Finch paused at a fork in the trail. She looked up in the sky. She raised her hand and

pointed east.

“You want us to leave you behind too?,” said Corona. “We can’t do that.”

“Go,” said Finch. “Catch up.”

“She’s right,” said Cog. “She’s a lot better out here than we are.”

“We need a better plan than breaking off in sacrificial plays so only one of us is left

to deal with things,” said Corona.

“She’s right,” said Ren. He pulled out his telescope to look in the direction Finch

wanted them to go. “There’s a shack down there we can use for cover until you get

your powers back.”

“I don’t like this at all,” said Corona.

“I can carry you down to that shack,” said Cog. “It will be no problem.”

“I’m going,” said Corona. “I just don’t like it.”

Ren put his telescope away as he started for the cabin. He looked around. Finch had

vanished while they had been talking. He smiled. Some detective he was to miss

something like that.

Corona and Cog followed him across the terrain. They bickered about something as

they went but Ren only half-listened to them. The tiny house wouldn’t stop a lot of

bullets, but it would hide them from anything that couldn’t see through wood.

He might be able to do something to help fortify the house. They had to keep the

mercenaries at bay until Marty, or Finch, dealt with the problem.

He had no doubt that Finch could take care of herself. She had decimated the men

inside the complex. She could do the same in the wild with the abundant cover

around.

He was more worried that the powers would be back in action while they had no way

to counter the numerical advantage the simian gave the enemy.

He wondered how much Marty’s dragon had hurt the duplicator when it started

gorging itself on the multiple bodies. Maybe the villain was out of the action.

That would be good in his opinion. That would only leave the teleporter to deal with

if they had to worry about other powers.

Ren paused at the cabin door. He pushed it open while staying away from the

doorway. He didn’t need to be accidentally shot because he was not supposed to be

there in the forest.

The place was dusty but empty. Nothing adorned the shelves to his right. A small

stove was on the left. All it needed was fuel and a spark to keep them warm if they

were there when it got cold.

Hopefully they would have things settled by the time that happened. He didn’t want

to endure anything like snow in this situation with no food.

He pulled his map from his bag. He checked their position to the best of his

knowledge. They were miles from anything that might be helpful. He definitely didn’t

want to walk the distance.

He made a note he should learn how to fly. That would make adventuring so much

easier. Maybe learning how to make things fly for him would be just as useful.

If he had that talent, he could have carried them to civilization in a flying car.

At least he knew what had happened to the Hazard Scouts. All he needed to do was

take it to a judge and have it proven in a court. That wasn’t likely the way things were

going.

Ren turned in a circle. How did he turn this situation into something useful? What

would his mentor do in this situation?

The doctor had a vast sea of knowledge in how to turn things his way. Even taking

cover was something he could use to befuddle his enemies.

Ren wondered if he could hypnotize the shack into doing something else other than

just sitting there.

He paused. He liked that idea. The wood wouldn’t be that much tougher, but if he

could get it to walk about, it would be some kind of transportation. Then they could

get clear long enough for him to send the files he took to people who could use them.

He knelt down. The floor was wooden too. He could make a walking cube out of the

material. He just had to work on one board to move the rest any way he wanted.

It was something he had never seen his master do.

A new technique could be as good as solving a mystery if it was helpful enough.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He smiled. He could get his name in the book of master detectives. His

accomplishment might inspire later detectives.

He pulled a book out of his bag. He went through the pages. Several elements

suggested it was possible. Statues had been used to defend several detectives as they

worked. This could be grouped under the same thing.

He wouldn’t get his name in the book after all.

He put the book back in his bag. He would have to settle for presenting his solution

if he could get away from Watson’s minions.

“How do you feel, Corona?,” asked Ren. If her power came back, that would improve

things by a significant amount.

“Still weak,” she said. She raised her hand. A faint flicker of fire danced across her

palm before fading away.

“The effect should fade faster as time goes on,” said Cog.

He floated by the window. He gazed out on the trees. Nothing showed that Marty was

doing anything. He knew all he had to do was wait. The Scout should be doing

something reckless and foolish any minute.

Ren joined him at the window. He pulled out his telescope and looked down their

backtrail. He frowned at waiting for something to happen. Then the helicopter with

the giant W on the side flew over the tree line. It seemed to be heading right for them.

“They know we’re here,” said Ren. He put the telescope away. “It looks like we’re

going to have to take some kind of action to keep from being recaptured.”

“What do you suggest?,” asked Cog. He throttled down his first instinct of breaking

cover and running from the threat.

That would just make it easier for them to snipe at him with the magnet guns and

causing his prosthetic to fail like they had done in the original encounter that had led

to him being imprisoned.

Troop dropped from the helicopter in a chain of monkeys. He expanded into a pile

falling toward the cabin. His numbers would overwhelm them if something wasn’t

done.

Marty’s dragon appeared in the sky. It breathed fire on the helicopter. The vehicle

tried to veer from the jet of flame playing on its engines. It was too late as something

caught fire. It headed for the ground as the pilot tried to keep control.

Troop paused at the appearance of his old nemesis. Should he go after the cabin and

grab hostages, or flee into the trees?

He went for the cabin.

The wooden walls grew, expanding upwards. Legs like trees lifted the small house

up into the sky. Giant arms ending in fists descended from the sides of the shack.

Troop froze in confusion. He had a dragon on one side, and a giant walking house on

the other. What should he do?

He turned and fled into the trees. He used his multiplication to cover ground like a

wave heading for the shore.

“That worked better than I thought,” said Ren. “I think we can just walk away without

too much trouble.”

“How are you doing this?,” asked Cog. “There’s no sign of mechanisms, or interior

power sources.”

“I convinced the house to grow some legs,” said Ren. He smiled. “I hypnotized it.”

“Hypnotized an empty building?,” said Corona. “Tell us another one.”

“I know,” said Ren. “It’s hard to believe.”

Something exploded against a wall. Wood and fire flew into the house’s single room.

The stove fell over on its side. Ren and Corona were thrown to the floor by the shock.

“What the devil was that?,” asked Barry.

Cog looked out the window. William Watson stood on the ground below. He was

loading a rocket launcher to use on the house.

“Looks like trouble,” said Cog. “Can you distract him, Ren? I think I can take care

of this rather quickly.”

“I think I can do something,” said Ren. “Go, go, walking house.”

A giant fist descended from on high. Watson stepped out of the way. He brought the

launcher up to aim at the cabin. Conversion would have suited his purposes, but now

he had to think of the future and cut his losses. No one could be allowed to talk about

his hidden facility.

He pulled the trigger. The rocket blasted another yawning hole in the structure. He

doubted he had killed whomever was making the cabin go since it was still moving.

One more rocket should take care of that problem.

He looked around for his box of ammunition. He needed a rocket to finish the job. He

paused at the realization the rest of the rockets had disappeared. He heard whirring

and sizzling and the arc of electricity behind him. He turned to face a small metallic

cylinder at the head of dozens of tentacles. Each of those tentacles had something at

the end of it. Then the monstrosity fell on him.

Watson tried to work his way clear. Pieces of his body fell from him as he tried to get

away from the thing reducing him to parts. He fell to the ground without his legs and

part of an arm.

“Looks like you need to check in with your mechanic,” said the floating machine. “He

might be able to put you together again after all the trouble you went to so you could

grab that body for yourself.”

“You won’t get away with this,” said Watson. “I’ll hunt you down and take you apart

like a tinker toy.”

“Not if I see you first,” said Cog. “I’ve already taken you mostly apart in a few

seconds. I can finish the job if you want.”

“I will wreck you, you stupid machine,” said Watson.

“You had better hope that Marty Morgan doesn’t realize you are sitting here

helpless,” said Cog. “He will not be as merciful as I am after what you have done.”

“He won’t do anything,” said Watson. “He needs things like due process and courts

of law. He can’t do anything to me since he can’t prove anything.”

“Are you really sure of that?,” asked Cog.

“Yes, I am,” said Watson.

The cabin descended to the ground. Its appendages collapsed back inside the

building. Corona stepped out of the remains of the place, brushing dust off her shirt.

Ren stepped out of the cabin a minute later. He wiped at a streak of blood on his face

from a cut at his hairline.

The dragon vanished as Marty Morgan appeared. He walked toward the gathering.

There might still be enemy agents among the trees. They weren’t going to stop what

was about to happen.

Morgan stood over the legless cyborg. He crossed his arms.

“Take me in, Morgan,” said Watson. “You can’t prove anything.”

“I don’t have to prove anything,” said Marty. “I’m not a cop.”

“What are you talking about?,” asked Watson. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Is Barry okay, Ren?,” Marty asked.

“Yes,” said Ren. “I checked his tank before I stepped out of the remains of that

cabin.”

“Cog,” said Marty. “I want you to put Barry into this body, and put this guy in Barry’s

tank. Can you do it?”

“Yes,” said Cog. “It should be simple enough to do if the containers have simple plug

ins.”

“Go ahead,” said Marty. “I have to get out there and look for the rest of the security

force. We don’t need any more problems than what we have.”