Chapter 18: Brain Blast
In the basement of the First National Bank of New Rushland, the squad had blocked off the storage room where the device sat. Detective Ayisha Cash put on her protective suit to join the bomb squad before using her device to contact Krasnaya about the situation. At last, she got a good look at the device with her own eyes; it was a dirty bomb hooked up to a computer. On the screen was a timer counting down from eleven minutes and forty-seven seconds and a riddle: "What is worth everything to you, but worth nothing to everyone else, yet is still a terrible thing to waste?"
"What are we dealing with?" Ayisha couldn't help but ask.
"Can't quite identify what's in the canisters, but the wiring is the real deal."
"And the word game?"
Detective Cash's companion merely winced even as he turned to look at the nearby computer terminal. "That sort of thing wasn't exactly covered in basic training."
"Alright… give me some breathing room…" She ordered. "Go see if the bomb squad is here yet."
"Yes, detective." The officer nodded as he left the room, not noticing the trio of dark figures who entered shortly after. Krasnaya, Azure, and Magenta approached the bomb.
"Figured you might be showing up here, though I'm not sure if it'll be much help, what with how little time is on the bomb's countdown," Detective Cash declared.
"If it helps, I think I might still be able to hack the computer terminal to shut things down here," Magenta remarked.
"No need: I already know the answer to the word game here," Kransnaya said as she approached the terminal in question. "'What is worth everything to you, but worth nothing to everyone else, yet is still a terrible thing to waste?' The answer; 'your mind.'"
Ayisha simply watched as Kransaya entered the answer into the terminal, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as the countdown on the terminal stopped with canisters around them suddenly powering down not long afterwards. Said relief soon turned to panic however as the intercom gave off some feedback, indicating that someone was accessing it despite the power being off in the building, thus showing that something was very wrong here even as the terminal switched to a video feed.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" a new voice called out over the intercom after Kransaya solved the puzzle. "Seems that there are some fairly intelligent individuals in New Rushland, after all."
Before Detective Cash or the trio of vigilantes could react, a series of lights turned on around the computer terminal, which now showcased a young woman in a mask displaying a smug expression. "Shall we see just how intelligent you really are? Come now: step into the light so that IQ may test you."
Not wanting to expose her partnership with the Crimson Crusader, Detective Cash motioned for the vigilantes to stay back while she stepped into the light. "IQ, huh? Alright, my name is Detective Ayisha Cash, and I look forward to arresting you for domestic terrorism, attempted destruction of public property, felony-"
"Ah, ah, ah, my dear detective." IQ wagged her finger. "You've only solved one problem on my test, tonight. If you want to find me, you'll have to pass the entire exam. If you get even one question wrong, the city goes up in smoke. And no cheating! You have to pass fair and square! And don't think I won't know if you do. Because I will."
A few minutes later, Cash rushed out of the basement, past her coworkers, and got into her car. While the chief and other officers were focused on her, they failed to notice the Crimson Crusader and her sidekicks following from the rooftops.
"Cash, where are you going?"
"This isn't the only place where bombs were set up, and I'm hoping to take care of them all before New Rushland is a crater," Ayisha called out before getting into her car and driving off.
Rojos quickly got into her squad car so as to follow her, only to freeze upon hearing a voice on the radio. "Detective Cash has a chance to disable my bombs, but if I catch anyone following her and, well, I'd need to react accordingly, so to all cops listening to this transmission, I leave you with but one word of instructions: do. Not. Follow her."
"I don't take orders from criminals," Rojos snarled out before speeding off after Ayisha in spite of the warning.
Meanwhile, Cash turned on her car's siren as she tore down the streets of New Rushland, all while the Crimson Crusader and her sidekicks stealthily rode behind her to keep tabs on what was happening. Thankfully, Dr. Oobleck had installed the latest cloaking technology into the Warthog, allowing them to remain undetected as they followed the detective.
As it turned out the next bomb had been set on the underside of the bridge, forcing Ayisha to pull up alongside a van that was parked at the bridge's center that was marked with a brain painted on the side and had the initials "IQ" on the license plate so as to identify it.
She cautiously entered the van, keeping the back door open so that Krasnaya and Co. could see inside. Just like before, the bomb was hooked up to a computer with a timer and a question on the screen. She was just about to read the question when she heard a voice behind her.
"Cash! What's it say?" Rojos whispered.
"Chief?! What're you doing?!"
"I warned you, Chief! No cheating!" IQ's voice suddenly called out before the vehicle started up and started driving away via remote control. Fortunately Krasnaya was able to sneak a hidden drone into the van before it got too far. "Now then, detective, you still have a chance to ace my test before you literally crash and burn, though I'd hurry before the same happens to everyone else on this bridge."
Krasnaya converted her hammer into a tablet which she used to spy through the device. The screen on the van's computer displayed a question similarly to the others before; "A train leaves Vale City traveling at 60 MPH. An hour later, at noon, another train leaves Vale City at 80 MPH. When are the two trains the same distance from Vale City?"
"Oh! Oh! I know this one! We just covered it in math class!" Azure gripped the sides of her head as she thought about the question. "Uh, um… 60 plus 60X equals 80X… X being the number of hours… 60X equals 20X… divide both sides by 20-"
"Three hours." Magenta finished.
"I had it!" Azure blushed, angrily.
Regardless, Detective Cash entered the answer into the console and pressed enter. The van screeched to a halt just in time. And like before, IQ's image appeared on the screen.
"Nice to see you're still alive, detective," IQ mockingly declared. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a guardian angel looking after you."
"Why're you doing this?" Ayisha asked.
"Knowledge is power, detective." IQ remarked. "And I couldn't help but notice when I moved here that New Rushland's police force is painfully lacking in that department. So, I've come up with a test to find out if you little piggies were actually worth a damn."
"Who are you to decide that?" Cash sneered. "I earned this badge along with all of my coworkers! We work within the law to uphold-!"
"Oh, come now, detective. You're boring me." IQ yawned. "Besides, you still have more tests to pass before the night is over. Tick-tock…"
Once the image disappeared, Cash wasted no time in getting back in her own patrol car and racing off to the next location.
The third bomb was located near the fountain in New Rushland Central Park. It was hooked up to a scale with two empty jugs next to it. The timer had started, claiming that the detective had only seven minutes to solve the puzzle. Ayisha picked up the note and tapped her earpiece as she read it out loud. "Okay, 'to disarm this bomb, you must set exactly 15.14 kilograms of water on the scale.'"
"Oh, great." Azure grumbled. "I knew I should've paid attention in math class when they covered the metric system."
"Luckily, I know." Krasnaya remarked before speaking into the communicator. "Alright, Cash, 15.14 kilograms is four gallons of water."
"Uh, bit of a problem here." The detective replied as she held up both jugs. "I've only got a three-gallon and five-gallon jug to work with."
Krasnaya rubbed her chin as she thought about the solution. Her analytical mind went over every possible option until she found the right answer. At last; "Okay, follow these instructions exactly." She ordered.
"I'm listening." Ayisha nodded.
"First, fill the three-gallon jug and then empty it into the five-gallon jug." Krasnaya instructed, watching Ayisha's actions as she spoke. "Next, fill the three-gallon jug again and pour it into the five-gallon jug until it's full. That will leave one gallon in the three-gallon jug. Empty the five gallon jug again, and then pour the one gallon from the three-gallon jug into the five-gallon jug. Finally, fill the three-gallon jug once more, then pour it into the five-gallon jug to give you-"
"FOUR GALLONS!" Azure, Magenta, and Ayisha exclaimed, excitedly.
Sure enough, the Crimson Crusader's calculations proved correct. The four gallons weighed down on the scale, reading 15.14 kilograms exactly, and stopping the bomb's timer. But the detective didn't have much time to celebrate as the computer screen displayed IQ's image once more.
"Very good, detective. Very good." IQ complemented. "But don't go getting a swollen head just yet. I'm banking on you struggling with the next tests."
"Well keep banking: I don't plan on letting you destroy the city," Ayisha growled out.
"Well you'd better get moving then," IQ smugly remarked before the screen changed to show where the location of the next bomb was located.
Ayisha merely grumbled as she hurried back to her car and headed to the next location, Krasnaya and her partners hot on her trail. Fortunately, they didn't have to go that far, seeing as it turned out that the next bomb was located in New Rushland's Grand Orchestral Theater.
"Okay, I've got a lock." Ayisha whispered into her communicator. "And three keys labeled 'A,' 'C,' and 'D.'"
"Hmm… I'm not sure I understand this one." Krasnaya remarked. She studied the surrounding area until she spotted a street sign that read "Banana Blvd." "Three keys, three As. Try the 'A' key."
Ayisha picked up the first key which activated a trigger mechanism. The detective narrowly dodged a pair of blades that popped out of the wall. Thankfully, the timer hadn't sped up, but it hadn't stopped either. "Okay… not that one." Ayisha remarked. "Let me try the second one."
"No!" Magenta suddenly called out. "Choose that one and three blades will pop out! Pick the 'D' key."
Against her better judgment, the detective carefully picked up the third key. Nothing happened, so she inserted it into the lock on the bomb, stopping the timer with two minutes to spare.
"How'd you know that'd work?" Azure couldn't help but ask.
"It's a musical reference." Magenta explained. "The key of A has two sharps, and the key of C has three."
"But the key of D has no sharps." Krasnaya nodded, impressed with Magenta's reasoning.
"Not bad," Aiysha declared over the radio.
"Oh, I do agree, though you should probably think about seeing someone about your habit of talking to yourself," IQ teased over the intercom, having apparently heard the Detective's previous comment.
"I'll get right on that after you're behind bars," Detective Cash said with an internal groan even as she headed over to the next location.
As it turned out, the next bomb was located at a local chapel with said bomb being connected to a large organ. Again, there was a screen attached to the bomb. This time, however, once the detective stepped towards it, the computer played a song on the organ without the final note. The screen prompted Cash to finish the song before a five minute countdown began.
Thankfully, Krasnaya recognized the melody as the national anthem of the original Rushland.
"Go ahead and press the key at the end: three spaces from the right."
Aiysha reached for one of the keys on the organ and pressed it…only to suddenly jump to the side as some debris nearly fell on top of her.
"Your other right," Krasnaya deadpanned, causing her companion to give a sheepish grin even while ignoring the debris next to her.
"Hehe, sorry, though in my defense, it's been a fairly stressful night so it's hard to think straight," Aiysha called out with a nervous chuckle.
"Perhaps, though that just makes it all the more important to try and keep calm at this point in time," Krasnaya pointed out.
"Fair point," Detective Cash acknowledged even as she reached over and pressed the correct key on the organ, stopping the countdown as a result. The screen flashed a set of coordinates, along with the words "One Last Test." Twenty minutes later, Cash and the vigilantes found themselves at the power plant on the outskirts of the city. Krasnaya viewed the scene with binoculars while Azure and Magenta could only listen with anticipation.
"So this is your final test?" Ayisha couldn't help but ask.
"Indeed it is: after all, if you fail this time, you and everyone else in New Rushland will be ancient history." IQ declared.
"Well get on with it then: I just want this night to be over with."
"Aw, and we were having so much fun, but alright… your final question… 'a man builds a house with all four walls facing North. A bear walks past the house. What color is the bear?"
While her sidekicks tried to solve the brain teaser along with Cash, Krasnaya lowered her binoculars in confusion. Something about this question seemed a bit odd compared to the others. Then, she remembered a few things IQ had said earlier; "Knowledge is power… I'm banking on you struggling with the next test… oh, come now, detective. You're boring me…"
"'Boring…' Like with a drill. Looks like IQ can't help but provide tests for her opponents even when she's not supposed to," Krasnaya observed before walking up to Detective Cash.
"Okay, uh… if all four walls are facing North…" Ayisha thought out loud as she tried to solve the riddle. "Then the house must be at the southernmost part of the world, so it's at the South Pole! It's a polar bear! The bear is white!" She was just about to type in the answer when Krasnaya grabbed her wrist. "Hey! What're you doing?!"
"There are no polar bears at the South Pole. This question has no real answer." To prove her point, Krasnaya fearlessly yanked the tubbing out of the canisters. The detective and her side-kicks flinched in shock, but the Crimson Crusader was unfazed. Nothing had happened. Magenta knelt down to touch the substance.
"Hey, this isn't nitroglycerin…" He pulled his mask up just enough to uncover his mouth and taste the viscous liquid. "Yuck! It's lime jelly!"
"IQ's been playing us the whole time." Krasnaya explained. "Trying to distract us while she carries out her real plan."
"Which is…?"
"...in the process of being completed beneath the last place we'd think to look…again."
Meanwhile IQ smirked even as her henchmen gathered up various materials and downloaded files from the computers of the First National Bank of New Rushland. "We're in the endgame now."
As all of this was happening, the rest of the police were going over all of the locations that Detective Cash had visited, hoping that there would be some sort of pattern there letting them know where IQ was located. "Anything yet?" Commissioner Maroon couldn't help but ask.
"Unfortunately nothing as of yet," Detective Neon reluctantly declared. "Say what you will about this guy, but she's earned her moniker as 'IQ' as she wasn't stupid enough to make things easy for us."
"Ugh, I really hate tests," Rojos couldn't help but groan out upon hearing this.
"Look I'm not a fan of playing this madwoman's game either, but it's not like a clue about what she's up to is going to come bursting through the door," Commissioner Maroon felt the need to point out.
Luckily, Krasnaya and her companions had figured out the enigmatic riddle of IQ's true location; the basement of the bank where this whole night began. As her tech-savvy minions used their computers to hack into the city's mainframe next door, the would-be terrorist impatiently paced back and forth in the doorway. But she stopped in her tracks once she saw Detective Aiysha Cash suddenly appear.
"Knowledge is power, eh? I'm guessing that you're hoping to use the Bank as a backdoor to the city's mainframe, thus allowing you to gain access to all of New Rushland's secrets, but I'm afraid you'll never get the chance to use those secrets. Now surrender IQ or we'll see if you're smart enough to know how to dodge a bullet."
Rather than look intimidated by this threat, IQ merely smirked even as she turned around with her hands coming together in a slow clap. "Congratulations detective: you made it to the end of my game, and I must admit, I'm impressed that you've managed to pull this all off…is what I would be saying if I didn't know that you've been getting a bit of help this whole time."
"I don't know what you're…"
"Please, don't try to insult my intelligence at this stage," IQ interrupted Ayisha with a roll of her eyes. "You really think I went to all this trouble to get your attention? No, there was someone else who I've been after: someone who, unbeknownst to your colleagues, has been helping you out this whole time. Isn't that right, Krasnaya?"
Knowing that there was no use in denying it, Krasnaya stepped out of the shadows with her two partners in tow. "This game has gone on long enough, IQ…or should I say, Indigo Quinn?"
"I couldn't agree more, Krasnaya…or would you prefer that I still refer to you as 'Boss'?"
"You two know each other?" Detective Cash couldn't help but ask with a wide-eyed expression.
"Oh, this might be the first time that Kransaya and IQ have met but Indigo Quinn used to work with Kransaya in their mutual civilian lives." IQ explained. "Admittedly I did think to blackmail her with that information once I had discovered it, but something a colleague said got me thinking: blackmailing the person who had done so much for our fair city? There's no true triumph in that: any punk with a gun could do the same thing on any other day, and revealing her identity was also out of the question as a test where everyone knows the answer is hardly a test at all. No, what I wanted was to prove to everyone that I was the superior intellect in this city: that I was just as capable of achieving her accomplishments as she was, and before you ask why I didn't just become a vigilante like her, well, we all know how little anyone actually likes that sort of thing in this town."
"I hate that I can't refute that," Azure and Magenta declared at the same time while thinking about Rojos and company, much to their mutual embarrassment.
"One thing I'm curious about though, Crimson Crusader, is if you knew it was me from the beginning," IQ allowed herself to admit.
"Just about," Krasnaya declared. "Aside from a few subtle quirks you displayed that were all too familiar, you're literally using your initials as your alias: not exactly hard to figure out who you were."
"I'll admit that I wasn't being as subtle as I could've been," IQ said with a shrug, "but that hardly matters, as there's still one more test for you and your companions to go through…but first, a quick pop quiz: name one question which you can never say 'yes' to."
Before Krasnaya and company could comprehend what this meant, they found themselves being hit with tranquilizer darts that had them falling to the ground. Before she blacked out though, Kransaya could hear IQ give a smug chuckle. "Ooh, times up: the answer I was looking for was 'Are you asleep?'"
Ten minutes later, the group woke up to find themselves trapped in different ways. Krasnaya was simply bound by her arms and legs, Azure was being held in a glass tube with a water hose attached, Magenta was strapped to an electric chair, and Detective Cash strapped to a table with a pendulum hanging above her.
Krasnaya struggled against her restraints in an attempt to break free, but the more she moved the tighter it got. Azure tried punching and kicking the glass, but barely managed to scratch it due to the tight squeeze. Not even Magenta and Cash could break out of their bonds. At last, the group's captor stepped into the light.
"Welcome, Krasnya, to my final test for the evening."IQ smiled. "Here's how this works. I know who the Red Woman is. And I have it on good authority that the Blue Wonder knows who the Red Woman is. But I'm certain that this fuschia fellow over here doesn't know."
"That's Magenta, you know-it-all freak!" Magenta snapped.
IQ ignored the sidekick's remark and carried on. "So, I'm going to host one final test tonight. Each of your companions have been strapped to killing machines powered by the lie detector next to you! Magenta will be allowed to ask you twenty questions, and each one you answer falsely will power their devices. And by the time he's finished, if he doesn't accurately guess who you are… slice, zap, blub. Oh, and for some added fun, all of this is being broadcasted live all over New Rushland. Magenta, begin."
Magenta looked over towards his hero, unsure of what to do. "Um… Krasnaya… are you a native to New Rushland?"
"... no."
Suddenly, the hose attached to Azure's tank began to fill the tank with water until it was up to her knees, Magenta was given a painful jolt, and the pendulum above Cash dropped a few inches.
"What the hell, Quinn?!" Krasnaya growled out upon seeing this. "You know that what I said was technically the truth!"
"Ah, that's right: you in your civilian life were technically born and raised somewhere with a different name, but the question was whether or not Krasnaya was native to New Rushland, and as New Rushland was the first place that the Crimson Crusader appeared in, technically speaking, you still told a lie," IQ smugly declared, showcasing that she did indeed know all about the original Rushland but found a loophole in said question to play it to her favor.
"Oh, great: the psycho with an ego plans to cheat in this lethal quiz show: how did I not see that coming?" Azure sarcastically asked with a deadpan expression.
"Cheat!? How dare you?! I'm going to…" IQ snarled out as she approached Azure's prison…only to stop at the last second, with a light chuckle escaping her lips. "Ah, you almost had me there, but nope: you aren't going to rile me up."
"I'm pretty sure I just did," Azure smugly remarked.
"Perhaps, but don't mistake me for all of your other foes: I'm not going to make the mistake of attacking you while you're already trapped, as that will only give you the opportunity to escape, which I can't have you doing just yet," IQ declared with an equally smug grin.
"Ah well: can't blame a girl for trying," Azure said with a shrug even as she began to grow nervous.
"Quite. Anyways, shall we continue?" IQ asked in a way that showcased that she wasn't going to give the group a choice in the matter.
While this was being broadcast, the NRPD watched with tension as one of their fellow officers was being held against her will. However, while everyone else was focused on the peril - Commissioner Maroon in particular seemed horrified at what Magenta was going through - Detective Neon noticed Cash doing something with her fingers.
"Chartreuse, zoom in on Cash's hand…" He ordered. Once the officer did as she was told, Neon rubbed his chin as she studied the pattern of the tapping fingers. "I think that's morse code. She's trying to tell us where she is!"
In the meantime, the water was now up to Azure's neck, Magenta's suit was smoking from the constant shocks, and the pendulum was just two swings away from slicing Cash's stomach open. Despite Magenta's best efforts, IQ's loopholes meant that his questions caused more harm than good. As for the Crimson Crusader, she seethed with rage at the shameless way IQ toyed with her loved ones right in front of her, straining against her bonds in a fruitless attempt to strangle their captor.
"Congratulations, Magenta!" IQ grinned. "Krasnaya does indeed have a day job. That's nineteen questions down with only one to go before you have to accurately guess her identity. Choose carefully."
Magenta felt the tears stinging his eyes beneath his mask; with all the pain he was in, there was no way he could think straight enough to remember the answers to his questions in order to guess who Krasnaya was. "I'm sorry, mom." He thought to himself before choosing to face his destiny with courage. "I feel like I might already know the answer to this, but are you a policewoman?"
Thankfully, Detective Cash noticed something about her own trap and got an idea. "Magenta! I'll tell you who Krasnaya is!" She called out.
"What?!" IQ spluttered. "You don't know! There's no way you could know!"
"I do know! She's-!"
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" IQ instinctively ran to cover the detective's mouth. "No cheating! No cheating!"
Krasnaya smiled as she finally understood what Cash was doing. "Magenta, the answer to 'am I a policewoman?' is yes."
Before IQ could react, the pendulum above Cash swung through the air, slicing the remote-control cane to pieces and releasing Krasnaya's restraints.
IQ merely scowled as Krasnaya rushed towards her before she pressed a spot in the floor with her foot, opening up a trapdoor that allowed her to escape to another part of the facility. "The game isn't over yet, Crimson Crusader!"
Krasnaya snarled at the predicament before approaching the other three individuals in the room, breaking them out of their prisons soon afterwards. "You okay?"
"Well I'm soaking wet, but other than that, I'm good," Azure remarked as she got out of the tank.
"I'm okay too, though I probably won't be able to watch horror movies for a while after this," Aiysha declared as she got to her feet.
"I'm…I'm sorry," Magenta called out with tears in his eyes even as Krasnaya helped him out of the electric chair. "I didn't want to participate, but she was going to…"
"Hey, it's okay," Krasnaya said with a kindhearted smile on her face. "I don't blame you for what happened. I'm just sorry you had to go through all of that."
"Yeah, no sweat, Magenta: I might have done the same thing in your shoes," Azure helpfully declared.
"Some of those on the force might give me flack for comforting a vigilante, but I too don't hold any animosity towards you in this instance," Detective Cash said with a comforting grin before turning towards Krasnaya with a serious expression. "Anyways, as nice as this all is, we've still got a madwoman's plans to stop. Seeing how she's your former employee, Krasnaya, I'll defer to you as to what our next move should be."
"Hmm, I suppose it's my responsibility to give her her pink slip." Krasnaya grunted before cracking her knuckles. "Two pink slips."
Nodding in agreement, Azure grabbed the broken cane and with Magenta's help used it as a crowbar to pry open the hatch IQ escaped through. The Crimson Crusader immediately jumped down, only to land on something soft. Once Azure, Magenta, and Detective Cash made their way down, Krasnaya turned on her flashlight to reveal that she had landed on IQ, herself.
"Well this wasn't so bad," Detective Cash remarked, with Azure and Magenta freezing up as she did.
"Did you just say this was easy?!" Azure called out. "You never say that: EVER!"
"Why?"
Suddenly, the garage door behind them opened up, revealing twenty armed men dressed in green.
"That's why," Magenta deadpanned even as the group got ready for a fight.
Krasnaya threw down a smoke bomb to give the group some cover. Cash drew her nightstick and began fighting off the goons with melee weapons while Magenta relied on his gymnastics to draw fire from those with guns. Azure drew her new escrima sticks Oobleck had designed and joined the fight. As one of the more muscular thugs rushed her, she instinctively jabbed it at his chest and accidentally brushed her thumb against a button on it. A powerful jolt of electricity sent the brute falling backwards.
"Huh… neat." Azure remarked to herself, looking at her weapon.
At the same time, Krasnaya had singled out IQ - who had since gotten back to her feet - and engaged in a one-on-one fight to the finish. Much to her surprise, IQ was quite the competent fighter. Using her cane as a counter to Krasnaya's hammer and sickle, the criminal mastermind converted the topper into a blade just as it swung past her opponent's face.
"I'll admit it: that was a good hit," Krasnaya said even as she wiped some blood from her lip.
"Just because I prefer to use my brain doesn't mean I'm completely devoid of brawn, Krasnaya," IQ smugly declared.
"Yeah? Well, just because we use brawn doesn't mean we don't use brains." A voice called out.
IQ turned around just in time to see Cash's fist collide with her face. As she stumbled backwards, Krasnaya grabbed her by the wrist and flipped her onto the ground, pinning her arm behind her. Once Cash slapped the handcuffs on IQ's wrists, the vigilantes disappeared.
"I hope you realize that you can't hold me here forever," IQ smugly declared.
"Maybe not but then again, I don't have to," Detective Cash remarked with several cop cars showing up right as she said this.
Needless to say, IQ was not prepared for this, having not realized that her captive had somehow managed to lead the police straight to their location. "H…how did you…?"
Aiysha merely smirked as IQ looked upon her with a dumbfounded expression, no doubt realizing that she couldn't win now that she was so vastly outnumbered. "Guess I'm a lot smarter than you gave me credit for."
"But I…! I…"
"Hmm, here's a little brain teaser for you, Quinn. 'How is IQ like a blank dictionary?'" The detective smirked as she pulled IQ back up to her feet. When the criminal didn't respond, she gave the answer. "'You're both at a loss for words.'"
This seemed to snap IQ out of her stupor, however, as she began to snarl and try and get out of the cuffs.
"You think this will stop me?!" IQ called out. "Think again! I've already thought of at least 15 different ways with which to destroy you, and when I implement even one of them, you will all know and fear the name that is…!"
"Ahh shaddup!" Chief Rojos declared before punching her in the face, knocking her out in the process.
Once the villain was driven away to Ironwood Asylum, the entire police force went to congratulate Detective Cash.
"I'll admit that things looked rather tense on the broadcast for a good while, but all in all, you did a job in handling IQ, Ayisha." Detective Neon declared with a smile.
"As much as I'd like to take credit, I can't," Aiysha admitted. "Turns out that there was someone that got to IQ before me this time around."
"Who?" Detective Neon asked.
"See for yourself," Aiysha declared as she pointed in a certain direction.
Krasnaya merely froze as everyone turned and looked in her direction before she could vanish, before giving a sigh. "Guess IQ wasn't the only one to underestimate you tonight, Detective," she admitted with a bittersweet smirk.
"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Aiysha said with a smirk.
"Well as much as I'd like to stick around, I have other things to take care of tonight," the Crimson Crusader declared before she took out a grappling hook and swung onto the roof to make her escape.
Needless to say, though, not everyone was willing to let her go. "The Red Woman!" Rojos pointed. "Get her!"
But the officers didn't rush to arrest the vigilante. Instead, they talked to each other along with the citizens.
"The Red Woman?"
"She stopped IQ!"
"She deactivated the bombs!"
"She saved us!"
The crowd began to applaud the Crimson Crusader, much to Rojos' increasing frustration and anger. Krasnaya pulled her cloak over her face as she made her exit, leaving the spotlight to rejoin her companions. Even Commissioner Maroon cracked a smile at the sight of citizens and officers alike praising the vigilante.
"No matter what it takes, no matter who stands in my way, I will remove that vigilante from the streets by any means necessary," Rojos declared with a snarl.
To Be Continued!
After the defeat of IQ, the police reviewed the footage from her broadcast in an attempt to deduce Krasnaya's identity.
"Any chance this gives us a lead as to who Krasnaya is?" Sam couldn't help but ask
"Unfortunately not: even with all of the hints that Krasnaya was forced to drop tonight, evidently Indigo Quinn has worked under so many different individuals under so many different aliases that instead of narrowing down the suspect list, we actually managed to expand it," Detective Cash declared even as she showed her colleague the long list of prior associates of Indigo Quinn, secretly feeling a bit relieved that Krasnaya's identity remained a secret. "Say what you will about IQ, but she wasn't stupid enough to consider dropping hints like that if she thought it would actually lead us anywhere…and besides, she wasn't exactly wrong about how a test where everyone knows the answer isn't much of a test at all."
"I suppose you're right though that doesn't make things any less frustrating." Sam declared with an aggravated sigh.
"Maybe, but I don't know: I prefer finding out this way over what happened earlier tonight," Aiysha remarked with a shiver for emphasis. "I hope I never see another electric chair again after tonight."
"Yeah, I know what you mean: torturing a child just to get a few hints out there? That's just sick and wrong on so many levels," Neon growled out, for some reason feeling very upset about how Magenta had been repeatedly electrocuted tonight and how Azure had nearly drowned on top of that.
"Knock, knock." Commissioner Maroon walked in with two cups of coffee. "Cash, why don't you take the rest of the night off. You've been through a lot tonight."
"Well, thanks, Commissioner." Cash grabbed her coat and left to head home.
"Sorry, Commissioner. We haven't made any serious breakthroughs." Neon sighed.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Jane replied, gently. "Today was a good day. We caught IQ, and now she can't hurt anyone else."
"Heh, that's true."
"And even if we don't find any evidence on Krasnaya's identity, we'll have another chance in the future."
"Man, you're right. You're always right." Neon chuckled. "You're worse than my ex-wife."
"Oh. So you've been married before?" Jane asked, curiously.
Neon frowned, slightly. "Ugh, yeah… sorry, that's not a very pleasant chapter of my life."
"I understand." Jane nodded, sympathetically.
"Ahem. Uh, what about Boris' dad?" Neon asked. "What's the story on Mr. Maroon?"
Jane briefly glanced at the golden band on her finger. "Heh, that's… more of a saga than a chapter."
The next day, in the cave beneath the Crimsonoff-Kashtonovvy farm, Svetlana had laid out Magenta's tattered costume on a table. After all the electro-shocks from the previous night, the suit was completely burnt beyond repair. As Krasnaya, she asked Magenta to hand it over so she could finally replace it with a proper costume.
"I just got off the phone with Dr. Oobleck." Mikhail declared as he pocketed his scroll and stepped towards his wife. "He said he'll have something thrown together in a couple of days."
"Good. Magenta's earned it after last night." Svetlana remarked as she and Mikhail climbed up the stairs.
They opened the door to the living room, only to find two familiar teenagers pushing away from each other at the last second. Boris pointed at Cyan with one hand and at himself with the other as he tried to think of what to say while the robin Faunus buried her blushing face in her textbook.
"When the hell did this start?" Mikhail asked.
"Um…" Cyan slowly lowered her book from her face.
"I can not believe this!" Boris promptly stood up and crossed his arms. "I take time out of my busy schedule to help you study, and you just throw yourself onto me!"
"Wha-?!" Cyan spluttered, but Boris didn't give her a chance to respond as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"Good day to you, ma'am! Call me once you get your head out of the gutter and back into your books!" With that, Boris headed for the front door.
Svetlana crossed her arms and shook her head in bemusement while Mikhail seemed more annoyed. "Boris?" He called out.
"Yeah?"
"You're full of shit."
"Oh, yeah." Boris smirked as he made his exit.
Svetlana smiled and leaned over towards her foster daughter. "I like that boy." She remarked.
"Yeah…" Cyan blushed, brushing a feather away from her face.
