Coiley, Multi, and Skittles got up the next morning, ready to hit the road for the next stop on their concert tour. They stood by Fluey's room and knocked on the door.
"Okay, Fluey, wake up and face the music!" Coiley shouted. "Time to get going!"
There was no answer. Skittles began whining, and she pawed at the door.
"He knows we have to get going," Multi said. Then he began banging on the door, a little louder than Coiley had. "Fluey, come on! We don't want to be late for our own concert!"
"He must really be sacked out," Coiley said. Skittles began whimpering harder, until it became a full scale whine. Then, she backed up, revved up until her legs became a blur, and blasted right for the door, knocking it off it's hinges as she hit it.
"Skittles!" Coiley shouted. "I don't think that was necessary!"
"Wait a minute, Coiley," Multi said. "Skittles only acts like that when she knows there's trouble afoot. Come on. Let's investigate."
The two boys walked into the hotel room, only to find it empty. Immediately, Skittles began sniffing around.
"Nothing's here," Multi said, looking all over the room. "You don't think Manikatti's men showed up last night, do you?"
"No," Coiley said, looking around. "There's no sign of a struggle. And if Manikatti's men had been here last night, then I think Fluey's guitar and stuff would still be here. He could have left on his own, to avoid the two of us getting mixed up with Manikatti's goons."
"That's a possibility, Coiley, but I'm not sure it's really what happened."
"Why not?"
"Just ask Skittles."
Coiley looked over at the pup. She was sitting there, looking at both Multi and Coiley, her eyes huge, and full of worry. The Impossibles couldn't explain it, but Skittles always knew when one of her boys was in trouble.
"You've got a point, Multi," Coiley said. "Let me go get my guitar. I'm gonna see if I can call fluey before I call HQ."
Multi nodded. He picked up his pup, and followed Coiley out of the room. They both went into Coiley's hotel room, and Coiley picked up his guitar, and activated the TV screen in it.
"Come in, Fluey," he said. "Do you read me?"
Coiley waited, but he wasn't getting anything.
"Maybe he's out of range," Multi said.
"He can't be," Coiley said. "If he were, I'd get static. I don't know why he isn't answering."
"Well, keep trying. Maybe he took his communicator off to take a shower or something, and he can't hear it."
Coiley nodded, and kept the signal going.
At that moment, Fluey did hear his wrist communicator beeping. It had awakened him from that chloroform induced slumber from the night before.
"Mmmppphhh," he moaned, as he slowly came to his senses. He had no idea where he was, now. The only thing he remembered was seeing Manikatti's goons in his hotel room, being grabbed, and then being put to sleep. Now he was in some unfamiliar room, laying on a bed, with his ankles tied together, his hands tied behind his back, and gagged, and his wrist communicator going off.
Fluey shook his head to regain composure, and sat up. He began maneuvering his hands to get them loose, or at least to reach his communicator to activate it. He figured either Coiley or Multi was calling to find out where he was. If he could activate it, even though he couldn't tell his friends (unless he managed to untie himself before activating his communicator), But he didn't encounter the beeping attracting Nicky, Johnny, and Gino's attention. They suddenly came into the room, and found the source of the noise.
"Darn kid's watch alarm," Johnny grumbled, and he immediately took off Fluey's wrist communicator.
"Wait a minute," Nicky said, taking the device from Johnny. "This ain't no watch! This is a SSHQ device!"
"You mean he's an agent?" Gino asked.
"Doesn't surprise me," Johnny said. "I mean, we're the ones who offed Jack Dawson after the Don found out his daughter spent a weekend in a hotel room with him. He must've been the result of that little weekend."
"How do you like that?" Nicky smirked. "Even though you've never met your biological daddy, you're following in his footsteps."
Nicky let out a sarcastic laugh, dropped Fluey's communicator on the floor, and stomped on it, crushing it.
"Well, you'll definitely follow in his footsteps when the time is right, little Tony," he said.
"We ain't gonna do the job now?" Gino asked.
"Nah," Nicky said. "I need time to prepare. Not to mention some time to think over how to do this. I'm not sure if I want to do it quickly and get it over with, or slowly and watch him suffer."
The three gangsters laughed and left the room, locking the door behind them. Fluey groaned, and continued to try to untie himself. It was about all he could do now.
Meanwhile, Coiley deactivated his guitar, and turned to Multi.
"He's not answering," he said. "Five minutes of trying to call him, and he never even answered."
"Coiley, I think we'd better call the chief," Multi said. "I have a feeling, if anyone associated with Big Tony Manikatti is involved, it's going to be noting but trouble."
"Good idea," Coiley said, and he activated his guitar again. "Coil Man calling Big D. Come in, chief. Urgent. Repeat, urgent!"
"Big D here," the chief said, answering his communication device. "And if this urgent call is about what I think it's about, then I guess I don't need to inform you about the jailbreak."
"No, sir," Coiley said. "But we think they might have caught up to us."
"What makes you say that, Coil?"
"Fluey's gone. At first we didn't think it was foul play, because all of his things were gone, as well. You know, his guitar, his transformer, his clothes . . . . . the stuff he took on tour."
"We checked the entire room, Big D," Multi said. "Nothing was out of place, and there was no sign of a struggle. So it is possible he left on his own, to try to avoid Coiley and me getting involved with Manikatti's men. But I don't think that's the case."
"So you think Fluid was abducted by Manikatti's men," Big D said.
"Skittles seems to think so, chief," Multi said. "You know she's got a sixth sense like that."
"True," Big D said. "But she could be reacting from worry. You know how attached she is to the three of you."
"We tried calling him, chief, but he never answered," Coiley said. "I had the transmitter on for five minutes."
"Very well put," Big D said. "I want you two, and your dog, to report back to headquarters immediately. Once you're here, we'll work on a plan of action."
"Roger, Big D," Coiley said, and he ended the transmission. "Come on, Multi! We've got to get back to HQ ASAP!"
Coiley and Multi grabbed their stuff and raced out to the Impossi-Mobile, with Skittles right behind them. Coiley converted to Impossi-Jet, and they took off straight for Megatropolis.
Meanwhile, Fluey was trying to come up with an idea to get loose. He noticed the nightstand by the bed he was laying on, and managed to pull himself up, and move toward the corner. He began rubbing the ropes binding his hands against the corner of the nightstand until they snapped off. The minute his hands were free, he pulled off his gag and immediately began untying his ankles.
"Whew!" he said, breathing in a sigh of relief. "I'd better get outta here now while I can. No way do I want to handle these guys by myself! I may be impulsive, but I'm not stupid!"
Fluey ran toward the nearby window. Unfortunately, just as he opened it, the door flew open, and there were the three gangsters.
"Hold it!" Nicky shouted, pulling out his gun.
"I'm outta here!" Fluey yelled, and he climbed out the window right out onto the fire escape. Nicky was about to fire, when Johnny grabbed his arm.
"Someone'll hear you!" he yelled.
"After that brat!" Nicky shouted, and he, Johnny, and Gino climbed out the window themselves.
Once Fluey reached the street, he looked up, and saw the gangsters climbing down. Immediately, he took off running as fast as he could, hoping it would be enough of a head start. While he was running, he noted his surroundings. It was obvious he was in some kind of big city, in a seedy part of town, much like where his biological mother had taken him when she paid him an unexpected visit. Graffiti splattered the walls, drug dealers were in the alleys, trying to avoid the cops, a couple of homeless people digging through dumpsters, a bag lady pushing a shopping cart and babbling incoherently, and quite a few streetwalkers. Fluey just kept on running, looking over his shoulder every couple of minutes. Sure enough, those three mobsters were after him.
"Oh boy," he groaned. "I gotta lose them!"
Fluey ducked into an alley as fast as he could, and pressed himself up against the wall, just as Nicky, Johnny, and Gino stopped, right in front of it.
"Dang!" Nicky shouted. "We lost him!"
"We'd better find that kid before he gets to the police station," Johnny said.
The three gangsters left just then, and Fluey heaved a second sigh of relief. But his relief was short lived. He stepped away from the wall, and glanced down the street, watching the three hoods leave when suddenly . . . . . .
KLONK!
Someone had whacked Fluey in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Dr. White, please report to pediatrics."
That was the next thing Fluey heard. He slowly opened his eyes, and was nearly blinded by a light. He looked around the strange room. He had an IV in his arm. He was feeling dizzy, and his head was killing him.
Where am I? he thought, a little nervously. What happened? How did I get here?
As he was looking around the room, a dark-haired woman wearing a nurse's uniform came into the room.
"Well," she said, smiling. "Glad to see you're awake. You've been unconscious for the past six hours."
"Six . . . . . six hours?" Fluey asked. "But . . . . but what happened? Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here?"
"Calm down, take it easy," the nurse said. "You're at St. Joseph's Hospital. You were found laying in an alley. Apparently, someone knocked you unconscious. You have yourself a nasty bump on the head back there. Now, when you were found, you didn't have any identification on you. My guess is whoever knocked you out stole your wallet or something like that. I need to know your name."
"My name?" Fluey repeated. "It's . . . . . it's . . . . . uhhhh . . . . . . uhhhh . . . . ."
Fluey thought it over. But his mind was a blank. He couldn't even remember his own name.
"I don't know," he said, finally. "I don't remember. I don't even remember what happened before I woke up! My mind's a complete blank!"
"Oh dear," the nurse said. "A classic case of amnesia if I ever saw one. This is going to be tough."
"Not so tough, really," a voice said from the doorway. Both Fluey and the nurse looked, and there was a tall man with dark hair wearing a pinstripe suit.
"Who are you?" the nurse asked.
"Nick Carlisle," the man said. "I'm the boy's uncle."
"You are?" Fluey asked.
"Yeah, you remember your Uncle Nicky, don'tcha?" Nick asked. Then he turned to the nurse. "His name's Anthony Andrews. His mother was my sister. She and her husband were killed when he was a little tyke, and I've been taking care of him ever since. I could just kick myself for this. I sent him to the grocery store by himself, and look what happened."
"Well, Mr. Carlisle," the nurse said. "I'm going to need you to fill out some paperwork. Luckily, your nephew's going to be fine, and he can leave in an hour."
"Fabulous," Nick said, and he began filling out the paperwork. Once the nurse left, Nick turned to Fluey.
"You don't remember anything, do you, kid?" he asked.
"Nothing," Fluey replied. "Nothing at all. It's like someone erased everything up there, you know?"
"Okay. You don't know who I really am, then?"
"I don't even know who I am!"
"What does the name Tony Manikatti mean to you?"
"Tony Manikatti? Sounds like Italian food to me."
Nick smiled, sneakily. This was perfect.
"Listen, kid," he said. "The story I fed the nurse was mostly baloney. I couldn't tell her the truth, because there'd be trouble if I did. My name's Nicky Calamari. And I'm not your biological uncle. I'm an old pal of your grandad's. See, you were practically raised by me and my two pals and your grandad. His name was Antonio Manikatti. And your name is Anthony Manikatti, but most people call you Little Tony, 'cause they'd call your granddad Big Tony. See, your granddad was the head of the Syndicate. And you were just like him. Oh boy, where you ever like him!"
"Really?" Fluey asked.
"Yeah. Matter of fact, that's how you ended up here. You were taking care of some punk character when a buddy of his knocked ya out and prepared to fit you for cement shoes. So what do you say we pick up where we left off? The Manikatti name will live on."
Fluey thought this over. He was starting to become intrigued by this whole thing.
"Let's do it," he said.