Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 6:04 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

But it wasn't just a quick nap. When Kimberly woke up, it was morning.

"Breakfast!" Violet called from the kitchen.

All at once, Kim found herself covered with blankets, and could only deduce that Dash was up and out of bed. It was at this point that she finally noticed that she had slept in her clothes. She got dressed as quickly as she could, then rushed to the dinning room table. But the smell of bacon and eggs brought her to a stop faster than a brick wall. It only took a second for the smell to reach her stomach, causing it to erupt like Mt. St. Helens. Without thinking, she grabbed a handful of bacon and shoved it into her mouth.

"Hey!" José objected. "Save some for the rest of us, why don't you?"

"What?" she said, with her mouth still full, "I'm freaking hungry!"

"Give her a break, you guys," Violet said. "She slept through dinner last night."

"I did? Oh, right, I guess I did."

"So, um, Kim, what did Loren tell you yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"About him wanting us to kill his mother, hello? Where's your brain today?"

"I think a little part of my wife is still in bed," Dash observed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a little groggy, I get it."

"That wasn't a figure of speech, honey. I think you left your arm in bed."

"Huh?" Kim looked down at her left arm. Sure enough, there was nothing there below the elbow. "Oh, that's perfect! Excuse me while I pull myself together." She stood up and left.

"So, what's this I hear about us killing somebody's mother?" Ashley asked.

Violet relayed what she knew from Loren's call last night. "When I asked why, he said it was complicated, then I handed it to Kim and that was that."

"Do we have to kill her?"

"Ashley, didn't your parents teach you not to whine about doing something?"

"I'm just saying, isn't there a way that we can accomplish what we need to accomplish that, oh, gee, I don't know, doesn't involve murder?"

"God, I hope so," said Violet. "We'll know more as soon as Kim comes back. Speaking of whom…" She gestured toward the hallway where the squishy super was returning to the table.

"Never use your arm for a pillow," she babbled, "especially when it comes off."

"Well?" the others said in unison.

"Well what?"

"Well, what did Loren tell you?"

"Oh, yeah, that, um, something about his big sister, and an irrevocable hex, and moving out of the house, and stuff like that."

"That's it?"

"What? It's early, cut me some slack, jeez!"

"Kim, we kind of need that information!"

"I know, I'm sorry!"

"Um," Ashley perked up, "if Kim doesn't mind, I could search her memory to get more out of her."

Kim was too tired to object. Thanks to Ashley's prodding, the team now knew everything, from why Loren still lives at home when he's thirty five and gainfully employed (albeit in a shameful way), to why he tried to kill the young supers in the first place.

"So, how much of that anti-magic stuff do we have left?" someone asked, I forget who.

"Only a half a can's worth," Violet noted. "We're gonna need to stock up. Look, I have to get to work, so one of you has to lead the rest of the team to Mirage's to get it. Normally, I'd put Kim in charge of that, but I'm afraid to, given her condition…"

"Condition nothing!" Kim interrupted. "All I need is a cup of Java, I'll be fine."

"Rude much?" Violet said. "Don't you know better than to interrupt people?"

"Usually, yes, but like I said, a little coffee, I'll be good as new."

"You better be, for all our sakes. Okay, I'm off, see you all later." Violet grabbed her briefcase and left.

"Wait a minute," José said as soon as she was gone, "if Violet's taking the car, how are we supposed to get to Mirage's place?"

"We take a cab, duh!" Ashley offered.

"But we don't have any money!"

"Vi keeps a little extra cash in the liquor cabinet," Dash pointed out.

"We have liquor?" Kim asked excitedly.

"Kim, how can you be thinking about booze at a time like this?" asked Ashley. "It's not even noon!"

"I think someone better get started on that coffee," said Dash.

"Yes, someone better," said everyone else. Nobody moved.

"Well, don't everyone jump up at once!" Dash said, getting up from the table.

Later that same morning…

Carmen Peña sat in a darkened corner of her living room. When the team entered, all they could see was her shadow.

"I knew you were coming," she said just above a whisper, "before you even left your home."

"Of course you knew," said Kim, "we called and said we were coming."

"You need more of that anti-magic, and you came here because I am the only one who has it for you."

"Again, I told you this on the phone, so cut the mystic sage act already."

"You are upset, because you do not understand what I am doing."

Kim flared her nostrils. "You want a wedgie, Mirage? 'Cause I got no problem with giving you a wedgie."

"All right, all right! Spoil my fun, why don't you?"

Mirage stepped out of the shadows. Up until now, whenever the team (or anyone else, for that matter) had seen the technical guru, she was always wearing a spotless business suit or an elegant gown. You can imagine their surprise when they saw her in an old T-shirt caked in what looked and smelled like mustard, and with more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Also, for the first time in her life, her hair reflected her level of intellect (meaning it was a mess).

Ashley took a big sniff of the air surrounding her, and recoiled. "Whew! When was the last time you showered, woman?"

"Uh, the day before the wedding, I think. I've been a little depressed lately."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I just, I don't know, I guess I, um, I think I'm having a mid-life crisis."

"Oh, goody gumdrops," Dash mumbled, more irritated than empathetic.

"I used to have an exciting life. Now, almost all I do all day is get up and go to bed! I long for excitement, for meaning, for life!"

"Don't hold your breath," Ashley said. "Excitement is overrated. Some days, I wish I had a normal life, one with peace, quiet, and no super villains out to kill me."

"Hmm, I never thought of it that way before."

"Nobody ever does. But do you feel better?"

"A little bit, yeah. Hey, how'd you know to say exactly what I needed to hear?"

"My mother was a psychoanalyst. She had this guarantee, if she couldn't make you feel better about your life in 15 minutes, you didn't have to pay for your session."

"Really?"

"Nah, I was just messing with you!"

Mirage snickered. "Good one! Well, anyway, I put together a full case of magic-proofer, over on the dining table over there." The team looked over and saw a plain cardboard box. On top of the box were some strange pieces of green cloth. José walked over and held one of them up. It was a glove, with some odd circuitry all over it.

"What's this?" was the question on everyone's mind.

"It's a more portable version of the Transfer of Awesome Gifts system that I put in your car," Mirage explained.

"These gloves have TAG?"

"Yeah, so now you can share your powers more easily. There's one for each of you, they're one size fits all and can be worn on the right or left hand."

"Wow, I'm impressed." Kim said. "But are you sure it works? Have you tested it?"

"I promise. I tested them out on some of my older super pals last week."

"Last week? Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I didn't want to impose."

"Right," Dash said flatly. "Oh, hey, speaking of things you never told us, we found that self-cleaning feature on the Alphamobile."

"Oh, you did, did you? Well, there happen to be a lot of features on that rattler that you don't know about, and one in particular I hope you never have to know about."

"Yeah, sure, we'll keep that in mind. Well, I guess we'll be off. José, could you get the anti-magic and the TAG gloves."

"Okay, Kim."

"I just hope that the cabbie is still there. Goodbye, Carmen, and good luck!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who has to fight evil on a daily basis! Good luck to you!"

Back at home…

The team was just cleaning up after a hearty lunch when a call came over their radios. It was Violet.

"Guys, just got word that our, um, target, is mobile. I've got the car here; you guys need to find some other way to get moving. Meet me at the corner of 5th Street and Tennessee Avenue, we'll deploy from there. Python out."

Kim looked at the others with confusion. "Is she losing her mind?"

"That's debatable," said Dash.

"No, I mean how does she expect us to get there so fast?"

"Tennessee is just a block from here," José pointed out, "we could just walk there."

"But 5th is more than a mile!" Ashley said. "We'll never make it in time!"

Dash held up one of the TAG gloves. "With my powers, and this new technology, we will!"

"Well, all right, then. Let's suit up and move out!"

(A/N: Sorry, I never intended this chapter to be this long. Anyway, I plan to have the epic struggle with the Witch Queen take up three chapters, so stick with me. And, hey, please tell me how I'm doing! Not getting reviews is driving me bonkers here! And you guys don't want to see me when I'm BONKERS!)