Anton, the leader of Anti-Matter, is marked for murder, and Chris Chance has to go undercover as a rocker to protect him. A double-dose of Rick Springfield, as Rick played both Anton and Chris! ^_^

Anton walked down the corridor alone. It was night, and everyone else was asleep, but Anton could not get any rest. He had felt uneasy all day, as if someone was watching him. Anton and his group, Anti-Matter, were the band of Pheonix Records, a small recording company in Los Angles, California. They had gone from a band nobody wanted to the diffenitive group of Pheonix Records, helping to save the border-line company from bankruptcy. Now, they were on tour, in the city of Chicago. Everything was cool.

So why did Anton feel so uptight?

The sniper aimed carefully. His client wanted the rocker dead, although no reason was given as to why. But he was a professional. He did not ask questions. He just did as he was instructed, killed whomever he was hired to kill. He folowed Anton's movements through his sights.

An easy hit, he thought, smiling to himself. Can't miss 'em! He would get his paycheck tonight.

Anton reached the door to the band's hotel room. His hand curled around the knob, and he turned it, hearing it click. Or was that something else?

The sniper quickly checked his sights one last time. Perfect. Smiling to himself, he pulled the trigger of his rifle...

Anton was sure he heard something from somewhere above him. He turned away from the door, and caught sight of something in an air vent. Alarmed, Anton dived away from the door.

He had moved just in the nick of time! Seconds later, he heard the sound of bullets hitting the hotel door.

What rotten luck! The sniper thought. The rocker had caught sight of him and had moved away from the line of fire just before the bullets hit. The sniper's first thought was to get away. Although the rifle had a silencer on it, and no one could have heard the firing, the rocker would raise the alarm. And surely, those within the hotel room would have heard the bullets hitting the door.

Quickly, the sniper left his perch in the air-conditioning vent and made his way through the air ducts to the wall outside. In moments, he was in his car and driving away from the hotel.

He had to contact his client. They would not like this turn of events. Not like it at all!

Anton came back to the hotel door, his gaze never leaving the air vent where he had seen the unidenified --thing.

Jerry openned the door, Kim right behind him. Jerry made a show of rubbing his eyes as he spoke to Anton.

"Hey, man," he complained. "What's with all the racket? I need my beauty sleep!

"You sure do!" Kim commented, a smile showing behind his mustache. "About a month's worth!"

"Ha, ha, very funny!" Jerry retorted. He turned back to Anton. "Why the noise, man?"

"Someone was shooting at me," Anton answered. He kept his eyes on the air vent, but the glint that had alerted him to the danger was gone.

"You're kidding? Who'd shoot at you?"

"I don't know. Rival band, maybe? Digrunted fan? A stalker? Who knows?" Anton knew he was just guessing. Anti-Matter had no enimies to speak of --unless you counted that arms smuggler they had helped Wonder Woman capture a while back. But it could not be them --could it?

"Hey!" exclaimed Kim. "He's not kidding! Look at the door!" he pointed to the bullet holes in the hotel door.

"Whoa! That's some major lead action, there!" Jerry examined the door. The hotel door was solid oak, reenforced with steel. The bullets had made holes, but had not penatrated the reenforced wood. Even if Jerry and Kim had been just behind the door when the bullets hit, they would have been well protected from the lead pellets.

"Now what?" Kim asked. He looked to Anton.

"I don't know," Anton answered, looking from the door back to the air vent. "I don't know."

Case #A-M01072000
Anton
Rock and Roll Musician
Moble, but currently in Chicago, Illinois

The Blackwing flew silently in the air, the black Stealth Bomber barely stirring the clouds as it flew in a holding pattern around the city of Chicago.

Inside, Christopher Chance was speaking with Anton about the recent sniper attack.

"And you have no idea who might be trying to kill you, Mr. Anton?" Chance asked. He studied the rocker, closely. When Anton had first come on board the Blackwing, Jeff had made the comment that Anton could have been a young Christopher Chance. Black hair, blue eyes, and an easy smile on a handsome face. And Chris had to admit, it was an incrediable match.

"No. Except maybe for the arms smuggler Anti-Matter helped Wonder Woman catch. But that's the only thing I can think of."

"'Arms smuggler'?" Jeff asked. "'Wonder Woman'? What are you talkin' about?" Jeff was the pilot of the Blackwing, but the plane was on autopilot at the moment, in its fixed holding pattern above Chicago. Unless there was unexpected trouble, the bomber could fly the pattern without Jeff at the stick.

"Awhile back," Anton explained, "when the band was just starting out at Pheonix Records, the owner was being extorted by some smugglers. Pheonix Records had also done some government work, and the smugglers wanted to get at whatever the work was, so they held the last recordings of Billy Darrell as 'hostage'. Well, as it turned out, Billy wasn't dead. We found him in his cabin in the Santa Montica Hills, and brought him back to rerecord the album. This would make the tape the smugglers had worthless. So they kidnapped Billy Darrell. Wonder Woman captured one of the smugglers' thugs and made him tell where Billy was. While Wonder Woman rescued Billy, Jerry, Kim and I went and captured the smugglers." He smiled, remembering, and added, "We 'presented' them to Wonder Woman covered in Silly String."

This last got a chuckle from Chance. He fought for justice, and loved it when it took an ironic --or even humerous-- turn. Filo, Chance's special make-up wizard, laughed hard, while Jeff and Libby --Chris' organizer, computers and communications expert-- exchanged humerous looks.

"So, do you think these smugglers could be the ones trying to kill you?" Chance asked, getting serious again.

"I don't know. Maybe," Anton answered honestly.

"Sent to prison by a far-out rock band?" Filo commented. "Yeah, that would motive enough to kill. They must have been really embarressed when you guys showed them to Wonder Woman!"

"Wouldn't you be?" Jeff put in, still grinning at the thought of the Silly String-entangled crooks.

"Okay, Mr. Anton. I'll take the case. First thing you need to know: No matter who you are, king or busboy, I charge ten percent of your income for one year. Luckily, that's been covered by your boss, so your okay in that area. You don't have to worry about the cost. Next: I'm going to have to ask you a series of questions. These may get personal, but I'll need to know the truth, if I'm going to play you correctly. And third: While I'm playing you, you must remain on board the Blackwing. Is that understood?"

"Sure. Now, can I ask you a question?"

"Okay. What?"

"Can you sing?"

Anton stood in the tube, being scanned. Chance continued the questioning, while Filo was creating the computer images that he would turn into a mask and gloves for Chris to wear as Anton.

"Your band's called Anti-Matter. You are lead singer and the bass guitarist. Jerry is the drummer and Kim is on keyboards. Your on-stage personas are that of wild and crazy guys, just wanting to have fun. Nothing dangerous, but at the same time, you're not dull, either."

"Right," Anton said, keeping his eyes on Chance as the scanning band moved up and down over the entire length of his body. "Jerry's a bit on the nutty side. Kinda like Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees."

"Okay. How did you discover that Billy Darrell was alive and how did you find him?"

"First clue was a song Billy recorded, but not used for the album. There was something that sounded like background noise, but Kim started playing with it, playing it at one-third or one-fourth speed. The 'background noise' turned out to be Billy's voice, saying some sort of poem. It sounded like a cry for help. The second thing that led us to Billy was an album cover. The one for Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Billy was in it, and pointing to a picture of Santa Claus. Santa was pointing so some words overhead that said, 'What's my moniker?' Really bad pun, but it pointed us to Santa Montica, where Billy had a cabin. We just went and got him."

"And the smugglers? How did you find them?"

"Wonder Woman got the information from that thug she caught. She told us to call the cops. We just went there, ourselves, and caught them. We called the cops from there."

"Okay. Next question..."

Anton sat on the couch in the visitor's area of the Blackwing, which was now on the ground. He now wore a pair of gray sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and sneakers. The sweatshirt had a red bullseye on the left breast, a silloette of a man ready to spring into action on the red circles. This was the logo for Christopher Chance --The Human Target. The outfit was the standard clothes for Chance's clients, as long as he was impersonating them.

Libby walked into the room, followed by a figure in black pants, black shoes, and a red shirt with white buttons going down the right side.

"Mr. Anton," she said. "May I present...Mr. Anton."

The man that entered the room was the mirror image of Anton, black hair and all.

"Luckily, you two seem to be the same build, so your clothes fit Chris perfectly," Libby continued, as Anton rose in disbelief in seeing himself standing beside the pretty, young woman.

"Well," Chris asked, "do I pass?" Chance spoke in Anton's own voice!

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was looking in a mirror!" Anton breathed, his eyes not leaving Chance's temporary new face.

"I'll take that as a yes," Chance smiled. "One more thing. I'll need your car keys."

"It's a van," Anton said, digging out the keys and handing them to Chance. "Just don't go by the 'Mr. Anton'. I never introduce myself as 'Mr. Anton', unless it's to some VIP, or something. Just 'Anton'."

"Right," Chance smiled.

"Look. I know this is suppose to be a big secret and everything, but if you really need to, tell Jerry and Kim who you are. You can trust them, if you get in a bind and have to tell them."

"I'll remember that. If the situation calls for it, I will tell them."

"Thanks," Anton smiled. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Chance smiled back. He left the Blackwing to begin his mission. While he was investigating the murder attempt on Anton, the plane would resume its holding pattern above the city. If the band left to continue its tour, the Blackwing would follow.

"Where is he?!" Charlie Branker, the night club owner, demanded. Jerry and Kim was there, but Anton had not arrived. Anti-Matter would be going on in a few minutues, but Anton was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know," Kim answered truthfully. "He's ususlly on time for everything."

"Give him a little more time," Jerry pleaded. "I'm sure he'll show up."

"He'd better!" the night club owner growled.

Anti-Matter had taken time out of their tour to appear at the Neon Cat Nightclub. Tonight's appearence would be a charity event, with all money spent that night going to any charity Anti-Matter chose. Anton would never pass up the chance to earn money for the Children's Hospital. So where was he?

"Sorry I'm late," Chance said, as he walked into the door. "Had to, um..."

"Never mind the excuses!" Branker exclaimed. "Just get on stage! You have a show to do!" He pushed the band toward the stage where their instruments waited.

"Right," Chance answered. He picked up his guitar as Jerry sat behind the drums and Kim took his place behind the keyboard.

"Hey, where were you, man?" Jerry asked.

"Um..." Chance searched his mind for an excuse. Luckily, the curtain rose before he could think of one. Anti-Matter began their first song.

"He's not half bad," Anton commented. He, Jeff, Filo, and Libby were watching the concert, via the satellite. Chance singing as Anton was perfect, right down to the wild laughter at the end of one particular song.

"You should hear some of his music," Libby smiled. "Somewhat tamer, especially when compared with your own, but he sounds just as good singing them, as he does singing your songs."

"I hope I get a chance. Maybe we can cut a record together, or something."

"Maybe," Jeff smiled. They continued to watch the show.

"That was fantastic!" Jerry grinned. The show was over, and the band was backstage. "Three encores!"

"Yeah," Kim agreed. "If we didn't need to be at the high school to play for the kids tomorrow, we could have done four encores!

"Anton, my man, you were really hot tonight!" Jerry continued to grin his goofiest grin.

Chance just smiled and shrugged it off. There had been no gunmen in the night club crowd that night. He hoped that the hitman would not show up at the high school. He wanted to catch the guy, of course, but he would much rather catch the would-be killer without innocent people getting hurt.

That would be tomorrow, though. With any luck, Chance would catch the hitman before tommorrow, and Anton would be back, playing with Anti-Matter.

But he would not bet on it.

The stint at the high school brought out no hidden killers, either. The sniper wanted to be alone with Anton when he killed him. The Human Target would just have to wait until the hitman made his move. Then Chance would make his.

"I can't believe you failed!" Dorina Cropper screamed at Todd Welder. "You had that rocker in your sights and you missed him!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cropper," Welder started to apologize, but Dornia held her hand up.

"No excuses. Those rockers sent my sister-in-law and her partner to prison, with the help of Wonder Woman. I want them dead, starting with their leader."

"He won't escape again, Mrs. Cropper. He'll be at the audiotorium tonight. The other two have to pick up some more cables. When Anton is alone, I'll get 'em!"

"You'd better, Welder," Dorina looked him in the eyes. "I do not reward failure."

"Yes, ma'am," Welder gulped.

As Welder predicted, Anton was alone in the audiotorium that night, Jerry and Kim having gone to get more cables for their electronics. They had wanted Anton to go with them, especially since the night of the attack, but he had declined, saything that he would be alright. What Chance really wanted to do was allow the hitman to strike while he was alone, so that Chance could capture the guy.

Reluctantly, Jerry and Kim had agreed, and left to pick up the extra cables. Chance went about checking the electric instruments, the amplifiers, the microphones, and other chores that he knew Anton would do. Chance wanted to present a picture of a seemingly unaware Anton to whoever was behind the sniper attack at the hotel.

Todd Welder sat in his perch on the catwalk, in the audiotorium, high above the seats. He leveled his rifle, aiming for Chance's head. He wouldn't miss this time...

Christopher Chance was not one who was easily fooled. He had undergone military training, and had been a sniper and assassian, himself, in Vietnam, although he would never put it in those terms. The killing he had done had messed up his mind very baddly, and when he returned to America, he ended up in the Veteran's Hospital. When he was released, Chance became The Human Target, standing in for people marked for murder.

People like Anton.

It was his atonement for the killing he had done behind enemy lines. Now, he was saving lives, instead of taking them. There may come a day when his skills and disguises will not save him. One day, an assassain's bullet will find its mark, and The Human Target will cease to exist.

But until that day comes, Christopher Chance would be there to protect the innocent from death.

Welder checked his sights one last time. The shot had to be perfect. No avoiding this hail of lead for the rocker, this time!

Chance caught the glint of the rifle in the corner of his eye. With a smooth, graceful motion, he was gone, behind a curtain.

Where'd he go? Welder was confused. One moment, the rocker was within his sights. The next, he was gone. But where?

Welder was whirled around in his seat and knocked unconcious with one punch from Chance. Chance then lifted the unconcious body of the sniper and carefully decended from the high loft the killer had taken refuge in.

Chance was just tying Welder up when Jerry and Kim returned with the cables.

"Anton...what...?" Kim stammered.

"What are you doing? Who is this?" Jerry added.

"This," Chance said, still acting the part of Anton, "is the guy who's been trying to ice me. He, um, hit his head on the ceiling beam and was knocked unconcious on the catwalk. I brought him down here and tied him up."

"What are we going to do with him?" Jerry asked. The drummer looked from Chance to the unconcious sniper, then back to Chance.

"We find out who he's working for, and why they want me dead," Chance answered. All of Chance's determination came out, and it made "Anton" sound a lot different then he normally did. This made Jerry and Kim wonder about their friend. It was if he was another person.

Before long, Welder awoke, only to find himself tied to a chair, his target and the other two members of the band watching him. How had he flubbed this job up?! He tried to remember: He had been on the catwalk, over the seats, Anton in his sights, when the rocker had suddenly disappeared from veiw. A few moments later, he had felt himself turned forcefully around, and the pain of a punch to the jaw. After that, there had been nothing but blackness. Next thing he knew, he had awakened, tied in a chair, his former victem staring at him.

"Who are you?" Chance asked, his eyes glowering at Welder, and his arms crossed.

"Blow it out your ear!" Welder responded.

"Who do you work for, and why do they want me dead?" Chance continued to question his prisoner. Jerry watched with Kim as Anton seemed to chance personalities right in front of them. It was frieghtening to watch.

"I'm not saying a word!" Welder countered. His eyes stared back at Chance, his will unwavering.

To Jerry and Kim's surprise and horror, "Anton" pulled out a small handgun. Anton had never owned a gun of any kind in his entire life! Not even a old-fashioned pop-gun!

"I'm going to ask you one more time: Who are you, who do you work for, and why do they want me dead!" Chance snarled. He hoped Welder would not call his bluff.

Welder looked at the silvery firearm. He weighed his chances. If he confessed, Cropper would do more than just kill him. She'd skin him alive! But if he did not confess, who knows what Anton would do. Anton would not have to kill Welder to get the information he wanted. A bullet to the right place could render Welder a cripple, unable to do his job ever again. If he confessed, then later escaped, there would be another chance to kill Anton at another time.

"I'm Todd Welder. My employer is Dorina Cropper. She hired me to kill the three of you because you and that amazon sent her sister-in-law to prison."

"The smugglers," Chance said. "I might have guessed. Kim, call the cops. They have some trash to pick up."

Kim went to put the call through. After the cops arrived and took Welder to jail --they could hold him on a stalking charge, as well as possession of illegel weapons-- Kim looked straight at the man he thought was Anton.

"We gotta talk," he said.

"Can it wait until after the concert?" Chance asked.

"No, it can't," Kim replied evenly.

"Not here, then. The dressing rooms."

"Why?" Jerry put in. He was nervious. What had happened to Anton? Why was he acting like this.

"Because no one can know but the two of you and me," Chance answered. At their disbelieving looks, he added, "Your lives --and Anton's-- depends on it." With that, Chance led the way to the dressing rooms.

"What you are about to see, I don't want you to tell anyone," Chance said.

"O...kay..." Jerry looked at Kim, then back at "Anton".

Carefully, Chance reach behind his neck, and pulled at the latex mask covering his head. Slowly, as Jerry and Kim watched, the mask was removed, revealing a man that looked like an older version of Anton, but was clearly not their friend.

"Who are you?" Kim asked.

"My name is Christopher Chance. Some people call me 'The Human Target'. I was hired by your boss at Pheonix Records to impersonate Anton and track down the person or persons trying to kill him. The names of that person has now been disclosed. My next step is to find this 'Dorina Cropper', and bring her to justice. Only then, can Anton be returned."

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Kim asked.

"Fair question," Chance replied. "And here's your answer." He took a small device out of his pocket and flipped it open. A beam of light shot out and hit the wall. In the beam was a pretty, young woman.

"Yes, Chris?" she asked.

"Libby, get Anton online, please."

"Okay," she replied. Off screen, she said, "Anton, Chris wants to talk to you."

Anton appeared beside Libby. "What do you need?" he asked, then caught sight of Jerry and Kim. "Hiya, guys!" he grinned."

"Anton, are you okay?" Jerry asked. He stared at the image of his friend on the wall.

"Never better. So, Chance finaly had to tell you, huh? Don't worry. You can trust him. And whatever he tells you is true. I told him that he could trust you." Anton looked back at Chris. "How's the investigation going?"

"We have names and a motive. You were right about the smugglers, but its her sister-in-law that hired the hitman. The hitman is now in custody. What we need now is to get the boss."

"So I'm still under 'protective custody'?" Anton asked.

"Yeah. And I've still got a job to do."

"And we have a show to do," Jerry said. Kim looked at his watch.

"It's five minutes to show time," Kim said. "Can you put that back on?" he indicated the mask.

"Yeah," Chance said, and in a moment, the mask was back in place.

"As they say in show biz," Anton grinned, "'break a leg'!"

"Thanks," Chance grinned back. "Chance, out." He closed the communications device and put it back in his pocket. Then, he followed Jerry and Kim out the door and onto the stage.

It was the next night before Chance made his move against Dorina Cropper. Jerry and Kim had insisted on coming along. They wanted to help catch the person responsible for the attack on their friend. Reluctantly, Chris had agreed.

So, an invasion force of four men --Chance, Jeff, Jerry, and Kim-- stealthly approached the house where Dorina Cropper lived. Chance was no longer wearing the Anton disguise. He was just Christopher Chance, now. Carefully, they crept around the house, taking out any guards they found on the way. Soon, the only guards left were the ones inside the house with Cropper.

The men hid just outside the living room window, listening in on Cropper's conversation with her goons. Chance had a recording device, taping the conversation, while Jeff had one hooked up to the Blackwing for Chris' records. It could also be used as an emergency source of evidence, should anything happen to the tape Chance was making.

"The fool!" Cropper raged. "He allowed himself to be caught! And if he has confessed, it will lead the authorities back to me!" She paced up and down like a caged tiger. "No one must know that it was I who hired Welder to kill Anton and his band for what they did to my sister-in-law!"

"He won't talk," one of her goons replied. "He's too professional to squeal on anyone!"

"He'll talk," Dorina insisted. "They'll offer a plea bargan agreement. And even if they don't indite him for attempted murder, the cops still have him for stalking and weapons possession. He could easily reduce his own sentence by indentifing me as his employer."

Outside, Chance gave a nod to the others and put up the tape recorder. That was all they needed for evidence, Cropper's own confession. Jeff returned the nod and put up his own recording device. The four men were ready for the attack.

Dorina Cropper heard a crashing sound, and turned to the window in time to see four men crash through. Two of the men, she recognized as the other two members of Anti-Matter, but the other two, she had never seen before. One, however, had an uncanny resemblence to an older Anton.

Chance quickly took out one of the goons in the room with a kick to the stomach, then a karate chop to the neck. Jeff punched another out cold. Jerry and Kim bashed the remaining two goons' heads together, knocking them unconcious. With the guards out of the way, the four of them, as one, advanced on Cropper.

"It's over, Cropper!" Chance announced. "We have your full confession on tape! It was you who sent Todd Welder to kill Anton!"

"So you have Welder, and you have me, and you have a tape. But will it stand up in court?" Dorina asked confidently

"It'll stick," Chance replied. "And even if it doesn't, The Pentagon already has enough on you for your other 'activies', to send you to prison. It seems that you took up your sister-in-law's smuggling operation after she went to prison. And you might have gotten away with it for a least awhile longer, if it hadn't been for your vendetta against Anton and Anti-Matter."

"What do you mean?"

"My name is Christopher Chance. I'm also known as The Human Target. I take the place of people that are targeted for murder. When Welder made his first attack on Anton --and fumbled-- I was called in to impersonate Anton. The real Anton is in a safe place, far from your reach. And I always stop the killer in the end. Jeff, call the police and have them pick up Mrs. Cropper and her men."

"Right!" Jeff replied. He quickly made the call. All they had to do was wait for the cops to arrive.

Anton, Jerry, and Kim were saying their goodbyes to Chris, Filo, Libby, and Jeff, right in front of the Blackwing. As Chance had predected, Cropper was indited on several counts of smuggling, as well as conspiricy to commit murder. Cropper, Welder, and Cropper's goons all went to prison, leaving Anton and the guys to return to their tour, and their lives.

"Thanks for everything, Chance!" Anton smiled as he shook Chris' hand.

"I'm alway happy to bring another would-be killer to justice, Anton!" Chris smiled back.

"And from what we've seen --and heard-- Chris would make an awesome rocker!" Kim grinned.

"Yeah!" Jerry agreed, "You are HOT, man!"

"Thanks!" Chance smile got wider.

"If you ever want to change carreers, we can get you in as a singer with Pheonix Records," Anton offered.

"I'll remember that. See you guys around." Chance, Filo, Libby, and Jeff boarded the waiting Blackwing. Soon, with Anti-Matter a safe distance from the plane, the Blackwing lifted off.

Aboard the stealth bomber, Filo asked Chris, "You wouldn't take Anton up on his offer, would you?"

"Maybe someday," Chance answered. "When I'm no longer needed as The Human Target. But I doubt if that will happen anytime soon."

"Would you cut an album, maybe with Anti-Matter?" Libby asked.

"That's something to think about. And an intersesting idea. Maybe the next time we meet them, we'll do that. Or a least sing together."

"Christopher Chance, rock star," Jeff chuckled. "Now that is something I'd like to see someday."

"Maybe someday, Jeff," Chance smiled, "you will."

And there's my first Rick Springfield fanfic! How'd I do? I'd love to hear some feedback. Just e-mail me with the link above.

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