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A Hopeless Exchange Blackwood Labs sat on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the edge of a forest. It was an amazingly large complex, looking more like a military base than a laboratory. It had taken three days for Vince and the others to get here after Lydia's attack. The first two days were for repairing the hovercraft and the jeep, and the third day was for actual traveling. Vince and Stephanie hid behind a tree on one side of the dirt road, while Robert and Alice hid on the other. "Are you sure they'll come?" Vince whispered across the road. "Yeah," Robert answered. "I've been watching them. Every hour, they send a patrol through the edges of the forest. They should be here any moment now." Sure enough, a few minutes later, a military jeep came driving toward them. Alice suddenly ran onto the road. The jeep stopped abruptly, and a soldier came out. "What the heck?" he said as he approached Alice. "Dui bu qi. Wo men xu yao jie ni de che han yi fu," Alice spoke in fluent Chinese. "What the heck is she saying?" the soldier asked. He leaned over to take a closer look at Alice. Suddenly, Robert dashed out of the forest and clubbed the soldier in the back of the head with his handgun. "We're under attack," a soldier called from within the jeep. "It's an ambush!" Before any of them could move, Stephanie strung them up in the air with Angelhair Snares. Then, the Dark Fiend of the Inferno dashed onto the road and, with a series of punches and kicks, knocked out all the soldiers. Quickly, Vince and the others stole the uniforms off the soldiers and put them on. "Won't it look suspicious if they see a little girl as a soldier?" Alice asked. "Not at all," Robert replied. "There are lots of women and lots of short people in the army. Besides, this is military research. There isn't so much pro-male sentiment here." The four of them hid the bodies in the forest, then drove the jeep into the base. After parking the jeep in the vehicle hangar, they entered the building. "Try to stay inconspicuous," Robert said. "Don't draw attention to yourselves." The others nodded, understanding. As a group, they wandered through the halls. They wandered past the soldier lodgings. They wandered past the mess hall. Then, finally, they came to the laboratory hall. Spaced far apart along the bare, white walls were doors labeled with red numbers. "According to the information I downloaded, the disc with the launch program should be in Lab 12," Robert explained. "Only one away from unlucky thirteen," Alice commented. They came to the door labeled "12", and Robert tried the electronic panel. "Damn," he said quietly. "It's locked from the inside. There's a computer technician guarding the disc or something. Let's find a computer room." After wandering for a few more minutes, they found the computer room. There was no one watching the door, although there were cameras inside. There were also many windows, and through one of them, they could see a soldier already sitting at a computer. "Oh, hi, ladies," he said, as Stephanie and Alice entered. "Um, can we use the computer," Stephanie asked. "Sure," the soldier said. There was a pause. "Oh, you want a little privacy. Sure, no problem." The soldier left room. As soon as he was gone, Robert went to a computer, saying, "Watch for me. Tell me if anyone's coming." "No problem," Vince replied. "I'm gonna hack into the Pentagon again," Robert said, "and send an e-mail through their server to the computer inside Lab 12, saying that they want to transfer the disc to the Pentagon for safekeeping. I'll tell them that this plan needs to be executed quickly, and by the time he gets the e-mail, we'll have arrived to pick up the disc for the Pentagon. Of course, we won't actually be giving the disc to the Pentagon." Vince nodded and watched the door carefully. No one came inside, although a guy and a girl soldier did start hanging out just outside the door. "All right, done!" Robert finally said. He logged off, and the four of them backtracked and found themselves in front of Lab 12 again. Robert knocked on the door. "Coming!" a voice said. A young man opened the door. "Ah, you must be from the Pentagon. Wait here. I'll get the disc for you." The man went back into Lab 12. They heard a loud hiss as the air-pressured lock on the vault was released. A few minutes later, the man came back with a disc. "This is the only copy in existence," the technician said. "Although, I could easily write a new one, but it wouldn't be password protected like this one." "Thank you, sir," Robert said as he slipped the disc in his pocket. Somehow, as they walked through the halls again, they lost their way. A few minutes later, they ended up in a subterranean submarine dock. "Robert?" Vince asked. "Hold up, I'm trying to remember my way," Robert replied. Suddenly, the technician opened the door into the docks. "Glad I found you guys," he said. "I just ran an analysis of that e-mail from the Pentagon. Something strange came up. According to the tracer, the e-mail originated from right here in Blackwood. You have any idea what that might mean?" He looked up from the papers he was carrying to Vince and the others. "Wait a minute... Those are Blackwood uniforms! You guys aren't from the Pentagon." With that, Vince and Robert rushed to grab the technician. However, the technician ran from them, and as he did, he pulled out his radio and yelled for help. Vince caught up and tackled him, but not before he had already sent the message. As Vince knocked out the technician with a punch to the forehead, a computerized voice said over the loudspeaker, "Commencing submarine dock lockdown." Vince and Robert both swore, then ran for the door. It shut right as they reached it, so they turned and ran for a submarine. Stephanie understood and quickly opened a hatch, and the four of them climbed in. "Umm... does anyone know how to work a submarine?" Stephanie asked. "Just press random buttons and hope that something happens," Alice shouted. Not having any better idea, Stephanie started pressing random buttons. First, the submarine lurched sideways and rammed into another submarine. Then, the submarine fired a torpedo, blowing up a third submarine. Finally, one of the buttons Stephanie pressed made the submarine submerge. Robert grabbed the periscope. "The gate's closing," Robert shouted. "Move! Hurry!" Alice pulled a random lever, and suddenly, the submarine shot forward at such a high speed that all four of them were thrown off their feet. The submarine sped along quite nicely now. It looked as though they would make it. They were almost at the gate, and there was just enough room for the submarine to get through. Then, there was a loud crash. The submarine had been caught in the gate. "Come on!" Robert shouted. "We'll have to swim." Quickly, he and Vince pushed against the water pressure and opened the hatch. "You ready?" Vince asked the girls as gallons of water poured in. They nodded. Vince climbed out first, pushing up against the downward current of water. Robert lifted Alice up to Vince, who, holding his breath, pulled her out of the submarine and pushed her up to the surface. Then, they helped Stephanie up and out. Finally, Robert climbed through, and the two guys swam up to the surface. "Woot!" Robert cried. "We made it!" "That was close," Alice commented. "Robert, you got the disc?" Vince asked. "Yeah," Robert replied. "It's a CD, so the water won't damage it." "Good," Vince said. "Let's go before they send more soldiers after us." Robert nodded. With that, the four of them swam along the shore, searching for a way back to the forest without letting anyone detect them. Vince sat in a sled atop a snow-covered hill, holding Mindy in his arms. "Whee!" Mindy shouted as she and Vince slid down the hill. "Having fun, Tina?" Vince asked. Mindy nodded, smiling happily. Vince and the others had been hiding in Canada for the last week to keep the disc hidden from the Quantum Saviors. Now, Vince was sledding with Mindy, Stephanie was building a snowman, and Robert and Alice were pelting each other with snowballs, laughing the whole time. Despite the dangerous situation, everyone was full of joy. At her side, Stephanie carried a five-foot brass staff. The staff's head was in the shape of a pair of angel wings, connected by a small sapphire in the center. During the last week, as they passed through various Canadian cities, she had gone to various Temples of Light, looking for a Priest's staff she could buy and use for herself. "All finished!" Stephanie shouted as she put the final touches on her snowman. Suddenly, a flame shot out and melted away Stephanie's snowman. A woman dressed in red came in through the woods. Vince immediately recognized her. "Clara!" Vince shouted. "She's from the Quantum Saviors! Look out!" Vince pulled Mindy off the sled and ran for the hovercraft. Stephanie threw Holy shots at the sorceress, but a barrier suddenly appeared and blocked them. A small little sorceress walked onto the battlefield, and Vince recognized her immediately as Teresa. "The disc!" Robert shouted, and he ran off for the jeep. However, another sorcerer appeared from behind the trees and cast a spell on him. Suddenly, Robert was moving extremely slowly. "That's Tempo, the time mage!" Vince shouted as he locked Mindy in the hovercraft. "Be careful!" As the magma dressed Vince, the snow around him melted. Soon, the magma hardened into solid armor, and Vince became the Dark Fiend of the Inferno. He threw fireballs at Tempo, but Teresa protected the time mage with a shield spell. Suddenly, water-elemental blasts struck Vince and knocked him to the floor. Vince turned his head, expecting to see the Storm Fiend. Instead, he saw Koumilon and Stacie Smith. "Stacie!" Vince said, surprised. "How did you find us?" "Remember when Lydia Robertson attacked you?" Stacie asked. "She left a magical tracking bug on Mindy, and Steve Lin brought us the device to find her with. He's been aptly rewarded, of course. Now, unless you want to die, hand over Mindy and the Cobalt launch program." "No," Vince shouted defiantly. "You'll never get the disc." "This is a battle you can't win," Stacie said. Together, she and Koumilon fired streams of water magic at Vince. It wasn't as powerful as the Storm Fiend's, but it was still strong enough to inflict a good deal of pain and knock Vince down. "Alice!" Robert shouted slowly. "Protect the disc!" As Robert pulled out his particle blaster, Alice ran for the jeep. However, the time mage cast a spell, and now Alice, too, was moving as slow as a snail. Robert pointed the gun at the time mage, but Tempo sidestepped Robert's aim. Then, he cast a spell on himself, rushed Robert with extreme speed, and pummeled him. Elsewhere, Stephanie, holding her staff in front of her, stood face to face with Clara and Teresa. Clara fired a burning blaze, but Stephanie blocked with a Holy shield. Steph then followed up by throwing a cluster of white feathers. Teresa tried to put up a shield, but Stephanie interrupted her with the Angelhair Snare. Yellow threads caught all four of Teresa's limbs and held her immobile. Clara threw a fireball, but Steph deflected it with her staff, then rushed at her. Clara ran aside, but Teresa was still entangled by the Angelhair. Stephanie pulled a piece from the bottom of the staff's shaft, revealing a small blade. In one swift motion, she stabbed the staff through Teresa's heart. Blood stained the snow as the sorceress screamed. Then, releasing the Angelhair Snare, Teresa fell over. Stacie noticed that the armored jeep had just driven away. "Tempo!" she shouted. "Speed me up." "No problem," the time mage replied as he cast the spell. Stacie then chased after the jeep at extreme speeds. Koumilon shot a beam of water at Vince, but the Inferno Fiend rolled out of the way and charged at Clara, whom he rammed into a tree. Stephanie fired a series of Holy shots at Koumilon, but the sorcerer blocked with a magical shield. Then, she cast Angelhair Snare, but Koumilon waved his hands, and suddenly, the yellow threads tied up Stephanie instead. "What the heck?" Stephanie asked. "Redirection magic," Koumilon explained. "You'd be surprised at the different kinds of spells I know." Clara produced a shield of flame to defend against Vince's assault, but the Inferno Fiend punched a flaming gauntlet right through the barrier. His hand was reaching for her head when something suddenly pulled him back. Tempo, the time mage, had grabbed him, and now, he threw Vince into a tree. Then, he pummeled the Inferno Fiend against another tree, bouncing him around like a ping-pong ball. Clara dropped her flame shield and laughed. Suddenly, blood splattered, and Clara felt a sharp pain. She looked down and saw a bloody hole in her chest. Then, she looked up, and for an instant, she saw Robert slowly pull the trigger. Then, she fell to the floor, a hole in her forehead. Koumilon cast a lightning spell on Stephanie, but the girl blocked with a Holy shield. Suddenly, Koumilon disappeared, only to reappear behind her and grab her by the neck. Struggling and screaming, Stephanie stabbed the end of her staff into Koumilon's leg. As the sorcerer dropped her and hopped back, swearing fluently while clutching his leg, Stephanie ran at him with her staff. Suddenly, it was as if she moved in slow motion. Tempo had just cast another spell. Koumilon laughed as Stephanie approached him at a snail's pace. Then, he threw a fireball, which sent her flying through the air. "Stephanie!" Vince shouted. He bashed Tempo with a flaming gauntlet. Then, as the time mage regained his footing, Vince threw a fireball at him. Unfortunately, Tempo interrupted Vince with another slow spell, and the fireball never left his hand. The time mage smashed Vince against the tree again and threw him onto the snow. Robert fired, but Tempo, with his speed spells, dodged the bullet, pummeled Robert, and tossed him onto the snow next to Vince. Finally, Koumilon threw Stephanie onto the snow with them. Vince tried to fight back, but he was much too slow. Koumilon stepped on his face with his boot. The armored jeep came back, but this time, Stacie was driving. She climbed out of the jeep with the disc in one hand and Alice in the other. "All right, Vince, let's make an exchange," Stacie said. "Unlock the hovercraft door for me and return Mindy to me, and we'll spare your lives. Tempo! Un-slow him!" Tempo cast a spell on Vince, and suddenly, he could move at normal speed again. "If you try anything funny, I'll kill your sister," Stacie threatened. The Inferno Fiend now stood firmly on his feet. Koumilon and Tempo stood right next to him. Vince was in a perfect position to take them both down and possibly take the disc back from Stacie, but if he did, no doubt Stacie would immediately kill Alice. But what was the alternative? If the Quantum Saviors got the disc, they would be well on their way to launching the Cobalt Bombs. Plus, there was still the question of Mindy. Vince's dilemma was neatly placed before him. He could simply give up Mindy and the Cobalt launch program and save his friends, or he could fight and keep Mindy and save the world from a nuclear threat, but Alice, Stephanie, and Robert would probably be killed in the process. Vince closed his eyes and remembered. He knew the answer. He would make the choice, regardless of the costs. "I'm not going to lose Tina again," the Dark Fiend of the Inferno spoke with cold fury. Then, he yelled, "I'm not surrendering her to you!" |