Chapter III (March 24-28, 1984): To Free A World

The large warehouse was nearly empty, although there were some boxes and crates in the corners. Seven bodies in black military-like uniforms were laying about the area. All else was quiet.

Suddenly, the arehouse was filled with smoke. As it began to clear, four shadows ran between the boxes and crates and hid. WHen the smoke had completely cleared, ten strangers to this world, and one citizen of it, stood in the smoke's place. Unknown collapsed. Laserfire and Shield, the two closest to Uknown, helped thier ally to his feet. "You okay?" Laserfire asked.

"Yes," Unknown answered. "I'm just used to taking that many peopel with me. Espeically in the condition I'm in."

Cheshire Cat, seeing hte bodies lying about, asked, "Are those members of the Force?"

"No." Unknown answered. "They're members of the German Army. I see the Resistance did some good after all, even if it IS only seven of them dead."

Meanshile, Red Squirrel had inched closer to WHite-Out, so he could whisper, "White-Out, behind us, I'm picking up the scents of four people."

"Right," White-Out whispered back. "I'll freeze them. You stay ready for anything." Red Squirrel nodded. White-Out swung around and fired ice fro his hands into the corner Red Squirrel had indicated. Red Squirrel jumped into the air and forward, taking an offensive posture upon landing.

"Hey!" Laserfire yelled to his teammates. "What are you guys doing???" Red Squirrel ran forward and pushed the boxes aside, revealing a large clump of ice with four people encased within, three men and a women.

"Oh, no," Unknwon mumbled. "Those are some of the Resistance!"

"Hooboy, " White-Out stammered. " I..I didn't know!" As he watched, though, the ice began melting, much much faster than it should. As it melted, the people inside charged forth, ready to attack. There was a man dressed in red armor remeniscent of a Roman legionnaire's with a red sword, slicing his sword through the ice, and jumping out, sword in front of him and ready to use it. There was a midget in just blue jeans and black boots, who was disintegrating the ice by touching it. There was a man attired in a red, white, blue and brown costume and cape, who shot flames from his hands and melted the ice. And the lone woman with pure blonde hair and a bright yellow costume, was touching the ice and releasing vibrations that melted the ice.

Before the four coudl actually attack, Unknown shouted, "Stop!!" They stopped, although they seemed suprised and confused. The man in armor said, "Unknown?"

"Yes, Lord Scarlet, it is I." Unknown relpied.

"Who are these others?" the midget asked, not letting down his guard.

"They are from the other earth. They came to help us."

"You got that many?" the woman asked.

"When I do a job, I do it right." Unknown said with a smile. "these are the Protectors: Bolt, Cheshire Cat, Dreadnaut, Jewelie, Poltergeist, and Shield. These are the Vindicators:Laserfire, Force, White-Out and Red Squirrel." then he turned to the ones had just mentioned. "And these are some of the Resistance: Lord Scarlet," he pointed to the woman, "Impulse," to the midget, "Disintegrator, " and to the last man, "And ALchemist."

"Okay,' Red Squirrel said. "Now that we know who everybody is, and what we're here to do, what do we do now?"

"How about we find a leader for our whole group?" Force suggested.

"Yeah." Disintegrator agreed. "We can't have three different leaders giving orders."

"Lord Scarlet," bolt said. "You are the leader here?" When he answered in the affirmative, Bolt continued. "It should be Lord Scarlet. he knows this world better than either Laserfire or myself, and if he's good enough to lead the Resistance, he's good enough for me."

Lord Scarlet immediately set about planning things. "The was I see it, there are three objectives. One, to get rid of Rudolf the First. Two, to get rid of his second-in-command, Martun Hapsbourg. And three, to destroy the machine Rudolf's planning to use to invade your dimension. I think the other two team leaders and I should conference, to see how best to allocate our resources."

While the three leaders spoke amongst themselves, the other mingled and talked. Unknown, as was his nature, stood back and watched. he was never much of a mingler. He noticed, among other things, that there was a flirtation taking place between Shield and Impulse. And they were facing each other, ignoring everyone around them. he smiled to himself.

When the three leaders had finished thier discussion, they called everyone together and Lord Scarlet spoke to them, "After discussing everyone's strengths and weaknesses, we've decided to divide us into three groups. They are as follows. Group One will go after Rudolf, who is now in London. This group with be led by myself and wil include Cheshire Cat, White-Out, Unknown and Poltergiest. Group Two will go after Hapsbourg, who happens to be right here in what remains on New York. This group will be led by Bolt and include Red Squirrel, Shield, Force and Disintergrator. And Group Three will destroy the machine, that's located in the Sahara Desert. This group will be led by Laserfire, and include Dreadnaut, Alchemist, Jewelie and Impulse."

"And so how are we going to get to London and Africa?" Red Squirrel asked.

"I'll take them." Unknown offered.

"Unknown, you've been doing a lot of traveling, and not under the best of conditions." Alchemist said. "Can you make those jaunts?"

"I shall have to, shan't i?" Unknwon answered. Alcehmist nodded his head, conceding the point.

"Alright then," Lord Scarlet said. "We should all make our attacks simultainiously. It is now 11:16, Berlin time. At exactly 11:30, Berlin Time, the attacks commence. Everyone got it?" Everyone acknowledged they did. "Good. Unknown, I do believe the next part is up to you."

He nodded. "Group Three, I'll take you first. Alchemist, Dreadnaut, Jewelie, Laserfire and Impulse walked towards Unknown. Impulse, suddenly, turned to Shield and said, " Pax tibi semper. Tibi amo." She then joined hands with the others in her group, and then they were gone, leaving behind just the smoke.

Bolt walked to SHield and asked, quietly, "What did she say?"

"It's Latin. She said, 'Peace be to you always. I love you."
*****
The sand and harsh winds whipped thier faces. "Welcome, folks, The Sahara."

"thanks Unknown," Laserfire said.

"I've got to go get the others." Unknown said. "The machine's that way." he pointed. And then he was gone.
*****
Smoke once again appeared int he warehouse, heralding unknown's return. The members of Group Two gathered arodn him, holding hands. "Pax tibi semper." Lord Scarlet said to those staying behind. Disintingrator returned the saying, before they were all gone in smoke.

Disintegrator then turned to his allies. "Let's go."

"Just where is this Martun Hapsbourg?" Bolt asked.

"He's in the North American Governor's Building. Its' like the only high rise still standing. It's the only thing the Nazi's built here, leaving everything else in ruin."

"How do we get there?"Force asked.

"We walk." Disintegrator said. "There's hardly anyone on Manhattan anymore, and there plenty of ruins to hide in."

"Then let's get this down." Red Squirrel said. And, as a group, they left the warehouse.