The Case of the Gold Thief--Part Eight
by HA

"What do you mean he didn't believe you?" Bo asked Shirley angrily the next morning on the way to Sussex Academy.

"It's not that," Blake said. "My dad did believe Shirley, but..."

"The police came up with another solution to the doll's puzzle," Shirley completed. "They think ENIGMA's going to kidnap philanthropist Ned Goldman."

"And you think they're after Mrs. Goldstein, our English teacher, because teachers can be considered beacons and she's the only one here with 'gold' in her name," Bo recalled. "I think the rich guy's more likely to be the one, Shirley."

"ENIGMA is never simple," Shirley said seriously.

The three friends arrived at Sussex Academy at their usual time. "Anything on the blood sample you got?" Blake asked the teen-age sleuth as they went to the lockers.

"Although my microscope isn't as powerful as the Think Tank's, I managed to find what looked like tiny bugs in the blood," Shirley stated as she got her books out.

"Tiny bugs?" Bo said, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"I deduce they're nanobots," Shirley hypothesized.

"Nanobots? You mean like tiny robots?" Blake wondered.

"Exactly." Shirley closed her locker. "ENIGMA clearly has the technology to develop nanobots."

"Why would a guy have these creepy bugs in his body?" Bo asked, trying to shake the idea out of his head.

"I believe they enable him to exhibit unique abilities, like the quick healing," Shirley hypothesized. "The report of the gunshot seems to confirm this."

"Makes you wonder if there's any normal agents in ENIGMA," Bo commented as they made their way to class.

"Somehow I doubt that." Rika appeared behind them.

"How long have you been listening in?" Blake asked the Stranger.

"Quite a while," Rika acknowledged.

"Did Ivan look at the blood sample?" Shirley asked her.

Rika nodded. "I presume you found the same thing?"

"I did," Shirley answered.

Just when Shirley and her friends settled in their seats, the PA system crackled to life. "Will Miss Holmes please report to my office at once?" the voice of Ms. Stratmann commanded.

"Huh?" Bo said, puzzled.

"Wonder what Ms. Stratmann wants?" Blake asked, trying to think of a reason why the headmistress needed to see Shirley.

"Only one way to find out." Shirley rose from her desk and left for Ms. Stratmann's office. As she arrived, she could not help but think that the headmistress sounded funny. Her voice was correct, but something about it nagged the sleuth.

As she entered the administration office, Shirley noticed that Ms. Fish, the headmistress' secretary, was missing. *Odd,* she thought as she approached Ms. Stratmann's door. She knocked. "I'm here, Ms. Stratmann." Her ears picked up no response. "Ms. Stratmann?"

Her curiosity at an all-time high, Shirley checked the doorknob. Finding it unlocked, Shirley burst into the office. Her eyes widened at the sight of the empty desk.

Suddenly, someone moved in from her side. The last thing Shirley saw was a gloved hand shoving a rag into her face. Her nose picked up a smell she was familiar with as a result of her detective work. *Chloroform,* she thought as she lost consciousness and fell into the arms of her captor.

* * * * *

"Man, Shirley's taking too long," Bo remarked to Blake and Rika as their teacher .

"I don't like this," Blake said.

The PA system came to life again. "Attention, students. I would like to inform you that today's classes have been canceled. The majority of the campus will be undergoing bug spraying. All students living on campus are to go back to the dorms and stay there until further notice. Please exit the school in a calm and orderly manner."

The class broke out into cheers and rose from their seats. "Well, that was strange," Rika remarked as she filed out with the other students.

"Definitely," Bo said as he watched Sussex Academy students crowd the hallways. Teachers found themselves herding the kids towards the exits.

Bart spotted his friends and joined them. "You heard?"

"Yep," Bo answered. "Too good to be true, don't you think?"

"I agree," Rika said.

"Yeah..." A thought crossed the mind Blake's jaw nearly dropped. "Oh no!"

"What's wrong?" Bart asked.

"We need to get to Ms. Stratmann's office now!" Blake fast-walked through the exiting students, then broke into a run. He managed to avoid any teachers acting as traffic controllers.

"Shirley's there," Bo explained to Bart as they followed Blake.

The others caught up to Blake. "What's wrong?" Rika asked.

"Shirley misinterpreted the doll," Blake revealed. "I think this time ENIGMA was being simple."

"You mean...?" Bo began, knowing the answer.

"They're after Shirley," Bart said, giving voice to Bo's thoughts.

They arrived at the administration office. Bart pulled out his sonic boomer. Rika reached into her backpack and pulled out two metal gauntlets with yellow Chinese dragon designs. "What are those?" Bo asked as Rika slipped them on.

"Family heirlooms," Rika answered.

Finding Ms. Stratmann's office door open, Blake led the way in. "Empty," he observed.

Bart sniffed the air. "Chloroform," he concluded.

Bo let out a frustrated growl and punched the wall. "They got her!"

"But where could they have taken her?" Rika wondered, rubbing her chin.

"They couldn't have taken her off-campus. Not enough time," Blake said. "We'd better start searching."

"We'd better split up," Bart suggested.

They all nodded and dashed off in different directions. In the hallway, Molly watched them go off in search for their friend. *What are they up to?* she wondered. Blake was closer, so she tailed him.

* * * * *

With the sounds of rapid beeping in her ears, Shirley slowly opened her eyes and rubbed her head. She still felt light-headed. She blinked and tried to recognize her surroundings. Finding herself in a large spacious room, the young detective's eyes made out a basketball hoop hanging over the side of the wall. "The school gym?" she observed.

"Ah, you're awake. Excellent."

Shirley followed the voice to behind the basketball hoop. She perceived a figure dressed in gray with a metal mask and mortarboard. Blinking, she confirmed a long pointed nose and a creature on the individual's shoulder. Regaining her balance, she got up. "Number Nine, I presume?"

The ENIGMA agent looked down at the young detective. "Ah, you picked up my little hint?"

"I did," Shirley said, staring upward at the villain. "Clever of you to steal the number of gold bars equal to your code number."

"A pity I can't compliment you on your deductive reasoning at this time," Number Nine said. "I calculated that you'd interpret the doll the way you did. Your deductions were correct, but then, so were the police's."

"You're after Ms. Goldstein and Mr. Goldman," Shirley said knowingly.

"You're half-right," Number Nine said. "We already have the English teacher, along with your headmistress and her secretary. My men are about to get Mr. Goldman." He shook his head. "I'm amazed you fell for my voice synthesizer. But then, your curiosity always gets you in trouble, doesn't it?"

"How are you going to kill me?" Shirley asked. "You can't reveal that I was always a target."

"Actually, I was planning to make it look like you died in an accidental fire here in the gym," Number Nine admitted while Mojo beeped in agreement. "Ah well, time to introduce your executioner."

Shirley watched as Number Nine took out his pointer and pointed it at the middle of the court. She felt the floor tremble. Sensing that it came from the center, she turned around just in time to see something burst out and leap into the air. It landed before her with a digitized chuckle. Shirley looked at the instrument of her destruction, a tall, thin robot with curved blades on its shoulders, wrists, elbows, and knees. Red eyes took in the robot's target.

"Meet Ginzu, detective," Number Nine said. Mojo beeped with joy. "Ginzu, dispose of this pest. Chop chop."

The red eyes glowed, and the robot advanced on Shirley with its wrist blades ready for the kill. Shirley began to back away. Above her, Mojo beeped loudly, cheering on its fellow robot.

* * * * *

"Nothing?" Bo asked after he met up with Bart and Rika outside the main building.

"Nothing," Rika answered, catching her breath.

"Where could they have taken her?" Bart wondered.

Blake joined them. "You guys found nothing?"

Bo nodded. "What about you?"

"I think we'd better check the gym," Blake said. "We haven't checked there yet."

"What's going on here?"

All eyes turned to Molly Hardy. "What are you doing here?" Bo demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," Molly said, glaring at him. "You shouldn't even be on campus still."

"Shirley's missing," Blake explained.

"Holmes is missing?" A wicked smile crossed the budding sociopath's face. "Today is a good day."

Rika snarled and met Molly's icy gaze. The Stranger's hand tightened into a fist. "Leave us, you heartless little manipulator! We have no time to deal with you!"

"That's right!" someone declared from above. "You have to deal with me!"

Bo looked around. "Who said that?"

"Scatter!" Bart shouted suddenly, running off. Rika followed him.

Blake was about to ask what was going on when he heard something heading towards them. He recognized the sound instantly. "Incoming!"

A "Wha...?" escaped from Molly's lips as Blake took her hand and ran. The others followed Blake's lead in time. Four mini-missiles flew down from the sky and exploded, leaving a burnt crater where a finely trimmed patch of grass used to be.

"Close one," Bo remarked as he looked at the smoking crater.

"Indeed," Rika agreed.

Yanking her hand away from Blake, Molly stared at the point of impact. "What's going on here?" she demanded angrily.

Her answer was evil laughter. "Well, let's show the little schemer, Bart."

A thought crossed Bo's mind. "Hey, that voice. It's..."

"Number Nine-Nine," Bart finished, reaching into his pocket.

"Exercise discretion," Rika warned her fellow Stranger, motioning to Molly.

"Look!" Blake pointed to something in the sky.

Before everyone's eyes, a blurry shape materialized. It revealed itself to be a gold-colored robot with a dome head; large, long shoulder guards; and long handless arms. Two spike-like appendages shot out from its underside. It hovered over the kids, who noticed Number Nine-Nine's grinning face through the robot's eyeslot.

"A robot?" Bo asked, blinking to make sure he was not imagining things.

"A Mechapanzer, to be exact!" the voice of Number Nine-Nine boomed from the robot. "What do you think, Bart? Isn't it an improvement over the one you destroyed?"

Bo looked at Bart, who had his sonic boomer out. "You took on one of these things?"

"Guess that explains the missiles," Blake said, recalling Bart's story.

"Well, time to take care of you." The robot lowered itself to the ground and hovered before the teens.

"So you're going to kill us?" Rika asked, assuming a fighting stance. Bo stared at her and wondered if she was crazy.

"To be honest, I just want Bart. But don't worry. I've got some toys for you to play with," Number Nine-Nine admitted with a chuckle as he pressed a button on his control panel.

Bo heard heavy footsteps coming from behind the Mechapanzer. "Guys, we got company!" he warned, pointing toward the new arrivals.

Three life-size toy soldiers armed with bayonets marched towards the teens. Two were thin while the third was rather portly. "Is this some kind of a joke?" Molly scoffed.

Her answer came in the form of the soldiers taking aim and firing. Everyone dove to the ground, allowing the bullets to whiz by.

"That answer your question?" Bo told Molly snidely.

As Molly glared at Bo, Bart took a chance and fired. His sonic shots knocked the bayonets out of the soldiers' hands. Blake rose quickly and charged one of the thin soldiers. Bo followed his lead, leaving the others to face the Mechapanzer.

In the Mechapanzer's cockpit, Number Nine-Nine smiled. "Goody, that leaves me Bart and his friend. Just what I wanted." He pressed a switch. "I also get to eliminate Molly too, although no one's really going to miss her." Hatches on the Mechapanzer's shoulder guards opened, revealing two multi-missile launchers. "Bye, bye, Bart," he said, giggling as he pressed another button and deployed the entire content of the launchers at his targets.

The two Strangers and Molly found themselves facing a barrage of fast-moving missiles heading their way. Molly did the only thing she could do in this situation. She screamed.

END OF PART EIGHT