"Oh crap."

Holly tried to dodge the blow, but Triphammer's right fist caught her in the mid-section and sent her flying across the vacant lot littered with construction equipment. Twenty-five feet later, Electro Man's daughter slammed into the side of a cement mixer and fell forward, hitting the ground hard. She spat blood into the dirt and struggled to her feet.

"That's rule number five: Never assume that DOWN means OUT." Triphammer said loudly as he stood and walked deliberately toward the injured girl.

The young heroine wiped her mouth with the back of her fist and stood up with a slight smile, "I'll remember that."

-----------------

Armor Security World Headquarters
The Baxter Building
Los Angeles, California

Five Hours Earlier

Holly exited the elevator which opened up right in the lobby of the 27th floor reception of Armor Security. The lobby was impressive enough: marble floors, grey and black marbled walls with chrome trim. That was when Holly got a little self-conscious. She was dressed casually in a tank-top, leather jacket and form-fitting jeans. Adjusting the large bag over her shoulder and taking a deep breath, she approached the reception desk. The exotic young woman seated there appeared to be of some mixed heritage. Definitely Asian and something, Holly noted. African-American?

The receptionist bubbled over with friendliness and smiled warmly, "Hi there! How can I help you?"

The Fed Ex guys LOVE delivering here, Holly thought. "Hi, I'm Holly Wood. I have an appoinment to see Grav," Holly smiled back.

Glancing down at something out of Holly's view, the attractive woman tapped a few keys on keyboard. "You're right on time Holly," she said looking back up at the visitor. "Grav is in a client meeting that's running a bit late, but it shouldn't be much longer. In the meantime, let me have you sign in here," indicating a clipboard, "and then we'll take your picture."

"Take my picture?" Holly asked. "What for?"

"For your badge. Grav's appointment notes say you're gonna need access to several of the security areas." Pausing she added, "There's a restroom to the right of the elevator if you want to check a mirror before we take your picture."

Holly paused filling out the form on the clipboard and looked earnestly at the receptionist. "Is my hair that bad?"

The woman behind the desk smiled again and laughed a little, "You look fine. I was just offering."

"Whew," Holly said with mock relief, and continued filling out the form.

Behind her a door opened and she heard a familiar voice. It was Grav. "...no reason to worry, gentlemen. We have low-profile operatives that can travel with the band, and a second team of more visible agents can be positioned at concert venues. The ENTIRE TEAM can be at anywhere in the country within 30 minutes if things get really bad. Tell Justin to give me a call if he's still worried. My direct line is on the card."

Grav smiled and shook hands with the group of men as he escorted them to the elevator. Once the doors closed, he paused a moment and shook his head muttering, "Boy bands..." Walking back into the reception area, he noticed Holly standing there and smiled, "Hey Holly, glad you could make it." Grav shook Holly's hand and turned to the receptionist. "Is she all ready to go?"

"Just need to get her mugshot."

The Latino hero, dressed in his custom-styled Armor Security uniform, turned back to Holly, "If you'll stand over there, M*ber will take a picture and finish your access card."

Holly walked over to the place Grav had indicated and watched as the marble wall became an opaque white. "Cool wall," she said smiling for the camera.

The receptionist aimed a digital camera at her, snapped a picture, and then loaded the image into her computer. Within moments, the exotic young woman produced a badge and handed it to Holly.

"Thanks Amber, it was nice to meet you."

"It's pronounced 'MM-ber...' and it was nice to meet you too Holly," she said with a smile.

"Sorry, M'ber."

"Thanks M*ber," Grav said putting a hand on Holly's shoulder. Turning to Holly he said, "Let's get started. What do you say, Holly?"

"I say bring it on!"

-----------------

The blow from behind launched Triphammer forward several feet until he landed face first in a small pit filled with wet cement. Holly decelerated to a hover after careening herself into the larger man's back.

"Oh, darn... broke a nail," the brunette said sarcastically, glancing down at her right hand. She was gliding slowly to the ground all the while watching Triphammer struggle to get to his feet. "Anything else you want to teach me?"

The Armor Security strongman stood up and looked right at Holly. "Respect might be a good topic," Triphammer said smiling through the wet, grey concrete on his face as he cracked his knuckles. His frontside was covered in a thin layer of cement from head to toe, which was drying quickly in the warm Los Angeles afternoon. As he moved again toward the girl, chips of drying cement flaked off of him, and he was smiling darkly.

"Pucker up buttercup," the man said pulling his fist back.

-----------------

Grav walked past the conference room that he had exited with the group of clients and led Holly over to a doorway with a security pad beside it. He took an access card from a pouch on his uniform and waved it in front of the pad as the light went from red to green. Grav opened the door for Holly.

"Huh..." Holly muttered quietly.

"What?" Grav asked letting the door close behind him.

"Nothing." She paused and continued when she saw Grav looking at her quizically. "It's just that from what I've read you guys handle a lot of 'high-end' jobs here. I mean 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' types, right?"

"Yeah. We like to think our clientele is a bit more 'upscale.' So?"

"Well, it's just that security doen't seem all that tight. I mean all I had to do was fill out a form on a clip board and get my picture taken and I get an access card. I'd figure you'd have something a bit more high-tech than access cards. And that receptionist... what kind of a name is M'ber?"

Grav laughed. "M*ber? Well... it's an L.A. thing, I'll leave it at that. As for the rest, I probably shouldn't tell you, but I know your dad and... anyway.. Our Ms. Reynolds in the lobby is more than window dressing. She's has blackbelts in a number of styles. Under her desk is a UNCLE-level heavy blast pistol, and she's qualified 'Marksman' every time at her quarterly evaluations.

"As for our security measures, that clipboard she handed you imaged your fingerprints and sampled your DNA. M*ber's camera also took a retina scan, which were verified against existing records. Oh, and the lobby is mic'ed... we have your voice print as well," Grav added. "All of that data is on your access card so when you swipe it at a security point the computer knows who to expect. When you touch the doorknob to open the door, the card data is compared to raw data gathered by the door. If they don't match... well... I'll show you. Give me your card Holly."

She handed over her access card to Grav, "Okay...."

The man from Armor swiped Holly's card at the door they had just passed through and then tried to twist the doorknob. It was locked. Then a heavily armored barricade dropped quickly around them, encasing them in the corridor. "Punch the barricade, Holly. As hard as you can."

The woman complied and swung her fist at the armored wall. It dented considerably, but held. That was when all hell broke loose. The lights went out in the small hallway cell and Holly started to feel queezy and nearly vomited. She slid to the floor and screamed angrily.

Grav said something into his lapel that Holly couldn't make out as he too slid to the floor. After a couple seconds passed, the lights returned to normal and the barricades lifted. "How did you like that?"

"Wha?" Holly asked, stunned from the experience slumped on the floor and dizzy.

As she looked around, she saw a dozen or so people armed with energy weapons on either side of them. All of them were dressed in the corporate 'red and white' of Armor Security. None of them looked happy.

"It's okay," Grav said struggling to stand. "I was just showing Holly here our security. She must have hit the barricade hard enough to trigger the 'screechers.' Sorry Holly, I should have warned you." Grav offered a hand to Holly and helped her to her feet. "I'm impressed. You have to do a certain level of damage to the armor before the 'screechers' kick in. Triphammer can set them off, so can Shockwaive and I."

"What are 'screechers?' What happened to me?"

"Ultra-sonics. The 'screechers' are..." Grav began to answer, before a voice cut him off.

"The 'screechers' are the first line of defense against a meta-human attack," a voice boomed out behind her in a harsh Texas accent. "Please turn and face the wall. Place your palms flat against the wall. You will not be asked a second time," the commanding voice assured.

"Hey Sarge," Grav said turning to face the voice, "it was just an exhibition."

The Armor executive was answered with the sound of several plasma rifles being charged and pointed at his head. Reluctantly Grav did as commanded. "Do as the man says, Holly"

"I'll never understand why you snot-nosed kids insist on breaking the rules," the man called "Sarge" railed. "Do you think that wearing TIGHTS makes you exempt from the rules? These rules exist for your protection as well as that of your clients and your staff. Do I make myself clear?"

Another voice behind Holly spoke at a more normal volume, "They're clean, Sarge."

"Stand down people," the barking voice ordered, and the armed agents lowered their weapons. "Let's get back to work."

The agents retreated back down the hallways with the Sarge in tow. He turned back to Grav who had lowered his hands and was indicating for Holly to do the same. "Oh... you can count on some SPECIAL P.T. tomorrow... 0530 in the gym... don't be late. Trust me," the Sarge added, walking away, "you don't want to piss me off TWO days in a row."

Holly wisely waited until the Sarge was down the hall and around the corner, "Nice welcome... but you didn't have to go all out for me. Cup of coffee would have been just fine."

"Hey, you asked about security," Grav said smiling.

"True. Anything else I should AVOID asking about?"

"Not off the top of my head, but I'll let you know if anything comes to mind. Shall we?" Grav said indicating a direction down the hallway.

-----------------

She had the larger man on the ropes, she was sure of it. Her ability to fly out of the range of Triphammer's fists was keeping her in the fight. By delivering a series of quick blows as she passed by, she was able to avoid getting hit herself. The down side was that Triphammer was becoming increasingly annoyed, throwing everything in sight that was not nailed down at her... and that included a wheelbarrow at one point.

"Holly, that's enough," a voice said from below her. She glanced down. It was Grav.

"Aw... play times over? It was just getting fun," the cocky young woman replied from above.

The white and red clad Latino just smiled, "It's about to get a WHOLE lot more fun."

Holly felt herself being pulled to the ground by gravity. Shit, she thought as she realized what was happening. Within moments she was rooted in place, her feet planted on the ground by Grav's ability to manipulate gravity. And Triphammer was charging.

"Rule number six:" the big man said as he neared the grounded heroine, "Don't piss me off."

-----------------

The hallway, Holly noted was some kind of black tiled surface, not carpeted like one would expect in an office corridor. Also, she saw the ceiling was a bit higher than the normal twelve feet. Something closer to eighteen, she observed. Along the way, she noted that most of the doors had those card pads for secure entry. Occasionally someone would exit a door, and peeking in Holly saw normal looking offices.

Grav was speaking as he and Holly walked at a leisurely pace, "You know, this is actually a pretty sweet set up here. Our offices occupy the 27th to 30th floors, plus a hanger deck below the roof, and we don't pay a dime for rent." Before Holly could ask, Grav continued, "Reed Richards got us on our feet when we started and as the business has grown, he's given up more space for the offices and facilities. Prime real estate like this in downtown L.A.... in a prominant building... plus the PR of having a guy like Dr. Reed Richards involved with the company... can't put a price tag on it."

"So, what did you guys do? Save his life?"

"Close," Grav said flashing a smile. "Actually, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Plus, I don't think Reed likes to see L.A. without heroes around. We act as the city's unofficial hero team, I guess you'd say. The clients allow us to stay in business and devote our full attention to the company and the city. That's an advantage to joining with Armor. You get paid. Being a hero IS your job."

"I'm not in it for the money," Holly mentioned.

"None of us are. Well, I take that back, a couple maybe, but everyone in this organization knows that when the bell sounds, we have a job to do, and that job is to help protect the people first and foremost... clients or not."

A tremendous THUD sounded from the other side of the wall that Holly was walking next to. "What was THAT?"

Grav turned, "Oh... our gym is on the other side of this wall." He glanced at a hi-tech watch he was wearing, "Yeah... I thought so." Turning back to Holly, "It's 'Rough and Tumble' time."

"What's that?" Holly laughed as another THUD, this time louder, shook the wall.

"That's what we call 'Advanced Abilities Combat Training.' The Sarge hates when we call it 'Rough and Tumble.' Although," Grav said with a laugh, "he hates it worse when Triphammer calls it 'Slap and Tickle.'"

"Can I watch?" Holly asked.

"We'll get a better view from one of the upper floors. We'll see if Tracker can run a HRT sequence or something."

"HRT?"

"Hostage Rescue Tactics. We prepare for everything imaginable. Underwater. Space. In this line of work, it's best to be prepared."

"That's why I wanted to learn from you guys. I'm getting used to my powers now, but I feel I have a lot to learn."

"Weren't you born with your powers?" Grav asked. "I mean, with your dad and all I just assumed..."

"It's a long story, but the Reader's Digest version is that they developed in my teens. It scared the hell out of me so I didn't use them for a few years. Then when I hit college, I used them one night in a fire to get some people out, and have been practicing ever since. It's been.. oh... 5 years now, I guess. Learning a bit at a time."

"Why were you scared to use your powers? Didn't your dad help?"

Holly smiled and poked Grav playfully, "Check THIS one out. Growing up, I never knew my dad was Electro Man. I only found out last fall."

"That's crazy."

"No doubt, huh? Since then though, he's been great. He's really helped me learn about what I can do."

Another THUD against the wall. Grav gestured for them to continue, "Let me take you by the Communications and Command Center. I think you'll be impressed."

The pair walked down the hall as Holly asked, "Who is this 'Sarge' guy?"

"The Sarge? Gunnery Sergeant Leo Selman, USMC, retired. He was code named 'Sarge Steel' during the latter days of Vietnam. Part of some secret government operation he volunteered for after being wounded and removed from the active duty roster. He was supposed to lead a super-powered unit to rescue POW's, but the project was scrapped due to political reasons.

"Anyway, he's in charge of internal security and runs our training regimen," Grav continued. "He's the toughest son of a bitch I ever met. His powers are long gone, but he'll still outfight the best of us in a straight up brawl. Beats us ocasionally when we cheat too."

The pair stopped before a large pair of doors. "Here we are."

-----------------

Triphammer was closing fast, and Grav was still holding Holly in place. She swung a fist at Grav harmlessly as he stood just beyond her reach, smiling. The big fella was still charging, hauling his fist back. This is going to hurt... alot.

"Sorry, babe," Triphammer said genuinely as his fist raced forward toward Holly's face. Throwing all of his weight behind his punch, Triphammer lurched forward.

Holly bent her knees and grabbed Triphammer's wrist at the same time, watching as his punch zipped past her face. With a solid grip on the larger man and momentum on her side, she flipped Triphammer over her shoulder. And into Grav.

The impact sent both Armor operatives to the ground. Surprised by the attack, Grav was unable to keep focused on Holly and he quickly realized that she was no longer being held in place, "Dammit."

"Hello, boys," The female powerhouse brought her full weight down upon the two downed heroes as she landed. Acting quickly, she bent over and grabbed the disbelieving Triphammer by the back of the shirt and threw him up against the side of a nearby bulldozer... several times... until he went limp and fell to the ground.

Before Grav could get to his feet, Holly lept on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Holding him down with her left hand and holding her right fist aloft as if to clock him across the face. "How's THIS for fun?" the girl asked, pulling her fist back farther, and grinning from ear to ear.

Looking up at the young woman, the Armor senior partner smiled slightly, "Uncle."

"Crying 'uncle'? Oh come on, Grav. I expected..." Holly was interupted by the sound of hi-tech weapons charging behind her.

"Like I said," Grav said broadening his smile, "UNCLE."

Holly turned slightly, fist still raised to strike Grav, and saw the familiar red jackets and deep indigo bodysuits of several UNCLE agents surrounding her. She felt the muzzle of one high-energy weapon press up against the back of her head.

"Aw hell," Holly slowly unclenched her fist and raised her other hand until both hands were in the air. Slowly she stood, allowing Grav to climb to his feet and dust himself off.

"It's okay. No harm, no foul. We're just running a tryout," Grav announced to the UNCLE agents assembled around them. To one agent in particular, Grav added, "Sorry, Colin."

The agent that Grav spoke to responded, "Sorry? You're sorry????? I've got the LAPD and half of UNCLE's LA Station at high alert because a couple of blue hairs from Santa Monica called in a 911 saying you were getting your ASS kicked... in broad daylight... in downtown LA."

"My bad... sorry," Holly said from beside them with a smile. Her hands were still up in the air.

"Christ, put your hands down," the UNCLE leader said to Holly, who complied immediately. She glanced over slightly as she heard Triphammer shuffle to his feet slowly and deliberately

The UNCLE agent-in-charge turned to his team, "Put 'em away." The unit responded by holstering and shouldering their weapons. The Asian-American man turned his attention back to the young woman. "I'm Commander Colin Wang, UNCLE L.A. STRIKE Team. And YOU are...?"

Grav piped in, "Good question. You're on the team now, what should Commander Wang call you?"

Holly thought for a moment and smiled...

"Dyna Girl."

END.

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