Chapter 1
Powerdown

The electrical current that flowed through the ceiling shooting sparks and dangerous shards of metal with its force illuminated the darkened warehouse. Hego had often wondered why Go City had so many abandoned storage centers that only the villains seemed to know about most of the time...but now was not the time to dwell on that concern. His eyes darted through the flickering lights trying to gain his bearings, his head throbbing from an explosion, moments prior that had caused the rerouted power. He saw purple not too far away in the flickering lights.

"Mego," he called out in that direction. No response came, but a flash of sparks showed green next to the figure.

"Hego, he's unconscious," came the reply of Shego. "He was closest to the power surge."

"I'm not unconscious," came a slurred response. "I'm...getting some...ow."

"Fine, he's out of it," sighed Hego. "Where are the Wegos?"

"They ran after Electronique." A flare of green illuminated his two siblings. "I thought you were with them."

"You were closest to them," snapped Hego. "Why didn't you follow?"

"Because I saw Mego get hit!" yelled Shego. She had wrapped Mego's arm around her neck. "You called Wegos. I called Mego...so either help him or go find them."

"I can...watch myself," groaned Mego. "Both of you go... I'm not the one who comes with their...ransom note."

"I appreciate the fact you're trying to make jokes to prove a point," sighed Shego, "but you're disproving it with the slurring."

Hego darted past his siblings and followed in the direction Shego had indicated the others had left in. Sparks still scattered around him as he jumped over debris, some nearly tripping him when the lights failed. He could hear yelling up ahead and the sound of electrical current charging. He picked up as much speed as he could, cursing his build for bulk rather than speed.

"Get off you little rats!" came the accented cry of their villain.

"Ow!" came a cry and then an echo of multiple voices. "How rude!"

Hego could see the twins, now minus their multiples, illuminated by a large light source. Hego's eyes shot open as his heart sped up. The sound was all too familiar—one of Electronique's many trinkets she'd made or stolen... He didn't care how she got it. A mad woman like her didn't need it in her arsenal. He knew she'd called it something before she'd used it to cause an explosion. He barely managed to hurtle himself into the two tiny figures of his brothers as a large blast of what looked like lightning, shot where they had been standing before he dove. Scorch marks sprayed where the light touched. He heard his brothers groan from his impact but it was better than being electrocuted. His eyes darted to where the light still glowed but not as bright.

Electronique was smacking the side of the device, the glare of her glasses showing the frustration on her features.

"Morceau de ferraille...I should have gotten the higher-grade coils," she hissed.

Hego saw the chance with the distracted villain. He pushed away from where he'd crouched on the ground and readied to take down the woman. Unfortunately, he was cut off as a green light shot the device out of Electronique's hands, causing her to look at her surroundings. Electronique looked between he and the approaching sounds of his sister, who he knew was heading toward the Wegos rather than their enemy.

"You can keep it... I'll make a better one," scoffed the villain as she sprinted towards the exit.

"Hego. No," he heard Shego yell at him as he booked it after Electronique.

He saw her frame shove out the door and the brief illumination of the moonlit sky before it closed again. He heard it latch and he let his glow run through him like a dim blue flame as his shoulder knocked the metal door clean off its hinges. He heard a yell of shock that alerted him to Electronique's location. Her startle had made her lose her footing and allowed him to block the route she'd been headed towards. The only other alternative was the cliff's edge. Hego smirked.

"Nice try Electronique. You're not escaping this time." He crossed his arms. "Surrender calmly and— Hey!"

Hego's eyes shot open as the woman sprinted towards the cliff.

"Water and electricity don't mix, don't be a fool!" yelled Hego as he walked cautiously toward her.

"Alternative being locked away like a common canary," snorted Electronique. "I'll risk it. Pendre un desrisques."

Hego watched as she went to jump and launched himself to stop her. He wasn't certain if it was the possibility of witnessing the woman leap to her possible death or the idea of their villain getting away that caused his reaction, but his hand missed her wrist but managed to grab her by the belt. He grabbed again for her flailing wrist.

"Libere Moi!" she screamed and swung at him. Sparks caused burning in Hego's hand as he grabbed her wrist.

"Are you insane... Your gimmick is going to fry you," growled Hego as the pain intensified. It was as if he was being stung by dozens of bees through his arm. "Electronique...don't—"

Her belt snapped and he clamped down on her wrist. He saw her expression become angry and she grasped for the belt as the electrical charge stopped.

"No! Give me that," she hissed as Hego began pulling her back up.

Hego almost had her up the side when the rocks below him gave and he lost his balance.

"Hego!" came a cry from behind him.

He hung over the side for only a second, still clutching Electronique's wrist as she struggled for the belt that had wrapped around his wrist tighter due to his attempt at grabbing her by it. He felt hands grab him in mid-slide. He was about to snap at the villain to stop thrashing but his eyes noted her silver tentacle-like hair seemed to be unweaving, and he looked at the belt. With one more electrical charge, his hand gave, letting Electronique fall into the waters below.

Hego was pulled back onto the flat safety of the cliff, the belt sparking in his hand one final time as he tossed it aside. Hego looked at the dark water.

"She got away!" he yelled, aware that it was Shego who had yanked him back to safety. He looked at her. Her expression was confused before her eyes narrowed.

"Oh who cares. If you didn't notice, you were about to fall in after her," scoffed Shego. "What did you do, toss her too far?"

"No, she was trying to jump." Hego stood up. "She always gets away!"

"Well, there's always a next time with her," sighed Shego as she picked up the discarded belt. "Did you take her gear?"

"What? No. I grabbed her by it and it broke," stated Hego as he looked at his sister. "Come on, let's go get the others and talk to the police—"

"Ohm, no," snapped Shego. Her eyes were narrowed. "Mego needs medical attention...and the Wegos...they should have not have even been here."

Hego rolled his eyes.

"They wanted to come—"

"They're seven! They also want to eat cookie dough every night," she practically snarled. "I told you, they should not be on missions."

"Shego, how else will they learn—"

"When they're older, Hego!" She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "All right...okay. You take them back to get medical attention. I will go talk to the police."

Hego nodded.

"The media is going to have a field day with this... I can see the headlines, Electronique: Another shocking escape from Team Go. Uhg," Hego shook his head.

"I'll talk to the Chief. I'm sure he'll keep it on the down-low," smiled Shego. "He kept Gardner out of the press remember."

"Yeah, only because you asked him," grumbled Hego. He raised a brow at this but shook his head. "Yeah, sure. See what you can do. I'll take them back to Go Tower."

"Hospital," Shego demanded. Hego raised a brow. "Listen, Mego is the one hurt... Our wannabe medic can't treat himself when he's slurring words and stumbling. Leave it to Mego to get head trauma."

"I don't know...sounds pretty typical," snorted Hego. He looked at the belt in Shego's hand. "What are we doing with that."

Shego shrugged.

"Kinda curious what it does," she smirked.

"She did seem rather concerned I had it," nodded Hego. He took it from Shego. "Maybe it's the source of her little electrical thing. I assume you're going to be tinkering with it."

"Well after reading more about its structure...for sure," smirked Shego. "The Wegos seem to really like that stuff. Maybe a fun project... They are in their key developmental years and—"

"Shego," said Hego. She rolled her eyes.

"I'll head to the police station," she sighed and began walking off. "Don't lose that belt!"

Hego nodded as he headed back into the building. He looked down at the no longer sparking item, its strange panel and what looked like computer hardware glistening in the moonlight as he raised a brow at it. There had to be something important about the belt, as Electronique had seemed more panicked about its loss than even focusing on her own foolish flailing. Hego turned it over and shrugged. He was certain that whatever it was might be of some use in stopping their frequent villain.

Across the waterway and near a pier, a silver-gloved hand pulled up on the docks. A fit of coughing and heavy breaths filled the still night air. Electronique pulled herself up under the single lamp that gave dim light for the late-night fishermen coming back on shore. She let out a watery cough as she fell back on the dock. Her body was tingling and twitching as her suit reacted to its stabilizer being removed, and the water. She yanked off her gloves to stop the burning and could see the redness at her fingertips from the cold and current of the remaining power. Her eyes narrowed as the silver-white tone of her skin had already faded, showing that the power from the cloaking in the suit was completely drained.

Her hand felt up to her damp hair, the coils now completely returning into the base of the suit's neck. She groaned and yanked off her glasses, shocked they had stayed on without their connection to the coils. She looked up at the night sky and the burning orange of the dim light near her. Her eyes narrowed as the image of Hego clutching her belt swam in her mind.

Team Go had her power source...the very thing that made her Electronique. To recreate it would take months if not years just to acquire what she needed...much like her Tesla Coil Gun... She pushed herself up off the dock and forced her tired limbs to stand. She felt dizzy as she did so but managed to grab the pole of the light to steady herself. She felt anger building up inside her as she looked towards the cliff edge she'd jumped from.

"Guess I'll have to pay a visit to Go Tower," she grumbled. She narrowed her eyes at her own statement.

Easier said than done.

Current Continues This was

Chapter 2 Up 10/21/2022