"Fool! I'm not just in her body, I'm in the whole storm! The whole storm! Yes! Now!" We moved forward, toward the island. "I'll reduce it to pulp! That will show them!"
    Standing on the shore was J.T., with a barrel at the ready. "Come on! Yeah, c'mon! We'll go shot for shot!"
    "You miserable fool!"
    "C'mon, give it your best shot."
    Thirty lightning bolts arced toward J.T., who lifted the barrel to block them. I felt a moment of panic from Manny; I was a little bit confused myself. Then J.T. threw the barrel at me.
    Masters, of course, had only the vaguest idea how to use my powers. The barrel shattered against my feeble shield.
    "Manny!" Scott cried cheerfully, erupting from the container to wrap himself around me with great force and fling what looked like an entire power plant's output of electricity back into the storm.
    I felt the Manta Master wick out of my consciousness, his face appearing in the clouds once again with a panicked expression before those dispersed, leaving a clear sky.
    "God, I'll need a bath for days," I muttered in disgust.
    "I love this town, I really do," Emily announced, grinning as she flew over to us. "I'm willing to bet that Cold Steel is covered in goo by now."
    "Did you guys see his body?" Scott asked them, still clinging to me. "You want to go fly over to the island now, I think I probably blew all your clothes off," he informed me apologetically.
    "Uh, thanks."It hadn't been a painful impact, exactly, but there had been a lot of force there.
    Dawn was waiting. "I just grabbed one of the dresses that came in that package..."
    "Whatever. Thanks." Scott went to fog form while I dressed, though I have no idea what he thinks about modesty. "Scott, you are a perfect gentleman."
    "There's no sign of his body," Trent swooped back to earth. "I also telekinetically grabbed the spear before it hit, but I think it's been burned out."
    "Good," I muttered.
    "We'll give it to Felix to take a look at," Scott suggested.
    The Sphinx confirmed that it was indeed now useless.
    "No offense, but I think that's really for the best," I told him.
    "I suppose, but it would have been a find of extraordinary magnitude," he said wistfully.
    "I'm sure he's got some more, so all we have to do is find him...."
    "If he hit the water at that speed and plummeted...." He paused.
    "Don't say it," I sighed.
    "Three months, tops," Scott predicted, and told us how J.T. had come up with the barrel plan after his conference with Felix. They had theorized that Masters was taking the electromagnetic waves of his consciousness and spreading their pattern through the entire storm, creating a sort of feedback loop in which one would keep going as long as the other did. They needed a massive electrical discharge fired from very close range to break the loop, so Scott had packed himself into the barrel, which Manta Master wouldn't see as a threat. It worked quite well, I have to say.
    The away team eventually limped back soon thereafter, covered in glop. Emily whooped in satisfaction at the sight.
    I looked at Trent. "There's something wrong with her."
    "If everybody'll excuse me, I'm gonna hit the showers and change," Phoenix Talon announced grimly.
    "Dad? What happened?" Dawn asked anxiously.
    "I don't want to talk about it just now. Burn this." He handed her his costume and headed indoors in his boxers. "Everything worked out for the best."
    "We had a good time. A couple little mishaps, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with," I summed up our half of the afternoon.
    The picnic eventually resumed where it had left off. I changed my clothes again, rather than spend the afternoon in an evening gown.
    Phoenix Talon took me aside later on. "We ran into a bunch of giant ants. Killed their queen, they had a hive mind. They were after the damn gene sequencer again, but their hideout was one of Gretchen's lairs. You gotta wonder how many of them there are around, or what they could be used for. Chandler's not around to protect us anymore."
    I sighed. "Well, we know where they are. Maybe we should just set up some cameras."
    "You guys know anybody who does anything with magic?" Scott asked the Warriors.
    "Yeah, why? What do you need?" Trent asked.
    "We got some walking dead guys."
    "Walking dead?"
    "Oh, not this... great," Steel muttered.
    "Spirits of the North?" Trent looked at him.
    "Could be. Group of Canadian mystics we've had dealings with before, they might be able to help you out."
    Scott noted the name. "We haven't heard back from Caduceus Project, and the report might be a little late since apparently giant ants ate their lab, but...."
    "Hon, the building ain't quite so nice lookin' anymore," Talon told Dawn.
    "Oh." She sounded disappointed. "I'll go put it back together tomorrow."

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