The four cops arrived on Earth at Westview Spaceport, on the west coast of the United States.
"Okay, here's the territory we're going to try to cover today," Stewart said, opening a map and pointing out an area. "There's been more crime around here recently than the local cops can handle."
"So that's where we come in," Milligan said.
"Yeah. They apparently think that four people will make a difference. Anyway, old San Francisco and the new version are going to be our heaviest-hit areas. We'll split off, and if you find anything, call the rest of us. Got it?"
The other three nodded and each hopped onto a waiting Turbo Wing. Stewart watched them fly off then mounted his own ride and sped off himself.
"Guys," Payton said over the communicator, "I've got something here. Seems there are still people who don't know that automobiles aren't public property. There's quite a bit of them, so get here quickly."
He dismounted his ride and parked it behind a corner, then peeked out from behind a building and scanned the area. He saw seven large men, all with club-style weapons, breaking into cars. Geez, he thought, the other three had better get here soon. Suddenly he saw a local police car come up, sirens wailing, and two cops emerged from it.
"Step away from the cars!" one commanded. The other advanced toward the crooks, gun brandished. With this display of aggression, the seven rushed the cop.
Payton raced around from behind the building, and flashed his badge at the first cop, yelling "I.P.F.!" He drew his pistol and fired at the crooks, and the other two cops finally fired their own guns. Three of the crooks fell, and the other four sought shelter behind the cars. They returned fire, knocking one of the cops to the ground.
Payton and the other cop squatted behind the police car. "Well, this is fun," the officer said.
"Relax, buddy," Payton replied. "My group is on their way."
A moment later, Robbins and Milligan came around the corner on their bikes, and fired the cannons mounted on the handlebars. The crooks, caught in a crossfire, shot their pistols off and ducked into an alley. Milligan's ride was struck in a vulnerable spot, and crashed into the ground. He was thrown to the street fifteen feet beyond.
The San Francisco cop hopped on Payton's bike and joined Robbins in pursuit of the criminals, and Payton raced over to check on Milligan.
"Milligan, you okay?"
Milligan groaned. "Yeah, I'll be all right." He rose and limped over to the three downed crooks. "We should cuff these guys before they wake up and escape."
"Yeah." They handcuffed the crooks and dragged them into the police car. Milligan sighed and sank to the ground, sitting up against the car.
Stewart arrived on his ride a moment later. "Am I too late for the party?" he asked Payton.
"Nope," Payton replied. "They went that way."
"Thanks. You guys coming?"
"Nope, we'll take these three yahoos into custody."
"Have fun!" He sped off.
"Always," Payton murmured under his breath.
A couple miles outside the city, there was a set of cliffs known as the Bay Leaps, named by daredevil divers who hailed the cliffs as some of the most challenging of all the favorite locales for cliff-diving.
The remaining four car thieves had mounted Turbo Wings, one each on two bikes and a third bike containing the other two crooks, and headed towards the Leaps. They had just finished navigating the forest and had come to the clearing by the west cliff when the cops caught up to them.
Stewart fired and hit one of the single-rider bikes, which spun out of control and forced the rider to leap off it. The local cop swooped down and stopped his bike, dismounted and tackled the criminal. "You guys got the rest?" he asked Robbins and Stewart through the communicator.
"Affirmative!" came the reply. "Just get that guy into a cell."
"Ten-four."
After a short while the criminals' two bikes split off, one going to the north cliff and one to the south. Robbins went south as Stewart pursued to the north.
Stewart followed the single-rider Turbo Wing and continued to fire at it, missing by inches. He flew closer and closer, and just as he got into point blank range, the crook released a smokescreen and made a sharp turn. Stewart blew through the smokescreen and suddenly realized the crook had disappeared. He cursed and began to search the forest.
Meanwhile, Robbins was in hot pursuit of the two-man Turbo Wing when the passenger pulled a rocket launcher from the side rack and fired a homing missile at her ride. Her Turbo Wing was struck in a vulnerable spot and she was thrown toward the cliff as it impacted on the cliff face a few meters in front of her. She grunted as she slammed against the rock and grabbed a tree root that was protruding from the cliff. After making sure she was secure, she grabbed her communicator from her side and called into it.
"Charlie, come in."
"What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much--I'm just hanging around. Listen, get your butt over to the south cliff and pick me up. You'll recognize me--I'll be the one clinging to the rock face."
Stewart brought his Turbo Wing around and hovered it near Robbins. She jumped off the rock and onto the unoccupied back seat.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said, clutching the left side of her ribcage. "But I hit pretty hard."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"It doesn't hurt enough to be excessive damage. I'll be fine in a few minutes."
"So where'd our quarry go?"
"They went towards the city," she said, pointing.
Stewart pointed the bike in the right direction and accelerated towards the city.
"What the hell?" Robbins wondered aloud. "They went into that convenience store!" She pointed at the craft parked out front. "Those two are theirs."
"They must not be too bright."
"Obviously not."
Stewart parked the Turbo Wing next to the crooks' vehicle, and the two sauntered into the store. Inside they found the three crooks, one of whom was pointing a gun at the cashier and demanding all the money from the till.
"Hey, guys," Robbins said, "that's not the nice way to get money."
One of the crooks growled and fired his gun at her. She ducked out of the way and returned fire, knocking one down. She then rushed the other two, with Stewart right behind, and tackled one to the ground as Stewart took the last one to the mat.
Suddenly the first thief that Robbins had blasted got up. Just as Stewart had cuffed his quarry and stood up, the thief smacked him on the back of the head with a jar of pickles.
Robbins struggled to pin her crook and put the cuffs on him, and when she finally managed to do it she watched in horror as Stewart groaned and dropped to the ground. The criminal prepared to hit him again, but at that moment, a twenty-year-old woman burst through the door and fired energy bolts from her hands, knocking the criminal back.
Robbins put the cuffs on the final crook, and turned to the mystery woman, pointing to her hands. "Special weapons up your sleeves?"
"Not as such," the woman replied. "You see, there's a creature inside of me that is of pure energy. There's no name for it; it's a symbiotic organism, not being able to survive outside of a host body. The relationship is mutualistic--the creature feeds off the energy reserves, much like a tapeworm does with food, and in turn gives its host certain powers beyond those of mere mortals. This creature is an energy manipulator, what the ancients would have called a mage, and grants the powers of flight and the ability to release plasma bursts and energy shields."
"You said it can't survive on its own. Why not?"
"It can only draw power with the help of anything that naturally does--that pretty much covers all organisms and any type of energy canister. It was designed only to use power, not pull it in. Also, since it uses the host's energy reserves, the host--in this case, me--has to take in excess power to use the powers granted by the symbiote."
"How would you do that?"
"Either through eating more food than usual or by using the symbiote to absorb it from a canister."
Stewart moaned and rose. "Oh, man," he said, "that kind of hurt."
"Charlie!" the woman exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.
A look of confusion crossed Stewart's face. "Do I know you?" he asked.
"You probably don't remember me," she replied, "but you do know me. I think I was five the last time I saw you. That would have made you about 15."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm your cousin--Michelle Verilli."
"Verilli--you're Betty and John's daughter. I remember you now. My, you've changed."
"Excellent grasp of the obvious, cos. You haven't seen me in fifteen years."
"Sorry. But there's another reason that name sounds familiar..."
"The Maniac. The original lived back in the mid 21st century, and you're looking at the second one."
"That's right--they've been talking about you incessantly since--"
"Since the symbiote entered my body. That's when I became a vigilante."
"So how did you recognize me?"
"They've been talking about you and your team incessantly since the first time you destroyed the Scimitarian."
"Okay--one last question. I heard most of what you said about the symbiote when I was on the floor, but how do you know all of this?"
"It attached itself to my brain and gave me all the knowledge I needed. Now, I know what you're going to say next--but I control it rather than it controlling me. I decide how often to use the power it so graciously gives me."
"I'd imagine it would be so grateful to have the energy that it would do anything you want."
"Yeah. The only problem is that whenever I use the power, I feel drained--like now. I need food." She walked over to a display and opened up a bag of potato chips.
"Michelle!" Stewart protested. "This is a crime scene. You really shouldn't tamper with a crime scene."
"Charlie," she said, beginning to munch on the chips, "I need power now, or else the creature will suck out my life force. If I don't eat, I'll have to suck power out of one of you. Barring that, I'll croak."
"Yeah, but--"
"It's an open and shut case. You were here, I was here, and the crooks were here. I don't think we really need to worry about legal problems."
Stewart threw up his hands and walked out of the store. "I'll be at HQ."
Walking into Divisional HQ, Stewart was accosted by a desk clerk. "Captain Stewart," he said, "There is an urgent matter that requires your immediate attention."
"What is it?"
"I don't know," came the reply. "But Chief West does."
"All right." Stewart trotted to the elevator and got in.
"What's up, Chief West?" Stewart asked as he strolled into his office.
"There's a satellite orbiting the planet that doesn't have clearance to do so. We think it may be a threat to us. Can you and your crew investigate?"
"Sure. Do you mind if I bring along a passenger?"
"Who?"
"The Maniac. She's my cousin, and I'd like to catch up on old times. Besides which she's got that energy creature in her."
"If you think she can handle it, go ahead. We're not responsible for her though."
"I'll make sure she knows." He set off to gather his crew and Michelle.
"I'd love to go!" Michelle exclaimed. "It'll be a nice little adventure."
"It'll be a dangerous adventure," Stewart reminded her. "You could get hurt or killed, and the I.P.F. isn't responsible if you do."
"I know. But I've got raw energy on my side--I can handle myself."
"Do what you will. We take off in a half hour."
"Permission to dock," Robbins said over the communicator, as they approached the space station. "I.P.F. We're just here for an investigation."
"Permission denied," a voice on the other end insisted.
"Permission seized," Robbins shot back. "We're coming aboard whether you like it or not." She cut off the communicator.
"We can't just dock," Michelle said. "They'll be all over us the instant we get in."
"Unless you put up an energy shield."
"I could do that."
"Here," Payton said, tossing Michelle some power packs. "Take these. That should be sufficient power to cover you for whatever we come across."
"Thanks!" She stuffed them in her pockets. "Let's rock this joint."
Stewart maneuvered the police craft into position on a docking bay. "Well, obviously they don't want us here for a reason. Must be something shady going on."
"Gee, fearless leader, how'd you figure that one out?" Robbins asked him.
"Shut up." The docking mechanism locked into place and Stewart turned to Michelle. "Ready?"
"Ready," came the reply as she prepared the shield.
Stewart opened the door and let Michelle throw up an energy shield. Blasts from inside ricocheted off the shield, and the quintet stepped inside the space station behind it. Michelle lowered the shield long enough to allow the cops to return fire, then threw it up again.
In this manner they proceeded down a hallway until the guards became sparse. Michelle turned off the shield and absorbed the energy out of two of the packs, tossing the empty canisters aside.
They reached an office door and opened it. A man seated at a desk at the other side of the room got an angry look and rose. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Stewart pointed his cannon at the man, and he got a frightened look and sat back down. "The question is," Stewart said, "what are you doing here? Why are you orbiting the Earth?"
"What happens if I don't tell you?"
"Well, we could arrest you for obstruction of justice--"
"Oh, I'm scared." The tone was defiant.
"Or," Michelle broke in, seizing the man by the throat, "I could kill you with my bare hands. You see, I'm not a member of the I.P.F., so I have no contractual obligation to spare you."
The man became frightened again as she pressed her thumb against his Adams' Apple. "But the cops are here," he gasped. "They'll arrest you."
"I can live with that." She glared at him and made energy trails tickle his skin. "Besides, these cops are my friends. I may be able to get them to look the other way."
"Please," he begged her. "Don't..."
"Tell me what you're doing here."
"I can't," he gasped out. "They'd kill me."
"Better them than me." She tightened her grip.
"No! I'll tell you!" He breathed heavily as she relaxed her grip, and spoke in a wavering tone. "They want to wipe New Valaria off the map. They're going to fire the most powerful plasma cannon ever built at the city and destroy it."
"Why? And who are 'they?'"
"They want to destroy a major corporation's headquarters and main production plant. I don't know which company, and I don't exactly know who they are. I think they're a competitor."
"The lowest form of corporate sabotage," Stewart muttered. "Where's the cannon? When is it set to go off?"
"I don't know when. Soon, I think. I can lead you to it--"
"How soon?"
"Sometime today."
"Lead us," Michelle said. "If you lead us into a trap, you will die before we do--I guarantee it."
The man shivered slightly in fear and led them out the door.
"Hey Charlie," Robbins said, "I'm heading back to the ship, all right? I want to make sure no one tries to destroy it while you're doing your thing."
"Go ahead." He watched as she walked back down the hallway.
The man led the other four through the maze-like passageways of the space station.
Under Michelle's shield, they continued to take out guards and robots. At length they came upon a door marked CONTROL ROOM. "This is it," the man said. "The generator and main controls for the cannon are in here."
"Thanks," Michelle said, draining enough power from him to render him unconscious.
The four sauntered into the control room and blasted the techs working at the cannon control. Michelle then ran over and studied a control panel.
"Payton, Milligan, cover the door." Stewart turned to Michelle. "We've got to shut this thing down."
"We can't," Michelle replied, pointing at a display. "The cannon has been primed too long for it to be shut down. But maybe I can absorb the energy from the generator here so when it tries to fire, nothing will come out."
"Can you absorb that much power?"
"I don't know. I've never tried it before."
"You could die."
Michelle sighed. "That's a risk I'm going to have to take. Yes, it could be too much and it could kill me. But if I don't try this, millions more are going to die. Part of me wants to be selfish and not risk it, but we all die eventually."
"You've made up your mind then?"
In answer, she walked over to the generator. "You guys had better get clear. The energy level of this thing is enormous."
"I understand. Godspeed."
She looked back at him and gave a little smile, then turned back to absorb the power from the generator.
"Come on, guys," he told Payton and Milligan. "We've got to high-tail it out of here."
The three cops ran through the hallways toward their ship. As they reached it, they came upon Robbins.
"What's up, guys?"
"What's up is we've got to get the hell out of here," Stewart replied.
Without a word Robbins joined the other three as they sprinted into their ship. They detached from the space station and headed for Earth.
"So what's the deal?" Robbins asked Stewart after they had gotten settled in.
"Well, the cannon was going to fire, and Michelle said she'd absorb the power from the generator so it won't."
"Can she do that?"
"She doesn't know--"
Suddenly a gigantic energy explosion ripped the space station apart. Robbins gasped and asked, "Was that Michelle?"
Stewart winced. "I think so."
Robbins sighed. "I'm sorry, Charlie."
"Don't be. She's partly made of energy; it was an energy explosion. She may have survived, since she might've just been absorbed into it."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough."
"Yeah. I'm counting on it."