One summer morning at Metro City Baths, a class of ten-year-olds gathered, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, at the deep end. One child was moving a little more slowly than the rest.

"C'mon, Dunc!" A dark-haired, wiry boy spitefully gave the slowcoach a push. He grinned. "Whassup? You scared?"

Dunc was bobbing up and down. He hated the fact that his feet no longer reached the bottom of the pool.

"Leave him alone, Chuck!" said a girl with damp ginger hair. "I don't like going underwater, either."

"I can breathe underwater for hours!" Chuck said. "Anyways, Dunc's gonna be OK. He's so fat, he's sure to float."

Dunc gave Chuck a look of hatred. He bobbed away, towards the diving board.

A whistle sounded, and the kids looked up as their instructor appeared at the poolside. He was blond, suntanned and athletic, and looked like he'd escaped from an old episode of Baywatch. He was wearing swimming trunks and a polo shirt with the name of the baths, and his own name: Gareth. He gave the kids a cheesy grin.

"OK, guys? Now, remember where we got to last time. I don't want to see anyone, scared of going under the water. Next term, you'll be doing Lifesaving training, like I did. And what you learn today could literally be the difference between swimming – and sinking!" He gave a chuckle. Dunc swallowed. "Right, let's start – ten seconds underwater. When you hear the whistle – down you go! And don't come up 'til you hear it again. I'll be timing you. Ready..."

He gave the whistle a blast. The kids took deep breaths, and ducked down beneath the surface. Dunc was the last to go. Chuck popped up again, and pushed Dunc's head down.

"Eight, nine, ten... and..." Gareth blew the whistle again. The kids reappeared. Gareth applauded with his massive hands. "Nice one! And now... let's try something a little harder."

Dunc was gulping in air. His eyes were wide and panicked.

Gareth reached into his pocket and produced a handful of coins.

"Anyone want to earn some dough? Stand back!"

He threw the coins into the water. The children saw them vanish to the bottom of the pool.

"You guessed it! I want you to dive down and pick 'em up. Any coin you find – you can keep!"

The kids looked excited, all except Dunc. Chuck smugly brushed his wet hair back from his face.

"Don't bother, guys. I'm gonna be rich, before we leave here!"

"Ready?" Gareth raised the whistle again. "And..."

He blew another blast. The children dived down, all except Dunc.

"C'mon, fella, don't let the team down!" Gareth called. Dunc reluctantly took a breath, and ducked down again.

He was back almost immediately.

"I can't find 'em!"

"I got one!" the ginger-haired girl called. An African-American boy and a Chinese girl popped up, each with coins of their own. Then the boy frowned.

"Hey, wait a second, where's Chuck?"

They all looked around, then down. There was no sign of Chuck. Uncertainly, Gareth came to the edge and looked down.

"Oh my..." He quickly pulled off his top. "OK, kids, stay back!"

He dived into the pool. The other children were quickly drenched.

After what seemed like an eternity, Gareth came back to the surface.

"He's not there... he... AAAARGHH!"

He gave a yell, and disappeared underwater again. It was as if someone had grabbed his leg and pulled him down, though there was no one else near.

For several moments, the children bobbed up and down, petrified. The Chinese girl looked down.

"There's no one there... they've GONE!"

There were screams and yells, as the children made a dash for the poolside. Only Dunc remained, still looking beneath the rippling blue waters.

"Chuck...? Gareth...?"

"And that makes seventeen swimmers, in all," said Chief Quimby. He showed a photo gallery on the holo-screen. Inspector Gadget, Penny and Brain were lined up before his desk. "Eleven kids and six adults. All in the last month, and all from Metro City Baths. They went under the water... and never came up. They've completely disappeared!" He looked up and down the line. "Theories?"

Brain looked as if he had one, but as usual, no one was listening to Brain. Gadget extended his third hand from his hat, and rubbed his chin.

"Maybe they drowned, but didn't want to admit it."

Brain looked to Heaven. Penny reached for the holographic controls and flicked through the gallery, looking at the pictures and accompanying data.

"There's an obvious connection, Chief... they're all young... mostly kids... no one over 25. All good swimmers... athletic and strong."

"Maybe someone's running a secret Swimming Gala," said Gadget. He withdrew the extra hand, and tipped his hat. "Don't worry, Chief, we're on this. We'll investigate immediately."

"You can take Agent Talon with you," said Quimby. "He was HQ's swimming champion two years running... before he defected to MAD." He paused. "Where is Talon, by the way?"

"All right, Talon," said Professor Von Slickstein's voice, over the loudspeaker. "You know why you're here?"

Lying on his back on a couch in the white-walled clinical room, Talon was looking bored.

"I keep talking in my sleep... 'bout six months now... about the old days. When I was MAD, bad and dangerous to know. So Penny wants me to do therapy."

"That's right. Now, there's nothing to worry about. The next voice you hear will be Dr Shrinker, HQ's leading psychotherapist. You just need to answer a few questions. Just relax, and be yourself."

Talon smirked. He was going to obey that command.

A light, feminine voice was heard.

"Hello, Talon. Are you OK?"

Talon brightened. "I am now."

"Now, just take it easy. We'll start with a little word association. I'll say a word, just say the first word that comes into your head. OK?"

Talon's smirk reappeared. "OK."

"Now..."

"Then."

"I hadn't started!"

Talon grinned.

"Mother."

"Ariadne."

"Father."

"Dead."

"Uncle."

"Claw."

"Claw."

"MAD."

"MAD?"

"Power."

"Money."

"Power."

"Power?"

"Guns."

There was a pause.

"HQ?"

"Future."

"Love."

"Penny."

"Good."

"Trying."

"No... no! I mean... good. That's it, to start with. Let's talk about your early life."

Talon went through his childhood with Dr Claw's people... his time at HQ, secretly working for MAD... many of his adventures as Penny's adversary... then their relationship and marriage. But he soon became bored. He remembered a spy movie, where an agent flirted with his psychiatrist. This was confidential. Penny would never know.

"Your voice is kinda cute. Want to come show me the face it belongs to? We could go for a coffee, after work."

There was a pause. Then Talon nearly leapt clear of the couch, as a door opened and a handsome thirty-year-old man entered. He gave Talon a smile.

"Thanks, sweetheart, but I think you're a bit young for me."

Another door opened, from the corridor, and Penny looked in.

"Have you finished, Talon? The Chief wants you."

"Yeah!" Talon ran for the door. "OK... leave it there, for today? Cheers, Doc!"

He slammed the door, leaving the young psychotherapist silently laughing.

Talon ran down the corridor after Penny.

"Sheesh... his voice is higher than yours."

"How did it go? Did you discover anything about yourself?"

"Erm... what was that mission about?"

"We've got to get down the Metro City Baths. Right away. Seventeen people have disappeared..."