A wailing siren was focused on next. It was loud and screeching-- about as bad as nails on a chalkboard he thought.
Jason opened his eyes and found himself in a large room, almost like an operating room. A viewing gallery was located high on the wall before him. Flashing lights sent red shadows about the room. He was laying on a small bed and held down by straps. "What's going on here!?"
Surging forward, Jason snapped the straps holding him and sat up. "How'd I do that?", he thought. Amazed, Jason look at himself and found that constricting feeling was caused by the spandex jump suit that he was wearing. It was yellow and green, and highlighted the features of his body. To his own astonishment, it wasn't the body that he remembered. That's not to say that Jason had been that out of shape, no-- he just had never been in this good of shape. His body was now tight and well cut-- no flab anywhere. What had once been skinny, underdeveloped limbs were now well toned.
Overcoming that shock, but not understanding it, Jason looked around. On his left were two more beds, actually more like mobile beds used in hospitals, he realized upon seeing them. A young blonde haired woman was on each of the remaining beds, both secured down with straps like Jason had been. Each wore a matching yellow and green spandex jump suit, without gloves or boots.
The closest woman was a little over 5'3" in height. Her hair was shoulder length, long and wavy. Her form was athletic with well toned muscles. Jason's eyes lingered on the girl. He felt as if he should know her but just couldn't place her at the moment.
The other young woman was just beginning to come around. She was a bit taller then the first and her blonde hair was short and curly. The girl tried to sit up and encountered the straps holding her down. Jason moved to free her, but inexplicably her bonds snapped in a flash! The girl didn't seem fazed by this act. Upon seeing Jason, she waved and gave out a cheerful "Hiya!"
"Uhm, hello," Jason stammered. The girl was on the cute side and he was unfamiliar with such girls casually talking to him before. As he eyed the girl over, she looked around the room with wide-eyed wonderment, as if she had never seen such a thing before. Then he noticed that there was a name tag stitched over her heart that said "Jennifer".
"Hello, Jennifer," Jason said, this time louder and with more confidence. She didn't appear to hear him since she didn't respond to her name being called. Jason shrugged and turned to the other woman.
"This place is SO cool!" The first girl's voice was full of wonder. "What do you call it?"
"I guess it's an operating room." Jason undid the straps holding the shorter blonde as he answered. He gazed at her name and let out a small gasp of surprise. "Jessica?!"
"Okay, so what do you operate here?"
"Weird," Jason thought to himself at Jennifer's comment. The girl clearly didn't have much upstairs. Jessica was a very different story. Jason knew just who she was and he felt very stupid for not realizing it immediately! Jason began to free her from the bonds.
"Jess? Are you okay?"
The girl stirred, her green eyes flashed open. "What's going on?"
"I'm not really sure-- I hope it's a bad dream."
"Jason? Is that really you?" The girl's eyes focused in on Jason and she seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to her. "Where--? How--? You're a lot taller than I remember."
Jason's parents had divorced when he was six years old. He stayed with his father in Detroit, while his mother moved to Miami with his sister. It had been years since Jason had last seen his sister, Jessica McTaggert.
Jessica sat on the side of the bed and shook off the cobwebs, while rubbing her wrists. "What is this place? And what's that darn racket all about?"
"I wish I knew... Oh, Jess, this is Jennifer." Once more Jennifer seemingly ignored Jason. "Excuse me? Jennifer?"
The girl turned and looked at him. "Who's Jennifer?"
"Uhm, I think you're Jennifer. At least that's what your name tag says." Jason pointed towards her name label. Jennifer's blue eyes followed and locked on to it.
"Gee, my name must be Jennifer then. Cool!"
"It's girls like her who give blondes a bad name." Jessica shook her head at the whole exchange. Jess stood and stretched while Jason looked around. "This has got to be an elaborate joke. And what gives with these tacky outfits?" Jessica eyed the spandex outfit critically at first and then with a bit of a surprise.
"Let me guess," Jason said upon seeing his sibling's confusion. "You weren't in this good of shape before." He experimentally tapped a few keys at a computer terminal, but the system wasn't functional.
"No, not quite-- But I'm not complaining."
"I know what you mean. I didn't look like this either." Jason found a shiny spot on the wall and regarded himself in the makeshift mirror. His brown hair was a bit longer than normal, his eyes still as blue. But his body was different-- as if he had spent weeks engaged in heavy exercise. He nodded at his image in appreciation of his new look.
Suddenly there was a loud crash outside the room. All three of the teens turned to face the door as a large dent formed in it. Jason and Jessica looked on with a great deal of fear. Jennifer didn't appear to be afraid at all. She happily skipped up towards the door. "I'll get it!"
"NO!", Jessica screamed, when she realized what the girl intended to do.
Jason sprinted towards the door and as he did, something remarkable happened. The floor beneath his feet began to rise up and propel him forward! It was if he was riding a wave like a surfer, only it was a solid floor instead! Jason was so surprised that he nearly fell. But he managed to hang on and intercepted Jennifer far faster then he could have by running. He grabbed the startled girl and they slid off together to the side of the door.
That was a good thing as the door was blasted off its hinges a moment later and smashed into the far wall of the operating room. A figure had been sent sprawling into the room as well! The eyes of Jason and Jessica locked onto it. Both of their jaws dropped in abject horror. Jennifer giggled into Jason's ear, "WHEE!! Let's do that again!"
The figure on the floor began to rise. It was vaguely man-shaped, but horribly deformed. Its spine and open bowels could be seen and smelled. Jessica looked away and tried to keep from vomiting. Jason unconsciously held onto Jennifer a little tighter. The giggling girl didn't seem to mind at all.
"You're ass is mine, you son of a--!" Turning back to the door, Jason saw a man in blue and silver armor with what looked like a small cannon strapped to his right forearm. The air crackled around the cannon as it unleashed another blast of plasma. The discharge slammed into the horrific figure and embedded it in the far wall with a sickening thud!
From behind the armored man, came a very tall woman. She stood nearly a full foot taller than Jason, and was taller than the armored figure as well. "A warrior has perished, monster!" The woman stepped clear of the armored figure and revealed that she was entirely blue in color. Her skin was light blue; her hair a darker blue. She wore sneakers, socks, and a very tight spandex bodysuit that left very little to the imagination. She was extremely muscular. Her arms were larger than Jason's legs. "Honor demands that he be avenged!!"
The blue-skinned woman rushed across the room covering the distance in bounds. She picked up the bashed-in door and slammed it hard into the sickening figure in the wall. The thing's spine snapped in two and the upper half fell to the floor with a plop. Not content with that, the blue skinned woman slammed the door down on the creature again and smashed its skull.
The teens looked on like frightened deer caught in the headlights of an advancing semi. None of them had spoken or even moved. The blue-skinned woman tossed the heavy steel door aside like it was made of paper. The man in the armor moved to point blank range and unloaded on the creature's remains with his arm-mounted cannon. Surely it had to be dead by now!
Finally, the two became aware of the teens in the room. The blue-skinned woman looked at them, but said nothing. The man in armor was clearly not happy. "More snakes! You bastards are responsible for this and you're gonna pay!" The air around his cannon began to crackle once more...
Outside, the Tigress was having fun with her three VIPER prey. If she couldn't get a quantity of fights, she would at least make the most of the ones she did have.
The Tigress didn't waste any time in pressing her advantage on the startled agents. Leaping directly at the middle one, she latched on to his shoulders. Using them as a brace, she swung around and kicked the VIPER agent to his left square in the face. As her momentum carried her over the fallen agent, the one supporting her was spun about in a tight circle. Before he could recover his balance, she dropped him to the ground with a leg sweep from behind.
"Care to dance? This guy's a little too clumsy for me," the Tigress said, as she turned to the remaining standing VIPER agent.
"I'll make ya dance, sweetheart!", the agent said, while firing his blaster on full automatic. He waved the weapon back and forth, filling the alley with blaster fire. Unfortunately for him, he never connected with his target.
The Tigress leapt into the air to avoid the first volley and then cartwheeled down the alley a step ahead of the frantic agent's bursts. She dodged behind a dumpster, which absorbed a flurry of blaster shots. A moment later the firing stopped. As the Tigress peeked around the corner of her "shield", another burst of fire sent her scattering back for cover.
"Sheesh! That little mousey has a nasty bite of his own," the Tigress mused. "But I can't just stay back here, it stinks!"
Looking into the dumpster, she pulled out a garbage bag and flung it high into the air. As expected, the agent filled the air with fire, blowing the trash bag apart. At the same moment, the Tigress ran out from the other side of the dumpster straight at the surprised man. She nailed him in the stomach with a sharp punch and then pulled the weapon from the agent's hands. A quick flip sent the rifle up onto the roof behind her.
"Not so tough without your little gun, are you, Mr. Mouse?" Looking down, she saw one of the fallen agents start to stand. Turning, she delivered a sharp kick to his midsection, which forced a grunt from his lips.
Using the opportunity while her attention was diverted, the disarmed VIPER agent turned and ran. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the agent making a break for it, but decided to finish the man in front of her. Grabbing his head in both hands, she smashed his face into the side of the dumpster. Turning back to the fleeing agent, she stood watching him run, her hands on her hips.
"Why do they always want to do it the hard way?", the Tigress asked herself. She waited a moment longer, gauging the distance the man had covered. Suddenly in a graceful and powerful move, she ran forward a few steps and leapt. Like a mighty jungle cat, she covered the growing space between them effortlessly. Landing directly on the agent's back, she drove him to the ground. She continued into tumble and was standing in front of the exasperated man in a instant.
"You're not human!", the agent screamed in astonishment. She had covered almost seventy feet with that leap.
"Of course, silly", she said, and snap-kicked him in the jaw. Her bare foot and animal tooth anklet would be the last thing he would see for a long time.
Elsewhere, a streak of lightning flew out of the burning warehouse and towards the distant Lone Star 3, the jet of the Superior Seven. The bolt flew inside the craft and into its computer system. A few moments later, it emerged and reverted to Captain Lightning's true form.
Cap rushed to the computer he had just exited and sat before it. His fingers danced over the keyboard as he examined the bits of data that he managed to save before the Nest's computer net collapsed. A smile came to his face--- Yes, this was indeed important information!
The scene outside the jet was a chaotic mess. By now the local police had arrived on the scene to take the rounded up snakes into custody. Fire engines had pulled up and the work on containing the blaze had begun. Surveying all of this was the Gladiator, Archangel, Titan, and the Sorceress.
"A smooth operation," Gladiator remarked. This was the kind of result that he liked. No surprises and a quick neutralization of the enemy.
"I wonder what's taking so long inside." The Titan, still thirty feet tall, was trying to peer into the burning warehouse.
The Sorceress took out her communicator and spoke into it. "Comet? Sapphire? Can you read me." Silence was her only reply. "Centurion? Starbolt? Please respond!" Again, only silence. I do not like this, my friends..."
"Hey, what's not to like?" Turning, the four heroes saw the Tigress returning with a trio of VIPER agents being dragged behind her. She dropped them at the Gladiator's feet. "Here's my little contribution to this shin-dig, Sarge."
The Gladiator nodded toward his student. It was about the closest thing to a compliment he gave out. "I wondered where you had been keeping yourself." While not truly a feline, the Tigress exhibited many cat-like traits. Such as dropping off prey at the feet of those they have affection for. The Gladiator guessed that his student was unaware of these traits.
"Well, you know me-- I stopped off at the pet shop for some nice, juicy birds but all I found was a trio of slimey snakes instead. Say, where's everyone else?"
"We don't know," Archangel said to his fellow student. "They're still inside..." The Tigress looked at the flaming building and didn't say a word.
Down inside the base, Starbolt and Photon exchanged attacks. Both were fairly well matched given the circumstances. Starbolt had not the room to take full advantage of his mobility. The fiery hero's idea of combat tactics was to blast his foes into ashes.
Photon grew up on the streets but fought a thinking man's battle, goading Starbolt into wasting his energy.
"Hey, you jive-turkey!" Photon emerged from behind a machine and waved his hands at Starbolt.
"Hold that pose and I'll frag your butt!" Starbolt blasted away, but to his amazement Photon was ready! His silvery armor reflected the fire blast right back to its source! Starbolt felt the force of his own attack and screamed in frustration. "You're toast, man! Toast!"
Photon ducked into hiding once more and moved around the room. "Dude might be right if this lasts much longer," Photon thought to himself. "Only one thing left to do..."
Starbolt soared overhead and got the drop on Photon! "You're all mine, tin-britches!" Starbolt fired once more, and once more he was amazed as his violent attack simply passed harmlessly through Photon! The attack slammed in to the power generator behind Photon and it exploded!
The force of the explosion threw Starbolt across the room. Fire filled the room and a second explosion, far more violent than the first, shook the entire complex. "Aw MAN!", Starbolt exclaimed.
"You are one serious bone-head, my man," Photon taunted as he walked through the wall and down into the sewers. This particular hunt had gone sour and Photon had no desire to go up with the complex.
Starbolt took to the air once more, the fire wouldn't hurt him, but too many more explosions could get mighty uncomfortable. He paused only when he saw the prone half-man, half-alligator creature lying on the floor. "I know I'm going to regret this..." Grabbing the creature, Starbolt flew out of the flame-filled room and headed towards the surface.
A few minutes earlier, back in the operating room, Centurion cut loose with his plasma cannon and blew a huge hole in the wall behind where Jason and Jennifer had been standing. Jason had tried to run and once more the floor rose up and propelled him out of harm's way.
Jessica shouted, "Hey! Leave my brother alone!", and pointed at Centurion. Unexpectedly, a blast of concentrated water leaped from her hands, slamming into the armored hero! A fog surrounded the surprised hero as the heat from the plasma cannon evaporated the water. Jess looked down at her hands in utter shock. "How did that happen...?"
Centurion was enraged, and prepared to fire at Jessica. The air crackled around his plasma cannon when suddenly the floor rose up to imprison him! "What the hell is going on?!"
"I'm not sure," Jason stammered out. "I don't know how I did that, but it was me."
"Thanks for the save, brother." Jessica smiled at her sibling, gaining a new respect for him.
"Hey, you're family."
"I don't care who you are, you're dog-meat!" Centurion shattered the earthen bonds holding him and prepared to go on the offensive once more. That is until a blue hand grasped his shoulder and stopped him dead in his tracks.
"You grieve for your fallen comrade, as do I," Sapphire said. "But your lust for vengeance has blinded your reason."
"Let me go, blue bell! They're VIPER!"
"I'm not working for VIPER," Jessica said indignantly. "I've got more taste than that."
"She's right," Jason added. "We're just kids who woke up here in these clothes. Somehow we have super powers."
Sapphire ignored Centurion's order and used her superior strength to force the armored hero to face her. Unwittingly, her hand embedding in his armored shell. "Do you not see? Do you not understand?"
"What are you talking about?" Centurion's rage was beginning to leave him.
"Young humans with super powers. The very reason we came to this place."
Sapphire's words sank into the thick-headed armored hero. "VIPER is behind the increase in supers! It makes sense!" The azure warrior released her comrade and he turned towards the teens. "I'm sorry, kids-- I lost it." Centurion pointed to the fallen monster and added, "That-- thing-- killed a teammate of mine... And I--"
After an uncomfortable silence, Jason spoke. "Hey, everything's cool now. I'm Jason, that's my sister Jessica, and this is Jennifer."
Jennifer walked forward and greeted the two heroes with another cheerful, "Hiya!" She moved closer and was towered over by Sapphire. "Gee, your skin is all blue-- Are you sad?"
"Sad?", Sapphire parroted. "A warrior has fallen. He shall be missed."
"Where are we anyway?", Jessica asked.
"El Paso, Texas," Centurion responded. "I'm Centurion of the Superior Seven, and my large comrade here is Sapphire. She's with the Young Champions."
"El Paso?" Jason was shocked by that. He was figuring either Miami or Detroit. But why El Paso? "I guess I should be able to make it home by Christmas."
"You could probably make it walking if you had to," Centurion said.
"What do you mean? What's today's date?"
"April 23rd, 1986."
Jason and Jessica were visibly shocked. "April! The last thing I remember it was December!"
Suddenly, an explosion was heard in the distance and the whole room shook violently!
"Everyone outta here!" Centurion directed the teens and Sapphire out of the room and into the hallway beyond. The three teens obeyed without question, but came to a dead halt outside the doorway.
The scene was one out of some gory horror movie. Numerous bodies, most in VIPER uniforms, were scattered about. Blood was everywhere and several of the victims' skulls had been split open.
"Oh my God...," Jessica uttered. "This is too disgusting."
"Eeww!" Jennifer didn't seem as grossed out as the others were. "I'm not walking through there. I'll get my feet dirty!"
"Do not fear, little one..." Sapphire began to say. To her momentary surprise, Jennifer rose into the air and floated down the hall over the carnage on the floor. "WHEEEEE!!", Jennifer shouted.
"She's a fruit cake!" Centurion moved past Jason and Jessica and down the corridor. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!"
Jason put his arm around his sister's shoulder. "It's all right." He surged forward and like before, the ground rose to propel him and Jessica along. Sapphire brought up the rear.
Suddenly, there was yet another explosion. This one was more powerful than the first. Hunks of plaster and concrete fell from the walls. A door at the far end of the hallway, opposite the direction the heroes were going, blew off its hinges in a violent display and crashed into Sapphire! A wall of fire raced down the corridor behind it!
