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TIME AND LOCATION: CLASSIFIED RING RING! Tom picked up the phone. "Uh, hello?" "Hey Tom!" Tom froze. His heart thumped out of his chest and he began shaking. "H- h-hi Susan." A brief silence. "Tom? What did you do?" "Nothing!" Tom almost screamed into his phone. "All the heroes are fine!" Silence again. "Tom, you know I have remote access to all the hero trackers right?" "Yes?" "So we both know-" "Yes?" "...about the hero alliance in London?" "...Y-yes?" "Good!" Susan spoke with a lilt. "I didn't think we'd find four pilots that knew each other, let alone decide to form their own hero team! What are the odds? Anyways, I hope you record this. This could be handy in the future." Tom sighed. "Of course!" he responded and began jotting notes on a notepad. "For a second, I thought you were worried about the kid!" The silence returned. "What kid?" Susan asked. Tom froze. "Uh, the kid in Cincinnati who's piloting a hero suit?" "Tom!" Susan scolded. "You know we're not allowed to let minors pilot the heroes!" "Well it wasn't a kid at first!" Tom defended himself. "Look, it was a father who was the hero for the first few weeks and then, I don't know, their kid must have found the pin, one thing led to another-" "What's the hero's name?" Susan asked. "I think it's... Ricochet." At that moment, a red smiling face came up on Tom's computer monitors. "Hello Tom! Hello Susan!" the computer face greeted. Susan spoke on the other end of the phone as if the two were in the same room. "Ricochet, can you give me the info about your current pilot?" "Sure thing!" the computer chirped happily. The monitor changed. It was now displaying the name, age, and picture of a little girl. "Her name is Annie," Tom stuttered, "...and she's 8-years old." Susan almost dropped her phone. "Oh fudge." DECEMBER 24 - 1:37 PM He was shaking; shaking his leg, sitting in the car waiting. His friend who was sitting in the passenger seat turned around. "You ready?" The shaking man was nervous. This was his first time. He would never be ready. "Yeah." The man in the passenger seat nodded. The two of them got out of the car. They walked together into the bank carrying duffel bags. They looked around. There were long lines at each teller. Of course it would be busy. It's almost Christmas after all. The two men pulled on their ski masks and pulled shotguns out of their bags. BANG! "Ho ho ho motherfuckers! On the ground now!" Everyone in the bank ducked to the ground. A man behind the desk started screaming hysterically. This was starting to get on the robbers' nerves. The robber went up to the screaming teller and grabbed him by the tie. "Shut up!" The robber shot his gun into the air again. The teller fell silent. The robber now aimed his gun at the teller. "You're gonna clear out the vault!" he demanded. The teller began to walk slowly to the vault behind him, the robber following behind. The other robber was left to guard the customers. The bank fell silent. Everyone was too scared to move or speak. BANG! Everyone jumped at the sudden noise, but this wasn't a gunshot. The robber looked around, now on guard. He turned to the front entrance. A large muscular man in red spandex landed in front of the bank. He casually walked in. Before he could say anything, the robber shoved the gun to his chest. "Stop right there!" Instantly, the man in spandex screamed and turned around in fear. This startled the robber and he accidentally shot his gun. The robber instantly felt burning pain in his arms and legs. He fell to the ground, screaming and wincing. The muscular man turned around to see what happened. "Oh no! I'm sorry!" He said to the robber. "Did I hurt you?" The man knelt down and hugged the robber. "I'm sorry! Where does it hurt?" The bank customers looked at the two with confusion. This large hulking man was hugging his scrawny attacker. All the customers in the bank knew who this large man was. He was Ricochet, a superhero in Cincinnati who could reflect any projectile thrown at him. They had seen him single-handedly end car chases and save hostages from robberies, but they never saw him do something like this. The second robber came back from the vault and saw what was happening. He aimed his gun at Ricochet. "What the hell is going on!?" Ricochet stood up and looked at the robber. "He's hurt!" Ricochet said. The robber got up closer. "What did you do to my friend you sick fuck?" "I didn't do anything!" "Don't lie to me! Or I'm going to load your ass with bullets!" "I'm telling the truth!" Ricochet said, his eyes started to well up. Now the customers were really confused. Everyone remembered when Ricochet fought Cincinnati's local supervillian in a fist fight that lasted for hours. They had never seen him cry. Ricochet was now kneeling on the ground, sobbing, and defeated. The robber was confused and dropped his guard. He looked at the customers and mouthed, "What do I do?" In unison, all the customers shrugged in confusion. The robber turned back to Ricochet. "Hey, come on man. Stop crying. You're weirding me out." Ricochet ignored him and kept crying. Now the robber knelt down and tried to comfort him. "Look man, can you stop! I mean I'm trying-" "Ricochet?" a voice interrupted. The two kneeling men turned around. A woman stood at the bank's entrance. She was dressed in a hoodie covering her face. The robber stood up. "What the hell is wrong with this city!?" he screamed. "Look lady, this bank is taken, so go-" The robber convulsed shaking as the hooded woman shot him with a taser. The robber fell to the ground unconscious. The woman then walked to Ricochet. She whispered into Ricochet's ear. "Annie, it's okay. I'm here to help you." Ricochet looked at the woman and tried his best to stop crying. The woman helped Ricochet up and they headed out to leave the bank. On the way out, the woman aimed her taser at the customers. "Call the police. I wasn't here, and Ricochet stopped this robbery. Right?" The customers nodded in unison. Susan smiled, nodded, and exited the bank. 2:04 PM Inside Ricochet's headquarters, Susan walked Ricochet to his charging pod. As she lay Ricochet in, she turned to the computer "Clockwork employee override: Susan Gertzman." The computer screens came to life with maps and diagrams. A red happy face smiled idly in the center screen. Susan turned back to the charging pod. Ricochet's body opened up in metallic pieces and Annie slowly got out, still wiping tears from her eyes. Susan then took the pin from the charging pod. Just like with every other hero, Ricochet's pin was his logo: a red hourglass-shaped polygon with white lines bouncing against it. She showed the pin to Annie. "My name is Susan. I kinda made all of this. How did you get this pin?" Annie stood still, frowning. Susan sighed and knelt down to Annie's level. "Look, you're not in trouble," she said calmly. "I just want to know how you got this pin and how you found Ricochet." Eventually, Annie spoke. "My dad was Ricochet." Susan nodded. "Okay. I believe you. Where is your dad?" Annie shrugged, "I don't know." Susan's face crumpled. She turned to the computer. "Ricochet, do you have the whereabouts of your previous user?" The computer screens now displayed a map of Cincinnati. "I'm sorry Susan," the computer said. "But there is no genetic signal for the last user within the city radius." "Could he have left?" Susan muttered. "Where was his last location?" she asked the computer. "Last reported location was here." A red dot started flashing on the map. Susan zoomed in on the map. "But that's where we are." "Ricochet, can I have a hot cocoa!?" Annie yelled in the room. A robotic arm dropped from the ceiling carrying a smoking mug and handed it to Annie. She took it and sipped the hot liquid with satisfaction. Susan was stunned. "How long did you know it could do that?" Annie smiled. "My daddy used to take me here all the time! He had to take me with him since he fired the babysitter for stealing mommy's stuff." "And what about today? Did your dad take you here?" Annie shook her head. "No. I just came here on my own. He was gone, but he left Ricochet here, so I thought I could try it out." Susan rubbed her chin. "This isn't good," she muttered. "Ricochet, where is your handler?" The map on the screens panned over to a new flashing dot. "Handler whereabouts are currently unknown. Last known appearance were at these coordinates." Susan looked closely at the map. "Why would they be at a gun store?" Susan began packing up. "Send this location and information on the handler to my phone," she told the computer. On the way out, she passed by Annie who was still drinking her hot cocoa. "Annie, stay here. I'm going to try and figure out what's going on here." "No! Let me come!" Annie objected. "I'm good at being Ricochet!" Susan squinted. "Annie, I don't want you to cause anymore trouble okay?" So just stay here, and I'll get this sorted out soon." Without another word, Susan briskly headed up the lift. Annie stood there alone. She looked at the computer and noticed the Ricochet pin that Susan forgot to take with her. 2:17 PM Susan slowly approached the gun store. She had been apprehensive about guns, and they have always given her anxiety. She took a deep breath and walked inside. As the door bell rang, a woman met Susan at the center display case. "Good afternoon!" the clerk greeted her with a chipper southern accent. "How can I help you?" Susan was taken aback by her enthusiasm. "Um, hi. I was wondering if this guy came in." She showed her a picture of Ricochet's handler on her phone. "Oh yeah!" the clerk exclaimed. "That there's Martin Goldstein! Yeah, he came in here lookin' to buy a handgun. Poor feller sounded paranoid. Said he was being followed." "Uh, thanks. You sure you can reveal info that freely?" "Oh, you seem like a good friend of his! I thought I'd do him a favor and get some more ammo warmed up for him! Here, I'll get it for you!" "Oh no, that's fine-" with that, the clerk ran off into the back. Susan was left standing at the display case alone. She looked around the store idly. She didn't want to admit it, but she was feeling a bit curious about buying a gun. A lone figure stood in the parking lot. She was covered in black, skintight armor. She knelt on the ground and unsheathed a katana from their back. She looked up at the gun store. 'Glass,' she thought, 'I can break through that.' She pulsed their legs. Three, two, one- Susan looked outside and saw something flying towards her. The store glass shattered. Susan jumped to the side and dodged the swinging katana. She crashed into a shelf, knocking down bullets and night sticks. The swordsman recovered from her pounce and walked towards Susan, blade at the ready. Susan grabbed a baton next to her and blocked the swordsman's overhead strike. The two were locked in struggle. A loud bang interrupted them followed by a metal clang. The gun clerk came back with a shotgun. "Stay away from my customer!" the clerk yelled, firing off another shot. The swordsman knocked Susan back to the ground and decided to deal with the clerk instead. She tried to fire off more shots, but the swordsman adeptly blocked them all with her katana. The clerk ran out of bullets. She frantically dug through her pockets for more ammo, but the swordsman was already ready to strike. The swordsman raised her katana overhead. It would be quick. She struck down the sword, but missed. Susan was right behind the swordsman and used the baton to hold her by the neck, dragging them backwards. The swordsman tried stabbing Susan, but each time, Susan dodged just in time. Susan shook the swordsman and the katana accidentally stabbed the swordsman in the head. The blade crashed into their armor and shattered into pieces. Susan kicked the swordsman forward staggering them. They were now bladeless. Susan almost chuckled. "Looks like you lost your toy there, ninja!" The ninja delivered a roundhouse kick towards Susan, knocking her back once again towards the shelves. The clerk started firing again, but the ninja came up with an uppercut, knocking the clerk back against the wall, and knocking her unconscious. The ninja ripped a revolver from the display case, then walked over to Susan and aimed it at her. Susan was frozen in fear. The ceiling of the gun store opened up to the sky. Light shone through the new hole, as if it were beaming down an angelic figure. Ricochet crashed through the gun store and landed right on top of the ninja. Ricochet looked up and waved. "Hi Miss Susan!" he said. Susan scurried backwards. The ninja threw Ricochet off of them. Ricochet tripped backwards. He grabbed a gun from the display case and tried to shoot at the ninja, but the gun was empty. The ninja kicked Ricochet's arm, knocking the gun out of his hands, but then the ninja's leg swung in the opposite direction, almost knocking her off balance. Ricochet stood there stunned in silence. The ninja tried to strike at Ricochet with punches, but their arms went flying back with force. Ricochet didn't flinch. He watched in amazement. Then one punch, directly center of the two of them, impacted Ricochet's chest. The ninja's fist made impact, then bounced back, heading directly toward their face. The fist struck back at the ninja's head, destroying their armor and forced them to slide backwards. Susan got up from the ground and looked at the ninja. They were standing in front of her, recovering, and Susan saw the crack in the armor. Underneath was a face. Susan couldn't tell who it was, but their eye was closed shut. The ninja ran towards Susan, then leapt through the hole in the ceiling. Susan looked up to try and track them, but the ninja was nowhere to be found. Susan then looked at Ricochet. "Annie! I told you to stay put!" "But you were in trouble!" Ricochet defended himself. The computer told me to save you!" "I can handle this fine Annie. This is too dangerous." Just then, the clerk regained consciousness. "Ah! Howdy there Ricochet! Woulda liked you here sooner!" Ricochet nervously waved. The gun clerk rubbed her head. "Y'all need the police here to sort things out?" Susan spoke up before Ricochet could say anything. "Oh no! Annie- I mean Ricochet and I can handle things from here." Susan grabbed Ricochet by the arm and tried to walk out of the gun store. Then, Susan froze in place as a squad of police cars pulled up in front of them in the parking lot. The gun clerk smiled. "Well, looks like it's too late for that! I'll get y'all some coffee!" 2:30 PM The police investigation was underway. Multiple officers each took statements from Ricochet, Susan, and the gun store clerk. They all did their best to cooperate. Susan tried her best to hide any relation she had with Ricochet. "I was just shopping for a Christmas gift for my husband!" Susan replied. "I see. Have you made anyone angry? Any enemies?" The officer asked. "Not that I can think of. Why?" "It seems the assailant was set on attacking you. Do you have any idea why?" "I really don't know." This time, Susan was telling the truth. Clockwork was so secret, no one could have discovered their existence. She tried to think back if any supervillains could have figured out. The closest was Judas in Los Angeles, but she rationalized he couldn't have known where Susan was; he was in jail. Meanwhile Annie, as Ricochet, retold her side of the story, although with much more enthusiasm than the officer expected. "And then I landed on top her because I was strong enough to break the ceiling! And she tried to fight back, but I blocked her, and then-" "Whoa, slow down!" the officer interrupted. "Are you confirming that the assailant is female?" "I think so," Ricochet replied. "She was fast and looked very pretty, like my mom." This remark puzzled the officer. Right on cue, a Red convertible skidded into the lot. The driver got out. He was dressed in a beige trench coat, aviator shades, and a black fedora. His outfit implied that he was trying too hard to be a detective. Susan recognized the driver and her body filled with dread. "No, not you!" The driver flashed his badge way too close to all the police officers in the area and he eventually strutted to Susan. "Detective Rick Daigle, vigilante crimes officer. Since there's a presence of a super here, I'm taking over this entire investigation." Everyone rolled their eyes. The officers had been through this already, and they really didn't want to deal with Rick, so they quickly left. The gun clerk left to go home, leaving Susan and Ricochet alone with Rick. Rick whipped out his notepad and began interrogating the two. "So, can you give me the exact details of-" "Rick, drop the act," Susan replied. "Why are you here?" Rick squinted at her, then smiled. "Ah Susan! I didn't recognize you! Well, since a superhero has been involved in this incident, I've been assigned to investigate this and find the truth!" "I assure you Rick, I can handle this all by myself! Plus, I got Ricochet with me. See? We're fine!" Rick shook his head. "No can do. Even if your new friend's got your back, procedure is procedure." Rick went to give a pat on Ricochet's shoulder, but as he hit it, his arm flew back towards him, hitting him in the face. Rick, now looking frustrated, continued his inquiry. "Plus, I already know about the cyborg ninja and your missing handler. So the way I see it, it's actually you two at a disadvantage!" Susan rolled her eyes again. "Fine. What do you want?" Rick smiled. "I want what you want: answers. And I have a feeling that your friend and YOUR friend," Rick emphasized, pointing at Ricochet, "... are connected. So, I say we try to lure tiptoes out and interrogate him." "Her," Ricochet interjected. "Right," Rick said skeptically. "Her." "And how do you want to do that?" "Simple! We need bait and you'd be perfect as it!" "Excuse me!?" "Seems clear that you're the target. So the fastest way to find the culprit? Lure them into the public! So you'll stand out in the open, then when they come, we throw the net! "You know, it's usually the other way around where we hide the victim from the killer?" Rick smirked. "Yeah, but time is money, and we gotta deal with this before the holidays, ya dig?" Susan groaned. "You know I hate you right?" "You'll be thanking me later!" Rick grinned. "Isn't that right pal?" Rick went to tap Ricochet on the shoulder and again his hand flew back to hit him in the face. Susan was growing irritated. She needed to get Rick away from the two of them. If he found out that Annie was piloting Ricochet, it could cause more trouble than any of them wanted. "Okay, I'll do it. But you have to stop stalking me. I can handle myself. Even then, I have Ricochet with me. We don't want an entire party to ruin the trap, do we?" Rick rubbed his chin and smiled. He was starting to catch on, but really, he wasn't. "Alright. I'll leave you two lovebirds to it, on one condition. Just give me the credit, send the report to me, and I'll keep out of your way." "Eww! I don't like her!" Ricochet shouted. "Fine!" Susan shouted even louder. 7:01 PM Hours passed by and it was soon dark. Susan and Ricochet made their way to the park which had now emptied out. The two sat on a bench in silence. Eventually, Susan began fiddling with some electronics in her backpack. Ricochet looked with curiosity. "What are you doing?" Ricochet asked. "I'm trying to create a trap for our ninja friend," Susan responded. She was now aggressively jamming her screwdriver into what looked like a tiny computer motherboard. Ricochet looked away. After a while, Susan turned to Ricochet. "Annie, where's your mom?" "She's at home." "She didn't notice your dad disappearing?" "He's always gone. Mommy just thinks it's normal." Ricochet shifted in his seat. "I don't know if daddy love me." Susan froze. "Why do you say that?" "He doesn't hug me and play with me the way mommy does." Susan put the device down and sighed. "I'm sure he's trying. It's just-" Susan paused. "Do you know what your dad has done? I mean as Ricochet?" "No not really." "Well, think of it this way: do you know what Ricochet has done recently?" Ricochet rubbed his chin. "Well, he stopped a train from crashing into my school." Susan smiled. "I'm sure that was your dad." "I guess so." "If he didn't love you, I think your school would be wrecked. Saved, but not as clean. Your dad tried his hardest to make sure the school was safe because he knew that you were there. He wants you to be safe. He doesn't show you love the way your mom does, but he cares. He wants this city to be safe for you. I'm sure of that." Ricochet smiled. "Is that like how you love Rick?" "Oh heck no!" Susan scoffed. Ricochet looked up and smiled. "Snow!" Sure enough snow began to fall from the sky, quickly covering the park in a white sheet. Ricochet got up and started running through the field, disappearing into the darkness. "Wait!" Susan shouted at Ricochet. There was no response; she lost Annie. As she tried to look for her, Susan heard a thud behind her. She turned around. "Oh. You brought a friend." The ninja was there, but standing with her was another ninja. This one was much larger and more bulkier, built like a brute. The brute knocked his fists together. "What do you want?" Susan yelled at them. The two figures stood in silence. Susan tried again. "Why are you trying to kill me?" The slender ninja took out their katana and pointed it at Susan. The brute raised a fist in Susan's direction. Susan shook her head. "That didn't help." She turned around and yelled, "Ricochet!" Still, no response. The slender ninja leapt into the air and tried to drive the katana into Susan's head. Susan tumbled out of the way, ending up on all fours. She felt the ground shake and saw the brute running towards her. She dodged again which sent her tumbling backwards into the grass. She looked up as the ninjas both leapt, ready to land a final blow. Susan took out her trap and lobbed it at the brute. The trap attached and released an electrical shock. The brute seized up and fell to the ground. Susan then raised her legs to kick the slender ninja away from her. The ninja flew past her and into a tree which the ninja quickly recovered from. Susan got up and noticed the brute was standing right in front of her. The brute removed the trap from their body and crushed it in their hands. Susan bared her teeth. She tried running the other way but soon hit a spiked gate. She turned around and the ninjas already cornered her. Just then, a tennis ball hit the back of the brute's head. Confused, the brute picked it up and threw it back. The tennis ball came back to the ninja and this time the force knocked him back. Susan's eyes widened. Ricochet leapt to Susan's side. "Are you okay Miss Susan?" Susan smiled. "I'm fine Annie, thank you." The slender ninja made another run for Susan. Ricochet leapt in front of her and the blade bounced off his chest. Ricochet did his best to keep the slender ninja engaged, who tried to slash at Susan. Each slash was unsuccessful as it was met by Ricochet's body, who deflected the blade back. It soon became apparent that the ninja was tiring; the slashes were slowing down and Ricochet felt them getting weaker. The slender ninja leapt backwards to sheathe their blade. Ricochet smiled, and blew a raspberry. "Ha ha! You can't hit her!" Out of nowhere, the brute leapt into Ricochet, knocking them onto the ground. Ricochet was pinned and tried to land punches, but the brute grabbed his arm and bent it. Ricochet's forearm broke in two; sparks and wires burst out from both ends. Ricochet looked at his new broken arm with shock. "Hey! That's not fair!" Susan was shocked too. "No you don't!" Susan leapt at the brute, but he knocked her back; Susan flew backwards and she landed on the ground. Her bag landed next to her and all the contents spilled out. She looked at her things, then got an idea. Before Ricochet could say anything else, the brute picked Ricochet up by the neck, his feet dangling in the air. The brute brought Ricochet closer to the slender ninja who was warming up their blade. She raised the blade, ready to strike. "Hey freak!" Susan yelled. The two ninjas turned their attention away from Ricochet and now looked at Susan who was now pointing a gun at the two of them. She knew her gun wasn't real, but she was hoping that they wouldn't call her bluff. "Leave her alone!" she said, not realizing she almost gave away Ricochet's identity. The ninjas stood there, then nodded at each other. The slender ninja raised their blade and charged. Susan started shaking as the blade got closer and closer. Susan was panicked. She pulled the trigger and the gun shot out a bright blue light. The charging ninja fell limp and crashed into the ground. The lights on their armor dimmed to black. The brute took notice. He threw Ricochet to the side and also charged at Susan. Susan fired the gun again. The blue light glowed and the brute too fell limp and fell to the ground. Susan stood petrified. "That can't be..." Susan snapped out of it and realized Anne was still in Ricochet. She ran to the Ricochet suit who was on the ground, nearly destroyed. She took out her ID and tapped it against Ricochet's forehead. The suit began opening and Susan pried the pieces away from Annie. Susan made sure first that Annie's arm was okay. Sure enough, it was completely fine and her fingers were covered with black soot. "Her arms were too short!" Susan chuckled with relief and hugged the girl tightly. Annie was exhausted, but once she noticed the falling snow, she excitedly caught a snowflake on her tongue. "I'm glad you're okay Miss Susan." Susan smiled. "So am I." Once the two recuperated, Susan went to check on the fallen ninjas. She looked at the slender one first, pulling the body from under the brute. The body was unresponsive and it felt very heavy. Curious, Susan took out her card and tapped it against the ninja's head the same way she did with Ricochet. The plates of the armor expanded, including the head, but they didn't open completely. Susan tried to pry the head piece off. With a crack, the front came off completely. Susan almost jumped at the face. "Oh my God." Annie ran up to her. "What happened?" Susan pointed at the face. "That's Ricochet's handler! It's Martin!" Annie stood there confused. Susan scrambled to the brute and did the same thing. She pried off the head piece but didn't recognize the face this time. "Annie," Susan called out, "come here!" Annie ran to the brute and looked down at them. Her eyes widened and she almost screamed, "Daddy!" She knelt down to hug his head, but he was unresponsive. "Is he okay?" Annie asked, her voice trembling. Susan stood up. "We have to take them to HQ! Quickly!" 9:40 PM Back at Ricochet's HQ, Martin and Annie's dad were put on medical beds where the Ricochet computer went to work healing them. Robotic arms extended from the ceiling, hooking them up to monitors and tending to their wounds and bruises. Annie and Susan sat together in the corner, sipping hot chocolate. Annie had been sleeping for a few minutes when she heard a grunting from the medical beds. She hopped up and ran to her dad. "Daddy!" she whispered with relief. Annie's dad turned his head to her and smiled. "Hi sweetie. How long was I out?" Susan followed behind Annie. "For a while. I'm Susan. I... kinda made all of this." Annie's dad waved. "George. I was Ricochet." Susan smiled. "George, do you remember what happened? Anything at all that could help us figure out how you got here?" "Not really," George replied. "It feels like I've been asleep for the last few days. I don't remember anything." "Daddy, you were a ninja and you ripped off my arm!" Annie interrupted. "Oh honey, I didn't mean to do that!" George pleaded. Susan put her hand on Annie's shoulder. "He's right Annie. It was the suits forcing Martin and your dad to do this." Susan looked at George. "Your injuries show extensive forced movement. If you don't mind, I'd like you to rest here overnight." It was a lot for Annie to take in, and the three of them sat in silence. "Your daughter saved my life," Susan said. George and Annie smiled at Susan. "She's definitely a fighter!" George replied. Susan laughed. "She might even be a better Ricochet than you!" Behind Susan, Martin began coughing. She turned her attention to him. "Shh! It's okay," she said, trying to calm him down. Martin opened his eyes. "Who are you?" "Susan Gertzman, I'm Clockwork too." Martin calmed down sighed. "Am I in trouble?" "Not yet, I just need to ask you a few questions." Both Martin and George were served hot chocolate while Susan interrogated them. She listened intently to their story and Annie sat with them. Susan got up, satisfied with their answers. "Thank you for the help." Susan took the lift upstairs and stood outside in the snow. She pulled out her phone and typed up a text message to Rick: "CAUGHT NINJAS. WERE HANDLER AND FORMER PILOT. WILL LEAVE THE SUITS AT HQ. KEEP THE CHANGE." With that sent, she took out an ear piece and called Tom. "Hello?" Tom answered. "Hey Tom." "Susan!" In the background, Susan heard crashing. "I swear to God, I didn't mea-" "It's all taken care of Tom. We're all good." Tom sighed. "Oh good." Susan took a deep breath. "Tom, something is really wrong. I was attacked here." "Oh no! Are you okay?" "Yeah. We stopped them for good, but there's something else. I was able to disable them." "So they were heroes?" "I'm not sure. They aren't any that I've made or recognize. Even weirder is that I stopped them with my disabler which I left set to Lady Bullet's frequency." "Right, the hero you were handling before." "Exactly! Here's the thing: Lady Bullet functions on a morphing frequency and the disabler is always tuned to that. It changes when her frequency changes." "Which means..." "Which means someone who was trying to kill me replicated the Lady Bullet frequency. They found our tech and copied us." Tom gulped. "I don't know what to do," Susan continued. "I can't think of anyone who would be able to copy us successfully. Judas got close, but we cleared out his building. Unless he's doing it from prison-" "Susan." "Do you think it's a foreign power? There's no way anybody could find our tech. Clockwork has been on good terms with the UN and no one knows where we are-" "Susan!" Tom yelled. "What Tom!?" "Calm down, and look up." Susan looked up. A drone hovered in front of her carrying a wrapped box decorated with a bow. "Merry Christmas Susan," Tom said. Susan took the box and opened it. Inside was an enamel pin with embroidery: Susan Gertzman: the greatest hero. Susan began to tear up. "Tom, how did you-" "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out the Lady Bullet thing later," Tom said. "Right now, it's the holidays and you deserve a break. Just put it down for now, and take care of yourself." Susan smiled. "Merry Christmas Tom." Susan hung up the phone and walked back into the HQ, looking at her new gift. DECEMBER 25 - 7:14 AM The next day, morning came and the two men had fully recovered. Martin decided to stay behind at the HQ to continue working on Ricochet, as well as explaining everything to Rick. "Don't worry," Martin told Susan, "... Rick will never know about Annie." "Thank you Martin," Susan said. Martin then came up to George. "Thank you for being our Ricochet for these past weeks. Unfortunately, it's best that you do not continue your run as Ricochet." George smiled. "I understand." He looked down at Annie who was now pouting. "Does this mean we can't be Ricochet again?" Martin knelt down to Annie's level. "Not exactly." Martin pulled out the pin again. "Passing the mantle means we give this to the best people in our lives, the ones we trust to be good and do the most good. I'm certain it will come back to you." Annie cheered up at this answer and she took this opportunity to make one final request. "Ricochet! Can I have an ice cream sundae please!?" The robotic arms extended down and began their work. Susan offered to drive Annie and George home. The drive was quiet and uneventful. Soon, the family arrived home. "Well, here we are," Susan said. Annie and George were about to get out, but George stopped himself. "Hey, what are you doing now?" "Heading back to work I guess," she said plainly. "Why don't you join us today? For Christmas?" "Yeah! Christmas!" Annie popped back in. Susan's eyes grew bigger. She was genuinely surprised and lost track of time. "It actually is Christmas today, huh?" "Yeah!" George was now sounding ecstatic. "Stay with us for a while. Annie has some presents to unwrap and my wife has an incredible lunch planned." At this point, Annie's eyes were glowing. Susan turned her head to them. "That actually doesn't sound too bad." "Plus, my wife knows about me being Ricochet, so, it's no hassle explaining to her who you are." Susan grinned. She was feeling a bit hungry after all. "Well, how can I say no to that?" /* END */ /* Happy Holidays dear readers! Susan and the Clockwork heroes will return! */