Thunderbolt was the first of the Revolution to arrive at the Caduceus Project headquarters. The building was on the southern outskirts of the city, and had obviously seen a lot of recent remodeling. Very tasteful.
    A few local reporters were lurking about inside, and the jazz band played softly over in a corner. He eyed them warily, but it wasn't Count Bastard and his merry men.
    "Thunderbolt, how are you?" A smiling man bore down on him. "I'm Dr. Drescher. Come on in, mingle. We can give you a tour of the facility. Is anyone else from the team coming tonight?"
    "Phoenix Talon will be joining us."
    "Ah, excellent, excellent. Scott, Needle?"
    "I don't believe so."
    "Someone has to be manning the base, we understand," he assured the superhero. "Please, come over here, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to. Ms. Shapiro, you said you wanted to talk to him when he came in?"
    A woman turned around. He'd heard of her from the rest of the team, of course; the only one she usually left alone was Scott, simply because it was so damn hard to make Scott look bad. Phoenix Talon loathed her, and Needle's usual veiled impatience with the press tended to acquire a coating of frost whenever her name came up.
    "Captain Sutton," she smiled thinly. "Pleasure to meet you."
    "Ms. Shapiro," he politely overlooked her use of his real name. "I've heard a lot about you."
    "I'm sure it's all good?"
    "Of course." He smiled.
    "So, how long have you been in town?"
    "Just a couple weeks."
    "Find that you're fitting in nicely with your teammates?"
    "I'm enjoying my time, so far," he answered cautiously.
    "What were you doing before you came here?"
    "Afraid I can't really talk about that."
    She nodded slightly. "Fair enough. I'm interested, if you want to come on the show for an interview at some point."
    "Something I'll definitely think about," he promised her.
    "Good, good. I also hear that you're going to be getting a lot of publicity as part of the Agglomerated MegaCorp campaign?"
    "Yes. Comic book, animated series...."
    "National exposure. So you'll probably quit this place fairly soon and move on to greener pastures?"
    She was fishing. "I've given that no thought whatsoever," he smiled.
    "Here's my card, if you decide you want to come on the show at any point. We always like to have as much contact with your team as possible."
    "I can certainly understand that."
    "You're one of our prime focuses of coverage, after all. And may I say that over the last few weeks, you've been doing a remarkable job," she added.
    "Thank you."
    "What was the gentleman's name, Count Bastard?"
    "Yes, it was quite embarrassing actually....."
    "I would have covered that more, but FCC regulations prevented me from actually saying his name, so...." She chuckled.
    "I can see your problem."
    "And there was that Postal Employee Man? I understand the police handled that one all on their own?"
    "Yes. Quite embarrassing for him, I would say."
    "Oh, for him... I would have thought the government funding office would have problems with that. You have a good evening," she wished him.
    "You, too, Ms. Shapiro." Weak shot on her part. He shrugged and returned his attention to the crowd.

    "Dad? Could you give me a ride out to the wharf?" Dawn asked a bit hesitantly.
    "Sure, hon. I talked to Rick," he added. "He said he'd have you back by midnight."
    "You... talked to Rick?"
    "Yeah, just a... he doesn't know a lot of things, hon!" Phoenix Talon told her. "I didn't tell him anything about it, I just said that you were my daughter, I left it at that. And I said there was some Weird Shit involved."
    "Oh, you talked with him about that—oh, okay. I was afraid that you had one of those conversations where you were going to break his arms and legs," she explained with some relief.
    "No, I was much more polite about it."
    "So you did have that sort of a conversation?"
    "No, there was no violence," he protested. "I just said that I did want you home by midnight, and he wasn't to try anything. But it's your first date."
    Dawn looked slightly pained, but gave up. "Okay."
    "Rick's a good guy, but he's a teenage male," Phoenix Talon pointed out. "Y'all go out, you have a good time."
    "So this is okay? Not like when we were in Japan and you were adamant against the whole... thing?"
    "Gotta get used to it, y'know." He felt intensely uncomfortable about this.
    "You didn't show him a picture of me or anything, did you?" she asked after a bit.
    "No. Do you know what he looks like?"
    "No," she replied simply. "He just seemed like a nice guy."
    "Okay, I guess I'll have to wait around until he shows up so I can introduce you."
    Rick was waiting on the dock, actually, on a borrowed bike and looking quite James Dean.
    "There he is."
    "Oh," Dawn said quietly. She sounded surprised. "Could you just keep looking ahead for a second?" She stepped behind him and a moment later reappeared in his field of vision, having exchanged her skirt and blouse for jeans, a t-shirt and a denim jacket, collar up to hide her scar and the tattoo that covered most of it.
    A few minutes later they reached the wharf and disembarked. "Rick, this is my daughter Dawn. Dawn, meet Rick."
    "Hi, Rick."
    "Hi," he murmured, obviously stunned. Phoenix Talon glared at him.
    "You kids have a good time, I don't know if I'll be home when you guys are, 'cause you're gonna be home by midnight and we got this function to go to, we got to keep an eye on this company, they might be Weird Shit, nobody's sure."
    "Well, thanks for bringing her over."
    "Have a good night." He gave Rick a friendly handshake and didn't crush him. I'm gonna be a fuckin' adult here if it kills me. Dawn gave her dad a peck on the cheek and got on the bike behind Rick. Phoenix Talon could already see her mannerisms altering in that social chameleon way she had. He kinda hoped their date didn't go too well. What if he hadn't raised her right? He'd only had five months, and she was part him so God knew what had gone into her makeup....
    In any case, Project Candi awaited, with the promise of thoroughly distracting him from worry about Dawn. He went back to the island and changed into his night costume, went to pick her up. He stopped on the way and picked up some roses for her; might as well do this right. He listened to "You Shook Me All Night Long" as he steered the hovercycle toward her Porter Square apartment.
    She was waiting for him on the balcony, wearing an evening gown instead of a bikini but still quite recognizable. Blonde hair, blue eyes, beautiful... life is good, he thought. She appeared quite pleased by the flowers, and disappeared briefly to put them in water before returning to the roof.
    He was careful with the conversation, sharing anecdotes that made him look good without appearing to brag, talked about his time at U of T and his visit to Japan, and was sure to give her plenty of chances to talk about herself as well. She was an aspiring actress, naturally, and did some modelling as well, which was how she had ended up on Brandeis' boat. He mentioned how she had stood out from the others there.
    It was quickly clear that Candi wasn't anything approaching stupid; she played dumb well, presumably on the theory that ditzy blonde actresses got farther in life than smart ones. This pleased him, although it might make the whole endeavor more complicated in the end, and gave him a chance to broaden the conversational range. The flight passed quickly. He left his bokken in the hovercycle's concealed compartment, but was otherwise fully armed.
    The photographers went into a feeding frenzy when they walked into the lobby together.
    "And here we are, watching members of the Revolution continue to insinuate themselves into...."
    He recognized Shapiro's voice after a moment. He ignored her.
    "...Moving in what can only be considered an extortion-like protection racket.... These are the things we have to call into question. Not that we'd ever believe Boston's heroes would do such a thing," she concluded, saving herself from a libel charge.
    A suited man bustled over to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Dr. Drescher. How are you? Pleasure, and you are...?"
    "Ms. Candi Rich," Talon introduced her.
    "Please, call me Candi," she smiled at Drescher.
    "Thank you for coming, really appreciate it." He smiled and moved on to greet other guests.
    Talon mentioned the company's line of work to Candi; she didn't seem flustered. She had obviously done this sort of thing before. The words "escort service" drifted through his mind.
    "Can I get you a drink?" he asked.
    "Oh, sure."
    As soon as he turned away, Shapiro swooped down on Candi. Phoenix Talon did a one-eighty.
    "Ms. Shapiro," he smiled daggers.
    "Mr. Astaverdia," she returned them. "How are you?"
    "Have you met Ms. Rich?"
    "Yes, I was just talking to her."
    "Lucky says 'hi.'" He grabbed Candi's arm and tried to maneuver her away.
    "Where is she?" Shapiro inquired.
    "None of your business," he snapped over his shoulder.
    "I don't think that woman likes you very much," Candi observed once they were away at the bar.
    "Have you seen her talkin' about us on TV? Remember a couple months ago?"
    "I just moved to town."
    "Back in May there was... let's just say there was this conspiracy to turn the town against us, and she was...."
    "Two champagnes, please," she asked the bartender.
    "She was a big part of it. I'm sorry about that, just anything you say to her she'll just take it right out of context."
    "She just asked me what I did for a living." Candi shrugged.
    "Okay...."
    "And where we met."
    "She's a total, total bitch." He could just imagine how that one would have turned out.

    Thunderbolt quickly attracted a small crowd of interested hangers-on. He was enjoying himself. Shapiro maintained a low profile; she seemed interested in the company more than anything else, doing brief interviews with as many staff members as she could corral, talking about proper applications of variant technology for the good of humankind. A number of people mentioned what a nice person she was to give them this wonderful publicity. Phoenix Talon worried, but kept his mouth shut and tried to enjoy his date and the attentions of his fans, many of whom were interested in his time in Japan.
    "He speaks Japanese," Candi informed them.
    "Anata wa nihogoga wakarimasu ka?" One of the scientists nearby had turned to look at him.
    "Hai," he replied.
    "How long did you spend over there?" someone else inquired.
    "Just a couple months, but it was total immersion. It seemed like a lifetime, almost. I was studying the martial arts, some of the very ancient Japanese forms."
    The crowd seemed decently impressed. Phoenix Talon brought up the Blood Boards, without mentioning them by name.
    "There are kids in Boston, teenagers, they've fallen into some trouble but they're tryin' to do the right thing now, and I really need some help. They need some money, they needs jobs, some of them have kids to support—a few, fortunately not many."
    Some of the attendees seemed interested in his venture. Everything was going swimmingly. Dr. Drescher gave a little speech, introduced some of the staff members. The band played well. Candi seemed to be having a genuinely good time. Phoenix Talon was careful not to drink too much.
    Then the tractor-trailer smashed through the side wall, sending the crowd into screaming panic.
    Phoenix was glad he hadn't worn a tuxedo. He turned to Candi without missing a beat. "Go back to my hoverbike. On the left, down at the bottom is a blue button. Hit the button, and bring me the bokken. Sorry about this, it's an emergency."
    He sprang into action and tackled one of the men dangerously near the falling wall, trying to get him out of the way. It was the Japanese scientist he'd been speaking to earlier; from the speed and sureness of the man's reaction, nearly as good as his own, he realized that he was also a ninja. They exchanged a secret greeting before Phoenix Talon returned to the truck.
    It had stopped moving halfway into the room. In addition to the headlights, there was one red light in the center of the grill, moving slowly back and forth. Phoenix Talon hurled a grenade in through the open door.
    After a lot fumbling, ruining their dramatic entrance, one of the people inside threw it back outside before it exploded, bringing down a bit more wall. Five people got out of the intrusive vehicle. One of them was nearly seven feet tall, easily over 350 pounds, carrying a long spear in one hand, and half of his face had been cybernetically augmented. There were two women in black with feathers in their hair, and two men in wolf costumes.
    "Hugin, Munin, Freki, Geri! Clear these people out of the way! I will claim what is rightfully ours!" the large man commanded.
    Phoenix Talon had been afraid this was another attack by the Toy Man, but these seemed to be new guys. Great. He noticed that Holly Shapiro and her cameraman were still there, filming everything.
    "I, the All-Father, claim all the technology within this building! Leave now, or face my wrath!"
    The wolf-men dove for Phoenix Talon. Thunderbolt was surrounded by the panicked crowd as the two women strode into it with immense self-assurance, ordering people away.
    One stopped for a second. "There's another one here, the new one."
    The other pointed him out. "There. His name's... Thunderbolt. Captain Paul Sutton."
    Freki and Geri obviously had some combat training, but they looked like they had more experience with football than fighting. Phoenix Talon leaped high to avoid the first one's rush, flipped and landed just in time for the second to plow squarely into his side, forcing him back a couple of steps. This man's body was denser than normal flesh; the other seemed pretty fast. He hit the panic button on his phone and popped a flash at the two wolf-guys, blinding them. Freki flailed sightlessly as Geri cleared his eyes. Phoenix Talon used a nerve strike on the latter, who collapsed into unconsciousness.
    Thunderbolt focused himself. Electricity streamed from Odin's cybernetics, to his lifted hand. Odin screamed and staggered; both of the women moved into the crowd, which was moving away from them.
    "He still doesn't have his defenses up!" one of them yelled to her comrades.
    "This way, they have it stored over there," the other informed her.
    A mechanical arm extended from the side of the truck and fired a blast at Thunderbolt. It had an incredibly good tracking system, following him as he ducked and rolled, and scorched him lightly. Then Odin strode in, picked him up and threw him down to the floor painfully. His spear hovered nearby in the meantime.
    Thunderbolt gathered his slightly stunned wits and raised his defensive shield, slightly boosted for a moment by the energy he had taken from Odin. The huge villain reached out for Gungnir, spun it theatrically, and roared as he raised it high to pin Thunderbolt to the ground like a bug. The speartip was forced offline by his shield, and embedded more than two feet in the floor.
    Phoenix Talon punched Freki, who said, "Ow!" His skin was definitely tougher than normal. The man spun around with the force of the blow but didn't appear hurt.
    One of the raven-women ran into the back room, out of the fight, as a panel on the front of the truck slid open and tentacles emerged, lashing around Thunderbolt's leg and lifting him off the ground.
    Scott arrived and saw the truck in the wall. A woman in black was messing with Phoenix Talon's hoverbike, but once he got closer he recognized her from the boat. He moved into the room and looked around in time to see the second woman follow the first.
    "You guys all set here?" he inquired of his teammates.
    "Go after them!" Phoenix Talon pointed after the woman.
    He did so, a fast-moving liquid stream. He saw the second one moving into the stairwell, shouting, "It's downstairs, to the right! The combination's 14 22!"
    "6 47 3!" Scott added.
    At the bottom of the stairs was a short corridor and a door. The women looked at him.
    "Oh no. I remember you," one of them said softly.
    He was puzzled. He didn't remember her.
    Upstairs, Thunderbolt reached up to the tentacle on his leg and pulled in the ambient light from the room as it began waving him around. He zapped it just right; the part that was left snapped back into the truck as if wounded and dropped him on the ground with the noose still on his leg.
    Phoenix Talon pulled out plastique and a detonator, hurled himself dramatically onto the hood of the truck, slapped the charge down on the windshield and bounced away. At least, that was the idea. The truck jerked backwards before he could place the plastique, tumbling him to the ground. He got out of the way, fast. Caught a glimpse of Holly's evidently-suicidal cameraman, still filming as the rest of the crowd finished their panicked exit.
    Odin took two steps, slammed his spear into the plastique. "Hey hero, catch!" He threw it toward the crowd.
    One possible bright point, Holly might die... Phoenix Talon found himself thinking as it flew. Worst case, everyone dies but Holly....
    However, Odin had underestimated his own strength. The charge stuck to the ceiling and detonated there, showering them with chunks of masonry.
    Downstairs, the two women stared at Scott. One of them pressed the button to open the vault door, and dove inside.
    "Would the two of you just like to surrender now please, ma'am?"
    The second woman followed, and closed the door.
    The vault was airtight, he discovered. Well, he knew the combination.
    Meanwhile, Sleipnir pulled away from the building's side and rounded the front, crushing cars and Phoenix Talon's hoverbike on the way. As it reached the far side it leaped into the air and smashed front-first through the pavement, burying its cab in the ground.
    Phoenix Talon tried a nerve attack on Odin. He started to collapse over, but then lifted himself awkwardly back to his feet. His flesh-and-blood eye looked unconscious, but the cybernetic parts of him were still up and moving. He spotted Candi and ran over to grab his weapon from her. "Thanks." He gave her a peck on the cheek. Looked up. "Howdy, Needle!"

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