"Gracias, El Sonido!"

The greying man stood, his body bent with the years, and took the heroine's hand.

You are more than welcome, senor," the dark-haired woman smiled. "I must tell Thunderbolt that she is not the only one to get cats out of trees, eh?"

She winked and patted the tiny pussycat in the frail man's arms. "Behave now, amigo."

With that, she leapt straight up and, propelled by her unique sound, sailed up and over the four-story condo building.

"Amazing," the man breathed.

"Yeah," a nearby teen commented. "And that leaping-thing is pretty cool, too."

El Sonido smiled at that.

Though she was already a block away, she had heard every word.

Her ability to hear was phenomenal - she could easily sort out conversations at a distance of several city blocks, and with effort had discerned sounds at distances up to three miles. In truth, she could probably hear for as long as there was a medium to carry the sound, though for practical purposes she tried to limit it to under a mile; there were only so many sounds she could sort through without gaining an unbelievable headache.

She was both amused and flattered that some people found her attractive. There were many, many beautiful women in Miami, and, though not all of them bounded over buildings as she did, most of them dressed in clothes or swimsuits that covered far less than her costume.

It was not immodest - at least, by local standards. The high-necked top covered her well below her chest, and the high-waisted briefs came almost to her belly button. Maybe it was the low boots? Or the long gloves?

Who knew, maybe it was the mask.

She shook her head as she bounded across the Miami skyline. Whatever it was, she certainly didn't discourage it.

After all, it kept her identity safe.

Who would suspect meek Mariana Morales was the flamboyant El Sonido?

Ohh, how she would love to reveal her true nature to Reynardo - except, which was her true nature?

Sometimes she thought she was schizophrenic -

Hey.

She stopped her rooftop bounding and listened.

It was quiet. Really quiet.

At three in the afternoon?

She raised an eyebrow.

This was odd.

Usually this older section of Miami was a symphony of sound, from car doors slamming to babies crying to the countless conversations.

But now... it was silent.

"Qué se está encendiendo?" she mused as she moved slowly across the rooftops, eyes peeled for -

Oh. That was a good place to start.

A tall, thin man wearing a grey unitard was creeping along the row of shops below. His arms and legs were extremely thin and long, lending him an eerie spider-like gait. His head was covered completely by a grey hood; the only decoration a hollow black oval, extending vertically over his face.

She leapt down in front of him, intending to use her sonic powers to slow her descent -

But to her shock she was actually accelerating!

She quickly pulled up her legs and aimed herself to hit the roof at an angle. This was going to -

She hit the roof hard, and tumbled over two, three times before regaining her feet.

Her legs ached. That was the first time - why hadn't she slowed down?

And there was something odd - she hadn't made a sound crashing onto the roof. Not a sound.

"...............!" she said, pointing at the odd fellow.

All right, she grumbled, this was ridiculo!

So he won't have the benefit of hearing her witty remarks, she thought as she leapt toward him -

Only to fall short without her typical sonic boost.

She stood - right into a silent punch that sent her spinning.

"......................!" she said, swinging her fist at his face.

A silent blow lifted her off the ground!

The Sonic Sensation tried to roll with it, but ended up in a pile on the roof.

All in complete silence.

And for El Sonido, the sound of silence was deafening.

It was beginning to dawn on her just how much she relied on sounds. Loud sounds, like the impact her punches made or the thumping of her landings. Subtle sounds, like the way the air sounded on an incoming blow, enabling her to duck or dodge. Sounds that let her know where her opponents were, where the surrounding walls stood, how to roll with the punches.

Shakily, she stood -

And the grey man walloped her so hard it made her head spin.

Madre de dios, it was like she was fighting blind!

A punch from the left, then the right -

And El Sonido fell silently to the roof.

"...........", she moaned as the world spun around her. She desperately wanted to stand, but her limbs refused to cooperate.

The gangly man in grey walked to the far end of the roof, and descended.

Forty seconds later, El Sonido's vision had cleared enough to allow her to sit up, holding her head.

"........" she groaned.

That could have gone better.

He... cancelled sound.

He cancelled her powers.

"........ ... ......!" she said as she rose - at least, she thought she said something.

He must still be around, El Sonido realized. He must have some sort of passive ability...

She jogged over to the edge of the roof. He had gone down here, so...

Yes. The grey clad man was standing over an unconscious young man, while an older gentleman evidently was pleading with the Silencer not to harm him. A young woman was shouting without success into the phone, and three or four other people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

All silently. Bizarre.

Well, if she couldn't hear him, chances were good he couldn't hear her, either. she'd leap down, hit him between the shoulder blades. She should have enough strength to then knock him out, even without her sonics to enhance her hitting power.

She felt a tad guilty as she leapt - ordinarily she'd never hit someone from behind, but she needed surprise -

No! The old man and the woman were both pointing up at her! And she could tell, even through the silence, that both were yelling her name!

The Silencer whirled and raised his hands. Some kind of invisible force silently slammed her backwards into the wall!

"........!"

O-oboy... what was - ?

She struggled to her feet, only to get blasted again - and hitting the brick wall behind her was like a second blow!

El Sonido tried to raise her head. She hadn't even shaken off the first drubbing she had received, now that she was without her sonic shield to reduce the incoming damage.

The gangly man in gray grabbed the front of her costume with one hand, and pounded her head with his other fist. Even without hearing the impact, El Sonido felt it hammer home.

Again. And again.

The Sonic Sensation slumped, socked senseless.

El Sonido trudged into the Justice Squadron's Kitchen.

That was what they called it, anyway.

Behind the far wall was indeed a large and spacious kitchen, equipped with a large six-burner stove, two refrigerators, and a wide variety of pots and pans (for some reason Captain Thunder had received quite a few sets of cookware for wedding presents, and most of them ended up here).

And since most of the members did not spend much of their free time at the base, this gourmet kitchen was rarely used except to make snacks, sandwiches or chili.

But the Kitchen most of the members referred to was the foreroom, a large and comfortable room decorated like the eating area in someone's home, only writ large.

Its nine tables were of various sizes; most could accommodate four to six people. Some chairs were of heavy wood, painted forest green, with natural seats; others were of silver metal, again trimmed in green.

Along one wall were a Coca-Cola dispenser, a mini-fridge, and most importantly, the coffee machine.

The Machine was unique, a gift from Questar as somewhat of an apology for freeing Rama-Tut and his army of mummies from their cyber-tombs. It crushed the beans and forced steam through them in such a way that it produced absolutely the finest cup of coffee on the planet.

And in so many forms! Coffee, expresso, mocha!

After bouncing off the walls - in El Sonido's case, literally - it was decided to switch the entire team to decaf.

And the coffee was so extraordinary not one hero minded.

Two heroes were in the Kitchen and indeed, sipping on coffee.

Wrangler opened his fist on a gold coin and grinned, tipping back his white Stetson.

"Amazing. I am impressed," said Sorcier de Lumiere, leaning back in his chair.

"Gotta be fast on the draw," the cosmic cowboy grinned.

"Yes, I suppose you do," Lumiere smiled slyly, holding up a gold coin.

Wrangler started.

"The one in your hand is chocolate."

The cowboy looked at the coin.

"And you didn't use magic."

"Non. Just sleight-of-hand."

"Sonuvagun," muttered the Western hero as he unwrapped the coin. "Hey, Sonido."

"Hello," she said sullenly, walking past them directly toward the Machine. "Celerity around?"

"MMMno-o-o," Lumiere said, "I believe she's running a package over the Cascades."

"Hornet? Thunderbolt drop by, maybe?"

"Uh, no," Wrangler said, straightening. "Hornet's got a personal day, and I ain't seen Thunderbolt...

"Say," the black man said quietly, "Either o' you smell somethin' funny?"

"That," El Sonido growled as she plopped down at the next table over, "would be me."

Lumiere and Wrangler looked at each other, then at the Sonic Sensation.

Her hair was disheveled, their were stains on her costume, and she had filled the huge coffee cup they had gotten Black Cougar as a joke and was greedily downing the beverage.

Finally Lumiere spoke, softly.

"Sonido, m'ami. Are you all right?"

The Mexican-American woman bit her lip, then forcibly exhaled.

"Yes. Thank you. I had... just wanted... "

She took a long sip from her cup.

Wrangler noted that she had sat down right next to them.

"You wanted to talk to a gal," he prodded softly.

She nodded hurriedly.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to - to - "

The woman in rose straightened.

"I was defeated this afternoon. Twice. By a man who cancels out all sound. My sound.

"The second time he left me in the dumpster... as if to say how worthless I am."

Lumiere absently shuffled a deck of cards, moving his hands so deftly that the cards never touched the table.

"My dear Sonido," he smiled wryly, "Worrying about one's worth to this team is my schtik. I'd thank you not to horn in."

She laughed a short little laugh.

"At least it wasn't the stockyards," Wrangler said sympathetically. "Shoulda seen where Black Brahma left me a couple months back."

He shook his head. "Man, I hadda get a whole new pair o' boots."

"I have never had the misfortune," Lumiere announced haughtily.

"Well-l-l-l, except for the time I was doused in a truckload of Labatt's and knocked into a truck full of cherry pies, about three minutes before having to attend my niece's birthday," he smiled.

Both Sonido and Wrangler laughed at the thought of the white-clad, fastidious one covered in such a mess.

"Thing is, you're gonna get beat sometime," the black man said. "What matters is you get back up."

"Bear Bryant," the other two heroes chorused.

"Actually, that one's vincent Lombardi," Wrangler said. "But Bear woulda said it if he hadn't."

All three of them chuckled.

"To band together to fight the foes that one cannot - I believe that is the reason for this team's existence, no? I would be honored to aid you against this silent dastard."

"And me, too," Wrangler touched the brim of his hat.

"I knew you would, but I did not wish to speak for you."

"Never stopped you before."

Lumiere opened his mouth to retort, but his mind went blank.

"Oh, here," he sighed, stuffing a bill into Wrangler's hand.

Sonido just... looked at them.

"Just a thing," Wrangler shrugged.

"Where do you think," Lumiere said, gesturing with his cup, "that we get the cash to buy this delicious Kona blend?"

"We may not be able to compete with the big boys - Thunder, Celerity - not in terms of raw power, anyway. But combined? We can kick this Silencer's butt."

"I... thank you. Both of you."

She paused.

"I think... I would like to shower, first."

"Not a bad idea."

"Tout à fait bien."

".. he was trying to protect the store. I think God Manuel was not more seriously injured."

The old man stood with broom in hand among the wreckage strewn about his tiny store.

"He took only one particular item. Very special."

El Sonido, now dressed in sea green, looked around the curio shop. Everything from fancy kites to Lladro statues, disorganized even before the silent man had struck.

"No way we will ever find out what, eh?"

The old man blinked.

"Oh, I can show you," he said, waddling over to a laptop behind the counter.

"We have a website."

His fingers dashed about the keyboard.

"A small statue, of Harpocrates."

"Hippocrates? The physician?"

"No. Harpocrates."

El Sonido leaned over to look at the picture of a small boy, a finger raised in front of his lips.

"Greek god of silence."

"You are joking. A boy, saying 'shhh'?"

"It is an Egyptian gesture, signifying childhood," the old man stated simply. "The Greeks mistook it for a hush of silence."

El Sonido paused. "Egyptian?"

"Harpocrates is a Greek derivative of the Egyptian god, Harpa-Khruti. 'Horus the Child'."

She looked at him.

He shrugged.

"They do not teach you youngsters much mythology these days, do they?"

"Hippocrates?" Wrangler asked.

"No-o-o, Harpocrates," El Sonido sighed. "He was derived - some say copied - from the Egyptian Harpa-Khruti. The Greeks mistook the finger in front of the mouth gesture for silence."

"All right," the cowboy said, looking down at the row of stores below. "So-o-o?"

"So the statue is reputed to have vast powers, enough to silence an entire city - but only in conjunction with its Egyptian counterpart. The older gentleman had dismissed that as an old wives tale, but I ran an Internet search for a similar statue of Harpa-Khruti. That store had offered - "

"............!"

She sighed and nodded to the stores below and mouthed "the other statue".

Below, the gangly man in grey snuck up to the store's doorway, accompanied by two bulkier men wearing black sweaters and trousers.

The grey man stepped aside, and allowed the heavy-set men to simply bash in the front glass with crowbars. There was no noise, no alarm was raised.

The men cleared enough of the glass to reach through the metal bars and unlock the door. The grinned and gestured for the Silencer to enter first.

But when they, too, turned to enter, a loop of lightning lariat descended over them both. Before they knew what was happening, the lariat tightened, slamming them both together - then another yank hurled them across the parking lot.

Of course, they howled, and the lightning crackled, but the Wrangler smiled - there was a silence field, after all.

Inside the antique store, the Silencer moved, well, silently. He crept among the cherry tables and grandfather clocks, past old carvings of dragons and newer statues of chubby women diving in bathing suits.

No accounting for taste,

Suddenly he froze.

"Hello," mouthed El Sonido, crouched in a fighting stance.

The Silencer mockingly waved bye bye, then thrust out his hands! A blast of silent force, barely visible in the dim light, rushed out toward the heroine!

And stopped a good foot away.

El Sonido smiled.

She could not see the gangly man's face under his mask, but his body language spelled out confusion.

He thrust his arms out again - and again the blast never reached her.

He never got to try a third time, because El Sonido unleashed a wicked punch straight into his jaw!

She was a little unnerved by the punch not making any noise, but he was solid enough!

She followed quickly with a punch in his stomach, doubling him over.

Again, no sound, no grunt.

But without the extra punch that her sonic field usually provided, the blows far from finished the Silencer.

In desperation he reached out and grabbed a heavy silver candlestick - and brought it down hard atop the shorter woman's skull!

El Sonido did manage to dodge the blow, at least partially, but the force of the hit still knocked her to the floor. Growling, the Sonic Sensation grabbed the gangly gray man around his knees and tackled him into a bookcase!

Somehow the Silencer shook his way loose and kicked her in the head, sending her tumbling backwards over a table.

"Madre de dios," she said under her breath. The man was much stronger than he looked.

Again the man swung the candlestick down at El sonido, but she rolled out of the way and unleased a left hook.

El Sonido's eyes narrowed as her blow glanced off his jaw.

She was too used to holding back, letting her sonics do the work.

Now she didn't have her sonics.

Now, it was up to her.

She ducked a blow from that candlestick, aware also that she didn't have her sonic shield to protect her. She wound up and threw all her strength into one single blow -

That knocked the Silencer through several old chairs.

He moaned, tiny bolts of electricity cascading over where his costume had torn.

"Hey... he groaned!" El Sonido realized. Not only that, but the alarm was now ringing, cars were honking in distant traffic...

"I can speak again!"

"Yes, that silence business was getting annoying."

A white-clad man in a red mask stepped out from behind some shelving, clapping his hands.

"Thank you, Lumiere. For halting that blast with that force-field... "

She looked down at the Silencer.

"And for allowing me take him down, myself."

She paused.

"Maybe we should help Wrangler - "

"Pourquoi? There are only two criminals."

"Three," Wrangler announced, entering the store. "Counting the getaway driver. All trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys."

He looked down at the defeated Silencer.

"Wonder what his problem was."

"Hyperacusis," El Sonido announced as she poured herself a mug of coffee - a normal-sized mug, this time.

"Extreme sensitivity to noise - only his really was extreme."

"Heckuvan excuse to become a supervillain," Wrangler remarked, carrying over a platter of steaks.

Wrangler was not a vegetarian.

"I understand his condition was worsened by antipsychotic medicine," El Sonido took a seat in the Kitchen. "If a man is driven to insanity, if sound hurts him that much... it is truly hard to blame him."

"True, although I do wish that perhaps once trauma may drive them to do good?" Lumiere sauntered over, spinning the salad bowl on one finger. "I am happy he is getting medical attention."

"As am I. Thank you, both of you."

"No-o-o problem."

"Indeed," smiled Lumiere.

Whack!

El Sonido slammed a statue of a young boy, with his finger in front of his mouth, down on the table.

"Something for the trophy room."

"You, uh, have to smack it so loud?" Wrangler chuckled, pulling down his mask to eat.

"Oh, yes," smiled El Sonido, stabbing her fork into a sizzling steak.

"Yes, I did!"