Josefer Martin - Growing up Super - Chapter 4

I shook the old memories from my mind. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. That would come at the debriefing. It was about thirty seconds before the end of class, and I had just enough time to stash my books, notebook opened to a blank page, and textbook worn almost to the point of falling apart, into my backpack.

Since I was at the back of the class, I was the last in line to leave the classroom, though I had much more left in my day then the rest of my classmates. Even though the live feed was cut off when we entered the vault, there was still the recording from Jessica's glasses to dissect during the debrief.

I was almost out the door when I turned and noticed Ms. Delarosa crouched over her keyboard, staring at the screen. "Ms. D, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said, obviously distracted.

I walked a step closer to her, "Ms. D, you alright?"

She shook her head, "Yeah. Just trying to grok the algorithm you discussed in class."

I smiled, and strolled over to her desk, "I just made it up. I doubt it'll even work. That whole thing, from the 3D model to the basic program was just some smoke and mirrors. I made it up on the spot, whole-cloth, BS from start to finish."

"But," she began, a strained look in her eyes, "it wasn't BS. It worked, at least, the two-dimensional treesort did."

"Really?" I asked, pulling a chair from around her desk.

"Really," she said. She then smiled and pointed to a chunk of code on her screen, "See this. I had to finagle it a bit, but I got it to work."

I plopped myself down in the chair, forgetting even the backpack on my back, and began to look over the code. She had taken a basic idea that had come out of nowhere and built it into a coherent program. Sure it didn't do much, but that's because it was just a test.

I pointed to a line of code, and she described what it did. We began to work with the code, solidifying it as it was, then bringing it further, and further, until, just on the cusp of creating an n-dimensional treesort, we were rudely interrupted.

"Josefer Martin to the office, please," the intercom buzzed. I could hear it from the hall as well, which meant that instead of the usual room-only call I had come to expect since my Freshman year, they had gone with a broadcast throughout the school.

"Sorry," I hastily apologized, jumping out of the chair towards the door, "maybe we can finish it tomorrow?"

"Yeah" she said despondently as I ran down the hall towards the main office.

Since it wasn't a briefing I ran past Ms. Studney's office and waved to the secretary as I opened and then jumped inside of a supply closet. It began to descend as soon as the door closed. It did so slowly, incidental music from last summer's super hero blockbuster playing softly in the background. I chuckled to myself as I was slowly lowered the three levels to the training complex beneath the school, thinking back to the first time I had to take the secondary elevator, a week before the start of my Freshman year.

Jessica and I were scheduled for a tour of the facilities, but because of traffic the bus I had relied upon to get me to the school had arrived late. So, after a hastened and confusing conversation with the secretary, I had entered the supply closet elevator and made my way down to join the tour, already in progress.

As luck would have it, I arrived just as Matt, a senior and the new leader of the Garder Fox Senior High team, was belatedly begun the tour without me.

"As with Parker Junior High, Fox Senior High was built with supers, and our training, in mind. Unlike Parker, we've got a fully-featured facility equipped to handle eight supers as well as our various instructors and support staff. We've got a martial arts training room, a battle simulation room, a debriefing room, and even our own gymnasium."

I came up behind Jessica and assaulted her with a hug. She, of course, expected it, but Matt was surprised.

"Ah, Mr. Martin," he began.

"Joe," I interrupted to correct him.

"Joe then, how nice of you to finally join us."

"My pleasure. The traffic was horrendous."

"Your girlfriend got here on time," he commented.

"But," I countered, "she didn't have to take the bus, now did she?"

"No," she chimed in, "she didn't. Instead, she ran here, and arrived five minutes early."

"Enough," he exclaimed. "We don't have time for excuses. You're here, and so I won't have to do this a second time." He then turned and walked down the hall. It looked like the halls three stories up, only without the lockers.

"As I was saying, Gardner Fox Senior High was built with supers in mind."

I shook my head as the elevator stopped. "Why" I said to myself as I ran through the well-lit halls, "do I keep thinking back to past?"

"Maybe," said an oddly familar voice from out of nowhere. I stopped, but it continued, "because those that don't remember their past are doomed to repeat it."

I frantically looked around, but could not find the source of the voice, nor could I place it's familiarity. I shook it off, and continued to the debriefing room. I stopped right before the door and caught my breath, then casually opened it.

"Ah," came that same familiar voice form inside the room. I continued in. They were replaying old mission tapes on the main screen. Underneath the image was the name of the person wearing the camera. It was then that I placed the voice I had heard to a name, the same name that was on the screen, Mike. He continued to speak on the tape, "So nice of you to finally join us."

Josefer Martin - Growing up Super - Chapter 3

It would be another week before my change in status came into effect. During the school year Mike and Zelda had been called down to the office probably ten times, and since the new year, Jessica had joined them about three times. Now it was my turn to find out what was going on, since they had never told me.


"Would Michael Schultz, Zelda Moonfire, Jessica Martinez, and Josefer Martin please report to the office please," came the voice of the school secretary over the intercom.

Jessica and I were in our math class, and the teacher, Mr. Zelman, nodded to the two of us, "It's almost the end of class, so you two better take your bags with you."

I got up, knowing what to do only because Jessica had done it before and following her lead. I shoved my textbook and my notebook into my backpack and followed Jessica out of the classroom.

"So," I asked as we walked down the hall, "what's next?"

"You'll see," was all she said. We got to the office about the same time as Mike and Zelda, who were just coming down the stairs from the second floor.

"Joe," commented Mike, "I see you're finally ready to join the big leagues. At least, as big as we get here at William H. Parker Junior High."

Before I could even reply, the principal, Mr. Hernandez, stuck his head out of the office, "Come on in you four, we've got about a minute to go."

"A minute to go for what?" I asked, but nobody said anything. Instead, we all followed Mr. Hernandez to his office at the back of the school's office, Zelda and Jessica getting personal greetings from the secretary.

Once we were all in his office, Mr. Hernandez closed the door and locked it, "Now, Josefer."

"Call me Joe," I interrupted.

"Joe then. Joe, since you're new to this, I'll explain as I get my office ready." He walked around his desk and pulled the blinds closed as Mike, Zelda, and Jessica all got seated comfortably in the seats, leaving one left for me. "As young supers you have great power, but you don't know how to properly use it to defend use normals in the world. That's what this program is for."

He sat down at his desk and motioned for me to do the same. He then pressed a button and four of the pieces of art arranged on his wall faded away and were replaced by screens that showed a live camera feed from inside a helicopter.

"There are the Juniors and Seniors over at Gardner Fox Senior High. Today they've been called out to help defuse a hostage situation downtown." He then pressed a button and the audio kicked in.

"Control this is Bob."

"Reading you load and clear."

"Control, we're going live."

"Roger."

"Okay guys," said Bob, the leader of the mission. "We're doing this by the book. Erin, you're on assault. Jake, damage control. Sue, keep those hostages safe."

"Roger," came the chorus from the others in the helicopter.

"Okay, we'll port in a floor below them, on the 17th. Erin, Jake, you take the stairs. Sue, I'll get you as close as I can once they make their presence know, okay?"

"Yeah Bob, we got it," said an annoyed male, whom I assumed was Jake.

"Jake, we can do this without you, if you'd rather not."

"No, just, well, we've done this a million times in simulation."

"Yeah, and this is the real world. You'll be lead next year Jake, you can make the calls then. We're doing it this way."

"Roger," replied Jake with distain.

"On three. One. Two. Three."

The screens all whited out and then shifted to show the interior of an office building. The views all panned around.

"Clear," came the voice of one of the girls.

"Clear," said the other.

"Clear," said Bob.

"Clear," added Jake with annoyance.

"Okay, let's do this."

Two of the views nodded and started to go away from the other two, Jake and Erin going for the stairs. They got there and cautiously climbed to the eighteenth floor.

"Now," said Mr. Hernandez, "As you can see, both Jake and Bob are alphas, but with different outlooks on mission execution. This isn't uncommon, but we'd rather not see it, that's why we try to get you working together even now."

"Bob," came the second female voice, now confirmed as Erin, "we're in position."

"Roger, on three. One. Two. Three."

The two in the stairs charged through the door and chaos fell upon the cubicles. Bolts of energy, the color I couldn't tell from the back and white views, shot out from Erin's hands and connected with assailants. There were five of them, and within seconds, four of them were down, but one of them had ducked in time and was now retreating.

"We've got a runner. Coming your way," shouted Erin as she followed the last hostile.

"Damage contained," droned an annoyed Jake. His view had shown little except a few blocked bullets and bolts of energy, but luckily, no damage either.

"We've secured the hostages," said Sue.

"Erin, Jake, stop him!" shouted Bob as the hostile showed up on his screen. A shot was fired, and was stopped by either Jake or Sue's efforts, or both, before it could reach him. He charged, as did Erin from behind, and the resulting grapple was hard to understand from without or within.

Ten seconds later, a tired Bob called back over the radio, "Control. We're going to need a pickup. Hostiles contained, and subdued."

"Roger Bob, we'll meet you on the roof. Good job."

"Okay guys, let's blow this joint."

The screens went white again and then showed views from the top of the building as a black unmarked helicopter without doors came down for a landing.

The views then faded to black, and then back to the artwork that previously occupied their frames.

"Now," said Mr. Hernandez, "this was a successful mission, as most of them are. I'll need all of you to write a report on the team's effectiveness in containing the situation, as well as recommendations as to what you would have done."

"Okay," I replied, as I grabbed my backpack.

"No," said Mr. Hernandez, "now Mr. Martin, at least, you need to start it now. There's a minimum of fifteen minutes we can remove you from classes, and you've only been here for four."

I looked to see Jessica, Mike, and Zelda all frantically scribbling on paper, trying to get down notes and comments from what they had just watched.

I sat back down and got out my paper, "Is it always going to be like this?"

"No," said Mike, smiling. "Sometimes, we get to help."

Josefer Martin - Growing up Super - Chapter 2

"Mr. Martin."

"Mr. Martin?"

"Mr. Martin!"

"Oh," I shook my head, trying to clear my mind and get back to the task at head. "Um, yeah Ms. Delarosa?"

"If you have been paying attention Mr. Martin, you would have known what I had asked you, but since you seem incapable of doing so, I'll repeat myself," scolded my quite upset Computer Programming teacher. "How would you write a sort to organize this data," and she indicated a table she had written on the white board which had about twenty-five entries, "by a user selectable parameter?"

I bit my lip, "Let me think." I knew it would come to me, it just would take a while. "Ah," I exclaimed. I then spouted off the code for a quick treesort that branched off in a four dimensional structure. I had seen a two dimensional version of it in practice final.

"Um," stammered Ms. Delarosa, "could you come up here and make a diagram so your classmates, and I, can understand?"

I smiled, "No, I can't."

She looked angry, again, "And why can't you?"

"Simple" I said, leaning back in my chair, "it's a four-dimensional sort, which means that to illustrate it, we'd have to live in a universe with at least five spacial dimensions. We've got three. Thought, I can illustrate a two-dimensional version, if you'd like."

"Sure," she said, unsure of what she'd gotten herself into.

I quickly walked up to the front and opened up a text editor, "First, I've got to write it out." I typed the code for a rudimentary 3-D model of three generations of the two-dimensional tree sort, and then rendered it. "As you can see," I explained, "while it's more complex to visualize then a more simple nested treesort, or any other kind of nested sort, it takes about thirty percent less time. On a list of two dozen items, it's not a difference, and you could get away with the nested sorts, but once you get into the thousands, or even millions, say if you're trying to determine the password within a set length, it's use become much more apparent."

Ms. Delarosa became shocked, not knowing what to say, "Um, well, thank you Mr. Martin, you can sit down now."

With a smile on my face, I walked back to my seat, and sat back down. I wasn't sure if what I had said actually would have worked, but that wasn't the point. It got Ms. Delarosa off my back, and she wouldn't know how to check to see if it worked.

I leaned back in my chair, content that I wouldn't be bothered until the class was over.

I thought back to the day my intuition kicked in. It was March of my seventh grade year, Jessica's acrobatics had kicked in just before Christmas, but I wasn't worried, since guys usually develop after girls. I was practicing my gadgets after school, putting together random pieces of electronics and mechanics until I got something that worked. I had been working on my goggles, the ones that Mike had stolen earlier today, but then they were just beginning to be special.

"Let's see," I had said, "the LED goes here." I soldered down an LED, hoping that it'd be a light source for the HUD. Then, as Mike had said seven months earlier, it just kicked in, and I figured out the exact nature of the circuit. At first I thought that, like some people, my secondary power was an enhancement of my primary power. i was overjoyed, but then, as I thought about it, I figured out it could have been like Mike's power, hyper intelligence.

"Hey, Mike," I said, looking over the pile of books he had in front of him, "I think my secondary power's manifested."

He put down the Calculus book he was studying, "So, what you got?"

"Not sure," I said, "maybe a boost to my gadgets, maybe hyper int like you."

"Well," he said, standing, "there's a test we can do."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he grabbed a book of puzzles out of his backpack, "these are pretty easy for me, let's see how you do." He tossed it to me, and I caught it.

"Let's see here," I opened it up. They were sudoku puzzles. I grabbed a pencil out of my pocket, and started. At first, it wasn't any faster then I usually did, but then, I went faster, each new answer hastening the next. I finished the puzzle in two minutes, flipped the page, and started the next one. This one took my a minute, then the next one took my a bit less, but only because I had to extend the lead twice since it broke. After the tenth Mike spoke up.

"Joe, wait, stop," she pleaded.

"What?" I said, finishing the eleventh.

"Joe, you're not hyper int, or else there wouldn't have been a learning curve. I think you're an intuit."

"Intuit?"

"Think Sherlock Holmes, only quicker and without the deerstalker hat," he began, "but we'll have to talk with the principal to set up a test. I'm thinking at least a grade three, perhaps higher."

I smiled, "A grade three, that'd be great."

"But hey, you're still only an intuit. I'm still smarter then you."

"Thanks, you're a real uplifting guy."

"Hey, just telling it like it is."

OTR: Shut Up, Go Shopping, Support the War...and Nobody Gets Hurt!

From thousandreasons.org. Ana excellent editorial about the the War, Bush, and the Tyranny the combination has wrought.

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Josefer Martin - Growing up Super - Chapter 1

As I sat in the back of my seventh period computer programming class, one of my easiest classes, but still my favorite, I thought back over the day's events. Less then an hour before I had been held at gunpoint by a man I once called my best friend, who then robbed me of my most prized possession, and ran off both my new worst enemy and a multi-millionaire.

I then thought back further, back to the first time I met Mike and Zelda. It was the August of seventh grade, a week before classes were to begin. Jessica and I, at that time just beginning our partnership, and still getting the feeling of our eventual relationship, had been invited by the administration to tour our new school, William H. Parker Junior High School.

When we arrived at nine in the morning, having been dropped off separately by our parents, we weren't sure what to do. The parking lot was almost empty, but after walking up to the doors, we realized that the front doors were open. In retrospect, it's logical, since we were supposed to be there, but when you're twelve years old, the logic circuits aren't quite working at full capacity.

Jessica led the way, since she could sense the two people waiting for us in the lobby. I followed close behind, not really knowing what to expect. The two people waiting were just a bit older then us, actually a year or so, but otherwise looked entirely normal.

"You two must be Jessica, and Joseph," said the boy, "I'm Mike, and this is Zelda."

"Actually," I spoke up, "It's Josefer, but you can call me Joe."

"My bad," said Mike with a smile, "well, no matter, we'll get it all sorted out later. In the meantime, we're here to show you around Parker Junior High. Zelda here will show Jessica around, and I'll show Joe around."

"Yeah, sounds good," I admitted. He exuded confidence, and had definite charisma.

He took me by the shoulder and we walked down the main hall, the girls started up the stairs to look around the second floor. "Joe," he said, "I can call you Joe, right?"

"Yeah Mike," I confirmed, still unsure of what the proper response should have been.

"Joe, I remember what it was like when I was in your position. Still unsure of what to do, what not to do, and how to act around norms and supes. Well, I can't tell you how to act around norms, since that's for tomorrow, but the rest I can teach you, and so much more."

As we walked around the school, he showed me the various classrooms and offices, as well as the hidden places that the norms didn't know about. He talked about what I'd expect of both my school hours, and my extracurricular activities. He explained how we'd be taught the bits of history left out of the norms' educations, plus the extensive civics and martial arts instructions we'd receive.

He also talked about how the supe program worked. Before that day, I'd hadn't known much. Just what they'd told us at the Orientation Camp in July, and what I'd gleaned from the internet, some of which Mike was contradicting. He explained about the two stage power process, about how a supe would be born with one power, one they knew how to control from birth, but then, once they reached puberty, they'd gain a second, more powerful power.

He then bragged about how his second power had manifested in the middle of his math class, about how one moment he'd had to figure out the answer, and the next it just came to him. He then explained how he'd cheated by hacking into the school's computer system and changed all his classmates' grades to make himself look as smart as he knew, or at least thought, he was, at least by comparison.

That should have been my first clue as you what kind of man Mike would turn out to be, but then I wasn't an intuit, just a gadgeteer. By the time the day was up, and my parents had arrived to take me home, I had learned a whole lot about the world that most norms never did. I had also gotten my first glimpse as my future best friend, and worst enemy.

Josefer Martin - A Day in the Life - Chapter 4

"…ome in. I repeat. Joe, Jess, this is Control, Come in." came the panicked voice over the radio.

"Control, this is Joe, we're here," I replied. He looked over to Jessica, and then at the vault around us, empty as it was.

"Joe, what happened?"

"Control, we have a problem. Mission failed."

"What do you mean failed," interrupted James over the radio, "Mel and I trounced those robbers like two minutes ago. Heck, we'd be out of here by now if you two hadn't been incommunicado."

"Jay," I said, my voice strained, I wasn't mad at him, but at myself, "The vault is empty. It was cleared out about thirty seconds ago. Poof, gone, and I didn't have time to trace it."

"What? But, you've been in there for three minutes, are you telling me you let them escape?"

"No," interjected Jessica, "He's saying we couldn't do anything about it. They'd already collected everything by the time we got here. If they had wanted to, we wouldn't have known until they checked the vault after we were gone."

"It was a trap," I added, "and a damn good one."

"Joe," commanded Control, "are you two ready for an evac?"

I looked over to Jessica, she nodded. "Yes Control. What's the location?"

"The roof, Jay and Mel are up here already."

"Roger, we'll be up in minute."

"You've got thirty seconds."

I quickly removed my headset, and looked at Jessica, "You ready for a jump?"

She nodded, "Yeah." She then took a step and hugged me. I blinked, and we dropped thirty centimeters to the roof. I released the hug after a quick squeeze, and turned to face the waiting helicopter.

"You two lovebirds coming or not?" asked Jay over the roar of the rotors. I barely heard him, but the headset was still in my hand.

I looked at Jessica, then tipped my head towards the waiting chopper. She nodded and we jogged over to the open door, ducking low so that the down-wash wouldn't knock us over.

We got inside and strapped ourselves in.

Jay tapped his headset, so I got the hint and put mine back on.

"Control, we're secure," I said, as the helicopter lifted off the roof of the bank.

"So," asked Melissa, "anyone we know?"

"Yeah," replied Jessica, "Zelda and Mike."

"What," exclaimed James, "I thought they'd skipped town!"

"Probably did," I explained, quickly thinking over the situation, "got themselves some costumes, probably some handles, and definitely some mooks. They came back for a reason."

"Money?" asked Melissa.

"Well," I explained, "not exactly. Yeah, they got the money, but it was to gloat, and to tell Jess and I that they were back, and that they weren't playing nice."

"Well, I'm sure the Supes can capture them," offered Melissa.

"No," said Jessica confidently, "Mike's too smart for that. Heck, you know how hard it was to communicate through that vault. If Zelda can put up a protection zone that secure in an unfamiliar place, image how secure their lair would be."

"Yeah," I conformed, "plus, Mike's smarter then most of the Supes in the city. Combined with Zelda's spells, which are as potent as any Supe in state can muster, they'll be nearly unstoppable."

"Nearly," confirmed James, "but you got a plan, right?"

I smiled, "Oh, yeah, lots of them, but they'll never work." I paused, then continued, "You see, I don't know enough of the details. Mike made sure of it. He knows as much about my limitations as I do, maybe more. He knows that I need clues to deduce from. Even Sherlock Holmes would have trouble with this one. The security on the vault and Zelda's hold on Jess and I ran out almost ten seconds after they left. I need a teleport to be less then two seconds old before I can get a lock, Jessica, being a teleporter doesn't need that fresh a trail, but still, ten seconds was too old. We couldn't trace the teleport before the trail dissipated."

There was a pause, then Melissa chimed in, "But, they've got a weakness, right? The universe won't let someone get that much power with a weakness. It's a fundamental law."

"Yeah, and that's the one bright spot in all of this," I acknowledged. "Zelda's a spellcaster, which slows her down. Mike's got an ego the size of a small moon."

"So," asked James, "we'll get them, right?"

"Yeah," I said, but it lacked confidence. I looked out the window at the city passing below us, "we'll get them. He's got something of mine, and I intend to get it back."

Josefer Martin - A Day in the Life - Chapter 3

"Control," I continued, but there was no answer.

"It's no use Joe," Mike noted.

"Control, this is Joe, come in Control."

"I told you, it's useless."

"Control, we have a problem, respond," I said, worried.

"Joe!" Mike shouted, I stopped and looked at him. His hair, which used to be dyed black last year, was now a bright red. He was angry. "Your radio can't get through these walls."

"But," I began., he interrupted.

"But Jessica could sense us, I know," he put way his gun, it's holster hidden under his suit jacket. The jacket, along with his tie, the shirt, his pants, and even his shoes, were all dyed in a flame pattern. Right now, his clothes matched his hair, a combination that probably hadn't happened since the last time he worn the black jumpsuit before he graduated. "That's because it's a trap. I set a trap, a simple bank robbery. Have the mooks hold up the joint, create a ruckus, while Zel and I snuck into the vault. Since there are only four of them, and there weren't any supers overtly involved, I knew they'd send you. You see, it was all a part of my plan."

He smiled. I didn't. He continued.

"This vault," he gestured around him, "is very secure, at least, now it is. A minute ago, it wasn't. When we got here I had Zel whip up a two stage spell. The first stage weakened the vault, making it as easy to sense thoughts through as a piece of paper. That was the bait. Now that you're here, it's a bit stronger then it normally is, stage two." He smiled, "Zel, tell our guests what you've done."

"Gladly," she sneered. "Well, originally, the vault was just protected by a two foot thick wall of lead, concrete, and a titanium mesh. Secure, but only against telepaths, and only up to a Grade Four. Now, it's been reinforced to be completely magic, thought, and radio impenetrable. So, even though Miss Grade Two here could sense in," and she gestured to Jessica, "now nothing can get in or out, except me of course."

"Good job Zel," said Mike with a smile. "So, with a new situation, there was only two options you had. Either stick to the plan, take care of the mooks with all four of you, but potentially let the real thieves go, or split up, the Brick and the Telekinetic taking care of the mooks, four on two, a good morale booster, and you two coming here to the vault via one of Jessie's teleports. I knew you'd go for the latter. You're so predictable, all you Intuits are. Give you a situation and ninety percent of the time, you'll all do the same thing. Having known you for as long as I have, plus a bit of pushing from Zel, and I got it up to a hundred percent."

"So," I interrupted, "now that you've got us, what do you want?"

"To gloat," he said confidently. "To prove that no matter how fast you plan, you're too short term. That I can still out-plan even you, a Grade Five Intuit, because I'm smarter."

"Revenge?" asked Jessica.

"No, that'll come later, just you wait. No, now that we've had this little chat, it's time to get moving," Mike countered.

"So, you're robbing banks now? That the best plan you could come up with, Mr. Flame?" I goaded him.

"Wait," interjected Jessica, "I thought it was the Human Zippo?"

"No," I said, a smile creeping across my face, "I know what it is. The Great Flambé."

"Stop!" shouted Mike. His hands were clenched in fists at his side, wreathed in flame. Zelda stopped snickering a half-second later. "Zel, silence them."

Zelda smiled, "My pleasure." Her hand left the grip of the pistol, which continued to float in mid-air, pointed at Jessica. She brought her hands together, palm to palm, in front of her, and her irises fading from blue to white, and her skirt billowing up to fly straight out from her hips. The color of her tank top, skirt, and knee-high boots faded to white as well. Then, a second after she began, she stopped, her eyes returning to blue with a blink, and her clothes to their former hot pink just as fast. She grabbed the pistol from out of the air.

I opened my mouth to speak, but found that I couldn't, which was expected from Zelda's actions.

"Now that I don't have to listen to the two of you yammer on, I'll continue," he preached, probably not realizing the irony of his words. "I came up with this trap for two reasons. First, to let you two know Zelda and I were back in town, and that we're on the rise. Second, well, if you're going to rob a bank," and he pauses to point at the small pile of black plastic crates in front of the vault door, "you might as well take it all."

He gestured around the room, "Two hundred safe deposit boxes, and the morning's cash deposits, plus the records from the last five years. I got it all, and you can't stop me." He walked over to the crates, and popped one open, "Two million dollars in bonds." He then opened another, "Fifty-thousand in small, unmarked, non-sequential, used bills. A kidnapper's dream come true." He then closed them both, and walked back over to Jessica and I, "Oh, and I'll also be taking this."

He reached up to my face and grabbed my goggles. I tried to move, tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Zelda shake her finger at me, scolding me, "Not so fast Mr. Martin."

"Exactly," said Mike, pocketing my goggles. "Now, I've got your goggles, the set of goggles your father left you when he died. The goggles that you received a special dispensation to wear as part of your uniform, after you integrated advanced electronics of course. These little babies change this from just a botched attempt to stop a bank robber to something personal."

It did, and every person in the room knew it was true.

"So," started Zelda, "Now that all is said and done, it's time we take our leave." She turned, leaving the pistol pointed at Jessica, and strutted over to the crates. She turned on the ball of her foot, "In about," and she paused to look at her watch, "thirty seconds, the silence will wear off, as will my reinforcements on the vault. You'll probably have ten seconds to get some sort of trace on my teleport, which we all know neither of you can't do in under twelve, before the path corrodes too far to trace." Mike walked up next to her, and put his arm around her waist, bringing her close and kissing her on the cheek.

"So long, and thanks for the good time," Mike said sarcastically.

Zelda smiled and waved goodbye, as the pair and the crates disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Her final word still hanging in the air, "Toodles."