Hey, I finally found the time and inspiration to bring you another chapter in this story. But first, here's today's featured profile. All the way from the Las Vegas strip, here's the one and only Golem!

Golem

Full name: Mitchell Dukes

Nicknames: Mitch, Luke (he and Bryan are sometimes called the "Dukes of Hazard")

Age: 14

Birthdate: December 28 Sign: Capricorn Element: Earth Planet: Saturn

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Gray

Family: parents (unnamed) Daisy Mae (paternal grandmother) Fred and Bryan (older half-brothers)

Mutation: Golem's mutation is similar to his oldest brother's in that he's incredibly strong and hard to move as long as he's on the ground. He gets his name, however, from his ability to turn his skin into rock, thus providing him enhanced resistance to injury.

Personality: Mitch is quieter than his brother/teammate Bryan. He prefers not to interfere in his teammates' fights unless he's asked to, or the person just gets on his nerves. He's the thinker of the family, and seems to be the most level-headed of the Dukes clan. This is probably due to his upbringing. Since his mother worked long, odd hours as a dancer in Las Vegas, NV, Mitch learned to fend for himself at an early age.

Mitch is slow to anger, speak, and react. He doesn't like to take things too quick, but rather enjoys savoring every moment. He's extremely devoted to his family and friends and would do just about anything to protect them.

Learning to Breathe

61. Leads

"All-right, anybody come up with some useful information?" Andi "Atlantis" Creed asked the other teens gathered around her. After a week of chasing after evidence trails, she'd come up with nothing that could lead them to the mutant-killer now haunting the area.

"Yeah, a big fat goose egg." Kid Razor scoffed. "The cops are keepin' this case locked down tight."

"Means that the government is about to get involved." Bryan said. "So, will it be FBI or SHIELD?"

"Does it matter?" Regan asked. "If we don't catch this guy before they get here, we'll probably get the blame. Or at the very least, get exposed."

"What we need it to get to the scene of the crimes first." Kristen stated. "Then we can sniff for clues and decide where to go from there."

"Then you'd better get going now." Neal said, running in. "Virus picked up another missing person's report. Kid named Preston Bradley."

"Bradley?" Kris blinked. "I know that name."

"Oh my god!" Regan gasped. "Mason! That's got to be the little brother he kept talking about."

"Who?" Razor blinked.

"Mason Bradley was the name of one of the kids who went into the labs, but didn't make it out." Regan said. "He was in my cell block. Kept talking about how his family must be worried sick and how he wanted to see his kid brother."

"Well we need to find the kid brother ASAP." Mitch said. "We only got a few days before that creep kills him."

"Then we move now." Andi said, getting up. "Chaos, Thunderbird, you two take Regan and scope out the crime scene. 'Rona, you stay here with Golem, Leathersuit, and Virus and keep us posted."

"What about you three leftovers?" Bryan asked.

"I'm getting to that!" Andi exclaimed. "The three of us will be breaking into the morgue so Kris can get a good whiff of this last victim before the coroner washes the scent away."

"Better you than me." Regan scoffed.

The trip to the coroner's office was rather uneventful, save for Andi clinging to Razor for dear life as the trio streaked across the sky. Getting into the office during working hours, however, posed a challenge. Even with the Kid of Rock's favorable standing with the local P.D., none of the people at the front desk would let the "meddling kids" into the inner workings of the office.

Luckily, the one they needed most on the inside could get in without anyone noticing.

Ever since her run-in with a clan of insane vampires a few months back, Vampira had been discovering several "bonus" abilities that they'd unwittingly unleashed in her. One of those abilities constituted of her changing into a bat. But since animals were frowned upon inside a medical facility, she chose to use another of her molecule-altering powers: She turned herself into a smoke cloud and floated through the ventilation system.

The morgue itself smelled of formaldehyde and pine-scented disinfectant, and it overwhelmed her sensitive senses. Even as a smoke cloud, she could smell better than anyone else on the team. She waited until the coroner left, and then descended and reformed into her half-vampire self. It only took a minute to get to the newest body in the case. It was being processed and was out on the table. Taking a quick tour of the injuries inflicted, and the lack of any kind of defensive marks, she began working out the reason for these anomalies. Her conclusion: hypnosis or all-out mind control. She also caught whiff of a familiar scent on the body, but couldn't place its source right away. When she did, however, she gasped.

"Andi." She said into the communicator in her pocket. "I know who's doing this."

"Who is it?" The other girl responded.

"These kids are being controlled." Kristen said. "It's Locust."

Over at the Bradley home, the first Shadowatch team hadn't come up with much. While the family remembered the kids from their first son's funeral/memorial service, the cops refused to let them into the home. But they didn't need to enter. They just needed to look through their eyes.

That's where Regan came into play.

But even with her sharing the eyes and mind of the crime scene investigators, she came up with little more than that it was consistent with the other abductions. She was trying to pick through the lead investigator's memories when her com link started beeping.

"This had better be good." She grumbled.

"Reg, it's Locust. Locust is behind the murders." Andi's voice stated. "Kris found his scent on the body and I'll bet it's all over that crime scene… she's on her way there now to confirm it."

The Italian girl gasped. Locust? Sure, his sanity had suffered after they left the lab and entered the real world again, but she hadn't thought he'd do this. "He's broken two rules then." She said. "Don't kill another mutant without just cause and don't harm the relatives of one of the lost ones."

"The Government won't be able to cage him." Andi said. "If they can even find him. Plus there's the fact that he must be punished for this infraction."

"Let's meet up back at the base and discuss our next course of action." Regan said. "I just saw Kris run into the house, so we'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay. See you there." Andi replied before switching the link off. Kristen appeared on their side of the tape again, staring at the team.

"It's him." She said simply. "And we need to find him fast."

"Let the chase begin." Neal deadpanned.