Prologue

This story starts in late 1943, in New York City, the hometown of Jim and Susan Barr (Bulletman and Bulletgirl). Jim, a renowned police scientist, had been asked to be a judge at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Elementary School Science Fair. Some of the projects were less than sterling ("Do cows give more milk if the are milked in the morning than the evening?" "Which cola has the most fizz?") but he was extremely impressed with a project in the 14 and under category.

The project was called "Magnetic Levitation with Permanent Magnets" by an 11 year old named Todd Drake. Drake had built a wooden race track of sorts, lima-bean shaped and about 9 feet long. The track was really a wooden tray, about 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep. The bottom of the tray was lined with flat magnets, glued to the wood, with the north poles facing up and the south poles facing down. Todd had built a flying 'boat' which moved around the track, floating above it on magnetic repulsion.

The boat was about 6 inches long by 2 inches wide, and it had 'runners' down both sides the fit into grooves in the wall of the tray, and glued to the bottom of the boat were more flat magnets, with the north pole facing downward. When the boat was placed over top of the track, the magnets repelled each other and the boat 'floated'.

However, the floating was inherently unstable - no matter how carefully you were to position the boat motionless above the track, it would slide to one side or the other and then flip over. That's why Todd had added the walls of the tray; they kept the boat from sliding to one side or another. This meant, of course, that when the boat was pushed forward along the track, it would bounce from side to side, which eventually would bring the boat to a halt. The runners on the sides of the boat were made of highly polished glass, and the walls of the tray were covered with a very thin coat of oil, to minimize the loss of forward momentum due to friction against the tray walls. If the boat was pushed firmly enough, it would glide entirely around the track once without any further application of power.

What impressed Jim the most was that Todd had further experiments already mapped out. He hoped to build magnets into the walls of the tray, and replace the runners with more magnets, to see if he could use magnetic repulsion to prevent the boat from hitting the walls. And he also wanted to see if he could use magnetic attraction to drive the boat.

"Suppose", his proposal went, "I could put a series of switches into the track, each of which would be toggled by the boat as it passed them. The toggle switch would turn on an electromagnet approximately 6 inches in front of the boat, built into the track itself. This electromagnet would attract a permanent magnet set in the front of the boat. As the boat approached the electromagnet, it would trip the next switch, which would shut off the current electromagnet and turn on another one, further from the boat."

Todd had drawn schematics for the whole system, but he didn't have the money to buy the switches or relays he would need. He had managed to build a single electromagnet using wires he pulled out of an old TV set and he was able to demonstrate the principle by pulling the boat around the track with the electromagnet, never touching it.

As something of an expert on magnetism himself, Jim was very impressed with the thoroughness of Todd's research, and the logical progression of experiments he had devised. To him, this was hands- down the best project in the Science Fair, regardless of the age of the kid who submitted the project. Todd didn't win, though. Most of the other judges thought the whole idea was silly and impractical. But Jim did introduce himself and Susan to Todd and his parents, and told them of his admiration for this project.

When Todd found out that Jim was a chemist, he asked if Jim would teach him chemistry. Jim agreed, and 3 times a week, Todd would head to the Barr's house after school. Up until this point in his life, Todd had been only an average student, but when he realized how important math was to chemistry, his interest in math picked up too. And he quickly realized that he needed an excellent command of the English language in order to understand all the chemistry books. Todd went from being a mediocre student to being an excellent student. His parents were pleased as punch, and Jim and Susan Barr became good friends with the Drake family.

One day, Jim was called away from a tutoring session and quickly changed to Bulletman. He was a little careless, and Todd saw him change. When Jim came back, Todd told him what he had seen, and asked if he could join Jim and Susan as crime-fighters. Jim figured that the Mag/Grav Helmet would protect him, so after considerable discussion with Susan and Todd, he was finally added to the team.

Todd's stint as Bulletboy didn't last very long. Jim was reluctant to let him use the anti-crime drug, because he was worried about potential side-effects in someone that young, and Todd's normal 12 year old boy's strength and speed soon let him down. A trap by one of the more vicious super villains ended up breaking his arm, and his parents didn't believe the cover story that he and the Barrs came up with.

The Drakes were flabbergasted and extremely angry when they discovered that their son was Bulletboy. They had trusted the Barrs to educate and protect their son, and instead they were putting him into deadly danger. Todd's parents threatened to sue the Barrs if they every again came near Todd, or worse. Mr. Drake hinted that he might know somebody who would break bones pretty cheaply. Todd and the Barrs were devastated, but after both Barrs thought it over, they realized just how reckless they had been. They hated to lose the friendship of the Drakes and Todd, but they really had exercised very poor judgment in letting someone else's son become Bulletboy, without his parents' knowledge.

Just to be on the safe side, the Drakes moved to another state. Before they left, however, Jim was able to sneak Todd a gift - his Bulletboy costume and a vial of the anti-crime drug, but he only passed these on when Todd took a solemn oath not to use these things until he reached 18. But, by the time he reached 18, Todd was no longer interested in being a hero.

Todd was born in 1932. He graduated from high school at 17, in 1949. He worked for a year to save some money for school, and in 1950 he went on to college. He wanted to be a nuclear chemist, so he went to college at the school where atomic energy was first produced - The University of Chicago, and majored in physics and chemistry.

Chapter 1

Todd's roommate his freshman year was named Tomas Thomson. Tomas was the son of a US Ambassador, and he had lived all over the world as he was growing up. He was one of the older students in the freshman class, as he had first put in a 4-year stint in the Marine Corps, and then decided to return to school. He was studying to be a 'nuclear engineer' - he wanted to design nuclear power plants, and he was majoring in physics and engineering. Tomas had a flair for languages, and he spoke English and Spanish extremely well. He also had a good ear for accents, and he could usually tell a lot about a person's history just by hearing that person talk.

Tomas was a big man, particularly for the early '50s, about 6' tall and around 210. His face was exotic - he had a high forehead and high cheekbones, and his skin was somewhat dark - perhaps the color Todd would be if he spent a couple hours each day in the sun. People who were familiar with Americans Indians immediately guessed he had some Native American blood, while most other folks assumed he was at least partly Hispanic. A thin mustache and a goatee completed his look. Todd liked hanging around with him because a lot of women found Tomas's exotic looks attractive.

Both Todd and Tomas wanted to try intercollegiate athletics. Todd was a good athlete, but he had never been selected early when he and his friends had picked teams, and he had never developed much interest in team sports. Jim (Bulletman) Barr had taught him to box, and he had become quite good, boxing in several Golden Gloves tournaments after he retired as Bulletboy. At 16, he had actually been the state champion for his weight class and age group. UC's boxing team was mediocre, so he figured he had a good chance of making the varsity.

On the other hand, Tomas had always been a star athlete. But, having grown up almost entirely outside the US, he had mostly played soccer. He had only played baseball, football and basketball after he had joined the Marine Corps, and he had never really enjoyed them. But he had been an outstanding hand-to-hand combatant in the Marines, so he thought he would give boxing a try as well.

That year the varsity didn't have anyone at the 175 pound weight class, and Todd stepped right into a starting position. Tomas had more difficulty - the team captain was in his weight class, and even though Tomas consistently beat him in practice bouts, he _was_ a senior and the team captain. So the coach kept him on the varsity in the 210 pound class, and Tomas had to fight in the heavyweight class, which was up to 225. He was usually outweighed by up to 15 pounds, but he won more than he lost. Todd, Tomas, and the senior captain all had good years, and the UC boxing team turned in their best season in school history.

Todd and Tomas attended the same physics classes and shared an interest in nuclear power. They often did their homework together, and they soon became best friends. Todd was always puzzled by Tomas' refusal to talk much about his past, but then, Todd had a secret he wouldn't talk about either. They developed kind of a friendly rivalry over their grades, and as a result, both worked harder at their schoolwork than they might have otherwise. For the two, life as freshmen at University of Chicago was pretty good.

They roomed together again the next year, even though only freshmen had to share rooms. A couple of weeks before the boxing season began, they heard about a great jazz club on the other side of town. Although they didn't go to clubs often, they were looking for a change.

They either got their directions wrong, or someone had been playing a dangerous joke on them, because they ended up in a seedy dump full of scary characters. Todd was all for leaving right now, but there was actually a pianist and a girl singing some torch songs, like Melancholy Baby, What I Wouldn't Do for That Man, and He's My Secret Passion. She was quite good, and quite pretty as well, so they stayed for a while. Neither was much of a drinker, so they didn't spend a lot, but they sent a few drinks to the musicians, who came over and sat with them between sets. After the two had played their last set, Todd and Tomas decided it was time to leave. Tomas headed to the men's room.

As he passed the bar, someone jostled and shoved him, and he tripped over the outstretched foot of a second man, and stumbled into a third.

"Hey, buddy! Watch where you're going!" said the one he bounced into. "What's the matter, you drunk or what?"

Tomas immediately recognized what was happening; these guys were looking for a fight. He'd seen it before, in seedy little bars all around the world, and the routine almost never changed. If he protested that he had been shoved and tripped, the other 2 would call him a liar, and they would keep harassing him until it got physical. He suspected all 3 of them had knives - jerks like this almost always did - and they would have them out in seconds, too. But Tomas didn't want to play this game.

"I'm sorry, pal. It was totally my fault. Can I buy you a drink as an apology?" he said to Mr. OA 3 (Obnoxious A**), the man he had bumped into.

"You're damn right it was your fault! You jerks got some nerve, coming in here and stumbling around like idiots. Somebody ought to teach you a lesson!"

Tomas still wasn't biting. "Yes, sir, my fault entirely. I've already learned my lesson, thanks! Tell you what, why don't we have a drink and forget about it." He shouted to the bartender. "Two boilermakers, with the best whiskey you got!" and threw a $5 bill on the bar. OA3 looked kind of bemused - he hadn't expected to get a free drink. He was willing to give up his 'beef', but his friends were having none of it.

OA1, the one who had shoved Tomas, spoke up. "Hey, jerk, are you a coward, or what? You gonna let that guy insult you and then buy him a drink? What a momma's boy!"

Tomas turned to him slowly, and smiled. "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a private conversation between me and my new friend" and he indicated OA3. His smile sort of vanished and his voice turned cold and hard. "It's really none of your business." and he turned back to OA3.

"I'm makin' it my business. We don't like cowards in here!"

This guy was really pushing things. Tomas was starting to get tired of this crap. "Well, friend, then you must really hate yourself, or do you think the three of you beating the crap out of one guy is the epitome of courageous heroism? Oops, sorry, that's probably too many big words for you." He called the Bartender back over. "Bartender, two more boilermakers. Take it out of the 5 and keep the change!" He turned to face the three of them, raised his own drink in salute, and walked back to his table with Todd and sat down.

"What the heck was that?" Todd asked.

"Todd, you had better leave. Those guys are going to sit there, finish off the drinks I bought them, and talk about how I just made them look like fools. And they are going to taunt and goad each other until one of them, probably the one in the middle (OA1) is going to come over here and find some reason to pull his knife."

"What about you?" Todd asked. Let's both get out of here!"

"Nope, I can't. If I head for the door they'll cut me off, and if I head to the restroom, they'll follow me in. But you should be able to get away easily."

"What about the bartender? Why doesn't he do something?" Todd was starting to get a little worried. He didn't want to get in a fight with someone he didn't know, for no good reason. Particularly if they had knives.

"Oh, he will. Probably call the police 5 minutes after the fight starts, so they have time to beat us up, clean us out, and be gone. He probably gets a good cut of whatever they take from the guys they beat up, just for looking the other way and giving them time to get away from the police."

"I'm not going, Tomas, I'm staying right here with you!" Todd declared stoutly.

"Todd, have you ever been in a knife fight?" Tomas looked more worried about Todd than he was about the three goons.

"Actually, I have. More than one, in fact." Tomas looked at him oddly. Something about Tomas's calm seemed false to Todd, and it suddenly struck him what it was. "Tomas, have _you_ ever been in a knife fight?"

Tomas looked a little embarrassed. "Well, we were trained with knives in the Marine Corps, so I know what to watch out for. But, really, every time I ever thought I might end up in a knife fight, I made sure to be carrying my pistol."

"You're packing a pistol?" Todd asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

Tomas sighed... "Nope, not tonight. Actually, I stopped wearing it when I started school, and I never thought I'd need it tonight. Hey, head's up! Here he comes! Too late for you to leave now!"

It was OA1, as Tomas had predicted. OA2 and OA3 followed him over, although OA3 looked kind of reluctant.

"Hey, pretty boy, I decided I don't want a drink from you!" He poured the drink in Tomas' lap.

Todd stood up and started to protest. OA2 pulled a switchblade, using his body and the bodies of his friends to shield it from the rest of the room. "Sonny Boy, you can walk out of here right now, or we're gonna cut you up like your friend."

"You won't hurt me?" Todd said, a quiver in his voice.

All three laughed. "Git your ass outta here, little boy!"

Todd turned towards the door, and the three relaxed just a little. Then he whirled around and used the momentum of his turn to drive a backhand blow into the cheek of OA2. His head was jerked around and his body followed, and when he slumped to the floor it was apparent that Todd had knocked him out with a single blow.

OA1 lunged at Tomas, using his knife like a sword, trying to stab Tomas before he could get out of his chair. Tomas swung his right hand up from the table and used it to knock the knife aside. He was still holding his glass beer mug, and he swung it so fast, the beer and whiskey sprayed out into the face of OA1. Unfortunately for him, so did the shot glass, which struck him flush in the mouth, breaking a tooth.

His right hand, which had been holding the knife, was numb from the collision with the heavy beer mug moving at high speed. At that, he was lucky the mug didn't break, or the broken glass might have seriously wounded him. He brought his left hand up to his face to try and clear his eyes. By this time Tomas was standing up, so he brought his knee up hard between the man's legs, and the hit him with a two-handed blow to the back of the head when he bent forward in agony. OA1's shoulders and head struck the table, and he lay there, not moving, not even moaning.

OA3 was already backing away, holding his hands up, sweating and talking fast. "Look, guys, I don't want no trouble. I didn't do nothun to you guys, did I? Please, I don't want no trouble!" When he saw that neither Todd nor Tomas seemed inclined to pursue him, he turned and ran out the door.

Tomas turned to Todd. "Damn, we shouldn't have let him go. We need to get out of here, pretty fast, or he'll be back with more friends."

Todd shook his head. "I don't think so. I think he won't stop running for miles!" He was grinning.

Tomas turned and headed out the door. "I know his type. He's a rat, and rats always come back in a pack." Perforce, Todd followed him. The Bartender yelled at them "Hey, you ain't paid me for the last round of drinks yet!"

Tomas turned and laughed. He pointed at the two unconscious men. "They're paying. Or maybe we ought to wait for the cops to show up, and listen to your buddies spill the whole story?" He turned to face the rest of the bar. Todd was amazed at how quiet it was. "I don't know how many of you guys have watched this guy" pointing at the Bartender "and his friends" pointing at the unconscious OA1 and OA2 "pull this little soft-shoe routine on other 'poor slobs' before. But if you're not part of the set-up, think about this - is this the kind of place you want to be drinking? Is this the kind of guy you want to give your money to? Think about it!"

The two turned and walked out onto the street. Todd thought that if they were in a hurry, they ought to hail a cab, but Tomas insisted that they wait until they were several blocks away. They got home safe and sound, and agreed that they wouldn't head down to that part of town again soon.

They were both too keyed up to sleep, so they sat up and talked for awhile.

"Hey, man, where'd you learn that backhand? It sure wasn't boxing!" Tomas asked, with true admiration in his voice.

"Well, I know a little martial arts, too." Todd was smug about it. The next time he saw Minute Man, he would have to thank him for that move! "But most of the moves, I can't use in boxing. I'm getting a little stale. Lucky for me my adrenaline was pumping and I hit him right the first time."

"Geez, I wish you had told me before. They taught us that hand-to- hand stuff in the Marines, too, but it's been tough getting a workout in since then. Say, there are a bunch of other students who are ex- military types, too. I'll bet if we started a martial arts club, we could find a few other guys to work out with!"

"And maybe some girls, too!" Todd was enthusiastic, remembering Susan Kent, a.k.a. Bulletgirl, and her enthusiasm for the martial arts. He had certainly enjoyed watching her work up a sweat! "What a great idea!"

Tomas was really interested in finding out more about Todd's history of knife fights, but he sensed that Todd didn't want to talk about that part of his past. Well, that was OK, there were things Tomas didn't talk about, either.

Chapter 2

In their junior year, Todd and Tomas were the twin stars of the UC boxing team. The last league match of the season was with the University of Minnesota, and both teams were undefeated. The winner would win the conference title. As the teams had not met before this year, it was difficult to predict who would win. In the past, UM had always dominated, but this year promised to be different.

As the season had progressed, it had become clear to every observer that something special was happening at UC. College boxing was not the most important sport of the time, and the crowds rarely reached 500. But with each win, the crowds at UC got larger, and a turnout of over 1500 was expected for the match with Minnesota.

While he was writing a preview of the big match for the student newspaper, one of the student sports writers decided that Tomas needed a nickname. The name Tomas Thomson immediately suggested to him the nickname of 'Tom Tom', and he thought it was a natural, since Tomas looked so much like a Native American Indian anyway.

Even the Chicago city papers began to follow the UC boxing team. It was a slow year for Chicago sports, and having two undefeated teams competing for the conference championship was a compelling story.

Somewhere along the way, the newspaper coverage magically transformed the match from an obscure sporting event into a Really Big Deal. Advance ticket sales forced the athletic department to move the match from the ratty little gym the boxers normally called home into the big fancy gym where basketball was played. To the amazement of everyone, when the bell was rung for the first match, there were over 5000 spectators in the stands, a good 1500 of them from nearby Minneapolis.

The crowd was raucous, the match was hard-fought and closely- contested. When the UC fighter at 175 pulled out a victory, it put UC into a 12 to 11 lead, and it seemed certain that UC would win. Todd now fought at 190 and he was a cinch, and Tomas ought to win at 210, and after that it wouldn't matter what happened in the 230-pound class.

Todd kept his part of the deal, winning easily, running the score to 15 to 11. A win by Tomas would make it 18 to 11, an insurmountable lead. Anticipation rose - this could be his toughest match this year, but he was expected to win.

*****

Tomas had read the story in the school paper yesterday, and Todd had noticed that something in the story had upset him. Todd quickly re- read the story, but there was nothing obvious in it that he could see that would upset Tomas.

He turned to his friend. "So you're 'Tom Tom' now, huh? That's kind of neat! I wonder why I never thought of that?" Todd was the kind of guy who gave everyone nicknames. His nickname for Tomas had always been 'Nuke', both from his major and from the power in his punches. In fact, the whole team and even the coaches all called him Nuke by now.

Tomas turned, and Todd was surprised to see real anger in his eyes. "Todd, do not _ever_ call me that!" he growled. Todd was stunned to see his best friend react this way. But he knew one thing; he sure didn't want to fight Tomas!

He raised both arms, his palms out. "Sure, Tomas, no problem." He hesitated for a few seconds. "Umm, can I still call you Nuke?"

The anger drained from Tomas's eyes. He knew Todd was his friend, and in fact, he was quite proud of his 'Nuke' nickname. "Please do. But don't use that other, ever."

"You got it, buddy! Tell you what, though, save your adrenaline for Minnesota!" The two had laughed, and headed off to class.

*****

Some clever UC students had also read the story, and they had come to the match prepared to root for their favorite. Two dozen of them pulled out small drums, started chanting 'GO go Tom Tom, GO go Tom Tom, GO go Tom Tom!" and beating out that same rhythm on their drums. Within seconds, all of the other UC fans were chanting the same thing. They started stamping out the same rhythm with their feed, and in a few more seconds, the entire gym was rocking! Except for Tomas.

Tomas had been approaching the ring when the cheering started, but now he stopped. His face turned chalk white, as if he had just had an unsuccessful encounter with a vampire. He turned slowly, and his gaze swept over the crowd. The anger in his face stunned those who noticed it enough that they stopped chanting, but he couldn't silence anyway near enough people to even make a dent in the din. He then started walking towards the locker room.

The coach and Todd intercepted him. "I'm sorry, coach, but I can't fight tonight." He tried to push his way past the two. As the crowd noticed what he was doing, the chants and the drumming died out, leaving the gym in silence.

Todd grabbed him and whispered in his ear "Tomas, if we forfeit your match, you know we lose! We've worked our butts off for over two years for this night!"

Todd wasn't exactly sure why the nickname 'Tom Tom' bothered his friend so much, but he was at least sensitive enough to realize that it was the nickname.

"You get your ass back out there and beat this guy, or am I gonna have to fight him for you?"

Tomas smiled feebly. "Fat chance you'd have! You just barely beat the other guy!"

Todd was pleased that Tomas was getting back a little spunk. "Oh, yeah? Wanna make a little wager? 5 bucks says I beat my guy worse than you will!"

Tomas had his eyes closed, and he seemed to be praying. He opened them again, and laughed. "You're on!" He shook himself all over.

Todd took a few steps towards the crowd and yelled "His name is NUKE!" The rest of the guys on the team jumped up and started chanting "Nuke! Nuke! Nuke! Nuke!" Once again, the crowd picked it up, and within seconds the place was roaring again.

Tomas didn't fight very well. When he had first heard the 'Tom Tom' cheers, his anger had surged and adrenaline had flooded his system. But he had then been inactive for several minutes, and now he was coming down from the adrenaline high. He was slow and sluggish, and he didn't seem to be thinking very well, either. He was outscored badly in the first round.

The coach was worried, and didn't want to see him get hurt, so he told Tomas he was going to forfeit the match, letting UM win by TKO. That would make the score 16 - 15 in favor of Minnesota, and UC's inexperienced heavyweight would have to beat last year's NCAA champ for UC to win. The coach was willing to lost the match to keep Tomas safe. But Tomas wasn't ready to give in just yet!

"Coach, I'm OK now. You gotta let me go!" He was pleading. He didn't appear to be too badly hurt so far, so the coach relented.

"OK, Nuke. But if you don't fight better'n you did before, I'm stoppin' the fight, got me?" Tomas nodded his head, stuck his mouthpiece back in, and answered the bell.

And this round he did do better. He started off slowly, but his speed returned to him, and his defense got better. About a minute into the round he landed a punch, and then another, and he unloosed a flurry, driving the other into constant defense and retreat. When they reached the corner, his opponent grabbed him, and the referee broke the clinch, leading them back to the center of the ring. Before Tomas could attack again, the bell sounded. Tomas had won that round, but he was still way behind.

When the third round started, Tomas slipped on a slippery spot on the canvas, and while he was recovering his balance, he left himself open. His opponent, no slouch, stepped in and hit him with a left- right combination that whirled Tomas around and knocked him down. He was back up in an instant, but the referee stood over him for the mandatory standing 8 count. It had been a lucky knockdown, but it all-but-sealed the victory for the UM fighter.

Or at least, some people in the crowd thought so, and they were very vocal in their disappointment. "Hey, Tom Tom, you coward!" "Hey, Tonto, you're a loser!" were just 2 of the loud, ignorant comments. There were a variety of other pejoratives, but they shouldn't be repeated here, and won't.

Todd got off the bench and walked to the edge of the stands, trying to see who it was that was spewing that kind of crap. It wasn't students, he was relieved to see, but a bunch of older men, none of whom looked too savory.

"Whata you looking at, kid?" one of them yelled at him. He just looked back, silently. "G'wan back to your bench before I come down there and mess you up!" Todd didn't say anything, but he raised his hand slightly and waved the loudmouth to come ahead. The loudmouth and his friends looked at the crowd around them, and thought better of starting something just then, and went back to yelling at the match. They were clearly hoping that Tomas would lose.

Tomas had heard some of the ignorant remarks, and once again his anger was rising. With his hands raised high, he began stalking his opponent. He didn't even try to defend himself, and he got hit 3 or 4 times, but he didn't even flinch, he just continued relentlessly moving forward. Knowing he had the fight won, the UM fighter was just trying to cover up for the last 30 seconds. But Tomas didn't let him.

Ignoring the other's attempts at defense, he punched with precision and power, and a savage anger that no one had ever seen in him before. Two savage body blows forced the UM fighter to drop his guard to protect his body, and Tomas was waiting for that moment. A hard right cross, as devastating a punch as any fight fan had ever seen, caught him on the right cheek and knocked him back into the ropes. The ropes bounced him back into the ring, but he was stunned and unable to get his guard back up, and a left jab to the point of his chin finished him off. He was counted out and only a couple of seconds later the bell sounded to end the fight. Tomas had won! And by a Knock Out. That put UC so far ahead that the results of the last bout wouldn't matter.

Tomas helped the other fighter to his feet and shook his hand. The referee raised his hand to signal the victory. His teammates all cheered and slapped him on the back as he headed for the bunch, but he said nothing. He picked up the traditional sliced oranges, and headed for the other bench. While the final bout of the evening took place, he talked with the UM fighter, whose name was Terry. Tomas handed him an orange and they shook hands again. Before Tomas could start talking, however, Terry spoke up enthusiastically.

"Wow! Tomas, I spar with Billy boy, there, every day" and he pointed to the UM heavyweight out on the mat "and he's the national collegiate champion, but I ain't never been hit like that before! You really oughta think about going pro! Right now, in fact, so I have a chance in the tournament!" He had a big smile on his face, and he clearly respected Tomas for what had just happened.

Tomas was amazed. He had been planning to apologize for losing his temper. But here was his beaten opponent, acting as thrilled about Tomas's victory as his own teammates were. He really didn't know what to say. "Um, thanks, Terry. I got in a couple of lucky shots, there at the end, but you know you had me all the way."

"That's a load of bull crop, Tomas! I've seen you fight before, and something was bothering you. And I admit I'm pretty damn pleased with most of that fight. But the accident was the first 2 and a half rounds, not the last 30 seconds, and you know it too. You are good, Tomas. Whatever was bothering you? Let it go."

Both men stopped talking as cheering from the crowd interrupted them. They turned to see that Billy had won on points, making the final score UC 20, UM 14. It was certainly the biggest win in UC boxing history, and the first school championship in boxing ever.

Todd watched the loudmouths leave the gym. They looked a lot more depressed than most of the Minnesota fans. Todd's long-dormant crime fighting instinct told him these guys had lost more than a friendly wager on this match. Well, that's what they deserved, for gambling on a college sports event!

The coaches had set up a buffet dinner in one of the school cafeterias, and the team and some of the best friends of the fighters got together for a small victory party. It broke up about an hour later. Tomas had never showed up. Todd looked for his friend, and when he couldn't find him, he made a half dozen sandwiches, and then he too left the party, looking for Tomas.

He found Tomas in the first place he looked, a small campus park on the shore of the Lake Michigan. Tomas was just sitting, watching the small waves roll in. Todd wasn't trying to be sneaky, but he was surprised when Tomas spoke up.

"Well, Todd, I'm surprised! I didn't figure you'd be here for another half hour or so!" Todd was still 20 feet away, and behind Tomas. Tomas had never turned his head. "Oh, come on!" Tomas continued. "We've lived together since we were freshmen; you think I don't know your walk by now?"

"And you can read my mind, too?" Todd was astounded. "Anyway, Tomas, what's bothering you? What's the deal with this 'Tom Tom' thing?"

"Sorry, I'm not ready to talk about it. You ought to go back to the party. Don't worry about me, I'll be in later."

"As if! You gonna sit here all night?" Todd asked him. "Could be sort of boring... especially if you aren't talking!"

"Actually, I wanted to get a little more exercise tonight. You can come along - if you can keep up!" and Tomas stood up and walked back towards the middle of campus.

They approached one of the oldest buildings on campus, 4 stories tall, with a library on the first three floors and a gym on the top floor. It was a very ornate marble building. Tomas walked right up to the corner of the building and started climbing. He swarmed up the wall almost as fast as he could walk.

Todd shook his head. Tomas must be part cat, or squirrel, or monkey to climb like that. Todd had never done any serious climbing in his life. When he was Bulletboy, he could fly, so he never had to climb. When he was Todd, he was never really interested in climbing things. But he was determined to stay with Tomas tonight. And heck, if Tomas could do it, Todd could at least try!

It turned to be much easier than he had expected. The many decorations carved into the building wall almost make a ladder for him. He reached a big wide ledge that ran all the way around the building, just below the window level on the 4th floor, and founds Tomas perched on the ledge, waiting for him.

Todd reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the bag of sandwiches and a pint of whiskey. He used the cap as a shot glass, and knocked back a shot, and then began to pour a second shot for Tomas, but Tomas stopped him.

"Sorry, Toddles, but we have to climb back down, too, remember!" he chuckled.

"Not me" Todd replied in a growl. "I only got up here because it's so dark, I couldn't see the ground when I looked down. I'm going through that open window there, and going down the stairs. Anyway, what's bugging you?"

"Well, it's a long story. If we're going to take the stairs when we leave, how 'bout that shot, before I start?"

Todd looked at the bottle, then the open window, and then down at the ground, so far below. "Tell you what, let's go inside before we talk."

Chapter 3

Sitting in the dark gym, Todd and Tomas ate sandwiches and talked. No more whiskey; that one shot had felt good going down - like liquid fire burning down to the stomach and then exploding into the rest of the body. Just what they needed after an emotional roller coaster of an evening at the boxing match, followed by the slightly unnerving climb up the outside of the building.

Todd wanted to know more about why Tomas was acting the way he had. "Ok, Tomas, what's the deal?"

Tomas thought for a while. "Sorry, I still need to calm down a little bit before I can tell that story. But I've got an idea. You have some kind of secret in your past. I think I've figured it out."

Todd shook his head; he had been really careful to protect his secret and he was sure Tomas couldn't possibly know the real story. But it would be fun to hear what he had come up with. "OK, go ahead! This should go good!"

Tomas began to lay out his case. "OK, the first time I met you I knew you had grown up in New York City and then moved to Chicagoland sometime in your teens - your accent is a dead giveaway. When you told me about the move later, and how much it had disrupted your life, it only confirmed what I already knew."

"It was a weird move. The War was just over, everybody was celebrating, but your parents were trying to get away from something. And your dad left a good job he really liked and was unemployed for about 6 months, and the new job he got, he didn't like, and it didn't pay nearly as much money."

Todd remembered telling this whole story to Tomas, so there was really nothing new here. But he was stunned by what came next.

"Something about that move created a major rift between you and your folks, and you hated and resented them for several year. You still have some lingering resentment, you know?"

"How did you know that?" Todd asked "I've never told anyone that!"

"Don't forget, I've met your folks" when they had spent a Thanksgiving at the Drake's house "and the three of you were walking on eggshells the whole time I was there. And, when you first told the story, you had no sympathy for your Dad being unemployed. In fact, you swore about it. 'It's his own dam fault. He didn't have to quit the old job!' Of course, you muttered this under your breath, but I have a way with language, you know - I can even read lips pretty well."

Todd suddenly became very thoughtful, wondering what else he may have whispered to himself over the past few years that Tomas had been able to understand. He decided his conscious was clear - if Tomas had ever been upset about Todd's mutterings, he would have said something.

"I also learned a lot from the way you fight at our martial arts club workouts." Tomas had acted as the main instructor over the first few meetings, but he hadn't kept the job long.

Most of the club members had learned a lot of the philosophy behind the martial arts in their past training. Tomas, on the other hand, had been trained in the physical skills without any of the philosophical underpinnings. The physical skills of the martial arts were just another type of weapon for a Marine. They figured they didn't have time for the philosophy stuff, and, if the basic martial arts training provided by the Corps helped keep a Marine alive, he could learn martial arts philosophy after his enlistment was up.

The other students missed the mental and philosophical training and discipline they were used to, and the instructorship passed to a martial artist with a more traditional background. What was amazing to Tomas was just how effective a fighter this new instructor was. And how his own physical skills improved as he began to accept the mental discipline and the philosophy behind the art.

"Somebody taught you to fight, and taught you very well. But, like me, you were only taught the 'martial' part of the martial arts. Somebody was teaching you to fight, as quickly as possible."

Todd thought back on his training with Minute Man. As he reviewed his memories, he realized that Tomas was correct. Minute Man, he was sure, had rushed his training, probably because Todd had already had a few adventures as Bulletboy before Bulletman had been able to arrange the training sessions. It was only Todd's power of flight and his partners subtly protecting him that had saved him from some serious beatings in his first few outings.

When he was younger, he had not realized this. He had always thought of himself as a great fighter and never thought about how unusual it was for a 12 year old, even with a gravity helmet, to fight against adults and not end up battered, bruised and seriously injured - or even killed! And he had never bothered to go back in his mind and review these battles.

Through the filter of all of his more recent fighting experiences, Todd realized just how lucky he had been back then to avoid serious beatings. No wonder his folks had been so upset!

While Todd was coming to this stunning realization, Tomas was still talking. "The other thing that is odd is that the moves you use, blocks, throws, punches, counters, holds, whatever, come from several different koas. Whoever taught you was clearly familiar with a lot of different styles and schools. You use elements of karate, judo, kung fu, tae kwon do, Aikido, jujitsu, eskrima, savatte, and some that I've been unable to place. It seemed like a random mishmash, until I figured out that every element was selected because it was designed for a fighter whose opponent is both larger and stronger. Your sensei was teaching a boy to fight adult foes!"

Todd's head was spinning now. It seemed that he was right - he had not given away any obvious clues. And yet, Tomas had found clues that were so much a part of him that he couldn't hide them, and these clues had given him away.

"There are a couple of other things. You don't seem to realize it, but I've noticed that whenever we talk about super heroes, you get really animated, and you often talk as if you've met the big names - the Bullets, Minute Man and Captain Marvel - in person. And you've got a hero complex, always doing what you think is right, even when it puts you in danger. You don't know how often you've scared the pants off of your friends by butting in to someone else's business, like the time you gave that mobster a hard time for smoking in a crowded elevator, or the time you chastised that all-pro linebacker for littering."

Todd remembered both incidents well. "You weren't scared, too, were you? When you backed me up, they both backed off."

"Todd, if you aren't a little bit scared in situations like that, you're a fool. But I've always been told to stand up for what's right, too." He grinned, and reached out to grasp Todd's shoulder. "We make a good team, you know!" Todd grinned back.

"The final clue, or really the first one, was that autographed picture of Bulletman and Bulletgirl you nailed up on our wall the first day they assigned us to a dorm room! So, put it all together, and my conclusion is that you, Todd Drake, used to be Bulletboy!"

"Ah HA! It worked! All those little clues I planted worked. You're close, my friend, really close. But you got the wrong kid sidekick! I was really Pinky, Mr. Scarlet's partner."

Tomas looked startled for a second, then smiled again. "Nope! Your accent is wrong. 'Fess up, you are Bulletboy. Right?"

"I guess there's no fooling you, eh? Well, you're right. I didn't know I was giving so much away. Do you think anyone else might know?"

"I don't think so; nobody knows you as well as I do, and I haven't told anyone. How about telling me more? Why did the Bullets pick you? What's it like, flying? Why'd you quit? Are you ever going to go back into the superhero biz? What's Bulletgirl really like? Is she as sexy as her pictures?" Todd broke out laughing at all of these questions. "You did some good detective work, roomie! Tell you what, though, now it's my turn. Let's see if I figured out as much about you and you did about me!"

Chapter 4

"Before you start, Todd, we really ought to get out of here before the place opens in the morning. The campus police are pretty relaxed about most things, but they might think we were breaking and entering or something." So the two cleaned up their mess, and headed out of the building. As they walked back to their dorm, Todd took his turn at being a detective.

"Ever since I've met you, you've said nothing about your life before you joined the Marine Corps. You've never once mentioned your parents, or what you did in high school, or old girlfriends, or anything like that. It's almost like you're pretending that you didn't exist before you joined the Marines."

"Given all the weird things that I saw when I was Bulletboy" he looked at his friend and shook his head - he still had trouble believing that Tomas had figured it out... "that's the first thing I checked into once I noticed your strange behavior. "

"I had all kinds of wild ideas. Maybe you were some kind of magical creature, like a genie or a golem or something, or maybe you were an alien, come to Earth as an advance scout for an invasion fleet, or maybe you were a robot or an android! Or maybe you had a criminal past you were trying to hide from, or maybe you were a Nazi or maybe.... As you can see, my imagination was running wild!"

Tomas didn't know whether to laugh at some of these wild ideas or to be insulted. He decided he was glad his best friend trusted him enough to tell him about these crazy thoughts, and he just nodded his head and kept listening.

"One thing Bulletman tried to teach me, as both a detective and a scientist, was that you shouldn't theorize without facts. Keep an open mind, gather all the facts you can, and then come up with a hypothesis that explains the facts. And then test the hypothesis against the real world. I calmed down a lot at that point."

"Here are some of the facts I gathered. You are an American citizen - you have a US passport, you were a Marine, and you voted in the 52 election, I think for Ike. You have a talent for languages and accents, not just for different American dialects, but also foreign accents, which suggests that you moved around to a lot of different countries when you were growing up. I thought you might be a military brat, but I heard Bulletman in the back of my head telling me to do more research first!

"Once a month, regular as clockwork, you send a long letter to someone. It almost always goes overseas. You've always been careful never to let me see the address, even when we would go to the Post Office together. But you asked me to pick up your mail for you a few times, and once you got a letter from John and Amitola Thomson, care of the US Embassy in Cameroon."

"I figured these must be your parents, and your mom's name was so unusual, I tried to learn more about it. Amitola is an American Indian name that means 'Rainbow', isn't it? After that, I came to the conclusion that this was really none of my business, and I stopped snooping."

"The only other thing I know, I learned by accident, really. Remember that time you lost your dog tags?" Tomas was superstitious about some things, and he wore his dog tags all the time as a good luck charm. During their sophomore year, he had taken them off before a boxing match. After the match, he had been unable to find them. He and Todd had searched the locker room for over an hour, before Todd found them under a bank of lockers. Someone had apparently accidentally kicked them there. "As I was pulling them out from under the lockers, I noticed your middle name - Deganawidah. Sorry, Tomas, but I couldn't help looking that up. Deganawidah was a Wyandotte, and he helped found the Iroquois Confederation, didn't he?"

Tomas smiled. "He was and he did, and he was a great prophet besides. His name means 'Two Rivers Running Together' and he was a prophet of peace. Our family records show that he is my great-to-the- 14th grandfather!" There was real pride in his voice as he said this.

Todd nodded. "My hypothesis, based on the facts I have, is that you are half Wyandotte Indian, your Dad works for the State Department as a diplomat, and for some reason you prefer to forget your childhood. So far, the hypothesis has stood up under all the real world situations I've been able to test it against. But it's far from a complete explanation."

Tomas nodded, and then started talking... "I don't talk about my past a lot because... well, because... um, I had some pretty painful experiences because of my ancestry."

"It's like this... in the mid-20s my Dad worked for the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. The government was attempting to renegotiate yet another of the umpteen failed treaties between the US and the Wyandotte Nation when he met my mother."

"While the Wyandotte nation has a council of chiefs, and all of our chiefs are men, the heads of most families, and the wisest advisors to the chiefs, are all women. My mom was one of the most respected diplomatic advisors in the Wyandotte nation. Many of the Indians she represented felt that she must share some part of her 13 times great grandfather's soul."

"Anyway, Dad and Mom met over the negotiating table, hit it off, got married, and guess what? Here I am!"

"The reason I don't tell anyone about my background is the amount of crap I had to deal with when I was growing up. Dad is really great at solving diplomatic problems, and he was always being transferred to another diplomatic hot spot somewhere around the world. It seemed like in every embassy, wherever we went, some clever 'white' kid would find out I was half Indian and decide to nickname me 'Tom Tom'."

"I got in a lot of fights, and everyone decided I was a problem child. I won more'n I lost, and after a couple weeks at a new place, the other kids would usually leave me alone. But I didn't have many friends. I was probably headed for big trouble 'till Mom convinced Dad to take a leave of absence from the Diplomatic Corps. We moved back to Kansas, where a lot of the Wyandotte live. I thought I'd have a problem with them, too, because of being half paleface, but not a single Wyandotte ever treated me as anything other than a family member!"

"I learned something than that I think was really strange. There's a lot of people with at least a little Indian blood in them, and it seemed like the worst, meanest bastards were the folks with just a few 'drops', you know, maybe their great-great grandmother was part- Indian. It's like they hate themselves and take it out on everyone else, or maybe they think that they will be accepted by the 'pureblood' white folks if they show just how much they hate us 'half-breeds'. It's kind of like Hitler being part Jewish, I guess, and trying to purge the world of Jews."

"Tonight, when all those folks were beating drums and chanting, it really got to me. I was so mad I couldn't see straight! All I could think of was all the times I'd get taunted with those words, usually by 5 or 6 other kids, and how many times I got beat up when I couldn't keep my temper any longer."

Todd interrupted. "Tomas, they weren't taunting you; they thought they were cheering for you. Well, except for those creeps in the mobster suits."

"I know. That's why I came back to fight. I'm sure there were some haters in the crowd, but most of the folks wanted to see a good fight, and an awful lot of them wanted to see me win."

Todd looked at his friend thoughtfully. "You know, Tomas, I've never been the victim of discrimination and hatred just because of who my parents were. But I don't see how you can hide who you are. It really isn't like you at all."

"I've been your friend for a long time, and I've seen how uncomfortable keeping your past a secret has made you some times. You can't keep it up forever. Somebody might think you were ashamed of your past..."

Todd realized he might be treading on pretty dangerous turf here, when he saw anger flash in Tomas' eyes. "You can't have ANY idea what it's like!" He realized who he was yelling at, and stopped, abashed. When he started talking again, he was very subdued.

"Sorry, pal! I guess you're right. You're probably the best friend I ever had, and it is ridiculous for me to get mad at you when you're just telling me things I already know. I have to get over this anger!" He stopped and thought for quite a while. There were a lot of things Todd could have said, but he decided that keeping quiet was probably the best choice for right now.

Tomas finally spoke again. "I'll have to think about it some more. I'm definitely NOT ashamed of my background, but there are a lot of ignorant people in the world who would never let me know peace. "

Todd was pretty sure how Tomas would finally resolve this issue. He wasn't the kind of guy to run away from his problems....

They reached the dorm. Instead of heading for bed, they sat up even later, swapping stories about their youth. Todd had some pretty exciting adventures as Bulletboy to share, and Tomas had lived 'most everywhere, and his stint in the Marines had not been dull. Lucky tomorrow was Saturday! (well, actually, by now, tomorrow was Sunday!). They finally had breakfast and then hit the hay. later today, they were supposed to do some lab work for a special seminar they were taking.

Chapter 5

Saturday, the day after the fight...

The University of Chicago was the site of the first working atomic reactor on Earth, and both Tomas and Todd had chosen to go there because UC was the acknowledged leader in Atomic Energy-related fields. Many of their labs were held in rooms in the building where that reactor was build. UC was also the safest place to learn about Atomic Energy.

Enrico Fermi, who had been one of the chief architects on the atomic pile, had been obsessive about safety and safety precautions. The 'Atomic Building' had special safety features, such as alarms, various types of movable radiation shields, emergency showers, protective gear in lockers throughout the building, and a lead-lined holding tank for containing radioactive waste. UC had a fairly standard campus police force, but not many campus police forces could boast that they had an 8-officer squad especially trained to deal with a variety of radiation hazards.

One big perk for both men was a seminar called 'Advanced Topics in Atomics'. It was largely unstructured, and participants designed their own curriculum. Tomas and Todd wanted to contribute to the medical field, so they decided to build an instrument to deliver highly calibrated doses of gamma radiation (the most dangerous, and potentially the most useful type) to a target.

(click here for more details about their gamma ray projector project)