Evolve or Die! 22.

Professor Coral Williams, Richard Dawkins fan and evolution-nut was Toxic, the mysterious killer of drug-users. Everything suddenly made a very nasty sort of sense. Coral was an evolution nut. I suddenly remembered something she'd said,

"We have practically destroyed evolutionary pressure. For centuries, intead of allowing the weak and the unfit to die, we have preserved their lives. Thankfully now modern reproductive science has allowed us to practically eliminate certain unfitnesses such as Down's Syndrome and the cleft pallette, but still some families choose to have children with genetic disorders born, and they keep those children alive! It is an offence..."

Coral wanted to give evolution a helping hand, engage in her own eugenics programme by killing off those she thought of as 'unfit', beginning with drug-users.
"Coral, you can't..."
"I have to, Diana. You don't understand. You're too compassionate. These people have to die, for the good of the human race. Think of it, these drug-users, addicts, abusing their own bodies, passing on mutations they've induced in their own bodies to their children. If we elimiate all of them, then humanity will be so much better-off."
"They're human beings!"
"And what are human beings? Simply highly-evolved apes! Don't you see, Diana, if these people die, if evolutionary pressure is scientifically applied by a catalyst such as me, the race will begin evolving again. Imagine it! I'm helping mankind!"
"You're murdering thousands of people!"
"I'm eliminating genetically unfit material! I'm doing good! But you're too blind to see it! Or are you like that silly friend of yours, Jame Hill! She doesn't even believe in evolution! She's so decieved by her religion. But I know the truth. There is no God up there, watching over us. We have to control our own destiny, move forward to higher things. We shall see the triumph of evolution! I shall help to bring it about! I am the servant of nature, the catalyst of the development of humanity!"
She was completely insane, I realised. That made her incredibly dangerous. She believed that she was working for the good of humanity. She wasn't the sort of criminal I was used to (even though some of the people I've dealt with before have been insane). She thought she was working for good. In her eyes those who tried to care for the sick were the criminals. She was the hero, bringing her own brand of social Darwinism to London.
And I had to stop her. It was not a nice thought.

Evolve or Die! 21.

[Girl in Grey back]
I hung on tight as the car sped through London. Being a Londoner myself, I recognised the route to Canning Town, and I didn't like it at all. Well, you try going anywhere on the back of a car and see how you like it. Especially the distance between Kensington and Canning Town. I don't have to say I was grateful for my hard-wearing costume! I mean, I'm used to travelling in unusual positions, but the back of a car's murder on the clothes!
We arrived at a derelict mansion, and I slipped off before the car stopped, hiding myself in the junkyard that surrounded the mansion. I could see that it had been an impressive building once, set in its own grounds. Those grounds were almost totally eaten up by light industrial units now, and the house was abandoned.
Or it SEEMED abandoned. It was exactly the sort of place a super-villain might use as a base. Had I been taken to Toxic?
Why had Diana been kidnapped, not killed? Toxic wasn't exactly shy about killing, after all, so there had to be a reason. I just didn't know what it was. After all, Diana didn't have any scierntific skills that Toxic might need, no secrets, except that of Toxic's identity.
Not that I wasn't glad Toxic hadn't killed Diana. I'm rather fond of Diana, and I was partly to blame for her getting kidnapped like this.
I moved silently among the rusting wrecks of cars that surrounded the old mansion, looking for a way in. There had to be one, I reasoned. A window where the boards had come loose, or a door. I could see the 'unsafe structure, keep out' signs on the mansion's doors and windows, but I also saw the front door opened and Diana dragged inside. If it was safe enough for the usual London thugs who used to be boxers (apparently boxing didn't keep THEM out of crime), it was safe for my svelte form.
The boards on the windows did mean no-one saw me creeping through the wrecks in the scrapyard around the mansion, and at last I reached a door. It was padlocked, but locks are simple things for me, and I had it open in seconds. I slipped inside, into a world of semi-darkness, a world where I smelled rotting wood, where wallpaper was peeling from walls. It had once been a grand house, now it was falling into ruin.
I moved silently, cautiously, keeping all my senses alert. At last I found myself crouching behind a door that was ajar. It led into one of the grand rooms of the old mansion, and I could hear a conversation inside.
"Toxic!" Diana exclaimed.
I was right!
"Yes," a woman's voice purred. "Toxic. You're very clever, Diana Dickson, but not clever enough."
I recognised the voice! It was Coral Williams!
Coral Williams was Toxic! Suddenly everything made sense!

Evolve or Die! 20.

[Scruff here]
With Sis having jumped on the back of a car as it sped off, Emily and I were left with a crook on our hands. I had quickly shed my sweater and trousers (baggy clothes are so useful) and was now in my Robin costume (anyone think I should wear something else? Suggestions welcome. But rude ones will result in my hacking your computer). The crook was shaking like jelly. Not because of me (fat chance), but because of Emily, who was visible in all her black smokiness.
"So, you kidnapped Diana Dickson," I said in my most threatening tones (I'm not that threatening. Maybe I should have chosen a more threatening costume). "We know Toxic hired you, because Diana found out who Toxic is."
"That means he doesn't know who Toxic is," Emily pointed out. "Otherwise he'd be dead by now. What do we do with him?"
"We can't interrogate him in the middle of Kensington High Street," I pointed out. "I'll get the car and we'll take him to an old warehouse."
"Okay, Robin, but be careful."
"Like I'm ever anything else!"
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'Scruff's sixteen, she's not allowed to drive'. Yeah, I know, but the Girl in Grey isn't exactly legal either. We're vigilantes, and last time I looked there was a law against that.
So I sprinted back to the car, got in and drove off. The thug was too terrified of the Outsider to be any trouble. I just handcuffed and blindfolded him, and drove off.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I hoped Emily would know what to do. I mean, she was trained to be some sort of creepy supernatural assassin or something like that, so I figured she'd know how to get information out of a man.
I know places where no-one's going to look. If you know where to find them, London's got a lot of really nice derelict buildings where you can question a man. Not that I'm into that sort of thing, but with tens of thousands of people at risk, I was willing to let Emily do whatever she did.
We drove to the old derelict warehouse, and we got the terrified thug inside. In the darkness, Emily's glowing red eyes looked even scarier. I took the man's blindfold off, and he faced the Outsider.
"No!!!" he screamed. "I'll tell you everything! Just don't hurt me! I can stand anything but pain!"
World's shortest interrogation, I thought to myself. Sis was right, crooks are a cowardly lot. Mind you, I don't like the idea of being hurt either, so maybe he was just sensible.
"Then spill," I drawled in my best gangster-type accent. The crook looked confused.
"Just talk," I explained.
"All right! Toxic said to get the girl and take her to a derelict house in Canning Town! Said the girl knows too much and has to be kept out of the way. That's all I know, I swear!"
As I've kind of cleaned up his words to write them here, I was well aware that he swore. Often and explicitly.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to use nasty words?" Emily asked him. He went even whiter than he already was, something I hadn't thought he could do.
"House name?" I asked.
"Ivydene Lodge..."
"Thanks. We'll be back," I told him. We left him in the derelict warehouse. Well, it was all I could think of.

Evolve or Die! 19.

I sprang from the table at once and ran to the exit. Scruff followed, and I assumed Emily did too (her being invisible meant it was hard to tell).
I dashed down the stairs and out into the street, not caring what people thought. My friend was in trouble, and only I could help her. It's times like these I wish I had Supergirl's powers. They'd be so handy. Or maybe the Flash's powers...
Dream on! I'm not the fastest girl alive, and I can't defy the laws of physics. I am pretty athletic, though, so I made good time. Scruff sprinted after me.
We ran towards the Natural History Museum, feet pounding on the pavement. I wished I could change into my Girl in Grey costume, but this was way too public for that. I had to rely on The Outsider's skills to do the scary stuff.
Then I saw it. Diana being stuffed into a car by a group of armed men.
Guns. Too many guns. And I was unarmed. I stopped dead as a gun was pointed right at me.
"So, you're the friend she was 'phoning?" the masked gunman mocked. "Shame you can't help. But be glad we silenced her when we did - otherwise you'd be gettin' silednced - for good."
Did I say I hate guns. They're for cowards. Anyone can hide behind a pistol, pretend to be brave. Now a sword takes skill. Unarmed combat's an art. A gun? Most of these thugs don't even know how to aim one. But this man didn't need to, not at this range. He just had to point the gun at me, and if it didn't kill, it'd maim. Nasty, nasty thing.
There was a time all the amateurs went for headshots. That was quite funny, because the head's a small target and easiuly moved. I suppose it was some movie they'd all seen. Now they were back to body shots. And, despite our gun laws, it seemed every cheap thug in London had a gun.
"No!"
The thug looked around at the sound of Emily's sinister voice. I seized my chance - and the man's gun. Using my own knowledge of unarmed combat techniques, I tore the sweapon from his hand, ejected the magazine, and threw both gun and magazine away.
Now the crook looked scared. Scared of me, because he had no gun, and I knew how to defeat him.
The car roared away. I let go of the crook and hurled myself after the vehicle in a desperate attempt to help my friend.
Somehow I caught the rear bumper and hung on for dear life. Thankfully I had my Girl in Grey costume on under my clothes.
Diana knew who Toxic was. That meant she was in serious danger. It also meant I had to save my friend, find Toxic, defeat the criminal mastermind, and save London from tens of thousands of deaths.
Good thing I'd started early and had a good breakfast.