A.N./ I haven't watched Captain Planet in eight years, so I apologize to any die-hard 'Teers out there for my mistakes! Many thanks to Sarah Frost for being a wonderful Beta reader, and for help with ideas.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Lightning or Captain Planet.

"Planeteers, we have an Eco-emergency!"

The five ecological-minded kids, called the Planeteers, were assembled in their headquarters on Hope Island, a tropical paradise almost untouched by humans. They were listening to Gaia, the spirit of the earth, tell them about their next job. Gaia had selected the five youth from all over the world and sent them a ring. When they put it on their fingers they were transported to Hope Island and told that they'd been chosen to be protectors of the planet earth. To stop the pollution and waste that an ignorant society was producing became their life goals. Each ring held a special power to help them with their mission.

"What is it?" Kwame, whose ring gave him the power of earth, was the unofficial leader of the group. The young African was a true conservationist.

"There is a factory, belonging to the Rat-Rid company of America, that produces highly toxic waste. They then illegally pay someone to dump it in the ocean." Gaia said.

"What?" Gi, an Asian girl whose power was water, loved the ocean and all that lived in it, especially dolphins. "How could they do that?"

"All too easily, I am afraid. That is why you need to stop it."

"Then, let's go!" Wheeler's power, fire, suited the New Yorker's hotheaded personality and red hair perfectly.

"Hold on a minute, Yankee," laughed Linka, the blonde girl from Eastern Europe, who had the power of wind.

"Where is this factory, Gaia?" asked Ma-Ti, the youngest Planeteer. He had been raised in the Amazon and had the most important power of all, heart. His pet monkey, Suchi, chattered busily from his perch on Ma-Ti's shoulder.

"In the small town of Conestoga Hills, America."

"This is Kat Adams, reporting from the protest against the Rat-Rid America Company, for the Conestoga Hills high school paper." The blonde girl spoke breathlessly into her mini tape recorder. Another group of angry citizens arrived, carrying anti Rat-Rid signs. She ran a hand through her hair and moved out of their path. Ever since the people of Conestoga Hills had found out about Rat-Rid's underhanded dealings, they had held regular protests, but this was the biggest so far.

She asked a nearby man, "Excuse me, sir, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?" but she was ignored.

It had been like that since she got there. Everyone she had tried to interview was either too caught up in the excitement, or had just come for the fun of it and didn't actually know anything. Kat groaned and tipped her head back in annoyance. She was about to try asking someone else when she saw something in the sky, two distant silhouettes hovering in mid-air. Kat knew at once who they were: Ace and Sparx, her boyfriend Mark's superhero buddies.

"It looks pretty wild to me, Ace," said Sparx.

They were surveying the scene below them with confusion, trying to work out if the people down there were in trouble or not.

"Yeah, but is it worth being seen by everyone there if they're not in danger?" Ace knew Sparx was eager for a good fight. He felt a bit like that himself, it had been a while.

"But what if Fear's there?" They'd been looking for Fear day and night since he'd escaped from the carnival.

"Why would Fear be at the . . ." Ace squinted as he read the distant sign, "Rat-Rid America company?"

"I dunno, same reason as he came to this dimension in the first place, to cause trouble."

Ace sighed. He'd been putting off telling her about the Sixth Dimension being a computer game, and still wasn't sure that he should. Knowing about it had changed the way he thought about everything, he didn't even want to think about how it would affect Sparx. And then there was Random . . .

Ace was interrupted from his thoughts by his phone ringing. Pulling it out of his jacket he answered, expecting it to be Mark or Mark's best friend, Chuck.

"Lightning here."

"Um, Ace? Hi, it's Kat, Mark's friend."

"Kat?" Why would she call him? "Did something happen to Mark?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Oh. Then do you want to talk to Sparx?"

Ace knew the two of them had become friends since they'd been locked up together at the carnival. Ace guessed that Sparx had wanted another girl to talk to more that she let on.

"You'll do. I just rang to tell you that I'm down here with the big group of people."

"Really? Is everything O.K.?"

"Yeah, it's just a protest against some of the stuff this factory's been doing. Everything's fine."

Ace repeated this last bit to Sparx, who was staring down at the mob of angry townsfolk.

"Oh no it's not!" Sparx yelled back at Ace as she took off, "Tell Kat to get out of there! That huge truck is tipping over!"