Spectrum Force Chapter Four

Not mine yet!

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The Diadem

Part Two





The tapping of heels against cold marble echoed in the spacious chamber.

The empress circled the obsidian podium, hands clasped thoughtfully behind her back. Ruby eyes stared into the opaque pyramid that sat boldly on the raised surface, a self-derisive smirk on her lips.

When she finally broke the silence, her voice dripped with mockery. "Oh great Diadem... gateway into a universe of primal energies... why isn't there anything in you?"

She stepped away from the object of analysis, arms folding. I always knew that stupid fairy tale had no base in reality. It still astounds me that both Gaius and Acheron are so willing to chase myths and legends to the end of the cosmos. She huffed disdainfully. "Men."

If the legends had been true, her hours of intense examination would have wielded something... some kind of sensation that the stone housed infinite elemental power for her to tap.

Snorting with annoyance, she marched away from the podium. "I'll make that peon suffer for dragging me here..!" she growled.

Just as she approached the exit, a chime indicated someone wished to be granted entrance. "Enter!"

The door slowly slid open, and just outside the chamber stood an officer wearing the deep green tunic of the Sciences. "What?" she hissed.

The man swallowed, his every effort forcing his body to maintain his attentive stance as he prepared to relay the message.

"My Empress, our ship has detected the use of the Hyperspace Portal in this system," he related, "but we could not detect a ship. We believe the Star Riders have come."

The empress stared at the scientist for a few moments, her eyes narrowing. "No...I doubt the Riders could be spared from their current mission, even to save Lord Gaius. But Spectra..."

Her face collapsed into a bitter snarl. The messenger stepped back, making room between himself and his queen. "Spectra no doubt sent those six humans that somehow managed to destroy my Phlegnin."

Phaedra forgot about the messenger completely, her eyes closing as she withdrew into contemplation. "There must be something here," she reasoned, "Something worth keeping Gaius from the front of the war. Something worth sending backup... even at the risk of leaving Earth undefended." Her eyes slid open, piercing gaze falling upon the "Diadem" that, come to think of it, Lord Gaius didn't protect with quite the fire Phaedra knew him to possess. "Something... something still on the planet..."

Phaedra's face lit up into a cold grin of anticipation. Very sneaky, Gaius, she admitted, A deception truly worthy of a Denebian Lord. But you forget that the Monarchy have mastered the art of foul play.

She then addressed the scientist who still lingered in the room, awaiting his instructions. "Can you still detect the humans?"

"Our energy sensors are attuned to the Star Riders unique wavelengths, but only when those energies are in use. These... 'humans' with the Star Riders' powers descended toward the planet, and then disappeared from our sensors. We conclude that they have stopped using their powers."

The empress huffed. "No wonder it took this squadron decades to find Gaius! You are ill equipped to handle much of anything, aren't you?"

The officer bit his tongue.

"Get out of here," Phaedra hissed, "Summon Mor'se. Tell him I will deal with this latest development."

* * *

"This is so funky!" the Blue Enforcer declared, staring at the horizon, "This planet's got two suns!"

The Spectrum Force stood together in the dense foliage of the planetoid, covering the terrain on foot as they searched for any signs of sentient life. After several hours of diligent marching, all they had uncovered was the peculiar trek of the suns through the sky.

"This binary system is so incredible," Jocelyn breathed as she gazed into the cloudless, rich blue sky, "The suns are in such perfect synchrony that when one sets, the other rises. The darkest it gets is twilight!"

"That's good," Tamara decided, "Then we won't have to deal with prolonged darkness. So no worries about draining our stored power, or of Phaedra launching an all-out attack."

"We'd better not assume that," Matt noted grimly, "If Phaedra came here to find the Diadem, then she probably knew about the binary suns. She must have figured out a way to compensate for it."

Craig suddenly frowned. "Matt's right. If Phaedra was able to take down that Gaius guy, she must have developed some kind of attack strategy... a damn good one."

"We... definitely need... a plan," Keith panted, heavily sitting on a fallen tree trunk. He cradled his head between his hands, his shoulders heaving as he sucked in gulps of air.

"Oh, poor baby," Tammy cooed, only half-mocking. She sat beside him, her arm draped around his shoulder, "Still nauseous?"

Matt couldn't help a wry grin. "Keith Maloy, Fearless Speed Demon and Terror of the Turnpike, is the only one of us who got sick in that portal!"

Keith grimaced. "Dude, I don't wanna know how fast we were going! And that Hyperspace Portal thing bent space-time... ugh... just thinking about it makes my insides flip..."

The Green Enforcer began to snicker mercilessly. "Just be sure to take your mask off before you hurl, or things'll get sticky in there!"

Craig frowned curiously, his hand reaching to his neck. He gingerly slid his fingers along the molded armor, from the side of his face all the way down his opposite arm. "I don't think this armor has any seams. If Keith has to toss his lunch, he'll have to un-Sync."

Keith whimpered pathetically, resting his head on Tamara's offered shoulder.

Jocelyn giggled. "Un-Sync? Is that the official term?"

"Definitely not. Sounds too much like a boy-band."

That comment won the Purple Enforcer the surprised stares of her entire team.

"Whoa, did I hear Rachel Castaneda crack a joke on a mission?" Keith muttered, "Guys, I think the heat finally got to her."

The team fell into laughter... until a sudden, faint quaking shook the ground on which they stood. Immediately, the six youths gathered into a tight circle, muscles tensed and senses alert.

"Something's coming," Jocelyn whispered unnecessarily.

"Spectra told us the planet was uninhabited," Matthew recalled, "So Phaedra must have sent us a sun-resistant welcoming committee."

Keith inclined his head toward the clear sky. "I'm gonna get a better look around."

Keith floated upward slowly, casting his deep blue gaze around the greenery warily. In the distance, he saw the cool blue of waterfall tumbling down the mountains to the north. And when he turned slightly, following the stampeding sound, his jaw slackened at the sight before him.

"A... black sea?" he marveled, eyes wide. Somehow, a black, tar-like ocean on planet that so reminded him of an Earth rainforest didn't fit right.

"Guys!" he shouted, "It's coming from that way... fast!"

The remaining Force all looked in the direction Red indicated, but they had little time to do anything to prepare. All they could do was react when the wave of murky blackness crashed through the surrounding greenery, blanketing the lush forest.

"Holy sh-!"

"Matt!" Jocelyn screamed, grabbing the awestruck Green Enforcer by the forearm and pulling him heavenward. But they couldn't get far enough away, for out of the encroaching sea came a pair of muscled arms, black and sleek as an oil spill. Mighty fingers encircled Green's ankles, and with a startled yelp, Matthew sank toward the darkness.

"MATT!" she repeated in panic, diving toward him. Without a second thought, she began slashing at the elongated arms in a desperate attempt to free her friend. Then, without warning, three humanoid forms leapt from the black depths towards her, one pinning her arms to her sides from behind her back while the second wrapped around her flailing legs.

Her eyes wide with alarm, she stared as the third offender emerged from the blackness just below her. The man-like form began to spread, distinct limbs fading into each other as it became a flat, amorphous sheet of inky blackness.

And then, it struck.

Jocelyn was instantly overwhelmed as her world became a silvery-black void. He tried desperately to scream, but her throat was dry and raw, and her lungs simply had no oxygen to offer.

He felt her chest constrict, her muscles becoming taunt and insanely heavy. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe... she couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed.

She was being smothered to death!

Or... was it more than that? She felt an encroaching cold, building from her limbs inward. And from the center of her being, she felt a surreal sense of... leaking.

Almost as if she were bleeding...

Oh God oh God oh God oh God...

* * *

"Hang on, Jocie!" Matthew screamed frantically. He managed to claw out of the murky tar that had clung to him, but more appeared. Only this time, instead of dragging him downward, they seemed to be pushing him away from the pool.

His breath came in ragged gasps, panic rising when he realized that Jocelyn was no longer fighting. Instead, the inky black cocoon that outlined her body grew terrifyingly still, and began a slow decent to the bobbing blackness below.

That thing can't suffocate her... can it? he wondered, his heart racing, "Joce! Can you hear me?!"

He wanted desperately to reach her, to dig her out with his bare hands if need be. But how could he even get close??

His muscles tensed as he slowly, painstakingly drew all his appendages inward. He pulled against all the arms pushing him away, collapsing his body into a tight ball. Then, a ball of energy flared to life around him, glowing brilliantly and pushing away the torrent of evil with its radiance.

He turned downward, his aura blazing brilliantly as he dove toward the murkiness below. But, to his surprise, the blackness reoriented itself, and a wave of viscous night crashed toward him.

With a yelp of surprise, Matt angled upward, narrowly missing the substance while catapulting to a safer level. As he streaked, he felt the chill of the creatures beneath moving closer.

I can't...I can't get to her! *Jocelyn? Please...answer me!* he called desperately.

There was no response.

* * *

"Matt! Jocelyn!"

Rachel swore under her breath as she frantically scanned the army beneath her for her youngest friends.

And it was indeed an army... for the sea of black seemed to be formed of countless humanoid shapes. It almost seemed as if the Denebians had stolen every Olympic sprinter on the planet, shaved their heads, and dunked them in a vat of crude oil. For all the creatures were lean-muscled, and obscenely fast. And there were definitely molded to human form... at least, until they began "oozing," spreading into the flattened goopy substance that had swallowed the Orange Enforcer before Rachel's very eyes.

Purple shook off her distraction to assess her own situation. As soon as Matthew screamed his distress, Rachel hurried to help her friends- only to be blindsided by one of the man-like creatures. It struck her with physical force, catching the base of her neck with its elbow. She had been surprised by the assault, but also vaguely relieved; hand-to-hand combat was much more familiar territory.

Rachel precariously took another glance around. Matthew had managed to pull away, but Jocelyn was nowhere in sight. Keith and Tamara fought their battle back to back a few hundred feet away, while Craig had meandered above her, his aura flaring an angry blue as he viciously fought back the waves of creatures that rocketed up to meet him.

Her distraction was rewarded by three more creatures that grabbed for different appendages with such precision, they almost seemed to be of one mind.

"Oh no you don't!" she hissed, pulling one arm in. She managed to lurch forward, crashing her forehead against that of one creature. She stunned it enough to wrestle her hand free, which immediately began to glow vibrantly.

She gasped in surprise when she realized the others were already beginning to melt, slowly coating her other arm and legs.

Wasting no time, she fired a tight beam of energy at her other arm, focusing the blast on the back of the creature, that had yet to make contact with her uniform. A high pitched shriek greeted her; music to her ears.

"I guess raw energy isn't quite as tasty as my arm, huh?"

* * *

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"When we blast one of those... thingies... do they die?"

Keith frowned deeply, his aura intensifying momentarily as a sphere of hot red coalesced between his palms. "I hope so."

Tamara nodded as she tossed her own ring of glowing light. Right on target, it sliced through one of the manlike shapes, cutting it cleanly in half.

It wailed in some kind of pain, and plummeted to the thick inky blackness beneath them.

"I sure hope so too!" she acknowledged, her dark eyes following the creature's freefall. However, just as she suspected, two more came to take its place. "But it's a bit hard to tell. We're not gaining any ground!"

She backed closer to Keith, their auras mixing into a rich orange where they touched. "Any bright ideas?"

He bit his lip, considering. "Well, I've got something..."

He hurled his energy sphere, watching in satisfaction as it blew two creatures to pieces. Then he turned around, extending his hands.

"Tam, give me your hands."

Yellow regarded him quizzically for a moment before doing so.

"Now what?"

"Now focus your energies into your hands, like you were creating that ring of yours," he instructed, "I'll create my Supreme Fireball Attack."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tamara couldn't contain a small giggle.

"What can possibly be funny?" he demanded.

"Supreme Fireball Attack?" she repeated, "You... you named your attack?"

He huffed peevishly, dropping his gaze to the orange-hued energy they were creating. "For your information, all great fighters name their techniques! Like the Kamehameha in Dragon Ball, or Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick!"

"Right... and Superman's Flying Mega Power Punch! And Batman's Ultra-Fast Batarang Throw!"

He scowled at her, but his expression was lost underneath his mask. He chose to drop the subject. "Okay... I think our powers are sorta bleeding together. Keep them distinct!"

"I get it... I'll ring my Impossibly Strong Golden Hula-hoop around your Way Too Furious Fireball Attack!"

"Supreme Fireball Attack," he grumbled, "That attack's goin' into the history books, Babe!"

She struggled against her giggles, chewing her lip as she forced her energies to separate from Keith's. After nearly a full minute of concentration, the attack was generated: a glowing ball of red flame surrounded by a golden ring of light.

The two heroes floated away from the ball quietly.

"So... what do we call this one?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Supreme Fireball Impossibly Strong Golden Hula-hoop Attack!"

Yellow cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't tell whether her boyfriend was serious or not. "What does it do, then?"

He smirked, reaching his palm beneath the floating energy. "Let's see."

* * *

"There they are..."

Phaedra's eyes slowly opened, the view of her private chamber replacing the magical vision of brilliant energy her most recent spell had created.

She smiled, leaning smugly into her throne.

Of course, her incantation had worked. Her Shadows were undefeatable… a magical collective of foot-soldiers that melted into an amorphous pool, able to rejoin the group and restore their strength, and quickly return to battle.

The pool was able to quickly scan the entire planet, their unique magical properties allowing them to maintain their strength even in direct sunlight. Considering the small circumference of Edenia, it was only a matter of time before a platoon stumbled upon the humans. And by creating minor earthquakes by pounding against the planet's surface, the Shadows were able to trumpet their approach. Predictably, the humans in turn prepared for the assault, igniting their energies and in effect declaring their precise location. The signal became strong enough for even the scientists to register, and strong enough for the Shadows to home in on.

The plan fell seamlessly into place. The Shadows had literally smothered the humans.

Still, while the Shadow fleet was certainly powerful enough to overwhelm the new heroes, Phaedra would be no closer to discovering the truth about the Diadem.

So they followed instruction: swallow one human, and inject the Seed into it.

Phaedra began chuckling, the tickle of burning embers on her skin. She gazed at her hands, watching the faint orange climb her arms.

"The Seed has been planted," she whispered, grinning wickedly, "Once she awakens, the eyes of Orange are as my own."

If these new heroes were anything like the overly-compassionate Spectra, they would never abandon one of their members, even though she may be injured. They would surely see the outer effects of hosting a Seed, but they wouldn't recognize what it meant.

If anything, the outward appearance of Orange would only make the rest more protective, rather than suspicious. And through Orange's eyes, Phaedra would determine exactly what their intentions were on the planet.

Perhaps they'd even discover the secret of the Diadem for her.

Then she would kill them.

* * *

"Why the hell aren't you dead yet?!"

Craig could tell he was panicking; he was quickly running out of ideas.

In truth, he didn't really have time to plan any. When the danger first registered, Blue sensibly rocketed toward the sky, anxious to make as much room as possible between himself and the aggressor. He wanted to buy enough time to come up with some logical strategy of attack.

Unfortunately, no matter how high he flew, the creatures followed him.

Without a plan, he was forced to improvise, falling into an intricate pattern of ducking and dodging while throwing around powerful bolts of energy. Any of his basketball teammates would've recognized the offensive pattern, only played with energy spheres instead of basketballs.

However, Craig quickly discovered how little he accomplished by dodging and firing, and he began slowing down.

What else can I do?

Suddenly, a flash of red grasped his attention. His jaw hung slack as he witnessed a fierce red ball, encircled by a swirling golden ring, collide with the wall of creatures that had begun rising from the ochre.

A wry smile pulled his face as he watched Yellow wrap her arms around Red exuberantly. Maybe, if I had put as much into those practices as the others, I'd be able to make a contribution here...

Instead, he'd only been giving half-hearted effort to the Force. And only half-hearted effort to basketball.

It just wasn't humanly possible to give both all he had. And both demanded exactly that.

A chill crept through his entire body when a thought formed. I... I just can't do this. I'm letting everyone down...

*Confidence is one of your greatest weapons!*

Craig jumped in surprise, leaving him wide open for one of the creatures to land a swing. Craig toppled, rubbing his jaw painfully. But his attention was nowhere near the fight at hand.

*Who's there? Ray?*

It didn't sound like Rachel... unless she'd been sucking on a helium balloon.

*You are a Soldier of Light!* the voice continued, its tone growing anxious, *You must believe in yourself, or no one else will believe in you!*

This sounds like one of those cheesy after-school flicks...

*You cannot save the Diadem like this!* the voice pleaded, *You must follow me!*

*And where are you?* he demanded.

He was answered by a surprising sight. A thin figure, less than four feet in height and cloaked in heavy rags, appeared in front of him. Craig startled.

* * *

"Wow guys... what was that?"

Tamara and Keith disentangled themselves, the former beaming excitedly at her roommate. "Why, that was the Supreme Fireball Impossibly Strong Golden Hula-hoop Attack!"

Rachel stared at Tamara incredulously.

The green form that rapidly flew toward them was equally astonished. "Huh?"

"It was Keith's idea," Tamara accused.

Matthew shook his head to cast off the confusion. "We've got to save Jocelyn!" he declared, "That... tar stuff swallowed her whole! And when I tried to get closer, it seemed to try to swat me away!"

Tamara gasped. "What do we do?"

"So far, the Super Fireball- whatever is the only attack that did any apparently long-lasting damage," Rachel noted, "Whenever I fried one, another took over. But now, they've seemed to slow down... almost retreat a little."

"Then we'll do it again!" Keith decided, "The five of us." He began to pull away towards Blue, who seemed to be frozen in the air. "Craig! Yo CRAIG!"

Matthew frowned slightly. "Maybe we shouldn't include him yet. Remember Jocelyn's somewhere in that goop. If we up the power too much, we might hurt her."

Keith nodded, floating back towards them. "Okay then, me and Tammy will do it again. Then Ray can join in, and if we think that's still not enough, we'll add Matt's power."

"Matt, where exactly did Jocelyn disappear?" Tamara asked.

"Over there, by the tree line."

"Then let's make sure not to directly hit that area," Rachel decided, "but hit close enough to jostle it. Hopefully, we'll get an idea of how powerful the attack is by the damage it does on impact."

Her three teammates nodded, and Yellow and Red rejoined hands, an orange aura building between them.

* * *

Blue paid absolutely no heed to the burning energy that built a few dozen yards away. He also completely ignored the Shadows that had mysteriously begun to recede.

All he could see was the cloaked figure hovering before him.

"Wh... what are you?"

He reached toward the faintly glowing apparition, and shivered as his hand passed through.

"Whoa..."

*Astral projection... only you can see me. Death cannot find me if only Light can see me.*

Craig puzzled over the strange reply. "Don't worry... I won't let those black things hurt you. We're the Spectrum Force!"

*No... not 'death.' Death, the living servants of eternal darkness that seek to devour our reality!*

Does she mean the Empire? "I don't und-"

Before he could finish his comment, a powerful burst of energy exploded behind him, sending him catapulting helplessly with the updraft into the dense Edenian forest.

* * *

"That was… unexpected," Tamara exhaled, her eyes sliding open. She stared in numb awe at the long blades of grass before her, her mind swimming.

How did that happen? She and Keith had constructed their signature attack just as before, and Rachel had deposited her own energy, in the form of an additional spinning ring. The team had decided to try that attack, and Keith had launched the double-ringed sphere toward the oddly calm ochre coating the knoll.

The subsequent explosion threw the entire unprepared Force nearly into orbit.

Yellow closed her eyes, and slowly began to take measure of her injuries. She started by moving her right elbow.

Check.

Left elbow, shoulders, ankles, knees, neck, back, and everything in between.

Everything responded with minimal pain. Astonishingly, she was only slightly sore.

Relieved, Tamara carefully rose to her feet, and began pulling the leaves and grass from her tangled ebony hair.

I'm not hurt at all, she realized, Not a bit. And I was caught completely off-guard. Which must mean that blast wasn't meant to hurt me. But... if it wasn't retaliation from that black goop, was it really just our attack?

That didn't make sense. The one-ringed sphere didn't come anywhere near the destructive power the double-ringed sphere wrought. Either the Force's energies exponentially increase when merged, or Rachel was incredibly more powerful than herself and Keith.

Or... maybe something else was going on.

*Hello?* she called, pivoting in the deathly quiet jungle. *Anybody?*

She shivered in the terrifying mental silence, until finally, someone responded.

*Tam? You okay?*

*Keith!* She beamed ecstatically. *Where are you?*

*Hanging from a tree branch. But otherwise okay.*

*Rachel here,* a new mind-voice indicated, *I'm in one piece, but there's no one in eyeshot.*

*The blast knocked us all in different directions,* Keith realized. *That was... weird.*

*Craig? Matt? Jocelyn?* Rachel broadcast. Tamara could feel her friend's worry escalate. *I... I can feel Matt... but I can't feel Craig at all! Or Jocie...*

Then, a new mind-voice interrupted. Tamara felt herself shiver anew. *I found Jocelyn.*

* * *

Green's glassy gaze returned to the physical plane, as he withdrew his consciousness from the rest of the Force. Then, he lifted his index finger, and fired a single, continuous beam of bright green energy into the heavens.

The others would see the beacon, and arrive shortly.

Satisfied that the others would think of something, his dark green eyes returned to the cold burden lying on his lap.

As he predicted, three flaming auras answered his call. Yellow, Red, and Purple all fell to the ground in front of him.

All were struck silent.

Matthew huddled over Jocelyn. Her body was no longer protected by the magical armor of the transformation. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed, her arms hung limply at her sides. Her skin, usually glowing with a faint tan, was oddly pale and gray.

Her hands clenching to hold back the trembling, Rachel stepped forward, and knelt in front of Matt. Forcing her eyes away from the sickening sight of her youngest friend, she laid her hand on Green's shoulder tightly.

"What happened?" she asked gently.

"I came to about a minute ago," he answered quietly, "and I realized that I was in the same field. The black stuff was gone without a trace. Then I saw her lying right where the goop sucked her in. I un-Synced her with the belt buttons to check on her... and I saw her like this."

Rachel stared at Matt, recognizing he was in some form of shock. She then rose to her feet, and looked squarely at Keith.

"Remember any of that lifeguard training from two summers ago?"

He nodded mutely.

"Good. See if there's anything you can do to bring her around. Tamara and I will look for Craig."

With that, Rachel grabbed Tamara's arm, and pulled the distracted girl into the air.

Once they departed, Keith slowly kneeled beside Matthew. After staring at him for a moment, he leaned over Jocelyn. After touching his fingers to her neck, he slid back again.

"Her heart's beating, but I can't tell if she's breathing with the armor on."

Matthew didn't respond to Keith's explanation, nor to the flash of light that accompanied Keith's transformation.

"Jeez!" Keith suddenly hissed, "It's hotter than Hell out here!"

He felt the sweat beading on his forehead after only seconds of direct exposure to the planet's blazing sun. Keith swallowed fiercely, fighting the resurgent nausea sparked by the intense heat that all but punched him in the face.

After a few seconds, Keith managed to compose himself enough to turn his attention to Jocelyn.

"Matt, I'm definitely gonna need your help," Keith said, his tone the forced calm of a frustrated parent, "You're the med student... not me."

He slipped his arms beneath Jocelyn, and lifted the prone girl off the Green Enforcer's lap. He then carried her out of the small clearing, and set her down again beneath the shade of a large, full-foliaged tree.

"That helps," he sighed, wiping the sweat before it dripped into his eye. He then touched Jocelyn's pulse with his bare hand.

His fingers retracted instinctively. "I don't get it... why is she so cold? It's a friggin' oven out here! And I know she's... still alive..."

Keith sighed heavily, rising to his feet. He stared at the large, fan-shaped leaves of the tree above him.

"I wonder..." he whispered, holding his clenched fist above him. He closed his eyes, focusing inward just as he practiced during the training sessions.

His perseverance was rewarded when he felt his toes lift off the ground.

So we can manifest powers without fully transforming, he mused, staring at the bright energy aura wrapping his body, That's pretty useful... though it takes more concentration to fly like this.

He levitated to the lowest branches of the tree, pulling off the enormous leaves one at a time and blanketing them over his arm.

Once he collected a satisfying number, he returned to the ground, and began rolling the leaves around his forearm into a soft sleeve.

He pulled the sheath from his arm, and then carefully lifted Jocelyn's neck, sliding the makeshift pillow to support her listless head.

He then marched toward Matthew, his face unusually stern as he psychologically adopted the forceful "Big Brother" persona.

The Green Enforcer still sat on his legs, head bowed as if staring at the grass beneath him.

"Matt, you have to snap out of this," Keith demanded.

"She was trying to help me," Matthew murmured, his hands rising to cradle his head, "The monsters were after me first, and then Jocelyn got between us... I just... froze..."

Okay, Matt here clearly doesn't know how to handle high-stress environments... Keith noted grimly. He'd better adapt, 'cause if we can't count on him, we're all screwed. But yelling at him won't help any...

The Red Enforcer decided on a different approach.

"Dude, Jocelyn's gonna be fine," he assured him.

Matthew blinked beneath his mask. He lifted his head, gazing up at Keith hopefully.

Finally... a response!

"But I need help making sure we make her as comfortable as possible. So here's the deal... you help me out, and I give you the keys to the Beemer for the weekend."

It almost physically hurt him making the offer... but at least it won a reaction.

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Forty-eight hours, unlimited mileage... but if I see even a smudge of bird-crap on my baby, well... you can start writing your last will and testament."

After several more seconds of confused silence, Matthew uttered a sound.

A chuckle.

Keith grinned broadly. Yes! That sounds more like the Matt O'Conner I know!

"I stand behind my former analysis," Matthew said, rising to his feet and quickly brushing the grass from his uniform, "You're absolutely nuts."

Keith's grin widened into a toothy, almost snarling smile. "Absolutely."

His grin then relaxed into his natural, easy-going expression. "Listen up, Kiddo... Jocelyn's still unconscious, but she's breathing fine, and her heart sounds good. I've got her in the shade, but the weather out here is more unbearable than mid-August in Houston. We need to collect some water."

"Okay, from where?"

Keith stared up at the treetops. "There's a waterfall around here somewhere... I'll go find it. Meanwhile, you stay here and keep her cozy. Ray and the others should be back soon, so stay around here so they can find you. By the time they get back, I'm sure Jocie will be wide awake."

Green nodded mutely, watching as Keith stepped back. Red smoke wrapped his body, covering him in the protective flexible-metal of the Red Enforcer uniform, and he instantly leapt into the sky, a burning comet's tail trailing him.

Matt then turned to Jocelyn, his spirits sinking to his heels. "Please be right, Keith..."

* * *

Although she tried her utmost to hide it, Rachel was really starting to worry.

Just relax...Craig's bound to turn up eventually. Maybe he fell asleep somewhere? He's been really tired the past few days... it could've caught up with him.

She tried not to consider the unlikelihood of Craig Gillis falling asleep in the middle of a huge explosion.

*Dammit Craig... if this is one of your stupid jokes, I'll wring your neck!*

Yet again, there was no response to her telepathic outburst.

What did that mean? She was slowly getting used to being able to "feel" her teammates on some peripheral level, even without actually communicating with them. It was a little unsettling to feel Keith flash out of touch for a few minutes, only to flash back.

He probably un-Synced, she realized, I can only feel them when they're Enforcers. Spectra did say our telepathic abilities only work when we're transformed...

That was the most feasible explanation... Craig had un-Synced as well.

But why? The only possible reason to sacrifice the power and protection of the armor would be to hide. But why hide when your friends were a mere few yards away?

Unless, someone was hiding him.

Could that black goop have swallowed him as well? Once Jocelyn disappeared into the viscous waves, Rachel couldn't sense her at all. Perhaps he'd been kidnapped, while the others were too focused on helping Orange to even notice?

Guilt sat in the pit of her stomach. What kind of a leader was she... what kind of a friend was she to not even notice his abduction?

And in all honesty, abduction was the best-case scenario. For there were other explanations to his silence...

She shook off the chilling thought.

"Any luck, Ray?"

Purple opened her eyes, and watched Yellow fall into her field of vision.

"I just can't sense him," Rachel sighed. She pushed off the high tree branch she had nestled on during her telepathic search. "Any sign of him on your end?"

Tamara shook her head. "Nothing physical. No sign of him anywhere... not even broken trees to show a struggle. He just seemed to vanish. Unless..."

"Unless that black stuff took him with it."

"But he was so far away from it when we saw him last," Tamara remembered, "He was even higher up than we were!"

Rachel scowled. "It doesn't make any sense. There's no way that blast could've knocked him that far away."

She chewed her lip, her fingers tracing the smooth surface of the Ireli sphere. "Maybe I should let Spectra know. She might be able to help."

"Only if she comes after us," Tamara pointed out, "We can't talk to her with that sphere, only transmit images and sensations. She can't give us any instructions unless she follows us through the Hyperspace Portal, and then Earth will be up for grabs."

Rachel's fingers released the sphere, but hovered near it. Can I risk it? What are the chances the Denebians will attack Earth once Spectra leaves?

Spectra had advised them that Phaedra kept a tight rein on her soldiers. It wasn't likely they'd launch an attack without her blessing.

But what if Phaedra simply returned to Earth through the Hyperspace Portal? She must have known of the Force's arrival, since someone had to dispatch the black goop to fight them. If she saw Spectra arrive, she might see a golden opportunity to finish what she started.

Maybe a better question is... what are the chances Spectra's presence will help? She can't find Craig if we can't... at least not telepathically. She might be more familiar with the planet... though I don't know that for sure...

The Purple Enforcer folded her arms. "Let's regroup with the others. Then we'll make some decisions."

* * *

Gaius sat in the darkness of his cell. After years of living on a planet saturated with sunlight, it was most unsettling to sit in absolute blackness... so thick and dense he couldn't make out a hand hovering inches from his face.

He stretched out on the bed (or at least, what felt like a flat stone table), focusing his thoughts on his situation.

The darkness was more than merely physical. It was a magical barrier. It had to be, for he couldn't remember such overwhelming silence. He couldn't even detect the faint voices of the Midjinari that always hummed in the background.

While sometimes distracting, their constant communication was also a comfort; that he wasn't alone, though so often it seemed that he had lost everyone and everything that ever meant anything to him.

The sacrifices he made in the name of duty... very few of his allies could truly understand how he could turn his back to so much. The Midjinari were of that small number, as only they understood how precious the Diadem was. How vital it was to hide it from all evil, until the Bright One returned to claim it, and unleash the raw power of the Inner Sphere.

Only the Midjinari understood. They, and the High Father Luminus, who in all his wisdom and foresight allowed Gaius to embark on a mission to find the truth behind the ancient legend.

Though it seemed his presence was more of a curse than a blessing to the Midjinari... would the Denebians have even blinked an eye at Edenia if they didn't find him there? Certainly, Phaedra wouldn't have wasted her time if he weren't involved...

Suddenly, the invisible doorway slid open, allowing the faint light of the hall to illuminate the engulfing blackness. To Gaius, the sudden light was almost blinding.

And standing against that light, her entire form an eerily backlit silhouette, was the empress in question, the crimson glow of her eye the only discernible color on her person.

It hadn't been all that long when her eyes were lit with a mischievous, passionate fire... a fire that ignited his heart and soul. But now, all Gaius could do was brace himself, quelling the growing fear at the ferocity behind those eyes.

She was truly a member of the Denebian Monarchy now, and as such she was capable of anything.

As for Phaedra, when she peered into the darkness of the cell, all she could see was the disturbingly blue eyes of the man that symbolized her every youthful fancy. Was it really over a century ago that his eyes burned with the flames of a true Denebian Lord, mighty and willful and proud?

When his eyes burned... only for her?

"Is there something you want?" Gaius asked flatly.

Phaedra forced her mind back to the present. All in the past... it means nothing to me. She exhaled slowly, arming herself with the mocking smirk that had become her signature. "The Diadem."

"But you already have it, Empress," was his answer.

Her lips stretched as if answering a challenge, and she crept further into the chamber. "Don't play me for a fool, Lord Gaius... I am well aware that thing is not the true Diadem. If it were... why would my forces have found your own dear Spectra sneaking around your palace?"

Gaius' back went ramrod straight.

"I don't know how you managed to send her a distress call," the Empress continued as she swept across the room to sit beside him. "Mor'se needed to physically send a messenger through the Hyperspace Portal to reach me in the Sol system. So imagine my surprise when our mutual friend dropped in through the Portal. I'm actually quite impressed... I thought you two were on bad terms of late. I didn't think she'd fly to your rescue so quickly."

Gaius scowled, trying his best not to give hint of the icy fear that had just grasped him. "You seem to be well informed of my family situation," he noted, "Quite shocking that the empress doesn't have better things to occupy her time with than spitefully striking against her former lover."

That little comment won him a taste of mind-numbing pain. Gaius gasped as suddenly, his entire body froze in place. Only it didn't feel like a typical stillness spell... for every muscle was pulled beyond taut. It felt like his body was trying to tear itself to pieces.

"Funny how weak you are in this room," Phaedra hissed, crimson smoke leaking from her eyes as she maintained her hold, "In here, your pathetic powers are completely nullified."

She huffed, ceasing the incantation. Gaius tumbled gracelessly to the unyielding floor. "Now it is not only your life on the line," she informed him, rising to her feet. She hovered above him, arms folded smugly beneath her chest. "You may not care for your own life... or you may be betting that I would not do you permanent harm. But even you are perfectly aware of how glad I would be to rend Spectra to pieces." That chilling smirk returned to her blood red lips. "If I do not have the whereabouts of the true Diadem in three hours' time, I shall do exactly that... right before your very eyes."

"One death or a thousand," Gaius huffed, struggling to hold up his head, "I will never give you the Diadem."

Phaedra snarled wordlessly, lifting her forefinger and tracing a foot-long line in the air. An energy grid appeared, the light solid blue. "Once the blackness engulfs the blue, your time is up. I suggest you spend the next few hours pondering just how devastating it would be to watch the only person you love die painfully right in front of you."

The ultimatum delivered, the empress stomped out of the chamber, huffing her frustration.

Did he catch her bluff? She was certain the appearance of the six humans could only mean one thing: Gaius had summoned Spectra. So it would be conceivable for him to believe Spectra had come in person, and had fallen into enemy hands.

But the will of that man... he would truly refuse to save her, without even thinking about it? Even Phaedra herself would give pause if faced with the same predicament...

Gaius always did seem to have the ability to search into her very soul. Perhaps that had not changed, despite everything that had changed since their last face-to-face encounter.

She shivered. How disturbing it was, to think that he still could read her like a book, while his motivations were a complete puzzle to her!

Her shiver became a full-fledged tremble, as confusion and frustration made way for blinding rage.

"You will not triumph over me," she swore, "Not again!"

Her anger quickly faded when a new sensation came over her. A sensation she had been awaiting.

Her vision grew faintly clouded, as if an orange lens were descending over her eyes.

Finally! Now, maybe I can get some useful information...

* * *

"...ridiculous. He's gotta be somewhere around here!"

"But we've looked everywhere around here, Matt. There's no trace of him."

"Tamara and I have decided it's best to look around together. Our splitting up is exactly what brought us to this situation: we have absolutely no idea what happened to him."

Consciousness slowly returned. First, it felt like she was reaching out for sensation, desperate to replace that inky, cold feeling that bathed her for what felt like days. Slowly, the numbness in her limbs gave way to a tingle, and the voices that at first echoed from a great distance grew closer.

"We definitely shouldn't split up," a fourth voice said. This voice seemed to emanate from all around her, vibrating through the unyielding, molded material that pressed against her temple. "I think the best thing to do right now is keep looking for Gaius' allies. Maybe they'll know how to look for Craig."

Her brow wrinkled with curiosity. She inhaled slowly, trying to muster the strength to voice her thoughts, when a quiet rumble issued from beside her hip.

She suppressed a giggle. "Keith, your stomach's growling."

Her faint whisper was apparently loud enough, for the Red Enforcer stopped dead in his tracks. "Joce! You're awake!"

Jocelyn slowly opened her eyes, and stared up at Keith's masked face. Above him, she noted the large green leaf that served as a canopy, held by the diligent arm of the Green Enforcer. Yellow and Purple were at either side, the former bubbling with excitement and the latter exhaling with relief.

"Thank God!" Tamara gushed, tightly wrapping her arms around Jocelyn's neck.

"How do you feel, Joce?" Rachel inquired.

"Can you walk?" Keith wanted to know. "No offense, Kid, but that Freshman Fifteen has definitely taken its toll."

"Hey!" Jocelyn grumbled, jamming her elbow into his stomach. Of course, the armor dulled whatever injury she was capable of doling. She glared up at Keith, who snickered as he settled her on her own feet.

"I'm teasing!" he insisted raising one hand in surrender, "Just wanted to see if your strength's back."

She sneered at him. He kept his arm on her shoulders for a few moments, making sure she retained her balance, before stepping away.

As soon as there was room, Matt descended on her, one hand dutifully holding up the leaf while the other touched her chin. "You're still so pale..." he murmured.

Jocelyn blinked. She'd never heard Matt talk like that. He seemed... worried.

She stared into his visor, as if trying to meet his gaze. Then, her glance dropped, noting her pallor with growing concern. "What... happened to me?"

"What do you remember?" Rachel asked.

Jocelyn rubbed her forehead as if trying to stir the memory. She grimaced, pulling her hand away and staring at the sweat that had gathered on her fingertips. "It was cold... and black," she reported, shivering at the memory. "And heavy. I felt so heavy, I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe..."

She squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a cleansing breath. "That's all I remember after the black stuff swallowed me."

Matt squeezed her shoulder tighter. She looked at him again, staring into the reflective blue visor questioningly. But before she could voice her confusion over his anxious concern, a more pressing matter sprang to mind.

"Guys, what happened to Craig?"

* * *

"Ooooh," Craig groaned, squeezing his eyes tightly to combat the pain. Instinctively his hand lanced to his head, from where the most stabbing pain pulsed.

Wearily, he opened his eyes... only to abruptly close them when faced with a blinding white light hovering above him.

His legs squirmed, long blades of grass tickling his bare legs...

Wha?! I'm in my basketball shorts! What happened to my armor?!

He opened his eyes again, this time shielding his sensitive vision with his hand. He slowly sat up, frowning in confusion at the sight.

Tiny huts... each no more than five feet in height, clustered near each other on either side of a small creek. Grass that nearly reached a foot high stood upright, untouched by any breeze at all. Surrounding the huts were walls of stone, and judging from their ragged surfaces, they appeared to be natural formations.

And finally, hovering directly overhead, a sphere glowed brilliantly.

He rose to his knees. "Hello?"

In answer, four forms seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Short beings, cloaked in heavy rags that would suggest they were in the Arctic.

One stepped forward, nodding its head to Craig. Then, a strange, shrill sound pierced Craig's ears.

Craig stared unabashed at the form in front of him. Damn... I really must have hit my head hard!

Spectrum Force Chapter Three

Still not mine!
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Spectrum Force and all related characters belong to me. This is the revision of the story "A Call to Arms" in my original Spectrum Force series. As you can see, I made some pretty big changes. It takes place a few days after "Genesis." Please note that words between asterisks are telepathically communicated, while italics denote either emphasis, or thoughts (you'll be able to tell which by context).



The Diadem

Part One





All the Blue Enforcer could muster in time was an intensified body shield. The iridescent blue aura grew blinding and he instinctively closed his eyes as a pulsing sphere of heated red energy plowed into his body. The force of the blast knocked him clear out of the air, sending him catapulting several yards back.

Craig glowered at his attacker, who floated yards above him, his arms crossed with an air of superiority.

"Let's see how you like this," Craig muttered, his fists clenching. He then lunged forward, streaking through the air at phenomenal speed. He moved in an irregular pattern, circling his attacker at surprising angles before finally making contact with his fists.

The opponent was hit by several fierce jabs, before he retreated by dropping beneath the Blue Enforcer, landing on the snow-covered cliffs far beneath them.

Fueled by adrenaline, Craig zipped towards the enemy, his body glowing as he prepared an energy assault.

He yelped in disbelief as a wave of snow leapt from the mountain to greet him. He began tumbling out of the sky, crashing into the mountain in blind confusion.

He felt his fall stop suddenly, as a pair of arms grasped his torso and helped him sit up on the cold, rocky earth.

Slowly, his vision returned as the snow disappeared from before him, revealing the masked visage of the Orange Enforcer.

"Are you okay, Craig?" she asked.

Despite himself, Craig frowned at the concern in her voice. "Of course I'm okay," he grunted, carefully rising to his feet. "Stupid snow," he snarled.

"Don't be like that, Craig," Jocelyn sighed, "The Himalayans are an excellent training spot. Little life to get in the way, plus a freezing atmosphere to help prepare us for fighting in the climate the Denebian's prefer. Spectra did say Denebia is the furthest planet from their sun. And space is cold, too."

Craig exhaled sharply, wiping off the snow that clung to his uniform. "But... how did that snow stick to me like that? I couldn't get it off!"

Jocelyn shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Together, the pair slowly floated off the cliff and into the freezing skies above, where the remainder of the Spectrum Force, along with their mentor Spectra, waited.

Craig approached Keith, forcing himself to smile as he offered his hand. "Good round, man," he conceded, "That was a nice trick you pulled with the snow."

He could see Keith's proud smile pull against his facemask. "Thanks! I was wondering if that would work."

"How'd you do it?" Matthew wondered, "How'd you get the snow to obey you?"

"Do not answer, Keith," Spectra commanded. She pressed a button on her hover-chair, and approached the Green Enforcer. "Try to guess. Imagine how you would perform such a move with your own powers."

Matthew frowned beneath his mask. "I... um..."

Spectra's peach gaze passed along the entire assembly. "Do any of you have a guess? Remember... the first key to mastering the Spectrum Stones is to use your imagination. New ideas and the courage to try them will result in a surprising repertoire of attack and defensive tactics. You must always be prepared to throw the Empire off balance with innovative strategies, or else you will become predictable... which will ensure your failure."

"Well, it looked like he pushed the snow off the cliff with his powers," Tamara offered off-handedly, "But how did he make it stick to Craig's body?"

After a few more moments, Spectra turned to Keith. "Explain it."

Keith nodded. "I decided to hold the snow to Craig's body," he revealed. "I basically mixed the snow with my own power shield, and collided it with Craig's. Since our energy signatures merge when they join together, the snow basically stuck to his defensive shield, turning him into Frosty the Snowman."

"You won't be able to use that attack when fighting the Denebians, though," Rachel realized, "Our energy shields can merge because our powers fit together. But the Denebians have different powers. There's no way our shields will merge with whatever black magic they have."

Keith shrugged. "True. But the exercise was to attack each other, and never to use the same attack twice. I just thought I'd try something... unexpected."

"But Keith... how'd you know that would even work?" Tamara inquired.

Keith grinned. "I didn't."

"Confidence is an important weapon," Spectra announced.

Matthew smirked. "In that case, Keith's the best armed out of all of us!"

Jocelyn, Matthew, Rachel, and Tamara shared a brief snicker at the Red Enforcer's expense.

"Yeah, yeah... laugh it up," he said, shaking his head, "But you'll be appreciating my confidence when I save your butt!"

"Be sure not to confuse confidence with arrogance," Spectra advised. "Confidence may be your weapon, but arrogance will surely be your stumbling block. An arrogant man is sure to underestimate his opponent... a fatal mistake."

"I was just kidding, Spectra," Keith defended, "I'm not arrogant."

He looked to the others for support, but all fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Keith frowned slightly, shrugging once again. "Okay, okay... maybe a little. But nobody's perfect!"

Spectra smiled. "All of you have made excellent progress these few days. You have taken advantage of Phaedra's silence by spending several hours each morning in training. I can see your confidence grow by the steadiness with which your use your powers. Now, tomorrow we shall convene at my ship, and I shall bring us to the martial arts training site."

Matthew grimaced. "Martial arts? You mean like Kung Fu?"

Spectra nodded.

"But why?" Jocelyn asked, "I thought we were supposed to use our rings in battle. It's hard to kick and chop when you're in the air!"

"You must be prepared for every situation. You know that the power within your Spectrum Stones is abundant, but limited. Without direct sunlight, the energy levels of your rings will weaken, perhaps even to the point where you will not be able to Spectrum Sync."

"Really?" Rachel marveled.

"Absolutely. If you were ever faced with a situation in which your Spectrum Stones wear down, or if the Empire devises a spell to nullify your powers, what will you do?"

Matthew frowned. "But what can we do without our powers? Humans are much weaker than Denebians."

"That's why you need to train your bodies. You shall stand a much better chance of success if you have trained in fighting with your bodies as well as your imaginations."

Rachel nodded. "Then we'll get to it."

Spectra waved her hand. "You are all dismissed."

The assembly waited for a few moments, before Rachel finally floated forward. "Aren't you going to teleport us back?"

She shook her head. "Your next test is that of navigation. You must fly back to Langstrum Alps yourselves. Another key element to your success is familiarizing yourself with the entire planet. Remember, you are not only the defenders of Langstrum Alps, or California. You will protect this entire planet from the Empire. You cannot defend what you cannot locate."

Jocelyn nodded. "Good point." She looked into the air, peering at the overcast sky. "Oookay... which way?"

"Earth is a globe," Matthew pointed out, "so whether we go east or west, we'll hit the Americas eventually."

"But will we recognize them?" Rachel asked, "And what if we wind up going north or south?"

"Do we even know what hemisphere we're in?" Tamara sighed.

"Okay, okay... one thing at a time," Keith said, "I'm pretty sure we're in the northern hemisphere. And we're probably far enough into Asia that it doesn't matter whether we go east, over Europe, the Atlantic, and America, or west, over the Far East and the Pacific."

"Good," Rachel decided. "And it's definitely night time here... so there's no sun to tell us east from west."

"Well, it wasn't this dark when we got here," Jocelyn pointed out, "Anyone know which way the sun went?"

"It's hard to tell; there are so many clouds in the sky," Matthew realized.

As five Enforcers continued to work out the direction home, Craig remained in a pensive silence. Spectra observed him carefully before deciding to approach him.

*Are you well, Craig?* she thought.

Craig jumped, startled by the telepathic voice in his head. He cocked his head toward Spectra, nodding.

*Think the answer,* she advised.

*I'm okay,* he insisted.

*You have been distracted this entire practice session,* Spectra observed. *That is why you could not react quickly enough to Keith's attacks. And you seem distant from us all. Something plagues you.*

Craig sighed to himself. *I'm just a little tired is all. Don't worry... I'll catch on to all this training. I won't let you down.*

Spectra smiled mildly. *I'm not worried about your performance. I am concerned for your well being.*

Craig couldn't help but grin. *I'll be fine,* he assured her, *I just need to get adjusted.*

"Craig?" Rachel called, turning back to her missing teammate, "Ready to go?"

He nodded, joining with the group. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to fly into the atmosphere, just to get a better look around," Jocelyn explained. "We'll be looking for a large body of water, hoping it's the Pacific. That's the quickest way back to California."

Craig frowned slightly. "How will we know the Pacific Ocean?"

"There are two oceans near here," Keith explained, "the Pacific and the Indian. Now, there're a lot more islands in the Pacific, since there's the Indonesian archipelago. We're gonna fly over the archipelago, and then keep moving towards the sun. It's early morning in California, so the sun will be over the United States. In fact, it'll probably be directly overhead the East Coast now. I think it's around noon there."

Craig nodded. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

"Hey Craig?"

Craig startled, his gaze lifting from the perfect blue blanket of the Pacific Ocean to his side. He waved at Keith, who had fallen into place beside him.

"What's up?"

"Wanna come to the lot with me? I need to pick up my Baby when we get back."

Craig shook his head. "Sorry, Keith, but I've got practice at nine. Why don't you bring Tammy?"

Keith shrugged, casting his gaze forward to the Yellow Enforcer, who flew several yards ahead of them with the Orange, Green, and Purple Enforcers. "She's... busy."

Craig's eyebrow arched at the tone in which his best friend spoke. "Busy?" he repeated with interest.

"She has a practice session for her Renaissance Drama course," he elaborated, "She's reading lines with Chris."

Craig stared at his friend in surprise. "You're not... jealous...?"

Keith scoffed. "Of Chris Greyson? Get real! What's he got on me?"

Craig smiled to himself. He was quite familiar with Keith's unique brand of arrogance. He usually used it to mask insecurity.

"Listen, Keith... if Tammy had any feelings at all for Chris, she would've done something about it a long time ago," Craig pointed out. "Those two have been friends since way before you met her. So relax... he's got nothing on you."

Keith chuckled. "You always know just what to say. You'll make a great psychiatrist some day."

While Keith couldn't see Craig's masked face, he could sense the shadow that seemed to pass over Craig's soul at that moment.

Keith blinked in surprise at the intuition. "You... okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered, his voice laced with surprise, "Why?

Keith shrugged. "You seem a little... sluggish. If that's the right word."

"Just a little tired."

Keith's smile was perceptible through his mask. "Don't nod off in mid-flight. It can't be good for you."

Craig fell silent again, absently staring at the ocean beneath him. Keith frowned to himself.

"What's eating you?" he ventured, "You're just not... yourself today. Something's on your mind."

"For a change, eh?" Craig cracked. Keith didn't smile.

"No jokes, Craig. Just tell me what's going on."

Craig sighed inwardly. "I... don't want to talk about it. Not right now."

* * *

"What's with you?" a voice said, startling Keith out of his reverie. He turned from the window of the bus, and glanced at Matthew, who had fixed him with a powerful stare.

"N...nothing," he answered. Matthew's eyebrow rose.

"If you were going off to La La Land, why'd you want me to come with you?"

Keith grinned. "Well, Craig has basketball practice, Tammy's working on a play, Rachel had class, and Jocelyn had to go the library."

Matthew smirked. "I get it... I'm your last resort, eh?"

Keith mirrored his expression. "You know it."

Matthew chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "What're you thinking about, anyway? You're not usually very pensive... that's more my department."

Keith bit his lip before turning to his young roommate. "I don't know. Craig's just not... right. Didn't you notice?"

"You mean because he couldn't keep up with you in practice? Maybe he's upset about that. After all, he's a lot more athletic than you."

Keith shook his head. "It's not that. I was talking to him on our way home, and I... felt something. I'm not sure what. I just felt a darkness in him."

Matt's eyes widened in horror. "You think he's under some sort of Denebian spell?" he whispered.

The Red Enforcer's eyes narrowed as he toyed with the idea. "Wow... that never even occurred to me. But, it's not like he's crazy, or evil or anything. There's a sense of... darkness. Like depression."

Matthew considered it for a moment. "Well, we do have limited telepathic abilities. Maybe that includes some degree of empathic power?"

"Empathic?"

Matthew grinned. "How'd you get into college, anyway?"

Keith jabbed his elbow into Matthew's rib. Matt grunted, smiling in amusement before he explained. "Empathic. Like... sensing one another's feelings instead of thoughts."

Keith nodded. "It's possible. We should probably ask Spectra about it tomorrow."

Matthew grimaced. "Jeez... these five a.m. training sessions are gonna kill me. I feel like a dead weight afterwards, and when we finally get home it's time to start the day."

Keith rose to his feet as the bus slowed to a halt. "Well, can you think of a better time of day to practice?"

"Yeah... during my Organic Chemistry lecture?"

Keith chuckled as the pair stepped off the bus and began walking along the sidewalk. "The bane of your existence, huh?"

Matthew scoffed. "I'd rather face one of those Phlegnin all by myself than next week's lab exam."

The pair laughed together as they quickly approached their destination. Keith's face lit up with excitement as he entered the small building, and stood at the desk.

"Can I help you, sir?" the attendant inquired.

Keith grinned as he handed over a data sheet. The attendant glanced at it quickly, and punched some keys on the computer.

"You're late," she noted, "You were supposed to come by on the 28th."

He shrugged. "Some things came up. But I'll pay the extra fee." And with that, he slid a platinum card across the desk.

Matthew smirked. "It's nice to be the son of a company president, huh?"

"It's got its ups and downs."

The attendant then handed Keith another sheet of paper. "Just fill this out, and I'll send for it."

Keith quickly filled out the form, and he and Matthew stepped out of the building, and onto the curb.

After a few minutes, Keith's smile lit up. "There's my Baby!"

Matt chuckled. "This is definitely one of the 'ups'."

Both men watched as a steel gray 1997 BMW Z3 pulled along the curb. A driver stepped out of the small convertible, and held the driver's side door open. "Have a nice day, Mr. Maloy, and thank you for choosing Scletcher Auto-Storage."

Keith tipped the driver and slid into the leather interior. He immediately pressed a button, automatically lowering the material cover.

Matthew shook his head as he sat in the passenger's seat, and watched as Keith meticulously examined the car.

"How's my Baby?" he cooed, "Miss me?"

Matthew couldn't hold the laughter in any longer. "You're nuts, Keith!"

Keith smiled insanely, shrugging his eyebrows. "Absolutely!"

And with that, the small convertible zipped onto the street.

* * *

"She's not still in the bathroom, is she?"

Rachel sighed deeply, pausing her routine to take a sip from her water bottle. "She's got to be done soon," she breathed, "I think she's got a study partner coming."

She then noticed the books cradled to her roommate's chest. "You don't have a research paper already, do you?" Rachel asked with a slight frown.

Jocelyn shook her head. "No, but I figured I'd get some vital research done for us."

"Us?"

Jocelyn laid her burden on the couch, selecting one book to show the leader of the Spectrum Force. Rachel shook her head as she took the book.

"A photo collection of the Earth from NASA?"

"Absolutely! Spectra was right... we really need to be able to navigate the planet. What if Phaedra decides to attack, say... Tokyo, Washington, London, Paris, Sydney, and the Hague all at once? We'd need to split up, and then zip to other locales at light speed to help each other out, right?"

Rachel swallowed another long sip of water. "Right."

"So, how do we do that without knowing where we're going? We need to be familiar with the topology of Earth. With a bit of study, we should be able to recognize different island clusters, shorelines, mountain ranges, cities, and forests... all from a great distance."

Rachel nodded her consent. "Good thinking, Jocie."

Jocelyn smiled, taking back the book and sitting on the couch. She watched as Rachel then stood in a fighting position, and began slowly repositioning her arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Just brushing up on some karate Keith had shown me," she responded, lunging forward to deliver a punch to the air.

"I thought you kick-boxed."

Rachel smirked as she launched a powerful front snap kick. "Why limit myself?" She then returned to a tiger stance. "Besides, I've got nothing better to do until Tammy gets out of the shower."

After a few more minutes, Tamara emerged from the bathroom, her long black hair styled into a tight French braid down her back.

"Finally," Rachel sighed, stretching her arms and legs.

"Sorry about that," Tamara murmured, tightening the cloth belt of her fluffy white robe.

"It's okay. I still have over half an hour before Econ."

Tamara stopped, and glanced at Rachel curiously. "You're leaving? For how long?"

Rachel's eyebrow rose. "Class is two hours, and I've got work after lunch. Why?"

Tamara shrugged innocently, opening the refrigerator and selecting a can of Diet Coke. "I invited Chris to come by to read lines in 'A Winter's Tale.' Thanks to the Phlegnin keeping me up all night, I canceled on him last time and rescheduled for today. I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be bothering you."

"Nope, I'll be out of the way."

With that, Rachel disappeared into her own bedroom. Once she was gone, Tamara hurried to the couch, plopping down beside Jocelyn. Jocelyn looked up in surprise from her book.

"You know Chris, right?"

Jocelyn blinked. "Sure."

"What do you think of him?"

"Nice guy, really cute, fun... easy to get along with." Jocelyn frowned slightly. "Why? He's a senior... that's a little old for me."

"But not for Ray," Tamara pointed out with a devilish smirk.

Jocelyn stared at Tamara incredulously as she took a sip from her can. "You're not thinking of setting them up, are you? You know how she is about that stuff."

"Not setting them up, persé. Just... facilitating matters."

Jocelyn's eyebrow rose skeptically. "Meaning...?"

"You know... holding study sessions here, preferably when Ray's actually around. That kind of stuff." She leaned closer to Jocelyn, an excited glint in her eye. "I'm almost positive Chris is interested."

Jocelyn struggled against laughing aloud. "How do you figure? Chris Greyson strides around campus like he owns the place. I've seen him at Xando's with at least eight different girls since I met him. Why would he be interested in a girl who's so wrapped up in her own world she probably doesn't even know he exists?"

"Maybe for the challenge?" Tamara proposed. She waved her hand dismissively. "I don't know... but I really think he is. I just know these things."

"You two look like your planning something," Rachel noted. Both girls jumped slightly, and looked behind them. Rachel stood at her door, her arms folded and a slight frown on her face.

"Wow... all this alien invasion stuff really has you on edge, Girl!" Tamara exclaimed, standing up from the couch. She threw a rather obvious wink at Jocelyn before disappearing into her own room.

Rachel moved closer to the couch, leaning against its back. "What's going on, Joce?"

Jocelyn smiled innocently. "I have no idea."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Fine, have it your way."

Jocelyn watched as Rachel moved toward the bathroom.

"Hey Ray? What do you think of that guy Chris?"

Rachel frowned thoughtfully. "Who?"

Jocelyn was astounded. "Chris Greyson. Dark hair, gray eyes... Tammy's favorite Study-Buddy."

Rachel shrugged her ignorance, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Jocelyn giggled softly, opening her topology book once again. It figures. Rachel Castaneda wouldn't notice a hot guy if he fell onto her lap!

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, Coach... I..."

Coach Teddy MacKenzie took a long look at his star player, and one of the best power forwards in the NCAA. "No excuses, Gillis. This is the third time this week you've been late to practice. And you always show up tired!"

Craig grimaced.

"Just get on the floor."

The athlete nodded, jogging onto the basketball court to join his teammates, who had already broken into two teams for a scrimmage. Teddy watched incredulously as Craig deposited his gym bag on the bench.

"Don't you think that belongs in the locker room?" he growled.

Craig frowned worriedly. "I guess..."

Teddy's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

Craig bit his lip. "Yessir."

Teddy sighed in exasperation as Craig strode back into the locker room. His hard eyes widened in shock as the athlete passed.

"That's not a ring, is it?"

Craig halted, his gaze dropping to the silver band on his finger. "Uh... yessir."

"Not only is it a ring, but it's got a stone on it too. You know the regulation... no jewelry. You could cut someone with that thing!"

Craig sighed in silent defeat as he turned back into the locker room.

"Dammit," he grumbled, once the swinging door had closed behind him. He hurried to his assigned locker, stifling a yawn that threatened to erupt from his throat. He begrudgingly pulled off the Spectrum Stone, gazing at the blue crystal for a long moment.

I wonder if Spectra can reach me without this?

He shrugged, slipping the ring into his outside pocket.

"Maybe I'll be lucky," he assured himself as he closed his locker, "Phaedra hasn't attacked in awhile. Maybe she gave up?"

* * *

The empress' cold blood eyes narrowed. "You called me over 2300 light years for this."

The statement was muttered with the most dripping malevolence the listener had ever heard. The aged man lowered his face to the cold marble floor.

"My Empress... I have reason to believe the Diadem is hidden somewhere on this planet-"

Phaedra huffed with impatience as she turned to the tinted window. Through it, she saw a small planet, snuggly settled in an orbit around twin stars, that themselves orbited each other in an intricate celestial dance. The planetoid itself was covered entirely with either lush greenery or large pools of crisp blue water.

"The Diadem," she repeated in a deadpan. She clasped her ashen hands behind her back, and turned once again, her flowing velvet gown cascading on the ground. "You are a fool, Mor'se, to beg my presence. If you wish to follow those foolish fairy tales of Deneb Prime, you'd be better off summoning my husband. He may chase fables, but my feet are firmly planted in reality."

The scholar suppressed a shudder as grim light flowed from the empress' eyes.

"Empress, the Diadem isn't a fairy tale. It is real! It is the gateway to the Inner Sphere... an ancient universe of infinite power. The elemental force it contains can feed the Empire for centuries!" He then raised his face slightly. "Besides... there is a personal matter you may wish to attend."

Phaedra's ears perked at that. "Explain."

"There is a member of the Remnant on the planet."

"There seem to be traitors everywhere."

"But this one may be of particular interest."

After he had clearly gained the monarch's interest, Mor'se opened his hand, creating a sphere of dark energy that soon flattened. On the magical screen, an image slowly took shape.

Phaedra openly gaped at the man depicted, fighting an army of Shadows with surprising ease. He whirled with grace that would rival an eagle, his flowing mane of perfect platinum blonde hair floating through the air with him.

An almost imperceptible smirk twitched the corner of her lip. "Lord Gaius..." She paused, considering. "Why would Lord Gaius be on this empty planet? There is no one here to protect."

Mor'se lifted his head with a measure of boldness. "Unless... he is protecting the Diadem."

Phaedra snarled at the man, inspiring him to bow even deeper.

"Clearly, his presence deems this planet worth investigating," Mor'se uttered, keeping his voice meek, "And that is why I needed your assistance... my scouting party is in no way a match for him. His power is phenomenal."

"For a White Denebian," Phaedra corrected. She then gathered the long skirts of her gown, and moved toward her shelf of magical volumes. "But can he stand against me?"

* * *

A scowl marred the man's smooth, sharply featured face. He raced up the winding stairs of hard granite, his hair tumbling behind him in waves of platinum. The flare of blazing torches glinted in his cool blue eyes.

They will never find the Diadem! he decreed.

Everything depended on the Diadem. If the Empire ever learned of the true power behind the legend, all hope for repairing the universe would evaporate like the dew in morning.

The war would be over forever, and Death would come in its final form.

The very thought sent shivers through the warrior. He grimaced, pushing through an ornate door of heavy oak into a large chamber, completely barren save for the high pillar that sat in the exact center of the marble tiles, the glowing onyx pyramid that hovered above it, and the small fireplace against the innermost wall.

Gaius rose to his feet unsteadily, forcing back the panic that had touched his mind just moments ago. He felt the fear of the Midjinari- his secretive allies in his singular duty to protect the Diadem- and it drowned his calm resolution in an ocean of unwanted distraction.

*Have faith in me, friends,* he soothed the echoing voices, *I will not fail you.*

His eyes snapped open when he felt a sudden encroaching darkness on all his senses. They've found me…

Escape was impossible. Initially, he had chosen to face the oncoming hordes of the Empire. After all, the two suns blanketed the entire planetoid in perpetual daylight, limiting the options of a race that thrived on darkness. However, the Empire must have learned of his presence... or else they wouldn't have persisted so diligently.

"I'm running out of time," he realized, his mouth going dry. This was the moment of truth. He reached for his belt, pulling out a small sphere of smooth silver. He gripped it tightly, snapping his gaze to the empty fireplace.

Exhaling slowly, he dropped the sphere to the ground. It exploded into a fine dust of chalk white, flooding the small room with an eerie cloud of faintly glittering energy. Then, the mighty Gaius fell to his knees before the pedestal, touching his forehead to its ornate base.

He held his breath as footsteps became audible from the halls.

* * *

Spectra gingerly moved about the small white space, her form-fitting uniform and flowing ivory hair making her body almost imperceptible against the gleaming white walls.

She flipped in the air, planting her feet against the ceiling and launching herself toward another wall. She somersaulted, her feet reaching out just in time to catch herself, and leapt toward the opposite wall.

Again and again she sailed through the air of the white box, each time crouching against the wall just to launch herself once again.

Finally, she allowed herself to fall, her hair drifting behind her as she crouched on the floor. Sweat glistened on her face, now flushed faintly pink with the exertion.

She breathed deeply, carefully stretching her arms, legs, and back. She grimaced when she aggravated a sore spot.

It was hard to believe the fight with the Phlegnin had taken so much out of her. True, the creature had nailed her with what easily could have been a fatal blast, and then forced her to use her magical power strenuously when she coaxed the beast out of the subterranean tunnels to the surface for the final battle.

Also, with all the training she had arrange, just to insure the Spectrum Force would be better equipped for the next strike, she had painfully little time to recuperate. In fact, she had opted to use the hover-chair, a mechanical device created by the Fespin, in order to conserve her own energies and allow her body to heal.

She would continue the routine until she was completely healed. Her nights were spent sleeping in the bed in the medical ward, the faint healing beam set on low to keep its power sources maximized in case any of the Force were wounded in training or battle. The early morning was devoted to the Force's training, while conserving her own power by using the hover-chair. Immediately afterward she spent as much time as she could bear working out in the compact makeshift exercise room on the ship, making sure to keep her muscles loose in case she was forced to fight. Once fatigued, she invested the rest of the day studying Earth's history and records, in order to determine if there were any indigenous resources that would prove helpful against the Denebians.

One such resource needing her study was a diligent practice of the English language. While the headset she had acquired from Phaedra's soldier was infinitely useful in translating the alien language for her, it was highly possible that the machine would eventually be damaged or inaccessible. And relying on the Force's limited telepathy could prove fatal, for their telepathy only worked in their transformed state.

Spectra wasn't one to take chances. Communication between herself and her team was vital to their very survival. She would force herself to learn the puzzling native language, and eventually she would coax the Force to study Denebian. Once the physical training became less demanding, the speech training would begin in earnest.

Spectra eased herself toward the bathing room, when suddenly a chalky white dust flooded her vision. She gasped, her knees buckling as her mind was swept to another place, light years away.

* * *

Gaius didn't struggle as two imperial soldiers held him to his knees. One grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking it back to incline the rebel's gaze.

His eyes glinted with the surprise the empress could feel burn just beneath the surface.

"Good evening, Lord Gaius," she purred, a smirk of reserved glee on her lips, "Surprised to see me?"

Gaius stared at the familiar visage of the mighty empress, meeting her almost hungry appraisal with no fear. "I am not a Denebian Lord, Phaedra," he affirmed.

One of the soldiers snarled, striking the back of Gaius' neck with his powerful energy rifle. "You will never address Her Majesty so familiarly, Traitor!"

Phaedra sighed, waving her hand absently. The offending soldier released a scream of burning anguish as his flesh melted off his bones.

The other soldier backed away, horrified.

"Leave us, Warrior," she demanded coolly, "I do not need your assistance."

The soldier needed no more prodding. He bowed low to the empress, saluted, and strode out of the chamber as quickly as possible without breaking into a run.

"Why did you kill him?" Gaius asked, his piercing gaze never leaving her, "He struck me for my impudence. He was justified."

Phaedra's amused smirk returned. "Are you still trying to be my conscience, Lord Gaius? I haven't laid eyes upon you for over a century, and since then I have killed billions of innocents, often merely on a whim. Am I not beyond redemption?"

Gaius' gaze remained steady, as if he could look deep into her very soul. "I am not the Judge."

Phaedra released a mocking chuckle. "Really? And have you found the Judge yet? Poor little Warrior-Priest, searching for higher meaning within chaos. Which god do you serve now?"

She folded her arms, striding toward him. Her skirts slid across the smooth ground as she approached the pedestal just a few feet from her prisoner. Sharp fingernails traced the shape of the perfect pyramid, about a foot high, black as pitch and glistening with silver energy twinkling within like stars.

She pulled the object off the marble, cradling it with both hands. "So, this is your god now. And you think you've found the Midjinari, don't you?"

She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "The tireless crusade has finally ended. You've found something to dedicate yourself to." Her gaze slid toward him again. "Though, I thought you were too rational to blindly put faith in some silly ancient legend."

Gaius remained on his knees, noting the faint chalky cloud waft into nothingness. "I never lacked a purpose. I have always had a truth to fight for... and an enemy to fight against."

Phaedra's eyes narrowed, continuing to gaze into his in a stubborn battle of will. She then smiled gently, gliding toward him.

"Not always," she whispered, stroking his cheek with a feather-light touch, "Lord Gaius."

To the empress' frustration, the man made no reaction whatsoever to her caress. "I have seen the Light, Empress," he stated coldly, "Long ago."

Her fingers tensed. What was a gentle caress instantly became slow torture as she dug her nails into Gaius' cheek, drawing rivulets of thick blood.

He winced at the sudden pain, but his penetrating gaze never left hers.

Phaedra smirked triumphantly, delicately licking the blood that had trickled onto her fingers. "We'll see."

* * *

Spectra inhaled an unsteady breath as the chalky white faded. She leaned heavily against the nearest wall, shaking with frightful cold as consciousness merged with body once again.

"Gaius..." she exhaled weakly.

She hugged her body tightly to ward off the cold that had settled within. Through the magical mind-link Gaius had created, she could feel his every sensation.

The panicked thoughts of the Midjinari that flooded his mind. The shock that froze his soul when he laid eyes on the empress. The burning her icy touch had ignited in his heart. And interestingly, the smugness he felt when Phaedra triumphantly carried the black pyramid away from the podium.

There was only one conclusion to be reached: the pyramid wasn't the true Diadem.

That meant the Denebians hadn't yet procured the fabled power of an enclosed universe. But… how long until Phaedra realized the truth? However irrational the empress might be, she was no fool.

Spectra's eyes narrowed.

* * *

"I can't believe this," Tamara groaned, absently toying with the tip of her braid as she gazed at the pages before her, "We get to put on one Shakespeare play, and it's some crummy melodrama."

Chris glanced at her, a mischievous glint in his gray eyes. "Tammy, 'A Winter's Tale' isn't a melodrama. It's a romance." He stood up, puffing his chest and holding his head high. "It's a tale of adventure!" he declared, unsheathing an imaginary sword. "Of love!" he continued, bowing gallantly. "And of redemption!" he concluded, falling to one knee and clasping his hands. "The story of the fair princess Perdita, sentenced to death as a child due to her father's jealous suspicion of her mother. Thanks to the Gods, the princess is spared, banished to a foreign land and raised by kindly shepherds, completely ignorant of her royal blood. She encounters the dashing prince Florizel, who falls so madly in love with her he is ready to sacrifice his kingdom just to marry a lowly shepherdess."

Tamara struggled against a fit of giggles as Chris smirked rakishly at her, holding out his hand invitingly. "My fair Perdita, more divine than the Queen of the Heavens, I gladly trade my princely crown for a pauper's rags just to see your radiant smile grace my every morn."

Tamara glanced at his hand, a small frown wrinkling her brow. Chris noticed her hesitation, and instantly slipped back to reality.

"You didn't read the play," he realized.

"I'm… working on it," she corrected.

"Tammy, casting is in a week! How are we supposed to practice if you haven't even read the play? You can't get into character unless you know who the character is."

"I know," she said quietly.

Chris regarded her for a moment, a confused frown on his face. He then sat back down on the couch, trying to catch her gaze.

"Something's wrong," he decided.

Tamara did her best not to overtly show her panic. She frowned, as if the very suggestion were absolutely ludicrous.

"Tamara, something's wrong," he repeated, this time more urgently. Tamara practically gulped. "I've known you since you came to Dreiser. You're a great actress, but you're a lousy liar. Something's up. You've been acting weird the past few days… and you look dead tired, too."

Her mind raced. What was she supposed to do? How could she wiggle her way out of this predicament?

"Hi guys!" a rushed voice called, as the front door yawned open. Both turned around, and watched as Rachel hurried past them, closing her bedroom door behind her.

Tamara's gaze quickly shifted back to Chris. She couldn't begin to hope that momentary distraction was enough to veer him off course...

She blinked in surprise when she noticed Chris' gaze remain on the door Rachel disappeared in.

Tamara gaped for a moment, rising to her feet. She walked around the couch, leaning her elbows against the back and grinning at him.

Chris rolled his eyes at the gleeful expression on Tamara's face.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" she sang triumphantly.

Chris' eyes widened, mortified. "SHH! She can hear you!" he rasped.

Tamara leaned closer to him. "What's with all the secrecy, anyway?" she whispered, "I mean, what's the big deal? She's not the first girl to catch your eye. Why not get her attention?"

Chris smirked at the challenge. "I'll show you why."

With that, he jumped off the couch, and stood right outside Rachel's door.

Both heard the sounds of shuffling, and closet doors opening and closing. Finally, the door slid open, and Rachel stepped out in a neat gray pantsuit, frowning as she struggled with a disobedient earring.

She blinked as Chris fell to one knee. "Fair princess, you blind us mere mortals with your ethereal beauty. May minstrels sing your praises for generations without end, and tales of your grace and power over men transcend those of Helen of Troy."

Rachel stared at him as though he were speaking Swahili. Then, she slipped past him and grabbing her coat. "I'll be back at six, Tam!" she called.

Tamara watched wide-eyed as the front door slid closed behind her. She then shook her head, forcing her mind to recover from the surprising scene before her, and glanced at Chris.

"I'm sorry about that. Rachel doesn't intend to be mean... she's just... uh..."

But Chris didn't seem phased at all by the rude rejection the object of his affection rewarded him with. His smirk returned, a mirthful glimmer in his gray eyes.

"I know." He leaned against the wall, folding his arms almost pensively. "When I turn on the 'actor' charm, most girls are flattered or amused... usually both. In either case I got their attention, and that's how I get their numbers, and get the process going. Most girls love the idea of a bold, romantic guy with a sense of humor."

"Rachel's not like 'most girls'," Tamara pointed out.

"Exactly. That's why she's so interesting."

Tamara laid a hand on his shoulder, the gears in her mind kicking into high gear. "I'll put in a good word," she suggested, "I'm good at that. And once I figure out what her schedule's going to look like this semester, I'll make sure our study sessions are at a time she'll actually be around-"

She lost her train of thought when she noticed Chris' incredulous expression.

"Oh no, Tammy," he stated, shaking his head, "I can handle this."

Tamara frowned. "How?"

Chris grinned. "Adapt, that's how. Trust me, it's all about getting her attention. And when I've got that, I've got a shot."

His eyes met Tamara's. "Her birthday's coming up. What's the date?"

Tamara's jaw dropped. "How'd you know that?"

He pointed to the ring on her finger. "Ray's got one just like that. But it's an amethyst... the February birthstone."

Tamara smiled, shaking her head in disbelief. She then pointed her finger in his face, eyes narrowing. "You're good," she accused.

Chris shrugged. "I just notice things. We'll see how 'good' I am when she notices me."

Tamara giggled, her imagination running wild with different reactions Rachel would make when she finally caught on. "It's the 24th," she answered finally, "We'll have a cake for her... she doesn't like it when we make a big deal about it... you're welcome to join us if you'd like."

"I think I'll-"

Chris stopped abruptly when he noticed the worried expression kill the mirth in Tamara's face. He was baffled as she suddenly clasped her hands tightly, chewing her lips furiously.

"Tammy?"

She blinked. "I... um... I've gotta go," she said hastily, "Gosh, look at the time!"

Chris watched in bewilderment as Tamara turned her back to him. She grabbed her jacket, sliding it on carefully and stuffing her right hand in her pocket immediately. She pulled open the door with her left hand, glancing at him impatiently.

Chris didn't budge. "Where are you going?"

Both heads turned when they heard the distinct sound of heels clapping against the hardwood floor of the hallway outside.

"Tammy," Rachel breathed, "I'm really sorry; I can't believe I forgot we had to pick up Jocelyn from downtown!"

Tamara blinked in confusion before finally catching on. "It's okay, I forgot too. But knowing Joce, it'll probably take her longer than she expected."

With her back turned to Chris, Tamara could smile her appreciation at the rescue.

"I hate to cut your study session short," Rachel said, turning her eyes to the young man standing near them, "but Jocelyn went to some museum downtown, and I don't know how to get there. Tammy needs to come with me. I'm just awful with directions."

Chris watched Rachel, a smirk rising on his lips. She smiled persuasively as she spoke... it was so different from the impatience he was used to seeing. She was definitely capable of being charming, when she wanted to.

"Don't worry about it," Chris said finally, returning to the couch. He rapidly gathered his notes, and slid on his leather jacket. "Tammy and I need to do a bit more independent work before we can really benefit from a group session."

Tamara glanced away guiltily.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Chris assured her, "Call me later, okay?"

He then turned to Rachel, and much to her surprise, he grinned warmly at her. "Next time, I hope you smile again."

Rachel blinked at the odd comment. "Uh, okay..."

"Chris," he finished, grasping her hand firmly, "I don't think we've formally met."

After a brief moment, he released her hand strode down the hallway.

Rachel frowned her confusion, gazing at the retreating figure for a moment. "What's with him?" she wondered.

Tamara fought against a snicker at the expression on Rachel's face, pulling her hand from her pocket. Her mirth quickly switched to worry as she considered the pulsing yellow energy that glowed from the gemstone. "We've got to move."

Rachel nodded, closing the door behind her. She reached into her blazer pocket to retrieve her ring.

Tamara smirked. "Clever," she complimented.

"Can't run around with a glowing ring, now can I?" Rachel pointed out as she slipped it on. She then lifted her fist above her head. Tamara immediately mimicked her movement.

"Spectrum Sync!" both called.

Both young women disappeared as opaque cloudy energy bathed them, replacing loose clothing with molded armor shimmering with the rich hues of their distinctive energy signatures.

Tamara giggled slightly as she gazed down at her armored form. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that!"

Rachel nodded her agreement, and the two touched the center panels on their silver belts.

* * *

The Red, Orange, and Green Enforcers waited in the empty main chamber of Spectra's vessel. The silence was disturbed as two more members of the Force materialized.

"Where are Spectra and Craig?" Rachel asked after a brief glance at her team.

"Good question," Keith muttered, "If I knew it would take this long for everyone to assemble, I would've brought my car home instead of abandoning it downtown!"

Matt sighed. "Abandon it? You left it in an enclosed parking garage with twenty-four hour security!"

The team fell silent again, all turning toward the sound of footsteps originating down the narrow hall. Spectra emerged from what looked like a closet, her expression frustrated as she toyed with a machine in her hands.

"Spectra?" Keith gawked.

The Force all stared in surprise at their mentor. Her bright pink eyes were wide with intensity... whether fear or anger was impossible to tell.

She glanced up from the machine, and quickly surveyed the team. "Craig?"

"He's probably still at basketball practice," Matt offered.

Spectra leaned over the main computer in the hub of the ship, and pressed a few commands. A grid-map of Langstrum Alps materialized on the screen, with a single blue dot of light flashing in one rectangular box.

"One of you must go retrieve him from this location."

"Yeah, he's in the coliseum," Keith mused, "but can't we just call him?"

"You can try if you wish."

The Red Enforcer shrugged, closing his eyes as he reached out with this newly-acquired sixth sense. He pushed passed the doors into the conscious minds of the rest of his teammates, searching for the blue-tinted signature.

He blinked in surprise. "I... I can't find him."

Jocelyn gasped. "You... you're right! Me neither!"

"Don't worry," Spectra advised. She sat down at the console, settling the black device on the control board. "Craig's telepathic faculties are the result of the Spectrum Stone. You can only make contact once you are synced, and only to a synced member."

"What about you?" Rachel asked, "You spoke to me telepathically before I even got the purple stone."

"Only because you were physically near me. Now, Craig is distant, and he is not wearing the blue stone. His mind is deaf to my calls as well."

She bit her lip, trying to bite back the worry that was becoming visible to her youthful team. "We don't have time to delay," she noted.

The Red Enforcer stepped forward. "I'll go."

* * *

Keith wound his way through the dim halls of the Danbury Coliseum, the facility that housed all indoor sports competitions, ceremonies, and even a few concerts throughout the year. He followed the sound of rubber soles squeaking against polished wood until he found the door leading to the court.

A dozen or so young men were each dribbling his own ball, and in quick succession each ran to the net from center court, firing a foul shot, catching the rebound, and dashing in for a swift lay-up. Keith skimmed the group until he found Craig, his shoulders hunched as he faced a shorter man with a gut too large to be a basketball player.

Keith strode toward them.

"...late for practice, and playing like a kid out of middle school!" Coach Mackenzie growled. He glared up at the sour expression on the young man's face. "You're on something, aren't you?"

Craig stared at him, aghast. "You're not serious...!"

Teddy's eyebrow rose. "Can you give me a better explanation?"

Craig opened his mouth, but instead clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing.

"Uh... Craig?"

Both infuriated men whirled, their heated stares causing Keith to take a step back in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" Teddy growled.

Keith quickly regained his composure, and met the coach's glare coolly. "Craig's roommate. Sorry to interrupt practice, Coach, but he's got an emergency to deal with."

The coach huffed mockingly. "More important than his future at this institution?"

Keith blinked, his jaw hanging open in naked surprise. "What?"

"You heard me. Gillis here is a basketball player, Kid. When you're on an athletic scholarship, practice is not optional." His harsh glare returned to Craig. "And if you think you can skimp on practice right before the Lexford game-"

"Let's go, Keith," Craig declared, marching past his flustered coach. Keith stared dumbly at Coach Mackenzie before hurrying to follow Craig into the locker room.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, sitting on a bench. He watched as Craig turned the combination lock, and hefted the heavy gym bag.

"Figures," he said with an ironic grin, as he stared at the flashing blue stone on his ring.

"Craig?" Keith said, standing up.

Craig smiled wanly to his best friend. "We'll talk about it later, okay?"

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Craig cut him off. "Later. I promise."

Keith dismissed the matter with a shrug, and the two young men hastily found a secluded corner to transform.

* * *

"This is the transmitter that activates the Hyperspace Portal."

"The what-now?" Matthew repeated, staring at the black box Spectra held out before them. It almost looked like a Game Boy.

"Hyperspace Portals have been constructed throughout much of the galaxy," she explained, "They create a wormhole in space-time, which reduces the time required to travel between systems to a mere fraction of light speed. It is this technology that has opened up this part of the galaxy to the Triolian sector, where Denebia lies."

Jocelyn nodded thoughtfully. "Even with light-speed travel, it would take over two years to go from Earth to even the nearest star. There's just too much space between systems."

"Hyperspace technology was developed by the Fespins, a race renowned for their mechanical expertise and intellectual curiosity. They are also considered to be the galaxy's greatest explorers. Several thousand years ago, the Fespins constructed a Hyperspace Portal in this system, enabling easy access to their home planet for their periodic visits. That portal is also the means by which Phaedra and I arrived here."

Spectra held the device out to the Purple Enforcer, who gazed at it in amazement. "I already input in the destination code. All you need to do is press the red button to activate the portal, and then the white button to transmit the coordinates."

"What does this portal look like?" Keith wondered, "How will we recognize it?"

"The portal is extremely large: several thousand miles in diameter." Spectra turned to her monitor, pressing a sequence of buttons that caused an orange-white swirl sphere to appear.

"Isn't that Jupiter?" Tamara marveled, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"This planet's atmosphere houses the Hyperspace Portal. It is located here, in this atmospheric storm."

Jocelyn gasped audibly as she gazed at the location Spectra indicated. "You mean the Fespins hid the Hyperspace Portal in the Great Red Spot?"

Spectra shook her head. "There was never any reason to hide the portal at all. The portal itself causes the tremendous updrafts that result in the cyclonic storms you refer to as the 'Great Red Spot.' The portals cannot exist in outer space, as it ionizes particles in the atmosphere to create the wormhole. Jupiter was likely selected because it resides in the center of this system, and is a large, gaseous planet. Even gargantuan space ships can fit through the portal if need be."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Craig suddenly asked. "I'm sorry I got here so late, but did I miss something? I mean, I thought we're supposed to protect Earth... that doesn't require interstellar travel."

Spectra slowly exhaled. "I have received a distress message from… an associate of mine."

She turned away from the Force. "There is a planet named Edenia thousands of light-years from here. It is bereft of indigenous intelligent life, but another member of the Remnant, Gaius, has stationed himself there for quite some time. He relayed to me that Phaedra has arrived, seeking a great power source that planet is said to possess."

Matthew blinked. "So Phaedra gave up on Earth?"

"I don't think she has... at least not permanently. But I do feel Earth is safe for the moment. Phaedra is not here to command any attacks, and while her ship is still here, I would be surprised if her servants act at all during her absence. Phaedra can be very... erratic, and her soldiers are fearful of ever acting on their own judgement, for fear she will punish them for lack of respect."

Keith chuckled coldly. "What a way to run an empire."

Rachel smiled as an idea struck her. "But Spectra, if Phaedra's left, maybe now's our chance to destroy her Flagship! We can bring the battle directly to the Denebians!"

"It makes sense," Matt contributed, "The Denebians must be much weaker without Phaedra and her magic around."

Spectra shook her head sternly. "No, we cannot leave Phaedra to her own devices. If Gaius has contacted me for help, then his situation is grim. If Phaedra does find the power she seeks on Edenia, when she returns to Earth she will demolish all our defenses easily. Now her spells are limited by her energy reserves, but with limitless energy comes inexhaustible power. Eventually all the Remnant will be overwhelmed."

She then smiled gently, locking her gaze with each of the Enforcers individually. "You six must travel to Edenia, and do your utmost to stop Phaedra from succeeding. She has already captured Gaius, but she has not yet found the true Diadem. You must seek Gaius' allies on the planet, and let them see the power you hold. They will trust you if they know you are of the Light. I will remain on Earth. If the Denebians do anything, I will halt them."

Craig glanced worriedly at Spectra. "Will you be able to reach us if you need us?"

"Not via telepathy, nor mechanical device. The Hyperspace Portal cannot carry transmissions... only physical objects... and the distance is just too great otherwise. But I do have a Mind Merge technique that can do the trick."

She moved away from the screen toward the hall, once again disappearing into the storage closet. She pulled out a leather pouch, and selected a small silver marble.

"This sphere is made of compact Ireli powder. When crushed, it creates a Mind Merge with the person who crushed it, and the individual they consciously reach to. But it doesn't communicate messages... only sensations."

She moved closer to Rachel, lying the sphere in her palm. One by one, she distributed spheres to the entire team. "If you use this, and envision me, I will see what you see, feel what you feel, and even experience your emotions. The spell works only as long as the dust remains in the air, so perhaps a minute or two. If a situation occurs that you need me to witness, use the sphere. To my knowledge Phaedra does not know about the Ireli spheres."

Matt frowned thoughtfully, sliding the sphere into a small compartment in his belt. "And what happens if we do call you? The only way you can help us is by following us through the portal. You can't send us messages."

"No. But if you need me to come, I will follow you."

Keith exhaled slowly, his muscles tensing in preparation. "As a last resort then. And we can use these spheres with each other too, if something happens to our powers."

Craig then approached the hatch to the flying vessel. "Let's go."

The team watched as the entrance hatch opened. Craig's aura blazed as he leapt into the upper reaches of Earth's breathable atmosphere, closely followed by the remaining members. They immediately converted their bodies into streaks of colored light, and sailed through the vastness of space, completely unimpeded by the lack of air or the cold temperatures.

* * *

In just under an hour, the six individuals slowed down their transit, and transformed back to human form, each enclosed in a colored aura to provide oxygen and warmth and to protect them from the inhospitable environment of the gaseous giant. They gazed down at the red giant in awe.

Jocelyn broadcast to the team. *We can't speak to each other. There's no air to carry our words between us. We'll have to use telepathy.*

*This is... oh wow!* Tamara reacted, *We're so far away from Earth that we can't even see it!*

*We are the first humans to ever see Jupiter close up,* Matthew noted reverently.

*Yeah,* Keith responded, *Too bad our mission isn't sight-seeing. We still haven't found the Great Red Spot.*

*Let's circle the planet,* Jocelyn recommended, *We can't miss it.*

The group moved together, circling around the massive orb until a rather large brown and white elliptical storm came into view.

*Jeez,* Craig gawked, *I had no idea it was so... big!*

*When you think about it, a Hyperspace Portal has to be huge, or else large interstellar ships can't pass through,* Jocelyn commented.

*Huge is an understatement,* Matt added, *This thing can hold an entire planet!*

Rachel began descending toward the storm slowly. *Let's take a closer look.*

The six sailed down into the violent storm, gathered tightly together in a rainbow cluster. Once they passed about two miles of harsh winds, the storm died down fractionally, and from above the Spectrum Force could see a silver metallic ring about four miles thick and about 5,000 miles in diameter. Rachel held out the control, and pressed the red button. Instantly, the area inside the metal ring converted from white-brown gases to a black surface.

Tamara began to giggle silently as a thought occurred to her. *Guys, this is so 'Stargate SG-1.'*

The team shared a brief snicker as Rachel pressed the white transmit button. Concentric white circles moved from the outside of the ring into the center of the black space, creating an almost dizzying effect.

*The Portal's ready,* she reported, *Keith, you go first. Then after five seconds, Jocelyn goes in, and then so on. I'll bring up the rear. Okay?*

The Spectrum Force nodded. The Red Enforcer glided closer to the black surface, and finally plummeted through the center of the portal.

Five seconds later, the Orange Enforcer followed. Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple followed suit, and then the black surface vanished, allowing the white and brown gases of Jupiter to once again pass through the empty center of the metal ring.



To Be Continued...