Dateline: Saturday, July 4, 1981, 2:34 PM, Pacific Daylight Time
"Are you sure the guys will show up in time?" Liquegirl asked Heartthrob while they drove to the police station.
"Kimberly, I'm sure they have something planned," he responded. "Come on, how do you think Vi and Dash got around before they had this car?"
"I have no idea."
The two of them arrived before the other three did.
"Well, where are they?" Liquegirl asked.
Just then, a large purple ball rolled into the parking lot. Inside it were Rocket, Python, and Blind Tracy. When Heartthrob and Liquegirl saw the Alpha Force Power Ball, they reacted in awe and wonder.
"Yeah, it is pretty cool, huh?" said Rocket. "Of course, it's all Violet."
"Oh, don't be so modest, Dash," she answered.
"Um, guys," said Blind Tracy, "shouldn't we dress out before we go in to see the sheriff?"
"Nah, it's cool."
Soon, the team was inside the office of James Baker, sheriff of Metroville, warden of the local jail, and Justice of the Peace. Python looked up at the man, suddenly remembering that she had never seen him face to face in her entire career. James was a large man, both in the vertical and horizontal directions. He wore a police uniform, which made him seem even more terrifying.
But what the team would remember about him most was his hair. It was bluish-black, just like Violet's, only he wore it in a crew cut.
"What are you staring at, Python? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I'm sorry, sir, please forgive me!"
"Pull yourself together! A superhero shouldn't act like a sniveling servant, even in the presence of her superiors. But enough chitchat, let's talk about why I called you here.
"First of all, I'm impressed with how you guys were able to split up and handle multiple problems simultaneously. I'm glad to see you can work separately just as well as you can together. You guys are going to need that ability if you accept this assignment that just came across my desk.
"It seems that there's a group of five villains causing trouble in five different cities in Europe. The local supers would deal with the problem themselves, but these villains are much too strong for them. (Their words, not mine.) So the call was placed to the NSA to recruit five American supers to combat this European threat."
"Let me guess," Python interrupted, "the name 'ALPHA FORCE' came up first on the list?"
"Actually, no, your name came up second. Another team of supers from Wisconsin turned the mission down, they said they had too much to live for."
"Cowards," Heartthrob muttered under his breath.
"Anyway, as your dispatcher, it falls to me to tell the NSA whether or not you guys will accept the mission. Now, before you give me your decision, let me just say that this assignment will pay five times the usual reward, whereas it is five times larger than your average exotic mission. So, what say you? Yea or Nay?"
All of them wanted to speak up all at once, but Python stopped them. "Alpha huddle!" she said. And the team huddled up.
"What are you doing, Vi?" asked Liquegirl. "Come on, free vacation plus gobs of money? What is there to talk about?"
"My mother taught me that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," she explained. "Besides, think about it. There are five of them in five different cities and only five of us. You do the math!"
"Oh, wow," said Blind Tracy. "I don't know if I could take on a super-villain all by myself! That's why I joined Alpha Force in the first place!"
"I could stand to get back into solo action," said Heartthrob.
"This isn't just about you, José," Rocket chided. "This is about all of us, and I don't know if I want to spend a trip to Europe apart from my wife."
"Oh, man, I didn't even think about that," said Liquegirl. "We haven't even consummated our union yet!"
Python pulled her head out of the huddle and asked James, "If we do accept this mission, when will we have to leave?"
"Late in the envening tonight. You'll need to be at Heathrow by 7:00 PM Sunday local time."
Python ducked back in. "That give you two plenty of time to, um, you know, uh…"
"Oh, just say it, Vi, 'have sex'!"
"Right, have sex before we get into the thick of things. I say we go ahead and accept the mission. What do you guys say?"
"In light of this new information," said Liquegirl, "I vote yes."
"Count me in!" said Heartthrob.
"I'll accept it," said Rocket.
"Ah, what the hell?" said Blind Tracy.
The team pulled out of the huddle and said in unison, "We accept, sir."
"Great, I'll call the NSA right away. That will be all, you're dismissed."
As soon as they left, James placed a call, but not to the NSA.
"All right," he said into the phone, "I got them to accept the mission, now you have to hold up your end of the bargain…by the way, what's going to happen to them, you're not going to hurt them are you?…Uh, huh…Uh, huh…Oh, sweet merciful heavens!" He hung up. "What have I done? Wait, what am I so worried about? They're supers, they can find a way out of this, can't they?"
Back at the house, Violet started barking orders right away.
"All right, guys, before we go, I need your super suits, they need to be washed, trust me, they reek!"
After she got the team uniforms in the washer, she started making some phone calls.
"Father O'Fallon? It's Violet. Listen, My roommates and I won't be attending this Sunday's worship service."
"Why not?"
"You know that thing I can't talk about in front of the other parishioners?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"My team and I are going to be in Europe on official business that day, and we might not return."
"Oh, my! We'll all be praying for you guys."
"Thanks for understanding. See you soon, I hope."
She put the receiver down for only three seconds, then picked it right back up and dialed another number.
"Snug's charter service, this is Helen speaking."
"Mom, it's me,"
"Violet?"
"No, Stratogale. Of course it's Violet!"
"Well, hi sweetie, how are you?"
"I'm fine, listen, I need to cash in a favor you owe me."
"Of course, do you even have to ask? You're my only daughter and I'd do anything for you! What do you need, buttercup?"
"A ride. Can you get us to London before sunrise?"
"BEFORE sunrise?"
"We kind of have to be there by seven local time. What time is that here?"
"I think it would be noon or somewhere around there."
"Okay, so what? We should leave atmidnight or something?"
"I'll have the jet waiting for you."
"Thanks, Mom." She hung up.
Just then, Violet noticed Ashley sitting outside of Dash's bedroom door. She seemed to be concentrating on something, and whatever it was, it was making her smile.
"Get away from there, you little pervert!" she scolded.
"Shh!" Ashley responded.
"Ashley, what do you think you're doing!" Kim shouted from behind the closed door. "Get out of here!"
"Well, thank you very much, Violet!" Ashley said. "Now I know why the call you Python, because only snakes have mouths that big!" She stormed off.
(A/N: I'm sorry I got a little risqué at the end there, but that joke was too good to pass up! If you guys wish, I won't do any more suggestive stuff like that ever again. Please let me know how I'm doing, and be honest. How can I get better if you guys aren't honest?)