"Who..." "What do you want from me?" "You can run, but you can't hide." "Goggles to Hicks." "The hamster is in the microwave." "Ellipsoid 5-3-0." "Arc seconds, east." "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tyson." "You must be Goggles." "Mr. Fleming." "Nice to meet you." "The Masters speak very highly of you and your partner." "Is that him?" "Have him step out." "I'd like to meet him, please." "Oh, you don't want to meet Hicks." "And why is that?" "The only people he meets, he kills." "Well, then." "I have someone I'd like him to meet." "Cape." "106." "Ah." "Written by Trevor Pooley." "Pencils by D.J. Chester." "Near mint." "Slight crease on the back cover." "You want to kill one of them?" "Have you seen their work in RetroMan?" "A real crime to lose that talent." "But a job is a job, I suppose." "A pencil through the eye." "Now, that would be ironic." "I don't want you to kill the authors." "I want you to kill The Cape." "Huh." "Fantasy." "Reality." "Blur, blur, blur." "Don't cross the line." "Scary, dark hole." "Looked into it once, myself." "This is a comic book, Mr. Fleming." "It's not real." "I'm aware of that." "But there is a caped nuisance who is running around my city, who doesn't seem to know the difference." "I want him dead." "And I want his cape." "The sooner, the better." "A few rules about us, Mr. Fleming." "We don't rush." "We get to know our subjects intimately before we strike." "We track, we study, then we kill." "When the time is right." "And what time is that?" "You're not listening." "When it's right." "I just want results." "Now, he's already bested one of your order." "So, I'd recommend substance over style." "I will pay double if he's dead in 24 hours." "A comic book hero." "This will be a fascinating study." "Happy Saturday." "And how would you like to spend your day off, Detective?" "Where is Trip?" "He's sound asleep." "Then, I would like to start with breakfast." "Oh!" "How do you want your eggs?" "Fertilized." "Really?" "Yeah." "We're too good at this to stop at one." "I think Trip would like a little baby brother." "Or sister." "Yeah." "One of each." "More fun for us." "Trip." "You're up." "Hey, buddy." "I'll pretend I didn't see this if you make pancakes." "Done and done." "Okay." "Hey, you want to, uh..." "You want to play some catch while we wait for breakfast?" "Sure." "And just so you both know, I'd rather have a dog." "If you've got a problem with how I'm running things, just say it." "Well, you tell me, Max." "Is this the plan?" "Sneaking around to make our living?" "Is Vincent part of the gang now?" "He's not a cop." "He's worse." "He's The Cape." "If I want to feel guilty for robbing banks," "I'll go live with my parents." "Something's got to give, Max." "If it isn't Vincent, it's..." "I'm sorry." "I..." "I didn't mean to, uh, interrupt." "Not at all." "You were just making my point." "What is it?" "I'm, uh..." "I'm just out of coffee." "Yo, Vince." "Come over here to see if you can help me get in the safe." "No." "Uh, on second thought, pretend you didn't see this." "I'll hit the diner." "Freeze." "I know a sick animal when I see one." "Uh..." "You're clammy." "Breathing shallow." "I'm fine." "Shirt off." "Oh, that's cute." "Go on." "Broken ribs." "Okay, Max." "Don't start." "Don't." "Please don't blow on it." "I..." "I don't want any leeches or eye of newt or whatever." "I..." "I..." "I just need some aspirin." "Okay?" "You just need a nice rubdown." "Actually, my shoulder's kind of sore." "What are you all doing just standing around here like this?" "Go crack that safe." "My advice?" "Hang up the cape for a day before you kill yourself." "I can't take any time off, Max." "Every day Peter Fleming runs free is another day I'm missing from my life." "Let me tell you something." "You're not a superhero." "You're a circus act." "The human body was not meant to do the things you're doing." "Even Houdini's body gave out near the end." "I can handle this." "This is the real world." "The threats are real." "The pain is real." "You can't fight this fight if you're broken and weak." "That makes you easy prey." "Give yourself some time to heal, so you can be the hunter, not the hunted." "Think about it over coffee." "Come on." "Come on." "Move." "I know he's not a real superhero, but isn't this fun?" "It's like we're the Legion of Doom, and we're taking out the Superfriends, one by one." "That's when this country started falling apart, when they took away Saturday morning cartoons." "Kids have no good cartoon role models anymore." "And they don't get enough sugar." "Hmm." "Nothing like eating a box of cereal and watching Hong Kong Phooey." "Who?" "Well, never mind." "It makes me sad." "How do we find Mr. Cape if we don't know his secret identity?" "We use bait." "Fleming would be my first choice, but he..." "He is paying us." "Maybe we can use this Scaley fellow." "According to Fleming, this mysterious Orwell communicates with The Cape." "So, all we have to do is dangle a tempting little carrot." "Grab your cape." "We've got work to do." "You know, it's a Saturday morning, criminals sleep late on the weekends." "When did you get here?" "Do you want to hear what I found out or not?" "Dazzle me." "Scales wants to meet with The Cape." "He says he's got info on Fleming." "Wants to make a deal." "Scales." "What, you..." "You sure that's legit?" "I mean, it sounds like another ARK trap." "I traced the IP." "It's Scales." "I'll get the cape." "I've done a lot of deals in some creepy places, but this one takes the biscuit." "I don't like churches." "I always feel I'm being watched." "Come on, Mr. Cape." "Take the bait." "Why here?" "I'm a firm believer in the separation of church and crime." "Maybe The Cape's a priest." "He does wear a hood." "I'll send him to the pearly gates early if he keeps me waiting any longer." "If you're praying for your sins, I can come back in, oh, say, three to four years." "If I was praying, nobody's listening." "Because you're still breathing." "So?" "So?" "What?" "Fleming." "What you got on him?" "A big red target." "And I'll have one on you as well if you don't hurry up and tell me what kind of deal you want to make." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Hicks?" "There's something going on." "Where did you hit him?" "In the shoulder." "You're going to have to take another shot." "The tag is not penetrating the cape." "Look." "Either you or someone close to you sent me a message." "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, pretty boy, but you're really getting under my skin." "Skin?" "Now that's using the term very loosely, Scales." "Scales." "Hold it." "This is all too creepy." "It stinks of a set-up." "Let's go." "I'll see you later." "Tag, Mr. Cape." "You're it." "If that was an ambush, why didn't he take a shot?" "And why did he run away?" "Because he's a lonely psychopath?" "I'll retrace the source of the e-mail, but I know it's him." "Ah." "The IP address was encrypted with a redundant, discreet logarithm, but it was easy enough to crack." "What would you be doing today if you had the day off?" "Probably reconfigure my tetra matrix interface." "A few more gigs, I think I can punch a hole in that new ARK firewall." "Assuming they didn't spook the spider I sent crawling up their IPS." "I meant before you were Orwell." "What would you be doing?" "Who said I wasn't always Orwell?" "It's Saturday, right?" "I'd be getting my nails done." "I knew it." "I knew you were a girly girl at heart." "What about you?" "What would you be doing if you weren't The Cape?" "Mowing my lawn." "Maybe play a little catch with Trip, take a nap, then I'd get a babysitter and I'd, uh..." "I'd take my wife out to dinner and a movie." "The grass will always be there." "Yeah." "The man behind the mask." "Hmm." "Looks good, Hicks." "Where you going?" "I'm taking the day off." "Doctor's orders." "No." "Seriously." "I am serious." "It's The Cape's day off." "You can't take a day off." "We're at war, Vince." "In war, it's 23 hours of boredom and one hour of sheer terror." "I am way overdue for some boredom." "Fleming's not going anywhere." "I don't believe this." "Go get your nails done." "In other news, Peter Fleming announced yesterday a new chief of police in Palm City." "A man whose outstanding record, his loyalty, his conviction of character, and his dedication to Palm City make him the perfect person to lead our fine forces." "Ladies and gentlemen, your new chief of police, Marty Voyt." "Thank you very much." "Trip!" "Honey, you need to eat something before practice or you're not going to have any energy out there." "I'm not going." "Are you sick?" "Sick of baseball." "I quit." "Hey." "You are not a quitter, Trip." "And you know what?" "You cannot keep sitting around the house all the time." "You have to go out and make some friends." "Mom, no one likes me." "Honey, it's because they don't know you." "And they're never going to get to know you if you stay inside the house all the time." "So, eat." "Get your glove." "We're leaving in 10." "Subject seems fascinated with the property 1516 Stinson Avenue, West Palm City." "Search deeds and titles." "Possible previous residence." "Hmm." "Subject seems to be in excellent physical condition." "Resting heart rate 45 beats per minute." "Blood pressure 105 over 70." "Aside from a few broken ribs, this is one of our better subjects." "One we can be really proud of." "This..." "This is what people like Mr. Fleming cannot appreciate, Hicks." "What is the fun of killing someone before you've gotten to know them inside and out?" "It's what we learn about them." "The secrets we keep for them." "That's what makes it so special." "Everyone's souls are together." "Come on." "Let's go, you guys." "Previous owner of the house on Stinson, one Vince Faraday, deceased." "We've been hired to kill a dead man." "It's time, Hicks." "What are you thinking?" "Bumblebee." "Hey, buddy." "How was it?" "Huh?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Hey." "I went back and did some checking." "I think we were set up." "I traced the e-mail back to Scales' IP, but when I tried to break through, it sent me into a wormhole." "Nearly froze all my gear." "ARK?" "Next?" "Can I get, uh, two, uh, chicken burritos?" "This goes way beyond ARK." "I've only known one other person who could build a self-replicating trap like that." "Who?" "Me." "So, you set us up?" "Do I seem to be amused by you today?" "Because I'm not." "Okay." "All right." "So, let's assume we've been set up." "It's not Scales." "So, who?" "Why?" "To what end?" "I don't know." "But something is not right." "All right." "Then we just sit and wait." "For what?" "Well, for something to happen." "You know?" "People to start moving." "Clarity." "Until then, this is exactly what the doctor ordered." "Vince." "You know how long it's been since I've had one of these?" "It's absolutely..." "Vince!" "Whoa!" "Rabbits are running, Hicks." "Run!" "Wait." "Ah!" "The tunnel is blocking our signal." "Good old spider silk." "Is that thing after you or me?" "I don't know." "He can't get in here." "There's too much concrete." "We've got to split up." "Go." "Go, go, go, go, go!" "Steady." "All right." "You're..." "Oh, you're..." "There's nowhere to go." "It's all right." "Take your time." "Enjoy this moment." "Enjoy this moment." "He's got nowhere to go." "Oh!" "I..." "What's this thing got against me?" "Let's find out." "I can still see you, Mr. Cape." "You can run, but you can't hide." "What are you doing?" "Photographic surveillance." "I'm going to get The Cape on video next time he stops by." "Honey, I really wish you'd spend as much time and energy on making real friends." "The Cape is real." "I'm going to prove it." "Okay." "I'm going to Marty and Susan's for his party." "Shouldn't be too long." "Mrs. Morris is next door if you need anything." "I'll be fine." "I love you." "Love you, too, Mom." "Who are you?" "Gerry." "Gerry Blander." "4C." "We live right below you." "You're a heavy walker." "Was that your mom?" "She's hot." "Dude." "That's just wrong." "I see you up on the roof all the time." "Not all the time, just when you're up there." "We just moved in last week." "Do you believe in werewolves?" "I saw one of them, too." "Not the actual werewolf." "Just the droppings." "But it counts." "I saved them in a jar." "They're white now." "Want to see?" "I'll pass." "If you want to record, you did it all wrong." "This will get you an image." "But if you want to burn it onto your hard drive, you did it wrong." "I can fix it for you." "What are you looking for on the roof?" "The Cape." "He stops by sometimes." "Cool." "I never met anyone who knew a superhero before." "If this was built by my anonymous tipster," "I should be able to get a signal imprint." "Trace it back to its source." "Track the tracker." "Hunt the hunter." "They found us." "I dare say it's impossible, but they found us." "Congratulations." "Dana!" "Hey." "Ah." "How are you?" "Why haven't you returned my phone calls?" "Well, it's been a little crazy." "In case you missed the news." "I've had a lot on my plate in the last few weeks." "We've been friends for how long, Marty, and I have to come here to get your attention?" "What is it, Dana?" "My client, the homeless man who said he saw Vince being framed?" "He disappeared." "Well, you know, he's, uh..." "He's homeless." "That's pretty much what they do." "It wasn't just my client, Marty." "I..." "I don't understand." "ARK troops took away all the people living in the freight yard." "Oh, that..." "Dana..." "All of them." "These people knew Vince was innocent." "They saw everything that happened and now they're gone." "You're the only person I told, Marty." "I trusted you." "Okay, listen." "This is not the time nor the place." "Okay?" "Marty, wait." "I'm not leaving until you tell me what is going on." "I don't know anything, Dana." "I promise you." "But, look, I'll look into it." "No." "No." "No more looking into it." "You know something, and I want to know what." "Dana?" "Is everything okay?" "No, Susan." "Everything is not okay." "You want to ask your husband what he knows about Vince's death?" "Look, Dana." "Look, I know this has been hard on you." "It's been hard on all of us." "But I will not let you take this out on Marty." "You think I don't miss him, too?" "He was my best friend." "Don't you think I wonder every day what I could have done to help him?" "Then do something now, Marty." "You're the Chief of Police." "Vince was not Chess." "He was framed and there was a cover-up." "Do something." "Dana." "I think you should leave." "All these years." "Hicks?" "It's time to level the playing field." "We're going dark." "Ready?" "My bad." "See what happens when you take a day off?" "This is not an accident." "We're sitting ducks out here." "I'm not sure how long we're going to be safe in here." "We're safer in here than out there." "All day long, I've had this feeling like I was being watched." "Maybe that's why we were set up." "So they could get a tracking device on you." "No, no." "I thought of that." "I checked my clothes." "I've got nothing." "Maybe it's on your skin." "I would have felt something." "Okay." "Uh, check me." "Hold this." "Yeah." "Take this off." "You didn't tell me it was this bad." "You never asked." "How was your day off, before you got the target on your back?" "Well, I got to watch my son playing baseball." "He, uh..." "He fielded a ground ball perfectly." "Just like I taught him." "But he doesn't know you were there." "I know." "Where are your parents?" "I didn't really know my mother." "My father left when I was 12." "I've been on my own ever since." "Are you just lying to me or to yourself as well?" "I'm so sorry." "Don't worry, Mr. Cape." "Your secret will be safe with us." "You are about to become part of the family now." "Now." "For luck." "I don't need it." "You have a dad somewhere?" "You haven't heard?" "What's to hear?" "He was a police officer." "Killed in the line of duty." "Anything else you hear isn't true." "I lost my dad, too." "Really?" "How did he die?" "He didn't die." "We went to the mall one day, and when we came back, he was gone." "Took all his stuff." "Even the hot sauce." "Maybe he'll come back someday." "I moved on." "You?" "Yeah." "Moving on." "That had to hurt." "I'm pretty much numb all over at this point." "My father used to watch me dance." "Yeah?" "When I was little, he would drive me to my lessons and stay and watch." "Did that make you happy?" "Interesting." "What is it?" "Hold still." "Ow!" "Now, that, that hurt." "Subcutaneous laser imprint." "Turns your body into a beacon." "They can track you." "Monitor everything from your heart rate to your lung capacity." "Whoever did this knows you better than your doctor ever will." "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Cape." "Goggles to Hicks, Goggles to Hicks." "Is Elvis back at Graceland?" "Not yet." "But he will be, soon." "I know you're up here, Mr. Cape." "I can feel you." "What are you doing, Hicks?" "Wrap this up and let's get some dinner." "You buying?" "Hicks?" "Hicks, come in." "Hicks, what's happening?" "Hicks?" "Where are you?" "Hicks?" "Come in!" "Hicks!" "Hicks!" "Light." "We need more light." "Hicks!" "Speak to me." "Speak to me." "Oh, Hicks." "Oh, my God." "You freaked me out." "Fasten your seatbelt." "It's going to be a bumpy ride." "Go, go, go." "Go." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Help me!" "Just keep driving!" "You want me to go back for him?" "No, no." "This is the only one we're going to need." "Help!" "Help me!" "Cut off the head and the body withers away." "I don't feel so good." "Trip?" "Are you okay?" "The power was out all over town." "Trip." "What..." "What have you been doing?" "We didn't want it to go to waste." "Mistakes were made." "Who are you?" "Gerry just moved in downstairs." "He's my buddy." "Good." "We can use all the friends we can get right now." "You must be Hicks." "What is that?" "The cape." "I imagined it to be so much bigger." "What of the man wearing it?" "He's still at large." "He took Goggles." "I need him back." "Then go and find him and finish the job." "Without Goggles?" "But we're Goggles and Hicks, a team." "He hunts." "I kill." "Yes, I know." "The large one explained all this." "All I know is the Masters said you'd get the job done." "And yet, here you stand, empty-handed." "Not empty-handed." "There's that piece of cape." "I hired you to kill a man, and you bring me a piece of string." "You and your rotund partner are incompetent idiots." "You're fired." "You're sure?" "Take your chariot and leave." "And you can tell the Masters I won't be using them again." "I wonder." "What?" "Do you think they were after Vince Faraday or The Cape?" "Just because you're dead doesn't mean that you're safe, Mr. Faraday." "Where's Goggles?" "Where he belongs." "Hmm." "You know, in case you didn't notice, you're not hard to find." "The only reason you're alive right now, Mr. Cape, is because we were fired." "You are no longer the job." "But you may be again someday." "If the price is right." "Well, that's noble." "We have a code." "Ow." "Everything there is to know about Vince Faraday is in our heads and on this little Zippy." "Who your family is, where you live, which ribs are cracked," "who your friends are." "My brother and I can keep secrets, Mr. Faraday." "Tell me where he is." "We'll keep yours." "Sorry." "I have a code, too." "Owl Island." "We took him to Owl Island Prison." "I see who wears the cape in this relationship." "If I see you in my town again, if I even hear that you're looking in this direction," "I'm going to tear your eyes out and pour my coffee in your skull." "Until that day, Mr. Faraday." "And one..." "Yes, that's it." "Hey." "So, how was the day off?" "I've had better." "All right, from the top." "Come on." "One more time." "And..." "There you go."