Chapter 53

              “Zorb, give me an update,” Zita says from the ship.

            “I think all is going well,” Zorb says in the Reciprocity hangar. “This shouldn’t take much longer.”

            Alan and Hayden are on the ground of the hangar, awake but not moving much. Both of them know they can’t do much, because they both need time to transform. Alan slowly turns his head to look over at Hayden.

            “Psst,” he says as quickly and quietly as he can.

            Hayden doesn’t hear him, so Alan tries another, slightly louder, “Psst.”

            Hayden looks over and Alan uses hand signals to communicate. He brings his hand up and uses his index and middle fingers to point to his eyes. Then he points with both fingers at Zorb and Usa. Alan motions between himself and Hayden, and switches from index and middle fingers to index and pinkie fingers, then twists at the wrist to spin his hand back and forth a couple times.

            Hayden seems to understand as he responds with a slow nod. Alan then counts with his fingers. One, two, three!

            The two boys get up, and run into each other!?

            “What’re you doing?!” Alan shouts at Hayden.

            “We were splitting up, right?!” Hayden says back.

            “And you were supposed to go left!” Alan says.

            “I thought we were going right!” Hayden says.

            “Actually, you’re both going down,” Zorb says as he brings up his gun.

            “Run that way!” Alan says as he shoves Hayden.

            The two boys now run in the opposite directions of what they wanted, starting to transform as they go.

            “Get the little one,” Zorb says as he aims at Alan.

            Usa runs after Hayden, who is heading for some crates.

            Zorb knows killing them won’t do any good, they’ve all learned these “Power Surger” humans have the ability to come back from the dead at least once. So instead, *BANG* he shoots at the leg, and gets Alan in the calf. Alan lets out a shout of pain as he stumbles and falls to the floor. Alan’s heart is racing but he keeps himself focused on both getting further away, and on transforming into Metal-Head.

            Hayden reaches the crates as the big, red, masked, alien henchman comes barreling over. Hayden grabs a cargo net that secures the boxes as he runs, and it helps him turn sharply. Usa skids to a stop and back tracks, but Hayden slides under a transport truck and comes out the other side. By now in his transformation, Hayden’s fingernails become claws, his nose is protruding into a snout, and a tail has started pushing its way out from his spine.

            Usa rips to cover off the truck, climbs up into the truck bed, and sees Hayden duck under another truck. Usa hops down off the truck bed to head for the second truck. Something suddenly sends the truck into Usa! Hayden has completely transformed into Tyranno-Shark and uses his strength to push the truck sideways!

            On Alan’s end, Zorb takes his time stalking behind him.

            “I’m not usually one for making an enemy suffer,” Zorb says. “Stop moving and stop transforming, and we’ll patch you up.”

            Alan ignores Zorb as he keeps crawling for the stairs to the lower levels. He also keeps the transforming going on one part of his body in particular.

            “Well, I did say ‘usually,’” Zorb says as he aims again.

            “You’ve got your hand gun,” Alan says with a grin. “I’ve got mine!”

            Alan turns around and has the Gatling on his forearm at the ready!

            *RATATATATAT* He opens fire but Zorb gets clear. The bullets hit lights hanging from the raftors, and now there’s a dark spot in the hangar.

            Alan uses his one robotic arm to drag himself to the doorway. He uses his good leg to kick the door shut, and then he finishes transforming.

            “It would’ve been nice if Siro warned us what these two turned into!” Zorb vents to no one in particular.

            Back with Usa, he is sandwiched between the two trucks as Tyranno-Shark keeps pushing. Usa reaches back to grab the truck bed behind him, and he manages to fling the entire vehicle away! Then he uses both hands to fling the truck in front of him away, and now he’s face to face with Tyranno-Shark.

            “Aah!” he lets out, finally seeing the mutant creature.

            Tyranno-Shark lunges forward, teeth ready to chomp! Usa manages to hold him off, and he slaps the side of the snout! Tyranno-Shark uses that to turn and swing his tail, hitting Usa in the side.

            Metal-Head kicks the door off its hinges with a *WHAM!* and then aims at Zorb with both forearm Gatlings.

            “T-Shark!” Metal-Head shouts to the sharkosaur.

            Tyranno-Shark runs right for the stairway. Zorb takes aim at the beast, but Metal-Head *RATATATAT* opens fire again! Zorb runs for cover as Metal-Head steps forward. Tyranno-Shark can’t fit through the doorway, but he’s already started changing back to Hayden. He slips through the doorway once he’s short enough, and ducks into the corner of the stairwell for shelter.

            “Keep going downstairs,” Metal-Head says. “You gotta help the others!”

            “But what about you?!” Hayden shouts.

            “I’ll be fine,” Metal-Head says. “I’m the one with armor, remember?”

            The *RATATAT* continues, and that keeps both Zorb and Usa at bay. Hayden is reluctant, but he does head down the stairs all the same.

 

            Meanwhile, the fight in the conference room rages on!

            Smart Mouth swings his yoyo ball overhead, then at Siro, but Siro ducks and rolls over the conference table. Axe passes around Smart Mouth with Louie and Aaron. Louie and Aaron take defensive positions with guns aimed at Duha and Upat while Axe waves Hartwell over. Hartwell is fearful but he still runs over. Together, Hartwell and Axe get Sabina to the doorway.

            Smart Mouth swings his yoyo ball to bring it down at Siro. Siro avoids it, but the elastic band hits the table’s edge, and Smart Mouth gives it a yank. The ball swings back up fast and gets Siro under the chin! Siro staggers to the wall as the ball returns to Smart Mouth.

            Duha runs at Louie and Aaron, but they’ve got him in their sights. They fire *BLAMBLAM* both shotguns just a beat apart, but Duha slides under the buck shot. But then Louie and Aaron move out of the way, and Sabina sits up! Sabina has her billy club, and backhand SMACKS Duha upside the head! Duha is out cold on the floor! From there, Hartwell helps Sabina get down the stairs, and Axe drags Duha along.

            “Seryoso!? <Seriously!?>” Siro growls. “Upat, go get Duha!”

            Upat heads from table to doorway, but Smart Mouth slings his yoyo ball low to snare and sweep Upat’s legs out from under him. Upat lands face first on the floor but gets up, only for Smart Mouth to grab his Rubik’s Cube off the desk and SMASH Upat in the back of the head with it!

            Siro growls as he picks up one of the arm chairs and holds it over head! As Silver, he throws the arm chair at Smart Mouth! Smart Mouth gets knocked over by it, but he slowly gets to his hands and knees.

            “Would you two leave those two alone?!” Siro shouts at Tulo and Lima. “Go get Duha and Upat!”

            Lima is still constricting Emma’s legs to keep her down while Tulo has piled arm chairs on top of Garth. Lima lets Emma go and goes with Tulo around the table. Emma crawls to Garth under the pile of chairs. He’s still breathing.

            Louie and Aaron aim their guns at the Masqueraders, but Siro chucks another arm chair! Louie shoves Aaron out of the way and gets floored by the chair!

            Louie coughs and gasps for air after the impact, but the real problem is that Aaron is distracted. He turns around for Lima to be right on him! Lima climbs up onto Aaron like a spider then uses his legs to constrict Aaron’s arms! Lima also constricts Aaron’s head and neck using his arms, and causes him to fall forward onto the floor.

            “He said we’re to rescue Upat and Duha,” Tulo says to Lima on the way to the door.

            “I’m making sure this one can’t follow us!” Lima says.

            Lima squeezes tight, and Aaron screams out in pain. Just when Aaron thinks his head is going to be crushed, Lima lets up and tosses him aside. Lima then hurries after Tulo down the stairs.

            Smart Mouth pushes away the arm chair that’s on him and reels his yoyo ball in. He swings it wide, and Siro prepares to dodge it. But then he notices it’s heading for the Rubik’s Cube! The yoyo ball launches the cube into the air, and Siro moves out of the way, to his left! Smart Mouth moves with Siro while also spinning to use the yoyo ball’s momentum in the next swing.

            Siro turns Blue and uses his force field to block the ball, Smart Mouth reels it in, but lets it go past him. The elastic band stretches as far as it can, and then Smart Mouth pulls it back, swinging it even harder! But it’s coming in from the same side, so Siro keeps his barrier up. To his surprise, the ball just goes flying into the wall. Because Smart Mouth let the loop off his finger!

            Smart Mouth climbs up on the table, then leaps off it to topple Siro over! Smart Mouth brings out a knife, sits up on top of Siro and prepares to stab, but Siro sticks a finger in Smart Mouth’s eye!

            “AGH!” Smart Mouth shouts as he snaps back. “Dirty, rotten cheat-”

            “Isara <Shut up>,” Siro says as he turns Black as he grabs Smart Mouth by the collar.

            Siro drags Smart Mouth down while getting up on his knees. Siro grabs Smart Mouth’s right arm with both hands and pulls it back, digging a knee between Smart Mouth’s shoulder blades. Siro keeps grip of the arm with his right hand while he uses his left hand to pull Smart Mouth’s the fingers gripping the knife. Smart Mouth kicks at the ground with his feet, trying to get traction. Siro yanks the arm to flip Smart Mouth over to his back, then he kicks him sharply in the ribs! Then without missing a beat, Siro yanks Smart Mouth back over the other way onto his stomach, and STOMPS the shoulder!

            Smart Mouth lets out another bark of pain as Siro keeps his foot on that shoulder and pulls the arm backwards! Smart Mouth struggles but in vain as Siro again goes after his fingers. Siro digs between the gaps and grabs hold of Smart Mouth’s ring finger. Siro pulls back as far as he can, and painfully so. Smart Mouth drops the knife, and then Siro wraps his left arm around, counterclockwise. Siro pulls back while keeping a knee in Smart Mouth’s back. Smart Mouth keeps trying to kick his way up but Siro has the knee in the very middle of his back, eliminating any possible leverage. Siro then reaches for the other arm, when Lima and Tulo are sent flying back out of the doorway.

            “What is going on?!” Siro shouts as he stands up.

            Siro lets Smart Mouth go and Smart Mouth rolls over, clutching his right shoulder. Smart Mouth sits up and looks for his knife.

            “Do I have to do everything myself?!” Siro shouts, emphasizing “everything” with a kick to Smart Mouth’s head.

            Siro goes around the long conference table and looks at the doorway. He sees something glowing in the shadows, and it’s headed into the room. Siro grumbles when he sees Craig “Hardwife” Foster step into the light.

            But there is definitely something a little different about Hardwire now. The glowing is so strong that his nervous system is practically etched onto his skin, visible in his face, neck and bare arms.

            “Well, well, well,” Hardwire grins, his teeth also glowing a bit. “Isn’t this a role reversal? Everyone thought you were dead, but you came back. I sure thought I was dead, but now I’m back! And this time, I’ll be-”

            Siro SPEARS Hardwire as Code Red!

            “SumPIN ka ugok! <DAMN you’re dumb!>” Siro says as he sits up, hands balled up in fists by his head. “You have to be… the dumbest human ever!

            “Do you even hear yourself?!” Siro continues as he gets to his feet. “I could just feel the arrogance dripping off what you were saying! Look at you and your hero’s entrance! But you’re not the hero, Craig!! You’re an arrogant pretender! You’re blinded by your narcissism! You’re a pile of armpit hair that somehow gained sentience!!”

            “Stop talking down to me!” Hardwire growls as he sits back up.

            Hardwire reaches for Siro but Siro turns Yellow as he grabs Hardwire’s wrist. Siro yanks Hardwire forward and straddles the arm and pulls on the fingers. He pulls the middle finger down while pulling the ring finger backwards, stretching the webbing as far as it can go. Hardwire growls in pain as he tries to get moving, just like Smart Mouth. Siro stands up to mule kick Hardwire in the ribs! Siro holds onto the arm as Hardwire coughs and sputters.

            Siro steps over, around and then back over to twist Hardwire’s arm from wrist to elbow to shoulder. Siro forces Hardwire’s past its limit and then some, standing on Hardwire’s head to keep him down. But then Siro sees Smart Mouth swinging his yoyo ball! Siro changes to Blue just before the ball hits him in the head!

            “Aaaaagh…!” Siro says seethingly as he staggers away from Hardwire.

            Siro’s head is ringing and his bad knee is aching. He hobbles and wobbles while Hardwire gets up. Hardwire tackles Siro from behind, practically spearing him in return! Siro hits the floor hard and Hardwire sits up to start throwing hammering right hands down! Siro manages to cover up with his hands behind his head and neck, then he gets a barrier up. Hardwire punches the blue force field panel and snaps back from the pain in his hand. Siro springs up and grabs Hardwire around the head, to drive him into the floor with a DDT!

            Siro pushes Hardwire aside and uses Overdrive to get into the doorway and down the stairs. He takes it upon himself to get Upat and Duha back.

            Siro looks inside the third floor, which has nothing but desks and computers. Clearly no one is in here to bother with.

            Siro arrives at the fourth floor and walks into the medical facility. The Spektrum never went in here. Siro walks down the hall and looks at all the rooms. Hartwell sits with Sabina in one, with medical staff tending to her shoulder. The doctors and nurses are tense, but Siro scoffs at them, and moves along.

            Siro turns Yellow and uses Analyze as he looks around. He takes note of all the equipment in the individual rooms, but he tries to spot signs of where they took the Masqueraders.

            Though not visible to the normal human eye, Analyze can see footprints all over the floor. But that’s too many to know who took Upat and Duha. It starts to hurt his eyes, so Siro deactivates Analyze.

            “Where are you?!” he shouts. “What do you want with those two that you took them prisoner?”

            A cart full of medical supplies is shoved at Siro, but he easily stops it with both hands. But then he sees Axe with a fire extinguisher! Axe sprays Siro *FFFFHT* full in the face!

            “AAAH!” Siro shouts as he reels back; his eyes sting from the chemicals blasted into them!

            Axe then smacks *DONK* Siro in the head with the fire extinguisher itself! Siro falls to the floor, head ringing all over again. But he miraculously turned Blue in time, saving him from a possible concussion.

            Axe stands over Siro, holding the extinguisher up! He rams it down, but Siro turns Silver and catches it with both hands. Siro pushes the extinguisher away and sits up to punch Axe in the stomach! Axe doubles over immediately, and Siro Yellow drags Axe down to the ground to press one knee into Axe’s throat and the other on an arm. Siro grabs the free arm and pulls back hard, and Axe kicks as he can’t breathe. Siro watches him fade out, and then lets up to yank Axe off the ground into a back suplex!

            Axe sputters and coughs as he struggles to move. The pain in his neck and shoulders make his whole body feel numb.

            Siro goes back to the stairs, but he hears people heading down. Siro hurries down to keep ahead of them.

            Siro arrives on the fifth floor, the training area. He can remember sparring with Catgirl and meeting her cousins, but he knows it was The Spektrum who lived it. This is too wide open to be where they took Upat and Duha.

            Someone is not just heading down the stairs, they’re leaping from railing to railing! Siro looks back and sees Hardwire leap off the railing to tackle him into the training room!

            “Get off!” Siro says as he kicks Hardwire off and overhead.

            Hardwire rolls to his feet but Siro twists and spins to also be upright. The two rush each other, ramming shoulder to shoulder. They push for control, hands grappling. Siro wraps on a headlock but Hardwire throws big shots into Siro’s back. Siro’s grip loosens and Hardwire pops out the back of the hold to then clobber Siro in the back of his head. Siro wobbles again, head still sore from the fire extinguisher shot. Siro turns Blue to dull the pain, but Hardwire kicks him in the gut.

            Hardwire aims at the bench press as he lifts Siro up. Hardwire holds Siro high overhead, but Siro returns to Yellow to slip free of Hardwire’s hands. As Siro falls, he grabs Hardwire’s head with his arms and swings out for a modified blockbuster neckbreaker! Hardwire immediately sits up, clutching his head and neck, and Siro is standing up as Blue again.

            Siro lifts Hardwire up from under his shoulders, and then shifts to a waistlock. Siro pops his hips but Hardwire hooks a leg around Siro’s to block. Hardwire grabs at Siro’s hands to undo the waistlock, but in that time, Siro switches to Silver to headbutt Hardwire in the back of his head! Hardwire again clutches his head, and that allows Siro to hit the German Suplex! Hardwire is folded up as he lands on his shoulders, but Siro holds on. Siro rolls over and drags Hardwire up again, for a second German Suplex! Hardwire is again folded up, but Siro refuses to let up. He still has the waistlock and rolls Hardwire back over for another try!

            But Smart Mouth swings his yoyo ball as he comes in! Siro turns back to Yellow to pull Hardwire back in a roll. Siro dodges the heavy yoyo ball while dragging Hardwire along at the same time, and then comes back up out of the roll into a German Suplex! Hardwire hits the ground with even more momentum than normal, and Siro finally lets him go.

            Smart Mouth swings his yoyo ball at Siro more, but Siro Yellow uses Analyze to see the ball coming and easily avoid it. Smart Mouth swings high, Siro stays low, and then Siro jumps up before Smart Mouth can swing low. Smart Mouth swings again, somewhere in between high and low, and Siro gets low again. But then he notices a bend in the elastic band, because Smart Mouth is using his left hand to pull the band! This bend messes up the calculations Analyze gives Siro, because the ball is coming back the other way!

            Siro goes Blue and gets an arm up, but the *BING* impact is still heavy on his elbow!

            “Gah, sumpain!” Siro lets out.

            Smart Mouth swings the yoyo ball again, but Siro somersaults backwards to get under Smart Mouth. Siro shovels Smart Mouth up onto his shoulders with his head, the Electric Chair!

            “Whoa~!” Smart Mouth says as he steadies himself.

            Siro then holds onto Smart Mouth’s legs as he DROPS backwards! Smart Mouth hits the floor with a lot of force on his back, shoulders and head. Siro gets up and stands over Smart Mouth as he looks around in a daze.

            But then Hardwire tackles Siro down! They hit the floor hard, and Hardwire reels a hammer fist back. Siro turns Red and quickly punches Hardwire in the sternum. Hardwire has a hard time breathing, and Siro slips out from under him. Siro runs off light ropes to use that same thrusting knee, but into the back of Hardwire’s head! Hardwire falls forward onto his face while Siro hobbles a bit.

            Should’ve known that’d hurt, Siro thought to himself.

            Siro reaches down for Hardwire’s arm, planning for his ripcord side suplex.

            “Time to end this,” Siro says, “and you.”

            “Hardwire!” someone shouts from the door.

            Siro looks over to see Hayden enter the training room.

            “Let go of him!” Hayden says as he heads over, starting the transformation process.

            “Why?” Siro asks. “What’s this filth to you?”

            “He’s not filth,” Hayden says, his hands becoming claws. “He’s my friend!”

            “Friend?” Siro says.

            Siro looks down at Hardwire as he feebly tries to crawl, then looks back at Hayden. And then Siro laughs!

            “You think of Craig Foster as a friend?!” Siro says while laughing more. “I highly doubt he sees you as a friend.”

            “You’re wrong!” Hayden says, his tail starting to return. “We are friends! We go on missions together, and spend time together!”

            “Spending time together makes you friends?” Siro says. “So you get along? He likes you as a friend?”

            “Well, y-yeah, I think so,” Hayden says. “I mean, he makes fun of me and Alan- er, Metal-Head, for being ‘nerds’ and liking video games and stuff. But we still get along.”

            “Really?” Siro says, not letting Hardwire go. “The living garbage bag can get along with you two? Or does he take charge and expect you two to go along with him?”

            “We don’t ‘go along’ with him,” Hayden says, his transformation slowing. “We agree with him and then follow him.”

            “What about after missions?” Siro asks. “You spend time together, but how?”

            “Uh, we get food, because we’re usually pretty hungry after,” Hayden says. “And then… Well, actually, it’s really more Alan and me, with games and stuff. Craig kind of… Does other stuff. He tries to hit on the girls here, even though they’re older and not really interested. He tends to make fun of Sabina for being so muscular for a woman, and of Hartwell for being her skinny, whipped boyfriend. ‘Whipped’ is more Craig’s word, though…”

            “So you’re seeing it now, aren’t you?” Siro says. “Craig doesn’t ‘get along’ with anyone. He puts himself above everyone around him, one way or another, real or imagined. It’s why he tried to expose The Spektrum’s secret. It’s why he tried to ruin The Spektrum’s life. It’s why he signed up for this place, and why he wanted to become Hardwire! If he isn’t the alpha, if he isn’t the top dog, he finds a way to change that! He doesn’t think of you as friends, but as followers! His ego is bigger than Texas and his personality is toxic waste.

            “Gisingin! WAKE UP! There will come a time when your egos will clash, and he will go out of his way to bring you down to make himself better, even if he fails. He doesn’t learn lessons, he escalates. But go ahead, attack me to save him. I doubt he’ll thank you for it.”

            Alan arrives, back in his human form but very out of breath.

            “T-Shark, what’re you doing?” he says, seeing Hayden only partway transformed. “Go get him!”

            “What’s it going to be, ‘T-Shark’?” Siro asks. “Help a bully continue being a bully? Or let me end him before he only gets worse?”

            Hayden hesitates, and Alan is confused.

            “Dude!” Alan says. “What’re you waiting for?”

            Hayden looks at Siro, then at Craig, then over at Smart Mouth with his hands on his head. Hayden looks back at Siro as he starts pulling on Craig’s arm again.

            “The only bully here,” Hayden says, “is YOU!”

            Hayden continues transforming as he runs forward at Siro!

            “Uto… <Idiot…>” Siro sighs.

            Siro yanks Hardwire up by his arm, but holds him to then throw him at Hayden! Hayden catches Hardwire as best he can with his dinosaur arms, but Siro uses his light ropes as Red to springboard up and over the partially transformed monster. He somersaults the moment he lands on his feet to relieve the impact, and then aims at Alan. Alan works to transform back into Metal-Head, but Siro this him with the Yellow Flash Kick! Alan falls backwards through the doorway, but Siro drags him back up to his feet. Siro rams Alan into the railing, then starts to push him over the edge.

            “Where did they take those two?!” he shouts. “Why did they take those two?!”

            Siro hears footsteps running back up the stairs, and in a blue blur, Duha has returned from below!

            “You got free?” Siro says in surprise.

            “Yes, but I couldn’t help Upat,” Duha says.

            “How deep down?” Siro asks.

            “I think, all the way down,” Duha says. “Another six levels.”

            Siro does the math from where they are.

            “What’s the 11^th floor?!” he shouts at Alan.

            “11?” Alan says. “I didn’t even know there was 11! I thought it stopped at 10 with the Elite’s dormitory!”

            “Liar!” Siro shouts as he starts pushing Alan a little further over the edge. “It’s going to cost you a life!”

            “Um,” Duha says as he looks at the gym.

            Siro looks over his shoulder and sees Tyranno-Shark ready to charge. Siro throws Alan back inside that room, and then turns Blue to block the doorway with a barrier.

            “Keep going upstairs,” Siro says. “Make sure Lima and Tulo aren’t captives, and then head for the surface.”

            “Okay,” Duha nods.

            Duha takes off upstairs, and Siro heads up at normal speed. He waits until he’s past medical to change to Red, thereby undoing the barriers. Siro uses Overdrive to get back to the conference room in seconds. The Masqueraders are gone but the Reciprocity recruits have regrouped. But they’re caught off guard seeing Siro again, so he manages to get away before they can act.

            Back on the first floor, the troopers are now dealing with Zorb. He uses an arm to trip one trooper, shoulders into another and uses his golden gun to shoot troopers anywhere from thigh to foot.

            Siro comes up from the other end, with the Masqueraders, and they bowl over several troopers together.

            “Where’s Upat?” Zorb asks.

            “Caught,” Siro says.

            Zorb sighs then growls before kicking a trooper’s knee so hard it dislocates! The trooper cries in pain as Zorb heads for the exit. Siro and the Masqueraders follow, body checking and tossing troopers as they go.

            Once back in the hangar, Usa regroups with the rest, and they hurry outside. Just as troopers make their way to the hangar, Zorb, Siro and the Masqueraders are teleported away with another *WHOOMF* beam of light.

           

            After calming down and catching their breath, Zorb and Siro explained the situation to Zita and the rest.

            “You left him behind?!” Zita, Taktikk and Professor Mirous blurt out.

            “How could you do that?!” the little alien strategist jumps up in Siro’s face. “Without all five of them, the formations are incomplete!”

            “Get out of my face, Tic-tac,” Siro says as he uses a foot to push him away.

            “My name’s Taktikk!”

            “You still haven’t figured out he says it wrong on purpose?” Zorb says. “And honestly, it’s fine. It’s not like they’ll get any good information out of him. He isn’t exactly on the team for his brains, am I right?”

                       

            In fact, Reciprocity prepares to question Upat right now, taking him to the seventh floor, the same as Darklite’s office. They have Upat in interrogation just down the hall, but Darklite and a few others watch via the camera footage.

            “What is your name?” Smart Mouth asks while putting ice packs to his head and neck.

            “Upat,” he answers.

            “The heck does that mean?” Smart Mouth mumbles to the girl with tattoos all over her arms.

            “It’s a dialect of the Filipino language,” she says. “Similar to ‘apat,’ it is the number four.”

            “So he’s Four,” Smart Mouth says. “I suppose that makes sense. Siro is obviously ‘zero,’ and there’re five besides him. Thanks, Babs.”

            “I keep telling you not to call me that,” she growls.

            “Sorry, Babel,” Smart Mouth says, rolling his eyes.

            “Babel?” Alan asks.

            “As in the Tower of Babel,” Darklite explains. “Biblical source of why humans speak so many different languages. She’s called that because she knows just over 90 languages.”

            “90?!” Alan says. “Are there even that many languages?”

            “Yes, actually,” Darklite says. “But don’t expect her to know anything about math or science, or history, or more general education subjects. Language is her biggest area of expertise, it’s just how her mind works. We have her in on ever interrogation so that no one can use a language to hide information from us.”

            “Bakit ka napunta dito? <Why did you come here?>” Babel asks Upat in Tagalog.

            Upat tilts his head in confusion.

            “He’s named something in Filipino but doesn’t understand it?” Smart Mouth says.

            “Simon Michaels is half-Filipino,” Darklite says. “Siro being his clone, of course he would know some of the language.”

            “But that would mean Siro named them?” Axe says.

            “Why did you come here?” Babel asks Upat in English.

            “Um…” Upat says. “Because you had Siro.”

            “Well, true,” Smart Mouth admits. “But, you could’ve just left with him. You all started heading downstairs, into our base. Why?”

            “Um…” Upat says again. “I don’t know. I just follow their orders.”

            “Whose orders?” Smart Mouth asks. “Siro’s? Zorb’s?”

            Upat’s face is rather blank as he thinks.

            “Yes,” Upat finally says.

            “Yes?” Smart Mouth repeats. “Yes, you follow Siro’s orders? Or yes, you follow Zorb’s orders?”

            Upat goes blank again.

            “Yes, and yes,” he says.

            Smart Mouth squints as he thinks on that. But then he realizes that must mean Siro has some authority in Zorb’s group.

            “How many of you are there?” he asks.

            “One,” Upat says.

            “What? No, there are a lot more of you, we all saw them.”

            “What? There’s only one of me.”

            Smart Mouth realizes what Upat means.

            “No, no,” he says. “I know there’s only one of you, Upat. I want to know how many are in your group. How many people are in your group?”

            “I don’t have a group,” Upat says. “It’s Zorb’s group.”

            “Okay,” Smart Mouth says, getting annoyed. “How many people are in Zorb’s group?”

            I can’t tell if he’s playing dumb or is actually this dumb, Smart Mouth thinks.

            “There’re ten of us,” Upat says. “Siro, Usa, Duha, Tulo, Lima, Zorb, Zitasonna Alanna Bofori Ettastella Ordafina Callarnon Bohz-”

            “Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Smart Mouth says. “That’s way more than ten. Are you telling me that this, ‘Zitasonna… Alanna…’ is somehow one person?”

            “Yes,” Upat nods.

            “How do you remember that stupidly long name and yet you didn’t understand my questions before?”

            “Erinnerung und intelligenz sind nicht immer dasselbe, idioht <Memory and intelligence aren’t always the same, idiot,>” Babel grumbles at Smart Mouth in German.

            “What?” Smart Mouth asks. “Please insult me in a language I understand.”

            Babel just growls.

 

            “Yeah, they’re not getting anything out of him,” Taktikk admits. “He’s not all that sharp.”

            “He made for a good hammer,” Siro says. “And if they don’t just give up and toss him outside, we’ll come back for him some other day. I’m more disappointed we didn’t accomplish our real goal. I didn’t think he’d show such loyalty to Craig.”

 

            Many of the other Reciprocity agents are on the medical floor being tended to after all the damage Siro and the Masqueraders did. Emma’s legs need ice packs and Garth has a headache but they’re otherwise fine. Axe has an ice pack on his neck, but doesn’t move much.

            “I can see why we’re not supposed to do those moves at home,” Axe grumbles.

            “What?” Emma asks.

            “You know, the wrestling moves,” he says. “And they sometimes have those safety warnings before watching.”

            Hayden checks on Craig, who has returned to his medical room. Craig doesn’t need as much in the way of ice packs and pain medication thanks to the implant, but doctors still check him over.

            “Man, those wires are pretty awesome,” Hayden says.

            “Definitely,” Craig says as he looks at his arm as he flexes it up and down.

            “Oh, and, duh,” Hayden says. “It’s awesome that you’re awake! We weren’t sure how long you were going to be in your coma. I mean, it’s only been a few days, but still. Is it true, though? That whole ‘People in comas can kinda hear what’s going on’ thing?”

            “I dunno,” Craig says as he gets up off the bed. “Maybe? I definitely heard people running around. What time is it? Is that AM or PM?”

            Hayden looks at the clock on the wall saying 12:26.

            “Oh, that’s AM,” Hayden says.

            “Welp, I should probably get something to eat,” Craig says as he heads to the door. “Is that Emma chick okay?”

            “Yeah, pretty sure,” Hayden says. “But she’s with her team. We can hang out, though. Alan said he’d meet us in the mess hall after they’re done interrogating the alien we caught.”

            “Tommy, Joey,” Craig says with a big grin. “Thanks again for watching guard.”

            “No problem, man,” Joey says.

            “Yeah, anything for a friend,” Tommy says.

            While Craig high-fives and bro hugs Tommy and Joey, Hayden starts to feel like Craig isn’t really listening to him.

            “Y’know, Alan and I checked in on you a lot,” he says. “We were actually down here when they brought Siro in. Though, obviously we kinda messed up going to see him. Didn’t think those alien guys actually had something planned for when he arrived.”

            “Uh-huh,” Craig says as he continues down the hall.

            Hayden follows after as Craig heads for the stairs.

            “It’s a good thing I got to the training room when I did, though,” Hayden says. “I was worried he was going to do worse than put you in a coma.”

            Craig stops walking and looks at Hayden.

            “Like what?” he says. “Like he was going to cripple me? Or even kill me?”

            “Well, I mean, he could’ve,” Hayden says. “That’s why I was worried.”

            “Alright, look here, T-Shark,” Craig says. “That mask-wearing weasel wasn’t going to get me like that. Not this time.”

            “But, he had you down.”

            “Yeah well, I was down, but not out,” Craig counters, getting angry. “See how I recovered from all that damage? I was more than capable of enduring whatever else he was going to do. I was going to turn it around and beat him this time. Then we’d have him and the other one.”

            “I don’t know why you’re being so defensive,” Hayden says, very confused. “I was just saying, at least you’re back to 100%, so now we can all go after him together.”

            “Oh like how you hesitated to get him?” Craig says, his Hardwire implant starting to glow again. “I wasn’t in a coma, I could tell what was going on then. You hesitated, and he got away.”

            “I… Yeah, but-”

            “But you messed up,” Craig says, cutting him off. “You and Metal-Head, you both messed up. But I’m back now, so we’re going to fix that.”

            Craig storms off and Hayden stays put, not just confused but also upset, maybe even offended. Craig was putting all the blame on him and the others, when he got his butt handed to him as much as the others did. Hayden was starting to think Siro was actually right about Craig, and that Hayden chose wrong.