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CONTENT WARNING: violence, mind control, incest, T

Snow! Cold and snow were everywhere, falling so thick that Bobby couldn't see any landmarks. He could hardly see his own feet! Yet the cold didn't feel cold. He knew it was cold – it was snowing, it must be cold – but mostly he was just lost, somewhere cold and white.

“Hello!" he cried. “Anybody, please!"

“Behind you!" came a woman's voice, friendly and familiar.

Bobby turned. There was a framed, full length mirror behind him. He remembered it, he'd seen it before. With the memory came the realization that he was dreaming – a waking dream now. It was Bonny's mirror; his sister was using her telepathy to talk to him in his dream. He came and stood in front of the mirror. Instead of his own reflection, he saw Bonny. He looked behind her for his brother, Jacky, but it was just her this time. She looked frightened.

“Bonny? What's wrong? We agreed that it was safer for now not to talk like this." Bonny stared, still looking frightened. “Bonny?" he tried again.

For a long moment, she stared, trying to speak. Vector knew what this meant. She was a long way away, or something was making it difficult for her to concentrate.

“They have me!" she whimpered at last.

“Who?" (It was best to keep his replies as short and meaningful as possible. The less he had to send the better, with such a slow link!)

She paused again, tried to speak again. “Help me!" she pleaded.

“How?"

“He's coming!" she cried, and the mirror shimmered and went dark.

“Who's coming!" Vector cried. “Where are you?"

“Huh? Bobby, you okay? What is it?"

He was in bed. Tommy was holding him tightly. ...of course he was in bed, Bobby thought, where else would he be asleep.

“I'm okay Master. I was dreaming."

“The bad dream with the cops again?"

“No sir, it was the telepathic dream. Bonny was talking to me."

“I thought Karen didn't want you doing that. She can look in yer mind 'n learn Korps secrets 'n stuff."

“Which would put her in danger, I warned her. But this was an emergency. She said they have her!"

“Who?"

“She didn't say. It was a very slow link. She must be out of province, maybe further. Master, she said help me!"

Tommy sighed. “Well we gotta help her. Anything else?"

“She said he's coming, she seemed scared of..."

Suddenly, from beyond the bedroom door came a high, lutrine scream. The two boys scrambled out of bed. Then came another yell.

“Bobby!" Olivia cried. “What the fuck are you doing in my room at... fuck-off in the morning!"

Bobby and Tommy gave each other a confused glance. Then Bobby gasped. “Jacky!" he exclaimed.

Bobby wrenched the bedroom door open and jumped for the livingroom, Tommy at his heels. They arrived in time to see Olivia flinging a pillow at the head of a white bunny in a dirty Halloween magician costume and top hat. The pillow knocked his hat off, (showing long bunny ears with black tips), and knocked him off balance. He hadn't had time to recover when Bobby tackle-hugged him. The two boys fell on the couch together, locked in a tight embrace.

“Jacky!" Bobby cried, his voice shaking. “You big boogerhead! I missed you!"

“Bobby! They have Bonny, we have to help her!"

“We're going to help her! My friends and me, we're powerful, we have friends! Where is she?"

Jacky panted for a few seconds. “They have some kind of prison... set up at the abandoned Grande Pool building at... Kensington." He tried harder to get his breath back. “Augusta Avenue at... Denison Square, opposite the Behavioral Design Academy!" he added.

“Wait, what? Jacky, she came to me in a dream just now! It was a really slow link, like she was out of province or something!"

“They have some kind of machine! It... stops her from using her telepathy somehow! ...it doesn't stop my magic, though... They won't turn it off! It's been a day and a half and... it's hurting her! Made me fuckin' itch all over."

“Psi suppressor!" Tommy growled. “You're not s'possed to be in a suppression field longer 'n a hour! They're violating Kiss-Me-Now!"

“Chi?in?u," Olivia corrected. “What the fuck is going on here? Bobby, who is that?"

Everybody turned to the otter girl. Jacky gasped.

“Bobby? What's that on her face?"

The TV on the wall lit up. On it was a black background with a purple-pink, winged double-helix. A pink vixen walked in from the left.

“They're called Rose Coloured Glasses," she said. “Jonathon Jacky Jameson, I believe. My name is Rose. Welcome to The Korps."

Jacky gasped, (which didn't help him catch his breath.) “You're a terrorist!"

Vector rolled his eyes. “You're getting your news from fuckin' Global! I warned you about them, they're full of shit mouth-pieces for the fuckin' Tories!"

“Bobby!"

He looked up. “Master? Oh, Jacky, this is Tommy. He owns me, I'm his sex toy. ...it was my idea," he added, “Bonny knows all about it. And the otter girl is Olivia, she's nice. What's wrong Master?"

“Ya just used three good cuss words in two sentences! What's that all about?"

Bobby's jaw dropped. He stared at the middle distance as he remembered what he'd said.

“Getting your news from fucking Global," Rose repeated for him. “Full of shit mouth-pieces, fucking Tories. All true, by the way."

Bobby looked from Rose to Tommy to Jacky.

“You sound normal to me," his brother replied.

“That's normal?" Tommy replied. “He never cusses!"

“I... I guess I... fall back into bad habits... around family?"

“As you discuss bad family habits," Rose interrupted, “Bonny Jameson is being tortured with psi suppressors. RCGs on, please."

“I'll get them!" Olivia said and scooted to the master bedroom. “Should I get one for Jacky?" she added over her shoulder.

“Uh, I don't..." Jacky stammered.

“He hasn't been vetted," Rose replied. “I'll remain on TV for him. It hardly needs to be said, but Karen is also listening and will probably step in at some point."

“Who's Karen?"

Olivia arrived back with the boys' RCGs. “Karen is a big silver dragon!" she said, as they put the purple-pink visors on. “She's everywhere and she knows everything and she's really scary! Never, ever mess with Karen! Also, she's in charge of stuff, that's why we call her Boss. She has to approve our rescue plan."

Rose moved over to the side of the TV screen and the background was replaced with a floor plan of the pool building.

“Jacky," she said, “Please draw on the screen what you can remember of how they have their prison set up. Just use your finger."

“Wait, you're Rose! You control everything they do, like fuckin' mind control, with those visors! I'm not gonna help you!"

Rose gave Jacky a sad look. Olivia face-palmed. Tommy rolled his eyes. Bobby scowled and grabbed Jacky's shoulders.

“That's Conservative propaganda again!" he all-but-growled. “Look, if you can't..." He pulled his RCGs off. “If you can't trust Rose, trust me! I'm your brother, I love you, I know everything about pleasing you, I'd never want to hurt you. Even if you want it!"

(Tommy shook his head. “Fuck Bobby, your family!" he grumbled.)

“We don't have time for me to spill all the tea and convince you, we have to save Bonny and the Korps is the only force that could do it because we never got around to who they are, but we both know they're PsiCan. And we know why they're doing it, they want all three of us. You, Bonny and me! We're powerful supers and I have inside knowledge of the Korps! Do you wanna end up in Ontario's Heroes or something? You might as well be OPP! You know where I'd end up, Kingston Pen! With psi suppressors twenty-four seven!"

“Jacky," Rose added, “I'm sorry that you don't trust me, I realize that everything you have heard about me is bad. Agent Vector is very probably right, however, that Psionics Canada has arranged this trap for him. And our time is limited. Aurora Squadron has dispatched a task force in this direction, fortunately from Edmonton, so we have a few hours before they arrive. If we're to save your sister, we'll have to act quickly. And he's right that the Korps is the only group who would even consider helping, given that it's a federal operation."

“Vector?" Jacky asked.

“It's my code name," Bobby replied. “Blindspot, Tap," he added, pointing at the others in turn.

“You named yourself after breakfast cereal?"

“I... I got my first assignment," he replied, flustered. “I needed a code name and I was having breakfast..." Jacky snickered. “You can laugh," Bobby muttered.

“Wait, Bobby said you're Tap? I... I thought I recognized you! You saved that superhero that one time..."

“Victoria, yeah," Olivia grumbled. “Now everybody knows me. It's a pain in the tail. We're such evil, ruthless terrorists that we save people's lives, even if we don't have to!"

Jacky shook his head. He got up and ambled towards the TV. “Okay," he said.

(“Yeah?" Olivia replied.)

“This is what I remember about the place..."

#

Three quick showers and costume changes later, Team Blindguard sat by the TV, chugging hot coffee and going over what they knew. Karen had arrived in person and took Tommy's usual place on the couch.

“I don't like sending you in without a plan," she said. “We just don't have time. Rose, ETA for the Aurora task force?"

“Two hours ten minutes, assuming weather holds. We have agents at Thunder Bay who could arrange for bad weather."

“Get them on it. I'll brief them ASAP. Better download what we've got on the pool building to the team's RCGs, in case they get cut off.

“You three are going to have to improvise when you get there. You know it's a trap, that's a small advantage."

“I doubt it, Boss," Blindspot replied. “If they were this obvious about it, us knowing it's a trap has gotta be part of their plan."

“Seems likely. Time's wasting. Move out, Blindguard. Good luck!"

“Ill just get my hat!"

“Not you, Jacky," Karen commanded. “Your brother and his team are professionals. You'll only get in the way."

“But... No! I can help! The fuckin' psi suppressors don't work on my magic, I can... I..."

“You're untrained, kid! You don't know what you're doing. It takes years to be a magus... Where do you get your spells anyway?"

“I got a spell book!" Jacky dug into his cape and pulled out Magic For Dummies.

“You're gonna dig through that for spells while the capes are shooting at you."

“The boss is right, Jacky, You're not ready for missions yet. You have too much left to learn." Bobby kissed his brother's mouth. “I love you, Jacky. Stay safe. Bonny and I will be back, I promise!"

“I love you. I'm fuckin' scared for you."

“I'm scared, too. That's a good thing, it keeps you alert. Time to go."

“The Condor's on the roof, team." Blindspot stood and walked towards the door. “Let's move!"

Vector and Tap followed. The otter girl turned and blew Jacky a kiss as she closed the door behind her. Karen gave a hissing, draconian chuckle.

“She's wanted to play with the bunny since she and Vector met. Blindspot won't let her. He won't admit it, but he's jealous. You and Bonny are sluts too, aren't you?"

“Well, no, but how... oh, Bobby. Yeah, we fuck around. We're not fuckin' shy." He gave Karen a shy-but-knowing smile. “Why, d'you wanna?"

“Not now. You're both very good and proud of it. You and your brother fuck alike, right?"

“Pretty much. We learned with each other."

“Do Tap a favour and let her play with you when she gets back. She'll feel better."

“Okay. Is she fun?"

“Ask about every agent in KDS! Yeah, she has lots of practice, she's good. And by the way, Okay is her nickname, keep that in mind."

Karen took a sip of coffee. Jacky hesitated, then took a sip, too.

“So what am I supposed to do while we wait?"

Karen took another sip. Her stiff, draconian face stretched into a sort of resigned scowl.

“We can't afford to let you go, kid," she said. “You know too much about the Korps now."

“So, what, I'm a prisoner?"

“I'm going to try to recruit you. KDARC can always use another magus. That's our magic department, by the way. They'll train you properly, get you up to speed. Then, if it's what you're good at, they'll assign you to TAROT send you on missions. I'll warn you now, KDARC missions are usually extra dangerous."

“What if I don't want to join the Korps?"

“We'll have to keep you prisoner. You'll still get to visit Vector, though. Bonny too, whether she joins or not. And Terry and Jeffy, they're both Korps agents now."

“Terry? Becker?" (Karen nodded.) “He's not a super. He went to U. Guelph for agriculture. How did he get into the Korps?"

“He didn't go to Guelph, kid. His father found out he's queer and sent him to conversion therapy. How he ended up in the Korps is his own story, he can tell you if he wants to. I'll warn you, it's painful."

“And Jeffy? Uh... O'Donnell, the cute squirrel kid?"

“He's a Korps registered healer now. He nearly ended up a torture master, but that's all I'll say. Again, it's his story to tell you or not."

“What about Bonny's bee-eff-eff? Katy Brill? Is she Korps too?"

“Dunno her. Rose?"

The pink vixen turned into a loading animation. After a few seconds she returned to her default icon.

“Katherine Bourne, née Brill, white tailed deer, likes water sports, into swinging culture, married to Kevin Bourne, two fawns, boys, planning more, employed by Tim Hortons division of RBI. No known super powers, no interest to The Korps."

“Good," Jacky said. “She deserves that."

“Correction!" Karen replied. “Former member of her high school slut club with at least three Korps agents. Hopefully five. We will warn her and ask if she wants us to watch over her family. Hmm, make it low priority."

“It is now on your to-do list."

“Thanks. As for you, kid," she said, turning back to Jacky, “you and Rose and I need to have A Long TalkTm."

“Well first, uh, Karen?" (The dragoness nodded.) “Why did you call me a Magoo?"

#

The Condor stealth helicopter hovered over the ornate pool building. In the dark, the Olympic-sized pool under the glass roof looked dismal, the water grey, the deck grubby. A drone approached the Condor's side door with a pair of grapple shooters. It shot them at the glass window's metal supports. Powerful electromagnets stuck and held. The shooters went into holders on either side of the door. The drone returned with a laser cannon.

“This unit will cut the hinges," it said. “After you rappel to the deck, the helicopter will drop the roof panel in the park. It will return on your command. For your safety, please do not watch while the laser is on."

The drone took position while Team Blindguard moved to the other side of the cabin.

“How come the roof has hinges?" Blindspot said.

“The roof opened in the summer to allow humidity to escape," Rose replied. “It closed in the fall to keep heat in."

“They spared no expense!" Tap declared.

There was a loud clunk below them. The Condor rocked a little and the main rotor sped up. The drone moved away from the door. It returned shortly with three long ropes that it attached to a bracket above the door, then released them. They dropped into the hole that the drone had made in the roof, blown around by prop wash.

“Ready," it said.

“Okay team, let's go improvise."

The three agents clipped the carabiners on their harnesses each to a rope. Blindspot went first, then Tap, then Vector. Their weight did a lot to counter the prop wash from the helicopter's main rotor, the pilot did the rest. As quickly as they could, the three agents descended into the building.

“Blindguard alert!" Rose exclaimed, as they passed through the hole inn the roof. “I am losing contact with your RCGs..."

An alarm sounded in their ears. A laser ghosted by above them. The ropes burned through in an instant. The three agents fell to the water below, which seemed to drain as they approached it. Vector watched helplessly as a pair of metal plates closed over the ceiling. The glass panel they'd cut free hung for a moment, then whisked out of the way. Vector started to tumble. He saw Blindspot and Tap hit the water with a splash. He tried to twist himself like a cat, backside down. Then he, too hit the water, which felt like a concrete wall. Then he hit the floor of the pool, which was concrete...

#

Somewhere nearby, Blindspot was moaning groggily. Vector fought his way back to consciousness. He tried to turn, but found himself restrained. He opened his eyes. The room lights were on. Everything was pink. Tap was holding his head above the water. She was holding Blindspot's head up too, with her other arm.

“Don't stand up!" she said. “There's turret guns on the deck, they fire at anything that gets too high."

“Got it," Blindspot replied. “Vector?"

“I got it too, sir. Thanks, Tap."

“Is everyone okay?" Blindspot said. “Tap?"

“I managed to dive shallow," she replied. “You guys ht the bottom pretty hard, though."

“Vector?"

“Kinda light headed, sir, but I think I'll be okay. Hey, why is everything pink?"

“Our RCGs are offline," Tap replied. “Nothing works down here."

“How come we're wigglin'?"

“I'm swimming us to the shallow end. You two were only knocked out for a minute, maybe two. It's hard to tell without Rose."

“Leggo," Blindspot said. “I can swim."

“I'm still kinda light headed," Vector said.

“Never mind," Tap replied, “we're there. Just stand up. But careful of the turret guns!"

Blindspot stood slowly. Several motors whirred; several gun muzzles spun around and pointed straight at his head. He crouched down again. “I see what ya mean," he said.

“You're awake!" came a loud and very distorted voice.

“No shit!" Blindspot spat back.

“You kept me waiting, asshole!" The voice cleared its throat. “You're probably wondering what's going on."

“You have us in a death trap," Vector replied. “You're about to tell us why."

“Nine times outa ten," Blindspot added, “you're mad at us over somethin' n' want us t'suffer fer it."

“Although you might be testing us," Tap piped in.

“Or trying to pre-stress our wills to make us easier to break later," Vector added.

The voice hesitated a few seconds. “Shut up!" it yelled at last.

“So how does this one work?" said Blindspot.

An overhead spotlight shone down on the deep end of the pool. In is beam was a metal box in a rack near the floor, painted red, with a black death's head on the front.

“It's a bomb!"

“Figures," Blindspot grunted.

“It's on a timer which I'm activating... Now!"

Lights started blinking in the death's head's eye sockets, once per second.

“Shinies!" Tap said, admiringly.

“I won't tell you how long you have to live! Just that the warhead came from a stingray torpedo. When it goes off, the shock wave will rip through the water and pulverize you like a lithotripter! Or you can try to climb out and my turret guns will rip you to pieces! Either way, I get to watch you die!"

“Yer not gonna walk away 'n leave us t'die alone?" Blindspot smirked.

“It sounds like you're mad at us," Tap remarked.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

The voice's cry was accompanied by what sounded like rapid, furious foot-thumping. For several seconds, it was silent.

“You're pretty brave without ROSE to hypnotize you!"

“We train for situations like this," Vector replied. “We're pros, you know."

“You're terrorists!"

“"Professional terrorists," Vector corrected.

“Well in a few minutes you're gonna be dead terrorists! You think I'm just a moustache-twirler, don't you? You are so wrong! I am The Hand of Justice!" (Even through the distortion, Team Blindguard could hear the capitalization.) “I'm going to bloody the sidewalk with you perverts! But first I want to see you suffer! I want to see you piss your disgusting, obscene costumes with fear! Go on, piss the pool like the… the…" The distorted voice hemmed and hawed, searching quickly for an adequate metaphor.

“Babies?" Blindspot suggested,

“Toddlers?" Tap added.

“Incontinent septuagenarians?" Vector threw in.

“SHUT UP!" the voice screamed.

“What's with the voice distortion anyway?" Blindspot said. “If you think you're about t' kill us, why hide yer voice?"

“I don't think!" the voice said. “When… Quit snickering! You're about to die!"

“Sorry," Vector said. “No, I lied, I'm not sorry."

“Well I'm going to have the last laugh when that bomb goes off! I'll be watching while it turns half your bodies… Fuck off, I'm busy! It can fucking wait! The bomb's on a fucking timer, if I have to leave now I'll miss it… Oh fuck sake! Okay, I said I'll be right there! It can… I'll be back in a minute to watch you die, Team Blindguard!"

The three villains heard what sounded kind of like very distorted footsteps receding. They looked at each other.

“We knew this was a trap," Blindspot said. “Now how're we getting out of it? T' start with what happened to Rose?"

“They must have finally disassembled someone's RCGs," Vector said. “They know Rose can communicate with 5G, too."

“Or they finally realized there's a connection between our RCGs and Thorne Industries," Tap said.

“We can still do this. Work the problem, team. What did PsiCan forget, what did they overlook, what don't they know?"

“This new cape was pretty thorough!" Vector replied. “Or their team was. They don't sound all that bright. Actually, something about their voice is familiar…"

“Shelve that Vector, 'til after we escape."

“Yes sir. There's the psi suppressor up on the balcony, see it? That's what's killing our powers and cutting off Rose. I don't see a second one. And somewhere there's a 5G suppressor, too. The auto-turrets on the deck are keeping us in the pool."

“That cape is exactly right about what the bomb will do to us," Tap said. “Maybe the auto-turrets would be an easier way to go."

“We ain't going anywhere today!" Blindspot declared. “Hmm," he added, “those turret guns."

Blindspot raised his head above the edge of the pool. An auto-turret immediately swivelled towards him, but didn't fire. He splashed some water towards it. A burst of automatic fire turned it into mist, narrowly missing his head. Blindspot ducked back down.

“Twenty millimetre at least," he said. “Only fires if something leaves the pool."

“They want the bomb to get us," Tap replied.

“What if we move right up to the shallow end wall?" Vector asked. “We'd lose our lower legs…"

“We'd bleed out," Tap said. “It'd probably amuse the moustache-twirler no end."

“Tap," said Blindspot, “splash some water over the edge of the pool. Use yer tail, splash it as high as you can!"

Tap nodded. She braced her hands against her knees and swished a spray of water up nearly a whole storey above the auto-turrets. They all fired at once, turning the water into mist, but only part way up. The rest of the spray rose, then fell and hit the deck floor.

“They only elevate to about man-height," Blindspot observed. “Figures, they don't need to go higher. They only fire at stuff movin' upwards, not down."

“To conserve ammunition," Vector suggested. “If something falls, it's already dead." He gasped. “Master," he said, “throw me!"

“What?"

“Remember the first time we met, m… Sir?"

“When I saved you from ol' Doctor Mangle?"

“Sorry, the second time we met. You wanted me to take a roof camera offline, so you threw me up to it. That psi suppressor isn't much further above us than the camera was. If you throw me up to it, I can… figure out how to kill it. With our powers back, we can handle the rest!"

“Get ready," Blindspot commanded. “Tap, distract the turrets with another spray."

Blindspot squatted. Vector balanced with his feet in the badger's hands. Tap slapped the surface of the pool with her tail, sending a huge spray of water over the auto-turrets. They fired as one at it. As they did, Blindspot lunged upwards, raising his arms over his head in a single, fast shove. At its top, Vector leapt, aiming for the psi suppressor box clamped to a rail above the pool. A pair of turrets turned and fired at him. The bullets whizzed by well under his feet. At the top of his leap Vector grabbed the clamp with one hand, then both. Then one hand; with the other he grabbed the suppressor's power cord and tugged. He tugged harder, heaved at it as hard as he could, but it held. Vector pulled himself up and tried to climb over the rail. He ducked back down as a stream of bullets passed between his long bunny ears.

“Weird sound!" he exclaimed.

“Hang on, Vector!" Blindspot cried. “I'll figure something out!"

“We don't have time!" Vector yelled back. “The bomb's on a timer, we don't know how long!"

“Not very long!" Tap replied

Vector started bouncing on the cable, swinging, pumping with his legs. The cable gave way at one end. Then it gave way at the other end. A pair of turrets tried to raise towards him as he fell, but couldn't meet their target. Just above them, a pinkish-white funnel opened. Vector passed through it. He landed lightly on his feet, squatting down immediately anyway. Now the turrets were pointing at his head. Vector made a shallow dive into the pool; the turrets never fired.

“Good catch, Tap!" Blindspot said. “Vector, you okay?"

“I'm fine, sir," the bunny replied. “Just a little shaken up, I'll be okay… Is the water getting warm?"

“I have to do something with this energy!" Tap complained, her eyes glowing. “You built up a lot of speed in that short fall!"

“Actually," Vector said, “I really do feel fit and ready. And the pink is gone."

“You don't have time to get over fear shakes," said a familiar voice. “I can read the timer on that bomb, sort of. I estimate you have two minutes and a few seconds."

Rose's pink fox girl avatar stood on the surface of the water. She looked quite anxious.

“Oh Rose, am I glad t'see you!" Blindspot cried. “Can you disarm the bomb?"

“No, and I can't disarm those auto-turrets, either. All I have is your RCG sensors. Every data band is being jammed in there except psionic now. I can't even locate them. They must be on a wired intranet.

“Tap, you have to absorb the chemical potential energy in the explosive. There's no time for anything else."

“I can't!" the otter girl cried. “I've never been able to do that, the energy is in spaces, they're too small, I can't reach them!"

“Vector can reach intermolecular bonds."

“But I can't absorb them," Vector replied. “That's Tap's power."

“That's why I'm going to link your minds. Your powers will complement each other. Breathing exercise now, relax and let me in."

Tap and Vector took each other in a loose embrace. They looked through their visors into each other's eyes. They breathed together, deeply and slowly.

For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen. Then they turned together and each stretched a hand towards the deep end of the pool where the bomb was, faces set in serious concentration. But their expressions soon changed to worry, despair.

“I can't," Tap said.

“Too much," said Vector.

“Never done it before," they said together.

“They're having trouble focusing deeply enough," Rose told Blindspot. “Wait, I'm adding an expert."

Their expressions changed again; surprise, delight, then calm. Once more they reached out their hands. The bomb slowly swelled up, it's case cracked and gas leaked out as a bright red glow surrounded the two agents. They reached their other hands towards the floor of the pool near the deep end. A pinkish-white funnel sprouted from Tap's hand, reached to the pool floor. A big, circular hole burst open in it. The water started flooding out. Vector and Tap looked at each other, smiled and waved. As quickly as it came, their expressions changed again, this time to astonishment.

“Wow!" Tap said. “Who was that?"

“I-I… for a few seconds I had quills," Vector replied. “Focus, it was so easy for her, she must have done it every day for years!"

“She liked you. She was having fun!"

“She liked us both! But there was something more, in her background, like another her…"

“Guys!" Blindspot yelled. “We still gotta save Bonny!"

“Go down the hole you made," Rose said. “They couldn't have planned for you to approach that way."

“C'mon guys," Blindspot ordered as he waded through the rapidly draining water to the hole. “Let's try to be long gone when the moustache-twirler gets back."

Tap and Vector followed.

“You love him so much!" Tap murmured.

Vector smiled. “I always had faith that you were a girl inside," he replied, “but now I actually met her! ...I mean you! Too bad the haters can't. They'd have to stop hating!"

Tap snorted. “You think I want haters in my head?" she replied.

#

Tap lead the way, glowing softly, through the big (partly flooded) storage room under the pool, past big pumps and filters and chemical injectors and racks of mostly empty shelves towards a red light that looked like an exit sign. Vector started to shiver as they went.

“It's getting chilly down here!" he exclaimed.

“Doesn't feel chilly to me," Blindspot replied.

“You've got thicker fur."

“That's me," Tap said. “I used up the last of the energy from the bomb, I'm tapping the heat in the air to make light."

“It's not much further," Blindspot said. “Hey, wait a minute! Tap, turn up the light a little."

“Does she have to?" Vector whimpered.

“Just fer a sec. Look team, we found their arsenal! Everybody grab a gun!"

“Why?"

“Because there's prob'ly more psi suppressors past that door. This time we're gonna be ready!"

“I won't kill!" Tap grunted as she picked up a revolver.

“Shoot the psi suppressors," Vector said, as he ejected the magazine from a semi-auto and started loading bullets.

“Blindspot's caution is warranted," Rose added. “I read a suppression field beyond the door. Not immediately beyond, but I can't tell how far. According to the blueprints, it should be the stairwell to the main floor and office level."

“If anyone needs to die," Blindspot said, scooping extra bullets into his pocket, “it's my job. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Vector's right, we want these to take out their psi suppressors, that's all."

Guns ready, they approached the door. Vector waved his hand over and around it. Finding no booby traps or alarms, he unlocked the lock from the far side and opened the door. A turret gun faced them.

“Drop the weapons!" came the distorted voice from the pool. “Throw them out where I can see them! Do it now!"

“Do it, team," Blindspot growled, as he backed towards the rack with the guns.

Vector and Tap threw their guns out the door. Blindspot grabbed a gun from teh rack and threw it out instead, pocketing the semi-auto he'd chosen.

“Correction,“ Rose said, “the suppression field is almost immediately outside the door."

But Vector raised a hand and reached towards the turret gun. There was a nearly inaudible snap. “Just in range!" he said.

“Hands behind your heads!" came the voice. “Get out here where I can see you! And stay away from the guns! My finger's on the trigger for that remote!"

The three agents complied. Spotlights flashed on above them as their RCGs beeped loss of signal. High above them a voice cried, “Bobby!"

“Bonny!" Vector yelled back . “It's okay, I'm here for you!"

“It's Brittany!" his sister yelled back. Then her voice became muffled, as if a gag was being stuffed into her mouth.

“Brittany?" Vector exclaimed. He face-palmed. “Brittany!" he yelled. “What the fuck?"

“You know this cape?" Blindspot asked him.

“She's no cape! She's a brat I knew in high school..."

“Don't call me that! I'm The Hand..." The voice sighed. There was an electronic clunk and a girl's voice replaced it. “I am The Hand Of Justice! I am the genius inventor who will destroy the Korps! Look upon your doom, Team Blindguard! ...I'm up here," she added.

“How d'you expect us to see you with th' spotlights on? Yer on the far side of the glare!"

“You shut up, Blindspot! I'm talking to Bobby!"

But room lights replaced the spotlights. One floor above them, several more turret guns were pointed in their general direction. A metal box hung from the ceiling three floors up; a slight itching sensation seemed to radiate from it. Two floors up a grey bunny stood on the stairwell landing, (a female replica of Vector tied to a chair by her side), in a hooded white cape. Alabaster rings hung from pierces in her ears. She wore a white knit choker with an emblem pinned over her throat. Vector stared at it and his mouth dropped.

“Oh come on!" he yelled. “You're not Aurora Squadron! The only non-super they ever let join them was True North the Second and you're no super!"

“Ha! Arthur Simonds was a wuss! I know, I've been in the War Tower! None of you have ever been in the War Tower!"

“Wanna bet?" Tap sneered.

“Vector... Aw fuck it. Bobby, what's goin' on here?"

Vector sighed. “Brittany was in my homeroom class in high school. She's from a rich family, her dad's a bank executive and her mom's a neurologist."

“Neurological surgeon!" Brittany corrected.

“A brain surgeon?" Tap said.

“I dunno what she specialized in."

“Epileptic remediation!" Brittany corrected.

“That'd be brain surgery," Blindspot added.

“Not always!"

“She decided I was good enough to be hers. I dunno how she decided between me and Jacky..."

“I thought you were more mature!" she exclaimed. “And your brother had that stupid birthmark on his ass. I was so wrong!" she added.

“Anyway! She told me I was going to stop slutting and be hers. I didn't want to, I loved being the village bicycle. I never liked her, she was too pushy. And it looks like she still is!"

“You had your chance with me, Bobby! You could have been mine, but you wanted to be everybody's! It was dfisgusting! You even let other boys... do... that to you! Like a queer pervert!"

“I am a queer pervert! I've always been a queer pervert."

“You don't have to be proud of it!"

“I see what you mean Vector," Tap said. “She's awful!"

Immediately, the turret gun aimed at her head.

“I will not take shit from an otter!" she yelled.

“Bobby," Blindspot whispered, “I thought you took that gun offline."

“I couldn't reach the cable," Vector whispered back, “but I stripped the drive gear..."

“You what?" Brittany exclaimed.

The turret gun motor whirred, but nothing else happened. Brittany screamed in frustration. Then all the turret guns on the first floor landing clacked to life and aimed down on them.

“Rabbit ears," Blindspot and Vector said together.

“Any last words, Bobby? Make them good, 'cause they'll be your last!"

“I got one," Blindspot said. “Do those turret guns work the same as the ones by the pool?"

“Yes!" she replied, impatiently.

“And those bumps on the end of the muzzles, are they cameras?"

“Yes already!"

“Good! Team, square buttons."

All three villains reached into the pockets of their costumes. They found the control fobs and pushed the square buttons. Odd colours started to ooze around their costumes and the turret guns started aiming randomly everywhere but at Team Blindguard.

“Adaptive camouflage!" Brittany screamed. “Where... How?"

“"Triangle buttons."

Green auras surrounded the villains. Blindspot brought out his semi-auto and aimed at the metal box above them.

“You can forget that," Brittany cried. “This psi suppressor is armoured!"

“Against small arms maybe," Blindspot replied and he started firing.

The turret guns swung up to where he was aiming, following his rising bullets. They started firing. The thirty-two calibre bullets from Blindspot's pistol bounced off the box; the hail of twenty millimetre rounds from the turret guns ripped through the armour and shredded the circuitry inside. For a moment their RCGs flashed pink.

“Blindguard alert," said Rose. “Aurora Squadron ETA fifteen minutes."

“Charge!" Blindspot ordered and the three ran for the stairs.

“No.. no," Brittany cried. “No! That... no..." Then she gasped. She looked at Bonny and screamed in horror. “No! No no no, get out! Get out!"

Britanny ran down the stairs, stumbling, nearly falling as she reached the first floor just ahead of Blindspot. Team Blindguard slowed as she approached. Turret gun rounds bounced off their personal shields; Tap stopped to suck power from them and direct it as heat at their control cables until they burned through. The guns were quickly silenced. Vector took the pause to approach Britanny.

“Go ahead sir," he said, “I'll catch up." (Blindguard lead Tap on up the stairs.) “Britanny, you've got to stop this!" he said. “It was bad enough in high school, but this is just crazy! You're making yourself insane! Listen, I was never who you thought I was, it would never have worked out..."

“Bobby! Make her stop!" she whimpered. “Make her go away! Please, Bobby!"

She didn't wait for his reply. She turned and ran out the front door and into the night. Vector shook his head and started jumping up several steps at a time until he caught up with his team at the second floor landing.

“Aurora squadron ETA twelve minutes," Rose said.

“Yer not helpin' Rose. What the fuck was her problem?"

“The psi suppressor stopped," Vector replied. “Bonny got revenge."

“There's a way onto the roof at the top of the next flight of stairs," Rose said. “I'll guide you. Your Condor is inbound, it will arrive just before you."

“Vector, go ahead, the door's prob'ly locked. Tap, no time to get the duck tape offa her, we'll have t'carry her chair 'n all."

Vector followed Rose to the stairs and bounded up. He quickly checked the door, found an alarm switch and flung the door open anyway. The fire alarm went off as he hopped back down. He met Tap and Blindspot on the way and started climbing over the handrail past them.

“Ya set off the fire alarm!" Blindspot exclaimed.

“It hardly matters now, sir!"

“Where ya goin'?"

“The business office, Bonny needs her handbag!"

“We don't have time!"

“Sir, there are papers in her bag that we really don't want Aurora Squadron to find! Bonny showed me exactly where it is!"

“Make it quick, bunny!"

Vector just nodded as he jumped down to the stairs behind them. He kept leaping until he reached the second floor. The handbag was on the floor beside a computer with a cape on the screen demanding an update. Within a minute Vector was jumping back up the stairs, bag in hand. He reached the roof just behind Blindspot and Tap.

The Condor stealth helicopter was just setting down. A bird hung upside down from its landing skid. He dropped to the roof, landing on his feet and walked towards them as the Condor landed behind him. An Aurora squadron's logo adorned the front of his very brief mankini.

“Going somewhere?" he sneered.

“Gottya!" Blindspot growled.

Suddenly, the night got very, very cold.

“Don't leave yet!" Gottya said.

Tap dropped her side of Bonny's chair and took a step forward. She was glowing fiercely red, except for her hands, which bore a bright, electric blue aura.

“The party's..." Gottya began.

Tap charged at the nearly-naked golden eagle.

“...just gettin'..." Gottya continued, crouching for a leap.

Tap leapt first, right hand raised for a straight jab. Gottya's left leg came up, aiming for a kick towards her head. But Tap's dive was more shallow than she'd made it look. She came in under his kick and put a left upper cut into his crotch. Just as she did, her entire aura turned electric blue. It flashed over her left fist and into Gottya's groin. He doubled over in an instant, shrieking. He went down against the Condor's hull and lay there, doubled over, twitching and whining.

Tap clambered aboard the Condor as its main rotor sped up, waving at the boys to join her. Vector hung Bonny's handbag over her neck. He grabbed Tap's side of her chair. He and Blindspot rolled it to the helicopter door. Tap helped them lever it in.

“Freeze where you are! Aurora Squadron!" somebody shouted from the floors below them.

Blindspot heaved the helicopter door shut. “Go go go go go!" he yelled.

The Condor lifted at full power. Tap had jumped into a seat, but Blindspot and Vector were pushed down onto the floor by the heavy acceleration. Vector crawled behind his sister's desk chair and used his strength and his power to keep it from tipping over or rolling around.

At last the pressure let up. Vector stood. He rolled Bonny's chair over to Tap and asked he to hold it steady. He ran a finger over the duct tape covering Bonny's mouth; where he touched, it split and curled away.

“I can cut you loose Bonbon," he said, “but removing all this tape will take time. At least the stuff on your mouth is fresh."

“We got Goo-GoneTm back at the apartment," Blindspot said. “Hey pilot, where ya takin' us?"

“Per Karen's orders," the drone replied, “this helicopter will land at KDS. Karen and Jonathon Jameson will meet you there. A unit has been posted to watch your apartment."

“Jacky decided to join The Korps," Rose added. “Hello, Bonny. My name is Rose. Please do not enter other peoples' minds without permission."

“Bonny is piggybacking on me," Vector said. “Yeah, consent is a big deal in The Korps. It's okay though Rose, I'm used to having Bonny in my head. I actually kinda missed it. Bonny is that your panties?"

Vector pulled a soggy cloth something from his sister's mouth and held it up with a dubious expression.

“Brittany was very rude!" Bonny exclaimed.

“Typical," Vector grunted.

“Bobby, come closer."

Vector snuggled close to Bonny. He put his arms around her back, (shifting her handbag first), leaned in and, to Tap's and Blindspots amazement, pressed his lips to hers. Bonny opened her mouth and took his tongue in, deeply. But Vector withdrew, revulsion in his face.

“Your panties weren't very clean!" he said.

“Well, you know me."

Vector shrugged and nodded. They resumed kissing, long and slow and deep. Bonny's hands came loose from the sides of the chair, (duct tape still stuck to her wrists), and she wrapped them around Vector's neck, holding him even closer.

“Talk about kissin' yer sister!" Blindspot muttered.

“I wish my sister kissed like that!" Tap replied.

“Really?"

Tap thought again about what she'd just said and blushed.

“Bobby has told you before that he and his litter-mate siblings engaged in incest," Rose reminded them. “This shouldn't be surprising. If you didn't know that they're sister and brother, you'd probably think they were adorable."

“Tap, what the fuck was that back there? Gottya is tough and you took him down in one punch!"

Tap grinned. “I saw Redline do that an' I wondered if I could do it, too! Rose rehearses me on it at the powers gym!"

“Redline? When did'ja meet her?"

“I didn't. I saw it on the Korps Times daily 'cast."

“Oh."

“It was a recording from her RCGs. She was rescuing some cougar girl from the cops in St. Louis..."

“Bonny, no, don't! Don't look at my memories!"

Vector had broken their kiss. Bonny's hands were caressing his face. Vector was trying to pull them away, gently but anxiously.

“Bobby, I'm your sister..."

“I was hurt! Bonny, I was badly hurt! I don't want to hurt you, too!"

“You have to trust me..."

“Hey!" Blindspot grabbed one of Bonny's wrists and pulled her hand away firmly. “If he says he doesn't want you in his memory, stay outa his memory!"

“Yeah!" Tap exclaimed. “Consent, remember?"

“You're Tommy!" The last of the tape on her ankles gave way and Bonny stood, (stiffly), wrapping her free hand around Blindspot's neck and pulling him close. “Bobby loves you so much! Oh, I see why, you love him just as much! (Just your surface feelings and thoughts, the same as Rose.) Thank you for taking such good care of him! He's so happy being yours." She drew him even closer and nuzzled his mouth. “Mmm, you're family now. Bobby trusts me with his mind. (Jacky, too.) It upsets me that he's taken his trust away."

“Oh," Blindspot said. “I, uh... y'see..."

“Bobby was telling the truth," Rose replied. “He suffered a severe physical and emotional trauma a little over two years ago. I've been working on his mental health with him ever since, although he is much better now. (Meeting and giving himself to Tommy was instrumental in his recovery.) But he still remembers the trauma. My experience with other telepaths confirms his fear that you would be harmed by absorbing it. I strongly recommend that you refrain, at least until you've had proper training and a pair of Amber Coloured Glasses to protect you."

Vector had snuggled up behind Bonny. He nuzzled her cheek.

“Bonbon, please listen to Rose. She has all the wisdom in the Korps."

“'N that's a helluva lotta wisdom!" Blindspot added.

“More than a hundred thousand agents of all ages, cultures and professions," Rose added, “all for the benefit of all. That's why I am. So let me emphasize again that respect for consent is a core value in the Korps. And that Bobby is correct that his memories are a danger to you right now."

“ETA at KDS helipad seven is one minute," the pilot announced. “Please take your seats"

“Then I need to tall you all something," Bonny said as she chose a seat next to Vector. “Jacky and I... Ow! My ass! Oh, that hurts!"

“Are you okay, Bonbon?"

“Pins 'n needles! I was in that fuckin' office chair for two fuckin' days! Ow..." She took a deep breath. “Bobby, the cops have been harassing mom and dad since you disappeared, on and off. A few months ago it got worse and PsiCan got involved. Jacky and I had to go live on the streets so they'd leave them alone."

“The street! Where did you go, what did you do?"

“The Don Valley mostly, under bridges, in bushes. The camp under the Bloor Street Viaduct is pretty secure, none of the hobes trust the cops. Plenty of them are running away from PsiCan, too. Money, we begged like everyone else. Sometimes we earned it the fun way, you know." Bonny sighed “It's not that much fun."

“Rose," Vector said, “please arrange a checkup for my bother and sister, full STI screening."

“Boring Hosital can see them at nine o'clock on Monday."

“We've been talking ever since we left home," Bonny went on. “Jacky's scared, but the only safe place for us now is in The Korps. We want to join. (Oh, my ass...)"

“You and Jacky are both wanted and welcome. However, Bonny, if you're to be an agent in good standing, you must learn to control your curiosity in favour of consent, except for Bobby and Jacky, or if it's in the line of duty. You must not be an unwelcome guest in other people's minds!"

“Unwelcome guest?" Bonny looked pensively at the agents around her. “Hey, you call Bobby Vector. That's his code name, right? Tommy, they call you Blindspot."

“That's my power. I can make people ignore me. But Brittany woulda known that 'n made sure it wouldn't have helped. She didn't know about our adaptive camo though!"

“She does now," Rose remarked.

“...and Olivia is called Tap?"

“I'm a living power tap!" she said, beaming. “I can turn any energy into any other energy! Although I'm still working on controlling some kinds."

“Unwelcome guest," Bonny repeated. “Do we make our own code names?"

#

Epilogue

A white panel van stopped in front of a suburban bungalow in the middle of the Malton subdivisions. It backed into the driveway, stopped and the driver, (who had a weird thing over their face), lay down across the front seats, unseen. An illustration painted on the van's side advertised a locksmith company. But when the rear door opened, the five people who got out looked like they were dressed for a costume party. Judging by the amount of body fur they were showing, it would have been One Of Those costume parties, where the costumes didn't stay on very long. A rabbit girl in a short-skirted, red satin dress that looked as if most of it was painted on lead the way to the front door and pressed the doorbell button. A very suburban Westminster chime sounded inside, but it was only seconds before a slender, shapely deer with a suspiciously round belly answered it.

“Bonny! Why... Bobby and Jacky? Terry and Jeffy too? You brought the whole slut club!"

“Hi Katy!" Jacky cried.

“Hey, piss-girl!" Jeffrey said. “Did'ja miss us?"

“I... Gang, I don't do that anymore! I'm married, I have two little boys!"

“And another one on the way it looks like!" Bobby replied. “According to our records you were considering having another, but I guess you decided to go for it!"

Bonny gazed intently at Katy's belly for a moment. “Too late to change your mind," she said. “There's definitely a person in there now."

Wait," Jeffrey said, pushng forward. “Lemmee look." The squirrel put his hand very gently on Katy's belly. “Just an exam. I'm a registered healer now! Hypocritic oath n' everything!"

“I hope you meant Hippocratic," Katy replied. “I'm glad you decided to do something with your talent that you can be proud of."

“Power," Jacky corrected. “And being a boy toy cum dumpster isn't something to be proud of?" He stepped back. “Strong and healthy, no defects I can find and it looks like none to expect. D'you wanna know which pubes she'll have?"

“Jeffy!" Bobby exclaimed.

“What? ...oh, I said she. Sorry. No guarantee she'll be cis of course, but definitely AFAB. Uh, you can decide whether to tell your husband."

“Thank you, Jeffy. But I don't do this anymore! I have a happy homemaker life and a stay at home job that I love! There's no more room in my life for slutting around!"

“Bullshit!" Bonny replied. “We know you and Kevin swing. But that's not why we're here, Katy. It's more serious than that."

Bonny reached into her handbag and pulled out an amber-coloured VR visor; Jacky pulled out another, while the other three boys pulled purple-pink coloured visors out of pockets that had no business being in costumes as brief as theirs, all with winged-helix logos on their temple bars. They put the visors on as one.

“Your family isn't secure, Katy," Bonny went on. “We're here to tell you why, and what we want to do to help you, since it's kind of our fault. May we come in?"

###

This story and all the characters in it are copyright © 2024 by D'Otter, except as follows.

ROSE, Karen, Aurora Squadron and The Korps universe belong to Karen King (@kraken) and are used by general permission.

Redline is the property of Syntax Takes, © 2024 and is mentioned under the fair use provisions of the Bern Convention.

Goo-Gone is a registered trademark of PurposeBuilt Brands and is mentioned under the fair use provisions of the Bern Convention.

My own characters are available for use by other writers in the Korps Extended Universe, (and Kraken if she likes.) Just please ask first. Character sheets are available.

This is a work of fan fiction based on the works of Karen King. It should not be taken as canonical to those works, (unless she says otherwise.)

The Grande Pool opposite the Behavioral Design Academy is fictional, (although the academy is real as of 2024.) The corner of Augusta Avenue and Denison Square in the Kensington district of Toronto ON is just part of Bellevue Square Park. I couldn't find a suitable abandoned pool building in Toronto, so I invented one.