“Look!” the Hyena said, pointing to the other side of the room. There, with their arms and legs locked inside heavy silver balls, was his team: Heathcliff, Ruby, Matilda, Duncan, Flinch, Agent Brand, and the lunch lady. Jackson wondered why they didn’t just use their upgrades to escape, but then spotted more of the bright orange EMP transmitters mounted around them.

“We’ve got to save them first,” Jackson said. “Then we take out the machine.”

“Not so fast,” the Hyena said. “That lab is swarming with henchmen and goons. We’re outnumbered. If we’re going to save the day, we need to have a plan.”

“I’m all ears,” Jackson said.

“Me? I’m supposed to make the plan?” the Hyena said. She looked out on the lab one final time, then took off her boot. She turned the heel toward the glass that separated them from the lab below, and used it to carve a large circle. A circle of glass fell back into the room. Jackson heard the loud rumblings of the machine through the hole in the window, and could feel a strange and powerful vibration. It shook his internal organs and bones and magnetically tugged on his braces.

“Interesting footwear you have there,” he said.

“Expensive, too,” the Hyena said as she stepped through the hole in the glass and onto a tiny ledge that ran along the walls of the massive lab. The ledge was a foot wide and there was nothing to catch them if they fell. “C’mon.”

“C’mon where?” Jackson asked.

Impatiently, the Hyena pointed to a ladder that led down from the ledge on the other side of the enormous room. The ladder would drop them right behind the platform where the NERDS team was imprisoned. Knowing he had few options, Jackson slowly followed the Hyena.

“If we fall, it’s going to hurt,” Jackson said.

“Then don’t fall. It would still feel better than getting zapped with one of those,” the Hyena said as she pointed down to the floor. A team of thirty henchmen with huge weapons strapped to their chests marched into the lab. “Those guards are carrying microwave blasters. Instead of bullets, they shoot high-intensity microwave radiation. If we get caught in their sights, we’ll be cooked like a Hot Pocket.”

The duo did their best not to look down at the floor far below them. Every one of Jackson’s nerves was tense by the time they reached the ladder and climbed down to the platform where the team was held.

“What are you doing here, Jackson?” Ruby asked.

“I’ve come to save your life and the world, if we get lucky,” Jackson replied.

“And you brought one of Jigsaw’s goons to help you?” Matilda asked.

“I’m not a goon!” the Hyena cried.

“She’s very sensitive about the goon thing. Any idea how to get you out of these shackles?” Jackson asked, steering the conversation back toward the dilemma at hand.

“I’ve tried to break free but they’re too strong,” the lunch lady said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Agent Brand said. “If you free us, the team is helpless with those EMPs jamming their upgrades.”

“How do we turn them off?” the Hyena asked.

“There’s a control panel over there,” Duncan said, turning his head toward the group of goons with the microwave blasters.

“You mean that tiny panel on the wall where the murderers with superweapons are?” Jackson complained, then turned to the Hyena. “Any suggestions?”

“Hey, I can’t come up with all the plans,” she said.

“The two of you should just go,” Heathcliff said. “We’re already in hot water. You’re just going to make it worse.”

“Heathcliff, I was a jerk to you and you’re probably going to hate me forever, but right now I’m here to save your life.”

“I’d be happy if you saved my life,” Flinch said.

“I’ll do my best.” Jackson scanned the room and noticed two guards standing at the front of the platform. They had their backs turned to the hostages and hadn’t heard a word of the conversation over the sounds from Jigsaw’s noisy machine. “I’ve got an idea. Give me that boot of yours.”

The Hyena understood what he had in mind. They tiptoed to the front of the platform, and Jackson brought the boot down hard on one guard’s head. He toppled over unconscious, and the duo went to work on his companion. Then they dragged the henchmen back behind the platform.

In a flash they were dressed in the guards’ clothing. The outfits were both way too big, but they rolled up the sleeves and legs and tucked in the pants. As they strolled across the floor, no one gave them a second look. They stepped right into the crowd of goons and stopped at the control panel.

“Hey, anyone know which button turns off the EMP machines?” Jackson asked.

“Yeah, it’s the green button,” one of the goons said without a second look.

“Thanks,” Jackson replied as he slammed his hand down on the button. There was a loud siren and several flashing lights, and all the goons turned toward them.

“Hey! Who are you?” one shouted at Jackson.

“We’re the people they sent to kick your butts,” the Hyena said as she spun a roundhouse kick and caught one of the giant goons in the stomach. He hunched over and she brought his head down on her knee. Seconds later he was drifting into dreamland.

Jackson could feel his braces coming to life. They shot out of his mouth and slammed into the guards’ jaws, one after another. The two of them made quick work of the thugs. Jackson looked back at his team. He guessed the person to watch would be Flinch, and he was right. The silver balls that locked Flinch’s hands cracked open. A second later he was pulling his feet out as well.

“Let’s knock some heads!” Flinch shouted, then banged on his chest like a gorilla.

“What’s his story?” the Hyena asked.

“He eats a little too much sugar,” Jackson explained as they ran over to his team.

“Flinch, free Choppers first!” Agent Brand shouted, and the littlest of the team did just that. Then he smashed the bindings holding Wheezer, then Gluestick, then Pufferfish. Lastly, he freed Agent Brand and the lunch lady. In the meantime, a group of angry henchmen with microwave blasters were heading their way.

Matilda’s inhalers shot her into the sky, and she buzzed over the villains. They lifted their weapons to fire on her, but she circled them so quickly that in an instant they were blasting one another with microwave radiation. Their numbers went from twenty to five. Duncan stepped forward and grabbed the remaining henchmen’s hands. A thick river of adhesive sprayed from his fingertips. They cried out in frustration when they aimed their blasters; their fingers were glued in place and they could not pull the triggers.

As Ruby looked on, her entire body began to swell and her skin turned blotchy and red. “There’s more on the way!” she cried. “My allergies tell me there’s at least a hundred.”

No sooner had she spoken than doors at both ends of the lab flew open. Dozens of armed henchmen and goons raced in, firing into the air and barking threats. The lunch lady leaped off the platform into the fray, and with fists flying he pounded the men off their feet. Agent Brand wielded his white cane. He flipped it around, cracking the goons on their noses and slamming it into their Adam’s apples. Despite Brand’s wounded leg, Jackson could see what Ms. Holiday had said about him was right. He was the best secret agent the world had ever seen.

The Hyena and Ruby leaped into the fight as well. The Hyena’s fighting style was elegant, almost like a dance. She kicked and punched with confidence and her opponents collapsed around her. Ruby, on the other hand, had an incredibly uncanny ability to avoid being injured. She seemed able to leap or duck out of the way of every attack. Jackson suspected she was allergic to physical violence. Many of the henchmen collapsed in exhaustion from trying and failing to beat her to a pulp. Others exposed themselves at the wrong time, and Ruby took advantage of the opening with a well-timed kick or karate chop.