The Alpha Force: Thankful Times.

This happens after The Emergence of Dr. Nightmare.

Thankful Times

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

 

It was nearing Thanksgiving week in the town of Silverton and throughout the world.  It was no longer an American Holiday; it was now one like many others celebrated and had been appointed by the world government.  The teens who were also known to the world as The Alpha Force were preparing for their history exam that was to be taken before they went on Thanksgiving Break which was now a week long for traveling purposes.  Mike and the others were at The Silverton Town Library writing out their Time Line Projects.  “Ugh!  Is anyone else having trouble finding books on about the first Thanksgiving?”  Clara asked as she dropped into a chair.

“They’ve been checked out already.”  Ally informed her as she sat down next and placed a bunch of books in front of them.  “By me, volunteering for the library from time to time has its perks.”

“Hey now!  Sharing is caring.”  Clara scolded her sarcastically as she grabbed a couple of books.

“Go at it you guys, I’ve already read them all.”  Ally offered and the others except Mike began to dig into reading.  “Earth to Mike, please come back.”

“Huh?  What’s that?”  Mike asked stumblingly.

“You were staring off into space again,” Nicole told him as she rubbed his shoulders.  “What’s the matter?”

“Still getting over the effects of Dr. Nightmare’s attacks,” Mike answered as he rubbed his eyes.  “I’ve been having trouble sleeping, so I got a head start on the Time Line Project.”

“How much do you have left?”  John wondered.

“Already done.”

“Then why are you here?”  Dan asked next.

“I got nothing else better to do.”  Mike shrugged.

“You could be spending time with your family,” Dave suggested.

“I’ll be doing enough of that come Thanksgiving week.”

“Is it just me or has Thanksgiving really lost its meaning?”  Ally asked.

“You mean with all of the commercialization and the government saying we have to celebrate it for history sakes?  Yeah, I hear ya.”  Clara agreed.

“Well, we do have some things to be thankful for,” Dave spoke up.  “Such as in a month it’ll be wintertime.”

“You’re only thankful because you can walk around when it snows without a coat on,” Clara argued and then she felt a chill down her spine.  “David!  You did that on purpose.”  As she pulled out an ice cycle out of the back of her shirt.

“I thought you needed to chill out.”  Dave joked.  “And since when did you start calling me by my first name?”

“Would you like a hot seat instead?”  She asked him with her hand burning red hot!

“Will you two stop?”  Mike ordered abruptly.  “Sorry, lack of sleep.”

“No, you’re right; we shouldn’t be acting like this in public,” Clara said shamefully.

“What time is it?”  John asked.

“Nearly 7 pm,” Dan answered.

“Why do I get the feeling tonight is going to be a long night?”  Nicole asked out loud but no one had an answer.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

 

A few days later it was Saturday and the teens were finishing up their chores around their houses preparing for Thanksgiving.  Even though it was still nearly a week away, if there was time to lean there was time to clean.  Mike dreaded working around the house while his family was around; it only meant that he couldn’t use his abilities to get done faster so he could meet up with the others.  “Pick up the pace Michael we don’t have all day for you to take your time.”  His dad complained as he put the turkey in the freezer.

“What are you talking about?  I’ve been doing chores all day, and I need to get to work soon.”  Mike countered.

“Well, you’re only pulling double duty because your brother’s new girlfriend needed help with her family getting stuff ready for them to come over here…”  His dad began to explain.

“What?  Since when are they coming here?”  Mike asked in anger.

“Watch your tone with me young man or you’ll be grounded for the whole Thanksgiving week!”  His dad threatened.  “Besides not like you have a personal life.”

“Now Frank you know that’s not fair.”  His Step-Mom Patty broke into the heated conversation.  “You know that Michael has been with Nicole for nearly two months.”

“Took him long enough,” Frank muttered.  “Look, son, her family is going through hard times and a nice meal with us will be a morale boost.”

“Well if that’s the case then I want Nicole to be invited as well as well as her Uncle as well.”

“I’ll think about it.”  His dad told him.

“While you’re thinking about it, I’m going to spend some time with my girlfriend if you don’t mind,” Mike said as he put on his leather jacket.

“The lawn needs to be mowed!”  Frank called after him as he walked out the door.

I’ll do it on Wednesday.”  Mike hollered back as he closed the door.

“You think he suspects anything?”  Patty asked Frank.

“I don’t think so,” Frank muttered as he continued to put the groceries away.

“Well keep up with the attitude and he might,” Patty warned him.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Frank told her.

Mike closed the door behind him and walked down the steps to see his brother and his girlfriend Glinda approaching the house.  “You can finish up the rest of today’s chores.”  Mike told his brother in passing.

“I thought you’d be done with them so she and I can make out later.”  Bill grabbed him by the shoulder to turn him around.

“I’ve done over half of them, and most of them were time-consuming.  I think with her help you can manage.”

“But she’s a guest and you know we don’t allow our guests to do that.”  Bill reminded him of the family rule of having guests.

“Either way I am done with chores for the day.  Now if you don’t mind I too have a girlfriend to spend time with.”  Mike walked away and as soon as he saw his brother go into the house, he sped off using his super-human speed to The Big House. 

When he walked into the main living area, he saw the others resting on the furniture looking as if they had gone through a serious training session in The Holo-Dome.  “Did you guys start without me?”

“I wish.”  Dave groaned.  “I had to help my parents with house chores.”

“Same here, I thought I was going to burn the house down I got so mad with my family.”  Clara fumed.  “I mean how many table clothes have to be washed by hand and dried before noon?”

“How many tables are you planning on using?”  Alley asked her, “We’re using at least three that I know of.”

“Just the main table but mom can’t make up her mind on which of the table cloth she wants to use.  And when I get back there’s still at least five more to go through.”

“At least you don’t have your mother hounding you about learning how to cook and memorizing recipes.”  Alley rubbed her head.

“I thought memorizing things was one of your abilities?”  Nicole asked her.

“It is, it’s the cooking part that sucks.”

“All I know is if I have to go through one more shopping trip with my parents it won’t be until Christmas time.”  Dan put his two cents in.

“Well sounds like a day off is what you all need.”  Jacob walked into the room, “However evil never rests.”

“What’s The S.Hi.N.E. up to now?”  Mike asked as he stood up from his seat and motioned the others to get up and follow them to their underground headquarters.

“IQ has been picking up temporal disturbances over the last few hours.”  Jacob began to explain.  “It would appear whoever is causing these is doing so to hurt our time.”

“What do you mean?”  John asked him.

“Someone’s creating a time portal or at least that is what the data IQ has been obtained so far.”   They walked up to their super computer and looked at the monitor.  “As you can see there are gaps here and there and disappearing as quickly as they show up.  But even then we need to find a source to find out exactly where the epicenter is.”

“So, in other words, we need to locate those time pockets to scan them.”  Mike guessed.

“You’re correct, that’s exactly what you must do.”  Jacob handed them each a scanning device.  “Use these to track and scan them.  They will send the data straight into IQ and once we have found the epicenter you can then begin to investigate what exactly is causing it.

“Beats having to find the right turkey for dinner,” Dan said as he took hold of his scanner.

“We’ll split up to cover more ground and once we find the epicenter we’ll go in and stop the disturbance.  There’s no telling what kind of damage this can do to the space-time continuum.”  Mike instructed as he motioned for them to activate their Changers.

“Green Defender we really need to find you different movies to watch,” Frezor told him as he iced up.

“Or at least a different genre.”  Blaze agreed.

“We’ll discuss movie preferences later.”  Green Defender told them, “Right now we got the world to save.”

 

Chapter 3

 

 

 

After long hours of trying to locate all the temporal disturbances, The Alpha Force was finally able to pinpoint the epicenter of their time troubles, at a factory named Chronos Industries.  “Talk about cliché.”  Green Defender muttered as they walked up to the gate.  The Parking Lot was abandoned however their scanners showed that there was someone inside the building using a lot of power.

“Is it just me or does it feel like we are walking into a trap?”  Sparks asked the others.

“Haven’t you learned by now, we’re always walking into a trap,” Mindra answered him.

“Trap or no trap we need to shut this thing down before it causes some serious damage.”  Green Defender told them.  “Sparks is the gate electrified?”

Sparks placed his hand on the gate and sucked in every ounce of electricity.  “Not anymore.”

Blaze stepped up and melted the gate with a wave her hand and they walked into the parking lot.  “You’d think there would be some sort of resistance,” Blaze mentioned.

“You would huh?”  Molder agreed.  “Uh, guys…problem.”

“What is it Molder?”  Shieldra asked.

“This isn’t concrete.”  Molder told them, “I can’t dig in.”

“Quick!  Everyone off the ground!”  Green Defender ordered.  But it was too late, as they fell to the ground.  They had found themselves in a giant EDF.

At The Big House Jacob was monitoring I.Q when The EDF alarm went off; “Again?  You’d think those kids would learn to be more careful.”  He left the station to go to his locker and pulled out his old suit.  “Don’t worry kids good old Dark-Rider is on his way to save you…again.”

At Chronos Industries The Alpha Force began to awaken from their encounter with The EDF.  “I seriously need to upgrade our Bio-Suits.”  Sparks groaned.

“I’ll remind you when we get back to base.”  Green Defender grunted as he tried to set himself free from his bonds without effort.  Looking up he saw there was a lamp over each of their heads.   “An oldie but a goodie.”

“Right you are Green Defender.”  A man’s voice rang through the room.  “Those DNA lamps are keeping your from accessing your abnormal abilities.”  The man came into the room wearing a business suit.  His tie had a design of a clock.  “They call me Father Time, and you have arrived right on schedule.  I knew you would find me thanks to all the time displacements.”  He looked to be in his mid-thirties with a receding hairline of black hair with gray streaks running through.

“So this was all a part of your plan to capture us then?”  Green Defender asked him.

“That is correct.  I have been hired by S.H.I.N.E. to be rid of your aggressions against them.”  Father Time said with pride.  “And your time of judgment has come.  Where Superior is the judge and I am your humble executioner.”

“By throwing bad puns at us?”  Blaze asked him.

“I think he has something else in mind,” Frezor told her.

“I have been working on a machine that not only can travel through time but parallel universes as well.”  Father Time pulled back a curtain and it unveiled a machine that looked like a giant super computer and connected to it was a metallic oval gateway with an empty center.  “It’s taken me weeks to find the right place to put you and now that you are here…”  He turned on the machine and the empty space was instantly filled with blue energy.  “We can begin.”

“Sparks.”  Green Defender whispered to him, “Memorize that machine.”

“Already ahead of you,” Sparks assured him.

Father time activated the monitor on the machine and a man’s masked face appeared.  “I have captured our adversaries and I believed you wanted to witness them disappearing from our lives forever!”

“Well done Father Time.  You will be rewarded well.  Proceed.”

“Farewell Alpha Force, come back when you can’t stay so long!”  Father Time laughed evilly as he pulled a switch that ejected the heroes from their restraints and pushed them into the time vortex!

No sooner had they been banished into the unknown that Dark-Rider crashed into the building.  “Where are they?”  Dark-Rider demanded.

“More like when are they.”  Father Time corrected him.  “And don’t think that I didn’t count on you showing up.”  He pressed a button and an electric cage formed around Dark-Rider.  “You arrived right on time.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

 

 

The Alpha Force passed through the vortex and landed hard onto the ground.  They immediately deactivated their Bio-Suits and surveyed their surroundings.  It was not what they had expected; they could see that the streets surrounding the town of Silverton were clean and the people walking around the area were happy.  “Did we land in Pleasantville?”  Dan asked.

“I was thinking Mayberry, but Pleasantville works.”  Dan agreed.

“Did you guys notice those collars some people are wearing?”  Alley pointed out.

“Maybe it’s a fad in this world,” Nicole suggested.

“I don’t think it’s a fad…look.”  Mike nodded for them to look across the street where they saw a young man lifting a car for someone who had needed their car moved into the garage at the local mechanics’ shop.  “That person has a collar on and is using his abilities to help people.”  They saw the owner of the car patting the young man on the head they would a dog rewarding him for fetching a stick.

“What kind of screwed up world did we find ourselves in?”  John asked.

“The world we need to find out about.”  Mike began to walk briskly.

“And where would that be?”  Clara asked him.

“The Library.”  Ally answered for Mike and he nodded.

In the central command of S.H.I.N.E., an alarm went off.  “Seven bogeys have appeared in the town of Silverton, as expected.”  An agent spoke up.

“Send in a unit to apprehend them.”  A Commander Agent ordered.

“Make sure you send a specialist unit.”  A man walked up to them.  “Superior has been waiting for them to show up.  And our counterparts have finally delivered.”

“As you command Father Time.”

As the teens walked towards the library they talked out their strategy of who would research what.  Mike and Nicole would research the multi-media sites; Dan would research agriculture, Dave and Clara science and medical.  Ally would research history and John technology.  Once they entered the building they went to the computers and began their researching.  They knew they probably didn’t have long so they had to take no more than thirty minutes.

As they were researching they overheard a group of men and women entered.  “You can’t just barge in here!”  They heard the librarian scolding them.  “Just who do you think you are?”

“We’re with S.H.I.N.E. ma’am.”  They heard a familiar voice, “We have reason to believe there are unregistered Muta-Pets in here.”

“Well then, by all means.”  She bowed out of the way.

“Rocko, you and the twins flank right, and the rest of us will flank left,” Gunner ordered.

“Sure thing, pops,” Rocko answered as he and the others began their inspection.

“We have about three minutes before we are in their line of sight.”  John estimated.

“Log off and make towards the back door,” Mike told them in a hushed tone.  A minute later they slowly got out of their chairs and began to make theirs towards the rear exit.  They looked up at the sign and it read “Fire door only.” Clara shrugged and she threw a fireball towards the computers and they blew up.  The door unlatched and they exited out of the building and ran out into the parking lot.

“Where to now?”  John asked.

“If this world is like ours, I think I may know where we can hide for a bit,” Mike answered, and they followed his lead.  Moments later they found a concrete shack and entered.  “Yep, it’s here.”

“What is this place?”  Clara asked.

“It’s one of my brothers’ make out spots,” Mike answered as he closed the door.  The inside of was dreary and dark but dry with a manhole cover in the center of the floor.

“I really don’t want to know how you knew about this place,” Nicole told him.

“So what did everyone find out?”  Mike asked and looked at Ally to start.

“Up until the late 70’s history was all similar to our world until the late 1980’s where Russia won The Cold War and also bought out the USA.  Then ten years later an organization called, The Society took control of the world by taking over the governments one by one.  And once people with our abilities started to appear, they at first started to kill them off and then one day they decided that each one of them could have a use as pets.”

“Which is why we saw that one guy where a collar,” Dave added.

“Which brings up technology.”  John began, “The collars are DNA collars and are used to make sure the Muta-Pet as they are called in this world to only use their abilities for when they are instructed to use them.  They have a voice command which allows the user to say when for them to use their abilities and when to stop.  Plus prevent the Muta-Pet from using their ability against their owners.”

“Each family is allowed one free Muta-Pet, and if they want more then they need to go to the auction block where the real special ones are.”  Ally broke in.

“As far as medical and science they take those whose abilities are of healing and such work in hospitals,” Clara spoke up.  “Geniuses like John here would be put in a Think Tank and their ideas and such are built and then given to the people.”

“According to the media there are some resistant groups of unregistered Muta-Pets who have sworn to free everyone but as far as Superior and others they are terrorists.”  Mike began his part in the briefing, “Also there are no leads of a Dark-Rider in this world.  Ally did you find anything?”

“Yes, they said The Dark-Rider disappeared shortly after the Society took over.”  Ally answered.

Mike was about to ask another question when blasts against the walls were echoed throughout the room.  “Shieldra!”  Green Defender called out as he and the others activated their Bio-Suits.

“Already on it.”  She assured him and as she put a shield around the building.

“You have exactly ten seconds to come out willingly or prepare to die!”  Gunner yelled through the shield.

“Well let’s see we can either fight to the death, or we surrender and die.”  Mindra threw out the choices.

“Or we go down below.”  Green Defender added as he picked up the sewer lid and a smoke bomb came out from it spewing knockout gas which rendered The Alpha Force helpless as they fell asleep.

 

Chapter 5

 

 

 

The teens woke up in a holding cell with their Bio-Suits deactivated, and a collar around their necks.  “Two traps in one day?  I think we’re setting up a new record.”  Clara said first.

“Shall we try for three?”  Dan asked as he received a disappointing look from Mike.  “Okay maybe not.”

“We need to find a way out of here,” Mike spoke up as he walked around the cell.  “Collars are not keeping us from using our abilities but the lights are.”

“Then what are the collars for?”  Dave asked as he tried to take it off and got zapped.

“That’s what they’re for,” Mike told him the obvious.  “Cell bars are there to keep us from getting out.”  He tested the bars and they slowly began to bend and he bent them back as heard footsteps coming their way.

The men before them were familiar they were known as the Cyber-Destroyers from their world, but in this world, the power suits that made them an elite team.  Alongside them was another familiar face…Father Time.  “I see you have awakened.”  Father Time commented.

“If you’re about as bad with puns as your counterpart then please spare us the pleasantries and get with on with our deaths,” Mike told them.  “We won’t become one of your little pets.”

“My, my, you mistake my intentions; we have no reason to kill you…yet.”  Father Time corrected him, “You see, you were sent here by our counterparts from your universe, so that you may no longer be a thorn in their side.  However, we will harvest your powers to make an army of super-powered soldiers in the wake of a need for them.”  Father Time began to walk away and was startled by Mike’s following words.

“You’re afraid aren’t you?”  Mike asked him and once he saw that Father Time had stopped in his tracks he continued, “You have a problem with a group or groups rebelling against your order of things and your current roster of soldiers are not up to par.”

“You are smarter than we’d expected.  You will be the first to be harvested and be put to death as an example for your friends.”  Father Time told him as he left the room.

“You really need to work on your negotiating skills,” Nicole told him.

“Who said I was negotiating?  I was gathering information.”  Mike countered, “I wanted to confirm some of the research that we had done on the rebelling groups.  It would appear that the rebels are giving this world more grief than they have bargained for and are desperate to do whatever they can to be rid of these rebels.”

“But how are they planning on harvesting our abilities?”  Clara asked.

“Our DNA can be harvested by a machine simply called The Harvester.  Those who are classified as Alpha’s or Beta’s are either part of a superhuman army or are harvested and their DNA is engineered to be injected into a normal human.”  John answered.  “Those of a lower class of Abnormals become Muta-Pets.”

“Do you think that is what Cyber-Queen was planning on doing to us?”  Nicole asked the group.

“Possibly, but now what I am wondering is how I am able to bend these bars?”  Mike wondered as he began to bend the bars.  “Either I am hallucinating or these lights are not working on me.”

“I am going with the latter theory,” John confirmed.

“But now the question is why?”  Ally asked next.

“Simple, he’s slowly becoming the Dark-Rider.”  Nicole answered, “Therefore his own DNA is changing; his abilities are turning from natural to supernatural.”

“That’s a reasonable answer,” John muttered.

“It may take some time for me to bend these bars enough for me to get out,”  Mike grunted and it took him several minutes until he was able to bend them enough for him to get out.  “I’ll try to find the control room to free you guys.”  He assured them as he activated his Bio-Suit.  Using his super speed he was able to find the control room in a matter of minutes and stun bolted the guards.  “Now to figure out which button is which?”  Green Defender studied the control panel and began to experiment by pressing a sequence of buttons.  As he watched the monitor that was now focused on his friends and noticed that one of the buttons had turned off the DNA Lamps.  “That should do it.”  He raced back to the others as he grabbed one of the guards and by the time he got there they too were now in their Bio-Suits.

“Now to find the quickest exit out of here,” Mindra said as she grabbed onto one of the guards’ head and began to abstract all the information out of his head.  “There’s a tunnel that is not used except for emergencies and is unguarded.”

“Lead the way, Shieldra you stand beside her in case we need a shield up.  Frezor you take the rear.”  Green Defender instructed. 

Mindra led the way until they got to the door and found it to be locked.  “Electronic lock; this is your area of expertise Sparks.”

Sparks grabbed onto locking mechanism and sent a surge of electricity to override it and the door opened.  “Ladies first.”   He bowed out of the way.

Mindra continued to lead the team until they go to a subway; “This will take us back into town but even then we’re going to need to find a place to hide.”

“I highly doubt The Big House exists here,” Shieldra said sadly.

“What about the school?”  Molder suggested.

“No, they have DNA scanners there.”  Sparks told him, “As well as any other public place.”

“When I scanned that guards’ brain it turns out that their scanners have trouble penetrating through the sewers.”  Mindra brought up as she took a seat.

“Gross!  You don’t expect us to actually dwell in the sewers do you Green Defender?”  Blaze complained.

“Right now that seems to be the most logical choice.”  Green Defender answered as he took hold of the controls and started up the subway vehicle and headed down the tracks.  “We’ll go for about three miles, that’ll give us enough time to escape into the sewers.”

Father Time was very upset with himself more than he was of his guards.  He watched the tapes and saw that Green Defender was able to escape despite the DNA Lamps.  “It would appear that this one is not like the others.”  He reported to Superior.  “According to our counterparts, they had no issue with him a month ago with their technology.”

“I don’t care how you do it…find them before they find Stone Wall!”  Superior ordered.

“I shall not fail you again.”  Father Time promised as the screen went blank.  “Storm the sewers!  And do whatever it takes to bring them in.”  He ordered the individuals in front of him.

“Don’t worry Father Time; no one escapes The Alpha Force.”  The young man in front of him assured him, “Our counterparts will have no idea what will hit them.”

 

Chapter 6

 

 

 

Sparks made a stun bomb for anyone who entered the subway car to investigate and joined the others who were waiting for him in front of the sewer entrance.  “That’ll take out some of them but not all of them,” Sparks assured the others.

“Molder block the entrance once we’re inside.”  Green Defender ordered him and once it was done he turned to Blaze, “If you would light our way.”  Blaze glowed bright enough for them to see a good a half a mile down the way.

“You don’t think we’ll find anything down here do you?”  Blaze asked Green Defender.

“Last time I checked we lived in Oregon, not New Jersey,” Mindra told her.  “You won’t find any alligators down here.”

“I thought it was in New York?”  Frezor pondered.

“I think we only need to worry about the rats really,” Shieldra said in disgust.

“You guys aren’t helping.”  Blaze stated.

In a distant tunnel, a man walked parallel with them out of sight.  “Rats are the last thing you need to worry about once I report to Sewer Rat.”  The young man ran as fast as he could sticking to the shadows to remain unseen and finally was able to return to his team’s base of operations.  “Sewer Rat, you won’t believe what I just saw.”

“What is it Night Watch?”  Sewer Rat asked him.

“The Alpha Force is down in sector 3-C!  And it would appear they have two new recruits.”

“Are you sure my brother?”  His sister Lighthouse asked.

“I am positive my eyes do not lie.”  Night Watch answered sternly.

“Freeze Frame mentioned that a group of U.R.’s had been found and captured while she was gathering supplies.”  White Hawk walked into the room.

“But what are the chances of them escaping?”  Night Watch asked next.

“It doesn’t matter.”  A voice broke in, “We’ll capture them and then we’ll see who they are.”

“You’re the boss Stone Wall.”  Sewer Rat responded as he and the others followed their leader out to meet the intruders.

The Alpha Force took their time walking through the sewers.  “The next time we go through a time warp let’s make sure it’s in the tropics,” Clara complained.

“I’ll be sure to bring that up to our travel agent,” Dan told her.

“I just want to take a shower,” Nicole grumbled.

“I don’t think a hundred showers would get rid of the smell.”  Ally commented.

“Shh!”  Mike told them as he held up his hand.  “You hear that?”

“Hear what?”  Dave asked.

Mike motioned them to be quiet for a minute and they could hear a scatter of feet.  “We’re not alone.”  A blast of light came from behind them and struck Dan stunning him.  Nicole rose up a shield before the next blast could hit.

“You don’t like my sewers?  I’m hurt.”  A young man wearing camouflaged pants with a brown shirt and matching coat.  He had red hair with a brown bandana over his head.

“Now why don’t you Alpha Force jerks put your hands up where we can see them and surrender?”  Another young man came out of the shadows with a West Virginian accent and looked like Molder when he was in cement form.

“We’re not who you think we are?”  Mike told them.

“Oh really?  You really think that trick will work on us?”  Night Watch walked up.

“No tricks we promise,” Nicole told them as she put down the shield.  “We’re not from here.”

“You expect us to believe that?”  Light House asked.

“It’s the truth,” Mike told them.

“Prove it.”  Sewer Rat demanded.

“Hey, guys!”  A voice rang through the tunnels as a girl with blond hair, blue eyes, wearing blue jeans, black shirt, and a white shining coat.  “The Alpha Force is just…right through those doors.”

“What do you mean?  These are them!”  Night Watch insisted.

“Hello?  A person with photographic and audio graphic memory here.”  Freeze Frame pointed at herself.  “I just saw them checking out a subway car that someone had stolen from their lockdown facility.  And they sure weren’t this good looking.”  She winked at Mike.

“Stand down,” Stonewall ordered and the others relaxed as they heard a bomb go off.

“What was that?”  Light House asked.

“That would be my stun bomb going off on our possible counterparts,” John answered.

“Then let’s take advantage of this opportunity to get as far away as possible.”  Mike told his group, “Dave help Dan until he can walk again.”  He then turned to the rebels “We are not your enemies if anything we can help.”

“Follow us.”  Sewer Rat told them.

“Do we trust them?”  Dan asked weakly.

“One way to find out,” Nicole answered as they followed.

***

“What the heck was that?”  Ally’s counterpart asked as they got up off the floor.

“It seems our counterparts are smarter than we thought.”  John’s answered.

“Then let’s spread out and find them.”  Dan’s ordered.

“Belay that order.”  Father Time’s voice came through their communicators.  “Return to base.  The last thing we need is all of you falling into the hands of those mirrored images of yours.”

“We’re on our way.”  Dan’s counterpart assured him as they left.

“Why don’t we just go against orders?” Dave’s counterpart asked.

“Because you know why…remember what happened to our Nicole and Mike?”  Dan asked them.

“Okay, okay no need to get nasty.”  Dave relented.

***

“Welcome to The Riff Raff!”  Sewer Rat said with glee, “Make yourselves at home.”

It wasn’t what the teens were expecting.  The place really wasn’t all too shabby.  The rebels had found an underground bunker that no doubt was to be used during WW2.  There was a living room with a television.  A dining room and several bedrooms.

“My great-grandfather built shortly after WW1.  He felt that another world war was to happen and it did.”  Sewer Rat explained.

“I’m Stonewall by the way.”  He began the introductions and looking like a normal human.  “Our generous host is Sewer Rat, the young lady who winked at your leader is Freeze Frame, and the brother and sister duo is Light House and Night Watch.  The man with the bearded face is Trapper and last but not least my girlfriend with angelic wings is White Hawk.”

“I’m called Green Defender, and this is my girlfriend Shieldra.  Our versions of your enemies are Molder, Frezor, Mindra, Sparks and Blaze.”  Mike introduced his team.

“Interesting names, they go by Ground Master, Frost Bite, Brain Wave, Electron, and Arson.” White Hawk showed them their files on a giant computer monitor.  Next to their pictures were two others.

“What about those two there.”  Molder pointed out.

“They used to be them.”  Night Watch pointed to Green Defender and Shieldra.

“What happened to them?” Green Defender asked.

“They were harvested for giving us information,” Stonewall said sadly.

“What I want to know is what happened to Gunner and the others, they aren’t cyborgs like they are in our world.”  Mindra brought up.

“Well I don’t know what they’re called in your world but in ours, they’re called The Cyber Squad.”  Stonewall brought up the files on the computer.  “They were given Cybernetically enhanced suits.”

“Do you have the schematics on those?”  Sparks asked and they pulled it up.  “Oh boy.”

“Sparks please tell me you have more to add to the remark.”  Green Defender urged him.

“The schematics are horrifically similar to our Bio-Suits.”  Sparks gulped.

“And there are only two people in our world who knows about Bio-Suits,” Blaze added.

“Cyber-Queen and my Uncle.”  Shieldra finished.

“Stonewall do you have any files on a Kendra Johnson and a Jacob Cagney?”  Green Defender asked.

“Yes, we do.”  Stonewall brought it up.

“It says here that Dr. Johnson revolutionized modern warfare when she sided with Superior.”  Mindra scanned, “Jacob Cagney who goes by the vigilante known as The Dark-Rider was last seen three years ago.”

“Any word on what happened to him?”  Shieldra asked.

“No, he just went off the grid,” Stonewall stated.

“Who’s this Dark-Rider anyway?”  Night Watch asked.  Green Defender and the others explained the history of their world and the legend of The Dark-Rider.

“Sounds like your world is almost paradise compared to ours in a way.”  Light House spoke up after they let it all sink in.

“Except our kind is still being hunted down throughout the world,” Mindra informed them.

“But the question is what do we do now?”  Shieldra asked.

“We’ll figure that out after we get some sleep,” Stonewall answered.

“Agreed, it’s been a long day and we need to rest.  Tomorrow we’ll map out a plan of attack.”  Green Defender spoke up.  They all said good night as Sewer Rat showed them to the guest rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

 

 

Superior flew into Salem early in the evening and was transported to The S.H.I.N.E. Building.  As he stepped into the conference room and sat down at the head of the table.  He looked at each one of them, Father Time, Ground Master, Gunner and then finally The President of S.H.I.N.E., Dr. Kendra Johnson.  “It would appear that our bargain with our counterparts has proven to be more difficult than we expected.  You’ve tried apprehending them with your own teams working apart and now our intelligence gathering has stated they are most likely with Stonewall and his rebels.  This is inexcusable.”

“Pardon me, my Master, however; The Alpha Force has yet to fight against their counterparts.”  Father Time interjected.

“Regardless, there must be a way to stop them,” Superior growled.

“There is my lord.”  Dr. Johnson spoke up.  “We have three people of interest that we can use in the negotiation of our enemies surrender.”  He pressed a button and on the monitor showed three individuals chained to a wall.  He turned to the communications officer in the room, “Send a message on all channels that if Stonewall and The Rebels do not surrender along with The Alpha Force then and we will set them, three prisoners, free, and if they don’t surrender then they will die.”

“An excellent idea Dr. Johnson.”  Superior applauded.  “Father Time prepare all teams for assault.  This meeting is dismissed.”

Once the meeting was over The Alpha Force counterparts were in their bunker, “I can’t believe it, Nightraider and Shield Girl are still alive as well as her Uncle!”  Frost Bite said in disbelief.

“I didn’t believe it at first if I hadn’t seen in with my own two eyes.”  Grounder Master.

“What do we do?  We can’t betray Superior and them.  They’ll kill us.”  Arson cried.

“We follow our orders, we have no choice.”  Electron stated.

 

 

Chapter 8

 

 

 

Green Defender knew he was dreaming; he was walking around a castle; he’d never been here before in his dreams but yet at the same time he felt like he was home.  He walked into a room which was the armory.  There he saw a case made of gold and was locked with a glass case on top for someone to peer into it.  He looked inside and saw it was…The Sword of Power!  “How is this possible?” Green Defender went to take the sword out of its case when he was awoken by Molder.

“Bad guys just sent a message.”  Molder told him and followed him into a room where the others were at.

“We just received this video,” Stonewall told everyone as pressed a button.  It showed the three prisoners of Dark-Rider, as well as Green Defenders’ and Shieldras’ counterparts.  “They told us we have 24 hours to surrender or they will kill them.”

“Well doesn’t that just cut the cheese?”  Sewer Rat asked sarcastically as Green Defender and the other with him gave Sewer Rat a weird look.

“What?”  Sewer Rat asked.

“That means something else where we come from.”  Green Defender told him.  “What do you think we should do?”

“Either way they will kill them, besides that'll be our chance to bring the battle to Superior.”  Night Watch slammed a fist into the other hands’ palm.

“Superior’s here?”  Blaze asked.

“Who do you think sent the video?”  Lighthouse asked them as she pointed to the screen.

“We are to meet them at The S.H.I.N.E. facility in twelve hours,” Stonewall told them.

“When was this message sent?”  Green Defender asked.

“Three hours ago.”  White Hawk answered.

“Then we have nine hours to come up with a plan of attack.”  Sewer Rat got up.

“You will have to go without me; I’ll catch up with you there.”  Green Defender spoke up and activated his Bio-Suit.

“Where are you going?”  Shieldra asked him.

“To Castle Dark-Rider.  There is something there we’ll need to win this battle.”  Green Defender answered, “I had a dream that in the armory in the castle is The Sword of Power.”  The Alpha Force nodded in agreement knowing what he had planned.

“What’s this Sword of Power?”  Stonewall asked.

“We’ll fill you in as we prepare the plan of attack,” Shieldra told him.

Green Defender took to flight to the surface and went up to 10,000 feet before heading towards Ireland.  He used the HUD in his mask to navigate through the skies.  “I just hope I have the stamina for a round trip as well as a battle.”

Four hours later he landed in the courtyard of Castle Dark-Rider; he scanned the area for life signs and his HUD showed that there was nothing.  Normally he would use his super speed to find the armory however since he flew at top speed he needed to conserve his energy.  After searching for a half an hour, he finally found the armory.  Once he walked in and saw the golden case and saw the sword was still in there.  He unlocked the case and grabbed the sword.  He could feel the power surging through his whole body.  “Now time to rock it up!”  He said as he took the skies and flew at top speed.  Though he knew from the last two times that he had held The Laser Blade how energized he felt holding but this time it being The Sword Of Power itself he felt that he could take on armies of Superiors’ men without breaking a sweat!  “Hang on guys I’m on my way!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

 

 

The time had come for The Rebels and The Alpha Force to arrive at their destination.  They each scanned the area to see how many bad guys they would have to fight; there were at least two hundred armed guards not including The Cyber Unit and The Alpha Force Counterparts.  Superior stood there proudly as he saw them being escorted into the building.  They also saw the three prisoners by Superior as well as Father Time and Dr. Johnson.

“Well, well, well, how nice of you to come to your senses and realize your place in Society,” Superior said slowly.

“We’ve done as you asked now release our comrades in arms,” Stonewall demanded.

“Do you really think I am a man of my word?”  Superior asked him rhetorically.

“Of course not!”  Green Defender shouted through the air as he slammed his fists into Superiors’ chest at full speed slamming the tyrant through a wall.  “You’re just like any other villain we’ve faced.”  Using his super speed he released the others and flew them to be with the others.  “I believe this belongs to you.”  Green Defender handed the sword to Dark-Rider.  As soon as Dark-Rider took hold of the sword, his costume was on him once again and the other two had their abilities back.

“Thank you, my friend.  Whoever you are.”  Dark-Rider told him and Green Defender took his mask off.  “How can this be?”

“It’s long story boss man, but we’ve got bad guys to beat,” Stonewall told him as he turned into stone.

Superior rose up and ordered The Alpha Force, “Kill them!  Kill them all!”

The Alpha Force jumped down into the lower level where the heroes were and stared at them.  “Come on Dan, you know you don’t want to do this.”  Nightraider told his friend, “They lied to you, didn’t they?  Saying that they had us harvested?  As you can see we aren’t.  You think you all are free because you aren’t wearing collars?  You’re wrong.  Slavery comes in many forms.”

Ground Master looked at the others and they nodded.  They walked up to the others and joined them.  “You’re right it does come in many forms and I’m sorry it took this long for us to realize.”

“You’re on the good side now that is what counts,” Dark-Rider assured him and the others.

“This is unheard of!”  Superior cried in fury, “No one defies me!  No one!”

“There’s a first time for everything Superior!”  Dark-Rider told him as he jumped up to fight his oldest foe.

The soldiers above opened fire and both Shieldra and Shield Girl put up a double layer shield.  “Sparks take out the gunners.”  Green Defender ordered.

“Electron you join him,” Nightraider ordered as well and the two speedsters took out most of the soldiers before they were stunned.

“Counterpart team up?”  Green Defender suggested.

“Works for me!”  Nightraider smiled.  “Elementals take out the rest of those guards.  Shield gals protect the wounded.  My counterpart and I will take care of Father Time. “

“And we’ll take care of the Cyber Unit!”  Stonewall said taking out a sword that looked like a Civil War relic.  “For the Land of The Free!”  He charged and the others followed.

Within a matter of minutes, no one but the heroes was left standing.  Dark-Rider came out of a room, “Superior escaped but he’ll be back.”

“Doesn’t matter now, we have an army that won’t stop until everyone is free of his tyranny.”  Stonewall declared.

“And we need to return to our home.”  Green Defender spoke up.

“We sure could use the extra firepower.”  Stonewall told them.

“You have enough, and no doubt you will do what you can to free your world.  As we also need to free ours.”  Green Defender told him and then turned to Father Time, “Now I do believe you’re going to help us right?”

“Yes, yes, anything that’ll help me stop seeing double.”  Father Time agreed and led them to the room that contained the machine.  Father Time set the coordinates.  “There whenever you’re ready.”

“If Electron is like our friend Sparks here then I am sure then you dismantle it and put back together again in your base.”  Green Defender told Nightraider.

“Why not destroy it?”  Nightraider asked.

“Simple, some day we may need your help.”  Green Defender told him.

“Good luck my brother.”  Nightraider placed his hand on Green Defenders’ shoulder.  “We’ll be here if you need anything.”

“This’ll take us back to the exact moment as we left right?”  Green Defender turned to ask Father Time.

“Yes as I told you before it’s ready.”  Father Time assured him as he turned on the machine.

“Let’s go, team!”  Green Defender motioned for them to follow him and they went through the vortex.

In a matter of seconds, they were back in their own world and saw that Father Time had just trapped Dark-Rider in an electric cage.  Father Time was turned to see the heroes falling onto the ground.  “How is this possible?  Our counterparts made a deal!”

“Consider this our counter offer.”  Green Defender told him as he stunned him with a stun bolt.

Sparks consumed the electricity of the cage and then Green Defender bent the bars to let him out.  “How did you get back?”  Dark-Rider asked them.

“It’ll be in our debriefing.”  Green Defender assured him, “Sparks dismantle that machine and set it back up in our base.  After that everyone is off until after Thanksgiving.”

“You won’t get any argument from me.”  Molder told him and the others nodded.

“But I thought you all were dreading Thanksgiving?”  Dark-Rider asked in confusion.

“Again it’ll be in our debriefing…after Thanksgiving.”  Green Defender told him as they headed back to their Battle Van, “And trust me there are worst worlds our there than ours.”

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

 

 

The teens returned to their homes and each of them gave their families giant hugs.  Each of them was very glad to help out with helping around the house.  This pleased their families to the point where they had the day before Thanksgiving to do whatever they want.  Mike had asked if Nicole and Jacob could join them for Thanksgiving and to his surprise, his dad said yes.  “I’ve had time to think about it and it wouldn’t be fair for your brother to have his girlfriend and her family over and yours not.”

“Thanks, dad.”  Mike gave him a big hug.  “I’m going to go and tell them the good news.”

“Are you sure you want them to come over?”  Patty asked after Mike left.

“Yeah, because I really wanted to show off…”  Bill started to say.

“You can do that any day…just not tomorrow.”  Patty told him, “Besides tomorrows about family and close loved ones.”

“And the closer the better,” Frank said with a smile.

The day before Thanksgiving the teens met in Big House to give their debriefings so they could fully relax the rest of the weekend.  “I interrogated Father Time for the last three days and all he would tell me is ‘Keep your family close and your enemy’s closer.’”

“Eerie,” Clara said with chills running down her spine and checked to make sure that Dave wasn’t close to her, but he was on the other side of the room.

“Then we best keep a closer eye on our families from this point on,” Mike told them.

“Speaking of which it’s time to call it a night and return home for tomorrow.”  Ally spoke up.

“Agreed, we shall see you here on Monday…you have the weekend off.”  Jacob told them, “With pay might I add.”

“That’ll make our families happy,” Dan added.

“And how.”  Dave tagged on and the others left leaving Nicole, Mike, and Jacob alone.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Nicole assured him.

“I’m looking forward to it.”  Mike agreed as he kissed her.

“See you tomorrow my young friend.”  Jacob patted him on the shoulder.

***

Superior and the others met in the council room.  “Father Time has failed, however, the deal we struck with our counterparts has yet paid off.”

“Thanks to our counterparts giving us the schematics of their Harvester Machine, we will be able to move onto phase two of our plan,” Ruthers reported.

“Excellent!  When can it be finished?”  Superior asked.

“The week before Christmas.”

“Then begin stage 2 of Operations Doppelganger,”  Superior ordered.  “All I want for Christmas are my own superhuman army.”