1st: This is *not* a part of my regular season. It is merely a response to the challenge. The events here you can consider has happening between "Rivals" and "The Death of Rollie Tyler."

2nd: This story won't be posted as regularly, but little parts here and there for....well.....comic relief. :-)

Enjoy!

"Jay Hunter is a valued, valued member of this community," Captain Marvin Van Duran said.

"You mean he's very rich," Angie said with a smile.

"That too," the Captain said shifting in his chair.

He was driving his car, with Mira next to him, and Angie and Rollie in the backseat. They were on their way to Hunter Studios. Jay Hunter had wanted to do some filming in New York, and the place he wanted to film was in the Midtown South Precinct. He was going over to personally talk to Mr. Hunter himself.

"Mr. Hunter," the Captain was saying, "has also given much money to this city. In fact, he's even sponsoring a midnight basketball program for kids in this area. I want to make sure all of his questions are answered, and that he does his movie without any problems."

The Captain glanced back at Rollie and Angie, who shifted a bit themselves, recalling the previous incidents involving Vryon Jax and 'the Snake.'

"Believe me," Rollie said, "neither do we."

The Captain had asked Rollie and Angie to come along, both because they would be setting up the equipment and because they knew Hunter and his family personally. They arrived at the large building, with that mammoth sign that read 'Hunter Studios.' Riding the elevator to the top floor they were met by the secretary and showed into Jay Hunter's large office with giant windows overlooking the city.

"Captain," the big man said in his booming voice, "Good to meet you!"

They shook hands and he motioned for them to sit down.

"Well, Mr. Hunter-" Vanduran started, but was interrupted by the door bursting open.

"Jay!" the secretary was yelling.

"This way guys!" a voice yelled.

Three men carried stacks of boxes into the office and set them down.

"What's going on here?" Jay Hunter asked, standing up.

"Daddy-o!" a familiar voice yelled.

In behind them walked Jay Hunter Jr. He was wearing a pair of washed out denim shorts, holes in various places. He had one of his knee high white tube socks rolled all the way up, another scrunched down to his tennis shoes, one of which was blue, the other white. He wore his normal Hawaiian shirt, a pair of sunglasses were low on his nose, and he wore a red beanie cap complete with whirling propeller.

"I am a genius!" he said with a grand sweep of his arms, bowing low.

"Captain," Jay Sr. said through gritted teeth, "I'd like you to meet my son, Jay Hunter Jr. We call him JJ."

"Um, nice to meet you JJ," the Captain said with a tight smile, holding out his hand.

"Dude!" JJ said, slapping his hand and snapping his gum.

"And, uh," the Captain said, "this is Detective Mira Sanchez-"

"This righteous babe is a cop?" JJ said with a grin, "I've heard about you. R-man you didn't tell me you had two fine Latino babettes to hang around with! You dog!"

Rollie put his hand to his head and Mira's eyes narrowed.

"JJ," Jay Sr. said, "what is all this?"

"Ah," JJ said opening up one of the boxes, "this is a ticket to lots and lots of moola!"

There was a knock on the door.

"Say Dad, can I-" Jordan Hunter stopped in midsentence.

Jay Sr. through up his hands.

"Why not!" he roared, "Oh come in son. Captain, meet my other son, Special Agent Jordan Hunter."

"Nice to meet you," Jordan said, a confused look on his face as he walked up to JJ and crossed his arms, "what's going on?"

"You are witnessing your little brother's brilliance!" JJ said with a grin, "Dad told me I needed more drive, more determination, more self-reliance. So I'm showing just how assertive I can be!"

"Really," Jordan said slowly.

"Yup," JJ said, "I had this absolutely awesome idea for a movie, or maybe a series of movies, or maybe even a T.V. show!"

"What's that?" Jay Sr. asked.

"Imagine," JJ said, "a show about this cool special effects artists and his babe assistant who use their talents to help the police catch criminals!"

"Oh boy," Rollie groaned.

"I doubt they'd make that into a show," Angie said with a mocking smile, ignoring, once again, JJ's 'babe' remarks.

"Yeah they would!" JJ said, "This was a brilliant idea of mine!"

"Like your other brilliant ideas," Jordan said.

"Hold up dude," JJ said holding up his hands.

Jordan starting counting on his fingers.

"Let's see," he said, "there was that time during the big snow storm when you stuck the lawn mower bag on the snow blower to keep the pile from getting to high."

Jordan looked at the rest of the group.

"He had to empty the bag twenty seven times before he finally collapsed from exhaustion," he said, "then there was the science project when you combined 'The Clapper' and a pacemaker so elderly people could save on battery life."

"Dude, the judges liked that," JJ said with a frown.

"And, oh yes," Jordan said, "there was the time you were baking and couldn't find a strainer. So you used a pair of Mom's pantyhose."

"That worked!" JJ said.

"Yeah," Jordan said, "but then you put them back in the drawer. Or how about when you tried to make that giant cookie? How many pounds of dough did you make? The oven practically exploded. It took a week to clean out the kitchen."

"Those were different," JJ said, "I was young. This idea is solid and I've got proof!"

"What proof?" Jay Sr. asked.

JJ opened up another of the boxes and pulled out a thick stack of paper, stapled together.

"Manuscripts!" he said with a grin, "I put the idea out on the idea, with a description of the characters-"

"You didn't use our names, did you?" Rollie asked.

"No, I'm not stupid, dude," JJ said, "rather than Rollie and Angie I called them Rolando and Angelica."

"Rolando and Angelica?" Angie said.

"Yeah," JJ said, "anyway I put it out on the net where a bunch of writers looked at the idea. I asked them to write stories on it, and look what I got back!"

"You mean these are all manuscripts of stories?" Rollie said staring at the boxes.

"No fooling, dude" JJ said.

"This even I have to see," the Captain said standing up.

They opened up the boxes and pulled out stacks and stacks of stories. Angie began picking them up, reading the titles, and setting them down.

"Let's see," she said, "Hard News, Labyrinth, Heart Break, Old Times Old Friends, Leo's Legacy, Death Threat, Hellfire-"

Angie squinted at one.

"What's a pollepel?" she asked.

Rollie shrugged, and grunted as he lifted one mammoth stack of papers.

"Acts of Vengeance," he said, "wow. That's a lot of writing."

"All of this is a lot of writing!" Angie said, "I can't believe this many people wrote stories about, well, us!"

Rollie began flipping through several of the stories.

"They sure have imaginations," he said, "I could work with some of these."

"Well, JJ," Jay Sr. said, "I'm impressed. Maybe we will look into something. But, for now, you'll have to archive those for us to look at later."

"Where?" JJ asked.

"I'm moving all our manuscripts to that new place on Hound St," Jay said, "you'll have to take them there."

"My car isn't exactly in working condition," JJ said eyeing Jordan, "after some dude drove it through a wall!"

"I'll take you," Captain Van Duran said, "I'll be driving right past there."

"Uh, Captain-" Rollie started.

"Great!" Jay Sr. said, "Thank you Captain! Actually I forgot about a meeting I have, maybe I could stop by the precinct later and we could talk?"

"Certainly," the Captain said, standing up and shaking Jay Sr.'s hand, "that will be fine."

"I'll drive Rollie, Angie, and Mira back to the station if you like," Jordan offered.

"Fine, fine," Jay Sr. said, "do that. I'll talk to you all later."

The three men were called back to carry the boxes down to the Captain's car. Jay Sr. seemed to be relieved that they were leaving.

"So, dude," JJ said, "I'll call you Skipper if you call me 'little buddy.'"

"I'm not that kind of Captain," Van Duran said, "and don't call me 'dude.'"

"No problem, dude," JJ said, "I'll just call you the Cap man. Or how about VD?"

"Captain Van Duran will do quite nicely, thank you," the Captain said.

"Oh that's too square, dude," JJ said, slapping Van Duran hard on the back making him stumble, "you need to loosen up, bro!"

The other four watched them get into the elevator. The doors closed and they all looked at each other.

"Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall in that car?" Jordan asked with a smile.

Laughter filled the hallways.
 

"Dudesy!" Jay Jr. yelled, hanging his head out of the window, "Like slow down dude, babes at three o'clock!"

A group of young women were walking by as the Captain and JJ drove down the street. JJ leaned half of his body out of the car and let out a long, high wolf how, his beanie propeller whirling in the wind. Van Duran reached over and hauled JJ back in.

"Do not do that again!" he said firmly.

"Dude, dude," JJ said, "Like, you've gotta lighten up, man."

"I told you to stop calling me dude," Van Duran said.

"Yeah, dude, I know," JJ said nodding, "so, like what can I call you? What's your first name?"

The Captain's lips tightened.

"Marvin," he said tersely.

"Dude," JJ said shaking his head, "ok, how about Marv!"

"No."

"Cap'n Marv!"

"No."

"Marv-dawg!"

"No."

"MVD!"

"No."

"Marvino!"

"No."

"Cap MD!"

"No."

"The Great Marvinopolis!"

"No."

"Van Do Ran the Man!"

"No."

"How about VD!"

"No."

"VD, stand for venereal disease so I could call you Vendi!"

"NO!" the Captain yelled as he turned a corner, "Absolutely not!"

JJ slumped back in his seat.

"Dude you're no fun," he grumbled.

"You may call me Captain," Van Duran said hotly, "You may call me Captain Van Duran, Mr. Van Duran, even, perhaps Marvin if you must, but not "dude," "Van Do Ran the Man" and most definitely not "Vendi!""

"Ok, ok," JJ said holding up his hands, "We're almost there. Turn here."

They turned onto Hound St. and pulled up into the parking lot of a brick building which archived many stories, scripts, and other movie paraphanalia for Hunter Studios and other similar companies.

"Grab a box, young man," Van Duran said getting out of the car.

JJ attempted to exit the car ala the Dukes of Hazard, but as he slid through the window his foot caught on the dashboard and he flipped over, falling flat on his face onto the pavement.

"Oh dude!" he cried, "My nose!"

Captain Van Duran sighed.

"That was Jay Sr.," Rollie said putting down the phone, "there's been a delay on the equipment being flown in."

Angie groaned.

"Again?" she said.

"Yeah," Rollie said, "It'll be a couple of days before we can start shooting again."

"What'll we do in the meantime?" Angie asked.

"Those scripts were delivered," Rollie said, "for some reason Jay actually liked the idea for a possible movie. Go figure. Anyway he wants us to take a look at them, they've been delivered."

Angie shrugged.

"Why not," she said.

They pulled up to the unobstrusive brick building and got out, surveying it.

"I hope we'll be able to fit all those boxes in the van," Angie joked as they walked up.

They entered and found themselves in a nicely furnished foyer, with a small window ahead of them and an intercom. Rollie buzzed for help and a man with dark, curly hair greeted them.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rollie said, "I called ahead, I'm here with Hunter Studios."

"Oh, right," the young man said, "one second I'll have someone download-uh, carry them out."

"Right," Rollie said, nodding his head slowly.

The young man looked at them from under a lowered brow and walked off.

"Hmm," Angie said, crossing her arms, "Is it just me or did he look at us weird?"

"Yeah," Rollie said, "Like he knew us or something."

"Maybe he does," Angie said.

Rollie shrugged and sat down in one of the plush beige couches while music played on some speakers in the background.

"That's a cool song," Angie said, sitting down as well, listening to the instrumental, which had a nice backbeat with a trumpet solo.

Angie glanced up at some of the posters on the walls, and noticed a couple of movies that they had done.

"Hey Rol-" she started to say, but then a side door opened and the boxes were wheeled out by two women.

"Here they are," the young man said, "sign here."

Rollie signed his signature on the black piece of paper as the others walked away.

"Thank you," the young man said, taking the paper and writing on it a bit.

He helped them wheel out the boxes and lug them into the van.

"Got a lot to catch up on," the young man said with a big smile.

"You're telling me," Rollie said.

The young man looked away for a moment and Angie bent over to Rollie.

"I still think he knows us," she said softly.

"Yeah I know," Rollie said, "I've got that feeling too. In fact-"

Rollie stopped in mid sentence and glanced at the young man. He had realized, just then, that he had been, softly, in unison, word for word, perfectly echoing their conversation. As if he knew what they were going to say before they said it. The young man chuckled softly to himself and stuck a pencil behind his ear as he waved and walked away.

"Have a good day, mate!" he said as he walked into the building.

"Right," Rollie said weakly.

He glanced at Angie, and Angie glanced back at him. They drove off quickly.

"Where should I drop you off JJ?" Van Duran asked as they drove.

"Well," JJ said, stroking his chin, "I have a few ideas-"

"Don't," the Captain said, "Where do you live, is what I mean."

"Oh," JJ said, "Actually I was hoping to tag around with you! We could fight crime! We could be like great partners-"

"JJ."

"Like Batman and Robin!"

"JJ."

"Like the Green Hornet and Kato!"

"JJ."

"Like Regis and Kathie Lee!"

"JJ!"

"What?" JJ said looking back at him.

Van Duran sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Listen," he said as they pulled up to a red light, and then stopped.

Out of the convenient store next to them two men ran out, their faces masked, and one holding a bag.

"What is it dude?" JJ asked.

"A robbery," the Captain said.

"Then lets hit it!" JJ said, "Strike up the siren and pull out the six guns, baby!"

"Quiet!" Van Duran said as the robbers pulled off in a car, "We'll tail them from far behind and I'll call it in. I've got a civilian with me."

"Oh don't worry about me, dude, I can take care of myself!" JJ said leaning back.

Van Duran glanced at the bruise on JJ's nose.

"Right," he said, and started driving after them.

Angie glanced back at the stacks of boxes in the back of the van.

"How many are there?" she asked.

"Who knows," Rollie said, "I'm going to have to brush up on my speed reading skills."

"Now," Angie said, "JJ just gave our occupations right? Not our personalities, or his version of them."

"According to JJ," Rollie said, "He gave a full profile, including some early true to life events, and a little history."

"Oh boy," Angie said, "how do you think people interpreted us?"

Rollie shrugged.

"I hope well," he said, "we'll see."

"Dude, aren't you going to go any faster?" JJ asked.

"I want to follow without being noticed," Van Duran said slowly as he raised the radio receiver to his mouth.

"Aren't you gonna get out your gun and start shooting at them or something?" JJ asked.

"No!" the Captain said firmly, "Now shut up and sit tight!"

"Dude," JJ grumbled moodily, and sulked down in his seat.

As the Captain started to speak to the dispatcher a large truck pulled out from another street, blocking their view of the other car. Van Duran swore.

"Go around! Go around!" JJ yelled, "Dude, they're getting away! Where's the siren button?"

JJ slammed his hand on a red switch as the Captain screamed for him to stop. The siren started blaring and as the truck switched lanes they saw the other car start to speed up. The Captain swore again and hit the accelerator as he talked to the dispatcher, giving their current location and direction of travel.

"All right!" JJ yelled, "Hang on, punks, Cap'n Vandu and the J-man are on your tale, babies!"

"What was that, Captain?" the dispatcher asked.

"Never mind," the Captain said.

"We've got two patrol cars enroute," the dispatcher said, and signed off.

The Captain caught up with the men quickly, who turned into an alleyway and disappeared. The Captain slowed down and turned in. It was a dead end, the car sat at the end, and the two men were hopping over the wall.

"Dude!" JJ yelled, and hopped out of the car.

"JJ!" the Captain yelled, too late.

He jumped out of the car himself and followed JJ, who jumped onto the car and lept over the wall after them. The Captain did so as well, after first stopping to get a running start. He bounded over the wall and landed in an open dumpster full of old food. He watched as JJ disappeared around another corner after the men.

"Wonderful," he muttered, climbing slowly out of the muck.

As he rounded the corner he stopped. The street was empty. The Captain looked up, and saw JJ chasing the two men up the fire escape of a nearby building.

"JJ!" he yelled, but got no response.

The Captain lept onto the ladder and climbed up, racing after them. After what seemed an eternity he reached the roof. JJ was half way across chasing the other two men. The two thieves stopped and spun around, reaching the other end. The Captain pulled out his gun and ran up behind JJ who had stopped as well.

"Freeze!" the Captain yelled.

"JJ?" one of the masked men said.

JJ frowned, and the man pulled off his mask to reveal a young freckled face. JJ's mouth opened in shock.

"Dude!" he yelled, and ran up to the man.

They embraced in a large hug, followed by a thumping of their hips together and a high five. The other man pulled off his mask and JJ yelled even louder.

"Dudesy!" he yelled, "I, like, don't believe it dude!"

The three grouped together in one large hug, followed by a circle of high fives. The Captain lowered his gun slowly, shock all over his face.

"Cap'n Vandu!" JJ yelled, "Put the piece away, dude, and get over here and meet two of my best friends in the whole world!"

"Uh-" the Captain sputtered, unable to formulate a sentence.

"Captain?" the freckle faced one said tentatively.

"Dude!" JJ said with a flourish, "Meet my close personal friend, Captain Marv Do-Ran the Man! Cap'n Vandu, as he likes to be called, head of, like the whole police force or some junk."

The two men smiled weakly, and the Captain grimaced.

"Pleased to meet you," the Captain said sarcastically.

"JJ," the other masked man said, "in that case, we need your help."

"Anything!" JJ said, and turned to the captain, "Right dude?"

Rollie finally hauled in the last of the boxes into the loft.

"That's all of them!" he yelled to Angie.

Angie had already gotten a knife and was opening them up. She started pulling several out and sitting them on the table.

"I really, really can't believe this," Rollie said.

Angie shrugged.

"I guess the premise was a bit more enticing than we thought," Angie said.

"What was this place JJ sent this out to?" Rollie asked.

"Some sort of writers guild or something, I think," Angie said, shrugging again, "'Rolondo and Angelica', oh now that's original."

"Did he give a title to the show?" Rollie said, unable to reign in his curiosity.

Angie picked up one of the manuscripts.

"An F-X fic," Angie said, shaking her head.

"As in Tyler FX," Rollie said nodding, "original again."

"Can you imagine if they actually made a show about us?" Angie said with a grin, "Who'd play us, you think?"

"Oh Tom Cruise as the handsome, brilliant special effects wizard Rolondo Tyler, of course," Rollie said with a sweep of his arm.

"Right," Angie said with a smirk, "and maybe Michelle Pfieffer as the beautiful and talented assistant, Angelica Ramirez."

Rollie nodded with a smile, and Angie rolled her eyes.

"So," she said slowly, "where do we start?"

"Begin at the beginning, I always say," Rollie said, "let's take it alphabetically."

"Well," Angie said, "this pile's arranged alphabetically by author."

"Ok," Rollie said with a shrug, and picked up the first one, "uh-oh."

He darted a look at Angie.

"Neither one of us ever had amnesia, have we?" he said.

"I don't remember," Angie said with a smile.

Rollie nodded, and began thumbing through. Angie picked up another, randomly choosing in the pile.

"Uh-oh again," Angie said, "JJ must have told 'um more about us then I thought."

"How do you mean?" Rollie asked.

"Our problems with fire," Angie said, flipping through a page, "and it looks like this guy's got you pegged."

"Oh?" Rollie said, his eyebrows raising.

"Yeah," she said with a smile, "some group of bad guys are after you, after you stumbled into something. Looks like you're gonna BURN."

"Oh wonderful," Rollie mumbled, "I don't get in trouble all that much."

Angie shot a look at him.

"Don't even go there!"

Captain Van Duran found out, quickly that the two men were brothers. The freckle faced younger one, Mitch Hopper, and his brother, a guy with a deep tan, fine features, and wild, dark, unruly hair his brother, Kenneth. JJ, however, insisted on calling them Frecks and Howler, for whatever reasons.

The Captain felt a migraine headache coming as he stared at the criminals, asking for his help.

"What kind of help?" the Captain asked, frowning.

"Sir," Howler, or Kenneth, rather, said, "we're in a bit of trouble-"

"I'll say!" the Captain said, "You just committed armed robbery!"

"We weren't armed!" Frecks said, "Mitch just held his hand in his pocket like a gun! We wouldn't have hurt anybody!"

The Captain sighed.

"It's still a felony," he said.

"We know, we know," Howler said, "but we didn't have any choice, man!"

"No choice," the Captain said, "I've heard that one before."

"Give 'em a chance, Cap man," JJ said, "I've known these dudes, like, forever, they're straight."

"Straight," the Captain said, "Right."

"We were forced to commit the robbery," Frecks said, "by some really nasty dudes."

"Really nasty dudes," the Captain said, "got any names?"

They two looked at eachother for a moment, then sighed.

"Ever heard of Ernest Yaldo?" Howler said.

"The bookie?" the Captain said, rubbing his chin with his hand, "we've run him in a couple of times. He's small time."

"Not any more," Frecks said with a frown, "he's big time, and we, well, sort of, well-"

"Got into a little debt?" the Captain offered, "And you had to rob the store to get the money to pay him back."

"He was gonna kill us, dude!" Howler howled, "I mean serious! He's got this one massive dude, the size of, like, a house or some junk, and this other Bruce Lee wannabe, can snap your neck like a twig!"

Howler made a snapping sound through his teeth, and pretended to break a stick in his hands.

"I'm sure," the Captain said, "so why, then, did you get involved with these men?"

"Aw, come on, man," Frecks said, "we had a sure thing!"

"Doesn't sound like it," the Captain said.

"Ok, ok," Howler said, "we made a stupid move. But there's more. This guy's stretching out. Some big time bookie bought the farm and he's taking over his clients. He's getting bigger and bigger, man. You gotta take him down!"

"That's a police matter," the Captain said, "if you turn yourselves in, turn over some evidence-"

"No!" the two brothers said at the same time.

"We can't!" Frecks cried.

"He'll kill us!" Howler howled.

"He's got somebody inside the police department, dude!" Frecks said, "Rumor says in the Midtown South Precinct."

The Captain suddenly turned far more serious.

"An informant?" he said, "In my precinct?"

"More than that," Howler said, "a group of cops, betting and stuff. Yaldo gives 'em special breaks if they look the other way."

"Those are serious charges," the Captain said, "do you have any evidence?"

"Dude, if they had evidence they wouldn't need our help!" JJ said, as if it was obvious.

"And what, exactly, are we supposed to do?" the Captain said.

JJ, Frecks, and Howler looked at eachother, and all looked back at the Captain, grinning.

"Oh no," the Captain said, "Absolutely not!"

"Dude, there's only one thing to do," JJ said with a smile, "they know the guy. With your experience and my natural charisma, it'll be easy to-"

JJ stopped and glanced at his friends. They threw their arms in the air and spoke in unison.

"Infiltrate!"

"Hmm," Angie said, "somebody got our early year relationship pretty right. If I was in that situation now, I would've decked that Simon guy."

"What?" Rollie said, glancing up from his reading.

"Oh nothing," Angie said with a slight smile, "just, oh, showing my appreciation."

A confused look crossed Rollie's face.

"Oh never mind," Angie said with a slight smile.

Rollie looked back down, Angie looked at him closely.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Aw no," he said, "just, somehow, JJ must've found out about Leo. A couple people are writing about stuff, when, when he was alive."

"Oh," Angie said softly.

Rollie broke out into a laugh.

"Sure got his personality right, though!" he said with a smile, and then squinted, "I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for yellow dogs."

"What?" Angie said.

Rollie grinned.

"Next time I get in a jam," he said, and then shook his head, "never mind."

Angie glanced at the top page.

"Who are you returning the favor to?" she said with a smile.

"Well," Rollie said with a slight smile, setting the script down, "you read it. Hand me the next one will you, this is kind of fun."

"No!" Captain Van Duran roared, "Absolutely not!"

"Dude," JJ said, "calm down. That vein in your forehead is throbbing."

Howler leaned forward.

"Whoa," he said, squinting at Van Duran, "wicked."

"Now listen here Frecks," Van Duran said dryly, "Howler. I am a police Captain, I do not-"

"Have any fun," JJ said, stiffening his back and crossing his arms, "smile, laugh, or help out friends. I do nothing adventurous and or non-bogus. Dude, boooring!"

"Look, man," Frecks said, "if you can get the names of some of those cops on the take, dude, you'd be like a hero! Single handedly infiltrating, and stopping corruption in the city's police department."

"What's that I hear?" JJ said, putting his cupped hand to his ear, "What's that? Police, like, Commissioner Van Duran?"

Frecks and Howler grinned.

"Almost musical," Frecks said, Howler nodding behind him.

"Dude," JJ said, smiling and holding out his arms, "it's callin' ya baby! This is, like, a golden opportunidad, know what I'm sayin'?"

The Captain shook his head.

"Even if I agreed," he said, "there's no way-"

"No way, no way, no way," JJ said, "that's all you ever say, dude! There's always a way! Hangin' around with R man has showed me that."

"Tyler," Van Duran said, nodding slowly, "right. I should've guessed."

"Dude," JJ said, "we can do this! You are Cap'n Van Do Ran the Man! Leader of the peoples! Super fuzz!"

The Captain's jaw tightened, as he shot rays of death at JJ from his eyes. JJ was oblivious.

"The Hans Solo of Midtown South," JJ continued, "New York Wars! Life on the beat! NYPD Blue baby!"

"JJ," the Captain said, "shut up."

"Dude," JJ said forlornly, "maybe more like, Raiders of Lost Sense of Humor."

"Captain, please," Frecks said, "we need your help. And we can help you. We know Yaldo! We can get you and JJ inside! You can scout it out!"

"And if they recognize me?" the Captain said, "I am a public figure, of sorts."

"Dude," JJ said with a grin, "I've been hangin' around the great Tylerini, that is, like, no problem."

"You wouldn't even have to do much," Howler said, "get in, get a little info, get out. In the meantime, we get Yaldo his money, and then after you bust him we get it back and turn it back over!"

"No," the Captain said, "that money has to go back now."

"Ok, ok," JJ said, "but my pops is loaded, dudesy I can get the moola!"

"Cool," Frecks said, "then that part is settled! All you have to do is come with us when we return the money! Start betting a bit, get in with the man, you know, do that Cloak and Dagger, James Bond, Get Smart, Agent 9 kind of thing."

"I bet I can get a telephone shoe," JJ said with a grin, nodding, "R-man's got just about everything."

"Aw, dude!" Frecks said with a smile, "Can we like do the Inspector Gadget thing? Send each other secret messages that blow up? I always wanted to toss one at a Chief of police."

Frecks turned to Van Duran.

"You're, like, close enough, right?"

Van Duran stared at the three blankly, and then moaned.

"Where's my Pepto Bismol when I need it?" he groaned.

"Dude, dude, dude," JJ said, "we can do this! First we just have to-"

JJ worked his arms, gesturing while trying to formulate a sentence.

"You know," he said, "Dude!"

"Dude," Howler said, nodding, "then like, you know-"

Howler shrugged his shoulders.

"Dude," Frecks said, slapping Howler on the back, "then-"

Frecks twisted his arms around each other.

"Dude," JJ said with a grin, "then like, all that's left is-"

All three lifted their arms and spoke in unison once again.

"Dude!"

Van Duran watched the exchange with the look of a man watching insanity.

"I have but one request," he said softly, after a long moment.

"Dude?" JJ prompted.

"Speak English!"

Rollie glanced up at Angie, who was staring at him.

"What?" he said.

"Just trying to figure out something," she said, "you know, when you turn slightly, you do look a little like Mr. Scrooge."

"What?!" Rollie said.

"Never mind," Angie said with a laugh, "just a new twist on an old story. Is it Christmas time already?"

"I don't know if I want to know," Rollie said with a smile, and then frowned.

"What is it?" Angie asked.

"Did JJ say I was married?" he asked, "Or engaged?"

"I doubt it," Angie said, "why?"

"Well, I definitely could use a day off," Rollie said, "but I'm not sure who it is I'm having this new day with. A bit of an enigma."

"Huh?" Angie asked.

"Do I know someone with blonde hair that JJ's met?" Rollie asked.

"Other than me?" Angie said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah," Rollie said, scratching his head, "well. Nah. Never mind-"

"First things first," JJ said, "we've got to get you dressed right."

"Dressed right," the Captain said, "and just how am I supposed to dress? Like you?"

"No dude," JJ said, "only I can pull off my style. Nah, you've gotta have that tough ganster look, you know?"

"Yeah," Howler said, "like Jimmy Cagney."

"No," Frecks said, "like John Travolta in Grease."

"Actually, dudes," JJ said, "I was thinking more like Magnum PI."

Howler and Frecks nodded.

"Yeah," they both said thoughtfully.

"Right now you've got that Dragnet look down," JJ said, "but dude, this Yaldo dude is serious. We've got to change your image."

"Listen, gentlemen," Van Duran said, "I've done my share of undercover operations, and-"

"And nothin' dude," Howler said, "I know this Yaldo guy. He's not your regular goon, ok? There's a very specific type of client he's looking for."

"Rich and stupid?" Van Duran said.

"You got it," Howler said with a fervent nod, "or, uh, hey wait-"

"Never mind," the Captain said, holding up his hand, "now, listen, JJ-"

"Dude this will be easy," JJ said, "there's a shop around the corner from here which has all the stuff we'd need."

"Stuff?" Van Duran said tentatively, "What stuff?"

JJ grinned.

The three young men pulled the Captain into 'Pete's House of Fashion.' Captain Van Duran's mouth dropped open as he took in rack after rack of the most tacky clothing he'd ever seen. Everything from JJ style Hawaiian shirts, to gawdy biker style leather jackets, complete with multiple chains.

"Uh, JJ-" Van Duran started.

"Dude," JJ said with a grin, "trust me."

Ernest Yaldo sat silently across from the man.

"Mr. Yaldo, please, listen," the man said quickly, "I-I know I'm late on my payment, but-"

"But what?" he said, not leaning forward into the light, but staying in the shadows.

"But, uh," the man said, searching for an answer, "I've got money coming! Soon!"

"How?" Yaldo asked.

"Um," the man said slowly, "I'm going to sell....my....kidney."

"Your kidney?" Yaldo said.

"Yes, my kidney," the man said nodding fervently.

"I see," Yaldo said, and nodded to the goon standing next to the man.

With a quick backhand to the face, the man was sent sprawling to the ground. A boot came down and rested it on the man's chest. The man heard a sliding sound as Yaldo got off his chair and walked over to him. The man frowned as he came into the light. Judging from perspective, in relation to the goon next to him, Ernest Yaldo was about three and a half feet tall. Wearing a carefully tailered gray suit, but a hat that was too big for him, he was almost comical. He would have been, if it wasn't for the gun in his hand.

The gun was aimed down at the man.

"Boys," Yaldo said, "teach this guy what it means to cross Ernest Yaldo."

A boot came into the man's ribs, and he groaned in pain. He was picked up by one of the goons and ushered outside. Ernest Yaldo chuckled, and went back over to his chair. He stepped up onto a stool, and then climbed onto the tall chair, leaning back into the darkness again.

"Next."

"What do you think dude?" JJ asked.

Van Duran frowned at himself in the three way mirror. He wore a dark gray suit. Van Duran, normally, liked dark gray suits. But not this one. The jacket, rather than ending somewhere at mid thigh, ran all the way down just below his knees. The wide yellow pin stripes covered the suit, including the extra wide lapels. He wore highly polished black wing tips, but a slight raising of his pants leg revealed red socks. Those matched his bright red shirt, which was offset by a thin black tie. The finishing touch was an 'Untouchables' style dark gray hat, with a black band and a long white and blue feather thrown in. The hat was tilted slighty to one side.

"This is the tackiest thing I've ever seen in my life," Van Duran said, and glanced at JJ, "except for that."

"Dude," JJ said, shaking his head, "it's my cross between 'Men in Black' and 'Star Trek' with a little 'Saturday Night Fever' thrown in."

JJ was in all black. The outfit, however, was all leather. Tight fitting leather. The pants were tucked inside of a pair of long black boots, the cuffs tucked out like bell bottoms. He wore a thin white belt with a gold buckle, and a thick leather jacket over some sort of form fitting leather shirt. A thin white tie stood out against the black. He wore a pair of thin black sunglasses, completely hiding his eyes. To top it off, a pair of black leather gloves.

"Nothin' more intimidating, dude," JJ said, "besides, I'm supposed to be your bodyguard."

"Uh-huh," Van Duran said, "I feel safer already."

"You guys look perfect," Howler said.

Frecks nodded in agreement. They had both changed into another pair of Hawaiian shirt and denim shorts.

"Yaldo knows us," Howler said, "so we don't need to put up a front."

"You owe him money," Van Duran said, "which means-"

"We bring in some high rollers," Frecks said, "that'll be forgotten."

"Well, we've got to give him the money too," Howler said.

"Right," Frecks said, nodding.

"Why do I have a feeling," Van Duran groaned softly, "that I'm going to regret this?"

Rollie set down one manuscript and looked forlornly at the pile of others.

"This is going to take longer than I thought," he said.

Angie nodded.

"I've got an idea," he said scratching his chin, "I want to get something to eat soon. Let's dig into these, each randomly pull out one, and jump somewhere towards the end."

Angie thought for a moment.

"Ok," she said, "that'll be faster."

They both plunged into the boxes and each pulled out a large manuscript. They both stared at the titles of their respective fics.

"Hmm," Angie said, as she flipped to the middle, "I wonder who's making the sacrifices."

"Hmm," Rollie echoed, "I wonder...what's an avila?"