Sequel Teaser: A short scene from "Boom Shakalaka!"

"Mr. Tanner?" Ezra called, his voice hushed.

"Hmm...?" Vin answered absently, not turning from his task. He was feeling along the walls of the dark room, trying to find a door or window or something from which they might escape their current prison.

"Mr. Tanner, I really you think should see this. Mr. Tanner? VIN!"

It was the use of his first name more so than the increased volume that finally caught his attention, and the sharpshooter turned to look curiously at his teammate.

"What?"

Ezra nodded his head in the direction of his keychain flashlight. The Southerner had the weak beam of light focused in the centre of the room, where it was just enough to illuminate a familiar, but totally unexpected, dark shape. Ezra was staring at it with an odd expression.

"Mr. Tanner," he inquired in a strained tone. "Is this not the loathsome vehicle driven by your childhood compatriot of darkness?"

"Huh? Oh, shit! Yeah, that's Karr." Vin drew closer. "Hey, Karr... you awake in there?"

There was no response.

"Perhaps it is damaged?"

Vin pursed his lips. "Maybe. But the Stealth is supposed to be virtually indestructible and I don't see anything wrong with it from here. Shine your light around, let's take a look," he instructed.

Ezra did as told, walking in a wide circle around the silent vehicle. When he got the front, the hazy glow of the light revealed two thick cables leading under the bumper.

Vin leaned over to inspect them, noticing as he did the heavy steel clamps locked about the cars four tires.

"What if the computer is simply not currently within the automobile?"

"I don't know, Ez'. Way I always had it figured, it took a lot to get him outta there." Tanner slipped his fingers into the grooves on the smooth surface and tried to lift the hood. "Nope," he decided, "Karr must be in there. He's got it locked down."

"Can you not pry the hood open with something?"

Vin stopped to look incredulously at Standish. "This car is the only thing that protects a multimillion dollar computer that's actually a livin', thinkin', feelin' artificial intelligence... you couldn't pry this hood open with dynamite."

"Oh."

Vin shook his head, eyeing the two cables. "It's got to be these wires. They must be blocking him, or overloadin' him somehow."

"Then perhaps it would behoove us to remove them?" Ezra suggested reluctantly, squinting his face at the prospect of helping the disagreeable AI.

Vin looked unsure. "I don't know what that'll do. Might make things worse."

"I was under the impression you were quite familiar with the function of automobiles, Mr. Tanner."

"Cars, yes. But this ain't no ordinary car. And I don't know anything about computers."

"Then what we will do?"

"I don't know..." Vin hesitated, trying to make a decision. "All right, I don't reckon we have much choice. Stand back, I'll pull the cables."

Ezra hastily stepped backward into the darkness, watching with trepidation as his partner removed the cables then stood to the side to wait.

They didn't have to wait long. With a hiss of exhaust, the powerful turbo engine turned over and the car body shook as the Stealth powered up. Immediately, the engine started growling as the AI fought to free himself from the steel clamps on his tires.

"Karr!" Vin yelled over the sound of the struggling AI.

The Stealth stilled. "Mr. Tanner? Hunter? What are you doing here?"

"Prob'ly the same thing as you. We got caught by some drug dealers and tossed in here. How 'bout you?"

The dark AI sounded disgusted when he answered. "Car thieves."

"You're kidding!" Vin couldn't help laughing.

Ezra was staring at them in consternation. "If you don't mind," he said icily, "perhaps we might to return to the dilemma of finding a way out of here?!"

Vin swallowed his chuckles. "Yeah." He had a thought. "Say Karr, if we get your tires loose, can you bust us out of here?"

"My scanners indicate the back wall is composed of only 2.4 feet of concrete. With enough momentum, yes, I can punch through."

"'Punch through'?" Ezra gasped. "Are you insane? You'll bring the whole building crashing down on us!"

Vin and Karr ignored him.

"Good," Vin said, finding the release valve for the clamps and triggering it. He watched with satisfaction as they retreated into the floor via noisy hydraulic pumps.

Vin walked back to the car and reached for the driver's side door. "Ezra, get in."

"Get in? Get in?! Not on your obviously disturbed life!"

Vin sighed. "It's the only way, Ez'," he said to the indignant Southerner.

Karr had a different opinion. "Leave him," he suggested emotionlessly.

The Hunter glared at the AI. "Shut up, you aren't helping." He went around to the passenger side, opened the door, and grabbing Ezra by an arm, shoved him into the seat.

Karr slammed the door shut and automatically locked it so the sputtering agent couldn't get back out. The AI waited for the Texan to climb in on the other side, then inched forward to get some room to maneuver.

"I protest this asinine plan!" Ezra screeched.

"So noted," Vin said absently, watching the Stealth's progress. "Karr?"

"Hold on," the AI warned, then suddenly shot backwards like a bullet.

Ezra screamed as the back wall rapidly approached, then exploded in a cloud of dust as the Stealth burst through. Chunks of flying concrete bounced off the surface of the car, leaving not so much as a scratch on the impervious MBS finish.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" the undercover agent snapped once they were clear, reaching over to smack the grinning sharpshooter hard on the arm.

"Aww, Ez'. It wasn't that bad."

Standish glared. The look was one of his stoniest, used only in the most extreme of circumstances and against his most hated foes. Normally, it was only directed at murderers and rapists, people who hurt his team members, or anyone and anything that tried to wake him up before nine am in the morning.

Vin's grin grew.