Terry was standing on the edge of the Wayne-Powers at the top floor, staying out of the window's path to avoid being seen by Powers and Fixx. Unbeknownst to him, Coba was directly in front of him and the window, using her suit's invisibility feature. They both held their fingers (which had pads on them that enabled them to hear better) against the glass and listened to the rest of Powers's conversation with Casnian minister of commerce, Filmoce Egans, for the last few minutes.

"...even with animals," they first heard clearly from Powers.

"And humans?" Egans asked. "You've tested it on them, too?"

"The laws here aren't as liberal about that sort of thing as they are in your country, but we did have a little accident." Derek pulled out a few photos, all of Harry Tully, from his jacket. "One of my workers, terrible thing," he said, not sympathetic for Tully at all. "There was a gas leak in his lab." He held the first photo in front of Egans's face, revealing Tully to have black spots here and there on his body. "This is what he looked like the next day- -" (Powers slipped the second photo over the first, this time revealing Harry with more black spots) "- -two hours later- -" (then the third one, which Egans cringed in disgust at) "- -and an hour after that."

Egans looked at Powers uncomfortably. "There is no cure?" he asked concernedly.

Powers took the photos back, but started to pull out another as he said, "Extreme heat or radiation, but at this stage that's obviously not an option." He held the fourth and final picture for Filmoce to see. Filmoce cringed even more, trying to look away but his eyes would not allow it. Powers grinned malignantly. "Dust to dust," he said slowly in a heinous voice.

Coba and Terry clenched their jaws in rage as they continued to eavesdrop. "Consider what a real dose of this gas could do to those six armored divisions your neighbors keep on your border," Powers continued as Fixx held a lighter to the photos, setting them on fire. "Gone!" The villainous businessman threw the flaming pictures towards Egans's feet. "In a matter of hours."

Filmoce was awestruck for another moment before smiling satisfactorily and standing up from his chair. "Delivery," he said in his foreign accent, "it's in progress?"

"My men are loading the canisters as we speak," Powers replied. "They leave tonight on hover transport. My assistant, Mr. Fixx- -" (Coba angrily clenched her fists together tightly) "- -will personally supervise the shipment."

"Excellent," Egans said evilly, shaking Powers's hand and turning to leave. "Goodbye, Mr. Powers. I will see you again soon- -I hope."

Powers watched the prime minister leave. "Yes, soon." He waited until Egans was out of the room before he turned his attention to Fixx. "Mr. Fixx, any word on the kid?"

"Not yet," Fixx responded, "but we're looking."

"I don't have to tell you how important this deal is to Wayne-Powers," Powers snarled. "It's going to open up the entire Eastern-block for us, so I don't need it spoiled by a snot-nosed punk."

Fixx grinned wickedly. "I took care of his old man, didn't I?"

Terry and Coba clenched their fists together with rage at the mention of Fixx killing their father. I'll give him what's coming to him! they each thought.

"Yes, and you did a wonderful job with that," Powers continued, "but I heard about how you went after the Brooklyn girl last night and got beaten up by a black mutt. If you fail to kill the McGinnis boy like you did the girl, I'll make sure you never fail again. I don't want him giving me the wrong disc again. Do you have any idea how annoying Justin Bieber is?"

The larger of the two villains lightly brushed his hand over the spot his left eye used to be as he and his employer left the room. "I know how annoying he is: I was listening to his cacophony of music with you, remember? And no, I won't fail you this time, Mr. Powers," he said in a gruff, evil voice. I will not let that girl make a fool out of me again, and I won't give the boy another chance at it either!

I'll take this guy down, Coba, Terry thought. I'll do it for you and Dad, I swear it!

Mom, Dad, Coba thought, if you can hear my thoughts right now, your murderer will soon have what's coming to him.

"It's a little early for Halloween" a taunting voice said behind Terry, bringing up a gun.

Batman turned to face the guard threatening him. "But just in time for fall!" he said in a deeper voice than usual. If I'm dressed like Batman, then I should at least sound kinda like him. He fell backwards purposefully and opened the suit's wings, gliding gracefully to the ground.

The guard and his companions immediately began shooting at Terry. Fearing for her brother's life, Batgirl flung herself headlong at the guards. The first guard was completely caught off guard by the invisible girl's attack. He stumbled backwards and fell off of the ledge to a lower level, taking all of the other guards with him. Coba turned off her suit's camouflage feature before she glided after Terry. That worked out better than I thought!

Terry ran towards the warehouse, unaware that he was no longer being shot at until he saw Coba hard on his heels. "What are you doing?" he snapped once they were inside. "You could get yourself killed out here!"

Coba threw her best improvisation of the famous Bat-glare at him. "You could get killed out here too, you know!" she shot back in a low whisper. "Now keep your voice down or we'll both be found!"

"Kids!" a hoarse voice crackled through their com-links. "Can you hear me?"

"Who-who's that?" Terry asked in a surprised whisper.

"It's Wayne," the voice replied.

"Mr. Wayne? Where are you?"

"There's a radio receiver in your cowl."

No kidding! Coba thought irritably.

"Where are you two now?" Bruce asked.

"Some kind of warehouse," Coba answered. "It's located to the south wall of the Wayne-Powers building. We're trying to get to where the hover transports are being loaded, but we're also trying to shake off some guards."

"You've got a long ways yet. The hover pads are in the north-east sector."

"Just our luck," Terry scowled. "How exactly do we get there without being spotted?"

Bruce thought it over for a long minute. "There should be a broom closet nearby," he said at last. "Once you're in there, push hard against the far wall."

"I saw them go in here!" a voice from outside shouted.

Several more voices shouted in acknowledgement, followed by quick footsteps drawing closer and louder to the teenagers each passing second. Coba turned to her brother urgently. "You go ahead," she said seriously. "I'll hold them off."

"Are you crazy?!" Terry whispered angrily. "I won't leave you here!"

"My right leg slows me down, remember? Besides, I'll be harder to catch with invisibility on, and you have a better chance of stopping Powers and Fixx by yourself than I do. Get going!"

"But you'll get kil- -"

"Don't argue with me! Go, now!"

Terry knew better than to continue to try to talk his sister out of it. He knew that she was right. "Good luck, Coba," he murmured. He quickly dashed through the warehouse, searching for the broom closet Bruce was telling him and Coba about.

"What on earth are you thinking, Coba?" Bruce shouted. "They'll kill you after they take you to Fixx!"

"If they catch me first," Coba added. "I have a plan of my own for if I do get caught, but I also have a plan that will most likely get me away without much trouble. Keep quiet: I can hear them coming!" She turned on her invisibility as the guards came in one by one.

"Search the area and guard the entrance!" the first patroller said urgently. "They can't get out anywhere other than there."

Not according to Bruce Wayne, you oaf, Coba thought with a small grin. She quietly sneaked around to the back, seeing a door to a small room. That's the broom closet! Should I go ahead and join Terry while they're still busy? She shook her head. No, they'll see me open the door and push the wall, and that'll get them to follow me and Terry. I'd better place myself between them and the closet and fight them off, like I said I would. This is for you, brother.

Three guards were approaching the closet fast when Coba sprung into action. She jumped up and performed a spin kick, hitting their heads in one swift move and knocking them unconscious. Two more guards, having seen their companions fall in senseless heaps, dashed to the scene. Coba grabbed them both by the back of their heads and slammed them together. She turned off her invisibility as ten more guards surrounded her. They all lunged at her reflexively, but the new Batgirl was ready for them. She flew up to the roof, causing the patrolmen to collide with each other and fall down senselessly. Coba turned her invisibility back on before she landed back onto the ground. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Now to find the hover pads...

A large fist slammed into Brooklyn's back, disabling the camouflage feature of her suit. Fixx removed the high-tech goggles from his head before he roughly grabbed the small girl and pinned her hands behind her back. "You little Bat-brat," he mocked. "If you thought that you could get away with spying on us, you were wrong. I also know that you are not alone. Where's your friend?"

Coba shot her best Bat-glare at Fixx, causing him to flinch with fear. "He's not here, meat-head!" she growled. "He's probably long gone by now."

Fixx threw Batgirl at the nearest cement wall. Her back collided painfully with the wall, but she did her best to hide her pain. She grinned fiercely with a crazy look in her eyes before jumping up, grabbing the goggles from Fixx's grasp and breaking them. Before Fixx had the time to react, Coba made herself invisible and ran stealthily out of the building. Fixx decided against trying to track her down, knowing that he had to immediately warn Powers of what was going on if the shipment was supposed to be successful.

~!~

Batman was almost to the hover pads when someone caught his eye. "Coba!" he whispered through the com-link in relief, running towards his sister.

The young girl had turned her camouflage off once she knew that she was out of Fixx's sight. She noticed her brother coming towards her as fast as he could. "Terry," she gasped in relief, almost out of breath from running. "You got away alright."

Terry patted her back gently. "Looks like you did, too. How'd you manage without me this time?"

Coba grinned. "I added some features to this suit, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Terry replied, grinning. "Come on: we've got a shipment of gas to stop."

"Right behind you, bro. Well- -" Coba grinned cheekily- - "this time. For the most part, anyway."

McGinnis raised an eyebrow at the Coba through the cowl. "What do you mean, 'for the most part'?"

"You'll see." She grinned even bigger. "Then again, maybe you won't be able to see."

"Let me guess, camouflage."

"Exactly."

"Hold on," Wayne's voice crackled through the receivers in their cowls. "There's another thing that you should know about the hover pads."

"What's that?" Coba asked curiously, interested in what was in store for her and her brother. "They lack cover for us, don't they?"

"How the heck did you- -" Bruce started.

"- -know?" Coba finished. "It was just a lucky guess. Am I right, though?"

"Yeah, you're right. Terry, there are some magnets on the feet of the Batsuit. You should be able to hide underneath the metal platform several yards away from the hover transporter. I'm guessing that you added those in your suit too, Coba."

"Actually, it's the one thing that I don't have," Batgirl confessed. "But my camouflage should still work." She switched it on to make sure, then switched it back off. "Alright, it still works."

Bruce sighed in relief. "Excellent. I'll see you two later, knock on wood."

The two siblings silently continued on their way to the hover transport. "Wish us luck," Terry murmured.

~!~

Wayne had been sitting in the computer chair all the while listening and responding to the two teenagers. He became somewhat sullen when he heard Terry's last words in the conversation. "Good luck," he said.

Ace looked up at his master in concern, knowing that Bruce was worried about Terry and Coba. His eyes seemed to show concern for the two teenagers' safety, as well. "They've got each other and technology on their side, boy," Bruce reassured his canine companion. "They'll be alright."

At least I hope so.

Author's Notes:

I don't know how to spell the minister of commerce's name, so I decided to wing it.

One step closer to the final conflict! I hope you're as stoked about it as I am!