And you got your lies...

"You want to? Or should I?" she asks as she sets down.

"After you my lady," and I gesture grandly to the doors.

She takes a moment to ready herself, an obvious sign she still ain't doing that well. The sweat from exertion is starting to bead on her forehead. The blue in her eyes doesn't twinkle mischievously like it should nor does it have that steely cold determined look. She's fatigued and we both know it. She's hesitating, but I sure ain't gonna call her on it.

"Both of us? On three?" I ask. A little TTK can go a long way.

She nods and readies herself. We're gonna count it off and we're gonna jump. She smiles and looks at me with twinkling eyes. I know what she's gonna say. Extra numbers just get in the way.

"Three!"

Love the TTK. The door doesn't really blow off its hinges but there's a big enough bang. Enough to make people go, "What the hell was that?" No smoke, wish there was smoke. Smoke would be dramatic. But the bent and twisted metal has a charm all its own I have to admit.

The only thing missing is the surprised inept soldier's spilling their day old coffee on themselves. Hell, I'd settle for people period. Rows and rows of computers are daunting. But hey, look ma! Security cameras and look: half of them still work. I'm not that much of a voyeur so I make the monitors and circuits go pop-pop-fizz-fizz and four tiny televisions switch to static.

There's gotta be more electronic stuff here that we can mess with. Other wise it's a pretty low budget Command Center and everything about this place contradicts that. I've got a hinky feeling and I know it ain't the chili dogs from last night.

"Where is everybody?" Cass checks the doors on the walls. Supplies. Lab coats. Supplies. Boxes. Boxes. Boxes.

"Not a clue." Start tapping on the computer touch screen. Another password needed. Great, I give! There's gotta be something here that'll you know, incriminate them by revealing their plans for world domination. Or something like that. They are the bad guys after all.

Cass is rifling through papers and flip charts and I'm trying to find out what row of cameras is where our friends are at. I thought I saw Bart but by the time I got a good look he was already off the screen and I have no clue which camera's got him now. I scan the rest of them but it's a lost cause.

So I get productive and help Cass with the multitude of doors. In mere moments, boxes and files and coats are flung everywhere. There's gotta be something-- Gaaahhh! I stumble back as one of those blue bad guys topples out. Cass looks at me alarmed.

"What?" I stammer. "I didn't do it!" I shove him off me and he feels like dead weight. Belatedly, I fumble for a pulse, but I can't feel through the armor. I try to tug off the blue metal but it won't budge so I try harder and--

KRRRRRrrrrrrrrsheeeeeee!!!!

Cass gasps in horror. "Kon!"

"I didn't--" I don't blame her, his arm came off. Wait. Shit, shit, shit! His arm came off! There's going to be blo-- there's not a bit of blood anywhere. And it's not cause he's been dead for too long either. "This guy's not real."

"What do you mean he's not real?" Cass prods the body-- is it a body?-- with her foot.

I hold up the Terminator-esque arm with the wires dangling. "As in fully automated the life sized, highly armed, technologically advanced G.I. Joe doll. These guys are what we've been fighting all the time."

"Someone has to be in charge! Someone real!"

"Let's hope so. Let's go find the others and hope this isn't some sick experiment gone horribly wrong."

Insert dramatic chord and cliffhanger here, boys and girls.

I bet Supes never had days like this.