The Trouble-Shooters

by Mr. Coluber

In 1953, a group of red-blooded American teens fought against evil agents, mutants and Commie racketeers as the Trouble-Shooters. Sixty-five years later, their grandsons come of age and pick up their torch, fighting off modern day evils as the new Trouble-Shooters using their fists, moxie, and their mutant powers.

Trouble in the Woods with Aliens

Blaise Brant pedaled his bike furiously, hoping to reach home before the pain overwhelmed his entire body. The very act of being seated on the bike was already painful enough to bring tears to the fourteen-year-old's eyes.

It would get worse.

This would be the third time Blaise would feel this agony. The first time had been when he was with his friends, Rook, Desmond and Chip at the Soda Fountain. It had been sudden and started when he felt stabbing aches in his loins; the pain quickly spread to the rest of his body in a sudden surge. Blaise had actually fallen out of his seat and dropped his ice cream float, smashing the glass in the process. The second time had occurred in the middle of a dissertation by Mr. Scrim, on the history of the Hittite Empire.

Following that debacle, Blaise's parents had taken him to a doctor. Nothing could be found which could explain Blaise's bouts of pain. Blood samples had to be taken to someplace else – wherever that meant; perhaps New York – in order to know what was going on. Blaise was still waiting for a reply.

By the time Blaise reached the front door of his home, the pain which he felt in his groin was beginning to spread to his legs and abdomen. Quickly and frantically, he let the bike fall to the ground; he opened the front door as fast as he could. The pain was spreading from his groin to his torso.

An odd effect of the pain – something which Blaise had told no one – was that in an odd manner, he felt like a completely different person, even though he knew who he was. That sensation was much stronger now.

Quickly, the fourteen-year-old youth closed the door behind him, slamming it violently. He quickly passed the living room, and climbed up the stairs to his room.

He fell on his bed. Afterwards, he began to scream as the greater pain came.

The agony lasted for about a few seconds, but to Blaise, it felt like several hours. But it ended, and Blaise was left feeling numb all over his body, drooling like a baby.

"Aw hell" mumbled out the teenager. He really wanted to know why he was going through this torture.

Slowly, the numbness subsided. Blaise sat up. It was then that he heard the door open and close.

"Make yourselves at home boys," said a voice which Blaise immediately recognized; his grandfather had come home. Suddenly, the teen remembered that his grandfather liked to play poker with his friends on Friday afternoons such as this one. Blaise turned to look to his right; his grandfather's voice was coming out of the old voice pipe, which a previous owner of the house had installed many years ago, before telephones and intercoms ever existed. The cone within his room was, for whatever reason, open. Blaise didn't want to intrude on his grandfather's privacy. He reached out to close it.

"We always do Bob" said a voice which Blaise knew belonged to old uncle Daffy, one of his grandfather's oldest friends – Chip's grandfather in fact. The tone of his voice was cheerful. Blaise realized that if he listened just a bit more, he might listen in on another Trouble-Shooter story. That would be the bee's knees. Ever since he could remember, Blaise always loved hearing the stories of his grandfather's adventures with his friends, who had formed a group called the 'Trouble-Shooters', and had many adventures, and clashes with villains like False Face, and the malicious mad mind of the mutant Roger Carstairs. His grandfather had even been the protagonist of a Prisoner of Zenda style tale! Blaise idolized his grandfather and wished he could be like him.

Of course, Blaise wasn't. Although the blood of the Great Cecile, trapeze artist of the Jingling Brothers, flowed through his veins, Blaise was a clumsy boy. He was completely incapable of repeating the acrobatic feats which his grandfather had accomplished in his youth.

Blaise contented himself with his grandfather's stories. He pulled his hand away from the cone and relaxed on his bed as his grandfather and his friends gathered around for a session of Texas Hold Em.

A moment passed as his grandfather and his friends set the table and the chairs. The Victorian pipe system within the house was so extensive that Blaise could even hear his grandfather taking a bag of doritos from the counter and two six-packs of beer from the fridge.

Small talk followed. Very boring small talk. The old coots were mostly talking about recent gossip concerning neighbors and old women. Blaise's grandfather didn't mention anything from his youth whether it be as the leader of the Trouble-Shooters, or as a government agent – possibly SHIELD, although Blaise himself didn't really know what agency his grandfather worked for – the old man stuck to more contemporaneous events.

Blaise was about to fall asleep when Bomber, Desmond's grandfather suddenly said:

"What about that UFO Sammy Podunk said he saw? Do you know anything about that Bob?"

Blaise sat up, his interest piqued. He placed his ear next to the cone of the voice pipe. His grandfather, Bob Brant, cleared his throat.

"I don't know if I'm at liberty to talk about things like that…" he said.

Blaise grumbled.

"Oh come on Bob!" Daffy said with as much exasperation as Blaise "Do you think those men in black you trained are going to beat us?"

"Yes. I trained them," said Blaise's grandfather, with a hint of pride.

"Well, I'm too dumb to fall for their tricks Bob" Daffy retorted.

"Bob, truth be told, we're getting too old to hold secrets from one another. And that's especially true for you. I've known you long enough to see that you want to tell your son and grandson everything you've been through. Blaise practically worships you. If your men do shut us up – well, if they can – then it won't be much of a loss for us. And I don't think that they'd dare go after our loved ones – they certainly wouldn't be able to handle Jeremy" said Professor Harjo, who had once taught at John Carter University. It wasn't a surprise that Professor Harjo had such confidence in his grandson – although it took a while for Blaise to remember that the old man was referring to Rook – neither Blaise nor his friends ever called him Jeremy.

"Feathers, you have a point. Alright fellas. You win. But it's not much anyway. Sammy Podunk did take a picture of a space ship. Certain bases did detect the vehicle. But I don't know any more than that. The design is unknown. Not Shi'ar, Kree or Skrull. It disappeared from sight over Alderman Forest"

"That explains all the armed guards," remarked Bomber "Your people aren't very subtle"

Old Bob almost growled.

"I blame Hill and Brand for that"

"Dames!" said Daffy with a laugh. Everyone else joined in. Even Professor Harjo, who was usually serious, let out a chuckle. They continued to trade their cards and neither one spoke of the space ship. But Blaise already wanted to investigate it.

Silently, he went down the stairs and passed the old men sitting around their poker table. Imperceptibly, he opened and closed the door.

The bike was exactly where he had dropped it. Blaise picked it back up and rode it, making his way to the Soda Fountain.

---

Rook was pressing his fingers against his arm, feeling the extra bones on top of his radius and ulna. Even when he was very young, Rook's arms had been thick and muscled, but only since the previous year did he feel these extra growths within them. He knew why they were there.

His grandfather had told him who his father was a month before. It was something his mother had kept from him, and now knowing who his father was, he could understand why. Rook had figured out a at least one thing about his father before the big reveal. He had to be white. Although Rook did resemble his mother and grandfather, you would have a hard time calling him an Indian like they were. He never thought that his father could be such an ill-tempered Canadian; and an infamous one to boot.

He wondered if he was a mutant. He wondered if a mutant was supposed to have the exact same abilities as his parent.

The pondering teen looked at the two friends before him. Desmond and Chip were still arguing with each other the innocence of California's candidate for governor Tyler Wayman; Desmond, a fencer and a fan of old swashbuckling movies, was on the side of the woman accusing him, while Chip believed that Mr. Wayman was innocent and the victim of a slander campaign by a fame-hungered maniac and his political enemies.

Suddenly, a whiff of air brought to Rook's nostrils a familiar scent. Blaise Brant was approaching. It would seem that he had recovered from his most recent bout of pain. Rook had inherited his enhanced senses from his father, along with his highly advanced form of healing factor, and he could tell a lot about a person just by their smell. Theodore Jones on the other side was about to catch a cold, for example. Blaise was a peculiar case. During the two times in which he had suffered from his pain attacks, his scent had changed in an odd manner. For just a while, Blaise had smelled like a…

Rook quickly raised his hand as Blaise opened the door of the Soda Fountain and entered.

"Blaise! We're over here!" he said.

Desmond and Chip stopped their arguing and turned to look at the door.

"Blaise, are you alright? I was thinking of going to see you at your place," said Desmond.

Blaise waved his hand. "Ahh, it would have been a waste of time. The pain went away in a jiffy, and our grandads are playing poker there"

"What?" Chip suddenly exclaimed.

"My Grandpa told me he was going there. They'd probably wouldn't want us around" Rook said.

"That doesn't matter" Blaise intervened "I heard the old guys talking about a space ship near Alderman Forest"

Ever the skeptic, Chip made a face. "Why would our old geezers know about that?"

"Blaise's geezer worked for SHIELD or some organization like that. I'm pretty sure that he still has some contacts that know about extra-terrestrial affairs," remarked Rook matter-of-factly.

"Okay" said Chip with a puzzled look on his face, "What's your interest?"

Desmond then smiled and raised an eyebrow. "You want to see if it's true?"

"You bet!" said Blaise.

Rook wasn't surprised. Blaise was constantly trying to prove himself. He was scrawny and shorter than everyone else in the gang; if he didn't have the three of them as his friends, he'd certainly be the victim of a bully. His grandfather however had been the opposite; he was the all-American boy and leader of his group. Rook knew that Blaise felt inadequate in comparison. The teen tried so hard to be like the old man, even going so far as to wear a red shirt with a B on it; just like the old man had, so many years before. He had to always be the first to volunteer and act on something.

It could lead to a life-threatening danger, but the gang was always ready to follow Blaise's lead, and not just to humor him; they too were red-blooded American teens and they had the hunger of adventure.

Rook in particular craved for it, though he didn't show it. He loved to go out, to hunt and climb, to move his muscles. He was now aware that this was another thing he had inherited from his father – who wasn't a red-blooded American at all. Of course, he could always blame his mother's side of the family for that aspect of his personality; he knew that everyone else would.

"I got camping equipment back home" Rook said.

Suddenly, Chip slammed his hand against the table, with enough strength to shake the glasses, and alert the other patrons of the Soda Fountain.

The four teens stood still awkwardly as everyone just stared at them.

Once the other customers looked away, Desmond placed his hand on Chip's shoulder.

"What's up?"

"Are you stupid?" said Chip in his usual manner, "I know about Alderman Forest. There are five hundred government guys there keeping watch on the place, chattering between themselves on the radio. And even if they weren't there, we're talking about aliens here. They could be Skrulls or Kree planning an invasion or something. Do you really want to walk into something like that? Do you think hunting rifles are going to pierce alien power armor?"

"Oh come on!" said Desmond, exclaiming as quietly as he could "Why do you have to be so chicken?"

"Because maybe a chicken is smarter than you! Aliens have death rays you idiot!" Chip angrily whispered.

Rook tapped on Chip's shoulder.

"What?" Chip asked.

"How do you know how many government men are at Alderman Forest?" asked Rook, a bit perplexed with how assured his friend was when making that statement.

Chip blushed. His heartbeat accelerated. Rook could smell that something was up.

"I heard it on my radio," Chip said.

"Government agents don't let their communications spill into civilian radios" added Blaise. After all, his grandfather had been a government agent. As were his absent parents.

"I have a very good radio" Chip replied.

Rook could tell that Chip was hiding something. The weird smell emanating from his body, along with the momentary glint in his eye convinced Rook that something was up. Rook decided not to press it. For now, anyway.

"Are you going to the forest?" Rook asked Blaise.

"Yeah. Even if I have to go alone" Blaise replied.

"You won't. What about you Desmond?"

Desmond smiled and raised his thumb.

Rook turned to Chip.

"And you?"

Chip grimaced. "Sure. Someone in this team has to have some common sense"

"Wow!" said Blaise "Let's go then!"

---

That Rook would know his way around the forest was not a surprise for Desmond. Being part Indian, Desmond expected something like that – even if Rook himself would have taken offense – but he was surprised to see that Chip himself seemed to know his way around; to know where everyone had to go.

In fact, it seemed as if Rook was following Chip rather than the other way around, with Rook only intervening from time to time, seemingly when a secret path was needed. Desmond was in the same position as Blaise, closely following the two as they moved forwards.

Something was up. Desmond couldn't understand how Chip was so confident in where he was going. Earlier at the Soda Fountain, Chip had been reluctant. But he had also seemed to know more than he should.

Not that Desmond didn't have his own secrets. As of late, he felt as if he was being haunted by a poltergeist. Once, when he was practicing his HEMA moves in the gym, his backsword fell from his hand, even though his grip on the handle was quite tight; and then there was that time in which he fell asleep in his own bed, only to wake up in the basement. More disturbingly was the fact that he had a moment in which he could not see his own reflection in the blade of the sword he was holding.

Chip straightened his head. His eyes were wide open, but they seemed glazed, and Desmond had the impression that his friend was staring at nothing at all. Chip suddenly got out of his funk and turned to Rook.

"We need to hide" Chip said.

Rook bafflingly sniffed at the air. Rook turned to Desmond and Blaise.

"Get down!" he said.

Everyone dropped down into the vegetation. It was only once he was down on the ground that Desmond realized how lucky everyone was that there was no poison ivy nearby.

The sound of rustling branches and leaves could soon be heard. The four teens remained still as two government agents appeared.

Dressed in black, they were both armed with M4 carbines. Any false move would kill them all.

Of the four boys, only Rook and Desmond were armed. Desmond had brought his backsword with him; Rook had his bow and a quiver filled with arrows which his grandfather had given him. Rook didn't care if the bow and arrows made him seem like a cliché.

However, Desmond didn't feel very much at ease waiting for an enemy to pass while he was unarmed. His backsword was in its scabbard; it needed to be unsheathed as far as Desmond was concerned. Slowly and silently, Desmond began to pull the blade out of the leather. He thanked God that the scabbard was real, and not like the ones you would see in Hollywood in which the blade made a distinct metallic sound as it was extracted.

Blaise made a face at him, and mouthed, "What are you doing?"

Desmond simply put his finger on top of his lips and continued to slowly pull out the backsword. The tip was almost out when a radio started blaring out the words of political pundit Colin Adcock. Desmond immediately turned to look at Chip, who looked like a deer caught in headlights with his hands over his mouth. His face had never been so flushed. Somehow, Desmond knew that Chip was responsible for the radio blaring out.

There was little time to yell at him however. The men in black had their guns ready.

"Step out or we'll shoot!" one of them said.

Rook was fast. He jumped to his feet; his bow and arrows nowhere to be seen. Instead, and to Desmond's surprise, he saw three blades coming out of the back of his half-Indian friend's closed left fist. The blades seemed to be made of a black metal; Rook swiped at the man in black nearest him; his M4 was cut in ribbons. The man in black was surprised enough to be stunned momentarily; it was enough time that Rook needed to deliver a strong right hook which left the man in black on the ground, knocked out cold.

There was a second man to deal with. Rook crouched down to get his bow and arrow.

Desmond prepared himself to get up, sword in hand.

Before Rook or Desmond could act, a rock flew and then connected with the second man's head. Desmond turned back to be greeted by Blaise's smiling face, rubbing his hands together.

"Nice shot" Desmond said. He then turned to Chip, and he said, perhaps too angrily, "What the hell was that?"

Rook was quick to grab Desmond by the collar.

"Not here!" he said, looking around, "We need to get out of here before more of these guys show up"

Desmond nodded, but he still eyed Chip with suspicion, as Rook picked up his arcane weaponry.

"Calm down Desmond" said Blaise walking pass him as the smaller teen followed Rook and Chip further into the forest. Desmond fumed and followed.

When they stopped, Desmond had the chance to confront Chip once more.

"What happened back there Chip?" asked Desmond peevishly "You're bringing your radios with you now?"

Chip shook his head.

"I didn't bring any radios with me"

"Then how the heck did Colin Adcock of all people start to yell out his gibberish?"

Under normal circumstances, Chip – as an admitted fan of Adcock – would have responded; nonetheless, he remained silent.

"God dammit! Say something! We almost died!" yelled out Desmond.

Rook stood between Desmond and Chip.

Without raising his voice, Rook firmly said:

"He's a mutant. Like me" Rook said.

Desmond looked down at Rook's hands, remembering the black metal claws.

"I can feel and hear radio emissions," said Chip, finally speaking out for himself "I didn't know I could emit them as well"

"That's how you know so much," said Blaise "And why you've been leading Rook through the woods and not the other way around"

Chip nodded. "The ship is emitting some sort of radio wave which I can feel," he paused before adding, "We're getting real close" he looked at Desmond "Do you still want to do this?"

"You bet I do" Desmond replied.

"What about you Rook?" asked Blaise this time.

"I'm going too. Why the doubt? You know me" Rook replied

Blaise shook his head vigorously.

"No. About being a mutant" said Blaise.

Desmond and Chip turned their heads to Rook. Desmond had nearly forgotten about Rook's little demonstration.

Rook shrugged his shoulders.

"I might not even be a real mutant. I got everything from my dad. It's not like I've developed something new," he said. Then he added, "Maybe my bones. They seem to be naturally metallic rather than coated artificially, like what happened with him"

Blaise looked at Rook in a puzzled manner. "You mean your dad is…"

Rook made a face and then nodded. "I do look whiter than my Grampa and mom. I sometimes look whiter than some white people. Does that change anything?"

Blaise shrugged his shoulders.

"No. Just don't kill too many good people"

"Okay" said Rook with a smile.

No more words were needed. They got on their feet and continued until they reached a point in which Chip stopped.

"What is it?" asked Blaise, almost whispering.

"It's here," he said. "We need to be careful"

All four of the boys did their best to not be noticed, crouching as they walked and standing behind the trees.

Desmond looked forward. All he saw was an empty glade. But he knew enough to assume that the ship must be cloaked. It was quite sudden, but within a second Desmond could see it. The ship itself was as large enough to take up all of the space within the glade, but it wasn't at all like a space-plane like most spaceships one sees in television. It was built like a tower, with the thrusters standing on the ground. It was closer in appearance to the Burj Khalifa than the Millenium Falcon.

Within another second, the ship's form had disappeared once again.

"Did you see that?" Desmond exclaimed.

"Shut up!" said Rook.

"See what?" asked Blaise.

"Didn't you see it?" Desmond asked

Everyone shook their heads and looked at him oddly.

Desmond reddened. Maybe he was going insane. Maybe none of this was real. It was very unlikely that a trip to see an alien ship would reveal two mutant friends. It was basically impossible.

A great honk suddenly blared above them. Desmond and everyone else looked up to see an odd robot with four arms hovering above them. Desmond immediately drew out his sword, but Rook was once again quicker, shooting out an arrow at the thing.

The arrow bounced predictably off of the robot's metallic surface. Rook tossed his bow to the side and leapt at the mechanical monstrosity, his black claws sticking out of his fists.

The effort was wasted. The robot swung out one of its arms to swat Rook away. The half-breed teen was violently slammed against a tree. Desmond charged with the sharp point of his sword aimed straight at the robot. Desmond knew that this was a dumb gesture; that the sword itself would glance off of the robot's shiny metal surface. He was absolutely correct on his assumption. With the added humiliation of having the robot knock the sword out of his hand.

Blaise came from behind and tried to swing a large branch at it. Without even turning its head, the Robot grabbed the branch in its clawed hand and broke it. Chip tried the same to similar effect.

At that point, Rook came back and managed to jump on top of the robot. His claws were out, and he was fast enough to tear into the robot's metal hide.

It was then that Desmond felt a sudden drowsiness. He turned to see Blaise and Chip on the ground; Desmond didn't recall them being hit by the robot. Then Rook for no reason fell off of the robot.

Desmond then saw before him two figures. One was tall and purple, with no chin and oddly shaped hands, and stubby wings on his back. The other was short, gray, and egg-shaped – much like humpty-dumpty – with a glittering belt around what could be called his waist. In his hand was an odd tube. And humpty-dumpty pointed his tube at the teen. The purple alien said something.

At that very moment, Desmond fell on his face.

---

Chip woke up to find himself in a strange, transparent tube, one wide enough to allow him to lie down. He was immediately bombarded with an assortment of sensations, from eldritch sounds to bizarre tactile feelings. He had grown accustomed to this since his mutant powers had manifested themselves, but being inside of the alien ship was providing him with overwhelming sensations. He was receiving a lot of information which came to him as static.

Managing to shut out all of the chaotic waves reaching him, Chip looked around. Desmond, Blaise and Rook were inside similar transparent tubes. They were all regaining their consciousness, except for Rook, who was already on his feet, and glaring at his captors.

They were an odd pair. The purple one with the tiny wings seemed to be the leader by his very demeanor. The fact that he was closely and contemptibly returning Rook's glare seemed to confirm this impression. The egg-shaped one was further behind and seemed more timid.

Rook didn't have his bow and quiver of arrows with him; not that they would have been useful, and apparently, he had either forgotten his claws, or they were of just as little use.

"Human" said a voice within his head "Do not make any sudden movement. I am not your enemy. I am as much a prisoner as you are. I am Gzzrd, a Zarkonian of Zarko. I am the egg shaped one. I am standing behind the Betan called Rilk, your enemy as well as mine. For many centuries his people and the Megans have been at war, and they fight this war by kidnapping giant monsters from far-off planets, including your own. Rilk is something of a renegade. His plan is to kidnap people from your planet and turn you into living weapons. For that purpose he and his marauders captured my ship and myself along with it. They're forcing me into this horrible enterprise, and I'm sure that they'll kill me once I'm done, so I please beg you to cooperate"

Chip looked at the egg-shaped alien again. It waved at him very subtly.

"Be calm. I'll find a way to free you and your friends"

The alien called Rilk held up a thick tablet and looked at it with a distorted face. The purple alien turned to Gzzrd.

"This one possesses an advanced healing factor and enhanced senses – besides a very bellicose nature" Rilk let out a satisfied grunt, "He will make a fine weapon. I wonder what the Megans will do when they see him" said the purple alien smugly.

"Don't you have the Krytax for that?" asked Gzzrd reproachfully.

Rilk cracked a big smile. "Yes. But sometimes giant monsters aren't enough"

The purple alien then gave out a curt, low, giggle.

"Human, I've scanned you long enough to know that you have a capacity to affect electromagnetic radiation; to create and manipulate it to a degree. Perhaps, if you focus enough, you can affect the controls of this ship. This is a Zarkonian ship after all, which Rilk hijacked," said Gzzrd to Chip. The teen just looked around, lost and not knowing what to do. He didn't know if he should answer the alien. He certainly couldn't speak out loud.

Chip sat up. He recalled how a radio transmission came out of his mouth. He wondered if he could send a silent radio message to the humpty-dumpty looking alien. It was all about finding the right channel – and a lot more besides that.

Outside of the tubes, Rilk walked in front of Desmond's transparent prison and looked at the half-dazed youth.

"What is matter alteration, Zarkonian?" asked Rilk looking at the tablet.

Reluctantly, Gzzrd stepped forward. "According to initial scans, this young human male may be capable of altering the material state of his being. Perhaps of things in immediate contact with his body"

"What does that mean?" asked Rilk peevishly.

"He can phase through matter, may it be solid, liquid, or any of the other two forms, by which I mean gas and plasma. Perhaps he can do the opposite and make himself and anything he touches denser. Invisibility is also a possibility," replied Gzzrd.

"Good. Spies and assassins also fetch a nice sum," remarked Rilk.

Chip's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that Desmond was a mutant.

"Be quick human. Rilk begins to see some military value in you. That means you will be slaves for the rest of your lives"

Chip took note of the sensation he experienced whenever Gzzrd contacted him. The alien most likely placed a radio somewhere on his body through which he could be contacted; but it did provide a channel with which to communicate.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Chip asked, trying to send a message.

Gzzrd yelped out and nearly fell down.

Rilk turned quickly to look at the Zarkonian with distrust.

"What are you up to?" he said, grabbing the Zarkonian by the bright belt around him and raising him up to eye level.

"Your control belt is hurting me!" said the Zarkonian "Take it off or I'll be of no use to you!"

Rilk laughed and dropped the Zarkonian down hard on the floor.

"I would say it was a nice try. To have me remove the belt which allows me to control you, but it was so very pathetic" Rilk sneered, "And I will kill you if you try anything like this again"

"Whatever you did human, try something else"

Chip frowned. It was then that he remembered that there were other ways to communicate; and if he could send out something which Gzzrd could receive, than he might be able to send out a message.

Fortunately, Chip was well versed in Morse code. The only problem was that Gzzrd, being an alien from outer space, was most likely unaware of what Morse code was. Nonetheless, it was all that Chip had.

"Can you understand this?" relayed Chip, sending out light pings at Gzzrd.

The egg-shaped alien's eyes widened.

"Yes, I can. I am familiar with the codes humans use. Your planet was once under profound study from my people before an incident put a stop to it. I am glad we can now coordinate our efforts"

Rilk now walked towards the tube containing Blaise. The frail boy in the red shirt looked defiant, in spite of the frightening situation he was in.

"What can this one do?" asked Rilk with a sneer.

"The analysis of that one is not complete, but from what I understand, he can shift his shape in some form. His genes have the mechanisms for it," replied Gzzrd.

Chip raised an eyebrow. He wondered if Blaise was listening in on this. Or everyone else. Chip wondered if he was listening to this, or if he was using his weird radio powers to figure out what was going on.

But it was apparent, Blaise was a mutant. They all were mutants, what with the alien saying that Desmond was capable of passing through solid objects.

"Are we all mutants?" pinged Chip at Gzzrd.

"Yes"

"Okay. I know what I can do, and I know what Rook can do, but were you being honest about Desmond and Blaise?" pinged Chip inquisitively.

"Indeed. Although I still have little information on the one in the red shirt, whomever that might be"

"That's Blaise"

Rilk suddenly stood between Gzzrd and Chip's view.

"Zarkonian, does his transformation have any use?" Rilk asked. "Be honest. Remember the belt"

"Militarily, I don't think he has any valid transformation. I see no genes responsible for enhancements. Only for rearrangements of organs and hormones. His transformation might be as simple as a change of hair color"

Rilk paced away. The look on his face was murderous. He looked at Blaise. Much to his credit, Chip's friend did not shirk away.

"I should de-atomize him, but there is potential. I understand that one of this planet's heroes, the one dressed in red and white and blue, was once frail. We will provide this one with a simple enhancement. Give him theta-grade strength to see if we can use it with the general human population. My teacher once told me that one could find treasure in trash; I feel that this is a good time to follow that philosophy," said Rilk.

Gzzrd paused and looked at Blaise.

"Do it Zarkonian!" exclaimed the Betan loudly.

"I will have to subject your friend to the procedure. Do not worry. It is not dangerous, and only lasts a few seconds. But it has given me an idea. I have been ordered to give him theta-grade strength. That is strong, but not enough to break the shell of the tube. I cannot give him more due to the control-belt around me, but if you could tamper with the device, perhaps your friend could acquire more strength, and break out"

"Wait! You want to give Blaise super strength? He'll probably get himself killed!" pinged out Chip with concern.

"He will also possess speed and a certain level of invulnerability to even Rilk's weapons. And I do hope you will help as well. Once you tamper with the machine which will enhance your friend, you may do the same to the rest of this ship's mechanisms"

"Okay" Chip pinged "Let's do this"

As Gzzrd began to move his fingers on a control block much like an old remote control, Chip focused until he could see the electromagnetic waves. Particularly, the ones surrounding the control block in Gzzrd's hands. Waves after waves came out of Chip's body, mixing with the ones surrounding the controller. Gzzrd's eye rolled to meet Chip's. The Zarkonian smiled slightly; Chip was doing the right thing. Blaise's tube filled with eldritch lights as the process began.

It was then that Chip noticed Blaise doubling down in pain.

"Something is wrong. The process is supposed to be painless," said Gzzrd via the strange telemetry he had developed with Chip.

Chip knew what was going on. He had seen it happen two times before, and had almost seen it a third. Blaise was having another pain attack.

Blaise fell down. Soon, the lights diminished. And then, Blaise got back up again.

Except that Blaise was very different from before. The Blaise that Chip saw emerge within the tube had a very female form.

---

Rook was dumbfounded, but he wasn't as surprised as he should have been. Every time Blaise had had his pain attacks, Rook had thought that he smelled like a girl. What he saw before him simply offered a rational explanation for that.

Standing some distance away, the female individual who used to be Blaise was looking at herself, clearly shaken. Rook could understand why. She was taller than Blaise, and clearly more athletic; what used to be Blaise's short hair was now long, although that seemed to be more the product of hair extensions than natural length, as the hair on one side of the girl's head was of a slightly different shade than the other.

The girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise did not stand still for long; she pulled her head back and let out such a loud scream that even Rook could hear it within the sound-proof tubes. The girl that was once Blaise curled her fingers into a fist and slammed it against the transparent surface of the tube. The material shattered completely, much to the surprise of the two aliens which had been looking at them.

While the egg-shaped one scurried away to hide, the tall purple one with the tiny wings pulled out what looked like a gun and aimed it at the girl-who-was-once-a-boy. Before Rook could say anything, a beam of yellow light came out of the weapon and hit the girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise in the gut. The girl was tossed back. Rook couldn't even process what was happening before the girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise leapt forward, the midsection of her red shirt completely burned.

Moving with a tremendous speed, the girl quickly shortened the distance that lay between herself and the purple alien. The alien shot out another blast, but the girl quickly caught it in her hand as if it were a ball of paper. She was just inches away when a four-armed robot got between her and the purple alien. The girl didn't hesitate; fueled by her anger, she immediately grabbed two of the robot's arms and pulled them out of their sockets. She then thrusted her fingers into the robots chest and pulled out its circuitry with a frightful ease.

The purple alien quite understandably made a hasty retreat. He ran back to a door which slid open, and closed quickly behind him. The girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was completely out of her mind and went after him. Clawing at the metal surface where the door had been, she found a seam and began pulling at it. Quickly, the metal began to bend, until a thick pane revealed itself. The girl pulled the door out of its sockets with two more heaves, and tossed it behind her, barely missing the tube in which Desmond was in. She ran through the brutally created opening, into what seemed to be a corridor.

Desmond started; then, much to Rook's surprise, he disappeared.

Rook was only stunned by this for a second. He looked at Chip, who seemed to be doing something. He was standing and his eyes were glowing brightly. All of the sudden, a bright ray came out of his eyes and burned through the transparent panel of the tube.

The tube melted quickly.

Determined to not be the one doing nothing, Rook popped out his claws and he began do attack the transparent barrier. However, his claws, as sharp as they were, couldn't even make a scratch. Nonetheless, he continued to attack the barrier, growing more and more desperate. He was soon pounding at the barrier with the exterior side of his wrist, until another claw – thicker and shorter, came out of that very area. For a moment, Rook just looked at it with astonishment.

Earlier, he had doubts about being a mutant, for the very reason that he had inherited everything from his father, and therefore, wasn't technically a mutation. But this short claw coming out of the outside of his wrist was definitely something his father didn't have.

Rook was about to test this newly discovered claw's strength against the barrier when he saw Chip already outside, waving his arms, clearly yelling out something. The egg shaped alien was standing next to him; the glittering belt that was around him before was nowhere to be seen. The humpty-dumpty type alien held within its hands the control like block which the purple alien had held before; with one finger, the alien tapped a button and the barrier lifted. Rook leapt out.

Chip stood between himself and the egg-shaped alien with his hands held up.

"Calm down. He's a friend," Chips said.

Rook looked at the comically shaped alien.

"I believe you," said Rook turning to Chip. "Does he know what's going on?"

Chip took a deep breath and explained as best he could the situation. The fact that every one of his friends was a mutant was no longer a big revelation. Being used as a military slave was predictably horrible. He didn't necessarily trust Gzzrd, but he had no reason to be hostile. What mattered at the moment was getting out of this situation alive and whole. But that was going to be quite difficult in a spaceship. Rook didn't know where they were.

"Are we in space?" asked Rook, looking at the Zarkonian.

"No! The power of our engines is still recovering from the long journey to your world. We are in fact in the very same place where we found you," said the alien.

Rook could have sighed with relief. The alien's information meant that all they had to do was leave the rocket and run back home as quickly as they could. They wouldn't have to hijack a shuttle which they couldn't pilot anyway.

Unfortunately, there was the matter of Desmond and Blaise; Rook had no idea how to solve that conundrum. Desmond's fate was a mystery; according to what Chip had said, Desmond had the power to go through things and turn invisible.

Since all of the tubes were opened, Rook stepped towards the one which had contained his swashbuckling friend. He didn't have to; one whiff was enough to tell him that Desmond was no longer there.

For the moment, the priority shifted towards Blaise. Rook pointed towards the ruined opening.

"Where does that lead to?" he asked Gzzrd.

"That corridor? It leads to the cargo hold" suddenly, Gzzrd's eyes widened "The Krytax is nearby!"

Rook and Chip looked at each other.

"The what?" both asked in unison.

The Zarkonian looked at both of the human teenagers with increased nervousness.

"Rilk may be a renegade, but he is a Betan through and through. Like all Betans he has kidnapped his fair share of monsters. One of them is the Krytax. Right now it is quite small, but it when bathed in a particular form of radiation, it can become gigantic" replied Gzzrd.

Rook advanced towards the torn doorway. Many scents came to his nose, as did many sounds to his ears, and they told him that everything on the other end of the corridor was going to hell. He could hear screams of terror, and the screams of anger coming from the girl-that-had-once-been-Blaise. He could hear the crunching of metal and bone, and the sound of energy being blasted out of futuristic weapons. The smells themselves were exotic except for the smell of the girl-who-had-once-been-Blaise and her anger. And then he heard a roar. A roar like he had never heard before.

"Chip, can you do those eye beams again?" asked Rook looking down into the corridor.

"I've done it twice; first by accident and then on purpose when I melted Gzzrd's belt away" replied Chip, "I can do it again"

---

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was confused and angry. She who had used to be a he was maddened beyond the capacity for rational thought. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise, when she was just Blaise Brant, had always wanted to be like Bob Brant, leader of the Trouble-Shooters.

Fourteen year old Blaise Brant wanted to be as strong and physically capable as his grandfather when he was a teenager.

What had happened to Blaise however – his unexpected transformation into an abominable female – had completely destroyed that aspiration. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was understandably upset.

She went on a rampage. After shattering the tube she was in, she had two targets in mind: the tall purple alien, and the shorter, squatter egg-shaped alien. The egg-shaped alien had disappeared, but the purple alien was clear for her to see. She went after him.

The purple alien fled down a corridor, always shooting his blaster at the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise. The first painful lesson had been quickly learned. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise made sure to dodge the blasts. It was surprisingly easy. The girl was thrilled.

Pressing her advantage, the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise continued her pursuit of the purple alien who continued to flee down the corridor.

At last, the pursued and the pursuer came out of the corridor into a wide space that looked like a wide hangar, and it most likely was that. A number of saucer shaped vehicles were carefully contained within large metallic scaffoldings.

There was little time to admire the tiny alien spacecraft. A small army of purple aliens similar to the object of the wrath of the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise appeared, all of them wearing exotic power armor.

By that point, the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was too angry to realize the danger she was in. She just charged at them. She was very lucky that her newly-enhanced body was enough to deal with them. Even within their power-suits, the Betans weren't strong or fast enough to deal with the gender-shifted abomination to mother nature. One punch was enough to trespass alien alloy, one side-step was all that was needed to avoid a searing beam of heat. A Betan with a mace tried to hit the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise on her head; instead the newly formed female caught the head of the mace with her palm, and then, using her tremendous strength, brought it down on the head of her attacker with twice the force, leaving the Betan with a pulpy mess of a head.

Another Betan tried to keep his distance from the enraged female, in spite of the heavy armor he wore. He tossed a grenade at her. With her heightened reflexes, the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise easily caught the grenade, and in one super-fast sprint came up to the Betan which had tossed it. She simply shoved the grenade against his armored faceplate. The grenade, having a short fuse, exploded, cleaving the Betan's head off. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise did not seem to notice that her own hand was unaffected by the blast. She moved on to the next Betan, who she uppercutted towards the ceiling.

For years, Blaise had been doing his best to learn boxing and jiu-jitsu. His grandfather had worked so hard to train the boy. Blaise had never been able to live up to his own ideal; he knew the moves, but he never had the strength or the speed to perform them properly. And now, the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was using these moves perfectly well. That part of the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise that was still the old Blaise that had done his best to be like his grandfather, was further enraged. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise's furor intensified.

Limbs were ripped out of their sockets. Betans were broken in half.

More Betans in power armor came in. They decided to keep their distance from the enraged human female. They simply aimed and fired at her. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise could dodge one blast, or two, or maybe even four, but multiple blasts at the same time was just too much. She began to feel the sting of the blasts against her body. In an act of despair, she pulled out a nearby saucer from its scaffolding and used it as an improvised shield. She was lucky. The saucers were made to withstand titanic amounts of pressure. Once the volley halted, she tossed the sturdy vehicle at the Betans who folded like bowling pins.

More Betans were approaching, all with their blaster rifles ready to fire. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise grabbed another saucer, ripped it out of its scaffolding, and tossed it at the next group of Betans.

It had been bedlam before, but now the entire hangar began to shake as if caught in an Earthquake. The Betans within the hangar were themselves baffled. It was at that moment that the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise noticed the purple alien. Her fists tightened.

Her rage was interrupted when a giant door opened. Something came out.

It was big. The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise thought that the thing coming through the door was as big as King Kong. It didn't look like King Kong though. It had the head of a Dunkleosteous, the spiked body of a hedgehog, the tail of a stegosaurus, the legs of a T-Rex, and the arms of a bear, along with the long claws. It let out a low humming purr, adding several clicks to the percussive sound.

The Purple alien seemed quite happy. He stood apart from what remained of his guard and he looked at the monster.

He said something.

And then the thing grabbed him with its panda-like thumb and it bit off the alien's upper half clean off.

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was stunned. She wanted to do that. She looked up at the monster and yelled out.

"You big palooka! Spit that out!" she yelled out.

The creature raised its paw, and then brought it down.

---

Chip, Rook and Gzzrd came just in time to see the Krytax, now in a more gigantic form, pounding its clawed paw down on the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise creating a visible crater. It then turned towards the remaining Betans and caught them all up, devouring them in one fell swoop.

Whatever its intelligence, the creature quickly turned its attention to the walls of the spaceship. Its claws struck the metal, and at first they couldn't do anything. But then the claws began to glow, first with a red glare, and then with an intense white brightness.

Chip could see the waves of electromagnetic radiation distorting the space around the creature. He could feel it beating against his skin, and going through it.

Heat emanated from the creature's claws, and the metallic wall began to melt quickly under its touch. In a matter of seconds, the monster had opened an opening large enough to escape. It quickly did so.

Chip felt relieved. Until he remembered that the monster was now outside on Earth.

He turned to look at Rook. Gzzrd came between them. The Zarkonian sprinted towards the crater within which the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was.

The egg-shaped alien looked around at the bloody mess that the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise had made with some shock.

"Oh dear" he said, trying hard not to step on the severed limbs or the pools of blood.

Chip remembered that Blaise – or the mad girl he had become – wouldn't know about Gzzrd's turning on their captor and helping them out.

"Gzzrd, you should stay behind us," said Chip with concern.

The alien humpty-dumpty waved his hand.

"I am aware of the danger. But I can do this. I've practiced," the alien replied. Gzzrd then lifted his hat and took out something. He then tossed that something into the crater.

"What did you do?" asked Rook with suspicion.

"I gave your friend a device which will help him – pardon me – her, control herself. Two of my colleagues came here many years ago and we learned that the female of your species is by far the least rational and more prone to violence. The device will allow her to tap into her male alter-ego's calm nature and greater capacity to reason. She will be less prone to fits of anger with it on her person," said the alien.

Chip raised an eyebrow and almost seemed at a loss for words. "What sort of device are you talking about?" he asked.

Before the Zarkonian could answer, Blaise – or rather, the girl he had turned into – climbed out of the dent on the floor. Besides her torn shirt – which both Rook and Chip tried to ignore – they could see that wrapped around her right wrist, was watch-like device.

"That's the device?" asked Chip, pointing at it.

The Zarkonian nodded in its own way, and had a big smile on its face.

"I made it myself. It is based off a similar device worn by the human female which my colleagues had tried to transport to Zarkon along with a human male; of course, the female was violent and animalesque – so much that my colleague ruled that no Zarkonian should ever return to Earth. Despite my colleague's words of warning, I had always intended to visit this planet, and I built that device based from scans of the device worn by the savage female; my hope was that this device could at least curb the more violent urges of the females of your species. It has other functions besides that. Mostly educational, allowing for quick scanning and analysis of data, as it seemed that such savage creatures like your females needed it. I call it the star-dial" said the alien.

An odd guttural sound came out of the insult to Mother Nature. She stumbled about like a drunkard tripping his way out of an alley. She arched her back while stretching out.

Chip did his best not to stare. He rolled his eyes towards Rook, who was similarly occupied looking at his toes, while a pinkish shade colored his cheeks.

"Rook, we need to talk to Blaise…to that girl… about his… her shirt" said Chip to Rook in a low town of voice.

"You do it," said Rook.

"What about my shirt?" asked the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise, rubbing her head. Her eyes then fell on the Zarkonian. The expression on her face became truly demonic in aspect. Chip had to conquer his discomfiture and place himself between the two.

He held up his hands. "Blaise, you're still Blaise right? Could you please calm down? He's not with the purple guy. He's as much a prisoner as we were. I mean, he's the reason we're free. You got so strong because of him"

The face of the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise reddened.

"He did this to me?" she shrieked out like an animal.

The Zarkonian, safely behind Chip, waved his arms. "No human friend. I assure you that I did not turn you into a savage, barbaric female, incapable of controlling her animal urges. You did that all by yourself!"

"WHAT?" growled out the girl.

"Be careful Gzzrd" Chip said. He then turned to the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise, and added, "You're a mutant. Like all of us. Like Rook here, and me, and Desmond, wherever he is. But you turn into a girl"

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise stared at Chip slack-jawed. She was about to say something when her eyes somehow turned downwards, towards her shirt.

She shrieked out and quickly turned her back on her friends. Chip could see that the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise was doing her best to make herself more presentable. She turned around again and after taking one last look at her shirt, looked at Gzzrd, and said:

"Change me back Humpty-Dumpty. And you two stop staring"

"I wasn't" said Rook.

Chip couldn't say a word.

"I have underestimated the irrationality of your human friend's female alter-ego. Even though she has already been told that I cannot do anything for her, she still thinks that I can" said Gzzrd.

Rook stepped forward. He looked the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise in the eye.

"Blaise, there is nothing anyone of us here can do. This alien here – whose name is Gzzrd, in case you didn't catch it – has been trying to help us. The only thing he ever did to you was grant you the same amount of strength which Namor has when submerged. What happened to you was your mutant power. You can shift your gender at will, in a way so thorough as to make those who claim to be 'non-binary' seem like the fools they really are. Right now, you are a hundred percent female. Not the best power, but not the worst either. Remember all those pain attacks you were having? I now have no doubt that the pain you felt had everything to do with your transformation. I'm sure that you can change back, but I don't think that'll happen right now. But that doesn't matter Blaise; we are in an alien ship and a monster has just escaped to God knows where outside. It could be headed to Broadbuck, to Twindeal or even to Pinderico. We all have the powers to stop that thing, and don't you forget that you can probably lift a tank easily over your head, so forget the fact that you're going to be walking funny for a while. Get your act together and be like your grandfather. Would Bob Brant feel sorry about himself in a moment of crisis?"

The expression on the face of the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise changed from that of anger to resignation the moment her grandfather's name was mentioned.

"No," said the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise crestfallen "but my pants feel funny"

"Don't take them off," said Rook quickly.

Chip nodded in agreement.

"You will change back to a man with the capacity to think from a woman without the capacity to think. I have seen it in your genetic code," remarked Gzzrd.

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise took a deep breath.

"There was a monster, right? A big ugly one, if I recall," she stated, her spirit somewhat lifted if even only slightly. "And we've got to stop it" she turned to look at Gzzrd. "Can you track it down?"

Gzzrd smiled, and felt confident enough to walk away from the protection of Chip's shadow, to face the affront to Mother Nature that was the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise.

"Easily," said the egg-shaped Zarkonian. He pointed at the saucers. "We can do so from one of these flyers"

The eyes of the trio of mutant teens fell on the saucers which had been irreparably destroyed by the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise's rampage.

"The ones which are still operable" said Gzzrd, pointing at two other saucers which were still intact.

"What about the other aliens?" asked Rook suddenly. Everyone else seemed to have awoken from a delusion.

"Oh my. I completely forgot," said Gzzrd.

"Aren't they all here?" asked Chip as he waved his hand over the bloodied mess of the aliens' remains.

"There are more than this. Those are just clones" replied Gzzrd.

It was then that Chip heard the transmissions. Messages were being traded furiously back and forth. Chip couldn't understand what was being said. It all came to him as a garbled, static mess.

"They are planning an escape!" blurted out Gzzrd.

Chip turned his head quickly. "How do you know that?"

"I know it from you human. We have a telemetric connection, remember?" said the Zarkonian. "And I know what they are saying"

Suddenly, everything began to rumble and then, to shake. Anything that wasn't bolted down was dancing around insanely. Though still learning how to use his powers, Chip raised an electromagnetic field; it repelled or deflected any oncoming object.

It also kept them off their feet. Chip couldn't help but notice that.

The violent rumbling and shaking soon stopped.

"Rilk's subordinates have taken the top half of this ship and decoupled it. They have escaped towards space" said Gzzrd.

"Well, at least we only have to deal with a monster," said Chip half-jokingly. This state of mind continued on for another two seconds before once again, he heard the tell-tale rumbling of transmissions within his head. He looked to Gzzrd.

The Zarkonian's eyes widened.

"A squadron of Betan clones was left behind. Oh dear! They're going to the nearest center of population and take it over!" said the alien.

"That's Broadbuck! Our city!" exclaimed the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise.

"They'll wreck the place, right?" asked Chip to Gzzrd.

"I think that they will try to establish a base of command so that they can wait for relief – but I don't think that they will get any help at all. They will cause a large amount of damage though" answered Gzzrd. "But perhaps we will be lucky. Perhaps the Krytax and the clones will find each other and kill one another, or, at the very least, weaken one threat so that you can help take care of the other"

Transmissions began once more to come into Chip's head. This time, in English. He shook his head as he listened what was being said.

"They're going in opposite directions," said Chip "Those men in black we saw before are tracking the monster down, and they think it's going to the Cleverdale Power Plant. Great! Who do we go after first?"

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise stood straight.

"We have to split up" she said. "I'll take the monster. I can take it on. You guys should take the clones. Maybe these saucers have guns on them"

"They do not" said the Zarkonian.

"I'll take on the clones" said Rook "Between here and Broadbuck, I think I can intercept them before they leave Alderman Forest if I ride one of those saucers. If I'm anything like my father, I won't need the guns," Rook suddenly exposed his dark claws; even the shorter stubbier ones coming out of his wrists, "I'd rather have my bow anyway. I think that Chip should go with you. Blaise, you may have the muscle, but he has the firepower"

It was a good plan to which the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise nodded to.

Chip then remembered something.

"How are we going to fly those things?" he said, pointing at the saucers.

"The male that has become a savage female will be able to pilot the saucer well. The star-dial will quickly teach her. As for the other, I will pilot it, and take your clawed friend to the enemy clones" answered Gzzrd "But before that, to my electromagnetic human friend, I would like to offer something" the Zarkonian trotted towards one of the saucers and produced a black-and-gold-and-silver ball which reminded Chip of a striped pool ball. Gzzrd tossed it at Chip.

The ball then moved towards Chip of its own accord. It suddenly expanded into a black-and-gold-and-silver mass which enveloped Chip's body. In just about a second, Chip found himself in a spaceman's suit of black-and-gold-and-silver, with a similarly composed helmet on his head. Chip was stunned. The suit fit like a glove, and it looked great as he saw his reflection on the surface of the saucer.

"This is amazing!" said Chip all giddy and jubilant "I look like an old sci-fi hero"

"Great!" growled out the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise, clearly in a surly mood "I look like Daisy Duke. Humpty Dumpty why did you give him that suit?"

"It will help him fly, and protect you," said Gzzrd. He added, further explaining his reasoning, "It is clear that the electromagnetic human can emanate energy which is strong enough to lift him off of the ground. Given his inexperience, I figured that he would need help directing his flight. Within the suit there are several small propulsors which will allow you to accelerate and change direction at your will. The suit itself is used in space as an emergency, but it will be useful to you. The visor in your helmet will allow your eyebeams to pass through"

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise placed her fists on her hips and looked at Chip peevishly.

"You have eyebeams?" she asked.

"I did mention firepower, didn't I?" Rook intervened. "Besides, we're wasting time"

The-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise changed her demeanor. "Let's go!"

Chip followed the girl into the saucer. There was a moment, and then the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise blinked, and started to press all of the right buttons; she instantly knew her way around the alien controls. The saucer began to hum, the scaffolding was opened and then the saucer hovered. Chip looked back to see Rook and Gzzrd entering the second saucer, and the process repeated.

Before he could register it, Chip felt the air as the-girl-that-used-to-be-Blaise piloted the saucer out through the crack.

---

Desmond was wondering how his day would end. He also wondered if he had accidentally ingested some exotic chemical substance.

So far, his day had been unreal. He had seen aliens. He had seen Blaise turn into a girl. A very strong girl. A very shapely and strong girl. To make the day more interesting, something was happening to Desmond himself.

Shortly after the moment Blaise had turned into a lady and gone berserk, Desmond saw his hand disappear. It took a few more seconds for him to realize that every bit of him had disappeared. He was horrified, and he wanted to shout, but instead, he found himself falling, and he was falling in a way he had never fallen before. First he fell through the floor, then through another floor; Desmond was stunned to see the ship's thrusters pass him by, and he was terrified when he sunk through the soil of the ground below. Darkness soon surrounded him and he could see nothing, though he knew he wasn't in an empty space. He shook his hands around, desperately trying to grasp anything, to climb out of the black chasm he was in. If he continued to fall, Desmond might reach the Earth's mantle and be cooked alive.

Over and over again, Desmond clawed at nothing. He was stunned when his quick descent suddenly stopped. Desmond focused hard on moving upwards; slowly, he was achieving his goal, as he felt some pressure against his fingers, and he could feel the force of gravity. And then, it happened so quickly; from a slow descent, Desmond was violently ascending upwards. It was the exact opposite of what had happened before.

The subterranean darkness gave way to the light of day as Desmond climbed higher upwards. Amazed, Desmond looked around. He was flying. He wished he could savor the experience more.

Some distance away, Desmond saw the alien ship; it was clearly visible as it towered above the canopy of Alderman Forest. It was a beautiful sight; however, his ascension was not halting, and Desmond had cause for concern. It was conversely less than before; if he had managed to stop a dive towards the core of the Earth, he could stop flying upwards towards the upper limit of the troposphere. He knew he could do it, since he had done it before.

He concentrated, feeling his fingers and his toes grasping at something. And then, he felt a sudden and new sensation of solidity. His hands, arms, feet and body reappeared; and then he began to fall.

Desmond let out a yell. He tried doing what he had done before, and he felt a new sensation; his descent quickened, as if he had gained an enormous amount of weight in a short period of time. He was now falling too fast to do anything but wave his arms and yell.

The fall was loud, violent, and left a sizeable crater on the hard rocky soil. Desmond got up covered in dirt; he shook off gray and brown dust from his pants. Pebbles fell from his disheveled hair.

He was combing his hair when he realized that he hadn't been flattened like a pancake. He was stunned enough to allow his comb to fall through his fingers to the ground. Desmond looked at his hands. Taking several breaths, he decided to see what he could do.

Desmond concentrated; his hands disappeared. He did so again, and his hands reappeared. The teen walked towards a nearby tree. He waved his hand at the tree; it passed like it wasn't even there. Desmond waved it again; this time the tree had an enormous crack where he had hit it. He took a few steps back. Then, his head turned to look at the spaceship which stood amidst the forest.

Within that metallic structure, his friends were being held prisoner. Desmond knew that he had to do something, and now he knew that he had the powers to do it. All he had to do was learn how to use those powers. By his own reckoning, he had powers similar to the Avengers member, Vision, and the Invisible Woman – although as far as he could tell, he couldn't create forcefields. Desmond did notice that whenever he went invisible or hard, or intangible, the clothes on his body followed suit. He reasoned that perhaps he could affect the nature of anything he touched.

He picked up a stick. He focused and made sure that his hand was intangible. Desmond took a swipe at a nearby branch. Much to his satisfaction, the stick passed through as if it were a beam of light. Desmond focused again, this time doing the opposite of intangibility. The stick was fragile, and if it were in its normal state, it would brake against the branch; however, when Desmond swung it, the branch was cleanly cut. Ever more optimistic, Desmond made his hand invisible, and the stick followed suit. He then tossed it. The stick became visible as soon as it left his hands and fell to the ground, breaking into several fragments.

A smile lighted up Desmond's face, until his eyes fell upon the spaceship once more. His lips pursed.

Once more, he concentrated. This time, he began to hover just a few centimeters off the ground. Slowly, he came back down. Desmond was quickly getting a hang of his own abilities. He tilted forwards, and he was suddenly flying off. Desmond was lucky to be a practitioner of HEMA, which had sharpened his reflexes, otherwise, he would have smashed his head against a tree. He dodged them, until he remembered that all he had to do was phase through them.

Still, Desmond had to be careful. He was close to where he and his friends had been captured by the robot, when he noticed his backsword on the ground through the corner of his eye. He quickly descended towards it.

Much to Desmond's delight, the backsword wasn't dented or bent. There was some dirt on it, but otherwise, it was fine. His eyes moved upwards and caught his own backpack. He quickly skipped towards it.

Desmond opened the backpack to find that it still contained its contents; amongst a few other things, he had his fencing mask and his main gauche. Desmond tucked the parrying dagger into his belt and he placed the mask over his head.

A little to his left, Desmond noticed Rook's bow and quiver; most of the arrows except for three were within the leather container; there was nothing else to see in such a short amount of time, so Desmond just took what he could see and he was back in the air.

It was at that moment that everything seemed to go to hell. There was a horrendous noise coming from within the ship, and then it temporarily glowed. Almost immediately afterwards, the ship's shell burst out; a giant monster emerged.

The ugly creature wasted no time to tear the outer shell apart and come out. It quickly made its way to Desmond's right. The teen was stunned enough to just stare until there was another rumbling. The top half of the ship separated from the rest and immediately launched out towards space. Some moments later, a contingent of aliens wearing armor came out, going to Desmond's left. Desmond gasped; he didn't know where the monster was going, but those aliens were headed towards Broadbuck.

He was about to go after them when he saw two saucers leaving the gaping opening made by the monster. One went after the monster, and the other pursued the armored aliens. Since he already meant to go in that direction, he decided to follow the saucer that went left.

The saucer was too fast for Desmond to catch up with it, but for whatever reason, he was certain that one of his friends was inside.

It slowed down, making a descent near a suburban area not far from the edge of Alderman Forest. Much to Desmond's horror, he saw why; several armored aliens were entering the area. The saucer's domed canopy opened, and one of the occupants leapt out.

Desmond had absolutely no doubt who that might be; it could only be Rook. The teen flew towards his friend as the saucer continued to hover nearby.

Rook was immediately engaging the aliens, cutting them down with the black claws coming out of his knuckles, and an extra set of claws which came out of his wrists. Rook did his best to dodge the aliens' blasts, but some did hit; if it wasn't for his healing factor he'd be dead.

A rather large alien showed up from behind the foliage and charged at him; Desmond sped towards them as he made himself invisible and hardened his body along with the backsword which he held in his hand. Desmond rammed the large alien, blade first; Rook watched in amazement as the alien which was about to attack him stopped with a dumb look on his face; a horrible gash appeared in his gut, spilling out purple blood on to the ground. Quite suddenly, the alien was cleaved into two parts; the upper part fell to the ground before the lower could topple.

Desmond made himself visible.

"Who really needs a katana?" said Desmond as he wiped the blood off the blade of his backsword. Rook was beyond mystified.

"Desmond! Where the heck where you?" he asked.

"I was around" said Desmond, before he noticed a group of Betans aim their weapons at them. Desmond quickly placed his hand on Rook's shoulder. The aliens pulled the trigger, but the beams passed right through them.

Rook was understandably surprised, but he quickly regained his composure.

"We'll talk about this later," said Rook.

Desmond tossed Rook his bow and arrows.

"Isn't this yours?" he asked.

At this point, the aliens were a bit stunned by Desmond's unexpected appearance. They were cautious until a group of three aliens stepped forward. Rook took his bow and arrows; in rapid succession, he fired three arrows. All hit their marks; all bounced against their armor.

The aliens were emboldened.

Rook grunted, and he dropped his bow, charging at the oncoming trio. Rook was fast, quickly charging the three aliens with his claws. One he stabbed in the gut; using the stubby claw on his wrist, he delivered a sort of backhand blow on the next one. The third was tossed to the ground by an over-the-shoulder arm drag which Rook effortlessly performed; he followed that up by stabbing the alien in the face with his claws.

There were more aliens, and Desmond could see that some of them might very well enter the homes of the innocent bystanders. He wasn't as fast as Rook so he hovered off his feet and flew to intercept them. He wanted them away from the homes, so he remained visible.

With his backsword in one hand and his Main Gauche in his other, Desmond hardened the tip of his blades and swiped at the aliens' faces. His diversionary tactic worked; the aliens now moved away from the homes to attack him.

Desmond continued to fly around, but he never flew above them. He wanted to fool the aliens into thinking that they could hit him. They couldn't of course. He would phase out whenever a beam threatened to touch him. Desmond even flew between two aliens and phased out just in time for them to mutually blast each other. But Desmond didn't just phase. He used his ability to make himself and anything he touched dense to his defensive advantage, hardening his sword in time to meet a blast, and deflect it back at the shooter.

The entire group was now focused on Desmond; only a few engaged Rook, who swung his claws and cut them up. It gave Rook the chance to attack the aliens which were fighting Desmond from behind.

Together, Rook and Desmond cut up what remained of the alien force which intended to attack the suburb, and then, the city of Broadbuck. The last two aliens were dispatched by Desmond with two simultaneous swings of his arms; one received the blade of his backsword in his gut, while the other got the main gauche in the eye. They both fell to the ground at the same time.

Desmond smiled at Rook, pleased to show off his skill, until he remembered that he was wearing his fencing mask; Rook could not see the smile. Desmond removed the mask and repeated his cocky smile.

"Put the mask back on. People are watching" Rook said. Indeed, people were coming out of their homes and gingerly walked forwards. Desmond remembered the amount of trouble he might get in if his parents knew what he was doing; he quickly put the mask back on, pulling it over his face. He was about to ask why Rook wouldn't hide his face, until he noticed that his friend was dipping his hand into an alien's gut and taking its purple blood; he spread the wretched fluid all over his face. It was enough to make a disguise, although not for long and vulnerable to close scrutiny.

"The Indian half of you is gross" said Desmond. Rook gave him an aside glance.

"That's racist Desmond" he replied in a deadpan manner, "And how do you know that it isn't my white half doing this?"

"I don't know many white people who deck themselves in their enemy's blood" Desmond retorted.

"You don't know my dad" Rook answered, "granted, I don't know him either. That being said, I don't have a convenient balaclava with me. Do you?"

Desmond shook his head, defeated by Rook's reasoning.

"By the way" the teen said, trying to shift the subject of conversation, before the locals gained the courage to reach them, "Did Blaise turn into a chick?"

The shade of Rook's complexion changed for a second; Desmond was happy to unsettle his friend, if even for a split-second.

"Yes" he replied "And don't even think about it. That girl Blaise turned into can knock your head off"

"Wow" said Desmond, raising his eyebrows.

Within the forest, there was a sudden roar, and the sound of trees being snapped like twigs. The people who were leaving their homes quickly ran back in again. A large alien came out, donning argent armor, with guns for hands.

Rook's claws popped out again and Desmond raised his sword.

At that moment, a shadow fell upon the large alien. A large boulder suddenly dropped from the sky and fell on its head, crushing it. Rook and Desmond looked up to see the saucer flying above. It moved slightly away from the dead alien and made its descent.

The saucer's canopy opened, revealing the egg-shaped alien Desmond had seen with the other purple alien. Rook suddenly raised his arm in front of him, as if blocking his path.

"He's a friend," Rook said, looking at Desmond sternly.

"If you say so," Desmond replied, knowing Rook meant business.

"His name is Gzzrd" said Rook.

"Gizzard? I'll call him Giz" said Desmond in response.

Rook walked in the alien's direction, with Desmond slowly following his lead.

"I didn't know that little thing could do that" Rook said to Gzzrd, pointing at the saucer.

Gzzrd smiled prideful at the vehicle. "All Zarkonian ships, big or small, have gravity tractors installed within. It was no effort to pick up a boulder to dispatch your large foe"

"What were you doing before that Giz?" asked Desmond, sounding a bit more suspicious and doubtful than he actually was.

"I had to deal with the other clones. I could not tear apart your environment lest I cause a greater disaster, so I had to use my gravity tractor on their bodies and club them repeatedly. It was a tedious effort. I ended up picking them all up and dropping them from a great height" said the egg-shaped alien.

Rook nodded his head.

"That's why we fought so few of them," he said.

Desmond casually glanced at the area around them. The place was littered with alien corpses. More than a hundred were probably there. He looked at the egg shaped alien and gave him the thumbs up.

"Good work Giz" Desmond said.

"Hey! You!"

The three turned to look at one of the homeowners walking towards them in a trotting gait. The man was a stereortype: paunched, with thinning hair and a mustache.

"Who are you?" the man asked. Desmond couldn't tell if the man was being hostile or not.

Desmond turned to look at Rook, who still had his mask made of dried alien blood. He was still wearing his fencing mask. He certainly didn't want anyone to know who he was; Desmond reckoned that he had to invent a name. A name which said a lot about himself.

Ghost Swordsman was too much; Schwertgeist was too German and might get him in trouble with time travelling G.I.s of the forties; Phantom Blade was too obvious, and the word Blade sounded too similar to Blaise, and might cause some confusion.

At last, he came to a decision.

"I am Phantom Edge, the ghostly swordsman," said Desmond, trying hard to sound like Errol Flynn in a swashbuckling movie. He moved his hand in Rook's direction "And this is Rook, master of the wilderness" he then remembered the Zarkonian. "And this is Gizzard"

Rook let out a groan. "Let's get out of here and help out Blaise and Chip"

"Can I fit in that thing?" Desmond asked as he looked at the saucer.

"Of course" Gzzrd replied, "But it will be a tight fit"

Rook was clearly without any more patience, as he shoved both Desmond and the Zarkonian into the saucer; Gzzrd was right – it was a tight fit. Nonetheless, the canopy closed well as soon as they were in, and the saucer lifted off as the homeowners came out to watch.

---

Agent Turpin watched in shock and awe as he saw the giant monster come into sight. He thanked the heavens that he was inside a Bell 412 helicopter. He didn't necessarily consider himself safer than anyone on the ground, but the mobility was substantially better. But on the other hand, the helicopter might be more visible to the eyes of the monster, which was at the moment as tall as a sky-scraper. Luckily, he didn't have to tell the pilot this; Dashiell Rico was an experienced pilot with years working for both S.H.I.E.L.D and S.W.O.R.D. He didn't need to be told to keep his distance.

Jeff Dabrowski was busy at his computer, doing his best to analyze the creature which had just made its appearance. He had been just as surprised as Turpin by the sudden turn of events. Both S.W.O.R.D agents had come to this area to verify the existence of any alien threat. They had expected an army or a ship, given the information that previous satellite images had given them, but nothing like this.

Turpin found himself inwardly cursing Director Brand's decision to keep armament at a minimum. She wanted to keep the civilian population of Broadbuck from knowing anything but that was difficult considering the size of Alderman Forest, and the scope of their operation. The agents down below were only armed with conventional weapons, and their armor was light and ineffective against otherworldly threats. They had already lost contact with two agents.

More agents would disappear, Turpin had no doubt about that.

The S.W.O.R.D agent tried to go over what he knew in his mind. It wasn't much. All that was known was that an unidentified alien ship of unknown origin had landed in Alderman Forest not far from the city of Broadbuck. Agents had been sent to watch over the ship in case of suspicious activity. Until that day, none had been witnessed; the ship's mysterious origin gave rise to a lot of speculation. He still didn't know what the occupants of the ship intended, even as, moments before, half of the ship was seen launching off of Earth, and reports of a small army heading towards Broadbuck were being relayed. The army – which had been promptly contacted – would deal with that problem, but Turpin was at a loss to figure out how to solve this problem presented before him. Monsters were superhero turf.

He sent word out to HQ. Turpin wondered who Brand would send – most likely it would be the X-Men, given her connection to the mutant group. He hoped that they would come quickly. So far, the monster was doing nothing but destroying the wilderness and growling.

But it was heading towards a nearby power plant, Cleverdale. That was never good.

The agent caught a glint through the corner of his eye. He turned to see another helicopter flying nearby. Turpin used his special contact lenses to see where the chopper came from. It was an AS350, owned by a local news channel.

Turpin slapped Dabrowski's shoulder.

"Tell those idiots to get out of here!" he growled out.

Dabrowski smirked. "I did. Through the telemetric speaker. They spouted some legal jargon which unfortunately is valid. My hands are tied on that one. They asked for an interview, by the way"

A grunt escaped Turpin's throat. He looked at the chopper. At least it was flying cautiously, but it didn't have the same amount of armor as the Bell 412, nor did it have Rico as its pilot.

"They better be careful," he muttered under breath.

Then, Turpin's worst fears came true. The monster turned to look at the AS350 helicopter.

"Energy is building up around the creature" said Dabrowski, looking at the screen of his computer. Turpin didn't need to be told this; he could see its spikes, claws and thagomizer glow; even without his technologically equipped lenses he could see the whole damned show.

Just as the monster was about to do something to the AS350, Dabrowski yelled out.

"Unidentified Flying Object coming at a high speed!"

Before Turpin could even wonder if it was another helicopter, he saw a saucer coming from the same direction from which the monster had emerged. With his lenses focused for magnified vision, he could see that the occupants were human, or at least appeared to be so. They also seemed very young. One was a kid wearing some odd sci-fi costume; the other was a girl that crazily enough, had clothes so tattered that they looked like she had borrowed them from Daisy Duke.

The dome's canopy opened up, and the boy clumsily flew out of the saucer.

"They're communicating amongst themselves" Dabrowski said.

"Can you intercept their communications?" asked Turpin.

Dabrowski raised his thumb and smirked. He turned back to his keyboard and started typing.

"Give me audio," said Agent Turpin.

"Done" replied Dabrowski "But I got to tell you, that news chopper is also picking up their radio signals. Not as well as we can, but still…"

Turpin nodded. "Later"

"Chip, that thing is bigger than it was before. Are you sure you can handle it?" asked the voice of a girl. Turpin assumed that 'Chip' was the flying boy.

"I gotta try this," replied the boy. He flew right in front of the monster; suddenly, a thick beam of energy came out of his eyes and hit the monster head-on. The monster just closed its maw and eyes and absorbed all of the energy, soaking it like a sponge.

To everyone's astonishment, the monster just grew in size.

"It absorbed the blast" said Dabrowski.

The two kids came to the same conclusion.

"I think that I just gave it more juice" said Chip disheartened.

"Keep flying around it then. Keep the Krytax away from those helicopters and everyone else on the ground. I want to try something," said the girl.

"Try what?" asked the boy.

"You'll see" she replied.

The saucer retreated some distance away. It encircled the monster, picking up momentum, and then, it accelerated towards it. The girl jumped out of the saucer before the creature caught it in its jaws and crushed it.

The girl's leap had been a tremendous one. She arched over the monster and landed feet first on its spiked back. She was standing on top of one of the creature's spikes. It was an acrobatic leap fueled by superhuman strength. Turpin wondered if the girl had trapeze artists as relatives. He then saw the girl use the spikes to climb up the monster's back, towards its head. As she did so, she pointed her wrist at the beast. A beam of light came out of a wristwatch like device she had on it, but nothing happened. Perhaps it was a weapon that had failed, perhaps not.

Finally, the girl reached the head. Somehow, Agent Turpin wasn't surprised to see her clasp her hands together, and deliver a double-fist hammer punch to the top of the monster's head. A great bang could be heard, and the shockwaves even reached the Bell 412.

"You want to beat it to death?" asked Chip in exasperation. He was just floating there, looking at the scene in stupefied awe.

"Sometimes the simplest methods are the best. And why aren't you flying in circles around this guy?" she asked. This girl was clearly in charge, pondered Agent Turpin.

"Oh. Yeah" Chip replied, and he began to fly around the creature. Agent Turpin switched his lenses to energy perception mode, and he could see the fields of energy surrounding the monster and the boy called Chip.

The monster was generating a field that was much like a cloud, while the boy's field was more amoeba-like. To make matters more interesting, whenever the boy flew a complete circle around the monster, eddies of energy would form. This had the effect of confusing the monster, and making its movements slower.

All the while, the girl was still on its head, stomping and pounding, hoping to crack the skull and cause a trauma of some sort. The monster would try to claw at her with its immense paw, but the girl would leap over it and land back on the head, and continue anew.

"How long with this take?" asked the boy called Chip.

"My star-dial has just finished its analysis. Chip, this thing doesn't really eat energy. It's absorbed through a special layer between the skin and the fat of its body. That's why it closed its mouth when you blasted it. The Krytax's innards can't take the punishment," she said.

"Is that thing that good?" Chip asked, puzzling Agent Turpin just a bit. By the context, the boy was talking about the aforementioned star-dial. Perhaps the device on the girl's wrist.

"It taught me how to fly that saucer, it allows us to communicate, and I can scan the insides of a creature. Yes Chip. It's that good," replied the girl, somewhat unamused by her friend's question.

"What are we going to do then Blaise? Are you going to claw your way inside the beast and put a grenade in it?" said Chip.

Agent Turpin took note of the girl's moniker – Blaze, apparently – and wondered if it was an actual name or a pseudonym.

"No," replied the girl, "But let the big palooka take a swipe at me"

"Fine" said Chip.

The boy stopped flying around the creature, as the girl continued to pound on its head, her hits and blows now more carefully delivered.

The monster – or Krytrax as it was called – tried to swipe at the girl. She leapt up and grabbed on to the creatures massive claw.

The claw suddenly began to glow. Agent Turpin could see the girl grimacing in pain.

"Blaise! Let go of that thing!" Chip shouted out.

"I need to hold on," said the girl with a strained voice. The claws then stopped glowing, and the Krytax waved its paw in front of its mouth, which was also opening. Rather than wait for the monster to toss her into it's mouth, the girl quickly vaulted from the claw towards the beast's opened jaws. Landing perfectly on the creature's tongue, the girl then rushed to the side and caught the blade of the jaw; thus, she kept the jaw open, even though the Krytax was doing its best to close it.

"Get over here now" she said to the boy called Chip.

The boy seemed to understand what his friend was saying. He flew right into the monster's mouth and landed next to the girl.

"Here goes everything," he said, sounding like he was giving her a smirk.

A thick beam of energy suddenly came out of the boy's eyes and shattered against the creature's insides. A thick beam of energy came out the other side, trespassing the monster's ugly head, and several other body parts. The beast was charred from the inside out.

Chip grabbed the girl and the two escaped from the monster's crumbling corpse; the Krytax fell on top of the side of a mountain; fortunately, no one was there.

Agent Turpin continued to watch the two kids as they descended down to the ground. The AS350 came down as well, clearly to meet them. A woman and a man with a camera on his shoulder ran out as soon as they could and rushed to meet them.

Turpin turned to Dabrowski.

"I want to hear them. See them too, if this is live"

Dabrowski typed the commands and the screen lit up to show the live feed of the News crew of Channel 34.

The woman was dressed professionally and she spoke directly to the camera.

"This is Judy Hostel here, speaking live on a most remarkable incident. Just moments ago, a giant monster was tearing across the Alderman State Park, when it was intercepted by two new superheroes. Let's meet them"

Turpin saw Hostel shove her microphone in the girl's face.

"Who might you be?" she asked.

"Blai…" the girl's expression suddenly became more awkward, as if she had just remembered something, and her face changed its complexion to bright red. "…zer. Blazer. My name is Blazer"

"Cool save there" said Chip. Of course, Turpin was still listening to the boy speak through Dabrowski's computer. But watching the live feed, he realized that the boy's speech was a garbled mess of radio static and that noise European computers made when loading.

"I am the Ultra-master of Electro-Magnetic waves. But I don't have a name yet" said the boy through the computer.

Watching the television broadcast, Turpin heard:

"I…Ultra…wave…name"

"There we have it, Blazer and Ultrawave. Is this your first mission?" said Ms. Hostel with a smile.

"I didn't say that," Chip remarked through Dabrowski's computer.

At that very moment, another saucer appeared. Agent Turpin could see that it had three occupants; two that were human, and another that looked like Humpty Dumpty. The saucer caught Blazer and Ultrawave in a sort of tractor beam and then disappeared into the horizon.

This was going to make an interesting report for Director Brand.

---

Professor Harjo stood with his old friends as they stared at their grandchildren.

Bob Brant was the first to speak.

"We know about your recent adventure. The one with the giant monster and the alien clones" he said, matter-of-factly.

Desmond was about to say something, but a look from Bomber was enough to shut the boy up.

"I honestly don't know what to say. When we were all your ages, we went through some very crazy shenanigans. Neither my brother nor my father knew about this, about how our lives were put at risk by the likes of the first False Face and Roger Carstairs" said old Bob Brant.

"We should tell their parents," said Daffy, sounding serious for once.

Professor Harjo shook his head.

"They would send these boys off to that school in New York. Frankly, I don't like that thought. My grandson is a mutant, like that dirt-bag, maniac father of his, but he's still human. I never accepted that mutants were set apart from other humans. Homo Superior! Ugh! It goes against cladistics and all of biology. If your parents are human, then you are human, regardless if you can walk on water or spit out acid or dance the blasted Macarena"

"What do you propose we do Feathers?" asked Bob.

"Let them be," said the Professor.

"Sounds perfectly fine, if it wasn't for all of the danger they'd be facing" Bomber said.

"Like we did Bomber?" cut in Daffy "We didn't have the powers that they do. We did have Reuben though"

Old Bob smiled at the mention of his pet raccoon.

"Just because these kids have powers, doesn't mean that they're going to get into trouble. But if they do, they can count on us in any way possible. Cops and soldiers risk their lives every day, and they have families at home that worry sick about them. But they do their jobs because they know that it's needed to keep everyone safe from harm and evil. Someone has to do it. I hope it won't be you," said old Bob looking at his grandson "But if it has to be, then be good"

Professor Harjo looked at his grandson.

"Jeremy, I can't believe that you went by your own nickname. But Rook is good, and I suppose no one will add two and two. You don't have to be like your dad. Remember when you said that your favorite hero was Hawkeye?"

Rook nodded. "He still is"

"Good" said Professor Harjo. "Be more like him. Your father is trouble"

Bomber looked at his grandson.

"Phantom Edge. That's dramatic. I shouldn't have gotten you so used to Errol Flynn. But I like the panache"

Daffy stepped towards Chip.

"I love that name, Ultrawave. And I saw you take care of that monster. That was top notch!" Daffy said.

"Hold on!" interrupted old Bob "Your grandson wasn't the only one to take on that beast" his eyes went to Blaise. However, while the others were proud, Blaise was a bit more sad. He had managed to turn back into a boy, but he didn't have the same strength he had as a girl. It was more than just a bummer.

Bob let out a chuckle.

"Don't be a sourpuss. So you turn into a girl. Does that make you one? You're still a guy deep inside. You'll only be this Blazer chick when you absolutely need it. You're not some tranny or pervert. You are a true straight arrow. Buck up, 'cos I'm proud of you son"

The old man laid his hand on Blaise's shoulder. The boy wasn't quite uplifted, but he felt less blue.

"Besides from what that alien friend of yours has said, he invented a device which would keep you from doing the stupid things that women do," said Daffy

"Thank goodness for that" said old Bob "I certainly wouldn't want a woman driver in the family"

And although Blaise didn't laugh with everyone else as they roared in hilarity, he did feel a bit of the cheer. But not for long.

---

It's been a while since I've wrote anything on this site. I tried completing a story but failed. Now I'm taking a different approach. I'm going to take a team and try to tell individual tales. Just like an old comic book would.

Before you protest, I do know that the language I use is somewhat trollish. Well, I am a troll; a Scorpio to be more precise (although according to the sideral zodiac I'm a Libra - either way, I fall under the influence of a Scourge Sister); but also, I wanted to replicate the feel of a writer from the nineteen-fifties being stuck in the current year. I hope you find no offence at that.

The Trouble-Shooters were actually a team published by Timely comics and appeared in the following publications: /Comic/Man-Comics/Issue-26?id=135138 /Comic/Man-Comics/Issue-27?id=135139 /Comic/Man-Comics/Issue-28?id=135140

Zarkonians can be found here: /Comic/Sun-Girl/Issue-3?id=140113 and the betans can be found here: /Comic/Godzilla-1977/Issue-12?id=24562

See ya next time.