Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 1:49 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

If she had a window seat, sitting in back wouldn't have bothered Python very much. However, she was stuck in the middle, and it was very unpleasant. She really liked driving; it made her feel like she was in control of her own destiny. Plus, this was technically her car, so she should be driving it. But a promise is a promise.

"Ashley!" said Liquegirl. "We're coming up on some road work. I need you to TAG the car so we can fly over it."

Blind Tracy was hesitant. "Should I, Python?"

"Go ahead," she responded.

"Okay, where's the thing?"

Python guided the young psychic to the decal on the center console. Blind Tracy focused all her energy on lifting the car off the ground. It did levitate, but it put a lot of strain on her. The car didn't even budge one inch before Blind Tracy dropped it on a reflex.

"I'm sorry, but even when I TAGed the car to help me out, I just couldn't do it."

"That's okay, Ashley," said Rocket. "We'll just have to find another route."

"But won't we be too late?" asked Heartthrob.

"Not if we have Dash TAG up," suggested Liquegirl.

"Whoa, slow down, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Do you remember what happened last time?" said Python.

"Yeah, you're right. Oh well, it's not like the whole world will be destroyed if we're just two minutes late, right?"

Well, they were two minutes late, and the whole world wasn't destroyed. However, there was a large chunk missing from the from the Lone Oak Mall, clearly the doing of the evil MagiClones (patent pending). Liquegirl drove unwillingly into a crowd of screaming people.

"Excuse me!" she said out the window to one of the panic-stricken civilians. "Is Omega Force in there?" He nodded his head. "Thank you!" She parked the car and the team climbed out.

"Okay, does everybody remember whom they are fighting?" asked Python.

"Um, I think I have Heart Attack," said Blind Tracy.

"Ashley's having a heart attack! Quick, to the hospital!" shouted Rocket.

"Dammit, Dash! Now is not the time to be making jokes!" Python chided.

"Sorry. Anyway, I know who I'm fighting!"

"Yeah, me too," said Liquegirl.

"I think I'm ready for this Viper," said Heartthrob.

"Well, if we're all ready, why aren't we in there?" said Python, pointing to the large hole in the wall. The team raced inside.

They didn't have to look far to find the evil MagiClones (patent still pending). They were standing atop a pile of rubble, and the looked like the soldiers at Iwo Jima. They could see that each clone was imperfect, and differed slightly from the original. Python's clone, Viper, was six feet tall, as they saw earlier. Rocket's clone, Demon, had a beard. Blind Tracy's clone, Blind Fate, had black hair. Heartthrob's clone, Heart Attack, was clean-shaven and had a uni-brow. Liquegirl's clone, Floodgate, didn't wear glasses. They all wore suits very similar to Alpha Force's, except for that strange symbol, which they now knew was the Greek letter Omega.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Viper said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, so you can talk?" said Heartthrob. "I thought you guys would be like mindless zombies or something."

"Aren't you the witty one?" taunted Heart Attack. They all thought it was kind of strange that he spoke with a British accent.

"Yes, he does have a delightfully piquant wit," said Liquegirl. "Jealous?"

"Oh, please," said Floodgate, "that's like an elephant being jealous of the size of an ant!"

"What did you say?" asked Rocket.

"I said that's like an elephant being jealous of the size of an ant!"

"I know, I heard you the first time! That's the problem with you, all you do is talk! It's a wonder you guys get anything done!"

"Oh, I get things done!" interjected Demon. "Your mother, for example!"

Blind Tracy gasped. "Oh, no, he wants to talk about mothers now!"

"Well," said Python, "your mother is so fat, men only whistle at her when she's wearing yellow, because they think she's a taxicab!"

"We're MagiClones (patent pending), fool!" said Blind Fate. "We don't have mothers!"

"I said," Python interrupted, completely ignoring her, "your mother is so fat, she plays pool with the planets!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Viper, "well, then, your mother is so fat…uh…she has a hard time fitting through doors!"

"Your mother is so fat, she jumped up in the air, and got stuck!" said Rocket.

"Your mother is so dumb, she threw a rock in the air, and missed!" said Liquegirl.

"Your mother is so dumb," said Heart Attack, "uh…she was 22 when she graduated high school!"

The very thought that anybody could think that Omega Force's jokes were funny was absolutely preposterous. But the MagiClones (patent pending) did. And this fact, the supers thought, was funny in its own right. For the next three minutes, the exchange continued, Alpha Force launching insults, Omega Force making a lousy comeback, Alpha Force laughing at how lousy the comeback was, yadda yadda yadda, until finally…

"Enough of this nonsense!" Viper screamed. "Let's get 'em!"

"Scatter!" Python ordered. She disappeared and snuck away. The rest of the team dashed off in different directions. They did this to confuse their enemies, and to separate them. Once they were all hidden, Python got on her radio.

"Okay, guys, you remember the plan, right? Find your assigned clone and destroy it." An echo of 'Rogers' followed.

Python gripped her blade tightly and searched for Demon. "Now, if I were an evil clone of my brother, where would I go? The sporting goods department, probably." So with the stealthiest of super-spy cool, she cased the hallways looking to cut him to ribbons. She found her target raiding the sports store, like a true bad guy. Still invisible, Python tiptoed up behind him.

"I know that's you, Python," he said. "Your invisibility doesn't help."

Damn, I should have known, she thought.

Demon gave her a quick kick in the ribs, sending her backwards. Python crashed into a display of health supplements, breaking her concentration and revealing her.

"And now, you die!" Demon leapt into the air and threatened to body slam the frail Python. It looked like it was all over for her, until…

(A/N: Ha, Ha! Cliffhanger! Or, maybe not. You can probably predict what's going to happen next. But I have to stop here. This is part of the plan to make this story forty chapters long. I'll publish Chapter 27 soon. Until then, review!)