Rig carried them across the city to their destination. He was a Defect and needed no driver, but Luke and Autumn sat in his cab anyway. The Defects plus the Knight operatives were in the trailer.

While FLAG's mobile base may have been a better choice of transportation, it was flush with electronics and signals. Easily detectable by the HRO's security systems, as described by KITT. Who was now in the trailer, powered down so as not to alert the system. Of course, he hadn't powered down before plotting a course for Rig.

Nevertheless, slipping through the city undetected in an orange and black Peterbilt with a rusty dry-box trailer was easy. And as Rig's air brakes yelped upon stopping, the only sounds were that of distant traffic and the steady rainfall.

Slowly and quietly, KITT powered back up, red scanning light in his hood moving back and forth. It illuminated the dark inside of the trailer, General and Diablo looking up. Michael, who had been seated on KITT's hood, looked up as well.

"We're here," he said.

The floor creaked as Tank took a step. Outside, there was a louder creak and a faint sliver of light appeared between the two doors. As the back doors swung open to reveal Luke and Autumn ushering them out, the five of them hopped out, KITT rolling rather than hopping. But the picture remains.

They found themselves less than a block away from a large building enclosed inside a chain-link fence. There was also a warehouse, which seemed to be of less importance.

"Place really brings back memories from Acid," Luke remarked quietly.

"On the outside, yes, but the interior layout is entirely different. I can't tell you the exact layout of the building, however, unlike Acid where it had individual floors, the HRO building is apparently very open concept and the main wing has no floors at all and in fact a fifty-foot ceiling," KITT explained.

"I guess that limits the amount of area we have to look," Autumn said with a shrug.

"What do y'all think is the best way in there?" General asked.

"If you had clearance, I'd say the front door," Michael said, "but you don't. So I'd recommend you go in through that grate down there." He pointed to the unnaturally raised piece of land inside the fence, rusty metal just barely seen in the grass.

Tank scoffed. "Good eye."

"Do you even know where that's gonna take us?" Diablo asked.

"It's got to lead somewhere," Michael said with a shrug.

"We'll try it," Tank said.

"Can you even fit down there, cabron?" Diablo asked mockingly.

"Will you shut up? For five minutes? Just shut up?"

"Okay, damn."

"Alright, Tank'll get us over the fence and we'll crawl down that hole to see where we end up. Guess we'll have a handle on it by then." General turned to Michael and KITT. "Thanks a lot y'all."

Michael nodded and KITT's scanner flushed. "Any time," Michael said.

KITT nudged him with his door.

"Oh, right." Michael cleared his throat, taking his comm-link off. He tossed it to General who caught it and examined it in his hand. "Here, this will let us stay in touch. Just do me a favor and don't lose it. Bonnie will tear me a knew one if you do."

"And I won't be making any excuses for him," KITT added.

General nodded, fastening the device onto his wrist. "I'll keep it safe, I promise."

"Will y'all hurry it up, you have no idea how much I hate long good-byes," Autumn growled.

General rolled his eyes, holding a hand out to Michael, who shook it. "I hope you'll settle for a 'see ya later' 'cause I don't really plan on dyin'."

Michael nodded. "I'll settle for that."

With that, General dropped his hand, nodded, and turned to leave. He didn't bother to look back, not wanting to waste any more time.

Their walk to the fence was brisk and quiet. They shied from lights, keeping low, slithering up to the fence. Autumn had her shotgun, holding it close to her chest. Slowly and carefully, she turned it so that the wooden stock protruded outward, inching it toward the fence. The fence sparked and sizzled as it came into contact with the rubber end of the stock.

"Electric," Autumn hissed.

"Alright, so how're we gonna do this? Over or under?" Luke asked, folding his arms.

"Over," Tank replied, grabbing him.

"Hey, what d'you think you're doin'?"

Tank didn't reply and simply threw.

"Holy shit!" Luke exclaimed as he twisted in the air, landing on the other side of the fence.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Tank's really strong!" General called after him.

Luke staggered to his feet, checking himself over for any broken bones. "Anythin' else you forgot to tell me about?" He shook his head, cracking his back.

"Not off the top of my head, no. But I'm sure I'll remember later on."

Luke sighed. "Great."

Autumn was next, handing her gun off to General as Tank tossed her over the fence, Luke catching her. General handed her the gun through the fence and Tank then threw him, Luke and Autumn catching him as well. Then Diablo was sent over, and they were left to look at Tank who still remained.

"Great plan, now he's stuck over there," Luke muttered.

Tank turned away from the fence, walking a couple dozen feet away.

"What's he doin'?" Autumn asked.

Just as soon as she said that, Tank started running. Towards them.

"I'd move," General said, watching him approach. And as he got closer, panicked a little. "I'd move!" he exclaimed, shoving the others out of the way.

In one swift motion, Tank jumped up, over the fence, landing with a roll and a breathy huff.

"Tank's got crazy superhuman abilities too?" Luke asked incredulously.

"I don't know, he just really strong," General argued with a shrug.

"He just jumped a twelve-foot fence!"

Tank stood, brushing himself off. "C'mon y'all, we ain't got all day."

He made his way to the grate in the ground, kneeling before it and grabbing it, pulling up forcefully. With a groan of metal, the grate came off in Tank's hands, who tossed it aside. One by one, they hopped down with a splash, unknown liquid sitting in the bottom.

"Is this what I think it is?" Autumn asked, lifting her foot.

"Good day to be wearin' boots," Luke remarked.

They heard Tank groan as he found his white Vans to be tainted.

Diablo held up a hand, a dancing ball of fire flickering in his hand and illuminating the conduit. They looked down the round, concrete enclosure. It was damp and liquid dripped from the walls. Beyond Diablo's light, it was pitch black.

Tank had to duck his head in order to stand in the tight space, a hand on either side of the curved walls.

"You happen to have a gut feelin' of where he is?" General asked.

Tank shook his head. "No, I don't. It'd be better if he was movin', I ain't even sure if he's here."

"We're gonna look for him, come on!" Diablo said, rushing off into the darkness.

The others followed, not wanting to be left behind. If it wasn't for the little Defect's light, he would've easily been lost. He stopped at every intersection, pulling Tank forward and asking him which way to go. And Tank directed them, his intuition telling them where to go. After some time, the party was brought to a stop, Tank holding out a hand.

"Gimme some light," he said to Diablo.

Diablo obliged, holding his hand up to the ceiling. There they found another grate and Tank smiled.

"Bingo," he said.

He reached up, taking hold of the grate. With a powerful shove, the metal grate was forced upwards, free of the concrete. As he slid the grate to the side, Diablo jumped up onto him, scaling him as if he were a tree. In a moment, he was on the floor above, looking down at them. As Tank helped the others up, they all stood in the room, looking around. On one wall were rows of doors that reached all the way up to the ceiling. They were connected by catwalks, each one a floor of its own. In the middle where they stood and Tank was emerging, there seemed to be a mechanic's shop. There was a lift and toolboxes. A few lone parts strewn about.

"Alright, now what?" Luke asked.

The group looked around, listening for any signs of life. A deafening rumble of thunder shook the building. Tank looked around anxiously.

"He knows we're here," he said.

Just then, there was a spell of static emitted from the device on General's wrist, and out came KITT's voice.

"General? Do you copy?"

General held the device up so he could talk into it. "I'm here, KITT."

"Stay there."

"What? But we ain't even found Thunder yet."

"I said," just then, the voice distorted, growing deeper, "don't move."

General raised an eyebrow, looking up at the sound of a familiar engine. From a dark corner of the large, open room, came a yellow light, much like KITT's, moving back and forth. Scanning.

In that moment, eyes grew wide and hearts went still as the black and white form charged them. The five rolled out of the way quickly, diving for cover. Autumn racked a slug and fired, the round sparking against the car's body and ricocheting off.

"Bulletproof?" she exclaimed.

Luke hauled her up, the two of them running, circling around the lift. Meanwhile, Diablo had thrown some of his fire at it, only to find that it did absolutely nothing.

"Fireproof too!" he called back.

Then, Tank leapt into action, waving his arms to get the car's attention. And when it charged him, he didn't run from it, and instead met it headlong, grabbing its front and throwing himself in a barrel-roll, turning the car onto it's top, wheels spinning in the air. As he staggered to his feet, breathing heavily, the others gathered around.

General had been trying to call the real KITT but to no avail. As he did, there was a haunting laugh, seemingly coming from the upturned car.

"You won't reach him in here," it said.

"Who are you? And what're you doin' in here?" Luke asked.

"I am the Knight Automated Roving Robot, the original FLAG operative. And you can forget about calling the clone, I jammed your signal."

"Unjam it then, we gotta get ahold of somebody," Autumn said sternly.

"No, you… you're in danger here, you can't call for help, you're trapped."

Everyone looked to General who was toying with the device on his wrist, trying to get something to go through. Finally, he smacked it with a closed fist, Michael Knight's voice coming through.

"You guys all right?"

"We are now. Good thing I'm well-versed in a little redneck ingenuity," General replied.

"We ran into some trouble, nothin' I couldn't handle though," Tank added.

General walked over to the upturned car, holding the face of the device out. "Friend of yours?"

After a moment, KITT replied. "That's KARR, he's supposed to be in storage. He must have escaped. I'll call Devon and have the Foundation retrieve him."

"Great. Any other pointers you can give us?"

"My scanners suggest that Thunder is located in the south wing of the building. The electro-magnetic frequency in that area is off the charts. But I'm afraid that's all the further information I can give you."

"Thanks a lot, KITT, we've got it from here."

"And south is that way," Luke said, pointing.

"Great, let's go y'all."

General took off toward where Luke had been pointing, the others following.

"Where are you going? You can't leave me here like this!" KARR called after them.

"Already am!" General called back.

Autumn stopped at the doorway where they entered the southern wing, loading another slug into her shotgun. "I'll stay here and make sure nobody follows y'all in."

Luke nodded as he shut the door behind them, turning down the dark corridor where the others were making their way, Diablo at the front providing light. Luke jogged to catch up to them, falling in beside General.

"Y'know," he remarked, "it's kinda weird that we didn't think to bring flashlights."

General looked at him, raising an eyebrow in thought. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I don't know," he said sheepishly, "guess I'm still used to havin' headlights, y'know?"

"D'you miss it? Bein' a car I mean."

"Sometimes. But it's nice bein' human. I can feel and hear and smell things that I couldn't before, and honestly, it's been nice. I even forget I'm human sometimes, it's kinda weird, I dunno."

"You ever get scared? Feel vulnerable? 'Cause y'know you're not made outta metal anymore."

General shrugged. "Never really had a reason to be scared until today."

Luke nodded and found that they'd arrived at another door. It was a big roll-up door, tall and wide. On the other side, more rumbles of thunder could be heard. Luke walked up to it, thumbing his pockets. He turned to Tank, nodding to the door.

"Think you can handle this, too?" he asked.

Tank looked at the door, sizing it up. With a crack of his knuckles, he approached, bending to grab the bottom, and forcing it upward. With a strained groan, he lifted it, the door rolling up all the way, leaving them open to what lay beyond.

And what lay beyond was about a dozen faces staring back at them, genuinely stunned by their appearance. A bearded man looked up, catching the Defects' gazes. Tank zeroed-in on him right away, eyes narrowing into a dangerous glare.

"You," he growled.

The room was lacking a roof, which was one of the first things they noticed. There was also about half a dozen armed guards in there with the old man. In the center, however, was a large metal contraption, which looked like some kind of rigged lightning rod. And secured to it was the Defect himself. Thunder.

He looked up at the sound of Tank's voice, seemingly not believing what he was hearing at first but relief melting onto his face upon seeing them all there.

"Gen!" he called.

And General turned at the sound of his name just in time to see one of the guards taking a black, metal rod to his side. He heard Thunder scream in agony, watched as his face twisted in pain. He about took off to go get him but Luke held him back.

"Careful," he warned.

From where Tank was poised, he rolled his shoulders and spoke in a growl of a voice. "Y'all get Thunder and take care of the guards. Halton's mine."

With that, Tank lunged forward, immediately catching hands with one of the guards. Flames sprouted in Diablo's hands and crowned his head and shoulders.

"Since when does he call the shots?" he asked.

"Since he came up with the plan," General explained, turning to punch one of the guards in the gut, only to find that they were armored.

As he shook his hand, trying to shake off the pain, the guard swung at him, Luke catching their arm, however, before they could land a hit. He knocked them out with one solid punch to the head, letting them drop to the floor.

"Dammit, General, I said be careful!" he exclaimed.

General gave his hand another shake. "Oh would you cut me some slack? I just told you I ain't used to this!"

He went after another guard, this time hitting them in the face before kicking in their knee.

Meanwhile, Diablo had managed to pester Tank into throwing him, to which the little Defect became a flaming bowling ball. The guards all steered clear of him. Any one that got too close soon found their uniform on fire.

While they fought, trying to keep the guards at bay and rescue Thunder, the former truck still stood bound to the lightning rod, face slowly turning to the onyx sky. The storm was brewing, angry and swirling, rain pouring into the roofless room. And in the span of less than a second, the sky flashed, a daunting arc of white flashing down, striking the lightning rod.

General watched Thunder's body jerk and he immediately went limp, wisps of steam rising from his skin. Immediately, the man in orange ran to him, struggling to free him. However, a guard came up behind him, seizing his arms and trying to drag him away.

Seeing this, Diablo rushed over, quickly freeing Thunder and trying to haul him up onto his shoulders. Meanwhile, the guard had tried to put their hand over General's mouth. Nevertheless, he bit them. That was an odd thing, to bite someone. He'd never bitten anyone before. It felt weird, as if he were going against his programming. He immediately released them, spitting, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. The guard had since reeled away in pain, holding their hand.

"He bit me! He bit me!" they yelled as they ran.

General raised an eyebrow. They were acting as if they'd just been bitten by a vampire or a rabid animal. Like their fate was sealed somehow. But he supposed, it wasn't very often that Defects went around biting people.

He ran to Diablo to help him carry Thunder, looking back over his shoulder to see that the doctor was on his way out, seemingly not wanting to get caught in any crossfire. Dissatisfied, they continued back the way they'd come, under the large door and back into the corridor. Tank fell back as well, having taken a hit to the stomach from one of those sticks that the guards carried around. Luke knocked out one more, then, seeing as most of them had either been knocked out or retreated, he followed the others back. Tank ran ahead, hearing a commotion at the door where Autumn had stood guard.

At that same time, there was a loud siren, all the lights suddenly going out only to then flash red. In an instant, the rolling door fell, just when Luke was right underneath it. By some miracle, he caught it, but it was heavy, and he dropped to one knee. He strained underneath its weight, trying to keep it above his shoulders to prevent being crushed.

General and Diablo collapsed with Thunder in the corridor, General looking back to see Luke struggling with the door.

"Luke!" General yelled, starting to panic.

He ran to him, leaving Diablo and Thunder. He ducked underneath the door beside Luke, grabbing the bottom and lifting, helping as well as he could.

Meanwhile, Tank found Autumn on the inside of the door, trying to hold it shut from the barrage of guards that had appeared there. From there, he took over, forcing the door shut and holding it there, even when the guards started trying to ram it open. Autumn braced her back against the door, holding her shotgun to her chest.

"They tried to trap us," Tank growled.

"We are trapped, I saw that door go down," Autumn argued, wincing as their door was rammed again.

Tank shook his head. "Luke caught it, he's holdin' it open."

"Is he tryin' to kill himself?"

Tank shrugged, looking down at her.

In the middle of the corridor, Diablo knelt by Thunder's side, trying to wake him. His skin was colored with bruises and shed oil. And his hair was shorter than it had been. They'd cut it. The bastards had cut it.

"Come on, Tormentoso," Diablo said, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, please, just wake up!"

But Thunder didn't stir. He didn't even seem to be breathing.

Luke and General had made little progress with the door in the meantime, and General was running out of ideas. Finally, Luke spoke up, General turning his gaze to him to find that his right eye was horribly bloodshot.

"General, back away," he said, his voice choking and strained.

"What? Why? Luke, this thing could crush you!" General argued.

"I know, but I got an idea."

General hesitated, but slowly released his hold of the door, muscles finally relaxing and he felt drained as he stepped away, watching Luke warily. For a moment, he seemed to struggle underneath the door. Then, slowly, he straightened, managing to plant his feet under him. General watched in awe as the Duke boy pushed the door up, over his head. With a final shove, he sent the door back up into the ceiling. Luke stood in the doorway for a moment, swaying a little uneasily on his feet. General ran back to him, catching him before he could fall as he lost consciousness. He set him down gently, looking back down the corridor at Diablo and Tank.

"Luke's down!" he called out.

"Thunder's still out," Diablo reported.

"We're still kickin' but we're pretty pinned down up here," Tank added.

"Hey, we got Thunder, why don't we just go while we still can?" General asked.

Tank growled again. "I ain't leavin' here until Halton's six feet in the ground!"

He struggled to hold back the door as it was rammed again and Diablo looked between him and General, mind awash with worry. That is, until he heard a soft groan and a shift beneath his hand.

"Thunder?" he ventured.

The once-limp form on the floor was now moving, pushing itself up. Thunder groaned and coughed, looking up at General and Luke in front of the open door. And, oddly enough, something unexpected happened.

Arcs of electricity jumped between Thunder's shoulders, twisting down his arms, illuminating his face.

"No mames," Diablo said quietly.

"He's back!" General exclaimed.

Tentatively, Thunder stood, a bit unsteady at first, but soon regained his balance.

"He better go find that bastard," Tank said, bracing himself against the door again.

"Don't worry," Thunder finally spoke, not looking at anyone as he did, "Halton's mine." He gestured behind him. "C'mon."

Diablo nodded and got up to follow Thunder, admiring the electricity that arced around his tall frame. Autumn and Tank exchanged glances, quickly pushing away from the door and running down the corridor. In front of the door, General helped Luke to his feet, carrying the both of them into the roofless room, quickly followed by Diablo, Thunder, Tank, and Autumn. The very second that Autumn was out, Thunder slammed his fist against a metal box that'd been fixed to the wall, sparks flying and the door fell again, trapping the pursuing guards inside. Everyone but Thunder and Diablo slumped against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Y'all all right?" Thunder asked.

General laughed. "I should be askin' the same thing about you." His voice grew quiet. "You've been through a lot, Thunder."

Thunder's gaze flickered away. "I know… but I'm gonna set things straight, y'all just wait here, alright?"

General nodded watching him and Diablo go.

From beside him, there was a groan, and he found that Luke had regained consciousness.

"And how're you feelin'?" General asked.

Luke sighed, running a hand over his face. "Like I got hit by a ton of bricks."

"Looks to me like you've got some superhuman strength yourself."

Luke rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, about that, listen, I'll tell you about it later, after my ears stop ringin' and my head stops spinnin'."

"Y'know, I can't help but think that it's got somethin' to do with Clayton and the fact that you're here."

"Wouldn't you believe it."

Thunder moved briskly, directing Diablo down another dark corridor with its red, flashing emergency lights. "My gut tells me he came this way," he explained. "You drive him towards me from this way and I'll finish him off on the other side."

"Wait, how d'you know where you're going?" Diablo asked.

Thunder's nose wrinkled a little bit. "Escape attempts are useful, successful or not."

And, with that, he was gone, leaving Diablo to his own devices. In other words, the smaller Defect drew fire to his hands again to light his way, and, in turn, maybe scare the wretched doctor.

Speaking of, he found him not minutes later, tampering with a breaker box which half a dozen rails of conduit fed into. The man startled, seeing him. Diablo smirked, amused by his reaction. He let his fire burn bigger, hotter, and brighter, lighting up the corridor. The doctor turned to run, looking over his shoulder at him once or twice as he ran. As he made it to the end of the corridor where the only way out was a door on the left, he didn't have much time to react as said door flew open, revealing the likes of Thunder who had broken it open just in the knick of time.

Diablo stopped where he was, eager but wanting to keep his distance. This was for Thunder to do, and for Thunder to do alone.

Thunder stepped from the shadow of the doorway, the electrical arcs around his body growing and he stood over the doctor, who's expression steadily grew more and more fearful. Thunder's hands rose, electrical sparks flying between his fingers and from his palms.

"Let's see how you like it you son of a bitch," Thunder growled, reaching for the doctor.

The man turned to try and run but Thunder caught him, clapping his hands down on either side of his head and holding him there, sending his electricity right into the man's skull.

Halton let out an agonizing scream, a terrible sound that could have shaken the earth. Thunder, however, didn't let go until the screaming stopped. And as the doctor's limp form crumpled to the floor, Thunder still stood, looking down at it.

"You killed him," Diablo said incredulously.

Thunder was quiet for a moment before finally answering. "He didn't just hurt me, Diablo. There were other Defects here. And now he can't hurt anyone else."

"That doesn't weigh on your conscience? You don't care if you're guilty?"

"Guilty of what? Killin' a human?" Thunder scoffed and pushed past Diablo. "That ain't no human. That's a monster."

For once, they'd managed to pull something off without something burning down. Which they seemed to have a bad track record of. In the early morning hours, the Knight Foundation was restraining KARR and KITT and Michael were being thanked for their help. Michael's comm-link was returned, unscathed.

Thunder refused questioning left and right, dismissing just about anyone who so much as looked at him. General inquired about legal charges to be pressed against him for the murder of Dr. Halton, however, as Defects weren't yet legally acknowledged as sentient beings, there wasn't much to be done.

It was jarring to say the least. General hadn't exactly gone in there with the intention to kill, but then again, it wasn't up to him this time. It had been Tank's plan from the start, then Thunder who carried out the rest of it. No, it had been Thunder's decision, and General understood that Thunder alone would have to live with the consequences of that decision. But still, something about the whole situation was still gnawing at him. Thunder had certainly threatened to kill before, and maybe even had the intention but had never acted upon it. Until now.

As General stole a glance towards Thunder who walked solemnly, alone, isolated from the rest, broad shoulders hunched, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity. He'll talk when he's ready, he reminded himself. And that was that.

Upon regrouping at the hospital, the party found Clayton loitering outside. Immediately, Luke was on his case.

"What're you doin' back here?" he asked. "Weren't you gonna go handle that whole Michelle situation?"

Clayton blew smoke from his cigar, holding up a golden key. "Already taken care of. Bitch locked away in her box, national peace restored."

"That fast?"

"No, cher, the bitch can freeze time, the battle lasted for decades and I am exhausted, can we please go home now? I miss my ceiling."

"I don't… I dunno why I even ask anymore 'cause every time you just tell me the weirdest shit and the worst part about it is that it's actually probably true."

"Then stop askin'."

Luke rolled his eyes, not wanting to carry on the conversation any longer. He walked away, heading for the doors to the hospital wing. Clayton shrugged and continued to smoke outside, watching as the others followed inside.

Everyone besides Tank, Grant, Autumn, and Gravedigger had gone home that next day. It wasn't until two days later that Grant was finally discharged from the hospital. By then, Autumn and Gravedigger had already made amends. She couldn't, after all, stay mad at him.

Tank walked out of the hospital doors and into the warm morning sunlight, carrying Grant bridal-style in his arms.

"Now, you remember what the doctor told you?" the big Defect asked.

Grant had been sipping from the straw of a water bottle, wearing a pair of 'stylish,' gas station sunglasses. He counted off on his fingers. "Hydration, rest, no solid foods for two weeks."

Tank sighed. "You gonna remember all that or d'you need me to remind you."

"I'll remember."

Tank scoffed. "No you won't."

Grant lowered his sunglasses, shooting him a glare. "Yes. I will."

"Your memory's trash."

"You're trash."

"Your mom's trash."

Grant lifted his sunglasses, taking another sip. "Your face is trash."

"You're a handful."

"Put me down then."

"Alright, I will."

Grant was quick to wrap his arms around Tank's neck. "No!"

"That's what I thought."

If y'all are wonderin' how they got back to Hazzard, Gravedigger's Speaker allowance took care of a couple bus tickets for 'em. And wouldn't you know it, the venue at Chickamahoney is open….