Jack Starkey plants a bomb inside of Scanlon's car outside of the DA's campaign headquarters. Scanlon comes out with his campaign manager, and the killer gets in the car and closes the door, then finishes his work. Once he's done, he gets out the passenger's door and hides. Scanlon gets in his car, but his manager Dave Quincy runs out and says that Scanlon has an important call. The DA agrees to take it and tells Dave to take his car. When Dave starts the car, it blows up. Scanlon hears the explosion and comes out, and figures that the bomb was meant for him.
Later, Hornet and Kato spread the word and hit the streets. They spot an upside-down poster of Scanlon that they indicated would be the signal, and Hornet goes over and puts an X through Scanlon's picture. The heroes drive around the block, and Starkey emerges from hiding and sees Hornet's counter-signal. Black Beauty comes back around and Hornet tells Starkey to get in. They drive off and Starkey says that he was the only one who planned Scanlon's assassination. Hornet dismisses him as a little person, but Starkey says "we" and Hornet demands to know who he's working with. He tells Starkey to tell his boss that he doesn't deal with subordinates and drops the man off.
Kato pulls Black Beauty into a nearby alley, while Starkey goes to a phone booth and calls Britt's office. Scanlon's rival Calvin Ryland is in the TV studio for a live debate, and Casey says that she can't interrupt him. She takes a message that Starkey interviewed the party and he's behind them. Starkey leaves and the heroes follow him.
In the TV studio, Scanlon and Calvin are debating and Calvin points out that Scanlon has been unable to apprehend Hornet. Scanlon insists that everything is being done to bring Hornet to justice. Mike is one of the questioners, and asks Calvin about rumors that his organization is responsible for the attempt on Scanlon's life and the murder of Dave Quincy. Scanlon speaks up and says that Calvin is an honorable man and dismisses the charge as offensive. Afterward, Calvin and his brother and manager, Warren, thank Scanlon for his defense of Calvin. Calvin points out that Hornet hasn't pulled off a crime recently, making Scanlon look good, but Scanlon dismisses his supposed concern.
|Starkey goes to an apartment and buzzes to be let in. He tells the two men inside that their boss will soon be there. Meanwhile, Hornet and Kato break down the door and the other two men, Woody and Pete, go to check it out. The heroes take them out and Hornet takes out Starkey as he comes after them with a gun.
The boss--Warren--arrives and discovers that the door is busted in. He goes inside to the office and finds Hornet waiting for him. Hornet says that he's there to help the opposition defeat Scanlon, and Warren says that Calvin is clean--too clean--and would never believe that Warren tried to kill Scanlon. Hornet figures that Calvin would expose his brother and Warren's construction racket would become public knowledge. Warren figures that Scanlon is getting close to exposing him so he has to go, and Hornet says that if he pulls off a series of major crimes then it will discredit Scanlon and give the election to Calvin.
Later, Britt calls Scanlon to his penthouse and tells him what he's learned. They're going to rob the Century Bank, and since one of Warren's clients built it, he knows how to disarm the alarm. He figures that Warren will double-cross Hornet, and points out that if Scanlon exposes Warren then he'll accuse Scanlon of using his position to conduct a smear campaign. Britt points out that if Scanlon loses then so does Hornet and the city.
The next day, Warren and Starkey drive to the bank and Starkey shows him the bomb that he's prepared for the double-cross. Warren takes the package with the bomb inside and secretly puts it in a desk drawer.
That night, Hornet and Kato drive to the bank and enter through the service door. They break in using the Hornet Sting and the alarms are off as promised. Meanwhile, Warren drives Calvin to a nearby street and tells him that he's going to clinch the election by capturing Hornet. He explains that he got a tip that Hornet has broken into the bank, and takes him in via the service door to show him.
With two minutes to go, Warren hits the button closing the vault door locking Hornet inside. Hornet asks if Calvin is in on it as well, and Calvin demands to know what's going on. With less than a minute left until the bomb explodes, Warren tries to get Calvin out but he wants answers. Hornet says that he and Warren worked out an answer, and Warren panics and says that a bomb is going to go off. He runs for it, but Kato is waiting and stops him. Nothing happens, and Hornet says that there was a bomb and he found and disarmed it.
Outside, Starkey and the other two realize that something has gone wrong and go in. Kato takes them on while Hornet blasts his way out and joins the fight. When Warren tries to run, Calvin grabs him and says that he's been listening to him too long. He calls the police while Hornet and Kato quickly escape.
Later, Calvin resigns on-air and gives Scanlon his endorsement. Scanlon and Britt watch, and Scanlon hopes that Calvin will stay on as commissioner of public works. They figure that now that Warren is gone, Calvin can do a good job. Mike and Casey are there as well, and Mike suggests that next time Britt should run for office and liven things up. The others laugh and Mike has no idea why.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 30, 2017