There were sudden muffled explosions behind him. User felt the old metal fire-escape beneath him give way, and he began to fall.

And fall.

And fall.

And fall.

“Ugggghh!” The African-American man in the green mask jerked forward suddenly as he came out of a deep, deep sleep. There was a slight beeping sound on some equipment to his left as his motion jostled the heart monitors attached to diodes taped to his chest.

“Whaaa…where…?” he asked as his head was still coming out of the fog.

“User, take it easy,” the red haired woman in a purple and red costume to his right said. “You’re in the hospital.”

“You’re going to be fine,” the brown haired woman in white to his left added.

User turned his head quickly and registered the attentive faces to the voices. “Hydro Girl. Rainbow. How’d I get here?” He tried to move but realized quickly that most of his body was aching as if he’d been hit by a truck or a train.

“You were in some kind of fight,” Hydro Girl explained. “Some good Samaritan found you and called for an ambulance.”

“We came as soon as we heard you’d been admitted to the emergency room,” Rainbow added. “You were banged up pretty bad and out of it for awhile.”

“Fight? Out of it?” User repeated. And then it all quickly came back to him! “Where’s Night Owl?” He started to rise again, ignoring the pain. The equipment that was monitoring his vitals started to buzz again.

“User, you’ve got to relax,” Hydro Girl said as she put her purple gloved hand on his shoulder to try to move him back to the angled bed. “You aren’t ready to get up or move around just yet.”

A male nurse wearing green scrubs poked his head through the curtain that isolated the area the heroes were in from the rest of the ER. “Is everything okay here?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rainbow said. “It’s fine. He’s just a little restless is all.”

“I’ll let the doctor know he’s awake,” the nurse nodded and pulled the curtain closed again and departed.

“Jerry,” Hydro Girl whispered. “You need to relax. You were hurt pretty badly. The doctor was worried when you were out of it for so long.”

“Where’s Night Owl?” the man asked again. “Tell me she’s okay.”

Rainbow looked at Hydro Girl and the two exchanged inquisitive looks.

“We haven’t heard from her,” Hydro Girl said. “Why? Was she with you?”

“Yes, damn it! She was! He’s got her!” User’s heart rate jumped. The heart monitor behind his bed showed sharper spikes to further illustrate his growing agitation.

“He? He who?” asked Rainbow.

“The Assassin!” User exclaimed.

“Who?” Hydro Girl asked.

“The Assassin!” User repeated. “He’s this costumed killer that ambushed us both in an alleyway in the city. He attacked Night Owl first, and then I fought him. He’s got her – I know it! We’ve got to find Cry…”

The curtain opened and in stepped a curly blonde haired male in an orange and green costume and green mask.

User recognized his teammate. “Larynx!”

“Hey, guy,” the hero said but with little firmness in his voice. “You’ve got to keep it down, man. There’re sick folks around here.” He tried to joke with his friend in hopes of keeping things light.

“You guys have got to go,” User said urgently, “find her!”

Larynx nodded. “We’ll go check on that right now.” He turned to the red head. “Hydro Girl, come with me?” Though he phrased it as a question, she could tell he meant it as more of an insistent request.

She nodded and turned back to her friend and teammate in the hospital bed. “You need to promise me you’ll stay put until Larynx and I get back,” Hydro Girl said. “If not, Rainbow’ll have to get tough on you.” She gave him a sly wink.

Rainbow smiled at that. “You better listen to, HG,” she said. “I may not be as strong as Amazon, but I can take you.”

User nodded reluctantly. “Just hurry,” he said.

Hydro Girl bent down and kissed her friends forehead. “We will.” She straightened up and walked towards the curtain which Larynx had slid open. Once outside the area, he closed it again. “So,” she said softly, “what’s really going on?”

Larynx took her hand and started to walk her quickly towards the nearest exit. She was the one

***

A uniformed police lieutenant stood with Larynx and Hydro Girl in a small briefing room in one of Manhattan’s police stations. “A black haired woman matching the description of your colleague was pulled from the East River a little over two hours ago,” the man in brown explained. “This video tape, sealed in an air-tight plastic bag was attached to the body.”

“Any prints on the tape?” Larynx asked.

The officer shook his head. “No, it’s clean. Most likely someone wearing gloves.”

“Most likely,” Hydro Girl repeated.

“Have you watched the tape yet?” Larynx asked.

The officer nodded. “Yes,” he said solemnly. “That’s why I’m glad you’re here. You two need to see this before we go down to the morgue.” He turned on the small monitor on the desk and adjusted the channel to where there was nothing but static. He then flipped on an attached video tape player and placed the tape into the machine. “I should warn you. It’s pretty graphic.”

“We’ve seen our share of nasty stuff,” Larynx said.

The officer nodded and pressed ‘play’.

The static screen cleared and filled with an image in full color which shifted side to side every now and again as if the camera was held by someone. In central focus was a woman, bound and gagged and propped up against a brick wall. She had long black hair, a white slit-less mask over her eyes, and she was wearing a familiar white costume.

“Ladies and gentleman, I give you the one and only Night Owl,” a male voice said from off camera. “Or should I say, the ‘late Night Owl’.” And with that, there was the sound of automatic gunfire rounds!

Bullets shot out from the foreground, riddling the woman’s upper body and chest. She screamed out, muffled by the gag in her mouth, as her body jerked and then fell forward to the ground.

Crimson blood trickled out from beneath her body.

The camera moved closer, and an orange gloved hand came into frame to turn the body over.

Red blood soaked the front of the costume in the chest air where an owl-head insignia once adorned the outfit. “Arrivederci, la mia bellezza,” the male voice said in a suave manner.

The camera pulled back and a black masked and costumed man appeared close up in the frame. The man smiled a wicked, self-satisfied grin. “The Assassin always makes his kill.” He then started to laugh.

And then the camera cut off. Static once more filled the screen.

Larynx grimaced and looked over at his partner; she too had a look of horror on her face He reached out and put his arm about his girl friend. “You okay?” he asked Hydro Girl.

The red head nodded, as feelings of anger began to push away the wave of shock that had overtaken her moments before. “I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. Clearly she wasn’t.

“Do you need a minute before we go down to the morgue?” the officer asked. “I do need you to identify the body.”

Larynx turned to Hydro Girl and asked the question again through an unspoken look.

She swallowed hard and regained her composure. “Let’s go,” she said firmly.

After a walk down two halls and then down a flight of stairs, the trio arrived at a room in the lower level of the precinct. The lieutenant entered a code to grant them access and escorted them into the room filled with large metal cabinets. He brought them over to one along the back wall.

A man with mask over his mouth, a forensic doctor, opened one of the metal drawers and slid it out. Inside was a figure in large plastic bag. The doctor opened the bag, and the heroes were hit with the smell of death. Inside was a black haired young woman, still masked but the costume was torn open about her upper torso area.

“The victim, approximately in her mid to late twenties, was hit in the chest by four bullets,” the doctor said in a clinical, matter-of-fact way. He used a medical scalpel to gesture in the air slightly above the entry points of each bullet. “Two of them managed to penetrate her heart, and another punctured her left lung. The bullets have been removed and are being analyzed by ballistics for any identifying markings.”

Larynx shook his head in disgust at the sight of the brutal assault. When the victim happened to be a friend it made it all that much harder. He couldn’t help but think of Zepar, his deceased mentor.

Hydro Girl moved closer. “May I?” she asked as she reached forward to the woman’s masked face.

The doctor and the lieutenant turned away to give the heroine a private moment. “We waited to take fingerprints,” the officer said over his shoulder, “given the special nature and al of the case.”

Hydro Girl lifted away the mask and looked at the face beneath it. “You’ll need to get those prints,” she said firmly.

“Ma’am?” the officer said.

Larynx looked closer and nodded. “Your victim is not our friend,” he said. “We’d know her face anywhere. This young woman, while the right height and build, is not Night Owl.”

“I don’t understand,” the doctor said.

“Clearly the Assassin wanted to make it look like he was killing Night Owl,” Hydro Girl said. “And though this is her costume – I’d know it anywhere...” After all, she thought, I did make this particular extra one for Crystal a few months ago. “…this woman is not the real Night Owl.”

“We need to clarify this then, before too much information gets out to the media,” the officer said.

“No,” Larynx said. “If the news of this has already leaked, let it stay that way. We don’t want to tip any hand to the killer. So far, only the four of us know she is not who she appeared to be. Let’s leave it that way for now.”

“But this woman…?”

“Get her prints, locate her family, and assure them that her killer will be brought to justice,” Larynx said.

The police officer nodded. “Is there anything more we can do for you?”

“We’ll need a copy of that tape,” the male hero said, “and the remains of the costume once you’re done examining the body.”

The officer nodded. “Of course.”

***

The next day, despite doctors’ orders, the green costumed User left the hospital in order to visit the police precinct. He needed to see the victim’s body himself.

A blonde haired woman in red armor and a red mask accompanied him. “You know how stubborn you are right?” Amazon asked as they left the morgue. “You should be home recuperating.”

“I can’t!” the African-American hero stated. “Not until I find her and get her home safely.” He winced a bit as a sharp pain spiked in his left side.

The warrior heroine noticed it. “See, I told you.”

“I’ll be fine,” User stated, pushing away the pain. “The docs gave me meds which’ll do the trick. I’ll be fine in another day or so.” When they got to first floor of the building, he turned down one of the halls instead of going for the exit. “Besides, I need to see a man about a sketch.”

“So actually you saw this Assassin’s face without the mask?”

“Yup. And I want to get every detail I can down in black and white for an accurate picture. It may be the only thing I have to go on to try to find that dirt-bag!”

Amazon shook her head. “I still wonder who would have sent someone like that after her.”

User frowned. “I have an idea about that too.” He reached for the doorknob to the police sketch artist’s office. “That’ll be our next stop after this.” And he opened the door.

***

“He can’t just barge in there like that!” Stephanie, the teased-out brown haired woman, exclaimed in her heavy Jersey accent.

Amazon, who towered over the receptionist by at least six inches (not counting the hair) just shook her head and kept her position outside the wooden office door. “Trust me, lady,” the blonde heroine said, “at this point, I doubt there’s anything you or anybody else could do to stop him from talking to your boss.”

On the other side of the door, the User reached across the large wooden desk to grab the well-dressed man with black hair and a mustache. “Look, Dunbar,” the hero said as he yanked the man forward, “I’m not here to play games with you! I want information and I want it now!”

Jake Dunbar, known in the crime circles of New York City as ‘Steel Claw’ thanks to the metal replacement for his right hand, kept his eyes fixed on the hero’s. His mouth, however, twitched slightly at the irritation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, User,” he said coolly. “But I strongly suggest you leave before my receptionist calls the cops.”

User shoved the man backwards, allowing him to land firmly in the high backed leather chair behind the desk. “I don’t think so,” the hero growled. “See, I brought a friend with me to make sure you and I wouldn’t get interrupted while we talked.”

Dunbar adjusted the sleeves of his blue dress shirt beneath the cuffs of his tailored suit coat. “And why would I want to talk to you?”

User whirled around the desk and stood right before the chair. “Oh, I think you’ll talk,” he said. “And if you won’t talk to me here, you’ll talk to me down at the police station when I haul you in for questionin’.”

“Haul me in? On what charges?”

“Accessory to murder.”

Behind his tightly closed lips, Dunbar rubbed his upper teeth with his tongue, pondering. “You’re being awfully vague,” he finally said. “Who are you alleging that I was an accessory to?”

“This man!” User exclaimed as he produced a copy of the drawing the police sketch artist had made.

After glancing for a second at the picture, Dunbar said flatly, “Sorry, don’t know him.”

“Maybe you know him by his alias – the Assassin!”

This made Dunbar hesitate. His eyes widened briefly, and User noticed. “I don’t know any…”

“Don’t lie to me!” User reached for him.

Dunbar threw up his right hand to block.

The hero was rather surprised by the added strength the prosthetic hand provided. “The Assassin told me someone hired him to come after me and Night Owl,” User stated firmly. “And I realized that someone was most likely you.”

Dunbar laughed. “You flatter me,” he said as he pulled his arm down. “Though I am sure someone like you has racked up quite a few enemies over the years. What makes you think it would be me?”

“You’re the only one who’d pay someone to do your dirty work for you!”

The man with the mustache just smiled. “I think cops would need a lot more than that to go on. After all, that’s just your opinion and not fact.”

User frowned. He knew Dunbar was right. All he was going on was a hunch, but he had to trust in that. He had to – if he wanted to find Crystal before it was too late! He glanced back at the man who was just sitting confidently in his chair.

“Now, if you don’t mind,” Dunbar said smugly, “I have my business to attend to. You know the way out.”

“You’re garbage, Dunbar!” the hero said. He kicked the tall waste-basket next to the desk in frustration.

The black can flew across the room, spilling its contents when it hit the wall.

Both men saw a rectangular plastic item clatter across the floor.

Dunbar started to move, but User was faster.

The hero was across the room in a second and scooped up the item before Dunbar could even get around the desk. “Well, well,” User said as he eyed the video tape. “What do we have here?”

“You have no search warrant,” Dunbar stated.

User spied a video tape player in the corner of the room with a television attached. “Let’s just see what this is, shall we?” he said as he made his way to the device, plopped in the tape and turned the equipment on.

“You can’t do that.” Dunbar went for the phone. “I’m calling the cops,” he said with some agitation in his voice.

“Good,” User said. “Save me the trouble of doin’ it myself.” He rewound the tape slightly and the let the tape play. On the screen, the young woman in Night Owl’s costume was mowed down by a spray of bullets. And the Assassin’s smug face appeared on the screen.

User pressed ‘pause’, freezing the image on the screen. “Still say you don’t know the guy?”

Dunbar scowled. “That doesn’t prove…”

User ejected the tape. “Liar!” he shouted. “Why would you have a copy of the tape of Assassin’s recent killing, an exact copy of the one found with the body I might add, unless you were the one who hired him to do it?”

“I…” Dunbar stumbled. “It wasn’t….”

User was again on the man, directly in his face. “What? What are you trying to say?”

“That incompetent bastard!” Dunbar finally spat. “I never hired him to go after her. I hired him to go after you!”

User was not surprised by this. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Dunbar admitted when he realized he was in a no-win situation at this point. “I paid him a down payment to kill you, only instead when he sends this ‘proof’ I learn that he couldn’t even get a simple job right!”

“So you didn’t pay him to take the hit out on Night Owl?” User asked.

“No!” Dunbar moved back to his seat. “He must have already agreed to do the job for someone else up front, and then he took me for half of the fee up front too.”

User had to suppress the sudden urge to laugh at Dunbar being used. “So, he’s contacted you for the rest of the money?”

“No. I haven’t heard a peep from him since our one time meeting. I guess he figured he wouldn’t get any more out of me anyway – and he’s right! I never asked him to after the girl.”

User held firmly on to the tape as he pondered for a moment. Clearly Dunbar is pissed for being taken, he thought. And if he’s right, someone else was after Night Owl and paid this Assassin to do the job. The big question is: why go to all this trouble to make Dunbar and the police and whoever else hired him think he killed her when in fact he kept her alive? That’s what I’ve got to find out!

“Tell you what, Dunbar,” he said. “I’m keepin’ this, as evidence, just in case...”

“In case of what?” Dunbar asked.

“Let’s just say that if I don’t find the Assassin, I’m comin’ back after you,” User said. “Either way someone’s going to jail for this murder. However, if you happen to hear from him first it will be in your best interest to let me know. And don’t go tippin’ him off ‘cause I’ll know and you’ll go down for this. Am I makin’ myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Dunbar said through firmly pursed lips.

User frowned at the word. Don’t worry, Crystal, he thought. I’ll find you yet!

The hero turned for the door. “And don’t go gettin’ any wild ideas about skippin’ town either! My friends and I’ll be keepin’ our eyes on you. So, don’t get stupid unless you want this to go to the police.” And with that, he opened the office door and slammed it shut behind him.

Jake Dunbar eased back into his chair; his brain was already trying to work out a scenario to keep him from being implicated with this death. He found himself hating the idea that he was hoping that the User would catch the man who skipped town with his money.

***

For the remainder of the day and into the night, User and the rest of the team blanketed the city, hitting the bus stations, train stations, rental car places – anywhere Assassin might have gone to get out of town quickly. They showed copies of the police sketch to see if anyone had seen the man.

User was about to give up hope, assuming the Assassin might have either left the city in his own vehicle or perhaps never left at all. However, that all changed when he and Amazon were asking around at JFK International Airport. At one particular hanger, they found some hope.

“Now wait a second,” Amazon said to one of the technicians there. “You’re saying you actually saw this guy.”

The man in the grease stained uniform glanced at the picture again to be sure. “Yeah, yeah!” he said. “I remember this guy was here the other night. He was talking to Mr. Rollins.”

“Where’s Mr. Rollins?” User asked excitedly.

The technician jerked his thumb. “His office is in back.”

The two heroes quickly made their way across the hanger to the indicated location. There they found a man in his late forties, slightly balding. “Yes, can I help you?” he asked.

“You Rollins?” User asked.

“I am.”

“Do you recognize this man?” Amazon asked, showing him the sketch.

“Yes, yes I do,” Rollins replied after a moment. “He was in there the other night and chartered a private jet.”

“Do you have any records of the transaction?” User asked. “Any flight plans logged, etc.?”

“I sure do.” Mr. Rollins stood up and opened the middle drawer to his file cabinet. He flipped through a few folders and then retrieved a file. “Here we are.” He returned to his desk and opened the folder, pulling out various documents. “His name was Tony Black. He wanted to charter a plane to fly to Europe, and he paid for the transaction in cash.”

“When did that plane fly out?” User asked.

“Yesterday morning,” Rollins said.

Damn, User thought. He realized now that his quarry had a huge head start.

“Do you have its final destination?” Amazon asked.

“The flight plan says Monaco,” Rollins said.

“Monaco? That’s odd,” User said.

“Maybe not,” Amazon said. She leaned closer and whispered to User, “Remember the guy spoke Italian. Perhaps Monaco was just a stop along the way.”

User nodded. “Maybe.” He turned back to the man helping them. “Was this Mr. Black alone?”

“He was when he made arrangements for the flight,” Mr. Rollins explained. “But the flight logs indicate he had another person with him when they departed.”

“A young woman?” User asked. “With black hair, by any chance?”

“It was a woman,” Rollins replied, “but I can’t tell you much about her features. She had a scarf about her head and was wearing sunglasses. She was also in a wheelchair. I remember offering to help but this Mr. Black said he could take care of her just fine. He said it was his sister. Shortly after they boarded the plane, the pilot got clearance from the flight tower and they took off.”

“Can we get a copy of that file for our investigation?” User asked.

Mr. Rollins nodded in agreement.

***

Later, in the Protectors upstate mountain headquarters, the members of the team regrouped for an emergency meeting. User took a few moments to catch them all to date on things. “…and that’s the details,” he concluded. “So, now I’m off to Europe before the trail turns cold.”

“We could go with you,” Ricochet offered. “You know, speed up the search.”

“Thanks, Tommy,” User said, “but I think this is something I need to do solo. Crystal was alive when they left the country – I’m guessing sedated in some manner so she couldn’t escape. If this Assassin meant to kill her, he would have done it that night when he ambushed us. Clearly he wanted to convince those who hired him that Night Owl was dead – most likely so he could get paid the rest of his fee.”

“It makes sense,” Hydro Girl said. “Otherwise, why leave a video tape with the body to begin with? He clearly wanted whoever to know that he killed ‘Night Owl’ and even went so far as to put some woman in the authentic costume.”

“Since he left the country, he must be planning to lay low awhile too,” Amazon said.

“Exactly,” User said. “So, he’s not expecting anyone to be after him. And that’s just what I want him to think.” He reached up and removed his green mask. “That’s part of the reason why I’ll be traveling through Europe as Jerry Page, to avoid any suspicion.”

“What can we do to help?” Rainbow asked.

“Amazon’s already talked to the Justice Gang,” User said, “about letting me use their teleporter system to get over to Europe fast. I need the rest of you to kind of watch over things in my usual stomping grounds, and especially keep an eye on Dunbar too.”

“You got it, buddy,” Larynx said.

“We’ll also keep an eye on things at your apartment,” Hydro Girl added.

“Thanks,” User smiled. “It’s good to know you’ve got friends watching your back.”

“Don’t worry about things here,” Amazon said as she put an arm around his shoulders. “You just go, find Crystal and get her back here safely. And you call if you need help.”

User nodded. “I will.”