Chapter 16

             “Anything online yet?” Marina asked.

            “No,” Zoey replied, “and it’s already 5. Hayden got picked up by that guy in blue almost three hours ago, but hasn’t made an appearance as Tyranno-Shark. I think he’s gone home to Ohio.”

            “So, the guy in blue took him to an airport?” Karina theorized. “No payback for you beating him?”

            “Yeah, for now, I suppose.”

            Zoey calmed down considerably. She barely won as it was, so she hoped they’d never have a rematch.

            “Let’s get back to our homework, it’s getting late.” 

            Zoey turned her swiveling desk chair around to face her bed, and the four girls did their best to focus on school work instead of the mutant Sharkosaurus-boy that was now free, and could return if he really wanted to.

 

            “And… done!”

            Simon put his pencil down and reclined in his chair. He let out a sigh of relief and of satisfaction, because he had finished his homework before dinner, and could relax for the rest of the night. 

            “Now I won’t have to worry about missing any of tonight’s new Slam Down.”

            World Wrestling Alliance’s weekly program, Pro Slam Down, was the basis of the video game where Simon got his powers, so the television program was as important to him as the game. However, it was on during primetime, still a couple hours away.

            Simon decided to go online to past the time, see if there was any news on the other strange stories that had started after the power surge had hit.

            “Whoa, they let that shark-dinosaur guy go?”

            Simon scrolled down the article to see if there was any mention of Catgirl, but nothing. 

            “Looks like this Hayden guy isn’t going after her for revenge. Yet.”

            But Simon knew that there wasn’t anything he could do to help her out if Hayden were going back for more. Alameda was roughly a half hour’s drive, so unless he could explain how he was The Spektrum to his parents and that he needed a ride to go help a girl who was part feline fight off a monster that was part shark and part dinosaur, he wasn’t going to be much help.

            “If only I had super-speed,” Simon muttered. 

            He knew Red was the fastest Code, but he wasn’t Superman fast. 

            “You will be.”

            “Computer?” 

            That strange voice inside Simon’s head was back, and he really hoped he wasn’t going insane.

            “What do you mean I will be?”

            “You must first Unlock Code Red’s Special Ability: Overdrive.”

            “Unlock, huh? So I have to keep fighting and winning?”

            “Yes.”

            Simon figured as much. Unlocking this “Special Ability” is just another waiting game, just like the appearances of Zorb and his cronies. But were Zorb’s guys really going to attack everyday? 

            “Wait, what am I doing?” Simon asked himself. “Superheroes don’t complain.  Well, maybe they do, but they learn to deal with it, and so must I! Even if it sucks...”

 

            “Damn it,” Simon cursed as he ran into the restroom near the Boys’ locker room.

            It was the next day at school and as it turned out, Zorb had sent one of his men.

            Simon checked all the stalls to make sure no one else was inside the restroom with him. 

            “Did it have to be during First Block?!” he complained.

            Simon shook his arm, making sure it really was the same prickly tingle that he’d felt before. It was.

            “Then where are they?” 

            Simon decided to choose a Code first, and have the enemy come to him.

            “Computer, upload Code Red.”

             In a flash, Simon became The Spektrum and was out the door.

            The Spektrum ran around to the front of the Gym and into the Quad. Chances are whomever Zorb had sent this time was wearing that same camouflage cloak that Pulverize did, so that he wouldn’t know who the enemy was until the took it off. That meant that he wouldn’t be able to pick the Code best suited to face them. However, he had found a way to beat a brute like Pulverize with the brute strength of Code Silver, so he could definitely do something with the agility of Code Red.

            “So where are--”

            BAM! The Spektrum was knocked forward with a blow to his back. As he was getting up, something fell on his back. Actually, more like it had jumped on him. It was too small to be Korak, the yellow giant in hunting gear. Was it Smooth? Or did Zorb find time to bring in another reserve member like Pulverize? The answer came when the person that jumped on him got up and kicked him on his left side, and another kick hit him almost immediately after on the right side. 

            “Oh, so it’s the Furry Duo, is it?” Code Red grunted out. 

            Red pushed himself forward with his feet and onto his hands. He then rotated on one hand, and when he landed on his feet, The Spektrum was facing what was once behind him. Nothing but the school buildings were there. A rustle in the grass in front of him warned The Spektrum of another attack, but he wasn’t sure from where. 

            He was hit in the stomach from the right by what was likely a fist then was struck from the left between the shoulders by two fists clasped together. The Spektrum grabbed onto the invisible arm in front of him, and could feel the cloth that kept the enemy hidden. Code Red grabbed a hold of the cloth as tight as he could, and dropkicked at whichever of the two half-man, half-animal aliens was behind him, while still facing the other.

            The camouflage cloth slipped off as Code Red fell, revealing that the Panther-Man was in front. Code Red’s feet made contact with the other, and he heard the alien stumble back as he braced himself with his hands. Still on the ground, Code Red swept his feet forward, right then left, along the ground clockwise, and continued the motion by flaring his legs and pulling them back behind him; he felt a bit like a break-dancer. 

            The flare had forced the Panther-Man, Gnarl, to back up a step or two. Code Red’s feet were back on the ground after the one flare, and he pushed himself forward again. Code Red dropkicked Gnarl while running, and the part-panther alien was knocked over. But when Code Red stood back up, Graw knocked him forward with another blow to the shoulders. The Spektrum fell to his knees, and Graw pounced on him, wrapping an arm around The Spektrum’s neck. Graw was going to use a sleeper hold on him the way he had on Pulverize!

            The Spektrum forced Graw’s arms up before they had locked into place, and then rammed his right elbow into Graw’s gut. In one instant, Code Red got to his feet, jumped and turned and kicked Graw in the side of the head like it was a soccer ball and he was Pelé performing his famous bicycle kick. Graw groggily stumbled and fell as Code Red rose again to his feet.

            “Well, if I recall correctly, Pulverize joined for the money. What about you two?”

            Gnarl growled at The Spektrum’s question, certainly annoyed that he would ask them something like that in the middle of their fight.

            “It is none of your concern, human!” Gnarl snarled as he got to his feet. 

            Graw grumbled as he rose to his feet and shook the dirt out of his mane. The two animal-man aliens went in opposite directions, Graw to the right and Gnarl to the left.  They ran curved paths that formed a circle, converging on Code Red. Gnarl jumped at his feet, and Code Red sprang up, only to be pounced on by Graw in midair. Graw and Code Red spun and fell in a flurry of scraping and flailing as Code Red attempted to free himself from Graw’s claws.

            Code Red knocked Graw’s head with his fists once, twice, thrice before the two rolled over, putting The Spektrum on top. Graw put up his hands just in time to block Code Red’s elbow, but he was hit in the face by his own hands instead. Code Red raised his elbow to strike again, but was knocked off from on top of Graw by Gnarl.  Gnarl continued to smash The Spektrum into the dirt with one hammering hand after another. Right hand then left hand, Gnarl struck The Spektrum about the shoulders nearly ten times total before stopping. Nearly foaming at the mouth, Gnarl picked up a limp Spektrum off the ground by his shirt collar.

            “You’re pathetic, Graw!” Gnarl snapped at his teammate. “A disgrace to Feline Animisian kind!” 

            “Shut up!” the other growled as he shook dirt out of his mane again. 

            Graw got up and began walking over to where Gnarl stood. Gnarl had dragged The Spektrum to his feet, and held him up with his left hand. He pulled his right hand back, and aimed for Code Red’s face. 

            In a flash, Code Red yanked Gnarl’s hand away from his collar and punched Gnarl in the throat. Gnarl stumbled away gagging, and Graw hesitated to act, surprised that a human could recover so soon. Code Red took advantage of the opening, and ran off to his left. The Spektrum’s special ropes of energy appeared, and the young hero rebounded off of them, headed straight for Graw.

            By now, Graw had stopped being stunned by The Spektrum’s grit, and was determined to show Gnarl that he wasn’t pathetic at all. He wasn’t going to let a human make fools out of the galaxy’s most notorious team of criminals to date, and certainly not him personally. 

            The Spektrum and Graw were within arms’ length of each other now, and Graw took the first swing at the oncoming opponent. Code Red simply ducked and hooked his arm onto Graw’s. The Spektrum let his momentum take him up off his feet, and, using all his newfound acrobatic skill, he looped around Graw’s shoulder and landed back in front of the “Animisian”. 

            The Spektrum shifted his arm from being hooked around Graw’s shoulder to being wrapped around the back of Graw’s neck, and he locked arms the same way he would for a headlock. The Spektrum came off his feet as he kicked Graw’s leg out from under him, and the weight of The Spektrum forced Graw’s head down. Code Red had performed a new variation on the pro-wrestling classic, the DDT. Graw’s forehead smacked the dirt and bounced a bit, and The Spektrum rolled him over for a pin just by habit.

            “One… Two-”

            Computer’s count was cut short, because Gnarl had slammed himself into Code Red.

            “You will not claim victory yet, human,” he said as he punched Code Red in the jaw. 

            Code Red retaliated by punching right back, though on the ground. He then spun on his back a quarter-turn, and kicked Gnarl in the head, practically performing another Pelé bicycle kick. 

            The Spektrum knew he needed to end this quick, but the move Code Red used the first time wasn’t going to do any good. His “Red-Star” Frog Splash needed something to jump off of, but the picnic tables were too far away, and it’d be too difficult to try and hit both of them with one splash. He had to come up with something new, something more like the other Codes, a move that could be done in open space that could put a stop to this match.

            But what kind of move can do something like that?

            Simon’s memories answered his question almost instantly. He remembered watching pro-wrestling on TV, and a move that was lightning fast, that could be used in a blink of an eye. It was risky to try something he had never done before, but that excuse was thrown out the first day he became The Spektrum.

            Code Red rolled over and crouched down low as he could. He watched as Gnarl staggered in a circle. When Gnarl was as close as he could get, Code Red’s sprang up into the air, his feet leaving the ground as he rotated in mid-air. The Spektrum’s right arm wrapped around from the front and under the chin while his left reached over to the back. Gnarl’s head was yanked down by The Spektrum’s falling weight, and in almost no time at all, the two hit the ground together. Or as it’s called in wrestling, he hit a “cutter”.

            Code Red pinned Gnarl and Computer counted.

            “One… Two… Three! The winner is: The Spektrum.”

            I was right to use this move to put a stop to this. Stop… Just like a red light.

            Unfortunately, this move took its toll on Code Red, his lower back sore and aching as he pinned Gnarl. Code Red got up off the floor, and placed a hand on the back of his hip.

            Damn, I’m going to have to get used to falling on my ass before the ‘Red Light’ cutter is needed again.

            The Spektrum stiffened up when he heard applause. Not group applause from the crowd of students. Wait, where was the crowd of students? Usually a few dozen of them were watching from the windows and doorways, despite teachers telling them to sit down or go back inside. But every window had the shades down and every door was closed. The Spektrum whipped around to find the person clapping was a man in a blue suit. 

 

            “This is SO not fair!” Cyndi grumbled to herself. “I want to see what’s going on!“

            She looked at the classroom door. A big burly security guard type guy had it closed behind him, and was staring at the windows, which were also shut and blocked by shades and curtains. Well, it looked like he was staring at the window, though his big sunglasses covered his eyes. He could also be glaring at her… That thought made Cyndi sulk down in her seat and look back up at the board. 

            Her teacher continued on with class, as if nothing weird was happening. Of course, that is because the “guard” told the teacher to act like nothing happend. What was also weird was that guy had been there for the last fifteen minutes, making sure no one left the room or looked outside. 

            She had heard fighting outside for the last ten minutes, and it was likely that The Spektrum was involved in another fight against Zorb’s lackeys. Cyndi knew something was going on, and it involved this government type thug and San Leandro’s resident super-human. As with a lot of different superhero comics, once the government gets proof of super-humans, they take “precautionary” measures. But it was a little late to do some kind of cover up, the world knew about The Spektrum and Catgirl and many others. So who was behind this shutout?

 

            “Good work, Mr. Spektrum,” the man in blue congratulated. “Taking care of two opponents by oneself is very demanding.”

            “Yeah…” The Spektrum let his voice fade out. 

            Spektrum wanted to go find a restroom to change in, but if this guy was able to lock down the campus, he must have back-up.

            “Who are you? Why are you here?” The Spektrum eyed the man suspiciously.  “And why do you have everything closed? Am I to guess that this is some kind of secret meeting?”

            “Yes,” the man in blue answered, “but you have no reason to be wary of me.” 

            The man in blue approached The Spektrum, and The Spektrum straightened out his back more. The man in blue put his hand in his pocket, and Code Red tensed up, expecting the man to pull out a weapon. Instead of a knife or a gun, the man held out a business card. 

            “My employer, Mr. Darklite, sends his regards.” 

            The Spektrum took the card from the man. The small 3 by 5 inch piece of cardstock was completely black. Code Red flipped it over and turned it around, but couldn’t see any words or numbers.

            “I think you forgot something when you made this.”

            “Did I?” the man asked wryly. “We’ll be expecting a reply sometime Saturday.”

            The man in blue turned and walked away.

            “How am I supposed to contact you when you didn’t give me the information?!” Code Red yelled.

            The doors and windows opened up. Out of every hall, several men in black suits poured out, all wearing dark glasses. About a dozen filed past Code Red, exiting from C Hall behind him. These men followed the man in blue out of the small side entrance between the main building and the science wing. The sounds of car doors slamming and driving away continued on for a few minutes, leaving The Spektrum wondering how in the world so many people could sneak into the school and apparently take over so easily. Did none of the school’s own security question these people and their intentions? 

            The Spektrum looked at the black card again. It was still blank on both sides and at all angles. The Spektrum slipped it inside his pocket and ran back to the Boys’ P.E. locker restroom.

 

            Simon, Cyndi, and a few other Spektrum Club members were sitting together in Room 243. Gary was on Cyndi’s right, and Cyndi was on Simon’s. The two didn’t say anything to each other. They both could sense that the other had a thing for Cyndi, and that made things awkward between the two. 

            “Simon,” Cyndi asked, “could I have a chip?”

            “Sure,” Simon replied. 

            He held his bag of classic potato chips open for Cyndi to choose from. She took out one that was folded like a mini-taco shell, and thanked Simon with a smile.

            “Hey, Cyndi,” Gary said, sitting up, “want one of mine?” 

            Gary held out his bag of sour cream and onion chips.

            “Oh, sorry Gary, I’m not much for that flavor,” Cyndi politely replied.

“But,” she said, examining Gary’s lunch, “I do like cupcakes.” 

Gary tore a third of his chocolate-frosted cupcake and handed it to Cyndi. She used another smile to thank Gary. 

            During the club meeting, the students all talked about the sudden appearance of the strange security guards, and how they had everyone cover the windows and stay inside. A friend of Caitlin’s said that the guards wouldn’t even let anyone out to take restroom breaks.

            “Which really sucked, because a classmate of mine REALLY had to go,” the friend--James, Simon remembered--shared, getting a chuckle out of everyone. 

            “So, what happened?” a new member, a freshman, asked.

Simon wasn’t 100% sure, but he remembered the kid’s name was Owen. 

“Was The Spektrum fighting guys connected to these guards,” Owen continued, “or were they Zorb’s?”

            “I’m pretty sure they were Zorb’s men,” Cyndi answered. “Even though the windows were covered, they weren’t made soundproof, and I could hear a two-on-one fight. My guess is that The Spektrum was up against both of those half-men, half-animal aliens.”

            Cyndi’s guess was correct, but Simon couldn’t say anything about it since his 1^st Block class was farther away from the Quad than anyone else’s. That reason also meant that Simon wouldn’t be able to share the fact that a man in a blue suit gave The Spektrum a blank, black business card, then left with all the unknown guards. 

            “Hey, Simon,” Cyndi said as she softly nudged the boy on her left. 

            Simon looked up and realized he had been looking down at his chips too long.      “What is it?” she asked.

            “Oh, nothing,” he assured. “I was just thinking about who those guards all work for. Some kind of secret government organization, maybe?”

            “Now that I think about it,” Cyndi said, “that is a good question. But could even a government organization really coordinate something like what happened this morning so quickly and efficiently?”

 

            “So weird…”

            Zoey sat with Marina, Karina, and Chloe at they’re usual table, munching on barbecue flavored potato chips and sipping canned soda. The four friends were gazing at a black business card that Zoey had found in her locker.

            “And it was just there?” Chloe asked.

            “Yeah,” Zoey replied. “I know it wasn’t there this morning when I grabbed my Trig book, so that means someone had several hours to put it in there.”

            “But why is it blank?” Marina questioned. “If it’s a business card, it should have a name and phone number, but this doesn’t have a single symbol on it.”

            “Maybe they wrote on it with invisible ink,” Karina suggested. “The kind you have to use black or ultraviolet light for!”

            Zoey studied the blank, black card for another second or two. 

            “Maybe,” she said. “But how will we be able to know what reveals it? None of us have anything that emits black light.”

            The girls pondered on that for a moment or two.

            “Well, what if it is heat activated?” Chloe suggested. “We could stick it in the oven for a minute, or the microwave.”

            “But the card is black,” Zoey pointed out. “No ink of any kind would show up on this!”

            “Maybe the invisible ink turns white,” Marina added.

            Zoey thought about that possibility. It would be the color to use on black, but did white invisible ink even exist?

            “Alright,” Zoey said after another moment of silent thought. “But we can’t do this at my place.”

            “Why not?” Marina asked Zoey.

            “We hang out at my house a lot, and my dad’s upset at us for snacking so much.”

            “That’s okay, I’ll have Alicia take us with home with her,” Karina declared.  “She’s got room in her car.” 

            Karina then pulled out her blue sequined cell phone and pressed a button. She speed dialed Alicia. Alicia was over in the Senior Hall with her own friends.

            “Yes, Karina?” Alicia greeted on her phone.

            “Alicia, can you give the girls a ride to our house after school? Zoey says her place is a no go today.”

            “You’ve been snacking too much, haven’t you?”

            “Yes…” 

            Karina could just feel her sister’s scolding smirk through the phone.

            “Well, alright, just wait at the front of the school, my last class has a test today, and it may go long.”

            “Okay. And good luck on your test! Bye!”

           

            At 3:15 PM, Zoey, Chloe, Marina and Karina were waiting for Alicia at the sidewalk. The four girls had been waiting since classes were dismissed. Zoey had passed the time by staring at the blank black business card some more. Whoever slipped it into her locker obviously had a lot of time to do it. They also had to know which locker was the right one, or else the card could’ve gone to the wrong person.

            But did that mean the card was given to the right person? Maybe it was meant for the person who had the locker to the left of hers, or to the right. And if it was meant for her, what would be the point of giving her a card with a hidden message on it, but no clues to how to make the message unhidden?

            “Hey, do you girls think anyone else could’ve been given a card?”

            Zoey’s friends looked at Zoey, and at each other.

            “That’s a good point,” Chloe said. 

            “I’ll check around,” Karina said as she pulled out her phone.

            Karina was the only one of the four with a smartphone, so she could check on all those social sites.

            “Looks like Amanda Jones and… Carly got a card as well, along with a few other girls.”

            “Wait, Carly White or Carly Nguyen?” Zoey asked.

            Karina double checked before answering, “Nguyen.”

            “Didn’t you and Carly Nguyen have P.E last year?” Marina asked Zoey.

            “Yeah,” she responded, “she and I usually teamed up.”

            “And isn’t Amanda Jones part Asian?” Chloe asked

            “Yeah, on her mom’s side,” Marina answered. “I remember us talking about it.”

            “And frankly putting it,” Karina started, “don’t all three of you… have full…”

            “Yes, Karina,” Zoey interrupted. “Amanda, Carly, and I all have the same figure, including…” 

Zoey hesitated, knowing she would have to say it.

“Our breasts… The three of us defy the Asian girl stereotype of petite figures.”

            “So whoever gave out these cards only gave them to Asian chicks with big boobs?!” Karina whined. “So unfair.”

            Another few minutes passed by, the four friends just standing around waiting.

            “Oh, Alicia‘s here!” Karina peeped, waving hello to her sister as she pulled up in her car. 

Alicia’s Midnight Purple Honda Prelude gleamed even in the afternoon sun as Karina went around to the front passenger seat. Zoey tucked the card in her back pocket before she, Chloe and Marina packed into the back, Zoey‘s dyed-red, Chloe’s natural blonde, and Marina’s chocolate black hair creating a sort of Neapolitan ice cream pattern. 

            “So, I guess your test went long?” Karina asked her sister as the car pulled out into the street.

            “Yes,” Alicia chuckled. “Don’t know why AP Bio is so hard, but it is.”

            “I guess that means we’ll just stick with Honors Bio,” Zoey joked, getting a chuckle out of the other girls.

            The streets were clear of the after school traffic, so it only took a few minutes to arrive at the Osou household.

            It was a nice two story house on the corner of Taylor Avenue and 4^th Street, with a big palm tree outside to the house’s left, and several other trees that the girls certainly know the names to on the house’s right. There were several bushes in front of the house, including two short hedges that were like little borders, separating lawn from house. The color of the outside always reminded Zoey of peanut butter. The girls went up the brick steps to the nice big porch, and Karina used her house key to open the front door.

            Once inside, all five girls took off their shoes, then Zoey, Chloe, and Marina set their things down by one of the couches in the living room. While Karina and Alicia went upstairs and put their things away in their rooms, Zoey, Chloe, and Marina went into the kitchen. 

            Zoey pulled the card out and popped it into the microwave. As she set the microwave, she could hear Karina scramble down the stairs. Zoey had already pressed the start button as Karina entered the kitchen.

            “Is it working yet?” Karina asked.

            “No, we just started,” Zoey chuckled. “I set it for a minute, so we’ll see after that.”

            After only ten seconds, the card started glowing! It was getting white hot! Then it started sparking, and a small flame started!

            “Get an oven mitt!” Zoey shouted. “And some tongs! We can use them to get the card out!”

            Karina hurried and grabbed sky blue oven mitt out of a drawer and put it on. She reached into the microwave and quickly grabbed the black business card. 

            “Hot, hot, hot!” she exclaimed as she quickly moved away from the small piece of cardboard, watching out so that her feet didn’t touch it.

“Damn card! It almost burned through the mitt!”

            “How does a card get so hot?” Marina wondered out loud.

            “I said use the tongs, too!” Zoey shouted at Karina.

            “I didn’t think it’d be that hot!” Karina shouted.

            Meanwhile, Marina used a pair of metal barbecue tongs to scoop the card up off the floor.

            “Maybe it isn’t just a card,” Zoey muttered as Marina quickly placed the card in the sink and turned on the cold water.

            Steam practically erupted from the sink, and the smoke detector in the kitchen began to ear-piercingly beep. Alicia scrambled downstairs and into the kitchen.

            “What’s going on?!” she screamed.

            Alicia saw the smoke, and ran over to open a window, and turn on a fan. The five of them moved out from the kitchen to the dining room to breathe easier, as well.

            “Does this have something to do with Catgirl?” Alicia asked, a bit calmer.

            The girls exchanged silent glances with each other then looked back at Alicia.

            “Maybe,” Zoey, Chloe, Marina and Karina all answered and shrugged.