Chapter 20

             Saturday, December 10^th, had come. Simultaneously, Anonymous Inc. called the nine young super-humans on their cell phones. Simultaneously, the nine of them answered.

            “Hello?”

            “Wait outside. A representative will be on their way.”

            The nine did as they were told, and made their ways outside of their homes or apartments.

            About five minutes later, a black SUV pulled up to the curb in front of each of them. They all entered inside their respective SUVs, and transformed into their other identities, (except for Hayden and Alan, whose forms were too big and heavy for the SUVs. Each SUV drove to the nearest airport.

            “Wait, we’re flying there?” The Spektrum (Code Silver) asked. “I… I don’t do well with airplanes…”

            The Anonymous Inc. agent escorting him gave him an annoyed look as he took out something.

            “I guess I can share my some of my Dramamine with you…”

            The Spektrum and the agent each took a Dramamine tablet with some water, and exited the SUV.

            Another identical SUV was parked nearby, and another Anonymous Inc. agent exited the vehicle. To The Spektrum’s surprise, The Alameda Catgirl also exited the SUV!

            “Oh, right,” she said aloud as she and her agent escort walked towards the plane with The Spektrum and his agent, “you live in San Leandro. We both end up at the Oakland Airport.”

            “Yeah,” Silver agreed. “It’s a surprise that shouldn’t really be surprising at all, huh?”

            “Yeah,” Catgirl said with a giggle.

            Together, the two agents and the two teenage superheroes entered the Leer Jet and took their seats, the agents near the front of the cabin by the cockpit door, the two teens sitting a few seats away from each other in the middle of the cabin. Within minutes, private jet took off towards Anonymous Inc. headquarters.

            A few moments of silence passed as the plane ascended, and Simon prayed that the Dramamine would take effect quickly. He looked over at Catgirl to see how she was fairing. Obviously she had no problems with flying, because she was excitedly looking outside the window, her tail swishing back and forth happily.

            “Hey,” she asked the agents. “Where is this place? The Anonymous Inc. headquarters, I mean.”

            “We’re not allowed to tell you,” her agent answered.

            “And we ask you not to look out the windows too much,” The Spektrum’s agent added.

            “No problem there,” The Spektrum answered.

            Catgirl’s attention turned to The Spektrum.

            “Don’t tell me you’re not curious about where this place is.”

            “I am,” he answered. “I just… don’t want to… aggravate my motion sickness… by looking outside.”

            Catgirl giggled as she asked, “You have motion sickness?”

            “Yes…”

            “Didn’t think such a strong, tough superhero would get sick on a plane,” she teased.

            “Oh, right, like I’m Superman, flying around in the sky.”

            Catgirl giggled again as she sat back in her seat.

            Eventually, the plane flattened out, and The Spektrum could relax.

            “You okay now?” Catgirl teased.

            “Yes,” The Spektrum chuckled. “But now, I’m hungry. Isn’t it about lunchtime?”

            One of the agents checked their wristwatch. It read 12:17PM.
            “I suppose lunch wouldn’t be out of the question.”

            The agent signaled to the back of the plane, and a female flight attendant came forward

            “What would you all like? We have hamburger patties, so almost any kind of burger is possible.”

            “Then I’ll have a Double Quarter Pounder and a Coke, please,” The Spektrum requested.

            “That does sound good,” Catgirl said. “But do you have any seafood, or fish related meals?”

            “I can make you a tuna sandwich if you like,” the flight attendant responded.

            “Thank you, that sounds good. And I’ll also have a Coke.”

            The flight attendant returned to the plane’s kitchen and made the burger and sandwich. About ten minutes later, the attendant returned and presented the two teens with their lunches. They thanked the attendant, and she returned to the back of the plane.

            “Wow this is good,” The Spektrum said after takig his first bite. “Like, they got this from an actual McDonald’s.”

            “Really?” Catgirl said. “Maybe I should have gone with that.”

            “You don’t like your sandwich?” he asked.

            “No, it’s good, too,” she said. “But now I’m kind of jealous.”

            The two kept eating, and he kept noticing her glancing over at him.

            “What?” he asked. “Did some ketchup spill on me?”

            “No, no,” she said. “Just… I dunno. We’re meeting in person. And…”

            “And what?”

            “Well, it’s going to be silly for me to say, but one of my friends—and I do mean an actual friend, not one of those hypothetical things where you say ‘friend’ to cover for yourself—she thinks you’re kiiinda cute.”

            “So your friend, who is a real person, thinks I’m cute,” he summarized.

            “Yes.”

            “Based off of pictures that were probably grainy and from far away,” The Spektrum said.

            “Don’t be so down on yourself,” Catgirl replied. “I’m seeing you in person now and… It’s not like you’re not good looking.”

            “Oh, okay,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not ugly, is what you’re saying.”

            “Yes,” she laughs.

            The Spektrum smiled at the compliment, even it if was oddly phrased. Then he remembered Cyndi, her compliments, and the kiss they shared. He felt odd, unsure if being so friendly with Catgirl was alright. It was true that Cyndi and The Spektrum weren’t really anything, but she liked him a lot. But he liked Catgirl as much as he did Cyndi, so he felt divided. He did his best to not think about it, and just focus on Catgirl. Well, not like that, but…

            “Well thanks,” he said. “I’m sure you hear this a lot, but you’re pretty cute yourself. I really like your pink hair and cat ears. You look like those catgirls in anime and manga.”

            “I know, it’s so cool! I love anime and manga, and not just because I’m Japanese.”

            “Oh, so you are Japanese?”

            Catgirl realized she had said what she said.

            “Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said that, it’s part of my secret identity.”

            “No, that’s alright,” he reassured her, chuckling a bit. “I’ll even us out and share my ethnicity so you know part of my secret identity.”

            “No, you shouldn’t!” Catgirl said adamantly.

            “Why? It’s not very fair that your’s is accidentally revealed, if only in part.”

            “Because,” she said, pausing to look around, “they could be listening.”

            “They?” he repeated.

            “The people inviting us to their headquarters.”

            “But they already figured out who we are,” he pointed out. “That’s how they knew where to send the vans.”

            Catgirl thought that over.

            “True… but…” Catgirl fretted while her cat ears turned out towards the sides of her head. “It’s customary for heroes to keep their identities fully secret, even from other heroes, right?”

            The Spektrum smiled. Catgirl’s strange “Nerd Code of Honor” that kept her dedicated to her role as a superhero was charming.

            “Alright, then, I won’t say anything specific about myself.”

            As the two ate their lunches, they talked about general things, like favorite foods, best subjects in school, hobbies, and things like that. One thing they were able to be specific about was what kind of anime and manga they enjoyed, and found that they liked similar kinds, including the series “I Heart Neko-Fist.”

            “Nya is so funny when she acts all tough,” The Spektrum brought up, “then almost instantly gets all soft and sweet like only a second after.”

            “I know, right? And she’s so cute in her school uniform.”

            “Yeah, very cute.”

            The Spektrum paused as he looked at Catgirl in her pink shorts and black T-Shirt.

            “I bet you’d look cuter, though.”

            Catgirl’s ears perked up, and she seemed to blush a bit.

            “Oh… Well… thank you.”

            Catgirl tried to stop blushing. But at the same time, she wondered why she had to stop. She has Shaun, but she can let another guy compliment her, can’t she?

            At that time, the plane started to descend, the signal that they had finally arrived. Everyone buckled in as the plane deployed its landing gear and touched down on the landing strip. Within a few minutes, the two teens were escorted out of the Leer jet and hurried over to a building.

            The Spektrum only had a few seconds to notice the surroundings. It wasn’t much, though, mostly flat land for miles in all directions. Perhaps they were in the Midwest?

            The building they entered was pretty big, but more wide and long than tall. It could afford to be, of course, since it was all alone out here. They entered inside, and saw that it was a giant hangar, with all kinds of jet planes sitting inside.

            The two were quickly ushered down a long flight of stairs.

            “Of course!” Catgirl marveled. “An underground headquarters! Genius!”

            At the bottom of the stairs, the two were led to their right, down a hallway, and finally into a large conference room with a long, rectangular table. Apparently, they were some of the last to arrive, telling The Spektrum that he and Catgirl lived the furthest away from the headquarters.

            The Spektrum glanced at a few of the others in the room. One young man wore Stunner Shades and a big jacket with tiger-stripes on it. Obviously he was “Tiger” from the conference call. Another guest was a young African-American with an orange letter H on the chest of his shirt. The two appeared rather accustomed, like they’ve been here for some time. In Tiger’s case, he looked rather impatient. The Spektrum figured they must live closest to Anonymous Incorporated’s secret headquarters.

            A pair of guys stood together off to the right, and they looked like brothers--one older and one younger--though their hair colors were an unnatural silver and gold, respectively. They wore dark clothing, mostly black but with shades of gray in a camouflage design up the sides of their shirts. The silver haired brother had a bushy ponytail while the golden haired brother styled his in spikes that resembled a hedgehog.

            The Spektrum saw the other super-heroin from the conference call over to their right. She wore what resembled a wizard’s hat, but with a drooping tip and pointed brim, and a long jacket that matched the hat in color in being a soft bluish-purple. She had long black hair that flowed down to her waist, and seemed to be holding a book with a tattered leather cover. She had a charm bracelet on her wrist, with five charms of various colors on it.

            “Good, now that everyone’s here, we can begin.”

            The Spektrum recognized the voice, and turned to see a man in a black trench coat and dark sunglasses enter from the left side of the room. The man signaled to his guests to sit, and they obeyed, Catgirl and The Spektrum taking seats next to one another. Across from them sit a young man with lots of piercings and another, skinnier young man with a Mutation T-Shirt. The skinny one glared at Catgirl before turning his attention to the man in black.

            “A couple of you already know who I am,” the man said. “I am Mr. Darklite, and I run Anonymous Inc. I‘m sure some of you are wondering how we found you in order to give contact you. Well, obviously that‘s thanks to the news.”

            Mr. Darklite laughed a bit, and everyone joined in with a chuckle of their own.

            “Yes, many of you have made the news. Most notably, The Spektrum.”

            Everyone turned to face The Spektrum, and he felt both awkward and flattered.

            “Surviving against ruthless alien criminals,” Darklite commented with a tone of impressed amazement. “Especially that one with the strength to demolish a solid wall.”

            “Well, yeah,” The Spektrum replied, walking on the line between pride and modesty. “But his abundance in strength and durability balances out his sheer lack of intelligence.”

            Some more chuckles came from everyone, and The Spektrum made eye-contact with Catgirl. Her smile was so cute, and her golden-yellow eyes glimmered sweetly. He finally noticed the cute little mole, a perfect little dot, on her left cheek.

            Wow, he thought to himself, she is SO… CUTE!

            “You all know how you received the cards, so no need for me to explain that. As for why I have invited all of you here… Knowing that you all have your own cities’ and towns’ safety to worry about, on top of your everyday lives and the things associated with them, I decided that I and my powerful organization should help ease the stress.”

            “Why?” the girl with the wizard’s hat and leather book spoke up, drawing attention to herself. Her reaction showed that she didn‘t really mean to attract such attention, but she continued on with her question. “Why did you feel that you should help us?”

            “My dear, it is because I wanted to. I had originally created this organization so that I could help people, no matter their situation. And who else would be more deserving? I’m sure The Spektrum can attest to how difficult it is to fight criminals day after day.”

            Again, Darklite had turned the attention on him, and The Spektrum again felt slightly flattered, but also felt slightly awkward.

            “It does get to be a hassle,” he admitted. “But it isn’t really getting in the way, exactly. I don’t know why, but Zorb doesn’t seem interested in attacking at anytime other than during school hours.”

            “But what about that time he robbed the Safeway?” Tiger brought up. The Spektrum cringed.

            “I wasn’t going to be able to get there in time,” The Spektrum admitted. “I wasn’t fast enough then.”

            “I would’ve gotten there in time,” Tiger scoffed, causing a bit of an uproar from some of the others.

            “No you wouldn’t have!” Catgirl said in The Spektrum’s defense. “Even with a car, you wouldn’t be able to get from the school to the Safeway in the time it took Zorb and his guys to do what they did.”

            “Calm down, Kitty Cat,” Tiger said with a grin. “I didn’t realize I insulted your boyfriend.”

            “Kitty Cat?!” she echoed with her ears pointed back. “First off, we are not boyfriend and girlfriend, ok? But I do not appreciate you talking like you’re better than him, or anyone else, for that matter. You couldn’t do better than him because you’re not better than him!”

            Catgirl sat back and took in a deep breath. The Spektrum was pretty surprised at her passionate argument.

            “Ms. Catgirl makes a good point,” Mr. Darklite said after he was sure she was done. “No one here is all powerful. But with my help, I can at least help you be faster to respond.”

            Everyone turned their attention to Mr. Darklite again, curious as to what he meant.

            “With my agents stationed locally at each ofy our locations, Anonymous Inc. can assure that you all have transportation in the case something like the Safeway robbery happens again so that you will be able to stop it.

            “But of course, I brought you all together for more than just stopping robberies and petty crimes. I brought you together in the hopes of creating safety throughout the entire world.”

            The nine teens looked at each other in slight curiosity, and eventually looked back at Mr. Darklite.

            “How are we going to keep peace around the world?” one of the two brothers asked. “If we’re not fast enough to get from one part of a city to another in time to stop a criminal, then how’re we supposed to get to another country?”

            “With my help, obviously! My organization arranged car and plane rides for you all, didn’t it?”

            All nine admitted to this truth.

            “So it is easily within Anonymous Inc’s means of securing plane and helicopter rides to wherever you are needed around the world. Now, we won’t be dealing with the small things that local authorities can handle. I’m talking about taking care of things that your powers can make seem small.”

            The nine had to think about what Mr. Darklite was even talking about.

            “So, if things like robbing a store are small,” the other brother began, “then large things would be …?”

            “Well, things like gang violence and organized crime. True superheroic feats! I believe our friend, Homeboy, can attest to such things.”

            Mr. Darklite turned everyone’s attention to the young man with the H on his chest.

            “As the news reports, his neighborhood is dealing with a new and vicious group of thugs, the Sons of Brooklyn.”

            Homeboy appeared a bit uncomfortable, but he spoke up.

            “Yeah, they’ve been acting like they run the whole area. They run amuck on Church Avenue, making it hard for the businesses that run along that street to do much of anything. They rough up people who go near their favorite hangout spots along that street, at least while they’re there. They intimidate store and restaurant owners into letting them get what they want for whatever they feel like paying, and threaten to cause damage to their place if they don’t. And to make matters worse, they use the cemetery on Brooklyn Avenue as a way to cross over unseen and uninterrupted into other neighborhoods.”

            Everyone was clearly bothered by the story of how the Sons of Brooklyn acted.

            “Clearly,” Mr. Darklite spoke up, “everyone agrees that these Sons of Brooklyn are nothing more than a menace, and should be stopped.”

            Everyone voiced their agreement.

            “Who’d use a cemetery as a shortcut?” the girl in the wizard hat questioned rhetorically.

            “Then I believe we have our first mission as Team Anonymous,” Mr. Darklite said. “We shall help Homeboy clear his neighborhood of those unruly gangster menaces.”

            Everyone smiled and felt good about this decision.

            “But… we only need a few of you,” Mr. Darklite added. “No sense in using you all to deal with these brutes.”

            The nine looked around at each other, unsure why they all couldn’t go.

            “Well, clearly, a robot and a half-shark, half-dinosaur aren’t needed to merely capture a group of humans.”

            “But the Sons of Brooklyn have a lot more members than just those half-dozen or so I defeated,” Homeboy mentioned.

            “Even so, I don’t think Metal-Head and Tyranno-Shark will be needed.”

            “But what if they have guns?!” Catgirl brought up. “I think a robot with armor would do better than any of us.”

            “I believe that The Spektrum’s Force Field ability should suffice,” Darklite responded.

            “How… How did you know I could do that?” The Spektrum was stunned.

            “It may have not been in the news,” Darklite pointed out, though The Spektrum already knew that, “but I have eyes and ears everywhere. I saw that fight with those aliens, courtesy of one of my Anonymous Agents.

            “Now, back on topic. I also do not feel Metal-head and Tyranno-Shark should go because I have a different job for them. And a different job for Sylfia, separate from everyone else.”

            Darklite pointed everyone’s attention to the girl in the wizard hat. She felt uneasy with all of them looking at her, but she straightened up and used what confidence she had to speak up.

            “You have a… special mission for me, sir?”

            “Yes, a recruitment mission! Hayden was on one when he made contact with Alan, and I need you to go and recruit two others for me.”

            “Two?”

            “Yes, we can talk about the details in my office. Same goes for Alan and Hayden. The rest of you can spend some time socializing in the other rooms, such as our exercise room.”

            Mr. Darklite nodded to one of the agents, who opened up the door. Everyone filed out into the hallway, and Mr. Darklite led Metal-head, Tyranno-Shark, and Sylfia down and to the right. Meanwhile, The Spektrum, Catgirl, and the others were led down and to the left by the agents to the exercise room.

 

            Mr. Darklite sat at his desk, and the three teens sat in chairs in front of him. Mr. Darklite pulled out some files from a desk, then held them out in front of Sylfia.

            “These are the two that my agents believe are the ones you’ll be recruiting.”

            Sylfia took the files and opened up the first.

            “Vincent ‘Vince’ Aaron. 5 foot 7, 115 pounds… 16 years old, sandy blonde, green eyes… lives in Red Oak, Iowa.”

            Sylfia then opened the other file.

            “Randall ‘Randy’ Cary. 5 foot 8, 120 pounds… 16 years old, black hair, brown eyes… also lives in Red Oak, Iowa. Now I get it, since they’re both in the same city, it’s the whole ‘two birds, one stone’ thing.”

            “Very good, Sylfia,” Darklite complimented. “Now, we are also using you to recruit them because of the rumors about their powers. It would seem that they have powers from one of those MMORPG games, the kind with wizards and knights and the like. I believe those are the kind of games from which your superpowers come from.”

            “Yeah,” Sylfia answered. “Mine was Enchanted Excellence. It isn’t as popular anymore, but it still has a good sized fan base.”

            “Well, as soon as you’re ready,” Mr. Darklite said as he pressed a button, “my men will be happy to take you to them.”

            “What? Like, today?”

            “Of course! Why put off something like this? These boys have something in common with you, and with everyone. We should add them to our team as soon as possible.”

            “Well, I guess… I’ll do my best.”

            An agent entered the office, and Mr. Darklite and Sylfia stood up. The agent escorted Sylfia out of the office and to a helipad on the roof of the hangar on the surface. Within minutes, the helicopter took off in a North by Northeast direction, headed for Red Oak, Iowa.

 

            The Spektrum and Catgirl paced in a small circle in the middle of the exercise room as they talked some more. Again, they were making sure to be mostly general.

            “So how long have you been living in San Leandro?” Catgirl asked.

            “Since I was five. It’s all I really know.”

            “The same way with me and Alameda,” Catgirl admitted.

            The two thought quietly for a moment. Catgirl was the first to speak up.

            “When we were talking about Zorb and the Safeway earlier… you said you weren’t fast enough          then. Does that mean you’re fast enough now? Or that you‘ll be fast enough eventually?”

            The Spektrum looked at her, and smirked.

            “I don’t know…”

            In a flash of red light, The Spektrum Code Red had disappeared and reappeared behind Catgirl.

            “You tell me.”

            She whipped around, and laughed in surprise.

            “Wait, how…?”

            “Over Drive. I can only use it as Code Red, but it grants me super speed for a limited time. It‘s one more strange power that I got from winning against Zorb‘s men.”

            “So exactly how fast are you?” Catgirl asked as she moved in close, her lips curled mischievously.

            The Spektrum looked around the room, noting its dimensions. He saw some good sized rubber balls in one corner, placed on shelves. He got an idea, and hurried over. He picked out one that was about the size of a soccer ball, and hurried back to Catgirl.

            “Kick this one to the other side of the room,” he instructed as he handed it to her,
“and I’ll meet it there.”

            “Okay…” Catgirl was skeptical about The Spektrum’s super speed, but she did as he said. Like a punter, she dropped the ball and kicked it before it hit the ground.

            The ball flew in a long arc as another flash of red signaled Over Drive’s activation. The Spektrum was a glowing red blur as he raced to beat the ball to the end of the arch. With a second to spare, The Spektrum Code Red had passed the ball up and caught it in his arms.

            “No way!” Catgirl exclaimed.

Before she had time to think of anything else to say, another red blur headed her way, and The Spektrum had returned with the ball.

“That’s amazing! You’re like The Flash!”

            “Maybe,” he humbly said with a chuckle. “I’m sure he’d be faster.”

            “Alright, but what about your other stats?” she asked. “How tough are you really? How strong?”

            “I dunno,” he shrugged. “It’s hard to get a good scale when I’m fighting people that aren’t human.”

            “Hmm…” Catgirl hummed as she looked him up and down. “Y’know what? I bet I could take you.”

            “Excuse me?” he almost laughed. “You? Against me?”

            “Why not? I don’t exactly have a good scale just taking on humans.”

            “But that doesn’t mean you’d be on par with me.”

            “Is that some sort of gender thing? Guys are automatically stronger than girls?”

            “No, I just think that if it’s between you and me, I win.”

            “Then prove it.”

            “What?”

            “Fight me!” she said as she took a stance.

            “I’m not fighting with you.”

            “Why not? It’ll just be sparring.”

            “I’m not sparring with you.”

            “You scared you’ll lose?”

            “I’m not scared I’ll lose.”

            Catgirl suddenly swung a kick at him! But then she missed. She looked down and saw he took a quick step back. She smirked and kept advancing.

            “Are we really doing this?” he asked as he watched her closely. “Are you really trying to fight me?”

            She suddenly jumped up into the air thrusting a knee, but moved out of the impact’s way. Of course, the rest of her was still flying through the air. The Spektrum became Code Yellow and he caught her onto his shoulders.

            “Whoa~!” she said as the two almost fell over face first. “W-What’re you doing?!”

            “Electric Chair,” he said. “If I wanted, I could drop back and you’d take the worst of it.”

            “Yeah right!” she said as she suddenly leaned back!

            She kept hold of his head with her legs, and he knew she was planning on throwing him. But he became Code Silver, and used his own strength to prevent that. Instead, Catgirl ended up just hanging backwards while he held her legs.

            “Hey!” she said. “Let me go!”

            “Nah I kinda like having you as a backpack.”

            “Let go because my shirt’s coming up!!”

            “Oh, sorry!”

            He let go and she landed on her feet.

            “Thank you,” she said, before jumping up with another knee!

            Code Yellow returned to catch it.

            “That’s not fair,” he said with a smirk. “I thought we were done.”

            He yanked her leg forward, but she did the splits!

            “Whoa!” he said with wide eyes and a big grin.

            “Bay Island Gymnastics, baby!” she cheered. “I still got it.”

            “Still got it? So you stopped?”

            “Yeah,” she said as she stood up. “Stuff just got in the way.”

            She then gave him a sideways glance.

            “And it’s not what you think,” she said as she crossed her arms to futily cover her chest.

            “I wasn’t thinking that,” he said quickly. “It was life, right? High school.”

            “Yeah,” she said, relaxing. “Freshman year was my last with the gym because I just couldn’t do it all.”

            “That’s understandable,” he said. “I started running into that, too. It’s just how growing up is.”

            “Yeah,” she said again with a nod and soft smile.

            Meanwhile, the two brothers were standing together, and marveled at what they had seen from both The Spektrum and Catgirl.

            “Pretty awesome,” the younger commented.

            “More like very,” the older said. “He’s got super speed on command and a force field. That’s a good combination. Not to mention that color changing thing, that’s pretty neat. And clearly those ears and tail aren’t just props.”

            The younger took a closer look at Catgirl as she talked with The Spektrum.

            “She looks familiar,” he said to his brother.

            “Yeah, I know what you mean,” the older brother responded. “She reminds me of our cousin.”

            The younger brother than had a revelation.

            “Dude, I think that IS our cousin!”

            “What’re you talking about?”

            “Think about it, man! Who do we know that loves cats as much as her? And dressed up as a cat for Halloween until she was 10?”

            “True. And she looks just like her. But we need to be sure.”

            The older brother moved closer.

            “Itoko! <Cousin!>” he called out to her in Japanese. “Ō sugiru mame, ne? <Too many beans, right?>”

            Catgirl jumped in surprise, and turned her head to look at him.

            “Wha--?” she said, taking a moment to think where she heard that before. “Seth?! Jeff?!”

            “Oi oi!” <Hey, hey!>” the younger brother said. “Hontō no namae wa arimasen! <Not our real names!>“

            “Gomen, gomen! <Sorry, sorry!>” Catgirl apologized in Japanese. “Shikashi, anata wa ryōhō no sūpāhīrō desu ka? Muri muri! <But, you’re both superheroes?! That’s impossible!>“

            “Soredewa dō shita no? <Then how come we’re here?>” the older countered.

            The three cousins laughed and talked rapidly in perfect Japanese, telling the stories of what happened on “Surge Day”.

            “Not to be rude,” The Spektrum interjected, “but um… I don’t know Japanese…”

            “Oh, sorry,” Catgirl said with a giggle. “These are my cousins, Se--”

            “Use our Handles,” the younger cousin, Jeff, suggested. “I’m Kid Lightning, and this is Fox… something. Or Something Fox.”

            “Haven’t come up with anything good yet, so it’s just ‘Fox’ for now,” the older one, Seth, admitted.

            “And since we’re her cousins, make sure you don’t get all handsy like you just did,” Jeff/Lightning told Spektrum.

            “Noted,” Spektrum said.

            “It turns out they were both playing the same game together when the power surge hit their house,” Catgirl informed The Spektrum. “Though, the news hasn’t really reported much about a pair of heroes.”

            “Maybe not your Alameda news,” Kid Lightning said. “But our local Santa Cruz news had it on television that ‘two mysterious young men stopped an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven.’”

            “Well no wonder you’re here!” Catgirl teased. “But with you two, that makes four Californian super-teens. That‘s so cool! So what can you two do?”

            “Well,” Kid Lightning said, “as my name suggests, I--”

            Just then, Mr. Darklite entered the room.

            “Alright, everyone, the plane is refueled and ready to take you to New York.”

            The six super-teens were led to the hangar on the surface, and boarded another Leer Jet, with three Anonymous Inc. agents accompanying them.

            “So what, we’re just going in there as we are?” Catgirl asked from the doorway. “Aren’t you going to have armed agents or something join us?”

            “That’s what I’ve been wondering,” Homeboy said. “This is an entire gang we’re fighting, they’ll have us outnumbered 3 to 1 at least.”

            “There’s no need to send more than you six,” Mr. Darklite said confidently from the foot of the airplane stairs. “You all have the power to take care of such miscreants. I know it and you know it. If it really gets out of hand, there are always the local authorities to back you. Now go, there’s no time to lose!”

            A little confused, Catgirl entered inside and the six teens took their seats. Within a few minutes, the plane had moved out of the hangar and on to an air strip, and took off towards the East Coast.