Chapter Fifty-Four:

Hello, Sir

"Hey there, sir! Nice to see you again, Mr. Hallissy," the night-shift maintenance workers outside of the Yoka zoo said, waving him down. "You come here pretty often, huh?"

"Yeah. Animal lover," Raize semi-lied, cheerful. "What's going on?"

"Not a lot, just this gate doesn't wanna stay locked," the head maintenance man said, nodding to the gate on the high voltage tower. "You'd think there were people who come here after dark… ha!"

"Yeah, how 'bout that," Raize mumbled, making a mental note of it. "Better keep a heavier lock on it, I guess. Nobody should be going up there."

"No kidding. You'd get shocked somethin' horrible. Anyway."

They returned to work, Raize going off on his way.

Dammit, I told them not to break the lock anymore… Of course, knowing the gang, it was entirely likely that they broke the lock solely to annoy him. That sounded an awful lot like something Johnny would have them do.

As night fell, Raize watched from the outskirts of the zoo until the maintenance workers left. When it was clear, he put up his armor and dashed up the tower, wondering who he'd find at the top tonight.

"What's going on, Seven?" Patch's cool tone greeted him at the top. "Why aren't you going to the safehouse?"

"Same to you," he retorted.

"I asked first."

Rage scowled. "I haven't seen anyone there yet."

"Don't be stupid, Rage, I saw you waiting by the zoo all day," Patch snapped. "You haven't been to the safehouse yet. What are you doing here?"

"I gave you my answer, now you give me yours," Rage said evenly.

Patch scowled back. "Thinking."

"High voltage helps you process, I guess." Rage stretched out, looking off in the direction of the safehouse. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"I haven't seen Regal at all lately," Patch said. "I'm getting kind of worried. I think Johnny went to see him the other day, but he won't say anything."

"Why do we care about Regal?" Rage said. "Angela was our last Regal-related problem, he's no concern of ours."

"On the contrary. Even if Angela was the last of it, we've still got to worry about updates and things," Patch said. "Shouldn't matter much for you, since your double ID is safe… for now."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rage demanded.

"Ya slipped up already, it's just a matter of time," Patch said, vaulting down from the top of the tower to climb down. "We all know it!"

"That was years ago!" Rage shouted down at him, following close on his heels. "I think everyone's forgotten about i—"

"Oh PLEASE, Rage," Patch growled, turning to face him once they hit solid ground. "No one's forgotten it, solely because no one wants to repeat it. I'm just glad it was you and not me."

With that, the pair stalked off to the safehouse, silent and angry.

Johnny was already there, as were the rest of the team. "So. How's everyone been?"

"Cut the chat, Johnny, what are we doing here?" Deton asked, bored. "It's been years, I wanna do something that doesn't involve hiding."

"Well hello to you too." Johnny crossed his arms, annoyed. "Sorry to burst your ever-eager bubble, but this isn't an action job."

The entire gang groaned. "Then what, Johnny?" Darque asked, maintaining calm.

"Just a warning." Johnny turned to the wall of news clippings. He had recently put up a new one, about how all massive threats were "gone" from Electopia. "I found something interesting in Regal's log the other day."

Johnny turned around, facing the twelve others. "Something about drastic measures."

"And?" Cardinal asked. "It's Regal. Who cares?"

"Just be careful where you go," Johnny said firmly. "If Regal's got something up his sleeve, we don't know about it yet."

"Regal's got nothing," Archer said. "How can he have anything, we put away his best. At worst, he's got a skeleton."

"Angela is still alive," Johnny said, impatient. "She just doesn't work quite right anymore. If Regal manages to get her back out and functioning, anything goes."

"So… what, you want us to monitor the police station for criminal activity?" Patch asked. "That's not our job, Johnny. We are the criminal activity."

Johnny paced around in front of the news articles. "Just watch out. If Regal starts taking action—"

"What, take him out?" Darque asked. "It's not that simple and you know it."

"Just be on the lookout!" Johnny barked. "The last thing we need is to be a man down!"


Wednesday before Prom

4:25 PM

"Hello, sir!" Nami beamed, following Chaud into his house.

"Hello, miss Nami," Mr. Blaze said cordially. However he might feel about Nami now, at least it was polite.

"We're gonna be upstairs studying," Chaud said.

"All right. I'm leaving in a bit, I'll be back late," Mr. Blaze said. "Be good."

"And you said there was no good in him," Nami teased softly as they climbed up the stairs.

"It's been a pretty long while, I think he's either gotten used to it or finally accepted it," Chaud said doggedly.

"Or maybe he actually likes me," Nami suggested, pulling out a book.

"Or maybe he only tolerates you."

"Ouch. Well, fine."

"I didn't say that I just tolerate you!" Chaud said defensively, flopping down on the floor with his bag.

"Are you suggesting I'm intolerable?"

"What— I— Nami, what—" Chaud frowned as Nami crossed her arms, a sort of half-smile on her face. Finally, he shook his head. "You need to stop hanging out with Ailee while she's working."

"She's my sister, it's not like I can avoid her completely," Nami pointed out. "Anyway. Viral infections, physical and technological…"

They fell into a comfortable silence, the scritching of pencils and the occasional question popping up now and again.

"Hey kiddies, email," Sen said finally, breaking the silence. "It's from—"

"HOLD ON." Nami quickly scribbled out the end of a sentence, ending with a flourish. "Kay, go."

"It's from Sean," Sen said. "His car's busted, he won't be coming Friday. But he'll be here by Saturday afternoon."

"Oh. Oh, okay. Better tell Mo and the rest," Nami said, disheartened. "Oh well… as long as he'll be here."

"Yeah, he said he'll be here, but it'll just take a while until he gets his wheels fixed," Sen said. "Not to worry."

"That's a bummer," Chaud said. "What happened to his car?"

"Didn't say," Sen said, looking over the email. "Knowing Sean, if he says he can't come, he probably has three popped tires or something. He said he'd take the bullet train if it comes to that."

Nami laughed. "Okay. Good."

"'I'll go tell Ailee." Sen disappeared from the screen.

"What's his major again?" Chaud asked.

"Programming," Nami said. "He said he's been working in chip development. Maybe he'll bring something home for us to look at. Knowing him, he'll be taking homework with him."

"Chip development, huh? Sounds cool."

"He's having fun." Nami closed her book, her paper still inside it. "So. Now what do we do?"

"Are you finished?" Chaud asked incredulously. "We only just started."

"Yeah, but now I'm thinking. If Sean isn't here, Ailee won't have a reason to put out a dinner on Friday for everybody…" She retreated into her thought.

"If there's no dinner, that's fine," Chaud said. "Really."

"If you say so."

"Seriously, Nami, stop worrying so much," Chaud advised. "It's really not a big deal."

"It's prom."

"It's the dinner before prom. Don't get all worked up over it," Chaud said.

"Yeah… okay. So where were we?…"


Electopian High Security Prison

10:48 PM

The guard fell. Taking the key from him made getting inside so much easier.

The list displayed on the wall showed that the two prisoners he wanted were right next to each other. This was convenient.

"Who's there? Hey! No one's allowed here this late at—"

A single shock, and that guard was out too. This was really quite pathetic. Almost archaic, the security and the cell blocks were laid out more like a dungeon than a high-tech prison.

A quick look around the cells showed where the technology was. The traditional bars had been replaced by electrified glass, the stone walls reinforced with iron and steel. The heat from the glass balanced out the cold metal, making the place bearable, if not comfortable.

Finding the desired cell, he found its occupant awake. Wily was a mad scientist, after all. Insomnia was the mixed blessing of the job.

"Hello, sir."

Wily turned around, looking mildly concerned. "Oh… OH."

He approached the glass of his cell, a grin spreading across his face. "Hello yourself."

Angela, having heard the commotion, had woken up, and came to investigate. "YOU!"

"Hush, Angela," Wily snapped. Angela's eyes narrowed, but she obeyed. "Now… what brings you here?"

"I need your help."

"Is that so?" Wily cocked his head, still grinning maniacally. "And what can I do for you, son?"

Regal took a step closer to the glass. "It's about Johnny."

Angela looked positively murderous. "What about him?" she growled.

"That he's an insolent, impolite, and bloody-minded inflexible excuse for a weapon?" Wily guessed.

"I need him. And he won't listen to a word I say," Regal said.

"So you're asking me for help?" Wily asked. "Why, dare I ask, do you need his help at all?"

"It's complex, and requires a more in-depth explanation than I can give you here," Regal said. "But I need his help. His team."

"All of them?" Wily asked carefully. "What in the world could you possibly be doing that needs that much power?"

Regal held out a newspaper.

Strange Asteroid On Dangerous Course, SciLab Working to Correct.

"SciLab has gotten there first," Regal said. "If we want to get to the Arriman program before them, we need to work fast."

"What's with all this 'we' business?" Wily demanded, irate. "I'm in prison, sonny. I'm not much use to you."

"Then make yourself useful, old man," Regal growled. "Tell me how to make Johnny cooperate."

"As I said… do you need the whole team?" Wily asked.

"Why?"

"Because… if there's one thing Johnny will listen to…"

Wily, Angela, and Regal huddled together, planning.