CAROLINE WALKER, IN HER BATHROBE, walked on her hazy porch walkaway to pick up the newspaper. She looked at the front page, with a photo of Mayor John Blake, in a speech at the Perth’s Country Club, with the headlines.

Mayor Blake ready for Election

She smiled when she saw herself, in uniform in the photo – in the background – during the mayor’s speech… conversing with Principal Tom Harris, before the charity match…

… Caroline ambled back in pleasant thoughts, of being later invited to the Mayor Blake’s main-table, with Principle Harris, sitting by her side at the banquet.

She-looked up… and saw the garage door ‘open’ – she went close to-investigate. The inspector-mother saw Paul coo-snoring, on the workbench inside.

“Paul! Paul!”

The crippled boy was jolted… as he opened his still smarting eyes, to his mother’s voice. He realised he was ‘NOT’ IN HIS WINDOWLESS ROOM… but in the garage, where-with his mother’s pickup-the-newspapers morning routine – who-now, was standing outside… calling him.

“Yea, Mom-what…?”

“Why are you sleeping here, Poe?”

… he was dazed a bit before Paul responded to her – AND HE ‘LIED,’ as he sat up on the workbench.

“Yea, after-the country-club, I WENT OVER to celebrate a bit, with Alicia and Jane to McDonald's– and when I got home… I realized I have forgotten my house-keys, and I don’t want to call you or ring the doorbell… because it was late so, I slept outdoors, a little…”

“What time did you come back…?”

“…. I don’t know Mom, BUT IT-WAS LATE…?”

“You look like shit, Poe – do you want to-take a sickie-day off…?”

“No-Mom, I can’t… I got a Math test, in the last period.”

… Caroline smiled at her diligent son… and before walking into the house, and she said…

“Good boy, go get ready…”

Now, the sly-twin HAD-TO TIME himself, for his inspector-mother to go upstairs because his alibi-wheelchair was parked in his bedroom – and, to maintain his ‘SECRET’ IDENTITY, he should ‘not’ get caught, ‘with-his-legs down’…

… he had a near-miss before… when she HAD ‘CAUGHT’ HIM, ‘crawling’ upstairs, on the night of Jane’s brother’s abduction…

… where he gave a similar a BS-lie then… of late-night exercising.

He hid… levitating behind-the main door, and the moment his inspector-mom went upstairs – the crippled-boy soared-in fast to his bedroom…

… a lapse-of 15 minutes later…

… Paul rolled into the kitchen, in his school uniform – he was applying eyedrops to the irritation of his teary-eyes – and when he overapplied the drops, it fuzzed his ‘ENT-pipeline’ – Paul sneezed aloud…

“Bless you, Poe.”

… Caroline in her police-uniform, said as she came downstairs…

“Did you see Peter? He is ‘not’ in his room – did you ‘see’ him leave…?”

“No-didn’t… I was fast asleep…” Paul lied again while sipping his black coffee…

… recalling his footsteps… he was-back from the country-club last night, around 10-ish, and was ‘home-alone,’ and then, ‘left’ to help Jane, to rescue her dog around 11-ish…

… in fact, he saw his twin later, just now, seated in the garage AROUND 4-ISH when he came back home – and, the one-armed ‘monster’… then scoffed and left...

…Paul no-longer wanted to tell-on, ‘everything’ that Peter did – and be, as ‘informant’ to his police-Mom… like he ‘had’ used to…

… so-to, maintain everybody’s ‘secret-identities.’

Both mother and son then shared brief personal, ‘family-time’ together… for the next 3 minutes, drinking their coffees – before Caroline rushed to work… while Gary the Uber driver, picked up Paul to school.

<><>

PAUL REACHED IN TIME FOR FIRST CLASS… while his classmates too settled in their chairs – the school-bell rang – and both the BFFs entered the classroom.

Instantly, the ‘whole’ classroom – CHEERED AND CLAPPED for Jane Wilson, compared to only ‘half’ who did so during the first-day of final-term…

.. every other-body… was coming forward to congratulate, the other-half of ‘Perth’s famous couple,’ where blind-Jane had REPRESENTED THEIR SCHOOL, to play against the country club's ex-international, in the charity match – to which the classmates too, came-over yesterday to support the PFC.

The blind-girl was an ‘instant-celebrity,’ with 3 of her blond classmates, had followed suit… of ‘copying’ her dreadlocked hairstyle fashion.

The excited Alicia came-fast… and sat on the wheelchair, on Paul’s laps briefly – laughing and kissing his cheeks, before she got off… and sat on her own desk, waving-cute, back to him…

… his hips hurt after Alicia sat on him – from the ‘knock’ when he took falling, from the ‘Gurkha’ at the fence which was also on-THE-SAME-HIP too…

… when he was ‘first’ hurt back then – when rescued Dougie, from ‘his Sparta-fall.’

Faking a grimaced-smile, he sighed deep… while waving back-at his Chinese girlfriend – thinking if the current, growing celebrity-status, WOULD BE A THREAT TO THE ‘SECRET-IDENTITY’ of the Cursed-trio – while instead…

… ‘they’ should be in A LOW-PROFILE, buried under their books?

He sighed deep a 2nd-time, looking at his watch – and noticing ire teachers, who were turning UP ‘LATE’ FOR their teaching…

… ever since THEIR CARS EXPLODED, and blazed away… at the SHS’s carpark lot, a week ago.

<>

INSP CAROLINE WALKER WALKED into her office… and the ‘first’ top priority police-case of her day – was the ‘missing-hero-dog’ from the government animal-hospital that was ‘abducted,’ in the early morning…

… and, Mayor Blake whom, she was introduced ‘personally’ for the ‘first’ time, last night… at the country club…

… had commissioned ‘personally’… for Insp Walker, to-work ‘this’ case.

The mayor was in a TIGHT-SPOT NOW…

… as he wanted to hold a hero-medal giving an award for Piper, later that Monday evening, as per as, THE ANNOUNCEMENT he had made… in his country club's speech yesterday. He wanted ‘this’ hero-dog ‘endorsement’ campaign…

… in a dog-loving country of Perth-city… to win in the next election.

Now, with the ‘hero-DOG’ GONE MISSING AGAIN – ‘what’ would he ‘say’ in his election speech, to the press-media later…?

The inspector-mother too sighed, if this was ‘HOW’ THE MAYOR WAS ‘PUNISHING’ her, for Peter irrupting his election speech, yesterday… at the tennis court when the-rebellious one-armed ‘wonder’ worked the impatient crowd… to cheer-on to his own brand of PFC instead-of the live-telecasted JOHN BLAKE’S RE-ELECTION speech, during-the charity-match event.

.. even her main zoo-case was still ‘unsolved’ – with the perpetrator Hajji, who was-still a ghost-in-the-wind.

Now…

… with this MISSING ‘PERTH’S FAMOUS HERO-DOG’ case, falling on her lap…

… Det. Insp Walker DROVE ALONE, to the ‘animal-hospital’ facility, in downtown Perth … while the rest of her dispatched police-units in their patrol-cars, searched the streets for the missing-hero dog…

<>

AFTER THE ‘SHORT HISTORY LESSON’ by their teacher, Mr Hull, the bell rang and the next teacher, for English, Mr Bailey was also late.

… Alicia was excited as Jane whispered to-her alone, of ‘their’ adventure of the rescue of Piper, from the ‘animal-hospital’ last night. JANE CREDITED the Piper rescue efforts, solely to Paul Walker… who orchestrated ‘the mission’ well – with ‘no’ one getting fatally-injured.

… the crippled boy just smiled, when he-was mentioned until the English teacher stepped in. Paul noticed Peter… WAS ‘ABSENT’ AT THE BACK – and his student-fans then whispered…

… that, he was a ‘sore-loser.’

By the 3rd bell, Paul was sleepy-as-hell… and was in need of-his 2nd coffee – and, promised himself a cuppa, at the recess break, to-stay afresh for his math-test.

<>

AT 10:05AM…

… INSP WALKER QUESTIONED THE 3 midnight Gurkha guards, with their work-shift ending at noon.

The 4th guard was hospitalized, for-severe dog bites.

The 3 Gurkhas repeated to Caroline… ‘what’ they had said-to the police earlier, that the TRESPASSERS WERE ‘YOUNG’ YOUTH – and the Spider-man masked boy… used-a taser to ‘shock,’ both of them unconscious.

The inspector ‘suspected’ it was the ‘SAME’ ANIMAL-ACTIVIST GROUP from the zoo, who were the ones responsible for the Hero-dog to be ‘taken’…

… just like how-they-broke-into the monkey cages, recently at the zoo.

But, the only evidence left in the crime-scene was – A ‘SPIDER-MAN MASK’ evidence – which ‘struck’ Caroline, as she had seen it before, because she had bought a similar ‘one’… for Paul, for his school Halloween gathering.

“Mr Ram Kumar… you-said that you came ‘behind,’ on the 2 of them – and you grabbed them both… and the ‘mask’ came off, is that it…? Did you-see the perpetrator’s face…? What colour was his hair?” Shelley asked.

“I no-see his face… but his hair is dark – and he suddenly-electric-current me… I fainted…” The Gurkha replied.

The fat-security GUARD ‘SPOKE’ TO Ram Kumar, and before long – they were arguing, in Nepalese. Insp Walker stopped them…

“… Ram Kumar, what was he saying?”

“He saw the-girl as a blonde – as like the famous tennis-playing-blind-girl.”

The fat-guard then said SOMETHING ‘ELSE’ again in Nepalese… and they both argued again. And, once-again Caroline Walker intervened…

“Look here, I’m gathering as ‘much’ evidence-as possible. And please fill me… with all the details, Mr Ram Kumar.”

The Gurkha HESITATED BEFORE he spoke in a cautious tone…

“Madame Inspector… we can ‘lose’ our jobs if we say-this – this-Gupta here said… he saw both the boy and girl, ‘flying away’ from here, crossing-that high fence…”

“What? They flew…?

The fat-Gurkha, named Gupta nodded.

… Insp Caroline Walker left the ‘animal-hospital with-more confusion. While she drove away to her police station, she recalled the visitors from Washington D.C., with the one named Mr Taro, asked her boys, IF THEY COULD FLY…

… she thought at ‘that’ time, whether the questionnaires – was ‘for real’… or was it a ‘test’ of young-boys’ imaginative minds…

And, also ‘where’ did Paul hangout yesterday, late at night with his ‘friends’ as she also found him fast asleep, in the garage this morning?

<>

THE BREATHING AIR QUALITY IN PERTH grew poor, with the bush forest fire coming in, from the north… Principle Harris decided, to close his school early…

During the recess period in the canteen, while Paul had his coffee… he listened to the PA announcement that came – that students-could GO HOME EARLY, and ‘should’ heading straight back home… because-Perth would be going through a ‘state of emergency.’

Everybody cheered in the canteen – and were-fast evacuating. Even Paul was relieved, he would ‘not’ have to sit for Ms Bloom’s Math test, as he was not ‘prepared.’

… Jane and Alicia came together from the washroom to the canteen… and joined their wheelchaired friend.

… Paul was saying, the fire was-intense up north – from, FIRST-HAND-EXPERIENCE, with Jane, yesterday… while rescuing Piper – where they ‘flown’ into choking smoke, that-was terrible. He’ also’ hoped the brave firefighters and the Mayor’s ‘promised’… volunteer firefighters… would-put it out soon.

The 3 friends decided to go home. The girls separated from Paul…

… who also called-up his Uber driver-Gary to pick him up… but couldn’t get through…

… to-the failed Wi-Fi ‘connection’…

After 15 minutes of trying to get in touch with the driver… Paul noticed that he was among the last few people, in the canteen. He rolled out of the main door and was now in the hallway. He saw Nurse Nancy from the Infirmary… handing out hygiene face-masks, to outgoing students – he thanked-and took his mask.

He went to the closed glass-main-door of the school… where some students were waiting, for their ride home from-either their parents, or Uber drivers. He kept trying for his driver, Gary – but failed again. He applied his eyedrops…

“Paul Walker!”

With applied eyedrops… he-saw with his unfocused ‘glare’ of a man in a suit… calling him from behind. He stood tall and was youthful… in his late-20’s.

“Where is your brother – Peter?”

“I don’t know, but he was ‘absent’ from-class just now is he in any trouble, Sir…?”

The man introduced himself, and flashed his ID-badge as Agent Joe Dickson… of the Australian COUNTER-TERRORIST UNIT. He was then asking, questions-about his twin.

“When did you ‘last’ see him?” The agent asked.

… Paul took a while to ANSWER – AND HE LIED…

“I ‘last’ saw him play tennis, at-the club ‘event’ – and I didn’t see him since?”

“Did he come home last night…?”

… Paul then LIED AGAIN…

“… I don’t know, Sir – I came back home… and being-a school day, the next day, I slept-early...”

… Paul noticed the agent was taking notes in his little-black-book, and the man… paused for a brief thought…

“And, he was absent today in class…?”

“… yah…”

… the crippled boy nodded. Dickson referring to his notebook… further questioned…

“Where WERE YOU, PAUL in the afternoon of… last Monday, between 2 to 4 PM?

“Whoa, Sir… what’s with the date and time…? I hardly know what I ‘ate’ last night?”

Agent Joe Dickson laughed, as he continued to fill in…

“Paul, you were in a club-banquet last night… and you don’t know what you ate?”

“… a figure-of-speech…”

… Paul too laughed at his slip-up ‘spontaneous response’ he had given – of course, he knew what he had last night at the club, which was the mouth-watering main-course of Wellingtons roast-beef, and tasty meat-pies for dessert…

‘… and Big-Mac too, FOR LATE-SUPPER, with Jane…’

His gastric juices churned in his belly, begging for an early lunch… as he saw the agent rectifying his question…

“The reason I asked was, that I CAME-BY YOUR house on that ‘Monday,’ with your mother Insp Walker…and we met Peter but ‘not’ you. We went through your-home CCTV footages… which your brother claimed, it was ‘hacked.”

“… wha-hacked…? I don’t know that…” Paul was ‘genuinely’ confused.

“You live under the SAME ROOF – AND you didn’t ‘know…?’”

“Sir… I LIVE IN a complicated-family house ‘home-alone’ most of the time… with my Mom, busy working-late hours – AND WE ALL 3 OF US – don’t communicate much at home.”

He saw the agent nodding before he asked…

“The reason I asked you of-that Monday because YOU WERE ‘NOT’ THERE when I visited – so where were you, Paul?”

Paul thought hard a moment… and was recalling…

“It was either I was in the library, or err… went for high-tea in Chinatown…”

Agent Joe Dickson flipped pages and responded by finishing-Paul’s-sentence.

“…with your girlfriend… Alicia Wong…?”

On his wheelchair, Paul was flabbergasted about-HOW MUCH ‘MORE’ information, that the agent-man ‘had’ on him…

… and he SHOULD ‘NOT’ LET his ‘guards-down’ – and let anyone know… about the Cursed-trio’s identities.

“Yes, I was with Ali…” Paul confirmed.

“That’s ‘all’ Paul – keep-YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE – and ‘no’ to any weird-science experiment, onto your wheelchair.”

Speechless, he saw the agent leaving the front door, to the smoky, school parking-lot.

… Paul realized that the CTU agent had ‘ALSO’ BEEN SPEAKING to Principle Harris… who might have told him, of Terry Donovan’s ‘electrocution.’

… Paul felt uneasy – with the ‘ADULT’ INTERVENTION, to put ‘other’ members of the Cursed-trio on the spotlight of their secrecy.

‘Where are you-Peter… and what have you ‘done,’ this time…?’

<><>

ALICIA’S COUSIN JOHN CHEW WAS driving his Uber… and transporting the girls, back to their respective houses. Most of the roads were jam-pack in traffic, with several occasion of passing ambulances, heading to hospitals…

… with burnt victims and smoke-poisoning.

Occupants of some northern-part of Perth, were ‘evacuating’ by the approaching bush forest-fire… blazing from the north.

On the car’s radio – was the weather-report…

… claiming ‘ODD’ OCCURRENCE OF WIND directions changes…

… that had the firefighters in confusion, to strategize a game-plan…

… to put off the combustion.

It took the Uber an hour, to reach the Wilson residence – Alicia dropped off her blind-BFF before the cousins headed home. But their-journey back was even longer…

… fall upon by accidents by panicking road-drivers.

At the backseat… Alicia gazed at a hill at a distance, an inferno… while hearing Mayor Blake on the radio, DECLARING A STATE-OF-EMERGENCY in Perth.

… vehicles were crawling bumper-to-bumper, in most of the smoky roads and intersections, with BURNING WI-FI TOWERS… affecting the cars’ personal GPS navigations systems… that failed for each driver.

At a foggy T-road junction, Alicia saw… the-absent from-school one-armed boy, through the car’s window. He was drinking a can of RedBull, while standing with his bike, at roadside looking away AND WAS SEEN ‘ADMIRING’ the distant furnace…

… Peter then turned his head, to the stalled Uber car and gazed – at the ASTOUNDED CHINESE GIRL inside…

… as he raised his DRINK TO HER… and with a psychotic-evil grin.

It ‘crept’ Alicia…

<><>

PAUL AND GARY ARRIVED AROUND ONE-ISH. The disabled boy saw… his mother’s Audi parked at the porch. He then entered the house from the-smoulder air outdoors and deactivated the alarm.

… Paul rolled his chair to the kitchen, and saw Caroline’s iPad stood-in display, at the marbled kitchen counter – with a display of portal-news on the screen…

… of the MISSING HERO-DOG’S PHOTO alongside with a ‘RED SPIDEY MASK’ – with a headline of:

Hero dog ‘taken’ by Masked-intruders

… Paul noticed his bedroom door was open…

… the crippled boy always left his ROOM-DOOR UNLOCKED unlike his twin upstairs – for his ‘own’ personal-safety reasons, in case of emergencies…

… he saw his inspector-mother coming out… carrying his trash-bag, and saying out…

“Poe, your-room reeks of piss-smell from your diapers! How many ‘days’ have you ‘not’ cleared your trash-bag? Even the trash-bin outside-is full… and ‘why’ hasn’t Peter clear it…? This is part’ of your chores… so why-are you 2 ‘not’ doing it!”

“So-sorry Mom, busy week – where is-Peter by the way…? Do you know HE WAS ‘ABSENT’ from school today?”

“He IS IN HIS room – I ‘saw’ him brooding, when I came back – he is ‘DOWN AND UPSET’ with his lost-match yesterday.” The inspector-mother replied.

“Mom, there is this, an agent of terrorist-unit, LOOKING FOR ‘HIM’ too at school.”

“Oh, that must be Agent Dickson… he called me at work – ‘what’ did he say to you?”

“He-was looking for Peter, regarding our CCTV cameras… hey Mom, HOW-COME I didn’t know, that it was hacked…?”

His mother laughed. “This Peter made a serious ‘FALSE REPORT’ ONLINE, that our home security-system is ‘hacked’ – Dickson said it is just-faulty… that need ‘checking.’”

… Paul changed the subject.

… pointing at the iPad, he said. “Jane’s dog-Piper… has been ‘taken,’ Mom…?”

“Yes, I’m investigating the case – my hunch-is that, whoever that broke-out the dog, has a ‘link’ to the animal-activist group… that broke-loose, those monkeys at the zoo. So, this time around, ‘one’ of the perpetrators had a taser-gun… and wore a Halloween-Spider-man mask.

“Hey Poe, I remember BUYING YOU A RED-ONE… and Peter a black-one of that similar masks, do you still have it?” Caroline asked…

‘… so, you ‘did’ enter my room… and searched for my-Spidey mask too, Mom…’

“No Mom, I threw it away – when one of the plastic-EYE CAME OFF… I don’t want to be a Nick-Fury-Spidey, so I threw it away, along with other ‘clutter’… when I cleared my room, last holiday. I don’t want to live-like Peter…

“… he is a junk-collector and a hoarder… excuse me Mom, gotta go-dunny… I got to pee.”

… Caroline with a-suspicious smile… seeing Paul rolling away, to the common-bathroom. She was ‘determined’ that Paul was HIDING ‘SOMETHING’ from her…

… she caught him sleeping in the garage that morning, WITH AN ‘EXCUSE’ of hanging out with friends-at-McDonald’…

‘…where HAVE YOU BEEN, my ‘Good-son…?’

… Paul came out from the bathroom, moments later to see… a boiling pot of water, on the stove. His inspector-mother was chopping garlic, on the marbled kitchen counter. Paul exclaimed…

“Mom, you are cooking!!?”

“Yes, I thought we have-some pasta tonight… what do you think, Poe…?

“…thanks Mom… I really-miss your cooking.”

“You are welcome, my Good-son...”

Paul let out a long yawn…

“Mom, I got to take a nap… let’s have a ‘family-dinner’ later tonight.

‘Yes, my Good-son…we should…’

-O-

… Agent Dickson HAD ‘PROFILED’ her Good-son Paul as a silent, manipulator – to his twin, egoistic-Peter who was ‘only’ obsessed with tennis and fame – but-while the ‘other’ twin…

… was a quiet, sly-saboteur – USING ‘ALIBIS’ WHILE ENGAGING with an outside-network of Australia’s ‘misfits.’

Where in Dickson’s CTU agency… they had identified some FACEBOOK ‘MISFIT’ GROUPS that exist in Perth – depends on what was their deviant-causes’ – and…

… while at 9 years old, ‘before’ his accident… Paul who had ‘not knowingly’ had joined ‘such’ a closed-group in Facebook, with his personal email account… to ‘be’ in one FB Group called – ‘Indie Teen-Rescue Street-Animals of Perth’ – with over 2000 members…

– where, 2 of the 3 perpetrator-arrested youths – who had been ‘identified’ as those who freed the monkeys at the zoo recently – were ‘ALSO’ IN THE SAME FB-GROUP too.

… Agent Dickson’s advice to Insp. Walker was – keep A-CLOSE ‘EYE’ on Paul, who was also ‘involved’… in the ‘zoo’s case’ too – where he was too ‘DETAINED-FOR-QUESTIONING’ for the missing monkeys-then…

… as Paul may have ‘OUTSIDE’ CONTACTS…

… with those ‘misfits’ of the Facebook ‘closed’ Group.

-O-

Paul opened the door, of his darkened bedroom… his eyes were-still teary from the irritation of smoke outside. All, he wanted was to sleep to compensate the ‘balance,’ from the loss of sleep …

… of last night's Piper-rescue mission.

Behold…

… there ‘it’ sat at the dark corner… of his windowless room, glowing-in red…

“Jesus!” Paul exclaimed.

“Wrong-god, wrong-continent – it’s Mercury-here…”

… a cynical chuckle was heard Paul with ‘EYES-WIDE-SHUT’ responded back...

“Rack off! What are you doing here…? My Mom is outside in the kitchen!”

“Focus Paul, don’t DRIFT-TO-DEEP-sleep ‘stay-on… as-an-in-betweener.’

… still in his room – Paul looked with his eyes wide ‘open’ he saw A ‘MIRROR-IMAGE’ of himself sleeping on his bed, coo-snoring. The crippled boy, DID ‘NOT’ FREAK-OUT… while he levitated, and, he saw Mercury was sitting, UPSIDE-DOWN TO HIM.

“Mercury, why are you here…?”

“Want TO-GO HUNTING with me? We do-hunt for Ammit!”

“No-Mercury, ‘not’ tonight… I promised Mom, we have ‘some’ family time together… she cooked pasta, for me… I really missed her cooking…”

The response made the Red-demon, pause for a moment in thought…

“… Nah…! Ammit is more-tastier, O Good-one, so…

“… LET’S GO ‘NOW’ – and-why ‘not,’ we take the BLIND-ONE ALONG ‘too’ – the more the merrier…!?”