Jessica and Miranda sat in the living room of the Freedom Phalanx Reserve base,
Jessica grimaced as she looked at the hefty stack of multicolored money in her opponent’s possession.
“You better hope you don’t land on Boardwalk,
with my hotels there you might just end up in the poor house.”
Fantasy said with a smug smile.
Jessica grumbled a response angrily as she rolled the dice and shouted angrily as the result put her right where she didn’t want to be.
“Ooh, tough luck angel,” Miranda said with a giggle as she grabbed the remaining dollars Jesseca had and counted them in victory.
“This game sucks. Isn’t there any crime that we can fight?”
Jessica asked as she slumped back in her seat in defeat.
Fantasy shook her head.
“Nope, things have been pretty quiet since we hit that factory last week,” she said.
Jessica sighed and got up from her seat.
“Well, I’m gonna go patrol, I can’t play board games anymore,” she said and made her way to the base teleporter.
“Want some company?” Miranda asked.
Jessica shrugged. “If you wanna tag along you can.” said and went through the light to the city beyond.
Fantasy cast an illusion on the purse snatcher they’d come across after an hour and a half of flying around the city.
She made him believe that the police had him surrounded, and watched with satisfaction as he dropped his weapon and got down on the ground.
Jessica stepped in and gave him a solid right hook that kept him there.
“So I’ve been meaning to ask you how you can fly,” Jesseca asked Miranda as the pair flew off to find some higher stakes danger.
“I cast an illusion on myself that makes me believe I can fly,” Miranda explained.
“How does that work? The illusion isn’t real, what keeps you from falling?” Jessica asked.
Miranda chuckled.
“My illusions can be as real as I want them to be,” she said.
“If I want to hurt someone with one of them I can.
If I want to fly with them, I can.” she added.
Jessica started to say something when her thoughts were interrupted by Severe saying something in her mind.
“Jessica, I need you and Miranda to come back to the base,
we’ve learned something interesting about Malta.” the telepath said.
“Finally something to do.” Jessica thought back in response before turning back to the base with Fantasy close behind.
As Jessica and Fantasy entered the base they saw everyone seated at the large meeting table and quickly joined them.
“Alright,” Knight began. “now that we’re all here I want to share what Keyword and I have been working on,” he explained.
Keyword wheeled his wheelchair up next to Knight and greeted the assembled heroes with a smile.
“As many of you already know, Malta has its fingers in a lot of things in the city.
One of those things happens to be us.” Knight said.
“Keyword has given me all the information that Malta has on us, and needless to say, it’s extensive,” he said.
“What kind of information?” Flower Child asked.
“Essentially they know everything about us,” Knight said.
“They’ve gathered enough information that they can neutralize us fairly easily,” he said.
“Why are they so interested in us?” Sue asked.
“According to Keyword, The Freedom Phalanx has been taken down by Malta already.
As the longest active faction of the Freedom Phalanx Reserve,
Rise of the Phoenix is the next hurdle in Malta’s path.” Knight explained.
“When was the FPR taken down?” Arson asked.
“Some time ago, they’ve been enslaved by Malta for a few weeks now.” Keyword said.
“Our first task is to free the FPR members, and then coordinate a strike to bring Malta down for good,” Knight said as he walked around the table and set a file folder in front of everyone.
“These are the dossiers that Malta has on each of you.
I suggest you study them well so that you know what to expect from them.” he said.
Each member of the team picked up their file and started reading it as Knight concluded the meeting.
“We’re going to divide into teams of two to go after each member of the FPR.
The teams will be Ataris and myself.
Hannah and Winter Flare. Sue and Premiere.
Severe and Fantasy. Flower Child and Electro-Cute, and Arson and Diapered Dandy.” he said.
“What about Keyword and Drool?” Jessica asked.
“I’ll coordinate the strikes from here.” Keyword said.
“As for Drool, he’s still too weak to be involved in this,
if and when he’s able to fight we’ll add him to one of the teams,” he added.
“Alright, you have your intel, we’ll set you up with your missions tomorrow.
I suggest you all get a good night’s sleep tonight.” Knight said.
The team grabbed their files and went to their rooms to look over them for the night, each of them with a look of dread on their face.
Jessica looked over her file as she lay on her stomach on her bed.
She marveled at how in-depth the information within was,
literally every moment of her life was in the file.
“Pretty scary stuff huh?” Winter Flare said from the doorway giving Jesseca a start.
“Yeah, they know almost as much as I do about myself,” Jessica said with a grimace.
“I know, there’s stuff in here that nobody knows about me,” Elysa said.
“Like what?” Jessica asked.
“Well, they have a psyche profile in here that suggests that I project a maternal role onto Hannah,” she said with a blush.
“Wow, they’re good,” Jessica said.
Elysa nodded. “How do you do it Jess?” she blurted out.
“Do what?” Jessica asked.
Elysa closed the door and took a seat on the bed next to Jessica.
“How do you go out in public with your diapers on display with no shame?” she asked,
her index finger tracing the plastic covering of Jesseca’s diapered backside softly as she stared at the garment.
Jessica felt a shiver run up her back as she realized what Elysa was doing.
“I lived with shame all my life, feeling weak and powerless all the time.
Now that I have the power that I have,
I have no reason to feel that way anymore.
Hence no shame.” she explained.
Elysa nodded softly as she continued to stare at Jesseca’s diaper.
“I just wish I could come clean about the whole thing, no more hiding,” she said.
Jessica sat up and hugged her teammate.
“Maybe you should. Nobody here has judged me for my diapers,
except Arson, but she’s just joking when she teases me,” she said.
Elysa nodded and got up off the bed.
“I’m just not ready yet, maybe someday,” she said.
“Until then, at least you know you’ll always have Hannah and me,” Jessica said with a smile.
“Thanks, Jess,” Elysa said and opened the door.
“You sure you’re ok?” Jessica asked her.
Elysa nodded and closed the door for a second.
“Would you sleep with me in my room tonight?” she asked with a blush.
Jessica smiled and nodded as she got off the bed and the pair made their way to Elysa’s nursery.
“In front of you is the information we have about where each member of the FPR is being kept.
Each team has a member to rescue and will return here with him or her if they succeed.
After the first six are rescued,
we’ll return here and divide up for the remaining two.
I want every team to maintain constant contact with Keyword during their mission.” Knight said.
Each team nodded in agreement and rose from their seats to depart.
“Everyone be careful out there, no heroics,” he added.
“If something is too tough to handle you wait for backup,” he said looking at Arson.
Each team left the base and went to their own destinations.
Knight and Ataris to Independence Port to rescue Statesman, leader of the FPR.
Hannah and Winter Flare to Galaxy City to rescue Back Alley Brawler, the main muscle of the team.
Sue and Premiere to Talos Island for Citadel the robotic powerhouse of the team.
Severe and Fantasy to Bricktown for Manticore, an archer for the FPR.
Flower Child and Electro-Cute to Steel Canyon for Positron, the resident scientist for the team.
And Jessica and Arson to Founders Falls for Numina, an empath for the team.
Each team made its way to its destination wrapped in thought about the severity of the situation that lay ahead of them.
Knight and Ataris stood on Valor Bridge,
the extensive structure that connects Patriot Wharf to the Terra Volta reactor,
looking down at the large cargo ship below where Statesman was being held.
“I don’t like sneaking around,” Ataris said with a look of displeasure.
“I know old friend, but it’s how it has to be this time,” Knight told him.
“I’ll teleport us down to the deck, and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
Ataris nodded and put a hand to Knight’s shoulder and the pair disappeared in a tangle of dark energy,
appearing a second later on the large deck below.
Making their way around the deck and finding it deserted, they made their way to the interior of the ship.
Hannah and Winter Flare hovered above the large warehouse in the Orion Beltway district of Galaxy city.
The pair flew to the roof and set down gently.
“I have a bad feeling about this sis.” Elysa said.
Hannah put an arm around her younger sibling.
“I’m not thrilled about it either kiddo,” she said with a smile.
Hannah removed her arm and pulled out the map of the building.
“Ok, according to this, if we enter from the South,
we should be far enough away from any patrols to get the drop on whatever is in there,” she said.
Elysa nodded and followed Hannah off the roof and down to the South entrance door.
The pair took a deep breath and entered the building as quietly as possible.
Sue and Premiere watched a Malta patrol go by from their hiding place in the dense forest of The Serpents Teeth area a few miles off the coast of Talos Island.
The patrol guarded several large tents, one of which contained Citadel.
“I’m kinda disappointed in the number of guards they have posted,” Premiere said with a smile.
“Be glad that we have an easy mission ahead of us darling,” Sue said as she gave her fiance a kiss on the cheek.
“I just wanted a chance to smash Malta into the ground,” he said.
“I’m sure before all is said and done you’ll have more than enough enemies against you to keep you happy,” she said with a smile.
Premiere hugged and kissed his bride to be,
“I love you,” he said before turning to his stone form.
Sue smiled at him.
“I love you too,” she said and took flight with him in tow,
dropping him from the air onto the soldiers below,
preparing to fly in after a moment to provide backup.
Severe and Fantasy looked up at The Abyss Towers, the large skyscraper owned and operated in secret by Malta.
The pair watched a flood of workers pour from the entrance of the building after Fantasy had made them think the building was full of snakes and spiders,
her power amplified by Severe so that she could affect all the non-Malta people in the building.
“Like taking candy from a baby.” Fantasy said with a smile.
“We should not be so quick to claim victory.” Severe said.
“Arson was right, you’re a wet blanket,” Miranda said with a frown.
“I am practical, a trait which would serve the both of you well.” Severe said.
“Whatever,
let’s do this thing if we’re gonna do it.” Fantasy said as she headed for the entrance of the building, pushing through the crowd.
Severe sighed and followed her teammate into the great glass structure,
her practicality screaming at her that something was not right about the situation inside.
Flower Child and Electro-Cute walked through the rickety wooden door covering the entrance to the Malta cave on the shore of Platinum Lake in Steel Canyon.
“You feeling like this isn’t right to Hanako?”
Samantha asked her teammate as they made their way down into the depths of the cave.
Hanako nodded. “I do not like confined spaces,” she said.
“Not thrilled about them myself,” Samantha said.
The duo trudged onward deeper into the cavern and finally came to a fork in the road.
“Which way?” Hanako asked.
Samantha shrugged. “Nobody said anything about a fork in the road,” she said.
Hanako sighed and looked down each darkened path before walking down the left path.
“How do you know that’s the right way?” Samantha asked.
“The plants in this cave are telling me that there are bad men this way,” she said without looking back.
“Great, we walk into a trap because the plants told you which way to go,” Samantha said with a scoff.
As they neared the end of the tunnel, they could hear voices and see the light of a fire ahead.
Hanako turned to Samantha and gave her a knowing smile before preparing to enter the area and fight whatever was ahead.
Jessica and Arson found the large cabin on the outskirts of the Blackstone Hills are a few miles outside of Founders Falls.
The large cabin looking more like a ski chalet than an evil organization’s hideout.
“So, what’s the plan?” Arson asked.
“Don’t look at me for plans, I just work here,” Jessica said.
“Alright, here’s my plan. We go in there guns blazing and after the dust settles we get Numina out of there.” Arson said.
“Sounds like a pretty crappy plan, let’s do it,” Jessica said with a smile.
“Or, we could throw your dirty diaper in there and knock them all out before we head in.” Arson said.
“Or I could drown you in the Red River back there and do this mission by myself,” Jessica said.
“Alright, all joking aside, I’ve got your back and I know you have mine. Let’s do this right so we both survive this thing.” Arson said.
“Agreed. I need you to be alive so I can humiliate you in the training room after this is all over.” Jessica said with a smile.
Arson smiled. “Keep it up doll and you’ll find yourself in some kind of twisted reality courtesy of Fantasy,” she said.
“Aww, is your girlfriend gonna give me a bad dream?” Jessica teased.
“Shut up potty pants.” Arson said and started walking toward the cabin.
Jesseca smiled and followed her partner up to the door.
The second after the door opened a rapid beeping was heard before the cabin exploded
Thus launching Arson and Diapered Dandy a few hundred yards into the woods behind them.
“Yes sir, all the members of the team have reached their positions.
Diapered Dandy and Arson have already sprung their trap, and I have no vital sign readings for them.”
Keyword said to the man on the other end of the phone.
“Excellent work Thomas.” the man in the office said.
“I want you to keep me up to date with the situation, and as soon as all of them have fallen I want you out of there,” he added.
“Yes sir.” Keyword said before hanging up the phone.
Standing up from his wheelchair the imposter poured himself another cup of coffee in the kitchen and went back to watching each team fight for their lives.