Ralph walked into the kitchen, holding a newspaper and reading. He sat down at the table and, while still reading, reached for the cup of coffee. He took a sip and made a face, finally breaking his reading.

"I really need to remember to ask Pam to make a full pot of coffee on her early mornings. This is just awful," Ralph said, pulling the cup back down. He went back to the article.

"Hey, Ralph?"

"In the kitchen, Bill," he replied.

Bill entered the kitchen and found Ralph still engrossed in the article. "What's so interesting, kid?"

Ralph tapped the article. "They're finally going to tear down the old mall this afternoon."

"After how long?" Bill scoffed. "Thing's been an eye sore for years."

Out of habit, Ralph scratched at his head with his wrapped up hand while reading, "Says they'll be using three hundred sticks of dynamite to demolish it, one hundred per floor and spread out over the entire building to make sure it won't be canceled."

"How's that feeling, anyway?" Bill asked.

"Huh?" Ralph asked, looking up at Bill confused.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Your hand."

Ralph flinched, then shrugged. "It's getting there." He paused, then added, irritably, "It would've healed by now if it didn't keep getting re-broken every few weeks."

"Geez, don't bite my head off, Ralph. It was just a question."

The blond sighed. "I'm sorry, Bill. It's just... it isn't like I could even go to a psychiatrist about what I've been through. I'd get thrown into a rubber room faster than I almost was when I first got the suit."

"How much have you told the Counselor?"

Ralph's response was looking away. "Some."

"Ralph! How do ya expect to feel better if you can't even talk to your own wife about it?" Bill said.

Ralph hated to admit it... but Bill actually made sense, but he still didn't make eye contact again yet. "I never told you what happened on my way back from the convention."

"Yeah, you made record time and crashed into bed and wouldn't come out for a couple days after. You said you were sick."

"Yes and no." Ralph finally turned back to Bill and shook his head. "I can't talk about this now. I have to be at the school in half an hour--"

"What happened, Ralph?"

The blond sighed. "You won't let this go, will you?"

"Not until you tell me."

Ralph's gaze turned to the ceiling. "Remember Mona's friend that looks just like me?"

"Yeah. So?"

Ralph looked at Bill again. "Lets just say he has a very unhealthy interest in men."

"What...?" Bill began, then his eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed several times, but he didn't get anything out.

"I'm not saying any more, Bill, I've got work in under half an hour!"

"But, kid, he... did... with you?" Bill was sputtering.

Ralph wished he hadn't turned this conversation in this particular direction. He refolded the newspaper and got up. And just as he'd figured, Bill followed him, sputtering all the way.

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

Study hall. Oh, how Ralph typically hated this particular portion of the day. The students would be throwing spitwads, paper airplanes... and anything else they could get their hands on. No matter how much Ralph thought he got through to these kids, it always seemed to fly out the window.

However, this particular morning was one of the occasional few in which he didn't have to watch a class and could actually get some work done.

Of course, that wasn't accounting for any hair brained scenario from Bill.

Ralph put his pencil down and wiggled his fingers, working out the cramp in his still aching hand. At least now he could write with it again. Though, he had to admit, his left-handed writing was getting better.

He began to look around the classroom. Something seemed... off. Like the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Ralph scratched at his chest and his breathing hitched.

"Oh no..." He waited for the impending appearance.

Then Ralph noticed a paper airplane flying towards him. It crashed to the floor next to his desk. Warily, he leaned over and picked it up. Straightening in his chair, Ralph unfolded the airplane and found a message written inside:

He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. It disappeared half way across. Ralph was seething. It was one thing when she was picking on only him. Then she had to go and drag Bill into it. Bill... he could handle himself. Now, she had Pam, too?

Ralph was glad he'd brought the suit with him to school. He hurriedly picked up his things and left the classroom. He only stopped by the office long enough to let them know that he was going home sick.

He quickly made his way out of the school and ran across the parking lot to the station wagon. Ralph threw his things in the back, except the bag with the suit.

He pulled the wagon out of the parking spot and burned a bit of rubber leaving.

It took less than ten minutes to get to the old mall. Ralph parked the wagon and climbed into the back to change into the suit.

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

Ralph used his invisibility to get past the workers outside the mall. Once inside, he became visible and glanced around. The mall itself had once been a beautiful building. Three stories, elevator, fountains... a huge fountain in the middle of the building.

At any rate, Ralph was not in the mood to play games. "Mona! Where are you?!" He waited for some type of response, but all was quiet. "Alex! I know at least one of you has to be here! Show yourself!"

"You made it in record time. Pity Mona has other business to attend to at the moment, but she promised she would be here in a little while."

Ralph spun around and found Alex leaning against one of the shops' door frame. "Where are they?" Ralph ground out.

Alex stepped out of the door and held two items: a suit jacket and a fashion scarf. "Perhaps you can see for yourself."

Ralph snatched the items away from the evil twin and tried to vibe in on the jacket first. Try as he did, no holograph came from the jacket. He dropped the jacket and scrunched the scarf in both hands. "So help me..." Just as with the jacket, Ralph got no holograph from the scarf. He bowed his head, scarf still in his hands. When Ralph looked up again, he was shaking with anger. "You son of a--"

"Hit a nerve, did we?" Alex asked, carelessly.

At first, Ralph seemed to ignore the rhetorical question as he wrapped the scarf around a portion of the suit's belt. Once it was tied in place, Ralph used his speed and moved right in front of Alex, holding the lapels of the black suit jacket he wore. "What's the game?" Ralph asked through clenched teeth.

"It's simple, really. All you have to do is find them before the mall is demolished. Of course, there are some... modifications we've made to various parts of the building, but you'll figure those out as you find them." Alex grinned. "You've got two hours before this place becomes a pile of rubble, I'd suggest you get going, or else they're goners and you belong to Mona."

As Alex continued to grin in his face, Ralph felt something inside snap. He was absolutely infuriated. He lifted Alex up off the ground, finally removing the grin from the devil's face. Ralph began to spin around, faster and faster, until he came to a sudden stop and flung the devil about two hundred feet down the mall corridor, slamming him into a large, thick beam. Alex slid to the ground out cold. Ralph brushed his hands off and felt just a little bit better.

Ralph decided to start with the high road and headed for the third floor. He took three running steps and launched himself. In an attempted landing, he lost his footing and slipped, sliding into the wall. The force left an indentation in the wall.

Ralph got up and shook his head, clearing the cobwebs. "No time for grace," he commented to himself. He checked his watch. Two hours. The detonation was set for one o'clock. He began down the corridor and peeked in the first doorway. He frowned seeing how dark it was inside, considering it was bright in the corridor due to the skylights.

"Pam? Bill?" he asked, leaning into the doorway. He paused and heard a creaking sound. He looked up and barely had enough time to cover his head with the cape when a large lead pipe swung down, aimed straight for his head. The pipe made contact with the cape and set off a reverberation heard all through the mall. The contact sent Ralph to the ground, still conscious. He groaned and looked around for the pipe.

Ralph blinked, seeing the former store he was in was now as brightly lit as the rest of the corridor and that there was no lead pipe in sight. He got up and brushed himself off, then rubbed at his head where the pipe made contact. He winced, then muttered, "That'll be tender for a while."

Ralph walked out of the former store, seeing as it was smaller and there wasn't much to search through, and headed for the next one. He stepped inside and glanced around. Empty shelving was scattered throughout, along with several broken down cardboard boxes. "Hello?" he called out.

At the shelves, unbeknownst to Ralph, the remaining screws began to undo themselves and float in the air, until there were several hundred. Ralph turned around to leave and was hit by a barrage of screws pelting him. They kept coming and started backing up Ralph until he hit the back wall. He put his hands up, trying to stop them. He could feel hundreds of little welts forming on his skin from the hits. Worse, his previously injured hand was stinging something fierce.

Ralph was thankful he had the suit, he just wished that the devils didn't play slightly above the suit's boundaries of protection. He undid the button on the cape and pulled it around in front of him. Spreading it in front of him, Ralph used it as a shield, pushing his way toward the front of the store, fending off the still flying screws.

He reached the doorway and the screws stopped so suddenly, that Ralph's momentum sent him into the rail and flipped him over it. He managed to grip it, while the cape floated back down to the first floor. Despite hanging over a three floor drop, he was sure it would really hurt. Knowing the devils, it'd probably feel like thirty floors, even with the suit. He sighed and shook his head. "Why me?"

Ralph climbed back up and over the railing, then leaned over it, looking down for his cape. He spotted it and decided to just use the telekinesis to bring it back up to him, rather than actually physically going after it. Concentrating, the cape began to float and rise in the air. It finally reached arm's length and Ralph grabbed it, then buttoned it around his neck once again.

He turned to start down the corridor again and missed several floating spears that seemed to have followed his cape. The spears followed Ralph slowly. Getting a strange feeling, he stopped and slowly turned around. His eyes widened at the sight of the spears. "Oh shi--" His expletive was cut off by the spears flying at him one at a time.

Ralph ducked the first, then began to twist and turn, dodging the next few. He jumped another, then the spears began coming from both in front of and behind him. He managed to dodge several of them, but then one grazed his shoulder. The suit remained in tact, but Ralph could feel the cut. He cried out in pain and grasped the shoulder.

He felt the sticky blood on his fingers, despite the suit covering the wound. Ralph dove away from the spears, landing inside the doorway of what appeared to be a maintenance room. He righted himself, sitting against a wall, and brought his right hand away from his injured left shoulder. He frowned at the blood on his fingers... along with the tingling he felt from the same hand. Ralph wasn't sure when the wrap had fallen off his hand. It didn't matter when, just that it had.

This was a great day. His wife and best friend had been kidnapped by a couple of devils. His head throbbed. His shoulder was bleeding. And his hand STILL ached something awful. At least Ralph finally had a bit of a breather. He let out a sigh. That's when he thought he smelled something... followed by a clang. He turned a glanced to the doorway and found the big, metal door closed.

He got up and went to the door and tried prying it open, but between the shoulder and hand injuries, he had little oomph behind his effort. Then he caught the smell again.

Ralph's eyes widened again. "Gas!" He backed up and ran full force into the door. He bounced off it and landed hard on the floor, jarring his shoulder. He cringed. Worse, he was starting to feel sluggish. He had to think... how was he going to get out of this?

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

Mona appeared in a puff of black smoke. She smirked at the small pool in front of her. Suddenly, an alligator surfaced and opened its large mouth.

"Soon, my dears. I know you are hungry," Mona said. She looked up at the man and woman dangling over the pool. Both were unconscious and looked rather familiar. Mona grinned and left the second floor store, which had been modified with said pool and gators. "Lets see how my dearest Ralph is doing with our little surprises greeting him on his journey to save his friends."

A black haze appeared in front of Mona and she had a visual of the outside of the store that Ralph was trapped in. She continued to grin... until a large explosion blew off the door to the store. Black smoke billowed from inside. Ralph stumbled out, coughing. He fell to his knees outside the doorway, hacking from breathing in the smoke and the gas fumes.

"I don't know how he does it..." Alex complained, entering the room, holding his head and looking worse for the wear.

"Dammit!" Mona cursed, fuming.

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

Ralph tried desperately to get air into his lungs, but he just kept coughing. He doubled over from the force of the coughs and ended up doing a couple dry heaves. He was thankful he hadn't had lunch, at least. He concentrated on the coughs and replacing them with good air in his lungs. It took a few minutes, but he was finally composed enough to continue on.

He made it to his feet, albeit a little shaky. He stretched out his left arm, cringing because of the shoulder, but used the hand to hold the wall, keeping himself upright. Ralph felt absolutely terrible. He had to keep moving. He had to find Pam and Bill, or else...

He shuddered at the thought. There was no way the devils would win as long as he was still breathing.

At least he'd managed to break out of the maintenance room. Turned out, there had been a welding tank and torch in the corner of the room, so he set off the torch. It was only a matter of moments before the whole thing exploded, blasting the door open. Ralph had had just enough time to curl up near the door and throw the cape over his head.

Ralph moved along slowly and spotted something that made him smile: a fountain. Now he could wash up, at least. He walked up to it and leaned over. Then he thought he smelled something odd. He glanced around and found a pipe lying on the floor nearby. He grabbed it and dipped it into the fountain. When he pulled it back out, the pipe was only half as long. "Acid..."

Just then, the 'water' that had been spouting from the top of the fountain become more forceful and started raining down on him. Ralph flipped the cape over his head again, covering his face. He could hear the fizzling of the acid hitting the material. He started moving as quickly as he could away from it.

Once Ralph no longer heard the fizzling, he flipped the cape off his head and found himself at the beginning of what seemed to be a maze in one of the stores. The shelves looked to have been rearranged and the door behind him locked tight. He started walking through the maze, turning left and right. After several minutes, he'd ended up at the beginning again.

This time, he spotted a sign at the other end of the store, blinking brightly "Exit." Ralph was fuming. He covered his head with the cape once again and ran for all he was worth, crashing through well over a dozen shelves and finally the door at the end. The force landed Ralph face down on the floor. As he pushed up onto his elbows, one arm brushing the scarf still tucked around his belt, a holograph came into view finally. In it, he saw the small pool with the gators... along with a familiar pair dangling above it.

"Pam! Bill!" He watched as Pam seemed to be clearing her head and then turn wide-eyed seeing where they were. Then the holograph faded. Ralph thought he recognized what was left of the original store and knew he was nearby. He just had a pet store and the food court to get past now.

Ralph got up and turned to walk past the pet store... and found a dozen cobras blocking his way. "Oh great..." He glanced around and found just what he was looking for. Ralph back up slowly and grabbed the fire extinguisher from where it hung on the wall. He opened it up and took aim. "I hate snakes!" He gave the cobras a full blast of CO2. When he stopped, the dozen snakes were frosted and knocked out.

Ralph sighed and, hanging onto the extinguisher, moved carefully past the snoozing cobras and made it into the food court. There had been restaurants on both sides.... which would explain why flames and flying ice were being flung across the way, blocking Ralph's exit. He knew there wasn't enough left in the extinguisher to help... but he had another other idea. Preparing to duck and cover his head yet again, Ralph heaved the extinguisher into the food court, as close to the middle as he could. Hitting the flames, it exploded and caused a chain reaction.

Ralph could feel the flames licking at him, along with debris falling all around. It took several minutes before all was quiet and Ralph dared to take a peek. He found what was left of the food court, which was now charred from the fire. Smoke floated heavily through the air, so Ralph put the cape up over his mouth and nose as he walked through the mess.

He finally reached where Pam and Bill were. As soon as Ralph stepped into the store, the lights began blinking brightly and quickly in a strobe affect. He put his arms up to try to block the light, but came from all directions. Ralph staggered his way through, becoming dizzier and dizzier. Getting through a doorway, he dropped to his knees, shaking.

"I don't believe it..."

"My dearest, Ralph, you have decided to join us!"

Still shaking, Ralph looked up and found Alex and Mona standing on the other side of the small pool. "You'll... have... to... try... harder... next... time..." Pushing himself off the floor, he continued, "Now... let Pam... and Bill... go..."

"I could let them drop..." Mona began, as the gators surfaced, "but I do not think you would appreciate that very much." She reached for a lever...

"No!" Ralph yelled, took three running steps and took off, as Mona pulled the lever. Pam and Bill began to fall, but Ralph caught them as he flew by. He crashed on the other side, taking the brunt of the blow by shifting the still tied up pair to land on him.

Pam tried turning to see Ralph. "Ralph! Ralph, are you okay?"

"What's with all the yelling? Tryin' to sleep here..." Bill muttered, no clue of what's going on.

Ralph, who obviously looked like he had better days, moved out from under them. "I'll be... right back..." He got to his feet and walked over to where the devils were. Meanwhile, Pam worked on waking up Bill.

"I do not know how you made it through all of my traps, dearest," Mona said, shaking her head. "You have won for now, but I will be back." With that, she disappeared in black smoke.

Alex walked up to Ralph. "And so will I." And he, too, disappeared in black smoke.

Once both devils were gone, the building began shifting back to its original run-down form.

Ralph returned to Pam and Bill and untied them. "We need to get out of here quick! They'll be tearing this place down any time now!" Freed, the trio ran out a nearby exit door and ran to where Ralph had left the station wagon.

Pam climbed in to drive, while Bill took the passenger side, and Ralph sprawled himself over the back seat. Pam peeled the car out and none of them looked back.

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

That evening, Bill stood in front of the tv, watching the news. Most of the half hour consisted of video of the mall being torn down. And every so often, the newscaster's voice would be drowned out by Ralph's hissing from the kitchen.

"Sorry, hon," Pam apologized as Ralph grit his teeth. She dabbed the clothed along Ralph's shoulder wound carefully, allowing the alcohol to do it's job.

"It's okay, Pam. Doesn't hurt nearly as bad as receiving the injuries," Ralph said, as Bill entered the room.

"Well, that place is just a pile of rubble now," Bill said.

"Good," Ralph said, wincing. He paused, then said, "I wish I could figure out how to rid us of those devils. They've gotten to be a real nuisance."

"We'll figure out a scenario, kid," Bill said, positively.

Ralph, on the other hand, frowned. He wasn't so sure...