The Alpha Force: Double Trouble

A Story by Michael Gill

Double Trouble

Chapter 1

It was a cold Mid-December night in the town of Silverton. The Dark-Rider didn’t feel it thanks to his Bio-Suit as he rode on his new motorcycle that he called Shadow. He was on one of his nightly patrols a week before Christmas to see if anyone was willing to steal from any of the businesses. Knowing that not all families were rich, that some people would dare to steal just to please their other half or kids. He knew what it was like to be in need, his family…was not the richest nor had they had the want to be rich. But now they were gone, taken from him, not just him but the other members of his team also had their families taken from them; fathers, mothers, stepparents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles…the list was endless, now they had only each other. “Time to get my mind back on the job.” He forced himself to say out loud, “You can think about these things when you are not on the job.” Dark-Rider turned down to the main street and slowly drove through it slowly, and using his panel on Shadow that showed on the thermal scanner that searched through the buildings to see if they were empty or not. It was 3:30 am so he knew if there was anyone in any of these buildings, it sure was not the cleaning lady.

He finally approached The First Silverton Bank which had been built in the founding days of the town and noticed a small red blip on the map. It looks like I’m not the only one who has trouble sleeping, Dark-Rider told himself, as shut off the bike. He stepped off and walked through the glass doors as if they weren’t even there and turned himself invisible to make sure not to show himself on the security cameras which within two seconds realized were smashed, but still decided to stay invisible to sneak up on the thief. He approached the vault and saw a teen-aged African-American gal who had black curly tied up in a ponytail, athletic build, 5’7, and was wearing her pajamas! Either this girl is sleep walking or she has some serious issues. Dark-Rider told himself as he made himself visible again. “Excuse me, but I believe it’s past business hours,” Dark-Rider told her, and she jumped in being startled by being snuck up on. She turned and saw that it was The Dark-Rider! “Now why is a nice girl like you doing here?”

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” She asked him, “This loot is mine, go get your own.”

“I’m sorry; I think you have me confused with someone else.” He told her, “I’m not here to steal money but to stop you. I suggest you come peacefully.”

“I don’t’ think so.” The girl told him as she pulled out a 9mm and shot at him but the bullets bounced off of him. Dark-Rider then took The Laser Blade out of its sheath and sliced the barrel of the gun, kicked out of her hand. “Hey, that was my dad’s!”

“Sorry, I’ll make sure to have it replaced. Now, why don’t you just give up?”

“I don’t’ think you have no idea who you are messing with do you?” She taunted him.

“Then why don’t you tell me, so that way I can leave a note for your parents on why their daughter has been put in jail for burglary?” He asked as she stepped out into the light to where he could see her, “I know you from somewhere.”

“Really, now you see me…” She started to say, and he started to think she was about to turn invisible or something, and then there were two of her. “Now there’s two of me.” For a second Dark-Rider was stunned by her ability to copy herself, which gave her and her twin to make their attack upon him, they kicked the sword out his hand, which landed just a few feet from him. They both punched and kicked him at the same time; however, their moves were predictable to the point of which he was able to block all of their strikes. He then grabbed the both of them by their throats and knocked their heads together which caused them to merge back together. Still stunned by the attack Dark-Rider took advantage of the situation and took a pair of handcuffs that he carried on him and handcuffed her to a pillar. “Hey what’s the big deal?”

“You need to work on your attacks, you’re way too predictable.”

“Thanks for the advice, but how about you be a good guy and un-cuff me?”

“Nope, you are just going to have to spend time in jail to think about what you’ve done.” He answered her as he then began to walk away.

“You think jail scares me?” She asked him, “I’ve been there before, and believe me; I won’t be here when the cops get here.”

He turned in time to see what she meant and she disappeared right before his eyes, and the handcuffs dropped to the ground. He picked up the cuffs and placed them back in their place. “Now that’s a nice trick.”

Chapter 2

A couple of hours after the incident at the bank The Dark-Rider was sitting in front of the computer that was called I.Q. and was searching through photos of girls from school and pictures of newspaper clipping with girls that were African-American. The rest of The Alpha Force joined up with him to start their morning exercises.

“Looking at possible prospects for The Snow Dance this weekend Mikey?” Dan asked him.

“Ran into someone last night that could make copies of herself Molder.” He answered his friend, “I believe whoever I was trying to apprehend last night was a copy as well, for she disappeared right before my very eyes.”

“Sounds like a girl who likes to play hard to get.” Frezor joked as he iced himself up ready for a session in The Holo-Dome.

“The last time I checked guys there was a reason why it’s called a personal life.” He warned them without having to look at them.

“If I were you guys I’d back off of him.” Blaze told them, “Don’t forget he is in charge of our sessions.”

“You know I think she’s got a point there.” Molder gulped.

“Don’t worry Molder I won’t throw anything at you guys that I know you can’t handle,” Dark-Rider said dryly.

“Oh good one.” Frezor laughed, “I think he was joking…you were joking right Dark-Rider?” But he didn’t answer. “We are so dead.” He too then gulped and Molder nodded.

“Here we go!” Dark-Rider exclaimed, “This is the girl that could make copies of herself.”

“Who is she? She looks familiar.” Sparks mentioned.

“And why are you looking at other girls?” Metallacia asked him for they were dating.

“Uh…” Was all that Sparks could get out.

“Wow Sparks speechless, that’s something new.” Molder said sarcastically.

“Quick mark it on the calendar,” Frezor called out.

“If I was all of you, I suggest we focus on this right at the moment, and that goes to the happy couple as well,” Dark-Rider warned.

“Sorry, you were saying?” Molder asked.

“Her name is Katherine Matthews, she’s Mayor Matthews daughter. She works with me at the school newspaper, she’s our copy girl.” Mindra informed the group.

“Well, it looks like newspapers aren't the only thing that she copies.” Dark-Rider punned.

When the teens got to the school they saw that everyone was surrounding the flag pole and duct tape around it was one of the school’s leading basketball players. Everyone was jeering at him as the police took him down off the pole. “Wonder what happened to him?” Dave asked out loud a bit to see if anyone would answer, but all he got was saying, “Who cares it’s funny!” and responses of the like.

During the third period, Ally was working in the school’s newspaper room finishing up some last minute editing for Fridays’ edition, while the rest of the newspaper class worked on their stories for next weeks’ edition. Once she was done she made up a copy and looked it over and then headed to Katherine Matthews desk. “Hey, Katherine ready to do your part?”

“Sure thing.” Katherine took the copy and proceeded to her job when a couple of police officers entered the room.

“Looks like you’re going to need a new copy girl Ms. Smarts.” The Principal told her, as he came in after the two officers. “These men are here to arrest Ms. Matthews.”

“For what?” Katherine asked.

“Katherine Matthews you are under arrest for burglary…” One of the police officers told her as he cuffed her and read her rights to her and took her out of the classroom.

I need to tell this to the rest of the team. Ally thought to herself, she looked up at the clock and it said 9:55 am. “It’s gonna be a long two hours.”

At lunch, they met in the newspaper room for it was raining outside and couldn’t meet near the baseball field. Ally told them what had happened during the third period and Mike let out a hefty sigh and said, “I just hope that there is no evidence showing that she was at more than one place at the same time, otherwise they will no she is not human.”

“I called Jacob as soon as I got out of class and told him what had happened and he was going to look into it since we’re stuck here.” Ally told them.

“Well believe me I’ve already heard a lot of rumors already as I was walking down the halls,” Clara spoke up.

“Rumors is not what we are looking for Clara.” Mike countered, “We need facts, facts that will help us find out where she was last night and also why she was robbing that bank…or banks. And what are they going to do to her.”

“I heard something while I was at the gym today about why the guy duct taped to the flag pole.” Dan jumped into the conversation, “Turns out he owed someone money and wanted to be made of an example of.”

“I also heard that the money he owed was to some underground casino.” Dave piped up.

“Casino? Who would have a casino? Especially in Silverton.” Angie asked.

“Someone who likes to make fast money and out of the expense of others,” John answered.

“Okay sounds like we got two problems to deal with. This is how it’s gonna go, we all will keep our eyes and ears open to find out what we can about this casino. When we get back to The Big House hopefully Jacob will have some information about Katherine.” Mike ran the list down, looked at the clock and said, “Time to head for the fifth period.”

Chapter 3

Katherine Matthews sat in the interrogation room in silence. She knew her rights, heck her dad was the Mayor now running for Governor of Oregon. He had been a lawyer and always bailed her out when she decided to do something stupid in her younger years. She only did it to get his attention. Sure, as far as the public was concerned, they were the perfect family…outside of when she got into trouble. She had done community service and summer camps for troubled kids. But that’s because her dad was too busy being a Mayor and felt the system and programs were the best way to get her straight. Then she found a new talent working in the school newspaper. She enjoyed it, sure she was the copy girl and had only written a couple of stories but she hadn’t to expect to make Editor in Chief by next year and it being her senior year, but she had made great friends and felt she could get into a good college. Her Assistant Editor in Chief Ally was a great mentor and friend; she hated seeing the shock on her face when the police arrested her. Now she knew that there was no way now of getting into a good college after she graduated if she graduated.

While still in thought the door opened up and her dad’s lawyer walked in along with her parents and closed the door behind them. “My, my Katherine you really got yourself into a pickle this time.” “Uncle” Ronny started to say, “You were doing so good and now…” He threw down a couple of photos from a heist that she was attempting, “The photos were taken before you could black it out. But according to your statement you gave to police…before legal advice I might add, you were in your room all night. But the evidence proves otherwise.”

“What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?” Mayor Matthews asked.

“I’m sorry daddy.” She answered sarcastically. “But maybe if you were home more often you’d know what a troublemaker I am.”

“Now sweetie your father’s only trying to help.” Her mother interjected, “And this is how you treat him?”

“Oh gee mom, and here I thought you were on my side. But as always you have to stand by your man. A man who’d rather spend time campaigning for his own personal gain and popularity, than to spend time with his family.”

“How dare you disrespect your mother and I like that!” Her father scolded her as he slapped her across the face.

“Mr. Mayor as your lawyer I must advise you against such physical tactics…if the press was to get a hold of what happened here just now they will eat this up.” Ronny warned him.

“You’re right Ronny.” Mayor Matthews tugged on his Armani dress coat, “Now please tell my daughter what her punishment is.”

“With this evidence, the courts will find you guilty, however, if you are willing to do a plea bargain then the sentence will be instead of going to Juvenile Detention, to a new boarding school/housing that is for troubled teens. You go through with this then the crime will be taken off your record…but if you don’t take the plea bargain then you will not only go to Juvie, you will never be able to have a chance at for a good college.”

“Fine…I’ll take the deal, but know this. Once I’m out of there don’t expect me to come back home.” She said looking at her father right in the eyes.

“We’ll see young lady we’ll see.” Mayor Matthews said as he went out of the room.

Later that afternoon Katherine was escorted by police to the new Silverton House for Troubled Teens. The police walked her into the building and left her sitting in the lobby. She looked around, she recognized this place, and it was the old entrance to the former Emergency Room to the old Silverton Hospital. There were a few changes made she noticed, the place didn’t smell like a hospital anymore, and it didn’t have that feeling that you got when you walk into the hospital, not knowing the fates of loved ones or yourself when you came in here. But the atmosphere still had a feeling as if there was something wrong with the place but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “You must be Katherine Matthews.” A woman wearing a dark dress, walked up to her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you welcome to The Silverton House, you may call me The Mistress.”

The teens headed straight to The Big House as soon as school was out. When they got to their underground headquarters they saw that Jacob was in front of I.Q. and was hard at work finding out all he could on what had happened to Katherine Matthews. “According to what I’ve been able to dig up, she has been taken to The Silverton House for troubled teens.”

“What do they do there?” Asked Ally.

The Mistress gave Katherine a tour, “We give you a second chance here, and all the classes that you were to take at school will be taken here via workbooks. We have social skill sessions that will help you improve who you are. Plus three meals a day and quiet time starts at 9 pm and lights out at 9:30 pm.” They approached a room, “This will be your room, no roommate for now, but that changes here on a daily basis. The administration area is on the bottom floor. The cafeteria is in the second, we’re on the third which is the girl's ward, and the fourth floor is the men’s ward.”

“And the fifth floor?”

“It’s where the classrooms are, and the exterior wing to it is for special cases,” Mistress answered.

“Well, I guess I better get settled in huh?”

“Yes, take your time my dear, and oh one more thing. If you want visitors please have a list of names written down on here, and give it to the receptionist in the morning before your first class.”

Back at The Big House, “Any word on the kid that was duct taped to the flagpole?” John asked.

“Rusty Carver, senior. According to what I was able to get from the hospital computers, he was beaten up pretty good prior to being duct taped to the flag pole. Suffered a concussion and some bruised ribs…” Jacob reported.

“He won’t be playing basketball anytime soon.” Molder interrupted.

“As I was saying, I was also able to look into his bank account, and it looks as if he’s made some major withdraws out of his account.”

“Must be nice to have a daddy that owns a company, I mean look at those amounts, $2,000 then $5,000. There goes his college money.” Frezor read out loud.

“We need to find out more on this casino, someone has to know,” Dark-Rider spoke up.

“I’ll check with some of the sources, maybe I can turn up something.” Mindra said as she headed out, “I’ll keep in touch.”

“The rest of you get can get started on your homework and then get out and patrol. I’m going to Katherine Matthews a visit.”

Chapter 4

After the teens had finished their homework and ate dinner, they went on their nightly patrols. Molder and Frezor covered the high school area, and the neighborhoods surrounding it. Blaze and Mindra covered the downtown area of the town. Sparks and Metallacia covered the park area and the surrounding neighborhoods. While Dark-Rider went to The Silverton House for troubled teens. Turning himself invisible to keep from being noticed he walked up to the file cabinet and then opened it to find out which room that Katherine Matthews was in. Dark-Rider found her file and scanned it quickly and closed the file drawer just in time to see a security guard walking by. Interesting. Was all he could think to himself, for the guard was dressed in navy blue with red trim, had a nightstick, Taser, and a 9mm. He wasn’t the only guard on duty, as he floated through the ceilings he saw that each floor had at least four guards per floor. He finally came up to Katherine Matthews’s room and walked through the door. She had just lied down to get ready for bed.

“Greetings Katherine Matthews,” Dark-Rider announced as he made himself visible.

“You again. Ready for a second round?” She asked him as she jumped off the bed to attack him.

“I’m not here to fight you. I’m here to find out why you were robbing that bank.” He told her as he put his hands up showing that he wasn’t here to fight.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“Maybe you haven’t heard, but there’s a casino for us teenagers to go to, and earn extra cash?” She asked him.

“Turns out I have. Let me guess you went over your limit and owe the person big time?”

“Yes, I didn’t want to end up like Rusty. So I figured I’d rob a bank…”

“Something you haven’t done before. I looked up you rap sheet. However, I do have one more question…just a second someone is coming.” He warned her as turned invisible and she laid back in bed and look like she was asleep. The guard walked by and saw that Katherine was “asleep” and then continued on his rounds.

“Okay, he’s gone. Now how do you make copies of yourself?”

“I just do it, it was about sometime last year I realized that I could make copies of myself, but also could do this…” She explained and touched the lamp and in seconds there was another one. “This made my job as a copy girl a whole lot easier, I just had to wait for everyone else in the newspaper class to leave and bingo I made it happen…however I had to build up stamina to make it happen, it takes a lot out of me when I do this at times.”

“Listen I have people that can help you get out of here but first I need two things from you.” Dark-Rider began to offer.

“What’s that?”

“One, where’s the casino? And second I have a feeling about this place, who’s the name of the person that runs it?”

“The casino is in the school gym. And the name of the person in charge, well it’s more like a title, she’s called The Mistress.”

“The Mistress? Oh no.”

“I take it you know her?” She asked him.

“Yes, listen this is what I want you to do, I want you to find out what she really wants from the kids here,” Dark-Rider instructed her. “But be careful she is a very dangerous person, especially if she knows about your abilities.”

“Maybe that’s what she meant about special cases.”

“Here, this is a communicator to get a hold of me also just ask for information on The Mistress and it will give you every detail we have on her. We’ll check out the casino, just keep your eyes and ears open…I’ll see about trying to get someone here to help you out.”

“This thing looks like a mp3 player.” She mentioned with a curious tone.

“It is, as well as what I told you.” He assured her and was gone.

The Alpha Force regrouped back at The Big House later that night and debriefed one another. All teams said that everything was quiet, and then Dark-Rider told briefed everyone on what Katherine had told him. “Wow right under our noses…literally,” Sparks admitted.

“Now all we need to do is investigate.” Molder brought up.

“Yeah like what go undercover?” Asked Blaze.

“No, we all have a reputation of being goodie two shoes,” Frezor spoke up.

“Tomorrow is a Half Day at school, maybe then we can check it out then?”

“Not a bad idea, we’ll do that.” Dark-Rider agreed. “Now we need to give Katherine some backup.”

“Is she a part of the team now?” Metallacia wondered, “Because we need another girl in the group.”

“We’ll see.” Dark-Rider gave her an annoying look, “but again it can’t be any of us…we need someone from the outside to go undercover with her. Since The Mistress is in charge she’ll be able to pick out the three of you in a heartbeat.” Referring to the three gals in the room.

“But who? Can’t have anyone from The Beta Squad either.” Mindra brought up.

“Agreed, Aquatrina and Plantra would also be picked off immediately.” Dark-Rider nodded.

“How about that gal we met during our battle with The Haunted Carnival? Melody Box?” Molder brought up.

“Good idea Molder!” Dark-Rider agreed, “Jacob can you call her while we’re at school tomorrow?”

“Yes of course…” Jacob started to say when The Alpha Alarm went off. Just as if they were in a fire drill they jumped out of their seats and headed to I.Q. Jacob punched in a few keys and said, “I had I.Q. alert us if there were any more teens admitted to the hospital with the same injuries as the one from this morning. It says here that two victims were found near the school, one male and one female both 17 years old…” Then his look went grim.

“What is it, Jacob?” Frezor asked.

“They’re being treated for Scorpion Venom.” He answered.

“But there are no scorpions in this…area.” Sparks voice trailed off.

“There’s only one villain we’ve gone up against that has scorpion venom…Mega-Rex!” Mindra exclaimed.

“And the humiliation tactics made earlier today would be the works of Cruncher.” Molder added.

“And they both work for one person that’s with The Society…The Gamer!” Dark-Rider announced.

Chapter 5

The next morning the teens got out of bed to get their morning exercises out of the way prior to breakfast and then off to school. They kept their eyes and ears open while they were in class. The day was over before they could even get a chance to report to one another and they met up at the lockers. “Okay, I just got off the phone with Jacob.” Mike told all of them, “Melody was in Portland finishing up a kidnapping case, found the kid in a neighbor’s basement.”

“Poor kid.” Angie put her head down.

“Molder, Frezor, and Metallacia will go back to The Big House to meet up with Melody when she gets here. The rest of us will check out the gym.” Mike instructed, the others nodded, and went their separate ways.

Mike, Ally, Clara, and John went inside the gym and made sure that no one was around, and then Mike turned invisible and floated down through the gym floor and found himself in the middle of the casino. He went back up and showed himself visible again. “It’s definitely down there.” He reported, “Now I’ve never done this before but let’s all hold hands and see if I can get us all down there…in one piece.” They did as instructed and they saw themselves floating down through the floor and finding themselves in The Casino. Once their feet touched the ground they split up but noticed that Mike was down to one knee.

“You okay?” Asked Ally.

“Yeah, just need a minute to recover.” He breathed heavily. “Let’s hope we find an exit out of here, I’m not sure I can do that again.” A couple of minutes later he got up and motioned the others to fan out and search around. There were three Black Jack tables, four Poker tables, two Craps tables, and a Roulette Wheel, as well as slot machines.

“I wonder how he was able to get all this down here?” asked Clara.

“Maybe while we were gone to New York.” John guessed.

“Either that or just an overnight thing.” Ally also guessed as she took pictures.

“What are you doing?” Mike asked her.

“I’m taking pictures for the newspaper after we finish this case.” Ally continued taking photos, “This is going to make a great story.”

Mike nodded while she answered and found a door, “Looks like I found an office…am gonna check it out.” He informed them as he went inside and saw a computer sitting on a desk. “John I need you in here.” He called out, and not even a second later he was accompanied to the team’s scientist. “Copy every file off that hard drive, hopefully, it’ll have more than how much money has been made off of the students here.”

“Yeah, it’ll be nice if they left some stuff on what The Society plans on doing next.” John agreed.

“I doubt that they would have the type of information on there, but it can’t hurt,” Mike said as he went through the filing cabinet.

Outside in the main part of the casino, the two gals were scanning the ceiling for hidden cameras…so far they were up to at least two hundred. “Boy, I’d hate to get caught cheating in this place.” Clara said to Ally and then called out to John, “Hey you might wanna check and make sure that we’re not getting recorded while we’re…”

“Already ahead of you.” He called back; he then looked at Mike who was still looking through the files. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“Just trying to finish up here before Gamer and his punks show up,” Mike responded. John silently nodded, knowing not to push Mike past his limit. John knew deep down inside that Mike was still getting over Nicole. It was not even a month since they left New York and the rest of the team could tell that the break up was affecting their leader. They noticed that all he was doing all get could to get past the pain. He would stay out most of the nights until nearly an hour before training. Or he would be watching a sci-fi flick on I.Q. or trying to find out what The Society was up to.

“We’re all done in here.” Ally reported.

“And all computer files are in the gig stick,” John told all of them.

“And we got trouble,” Clara whispered. As she pointed to the door, “That’s our exit and there’s someone coming.”

“Okay, I’ll go up the ceiling, and take Clara with me. John, you speed out with Ally.” Mike said quickly, and the others nodded. Mike and Clara went through the ceiling and as soon as Gamer and Ugly Dolly came through the door. John grabbed Angie by the hand and as soon as the evil duo was far away enough from the door they sped right by them without them noticing. They all met up at the van and headed back to The Big House.

While the others were at the school still, Dave, Dan, and Angie met up with Jacob and Melody at The Big House. “Hey, guys!” Melody greeted them as they exited out of the elevator. “Thanks for calling me in on this case. Jacob has already filled me in on all that’s happened thus far.”

“Glad you could make it.” Dan told her, “So you sure you can pull this off?”

“Well, I haven’t done much undercover work.” She admitted, “But if it means helping you guys out and these kids, how can I not turn it down.”

“Good, now Molder.” Jacob turned to him, “Are you ready for your part in the plan?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Molder admitted. “I’ve been practicing, but I’ve only been able to hold the form for no more than three hours.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Melody asked.

“Just watch,” Frezor told her. And right before their very eyes Molder transformed himself into looking forty years older than what he really was.

“Impressive,” Metallacia commented.

“Good work Molder.” Jacob patted him on the back. “Now revert to your normal form until we’ve reached The Silverton House.” Molder did as he was instructed. “Now let us be on our way.” Jacob motioned for them head to the garage where they got into the car and headed out. “Once we arrive there Molder will go under long enough to get you in. These are the papers that will show that you have had one too many altercations with the justice system and has been given a last chance through there. Once you are inside your contact will be Katherine Matthews, she is helping us. She has been there for nearly two days now. From there you both must find out what is exactly going on in there.”

“And if I need backup and fast?” Melody asked.

“Use this.” Molder handed to her. “It may look like a Mp3 player but it also contacts us. It’s one of the very few things they allow people to have there.”

“Sounds like a great vacation spot,” Melody said sarcastically.

“We’re here,” Jacob announced, and Molder changed into his older self. They exited the car and headed inside. They approached the receptionists’ desk and were told to wait a minute. One minute later they were approached by The Mistress. She welcomed them, and Jacob introduced himself as Jake Green the attorney to Daniel Goode and his daughter Melody. She showed them around and instructed Melody on how things worked around here. Once it was over Jacob thanked her, and Molder gave Melody a hug and they departed.

“How nice to see a father love his child…it’s not often we see that here.” The Mistress commented.

“Yeah, whatever.” Melody spat. The next thing she knew she was being grabbed by the jaw.

“That type of behavior will not be tolerated here! Do you understand me, my dear?” Melody nodded, and The Mistress released her. “Good. Now let me introduce you to your roommate.” She knocked on the door and opened it, and there on the bed was Katherine Matthews, whom The Mistress introduced each of them and reminded them of when dinner was and left.

“So what you in for?” Katherine asked.

“For theft. You know, snag a candy bar here, and soda there.” Melody shrugged, “A girl's gotta eat ya know? Can’t wait for some guy to get me stuff.”

“Yeah, I hear that.” Katherine agreed and gave her a high five. Then Melody walked up to the door, looked out the small window, “What are you doing? You’re not thinking of busting out of here are ya? They got cameras everywhere.”

“No. I’m just making sure no one is gonna listen to our conversation,” Melody answered. “Okay, look Dark-Rider sent me in to help you.” Melody then briefed her on what they were to do. “And just to warn you, I have no abilities…I’m completely human.”

“Oh, I see. So how are we supposed to find out what’s going on in the exterior wing without getting caught?” Katherine asked her. “I mean I can make copies of myself, but I can’t make copies of another person…I’ve tried that already.”

“I see, well good thing The Alpha Force has a tech geek,” Melody assured her, as she opened up her suitcase and as she did so she left out some accessories and explained what they were. “This bracelet, we can lay on the bed…touch the green jewel and it will make a copy of that person, to make it look like they are asleep. We have these belts made for each of us, tap on the buckle once to turn invisible, and tap twice to become visible.”

“What if someone taps on it?” Katherine wondered.

“The belt is designed to respond to our own DNA, as well as the bracelet.”

“How’d they guess my DNA?”

“Dark-Rider took the liberty of grabbing a strand of hair before he departed the other night.” Melody chuckled. “Now tell me what it’s like is here.”

“Breakfast at 8 am, then off to classes until noon for lunch. After lunch two more classes, and then we have a couple of hours of free time. We can either go back to our room or hang out in the rec room.”

“Where’s that?”

“Same floor as the main lobby. It’s on the far side of the floor, and like I told you there are cameras covering every floor.” Katherine explained.

“Then we need to find a way to access the security camera station in the security office.” Melody stated.

“Yeah but the thing is, is that the door is locked tight, and there’s always someone in there at all times.”

“How’d you get this information?” Melody asked.

“Word of mouth, it’s a great way to find out information about anything. I mean come on you’re a private eye for crying out loud!” Katherine made fun of her.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Melody nodded, they then heard a bell go off.

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s dinner time,” Katherine told her as she got off the bed. “Let’s eat.”

“How’s the food?”

“Better than my dad’s cooking that’s for sure!” Katherine joked, and they both got a laugh out of it.

Chapter 6

That evening The Alpha Force sat in their new tech room where they could see that the casino was now being filled up with students, coaches, teachers, and even officers of the law, among other high ranking people in the town of Silverton. “Wow!” Exclaimed Molder. “Who would’ve thought that some of the teachers and all those other people who are respected by us students would be involved in something like this?”

“I agree.” Blaze nodded, “Too bad we can’t use this evidence to blackmail them into giving us good grades for the rest of our high school careers.” Dark-Rider and the others gave her a displeasing look, “I was joking.” She told them sarcastically, “Gee, get a sense of humor, you guys.”

“I’m sure the school board would be interested in this, as well as the Governor of Oregon.” Dark-Rider stated, “The students would get no more than a suspension, but the teachers and such would lose their job, and be given multiple charges, which I really don’t feel like counting right now.”

“It was a smart idea of Sparks to leave a program in Gamer’s computer for us to have a back door into their cameras without them knowing.” Mindra complimented.

“Why thank you.” Sparks bowed, “Now let’s just hope that Melody and Katherine can use the device I gave them to give us access to the cameras in The Silverton House.”

“I got a message from Melody a while ago.” Molder spoke up, “She said they were planning on doing that.”

“Let’s just hope they don’t get caught.” Metallacia played.

“Wait!” Frezor spoke abruptly, “Isn’t that Mayor Matthews?” They all looked at the screen and Jacob who was sitting at the controls focused in and sure enough there he was. “I just don’t believe it.”

“A picture is worth a thousand words!” Jacob quoted.

“Sparks did you have the program set with audio?” Dark-Rider asked.

“Dark-Rider I’m shocked,” Sparks answered dramatically. “But of course fearless leader.” He then pressed in a few key commands, and they could hear everyone talking to one another. They could also see Mayor Matthews being escorted by Brain Storm and Sound Man to Gamer’s office and the door was shut being guarded by Mega-Rex and Cruncher. Sparks then switched it over to the camera in the office and they were all astounded on what happened next.

“Welcome, Mr. Mayor.” Gamer greeted him and offered him a seat. “I’m so glad that you could come, we were all starting to wonder if you would give your busy schedule.”

“I’m here to make sure that there is no way of this getting back to me.” The Mayor pointed out towards the door. “I mean my daughter knows of this place, and when you told me she had been spotted here…”

“Relax Mr. Mayor relax.” Gamer said calmly. “We took care of her remember. I mean we couldn’t have her snooping around and then find out that it was you of all people who found me this place to do my business.” Gamer twirled around in his chair. “I called you, and you told me to deal with it so I then made sure that she lost every game she played, forcing her to go to a loan shark to get more money…and the rest as they would say it history. And now that she is in The Silverton House with a colleague of mine, she will be no further trouble to us. And you don’t have to worry about the press leaking the news that the daughter of a small town mayor has put in a place like that. The Society always takes care of its interests.”

“Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that…you know.” Mayor Matthews began to feel a bit more relieved.

“Your quite welcome my good fellow.” Gamer then got out of his seat, “Now why don’t you go and unwind by playing a couple of games.” He then handed him a few chips, “It’s on the house, and if you run out, don’t worry about it.”

“Only for a few, my wife has been starting to get suspicious of me coming home late.” Mayor Matthews blushed.

“Your secret is safe with me.” Gamer promised, and he led the mayor to the roulette wheel.

Dark-Rider pressed the mute button, “The man set up his own daughter to protect himself!”

“I knew politicians were back stabbers, but his own kid?” Mindra asked in bewilderment, “Poor Katherine.”

“Should we tell her?” Frezor asked.

“No, not yet,” Dark-Rider answered. “Both she and Melody have a mission to do, and I can’t have her judgment clouded with thoughts on her father setting her up.”

“Dark-Riders’ right.” Blaze agreed, “There’ll be time to reveal this to her when we take down both Gamer and The Mistress.”

“Let’s just hope they can pull off what they have planned.” Molder hoped.

Chapter 7

Later that night when it was lights out Katherine and Melody activated the bracelets and turned themselves invisible and went out of the room and headed to the security office. Melody had told Katherine that the dinner bell had given her an idea. That was to wait till everyone was in bed, get close to the security room, pull the fire alarm, wait for the two guards to leave the room to make sure everyone was out of their room, go into the security room, plant the device on the control console and would it would turn invisible, and then get out, get close enough to their room and become visible again and head outside. Melody stood right next to the door and nodded to Katherine to pull the fire alarm down the hall, and not even five seconds after it was pulled both guards came rushing out of the room rushing right by Katherine without seeing her thanks to the belt. Melody rushed into the room, put the device onto the console and within seconds it turned invisible signaling that it was now active and under the control of The Alpha Force. They rushed down the hall and once they saw that no one was around, turned back to being visible and ran out the doors. Katherine whispered as they got outside, “What about our doubles?”

“I programmed them to deactivate once the fire alarm went off,” Melody answered in hushed voice. A head count was done and after the fire department went in and turned it off and said it was due to a faulty pull station and told everyone that it was safe to go back inside. They went back to their room and then contacted The Alpha Force. “Mission accomplished you guys.”

“Good work you two.” Dark-Rider complemented, “Sparks is going through it right now and making sure that you two weren’t caught on camera at all.” Sparks looked up and gave him a thumbs up. “All is good, move on to phase two starting tomorrow night.”

“Will do Dark-Rider.” Melody saluted and then ended communication.

“So I take it tomorrow we find out what is going on in the exterior wing?” Katherine asked.

“Yep, and if all goes well we’ll be out of here just in time for Christmas Break.”

Chapter 8

The next night Katherine and Melody waited until everyone was asleep once again to make their move. They took the stairs to level 5 and before entering the hallway double checked with Sparks who was monitoring them from The Big House in the tech room. “The coast is clear ladies. Now, remember we got Dark-Rider and a couple of others on standby if you need assistance.”

“Copy that,” Melody answered and then they went into the hallway. They approached the door to the exterior wing. They checked to make sure that the guards were on the other end of the hallway and opened the door real quick and closed it behind them. There was a chill in the hallway. Each of the rooms that they passed had no windows. They checked a couple of them and could not open them, so they continued on until they reached the lab area of the floor. They then saw something that wasn’t expected, kids were standing before a giant screen that was causing them to hypnotized! “I don’t believe this,” Melody whispered.

“What are they doing to them?” Sparks asked.

“They’re hypnotizing the kids here; those who they say are special cases,” Katherine answered.

“I’ve accessed the security logs from the console.” Sparks reported, “According to the files I was able to pull up, they are the kids with violent behavior.”

“I highly doubt they are having them hypnotized to become decent citizens.” Dark-Rider broke in, “The Society must be having them to bend to their will and if anything, have them be sleepers once they are done. Sparks can you find out what exactly the kids are being told what to do?”

“We can, just a sec,” Melody told them as she put her communicator up the door and all who were listening in could hear what the kids were repeating off the screen.

“Superior is my master! Superior is my will! Superior is my life!”

“Okay, that’s good enough.” Dark-Rider told them, “We need to alert the authorities.”

“But what are we going to tell them? A group bad guys are planning on having control of every kid that’s put in here?” Katherine wondered.

“The chief of police has worked with us in the past and it was when we first went up against The Gamer.” Dark-Rider brought up.

“Uh Dark-Rider I hate to interrupt but there’s something you need to know about the chief.” Sparks told him, “I just looked at our cameras in the casino…he just busted the place. Gamer and his gang high tailed right before the cops busted in.”

“Gamer must’ve wanted to get the place full of kids to be put into The Silverton House.” Melody suggested.

“And if that’s the case, then they are about to have a full house.” Molder broke in. “We can’t let that happen.”

“Agreed. I’ll go talk to the chief myself and see if we can hold him off from having those kids put in there.” Dark-Rider said as he began to take off and then noticed that the police were coming to their direction with vans full of high school kids. “Sparks how old is that tape?”

“What do you mean they just now got done with arresting the rest of them?” He answered, “Wait for just a second….oh man we’ve been played! The Gamer must’ve known we were listening in!”

“Which means…Girls get back to your room now!” Dark-Rider barked.

“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Katherine responded as she and Melody ran down the hallway, then down the stairs and then back to their room. They opened the door, and there stood The Mistress, “Uh oh…”

“Sparks what happened?” Dark-Rider asked.

“We just lost communication with them.”

Dark-Rider flew up to the girls’ window and saw them just in time to be taken away. “They’ve been compromised. All Alpha Force members report back to base!”

Chapter 9

The Alpha Force met together in the meeting room to plan on what on how to rescue not just Melody and Katherine but also the other teens that were now being held captive by The Mistress. Sparks informed them that Gamer had somehow been able to do a 24-hour loop from the cameras to make them think that what had happened was happening in the now and not the past. “We were duped big time!” Sparks complained. “He must’ve found out how we were able to see what he was doing, and he turned it against us, and then informed The Mistress.”

“That is the logical way of looking at things.” Jacob admitted, “But how do we go about saving all those kids?”

“Well there’s always going on the offensive but that would make us look bad in front of the press.” Molder suggested.

“Like we don’t already have that?” Mindra asked sarcastically.

“Molder’s right, we can’t go in there guns a blazing.” Dark-Rider agreed, then looked at Blaze, “No pun intended.”

“Then what do we do?” Metallacia wondered.

“If only we could tell the parents of those kids.” Blaze said thinking out loud.

“Wait! That’s it!” Dark-Rider exclaimed.

“What?” Frezor asked.

“We tell the parents. But we don’t to them personally, we tell them through the television.” Dark-Rider answered.

“Okay, no more sci-fi shows for you.” Blaze scolded.

“No think about it. We have the video recordings from the casino and also from what the girls’ were able to give us before they went offline.” Dark-Rider explained. “All we have to do is hack into all the Television stations via satellite and then we show what is happening.”

“I see where you going with this.” Jacob nodded, “It could very well work.”

“Well because of what happened yesterday they have closed down the school a week early for Christmas break.” Mindra brought up reading the newsletter that was posted on the school’s website.

“And tomorrow is Friday people will still be in the routines of getting up to watch the news in the morning.” Frezor pointed out.

“Sparks, get I.Q. set up for hacking the T.V. Stations. Frezor, Blaze, Mindra go through the videos and make sure they are ready for what we need the people to see. Metallacia you and Molder monitor what is happening in The Silverton House the best you can.” Dark-Rider instructed them, “I’m going to pay a visit to The Mistress while you’re at it.” They all gave him questioned looks, “Trust me, she will wish she had listened to me.”

It was 3 am when The Dark-Rider walked through the door of The Mistress. She was laying down sleeping peacefully. Sure I could let her sleep…but where’d be the fun in that? Dark-Rider thought to himself. “Mistress!” He bellowed and she awoke with a gun in hand pointing at him, “You’re awake good.”

“What do you want?” She asked.

“To give you a message: Release these kids or you’ll regret it.”

“Really? Is that supposed to be a threat?” She asked sarcastically putting the gun down.

“More like a guaranteed promise.” He assured her, “You have until 6am to do so. If all of them are not on the lawn of this facility being ready to be released from here, then we will take action.” He then disappeared.

6am came by and not one teen was on the lawn. Dark-Rider was in view of the area and saw that The Mistress had not heeded his warning. “Dark-Rider to Big House are we ready?”

“We’re all set here.” Molder answered.

“Do it.”

“Activating hacking sequence,” Sparks said as he keyed in the commands through the keyboard. Within seconds every television set was showing the video loop from the casino showing students, teachers, and coaches, police officers and judges in there gambling away, and The Mayor shaking hands with Gamer. Then it showed the cops arresting students but no one else. Then it showed what they were doing to kids in an exterior wing of The Silverton House for troubled teens. “Ladies and Gentlemen of Silverton this is your wake-up call.” Sparks punned.

“Set I.Q. to keep playing it for the next three hours. I want all of you here immediately.” Dark-Rider ordered.

“Consider it done,” Sparks told him, and once he was done with the settings, he joined up with others and headed to The Silverton House. When they got there they met up with Dark-Rider, “So what’s the plan now?”

“We wait,” Dark-Rider answered.

Chapter 9

By 9am The Mistress had wished she had listened to Dark-Rider, for in front of the main entrance were parents demanding their children to be released immediately. “He did warn me.” She told Superior whose shadowy silhouette was shown on the computer screen, “And he’s right, I am regretting it.”

“Once again we have underestimated The Dark-Rider and his companions.” Superiors said in reluctance, “however the teens of Silverton now belong to The Society.”

“But how are we going to get them out of here?” She asked him, “All my guards are now focusing on keeping the parents at bay! Sooner or later more of them will come and be able to overthrow the guards.”

“Gamer and his comrades are on their way to give you support.”

“And the next thing you know The Alpha Force will be here and throw them around like trash.”

“As long as they keep The Alpha Force busy then it doesn’t matter.” Superior pointed out, “Just finish the job! Superior out!”

As the heroes watched they noticed that the parents were going nowhere. “You sure this was a good idea Dark-Rider?” Molder asked.

“Yes, we’ve made her hesitate.” Dark-Rider answered, “Which is exactly what I wanted. The guards are now too busy with the parents that now…we go!” Dark-Rider flew up to the roof and the others followed. But when they got up there they were met by Gamer and his Goons. “Just like clockwork,” Dark-Rider stated.

“You were expecting us?” Gamer asked.

“Yes, I was,” Dark-Rider asked.

“Sorry but the kiddies are coming with me to Superior.” Gamer announced. “And as you can see you have to go through us first.”

“Are you too sure about that?” Dark-Rider asked him.

“100% sure, according to Brain Storm.” Gamer answered.

“Dark-Rider to Shieldra.” He said through his communicator, “Are all the kids safe?”

“My team and I have the rest of them coming out the building out as we speak.” She answered.

“Did you factor that in Brain Storm?” Sparks asked.

“But the how…the back door of the building wasn’t guarded.” Brain Storm stuttered.

“And as they went through it, they were hit in the eyes with an invisible beam to release them from the hypnotic effect,” Sparks informed.

“So while the parents distracted the guards from the front…” Frezor started.

“We had the captives go free through the back.” Blaze finished.

“And now that they are clear we can take care of you,” Mindra warned them.

“Alpha Force attack!” Dark-Rider ordered, and as they have practiced over the past couple of years they went into action within a fraction of a second. Dark-Rider wasted no time and went up against Brain Storm, “Hey Big Head let’s see how smart you after I give you some brain damage.” He taunted as he threw fists at the villain’s head. Brain Storm was able to block most of the hits, but thanks to Dark-Riders’ training he was able to put in a few jabs and body shot and then he faked a kick to his opponent's left side and when Big Brain went to block, Dark-Rider struck him with a right hook! “Need to work on keeping your hands up.”

Frezor fought against Sound Man who was trying to break the frozen hero with his sound blasters. But thanks to Frezors’ protective ice armor he was able to withstand some of the attacks. Frezor tried to freeze blast Sound Mans’ hand for that is where his powers came from but he was able to break free thanks to the vibrations. “You’ll have to do better than that snow cone!” Sound Man teased.

“Snow cone? I’ve had worst taunts thrown at me then that your sorry excuse for a DJ!” Frezor threw it right back in his face…literally, for he froze blast around Sound Mans’ head, “Hope this works.” Frezor said to himself crossing his fingers. Sound Man struggled with the ice over his and knew he was going to pass out any second due to the lack of oxygen he only had one choice, he then took his hands and put it over his head to Sound Shock the ice off of his head and in the process, he knocked himself out! “That couldn’t have gone any better.” Frezor congratulated himself.

“Okay, Crunch let’s see if you can keep up with me,” Sparks told the former football star. Crunch went for a tackle and just as he was about to take down Sparks, the fastest man of The Alpha Force dodged within not even a fraction of a micro-second. This happened at least a few times. And each time Sparks would taunt him some more. “Too slow!” Went for another tackle, “Nice try.” And then another, “You almost had me there.” And finally, Crunch was able to latch on.

“Ha! Now I got you!” Crunch said triumphantly.

“So you do…” Sparks struggled. “But here’s a question for you…have you ever held an eel?”

“No.”

“Here’s a good reason not to,” Sparks told him and turned up the juice as he electrocuted the big lug and then after five seconds he stopped and Crunch let him go as he dropped to the ground. “Lesson learned.”

Metallacia tangled up with Gladiator. “A weak little girl is thinking she could beat me, Gladiator? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Do you always talk about yourself in the third person or is that a personality disorder?”

“You won’t talk so much after I slice your head off!” He threatened and began to attack with his sword. But thanks to Metallacia’s ability to transform her body into any form of metal that is known on the planet she was able to turn into the same metal as his sword to deflect his attacks. “What kind of trickery is this?”

“No trickery Julius! It’s the ability that God gave me to beat morons like you!” She then turned her hands into blades and began her attack on him. He blocked with his shield but her blade went right through it as if it was paper. He then grabbed the sword by the helm with both hands and swung wildly. And with one fluid motion that she had practiced in The Holo-Dome, she blocked the attack down and side stepped to take the blunt end of the blade to trip him, causing him to fall backward and then put the blade right up to his neck.

“Go ahead, finish me.” He told her.

“Sorry I don’t kill for sport or honor.” She told him and knocked him out with a kick to the head.

“Time for another round eh Ugly Dolly?” Blaze asked rhetorically towards her opponent.

“I’m going to take away everything from you Blaze. Your beauty and your powers.” Ugly Dolly hissed. She went to grab at Blaze’s arms but that was a mistake. For no sooner she grabbed onto Blaze her hands caught on fire, and she screamed in agony.

“You wanted my ability huh? Now that you have had a taste of it, let’s see how you like a lot of it!” Blaze let out a stream of fire that once it hit Ugly Dolly it threw her back up against the near wall. “In case I didn’t tell you last time, you play with fire you get burned.”

“Going somewhere Gamer?” Mindra asked him, “The fun has just started, and I know how much you love to have fun.”

“Sorry toots but I’m blowing this joint…” He started to say but Mindra jumped into the air and punched him down on the head.

“Toots? No one call’s me toots!” Mindra hollered at him as she pounded his face in. “You hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said weakly.

“Good, now this won’t hurt a bit.” She told him as she began to abstract information out of his mind.

Molder went up against Mega-Rex, who tried to hold Molder in his claw but he would turn into mud. Mega-Rex then leaped up in the air thanks to his spider legs to try to latch onto Molder but he would evade thanks to the buildings cement roof. Molder then decided to make sure his opponent wasn’t going anywhere so he turned the ground beneath Mega-Rex into quicksand and once he had sunk low enough turned it back into cement. “What’s the big idea?” Mega-Rex asked.

“You’ll see.” Molder answered as he then sprayed the villain with quick-drying cement and within seconds he was turned into a living statue with the head sticking out.

“Hey get me out of this!” He demanded.

“Um no. I think you’ll be fine until they can put you into a prison cell.” Molder told him.

The Mistress ran down the staircase and went through the side door exit to escape where she was met by Katherine and Melody. “Going somewhere?” Katherine asked. “The only place you’re going is jail.”

“I don’t think so my dears.” She told them.

“I think you don’t have a choice.” The Chief of police said as he handcuffed her, and read her rights to her as he led her into the car. “Thanks again for your help girls.”

“Anytime Chief, just make sure you give The Alpha Force some credit for doing all the hard work,” Melody told him, and he saluted assuring her that he would. “Well, shall we join the others?” And Katherine nodded.

They joined up with the others on the roof, just as they were finishing off their opponents. “The Mistress?” Dark-Rider asked.

“She’s been arrested,” Katherine answered.

“Good, but knowing The Society they will find a way to get her out.” Molder stated.

“I don’t think that will happen.” Melody said with assurance, “They arrested the police and the judges that were involved with the whole scheme. And they have offered to make a plea bargain, and since Katherine helped she’s been given immunity.”

“That’s great!” Mindra exclaimed.

“But there’s something I need to know…why was my father arrested?” Katherine asked.

Chapter 10

They took Katherine to The Big House through one of the secret entrances that would ensure that their true identities would remain a secret. They showed her the video of her father with Gamer and the conversation that took place. Once it was over she put her hands over her head, “I can’t believe it, my own father.”

“By the way, it looks he may not have known about your abilities,” Dark-Rider told her.

“That’s good. So I guess this means he won’t be running for Governor huh?”

“Nope, but he’ll have plenty of time to dream about it, though,” Sparks answered.

“So what about me and my mom?”

“We have a safe house set up for you,” Jacob told her. “Within the next two hours, the world will finally know about The Society and their threat to the world.”

“I take it your talks with The President went through?” Molder asked.

“That’s correct, and also any accusations or supposed charges to The Alpha Force have been cleared.” With that everyone cheered.

“But why a safe house?” Katherine asked.

“The Society will try to kill off any loose ends.” Dark-Rider said with a very straight forward tone, “Until The Mistress and everyone involved has been sentenced…but even then, you will have to live as protected witnesses.”

“My whole life?” She asked tearfully.

“I’m very sorry.” Jacob apologized, “But we will be in contact with you on a daily basis, everything you’ll need will be supplied to you and also if anything is to happen we will be there within the instant.”

“Can I ask one thing? Who are you guys really?” She asked them, and Dark-Rider nodded and they deactivated their Changers and she saw who they really were, “Ally! You’re Mindra?”

“Yes, I am. And now that you know who we are, you know that we are going to everything within our power to make sure that you and your mom are safe.”

“Your mother has just been picked up by a friend of ours and is heading to the airport. I would suggest that you do the same.” Jacob informed her.

“Not till I make a quick stop.” She said ominously.

Minutes later she was in the Silverton jail waiting for her father to join her in the secured visiting area. Once he arrived he sat down and said, “Are you, happy young lady? Are you happy in knowing that you destroyed everything that I worked for?”

“Yes, I am. I’m also happy in knowing that you are getting everything you deserve. And that mom and I will be much happier without you.” She then got up and start to leave.

“Is that all you have to say to me?”

“Just one more thing.” She then turned around, “Orange is a good color on you dad.” She then walked away never looking back.

Two hours later Katherine and her mom were on a plane headed to a destination only known to The Alpha Force. She contacted him via video phone, “So what’s going to happen now?”

“You’ll be given new identities and new a life. May not be as extravagant as your previous but it will make do.” Dark-Rider told her.

“Who would’ve thought that my life would turn out like this?” She asked.

“God did, and trust me; HE does a much better job of looking over people than The Alpha Force ever will.”

“So I’ve been working on a code name since Jacob was nice enough to give me a Changer and a Bio-Suit.”

“What have you come up with?”

“Copy-Kat.” She answered.

“Well, Copy-Kat this is Dark-Rider signing off for now.” He then turned off the link.

“You sure know how to pick them.” A sweet voice came from behind.

“I was wondering when you going to show up to say good-bye.” Dark-Rider sat up to face Shieldra.

“Actually we’re not returning to New York. Uncle Jacob feels that we are needed here. And since the fall term is over we can transfer back, plus there’s a new Beta Squad taking over.”

“I see…” He started to say.

“Listen there’s something you need to know. I’ve been seeing someone on the team, it’s Long Yard.” She informed him.

“Okay, I appreciate that.”

“Yeah, so am I still second in command?”

“As of right now.” He assured her.

“Dark-Rider…Shieldra, you gotta see this.” Molder huffed as he motioned for them to follow him to the tech room. Once they got in there all members of both teams were present.

“What’s the situation?” Dark-Rider asked.

“We just received word from the Chief of Police.” Jacob started to say, “The Mistress has been murdered. She received a letter, and according to the police it was a bio-weapon specific to her DNA.”

“Superior is taking no chances now that everyone knows about The Society,” Dark-Rider stated. “What about Gamer and the others?”

“They were as they guards stated, “beamed” out of their cells,” Sparks told him.

“Which means Superior isn’t done with him yet.” Dark-Rider said, “And he’s definitely not done with us.”