The origin of the sound of electromagnetic thrusters swooping low over the island that had filled the air over the past few minutes showed itself, the source being a black civilian model of the new floating gunship gaining popularity amongst the paramilitary wings of major corporations, flanked by two conventional helicopters. It clung to the canopy, the electricity from its thrusters licking at the leaves below. Clearing the final remnants of the tree line, it slowed over the large landing area, making a full 180 before landing gently on the asphalt.

Nearby, the entrance to a single tunnel dipped into the ground, disappearing to who knows where. Twenty guards in full body armor with automatic weapons charged out the door and lined up side by side in columns of five. Two miniature unmanned tanks rolled out of the entrance and took up different points on each side, observing the surrounding area in the absence of the guards.

The back end of the gunship opened wide, and with a sense of urgency two figures stepped off, one a young boy aged about fifteen, the other a massive black man who looked like a bodybuilder in a suit. The boy had black curly hair that swirled upwards in several position, and wore a white vest over a red striped shirt with a black tie, with white slacks and cowboy boots. Despite it being night, he wore a visor. His protector wore a long black trench coat with a black beret on his head.

Approaching the guards, they were greeted with salutes and cheers. Without hesitation, the two headed for the singular entrance.

"Well look who it is. The big boy himself, Malachite Azuma, and his guardian Darius III, definitely not out for a midnight stroll. Twenty guards and two gears at the entrance, unknown number inside, plus only a single entrance in." Dib put down the binoculars and sighed. "Not very smart structural design. If they got attacked, they'd be done for. On the flip side, going straight in is out of the question, even with present company."

Lying low outside of the base, Dib had told the girls to stay down and not charge straight in. They were used to the more direct approach of crash, smash, and bash. Jack was a bit of a toss-up. Even with what they knew about Jack from his involvement in the incident ten years ago, nothing else was known about him, since all records of the first twenty-five years of his life were obviously doctored.

According to these "official" records, he was born in Okinawa, raised in kendo, Wing Chun, horseback riding, archery, and some capoeira. However, it appeared as if a powerful hacker had created fabricated documents in order to allow the man to live without major questions being raised about his life.

Blossom started to stand up. She took her usual "let's do it" stance.

"Alright girls, let's show 'em how Powerpuffs…"

"Get down!" hissed Dib, dragging the girl to the ground by her ponytail.

"Ow! What was that for?" Blossom hissed back.

"A direct assault isn't going to work here. Plus I'm not about to go blasting through their defenses on a few guesses and prejudices."

"But they're an evil corporation with an army in the middle of nowhere! Who else could it be?" answered Buttercup.

"That may be true, but it's called plausible deniability." Dib wiped the hair out of his eyes. "If we find nothing, I need to be able to say that I was never here. We need to catch them with their pants down and find hard evidence that they stole the stone, or are planning something more sinister that requires further intervention. Then, and only then, will you go wild and bust some heads. I'll even join you." Dib looked behind them towards Bubbles, who was chirping with a nearby monkey. "What is she doing?"

"Mr. Dib, sir!" Bubbles chirped.

Dib squirmed.

"I'm not that old. You can call me Dib. I'm only half a decade older than you."

Bubbles pointed up into a tree. In the treetops, a simian was dangling from a nearby branch.

"This monkey says he knows a secret way into the base. There's a cavern nearby that goes that connects to the base and is unguarded, even at night."

The monkey took off with a large bound into the woods, with Bubbles hot in pursuit.

"Okay, that's not weird," said Dib.

"Trust me, this is normal for her," quipped Buttercup. Blossom could only hang her head.

After trudging about a half kilometer through the brush, they came upon a large hole in the ground, leading down to a cavern. As they climbed down the steep entrance, Dib expressed his doubts.

"It can't be that easy. Why would someone build a back entrance without some kind of defense?"

After walking deeper into the cavern, Dib's doubts were justified.

The cavern was completely flooded with water, with the depth being at least twenty feet. The ceiling was so low that the only way across was through the water, preventing anyone from flying in. To make matters worse, in the center of the cavern was a violent whirlpool, threatening to drag down anyone foolish enough to attempt to swim across the water.

Blossom took a mighty breath, and with a huff, and a puff, all the water turned to ice, creating a convenient path into the secret entrance.

"After you all," bowed Blossom.

"Wheee!" Bubbles cried as she skated across the ice.

"Amazing. Simply amazing." was all Sensei Jack said.

"Hey, whatever saves me time and paperwork, works for me." smirked Dib.

"Showoff," Buttercup, bringing up the rear, said in a low voice.

Blossom stuck out her tongue. "You're welcome."

Ducking low under a hanging stalactite, the motley five-person team discovered a tunnel on the other side, with a dim man-made light at the end rewarding their little shortcut.

Because the ceiling was so low, the girls could not look back and see the many red eyes staring at the newly created entryway of ice. The sinkhole in which they had entered was now filling up with strange, demonic creatures of many sizes and shapes. Some had blades instead of arms, their heads twisting in every way and form, and wings sprouted from the backs of a few. Working his way through the crowd, a single figure, tone in body with long navy blue hair, took to the front at the entrance. He wore a long flowing black cloak with red trim, the trim labeled with strange black symbols. His eyes glowed like rubies. He had a single scythe draped across his back.

"Weeee couldddd have killedddd them justttt nowwwww…" hissed a nearby demon, whose neck snaked out like his tongue.

"Not yet." said the figure in a human voice. "Their time will come. We have other matters to attend to."

---

As the girls progressed forward through the darkened tunnel towards the light, the air became thick and hot, with the smell of CO2 filling the air, making it hard to breathe.

"Uck. What is that smell?"

"It's exhaust. They must be using the tunnel as a ventilator."

The tunnel opened above a massive generator that stretched for miles in the distance. It had to be almost two stories tall with hundreds of moving gears and gizmos whirring and churning, with almost a thousand turbines providing the electricity to the entire facility. In the distance on catwalks, the girls could see silhouettes of engineers taking readings and ensuring that the generator was running smoothly. Since the area they were in provided simply for exhaust and was guarded by the back entrance, they obviously took little notice to any problems coming from this section.

"This must be the main power provider to the base." Dib thought aloud. "It must stretch for miles. This base has to be absolutely huge!"

"Okay," said Buttercup, cracking her knuckles, "so let's smash this thing and take out the base in one blow."

"No." said Dib.

"Aw, c'mon! Let us bust some heads! I've been itching for a fight since that old man gave me a warm-up."

Dib gave her a thumbs-up.

"I like where your head is at, but I've still got a few things I need to investigate, which means no alarms raised until I say so. But…" he pulled out several rounded balls with remotes on their top. Pressing them against the machine, he pulled out a strip of duck-tape and taped each and every one to the generator. "…I'm not going to head in without a back-up. These remote mines will take out the power in case of emergency."

"Mines?" Blossom said with a surprised face. "Since when do the police issue mines?"

Dib merely searched the adjoining wall for an air duct. Finding the appropriate false panel, he whipped out a switchblade and pried it open.

"Trade secrets, my dear."

---

After a quick but cramped trip through the air ducts of the base, the five dropped out into a dark hallway that looked like it came out of feudal Japan. The supports were wooden and the walls false paper. Several statues of dragons and samurai lined the walls. The floor was lined by a red carpet.

No one was around and it was very dark. At the end of the hallway were two large oak doors with golden handles.

"What is this place, and how come no one is around?" asked Blossom, always taking the lead.

"Just as I thought," Dib said, beckoning the other four over to the large wooden doors. Pressing his ear to the door, he heard the low murmur of hundreds of voices. Turning back to the girls, he placed one hand on a handle.

"The Azumas are notable in that they are the only company on earth who openly admit that their core doctrine is the exploitation of human greed. Other companies do it in secret, but the Azumas cater openly to the vices of human nature. To accomplish this, they offer the greatest challenge to any human being…"

Dib threw open the door and light from the other room poured in. As the girls' eyes adjusted to the light, they were astounded as to what was in the other room.

Stretching further than any convention center the girls' had ever seen. the next room was built to resemble a grand ballroom, with hardwood floor and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. However, instead of dancing, the thousands present on the floor were engaged in another pastime: gambling.

Roulette, poker tables, blackjack, Red Dog, slots as far as the eye could see; if it was a way to gamble your money away, it was there. The sounds of rolling wheels and the cries of victory and defeat reverberated throughout the massive room. Hundreds of men in suits sat at the tables, playing their luck against shrewd and skilled dealers while scantily dressed women distracted them and waiters bustled around taking drink orders and returning those orders to their desired places.

The group of five were on a stairway that went down onto the main floor. From the banister, they could look out and see every corner of the massive money machine. Dib walked to the railing and stretched his hand out over the scene.

"Welcome to Devil's Deal, the world's only Casino where you can bet anything, even your own soul!"

"Wow!" shouted Bubbles. All the women were dressed up in fancy dresses, full of sequins and covered in diamonds. "Oh, I wish I could have a dress like those!"

Samurai Jack was less than thrilled. "This entire base…is nothing more than a casino?"

Dib adjusted his specs. "We've suspected them of setting up an illegal casino somewhere outside of sovereign jurisdiction. Think about it: rich business types jet out for a "vacation" on a tropical island, so they can cover up a weekend in a casino that takes all bets, with no taxes or repercussions, unless you lose, of course."

"Why is it illegal? Why don't they just set up in town?" asked Blossom.

Dib's once smiling face became solemn. "Like I said, they take ALL bets. Some of these people here bet entire companies, or fortunes. But most disturbing of all, they bet human lives."

Blossom gasped while Buttercup fumed. Bubbles was too distracted by the sights and sounds to care. How could anyone do so much harm to the human race?

Dib waved them forward.

"C'mon, let's mix ourselves in the crowd before someone sees us."

Sir, take a look at what's on the security cameras.

"Where?"

Right there. These five. They entered a few minutes ago. They weren't in the group when they arrived.

"Oh ho ho. Look who it is, Malachite."

What should we do, sir?

"Have security hold them there. We want to talk to them ourselves."

Buttercup listened to the various bets being made at a nearby poker table. Two men were throwing in chips.

"Got anything to match this?" said one, a portly man wearing a cowboy hat and speaking with a Texas accent. He held in his hand a gold nugget the size of a baseball.

The other, a Latino man in a fine white suit smoking a cigar, reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture.

"One of my newest girls. Found her in an orphanage in Rio. She is young, but adapting quite nicely and is very…I believe your word is flexible."

Suddenly, the Latino man found himself flying through the air into another table, knocking it over sending chips and cards everywhere while the players and dealer dove for cover.

Every eye in the house turned towards the source of the mighty blow. Standing where the Latino man had been sitting, there stood a sixteen year old girl with black red hair whose eyes were burning as bright as her sister's hair. She was puffing angrily.

Buttercup couldn't believe what she had heard. The man had bet a life, an actual human life, immeasurable against any wealth, for a wager. She had blown their cover, but she couldn't conceal her anger anymore.

Now, several men in black suits, wearing sunglasses with small receivers in their ears, were converging on her.

"Don't move," said one of the men. All were hulking bruisers that would not look out of place in the pro wrestling circuit.

The fists flew, but it was the men who flew back. Blossom and Bubbles had come to the aid of their sister, and the men suddenly found themselves outmatched by three teenage girls.

"Ready?" said Blossom.

"Oh yeah." smirked Bubbles.

"'Bout time!" shouted Buttercup.

The entire congregation panicked as the battle began. The bouncers charged en masse, but found themselves thrown like footballs across the playing field, crashing into the various tables and making a massive mess of the entire floor. The rush of evacuating players only created more panic, knocking over plants, exquisite statues, and expensive art that littered the floor.

To put it simply, the place was in total chaos.

One person who didn't join in the fight or run was Samurai Jack. He slowly began to move against the crowd deeper into the casino. He felt slightly bad leaving the girls behind, but they had things in hand and he knew that there were bigger things to accomplish. Searching around for Dib, Jack realized that the secret agent had disappeared in the crowd, probably using the panic to slip away and accomplish whatever he had been sent here to do. Jack had figured out for some time that the boy was not revealing all he knew. He was more than just a police officer, Jack surmised. However, Jack felt that the boy was not a danger and had the best interests of humanity at heart. Jack wished him good luck in whatever task he was trying to accomplish.

Jack on the other hand was right now full of questions and short on answers.

Jack's senses snapped into full gear as a roulette table came flying through the air directly at him.

Wielding his sword deftly, he sliced it in half, the two pieces crumbling to the ground around him. However, this had been no accident.

Someone had thrown it at him, and only him.

That someone was standing still in the panicking crowd. Jack and the man were the only two standing still as the crowd tried to rush past. The man wore a brown bomber jacket with a black muscle tee-shirt underneath and torn jeans. He wore a belt which had a sword and nunchukas attached to it. In his left hand he carried a spear, which Jack could see was adorned with a rare snakeskin. His right hand was covered by a black glove.

But it was the mask he wore that touched Jack to the core, which brought everything he had tried to suppress streaming back.

It was the mask of a snarling dog.

The mask of a Dingo.

The Wild Dog spoke first.

"It's been a long time…my brother…"

TBC