Crypto shook his head, pointing at a picture of Harry S. Truman Orthopox left on one of the screens during his interrupted study of Earth, having his back turned from Brainzor "Oh ho no, I'm not getting involved with you! I heard the stories. I watched the space news. Everything you touch turns to dust! Not one good thing ever came out of your evil rule with an iron fist!"

"Incorrect," Brainzo stated with authority. "Everything I touch turns to gold. I did not become the richest being in the galaxy by being incompetent. I leave that to the lesser creatures, may I help their pitiful existence."

"I still don't trust you! Give me one good reason not to–"

Orthopox kicked him in the back of the head, hovering his throne over to pin Crypto to the ground. "You idiot," he whispered harshly. "Brainzo is our only choice of making it out of here alive. What have you done, beside send us closer to a star burned grave?"

Crypto coughed from the weight of the throne on top of him. "He's bad... and not a 'good' bad, like how the cool cats say it."

Moving his chair more forward, Orthopox crushed Crypto's head deep in the floor, muffling his arguing. "I apologize for his strong words," Orthopox said sweetly. "He's a Furon warrior breed. They're made to kill, not think."

"Of course I knew that. My massive brain contains the knowledge of the entire universe. There is no limit to what it can contain! I even knew about the robot you commandeered on your journey to your Earthly demise."

Orthopox shifted his eyes suspiciously and would be sweating if Furons had pours to sweat from. "What robot?! I mean, I don't know anything about a robot."

Grr walked in between Orthopox and Brainzo, tongue hanging out casually. Seeing Brainzo leer down at him, the little robot waved happily. Twisting its head all the way around to look at Orthopox, it pointed at the screen. "Who's that biiiiig head, mister big head?"

Orthopox felt Brainzo's stare pierce deep enough to make him quake in his little space boots. "That is not what you think it is! It is a... a... can of Earth beans we found in the wild. Yes, that's it." Getting off of Crypto, Orthopox closed his eyes and waved at Grr. "Open it up, Crypto. It must be meal time–"

"Enough!" Brainzo's hologram head flickered and zapped, the speakers flaring with static. "I am not in the mood for your Furon mind tricks, no matter how impeccable they are! I wish for an exchange that vows immeasurably valuable for both of us, accordingly."

Crypto shook his head, getting up from a puddle of black liquid that was squeezed out of his empty eye sockets. "Don't tell me he's rich by being a ship-to-ship salesmen, 'cause we ain't buying."

"My request is the best deal you would ever be able to achieve in your pathetic excuse of a life." Brainzor's frowning face disappeared, the green screen changing to a dotted outline of Grr which receded into the left half. A rotating metal barrel labeled "plutonium" constructed itself from pixels, quickly filling the right half. "I want that robot. And if that demand is met, I shall reward you two asteroids the plutonium you so desperately need."

"Is that all we get?" Orthopox grabbed the sides of his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. He picked up Grr by the body like it was a toy and shoved it into the screen. Do you have any idea how much this thing is worth? Billions if not trillions of space cash would be offered without skipping a beat. And you want to trade this for a measly can of fuel? Do you have the brain worms?!"

"I have made my offer. Either take it, or I end your pitiful existence here and now."

The ships alarms went off, a red light flashing in one of the corners of their command deck. Zapping awake, the monitor to their exterior cameras showed Brainzor's ship in all of its bright and colorful glory. Behind the spinning lights and neon outlines, the massive ship had multiple missile launchers aimed at the smaller flying saucer. Orthopox dropped Grr instantly, the robot flopping to the floor with a small squeak.

Crypto grabbed the air blindly to find Orthopox. "I say we take it and leave this place, pronto. There's no point in fussing about space cash after he's already whipped out the big guns."

Orthopox slumped over in his chair, huffing in defeat. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but you're right. Go ahead, Brainzor. Take my only chance at infinite happiness and wealth. Can you at least promise me that the Plutonium you give us isn't going to be full of ship destroying chemicals or any harmful things of that matter?"

"I'm glad we can see things my way, after a little persuasion. And I assure you, with complete honesty, that the fuel you will receive contains nothing but pure Plutonium. My Algorian Ninjas should be there soon to make the trade."

"Ninja's?" The two furons questioned in unison.

Instantly, the teleporter lit up, a group of hood wearing robots standing there; the fuel barrel tucked safely behind them. They all scattered, whooping and yelling as they ran on the walls and flipped over computer panels. One of them stayed there on the platform, keeping its hands together against its armored chest. After doing flips, throwing shurikens at the microwave, and slicing their couch in half with a katana, the ninjas grabbed Grr and flipped their way back to the teleporter. The one that stayed behind threw the fuel at the Furons; all of the ninjas disappearing faster than they arrived.

By the time the barrel rolled over to Crypto's feet, Grr was already in the hands of the ninjas, the screen containing Brainzor's face behind them. Orthopox gasped with glee, floating over to the barrel and kissed its side. "At last! Victory is ours, Crypto!"

"You may leave whenever ready. I wouldn't dare stick around if I were you. Earth is the richest planet in this solar system, and I plan on taking it while I am here."

"Don't let us stop you," Crypto said, "We've wanted to get away from this black hole ever since we got here. Ehh, I have to warn you, this planet is no push over. It's more like a bad hangover."

"Nonsense," Brainzor countered. "This planet has primitive machinery and has barely harnessed the knowledge of nuclear fission. It will be like beating up a brain-dead baby."

"No, you don't get it. This place has a bunch of teenagers with attitude. How do you think I got my eyes melted? It wasn't from standing too close to one of their television sets, that's for sure."

"Teenagers?" Brainzor let out a single monotone laugh. "Bah! You make them sound like a threat."

"Hey, hey, hey! These aren't your average group of goober goons. They're even immune to my mind control. These kids have somehow morphed with the plutonium and are now running amok with crazy super powers!"

"But how did they do it," Orthopox asked. "Any organic life form would've been incinerated into mere molecules."

Brainzo's booming voice got both Furons' attention. "It's simple, you blundering load of buffoons. When a human is in their teenage years, they are in a form of transition. That hormone fueled transformation leaves their bodies open for outside sources to join in the process. In other words, they survived because their molecular structures where already unstable to begin with."

Crypto nodded in agreement. "They seemed pretty unstable all right."

"No matter," Brainzor declared. "I am done with the two of you. It was a pleasure doing business. End communication."

The screen turned black, the flexible neck of the monitor snaked back into the ceiling to hide away, and its small circular hatch closed behind it. The room Brainzor's screen was kept in was made of pure gold, pillars and curtains decorated with jewels from numerous planets and galaxies. The long ruby carpet leading towards the mounted screen was lined with Algorian Ninjas, all standing at attention. Running into the massive room, a man-sized finger with arms and legs headed towards Grr, its white lab coat fluttering from its hurry. Stopping in front of the small robot, the finger grabbed its tip; the fingernail curving over the top of its head and to the right as if it was hair.

"Black holey! I never thought I would ever see this robot in one piece. I almost don't believe my own eyes!"

Brainzor looked down at the talking finger. "Believe them, Pinko. Take it to your lab and find out whatever you can. If it is still capable of what the stories tell, them taking over the universe will be much easier than expected."

"Right away," the finger said happily as it picked up Grr, then gave a salute. "Hail, Brainzor!"

Brainzor looked around the room while Pinko scurried away. "Report, Gorthrax."

One of the Algorian Ninjas approached the big screen, standing wider and taller than the others. It was the only one who wore a full faced helmet, its armor a mix of black and gold. Wires braided in the back of its head stuck out with connecter ends, looking like dreadlocks. The hilt of his thin and curved katana was made of the skull of a small imp-like alien, one of the many weapons attached to its waist. With a swift salute, the ninja bowed.

Its voice came out like a talking furnace, metallic and grating. "Awaiting orders, all mighty Brainzor."

"You shall lead the attack on Earth. I trust your abilities as you have shown them time and time again."

"And what of the Furons?"

"They are of no use to us, now that we have the robot. On your way to Earth... take them out."

Gorthrax bowed. "It shall be done, all mighty Brainzor."

As the air waved around it, Gorthrax disappeared in a swirl of warped space, taking a few of the other ninjas with it. Outside of Brainzor's ship, the ninjas flew towards Earth as bright beams of light. Orthopox watched through the viewing window, the beams of light aimed straight at America. But, he was caught off guard as the alarms went off again.

"What's going on?" Orthopox headed to a computer panel. "Crypto, why are the alarms going off?"

Crypto grabbed around, getting his feet tangled in the wires cluttering the floor. "Give me a second." He fell, trying to get out but getting more tangled instead. "I'll find out once I get my hands on the control panel."

Orthopox manned the exterior camera, turning it around just in time to see a barrage of missiles heading their way. All three of his hearts sank at the sight of them. Twisting his head around, he rushed to the other side of the ship. "Crypto! Hang on to something!"

Shockwaves dissipated around the ship, the shield able to hold off the first set of missiles. But, too many followed, the dozens of missiles shattering the shield and bursting through it like a bubble. The explosions and the force of the impact was enough to send the flying saucer towards Earth, knocking it clean off of its orbit. Without a shield, and with the amount of damage taken, the ship was helpless to Earth's intensifying gravitational pull. As the ship entered the Earth's atmosphere, so did the beams of light, flying right past it.

The invasion of Earth had begun.

A spoonful of mushy corn plopped on October's cafeteria tray with a wet splat, some getting on her pizza slice. Sliding along the rail, she picked up a chocolate milk box. Other students passed by as she looked around for an empty bench, the cafeteria more packed then a shoe full of dog poop. She noticed Harvey's head pop out of the crowd, Harvey leaning back with a lively laugh. Biting her lip, she dived in and headed to his table.

"-then he broke the freakin' table with his body," Harvey continued, throwing his hand down on his tray, smashing his sloppy joe with his palm.

"Did he die?" Melvin asked.

"Rock?" Harvey shrugged and made a raspberry. "He's a greaser. Those guys walk out of car crashes and knife fights like it's routine."

Melvin had taken a bite of his burger while Harvey was talking, replying with his mouth full, spitting food from across the table. "Yeah, but was he badly hurt?"

"I don't know. He got a bottle of coke stuck in his butt. Who cares?! You guys asked me what the craziest thing I saw at the party was and that was it."

"Sounds kind of dull to me," Cornelius stated bluntly. "Glad I didn't go to that snore fest."

Harvey tried to fight back the thought of the alien attack, telling his brain that it was a bad dream from eating too much spicy food. "Yeah, I don't know why people even bother with parties. It's really just–"

October sat down next to him, all of Harvey's friends taken back by her sudden appearance. "Hey, what's up?"

Harvey gave her a wide eyed stare, eyebrows raised high enough to fold up his forehead. "Hi... what are you doing here?"

She grinned as she opened her milk box. "You know. We met at the party and... then that thing happened."

Melvin's jaw dropped with an impressed scoff, giving his pal a much deserved pat on the back. "Harvey, you animal! And you said nothing interesting happened at the party. You're a sly one."

Cornelius slammed his face on the table. "Why didn't I go to that party?!"

Harvey shook his head, swiping his arms out. "No! No thing happened." He twisted his face down at October, one of his eyes twitching. "October, I think we need to talk in private."

"Sure, just let me finish my–" before she could take a bit of her pizza, Harvey pulled her out of her seat; the pizza spinning around in the air before plopping on the tray in a mess of red sauce.

Running over to the trashcans, Harvey let go of October's wrist and turned around, trying his hardest to keep calm. "October... I'm going to be very straight forward here. What happened last night, it didn't happen. Nobody remembers it. Nobody knows of it. Nobody needs to know of it. Do you understand?"

October squinted her eyes at him. "We're talking about the alien, right?"

Harvey slumped his shoulders. "No, about the overflowed toilet. Of course about the...!" Some students came over to put their trash away, smacking the trays against the trash cans and putting them away. Harvey lowered his voice from pent up yell. "...the you-know-what. That means we shouldn't talk either. Us talking is going to lead to questions. Questions lead back to the you-know-what. And you know what? I don't want that. I don't need that in my life. The last thing I need is for five people who never talk to each other to start talking to each other."

Rock came up to them, Dorothy holding onto his arm with a grip tight enough to choke a monkey. "Ay yo!"

Harvey threw his hands up in the air. "Oh for crying out loud! What did I just say?!"

"Listen peeps," Rock said, pointing at the two. "We gotta talk some real talk. It seems only me and Dorothy here can remember anything from the party. Everyone else is straight up no dice."

Dorothy nervously combed her fingers through her ponytail repeatedly, looking like she didn't get a wink of sleep. "Do you guys think that little green guy is going to come bad to kill us? Or if there's more? There can't only be one. You guys see it in the movies. There's always like ten or eleven of those things and then the military comes in and then I stop watching because that's when I start making out with the guy I'm with since that's what a drive-in was built for."

Harvey laid his words out firmly. "I don't know, I don't care, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's just all think of it like a bad dream or some weird hallucination from a gas leak. Something to go back to our normal lives with. And then we can–"

Hugo threw his tray in the trashcan, the metal sheet clanking loudly inside. Running a hand over his buzzed hair, he turned to see the four of them looking at him. "What are you losers doing together over here?" Crossing his arms, he fiddled with the pack of smokes under his short sleeve with his thumb. "Psssh, don't tell me everyone's all buddy-buddy now."

Rock's arm phased through Dorothy's hands as he pointed at Hugo. "Not a chance!"

Dorothy gasped, shaking off the tingly feeling it left on her fingers. "Whoa! That felt so weird!"

"Looks like Rock's found his super power," Harvey commented. "The ability to get away from Dorothy."

"Hey," Dorothy resented, using a napkin to wipe the remaining tingling off her fingers. "That's an awful ability. Nobody would want that."

"I would," Harvey snapped quickly. "But for the love of Mike, can we please not talk about this in front of everyone."

"Why not?" October asked.

Harvey's expression turned more serious than it ever did before. "Because, once they know... they won't stop asking us to do stuff for them."

The others all gasped in unison, the fear of the thought present on their faces. Dorothy was so frightened that she accidently lit the napkin on fire, bursting it in a quick glow of blue. Acting fast, Harvey grabbed her hands and scanned the area to make sure nobody saw that. But, realizing what her hands can do, he jumped away from her.

"I say if we're going to talk, we go to the hallway." Rock snapped his fingers, leading the group out of the cafeteria. "Let's get it over with."

. . .

Sun shine glared into the hallway from the nearby windows, the halls deprived of other students. All of them leaned against the lockers, Harvey being the only one sitting down; October pacing back and forth in front of them.

"So the asteroid is what gave us powers. And I've noticed that our powers seem to activate whenever our emotions flare. And there's an alien out there who wanted to kill us and harvest our organs." She stopped pacing and clapped her hands together once at the group. "That much we know."

"That's enough," Hugo said. Rolling off the locker, he started to walk away, grabbing for a cigarette under his sleeve.

October caught up with him, grabbing his arm to pull him back. "Wait, where are you going?"

With a sigh, Hugo turned around, making October feel uncomfortable and almost threatened, like he was ready to hit her. "You just don't get it, do you? What do you want us to do? Start a little gang of goody-two-shoes. Fight aliens in their little space suits. I saw if there's any kind of alien invasion, the military can handle it. Even the cops around Nowersvil can handle it. But us," he waved his cigarette at the others, "we can't handle it."

"But we have powers," October stated. "We can do things that no other teens can do. If we work together as a team, there is no telling what we can accomplish!" Her arms waved around towards the group, a coy smile on her face. "Huh, am I right, guys?"

The others glanced at each other and made a swift decision in unison. "No!"

October's frown fell off. "What?"

Harvey got up off the floor. "You know how stupid that is?"

"Yeah!" Rock adjusted his jacket with a quick flick. "No way... am I teaming up with all of you bozos."

Hugo scoffed, giving him a smirk. "Look who's talking, slick stain."

Rock rolled up his sleeve. "All right, that's it–"

"Wait!" October got between them and held her hands, surprised they didn't crush her head with their fists. "Why... don't we just agree to ignore each other then? How about that? No talking, no fighting, no nothing. Can we at least agree on that?"

Rock stared down at Hugo, shaking his head. Both of them adjusted their clothes and hand brushed their hair back at the same time. "I don't like it, but I don't mind it neither," Rock said.

"Same," Hugo said with a nod.

Dorothy grabbed Rock's jacket from behind. "But, baby. That means we won't be able to talk to each other."

Rock ticked his head. "Like I said, I don't mind."

Dorothy scoffed. "How can you say that?"

Shrugging Dorothy's hand away, Rock turned around to stand face-to-face. "Listen, chick! You ain't the only babe in the world. There's plenty of fish in the sea, and most of them don't stink as much as you."

Dorothy's red lips tightened angrily. "Oh, you so don't mean that!"

Rock inched his face closer to her's. "Oh, I so do!"

Reeling back, Dorothy gave Rock a firm slap in the face, hard enough to knock him to the side. Slowly standing upright, he stared down at her with a scowl, holding his reddened cheek. Covering her face, Dorothy ran away, her clicking heels drowning out her crying. Nobody said a thing.

Rock glanced up at the others, fighting to keep his mouth still. "So it's agreed. We never speak to each other again. Let's start it now..."

Shoving his hands in his jacket pockets, he walked down the hallway, back towards the cafeteria. Without looking, he bashed his fist into a locker; letting out the punch he'd been saving all day. Hugo was the next to turn away, lighting his cigarette and blowing a steam of smoke straight up towards the ceiling. By the time October could look at Harvey, he was already opening the door to return to the cafeteria. She stood there, all by herself, leaning into the locker with her head down.

She stayed that way until the bell rang.

In a forest near Nowersvil, trees laid in ruin, charred and uprooted. A long deep trench was dug into the ground, leading all the way to a half-buried flying saucer. Inside, Crypto was tangled in a web of wires, dangling on the ceiling by his leg. Orthopox's throne had embedded itself into the wall. From under a pile of destroyed equipment, Orthopox pushed a computer screen off of himself and groaned in pain.

"Crypto."

Crypto's head twitched, his eyes already healed to their normal shape. "huh?"

Orthopox coughed, trying to the rest of the sparking electronics off of his body. "Are you still alive?"

Crypto felt himself around. "I guess so." He grabbed his crotch. "Nothing damaged, thank god. How about you, Poxy?"

"Unless this is my own version of hell–which is probably most likely since you're here–then I'm sad to say that I'm..." He got the last thick cable off of his leg and stood up, dusting himself off as he walked over to Crypto. "...alive and kicking."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Crypto said with a rotation of his head. "I forgot to let myself fly right out the window when we were plummeting towards the freakin' planet! Don't worry, I'll remember next time."

Orthopox's swiped a hand by the wires holding Crypto and cut them with a gust of mental energy. As Crypto fell to the floor, the elder Furon crossed his arms behind his back. "See to it you do. Maybe then I'll be able to get back to civilization! All because of you, we are now marooned in the middle of nowhere! Brainzor took the priceless prototype, which means our accidental trip here was for nothing at all..."

"You're forgetting about the bright side, Poxy."

"Bright side? What could possibly be the bright side in all of this?!"

Crypto presented him the barrel of Plutonium. "Now we have fuel. You're welcome."

Orthopox gasped, speaking in a happy tone full of sarcasm. "Oh, you're right Crypto. We do have fuel. But," he slapped the barrel out of Crypto's hands, "the one teeny tiny thing that makes it completely useless is that now we don't even have a ship!"

Crypto looked at the destruction around him, sparks hissing loudly behind him. "Hmm, you're right. This ship doesn't look like it would run at full power any time soon." He scratched his head. "I don't know what I was thinking. My head's a little woozy. I think I got some brain damage from the crash."

"No, Crypto, you were born with brain damage. The only thing we can do now is–"

"Join the circus," Crypto answered for him.

"No, Crypto! You have to find those teenagers. They may be our only hope."

"But I tried to turn them into monkey powder! There's just no going back from that..."

"I'm afraid it's our only choice. I'll stay here and see what I can repair or scavenge. You already know the area. Where does the Gizmo-majigy say we are?"

Crypto pulled it out, a crack running along its screen. "What is our location?"

The gizmo-majigy blipped, answering in its seductive female voice. "You're in Nowersvil, baby."

Crypto put the Gizmo-majigy away. "Well... we just happen to be in the same town as those teenagers are. That's convenient... I guess. It sure did save me a walk."

Crypto lazily trudge his way out of the ship, crawling through a hole where a tree trunk skewered the ship's dome. Squirrels scampered around in curiosity while birds tweeted and flapped happily into the alien vessel. Swatting the birds away, Crypto could feel the midday sun hitting his skin for the first time in a long time.

Before the Furon warrior made his leafy leave, Orthopox called out to him. "Remember, Crypto, don't vaporize them! We need them to work with us!"

Crypto popped his head back into the ship. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ehh, No promises."

. . .

A rock skipped across the lake's surface, the water rippling behind them until their sudden splash to the bottom. October picked up another one and tossed it in, having this one skip farther than the last. A duck floated right into its path, obliviously dunking its head in the water. October turned away from the lake, not even the loud startled quack taking her away from her thoughts.

"Maybe those guys are right... Maybe we shouldn't get involved. Maybe the powers we got from the meteor are just going to go away and everything is going to go back to normal. I still don't know what mine is."

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, a blurred static replaced the grassy park around her. Only a few feet away, a green human-like shape crept low in front of her. Another blink and the park had returned, with nobody there. Head on a swivel, all she could see were trees rustling from a slight breeze and flowers growing along the park's walkway.

"Who's there? Is someone playing hide-and-seek?"

The air over the empty spot of grass wavered and filled with electrical sparks, the outline of a person taking shape. Ripping away from its invisibility, Gorthrax stood up, towering over the teenage girl. October fell back, shocked by the robot's revealing. Without saying anything, it unsheathed its long katana, lurking closer to October.

She crawled backwards, the katana held at her throat. "What do you want from me?!"

"I want you..." Gorthrax's eyes glowed red, their little lights flaring as it raised its katana, ready to swing. "... to die."

October raised her arm in defense; turning away to allow what was coming. Instead of the sound of her body being split down the middle, she heard someone shout from the distance.

"Ay yo!" Rock strutted in, running a comb through his hair. "If you wanna get to her, you gotta go through me."

"Foolish Earthling," Gorthrax growled. "You could never have the skill to challenge me."

October felt a rock under her hand and quickly lobbed it at the robot's head, hitting it with a dull clank. "Now, Rock!"

Rock hurried over to get Gorthrax with a sucker punch, but nearly broke his hand on the metal plating. Slashing across, Gorthrax barely missed; the greaser hopping back to avoid the blade. With a smirk, he pulled out his switchblade, holding his arms out wild. The two circled each other, Gorthax waltzing impatiently with his blade's tip down low enough to let it scrap the ground.

Making for a lunge, Rock's jab was quickly parried away, his knife flipping over to a nearby tree; right in the middle of a cupid's heart carving. Looking at the carving, he saw the letters "R+D". Rock and Dorothy. Back in middle school, before he got his car and leather jacket. She'd liked him back then, even when there was no reason to.

Rock clenched his fists tight. "You alien slime..." Black flames jetted off of his hands, October gasping from the flare of heat.

Gorthrax stepped back. "What's this?"

Rock's eyes became engulfed in the black fire, their flames waving towards the sides. "It's all your fault I can never be normal again. It's all your fault my life is ruined!"

In a blinding flash, Rock disappeared, hidden within a column of light. Once the light subsided, he stood there in a strange suit and helmet, tubes running from the underside of the helmet and connecting to a storage tank on his back. His black suit had a white trefoil symbol, the boots and gloves also white. The helmet's visor was outlined by three crescents attached at their bases in the center, two for the eyes and the top one over the forehead. Amazed at his own transformation, Rock beckoned Gorthrax.

"Come on, ya tin can." He brought his fist up, ready for anything. "Let's see who's though now."

"Foolish human. I've defeated every species I've come across. Beating you will be a cinch!"

Sprinting with his katana straight out, Gorthrax leaped up to send a spinning slash, the wind from the attack blowing the bushes and tree branches into a violent rustling. Landing on a knee, Gorthrax noticed he hit nothing but air, and no opponent to be seen. From behind, Rock sent a back kick, knocking Gorthrax into a tumble, quickly reversed to face the teenager. Seeing Rock charging forward, Gorthrax prepared a block with the flat side of his blade. Phasing through the robot warrior, Rock spun back with an elbow.

Sparks screamed from Gorthrax's helmet, causing noticeable damage, smoke wafting off from where Rock's suit touched it. Every attempt to counterattack was left with the empty whoosh of a swing, Rock phasing in and out of its sight and passing through it faster than it could keep up. Each punch and kick from Rock sent sparks showering over the area, holes and burns spotted all over Gorthrax's armor. Spinning low and reeling his fist back, Rock let out a final haymaker to the chest, sending Gorthrax flying into the grass.

October ran up to Rock, clapping happily. "Holy hamburgers, Rock! I didn't know you had it in you. To think I thought you were all mouth."

Rock scoffed. "Aye, I don't even need this fancy get-up." He flexed his arms, the tight suit showing off his biceps. "All I need are these puppies right here."

"But, how did you... what is this?"

Rock looked at his arm, the bracer plated with black ridges. "Beats me. I just got angry and wham-o! Super powers, baby!"

"Oooo, let me try!" October closed her eyes and squished her face. In a blast of pink light, she gained a pink outfit like Rock's; only her's came with a polka dot skirt. She admired her new attire, pumping her fist. "Wow! I feel like I have enough energy to run for miles."

"You change fast," Rock stated. "But not as fast as we're going to send this buster back to space."

"Not without me." Harvey casually walked up to them, suited in green. Standing to the side, he crossed his arms. "How's a guy supposed to relax with all this racket?"

From the sky, Dorothy flipped over the teens, her blue skirt fluttering. Landing next to October, she crouched low with her arms spread out. "Looks like we all wore the same thing. I'll let it slide this once."

Finally, Hugo strutted in, making his way in front of the group in his red suit. "Let's finish this already and ask questions later."

"Agreed," everyone said in unison.

"Don't think for a second I came alone," Gorthrax threated, getting up with a slight stagger. "My Algorian ninjas will finish you off, with or without your worthless suits."

Tossing two handfuls of metal spheres from a compartment of his belt, Gorthrax filled the space between him and the teenagers. Like metallic flowers, the spheres rapidly shaped and expanded into bundles of rods and wires. Metal plating unfolded outward from their centers; their eyes glowing yellow once completed. In a second, the Algorian ninjas were deployed and on the move, flipping and running to attack.

Hugo's right hand ignited. "You guys better spread out, so you don't get in my way."

"Show off," Rock retorted.

One of the ninjas set a flying kick towards Hugo, denied by a step to the side and repaid with powerful blow to the face. Severed wires sizzled in the hole Hugo's punch made, the middle of the ninja's face pierced right through. Flying back, the defeated ninja crashed into another one, stopping its run and reducing it to scrap metal. Surrounded, Hugo knocked back each attacker with a quick jab to the chest, dodging the swings from their ninjatos. Spinning back to avoid a cross of blades, he charged up his foot, charring the grass under it.

"You robots came all this way just to suck!"

With a long jump, Hugo flew into a crowd of moving ninjas and kicked across, leading it with a spin for good measure. All of them were sliced at the hips, their lone legs stumbling until they fell in a twitching mess. Back-flipping right by him, Dorothy avoided an endless shower of shurikens, the small deadly throwing stars flying all over the place. Ending her flipping with a double kick to the head of a ninja, she flipped herself up off the ground. A group of ninjas stood before her, each one holding countless shurikens between all of their fingers.

"I'm used to attention, but not like this." With a wall of throwing stars coming towards her, Dorothy waved a blue haze in front of herself, trying to slap them away. Once they touched the blue light, the shurikens disintegrated into nothing. Dorothy looked at her hands, seeing her finger tips dripping with blue energy. "Can I seriously shoot lasers from my hands?"

She aimed her hand like a gun and fired off a blue bolt from her index finger, getting a ninja in the chest. "Aww, sweet!"

Harvey kicked a ninja in the head, sending it spinning to the ground. Leapfrogging over his shoulders, October grabbed a ninja's neck with her thighs and sent it straight down with a spinning frankensteiner, crushing its head instantly. Jumping to her feet, she twisted around with her arms out, getting another ninja with a double punch. Stunned, it could only stand their while she flipped over it and grabbed its head. Bumping the ninja overhead, she snapped its neck, sparks exploding from under its chin.

Harvey watched as he held back a ninjato by the ninja's hands. "That girl's got issues. Good thing I'm on her side." Pulling the ninja towards himself, Harvey stepped to the side and elbowed its back. Shurikens flew towards him, Harvey seeing them coming at the last second. A green glow covered his entire body, the shurikens bouncing right off of him, bending at the tips. "Hmm, so that's what my power does. I dig it."

Running head on towards the ninja that threw the shurikens, it watched as the teen leaped in the air to body slam it. Getting himself horizontal with the ninja, Harvey severed its legs and head from its torso, plowing into the grass, making a crater. Crawling out of the hole shaped like him, he shook his head. "I'm lucky I didn't end up in China."

The last ninja fell; the teens regrouping in front of Gorthrax. Hugo pointed at the damaged leader of the otherworldly attackers. "What else you got? I can do this all day!"

"Brainzor seemed to have underestimated you. I like it. Maybe Earth will be a bigger challenge than determined. This isn't over, rangers." In a blur of static, Gorthrax vanished.

The teens eased up, putting their arms down.

Hugo huffed under his breath. "Brainzor?"

"Rangers?" Harvey put a hand under his helmet's mouth piece. "You mean like the space rangers on TV. Going around the galaxy, blasting aliens with their space rocket. Yeah, I like the sound of that. The Nuclear Powered Rangers," he motioned to the trefoil emblem on his chest, "being radioactive and all."

All of their suits dissipated, returning them to their normal selves again. They looked at each other, as if forgetting who they were during the fight. Dorothy glanced at Rock, receiving nothing in return, not even a glance back. Rock and Hugo were the center of attention, staring each other down the second they morphed back. Everyone stayed still, silence among the group.

"Don't think I'm done with you," Hugo warned.

"I wouldn't dare. You have no idea how bad I wanna knock your teeth in."

Hugo turned away, getting a cigarette from his sleeve and lighting it. "This ain't a truce. But I got bigger things to worry about. You just made bottom of the list, and I think it'd be smart if you do the same thing for me. Agreed?"

Rock fought with his pride internally, tsking loudly. "Okay, fine. Agreed. So what now, hollywood?"

Hugo walked away, heading for the park's edge. "I don't care. You guys do whatever you want."

October lifted her head up, smiling warmly. "Walking home sounds nice. It's getting late anyway."

The sun fell behind the horizon, an orange curtain drawing the day to a close. Commotion from a nearby soda joint faded away as the teens walked down the street; heading to the suburbs. A car passed by every so often, breaking the silence between them with the rumble of an engine. Anyone watching them walking would thing of them as a group of thugs ready to slash some tires, disdain on their faces and scorn in their steps.

October held her books close, hanging her chin over them, eyes down on the sidewalk. "So... why did you guys decide to fight all of a sudden? I didn't expect any of you to help. Not for a second."

"Well," Harvey spun his hands around, "I don't know about the rest of you, but what you said about the powers and us being able to do stuff with them... I guess it made some sense. Like, the team work thing was retarded, but it sure did feel good to beat up some robot ninjas. It really gets that pent up aggression out of your system."

"Yeah," Rock agreed, "it's like, I don't want to beat Hugo's snotty little face in as much after that brawl."

Hugo kept walking ahead of the rest of them, keeping his eyes forward. Rock waited for a reaction and all he got was a casual blow of smoke, the bitter cloud dissipating away.

October took Rock out of his focus, bursting his angry bubble. "Hey, Rock, where in sam's hill is that precious little car of yours? Don't tell me you ran it into a ditch."

Rock shuttered at the thought. "Not in a million years! My baby's at home in the garage. I... kind of went to the park to get my head straight, think things over." He tapped her arm to get her to look at him, pointing his finger at her. "Aye, don't think I made a special trip just for you. I just happened to see a robot with a sword and knew something 'alien' was up."

Harvey rolled his eyes, holding his arms behind his head to stretch. "How did you get to that conclusion, Martin Kane?"

"Shut up dweeb," Rock replied. "Why were you at the park, then?"

"I was hanging by the comic book stand when, lo and behold, I saw a comic with a dude zapping aliens left and right with a Protoblaster 3000. Then I thought to myself, 'hey, that looks like it'd be fun.' So far, I'm pretty much right, it is fun." He loosely punched his palm, shaking his head. "Man, if only I knew what my power was. All I know is that I can block stuff well and strike oil with my head."

"Zip it with the nerd talk," Dorothy interrupted. "But now that you mention aliens, I wondered what happened to that little green guy that tried to turn us into fried chicken."

Hugo stopped, the rest of them blocked by his spread arms. "Way to go, pompoms," he mumbled under his breath. "Now you've done it."

Crypto crossed the street in front of them, looking around. Once his line of sight caught the teens, he

When he turns around to walk away, Crypto is there. The rangers get ready to fight, but Crypto holds his hands up in surrender. "Wait. I come in peace."

"Nice try, alien. Dorothy, light him up!"

Dorothy spun around like a ballerina, finger tips dripping with blue flames. "Taste finger flame, moonman!"

Crypto cowered in fear, closing his eyes, feeling the stinging ghost of chlorine again. "No, seriously! Don't point those pink ticklers at me!" He held his head, his temple throbbing from all the stress the day had given him. "I don't want to fight. Look, I'm kind of having a bad week, so cut me some slack. Would ya?"

Hugo gave Dorothy a nod. Blowing her fingers out, she put her hands down. "If you're not here to fight," she asked, "then why are you here?"

"Because... we badly need your help."

. . .

Gorthrax approached Brainzor's giant green display, bowing down before the screen. "Lord Brainzor, the earthlings are more powerful than we estimated. The Furon's words had truth to them. They have gained access to the powers of a Ranger."

Brainzor's floating face went from angry to surprised, a rare expression that never lasts for more than a second. "Rangers? I thought we'd seen the last of them. The plutonium mixed with human DNA must somehow access the Morphing Grid." Brainzor's head turned left and right, as if pacing back and forth behind the camera. "It seems this planet will take more than one wave. Pinko!"

Pinko waddled next to Gorthrax, pushing its glasses up. "Yes, Lord Brainzor, sir?"

"Send a signal to all neighboring planets and solar systems. Let it be known that there is a bounty out for any lifeform of a fighting nature."

"Okay-doky." Pinko typed the message away on a nearby computer, the keys lighting up with every strike. After filling the screen with text, it stopped to glance back. "What shall we put for the target?"

Brainzor glared at the green and blue sphere floating out in space, seeing it through a side computer screen. "Planet Earth."

Radio waves traveled out of the antenna tower on top of the ship, signal rings flying out to the depths of space. Any creature, near or far, will hear the news: infinite riches for the destruction of Earth. Asteroids, gas planets, frozen moons, the void of space, even within black holes; alien creatures lurked about, awakened by the signal. And as they traveled towards the source, Brainzor laughed maniacally at the plans to come.

. . .

Crypto spread two bushes apart, stepping over the thick foliage. "It should be around here somewhere."

The teens had gone deep into the woods, the moon looming overhead. Owls hooted in the distance, awakened by the darkness. Crypto guided them with a wrist light, illuminating the area around them in an arch of light. Thankfully, it was still fairly bright, the light pollution from Nowersvil keeping the forest from being pitch black. As they ventured up the slight hill, the town rolled out from down below, a beautiful sight of organized lights and smoking chimneys.

"So," Harvey began, "I understand everything that happened; the getting lost and getting betrayed. All of that jazz. But what the hell is a Brazinor?"

Crypto turned around, knocking his head to the side. "You don't know what a Brainzor is?"

All of the teens shook their heads in unison.

"He's destroyed countless empires, created an unstoppable army of smartbots, became the biggest economy in the universe, and you guys have never heard from him?!"

Hugo crossed his arms with a shrug. "I always thought we'd get visitors from Mars first, to be honest."

"Mars?" Crypto slapped a hand over his face. "This Earth atmosphere must be a lot denser than it looks. I bet you guys thought Pluto was a planet."

"Wait," October questioned, "It's not?"

Crypto swiped an arm through the air. "Not anymore it's not!" Quickly, he held his hands up at them. "Look, we're getting side tracked here." He resumed guiding them to the crashed ship. "The point is, Brainzor is the perfect example of a conquering madman and he has your home planet on his 'to conquer' list. You guys are going to be attacked to no end unless you can take him head on."

Harvey blew air between his lips, laughing as he talked. "How? Not even the American Military can go to space, and they're the most advance source of technology in the world."

"You got that right," Rock agreed enthusiastically. "America rules!"

Harvey looked at him uneasily. "Umm, that's not quite what I was saying..."

"Found it!" Crypto entered the clearing, leading them down the long trench dug by the ship's underside. The teens "Ohhh'ed" and "ahhhh'ed" at the sight of the flying saucer, lights still shining upwards like spotlights from the side ports lined around the ship. "You guys are going to help me and Poxy get this ship up and running again."

Dorothy felt worried from the name. "Poxy?"

Orthopox floated towards the group, his throne whirling hard to hover out of the ship's cracked dome. He spoke slow and loud, like talking to a deaf and dumb baby. "Hello, Earthlings! We are not here to kill you. We want to be friends. Do you understand?"

All five teens looked at him like he was crazy, not saying anything.

Orthopox spun around, facing his fellow Furon. "Cypto, what is wrong with these humans?! Do they speak English? And why are they not farting like the ambassador?"

Harvey raised his hand. "Well, I farted, but it was kind of silent."

"Eww," Dorothy scoffed, "gross."

"I just have one question to ask," Hugo insisted.

Orthopox leaned up to Hugo. "Certainly."

"Yeah," Crypto intervened, "but make it snappy."

"How can we–a bunch of high school kids–possibly fix this ship?"

Rock was in the middle of fixing his hair, pointing a comb at the aliens. "For once, I agree with Hollywood here. I'm sure the engine under that hood is more than six cylinders."

"Don't worry about the repairing stuff," Crypto assured. "I got that covered. It's the parts and material we have a problem getting. We'll need rods, transistors, screens for the computers, a whole mess load of stuff." Crypto pulled out a piece of paper from inside his suit. "Here, I even made a list."

Hugo took it, the other teenagers looking over his shoulders. As they read, Harvey pointed at the different items. "Hey, I've seen some of this stuff before. The school carries most of that stuff in science class." The back of the list rolled out of Hugo's hands, unraveling into a long sheet that gathered in a loose pile on the ground. "Yeah... it's going to take us a while to find the rest, though."

"So that's a yes, right?"

Orthopox held his hands before them, shaking them desperately. "Please, oh please, oh please say yes. You have no idea what I've had to go through with this... this... walking catastrophe."

Crypto crossed his arms proudly. "That's me, striking fear into everyone and everything. Even when they're on my side."

The teens all nodded to each other, the same idea on all of their minds. Hugo spoke for the group. "Yes, we'll help you get the ship running again."

The two furons gave each other a high five. "Hooray!"

Hugo held a finger up at them. "But... we want our powers to be controllable. The last thing we need is to have our lunch spill on our laps and the whole school finds out we're super heroes."

Orthopox hummed in deep thought. "Hmmm... I could hook your brain up with a light-switch, so you can easily turn it on and off. But that'll cause you to become a mindless zombie, so the real trouble would be turning your brain back on if you're by yourself."

"No," October said, "That's not going to work at all. We need something that will stop us from transforming at random."

Orthopox jumped in his seat. "Oh! I know what you mean." From under his throne's seat, he pulled out five straps with panels on the face of them, almost looking like futuristic oversized watches. "You mean these!"

"Are those like handheld microwaves or something?" Dorothy asked.

"Microwaves? Oh, no, no, no, no. These are Nuclear Stablizers. I always carry them around whenever the nuclear reactor goes on the fritz and starts leaking all over the place."

"Ehh, that happens a lot. The tape keeps falling off. I've been meaning to get that fixed." Crypto scribbled on the paper. "I better add that to the list while I'm at it."

Orthopox handed out the Nuclear Stablizers, the teens putting them on their wrists after they received theirs. "With the Nuclear Stablizers, you may allow your haywire hormones to take over, worry-free. They will keep your transformation at bay until you hit the big red button. But, once you press it, you will morph instantly into whatever you humans were worried about. Think of them as 'morphers' since they morph you on the spot."

Hugo made a fist, his hand still glowing red with power. "Hey, what gives? Is this thing broken or something?"

Orthopox tsked in disappointment. "Oh dear. It looks like those pesky powers you have are part of your DNA, not nuclear. But, the morphing part is nuclear related, that I am sure of."

Turing his red glow off, Hugo huffed. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

"So," Orthopox said, "now that we've helped you, I believe our part of the bargain is in order."

"We'll," October said, "We would love to help and all, but it's really getting late. I think all of us should call it a day and hit the sack."

"Yes, of course." Orthopox pointed a finger up. "Let the sack hitting begin, and we will begin searching tomorrow. I shall beam you back to your town. Ta-ta!" With a press of a button on his armrest, a metal dish unfolded from the top of the saucer and shot a bright beam at the teenagers. In a flash, they were gone. He floated back towards the ship, the dish returning to its housing under the ship's armor. "Come Crypto, we have many many many additions for our list of things we need to crush Brainzor!"

Crypto trailed behind him, jogging a bit to catch up. "So, do you think we can depend on those smelly humans?"

"They're teenage Earthlings. What do you think?"

Crypto's face fell into a deep frown, looking away. "You're right... we're doomed."

Trivia: Martin Kane was one of the first crime shows on televisions, aired from 1949 to 1955. It was the American equivalent to calling someone "Sherlock". Despite being so big during the 1950s; the show, radio serial, comics, and even the name was lost in time. It just goes to show, no matter how popular or big something is, time is the true test of its remembrance.

Author's note: So, there you have it. The last Nuclear Power Rangers chapter (possibly) for the year. If I start becoming a writer early, then I will have plenty of time to return to this story. Hell, I just might start another ranger story just for fun! I was thinking of coming out with a chapter here that will explain what I was planning for this story and exactly what the whole point of it is. I won't spoil anything or "jump ahead" with anything, so don't be afraid to read that.

And I can't say this enough, THANK YOU for reading. I really do appreciate your time, your reviews, your interest. I read about how there are authors out there who are only writing for the money and even try to trick people into buying their books by labeling themselves as "best sellers" or "best author" and actually write nothing but brown steamers. I would never want to be that, and I would never want to write something bad and expect people to buy it. This story here, I don't feel like it's good, but it doesn't matter since it's free.

If I make up any other free stories, and they happen to not be fanfics, I'll have them posted up on my site " .com". I don't have anything there really(during the writing of this chapter) but I know that if people are willing to read, I am willing to write. So if anyone is interested, just click the "follow" button and let me know I'm not talking to the air. And... umm... yeah, I guess that's it. Love ya!