"Nick?" Haley's voice sounded in my head courtesy of our implants.

"I'm okay," I said, still feeling the heat.

"For two more hits," she said, because she could check my vitals and armor stats just like everyone else could. With our implant-to-armor connection, all we had to do was think about it, and we knew.

"And no one else has as much armor on as you do," she said. "We need to take it down now."

My armor noted that repairs were in process and that it was increasing protection against energy weapons. That was nice to see. It was a recent update, and I'd been worried it might not kick in soon enough when I needed it.

"Switching to the main channel," she said before I could reply.

I pulled myself up, but didn't stand. The last thing I needed was for Green Skull Guy (he hadn't introduced himself) to shoot at my head.

Besides, I didn't need to stand up. I could see through everybody's cameras and my spybots.

Green Skull Guy wasn't firing. Even though we were cutting down the Nine's troops, he stared in my direction, though not precisely where I was. I'd slid further than either of us expected, and I could feel the gravity. Flipping on my suit's gravitics countered it, but that didn't solve the problem.

He appeared to be searching for me, specifically, an idea confirmed when he spoke.

"Come out, Rocket. Let's talk."

It was tempting in the sense that he might actually talk, and also because if I didn't, he seemed like the kind of person who'd do the "I'm going to kill your friends until you do what I want," thing.

"Don't," Haley said over our private implant channel. Over the group channel, she said, "He can kill any one of us. We need to take him down. Ghost, Cap, Bloodmaiden, this one's for you."

"Hesitant?" Green Skull Guy continued. "I understand. You did a phenomenal job imitating Syndicate L, but I've been following your actions for years now. I've seen your technology evolve. You're doing an excellent job building on the first Rocket's work. Would I be correct in guessing you're a grandchild, or are you a great-grandchild?"

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Annoying that he'd guessed that easily, but I supposed if you focused on my technology improvements, you'd catch on once you saw us fight in here.

To the group chat, I said, "I'll distract him."

Even as Haley said, "No," I'd already taken control of the PAs on everyone's suits, making them extra loud for intimidation value.

The Nine's guards cringed, and some held their hands over their ears as I talked, "I guess the deception was a waste of time, but it seemed worth a shot."

"No," the skull said, "it was effective. I must have been the only one on the island who recognized your little group. I'm particularly curious as to where Captain Commando is, or as I think of her, Clone 1237. You wouldn't recognize me, but before I decided to focus on research, the public called me Dr. Mind."

Over the group implant channel, Cassie said, "I thought he was dead!"

"Me, too," I replied.

Alex said, "Brazil, right?"

No one else managed more than a grunt or two because, you know, they were fighting people.

Through everyone's PAs (except for Rachel, Cassie, or Amy), I said, "Aren't you dead?"

He laughed, and as he did, it struck me that he sounded off, though I couldn't place how. "Of course I'm dead. The Heroes' League killed me, as they did when they wanted to. You didn't hear about that in the news, did you? But I'm not a master of the sciences for nothing, am I? I backed myself up, as you children say now. And do you know what? I've upgraded my jar to something even better."

I'd never heard the full story of the last official mission of the Heroes' League—destroying Dr. Mind's lab and army of Captain Commando clones. They'd also brought back a toddler-aged girl, a gender-swapped clone Dr. Mind had created for a special purpose, and they didn't know what it was.

Knowing Cassie's ability to control Abominator devices, we had ideas.

I was about to ask Dr. Mind another question, thinking that people were taking their own sweet time on this, when Dr. Mind twisted his skull around and blasted away, burning a line of destruction through the middle of cubicle land, disintegrating at least seven of the Nine's guards, leaving a trail of melted metal, and several small fires.

"Crap," Rachel said, "he almost got me. He's running an anti-phase device. I felt myself phasing in when I got close."

She wasn't visible and wasn't dead, but "crap" was right.

Dr. Mind, meanwhile, was still laughing. "It's like old times. I can't even tell you how often Ghostwoman tried that trick. I'm prepared now, and that's not all I'm prepared for. I think ahead. You won't surprise me."

Amy's voice sounded over the group channel, "I'm in position. Let's find out."

I couldn't see Amy or the ruby glow of the gem on her black armor, but I did see the Bloodspear flying toward Dr. Mind's glowing, green skull.

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