I think this is the longest chapter in this story so far, so brace yourselves.
When Piper finally go back inside, it took her a minute to identify everyone because of all the uniforms.
Captain Man- Ray- was dealing with a bunch of bad guys in a giant clump, like last time. Dr. Minyak was being backed into a corner by Kid Danger- the real Kid Danger- and Charlotte. They were both point some kind of laser zapper at him. Jasper was attempting to chase after Nurse Cohort.
Piper looked around, her braid swinging behind her. The moonlight- it had to be at least midnight- glowed across the room. It hit something and caught Piper's eye.
A blaster.
Piper glanced around before trying to quickly but stealthy creep over and pick it up. Fortunately, no one noticed her, and she picked it up, testing its weight.
She found the trigger and looked around. Glancing down, she saw it was set to STUN. Piper glanced around again before firing at the ground. A thin green beam not unlike what was coming out of Kid Danger and Charlotte's laser zappers shot at the ground. Hmm.
Piper looked behind her and saw that Jasper was still trying to chase down Nurse Cohort. She brought the blaster up to what seemed like the correct position, took a deep breath, and fired.
She missed.
She did, however, end up hitting one of the henchmen- the one Piper recognized as one of the people who brought her here- who fell to the ground.
Piper attempted to keep the blaster steady and fired a few more times, hitting more henchmen until there was only one left. Captain Man threw a few punches and the guy got knocked down and out.
And then he turned.
Holy shoot, he's looking right at at me.
Just then, though, Nurse Cohort ran in front of her, followed by Jasper. They caught Captain Man's attention and he joined the chase.
Piper glanced around again. Kid Danger and Charlotte appeared to be putting an unconscious Minyak in handcuffs, and Captain Man and Jasper were chasing Nurse Cohort. They seemed to be getting further away. Piper thought about helping them, but then remembered what Henry had said about getting her brain wiped. I should go.
Piper jogged away as quietly as she could and climbed back into the Man Van. She saw her reflection in the mirror and panicked.
How do I get out of this thing?!
Piper spotted the gumball tube and picked it up. Maybe I'm supposed to chew another one?
Piper took another gumball and chewed. Right after the blew a bubble, transforming back to her normal self, she heard sirens. I guess they called the cops.
Piper snuggled down in her seat. Now that she was away from all the chaos, tiredness hit her like a truck. She let her eyes close.
"What do you mean, she got away?!" Kid Danger threw his hands out in a Are-You-Freaking-Kidding-Me?! gesture. "How?!"
"She was really fast." Jasper panted. Captain Man nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Although I could've caught her if Jasper here hadn't abandoned his post."
"Hey, she would've gotten away a whole lot faster if not for me!" Jasper yelled, standing up for himself.
"Shut up, Jasper!"
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Wow."
Everyone glanced over to where Dr. Minyak was sitting in a cop car, yelling obscene things at Captain Man and, um, the three Kid Dangers. Nurse Cohort, as it turns out, had managed to outrun both Captain Man and Jasper and get away, and some cops were trying to figure out where she went. Captain Man shifted his gaze to the Man Van.
"Captain Man?" Everyone turned around to see a pair of cops. One, a man, was trying to keep from squealing in excitement as he addressed the super hero. The other, a woman, was rolling her eyes and finally just talked for her partner.
"Captain Man, and, um, Kid Dangers, we found what appears to be an office. It's fully intact. Should we search it or would you like to?"
"We will. Has anyone found Nurse Cohort?"
"Not yet, but we'll keep looking."
"Alright."
The cops left. Or, more accurately, the female cop dragged her partner away before he started being an annoying fanboy in front of the supers. Captain Man turned to the kids.
"Charlotte and Jasper, go raid the office. We'll be there in a minute." Nodding, Charlotte and Jasper left, looking over their shoulders before becoming out of sight.
Captain Man turned to his sidekick. "Henry, how much does she know?"
"What?"
"Piper!"
"Oh. She doesn't," he lied. "She was knocked out until, like, a minute before you guys showed up. Thanks, by the way."
Captain Man looked relieved. "Good, I didn't need you whining about her brain getting wiped. Guess you guys got lucky. And you're welcome. Come on, let's go."
"Yep." They half walked, half jogged in the direction the cops and friends had. Kid Danger had never been all that religous, but he said a silent prayer of thanks that Captain Man hadn't seen right through him. He had always protected his baby sister by not telling her a secret.
Now he was keeping a secret from his boss to protect her.
The office search was not in any way a waste of time. The superheroes (etc.) found hard copies of files that listed who everyone was involved in everything. Everything meaning all of Minyak's plans since after the time his brain was wiped. Most of the henchmen had already been identified by the cops who were taking the unconscious bodies to their cars. A laptop (with a weak password that was Minyak) had digital copies of all these files. The only person, it seemed, who got away was Nurse Cohort.
One more thing: they found Henry's gumball tube and watch. The tube was hidden in plain sight, placed in a pencil jar. Kid Danger gripped it tight, not letting it go. The watch, which he immediately put back on, was just sitting on the desk.
"What did Ray want to talk to you about?" Charlotte asked him as they walked back to the Man Van.
Kid Danger glanced behind him, where Captain Man had decided to chew out Jasper again for leaving Piper and fighting/chasing Nurse Cohort around. "He was asking me if Piper knew."
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "And?"
Kid Danger glanced over his shoulder again to see Captain Man and Jasper coming. He turned his head back. "I'll explain later."
Charlotte raised her eyebrows even higher. "Oh, boy."
Kid Danger climbed into the back seat so he could sit with Piper. Charlotte followed him, leaving the front passenger seat to Jasper. Captain Man climbed into the driver's seat and followed the last few cop cars that were leaving. "Is she asleep?" He asked, referring to Piper.
Kid Danger glanced down at his little sister, whose eyes were closed and breathing was steady. "Yeah."
"Alright. You guys go on ahead on transform back."
They all silently obeyed. Henry took three gumballs out of his tube and distributed them to his friends before pocketing it. They all chewed and blew, colorful lights filling up the Man Van. Charlotte took off her wig and wigcap, letting her curls loose. Jasper still had the black goo in his hair.
Henry glanced down back at his sister. Still asleep.
Except she wasn't. Piper had woken up when she heard the doors open, but stayed down because she didn't want anyone to figure out that she knew, assuming Kid Danger hadn't told. She kept her eyes closed and breathing steady while she eavesdropped.
"Alright, you guys. I'm dropping y'all off at Henry's house."
"Ray, what about my parents?" Henry hadn't thought of of them once since Piper had been locked up with him.
"Don't worry," said Charlotte before Captain Man could. "We found Piper's phone- here's her stuff, by the way." She picked up the backpack from the Man Van floor. They had taken it with them after finding it. "Anyway, I hacked in and listened to the conversation she and her mom had. They won't be home until tomorrow." She gave him a subtle look that said It was also very confusing. Henry figured the others hadn't listened to it because no one asked why Piper lied for him.
"Today." Everyone looked at Captain Man. "What?" Charlotte said.
Captain Man pointed to the van clock. It was a few minutes past midnight.
"Today, then, but not for a while. Which gives you guys time to clean your house because it was completely trashed."
"I know." Charlotte stepped on his foot. Oops. "Yeah, before I got knocked out I saw a bunch of stuff get knocked over." This was actually true, but exaggerated.
"Yeah," said Charlotte. "That makes sense."
Henry mouthed Thanks. She mouthed You're welcome back.
The rest of the ride was silent because no one wanted to wake up Piper. Ironic, really, seeing as how she wasn't asleep.
She heard Henry lie for her.
She didn't dare say it out loud: Thank you, Henry.
Captain Man dropped all four kids off at Henry's house, but Charlotte and Henry made Jasper leave. They loved the guy, but Henry didn't trust him enough. He was sure Ray would find out in less than a week. Captain Man left to go get information from the police.
"Alright, turn on a light." Henry didn't want it to bug Piper, whom he was carrying, but he had to see. "Can you help me get Piper upstairs?"
"I'm not asleep." Piper opened her eyes. Henry was so startled he almost dropped her. "Careful!"
"Okay, then. If you're awake, then you're helping us clean," said Henry, gently setting he down. He turned to Charlotte. "How did you find us?"
"You owe me an explanation first," she said, nodded towards Piper and crossing her arms.
Henry looked from his best friend to his sister and back again. "This," he said, "is going to be a long night."
Alright, so I am not making any promises here, but I think it's safe to say that the story will not have very many more chapters. I'm pretty sure it won't be complete by New Year, but as said, I'm not making any promises.
Ciao, and Happy Reading!