At a secluded spot, far from the eyes of the world, there was a long stretch of narrow road. It was a dirt road that had no identifying marks, and nobody had driven along it for months. But halfway between the two small towns it connected, there was a section of the road that was paved with concrete.

There was nobody around for hundreds of miles, so nobody noticed as a small private plane came in to land along the paved street. The plane immediately turned around, taxi-ing to face the concrete road, now a runway.

At the controls, Bligh carefully set the engines to silent mode. Something that only her planes had, giving the impression of the plane being shut down, while keeping it ready to spin up and fly at a moment's notice.

Well now, this is an interesting move.

Bligh jumped. "Who said that?!"

I'm surprised. And that hasn't happened in a million years.

"Identify yourself!" Bligh snapped, drawing her gun. She wasn't about to fire it in a sealed cabin, but she felt better for having it. "Where are you?!"

There was no answer.


Bligh dropped the stairs and was on her way out of the plane before the engines had stopped. "Alright, I know you saw me coming!"

Four members of Team Gauntlet slunk out of the dust and scrub. It was a neat effect, given that there was absolutely no cover of any kind. "What are you doing here, Bligh?" Matali demanded.

"There's been a development." Bligh called, striding over.

"We've heard nothing from Stumm." Cho commented, appearing behind her.

"He's busy. His minions have realized they aren't running the world anymore, so they're demanding answers."

"They won't like it when he gives them." Cho responded with a nasty smile.

"I agree, but it raises a few questions." Bligh told them. "I don't know if you're following the news, but it looks like the Planeteers have identified Quinn; and apparently neutralised her. Obviously, this changes the plan."

"How? It's not like they can do anything about the rest of us." Trish purred, close enough to run her fingers possessively across Bligh's neck.

The older woman fought not to shudder. She was a dangerous woman, but she was a spider among lions, and they all knew it. "You're right, but I can't reach Quinn. And the longer she's out of contact-"

"Have you tried?" Cho crooned, closing in on her left.

"I-I have." Bligh didn't let her expression waver. "We don't think she's dead, but if she's not answering, it's possible she talked."

"So what?" Matali pressed. They had her surrounded now.

"Well, I know there are redundancies, but I'm still in charge of security for all our… projects." Blight stepped forward, trying to be a little less surrounded. "Smart money says that if your plan can't be trusted, you must adjust it. The whole reason we have Wheeler here, is to choose the time and place. The bait doesn't work if they know about the trap."

"So you're here to… what?"

"To move the bait." Bligh told them. "We're setting a new trap in Las Vegas. We've improvised before."

"Then why are you nervous, Bligh?" Matali asked.

"I like to work my plans from start to finish." Bligh said. "So, you guys are to fall back to the secondary plan, and wait for me to find Quinn. If she's still with us, you'll know it soon." She tilted her head a little. "I'm a little surprised you guys don't know already, one way or another."

"We aren't the Planeteers." Cho scorned. "We don't need a big group hug with our powers."

Trish looked carefully at Bligh. "If Lizzie were here, we'd know if you were lying."

"Quinn is compromised. Hence the change in strategy." Bligh said cooly. "Now move it."

"You don't need us?" Matali almost purred.

"He doesn't have powers. He's chum in a shark tank without his powers." Bligh said coolly and pushed past him. "Believe me, I know. I've mangled him once before."

"Well, as it happens, we don't care. Go ahead, take him." Matali said plainly. "See, if you cross us; then we'll find you, and you know it. The world isn't big enough to hide from us."

"And it'll be a lot smaller if we have to tear it up looking for you." Trish giggled.

Matali gestured, and about twenty feet away, the ground rolled back, like someone was pulling aside a thick carpet. Below was a steel and concrete cube, with a single pipe pointing upwards. With the ground pulled away from it, it was easy to see that the pipe was for air. It would have just passed the surface.

Bligh turned, and found that Gauntlet was already gone. They had vanished, but she knew they had to be close by. If they decided to bury the cell again, nobody would ever find her bones.


She felt it when she reached the cell door. It opened outward. No lock, of course. The cell's power was Matali. He could put thirty feet of rock and dirt in place to hold the cell closed. She felt it pressing on her, like there were a thousand eyes drilling into her head, from the inside. Her hands shook when she reached for the door. Her hand didn't want to open the door. Her hand was stopping her from reaching.

Hardening, Bligh forced herself a little harder, getting angry at her hand. It finally reached the doorknob.

The door opened, and Wheeler flew through it at a charge, fist first.

Bligh moved, quick as a mousetrap, and put him in a chokehold. "Idiot! Do you want out or not?!" She hissed in his ear, doing her best to look like she was taunting him.

Wheeler froze. "Bligh?" He couldn't believe it.

Neither could she. "If I get you out of here, then you have to take me with you." Bligh hissed.


"Where are the guards?" Wheeler asked once they got to the plane. "Am I that unimpressive without my stylish one-of-a-kind fashion sense?"

"I got rid of them. What's the point of switching sides if you're going to make it harder on yourself?" Bligh reasoned as she spooled up the engines and got them moving. "Strap in. Not the cockpit."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll stick with you, rather than have my back to the rest of the cabin for a whole flight."

"If I had any desire to trap you, why would I get you out of the cell?"

"That's the TV answer." Wheeler returned. "Take it as a compliment, Bligh. You're smart enough to have that many layers in your plans."

"I did. Now the rules have changed, and all my plans are a big steaming load of crap." Bligh told him, and pushed the engines to full power for takeoff.

She felt it again then. A pressure building behind her eyes, drilling into her temples. She gripped the controls so hard her hands hurt. "Wheeler, I changed my mind. Get up here!"

She heard him unstrapping himself from the passenger seat, and he came up to the cockpit. "Strap in." She told him, nodding to the co-pilot's seat.

Bligh… A voice said in her ear.

Bligh turned to look, spooked. Nobody there. She looked back to Wheeler. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The Planeteer asked.

Bligh, what are you doing? The voice hissed in her ear. The voice was malevolent, ancient, purely evil. The evil didn't frighten Bligh at all. What frightened her was that he knew her name.

"I know who you are." She hissed back at him. "I was listening."

I know. That Voice said with dark glee. You can't win. You've heard the plan. Whichever way this goes, I win. Stumm found out what I was offering. What do you want?

Bligh set her jaw. "Nobody tells me what to do." She growled, even as she felt her hands start to shake, moving against her will. "Wheeler. Take my gun." Bligh grit her teeth, hands on the controls so tight that her fingernails were bleeding. "If I try to turn this plane around, I need you to knock me out."

"Okay." Wheeler said, not even blinking. "One question: Why?"

"You know what's been going on in the world? I know Stumm came by to gloat at least once." Bligh told him. "I'm not letting Zarm do that to me. I am NOT one of those braindead sheep."

"No, I mean… Why switch teams at all?"

Bligh scowled harder at the horizon line. "Wheeler, I know you don't think much of me. Or any of us, I suppose. But we don't go into this because we like destruction. Guys at the low level are desperate to feed their families and just want to work. At my level, we do it because we have our own agenda. We do it for the power. We do it for the profit." She glanced over her shoulder, but there still wasn't a monster there at her ear. "Let's say I finally found my price."

"No profit in destroying the whole world?" Wheeler guessed. "Because, if you don't mind me pushing my luck, you've been destroying the world for a long time. You, personally, for a few years. The people you work for a few years longer than that, and people who think like you for almost a century. Did any of you plan what to do when there was nothing left of the earth?"

"Well, you're not wrong." Bligh admitted darkly. "Wheeler, you know what the wealthy types actually call people like you? Well, the ones without superpowers, anyway?"

"Consumers." Wheeler answered without hesitation, though the disdain was clear.

"Right. We never think of it as hurting people. We never think of people at all, only consumers and providers. Consumption equals profit. But I do happen to live on this planet, Wheeler."

"Try again. If you're lucky you'll say something true enough to make up for what you just said." Wheeler didn't blink.

"Is the fact that I'm saving your life not clear to you?"

"I'm not an idiot, Bligh. You're doing this because you were spying on your boss and discovered the plan was for you to be 'consumed' yourself." Wheeler said without blinking.

"There are worse reasons."

"Doesn't make you one of the good guys." He shot back.

"I never cared if I was good or not. Good and Evil aren't words that matter to people like me. What do you want me to say? That I've been playing for the wrong team? Fine. I admit that. There are downsides to taking the world, chewing it up, and selling the bones. Yes, I know that!" She fired right back at him. "But I will NOT be one of those Drones."

Wheeler said nothing to that for a while. "Where are we going?"

"Hope Island." She told him. "I figured if I brought you with me, I'd be less likely to get hit by a tornado the second I landed."

"Don't be so sure. If I know Linka, she'll be looking to strangle something by now."


"I am so very ready to strangle you right now." Linka snapped, yet again.

"I know." Quinn nodded weakly. "I'm sorry, Linka. I'm real sorry."

"Tell me about the cage they have Wheeler in."

"I've told you-"

"Then tell me again!"

"It's out in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing there but a feulling station. They don't want people around in case Ma-Ti could do something."

"Since when do they care about collateral damage?"

"They don't. But they know you do, so they keep people away to keep you on target. They gave you his Ring back, right?"

Linka didn't answer that, but the Ring in question was on a chain around her neck, under her shirt. JJ had given it back to her when they'd found out he was alive.

"The cell is a concrete cube, underground. There's bedrock all around, there's no running water; there's nothing that can burn, and no people Ma-Ti can turn into a militia. The whole point was to force the five of you to show up and have only one move."

"Combining all five Rings." Linka nodded.

"You weren't meant to know he was alive yet. The other Gauntlet members are camped out around the cage, waiting for you." Lizzie said. "They know you can't beat them."

"All four of them, together?" Linka countered.

"Your plan is to hammer them one by one, eliminate them with Four to One odds. You won't do it." Lizzie promised. "They can't do anything without Stumm's order anymore."

"Even without you?"

"Does Ma-Ti ever use his talent to force you?" Lizzie asked. "Or does your Ring protect you from his influence?"

"So did you have them hypnotized, or not?"

"The second they put those Gauntlets on, they were volunteers that couldn't change their minds." Quinn covered her eyes. "Which makes what I did worse."

Linka was silent a moment. "I'm not the forgiving one on this island, Lizzie."

There was a droning sound that made them both look up. "Engines?" Quinn said. "A jet?"

"The passenger jets fly too high, and… as far as I know, nothing's been flying in days." Linka was already up and running. "I'm the air defence. I have to go."


Linka came running towards the other huts. The other Planeteers were already there, running with her. "Where is it!?" Linka called.

"I saw it circle!" Kwame called back. "It's landing!"

Gi was already scanning. "You know, we get more visitors on this island than we ever did when we were on the mainland."

Kwame led the way. "It's not a fighter jet. No weapons that I could see."

Linka relaxed about half an inch. "If it's Gauntlet, coming after Quinn; they're better armed than we are."

Ma-Ti smiled serenely. "It's not Gauntlet. It's Bligh."

"Bligh?!" Linka snarled, and ran for the dock, Ring glowing. "Finally! Someone to toss into the goddam stratosphere!"

Linka took off faster than anyone could hope to give chase. "We better get down there before Linka kills her." Kwame sighed.

"If it's Bligh, we could give her a minute or two." Gi quipped, only half joking. "Ma-Ti, why are you smiling?"


The plane had already landed by the time Linka reached the coast. She knew she should wait for the others, but didn't care. She'd wanted to hurt someone for days, and she didn't particularly mind who it would be. The plane could apparently handle a water landing, and the stairs were already down. Linka came running down the dock… and skidded to a halt when she recognized who stepped out. He arms fell slack along her sides. "Wheeler!"

The redhaired young man blinked up at the island like he was trying to memorize it, and then beamed at Linka. "Did you miss me?"

Bligh came over beside him, and held out her empty hands, showing she was unarmed. "I surrender." She said promptly to Linka. "I need to tell y-"

Wheeler didn't even look at Bligh as he promptly pushed her off the side of the dock, sending her crashing into the ocean.

Linka took two steps toward him, and her expression changed. "Well, it took you long enough." She said, as though annoyed. "I was starting to think I would have to come rescue you myself."

"Well, it took me a while to realize you weren't coming." Wheeler retorted. "Shame on me for expecting you to hurry yourself over little ol' me."

"Hurry? First time in a year I've been able to go a day without picking up after you." Linka scorned. "I figured you'd be along a lot faster, so I decided to enjoy the quiet."

"I figured you wanted a chance to play the big hero, and look awesome doing it." Wheeler retorted. "You had no hope of that as long as I was around, so what else could I do?"

By this point, the other Planeteers had joined them. Gi pushed past Linka and hugged Wheeler tightly. "You're back!"

Wheeler hugged her back. "See? Now this is how you welcome back the conquering hero." He looked over Gi to see Kwame and Ma-Ti fishing a spluttering Bligh out of the water. "So, what else did I miss?"

"JJ and your father are here." Gi reported. "They're at the Comms Tent."

"Ah! My next stop." Wheeler started moving quickly, when he looked down and found Linka was holding his hand tightly, walking with him.

Gi started to keep pace, when she also noticed Linka's proximity, and did a fast fade. Smiling broadly, she turned back to Kwame and Ma-Ti, hauling Bligh out of the water. "Y'know, I could get her out of the water a lot faster."

"Could drown me a lot faster too." Bligh coughed. "Oh wait, you tried that."

Gi gave her a tight smile. "Not that it's not wonderful to see you, Bligh. And it isn't. But why are you here?"

Bligh wiped the water out of her eyes, and looked at the Planeteers. "To be honest… I don't know."

"Don't know, or don't want to admit it to us?" Ma-Ti countered, seeming to look through her.

Bligh tried to give Ma-Ti her usual glower, but broke off after a few seconds. Ma-Ti was not the sort of person who could be stared down easily. Finally, she confessed. "Two or three years ago, I gamed out a scenario." She told Kwame. "The Corporation isn't above causing chaos and destruction for the purposes of capitalising. You make something worthless, buy it cheap, increase the value, and sell at a profit. Sometimes these highs and lows occur naturally, sometimes they need a little help." She sighed hard. "The scenario I came up with, was what would happen in the event of a major, sustained crisis. Fact was, the world wasn't up for that. The entire trade-and-supply system of the world depends on everything getting where it needs to be, just in time. But nothing's getting anywhere on time now, thanks to…"

"Thanks to a scenario you gamed out, to envision how The Corporation could take advantage of just such an emergency." Kwame finished.

"World control was one thing. But the plan is…"

"Extermination." Ma-Ti nodded. "So we've learned." He looked to Gi and Kwame, who were still watching Wheeler walk away. "Go. I'll keep an eye on Bligh."


"Wheeler! Wheeler!" Ruby shrieked when she saw him, running up and practically jumping on him. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am." Wheeler laughed. "I'm indestructible."

"Good to know." Alana said, striding up with a wide smile. "Linka's been a total bear while you were dead."

"I'd zing her with that, but she's got a good grip on my hand right now. I use that hand for things." Wheeler chuckled, and gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek. Now. Where's my brother? I have to make sure he hasn't sold my stuff."


While Wheeler had his tearful reunions, Ma-Ti was marching Bligh deeper into the island jungle. They didn't say much on the walk, but she was looking at everything, eyes constantly moving.

"Do you believe in evil, Ma-Ti?" Bligh asked quietly after a while.

"Yes." The boy said simply.

"So do I." Bligh admitted. "And… I was evil. I still am, I suppose. When I was a girl, the Preacher said that The Devil defied the laws of the Lord, and that's what brought Evil into the world. Defiance of Good." She rolled her head around on her neck. "I'm evil. I don't care. Nobody tells me what to do. Defiance was the only thing keeping me on my feet all the way here."

"But God isn't what concerns you today." Ma-Ti commented. "You came here to fight the Other Guy."

"I have no interest in fighting him." Bligh said. "But I'm not about to be one of his drones. This seemed like the only place to go. And I was right. It took all my strength to get here. And the spell lifted the instant I touched solid ground. As soon as I find an angle, I'll take him apart just for trying his voodoo on me."

"You will fail." Ma-Ti said simply.

Bligh grit her teeth. "I know. That's why I came here. You have some juju of your own. Any ideas?"

Ma-Ti smiled. "One idea. But… It's not up to me to decide. Not the others, either."

"Then who?" Bligh demanded.

Ma-Ti stopped walking so suddenly that she had to stop and turn around. He had lead her all the way to the mountainside. There was a cave entrance in the rock wall. Ma-Ti gestured for her to enter, and sat down on the ground, outside the cave, as she went inside.


Hello, Barbara. A voice said gently from the pool of water in the centre of the cave.

Bligh set her jaw. "You're the second spooky ethereal voice to come at me in the last day, lady. I'm not impressed."

The pool of water suddenly started to glow. Bligh came over to look, and saw an image. It was a cocoon, hanging on a tree branch. Bligh watched as the cocoon started to break open. A small child's hand came over, reaching for the butterfly that was struggling it's way out.

Bligh gasped, despite herself. She remembered this.

The child had almost reached the insect, when a much larger hand came and stopped her. A hand that Bligh recognized. "Father." Bligh whispered.

"Butterfly wings are delicate, Barb." Her father's voice came to her. "I know you want to help it free, but even a little help will cripple it for life."

Bligh stared into the Crystal Pool. It wasn't like her memory anymore. She could see into the cocoon, see the little insect fighting to survive. She could see the membranes of it's wings drying out, stretching in the sun for the first time…

And finally, the images faded, and Bligh was left gasping.


JJ had tried for cool. He really did. "I knew you'd be back." He said, though it was clear he didn't mean it.

"I'm surprised you even noticed I was gone." Wheeler quipped back, though it was clear he didn't mean it either.

Linka released his hand, and slid her fingers up his arm to rest on his shoulder. hands free, Wheeler and JJ embraced. Linka knew she should leave them alone, but couldn't make herself step away.

I told Grandmother that we mourn by retreating further into ourselves. She thought to herself. JJ and Wheeler are making more desperate jokes, even now.


Bligh came out of the cave, and stumbled a bit. "I'm… I'm hungry." She whispered.

"Not surprising." Ma-Ti said calmly as he stood up from his post beside the cave entrance. "You were in there for over six hours."

"Six hours!?" Bligh repeated in shock, and looked to the sky. Sure enough, the sun was going down.


Bligh had missed the Reunion. Six hours of food, drink, laughter, and war stories. When Bligh came to join them over on the beach, at their usual bonfire, they had gotten to work catching each other up.

"So you were kept alive just so that they could force a fight?" JJ said in disbelief.

"They chose the time and place. They wanted a showdown." Wheeler nodded. Wheeler had not heard Gaia's testimony, and the rest of the Planeteers had not heard Stumm's monologue.

Linka had a deathgrip on Wheeler's left hand the entire time, and had taken her eyes off him only to send withering glares at Bligh now and then. Everyone else, including JJ and The Colonel, were all gathered around the table. Bligh was at the far end, with a quivering Lizzie Quinn cowering beside her, leaning as far from Bligh as she could get.

"Why not just have the showdown at Hoover Dam?" JJ asked his brother.

"Because they chose the time, and that wasn't it." Bligh said. "They wanted the world to go to pieces first. Zarm, whatever he is, is trying to tip off an apocalyptic war. Humans versus Whatever it is the Planeteers have got. Gauntlet is the trigger, the global chaos is to ratchet up the stakes…"

"So Bligh here decided to get me out before it got to that point." Wheeler gestured.

"I was hoping you guys could find a third alternative, given that avoiding the fight, and having the fight will both lead to the end of the world." Bligh put in. "But then I found out the real scope of Stumm's plan. Forcing a battle at Hoover Dam? It gave them the chance to take one of you alive. Without your combined powers, you were no match for Gauntlet, so you were neutralized until they told you Wheeler was alive. The Gauntlet's other strikes, their mind control… All of it was to put them in a position to send the world into total collapse, and make sure The Corporation was the very last thing to fall… And then I found out it was purely for the opportunity to destroy everything in the world."

Heavy silence.

"We don't have a third option, do we?" Linka asked finally. "It's too far gone."

Kwame spoke. "If we can neutralize the Gauntlet…" He trailed off. Even that was a long shot.

"We got the Gauntlet off Quinn." Gi said softly. "She's back to normal, now…" Gi trailed off too. Lizzie was a twitching, borderline suicidal mess. Getting the other members of Gauntlet free was an even longer shot.

"Look, we've been playing catch-up for a while now." Kwame said finally. "With Lizzie freed, and Wheeler returned to us, we've all be able to put things in perspective, figure out the puzzle. It took us a week to realize the scope of what we were facing. We shouldn't expect to have a solution in thirty seconds."

This much was true. Everyone looked at each other, letting the stresses fade a little, absorbing the fact that they were all together again, safe on Hope Island.

"So, let's get some sleep; be thankful that we're back in the game, come out swinging tomorrow." Kwame summed up.

It had been an emotional day, and everyone was glad for that.


Linka and Wheeler hadn't left each other's side since he'd arrived at the Island. It took the others no time at all to realize it. Ma-Ti excused himself soon after, promising to keep an eye on Bligh. Kwame and Gi had their own matters to sort out and made their own good-nights soon after. Ruby was staring up at Wheeler like a puppy, pleased to see he was alive and well, and Alana pulled the young girl down to the beach as Wheeler and Linka went back to the settlement.

"Heck of a day." Wheeler said finally, and he suddenly realized he was alone with her.

She didn't answer, and Wheeler was about to make a joke, when he saw how she was staring into him with dark, deep eyes, and suddenly lost the ability to speak. Neither of them were interested in saying much.

Without a word, they both closed the distance in the same millisecond. The kiss wasn't even a little bit explosive. It was nothing like any other they'd shared. This was soft, passionate, and full of emotion. This wasn't any kind of showdown; it was outright surrender.

They parted soon after, and stood there for a long moment, foreheads touching, halfway between her hut and his.

"I thought you were dead." She said finally.

Wheeler hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, hard enough to hurt.

"I'm okay." He promised in her ear.

"I know." She said quietly. "All those jokes Gi made about how what kept us together was our need to have the last word? Suddenly you were dead, and having the last word was just not worth it."

"I know." He promised. "I hate to think what you guys were going through back here. If they'd taken you and not me, I would have lost my mind."

Linka broke the hug and pulled the chain from around her neck. His Ring was on the end of it, and she carefully pulled his hand up to her lips, kissing his knuckles a bit as she slid it back on his finger. She felt her heart speed up at the blatant need in his gaze as he watched her do it, keeping his hand close to her lips.

That need in his eyes is because of you. Linka told herself.

"The last time we were alone together…" Wheeler said, slow and thick.

"Who the hell says we missed our chance?" Linka said immediately. "Who says the moment went by? Isn't that up to us?" She took a breath. "Now you."

Wheeler smiled and took his turn. "The mistake was when you said 'just see what happens'. This is us we're talking about. If either of us start this with one foot out the door, we'll never make it. We're either all in, or we're not."

"Story of our lives." Linka agreed, and she cupped his face with her free hand. "When you were gone, I really wanted to talk to you about it. The thing that made me care about you is also the same thing that frustrated me: You care more than you think. I'm not like that. But I wanted to be. You were dead and I wanted it to hurt right down to my bones; but I couldn't make myself feel it..."

He reached up and covered her hands with his. "I'm here now." He said, voice raw. "Do you still want to feel something that deep?"

"I wanna burn." She almost growled, and closed the six inches between them in a rush. The explosion was there this time, fierce and breathtaking. There was a sudden burst of wind, a quick wave of heat...

Linka pulled back first, but just enough to speak, and despite herself, she felt tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Wheeler, I know you want to 'do this right', but when I thought you were dead, my only regret wasn't that we were never together. It was that we weren't even honest about wanting to. Or why."

"Let's go inside, Linka." Wheeler said in a voice that could turn ice to steam.

"Yeah, right away; I would think." Linka kissed him again, quickly this time, promising more to come quickly, as they turned to go, hand in hand…

...and they both started to walk in opposite directions, her towards her house, him towards his. Hands still linked, they both realized as their arms grew taut between them.

"Mine's closer." Linka gestured.

"Mine's got a bigger bed." Wheeler gestured too.

Fragile beat.

Linka suddenly did the most unexpected thing yet. She burst out giggling. "Bozhe Moi, Yankee. Flip a coin, before Alana and Ruby come back and start watching out their windows."

Wheeler found himself on the verge of laughter too. "Linka, be honest. Do you think we've got a chance in hell of this actually working?"

"Hard to say, but I think we knew that. Besides, given what we plan to do tomorrow, I don't think Long Term is our top priority right now." Linka got herself under control, before walking past him and leading the way to his hut. "Come on. It doesn't matter where we go first. Odds are we'll get to every flat surface on the island at some point.."

"Behind you every step of the way, babe." Wheeler said, but his voice made Linka shudder pleasantly.

"Eyes a little higher, Yankee." Linka told him, and she barely recognized her own voice as she walked, pulling her shirt up over her head, inch by inch, as she reached his door. Even from behind, the sight had Wheeler nearly hypnotized as he followed.


JJ came out of the Communications Tent with a printout in one hand, and a big smile on his face. The rest of the Planeteers were settled on the Beach, watching the horizon silently.

Bligh was with them too, though sitting a few feet away. Other than confirming Wheeler's story, she hadn't said a word since Ma-Ti took her to the Crystal Cave. She just kept staring out at the ocean. The others didn't try to talk to her. They'd all had such moments with their host.

"Check this out." JJ laughed. "Wheeler's Obituary. Someone actually ran it, even with whatever Voodoo Zarm was doing." He looked around. "Where is Wheeler?"

"I think, back at his cabin."

JJ turned to go. "I'll show him. I bet he'd get a kick outta this."

"It can wait till morning, JJ." Ma-Ti told him, not looking away from the ocean.

Kwame and Gi both swiveled their heads to look at Ma-Ti in surprise.

JJ didn't get it. "Oh, there's no way he's sleeping. He'd get a big laugh out of-"

"It can wait till morning, JJ." Gi and Kwame chorused with Ma-Ti. Even Bligh smirked.

JJ finally got the point. "Oh! Right."


Stumm didn't sleep. Not anymore. He was beyond such things. He hadn't felt hunger or thirst in months.

"Quinn failed." He said quietly to the empty office.

Regrettable. An ancient voice answered. That voice was all he needed now. But hardly important. Things are in motion and they won't stop now.

"What do we do about the Planeteers?"

We eliminate them.

"With all five reunited, and Quinn off the board, we may not be able to keep the Gauntlet on target."

We?

"You!" Stumm corrected quickly. "Always you."

Don't forget who it was that controlled Quinn, long before she ever got started. Zarm told him. All your power, all Gauntlets' Power, is from me.

"The Planeteers will know this, now. They'll know the plan."

Also irrelevant. Zarm told him. The Planeteers are trapped by their service to Life. They cannot destroy you without starving the world. They cannot fight Gauntlet without setting off a war, and they cannot avoid the confrontation without letting our forces devastate the world. They cannot move but according to my design. And neither can you.

"Yessir." Stumm promised.

Bligh has sent The Gauntlet to Las Vegas. She chose that point because it is already shut down. With Quinn's power broken, those in residence will attempt to leave. But they too can serve a purpose.


BREAKING NEWS:

"The UN made an official statement at last, concerning the effects of last week. The Statement is here in full:

"It has been understood for a year that there are Powers that defy conventional wisdom, and conventional ability. We embraced those with these Powers, because they were determined to use those abilities for the common good. But for all they tried to tell us, they have never told us of the origins of their abilities, or how likely it is that there would be others who could do the same.

"The influence demonstrated on the people of the world over the last week is now obvious. After gathering intelligence from international sources, we know now that Gauntlet is not on anyone's side by their own. While we continue to prepare countermeasures to ensure it cannot happen again, the most important thing now is to minimise the damage left behind. Reports say that Gauntlet has lost their ability to influence the world's population. What other ability they might have is under active investigation; and if being the most serious of attention by the world's representatives.

"The increase in world tensions and violence has resulted in economic and social unsettledness, calling for responsible leadership in all forms. While we work diligently to cool heightened tensions, we ask for calm and patience among the military and political forces of the world.".


Colonel Johnson, watching this report on the news, felt his phone buzz, and he answered it. "Hello?"

"Colonel, this is Agent Petrov. We only met twice, I'm Linka's father. My sources tell me that you're at Hope island. Is that true?"

"It is. The kids are preparing their next move."

"Well, it better be something good. You saw the statement from the UN?"

"Just now. Political double talk doesn't usually sound so… panicked."

"These are proud men who have just discovered their own brains can be blackmailed without their knowledge. Too many people like us will bite back, for no other reason than to feel like they can do something."

"I agree." The Colonel said. "What made you call me?"

"My sources tell me that Command and Control was put in the field in various forward areas."

"Not just the forward ones. Tactical Forces are stationed domestically, too." The Colonel said quietly. "With everyone waking up from the same bad dream, nobody wants to be the first one to take their finger off the trigger, just in case."

"That 'just in case' is going to end the world." The Interpol agent warned.

"You have no idea." The Colonel glanced back at the Crystal Cave.

"So the reason I'm calling? Everyone's on this. Air Force, Navy… Nobody knows where the counter-attack is going to be, but everyone knows there'll be one. The political position is that it's better to make a bigger mess than look like you're doing nothing. My sources inside the State Department, or at least the ones that will still talk to me? They say that they've given someone the job of organizing a counter-offensive. They've given him the authority to direct military strikes against targets."

"Without clearing it with the Joint Chiefs?" Johnson was surprised. "How do I not know about this?"

"It's chaos in Washington. Worse in Downing Street, Beijing… Nobody's quite sure that the 'mind powers' have stopped, so nobody wants to speak up. If you push for an offensive, you're going to get hammered for being a drone under Gauntlet control, if you call for peace, they can say the same thing." Petrov reported. "You heard the reports about Command Control being put in the field? It's true. The Politicians have handed over the authority to start a war… With a little push, from The Corporation."

The Colonel left the Communications Tent, heading down the beach towards the others, taking the phone with him. "I hear that The Corporation is buying up all the deficits, and taking over the supply lines."

"That's what we're hearing too. Word is, all week, there have been mobs burning out gas stations, mobbing tankers… And nobody trying to so much as hold them back."

"They were wiping out civilization and throwing a party."

"Well, how else was it going to happen?" Petrov asked darkly. "This is why I'm calling: I'm hearing rumors that if Gauntlet, and the Planeteers start another fight with each other, then-"

"Then they'll launch." Johnson finished. "Wipe out both groups at the same time."

"The idea is that there are only two groups that can put that kind of control on people, and they can also toss a tornado around, so why not take them both out?"

"Agent Petrov, I have some bad news for you." The Colonel said seriously. "I've just learned that Gauntlet's Agenda is to force just such a confrontation, with the direct purpose of tipping off a full strike on the Planeteers, and the source of their powers. You were there when they told us all about Gaia-"

"I was. But I didn't believe it."

"It's true. I'm on Hope Island and I just… I met her, Stephan."

Dead silence from the other end of the phone. "So this is it, then." Petrov said finally. "We're actually talking about the end of all life on earth, here."

"There's nothing we can do about Gauntlet. We have to make sure the kids can do their jobs."

"Agreed. I'll find out where their 'Tsar' is, and how to get there before the shooting starts. But I'm Interpol, not military."

"Find the location. I'll meet you there." By now, Johnson had reached the rest of the island population. "Where's Wheeler?" He said as he disconnected. "I have news, and you should all hear it."

"It can wait till morning!" All of them said without looking at him, so direct, and in unison that The Colonel jumped back, startled.


AN: Since the last chapter came out:

Costa Rica's new president has declared a nationwide ban on fossil fuels.

California has become the first US state to require solar panels on all new residential construction.

China now has nine times the solar jobs that the USA has.

Australia's first Utility Level Battery Station (Built in a hundred days by Tesla, and mentioned earlier in this fic) has saved Aussie Customers $35 Million in it's first four months of operation.

Poland's largest power group has dropped plans to build a nuclear reaction in favor of wind, since Wind Power is now so cheap.

And all this in the last week. Hope is far from gone.

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