by Chewy Walrus, T5 and The Eurostar
"What is he? Crazy?" Agent 2B10 whistled as the form of Edulcore Cicciotto dropped out of the fourth story of the whore's apartment building and plummeted to the ground.
2B10 gasped suddenly as Cicciotto, mere inches from the ground, sprouted feathers from his arms and began gliding naked across the busy Las Vegas street.
"Well, what do you know?" the man said, shaking his head. Pressing a button within his earpiece, he whispered fiercely as he began trying to follow Cicciotto on foot. "Come in, 2B02. Come in, Agent 2B02. This is 2B10..."
"I thought I called for radio silence!" 2B02 hissed.
"This is an emergency!" 2B10 insisted before his higher-up could say anything more. The pause on the other end indicated that he was listening. "Cicciotto has gained some new powers."
"I'm listening..." 2B02 answered thoughtfully.
"After jumping from a fourth-story window, he sprouted wings and began gliding into the air," 2B10 said nervously. "I'm trying to track him on foot, but at the rate he's going, I'll lose him for certain!"
A short pause.
"Hello?" 2B10 whispered, scanning the skies desperately for any trace of Cicciotto.
"I don't think we need to worry at all," 2B02 said suddenly. "I've got a bead on Cicciotto. Apparently, he's fitting to rendezvous with Turner. Gimme a second, and I'll get a bead on their conversation."
Agent 2B10 leaned on a brick apartment building looking across the street as policemen poured upstairs, attending to something or other.
"All right," 2B02 said quietly. "Patching you through to their conversation now."
Suddenly, the man heard two voices that were not those of his colleagues'. Though he had never met either of them, he recognized their voices, especially the one with the thick Italian accent.
"...am wanted for homicide. I bet the police has my fingerprints, too."
There was a pause before Cicciotto resumed speaking.
"Um... well, this is as much a surprise to me as it is for you! I need a shower and something to wear, if you don't mind."
Another pause, then, for the first time, the other man spoke. His voice was gristly and deep.
"Fly over to the roof of the Mirage Hotel -- y'know, the place with the pyramid -- and wait for me there. Don't move for any reason! I'm going to win the first of the money there at a slot machine. I'll buy you some clothes and find a room for us. I'll meet you on the roof in three hours."
Another pause as Agent 2B02's voice came over the line. "Did you get that?" he asked.
"On my way to the Mirage now," 2B10 answered.
"Wait a sec," 2B02 said quickly. 2B10 stopped his already-slow gait and waited for his partner to say something. "What's this about being wanted for homicide?"
"No idea," 2B10 said. "The police arrived about a minute before he jumped, but that's about all I can tell you."
"You didn't follow him up the stairs?" 2B02 asked. "You didn't even get a bead on the police radio?"
2B10 remained silent.
"Look, find out what you can about the homicide," 2B02 said finally. "I'll tail Turner. We know where Cicciotto will be, so you just leave that to me as well. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," 2B10 said begrudgingly. "2B10 out."
As Edulcore Cicciotto, the former Eurostar, contemplated his fate high above Las Vegas on the pyramid-shaped rooftop of the Mirage Hotel, a soft voice behind him spoke.
"Hello, Eurostar."
Shocked to discover that he wasn't alone up there, he almost lost his balance and started to fall backward, but the familiar-looking blond girl before him grabbed his hand and steadied him.
"You better be careful up here," she said with a smile, her face covered with stitches.
"Crasher?! What -- what are you doing here? And what happened to your face?"
"The Scorpion brothers happened," she said, looking down. "I came to see if you needed any help."
"Help? What do you think? That's obvious I need help! Have you a spare Gaia unit for me and my friend? I need to go to the Caribbean fast!" he exclaimed to the petite blond girl.
"Your friend? Turner? I wasn't instructed to help him, too. I have to ask, before... Wait a moment!"
The girl in red boots spoke into a little ear-mouthpiece. But her eyes widened. She whispered, "What?" Then, after a few seconds, she turned to Cicciotto. "Sorry, I gotta go. Other problems are arising. I will return whenever I've done with them. And, look, there is a Hood on your trail, trying to seize you, the one that killed the hooker."
"A hood? What's a hood?" he asked, but the girl had vanished altogether.
Edulcore was back to being alone under the sky, lit by a million lights, waiting for Turner to come back with some clothes.
Elsewhere, in a dark dungeon, four men stood around a pool of water, which showed the vision of a man riding a motorcycle.
"It appears that our ancient enemy has started to become a bit more offensive against the Neanderthal and his minions. This... Eurostar character -- what do you make of him? Should we consider approaching him and try to recruit him before he does?"
"He certainly has abilities that would add nicely to our organization. Yes, do it."
"Okay, now over to more international topics. Should we hand Bin Laden over to the Americans?"