Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 12:44 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.
"You know," said Dash as the team disembarked from the plane, "I think today is our lucky day! We get to eat lunch twice!"
"If," said Ashley, "you can call the meal they served on the plane 'lunch'."
"Oh, I don't know," said Kim, "I rather liked the flavorless breadsticks and cheese-like paste."
Everyone laughed.
"Okay," said Violet, "now where did we park?"
"How am I supposed to know? It was two days ago!"
"Excuse me, sir?" Kim asked the parking attendant. "Can you help us find our car?"
"Sure, no problem. What's it look like?"
Kim described the Alphamobile.
"Wait, are you guys Alpha Force?"
"No, we're civilians. The supers just let us borrow their car for the weekend. What do you think?"
"I'll tell you what I think," he said, and then he proceeded to say many unkind things that I dare not repeat here. Amid all the obscenities, however, he did tell them where their car was.
"Uh, thanks, I guess," said José.
The parking attendant cursed some more before bidding them a not-so-fond farewell.
"What's his problem?" was the question on everyone's mind.
But on the drive home they discovered that he wasn't the only one who harbored unpleasant feelings toward the team of young heroes. They passed by several unruly mobs that, seeing and recognizing their car decided to throw eggs, tomatoes, and a variety of other messy foods at it.
"Good thing we didn't walk," Dash commented.
"Shut up!" was the unified response.
By the time they got back to their house on New York Avenue, the car was an absolute mess. And it didn't exactly smell like a bed of roses either.
"I'm not doing it!" José was quick to say.
"Me either!" said Ashley.
"I just did it last week!" said Violet.
"Don't look at me!" said Kim.
"Or me!" said Dash.
"Well, someone has to clean the car!" said Violet, very aggravated.
"Clean the car," said some strange robotic voice. It sounded like it came from the car. All of a sudden, a side panel in the door opened, and an army of robotic scrubbers came out of it. They covered the car in a rich lather from the roof to the tires before returning to their home.
"Rinse," said the same robotic voice. All at once, mysterious jets sprayed the car with water, causing the lather to disappear. The red SUV underneath was clean as a whistle, albeit a little damp.
"The car is now clean," said the voice.
"Wow," said Kim. "Mirage thought of everything, didn't she?"
"Where was that feature last week?" asked Violet. "I broke a nail scrubbing that thing!"
Inside the house, everyone wondered why all of Metroville had suddenly become anti-Alpha. But Violet, remembering her injury, placed a call to her trusted physician, Superdoc.
"Dr. Gibson? It's Violet, listen, I've got a problem. I can't make force fields with my right hand. How soon can you make an appointment?"
"How's the twelfth of never, you blankety blank blank blankety blank?" Click, dial tone. Violet was stunned at the vocabulary that came from Dr. Gibson's mouth.
"Now Superdoc's against us too? What is this town coming to?"
Luckily, the 1:00 news was able to explain everything.
"…As you can see behind me," said the reporter, "this crowd is burning an effigy of the once-beloved team of supers. They say this is to 'send a message to those super-degenerates, that we don't appreciate their shameful betrayal.'"
"Betrayal?" asked José. "We were only gone for two days, what's the worst that could have happened?"
"The crowd has clearly hung Alpha Force before they were tried. While there is no concrete evidence that Python and the others are indeed guilty, there are prime suspects, and the police are looking for them for questioning. Michael Farm, DBC News, Metroville."
"Well, that explains a lot," said Ashley with melancholy.
"What is it that they think we did?" asked Dash
"Whatever it is, we couldn't have done it!" said Kim. "We were out of the country."
"You're right!" said Violet. "All we have to do is tell the people this, and we're off the hook!"
Just then, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Open up, it's the police!"
Violet opened the door and saw two of Metroville's finest on the threshold. They looked like identical twins.
"We're looking for Python," said one of them.
"Don't you need a warrant to arrest someone?" Ashley blurted from the living room.
The officer pulled out an arrest warrant with Violet's codename on it.
"Okay, I'll come quietly. I know when I'm in over my head."
"No, Miss Parr, you don't understand. We want Python."
Violet just gave them a confused look.
"I think they want you to put on your suit, Vi," whispered Dash.
Violet craned her neck and saw that there were news cameras on the front lawn. Clearly the press were looking for a shot of Python, not her civilian alter ego.
"Hold on one minute, I'll go get her," Violet said with a heavy sigh. A few minutes later, she reemerged in her costume.
"Python," said the other officer, "you're under arrest for the robbery of the Central Bank of Metroville. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you free of charge. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"
Python said she did. She didn't put up any resistance as they gently placed her in the back of the squad car, complete with handcuffs. The rest of the team looked on dejectedly as the police drove away, with their leader in tow.
"What do we do now?" asked a visibly frightened Ashley
"We rescue Violet, that's what we do!" said Dash. "To the Alphamobile!"
(A/N: Were you surprised? Were you stunned silent? I told you the fun part was coming! Don't worry, everything will make sense in time. And I'll try to insert Futureboy into this story somehow. It's been awhile since I've used him. Until next time…review!)