The Illegal Transfer
In a location yet unknown, amongst the darker corners of Diego City.....
A man wearing a stetson hat and a lab coat stepped out of an old dodge truck. Carrying a roll of plans, he approached a man wearing a black trench coat.
"Here are the plans. Where's the dough?" the man wearing the lab coat asked.
"Don't worry, I've got the goods," the other man replied with a spanish accent.
In one motion, the two traded a briefcase and the poster case, containing a few pages of blueprints.
"This meeting never took place," the man in the lab coat said, and returned to his truck.
The two parted, and the silent night passed on.
A week later, Michelle was relaxing with a book she had in her room during a hot weekday. The air conditioner was on, and she didn't pay much attention to the temperature in the room. In fact, she was immersing herself into one of her adventure stories- as far as she knows, she is the only girl who reads such books. Allison was enjoying her own toys in her room, and Mr. Peyton was out on an errand. A beam of sunlight was shining into the room, right onto the chair where Michelle was relaxing. Although it was adding to the light and dismissing the need for artificial light, it wasn't helping her keep her current temperature steady.
After changing a page, the book dropped to the floor as Michelle's hands turned into wheels.
"Great, just when I was about to find out what was in Captain Lou's treasure chest," she said, getting up and heading quickly for the garage. As she went by the front door, she noticed that her father was just getting home.
"Oh no, I don't want to change now- especially now," she muttered, getting into the garage just in time for her to change into a convertible.
Then, Mr. Peyton came in and called to his daughters. "Hi girls, I'm home," he called, which was when Allison came downstairs.
"Hi daddy," Allison called.
"Hey sweethart, brought you an ice cream cone. Where's your sister?" he asked, handing her the DQ cone.
"In her room, I think," Allison said, about to go upstairs.
"Wait, she may be busy. I thought I saw a car in the garage," Mr. Peyton said.
It then hit Allison that Michelle may have changed. "Wait, are you sure?" she asked.
"I should make sure, I only own one car," Mr. Peyton said, going through the kitchen. He opened the door, and looked inside. Summer was inside.
"A blue convertible...yep, I did see one. Wonder if one of Michelle's friends came over," he said, leaving the door open.
Summer kept very quiet, although she was very nervous.
"Allison, did someone come over?" Mr. Peyton asked.
"Someone? I don't know, daddy," she replied truthfully.
"Hmm...let's check upstairs," he said, heading up. Quickly, Allison took the cone and a glass of water to Summer, which she dumped the water on, changing Summer back into Michelle. "Thanks Ally, where's Daddy now?" Michelle asked.
"Going up to your room," she replied.
"Follow him, I'll be in the bathroom," Michelle replied, and quickly went into the downstairs bathroom.
"Hmm...not up here either, they must've been outside," he said, going back downstairs.
Michelle flushed the toilet and washed her hands, then came out into the living room.
"Oh, hi Daddy, home already?" she asked, taking the cone from Allison.
"I didn't know you had someone over," he replied.
"Just Cindy, from school. She and I were practicing some vollyball moves in back," Michelle replied.
"Really? Then, was that convertible doing in the garage?" Mr. Peyton asked.
"Convertible?" Michelle asked, a little bit weary.
"I thought Cindy drove an old volkswagon bug?" Mr. Peyton asked.
"She does, she was borrowing one from one of her relatives," Michelle said, quickly.
Mr. Peyton thought a minute. "Well, she should be proud to drive such a lovely automobile...did I ever tell you girls when I drove a mustang convertible in high school?" Mr. Peyton asked.
"No, you haven't," Michelle said, beaming about the compliement to Summer.
"It was a 1970 Mustang, one that your grandpa bought from one of his friends. I sold the thing shortly after I graduated in 1979 to pay for college, but it covered my expenses. I miss that car," Mr. Peyton said, trailing off.
"Wow," Allison said.
"I'll show you my pictures sometime after the news," Mr. Peyton said, turning on the TV.
"When will supper be?" Michelle asked.
"Not for a little while, figured I'd call in pizza for a change. What do you think?" Mr. Peyton asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Allison said.
"That'll be a treat. Order whatever you want, I'll be in my room," Michelle said, going upstairs.
"What's with her?" Mr. Peyton asked his youngest daughter.
"Probably lost in a book again," Allison said.
At the lab, Dr. Chase was also watching the news. One segment, that was to be covered during the ten o'clock news, caught his attention.
"Oh my God...." Dr. Chase said aloud, before calling up Bret and Kris.
"Hello, Matthews residence," Bret answered.
"Bret, Dr. Chase here. Are you watching the news?" he asked.
"Uh, no, should I be?" Bret asked.
"Well, the segment isn't on until tonight, but can you and Kris come here? I think it's something we may wish to discuss together," he replied.
"Okay, sure. When?" Bret asked.
"Anytime after you eat supper. Just make sure you let Michelle and the others know to watch the ten o'clock news tonight," Dr. Chase said.
"Sure, see you in a little bit," Bret said, hanging up.
"Who was that, Bret?" Mrs. Matthews asked.
"Uh, that was Alex. We're going to hang out together after supper," Bret said.
"Just make sure the kitchen's clean before you go," Mrs. Matthews said.
"I know, it will," Bret said.
After supper the siblings headed out to the labs after Bret called the others up for them to watch the ten o'clock news.
Tracker drove up into the lab area, after they cooled her off, they went to the lounge area where Dr. Chase explained what was happening.
"What exactly is going on, doc?" Kris asked.
"Here, this will explain everything," Dr. Chase replied as he turned on the news.
"Today, the Columbian government has revealed that the technology merged two beings together has been created. Althought tests so far have been successful, they don't plan on actually using the ray for another six days. And in other news..." the reporter was saying and then Dr. Chase turned the TV off.
When he looked in Kris and Bret's directions, Bret was wide eyed and Kris was growling low. "Who had the audacity to give them those plans?" Kris stated angrily.
"I believe it might have been Dr. Leo, he probably sold them the plans, which means we have to come up with a plan to destroy their ray," Dr. Chase replied.
"Don't ya worry about it, doc, we'll come up with something," Bret stated.
"Hey I got an idea, couldn't we make a false circuit board to go in, that way when they operate it, it'll explode in their faces," Kris said.
"That's an excellent idea, Kris, get hold of the others. I'll get you five some airline tickets to Bogota, Columbia where their main research facility is located. I believe it is in that facility where you'll find the transmute ray," Dr. Chase replied as he found his own set of blueprints for the ray, and found the ones for the circuit board.
"Great, Bret call up Alex and Pattie, I'll get hold of Shel," Kris replied as they went off to the phones.
At Michelle's house, Michelle was staring at the television in mock amazement. "I can't believe it," she said in a low whisper where her dad couldn't hear her.
Just then the phone rang. "I'll get it," Ally stated and answered the phone. "Hello, Peyton residence," she said.
"Ally, it's me Kris, can I talk to Michelle?" Kris answered from the other end.
"Sure, Kris, one minute," Ally replied and got Michelle.
"Hi, Kris," Michelle said.
"Did you see the news, Shelly?" Kris asked.
"Yeah, sure did. What was the doc planning on doing?" Michelle asked.
"Before I say anything, can your dad hear anything you're saying?" Kris asked.
"Yes," Michelle replied.
"Please go upstairs and talk to me on your phone, it's too risky for us to be overheard," Kris stated.
"Right, good thinking Kris," Michelle replied.
"Daddy, I'm going to talk to Kris on my phone, could you hang it up when I call you?" Michelle asked her dad.
"Sure, Michelle," Mr. Peyton replied.
Michelle went upstairs, after telling her dad to hang up the other end, she started to talk to Kris again. "So what's going to happen?" she asked.
"Dr. Chase is planning on making a false circuit board, only problem is that we have to leave the country and go to Columbia to install it before they can use it," Kris replied.
"Great, how are we supposed to pull that off?" she asked.
"I already have a plan for that, we're just going to tell our parents that the mayor has offered a trip to Columbia for educational purposes, that it is free," Kris replied.
"Wow, you already have this all planned out don't you, Kris?" Michelle asked.
"I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't," Kris said with a cocky tone to her voice.
"Ok, do Pattie and Alex know?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah, Bret is talking to them now. Listen, I have to go now, talk to ya later Shel," Kris said.
"Right, call me when you get the tickets so I can tell my dad about it," Michelle replied.
"No problem, Shel, bye." Kris stated.
"Bye Kris," Michelle replied as they both hung up, Ally came in.
"What's wrong, Shel?" Allison asked.
"It's nothing for you to worry about, Ally," Michelle replied as she sat down on her bed.
"Is it something to do with the news?" Allison asked as she joined her sister.
"Yeah, it does," Michelle replied.
"That's why you came up here to talk to Kris, it is about that ray that the other country built," Allison stated.
Michelle smiled. "Yes, so Dad wouldn't overhear our conversation. Ally, I'm going to have to leave town for awhile. We have to destroy that other ray before those Columbian scientists can use it, okay?" she said.
"Okay, Shelly, but when?" Allison asked.
"I'm not sure, yet, but I'll let you know okay?" Michelle replied.
"Yeah, that's fine, Shel," Allison replied.
"Don't worry about anything. Everything will be okay," Michelle said, reassuring her little sister.
"I know," Allison replied.
Early the next morning, Dr. Chase and Alex got together to create the false circut board.
"Okay, now here's a blank card that we can use. What we want to do is create a pathway that will cause a self-destruct in the ray when fire is pressed," Dr. Chase said.
Alex nodded, and then said, "Okay, how do we do that?"
"We can write a program into one of the chips," the doc replied.
"Okay, let's do it," Alex said, as Dr. Chase hooked up the card to a mainframe.
Alex went to work on it right away. Bret and Pattie watched him as he worked.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Pattie asked.
"Well, there's always a first time for everything," he replied while uploading a series of commands.
"Couldn't you just reverse the ray?" Bret asked.
"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," Dr. Chase replied.
"I was afraid you'd say that," Alex said, looking away for a moment.
After an hour passed, Alex appeared to be stuck.
"Hmm...Doc, I can't seem to follow this one," Alex said, looking at the channeled card.
Dr. Chase picked it up, and followed the channels from the control chip to the destruction chip, to the reciever connections. After a moment, he figured it out. "See, here's the problem, you need to run it through the control chip before running to the connections," the doc said, making the necessary connections.
"Okay, and now to download the program," Alex said, making the final downloads.
"Don't run it yet!" Pattie said.
"Pats, you don't know much about computers, do you?" Alex asked as the large program was being transferred.
"I know that you don't want to run a self-destruction program unless you want to," Pattie replied.
After a few momets, the program was transferred and only needed a signal from the trigger to run the program.
"Great, that should do it," the doc replied.
"I sure hope so," Alex replied.
"Don't sweat it, bud. That'll work just fine," Bret replied.
"When you get there, in the back of the ray, just above the manual trigger, there will be a large slot. That's where you'll install this circut. Make sure you do it, of course, before they fire it on Friday. Get in, change the circuts, and if you must, destroy it. Otherwise, if you have time, find the plans and burn them," Dr. Chase explained.
"Burn them?" Pattie asked.
"If we destroy the ray, they will be able to build another simply by following the plans. I know that's asking a lot, but it is necessary. I've got something special for each of you when you get back," Dr. Chase added.
"You can count on us, doc," Bret replied.
"I knew I could. Your tickets should be at LAX with this claim number. I believe it's a United Air flight on gate B6, leaving at 12:30 tomarrow afternoon," Dr. Chase said, giving Bret a number on a card.
"Okay then," Bret replied, taking the card.
"Where is this lab at?" Pattie asked.
"Acutally, it's location is classified. However, I've made arraingments with the ambassador to Brazil, who will send a messenger with the necessary materials to your hotel when you arrive. He doesn't know about you except that you're going as undercover federal agents," Dr. Chase said.
"Wait until Kris hears about this one," Alex said.
"She'll love it," Bret added.
"Oh- and one more thing. Please, don't get caught," he said with a smile.
"We'll be back, doc," Bret repeated.
"Don't worry about us," Pattie said as she heated up Bret with the heat ray, changing him into Turbo Teen.
They drove off. After they had left, Dr. Chase said softly to himself, "I'm worrying, Pattie. Goodness, I hope they'll be okay."
When Turbo and the others got back to his house, they began making the necessary phone calls. Later that day, the parents found out.
"So you're going to Columbia tomarrow for educational reasons?" Mr. Peyton asked Michelle, who was packing in her room.
"That's right. There's a convention taking place there that Mayor Danes asked us to go represent the city at," Michelle replied.
"Why didn't I hear about this sooner, like last month?" Mr. Peyton asked, a little upset.
"Well, you know how the mayor is. If it wasn't for his secretary the town would blow up," Michelle replied.
"Yes...I wonder if he ever cleans off his desk myself sometimes," Mr. Peyton replied, going downstairs and into the backyard.
"Are you sure you want to go to Columbia, a country that's known for crime and drug dealers, on such short notice?" Mrs. Matthews asked her siblings.
"It was by the request of the mayor, Mom," Bret replied.
"He wants us to represent the city at an education convention," Kris replied.
"I never heard about such an event. Is this the first year?" she asked, a bit skeptical.
"Uh, yeah, I think so. They're trying to make it an international event, if enough people show up," Bret replied.
"Well, I wish I'd hear about these things sooner, but if you must go, just make sure you bring enough clean clothes, okay?" Mrs. Matthews replied.
"Sure thing Mom," Kris replied.
There wasn't much time to hang out that night, as preparations took place for the six-hour flight on Monday. They would leave at 12:30 Pacific time and arrive in Santa Fe De Bogota, Columbia at 9:30 PM local time with a short layover in Mexico City.
Michelle, however, was a little weary about flight.
"Are you sure this is safe?" she asked.
"Of course it's safe. Don't be so uptight about it," Kris said, as they waited at the gate.
"What if I-" she started to say before Alex interuppted her.
"This is a public place, Shelly," he replied.
"That's not going to happen. Just make sure there's air blowing on you and keep some gum in your mouth to help the popping," Kris replied.
"Right," Bret said.
"Nothing is going to happen," Pattie reassured her.
She was a little weary entering the plane, but as soon as they got in the air everything went well. The flight continued with no accidental changes.
When they finally arrived in Columbia, they passed through customs and claimed their baggage. Upon leaving the baggage claim, they saw a man holding a sign with the name "Matthews" on it.
"Hey, over there," Alex said, and they all went over to the man in a suit.
"I'm Bret Matthews," Bret replied.
"A teenager? Hmm...well, come along, I've got a van waiting for you," the man replied.
"This is the right guy, isn't he?" Michelle asked.
"I hope so," Alex replied, and they all followed the man out to the pickup zone, where there was a van waiting for them. It was blue, but otherwise unmarked.
As soon as the door was closed and everyone buckled up, the man revealled who he was.
"Name's Greg Davidson, I'm from the American Embassy of Brazil," he replied, showing his ID.
"Nice to meet you," Bret and the others replied.
"I've been instructed to give you these plans when we arrive at the hotel, but I thought you all would be older," Greg replied.
"We're not actually FBI officers, but we do know what we're doing, we've worked for the Doc before," Kris replied.
"Well, I hope so, for your sake. The police here in Columbia are a bit ruthless, and I'm not sure what I'd tell Dr. Chase if we found any of you in the morgue," Greg replied.
"The...morgue?" Pattie asked.
"I'm sure you'll handle your assignment fine. He must have faith in you for sending you on this mission. We should arrive at the hotel in about 30 minutes, so you may wish to enjoy the scenery," Greg replied, as the driver continued towards the Novatel Hotel, located a few miles from the center of the city.
They watched the dark landscape go by until the reached the hotel, when they were all very weary from the flight. After checking in and being given two rooms that were connected by double doors, they were ready to go to sleep right then.
"I'm staying here tonight as well. Should I call you in the morning?" Greg asked.
"I think that'd be a good idea, sir," Bret replied.
"I'd hate to get jet lag on a trip like this," Alex added.
"I understand. I'll call around 9, okay?" Greg asked.
"Sounds good, see you in the morning," Bret replied.
"Have a good night," Greg replied, and closed the door, bound for his room.
The girls were already asleep in their rooms, and the two guys also went to sleep shortly afterword, as they were not fluent enough in Spanish to enjoy late night TV. When 9 o'clock came in the morning, they were already awake and met up in one room to hear what Greg had for information.
"Ok, here's the info you need. The lab is located just north of the city, it's not too hard to miss. But I must warn you, it is surrounded by an electrified fence and the perimeter is guarded with security guards and some very vicious guard dogs. The interior of the building itself has several video cameras and laser detectors," Greg informed the team.
While the others looked at him astonished, Kris smirked. "Shouldn't be too hard to get in," she commented.
Bret rolled his eyes at his sister. "And how do you propose that we're going to get in there?" he asked her.
"I'll come up with something, give me some time okay?" Kris replied fixing Bret with a malevolent glare.
Bret swallowed hard and just nodded, but didn't reply.
"Anyway, here's some directions that will possibly help you get through, also do any of you know how to handle a handgun?" Greg asked.
Kris stepped forward. "Mine and Bret's dad was a police officer, he taught me how to handle one when I was younger and I also have a handgun of mine own," she replied.
Greg handed her the spare gun. "Just be very careful, it is fully loaded and here's some extra ammonition just in case you might need it," he said as he also handed Kris the extra ammo.
"Thanks, don't worry, I'll keep the safety lock on it until I'm ready to use it," Kris replied as she pushed the safety lock with her thumb and placed the gun at her side and pointed the muzzle to the ground.
"Great, and good luck to all of you. Do you have a car that you can use to get there?" Greg then asked.
"Yeah, we had two cars transported here, it's not a problem," Bret replied.
"That's good, if you have any problems you can get hold of me at the Embassy," Greg said and shook their hands at which point he took his leave.
"Okay, what we need to do is figure out a plan to get past the fence and the guards," Alex stated as they walked back to their rooms.
"Maybe there's a way to short circuit the fence?" Kris suggested as she walked along side Bret.
"There might be a way, Kris, but it'll be extremely risky," Alex replied.
"Now you're talking my language, how risky Alex?" Kris asked as she caught up with him.
"Well, I know you're not going to like this one bit, but you'll have to be in car form to get through the fence," Alex replied.
Kris smirked, "Is that all?" she asked.
"Well, you're going to have to smash through the fence, think you're up to it?" Bret asked.
Kris looked at her younger brother. "Am I up to it? Heck yeah, I can handle this easily," she replied with her usual cocky tone.
"Ok, well that's settled then," Pattie stated.
"What about the inside of the lab?" Michelle asked.
"Well, since Alex here is our computer expert, he can handle that," Kris replied as she patted Alex's back.
Alex swallowed hard and fixed a glare on Kris. "How am I going to handle that?" he asked.
"Alex, I brought Mom's laptop, you can use that to break into the computers that control the lasers and video cameras," Kris replied.
"You mean to say, you stole Mom's laptop?" Bret asked astonished.
Kris waggled at finger at her brother. "I didn't steal it, bro, I just borrowed it without permission,." she corrected.
Bret shook his head at her. "You're going to be dead meat when Mom gets her hands on you," he stated.
"Not if she doesn't notice it missing. I just hid the bag it was in, she won't be able to find it," Kris replied.
Bret sighed. "Whatever you say, Kris," he replied.
When they reached their room, they began to wonder how they were going to communicate to anyone in Columbia. "Well I do know a little Spanish, but I'm not fluent," Kris informed the team.
"I know some too." Bret added.
"How's that?" Michelle asked.
"We both took Spanish at the school, but unfortunately our teachers didn't teach us very well," Kris replied.
"In other words, we know basic words but not how to carry a complete conversation," Bret stated.
"Well at least that's more than we know. Okay, you two are our translators," Pattie said.
Both siblings nodded at this. "When are we going in after the ray?" Michelle asked.
"Let's go look around the city first so that we appear to be tourists, that way if someone from those labs have heard about us, they won't be able to tell us apart from other visitors," Alex replied.
"We don't have a lot of time for that, do we? And besides, they're probably going to be working in the lab during much of the week," Pattie replied.
"That's true, Pats. When we get there, we'll just pull the fire alarm," Bret said.
"Fire alarm? I would never have thought of that, bro," Kris replied.
"That'll only give us five minutes, tops," Alex replied.
"Ah, that's plenty of time," Kris said.
"Won't we be causing a fire anyways?" Michelle asked.
"True," Bret said.
"Either way, we should wait until tomarrow. What's there to see in this town?" Alex asked.
"We can just drive around until we see something," Michelle said.
"Yeah, that's a great idea. Thanks for volunteering," Kris said.
"What?" Michelle asked.
"Don't worry, just stay on the right side of the road," Kris said, patting Michelle on the back.
"Come on, let's go," Bret said, putting on his shoes.
"All right, I'll be the chauffeur for a change," Michelle replied, putting on her sandals.
They went out to the parking ramp behind the hotel and climbed to the highest enclosed level, where Michelle began doing jumping jacks.
"Does anyone have a map?" Alex asked.
"No, but just remember that the hotel is at 20th and Pedro," Pattie replied.
"20th and Pedro, got it," Michelle said as her hands turned into wheels.
"Where should we go?" Bret asked.
"Around," Kris replied.
Michelle then changed into Summer.
"Well, okay then," Bret replied as they all piled in. Summer drove down the parking ramp and out into the street, where there was mostly bike traffic.
"Just watch out for the bikes," Alex cautioned from behind her wheel.
"I know, I know- I'm a biker myself sometimes," Summer replied.
They drove around the town, driving past various parks, some quiant cafes, even a few familiar fast food joints.
"Let's go to that Taco Bell!" Alex said.
"No way- that's not even real mexican," Pattie replied.
"I'll say- and the service sucks too," Summer added.
"Why would someone build a Taco Bell in an all spanish speaking country?" Kris asked.
"That's American corperate decisions for you," Bret replied as they drove by.
After stopping at a cafe and again changing Michelle into Summer afterword, they continued towards the north part of town, passing by a few government buildings as well as gift shops and even an open-air market. Buildings became fewer and far between, and soon they were just on the outskirts.
"Maybe we should turn around, gang," Summer replied.
"This must be just along the outskirts," Bret added.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Kris asked, looking towards a grove of trees.
Summer turned and went in that direction, when they approached some sort of complex, which was surrounded by a tall chain-link fence. Barbed wire covered the crown, and a few generators were located nearby.
"You don't suppose this might be that lab we're looking for, do ya?" Pattie asked.
"The building looks familiar, according to the pictures Mr. Davidson gave us," Alex replied.
"Agreed. Looks pretty well guarded," Bret added.
"At least I don't see any guard towers, so it must not be too well patrolled," Summer observed.
"Pats, what time is it?" Kris asked.
"Getting to be almost six o'clock," Pattie replied.
"Maybe we should head back," Alex replied.
"20th and Pedro, right?" Summer asked.
"That's right," Bret replied.
"Great," Summer replied, and they returned to the hotel by 6:45.
When they arrived, they cooled Michelle off and returned to their room, when someone had left a note in one of the rooms.
"What's that?" Bret asked, taking the note off of the desk.
It read- "Mr. Matthews, you recieved a phone call at 14:26 this afternoon. Dr. Thomas Chase."
"The doc called, I should call him back," Bret replied.
Bret picked the phone up and called the doc. "Hi, doc, saw that you called," Bret said.
"Yes, I did, I was checking in on you five. How is everything?" Dr. Chase asked.
"Just fine, we're going out to the lab tomorrow. Kris has a plan of what to do already," Bret replied.
"Really? What is she planning on doing?" Chase asked.
"She and Alex are planning on short circuiting the cameras and lasers inside, as far as getting in, Kris said she's going to ram throught the fence," Bret replied.
"Isn't she afraid of being electrocuted?" Dr. Chase asked.
"Kris is never afraid, doc, she says it will be a piece of cake," Bret replied, and smiled over at his sister who smiled back at him.
"Well, I believe all of you are going to need some rest for tomorrow, so I you can give me a call back after you completed the task, I'd appreciate it," Chase stated.
"Sure thing, doc, don't worry though we'll get that ray destroyed even if it means Kris blasting it with one of her missiles," Bret said, and Kris nodded in agreement at that.
"Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, well have a good night and sleep well," Dr. Chase said.
"Thanks, doc, same to you, bye," Bret replied and hung the phone up.
"What did Dr. Chase want, Bret?" Pattie asked.
"He was checking in on us, just making sure we're okay," Bret replied.
"I think we should go get something to eat and then head on to bed, we have a long day tomorrow," Kris stated.
"That's true, come on, who's driving?" Alex asked.
"I think Shel deserves a rest so I'll drive," Kris volunteered and walked out with the others following behind.
When they reached the parking garage, Kris warmed up and changed into Tracker, they then headed out to get something for dinner.
The next morning, Kris was the first up. She carefully got up so she wouldn't disturb Pattie nor Michelle, she got dressed and snuck into the guys' room by slipping through the door that cojoined the two rooms.
"Oh man, this is going to be too easy," Kris thought to herself as she snuck closer to her little brother, then without warning she jumped and pinned Bret to the bed.
Bret woke up and found his older sister holding him down. "And what do you think you're doing?" Bret asked.
"Decided to play this morning, what's wrong lil' bro? Going to be a bear this morning?" Kris asked teasingly and kissed him on the cheek.
Bret smiled. He got a hand loose and tangled her hair. "Sometimes you're just plain rotten, but I love you anyway," he replied.
Kris rolled off of him, and looked at him for a minute. "Bro, I'm kind of scared of slamming through the fence," she admitted in a low tone.
"What's to be afraid of, sis?" Bret asked.
"Well, what if I miscalculate how I hit it and I hurt myself or any of you for that matter in the process?" Kris asked.
Alex woke up to the sound of their voices. "Geez, can't you two talk in any louder?" he asked with a slightly annoyed look to his face.
"God, Alex, you're gripy this morning," Bret said.
"Yeah, Alex, lighten up for once will ya?" Kris requested.
Alex glared at the siblings but didn't reply. He gathered his clothes and took a shower, while Kris and Bret continued to talk about that day.
"I'm telling you, Kris, you won't get hurt," Bret said as he laid his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
"What if I accidentally injure one of you?" she asked with a worried look to her face.
"You won't, I know you Kris, you wouldn't hurt us even accidentally. You're more careful and cautious than I am," Bret replied, he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, he then hugged her.
"Thanks, bro, I feel much better now," Kris stated and rested her head on his shoulder.
Alex came out and gave Bret a questioning look when he noticed his best friend hugging his sister, Bret just shook his head. "I'll tell ya later," he mouthed and Bret continued to comfort and reassure his older sister.
Later that morning, Kris had changed into Tracker and they drove out to the lab. Tracker sighed as they neared the fence. "Tracker, you okay?" Pattie asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just trying to figure out where we should enter," Tracker replied and kept herself from actually telling them what was really bugging her.
Bret placed a hand on her dash. "I'm sure if we go in through one these fences we won't be noticed as bad," he said.
"Right, okay everyone just hang tight, this is going to be a little bumpy," Tracker stated as she reversed so that she could get her speed up enough so that she could smash easily through the fence.
She backed up about 200 yards, then she punched her accelerator, she quickly picked up speed and slammed through the fence, and slid to a stop on the other side. "Tracker, sis, are you okay?" Bret asked.
"Ugh, my bumper hurts," she replied.
"I'd think your hood would, but I'm glad you're fine," Bret stated.
"Are you guys okay?" Tracker asked the others.
"We're fine, Track," Alex replied.
"That's good, okay let's see here where is that lab at?" Tracker asked as she checked her radar for any approaching vehicles or guards for that matter.
"Probably off to the north somewhere, but let's go further away from the fence, that way we'll be away from here if any guards show up," Michelle replied.
"Right, we're out of here," Tracker stated.
They sped off, and soon came to the lab. Outside several guards were at the posts. "I think I may be easier to be seen, than we thought," Tracker said.
"Good point, sis, let's cool her off, and then we'll get closer easier," Bret replied.
Everyone got out. They cooled Tracker off, and after she changed back, they headed to the labs to find an easy way in.
"Looks like I get to fight after all," Kris commented as they hid in the shadows as a guard passed them.
"Why do you say that, Kris?" Pattie asked.
"With all these guards around, how can we avoid a fight?" she asked.
"She's got a point, Bret. You know how to fight too, right?" Alex asked.
"That's right, why do you ask Alex?" Bret replied.
"You and Kris are going to take out those guards for us," Alex replied.
"How about it, bro, want to fight them?" Kris asked.
"Sure, let's do it," Bret replied.
As they siblings distracted the guards, Alex, Pattie, and Michelle snuck into the lab. Kris and Bret followed a moment later. "How did it go with the guards?" Pattie asked.
"They're all out cold, we shouldn't have to worry about them for awhile," Kris replied with a smug grin.
They no sooner had arrived at the lab, that Michelle and Alex got caught from behind. "What do we have here, American spies?" a guy with a rough Columbian accent asked from behind them as he caught hold of Michelle and Alex.
"Let go of them, creep!" Kris called out in spanish.
The guy looked up at Kris. "Why you little..." he started in english.
"That's right, come on, get me," Kris stated in English and waited for him to drop Michelle and Alex, which he didn't.
Several other guards come out and surround them. "Stupid, very stupid," Kris growled and turned to fight them off so they could escape.
After she had knocked out some of the guards, she looked at Pattie and Bret. "Come on, let's get out of here before we're captured too; Michelle, Alex, we'll be back for you I promise you that," she called and took off.
Meanwhile, Michelle and Alex were thrown into a cell together. "Great, now what?" Alex asked.
"Don't worry, Alex, they'll come up with a plan to get us out of here," Michelle replied reassuringly.
"I hope so, Shel, I hope so," Alex replied.
As they looked the cell over, the noticed a lever beside the door. "Hey, I wonder if that opens this thing," Michelle stated.
They pulled down the lever, only to release hot steam into the room. "Great, it's getting hot in here now," Alex commented.
"And if we don't do something soon, I'll change," Michelle replied as sweat started to appear on her forehead.
"Just try to control it, Shel, we can't afford for them to find out about you," Alex said and placed an arm around her in a comforting manner.
"I'll try to, Alex, but it's starting to hurt," Michelle replied.
One of the guards came up to the cell. "So you were trying to escape, hope you get steamed to death," he commented and laughed at them.
Not long after, Michelle couldn't control the change any longer as her hands changed into wheels. "That's it, I can't fight it any longer," she said as she was forced to all fours as her feet changed into wheels too.
"It's alright, Shel," Alex replied as she quickly morphed into a car. Unfortunatly, there was a camera that hadn't been shut off inside the cell and one of the scientists had seen Michelle change.
"So she was exposed to the ray. Dr. Leo was right about there being some teens who could change form, however he didn't say how many. Oh well, I'll find out by going to talk to that convertible," he said to himself and walked out of the lab.
At the same time, Tracker was flying down the road at breakneck speed, when Summer came over her comm link. "Tracker, can you hear me?" she asked.
"Sums, are you okay?" Tracker asked.
"Except for being inside a cell, yeah we're fine," Alex replied.
"When did you change?" Bret asked.
"We accidentally released some hot steam into the room, and I had no choice," Summer replied.
"Did anyone see you?" Pattie asked.
"I don't know, I don't think so," Summer replied.
At the labs, the scientist who had seen Michelle change came up to their cell. "Excuse me, but are you the ones who got caught here?" he asked Alex, of course Tracker and the others could overhear them.
"Yeah, we are," Alex replied.
"Well I think you and your friend here have some questions to answer," he said.
"Like what?" Alex asked.
"First off, I saw her change into that car, so I want to know how she got combined," the scientist replied.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"Just look in the right upper corner of your cell, and you'll see what I mean," the scientist replied.
Alex gasped in horror at what he saw, a video camera stared right back at him. "So you know, you'll have to ask her about it," he replied and went back over to Summer who was very quiet. "Sums, are you alright?" he asked.
"I can't believe it," she replied.
"Neither can I, I'm on my way back, Sums. I'm going to kick his butt so hard he'll feel into next year," Tracker replied with a rage filled voice.
"No, Tracker, return to the hotel. You'll only get caught too," Alex replied.
"Argh, very well, but if he does anything to you I will kill him," Tracker replied and continued on her way back to the hotel.
"Are you going to talk or do I have to beat it out of ya?" the scientist asked.
"What's to talk about?" Alex asked, defending Summer.
"Talk or something will happen to your friend," the scientist threatened.
"Wake up, loser. I'm a car, what can you do to me?" Summer asked.
"We have ways of making you talk. I give you one last chance to save yourself," the scientist demanded.
"I'll not break that easily," Summer replied.
The scientist opened the door as two guards approached. "Come here boy," the guards demanded, with their guns drawn.
"Alex!" Summer cried.
"I'll be okay," he replied quietly, going with the guards to a different cell down the hall.
The scientist entered, returned the lever to its original postion so the steam would stop entering the room, and then he closed the door behind him while another guard stood behind it.
"Who are you working with?" the scientist asked.
Summer resisted. "I'm not talking," she replied.
"There were three more of you. Who are you working with?" he asked in a harsher tone.
"There were three more of us, that's right. We are acting in a group, we sacrificed ourselves so they could escape," Summer replied.
"Who sent you?" the scientist asked.
"Some guy," Summer replied.
"Names!" the scientist demanded.
"You're not going to get an answer out of me," Summer resisted again.
"Very well," the scientist replied, and then took a tazer out of his pocket. He zapped Summer in the side.
"Yeow!" she gasped as it shocked her.
"Care to talk now?" the scientist asked.
"FBI," Summer muttered.
"I can't hear you...." the scientist replied playfully.
"FBI," Summer repeated.
"F...B...I. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Dr. Leo knew what he was doing, and he even knew that Dr. Chase would try to stop him. Good thing I invested in these as well," the scientist said, pulling out a small folder.
"What's that?" Summer asked.
"Inside this folder is contained the plans for the Transmute Ray, which I am sure you are familiar with. As a precaution, they are always on my person and are fireproof. I suspect you planned to burn these, and now you won't be able to," the scientist replied.
Summer began thinking as he contined to talk.
"And I also have planned ahead for your little attack. 15 guardsmen, electric fences, and cameras in every angle. Now that you've gotten this far, what do you plan to do?" the scientist taunted.
"You keep wanting me to talk. You may wish to know that you won't be able to make copies of those- they are made from a uncopiable material," Summer explained, trying to fool the scientist.
"You lie- no such material exsists," he replied, throwing his arm into the air.
"No? You're talking about a master scientist here. Dr. Chase has more inventions than, well, apparently you know about," Summer continued.
"That's a bluff and you know it," the scientist exclaimed again.
"Oh really? Seems to me if he can combine a human and a car, he can do that," Summer continued.
"We'll see about your uncopiable paper. What do you plan to do once you reach the ray?" the scientist asked again.
"I don't need to tell you, do I? You must be smart enough to figure it out if you can follow those plans there," Summer said in a mischievous manner.
"Tell me, dammit!" the scientist demanded, slamming his hand onto the wall. He shook it lightly after, hitting it harder than he had intended to.
"Well first, I won't be hurting myself," Summer taunted.
She laughed to herself in her thoughts while the scientist became pretty ticked off.
"Tell ya what, doc, if you change me back I'll gladly tell you what I want to do," Summer said.
The scientist laughed. "You expect me to change you back? Ha. That's all part of your plan, isn't it?" he replied.
"What can I do? I'm just a weak little girl underneath, right?" Summer playfully said.
He took a small tube of water, and broke it over her hood, changing her into Michelle again.
"Now then," he said as soon as she finished changing back, "What's your master plan, little girl?" he repeated, mocking her tone.
"This," she said, gouging him in the eyes.
"Augh!" the scientist replied. He dropped the plans and the tazer as he put his hands to his eyes.
Acting quickly, Michelle took the tazer and used it on the scientist until he stopped moving- effectively sending him unconcious.
The guard overheard him scream. "Dr. Juan?" the guard asked, and opened the door with the gun drawn. Michelle zapped him as well, sending him to the ground as well.
"Okay, now to get Alex and get out of here," Michelle said, taking the plans with.
In the hall, there were no other guards. She found Alex's cell, and using a key from the guard, unlocked it and freed him.
"Michelle? How'd you get past the guards?" Alex asked.
"Shhh...used this," she said, holding the tazer.
"Didn't know ya had it in ya," he said, smiling.
"Me neither, call it an adrenaline rush," she said, as they quickly headed out.
Unfortunately, someone had seen Michelle dispatch the scientist, and more guards had been sent. They had about 5 minutes to get outside, and narrowly made it out.
"We don't have much time," Alex said.
"I know. Zap me," she said, handing him the tazer and the plans.
"What's this?" Alex asked.
"The plans, go ahead," she said, preparing for it.
"Are you sure?" he said, not wanting to injure his girlfriend.
"Do it already! They're coming," Michelle said, and then Alex zapped her. Her hands changed into wheels almost immediately from the shock, and she again changed into Summer as the guards were just about to open the door.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Summer said as Alex jumped into the backseat, where he stayed low as the guards attempted to hit Summer's tires before she hit the Turbo Thrust and allowed her to elude their bullets.
With a few quick turns, she found the hole where Tracker had broke through and drove directly for it. Tracker found Summer on the radar again, and contacted her.
"Summer? Did you get out?" Tracker asked.
"Tracker! I need you to cover me!" Summer said.
"I'll be right there!" she said, and took off for the lab. Alex took a peek up and surveyed the scene.
"Sums, security trucks at 12 o'clock," he said.
"Got it," she said, turning quickly. One jeep missed, and flipped over. A second changed its course for them. Summer hit the turbo thrust again, and jumped over it while it spun out from braking. A third and fourth began to approach, as Summer again accelerated past them and they crashed into each other. Then, she turned towards the hole in the fence while a fifth jeep began chasing them.
"Tracker, where are you?" Summer asked.
"Just beyond the fence, I'll cover ya," Tracker said.
The jeep continued to honk at them, and then began gaining, hitting her bumper slightly.
"Yikes!" she cried, speeding up.
She then approached the fence, and drove through the opening, turning beside Tracker as she cleared it.
"Come on, jeep!" Tracker said, as it approached. She fired a missile at it, creating a massive fireball just beyond the fence. With that, they quickly returned to the hotel.
As they continued, there were no more followers. Alex climbed back up to Summer's driver seat.
"Whoa babe, where'd ya learn to drive like that?" Alex asked.
"Been playing some of Bret's video games. I guess it's been teaching me a few things," Summer replied modestly.
"Sums, that was awsome! How'd you get out of there?" Bret asked.
"I just did used his own words against the scientist. These guys wouldn't know Einstein if he walked through the door," Summer said.
"We got the plans for the ray, too," Alex said.
"Really? That's great!" Pattie exclaimed.
"Were you able to get to the ray itself?" Bret asked.
"No, that was when we were captured. We'll have to go back tomarrow," Alex replied.
"Or tonight," Tracker replied.
"No, too early. Tomarrow night, that would be best," Alex said.
"Right, they'll upgrade their defenses right now," Pattie added.
"Tomarrow night then. It'll give us time to strategize," Tracker replied as they drove into the parking ramp.
"Right, I could use a rest now," Summer said.
"Sorry about zapping you, Summer," Alex said, resting his hand on her dash.
"If you didn't, we wouldn't be here, Alex. I'm okay, really," Summer said.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Did you get shocked, Sums?" Tracker asked.
"Yeah, a little," she replied.
"I'll kill that bastard," Tracker replied.
"No, he'll be in enough trouble when he finds out his ray doesn't work," Summer replied.
"Calm down sis, we'll make him pay well enough," Bret said.
Tracker eventually managed to calm down as they cooled both her and Summer off, and they returned to their rooms and rested up for the night. In the morning, they decided what to do with the plans.
"I think we should hide them until we destroy the ray," Kris suggested.
"But where though?" Bret asked.
"In one of our backpacks and then stuff it under one of the beds or something," Kris replied.
"That might be a little bit too risky, Kris, besides there might be someone from the labs spying on us," Alex said.
"Huh, good point," Kris replied.
"So what are we going to do?" Michelle asked.
"Well one of us could stay behind and keep the plans on them," Bret suggested.
"I'm not, you're going to need me to get past the guards," Kris stated.
"She's right, only Kris can get us to the ray without accident," Pattie replied, which made Kris smirk ever so slightly.
"Easy there, sis, don't be getting cocky on us," Bret said.
"Who is going to stay behind then?" Michelle asked.
"Maybe no one, it would be best if we stuck together in case all of us get captured," Alex replied.
"Yeah, maybe that would work best. We'll go tonight then, Kris you'll need to drive so we can get in there easier," Bret said.
Kris nodded, "That's fine with me. I'll get to show that doctor not to mess with my friends," she stated.
"Ok, but what are we going to do until then?" Pattie asked.
Kris and Bret both shrugged. "We could go see what all they have to do here," Kris suggested.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"Don't they have a rec room?" Kris asked.
"Yeah," Alex replied.
"Well while you guys find something I'll be down there working out, see ya." Kris replied and took off out of the room, but Bret followed her out, "Wait up, Kris, I want to come with you." he called.
"Guess we'll have to find something to do then." Michelle said as she watched the siblings rush out to the rec room.
"Yeah, unless we go watch those two beat the sense out of each other." Alex suggested.
"They won't do that, Bret only went with her to keep Kris company." Pattie replied.
"Ok, should we stay up here and relax then?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah, that's fine." Alex replied.
Later that night, Tracker drove back to the same area where the hole was that she had created the other day, "Seems that they have repaired that hole, should I create another one?" she asked the others.
"I don't know, Tracker, won't that bring attention to ourselves?" Bret asked.
"Well how are we going to get in?" Tracker asked.
"Can't you turbo thrust over it?" Alex asked.
"I don't know, the fence is a little high." Tracker replied.
"You can jump upwards of twenty feet in the air, try it sis you might be able to make it." Bret assured.
Tracker gulped, "Ok, I'm not one to give up easily." she said, she backed up a bit and gained some speed up, as she hit fourth, she hit the turbo thrust and flew easily over the fence, and she landed roughly on the other side having not had enough time to calculate her landing properly.
"Sis, you okay?" Bret asked with a concerned look to his face.
"Yeah, I think so." Tracker replied.
"Are you able to drive or no?" Michelle asked.
"My wheels hurt, but I'm fine, let's get out of here before someone find us." Tracker replied and took off as fast as she could.
Once again they arrived at the lab, Tracker drove around one side of it, and stopped at some garage doors when suddenly they openned and Tracker picked up another car on her radar.
"Uh oh." she said and backed out of view.
A teal Ford Mustang came out of the doors, though no one appeared to be driving it, "Oh my, it seems we have some company." it commented in a male voice that was heavily accented.
Tracker growled at the strange car, "Who in the world are you?" she asked.
"You may know me as The Striker, and you are?" Striker asked.
"I am called The Tracker, and you better not try anything funny or I'll blast ya." Tracker replied.
Striker laughed at her, "It seems we are of the same kind of blood, Tracker, I too can change forms." he replied.
Bret, Michelle, and Tracker all stared at the Mustang in disbelief, "How's that possible?" Michelle asked.
"I'm the first experiment of the Columbian Transmust ray, you must have been created by Dr. Chase's ray, I have heard about you three." Striker replied to Michelle's question.
Tracker growled a warning as he approached, "Back off." she simply said.
Striker drove up another foot, "You misunderstand my motives, I don't want to harm you, I'm only curious." he said.
"Michelle, Bret, I may need your help if he tries anything." Tracker said.
"What about us?" Alex and Pattie asked.
"How about you guys go and see if you can destroy that ray? We'll see if we can handle Striker." Bret replied.
"Are you sure, Bret?" Pattie asked.
"Yes, babe, now go. We'll cover ya." Bret replied and ran his hand down her face.
"Ok, we'll be careful, and you be careful too." Pattie said, Tracker let them out and they headed inside, fortunately Striker didn't stop them.
"I don't understand you, Striker, why are you letting us destroy the ray?" Michelle asked.
"Because they did this to me without my permission, I was forced into this form." Striker replied.
"Then we are indeed the same, I was forced into this form as well by our enemy Dark Rider and Dr. Vincent Leo." Tracker replied and pulled a little closer to Striker.
"I want to leave this country, please say I can join you and your team." Striker pleaded with a very sincere tone.
"Hold on, let's us talk about this real quick, okay?" Tracker requested, she backed away in order to talk to Bret and Michelle without Striker overhearing.
"What do you think, guys?" Tracker asked.
"I don't know, Track, he did sound sincere." Bret replied.
"Yeah, maybe we can trust him." Michelle added.
"Right, we'll give him a chance anyway, let's tell him." Tracker stated.
"Ok, Striker, we're giving you a chance to prove where your loyalties lie, go inside and help Pattie and Alex to destroy the transmute ray." Tracker said to Striker.
"Is that all I have to do?" he asked with a shocked tone.
"That's right, we'll follow you, if you try anything I'll know who you're loyal to." Tracker replied.
"Okay, follow me then." Striker replied and led them inside.
They drove into the room where the Transmute ray was, Pattie and Alex were already in there and were trying to insert the false circuit board inside the ray.
Striker, however, didn't try to stop them, instead he offered some advice on how to insert the board easier, after that was done, everyone piled back inside Tracker and they sped out of there.
"Tomorrow, when they try the ray, it'll explode in their faces, Striker can you stay here and tell us how it goes?" Bret asked.
"Sure thing." Striker replied.
They waved goodbye and headed back to the hotel, the next day Bret changed into Turbo Teen, and Kris stayed with him until Striker contacted them.
"Tracker, are you there?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm here, how did it go Striker?" Kris asked.
"It worked the ray exploded as you said it would, what now?" Striker replied.
"You're on our team now, but we need someone to stay behind and insure that they don't try to rebuild it from scratch." Turbo replied.
"Oh, you must Tracker's brother, Turbo Teen right?" Striker asked.
"That's right, is that okay with you?" Turbo replied.
"That't fine." Striker replied.
At the airport, they met Striker's human form Juan de la Mar, "It's nice to meet you, Juan." Kris said as she shook hands with him.
"The same here, Kris." Juan replied.
Bret and Michelle also shook hands with him, after promising that he would keep in contact with them every weekend, he bid Team Turbo goodbye and they headed back to the States.
Back home, everyone had a ton of homework that they had to catch up on, after finishing their homework they reported to Dr. Chase that everything had been done properly.
"So there's a new changer, huh?" Chase asked.
"Yeah, he's our contact in Columbia now, he'll keep us updated on whether they try to rebuild the ray or not." Kris replied after they had explained about Juan.
So it came to be, a new car changer had joined Team Turbo and now was working as their agent in Columbia.
The team gained some rest and everything mostly had resettled for the teens.
The End.