KakaAnko: Thanks. I always look forward to your reviews.

Updown1234: Glad you liked it. Thank you for the suggestions.

MoonGirl1155: I know. Caesar is just too much. Hope you are well.

Ellamena: Thanks for favoring so many of my stories. This is for you per your suggestion.

I do not own.

Beverly sat in the front row of the auditorium. Caesar was on the stage presenting his newest invention.

"Because it works on the principle of electricity generation the problem of the power source is easily solved." Caesar was finishing up. He shuffled his papers on the podium. Beverly got ready to get up to help him wheel his gadget off the stage when the building shook violently. She and several others were knocked out of their seats. The roof caved in almost crushing Caesar who dove out of the way just in time. Beverly could see black helicopters hovering overhead. Several ropes dropped down from the choppers. Several men holding machine guns slid down from the ceiling. Two fired over the heads of the people in the crowd. People screamed and began scattering. Beverly watched horrified as two other men grabbed Caesar by the arm and dragged him to his feet. They then pulled a black bag over his head before taking him to the ropes. Two other men were securing his device. One tugged on the rope and the machine shot up toward the hole.

Beverly scrambled to her feet. She watched as Caesar and the men disappear into the homemade skylight.

"What did I miss?"

Beverly turned around to stare incredulously at Rex who was stuffing a hot dog into his mouth. He must have just returned from a snack run because his arms were full of bags of popcorn, chips, candy, and a soda.

"Really?" Beverly uttered.

"What?" Rex shrugged. "I was hungry."

0o0

Caesar's hood was ripped off his head. He looked away as a bright light shone directly into his face.

"Well, well, Dr. Salazar. It's nice to finally meet you." A voice said.

"I wish I could say the same since I can't see you." Caesar answered squinting at the light.

"All in due time, doctor. But first, you will tell me how I can turn your little machine here into a devastating weapon." The voice said menacingly.

"It's not a weapon. It's supposed to boil water to a perfect temperature for coffee." Caesar said.

"So sad that you waste that genius intellect on such mundane pursuits." The voice said mockingly.

"A perfect cup of coffee is never mundane." Caesar sniffed. His head snapped back when a hand flew across his face.

"You think you're cute? Well, we can beat that out of you." A different voice snarled.

"Leave our guest alone." The first voice commanded. "I'm sure he'll cooperate fully, especially if his loved ones are on the line."

"What are you talking about?" Caesar frowned as he tried to see beyond the light.

"Just that if you don't do what we want, something… untoward may occur to say your lovely girlfriend." The first voice snickered.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Caesar said smoothly. "Do you think someone like me has time for a relationship?"

"Call her what you will, girlfriend, assistant… if you don't want to see her… hurt, you'll work for us, understand?" The voice snapped.

"Perfectly." Caesar said flatly.

"Good. Shall we get started?"

0o0

"Rex, they have your brother!" Beverly said trying not to sound hysterical.

"Uh huh, yes, okay, I got it." Rex had one hand with his cell phone and the other over his ear to drown out the noise. "I said, I got it!" He snapped his phone shut. "Geez, what do they take me for an idiot?" He snorted.

"What? What did they say?" Beverly asked worriedly.

"They said don't go after them. They are working on it. We need to stay here and wait for reinforcement to arrive." Rex repeated.

"We can't just sit and do nothing!" Beverly cried. "What if they hurt him?"

"Which is why I'm going after him." Rex announced as he pulled his goggles over his eyes. His Boogie Pack sprouted from his back.

"Not without me you don't!" Beverly latched her arms onto his neck.

"What! No way! Doc, would kill me if anything happened to you." Rex protested.

"Yeah, well tough toenails. I'm coming!" Beverly said firmly. "Now quit talking and go! We're wasting time."

Rex groaned but his turbines started and soon they flew straight into the air.

They went in the direction they saw the copters go in. But soon they had lost them.

"We're just going around in circles." She complained.

"Well, what else can we do?" Rex argued.

"Go down." Beverly pointed to the ground. Rex set them down in a small airfield.

"What are you doing?" Rex asked.

"Going to ask for direction." She answered.

"They're never going to tell you anything!" Rex called out.

But Beverly ignored him running to the control tower. Rex watched as she went to the security guard. She pulled something out of her back pocket, made wild gestures, and pointed to the sky. A few minutes later the guard was leading her into the control tower. Rex stood surprised before jogging over to the security booth.

"Can I help you?" Another guard asked.

"Yeah, uh, my friend just went in there." Rex pointed to the building. "I was wondering if I can go in, too."

"You're from the Federal Aviation Monitoring Program too?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, of course." Rex puffed up his chest to look more important.

"Where's your ID?" The guard asked.

"My… my ID?" Rex patted himself as if he were looking for it. "I guess I must have left it in my other jacket."

The security guard eyes narrowed. Rex started to sweat. It was a good thing Beverly dashed out at that moment. She grabbed Rex by the arm and dragged him away.

"I'll be sure to tell the home office everything is in great shape." She called over her shoulder.

Rex yelled too, "Yeah, good job, people." He turned to Beverly. "What did you tell them?"

"Not now. I found where they are headed." She handed him coordinates. "Let's go."

When they were at a safe distance, Rex formed his Boogie Pack. As they lifted off, Rex asked again.

"Well, I sort of told them that I was there to do a surprise inspection on their equipment." Beverly said.

"And they believed you?" Rex asked shocked.

"Well, I still had the badge from the conference center. I guess it looked official enough. I just checked their equipment for the helicopters. Told them that they were part of the test." Beverly finished.

"Wow. I didn't think you were so…" Rex paused.

"Clever?" Beverly supplied.

"Devious." Rex finished.

Beverly shrugged. "Runs in the family."

0o0

Caesar checked the calculations. "No, no, no. This will never do. How can you call yourselves evil scientists? This doesn't even have a disintegrator setting." Caesar admonished.

"We never said we were evil." The voice protested from behind the light. "Just opportunistic."

Well, I can not work under these conditions." Caesar said haughtily. "Your technology is from the stone age, your equipment is sorely lacking, and look… look at this… the color scheme doesn't match."

"Shall I punch him?" The second voice ask the first.

"Not yet." The second answered. To Caesar he spoke. "So what can you do, Dr. Salazar?"

"I suppose I can turn this into a heat ray." He mused.

"Then do it." The voice snapped. "We are on a schedule."

"I can do it fast, or I can do it right." Caesar bent over to fuss with the device.

The voices didn't answer so Caesar took it to mean they were giving him his time. Caesar was stalling. He just had to make sure that they didn't know that. He didn't want anything to happen to Beverly. Caesar was buying time until he could figure out how to get out of there.

To be continued…