I don't own them. Alas...
"Well, well, well, what have we here? A couple of rats in a mine."
Scott and John looked up, startled. A dark shape separated itself from the shadows.
"Mullion." Scott scowled. "I should have known Hood would have sent you down here to do his dirty work." He maneuvered himself so that he stood in front of John. "Where's my brother?" Scott demanded.
"Oh, you mean little Alan?" Mullion grinned malevolently. "He begged me not to kill him the last time I beat him. Poor little boy, all broken and bleeding like that."
Scott stepped forward snarling, but John placed a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't Scott. He's just trying to bait you."
"Yes Scott, listen to your brother. You don't want to get yourself hurt or worse. Think of your poor father, having to bury the lot of you." Mullion roared with laughter.
Scott's hold on his emotions snapped. "You son of a bitch!" He rushed forward to tackle the giant black man. John followed a heartbeat after him.
Scott hit high and John hit low. Together, they managed to knock Mullion off his feet. But the big man recovered quickly, and smashed his fist into Scott's face, dazing him. Scott rolled off to the side, shaking his head to try and clear it as Mullion turned his attention to John.
Both had managed to get to their feet and circled each other warily. "Bring it on boy!" Mullion taunted.
John refused to give, and finally Mullion lunged forward. John swung his body around, ribs protesting in pain, and leveled a roundhouse kick at Mullion's head. The big man staggered backwards, glaring at John with hate in his eyes.
"I'll kill you." He said, wiping blood from his split lip.
"Only if you can catch me." John replied grinning ferally.
With a roar, Mullion launched himself at John again. Knowing the same trick wouldn't work twice, John scrambled to get out of the way, this time lashing out and catching Mullion behind the knees, causing him to crash forward into the wall. Mullion recovered quickly, and went after John with a vengeance.
"A little help would be nice Scott!" John called out as he ducked under the onslaught of Mullion's fists.
"You seem to be doing quite well on your own!" Scott replied, getting to his feet. "But since you asked." He pulled the gun out of his belt. "Game over Mullion."
"You think that little pop-gun can stop me?" Mullion snorted. He advanced towards Scott. "Go ahead flyboy, shoot me."
Scott shrugged. "OK." He fired off a shot, the bullet whizzing by Mullion's head. The man dropped to the floor. "Oops. I missed." He glanced in John's direction. "You OK Johnny?"
John, who had also dropped to the floor, glared at his brother. "More or less." He got up slowly and walked over to stand near Scott. "Now what do we do with him?"
"I could shoot him for real."
"Scott…"
"There's a pair of zip-cuffs in my pack. Get them out, I don't dare turn my back on this creep." Scott tightened his hand around his pistol. John found the cuffs and cautiously made his way over to Mullion. The man shifted slightly in John's direction. Scott cocked the hammer of his gun. "Don't even think about it." Mullion scowled and grew still.
John tried to hide his nervousness as he approached their prisoner. He managed to get one of the cuffs around Mullion's wrist when the man struck. For such a large man, Mullion moved like a snake. In an instant, he drove his fist into John's midsection, causing him to drop to the floor in agony. Mullion followed up with a punch to John's face, catching him in the jaw and sending him nearly unconscious.
Scott moved a heartbeat later, firing at the thug. Mullion moved too fast and the shot went wide. Mullion threw himself at Scott causing the gun to fly out of his hand. It skittered across the floor, out of reach. Mullion lunged for it and was tackled by Scott. The two rolled on the floor, each trying to break free of the other.
John managed to get to his knees moaning, one hand wrapped tightly around his chest. He shook his head, willing his eyes to start focusing.
Scott couldn't spare his brother a glance, he was too busy trying to subdue Mullion. The two combatants got in range of the gun. Mullion reached for it, but was held back by Scott.
"John! Get the gun!" Scott yelled.
John looked up, his vision still cloudy. He got unsteadily to his feet, staggered a few steps, only to stumble to the floor again.
Scott cursed and threw himself towards the gun. He managed to hook one finger around the handle, but with a bellow, Mullion heaved Scott off him and grabbed the gun himself. Scott stood panting heavily, eyes wary as Mullion leveled the gun at him. "Say good-bye flyboy." Mullion taunted.
John took a deep breath and threw himself at Mullion. He merely bounced off the big man, but it was all the distraction Scott needed. He tackled Mullion to the floor and once again the two men wrestled for position.
CRACK!
John looked up, startled as the gun went off. Mullion and Scott shifted once, then both lay still.
Transom looked up as an alarm went off on her computer console. "Sir! Some one has broken into Lady Penelope's room. She's free."
The Hood scowled in anger. "Where is Mullion?"
"I don't know sir. He isn't answering when I call." Transom replied.
Hood got up from his char and paced angrily around the room. He glared up at the computer screens. "Have you seen anything?"
Transom shook her head. "No, whatever they're using, it's blocking the camera signals. And I think they must have discovered the trip lasers. Nothing has gotten through in a while."
Hood stared at the screens for a long moment. "I'll got find him myself." He started towards the door. "Be on your guard Transom. I shall be most displeased if you manage to let them in here."
Transom gulped and nodded. "Yes sir."
With a swirl of his red robes, the Hood vanished out the door. He marched down the hallway, pausing only once. He looked around, seeing nothing, but smiled nastily and continued on his way.
Jeff watched from the shadows as the Hood marched down the hallway. He waited until the man had disappeared into the elevator before motioning Alan and Fermat forward. "Careful. Let me go first." He walked over to the door and studied the keypad for a moment.
"Let me Mister Tracy." Fermat limped forward and punched in a few numbers. The door started opening.
"Fermat! How'd you do that?" Alan asked in surprise.
Fermat shrugged. "A-A-All of those pads has the same s-s-security override number. I just happen to k-know what it is."
Jeff smiled softly at his friend's son. "Fermat, you never cease to amaze me." He pushed them behind him as the door opened. "Stay back." He unholstered the gun at his belt and stepped inside.
Transom was up from her seat in an instant, lashing out with a high kick. Jeff easily deflected it and shoved her back. She came at him again, and he unceremoniously knocked her on the head with the butt of his pistol. She went limp, falling to the floor. The whole thing took less than a minute.
Alan and Fermat looked on in stunned silence. "Dad, you told us never to hit a girl."
"Bad guys don't count." Jeff pulled a pair of zip-cuffs out of his pack and tossed them to Alan. "Here, secure her with these."
Alan quickly fastened the cuffs around the unconscious woman's wrists. Fermat joined Jeff at the computer console. "Can you figure it out?" Jeff asked.
Fermat nodded and his fingers flew across the computer keyboards. "Fermat can hack any system Dad." Alan said, grinning at his friend.
"It's not h-h-hacking Alan. It's creative programming." Fermat grinned back.
Jeff had to laugh at their casualness, then turned to the computers, all business once again. "Anything Fermat?" He asked a few minutes later.
Fermat ignored the question and muttering under his breath, punched in a few more commands. "T-T-Try your communicator now Mister Tracy."
Jeff pressed a button on his watch. "Virgil, come in."
"Dad?"
Jeff sighed in relief. "I've got Alan and Fermat. What's your location son?"
Before Virgil could reply, the door opened, startling all of them.
"Right behind you." Virgil stood in the doorway, Tin-Tin on one side of him and Penny on the other.
"Penny!" Jeff exclaimed.
She rushed into his arms. "Oh Jeff!"
He held her close, pressing her head against his chest. "Easy honey, I've got you."
Virgil rolled his eyes and winked at his youngest brother. "Alan, how's it going?" He limped over to envelop Alan in a hug. Tin-Tin rushed over and hugged Fermat. Virgil pulled back and eyed the bruises on Alan's face. "Mullion?"
Alan nodded. "Yeah, he gets his jollies from picking on little kids." He noticed Virgil limping. "What happened to you?"
To his surprise, Tin-Tin started giggling and Virgil blushed red. "Nothing. I'm fine." He snapped.
Alan shot Tin-Tin a quizzical look. She shook her head and winked.
Virgil looked from Transom, trussed unconscious on the floor, to his father. "Wait a sec, where's Gordon?"
Jeff's head snapped up. "Fermat, can you pick up his signal?"
Fermat turned back to the computer. "He's here Mister Tracy. N-N-Near the cave-in. He doesn't appear to have moved."
"Damn." Jeff muttered.
"Dad, what cave-in? Where's John and Scott?" Virgil demanded, his hazel eyes flashing.
Fermat turned back to the computer as Jeff punched his communicator. "Gordon? Gordon answer me!" He paused a heartbeat. "John, Scott, can you hear me?"