The Case of the Gold Thief: Part Ten
by HA

Just as Ginzu was about to strike, Shirley found something useful and moved her hand inside her backpack. Before the robot assassin could make the killing blow, Shirley pulled out a white plastic bottle and squeezed its contents into the robot's face. Blinded, Ginzu swung wildly, and Shirley moved out of its way.

"What?" Number Nine exclaimed. He focused his monocle eye on his creation and examined the white substance. "Talcum powder?"

Shirley showed the bottle of baby powder to the Elite Eight member. "You overlooked a few things," she remarked.

Mojo jumped up and down on its master's shoulders, emitting electronic shrieks of displeasure. "Well, the old Holmes resilience," Number Nine observed. "I should've separated you and your backpack."

Shirley watched as Ginzu charged blindly into a wall. "Perhaps," she said as the robot fell to the gym floor.

Number Nine glared at Shirley. "I never had to deal with my targets personally, but I suppose there's always a first time for everything." He leapt down from his position and landed on both feet. He stood up and faced the heir to Sherlock Holmes' legacy. Mojo jumped off its master's shoulder to assist Ginzu.

Shirley saw Number Nine's circular eye beginning to glow. Something told her to move, and she took this piece of wise counsel in time. A laser shot out of the eye, leaving a burn mark where Shirley once stood.

Shirley barely had enough time to escape the next shot. Soon, she found herself dodging laser blast after laser blast from the ENIGMA agent's eye. Meanwhile, Mojo endeavoured to remove the talcum powder from Ginzu's face with its small hands.

* * * * *

"Hear that?" Blake asked as he and the others approached the gym.

"It sounded like laser fire," Rika concluded.

"Oh, man..." Bo bolted for the entrance to the gym. "What the...?" he said, stopping.

His friends also stopped upon spotting the two unusual objects at the gym door. One was a box with two arms stretched out across the door. Another was a box with a crank on its side.

"A locking device," Blake concluded, recalling the incident at the Harrison house.

Bo stared at the box. "Looks like a jack-in-the-box."

The crank turned, and "Pop Goes the Weasel" played from the box. Blake sounded out the tune as he waved his fingers like a conductor's baton. "Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh..."

Bo raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Okay..."

Rika stepped forward. "Better get behind me."

"Why?" Blake asked, following her advice.

"Hunch," she answered. Blake followed Rika's instructions, but Bo remained in front of them.

The jack-in-the-box sprung open to reveal a golden clown wearing a wide-brimmed hat. "I'm getting really sick of this gold theme," Bo muttered.

Blake's eyes went wide. "Bo, I think you'd better get over here," he recommended, pointing enthusiastically at the clown's arms.

Following Blake's finger, Bo understood. The clown held a tommy gun in its arms. Just as Bo started to move behind Rika, the clown opened fire. Rika raised her arms and formed an energy shield, and Blake pulled Bo to safety behind it.

Bo watched as the clown's gunfire pinged against the energy shield. "Great," he groaned. *Shirley, hang in there.* he thought as he eyed the door leading to his best friend.

* * * * *

Number Nine-Nine laughed as Bart fell to the ground butt-first. The battle baton landed next to him, still electrified.

"Pathetic, Bart," the ENIGMA agent taunted, his mouth widening into a maniacal grin. He leveled his blade at Bart's throat. "Now, what should I do? Cut your face, then you into little pieces, or the other way around? Decisions, decisions..."

"I'll save you the trouble," Bart said. He quickly swung his leg and performed a sweep kick that knocked his enemy to the ground.

"Oooof!" Number Nine-Nine cried as he hit the ground hard, his sword still in his hand.

Bart took the opportuniy to recover his weapon. Getting up, he took a swing at Number Nine-Nine. Snarling, the ENIGMA agent blocked the attack with his sword. The two boys pushed with all their might, but in the end, Number Nine-Nine shoved Bart back. As the Stranger struggled to keep his balance, the ENIGMA agent got up and knocked the battle baton out of Bart's hand.

"Ha!" Number Nine-Nine swung at Bart, who jumped back. "Give up!" he shouted as he swung again. "Why put a lot of effort in surviving if you're going to die anyway?"

"Aren't you a little presumptuous?" Bart commented as he dodged the swing.

"I'm far more superior to you, Bart!" Number Nine-Nine declared as he kept swinging and Bart kept dodging. "There's no way you could've beaten me! There's no way you could've scarred me! I'm perfect! I'm supposed to be perfect!"

"I'd say your streak's over," Bart taunted as he backed away, looking at the ENIGMA agent's scar.

Number Nine-Nine clenched his teeth and snarled. "I'll make you pay!" he yelled, charging the newest Stranger with his sword raised.

Bart was ready to sidestep the crazed villain when Number Nine-Nine stopped. Suddenly, the ENIGMA agent doubled over in pain and fell to the ground, dropping his sword in the process. "No...not...now..." the scarred boy forced himself to say through a strained and sweaty face. He fumbled through his coat. "Pills. Must get...pills..."

Kicking the sword away, Bart ran past Number Nine-Nine and recovered his battle baton. Running back to his spot in front of his opponent, he watched the spectacle before him curiously. With sweat falling off his face, Number Nine-Nine found his medicine vial and opened it, ignoring the pain coursing throughout his body. His clenched teeth held in any screams of agony. Blue pills jumped out of the vial due to his shaky hand. "No!" the ENIGMA agent shrieked, grabbing at the fallen pills and tossing them into his mouth. He did not care about the dirt and grass he shoveled in along with the medicine.

Bart's ears picked up sounds of sirens. *The ambulance,* he concluded. He listened more. "The police," he muttered.

Recognizing the sirens, Number Nine-Nine got up. Sweat still covered his face, and his breathing started returning to normal.

"Care to stick around?" Bart asked tauntingly, pointing his battle baton at the young ENIGMA agent.

Number Nine-Nine glared at Bart. "If I were at full strength, I'd rip you apart, weapon or no weapon."

"But you're not," Bart observed.

Number Nine-Nine snarled in the direction of the sirens. "I've done my job. By now, my uncle has killed your friend," he said, almost spitting out the words. He turned and ran. "I'll kill you next time!" he declared as he increased his speed.

Bart deactivated the battle baton and placed it in his pocket. Behind him, two ambulances pulled up, accompanied by a police car. Inspector Hewitt and Detective Tremain sprang out of the car.

"What's going on here?" Detective Tremain asked as the paramedics brought out stretchers and medical equipment for the three unconscious ladies.

"Bart, what happened?" Inspector Hewitt asked the budding paranormalist. "Where's Shirley and the others?"

Bart watched as the paramedics checked the three women. "They're still alive," one of them reported.

"Then make sure they stay that way," Detective Tremain said sternly. "Hey!"

To everyone's surprise, Bart bolted the scene. Suspecting he knew what was going on, Inspector Hewitt went after him, leaving a befuddled Detective Tremain to oversee the paramedics.

* * * * *

"Hmmmmmmm...not a bad little display of agility," Number Nine conceded, ceasing fire.

Catching her breath, Shirley blinked and waited for her enemy's next move. As she did, she heard gunfire from outside.

"Ah, your friends, I believe," Number Nine concluded. Mojo beeped loudly from his place with Ginzu, who was starting to recover its sight. "A pity they'll be too late," the Elite Eight member added, his round eye starting to glow.

A bright flash caught Shirley off-guard. She stared at Number Nine, but found him to be too wiggly for her. In fact, he was starting to spin around into different colors. Her ears pikced up a strange noise that fluctuated in volume. Soon the room was spinning. Lightheaded, Shirley fell to the floor. Only her arms kept her from collapsing completely.

With the powder gone from its eyes, Ginzu picked itself up. With Mojo cheering it on, the robot assassin marched up to the disoriented Shirley, emitting an electronic laugh as it did.

* * * * *

The jack-in-the-box continued firing upon the three kids outside. "Any suggestions?" Rika asked. "We have to get inside to help Shirley before she is killed."

"I suppose waiting for this thing to run out of bullets is out of the question," Bo quipped.

"I'd say this little thing's got a lot of ammo," Blake observed as more bullets pinged against the energy shield. "We've got to take it out. We're running out of time."

"Leave it to me." Rika's energy shield started to fade. "Better back away from me."

"What are you doing?" Bo exclaimed. "That's our only protection."

"Trust me," Rika said with a small smile. "I've done this before."

Both boys looked at each other and shrugged, then did as Rika said. "Let's hope she knows what she's doing," Bo said to Blake.

"Welcome to the club," Blake said.

Rika closed her eyes and concentrated. Remembering what she had been taught, she found her balance point. Meanwhile, the jack-in-the-box's gunfire continued pinging against her energy shield.

Bo blinked as he watched Rika. "Uh, is it just me, or is she glowing?"

The energy shield had enveloped Rika. She controlled her breathing and faced the attacking toy. With a cry, she opened her now-glowing eyes and let loose.

* * * * *

Ginzu stood over its target as she tried to fight Number Nine's vertigo effect. Nearby, Mojo cheered on its fellow robot, waving its arms in the air and doing a little dance.

Number Nine grinned malevolently behind his mask. "Now I believe it's time to truly say 'adieu' to you, Mademoiselle Holmes."

Ginzu raised its arm blade. Below him, Shirley still tried to sort out what was the top and what was the bottom of the gym. Straining to stay up, she felt her arms losing their strength.

END OF PART TEN