Chapter No, 32. Mystery.

The next day when Janet arrived at the credit union office, she immediately realized that her computer was gone. When Silvia, an assistant teller, arrived, she noted that her boss was out of sorts.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone stole my computer," Janet told her. "I noticed that the lock on the door had been left unlocked."

"That doesn't make sense. I locked it on my way out yesterday."

"Maybe the cleaning people forgot to lock it," Janet said.

"You can use the backup computer," Silvia said, pointing to it.

"Yes, but I'm not liking this."

Silvia gave her a reassuring smile.

When James walked out of the High School, he noted that his Vespa wasn't where he had parked it. He decided to go behind the building and then teleport back home.

When he arrived home, he noted that his father wasn't home, which meant one of two things. Either he decided to take a walk in the park, or he was called by the FBI.

It was the latter.

When Robert arrived at Mark and Joe's office, he noted that they looked confused.

"We just got called on a possible homicide by one of our operatives," Mark said. "There has been several of them recently and they all involve decapitation."

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Hmm. That sounds suspicious. How long ago did the homicide occur?"

"It must have just happened. The apartment manager just called a half hour ago. We haven't gotten our CSI people together yet."

"Let's hold up on that," Robert said. "I would like to see the crime scene before anyone disturbs it."

Just then he got a call from his wife. "Yes?" After a short conversation, he looked up at Mark and Joe. "I believe this might be a test. Someone stole my wife's business computer and my son's Vespa. I believe these incidents are related."

"What could you hope to see at the crime scene?" Mark asked.

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out.

In the blink of an eye, they were standing in the bedroom where the crime had occurred. The victim was a naked young woman lying on the bed in a puddle of blood with her head lying between her legs.

Robert turned to the two FBI agents. "This crime looks fresh. I think I could attach her head and resurrect her."

"Really?" Mark exclaimed. "Have you done that before?"

"No, but there's always a first time for everything. Look, you haven't been able to catch the murderer because he's leaving no obvious clues other than the body. If I could revive her, she might be able to finger the culprit."

Both Mark and Joe were unable to refute that logic.

Robert took the head in his hands and placed it on the bloody neck. He then began the extremely difficult task of connecting millions of nerves correctly, a task that would be impossible for anyone else.

When the woman's eyes opened and then blinked, Mark and Joe were flabbergasted.

Robert handed the woman her nightgown when she sat up on the edge of the bed. She looked at him and blinked. "What have you done?"

"I reattached your severed head, madam, at no cost to you. However, we would like to have you attempt to identify the monster that did this to you."

She shook her newly attached head. "That bastard was the ugliest dude I've ever laid eyes on."

"He probably was a demon in human form, and the sooner we apprehend him the better it will be for everyone."

While the woman got dressed, Robert cleaned up the blood. He teleported Joe to the FBI to obtain a car to transport the woman back to go through the mug shots. After a couple of hours, she fingered a suspect.

"That's the ugly bastard," she said with conviction.

"Thank you, mam," Mark said. "We'll have someone get you back to your apartment."

After she left, Mark turned to Robert. "She picked out Jackson Blade, a nut case that has a fascination with swords."

"That figures," Robert said. "He might be a demon in human form, but it will take the Vestals to determine that."

"Are you going to take care of him, or should we put an API out for him?" Mark asked.

"If he's a demon, anyone trying to apprehend him could be in grave danger, no pun intended. I think we'll take him on. He's bound to egg us into a fight." He sighed. "I'll let you know how successful we are."

Mark watched Robert vanish before turning to Joe. "No one is going to believe any of this."

"I agree, but if he does eliminate him, we won't have to worry about it anymore."

Mark nodded.

Robert returned home to find his wife and son waiting.

"I think we're dealing with a demon in human form," Robert told them. "He's also a serial murderer that decapitates his victims with a sword. Mark, Joe and I went to a fresh crime scene and I resurrected the victim. She identified the culprit with the name of Jackson Blade."

"How appropriate," James said with a smirk.

"So, are you saying that you reattached her head?" Janet said.

"Yeah, I did."

"Way to go, Dad!" he held his hand up so that they could do a high-five. "You did what McCoy did in 'Spock's Brain.'"

Robert chuckled. "Yeah, and I didn't have to use instruments or a device to give me knowledge."

They laughed.

"Seriously," Janet said. "Is this what we're going to be doing from now on?"

"Could be. There's no way to know when this gig could end."

The phone rang, and she picked it up. "It's the FBI," she said, holding it out to her husband.

Robert took it. "Yes?"

"We have isolated the Blade character to a mall. He's holding people inside. All attempts to get to him have failed."

"We'll be there shortly," Robert told him before handing the phone back to his wife.

"It's show time," He said.

They made their uniforms appear and teleported to the location outside the mall where the FBI was assembled.

"He's in the Victoria's Secret store," Mark said.

"How appropriate," James quipped.

"We're not sure if he's killed anyone yet, but no one has been able to get near him because of his threats to decapitate people he's abducted."

"Okay, we'll go check it out," Robert said.

A large crowd had assembled to view the proceedings, but the police were keeping them far enough away to avoid any intrusions. The Steris family casually walked into the mall entrance and began a careful walk through the mall proper.

As they rounded the corridor that led to the Victoria's Secret store, they stopped when they saw that there were four demons in human form with Jackson Blade standing with his sword.

Robert, Janet and James just stared at them.

"You are fools!" Jackson bellowed.

"I don't think so," Robert said. "We have friends who are much more powerful than we are."

"Yeah, well, let them show themselves!"

Just then, the Vestal Virgins appeared. The demons stared at them before they ran to engage them, but they were obliterated with energy beams that shot out from the Virgins' eyes.

The Vestals disappeared, allowing the Steris family to rescue the people being held inside the store. Six women and two men were very happy to see their saviors.

"Is anyone hurt?" Robert asked.

One of the female survivors pointed to a decapitated body. Robert went over to the woman, who had been killed and repeated the resurrection that he had done on the crime victim. The former captives were astounded by what they saw. One of them recorded a video of the procedure on her phone.

The captives emerged from the mall along with the superheroes to boisterous accolades.

The demons were taken care of," Robert told Mark and Joe. "If you need us just call."

The two FBI agents, along with officers and a crowd of onlookers, watched the superheroes fly away.

Of course, the photos and videos exploded on the internet like a wildfire. However, it was inevitable that argumentative discussions about the superheroes would bloom like weeds in spring. Who are these amazing people? Can they be trusted? Will they take over? Do they represent a clear and present danger? Are they real or simulated? Was this a DC Comic stunt? Is this a conspiracy theory?

The cat had definitely gotten out of the bag, and it was running wild!