"Allie?" Dr. Jones seemed disturbed. "I'm afraid we are picking up some unusual radioactivity in the desert. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but the readings are identical to those recorded at the Iris Incident seven years ago."

Allie shuddered at the thought. Seven years ago she and Duncan walked out of a hell she thought she had sealed. And hoped that she had forgotten. That was where Dante and his henchmen were attempting to graft the new element Diabloium directly into the human body. Powered by nuclear reactions, Dante expected to create an army to conquer the world. As former members of the H.A.P.P.Y. team, Duncan and Allie were sent to stop their evil plan. Sinking Dante and his scientific team at the bottom of the Pacific, Allie had spent the past seven years trying to move past her hellish past. Of course, the nightmares of the experiments and the resulting nuclear inferno continued to haunt Allie's sleep.

"Dr. Jones, it can't be. Dante and his wicked plan are at the bottom of the ocean. None of them could have survived, I closed the hatch myself." Allie said, half to reassure herself.

"Regardless, I am reassigning you to the H.A.P.P.Y. team. Captain Asuka will be expecting you. Also, you will need a partner. I hope I'm not over stepping my bounds here Allie, but I took the liberty of making a few calls. Duncan is working security for the Miyamoto Group in Tokyo. The next transport is in two hours. You can just make it."

Allie thought to herself "Why me? Why again?" Duncan, as she knew, had his own way of dealing with the demons of that day. Drowning himself in his misery and terror, he nearly drank himself to death until he was found by Miyamoto. Doing unspecified work for the corporate tycoon, He had begun to repair his life. She doubted that he was expecting her to re-enter it, let alone take him away back into the nightmare they both tried to put behind them.

"Oh, and Allie?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday."

The bar was far from the level of style and class expected of a lieutenant in Miyamoto's trillion dollar empire. Loud music greeted Allie upon her entry. Feeling a hundred pairs of eyes fall on her (or more accurately her body) she walked briskly to the end of the club, to a forlorn figure in the corner.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Duncan had no desire to greet his former partner and lover in the proper way. Taking another slug of his scotch, he said "I know it is. I felt it in my bones. And then Miyamoto threw this on my lap." Duncan tossed a folder at Allie.

Allie leafed through its contents, the telemetry and data from one of Miyamoto's satelites orbiting above the desert in Nevada. It confirmed Dr. Jones' worst suspicions. Someone was renewing Dante's evil experiments. Directly infusing human beings with Diabloium, the most destructive and dangerous element known to humankind.

"I know something else too." offered Duncan. "I know who is behind it. One of my contacts in the Tokyo police department started hearing rumours of Dante's return. You know, offhanded rumours that some people were working to collect scientific equipment. I dismissed it at first, and then Miyamoto's Osaka lab was hit." Duncan steeled himself with the rest of his drink, and then motioned for the bartender to bring him two more.

"I conducted the investigation myself. It seemed almost to be a bunch of punk kids, until I got to the level-15 lab. We nicknamed it the vault. Some vault. The code was cracked and only one thing was taken."

Allie knew. "Diabloium. They stole the Diabloium, didn't they? But isn't it outlawed by the Munich Protocol?"

"Yeah. Only two groups allowed to conduct the research on it. The United Nations and a secret reasearch consortium. The UN keeps theirs in a maximum security facility in Canada. Miyamoto hired me because of my experience. As head of the research consortium, he wanted someone with experience with Diabloium. The list was short." Duncan laughed and reached for one of his new drinks. "So in the investigation, I also found this - a letter from Dante to me."

Allie took the letter. A threat to take over the world. Back when they were partners for H.A.P.P.Y. they got one of these letters every week from Dante. "Now it is up to me, I have to go find Dante and kill him before he creates his army. And don't give me that H.A.P.P.Y. stuff. I don't need rules and protocol right now. I have my gun, and my transport is booked. Don't stop me Allie. Tell Captain Asuka to join me as soon as she gets the proper permits to help pick up the pieces."

Dante, son of the Prime Minister, he was quickly diagnosed with having the highest recorded IQ in history. He was also diagnosed as being psychotic and dangerous. Spending most of his childhood in institutions, he was docile and cooperative. On his 16th birthday his father had him released since he had yet to hurt anyone and should go to the country's top university. Dante would soon make up for lost time, killing everyone in the Parliament including his father with a unidentified poison. He was invited to make a speech, and watched and laughed as the Parliament keeled over dead. He then finished his speech.

As Allie and Duncan's first case, they figured Dante had built up a resistance to Cesiax-12, the poison used, explaining his ability to walk out of the Parliament. Claiming responsibility for thousands of deaths, Dante continued to advance what saw as a revolution, all the while Allie and Duncan were two steps behind.

Finally, they caught up to Dante in his lab in the South Pacific. After realizing his terrible plan, Allie and Duncan quickly put a stop to it, destroying the lab with Dante in it. Or so they thought.

How could he have returned? Where did he come back from? Does he know possess the ability to remake his army of terror and take over the world?

Duncan quietly moved to sneak up on Dante's evil right hand man, Joseph, who was keeping guard in the Nevada desert. With stealth, Duncan crept up. How dare Allie suggest that going back to H.A.P.P.Y. was the way to deal with this situation. It clearly called for a direct approach, the one he was about to provide.

"Freeze, Joseph."

"Ah, Duncan. The master suggested you would be stopping by tonight. Are the other members of H.A.P.P.Y. here as well?" Joseph seemed unusually calm. Usually Dante's hothead enforcer, it was unchacteristic of him to be so calm.

"No, just me and no rules." Duncan placed his pistol at the base of Joseph's head. Part of his mind said that he was better than this. Better than a cold-blooded murderer. Then passion took over, and he clicked the safety off.

"Well done Mr. Wojtaszek. I am pleased to see that a few years in the corporate realm has done wonders for your ethics. Now please, put the weapon down." Duncan spun around to see Dante, with a small squad of goons. "You know that we will take you. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you want to be taken alive or dead. And that is a choice you have to make right now."

Seeing no choice, Duncan went to put his pistol on the ground, then in a flash raised it towards Dante's head and pulled the trigger.

"Well done again, Mr. Wojtaszek. But as you can see, my first brush with death has tought me a few things. See this? A small force-field generator. One of Miyamoto's toys I am shocked to see he has not decided to share with you on your 'investigation.' Now if you please..."

Word came to H.A.P.P.Y. headquarters in a couple of hours. A coded message from the Nevada desert - I HAVE DUNCAN, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO TRIES TO STOP ME WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE. DUNCAN WILL BE RELEASED UNHARMED IN 72 HOURS UNLESS YOU TRY TO INTRAVENE. THEN I WILL KILL HIM AND ANYONE ELSE WHO SHOWS UP. DANTE.

Allie fell to the ground devastated. Captain Asuka went over to console her. "Duncan knew what he had to do. In our case, do you really think we have a choice. The team is going in 6 hours. The team is already setting up. I need you, my best agent, to be the point. Grab a weapon, and get on board the transport."

Allie looked up, into Asuka's knowing eyes. They spoke of compassion and empathy, while at the same time conveying a sense of duty and authority. Asuka had seen it all, and saved the world many times, and she wasn't going to let it end like this. Not today. Not on her watch.

Allie mustered all the courage she had, and headed towards the launch bay. Picking up a 9 MM pistol from the weapons room, she looked at the team. "Let's head out. And remember, we saving one of our own and the free world. Once H.A.P.P.Y., always H.A.P.P.Y."

"You heard the woman, head out!" Asuka commanded the team, and then jumped on board the transport herself.

"You can't go Captain. Your place is right here." Allie was about to quote the regulations regarding commanding officers going out on dangerous missions.

"I can't let my team go out under the command of someone seven years out of the game." Her smile belied her words. "Besides, I am not going to let you go out there alone again. I want to stand beside you this time. Once H.A.P.P.Y, always H.A.P.P.Y."

"Ma'am, do I have permission to launch the weapon?" A young lieutenant inquired of Allie.

"Yes, hit it. Wake them up." Allie then turned to the group. "We have two teams, the first with me to find Duncan, the second with Captain Asuka to find the Diabloium." After the explosion, we have two minutes to accomplish our mission before the young lieutenant requests assistance from the American army. And we all know what that means."

They nodded sagely. No one wanted to become a permanent feature in a radioactive Nevada desert.

"Asuka is armed with a small-yield nuclear device. Other than that, and the explosion the lieutenant here is about to deliver, all you got is your sidearms. So make every shot count."

BOOM!

The Nevada sky lit up, and the H.A.P.P.Y. team hit the ground and ran into the complex. Allie took her team down towards Duncan's signal, an artifact of his time with the team.

"Allie, how nice that you could join us. Of course, you got my message, so I am afraid there is only one thing left to do." Dante was smiling in the corner. Allie turned to him and fired off a couple of shots. "Ha, ha. Duncan already tried that. I am sorry. But this is over. And too bad too, I always wanted you at my side when I took over the world. Alas."

"I'll never join you. You can rot in hell again for all I care. I killed you once, I will kill you again." Allie slid into a corner of the room, defenceless. Duncan lay beside her, beaten, but breathing.

"You came back for me?" Duncan looked into her eyes.

"Of course. I love you. I will always love. Time doesn't change how I feel."

"But what about now? We are going to die."

"At least we will die together. And die doing what was right."

Then the explosion rocked the complex. Dante turned to see the mushroom cloud erupt from the Diabloium lab. "Noooooo!!! The future! My future!"

Allie realized then that Asuka must have set off the bomb with her team still in the facility. Asuka's sacrifice had saved her and Duncan. She wasn't going to let the opportunity escape. She lept to her feet and grabbed Dante's sword from his hand.

"See, I told you I would kill you again."

And with that, she leaned back and took Dante's head off.

"Allie, are you still down there?" Allie looked down at her communicator.

"Yes, lieutenant. Two for transport." She looked back into Duncan's eyes, and smiled. "In ten minutes."

- fin -