Hatman gave the thumbs up sign then returned to his Hatility Belt. He pulled out a green cap and put it on his head. He indicated for Mr. Epitome to proceed.

    The Exemplary Man nodded, took a quick look around with his enhanced vision, and blurred forward at an incredible speed. Hatman was right behind him, his Seattle Supersonics cap gifting him with superspeed. Neither of the two was as fast as the now-powerless De Brown Streak, but they still moved quickly enough to avoid detection by any of the guards.

    The pair darted through the corridors, Mr. Epitome scanning for any electronic defenses. Hatman followed right behind, silently disabling any that he could. As they made their way through the complex, Hatman thought back to the briefing on their current mission.

    ”This isn’t a standard smash ‘em and catch ‘em mission boys,” said Dan Drury gruffly. He, Hatman, and Mr. Epitome were in Drury’s office aboard the SPUD helicarrier. “This is gonna require stealth and brains, and Mumph and I think you two are the men for the job.”

    Drury got up from behind his desk and clicked a remote in his hand. A screen deployed from the ceiling and blinked to life, displaying a schematic of a building.

    “This here’s a B.A.L.D. cell’s headquarters. But this ain’t any ordinary installation. This here is the central intelligence center for the entire damn operation. It can’t be hacked into from the outside because it isn’t connected to any outside systems,” explained Drury.

    “And you want us to get in there, shut it down, and gather whatever intel we can before we blow it sky high, right?” checked Hatman.

    “That’s the idea. Normally I wouldn’t bring you boys in on something like this, but we don’t have the time to infiltrate it. If B.A.L.D. learns that we know where they are, they’ll move everything. We need to strike hard, fast, and now.”

    “Where is the facility located?” asked Dominic.

    “Gothametropolis.”

    “Makes sense. Set up in the city that outlaws superpowers. Prevents discovery by the Lair Legion or any other superteam,” pointed out Hatman.

    Mr. Epitome snorted. “Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Boaz."

    Hatman ignored the dig. “Why do you only want the two of us, Dan?”

    Mr. Epitome shifted in his seat. “Would it not be beneficial to bring along one of our computer people? Miss Shiro would be perfectly suited to this type of mission.”

    “I disagree, Dominic. Yuki’s good, but she’s got an impulsive streak in ‘er that makes me nervous on this one. I want seasoned professionals for this caper only.” Drury struck a match on the No-Smoking sign and lit his cigar. He tapped a spot on the map. “You’ll go in here. Your objective is here, the central core. It’s heavily defended, and if you’re detected they’ll wipe the central computer, so sneaky only, no smashing.”

    “I’d expect the security on their computer to be top notch Dan. Why not bring Hallie with us if we can’t bring Yuki? She’d be easy enough to sneak in with us,” asked Hatman.

    “You won’t need a hacker. You’ll have access codes.”

    “Where did you get those?” asked Mr. Epitome, his curiousity piqued. When he was with O.P.S. they had tried on many an occasion to gain B.A.L.D. access codes, but they had never been successful.

    “Right here.” Drury reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a green B.A.L.D. hood. He tossed it to Hatman. “Took it off a B.A.L.D. agent this morning, one of the higher-ups. They’ll change the codes soon if we don’t mobilize now.”

    “Then we had best be off.” Mr. Epitome stood from his chair.

    “We won’t let you down, Dan,” Hatman assured the Director of S.P.U.D. as he rose from his chair.

    “I know ya won’t. Now git out there.”

    Hatman skidded to a halt behind Mr. Epitome. The Star-Spangled Splendor indicated that this was the room they were looking for. Hatman put away the ball cap and pulled out the hood Drury had given him. He slipped it over his face, and shuddered as he fought back the urge to hail B.A.L.D.. Mr. Epitome watched him closely, waiting to see which personality would win out, though he really didn’t have much doubt that Hatman would prove to be stronger-willed.

    Hatman indicated that he was in control and punched in the proper access codes to the room. As soon as the doors opened Dominic streaked into the room and dispatched the guards. He piled them out of the way in the corner of the room.

    Mr. Epitome pulled a small device from a pouch on his belt. He fiddled with it for a few moments before activating it. “We can speak freely now. I’m jamming all surveillance equipment in the room.”

    Hatman unslung the backpack he was wearing from beneath his cape and set it on the floor. He pulled a hard drive from it and plugged it into the main computer. Jay began to tap away at the console.

    “This is going to take a little while. Keep an eye on the door,” said Hatman.

    “You do your job, I’ll do mine,” replied Dominic in clipped tones.

    Hatman sighed and returned to his work. Even with the codes necessary it was difficult finding what he was looking for. He didn’t have a direct line into the memories of the agent whose mask he was wearing, but he did have vague impressions of how the system was laid out.

    The two stood in silence, the only sound in the room the clacking of keys as Hatman worked. Once or twice he wished that Drury had let them bring along Hallie, but then he considered that he might feel a little awkward being alone with Hallie and Mr. Epitome.

    Mr. Epitome resisted the urge to bark at Hatman to speed things, but even though he had issues with the Capped Crusader he knew the man was working as quickly as he could. Drury was right, they were both professionals, and they had a job to get done.

    So Mr. Epitome was caught completely off-guard when Hatman punched him through the wall. The screen flashed behind the Legionnaire, all thoughts of the mission abandoned by Hatman.

    O.P.S. Computer Tap 05/17/05 3:47 AM EST
L://OPS/EpitomeDivision/Classified/LairLegion/Tactical
Report Date: 05/14/05

Submitted by: Dominic Clancy

Classified

Updated list of Lair Legion weaknesses

Jay Boaz AKA Hatman: Been in emotional turmoil since break-up with Whitney Darkness AKA Sorceress. Exploit to promote anger to disrupt teamwork of entire team

Hallie: Dependant on mobile drones to function away from Mansion

    “You sold us out!!”