"What are you talking about?" Verilli asked Stewart as he followed him towards Betty and John's house. "How am I related to you?"
"You're the Maniac, right?"
"Yeah, but--"
"I met your descendant a few days ago. It seems that she's my cousin, and she's taken your name."
"Another Maniac? Cool."
"Unfortunately, we don't know whether she's still alive. You see, she's got this energy symbiote in her..."
"Aunt Betty, I'm home," Stewart called. "And I've brought a cousin."
"A cousin?"
"Well, not exactly." He and the Maniac stepped into the kitchen where Betty was preparing lunch. "This guy look familiar to you?"
She looked up and squinted. "Actually, he does. He kind of looks like John when he and I were first married."
"He ought to. It seems this guy is John's ancestor. He sort of got flung through time by some accident."
"He'll need to return to his own time."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, you're the genius of the family. Do you know how to get him back?"
"We need access to a time portal. Unfortunately, the last person to travel through time was based in the year 2236."
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. "I'll get it," Stewart said as he ran to the door. He opened it and saw his cousin Michelle standing there with her arms folded and a gleam in her eyes. She did not look any different than before, but she had streams of energy circling around her.
"Honey, I'm home," she said in a slightly deeper voice than she had possessed before.
"You're alive," Stewart said. "Not that this surprises me. I knew anyone who was related to me wasn't going down that easy."
"You know me better than I know me."
"How come it took you so long to get back here?"
"It seems my symbiote metamorphosed into its next stage."
"I wasn't aware there was another stage."
"Neither was I. But anyway, it took a couple of days to change into its next form, so I've been hiding in a cave and rolled in a ball of energy while it happened. And after that, I had to test my new powers and their strengths."
"Specifically what is its next form, and what are your new powers?"
"Its new form is still basically energy, but there's a greater amount of it and it's more 'solid.' As for my new powers, basically it's an increase in the old ones, with me being able to 'energize' my whole body."
"Are you going to invite her in, or just stand there all day?" the Maniac asked.
"Of course," Stewart said. "Come on in."
"So who's the maniac standing behind you?" Michelle asked of Stewart. "No, wait--I know, it's the Maniac."
"How did you know that?"
"It's really very simple--I have some old photos of him. But how did he get here?"
"Short version or long version?"
"Short."
"He got flung through time."
"This is my descendant?" the Maniac said. "She's pretty good looking."
"Of course," Michelle said, flashing a somewhat coquettish smile. " I have your genes. Hold on, I'll be right back." She sprinted into her mother's room.
She came back with a photo album. "Let's see...what year is it right now? I mean, where you came from."
"2044," the Maniac replied.
"Oh--then you'll recognize this." She showed him a newspaper clipping preserved in plastic.
"Hey, that was the Tenutti arrest. I remember that article. But I don't have it right now--I think I lost it."
"I guess this means you'll find it."
"All right, enough of the reminiscing," Stewart said, taking the book away from her. "I don't want him learning too much about his own future."
"Charlie," Betty called, "There's a call for you. Mr. Crane."
"Chief Crane?"
"I think so."
An uncharacteristic scowl crossed Stewart's face. "This displeases me."
"Why?"
"The chief isn't big on social calls. And apparently, he doesn't understand we're on vacation."
He picked up the phone. "Stewart here.... Chief--we're on... yeah, I know, but--okay, I'll call my crew."
"What's up?" Michelle asked.
"There's a group with delusions of grandeur. It seems they're poised to take over this planet, and Crane wants us to stop them."
"Rumor has it you guys are the best."
"Yeah," he said, putting down the receiver. He paused, picked it back up and said while dialing a number, "That's no excuse though. I mean--" he paused and listened, then punched in another sequence.
On Alphegus, Robbins and Schwirian were in bed together. They were already stripped down to underwear and were kissing each other passionately as he massaged her shoulders and she grabbed his briefs by the waist. Suddenly she heard a beeping coming from the nightstand. She looked and saw her pager flashing rudely at her, grabbed it, and took a closer look.
"Oh, damn," she groaned.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Charlie. An emergency code. Mind if I use your long-range communicator?"
"No problem. It's in that room."
Robbins grabbed a robe and put it on as she stumbled into the next room, muttering something inaudible.
"This better be important, Charlie."
"Yeah. It seems that there's a group that wants to take over the galaxy."
"Okay--how does that concern me?"
"You're part of my crew, right?"
"Charlie, we're on vacation."
"You don't think I know that? Our sources say this group is poised to begin their annexation, and that it will start in a matter of hours."
"Again, I ask how that concerns me."
"As a member of the I.P.F., you are contractually obligated to--"
"Yeah, I know all that garbage. Get to the point."
"We've been asked by a power higher than myself."
"Damn," she breathed. Then she said aloud, "Charlie, you have to understand--I'm with Coyote."
"Then bring him along too. We could use the extra firepower."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know it's not what you meant. I can't help it. But as long as you're coming whether you want to or not, you might as well let him tag along."
She sighed. "Okay. I'll see you in two hours."
"Ten-four. Stewart out."
"What's up?" Schwirian called from the bedroom.
"It seems that the I.P.F. needs me."
"You're on vacation."
"I know that, you know that, and Charlie knows that," she replied, walking back into the bedroom. "But apparently there's someone who doesn't know it. You can tag along if you want to--it should be a blast."
"Count me in."
Stewart stood in Crane's office two hours later. "Chief, we may have some extra firepower in--"
"Chief Crane," Robbins hissed, storming into the office, "you have ten seconds to justify dragging the four of us from our vacations, or else I'm heading back to Alpha."
"Lieutenant," he said calmly, "is that any way to talk to a commanding officer?"
She slammed her hands down on the table. "Look--you can fire me, or suspend me, or put me on probation--but listen to me first!"
"I--we--the I.P.F. needs you guys. This operation requires the best, and you are the best. But you'll be well compensated. Any suggestions? I'm all ears."
"If you insist on dragging us into this, then increase our current vacation time to two weeks from the time we complete the mission. Coyote's too. And a few thousand extra in our Christmas bonuses this year would be nice."
"I can handle that."
"Oh yeah--one more thing. Don't ever try to pull this crap again!" She stormed out of the office.
"Sheesh," the chief said, looking a little pale. "Hell hath no fury--"
"Sir," Stewart said, "she's been through a lot lately, and none of us appreciated being pulled back in here to work. But anyway, as I was about to say, I talked to Michelle and she said she's in. And the Maniac said he would fight if we'd try to get him home."
"Well, we'll try, but I'm pretty sure we can't send him back."
"I promised we'd try--I didn't promise we'd succeed."
Robbins, Stewart, Payton, Milligan, Schwirian, and both Maniacs assembled in the conference room. The chief sat before them at the head of the table.
"Recognize this guy?" the chief asked, holding up a picture.
"That's Aaron Lockhart," Schwirian said. "General Lockhart's brother. What about him?"
"He's organized a covert group called the Dysfunctions. They wish to take over Earth."
"The big question is, can they do it?"
"Yes. They've gathered enough firepower to wipe a decent-sized city off the map, and they're cold enough to be able to do it on a whim."
"So how can the seven of us possibly stop them?"
"Well, you have the second Maniac here, and I've heard that she's got more raw energy than any human ever. Plus there's the six of you, including one of the greatest fighters of all time. Even with all that, though, you'll need stealth."
"We've got stealth to spare. Where's their HQ?"
"Here." Crane pointed to a spot on a map. "Downtown."
The magnificent seven made their way to the skyscraper, which allegedly housed the headquarters of the Dysfunctions.
"One thing that puzzles me," Payton said. "Why does Michelle still exist? If she in indeed the descendant of the Maniac, and he doesn't exist in his proper time, shouldn't she not either?"
Stewart shuddered, then said, "No. Apparently the time stream operates on the 'assumption' that everyone stays in their correct time frame. However, if that assumption is proven false, the time stream will be realigned, violently, and Michelle won't have ever existed." He paused briefly, then said, "And neither will have I."
"You?"
"My mother was a Verilli, directly descended from the Maniac as Michelle is. John and my mom are siblings. So, I'm a Verilli too."
"How would the assumption be proven false?"
"If he dies, then that's a definite. If he ages beyond the point of procreation, that's a definite as well. I can't think of any other ways it would happen."
"He has to go back then, and soon."
"Without question."
The sestet reached the back door of the building and came upon a locked door. Michelle used her power to break the lock and open the door for the other six, and they proceeded inside.
Inside they found a few guards, but mot many, which were quickly dealt with by plasma beams. At the end of a short corridor was a service elevator; close inspection showed that it was out of order.
"Great," Robbins groaned. "Now what? This elevator was the center of our attack."
"Well," Michelle said, "as long as the shaft is still intact, I can carry you guys up."
"Can you do that?"
"Yeah. I could carry a bus for a mile."
"What if the car is in the way?"
"Huh? What car?"
"The elevator car."
"Oh, I thought--never mind. Well, I can blast through that if I need to."
"Simple, yet effective."
"Thirty-nine...forty...forty-one...okay, stop here."
Michelle opened the elevator door in the same manner that she had opened the outside door, and pulled the other six out of the elevator shaft.
"So how do we shut these guys down?" Milligan asked.
"Well," Stewart said, "the plan is to shut down the computer-operated weapons and apprehend Lockhart. Most of the heavy artillery is controlled by computer, and will completely shut down without receiving instructions from said machine. Similarly, without Lockhart, the group will be disorganized and collapse upon itself."
"So we just destroy the server."
"Oh," Payton interjected, "I think there's an easier way to kill a computer than from the outside." He smiled and held up a floppy disk. "On this disk is a computer virus which converts any and all files to straight text, and then encrypts them with data repositioning. This makes them utterly useless."
"Is it foolproof?" Stewart asked. "What if the data is repositioned?"
"It can't be. The virus destroys itself immediately upon completion of the task, keeping its secret of how and where it replaced the data."
"What about backup files?"
"You can't back up weapon execution files. Two copies on the same server will crash it, or at least make the weapon useless."
"Two servers?"
Payton shook his head. "They only have one. I'm sure of it."
"Okay. According to our intelligence sources, the main server is down that hall, to the right. Lockhart should be holed up in the office on the top floor. Only one of us needs to be in the computer room, since they probably don't know we're here yet--"
"Why not?"
"We're not being attacked, are we? Anyway, he'll probably be heavily guarded. Who wants to volunteer to plant the virus? The rest of us will go topside."
"I'll do it," Schwirian said.
Payton handed the disk to him. "Good luck, Captain."
The other six, upon arriving in the top floor, saw a slough of guards were between them and an office. They quickly disposed of this threat and moved into the office.
It was quite spacious, with a high walls and a door on its left side. The door appeared to be one which opened from the bottom to the top. Lockhart was seated at the desk, and glared angrily at them as they entered.
"Leave now," he demanded. "I don't wish to be disturbed." He quickly pressed a button on the desk.
"We'd rather not. We're here on official police business."
"Obviously, I know that. Oh, have you met my business partner?"
With that, the door on the left slid open, and in walked a beautiful woman in a dark robe. Her shining silver hair was juxtaposed over her youthful face, making it difficult to tell her true age.
"Nova!" Michelle shouted.
"Maniac!" came the reply.
"Maniac?" the original Maniac asked, confusion apparent in his voice.
"Nova?" Stewart looked her up and down. "The Nova?"
"The one and only, Captain," Nova said. "I decided that Mr. Lockhart will be best able to help satisfy my needs."
"What needs?"
"Why, the need to take over the galaxy."
"Well, we don't want you to do that."
"All I want is the galaxy. Is that too much to ask?"
"Actually, yes."
"If I may interject for a moment," Robbins said, "who the hell are you?"
"Well," Nova said, "I'm a mage from the eleventh century. I've been jumping around in time looking for a good moment to take over the world. I discovered recently that it's not just the world I want, but rather the whole galaxy. This is due to the fact that the earth isn't alone in the universe."
"We were here for a reason, weren't we?" Payton asked his five cohorts. "I mean, are we just going to chat all day or--"
Suddenly Nova raced into the next room. She pressed a key on the other side, and the door began to close slowly. Maniac and Michelle followed, riding a power wave supplied by Michelle, with Stewart close behind. They cleared the door easily, and Robbins chased after them and made a baseball-style slide to slip under the door just before it closed.
Schwirian snuck into the empty computer room and stationed himself at a terminal. He keyed in a few commands and slid the diskette with the virus on it into the drive. He typed a few more commands, then watched the screen display the message that the file was being copied. He turned to check and make sure he was still alone, then turned back to the computer and watched the program finish loading to the hard drive. A message flashed on the screen, announcing "1 file copied," and Schwirian smiled and pulled the disk from the drive.
"Mission accomplished!" he shouted to the communicator. "I'm heading out."
Meanwhile, the Maniacs, Robbins and Stewart were furiously engaging Nova and some of the guards in combat. Michelle had created energy shields to protect her friends, and was working hard to replenish them as they lost power. The other three dodged as much magical and energetic fire as they could, while returning the favor with their own cannons.
Stewart found himself battling against three soldiers, and as his shield lost power, Nova saw it an unleashed a powerful blast right at him. Without time to avoid it, he was struck squarely in the chest and flung back to the wall, where he slumped to the ground.
Michelle now concentrated on protecting Robbins and her ancestor, as well as herself. The two females charged forward to attack the final group of guards which had assembled around Nova. They dodged and blasted, and knocked out the remaining guards. As the last soldiers fell, Robbins was struck by a beam in midair, which threw her off-balance. She landed poorly, dropping to the ground and rolling to a stop on her stomach; she winced with the pain in her ankle. Maniac came up from behind Michelle to blast the final guard.
Milligan covered the main door of the office as Payton advanced on Lockhart. Lockhart had drawn a power sword from an unseen place in the desk and was now waving it at Payton, keeping him at bay.
"You come any closer and I'll slash that suit to pieces," cautioned Lockhart.
Payton saw some guards meeting the business end of Milligan's cannon, and knew there would be more. He also knew he couldn't count on Milligan for assistance. He looked straight into Lockhart's eyes and took a step forward. Lockhart slashed with the sword and forced Payton back.
Payton stared straight into his opponent's eyes, being careful not to make any sudden moves. He slid his non-cannon hand down to his waist and plucked and energy bomb from a compartment in the armor. He then quickly tossed it at Lockhart, who gasped and put the sword in a position to block some of the impact. It only worked partially well, and Lockhart dropped the sword as he was flung into the wall on the far side of the office.
Payton held the injured Lockhart at gunpoint and forced him to his knees.
"I have failed," he said, sobbing. "I do not wish to continue to live."
"Well, I certainly can't kill you," Payton said. "They'd court-martial me."
"I have a bottle of cyanide in my jacket pocket. Let me do it."
"I can't let you--"
"I'm an old man. I've accomplished everything I can, and it's time for me to go."
Payton looked at Milligan, who looked back and nodded. He loosened his grip and allowed Lockhart to grab the bottle from his pocket. "My intercom, please?" he asked them.
Milligan fetched the intercom, still watching the door, and held it to Lockhart's face as he drank the poison.
"My final directive," Lockhart gasped into the intercom, "is to give up. We cannot win." He then dropped to the ground, dead.
The anguished voice was heard everywhere, including the next room. Nova listened and scowled deeply.
"Your partner is dead, Nova," Michelle said. "Surrender! It's over!"
"No!" Nova screamed. "I will not surrender to you!" She closed her eyes and began to open a time portal.
"Oh, no, you don't," Maniac muttered, charging at her. Michelle utilized her energy to race at Nova behind her ancestor. Maniac reached the energy bubble (which was now flowing from Nova) an instant before Michelle, and her entrance into the field caused a blinding energy explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing where three humans had been.
Robbins lifted her head upon hearing the blast, and gasped when she saw the empty space. She looked over at the downed Stewart, and the worst scenarios ran through her mind.
A moment later, an energy trail formed in front of Robbins. She watched as it grew in size and took the form of a human; it then formed completely and uncovered Michelle's visage.
"What happened?" Robbins grunted.
"I couldn't stop her from getting away," Michelle replied, helping Robbins up. "But Tony and I jumped into the time gate after her, so we got carried along with her. I used my energy to open a gate and drop Tony off in his rightful place. After that I ricocheted off a temporal junction point and landed back here."
"You ricocheted off it?"
"Yeah, junction points contain solid energy. In my energy form I was able to bounce off it and head back in the right direction."
"Ah."
"Yeah." She let out a heavy sigh. "Let's go home."