At 1-800-HENCHMEN:
    "That worked out rather well for us," one man commented.
    "Well, he had an extensive payroll on this one. Nine, plus another six for the pullout... that's forty-five people all told," he totaled up the list with a satisfied look.
    "That's a big henchmen pull. How many of 'em got away?"
    "Goodly number."
    "Yes." He smiled. "All told, profitable day. Is he going to be funneling the money through us again?"
    "Looks that way, so we'll get a good 30% off of that, too."
    "Y'know, it's just nice to work with a real professional."
    "What about General Motors?"
    "He's back in jail again."
    "That doesn't surprise me. Has he signed on for the lawyer package yet?"
    "No, he's convinced that his genius will see him through. Do you know whether or not he built his escape mech this time?"
    "We'll have to see."

And at the New England Variant Holding Facility outside of Harborview, a van pulled up to the main gate. The guard came out to meet it.
    "We're here to make a delivery," the driver said.
    "All right, let me see your manifest." He played his flashlight over the papers. "That checks out with the sheet. You're not the regular driver, where is he?"
    "He took sick."
    "All right, open it up." The guards examined the interior, checked under the van with a mirror. "All right, looks clear. Bring it in."
    It drove on inside, stopped, surrounded by more guards.
    "So, you want to start lugging this stuff out?"
    "Yeah." The guard opened up the back door and revealed a very different interior than the last guard had seen. There were no boxes. There were four men with guns and a nine-foot-tall glowing man.
    The guards didn't stand much chance against the light blast that battered their optic nerves.
    "You understand what to do," Yen directed.
    "Yes, master," the former Alley Cats intoned. Alarms were going off everywhere, and men in advanced body armor scrambled to respond, but the invaders made no attempt to get away. Word had already been sent to the Swordbearers' base in Harborview. The four men concentrated their gunfire at a particular section of the wall as Yen kept the guards busy. Eventually their bullets punched through the wall to destroy one junction box buried deep under the concrete. The prison had multiple backup systems, of course; the power could only have weakened for perhaps a tenth of a second.
    For the five captive members of the Wuxia, who were linked by a quasi-telepathic bond, it was enough. A few seconds later a crater appeared in the roof, and five of them flew off into the night, abandoning their accomplices, while a sixth moved in mile-long leaps below them.
    "Guys, we'd better call this one in," a stunned guard said inanely.
    "All right, who did we lose?" his superior barked into his radio.
    "It looks like just the people who were ready for it. The people we had held from that Boston group, and—" There was a choking sound and a thud.
    Another figure went running for the fence, unseen, and disappeared into the darkness on the other side.

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