Dante and Beast both skidded to a stop in front of the Federal Reserve building. It was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining brightly in sunny California. The weather was perfect and the day was beautiful. The people inside of the vehicles, however, were not contemplating the weather.

"Becks is already inside," Dante informed them, "He’s heading for the vault."

"Has he released the toxin yet?" Kyle asked.

"No," Dante replied.

"Then we go in," the TKR leader decided.

"That may prove difficult," Dante warned, "Becks sealed the doors. You can’t get in that way."

"Sounds like you need an entrance, Kyle," Beast spoke up, "What say I make one in that wall over there."

"Do it, Beast," Kyle decided quickly, "We can’t let him get away."

Beast started revving his engines and backed up a bit from the wall to get a head start.

"Hold on tight, Jenny," Beast told his extra passenger, "This’ll get bumpy."

"He never worries about me," Duke complained.

"That’s because you have a thick skull," Beast shot back.

Both Duke and Jenny braced themselves as Beast shot forward straight for the wall. As soon as the supertruck impacted, the passengers were thrown back in their seats. Debris splashed across Beast’s windshield. Beast bounced as he came inside of the building, and drove right through to the middle of the room where he came to a stop inches from the man standing there next to the vault. Dante followed him in.

Hugh Becks stood still in shock as the five TKR members climbed out of the two vehicles. They approached him slowly.

"The jig’s up, Becks," Kyle told him.

Becks looked at Kyle, then grinned maliciously.

"Not yet," he told them.

With a flick of his hand, Becks tossed a large vial in their direction, then quickly slipped a gas mask on over his face. He started laughing as green vapors started pouring out of the broken vial.

"It’s the toxin!" Kyle announced, "Go, get in the cars!"

Duke and Trek ran for Beast while the others ran for Dante. Kyle pushed Jenny ahead of him. He made sure she and Erica were safely inside the SUV before he started to enter on the driver’s side. But then suddenly he gasped and fell to the ground face forward after Becks threw a fallen piece of debris at his back.

"Kyle!" Dante exclaimed with concern.

Becks laughed at the fallen leader, then grabbed up the bag he had taken from the vault and ran past them, leaving through the hole Beast had made.

Inside Dante, Jenny panicked.

"If we don’t get him soon, the toxin will kill him," she told Erica.

"There are gas masks in the rear compartment," Dante told them shortly, "Put them on, and hurry!"

Erica scrambled in the back to retrieve the gas masks stored inside Kyle’s car. She handed one to Jenny and put one on herself. The two women then scrambled out of the car and hurried over to Kyle, who was unconscious. They immediately grabbed his arms and legs and dragged him inside of Dante, closing the door behind them.

"The air should be clean now," Dante told them a moment later.

Erica sat in the front while Jenny knelt in the backseat with Kyle, who was sprawled across the seat. Jenny put a hand to his neck, then looked at Erica in concern.

"He’s not breathing," she told her, "He must have inhaled the toxin."

"Quick, perform CPR," Dante told her, "I’ll drive us to a hospital."

"What’s going on?" Duke’s voice came over com-link, "Is Kyle OK?"

Erica glanced back at Kyle, who was being given CPR by Jenny.

"No, he’s not OK," she replied in a wobbly voice, "He inhaled the toxin."

"Erica!" Jenny told her hurriedly, "I need your help."

"Help her, Erica," Dante told her, worried for his driver.

Erica left Dante to drive and went to kneel in between the two front seats, facing the two in the back.

"I need you to pump on his stomach five times after each breath," Jenny told her.

"Got it," Erica said. She started pumping on Kyle’s chest after Jenny administered a breath. By this time Kyle’s lips and face were turning blue. Both Erica and Jenny had moist eyes.

"Please let him be all right," Dante swore softly.

* * *

Jenny, Duke, Erica and Trek waited inside the small waiting room by the ICU unit. All of them were impatient. Jenny paced the floor, checking her watch every ten seconds and glancing at the door leading to the room Kyle was being looked after in every twenty seconds. Trek sat on a soft bench, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and eyes boring into the tiled floor. Duke sat on the opposite bench, his head leaning back against the wall, staring up into space. Every so often he would lift his head and lightly bang it against the wall. Erica stood in a corner, nervously watching Jenny and biting her nails.

"Any news yet?" Dante asked for the dozenth time since they arrived half an hour earlier.

Jenny breathed in deeply, glanced once at the door again, then sighed.

"Nothing yet, Dante," she told him.

Jenny rubbed her eyes to ward off any approaching tears. She couldn’t cry now. She had to be brave for the others, and especially for Dante, who was very upset knowing Kyle may not recover.

The door suddenly opened and a doctor stepped out. Jenny and the others immediately pounced on him.

"Is he OK?" Jenny asked him.

They all looked at the doctor and waited anxiously for his reply.

"He’s in stable condition for now," the doctor told them, "We managed to slow the toxin from inhabiting his whole body. But we’ve never dealt with this stream before and have no way of knowing how to cure it. If we don’t get the proper antidote 30 hours from now, he’ll die."

The others’ felt their faces fall at this news. Duke looked down, and Erica looked at Jenny. Trek looked away and put a hand to his mouth.

"Thank-you," Jenny told the doctor, then added in a determined voice, "We’ll find the antidote in time."

The doctor gave her an encouraging smile.

"I hope you do," he told her, then turned and left.

They stood there in silence before speaking.

"At least he’s still alive," Beast said, "That’s a plus."

"Yeah, but not for long," Trek said, "if we don’t get that antidote soon."

"I’m all for it," Duke said, "But how?"

Jenny took a deep breath to clear her head, then turned to them.

"Becks is the one who made the toxin," she told them, "He probably has the antidote too. Our best bet is to find him and get it from him."

"So that means we’re back on the mission," Duke said, "Only this time it means Kyle’s life."

Jenny looked at him, then walked towards the exit.

"We don’t have any time to waste," she told them.

The others all followed their new commander right away.

* * *

Inside the ICU of the hospital, Kyle lay still on a bed in a room by himself. Various equipment stood around him, monitoring his status, and he was hooked up to all sorts of tubes and electrodes. His breathing was shallow, and his eyelids shut tightly. After a moment his face started twitching, as if he were dreaming.

* * *

Kyle lifted his head up groggily from the console. He sat up in his chair and blinked his eyes. He felt a bit woozy. When he looked around, he discovered he was sitting inside the Situation Room on board SkyOne.

"What the…?" Kyle said aloud in confusion. The last thing he remembered was chasing Becks inside the Reserve. He had no idea how he got to SkyOne.

He tried punching the controls to activate communications, but none of the controls would respond. Kyle then gave up, stood and left the room. He entered into the hallway and found it empty. All the way to the garage, Kyle encountered no one. Once he got there, He found it as he’d left it, except without all the mechanics. He spotted Trek sitting on Plato and went over to him. As soon as he reached them, Kyle could see that they were watching old TV reruns on Plato’s monitor.

"Trek," Kyle asked, "What’s going on? What happened?"

Trek didn’t even look up at Kyle, but kept his eyes on the screen.

"Ooh, ooh, this is my favorite part!" Trek exclaimed.

"Uh, Trek?" Kyle repeated.

Trek tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth and chewed loudly.

"Plato?" Kyle asked.

"Leave me alone, you dingbat!" Plato told him.

Kyle frowned, then shook his head.

"Trek?" Kyle tried again, "Earth to Trek?"

Trek grabbed a whole handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth. Some of the kernels dropped to the floor. Trek mumbled something unintelligible, pointing at the screen. Kyle watched him, then shook his head and turned away. Finding no one else in the garage, Kyle headed for the exit.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Kyle suddenly found himself in the workout room. He found that strange since the workout room was no where near the garage. He soon dismissed that, though, when he next discovered he was dressed in workout clothes and wore boxing gloves on his hands. Kyle looked down at the gloves in puzzlement.

"’Bout time you got here," Duke spoke up.

Kyle looked up to see Duke there in gym attire also wearing gloves. He was hopping up and down, facing Kyle in a sparring position. He reached his gloves forward and knocked them against Kyle’s.

"Let’s go!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly Kyle found himself trying to defend himself against Duke’s jabs and punches. Kyle was caught off guard, but quickly moved to defend himself.

"And he fakes left, and he fakes right, and there’s no doubt in the world that DePalma has the upper hand!" Duke exclaimed in a sports announcer’s voice as he sparred with Kyle.

"Duke?" Kyle asked, "What are you doing? What’s going on?"

"And Stewart takes the defensive!" Duke continued, ignoring Kyle and concentrating on the match, "DePalma makes a comeback to reclaim his championship title!"

"Duke!" Kyle yelled.

Duke suddenly struck out with his right gloved hand. The last thing Kyle saw was the red fist getting closer and closer to his face before he passed out.

* * *

Once again, Kyle awoke groggily. He found himself lying on the floor of his quarters and stood up, a dull throbbing in his head. Kyle winced as he stood, then went to his laptop. Kyle punched a few buttons on it. Moments later the image of a man’s face came on screen. It was his FLAG supervisor.

"What is it, Kyle?" he asked.

"Sir," Kyle said, "I’m sorry to bother you, but something really weird is going on, and no one seems to want to tell me what’s happening."

"I told you this would happen, Stewart," the official told him, "I warned you about fixing together such a motley group. I told you there would be problems, that it wasn’t a good idea. But did you listen to my advice? No! And now you come to me when things aren’t going right for my help. Well, Stewart, I was just waiting for this to happen."

Kyle frowned. This wasn’t right. The FLAG official never spoke this way. This was too weird. Now he was getting a lecture.

"Let me tell you what I think, Stewart," the man told him, then started going off into a long, boring lecture about discipline, leadership and professionalism.

Kyle stared at the man for a moment, then slowly backed away until he was out of sight of the monitor. As soon as he was out of view, Kyle turned around and walked out of his quarters into the hallway, leaving the official to talk to himself. Kyle then brought his wrist-com close to his mouth.

"Dante?" he called, "Dante are you there? What’s going on?"

"Why don’t you figure it out for yourself?" Dante replied impatiently, "I’m busy."

Kyle shook his head, then went back to the garage. Trek and Plato were in the exact same position he’d left them. Kyle walked over to his vehicle. Classical music grew louder and louder as he got closer.

"Dante?" Kyle asked, reaching the SUV, "What are you doing?"

"Listening to good music," Dante told him, "or couldn’t you notice?"

"What happened back at the Reserve?" Kyle asked him.

"You’re the leader," Dante told him, "Shouldn’t you know that?"

Kyle shook his head impatiently.

"Yeah, I should, but for some reason I’m in the dark," Kyle said.

"Well, that’s not my problem," Dante told him, "Now, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to enjoy myself."

"You call that fun, Dante?" Domino spoke up, "Sounds like a bunch of mice screeching to me."

"I wouldn’t expect a Bimbo-Mobile such yourself to have good taste," Dante told her.

"Oh yeah?" Domino asked, "Well, it’s no wonder a smart-ass snob like yourself is still living in the 18^th century."

"A snob, am I?" Dante asked, "Well you’re a slutty airhead!"

"Oh!" Domino sounded very insulted, "Now you’re talking dirty. You are such a—"

"Domino!" Kyle interrupted.

"Yes, Kyle?" Domino asked in her low, sexy voice.

"Where’s Jenny?"

"Where do you think?" Domino asked him as if he should know the answer, "She’s doing her job."

Domino and Dante then continued to exchange insults. Kyle felt his head throbbing harder and decided to leave them.

Kyle left the garage and went to Jenny’s room. As soon as he stepped through the garage door he reappeared in her room, just as he had suddenly appeared at the workout room. Kyle had never been in Jenny’s room before. It was even neater than his own, without so much as a speck of dust out of place. It was also empty. Jenny wasn’t there.

Kyle stepped out of Jenny’s room and found himself standing just outside Erica’s quarters. Kyle pressed the button to open the door. As soon as it did, he stepped in.

Suddenly, he was no longer on SkyOne but standing in the middle of a plush tropical courtyard. A white sandy beach could be seen in the distance, and all around him were palm trees and tropical plants. Kyle squinted in the sudden sunlight, then looked up and saw Erica. She was dressed in a very body-revealing bikini top and wrap and was sitting on a divan in close quarters with an elegant-looking man in an ivory suit. Erica was feeding him grapes, and the two of them were smiling and laughing. Kyle walked up to them.

"Erica?" he asked.

Erica glanced up at Kyle in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

Kyle smiled and shook his head.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he told her.

Erica rolled her eyes and leaned into the man.

"Look, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m kinda busy," she told him, "So why don’t you leave His Highness and I alone?"

Erica turned back to the man and rubbed noses with him. Kyle frowned.

"Look," he told her, "I’m not leaving until you tell me where Jenny is."

Erica closed her eyes in irritation and turned back to him slowly.

"Where do you think she is?" she asked him, "She rejoined the Marines and went back to her army buddies."

Kyle’s frown deepened in shock.

"What?" he demanded.

"She wanted to be back with her real family," Erica told him, "She got fed up with Team Knight Rider. And can you blame her? I mean, we aren’t exactly like the guys on Mission Impossible. Now, will you excuse us?"

Erica went back to doting on the rich Prince, leaving Kyle standing there in dumbfounded disbelief.

* * *

"We have two leads," Domino told Jenny, "One witness claimed to have seen someone matching Becks’ description entering a bank on the upper west side. A second witness said they saw him going into an abandoned plastic factory 2.4 miles away."

"How do we know either one of them is right?" Duke asked from Attack Beast.

"Trust in the Force, Luke," Plato advised.

"We don’t," Jenny said, "We just hope and pray."

The four vehicles were driving along the highway towards the two suspected buildings Beck was supposed to be at. Dante had insisted upon joining them even though he was going driverless because he wanted to help save Kyle. Dante had been just frantic ever since they left the hospital.

"Becks will be there," Dante spoke up determinedly, "And he’ll have the antidote. I know it."

"That’s the way to talk positive, Dante," Beast told him encouragingly.

"He’s so cute when he’s sensitive," Domino commented.

"Let’s concentrate on the mission," Jenny said, no humor in her voice, "Duke, Trek, Erica, you go check out the bank. Dante and I will check out the factory. Report back if you find anything."

"Gotcha, Jenny," Duke responded.

"Good luck," Dante told them as the three of them steered their vehicles over to an off-ramp.

"You too, Dante," Trek told him sincerely. Trek had also been spooked by Kyle’s ailment.

Jenny drove Domino up to the third off-ramp. Dante followed close behind.

"Don’t worry, Jenny," Domino said in a soft voice, "You too, Dante. We’ll find that antidote, and we’ll catch Becks. I have total faith that Kyle will pull through this all right. In fact, by this time next week he’ll probably be demanding a full report."

Jenny smiled.

"Thanks, Domino," Dante told her, speaking to the sports car for the first time without any sarcasm or condescendence in his voice.

"I love him too, Dante," Domino said.

* * *

Kyle suddenly found himself in the middle of a Marine base. All around him men and women in army fatigues were running around in long, straight neat lines. Kyle turned one way and saw a squadron of soldiers firing rifles at a gun range. When he turned the other way, a camouflaged jeep nearly ran him over. Kyle jumped back. He saw a tall, beefy man in a Master Sergeant’s uniform approaching at a crisp march.

"Excuse-me," Kyle spoke to him. He had to fall into step beside the man since he wouldn’t stop.

"Can you tell me where Jenny Andrews is?" Kyle asked.

"There are no civilians on the base, man," the soldier told him in a loud, gruff voice.

"Um, yeah," Kyle said, "Look, do you know where she is? I need to talk to her."

"You need to give me more information than that, soldier," the Msg. told him, "What’s this soldier’s rank?"

Kyle turned away and thought a moment.

"Uh, I think she was a Sergeant," Kyle replied.

"You mean Sergeant Andrews," the man said, "She’s busy now. What do you want with her?"

"I’m her commanding officer," Kyle told him, "She’s supposed to be back with me at Team Knight Rider."

"Team Knight Rider?" the Msg. asked, "She quit that monkey operation and came back to us. Best decision she ever made."

"Uh, I beg to differ," Kyle said, "I think there’s been some sort of mistake. I really need to see her."

Suddenly the Marine stopped, surprising Kyle. He turned to Kyle and faced him, hands clasped behind his back, towering over the TKR leader by about six inches.

"And what would you say to her if you saw her?" he asked.

Kyle hesitated.

"I’d tell her I need her back with the team," he said, "I’d try to get her back."

The Msg. looked down on him smugly.

"She won’t go back," he told Kyle assuredly, "We’re her family. She needs us."

"She needs us, too," Kyle insisted.

The Marine shrugged.

"Go ahead and try, soldier," he said, "You’re only wasting your time. Sergeant Andrews is running drills on the training field."

"Thanks," Kyle said with little sincerity.

It took Kyle a while to find the training field following signs since he didn’t want to talk to any more soldiers. He saw Jenny from a distance. She was in Marine uniform, drilling a group of fifty or so privates. He jogged the rest of the way to her.

"Jenny!" he called.

Jenny didn’t seem to hear him as she yelled at her charges.

"All right, drop and give me fifty, on your knuckles!" Jenny yelled to them.

"Jenny," Kyle repeated.

Kyle reached her and put his hand on her shoulder. Immediately Jenny whirled around and had Kyle’s wrist held uncomfortably behind his back before he knew it.

"Jenny! It’s me!" he told her quickly.

"Kyle?" Jenny asked in surprise. She let him go. He rubbed his wrist.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him. She didn’t appear to be happy to see him.

"Jenny, what are you doing here?" he asked her, "You’re supposed to be back with us at SkyOne."

"I quit TKR, Kyle," Jenny told him, "I’m back with the Marines now. And I’m not coming back."

"You can’t mean that, Jenny," Kyle said with emotion in his voice, "We were a team."

"Yeah, we were a team," Jenny told him, "But that didn’t work out. I’m here now. I feel like I really belong back in the military."

"You belong with us," Kyle insisted.

Jenny shook her head at him, then turned back to her charges, who were still pumping push-ups. Kyle grabbed her by the arm to draw her back. Suddenly half a dozen soldiers had rifles pointed right at his head. Kyle froze, then let go of Jenny and backed off slowly.

"Easy, guys," he told them, "I’m a friend."

"Kyle?"

Kyle turned back to Jenny. Suddenly all the armed soldiers vanished, as well as the entire Marina base. He found himself and Jenny back on board SkyOne in the situation room. Jenny was standing in front of him.

"OK, Kyle," she told him, "You want me to come back, fine. But first you have to convince me."

"Convince you?" he asked.

She just looked at him, waiting. Kyle looked back, then put his hands on his hips and nodded.

"OK," he said, "One, we need your expertise. You’re an asset to the team. Two, the team needs you. They count on you to be there for them. Three, you can’t just leave Domino. You two are partners. She needs you."

"What about you?" she asked him.

He furrowed his brows.

"Me?" he asked.

"Do you need me?" she asked.

Kyle hesitated.

"Of course," he told her, "I mean, you’re the best second in command anyone could ask for. You’re loyal, and hard-working, and you never let me down…" He stopped when he noticed her shaking her head at him, an amused smile on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"That’s not it," she told him, "I know the real reason why you want me back with TKR."

Kyle took the bait.

"Why?" he asked her.

In response, Jenny grabbed his collar with one hand, put her other hand behind his neck, and pulled him towards her. Kyle was surprised when she kissed him very passionately. He didn’t mind, though. He relaxed as they kissed, enjoying it.

Moments later the kiss ended. When Kyle opened his eyes, he was surprised to find he had his arms around empty air. He frowned, wondering where Jenny went. Kyle quickly left the situation room and jogged all the way to the garage.

Once again, he found Trek there with Plato. This time they were watching Gilligan’s Island reruns. Duke, still wearing boxing gloves, was in the corner using poor Gil as a punching bag. Kyle went to stand in the middle of the room. No one else was there.

Then Erica marched in, still in the apparel Kyle had seen her in last. Except this time she wasn’t smiling or laughing. She instead appeared to be very irritable. She went over to Kat and leaned against the motorcycle so she could take her heels off.

"Well, I totally blew it with the Prince," she complained aloud.

"That’s probably because he discovered you were stealing from him," Kat told her.

"Who asked you?" Erica said.

"I was just making a point," Kat said reasonably.

"Yeah, well," Erica leaned against her vehicle, "I guess I’m stuck with Team Knight Rider for a little while longer."

"Don’t you mean we’re stuck with you," Kat amended, "Personally I’m tired of your belly-aching."

"Well I’m tired of you always telling me how bad I am," Erica shot back.

Kyle felt himself starting to get all woozy again as he listened to Erica and Kat’s arguing. He shook his head to try to clear it.

Then there was the sound of boots marching evenly across the floor. Kyle looked up to see Jenny walking into the garage. She stopped about fifteen feet away from him and stood at ease. She then took on the role of drill sergeant.

"Kat, Erica, stuff it!" she commanded them in a loud voice, "Duke, stop beating up Gil! Trek, Plato, shut off that TV. Dante, turn off that music!"

For a moment there was silence as they all stopped and looked at her. Then the complaints began.

"Why don’t you stuff it!" Erica shot back.

"I have a championship title to defend," Duke told her, "I don’t have time to rest."

"I can’t shut this off," Trek appealed, "It’s a once in a lifetime marathon. Twelve hours of nothing but 70’s sitcoms."

"Why should I listen to you?" Dante asked her.

"Because she gave you an order," Domino told him, "Besides, your music is driving me crazy."

"Me too," Beast spoke up, "How about some Alannis Morrissette?"

As the others complained, Jenny turned to Kyle and crossed her arms.

"Are you hearing this?" she asked him, "This is what you wanted me to come back to. Why do you think such a dysfunctional group should stay together when we obviously can’t get along?"

"Jenny’s got a point, Kyle," Beast agreed.

"I agree," Domino said.

"I couldn’t have put it better myself," Dante said.

"Let’s blow this popstand!" Plato agreed.

"Everything would be fine if only Erica would change her ways," Kat predicted.

"I think everything would be OK if only Jenny were in charge," Beast suggested

"Hey, that’s an idea," Dante spoke up sarcastically, "Let’s put a woman in charge and see how much more we screw up!"

"Watch it, Dante," Beast growled warningly.

"Don’t bother," Jenny told them with a look at Kyle, "I’m not staying."

"If Jenny goes, I go," Beast said.

"That’s just great," Duke spoke up, throwing his gloves into the floor, "My car deserts me for a pretty girl. Talk about friendship."

"At least Jenny understands me," Beast told his driver, "And just to clear things up, Duke, I’m a truck, not a car."

"Oh," Duke replied with false understanding, "Sorry, my mistake."

Duke and Beast then started going at it, followed by Kat and Erica, then Dante and Domino. Trek turned up the volume on his TV program so he could hear. Suddenly all five vehicles and four humans were engaged in a full-fledged argument.

Kyle frowned and shook his head, unable to cope with all the noise. He put his hands to his ears to try to block it out, but with no effect. Finally Kyle’s head started spinning uncontrollably and he couldn’t take it any longer. He closed his eyes and screamed.

* * *

Back in reality, Jenny parked Domino in front of the factory and climbed out. Dante parked beside them.

"Anyone inside?" she asked.

"Yes," Dante replied quickly, "One person on the ground floor."

Jenny nodded.

"I’ll check it out," she said.

"Be careful, Jenny," Domino warned.

Jenny glanced at her car, then went to the nearest open window and pulled it out of its rusted hinges. She then slowly and quietly climbed inside. The building inside was dark, with only a few rays of light shining through the broken windows. The factory floor was covered with a thick payer of dust and broken machinery. Jenny walked in farther, keeping her eyes and ears open.

"How close am I?" she whispered into her wrist-com.

"You’re only thirty feet away," Dante told her, "Straight ahead."

Jenny drew closer to where the man was supposed to be. All of a sudden she heard a car door slamming shut. She quickened her pace until finally she saw him. The man was loading bags into the back of a car. He was hunched over halfway in the backseat, pushing his load in. Once he stood up and turned around, Jenny recognized him immediately.

"Guys, it’s Becks," she whispered, her heart beginning to race, "Tell the others, and cover me."

Jenny noticed that Becks was about to get into his car. She had to get to him before he took off. Jenny then stepped forward and spoke as intimidatingly as possible.

"Freeze, Becks!" she commanded.

Becks did freeze and stare at her, surprised. Then he smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small glass vial containing a green vapor.

"Don’t come any closer, or you’ll end up just like your teammate," Becks warned her.

Jenny stopped her advance. Becks, still grinning, backed into his car, started the engine, and drove away through a back entrance. Jenny immediately sprinted back the way she came.

"Becks is getting away," Jenny told the two cars.

"I’m going after him," Dante told her. She could see him pulling away as she exited the building.

Jenny hurried and climbed into Domino, taking off after Dante and Becks seconds later.

"Duke, Trek, Erica," Jenny said, "We found Becks. He’s trying to get away in his car. I need you to help us in the pursuit ASAP."

"We’re there, Jenny," Duke responded.

Dante and Domino sped after Becks, who was weaving in and out of traffic trying to reach the highway. Dante and Domino caught up to him within a few minutes.

"I have a lock," Dante spoke up moments later, "I can take out Becks’ tires with one of my missiles."

"No," Jenny told him right away, "we can’t chance it. If Becks has the antidote with him, it could be smashed in the impact."

"Sorry," Dante apologized, "I wasn’t thinking it through clearly enough."

"That’s all right, Dante," she told him, "I know you’re worried for him. We all are. We just have to be careful not to make any wrong moves that could endanger Kyle’s recovery."

"So what do we do if we can’t fire at the car?" Domino asked, "Wait until he runs out of gas?"

"Kyle doesn’t have that long," Dante reminded them.

"I have an idea," Jenny said, "Duke, I want you and the others to get ahead of Becks and block his escape. Dante and I will cover him from behind."

"Got it," Duke said.

"Don’t worry, Jenny," Beast assured her, "We’ll catch him."

Jenny set her mouth in a thin line.

"We’re going to round him up like a sheep in a pen," she said.

"Nice thinking Jenny," Domino encouraged her.

"Let’s just hope it works," she replied.

It was another five minutes before the others got into position. Becks came in sight of the on-ramp to the highway and headed straight for it. If he got there, then he could lose them in busy traffic. Becks made a beeline for the ramp, stepping hard on the gas. But then suddenly Beast, Kat and Plato appeared out of nowhere in front of him, blocking the ramp. Becks slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop only inches away from Beast’s grill. He then started to back up, but stopped as soon as he noticed Dante right behind him. Becks then gave up and stopped.

Jenny and the others immediately climbed out of their vehicles and pounced on Becks. Duke reached in and dragged him out of the car roughly, shoving him against the side.

"I’m gonna ask you one question, and I’m only gonna say it once," Duke told him in a menacing voice, "Where is the antidote for your toxin?"

Becks smiled impudently.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked.

Duke shoved him again against the car, causing the despicable man to grunt.

"Because if you don’t, I’ll punch your face in," Duke told him.

"And I’ll run you over," Dante added.

"Now he’s talkin’," Beast said.

"Here," Jenny said, grabbing Becks away from Duke, "allow me."

Jenny then took Becks’ arm and twisted it roughly behind his back. Becks gasped and fell to his knees, grimacing in pain.

"Answer the question!" she told him, "I’ll twist your arm off!"

"OK, OK," Becks assented, "It’s in the backseat, in the green duffel bag in a red case. Please, let go!"

Jenny nodded to Trek, who opened the back door and grabbed the green duffel bag. He set it gently on the ground and opened it up. He reached his hands in and pulled out the red case. They all watched closely as he opened it, revealing two vials of thick bronze liquid. Trek nodded to Jenny, then closed up the case again. Jenny let go of Becks roughly, and he fell to the ground.

"Quick!" Dante told them, "There’s only an hour left!"

"Kat and Plato are fastest," Jenny said, "Trek, Erica, take the antidote to Kyle. And hurry!"

Trek and Erica both nodded and hopped on their motorcycles. They were screeching away seconds later.

"I hope they make it on time," Beast said.

"As do I," Dante agreed wholeheartedly.

Jenny looked after Trek and Erica for a moment, then looked down at Becks and dragged him to his feet.

"Let’s take this guy in, then get to the hospital," she said, "Dante, you can go on ahead."

"Thank-you, Jenny," Dante said, pulling away.

Jenny shoved Becks into Beast’s passenger seat and closed the door behind him. She then pushed her hair back and sighed. Duke came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"They’ll make it," he told her.

Jenny looked up at him and smiled. She nodded, then turned and went to Domino. Duke watched her for a moment, then turned to climb into Beast. They drove away moments later with their captive.

* * *

Kyle stopped screaming and opened his eyes to find everyone staring at him in surprise.

"Quiet!" he told them, almost out of breath, "Just stop it and get along. All of you, just get along."

They stood there for a moment, silent, and Kyle suddenly felt stupid. Then Jenny spoke up.

"He’s right," she said to the others.

They all seemed to agree.

"Sorry we got so carried away, Kyle," Domino told him.

"I’m sorry, too," Dante said, "I didn’t mean to be annoying."

"You’re not that annoying, Dante," Domino told him.

"Why, thank-you, Domino," Dante told her in a kind tone, "I take back what I said about you being a bimbo."

"And I take back what I said about you being a snob," Domino said.

"Why didn’t we think of this before?" Duke asked, stepping forward.

"Yeah," Erica agreed, joining him, "If we’d of all got along in the beginning, then none of this would’ve happened."

"Erica, I’m sorry for criticizing you," Kat told her driver.

Erica shrugged it off.

"That’s OK, Kat," Erica said, "I’m sorry for complaining so much. You’re really a good car."

"And you’re a good driver," Kat returned the compliment.

Trek turned off the TV and turned around to face them.

"I’m sorry too, Kyle," he told him, "I should be more of a team player and not worry so much about TV."

"Forgive us?" Plato asked in a high-pitched western drawl.

Kyle frowned in puzzlement, looking at each of them.

"Duke," Beast spoke up, "I didn’t mean it when I said I preferred Jenny over you."

"I like you too, Beast," Duke said, going over to his truck, "You’re the best truck a guy could have."

"Thanks, Duke. That means a lot," Beast said, then to Kyle, "Kyle, about Jenny. You can have her if you really want. I won’t say anything."

"Hey, Jenny," Duke said, going over to her, "I’m sorry for teasing you all those times."

Jenny smiled at him.

"That’s OK, Duke," she told him, "I’m sorry for giving you all those stupid undercover jobs."

Duke held his arms out to her.

"Hug and make up?" he asked.

Jenny obliged, and the two of them hugged. Seconds later Erica and Trek looked at each other and did the same. They then both went to join the others.

"Oh, me too," Erica spoke up, running over to join them in bare feet.

"Don’t forget me!" Trek added, doing the same.

Duke and Jenny opened their arms to them, and the four of them joined together in a hug. All at once Beast, Domino, Kat and Plato moved to surround them.

"Come on, Kyle," Trek said, waving him in, "Come join in the fun."

"Come on, Kyle," Jenny urged.

"You have to join in, Kyle," Dante told him in his still-pleasant voice, "You’re our favorite leader."

Dante moved forward and gently nudged Kyle toward the others. Kyle allowed himself to be nudged until Jenny and Erica each reached out and grabbed an arm and pulled him in for a big group hug. They all squeezed hard, save Kyle who was trying to figure out how they could all get from the verge of killing each other to being overly polite to one another. It was too much for him to handle.

"You know what, you guys?" Duke asked them just then, his voice emotional, "I love you."

"We love you too, Duke," Jenny told him. The others, including the cars, all voiced the same sentiment to each other.

That was it. Kyle knew he was going insane. He jerked himself away from the group, backing into Dante who had pulled in close. Kyle then backed off to what he felt was a safer distance and stared at them all as if they were aliens.

"OK, something is going on here," Kyle said, "You guys are acting weird."

"But I thought that’s what you wanted, Kyle," Dante told him, "For us all to get along. You know, like the guys on Mission Impossible?"

Kyle shook his head, which was beginning to spin again.

"This can’t be real," he said out loud, putting a hand to his head, "This can’t be real. It can’t be."

Suddenly Kyle’s whole world went white. Dante, Jenny, and all the others disappeared into a white mist until the garage was completely gone. Kyle looked around, seeing only white space. He stepped forward to the spot where the others had been only a moment ago.

"Hello?" he called out, "Anyone there?"

Kyle suddenly felt a prickling sensation on his neck. He whirled around and saw none other than James Arthur standing about ten feet behind him. James was standing with his hands clasped behind his back wearing a beige-colored suit. He was looking at Kyle closely. The young criminal had the same amused look on his young face that Kyle had seen too many times before. Kyle took a few steps towards him.

"Looks like your team needs help," James told Kyle mockingly, "They don’t seem to be functioning very well. Do you think it could be their leader?"

Kyle frowned. James smiled at him and started pacing around him casually. Kyle watched him.

"You know, Kyle," James told him, "that as we speak your team is on their own, working without you, by themselves without you there to keep them together, not to mention keep the order. How do you think your team will manage to get by without you?"

"I’m sure they’re working just fine," Kyle told him evenly, "I trust Jenny to lead the team."

James rolled his eyes and shrugged off what Kyle just said.

"You sound pretty confidant," James said.

"That’s because I am," Kyle responded.

James laughed and passed Kyle. As soon as he passed, Kyle saw something out of the corner of his eye. A shadow had suddenly appeared in a far corner. Kyle couldn’t quite make out the form since it appeared to be distorted. There was no doubt it was a man, though. Kyle squinted at the shadowy form.

"Who’s that?" he asked.

James spared the shadow only a short uninterested glance before responding.

"He’s just someone from your past that you have unfinished business with," James told him off-handedly, then smiled at Kyle and added, "Just like me."

Kyle narrowed his eyes at him.

"Maybe you haven’t noticed, Kyle," James told him, "But Team Knight Rider has big problems. And I’m not just talking about the ones within the team members. I’m talking as a whole."

"Every team has its problems," Kyle told him.

"Even Mission Impossible?" James asked with a chuckle.

Kyle rolled his eyes. James grinned at him. Then his grin slipped away and James walked up to Kyle until they were facing each other from only one foot away.

"You know, Kyle," James said conversationally, "Everyone from the team has brought their own personal baggage along with them. Jenny’s looking for her father, Erica’s looking to become a gold-digger, Duke is out to free the world of crime, and Trek, well, he just wants to put some excitement into his life."

James leaned closer and studied Kyle’s face intently.

"And then there’s you," he said, "You still haven’t figured out who the guy is who set you up at the CIA two years ago."

"That’s in the past," Kyle told him.

James shook his head.

"I have to disagree," he told Kyle, backing away a few steps.

James then nodded behind him. Kyle turned around to see Mobius in his wheelchair sitting directly behind him and right in front of the shadow character.

"Hello, Kyle," Mobius said in his raspy voice, "Long time no see. I hear your team has been having a lot of conflicts lately. You must not be doing a good job as a leader if all this is going on."

Kyle gritted his teeth.

"Plus there’s the fact that all of your teammates seem to want to move on to better things," Mobius continued in his arrogant voice, "Duke wants to be a contender again. Erica wants to marry into wealth. Jenny wants to return to the Marines, and Trek wants to watch TV all day. Your team is falling apart at the seems, Kyle. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Mobius then started laughing at him. Then Kyle heard other laughter. He looked around and saw a large group of people surrounding him. They were all laughing and pointing at him. Kyle recognized them all as criminals TKR had dealt with in the past. Starr was there, and Max Amendes and Kaila. The Raven was also there, as well as Martin Jantzen, Saulo Vasquez, Demetrius and Muerto. Kyle looked at them all, tormenting and teasing him.

Kyle opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off.

"What about you, Kyle?"

Kyle turned around at James’ voice to face the mass-murderer. Suddenly all of the others in the room disappeared, save the shadow.

"What?" Kyle asked, getting confused.

"Do you remember back in your CIA days?" James asked him, pacing again, "You worked alone. You completed almost every mission successfully without the help of others, and most importantly without the drama and hassles of having a team. Tell me, have you ever just once wanted to go back to that?"

Kyle looked at him squarely while answering.

"I wouldn’t give up TKR for anything," he replied firmly.

"How special," James commented. He then shrugged, again with that lack of concern he seems to always portray. "Well," he told Kyle, "don’t say I didn’t warn you."

James then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Kyle called him back.

James turned around impatiently.

"I don’t have all day, Kyle," James told him.

Kyle glanced back at the shadow, then to James again.

"Tell me more about the shadow," Kyle asked him.

James appeared to be bored with the question.

"Don’t worry, Kyle," James told him, "You’ll be seeing him real soon. I assure you, everything will fall into place and make sense before you know what happened."

"But—" Kyle began.

James cut him off.

"You don’t have much time, Kyle," James told him, "If you don’t go soon, you won’t be able to keep your promise."

Kyle watched as James turned around and disappeared into the white space. He then turned around to face the shadow and took a few steps towards it. But then that disappeared too. The white fog started to move in and encroach upon Kyle. There was no way to escape it. Soon the fogginess enveloped Kyle, and his world turned from white to black in an instant.

* * *

Jenny, Duke, Trek and Erica all hovered over Kyle’s bed, waiting anxiously for him to revive. The doctor had administered the antidote with only minutes to spare. He said to give it time to take effect. It had been over fifteen minutes so far. Jenny gripped the bed rail tightly, watching Kyle’s face hopefully. Trek stood just behind her, biting on a finger. Duke and Erica stood on the opposite side, equally tense.

They all moved slightly when Kyle’s eyes twitched and fluttered open. At first his eyes were unfocused. But then he moved them around the room until he looked up and saw their concerned faces. After a moment, he spoke.

"Well, I can’t be dead," he said in a weak voice.

The others all smiled as soon as he spoke.

"Why not?" Trek asked him, smiling widely.

Kyle formed a small grin on his lips.

"Because this is not my idea of heaven," he said.

The others all laughed, breaking the tension. Kyle moved to push himself up into a sitting position and Duke helped him.

"Is he all right?" asked Dante’s anxious voice.

"He’s OK, Dante," Jenny told him happily, "Kyle’s just fine. You can talk to him yourself."

Jenny reached into her pocket and took out Kyle’s watch, which she handed over to him.

"Kyle?" Dante asked tentatively.

"I’m right here, Dante," Kyle replied.

"Oh, thank heavens," Dante said with relief.

"Hey, Dante was really worried about you, Kyle," Trek told him, "If he could cry I think he would have."

"That’s just because I didn’t want to go through the fuss of breaking-in a new driver," Dante explained.

Kyle and the others smiled.

"Did you catch Becks?" he asked.

"How do you think we got the antidote?" Erica asked.

"It was Jenny who deserves the credit," Duke said, "She’s the one who thought up the plan to capture him."

"Yes," Dante admitted, "I have to admit it was Jenny who kept her head while I was the one thinking irrationally."

Kyle turned to Jenny.

"Good work," he told her, "I knew I could count on you."

Jenny looked embarrassed.

"We’re a team," Jenny told him, "A team always looks out for one another."

Kyle smiled and nodded.

"I can’t wait to read the report," he said.

That made everyone laugh. Kyle looked at them all in puzzlement, but then just shook his head and smiled, happy.

* * *

On To Impossible Target

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