.
Suburbia, Dimension Codenamed ZAMN. Sometime after midnight.
On any other planet, in any other dimension, teenagers would do everything in their power to get out of school. But in this particular world, and in this particular dimension, teenage siblings Zeke and Julie were bound and determined to break into their high school building- not for educational purposes, but for food and objects that could serve as weapons.
There was a war going on; an invasion from Mars was underway, and despite their best efforts to ward off the aliens, mankind was now losing places to call home. Now, even their children were fighting for survival. Leading the way were these two unlikely heroes: Zeke, with his blonde hair spiked up like pillars, wearing a black tee-shirt with a white skull in its center, blue jeans and, oddly enough, a pair of 3D glasses; and Julie, a spunky brunette with her hair pulled back in a ponytail under a red cap, wearing a purple jacket under a white tank-top and also sporting blue jeans.
The siblings, armed only with their wits and Uzi water guns, stormed the halls of the high school, breaking into lockers and the cafeteria for essentials. But it wouldn't be long before they'd be sniffed out by their enemies. As bright green lights flashed through the windows, it was clear that UFOs were circling the outside.
Panic-stricken, Julie let out a gasp. "They found us!"
"Run!" yelled Zeke, who led the two of them down the hall and toward the nearest staircase.
He had hoped that the UFOs were only on the front side of the building and that they could escape through the back way, but as he opened the door to the outside he was greeted by lasers and hostile aliens. He slammed the door shut before any harm was done.
"This is bad," panicked Julie again. "We're surrounded."
"Come on Jules," said an optimistic Zeke, "We've faced whole armies of zombies and werewolves. We can take these guys."
Both he and Julie jumped when something began to pound heavily on the other side of the door- BAM-BAM-BAM!
"We can call the Redemption Squad," Julie dared to say.
Zeke scoffed at her. "Are you kidding? I got this far, there's no way I'm getting help from some big shots from outer space now!"
Just then, the doors flew open, pulled apart by a pair of grotesque, green-skinned fiends with brains bulging from their heads. Both siblings let out terrified screams before running back up the stairs as their attackers made chase.
Martians armed with laser guns began to jump through windows and pursued the teens, until at last the unlucky duo trapped themselves in the school's gymnasium. With a steel baseball bat bolting the doors tight, Zeke took a moment to catch his breath, while his sister looked on to listen to the UFOs outside getting louder and closer.
Knowing they were trapped for sure, Julie took in a deep sigh in defeat. "Can we call the Squad now?"
Wiping the sweat from his brow, the once proud Zeke finally gave her a nod. He then reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a small card that bared the Aperture Industries eyeball logo. As he put pressure on the logo, it gave off a blue glow, along with a small high-pitched beep of confirmation.
.
Within seconds, in the heart of Suburbia, the small distress signal somehow found its way to the main headquarters of the human refugee base. In the main room, a large computer monitor began to blink blue as the Aperture Industries logo in its center. The one human sitting in the room, as though he were waiting just for this moment, jumped up from his seat while spilling his cup of coffee.
"It's the kids," he gasped. "They're in trouble."
He then reached for the big blue button on his computer desk, and activated it. In an instant, the distress signal was launched through the largest satellite dish in town, possibly on the whole planet, which was poised straight up toward the stratosphere. From there it bounced off a large space satellite, which shot it straight into the black sea of stars. Somewhere, out in that vast void of space, it would reach an Aperture module which would direct it through time and space and straight to Pandora, both the home and the launch base of...
..
..
THE REDEMPTION SQUAD
Snodin
.
LEVEL 3:
ALIEN NATION
.
Pandora, some time later.
On the secluded, planet-shaped sanctuary, the Redemption Squad's Search and Rescue Commander rounded up as many as seven various heroes of their own worlds: Captain Falcon, Chrono, Red and Blue of the Gunstars, Sparkster "Rocket Knight" Opossum, and his close friends Jade, Mighty Armadillo, and Earthworm Jim. They all met in the docking base and lined up while Rock, better known as Mega Man, began to march up and down the line to drill them on their newest mission. Little did they know, a small young rookie was watching them from behind one of the smaller space pods, eager to tag along for the ride.
"Firstly," said the youthful Commander, "I'd like to thank you all for coming here on such short notice. This morning, Counselor Freeman received a distress call from one of our allied Earth dimensions, code named 'ZAMN.'"
"Zam?" blinked Jim. "What's that mean?"
"That's classified," replied Rock. "What I can tell you is this: It's a world full of peaceful humans who are constantly attacked by various monsters- zombies, vampires, werewolves, and Martians. And that's just a handful of them. But we're not going there to wipe out those creatures; our mission is to rescue two teenagers who've wandered out of their territory and are now lost somewhere in the middle of Martian country. Now I'm aware that some of you are equipped with deadly weapons..." As he said this, Rock gave Red and Blue a cold glare. "But just keep in mind," he warned, "nobody on my team is allowed to use deadly force unless it's absolutely necessary. Captain Falcon?"
"Sir!" saluted the tall blue-suited man with red helmet and shades.
"You have one of the fastest vehicles in the known galaxy; you'll lead the ground troop."
"Hoo-rah!" he cheered.
"Jim," added Rock, "you and Sparkster will be our spies in the sky; we'll need both your portable rocket and his."
"You got it boss," saluted the earthworm.
"Okay everyone, you know the drill? Now saddle up, we're taking the Crane."
"Yes, sir!" said the group collectively, as they raced for either the Crane or their needed vehicles for the mission.
Within minutes, the crew was ready. Rock digitally adorned his blue armor and took to the front seat of the bird-shaped plane. When his crew was seated and ready, he called out to the small eye-shaped robot drone nearby, "Set the coordinates, Iris."
"Yes, Commander," saluted the robot drone. With two scrawny arms, the drone with the big yellow eye punched a series of buttons on the large diamond-shaped portal gate. Its black center began to glow pink, indicating that a rift in space and time was opening.
The Crane's engines revved up and it began to hover in mid-air before plunging itself through the pink vortex. A much smaller, more circular ship followed close behind, but it would never make it to the Crane's destination. Instead, it would go crashing down onto the Wumpa Islands that early afternoon.
..
..
Suburbia, Dimension ZAMN.
With a swing of his axe, Jake, a man in his forties donning a red plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves and dark blue jeans chopped a small log clean in half. This was his twelfth cut log, and he was already losing stamina. He wiped the sweat from his brow, then removed his dark brown hat from his long blonde hair to fan himself. He was a gruff man with stubble on his broad clef chin. And, he was the first of his kind to notice a star in the sky glowing brighter and brighter, and seemed to be coming toward the earth. Armed only with his axe, he braced himself for battle, but was relieved to see that the star descending was actually The Crane. Recognizing the eyeball logo on its side, he ran to the nearest building to alert his neighbors that help had arrived.
.
The Crane made a soft landing in the town's largest park. Immediately, Jim and Sparkster flew out of the spacecraft on their individual aircrafts to scout the land.
Stairs spilled out from the main hatch of the aircraft, and Commander Rock peeked outside for signs of life. "Okay, we're here," he said before turning to the Anthromorphic armadillo nearby. "Mighty, I need you to stay in here for now. These people are very paranoid about anything that looks... alien."
"I understand, boss," replied Mighty.
"Besides," Rock added, "I need somebody here to keep the Crane secured."
"You got it," saluted the armadillo.
As the small, boyish Commander led the rest of the team down the stairs, only female member Jade was following right behind him. Feeling concerned, she asked, "So Commander, these people we're helping... They don't like any kind of aliens?"
The boy in the blue suit replied, "That's what I've been told by the Council."
"Then why would they even ask for our help?"
"Our main allies in this world are two kids; they contacted us on accident one day while fighting off some multidimensional force. Most people here are okay with us, but... I just don't want to take any chances."
"I see," she frowned. She was suddenly reminded of her unfortunate ties to another type of hostile alien species, one that nearly threatened her own world. She had always been uncomfortable with her roots, but what she learned just now made her all the more concerned for her own well-being.
It wasn't long before the locals began to come out from their houses and greet the newcomers. Humans of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages shook hands with the heroes, all thanking them for coming. Most of them asked if the Squad was here to wipe out the Martians or other monsters; they were met with silent head shakes and quick changes of the subject.
But of all the Squad members, most turned to the woman of the group, with her bright green eyes and matching green lips. "Oo, you're pretty," said a few of the young men. "What's your name, cutie? What world are you from? Are your lips really green, or is that makeup?" Jade could only smile, giggle slightly and reply to such questions like, "Oh, it's nothing. Just a preference, really. I'm from... way out there." But despite her vague answers, they all seemed generally impressed with her, and that made her happy.
"So," said the axe-wielding gruff blonde that was chopping logs earlier, "Which one of you is the leader of this outfit?"
The youngest looking one of the bunch stepped forward. "I am, my name's Commander Rock."
The blonde man gazed curiously at the boy before smiling, "No, seriously. Who's in charge?"
Rock pouted as Captain Falcon stepped forward and muttered to his leader, "Mind if I take this, boss?"
Seeing as no one seemed to take his position seriously, Rock humbly stepped aside and let the race car driver take charge. "Everybody can relax now," said the tall man in a bombastic voice. "I'm Captain Falcon, and we're here to answer the call. Now, which of you folks called us?"
A man and woman stepped forward. The woman, a blonde, began to shudder in worry as she explained, "Our children! Zeke and Julie are missing, we haven't heard from them in hours."
Her husband, a brunette, added, "They told us they'd be back soon, but they haven't even called. We're afraid they might be lost out there... with those things."
"Okay, calm down," said the Captain. "We've got a plan. First, we... um..." Quickly he ducked down to Rock's level, who quickly whispered something in his ear before repeating, "We've sent out two scouts. Once they find your kids, they'll tell us where they are. And then, we'll..." Again, he lowered himself to let Rock whisper the rest of the plan before relaying it to the locals. "We will... send out the rest of the team to retrieve them and bring them home..." Rock tugged at his sleeve to whisper a single word, which Falcon relayed, "Unharmed."
"Oh, bless your hearts!" cheered who was apparently Zeke and Julie's mother. She and her husband embraced the Captain while the crowd of onlookers cheered.
Then three men, one of which was Jake the wood-cutter, approached the team of heroes. With him were a taller, slimmer man with black slick hair, wearing a green shirt under a brown leather jacket and dark blue pants. The youngest of them was a blonde-haired teenager- a jock, in fact, who seemed to be built like a quarterback and proudly wearing a red and white high school jacket.
"I'm Tom," said the wood cutter. "I'm Zeke and Julie's uncle. This here is my friend Jake, and his son Gary. We wanna help you fellas... and lady... get those kids back."
"Oh no, no!" said the team's true leader suddenly. "We couldn't let you do that, it's too dangerous."
Glancing down on the boy that was actually a robot, Gary smirked, "Said the kid that looks like he's up past his bedtime."
Rock made a face as Captain Falcon once again stepped in. "It's fine," said the helmet-wearing captain, "You can help if you want, just let us do most of the work okay?"
"I don't know about this," muttered Rock.
Hearing him, Falcon gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry boss," he whispered, "Our team's the fastest in the universe; we'll be in and out of there before these guys even pick up their guns."
"Speaking of guns," said Red of the Gunstar Heroes as he and Blue approached crowd leader Tom, "what're you guys gonna bring to the battle, anyway? We were thinking about using our own, but the boss figured they'd be too extreme."
"Oh," nodded Tom, "we've got special weapons. We'll show 'em to you right now, follow me to my garage."
.
In Tom's garage, the Gunstar Heroes, along with Captain Falcon and Chrono, watched eagerly as Tom opened up a big brown chest which seemed to contain something very valuable inside. But to their surprise, what he pulled out were four...
"Water guns?" gasped Blue. "You expect us to fight aliens with... water guns?"
Tom explained, "There's holy water in these guns. It fends off most supernaturals, and this place is crawling with 'em." He tossed each super-soaker rifle to Falcon, Chrono, Red and Blue. They each marveled at the seemingly innocent toys in their hands before accepting them as their new go-to weapons.
"We also have soda cans filled with nitroglycerin," Tom added, "but only three of them, so use them wisely." He passed on the red soda cans to Falcon, who stuffed them in a duffle bag for safe keeping.
"Anything else?" asked Rock, who stood nearby.
Jake said in reply, "We know the Martians are weak against their own guns, but we haven't gotten our hands on one of those yet. Maybe you guys'll have better luck than us." He then turned to the pretty green-eyed woman of the team and frowned, "'Fraid I don't have anything to give you, little lady."
"Oh," smiled Jade, "I have my bo-staff. I'm good."
"Okay, are we all set then?" asked Captain Falcon.
"One more thing," Tom said. "Jake and I are coming with you."
"What?" gasped the Squad members."
"I'm coming too!" called out a young man's voice. All eyes turned to the teen jock standing by the open garage door. "Those Martians blasted my girlfriend to kingdom come, and I want a piece of them!"
"Oh no," frowned Commander Rock, "I can't let you all endanger your lives. Let us handle this."
"Said the kid who's way past his bedtime," said the teen.
"Harry," Jake snapped at his son. "These people are pros... and they have a point, they're better at this than we are."
"But," Tom added in a stern voice to Captain Falcon, "Jake and I are like family, and Zeke and Julie are my family. I'm going with you, whether you like it or not."
Just before Rock could protest, Jade stepped forward and replied, "I can watch over you two." This made her Commander give her a small look of disapproval with his jaw gaped open, but she ignored it.
"Well, much obliged ma'am," smiled Jake, who gave her a little bow.
Rock narrowed his eyes at them. "...Alright, you can come. But stay in the back, and don't rush into a fight till we say so."
Still unsure of whether to take this boy seriously or not, Jake and Tom turned to the one person they knew had a handle on things: Captain Falcon.
"What he said," smiled the Captain.
Meanwhile, Harry the teen jock looked on with a grimace of discontent.
..
..
Deep in the woods surrounding the suburbs, Earthworm Jim and Sparkster the Rocket Knight were high up in their air on their portable spacecrafts. They really had no idea where they were going, but knew to keep their eyes peeled for flying saucers of some kind. But just to ease their tension, they agreed to make a race out of it.
"Last one to spot a flying saucer gets to pay for lunch," dared Jim.
"Your challenge is accepted, good sir!" replied the chivalrous opossum.
After several hours of zig-zagging across the night sky (and confusing a lot of peiple over whether or not they were shooting stars), Jim spotted one very peculiar object in the distance: a half-dome, giving off a green glow. "Jackpot," he grinned, as he kicked his rocket into high gear.
Right behind him on a backpack jet shot Sparkster, his golden sword extended as he charged. "Tis I who saw it first, Sir Jim!"
"Nu-uh!" argued the worm, "you need to clean your goggles, I saw it first!"
"I need not mine goggles to see such an obvious enemy saucer," stated Sparkster.
"Yeah," noted Jim with narrowed eyes. "Come to think of it, that saucer is pretty big... and it's getting bigger... and bigger... and... HOLY SNOT!"
Too little too late, the two scouts realized that they were headed straight for the biggest flying saucer of all: The Mother Ship. It only looked small at first because they were so far away; now that they were mere feet from it, it was as large as three street blocks. And worse yet, it spotted them, which was evident in the fact that dozens of tiny saucers came pouring from it in retaliation.
"Sir Jim, we must evade!" shouted Sparkster as he veered left.
"Right! ...Wait, that's left. I go right," replied the worm as he veered right.
Unarmed except for a sword and a small laser gun, the two scouts were soon overwhelmed by a barrage of green lasers from all directions. Luckily, they were too small for the saucers to lock onto, and had cat-like reflexes as they were both expert flyers. But neither one was willing to take a chance, and called in reinforcements.
..
..
"Commander! Come in, sir!" called Sparkster's frantic voice on Rock's wristwatch communicator. "Sir Jim and I have discovered the Mother Ship; it looks to be hovering over a small castle, west side of the village."
Hearing the message, Jake gasped in horror, "West side? That sounds like the school building."
Rock talked into the wristwatch; "We're on our way you guys, sit tight!" He then turned to the man in the blue suit and red helmet. "Captain, it's time!"
"Alright," smiled Falcon as he revved up his prized hovercraft, the Blue Falcon. "Buckle up, everybody, it's go time!"
Though the vehicle only had two seats, one in front and one in back, Jake and Tom managed to squeeze together in the back, while Chrono sat beside Falcon with the small Gunstar Heroes cooped up on his lap. There was no time for anyone to feel uncomfortable, because the vehicle took off in a mad dash faster than a gust of wind.
"Rush, here boy!" called out Rock as he digitally switched into his Mega Man armor. In a red flash, Rush digitized himself into the scene and quickly shifted his body into a flat backed hovercraft mode.
As the Blue Bomber jumped onto his dog/aircraft, he looked to Jade with concern. "I'll catch up," she smiled. "I'm pretty light on my feet."
And she wasn't kidding; she managed to tail after Rush with a swift footing than an average human could only dream of, a testament to her true origins.
..
..
The School Grounds.
All eyes were on the Mother Ship, as it seemed to be the only enemy object in sight. The team snuck in from the edge of the forest, leaving their transports behind (save for Jim's spacecraft). All was quiet and still, and the teams true Commander was not about to take this moment for granted.
"Okay here's the plan," said Mega Man to his main team members; "Jim, Sparkster, the Gunstars and I will distract the UFOs. Jade, Chrono and Captain Falcon will run in and grab the kids. Remember: we don't kill anyone, just diverge them. Got it?"
"Yeah we got it boss," frowned Jim as he directed his Commander toward the two humans running head first into the fray. "You might wanna run that by them though."
Horrified at Jake and Tom's foolishness, Mega Man cried out, "No, no, NO! Come on, team!"
Just as he had planned, Mega Man took to the air on his jet moved dog Rush, shooting small yellow pellets t the Mother Ship'a side. Joining him were Jim on his portable spacecraft and Sparkster with his strapped on jet pack.
On the ground, the Gunstars Red and Blue reluctantly shot their water pistols at the oncoming flying saucers, and to their amazement, the saucers reacted as though stunned. "Holy cow, that actually worked!" Cheered Blue.
Chronos and captain Falcon caught up with Tom and Jake just as they ran up to the front doors of the school. Both men were grabbed from behind. "No, let go!" Tom cried out. "My niece and nephew are in there!"
"We know," said the Captain, "We can't risk losing you too!"
"Incoming!" Cried out Jake, as he realized that flying saucers were dropping down and firing at them.
As the men rolled out of the way at the shots, a beam of light fell onto the earth, followed by tall green figures with glass orbs around their heads faded into the scene. Seeing these brain-bulged aliens up close, Captain Falcon let out a groan in disgust. "Man, they're to nearly as cute as I imagined."
The battle both on land and in the air only lasted a few minutes, long enough for the Squad to realize that hey were heavily outnumbered. Though fighters like Jade put up quite a fight; she leaped and kicked like the best xox them, twirling her staff that seemed to emulate a teal colored force of energy. She managed to stun and trip up many a Martian, but it was hopeless as she was soon surrounded by a dozen of them.
As the green creature approached, it's laser gun pointed at her face, Jade raised her hand to it in false surrender, not realizing that her eyes were beginning to glow in a soft teal haze. This surprised the creature, and it stopped in its tracks. All at once, she could hear its inner thoughts, speaking in a language she never heard before, and yet understood every word as though he were speaking in plain English:
Intruder. Must protect Mother Ship.
Both stunned and sympathetic, Jade relayed her thoughts back to him: Please, we have children in there. let us bring them home.
Children...? This word. What is its meaning?
Small ones, helpless ones. Please, let us help them.
The Martian's thoughts fell silent, as though it's deep thinking proved too much for Jade's mind to comprehend. But while the two of them were standing still, there was a moment of peace between them, something the green eyed woman was hoping for, before she even realized it.
But that moment of peace was short lived; Tom, who was swinging a tree limb at another Martian nearby, notice that Jade appeared to be cornered. "Miss Jade!" He called to her. "Hang on, I'm coming!"
"What?" She gasped. "No!"
But it was too late; Tom was already in full charge when the Martian in front of Jade snapped out of its train of thought and let out a war cry. It fired its gun at both humans, and while Jade managed to duck in time, Tom's leg wasn't so lucky. He fell to the ground and the Martians moved in. This forced Jade to pick up her staff and swing wildly at the green aliens while running to Tom. She lifted him over her shoulder and made a hasty retreat.
Meanwhile, Mega Man and Sparkster were barely even denting the Mother Ship with their projectiles, and more and more smaller flying saucers were pouring out from it.
"There's too many of them," said the youthful Commander. "Fall back! Everyone, fall back to the woods!"
"Retreat! Retreat!" Echoed the opossum, as he jetted past Jake and Chrono.
"Just let me get a few more shots in," requested the enthusiastic Blue, who had already gotten accustomed to his water gun.
Red, not as willing to take a chance, grabbed his partner by the collar and followed after the group.
Taking the Commander's lead, the rest of the team stopped their assault and fled into the woods on the edge of the school grounds.
With the sweet taste of victory in their mouths, the Matrians waved their guns and beamed themselves back up into their beloved Mother Ship.
..
..
Less than two hours later, the group gathered in a small patch in the woods, less than a mile from the school. The Blue Falcon was parked in front of a makeshift blue tent; inside, Rock was mapping out the area and coming up with a new strategy for the rescue mission. But outside, tensions couldn't be any higher.
Tom was sitting on a tree stump while Chrono began to patch up his wounded leg, while Jake was nearby sharpening his axe. They were both terribly shaken, not just because the fight was a failure, but because time was running out for the children. They couldn't help but give Jade and company a pair of unpleasant glares.
"I had everything under control," shouted a frustrated Jade at her two tag-along partners. "Why did you stop me?"
"We didn't know what you were doing," replied an equally angry Jake. "You were just standing there, and they were getting ready to zap you!"
"I was speaking to them," she argued. "I... I have a way with most alien creatures."
"What're you gettin at?" asked Tom, as he winced in pain while Chrono's bandages tightened.
"Oh here, let me get that," the woman sighed. She approached Tom with caution and laid her hand on his wound. Before he could argue, a warm golden light emulated from her palm, coating his elf until the pain stopped. When at last she pulled her hand away, he was amazed to see that his leg was as good as new again.
"How... How did you do that?" he asked, a twinge of fear in his voice.
Jade just shrugged, "It's a gift."
Leaning against a tree nearby, Jake, who saw it all, folded his arms and gave the green-eyed woman an ugly glare. "Why don't you just come out and say it? You're one of them; you're an alien."
Jade sighed as she rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm an alien. Didn't you see the giant spaceship I flew in on?"
"Yeah," nodded Jake with a frown, "but we were under the impression that you were human. You know, from a human planet? Like your friends?"
"Not all of my friends are human," she sighed.
Tom glanced over at the earthworm and opossum nearby, whose limbs were currently being wrapped up like mummies by Chrono. "At least we can tell they're different," he stated in a dark tone.
"How many more of you are out there anyway?" asked Jake, whose tone was beginning to sound threatening.
She narrowed her eyes at him, not realizing that they were starting to give off a soft teal glow. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Noticing the glow in her eyes, Jake took a cautious step backward. "W-well," he stammered, "I, I only meant that... Well, you're not like anyone we've ever met, missy."
"My name's not 'Missy,' it's Jade."
"You could have at least told us you had super powers," argued Tom who dared to approach her.
"Does it really matter that I'm so different?" she asked as she stared him down with her eyes glowing all the brighter. "Does it bother you that I'm different?"
"Well, I..."
"You called for help, remember? And we responded. I responded! The least you could do is show a little respect."
"Okay," said a fearful Tom as he raised his hands in defense, "calm down."
"I am calm!" she shouted, stirring even her friends nearby. As she approached her would-be judges, a teal aura fell over her, making the two men back away more fearfully. "I was about to end this stupid, pointless war when you two botched it up, and now you're acting like I'm your enemy! I have never been so insul-"
"JADE!"
Recognizing her Commander's voice, the green-eyed girl froze. She glanced over to the young boy in the blue suit, who beckoned her with, "A word, please?" The stone-cold look in his big blue eyes was enough to send a chill down her spine. It was also enough to shut down her teal aura and glowing eyes, much to the relief of Jake and Tom.
.
With a gulp, she followed the young Commander into his big blue tent, which had little more than two fold-out chairs and a small desk with his latest rescue plan mapped out on paper.
"Before you say anything," pleaded the tall human-like woman as she entered the tent, "may I say something first?"
Rock leaned up against his desk and crossed his arms, maintaining the stern look on his face. "Go ahead."
Jade then took a breath before she blurted out, "I made real progress out there; those aliens were listening to me! All I need is a few minutes with them, alone, and I bet I can talk them into making peace with the humans. Isn't that what our squad is all about?"
"For the most part, yes. ...Is that all?" asked the narrow-eyed Commander.
"Um... I guess," she shrugged.
"Good. May I say something now?"
"Of course."
"I called you in here because you lashed out on those men. You were completely out of line, and now this whole operation could be in jeopardy."
Feeling betrayed all of a sudden, Jade angrily spat out, "They started it! Did you hear what they said? They practically accused me of being-"
"I'm not finished," Rock spat back sternly.
Aghast, Jade fell silent.
In a calmer tone, Rock continued. "I know you've been struggling with your origins, Jade, and I know you get a lot of backlash about it where you come from... but this isn't about you. This is about those two kids that're trapped out there. Our mission is to save them and bring them home, and I need everyone- including you- to stay focused, for their sakes. Can I count on you to do that?"
Humbly, she bowed her head in compliance. "Yes, Commander."
"Good, that's all I needed to hear. You can go now."
Jade felt a lot smaller and humbler than she did before, as she picked herself up to exit the tent.
"Jade?"
She stopped to hear her boss add, "Don't worry about Jake and Tom; I'll straighten them out. Okay?"
"...Thanks boss," was all she could muster before exiting his tent.
.
As she exited the tent, Jade could sense that there was still a breath of tension among her peers. As she looked at Tom and Jake, who looked back with apprehension, she turned away and declared, "I'm going on a solo mission. Nobody follow me, okay?"
Some mumbles were heard, but Jade chose not to listen to them; instead she grabbed her trusty bo-staff and sped off into the woods. If anything, this time alone would clear her head.
..
..
Meanwhile, in the school building, Zeke and Julie were gathering whatever food was left in the cafeteria refrigerator. Things were quiet, almost too quiet, and so they felt brave enough to at least replenish their strengths while they could.
Just when it felt like all was well, a pair of footsteps were heard coming from the hallway. Armed with a baseball bat, Zeke slowly crept up to the front doors and raised his weapon high as the doors slowly swung open.
Both Zeke and Harry jumped in fright. "Harry?" gasped Zeke in disbelief. "How did you get here?"
The blonde jock explained, "Dad and Tom found out where you were, they came here with these weird people from another planet or something."
"The Squad," replied a relieved Julie.
"Whatever," shrugged Harry. "When I fond out where you were, I had to come. I rode in on my motorbike, and I brought some gear with me." With that, he shed his back pack and pulled out two water pistols, one for Zeke and one for his sister.
Zeke rained an eyebrow at the jock. "And since were you in the rescuing party?"
"Hey," Harry half smiled, "better late than never, right? ...You guys always help out your neighbors, it's about time we returned the favor."
Satisfied with this response, Zeke rewarded Harry with a friendly handshake.
"We can sneak out the back way," ordered the jock. "Those aliens are really quiet now."
Seeing that there was no better option, the brother and sister team followed their new ally don the hall and toward freedom.
..
..
Crouching on a tree limb just several yards from the school, Jade was watching intently, waiting for a cue to run in and do her heroic duties. Yet at the same time, thoughts of her lashing out at Tom and Jake for their insensitive comments began to swirl in her mind, clouding her thoughts.
Maybe Rock was right, she thought to herself. Maybe I was out of line back there... These people are scared- scared for their kids and their friends. They can't help but be paranoid when new aliens show up... Maybe that's what he was trying to...
Her thoughts stopped, when she noticed three figures emerging from the back of the school building. With her keen eyesight, she could tell that they were humans, small humans. "The kids," she gasped softly.
Like a cat on the prowl, she leaped out of her tree and landed on her feet. With her bo-staff in hand, she made a break toward the building, regardless of being noticed. In fact, she wanted to be noticed; she wanted to make a diversion while the kids made their getaway.
"Hey!" she shouted up at the Mother Ship. "Hey you, down here! Come and get me!"
A spotlight fell on her from the ship's underbelly, followed by a swarm of smaller flying saucers. But more than that, a group of ten Martians with their brains bulging from their craniums phased into the scene, each carrying a large rifle of some kind. All guns aimed at the strange woman, ready to fire.
Jade narrowed her teal glowing eyes. The game was on.
.
Meanwhile, the three teens were still on the run, noticing that their enemies were flying in the opposite direction. Julie stopped and gasped, "Look... Are they leaving?"
"No," frowned Zeke as he noticed the small saucers firing their lasers. "They're after somebody else."
"Guys," called out Harry, "come on! We're almost in the clear!"
Julie and Zeke looked back at him with worry. "We can't just leave them behind," Julie insisted.
"We can't save them," Harry argued. "We're outnumbered and we've only got water guns."
Zeke replied matter-of-factly, "That never stopped us before."
To both his horror and amazement, Harry saw his fellow teens fall right back into the fray, and felt he had no choice but to follow after them.
.
With Martians on the ground and more in the air, Jade was quickly overwhelmed. However, her main goal was for them to get close enough so that she could once again communicate with them psychically. When three gathered around her, she put her skills to the test:
"I mean you no harm. I have come for my friends, who are trapped in that building there. Let us all go, and we'll leave quietly.
Surprisingly, their minds all seemed to emulate the same masculine and monotonous voice: All intruders are the enemy. Destroy the enemy.
My friends are unarmed, her thoughts pleaded.
All enemies to the Mother Ship must be eradicated.
I don't want to hurt you.
The enemy must be destroyed. As their thoughts proved to be irrational, Jade finally realized that she was barking up the wrong tree. It was true that she could hear them and they her, but they just weren't listening.
Surrounded and ultimately defeated, the woman had no choice but to swallow her pride and talk into her wristwatch communicator: "Uh, Commander? I hope this isn't a bad time..."
.
The main team, still hiding out in the woods, was nearly healed and ready to go when the small blue robot emerged from his tent in a hurry. "We gotta move! Now!" He explained; he had just received Jade's distress call, apparently.
As the robot bot jumped onto his jet mode dog, a half mummified Earthworm Jim asked, "So, what's the plan?"
"No time for a plan," frowned Mega Man. "Let's just move!"
He and Rush were gone in a flash, prompting the rest of the team to get a move on.
.
The battle was moved from the front of the school building to the back, where the school's football field was located. There, the field was more even for both warring factions. Jade and the teens were united against an onslaught of green, big brained Martians, but things were about to get more interesting.
Harry found a lone football on the field and tossed it at a Martian's swollen head, and seeing that it stunned the creature he decides to use his jock skills to his advantage. Being one of the school's star quarterbacks, he ran the field and tackled two more aliens, knocking them out cold. But then, a ray of light beamed down from the Mother Ship, and fading through it were three red-skinned Martians clad in their own football uniforms.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" gasped the young jock, as he was now being chased down by aliens twice his height and strength.
"Get behind me kids," said Jade as she began to shield the other two teens from the oncoming alien forces.
"We've done this before lady," said a confident Zeke. "All we need to do is find a quick escape."
"That might be easier said than done," gulped the green eyed woman, as she noticed that all exits from the field were blocked by either green shooters or red quarterbacks.
ZAP!
Alarmed, Jade and company ducked for cover, but fortunately for them, that last shot was on their side. It came from above, thanks to the blue robot on top his flying dog. It was Mega Man's ice beam, freezing a small group of green shooting aliens. Then in a blue flash, they were plowed to the ground by the captain's Blue Falcon.
The driver lifted himself from his seat after parking his ride near the teens and their guardian. "Did someone call for a getaway ride?"
Jade motioned to the teens to run for Captain Falcon, while welcoming her allies into the fight. Any Martians that came forward, whether green or red, were blocked off either by Jade and her magical staff, or the trigger happy Gunstars Heroes and their super soakers.
He watched from above as the flying car made its getaway before Rock called out, "All clear! Move out, everyone!"
But of course, escaping the Mother Ship would not come easy. The aliens on the ground were beamed back up into the massive saucer, and it took off after the escapees. And boy, was she fast! The Blue Falcon was the swiftest ride on its planet, but here it was tailed very quickly by the humongous ship, even while it was zig-zagging through the dense forest.
Still on board Rush, Mega Man had in his possession the three soda can bombs given by Jake and Tom earlier. He held them up and thought of a plan. "...Well, if there was ever a time to use them," he thought out loud.
Rush climbed higher and higher in the air, until he was nearly on top of the ship. Smaller saucers came flying toward him from below, but the Blue Bomber was ready for them. With his ice beam borrowed from Ice Man, he frosted their exteriors which caused the aliens inside to panic and make emergency landings. With the immediate threat out of the way, Rock threw all three cans at the ship's top bubble.
BOOM!
Just as he expected, the ship was most vulnerable on its top. He watched it careen out of control and ever to the far right, we'll away from the getaway vehicle. Rush slowed down, but remained high in the air for his master to watch from a safe distance as the Mother Ship tried desperately to make a safe landing, only to slam straight into the side of the school building in a blaze of glory.
KA-BOOM!
Rock, concerned for the hapless aliens, used his binocular vision to get a close up view of the crash. He could see that the aliens inside the ship survived, though they were very dazed and confused as to how they failed so massively.
Satisfied with this small victory, Rock couldn't help but comment, "Well, school's out."
Rush let out a whimper in disapproval.
"Aw come on," Rock smirked, "I had to do it."
Rush huffed and snorted before flying his master back to the others.
..
..
Midtown Suburbia, later.
Tired and hungry but otherwise fine, Zeke and Julie were welcomed back to their home turf by a crowd of grateful neighbors, their parents included. Hardly a word was spoken as the mother and father embraced their children, their eyes watered with joy.
The Squad was, of course, also given praises for a job well done. Time was taken for the team members to shake hands and receive thanks from random people, and even offered money for their service, which was turned down by Commander Rock. As for the rest of the team, some of them took the money though it would not have been compatible with the currency on Pandora.
Jade pulled herself away from the crowd to breathe, but was soon met by her Commander wearing his blue suit and black tie uniform. "I didn't get a chance to say this earlier," said the youthful robot. "Well done, Jade."
"But," her green lips frowned, "I didn't really achieve anything, boss. Those aliens didn't listen to me."
"You did your best," nodded Rock, "and that's what matters. Isn't that right, you two?" He turned his head to the two humans that were approaching him with humbled heavy heads.
"Yeah," said Jake in reply before looking straight at Jade. "We're so used to fighting evil aliens, we tend to forget that they're some good ones out there. We're sorry we upset you, Miss Jade." Tom nodded silently.
Jade nodded back with, "I'm sorry too."
"Have we all made our peace then?" smiled the youthful robot.
"Yeah," said Jade with a soft smile. "I think we did, Commander."
"Good," he smiled back. "Glad to hear it."
"Wait a minute," said a bewildered Tom as he looked down on the robot he believed to be a boy. "Are you really the leader of this outfit?"
Rock gave him a snarky smile. "What gave it away?"
As Tom and Jake exchanged confused looks, Jade couldn't help but giggle.
.
That early morning, the town gathered once more to bid their allies goodbye as they began to pile up into their crane-shaped spaceship.
Jade and Commander Rock were the last to leave, each shaking the hands of Tom, Jake, and the teens that they helped rescue. "Don't be such strangers," smiled Zeke. "You can come back and visit anytime. Well, whenever there's no invasion I mean."
"We'll consider that," nodded Rock.
As he led Jade up the steps to the ship's interior, Jade was compelled to ask, "Say, Commander, don't you think we should stay here a bit longer and help end this war going on?"
Her Commander replied with a solemn frown, "Sorry Jade, but it's not up to us. The Council's made it clear that we only engage in war when it's personal... besides, I think this place is in good hands."
While glancing back at Zeke and Julie, Jade commented, "But... They're so young. So inexperienced."
"Now Jade," said Rock with a wise smirk, "You know better than to judge a book by its cover."
Realizing her hypocrisy, the green eyed woman raised a smile. He was right, of course; so long as the war between these humans and their enemies never reached a fever pitch, then there was hope for the future. That was enough to ease her worries.
Zeke, Julie and their neighbors. Onto used to look on and wave their goodbyes as The Crane lifted itself off the ground before shooting out into the atmosphere, to galaxies not yet known.
..
..
SAVING GAME
.
NEXT LEVEL: "Conker's Bad Mind-Trip"
.