"Good night! Thank you for your kind patronage at Shashi's Electronics Emporium." A short man with a goatee in his forties greeted cheerily as the last customer went off - without buying anything. The minute the customer disappeared around a corner a few metres down the street, the shop owner muttered, "Cheap bastard."

Mr. Valenti - the store owner, made faces at the 'cheap bastard', shaking his head in dismay, worried about the diminishing number of customers he was getting. He hummed a native song as he proceeded to closing and locking the gates, unaware of a posse of British-looking punks nearing the store.

"Hello there," a voice greeted. "I'm Eddie." Valenti looked up and frowned. Oh Lord have mercy. Steelheads, he thought. Still hanging around with those needles in their heads and those cyber-genetic arms of theirs. He leveled platinum-colored haired Eddie with a casual glance. His posse consisted of two other Steelheads, he noted, as well as an unidentified fourth man, his back towards him, looking at nothing in particular.

Valenti frowned. This guy can't be a Steelhead, he thought. He had average blond hair and wore a regular, black leather jacket - not the usual Steelhead uniform. His presumptions fell rock bottom when he saw that the man, too, had a cyber-genetic right arm.

"Hate to trouble you when I see you're about to close, mate," Eddie said, returning Valenti's attention to him, "but I need a couple of D batteries."

"Fresh out," he lied. "Sorry." Truth is, he didn't want to do business with these people, for they were famous for causing troubles for people who ran electronic stores.

"Really?" Eddie replied skeptically. Valenti could tell he wasn't to buy the story. "No D batteries in the whole blooming store, eh?"

"We're closed," Valenti snapped, avoiding as much eye contact as possible. "Go away."

"Well, if you're gonna be rude about it, I just might take me patronage elsewhere."

"Good. Go. Take it away," Valenti replied curtly, and headed back into the store.

Eddie smiled shrewdly after him, turned around to face the fourth man, and nodded at the gate. A forearm, covered by a shiny metal, was easily recognized as some kind of exoskeleton. The blonde tugged hard at the gate, and the sound of metal twanging was heard. Within seconds, the iron gate laid mangled on the pavement and the posse entered the store - just as Valenti was picking up his coat.

One of the Steelheads, a filthy-looking man with shocking blue hair attached his beloved Japanese-made cyber-arm, and addressed the storeowner. "Guess what?" he called out, glad to see the storeowner jumping about a feet into the air. "You're having an after-hours sale."

With that, he picked up a television set and threw it at the store owner's feet. Valenti yelped and jumped aside. He looked in horror and despair and the band of Steelheads began to trash the place. He considered fighting them, then scolded himself. Don't be stupid! What can you do against them? he thought as the third Steelhead, a stocky black man, smashed a newly-imported High-5 set.

Danger coming right up, he thought and raced out through the back door. He'd rather have his store trashed than staying and get trashed.

After Valenti exited through the back door, the Steelhead with the blue hair, Birdie, smashed open a case full of batteries and pulled out a package.

"Hey, Eddie," he called out to their leader. "D batteries!" He flashed the pack of batteries in front of him. In return, Eddie gave him a withering look. "What?" Birdie said innocently. "I thought you needed some."

Eddie shook his head in disgust and turned away.

The Black, Lax, picked up an Aibo dog from the glass showcases. "Hey, check this out!" he called, chuckling. He motioned Birdie to come have a look. "Hey, I heard of these things. Supposed to, uh, bark and walk and act just like a real dog."

Birdie eyed the barking robotic dog warily as if fearing it would bite. "It's annoying."

Lax thrust the Aibo at Birdie's face. "I don't think he likes you," he teased. Indignant, Birdie grabbed the Aibo dog and held it by the neck. "Shut up!" he commanded stupidly. "I'm-I'm warning you!"

The robotic and lifeless dog kept on barking. Infuriated, Birdie grunts and ripped its head off. Lax winced. Birdie widened his eyes in genuine surprise, plucking a small part out from the exposed circuitry. "C-437!" he crooned. "Been looking for one of these."

He pocketed the chip and smashed the glass case with the remains of the Aibo and chuckled gleefully like a five-year-old.

"Boys!" Eddie walked up to them, and rested his arms on the edge of another glass case. He nodded at something. "I think we've got a little problem."

Eddie pointed at a security camera on the wall. Lax froze in shock, but Birdie started to make faces at it.

Zane stared at the computer screen, amused.

Professor Xavier had called on this private meeting on a very short notice, and had classified it as 'urgent'. He reached out and paused the tape he had gotten from the security store last night.

Sitting in his desk chair at the computer, Scott, Zane, Kit and Marie stood silently behind him... until they started giggling at the funny faces made by the Steelheads.

"Yeah, so?" Scott asked, still chortling. "Some Steelheads robbing an electronic store. Why do you want us to see it?"

"Hang on."

The professor reached out again and briefly tapped the mouse.

The video resumed running, and a blond-haired man appeared in front of the camera, facing the Steelheads.

Time seemed to stand still as Kit's body gave an involuntary jerk. Zane gaped at the computer screen, frozen, then caught Kit's gaze. He knew what she as thinking, for he was thinking the same thing himself.

They knew this man.

They reverted their gaze to the computer screen just as the man slowly turns to face the camera. The upper left side of his face consisted of a metal plate. A blinking red light is where his left eye should be.

Zane’s hands flew to his mouth. His heart thudded loudly against his ribcage. Kit looked like she was about to faint.

The man looked into the camera for a moment, then knocked it out.

Professor Xavier turned around in his desk chair and faced Zane, fixing him a stare. He then paused for a dramatic effect and said, "Your brother's alive, Zane. You might want to brace yourself for what comes next."

Rubber burned as Zane, Kit and Tyler squealed around the corner of a marketplace in Zane’s car. Hands clutched tightly on the steering wheel, Tyler barely missed an alley cat. He blared his horn at it.

Ruffling with the street map, Kit tucked a rebellious lock of hair behind her ear. She looked over at the passenger seat, where Zane sat quietly, his eyes closed and his head resting against the window. He had an I’m-about-to-freak expression on his face.

Kit turned her attention back to the map. She would have freaked too, but she wouldn’t let that happen. Only one of them could freak at a time, and since Zane had chosen to be the first, Kit had to take a number.

She clasped onto Tyler’s arm. "All right, whoa, whoa, whoa," she said as she stared out at the marketplace. "I think this is the place." She was positive that Zack had to be within the area, provided if Zoe had scryed accurately.

The car slowed to a stop.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Zane, who had been sitting quietly behind, spoke up. "Okay, now, if this is the Steelheads' turf, then where are they?" Good old Mr. Responsible, always ready to save the day. Only that he looked neither physically nor mentally prepared for whatever that might be in store for him.

"How should I know?" Kit shrugged. "They're probably holed up somewhere, tweaking each other’s circuits. Guess we're just gonna have to get their attention, then."

A sly looked played across Tyler’s handsome face. He grinned. "Please tell me you're gonna get naked."

Whap!

Kit gave him a smart rap on the shoulder. "Don’t be dirty," she answered. "I was thinking that maybe we could spread out and ask around. See if anybody knows where the Steelheads crash."

"Great," Zane said. "Let’s go then."

Tyler held up a hand in protest. "Wait a minute. And they're gonna come in a pack and we have to fight them off?" He laughed. "No-no, I have zero interest in tangling with those psychos. You’re are on your own."

Zane glowered. "I'm gonna find my brother and you're gonna help me." It was meant to sound like asking a favor, but the words came out more like a threat.

"Your brother," Tyler shook his head and grinned. "That's cute."

"Well, considering your background, I don't expect you to understand," Zane said firmly. "What I do expect is your cooperation, or else…" he allowed himself to trail off, hinting a catch.

"Or else what?" Tyler challenged boldly, but there no mistake of the uncertainty that was quaking in his voice.

"Then it’s hello Mr. Vanquishing Potion." Zane finished off.

That definitely got Tyler back on their side. "Okay! Okay!" he said, surrendering. "So how are we supposed to get around?"

"Hmm." Zane gave a self-satisfied smirk, then looked out at the bright daylight. "I don't know, but it's gonna make it pretty difficult for you to be a cat burglar."

Tyler looked at him for a second, then at Kit. They both had put on their firmest and most unwavering look. Sighing in defeat, he pushed open the car door and got out. Plastering on the most polite smile on his face, Tyler started to walk towards a lady and began to easily chat with her.

Zane fanned at himself and gave Tyler a look. "It’s not working." They had asking around for the past fifteen minutes and had not known anything much than they had a few moments ago.

A man with weird blue hair stepped into view. "Hey, you!" he called out.

A Steelhead, Zane’s mind registered. "Ah!" he said. "Finally! You realize how long I've been waiting for you?"

"No idea. Why don’t you tell me?" With that, Birdie raised his gun at Ben. In the blink of an eye, Tyler’s broad frame wavered and started to shimmer away. Birdie gaped in utter surprise.

He was totally oblivious that Tyler had shimmered a few feet in from behind him. Only when Zane grinned did Birdie turned around. The last thing he saw was Tyler doing a cartwheel towards him.

A choking sound jerked Zane away from his amusement. The blue-haired freak had been taken down with a single kick. He turned around to see a black man strangling Kit from behind.

Kit’s body immediately glowed and burst into sparks of bright light. A few seconds later, Lax found himself strangling at nothing. "What the --?"

But before he could figure out what was going on, Zane lashed a blast of telekinesis at him, sending him sailing through the air and landing hard on some old crates. He quickly got onto his feet as Tyler wrenched the gun out of Birdie’s hand and stood over him, triumph. Lax charged at Zane again, with spikes coming out of his forearm. Zane quickly sidestepped him and high-kicked him in the back. "Jeez," he muttered. "Logan’s groupies?"

Kit then orbed back in, looking flustered. Behind them, Tyler cracked his knuckles, looking self-satisfied. Suddenly, his eyes went wide with horror as fingers clasped themselves around his neck and lifted him off the ground.

Zane and Kit stared. Tyler was being attacked by --

Kit caught a glimpse of gray-blue eyes.

Suddenly her heart pounded and she stared. It was – she swallowed. Oh my God.

Zack.

Numbed, they watched as Tyler struggled against Zack’s firm grip. Zane blinked, unable to believe his eyes. It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t! He clenched his jaws and forced himself to stare at back at him.

Beside him, Kit stood rooted to the ground. "Zack," she whispered, the words coming out brokened. He is still as handsome as he used to be, she thought, still staring. How much it wrenched her heart to see that familiar face again. She peeked at Zane. He looked like he was about to faint.

Holding Tyler in midair by the throat with one hand, Zack pulled out his Desert Eagle and pointed at Zane with the other.

"Who are you!?" Zane flinched, wounded by the fierceness of Zack's voice. "Zack, it's me. Zane." He looked at Tyler. "Put him down."

Zack decided to cock his gun instead.

BANG!

The gunshot rang out, echoing in Kit’s ears. Her eardrums vibrated painfully. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to hear Zane yell in pain and collapse onto the pavement.

When the yell didn’t come, Kit opened her eyes tentatively, only to see Zane’s arm outstretched, stopping the bullet in a telekinetic grip. He gave his head a little nod, and the bullet dropped onto the ground. Zane then stared at the Desert Eagle, and it flew out of Zack’s reach. A moment later, Zack whirled around to see his other hand loosening its grip onto Tyler’s neck.

Tyler fell onto the floor, coughing uncontrollably. Normally, Kit would have immediately gone forward to heal him, but somehow she could not make her legs move.

"You’re not my brother."

Kit blinked and stared at Zane. "What did you say?"

Zane’s expression turned sour. "Get the hell out of my brother!" He screamed, and in a forceful sweeping motion, he flung his arm out, sending Zack hurtling back and into a wall. Zane didn’t know why, but he wanted to scream. He wanted to unleash all his fury... he wanted to get even.