Mindscan opened the cooler door and reached in and grabbed a Diet Soak. He looked at the drink for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. He had briefly wondered how Sam could drink this stuff. And like she needed it. She already had a nice enough figure. He grabbed a Fountain Brew for himself. Ah, he said inwardly. Twice as much caffeine and sugar - and everything else that's bad for you. My style of drink. He took both drinks to the counter.
 "Will… that… be… all… sir?"
 Mindscan lifted an eyebrow. The man behind the counter sounded like a robot. "Sir, are you all right?" Mindscan asked, reaching into his wallet.
 "Of… course… I… am… What… a… beautiful… day… we… are… having… yes?"
 Mindscan looked outside. "Yes. It is a beautiful day, isn't it?"
 The man behind the counter smiled. He pulled out his money and gave it to the cashier. "Here … is… twelve… dollars… and… twenty-two… cents," the man replied and coldly "plopped" the money into Mindscan's hand.
 Normally he would never pry into the mind of an innocent; but he had to. There was something wrong here. He felt himself lift out of his body and reach into the clerk's mind… and there he found… a wall.
 "What's this?" he whispered to himself. "I've never seen such a thing…"
 He pulled his mind out, and shook his head, and headed out the door.
 "Have… a… nice… day… sir… and… visit… us… again…."
 "Yeah," Mindscan nodded. "Count on it…"

 He arrived at the beach, and found their towels deserted. "Oh no," he sighed. "What happened?" He looked, and the couple that had been the Department H figures were gone as well. "This can't be good. What if someone nabbed them? I am not sure what's going on, but I intend to find out. Shame I don't have Caterwaul's senses…" Just then he caught sight of strawberry blond hair. He heard a knowing laugh. He turned his head and saw Thermal flirting with a muscular man. "Cripes," he muttered to himself and stormed over.
 "We've got problems," Mindscan said, when he arrived.
 "No," the burly man growled. "You've got problems, punk."
 "Stephanie, this is serious…" Mindscan began.
 "Do you know this dweeb?" the man snarled.
 Mindscan rolled his eyes impatiently.
 "Of course not," she said flatly, and shot Mindscan a cold grin.
 "Didn't think so," the man muttered. A large fist met with Mindscan's face, sending him flying back. "HAW HAW HAW," the man laughed.
"What a little dweeb."
 Mindscan wiped the blood trickling from his lips. He curled his lip in anger and stood up and approached the man. 
 "Comin' back for more?" the weight lifter laughed. 
 "Hardly," Mindscan smirked. "Drop."
 One word… and the weight lifted did.
 "My God!" Stephanie screamed. "Did you kill him?"
 "No. I just tapped the part of his mind where sleep comes from, and convinced his body that he was exhausted and should sleep, now come on," he snarled and grabbed her arm, forcing her to come with him.
 "What's gotten into you?" Thermal said, jerking her arm free.
 "It's not what's gotten into me. It's what's gotten into the people at this store. Where are the others?"
 "They went for a walk," she said, shrugging. "Like I care where they went."
 "You better start caring. We all better start caring if we hope to make it as a team. We're supposed to act as one; be there for each other; like a family."
 "Whatever," Thermal laughed. "We even have a family pet called, Caterwaul."
 "That will be enough of that," Mindscan snapped. "Where's the Department H figures?"
 "Probably went after the rest of them," she said. "I don't know.
I was tanning."
 Mindscan took a deep breath. Right now he needed to be calm. "We need to get the others."
 "Just what's going on?" Thermal asked, growing more so irritable.

 "I am not sure," Mindscan admitted. "But I plan on finding out." He traveled deep into himself, and felt his mind free itself of its body.
He reached out to the familiar minds he knew. "I can't sense them. They must have gone pretty far by now." He looked at Thermal and grimaced. "It looks like it's you and I, then."
 "Sure, whatever, but could you at least fill me in on what's going on around here?" she asked, as they ran back to their room.

 "I feel ridiculous," Thermal growled. They were walking into a store, in full "super hero" outfit.
 "Sorry," Mindscan shrugged. "But if there's something going on, we have to be ready to act." They entered the store where Mindscan first had come. People shot them looks of amazement; some laughed. The super hero types weren't too common in San Diego, California. Mindscan ignored their remarks, and approached the clerk. It was a different man. "Where's the gentleman who was working here about an hour ago?" Mindscan asked, expecting a robotic reply.
 "Oh. Stan? He's in the back," the clerk replied, in a normal voice.
 Thermal stared at Mindscan.
 He could hear her thoughts loud and clear. 'If I lost a chance to go out with Brian, the body builder, I am going to be so pissed off.'
 Mindscan shook out her thoughts. "May we speak with Stan?"
 "Sure," the clerk replied. "He's the store owner. Let me get him for ya."

 An older gentleman came from the front.
 "Stan?" Mindscan asked, extending his hand.
 "Thank you, Kyle," Stan said, and waved him to go back to the register where several customers awaited. Turning back to the two strangers, he smiled. "How is it that I can help you?"
 "Someone called us… said that… something strange was going on here," Mindscan said, trying as quick as he could to come up with a lie.
"We're here to investigate."
 "Are you super hero types?" the man asked, looking them both over; more so looking over Thermal several times, in her tight outfit.
"You guys reforming the West Coast Avengers or something?"
 "No," Mindscan smiled. "Nothing like that. We just…" He looked at Thermal and shrugged. "We just happened to be in the neighborhood."
 "Just happened to…" Stan smiled. "Anyway, how can I help you?"
 "The person that called us, told us that everyone in the store was acting strangely. He said they almost sounded automated."
 "Automated?" Stan whispered. He bowed his head down. "Come to the back with me, if you would. I… don't want anyone else to hear this…"
 Mindscan looked at Thermal and shrugged.
 She was still scowling.
 

 "Eric is a… " Stan looked the Mindscan and Thermal over. "Special boy."
 Mindscan and Thermal looked at one another. "What do you mean?"
 "Well, you know… he's…"
 "Yes? He's what?"
 "He's… one of you."
 "He's a … uh… superhero?"
 "No. Not exactly."
 "Then what?"
 "He's a… mutie."
 "A mutant?" Mindscan stood up and looked at Thermal. She could feel his thoughts in her mind, 'I told you so.' Mindscan looked at Stan.
"Look, we're here to help him."
 "You ain't some of those evil muties are you? Looking to enroll, then corrupt his young mind to do your every whim?"
 "No! Whatever gave you that idea?" Thermal screamed.
 "Well. I've never really seen super hero types around here… Well, except for the West Coast Avengers, but they were based up in Los Angles.
They didn't really come down to San Diego all that often. And, well, truth be told, you all look like kids yourselves, and I have never seen you before."
 "Ever heard of Alpha Flight, sir?" Mindscan asked.
 Stan thought about it for a moment. "No. I don't think I have."
 Mindscan heaved a heavy sigh. "Look, we want to help him if we can. What exactly is his mutant power?"
 "He has the ability to stare into one's eyes, and well - hypnotize them, and make them do as he wills."
 Thermal felt Mindscan in her mind again. 'That's sort of like Sauron,' she heard Mindscan's thoughts tell her. "Where would he have gone? What happened?"
 "Well, he was in the back stocking some milk, when some crates fell on him. I guess he panicked… and well, if he panics, he doesn't even have to look into someone's eyes apparently… he screamed for help… and next thing, everyone who is in the store - and even people in their cars, all felt compelled to come into the store and go to the cooler and help him… Once all these people did that, he realized he was a mutant… he stared into my eyes, I vaguely recall this mind you, and told me to proceed as if none of this had happened… and if anyone asks, nothing happened, and everything is normal… I guess his effect only last so long, or has a limited range…"
 "Where did he go from here, sir?" Mindscan asked.
 "Now, see. That I don't recall. Once he stared into my eyes… I don't really remember much… When I snapped out of it… I had Kyle take the front register while I sat in the back trying to figure things out…"
 "Interesting," Mindscan mused.
 "Look. He's just a frightened kid. Doesn't mean any harm."
 "I know. That's why we want to help before something bad happens," Mindscan answered, itching his chin thoughtfully. "Let's try home, first. He may have run home scared. Where does he live?"
 "Well, he lives down towards Imperial Beach," the man said. "At 1123 Ilex Ave, from what he tells me."
 "We're on our way."
 

 "I feel so silly riding a taxi in our superhero outfits," Thermal whispered under her breath, angrily.
 "We don't have a legal license to be driving around in the United States," Mindscan replied. "We don't even have a car to drive anyway.
We're not even supposed to be doing any kind of heroics! We're on vacation!"
 "So why don't we just have the cabbie turn this thing around, and do just that," Thermal growled.
 "Because I can't turn my back on this," Mindscan said, flatly.
 "Remind me to never take any more vacations with you," Thermal fumed.
 "Consider it done," Mindscan replied. "Consider it done…"

 "Here we are," the Robbie, the cabdriver smiled. "1123 Ilex."
 "Thanks," Mindscan said, handing Robbie the amount due. 
 "Say," Robbie called out from the cab. "Is there some kinda trouble or you two just a bunch o' weirdos?"
 Thermal's hands flared instantly.
 Robbie's eyes widened with fear…
 If, for just that moment, that taxi raced a Porsche - with how fast Robbie drove it away… the taxi might have won that particular race.
 "Why do we put up with that?" Thermal pouted.
 "Because we're supposed to be the good guys."
 "Sometimes I'd like to forget that…"
 "I can tell."

 "This is nice," Thermal growled, holding the bars. "There's a gate around the door. We can't even reach the doorbell. I could melt the gate…"
 "No," Mindscan grabbed her arm. "I don't think they'd really appreciate that. There's a better way." Mindscan focused, and a stick lifted from the ground, as if some ghost now held it… slowly it levitated across and pushed the door bell.
 The door swung open. "Who is there?"
 "That'd be us," Mindscan waved from outside the metal gate.
 "How did you ring my doorbell? Who are you? Are you the West Coast Avengers?"
 "No ma'am," Mindscan sighed. "We're not the West Coast Avengers.
There are no more West Coast Avengers. They disbanded long ago, ma'am."
 "Then what do you want?"
 "We're here because we need to talk to Eric…" Mindscan replied.
 "What do you want with Eric?" the woman said furiously. "He's done no wrong!"
 "Uh… we didn't say he has… Listen, we know he's a mutant… maybe we could help him…"
 "He is no such thing!"
 "Ma'am," Mindscan sighed. "He had an entire city block under his control. If we don't help him… someone else just might do something worse… and I don't want that to happen at all."
 The woman hesitated. Frowning, she walked forward and opened the gate with a set of keys. "Come in," she whispered.

 "When did you learn he was a mutant?" Mindscan asked.
 "Only a few days ago," the woman confessed. "He had gotten a really bad report card and was kicked out of school for a fight with a teacher who had failed him in one of his classes. We told him to go to his room, and in his moment of anger, he told us no, and that we should leave him alone. We knew what we were doing, but could do nothing about it. We did indeed leave him alone. He told us he was going outside, and we did nothing to stop him. I don't think that at the time he realized he was a mutant…"
 "Where is he now?"
 "I'm afraid he went to the school…"

 "Oh my…" were the only words that fell from Thermal's lips as the scene unfolded before her.
 The entire schoolyard was in chaos; everyone was fighting, boys, girls, teachers, everyone. It looked like a free for all. "This is madness," Mindscan screamed. The news was there, grabbing footage of it all.
 Using his telekinesis, he floated Thermal and himself into the middle of the fray.
 "About time you flamin' got here!" came a voice.
 Thermal turned. "Caterwaul? What are you doing here?"
 "I will explain later! Talonhawk and Coldfront are here too, but it beats me as to where! This is a pretty big scrap!" Fists and feet were flying everywhere.
 "Just be careful," Mindscan shouted. "Everyone here is innocent."
 "Why do I find that so hard to believe?" Caterwaul screamed as someone hit him. Using his forearm, he pelted the one who struck him. The blow left the boy unconscious.
 "I said be careful! They're innocent kids!" Mindscan screamed.
 "I was being careful, fearless leader," Caterwaul laughed, as he ducked another swing, and elbowed a teacher in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. "If I wasn't be careful, I'd be using these!" He held up his claws and smiled. "But I'm tellin' ya, my patience is sure wearin' thin!"
 At that moment the voice of a boy shouted. "Look! Look at them all! Fighting like madmen! What are you going to do now? Suspend them?
Kick them all out of school! Who will attend your school then! Who!"
 "Lemme guess," Caterwaul shouted. "That's our target?"
 "That'd be him," Mindscan answered. Everyone around him had the same thing as the clerk at the store had; some kind of wall… or barrier in their minds… the boy was controlling over two hundred people… such raw power… his anger was feeding that power…
 Mindscan shouted, "Caterwaul - cover me!" Mindscan slipped into himself and reached out with his mind. 'Talonhawk - get over here. This needs to end now!'
 Just then Talonhawk swooped from the sky. "No need to shout, leader man! I'm right here! What do you want me to do?"
 "Grab Caterwaul - drop him on that kid…" Caterwaul grinned. "No!
There is to be no serious blood shed," Mindscan quickly amended. "Just take him out. Fast."
 Talonhawk swooped down and picked up Caterwaul and took high into the skies. Using the cloud cover, he swooped behind the Eric, and dropped Caterwaul. Caterwaul, without so little effort, approached behind the Eric, who never heard a thing, and pinched a nerve in Eric's neck. Eric collapsed unconscious.
 "That was almost too easy," Caterwaul sighed.
 The fighting ceased. The entire area was filled with confused people. Only training from Department H kept their own minds free from Eric's influence.

 Later that night, at their own hotel room…
 They collapsed, and turned on the television.
 "Hello. This is Elise Chung, with DBS 11 o'clock news. Today, violence erupted in a high school, when suddenly it seemed chaos reined.
Teachers and students alike all gathered in the school grounds and fought one another! Several people were hospitalized when then event was over.
Eric, whose last name is being withheld, was brought down when the West Coast Avengers arrived and saved the day…"
 "Wonderful," Caterwaul sighed. "We don't even get credit for it."
 "That may be a good thing," Mindscan smiled. "How did you guys end up there anyway? And where's the Department H folks?"
 "Well, we ended up leaving match stick over there," Caterwaul began. "When, like always, she copped her little attitude. We went for a walk on the beach, then just cruised the sidewalks of Coronado, when we saw the news on the television of all these people at a school fighting.
What took you guys so long to get there anyway?"
 "We… uh… did some investigative work," Mindscan answered. "Before deciding to tackle the situation." He cleared his throat. "So where's the Department H folks?"
 Caterwaul smiled and shrugged. "Last I saw they were still taggin' us when we got into the fray… Who knows where they are now?"

 Balboa Hospital, San Diego, California.
 "Don't worry," the nurse assured both the man and the woman, lying on the table. "Your noses are broken… who ever punched you did a nice job of banging you up… But we will get it taken care of. Say, your Identification cards said you were from Canada… does that mean you don't have insurance here in the United States?"
 
 

 In the darkness, he rocked back and forth. He held himself closer to his body. From around his black prison, the voice came again. "Hello, Enrapture. The time has almost come for you to make another stand…"
 "I … I don't want to hurt anyone! Leave me alone!"
 "Oh, but they want to hurt you…" the voice echoed back. "And soon, Enrapture, you will teach them a lesson once again…"
 But that story is for a later time…

 "It's nice to be home again," Thermal stretched.
 "Yeah," Caterwaul growled. "Under the leash of Department H again."
 "You have a serious problem with Department H don't you?" Coldfront asked.
 "Can't blame him there," Talonhawk cut in. "I would give this all up in a heartbeat."
 "Why don't you?" Mindscan stopped to ask.
 Talonhawk's smile faded. He shook his head and turned away. "Uh, I don't know. Listen, I will catch you all later, huh? I'm beat."
 "Sure," Coldfront said, looking at the others, noting Talonhawk's unusual tone.
 "What's up with the bird all of the sudden?" Caterwaul asked.
 "I'm not sure," Mindscan whispered. "But I'm not sure I like it."

 He flew in the heavens, where he felt free.
 Nothing here could touch him. Nothing here could bring him down… except for himself. Up here, he was like an angel, whose wings beat against the white wisps of clouds around him. The air rushed against his face, and he was more alive than he had ever been. Here, he could be alone with his thoughts… as dark as they were at times.
 It was here that he realized how he longed to depart from Next Flight more so now than ever… especially after their vacation. He didn't want to risk his life for anyone anymore; he was a teenager and wanted to enjoy his own life.

 They're names are Samantha Doe and Adam Peters, better known as Coldfront and Caterwaul. Today they're going for a walk, and just enjoying the day. The sun is beating softly down from the skies. People seem to be in the best of moods all around. Except for one… and that is whom they were speaking of.
 "So what do you think is up with Alex?" Coldfront asked, as they walked.
 Caterwaul shrugged. "Dunno. Can't figure the bird out. But his tone definitely did change. Almost as if he were -" Caterwaul paused.
"Hold up, Sam."
 "What's wrong?" Coldfront asked.
 "Trouble," Caterwaul replied with a grin. Grabbing her hand, they ran a few stores up and in…

 "Are you mad?" the man was screaming. "Didn't you think to use your brain? You're fired! All of you!"
 Caterwaul quickly looked around the jewelry store. For the most part, the cases were all empty. "Excuse me, sir," Caterwaul began.
 The man spun on his heels. "I don't have time for you! Can't you see I've been robbed! Get out of my store!"
 They rushed out and waited for the clerk who had been fired. When he stepped out of the door, Caterwaul put his hand on his shoulder.
"Hey," he said. "What happened in there?"
 "We were robbed," Kenny replied. "I guess."
 "You guess? What do you mean, you guess?" Coldfront asked.
 "Well, you see… Dave, he's the owner of the store, came in earlier today. Told me he had to pack most of the jewelry to take to some kind of convention. I believed him. Why wouldn't I? He's the owner. So I let him. He only left a few pieces of jewelry behind in the store. I thought that was kind of strange, but I didn't question him. So then he walks in just now asking about the jewelry, and I tell him that he had come in earlier saying he had to take them to a convention. He flipped out. He says he did no such thing. But I swear he did."
 "Interesting," Coldfront shrugged, not sure what else to say.
 "All right," Caterwaul said. "So what's he doing now?"
 "Calling the police," Kenny answered. "He says he's going to have me arrested."
 Caterwaul smiled. "Don't count on it…"

 "Today in the news… Apparently Saph Fire, the jewelry store in the Arlington Mall was robbed today. And once again, much like the stores previously, it was apparently 'robbed' by the owner. Police are baffled as they viewed the videotapes showing the own come in, and taking the
jewelry away. Police are baffled, but are conducting an investigation into this matter now. More at 11. And now a word from our sponsors…"
 Click.
 "See," Caterwaul was explaining to his other teammates, as he threw down the remote control. "Something weird is going on. This is like the third store this has happened to. I think it's time we hit the streets and find out what's going on."
 Mindscan looked around. "Sounds like we'd be the ones for this.
Alpha Flight wouldn't tackle something so mediocre."
 Caterwaul grinned. "Now it's time for action."
 
 

 "Yeah," the boy said, looking at the two before him. "I heard someone's selling some jewelry and stuff on the streets. Why?" Again he looked at the two standing before him. "The two of you look too young to be cops. What's the deal?"
 "We're not cops," Caterwaul replied. "We're just interested in making a purchase. You see my lady here; she wants some new jewelry. Do ya know where I can get a hold of this seller?"
 The boy smiled. "Sure. I know where he is. But…" He extended his palm.
 "Lemme guess," Coldfront snarled. "It's gonna cost us."
 "Ah, you know it babe. I got me a woman too. She likes jewelry too, ya know?"
 "Yeah, whatever," Caterwaul smirked. He handed the boy fifty dollars. "That gonna cover it for ya?"
 The boy smiled. "Sure will. Come with me…"

 From the skies, only Talonhawk was in costume. He watched from the heavens, to see if he could spot anyone with his eagle like vision.
So far, he had no such luck. Until he spotted a kid leading Caterwaul and Coldfront. He spoke into his mouthpiece. "Mindscan… Thermal… I think we got a lead. I spot a kid leading Caterwaul and Coldfront. They're going down Maple Leaf Road…"
 The headset crackled a confirmation. "We're on our way."

 The boy led them into a factory, where there was a van parked.
"He's over there. Just knock on the back of the van. You'll see."
 Caterwaul smiled at the kid. "Thanks, kid. And if this is any kind of set up, trust me. I will find you. You won't like what I'll do to you."
 Coldfront pulled Caterwaul's arm. "Stop it. Come on." She started concentrating when she felt a buzzing in the back of her mind. She knew it was Mindscan, letting her know they were just outside. 'We've got a visual on his van,' Coldfront spoke to Mindscan, who shared the telepathic link with everyone else. 'Be ready.'
 They knocked on the back of the van, and the door slid open. A black man looked down at the two standing there. "Is there something I can do for ya'all?"
 "I wanna buy some nice jewelry. Kid tells me you're the main man around here for that kinda thing," Caterwaul replied. "Got anything that will look good on my woman here?"
 The black man looked the woman up and down. "Well, I gots all kinds of things. She's beautiful enough, I almost dare say there's nothing to compare to her beauty."
 As Caterwaul and the black man bartered back and forth, Coldfront continued the link. 'We have a black male. About five feet, six inches.
Medium frame.'
 'Got it,' came back the mental confirmation.
 The man pulled back a cloth. "See here?"
 "Yeah," Caterwaul grinned. It had matched the jewelry that had been stolen earlier in the week from Saph Fire Jewelry. Caterwaul smiled.
"That's good," he mused. He then ripped off his shirt, where his costume was underneath. "I wouldn't run if I were you. Where ever you go, I can track you. You're under arrest."
 The man looked back and forth between the two. The woman, he watched, in absolute horror as her body coated over with thick ice.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said to himself. Flipping over the back seat and out the driver's door, the man made a run for it.
 'He's making a break for it!' Coldfront shouted mentally. 'North exit.'
 Caterwaul leaped on the truck and took off after the man. He had a good head start, and fear was pumping his heart… but that wouldn't save him from Caterwaul. Quickly running up some stairs, and into a room, just barely dodging a freezing blast from Coldfront, he made it out into the emergency stairwell outside.

 Talonhawk saw something on the north side of the building. A man waving his hands frantically. Talonhawk dove down and saw it was a homeless man. "Help me!" the homeless man screamed. "There's some kinda super hero battle in there! All I want is a place to sleep! That's all!
Get me outta here, sir! I beg you!"
 Talonhawk grimaced and picked up the homeless man and dropped him off several blocks away, and returned as quickly as possible…
 Only to find Caterwaul where he had picked up the homeless man.
Talonhawk landed. "Well, where is he?"
 "His scent dies right here."
 "What do you mean?"
 "I can't pick up his scent. It's as if he never existed. Did you see anything?"
 "No. No. I mean, there was a white, homeless man… rather dirty and robust. But nothing matching your description."
 "Strange," Caterwaul growled. "Strange."