4:00 pm
Shego requested a look at the cloak before they left. She asked Kim if she wanted to visit the property room, but the redhead had simply sat on one of the wooden benches in the front of the station and refused to say a word.
The ride back to Go Tower was equally silent. Once in the Tower Kim listened in amazement as Shego berated the Wegos for cuffing the Alchemist.
Ron called, “Hey, Kim! What happened to you?”
“I'll tell you later. Right now I'm too angry.”
Then Shego noticed Mego, “Any news?”
“Only that it appears we can cross the Hydraulic Woman off the list.”
Shego considered a small ethical issue. She had promised to call the HUAC satellite if she had any news. And she wanted to question the Alchemist further to see if he could tell her anything. The issue was quickly resolved; she took the former villain back to the kitchenette for further questions.
“Coffee?” she asked before sitting down.
“Sure, thanks.”
She quickly started a pot. As she worked she asked, “The guys didn't give you a hard time while I was gone, did they?”
“Other than the handcuff, no.”
“Here's where we are. Hego and a female companion were attacked by two tank suits very early this morning. Obtinus was supposed to have been working on a robot brain or something so we aren't sure there were two guys in them. We've heard Obtinus is dead and left his belongings to Hellpike. We've also heard Serpent King is dead--”
“I can confirm that -- well, Serpent King anyway.”
“Okay, with you and Bella both retired and Aviarius slowing down the Hellpike acting alone theory looks better all the time. You know anything about the hideout for Obtinus?”
He shook his head no. “We usually met at Serpent King's Den or sometimes the Nest of Aviarius.”
“And I'm guessing you know nothing about how the suits worked.”
“Sorry, the potions and stuff were always my field. Obtinus was the gadget man.”
“Real names for either Obtinus or Hellpike might help.”
Dexter hesitated, “I sometimes heard Hellpike refer to Obtinus as Rex. But I don't know if that was real name, or the Latin term for king, or the fact it’s a common name for a dog.”
“I'm thinking those two really deserved each other.”
“Yeah. I'm pretty sure I have a real name for Hellpike though…”
Shego left the Alchemist drinking coffee in the kitchenette and ran out with the name. Ron contacted Wade and soon aliases, and information were pouring in, mostly connected with Hellpike's recent years in California. One of the aliases turned up on a flight from California a couple weeks earlier. He had been registered in a local motel for around a week, but appeared to have checked out a about a week earlier. A Wego headed over to see if any information could be gleaned at the motel.
Shego wanted to get online herself in the quest for information on Hellpike, but knew she couldn't do anything Wade couldn't do faster. That meant she had to make the much-delayed call to the HUAC satellite.
She went into her old dressing room, stared at the number she's written down that morning, and finally decided she should enter it in the contact information in case she needed to call them again. Having delayed the call as long as she could she dialed the satellite.
“Who are you and how in the hell did you get this number?” a tenor voice demanded.
“Who are you? Wingman gave me this number and I promised him information when I got it.”
“His shift ended hours ago.”
“Do you have a name, or do I just call you bloody useless?”
“I have a name.”
“Then give it, I'm making this call to tell you people information you want. A little respect here.”
“I'm… I'm the Kung Fu Kid.”
Shego felt a certain amount of sympathy for him; he had to be in his forties by now. He should have had his brain in gear when he picked a name during open tryouts for HUAC membership a quarter century earlier. “I don't know if Wingman left any message or not. Speed Queen is currently missing. We've discovered she is being held with my brother, Hego, and Team Go is trying to locate them. The Cloak of Hercules is currently evidence in a police property room in Chicago.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Not that I can think of. We'll call if we get more information or need assistance.” She considered suggesting he change his name to 'Breaks Bricks with his Head Man' but decided not to mention her idea.
Kim pointedly ignored Shego when the pale woman came back into the room. The red head talked with Ron, spoke with Wade, and carried on conversations with the Wegos.
The Alchemist had wandered in with his cup of coffee, and Mego had gone into the kitchenette for a cup of his own. The two sat side-by-side at the big table and Shego casually moved in close enough to listen in. She was disgusted to hear them talking about products and distribution. She wanted to tell them both to think more about Hego, but realized she had nothing constructive to suggest at the moment. She felt like she had nothing to do herself.
She moved over to the table and looked over the little boxes, bottles, and tubes spread out between the two. “What, none of your teething formula? I've heard that's good stuff.”
“You have something for teething?”
“Yeah, damn, he didn't bring any. It's a big seller too, I've shipped it out to people in several states.”