of which got some cheers from the frightened public, but nothing leading to the bomber.

I returned home to find Nonie crying on Dad's shoulder.

"Hey! What's going on?" I asked.

"Those bastards!" she spat.

"Who?" I asked.

"The PRT" Dad replied. "They're refusing to release Lee's body to the funeral home."

"They want to have some sort of official show funeral for Dauntless," Nonie added. She sounded more angry that distraught now. "It doesn't matter what his only remaining family wants. Even his ex-wife wants to have a private service. But the fucking PRT want to make it into some sort of public relations spectacle."

"They've been getting roasted in the media over losing a Protectorate cape," Dad said more calmly, though I could hear the tension in his tone. "I guess they think that playing the funeral for sympathy will help them boost morale somehow."

"They're still tearing up what's left of the house too." Nonie started stomping around the room. "They've been asking about his armor and gear. I think they're looking for it in the wreckage. I still haven't told them I have it. Damn it, they know it's useless for them. Lee told me that they had tried everything to get someone else be able to use his gear, but it never worked. I guess it works for me because I'm his sister."

I knew it would work for me as well, but did not tell her that. She was his family and deserved his legacy, not me or the Protectorate.

"That's not right," I said. "Can they do that? I mean legally. Don't you have a right to make these decisions, as next of kin?"

"They say it is in his contract as a Protectorate hero," Dad said.

"In the eventuality of his death, the PRT has the right to determine the disposition of his remains," Nonie read from a piece of official looking paper. "Fucking PRT!"

"That's not right," I repeated, mostly to myself.

I had been considering whether I should sign on with the Protectorate. Their reactions to the current crisis were not showing them in the best light. But this … this was just wrong. Not the actions of heroes at all. Maybe it was the PRT bureaucrats rather than the heroes in the Protectorate. But at this point I was not seeming much daylight between the two organizations.

Maybe that was it. There were some good people, good heroes on the team, but as individuals they were under the orders of a vast government bureaucracy. That had to limit their choices and actions. I don't think I wanted to be a hero under those conditions.

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"I could go to the media," Nonie said. "But that would out Lee and put a target on me as his sister. You know I was thinking of following in his footsteps in the Protectorate. Using his gear and my powers to sort of take his place. As a tribute to him. But now … now I want to do what Riley suggested and form a team outside the PRT, just to spite them."

"But is it a good idea to make that sort of decision on the advice of a twelve-year-old?" Dad asked reasonably. "Even a really smart one?"

"I don't know," Nonie sighed.

"I don't either," I said. "I'm not real happy with them either. But it takes resources to run a team. Resources we don't really have. I'm not saying no. But we need to think about it in realistic terms."

Even the Avengers had Stark's money and the Justice League had the Wayne fortune behind them. We had nothing like that. But was that enough of a reason not to try?

That night I was back near the Docks, looking for Bakuda. No luck. I was getting really frustrated.

And tomorrow it was back to school.