IT TOOK ME only a few minutes to make it to the warehouse. Once I was within seeing distance, I slowed down. I paused by a tree, glancing down at my hologram map to make sure I was at the right place. I was. I looked up, taking in the details of the warehouse. It was gray in color and shaped like a rectangle. The long side that was facing me had three large garage doors, all of them closed. The wide side that I could see had a single, large door that was open. The light was dim, but there was definitely light, so I was assured that there was someone there.

I went closer slowly, sticking to the shadows, fixing the mask that covered my whole head. I had yet to exploit the full powers of the mask, and I wished that I'd had more time to study the program and figure it out before I got myself into a situation such as this one. I was planning to stick to what I knew, to keep from messing up.

I saw the redhead's car parked in the relatively empty lot, along with a few others. I bit the inside of my cheek, doing a quick calculation in my head. There were four cars. I knew for a fact that one of them belonged to two people, the redhead and his companion. If I assumed that the other three cars had one person each, then there were five people in that warehouse. Good odds, in my opinion, unless they had an arsenal of those weapons ready. And they probably did.

I had to do it fast, then.

I ran over to the entrance and stopped right next to it. Did I have time to look for another entryway? I had no idea. I peeked my head around the corner, but there was no one there, at least not in the front of the warehouse. I stuck to the wall was I walked in, listening for voices. I could hear people toward the back, talking about money and deals...and about me. How I might be on to them.

I found a ladder and climbed up it carefully to the walkway that ran across the top of the warehouse, and I crawled forward on my stomach. I didn't want to take any chances of being noticed, so I didn't bother standing or crouching. They'd probably notice me over the railing.

I found a spot to stop and peeked through the grating of the walkway to see what was going on. It wasn't the weapon-filled warehouse I'd been hoping for, but I think that I would still be able to use this to help. Redhead and the awkward one were there, talking to three other men. One of the men was sitting at a work table, holding a screwdriver and using the tip to clean dirt out from underneath his fingernails. Another was sitting on the table, playing with a bright red Nintendo. The final person was standing in front of a pool.

I should have been proud that my prediction of a total of five people had been correct, but I was too busy being confused by the pool. It wasn't even an inflatable one—it was a pool built into the ground, filled to the brim with water. The man standing in front of one corner was looking down at the water with disinterest. I narrowed my eyes at the water. There was something inside, but the water was warping my vision, and I couldn't make it out.

"Good evening, Red Soldier."

Oh, crap. Water reflects things. He was looking at me.

He turned around and smiled up at me. He looked friendly, and I found that so ironic. Redhead and his companion bolted, running out of the warehouse, refusing to let me catch them. I knew I'd have to get them sooner or later, but they were only buyers. I was here to take down the sellers.

I stood up on the walkway, and the man's eyes followed me as I went down a ladder so we were on even ground. I regretted coming down immediately, because even though we were standing a considerable distance apart from each other, I was very, very short in comparison.

Screwdriver man snickered. Nintendo didn't even look up.

I took a deep breath and straightened, tilting my head up, praying that I looked confident. "You've been selling stolen goods from Henderson Technologies," I declared.

The man standing by the pool dipped his head sideways, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Oh, really? I hadn't noticed."

I pressed my lips together. I was expecting an immediate fight, but he was just standing there. Was I supposed to throw the first punch? No. As the good guy, I couldn't do that unless they were threatening me, and I was doubting if I'd even gone to the right place. There were no weapons lying about, although there were some tools and machines here and there. A refrigerator. A washer and a dryer. I couldn't have them arrested for having household appliances.

The pool behind the man caught my eye. The weapons had to be submerged, although I didn't know why. I looked at him immediately, but he'd noticed my glance at the water, and the small smile that had been on his face fell. And with a voice that was serious and nonchalant at the same time, he said, "Get him."

And that was when Screwdriver and Nintendo leapt into action.

Nintendo came literally flying at me, his feet attached to something I had to call a real hoverboard. His hand was formed into a fist, but I dodged it at the last second, grabbed his wrist, spun him around, and threw him at the refrigerator. I turned around to face Screwdriver, who had used the past few seconds to fasten a cuff onto his wrist.

No, actually, it wasn't a cuff. This was more of a mechanical glove, something I hadn't seen before. He came at me slowly, and we walked in circles, eyeing each other. I knew what the cuff could do, but what could this glove do? He had to have some sort of confidence in it if he was willingly going up against Red Soldier.

He ran at me, and I ducked. He ended up running past me, a fist outstretched, and it slammed into the wall, leaving a giant, smoking dent. He turned around, a wide smile on his face, holding up his fist. If he had punched a support column instead, the warehouse could have actually collapsed.

When he ran at me again, I leapt into the air and landed on his shoulders. I threw all of my force backward, slamming him onto the ground, and I grabbed hold of part of the glove and ripped it apart. I could feel the tingle of electricity through my own gloves, but it didn't hurt, and I didn't stop until the glove was lying in pieces. I'd destroyed a piece of evidence, but if I was right about the pool, then there was plenty more.

I heard clapping behind me, and I turned around to see the other man still standing by the pool, a remote in his hand. "Well done, Red Soldier," he said, nodding like a proud parent. "Let's see you take this on."

He pressed a button on the remote, and something flew out of the water. I couldn't make out what it was because of the water, but when I noticed that it was a giant, wingless and bladeless drone, it was already in front of my face.

The thing was huge, and it rammed into me, and I grabbed a hold of it as it shot up into the air, taking me along with it. It wasn't exactly a drone, and not really a robot, either. Just a mass of sleek, designed metal that could fly. I was dangling by a single handhold, and everytime I was close to hoisting myself up onto it, it turned upside down or darted in a different direction, but it didn't go anywhere near the opening of the warehouse.

My vision was a blur, so I didn't see Nintendo and Screwdriver run out, I only heard the screeching of tires as they drove away. The man with the remote was still there, smiling and laughing, but I was too busy holding on to pay much attention to him.

My heart was racing. What was I going to do? Chase after the man, or Nintendo, or Screwdriver? Hope to take down the metal thing that was jerking me around like I was some rag doll? More importantly, what could I do?

I suddenly remembered the armored car, how when I thought I would lose, I'd done something just in case. I reached up and took a tracker disc off my glove. I could still do this, but I kept the disc in my grip anyway. I can do this. I was starting to feel nauseous, but I put all my strength into pulling myself up. I had to get on top of this thing and force it to the ground somehow.

But, just as I got close to swinging my legs up over the edge, the thing abruptly turned upside down again, and it did it fast, and my hands lost their holds.

And in mid-air, as I was falling, I threw the tracker disc in a last second attempt.

Everything was in slow motion. I was falling, and I stared at the disc as it went higher and higher, and it stuck to the underbelly of the metal.

I fell in the pool.

I fell deep, and I realized that my costume was heavier than I gave it credit for, and I realized that my mask did not keep water out. But, thanks to my heightened abilities, I was able to break the surface quickly. I swam to the edge and crawled out, and I noticed that the man and his metal demon thing had gone, and I pulled off my mask, sputtering and gasping. I really felt like I was about to throw up.

I sat there for about two minutes, and then my phone, perfectly safe in its waterproof case, started to ring. I remembered Aunt Lisa's birthday, and how they were expecting me, and I stood up, running out of the warehouse.

There had been nothing else in the pool. I had no evidence, and I'd lost the sellers. But I'd gotten the tracker on, and that was good, but I still had to run to Dana's house, but what I really wanted to do was throw up.

Maybe later.

I ignored my phone's rings, and I forced myself to go faster. My mask was in my hand, and I was completely exposing myself in my Red Soldier costume, but it was dark, and if there was even anyone watching me—although I didn't see anyone—they wouldn't notice.

I hopped over the Edgar's backyard fence and practically launched myself up their wall onto Dana's windowsill, and I slowly rose to peek inside. I saw my laptop and Ben's and Dana's, but neither of them were there. I slid the window open and scrambled inside, taking off the costume quickly and putting my normal clothes back on.

I had just zipped my backpack up when Dana walked in.

And she saw me, with my bewildered look and my wet hair and my wet skin and my now slightly damp clothes, and she looked past me at the open window.

She narrowed her eyes. "Where have you been?"

I swallowed, my heart pounding against my ribs. "I was in the backyard," I said. "I, ah, fell in the pool."

When her eyes narrowed further, I remembered that they didn't have a pool.

"Peter," she said, the corners of her lips lifting up in a smile. "Did you sneak out?"