"Always remember that the future comes one day at a time"
-Dean Acheson

A Not So Sweet Sixteen

The aroma of chocolate chip pancakes had drawn Alex from her sleep the next morning. She walked over into the kitchen to find her mother and father flipping pancakes.

"'Morning," she greeted, smiling.

"Good morning, honey," Sarah hugged her and gave her a kiss on Alex's forehead. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks."

"Wait, I should rephrase that…Happy Sweet Sixteen!"

"I can't believe your sixteen already," said Don, smiling. "It seems like just yesterday you were taking your first steps."

"Time sure flies," agreed Alex. "By the way where's Elena?"

"Oh, she's getting ready in her room," said Sarah, continuing to flip pancakes.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get ready," she declared before walking back to her room.

Alex slumped over to her closet. She didn't plan to wear anything special that day, let alone did she want to dress up. Her family wasn't planning on doing anything either, so what was the point? She opened up her closet finding it completely empty. Alex frantically moved her hands through the closet to see if there was miraculously some kind of secret doorway, but there was still nothing. She wondered where in the world would her clothes would be. Who could've gone in and stolen her clothes? Doom was an immediate suspect, but what would he do with a bunch of clothes? It couldn't be him. He didn't even know where they lived. Another name popped into her mind.

Elena.

She stomped over to Elena's room and began banging on her door.

"Who is it?!" shouted Elena, hesitantly.

"Alex! Open up!"

Elena swung the door open, looking smug, "Yes?"

"Where are my clothes?"

"What do you mean? Did you invent some lame gizmo that made clothes walk off on their own or something?" said Elena, sarcastically.

"No!" she injected, and then muttered, "but does sound like a good idea." Alex's rage came back, "Anyway, you stole them!"

"Okay, I admit it, I stole them," Elena said calmly.

"Don't lie! I've known you for the past sixteen years of my—wait you did steal my clothes?"

Elena nodded.

"Wow that was easier than I thought."

"Are you done yelling at me now?"

"Yeah, consider the yelling: done."

"Great, then c'mon in," Elena gestured inside her room.

Alex obeyed and walked into Elena's room. It hadn't changed since the last time she had been in there.

"Ok, before you ask why I stole your clothes," she continued. "It was for your birthday present."

Alex gave her a confused look. Stealing personal belongings? That made as much since as monkeys taking over the world.

"I know it sounds crazy at first, but it was for a good cause."

"Good cause!" repeated Alex. "What cause?"

"The cause in getting you actual clothes," Elena pointed her finger up and down Alex's pajamas.

Alex looked down at her attire. She didn't see what was wrong with it. It was just a blue tank top with plaid pajama pants. But then again she wasn't the fashion genius.

"These are my pajamas," Alex pointed out.

"I know that," said Elena, "and you're going to get changed so we can go shopping today."

"Is that part of the present too?"

"Yep."

"Well, I'd better get dressed—oh wait I have no clothes," Alex glared at Elena.

"I guess I didn't think of that part," she said absentmindedly.

Reed ruffled through many files at his desk. It had been surprisingly a slow day for crime, so he figured he would get everything ready for the next day. Susan came in giving him a kiss on his forehead.

"So what are you doing?" asked Susan.

"Just getting ready for tomorrow," answered Reed, still looking at his work.

"I see so do you know what we should start with?"

"I don't know, I'm thinking of teaching them the ways we use to control their powers."

"That's good," she smiled.

Susan then looked at the large stack of papers suspiciously sitting next to Reed.

"What's that?"

"Oh nothing," he rejected.

"It looks like something."

Susan moved around Reed and began to scan through the pile of papers. Many police reports were found in there.

"What are you doing with a bunch of police reports?" asked Susan.

"Just checking activity," Reed pointed to the name on one of the reports.

VICTOR VON DOOM, it read.

"Reed," she moaned.

"Look, I know you're against this, but he has to be up to something."

"What could he be up to, Reed?" said Susan, rising her voice.

"I don't know, I've been trying to figure that out," said Reed, opening up a file on his computer. "Look at this; this is his recent activity for the past month or so."

Reed showed Susan a digital picture of New York showing red dots on locations.

"He's probably just causing trouble like any other villain does," guessed Susan. "Did you make this?"

Reed nodded his head, "But look at what all of the locations are."

He zoomed in all of the locations. They all ended up being the same thing. Banks.

"He's planning something," Reed continued, "something that costs him money. Doom must be making something, but I can't figure out what it is…"

"Then stop," snapped Susan.

Reed shot her a confused look.

"Ever since the twins went away, you've been hunting down Doom for revenge or something."

"I'm not tracking Doom for revenge," he cornered. "I'm tracking him because of the recent activity he's been doing. It just seems fishy."

"Yeah, but it seems like you think somehow Doom can possibly know where are babies are," a tear slid down Susan's cheek.

He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You have to think about it, Sue. Why did Doom try to kidnap them in the first place?"

Susan stood there, silent.

"I don't think it was just to tick us off."

She stared off into space with weary eyes, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss them."

"I miss them too," said Reed, quietly. "Ben was a wreck when we came home that day."

"So was Johnny, though it was kind of hard to tell."

"We made the right decision, Sue," he comforted. "They're safe and hopefully they're successful."

"I know. I just wish they were here with us, especially today."

"You know what, they are," Reed pointed to Susan's heart, "in here."

Reed and Susan smiled and both hugged each other compassionately.

"And you said I was slow at getting dressed!" yelled the annoyed voice of Elena.

Alex was forced against her will to go to the mall with Elena. She didn't like shopping very much. Waiting in line and trying on billions of clothes weren't her favorite things to do. She changed into a teal blouse and a pair of dark skinny jeans. Alex walked out of the dressing room finding Elena's bright face.

"Now that's an outfit!"

"Great," Alex faked a smile, "now can we go?"

"Yeah, yeah hold on, I just got a text from Mom and Dad."

Alex waited impatiently as Elena looked at her phone.

"They said we had to meet them at Uncle Tom's restaurant."

"All the more reason to leave," she rushed.

As soon as the clothes were paid for, Elena forced Alex to put them on again. She rebelled, but of course Elena used the 'but it's my birthday' routine. It was Alex's birthday too, but she had to do her share. Once she was finished changing again, Elena spontaneously decided to do her hair and makeup. Alex didn't even bother to rebel this time. When she looked into the mirror again Alex didn't recognize herself. Her hair was curled and her face was lightly padded with make-up.

They arrived at Parker's Pizza an hour later.

"You know we would've made it earlier if you hadn't dolled me up," scolded Alex.

"C'mon Alex, it's your Sweet Sixteen at least look decent," she said opening the door.

Alex rolled her eyes. The room was swallowed with darkness when they came in. She flipped on the nearest light switch.

"SURPRISE!!!!"

She suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. Everyone had jumped up from the hiding spots with huge grins. Both of their jaws were held open as if they were allowing a fly to walk in.

"Happy Sweet Sixteen!" shouted Kia holding up her arms.

"T-thanks," said Alex once she found her voice again.

Everyone they knew was there. People they had just recently met at school, family, and their parents' coworkers.

"We surprised you, didn't we?" grinned Damian.

"I don't know if surprise is the right word," said Elena, putting quotations around surprise.

"Either way, we saw your priceless reactions."

"Well anyway, Happy Sweet Sixteen girls!" Both of their parents went to go put a kiss on their foreheads.

Alex looked around the room. All of it was decorated with pink and blue sweet sixteen balloons and streamers. So far the party was turning out to be a big success. Their parents, aunt, and uncle talked continuously, so it was as if the party wasn't supervised. Damian spent most of his time flirting with girls. Kayla on the other hand was just hanging out with a couple of her friends. Alex and Elena meanwhile were talking to Kia and Kyle.

"So are you guys planning on getting your license anytime soon?" asked Kia.

"If we can drive around the city, yeah," answered Elena, smiling.

"Traffic can get a little hasty," agreed Kyle looking at Alex.

"Yeah, and I thought California's traffic was bad," commented Alex.

"So, what's with the big change in clothes?" asked Kyle facing Alex.

"Oh, it's my birthday present from Elena," she explained, "a total makeover."

"It looks good," he complemented.

"Thanks," Alex uncontrollably blushed.

"So, is there anything interesting you're working on? As in inventions?"

"Nope, not yet. How 'bout you? Is there a solution to MC=E2 yet?"

"Uh…well…uh no, they're still working on that," stuttered Kyle.

Elena gave a suspicious look at Kyle.

"Of course," said Alex.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks, I'll be right back."

"I'm right behind you," Elena called following Kyle.

Kyle got four cups and began to pour punch into each of them.

"Hey, Kyle," greeted Elena.

"Hey, Elena," said Kyle, still concentrating on the punch.

"Do you even know what MC—that thing Alex just asked you about—was?"

"It's…a problem."

"You don't know what it is, do you?" Elena smirked.

"No," he admitted looking at her with weary eyes. "And to tell you the truth, I'm not the best at math."

"But you told Alex you were a math geek," she pointed out, "unless," Elena gasped, "you lied."

"Please don't tell Alex!" pleaded Kyle.

"Why not?"

Kyle bit his lip for a moment.

"You like her don't you?" smiled Elena.

"Me…no, I just think she's a very interesting person."

"And you like her."

"Ok, fine I like her. Are you satisfied?" he said annoyed.

"Very. But why do you have to lie about being a geek in general?"

"I don't know I'm just not smart enough for Alex."

"Ok, hold up dude I'm not smart enough for Alex, but I still hang around her."

"That's because you're related to her," shot Kyle, raising his eyebrows.

"Ouch, that was cold."

"Look, just don't tell her, okay?"

Kyle handed her two cups of punch.

"Okay, but you've gotta tell the truth to her sometime. And if it makes you feel any better, she's never dated anyone before."

They headed back to Alex and Kia who were both drowned in conversation. Time passed on and the party was still enjoyable for the twins. Kayla suddenly pulled on Alex's arm when she was dancing.

"Alex, Alex!" she yelled urgently.

"What is it?" asked Alex, stopping.

"I don't know I can just feel it coming!"

"Wait, what coming?"

"Something bad."

Alex immediately pulled Kayla to the corner where no one could hear.

"What do you mean by bad?" she asked urgently.

"Bad, as in it's coming here to do something scary!"

By reading Kayla's voice and face, it sounded really bad.

"Can you see exactly what it is?"

"I'll try, but my sight is trying to improve."

"It's okay, just do the best you can," reassured Alex.

Kayla closed her eyes. In some ways, she didn't want to find out what it was. If it was as scary was Kayla put it then Alex didn't want it to tear it away from her party.

"It's a dark figure…flying," she said, keeping her eyes closed.

Alex's heart stopped. Doom.

"Kayla, go get your brother now!" ordered Alex.

"Geez, you're sound like my mom," sighed Kayla, opening her eyes.

"I don't care just go get him!"

Alex ran off to Elena. She found her flirting with a guy Elena went to Spanish class with. She pulled away by the arm.

"You could've waited a few minutes," complained Elena.

"We've got no time!"

"Chill out, Alex we've got till eight," she said pointing at the clock.

"That's not it," Alex brought her voice down, "Kayla saw Doom coming."

"Dang it!" she yelled in frustration. "Why did he have to come on our Sweet Sixteen?!"

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here!"

"What about the others?"

"Once we leave, they'll be safe."

Elena nodded. They went in search for Damian and Kayla. Both of them were arguing when they found them.

"C'mon, Kayla it's probably just hot air balloons again!" shouted Damian.

"It's not," she argued. "I can tell the difference from a hot air balloon and evil, thank you very much!"

"Unless, the balloon is evil," Elena jumped in.

All of them glared at her.

"What? Just trying to brighten up the mood here."

"Look, we need to go Damian," urged Alex.

"Nothing you say will make me go," he sneered.

"How 'bout Doom having your head for lunch?"

"Let's go," said Damian, suddenly.

It was too late. Screaming and the sound of cars crashing came from a distance. The party suddenly became silent. Everyone started to panic when the lights began to flicker. They could tell exactly who it was.

"Everyone calm down!" shouted Tom over the loud voices.

It became quiet again.

"He might not be coming directly toward here," reassured Jenna.

But Alex and Elena already knew enough that Doom was coming there. Kia exchanged a worried glance with Alex. She too knew exactly what was going to happen. Alex gestured the door and Kia nodded in agreement. Alex and Elena quietly rushed Damian and Kayla out the door.

"Could you guys stop stressing out!" demanded Kayla once they were outside. "It's making me stressed out."

"You'd be stressing out if you'd met him before too!" shot Elena, irritably.

"Chill out guys!" said Damian. "Maybe he is just passing through."

They both stared at the children with wary eyes.

"He ain't passing through," said Kayla.

"You're really not making this any better Kay."

"Sorry, I only speak the truth bro."

"Then why did you lie about eating your broccoli!"

"Guys, stop!" interrupted Alex. "We need to figure out how to get out of here."

"I have an idea: how 'bout we just walk away."

"It's not as easy as it sounds," said Elena.

"Um, I hate break it to you guys," said Kayla wearily, "but Doom is turning around the corner there."

"Damian! Are good are you at teleporting?!" Alex looked Damian right in the eye.

"I don't know, but I can't go that far yet."

"Luckily, I have a plan B," Alex held out both of her hands. "Hold on to my hands and don't let go."

Once everyone was holding hands, Alex readied herself into a run. Before she even got the chance to sprint, a car landed right in front of them.

"You're not going anywhere this time," said a dark voice.

Doom hovered over them in anger and anguish.

"Seriously, how well is your teleporting?" Elena hissed to Damian.

"Hold on guys," said Alex.

Alex jumped up in the air and began to fly. She tried to go as fast as she did with Kia, but it was impossible with the double load in her hands. Lightening suddenly struck past them.

"You could go a little faster!" complained Damian.

"You could lose some weight!"

"Guys! Arguing isn't going to help!" shouted Kayla, and then smiled. "Besides I can see a whole lot better up here."

"El, turn invisible," commanded Alex.

"Well, look who's the leader," she answered sarcastically.

"Just do it!"

Elena gave out a heavy sigh before turning invisible. Alex kept flying the same direction until she started to take big dips down.

"Look guys I'm gonna have to drop you off somewhere."

"No, we want to help!" protested Kayla.

"Well, at least she does," countered Damian.

"Guys keep your voice down," hissed Elena.

Everyone screamed as Alex took another dip down.

"Ok, I think it's time to go back to the ground," Elena pleaded.

"I second that," agreed Damian, sounding fearful.

"Touché," said Kayla.

Alex landed on a nearby flat rooftop, relieved that all of the weight was off of her shoulders. Her eyes turned to panic when Doom was heading their way. She immediately pulled everyone behind a nearby door leading into a small cramped room.

"Come out, come out where ever you are," he taunted.

"We need to spilt up," advised Alex in a low voice.

"We can't leave Damian and Kayla alone though," Elena cautioned, "they don't know what they're going up against."

"Ok, then I'll take Kayla while you," Alex faced Elena, "take Damian."

"Where are going to go?" asked Kayla.

"You and I will try to lose Doom, while Elena and Damian go for help."

"Damian, can you try to teleport us to the Baxter Building?" questioned Elena.

"I don't know if I can go to the Baxter Building," answered Damian, "but I can go to the bus stop near it."

"Then go to the bus stop," encouraged Alex.

Damian gave a short nod.

"You know the more you hide, the more I find you," Doom hissed.

"Now!" whispered Alex, urgently to Damian.

He grabbed Elena's hand and disappeared into thin air. Bang! Doom slammed himself towards the door.

"Get behind me, Kayla!"

She immediately ran behind Alex. The hinges were slowly coming off as Doom continued to hit the door. Alex covered Kayla when the door came flying towards them. She screamed in pain as the splinters went through her back. Once silence came, Alex dropped to the floor.

"Alex!" shouted Kayla, bending down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just wait a few minutes and I'll be fine," she comforted in a weak voice.

She soon felt the splinters jump off of her back.

"Much better," she sighed.

"Bravo," Doom slowly clapped his hand together. "I've never actually seen you heal up close."

"Leave us alone!" said Kayla courageously.

"Kayla, don't," warned Alex as she got up to her feet.

"Being brave, are we?" said Doom evilly.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"For my plan to be complete."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Oh, just a little project I've been working on for the past sixteen years or so."

"Be careful Alex," hissed Kayla.

Alex glared at Doom for a moment, but he continued.

"You haven't figured it out yet," he sounded unimpressed, "and I thought you inherited your father's intelligence."

She stopped listening on the word, 'father'.

"You knew my father?"

"Yes, he and I went to high school together."

"Alex," Kayla tugged on her shirt.

She ignored her, "Who was he?"

Doom didn't answer. Instead he threw a net towards them. It suddenly stopped right in front of her eyes. Alex looked over at Kayla who was holding out her hands in front of her. She must be stopping the net, she thought. To help, Alex took a deep breath and blew the net over to Doom.

"Thanks," said Alex to Kayla.

"No prob, I saw it coming."

Suddenly Doom pulled the net off of himself and scowled towards them.

"I think it's time to go."

Alex pushed the air up causing the ceiling to crumble to pieces. She grabbed Kayla's hand and flew up into the sky. It was no doubt that Doom would follow them again, so what was the point of landing? She cursed herself. How could've she been so stupid…or gullible? Alex had always wanted to know who her real parents were. She loved Don and Sarah, but there was just something not there. It was hard to explain.

She looked back. To her surprise Doom wasn't behind her at all. Alex swiftly landed in an alley way and faced Kayla.

"Do have a phone?"

She was still in the process of replacing her own phone.

"Nope, but I have money for a pay-phone."

They walked back out into the streets towards the nearest pay-phone. Kayla handed her the change and Alex began dialing Elena's number.

"Hello?" said Elena's voice.

"Hey, El, it's me Alex," she answered. "Did you get help?"

"Yeah, but…we have bigger problems."

Her voice sounded uneasy. As if she was about to cry.

"What's wrong?" asked Alex, urgently.

"The pizza shop…it's…"

Elena sniffled before finishing.

"Destroyed."

Alex's voice became speechless. Was this true? That must've been where Doom went after she flew away.

"What do you mean by destroyed?" said Alex, nervously.

"I mean it's burnt everywhere!" she shouted. "It's not burnt to the ground, but everything is either charcoal or ash."

"Ok, calm down, we'll be there right away," reassured Alex before running out of time on the phone.

"What's wrong?" asked Kayla. Her eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Nothing, c'mon."

Alex grabbed Kayla's arm, but she angrily freed herself from Alex's grip.

"No! You're lying! There's something wrong!" shouted Kayla furiously.

"It's nothing you should worry about right now," she mumbled, pulling Kayla into the alley way.

From there Alex flew off to Parker's Pizza. They landed by a nearby bus stop and rushed towards the pizza shop. Half of Alex wanted to hide away from the pain, but the other just wanted to get it over with. Kayla sped past her in anxiety. She suddenly saw her stop in shock. Alex ran up to comfort her. She must've seen the damage, Alex thought. She placed a hand on Kayla's shoulder once she finally caught up to her. Kayla looked at her with glossy eyes and stared ahead. Alex went into despair when she looked up from Kayla.

The pizza shop didn't look much like a pizza shop anymore. A rundown building, ruins, both of those words described what became of Parker's Pizza. Smoke still rose from the building as firefighters went in to put the fire out.

"Kayla, thank God you're here!" cried the relieved voice of Damian.

Both of them looked away from the nightmare. Damian suddenly embraced Kayla into a tight hug. Elena tagged behind him, rubbing her eyes.

"Does it really look that bad, Damian?" said Kayla through her tears.

"Well…it looks bad, but we can fix it…don't worry," Damian comforted.

His tone seemed just as shaky as the others.

"El, what happened?" asked Alex.

"I don't know, when Damian tried to transport to the Baxter Building…he brought us here instead," she sniffled, "and then we saw everyone evacuating the shop. I didn't figure out why until…Doom came back and threw a bomb."

At that moment, Elena gave into her tears. Alex hugged her and cried along with Elena. This was all her fault. If Alex had been decisive enough to finish Doom off, then Aunt Jenna and Uncle Tom wouldn't have to pay for the damages for the pizza shop.

"This all my fault," muttered Alex with a lump in her throat.

"What are you talking about?"

Elena broke from the hug and look curiously at her.

"If had fought off Doom, then this would never happen."

Alex began to wipe off the tears running down her cheeks.

"Alex this is not your fault," said Elena sternly. "It's Doom's fault, okay. Not yours."

A thought suddenly came to her head.

"You're right," she agreed. "It's our powers!"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Elena.

"Think about it El, if we didn't have any powers then we'd be normal."

Elena was quiet, so Alex continued.

"And we wouldn't have to worry about people like Doom hunting after us. Plus I think that's the reason our real parents gave us up."

"Don't say that," advised Elena. "There had to be other reasons. Maybe it was just money or something like that."

"That's what I thought too El, but…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Alex, if our parents gave us up because we were…different, then I don't want meet them because we already have parents that care about us and accept us for who we are."

Alex looked over at Sarah and Don who were comforting Jenna and Tom at the moment. Elena was right. They had accepted them for who they were. Every science fair, birthday party, softball game, they were there no matter what.

"You're right," Alex nodded. "They have been there for us."

"See, and as for our real parents…they probably had a good reason."

"You're pretty smart you know that El."

"I know," she smugly. "I'm street smart not book smart."

"So, when do you plan on telling Mom and Dad we're going to be trained by the Fantastic Four?"

"Hey, who said it was going to be me?" said Elena, slightly offended.

"I just did," smiled Alex.

"Ha ha, very funny," she said, sarcastically.

"C'mon guys, let's go see what the damage is."

Alex gestured Damian and Kayla to break from their hug. As they walked over to their parents, Alex still felt that bitter guilt on her tongue.

Thanks for reading!

-Emyrox567